Here, in these meetings, we have a purpose. And that is why we have hundreds of videos here on this channel and also on our other channel. The purpose of these meetings is, naturally, to communicate something to you. It is to share something with you.
The first point here is that we are not sharing with you, communicating to you, trying to communicate or share with you something that is just theoretical, verbal, conceptual. We are sharing with you the Truth that is possible in this life, the Realization for you.
The only real purpose in this life is the awareness of the Reality of That which is You in your Real Nature. Therefore, it is about you and your Realization in this life. So, we have one purpose together here: it is to look directly at how to learn, how to learn about this.
In life, we can learn it through some ways. There are subjects that you first approach theoretically, intellectually, through words or symbols, for example, by writing them on a whiteboard. Then there is a way of approaching this learning theoretically, symbolically or verbally, and then you have direct contact with that given thing, in a practical, experiential way.
And there are other things that require, first of all, direct contact with that thing. Note, we are here to share with you something that can be learned. But we have to figure out how to learn this subject. And, of course, it is not by having an intellectual, verbal or word-based approach, as we have tried.
Most people who get involved in this so-called search for spirituality or Divine Truth – whatever idea they have about it – believe that they can access it through the intellect, through words, so they get involved by reading books. Here on this channel, we are discussing this with you, actually questioning this stance, which is the stance of the seeker.
There are several subjects here that, in truth, may sound like controversial subjects to most people who come into contact with our speeches here, because we have a new way of approaching these subjects. Precisely because the approach to this Realization of God, or Spiritual Enlightenment, or Awakening of Consciousness, this vision of life without the sense of separation or duality – these are our subjects here on the channel – this Reality, with these different names, is something that can only be understood when we learn to learn about it.
So, all our emphasis here is on showing you how this learning becomes possible. I have used an example here that I really like and I have referred to it several times. In fact, these speeches necessarily have to be addressed again, again and again. We have to keep addressing it because, you see, this subject here is not such a simple subject, because it involves a change of psychological order in each one of us. And our psychological model of being is complex.
So, in fact, this psychological complexity that we have, in this sense of the “I,” of the ego, makes a subject like this not simple to study, to investigate. And, besides, these words are not enough. So, this is a big mistake that most people make. They want to discover the Truth of God, the Divine Truth, the Reality of their own Being in books, within a set of words, in a maze of verbal concepts, of ideas.
So, people spend a lot of their lives reading books about this, giving even more conditioning to this conditioned intellect that we have. This subject here requires exactly the end of this intellectual conditioning that we have. That is why we need a new approach to this subject. So it is not through books, words or speeches that this Truth is revealed. It is when we learn to learn about ourselves. It is when we discover how to learn about it.
So, back to the point, we have things that need a theoretical basis. This subject here, the theoretical basis, I believe that most of those who are already here on this channel, watching this talk, already know. Because most of us, most of you, have already read many books. Some of us have already read dozens, hundreds of books about Awakening, Realization. We have already had access to the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran, the Tao Te Ching, and several other books.
So, we have already read a lot about this. And yet, this Realization is not yet present. And why is it not present? Because we do not really know how to learn about it. And here our emphasis in these meetings is to show you how to approach this learning. Learning about this requires a new, experiential look at this internal movement within you, which is the movement of the “I,” which is how thought moves within each of us.
So, this here, this approach of ours here, has everything to do with the Truth of Self-awareness and how to develop it. This word “develop” is something that we also have to approach with a certain amount of care. We need direct work, but it needs to be practical so that this understanding of the Truth about who we are can be revealed.
That is why we have emphasized the importance of Self-awareness here with you. But we use the expression “Self-awareness” here not in the sense of philosophy, psychology or any other science that involves this issue of human behavior. We use the expression “Self-awareness” here in the sense of a revelation of the Truth about the “I,” about the ego. And we can only become aware of this through experience, not intellectually, theoretically, conceptually. So, books do not help us.
So, what is this learning? It is a new learning, not by accumulating knowledge, information, to later make use of it. It is something that is present here and now, in this moment, when we learn to look at the very movement of the “I,” of this “me,” of this ego.
An example that we always use here… As I said a moment ago: the examples are very basic and simple, but this approach requires something much greater from each one of us. To approach a subject like this, we need this simplicity that, in general, we do not have, due to this psychological model of thought, feeling, emotion, of how we function within this context of culture, society and the world, because we have a conditioned mind, a conditioned brain.
So, I want to touch on an example of what this learning is. Some people spend their entire lives, for example, without learning how to drive a car, without learning how to ride a bike, and there is no problem with that. Some people spend their entire lives without knowing how to ride a bike and, also, without knowing how to drive a car. They get in a car, but someone drives for them. They ride on the back of a bike, but someone else takes the handlebars. So, there is no problem in not knowing how to drive a car or in not knowing how to ride a bike.
Now, notice how delicate our situation is here. In life, without a vision of the truth about yourself, everything gets complicated. No one can drive this car carrying you, nor carry you on the back of his or her bicycle. The Truth of God's Revelation, the Revelation of your True Nature, is a self-discovery, and no one can do this for you.
Most people also spend their entire lives without this vision of Reality about who they are. The result of this is ignorance. We do not know the Truth about who we are, and no one can give it to us, no one can communicate it to us. No one can be happy in our place, have Peace in our place, live Love in our place, Freedom in our place, the awareness of God in our place.
Living life and facing the end of this body, of this dream of the world, in this so-called death: no one can do this in our place. So, yes, we need the Truth of Self-awareness. So, how can we develop Self-awareness? What will be the Truth of this issue of Self-awareness, the importance of it? When this is present, you are living in Wisdom, living in Love, in Peace, in Freedom, within this awareness of God, in relationship with others, with yourself, with life in Happiness.
Everything that human beings seek or search for, outside of this vision of the Truth about who they are, is completely false, is completely illusory. So, we cannot dispense with this issue of learning about ourselves. And one detail about riding a bicycle: we don’t read books about it. Driving a car: we don’t read books about it.
How do we learn to drive a car? You sit right there, where the driver sits. You stand there and the steering wheel is in front of you, and someone says to you: “Look, there are three pedals” – this is in a manual car. “Do you see this pedal on the left? It’s the clutch. Do you see this one in the middle? It’s the brake. And the one on the right is the accelerator. Here on your right side, you have the gear.”
In general, this is a standard for practically all cars. It is a standard. And if you learn to drive here, you can learn to drive anywhere in the world. But that is where you learn to drive; you don't read books about it. You sit there, with someone next to you explaining: “Let's go slowly, this is first gear, second gear,” and the car starts moving. This awareness of the Reality of your Being is God's vision; no one can give you this vision.
Here in these meetings, and this is the purpose of this channel and also in online meetings, we are showing you the pedals and showing you that the steering wheel won’t bite. You can get closer to the steering wheel; it will not bite your hands. So, you need to get closer to this vehicle, to the Truth about yourself, how your mind works, what thoughts are, what emotions are, sensations, the way of perceiving, feeling, living. Understanding this life is understanding its end in this so-called death.
The real understanding of life, of Real Life, is the end of this illusion of being alive and subject to death. This is about the Flourishing of your Divine Nature. It is not about simply driving a vehicle. It is about understanding the Truth about yourself, about others, about the world, about God.
The beauty of these meetings here, which take place on weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, in these online meetings on weekends, in these in-person meetings on weekends, in our space, in retreats lasting some days, is that we are familiarizing ourselves with this art of learning about ourselves. So, there is a direct understanding of the Truth of Self-awareness and Meditation. Discovering the Truth about oneself is, in this life, going beyond suffering, ignorance, problems, to a life of Happiness.
So, when people have questions about how to attain Happiness, note that achieving happiness is something in time. It is like wanting to study theory while the reality of this Awakening or Enlightenment is here and now. It is not in theory; it is in experience. You discover how this car drives when you learn how to use the pedals, how to use the gears, how to hold the steering wheel and keep it going in the right direction.
So, how to attain Spiritual Enlightenment? This is what we are discussing here with you, on this channel, but in a direct, experiential, practical way. I will repeat this to you: you do not learn to drive by reading books, nor to ride a bike by reading books. You get on the bike, we lower the seat and put on a helmet, safety equipment. Or, someone holds the bike and asks you to pedal, and then lets you go. It takes a few minutes, but this requires your presence on that two-wheeled vehicle. You need to discover what balance is, that is what you do when you pedal, when you trust and pedal.
The Realization of God requires a direct approach to work like this, because there is something present in these encounters that puts you in an internal condition of trust, of the possibility of Realizing this Grace. Then, in fact, you learn what it is to learn about this. The fundamental element in these encounters is not the words, but the power of this Divine Grace itself.
This is what we are working on here with you, inviting you to get closer to this Grace. Many of you are watching videos, which is wonderful, but there is something much greater than these videos. It is the power of this Grace and this Presence revealing itself in online meetings, in-person meetings and retreats. Here in the video description, you have the link to participate in these meetings. So, I want to leave this invitation to you here.
And if what you just heard makes sense to you, if you really want to go beyond theory, concepts, words, go beyond books to really discover what it is to learn about yourself directly through experience, through directly experiencing this, here is the invitation. Leave your “like” here, subscribe to the channel and say: “Yes, this makes sense.” Ok? And we'll see you. Thanks for the meeting and see you soon!
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