October 11, 2024

Atma Vichara Ramana Maharshi | Self-Inquiry | How to get rid of suffering?

I intend to investigate with you here, at this moment, this issue of how to get rid of suffering. Wherever there is any form of conflict, there will naturally be the presence of suffering. Now, here we come across something quite complicated, because if you look at your own life, you will realize that at some level, in some way, we always find some kind of conflict and these conflicts that arise in this or that area, in this or that way, are always producing suffering in our lives.

There is a very simple example that we can observe in our daily lives: these are the contacts we have with people. Our relationships are always marked or touched by conflict. That's because, due to differences of opinion, opposing ideas, some type of resistance to the other person's desire... the one who feels rejected – because this is the feeling present when his or her desire is not accepted by me – at that moment, there is conflict.

For example, conflict is present all the time in our relationships, and conflict is basically suffering. We cannot deal with people without this element present that gets upset, that suffers because of the fear it brings, because of the desires it has. Note that we always look for relationships that are less tense, with less friction, because for sure, we have less conflict and less suffering, but less suffering, less conflict, friction, is not the absence of suffering.

A brain that carries some level of contradiction, the presence of this contradiction is the presence of conflict. So, we are dealing with what is going on inside each one of us, in our mind, in our heart. It is not exactly with the other that we are dealing, we are dealing with ourselves. The presence of the other makes this worse, because conflict is already present in what we are, because psychologically we are in contradiction.

We are human beings who, internally, due to this way of thinking we have, the consciousness that we carry, have an internal contradiction. There is a contradiction between thinking and feeling, between feeling and acting. We contradict ourselves, we think a certain thing, feel something else and, in action, we are doing a third thing different from what we think or feel. This is the presence of contradiction, of course, of conflict. So, therein lies suffering.

When you feel, in your relationship with your child, your family, or people close to you, some kind of resistance to what you expect from them, want from them, or seek from them, there lies conflict, there lies suffering. When we feel angry at someone, what is the reason for this anger? When you investigate this – and here this investigation is the direct look at the reason for the anger. We are very interesting creatures, we experience psychological aspects of behavior without realizing how this happens, how it works.

This is because we do not study ourselves, we do not investigate what is happening to us, and that keeps this continuity of conflict present, of suffering present. So, when you approach and ask: “How to get rid of suffering?”, first of all you need to understand where this suffering is established, where it establishes itself. A theoretical answer is an answer in words, and that does not solve anything. You need to have a direct answer that you find within yourself, then you move from a theory to a direct, real comprehension of yourself, of how you function.

There is a distance between this theory and this direct perception. Direct perception is comprehension, theory is concept. You understand because you have the theory, but you do not comprehend because you do not have the experience. We need to have an experiential answer to why we suffer, and this is only possible when you study yourself, then you comprehend how your mind works. It is important to say the following here: the comprehension of how your mind works is the comprehension of the human consciousness, because your mind is the mind of humanity. Not comprehending yourself means not comprehending others, others' behavior. If you do not know how you work and do not comprehend the truth about yourself, you do not know how to deal with your reactions, because you do not observe them, you are not aware of them, and, therefore, you do not know how others behave either.

Our contact in life is a contact of action that occurs in relationships. We do not function as an isolated island; we are always in contact with other people. These people do not comprehend each other. They carry within themselves the same pattern of behavior we have, which is to produce conflict and therefore suffering. Thus, our encounter with them is an encounter that not only fosters, but also sustains this same basis. We do not have intelligent behavior; our intelligence is for technical matters, but not for internal matters.

So, we know how to deal with mathematics, because we have mathematical intelligence, we know how to deal with the issue of space, because we have a notion of space or spatial intelligence, we also have a level of emotional intelligence... but this still remains at the technical level, always. We do not know the truth of this consciousness within us, which is human consciousness, the totality of human consciousness. Not comprehending this represents a psychological condition of ignorance and, if ignorance is present, you do not know how life happens in relationships.

Your relationship with him or her will always be a conflictual relationship and, therefore, one of disorder and suffering. When you have a desire that you express to another person, which is not accepted by him or her, a level of discomfort and conflict hits you. A rejected desire creates a conflict within you. Conflict, due to this rejected desire, is a sort of pain, this pain is suffering. Thus, your relationship with him or her will always be marked by internal states, where problems will be established.

Therefore, the condition of our relationships is complicated. People do not understand each other, and they do not understand each other because they do not comprehend themselves. I did not say “you comprehending the other.” Here I refer to you comprehending yourself. Without the comprehension of yourself, without the liberation within you from what makes you suffer, the relationship with the other will always be a relationship of non-comprehension. Here we are, with you, working on the end of the ego, the end of the “I,” the end of this psychological condition of disorder in which we find ourselves.

The beauty of an encounter with the Awakening of Consciousness is that we are before the flowering of Intelligence. No longer spatial intelligence, emotional intelligence, or mathematical intelligence, or any other form of intelligence. I refer to Divine Intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence. A direct path to the Awakening of Intelligence, which is the flowering of Enlightenment – ​​some call That Spiritual Enlightenment, because your state of Being is one of clarity, of comprehension; and in this state of Being, there is no conflict, there is no suffering, there is no illusion of the other to hurt you, to offend you, to annoy you, to upset you, to reject your desires, because all of that disappears.

Atma Vichara from Ramana Maharshi is an approach to this look at what is going on inside you. The comprehension of what is going on inside you is the comprehension of what is going on in the world, it is an answer to the question “Who am I?” Then, you have the comprehension of this human consciousness, that is Enlightenment, the Truth of this Intelligence being life in expression; there is no longer someone present with their fears and desires to be upset, to feel rejected and, therefore, to suffer.

So, how to get rid of suffering? By Liberating yourself from the illusion of this sense of “I.” It is not a matter of someone getting rid of suffering. It is the end of suffering because there is no longer someone present in the experience of relationships. Here, the expression is “Self-inquiry” or “Atma Vichara.” I have used another expression; I have introduced it to you here: it is the awareness of observation without the observer. It is when we have an awareness of each and every movement within ourselves, then there is a look without the “I.”

Let's make this clear to you: your way of looking at life is from the past, it's always like that. Everything you see is from the ideas you bring, the thoughts you have, the memories you carry. So, your way of looking at experience is with a background that interprets, that colors the experience. Then, your way of relating to people is from the past you have about them, that is, from the memory, from the remembrances of situations you experienced with him or her. This is the characteristic of the “I,” of the ego, of this person, of this feeling present in the person you see yourself.

So, you are someone who comes into contact with the experience of the present moment based on the vision you bring from the past. This is the vision of the “I.” Here, we are showing you that looking at this moment, at what is happening, both externally and internally, is only a real look when you discover how to look without the “I.” As long as this sense of the “I” is present, there will be conflict, some level of contradiction and, therefore, suffering.

How can we break with suffering? By breaking with the “I,” which means breaking with the past, breaking with this background of conditioning of the mind, breaking with this way of evaluating based on interpretations that come from the past. Then, you can be in contact with the other, free from the own “I.” And if here this sense of Being is no longer the sense of being someone, it is only the Reality of your Being, there is no desire, there is no fear, there is no past. Your Natural State of Being is of Completeness, of Love, Peace, Happiness, and Freedom. This state of Being is of divine Intelligence, it is of clarity, of lucidity. A new brain is present, a new mind is present, a new heart is present.

This is what we have been discussing here with you, the Truth of That which you are when illusion ends. It is also important to say here that it has everything to do with the beauty of an inner state of sanity, of comprehension. Therefore, the Truth of That which you are does not carry conflict, fear, desire or suffering. Liberation from suffering is the liberation from the sufferer. All suffering is present because of the one who suffers. That is one of the fundamental aspects to be investigated here and we have been doing this, here on the channel, with you.

As long as there is the sense of being someone, there will be the sensation of that someone in suffering, full of desires and fears. The end of the idea of a someone, of that hypnotic suggestion created by thought of someone present, the end of that is the end of the sufferer, and if that ends, there is no more suffering. That is our subject here, also on the weekends. We are working on this here on Saturday and Sunday, with you, and showing what this realization of the vision of Spiritual Awakening or Spiritual Enlightenment is. That which Ramana Maharshi called “the direct path” to this Awakening, which is the vision of Self-inquiry.

So, we are together on Saturday and Sunday. Here, in the video description, you can find the WhatsApp link to participate in these meetings. In addition, we have in-person meetings and retreats. If what you just heard makes sense to you, touches you on some level, go ahead, leave a “like” here, subscribe to the channel and please, leave a comment saying: “Yes, that makes sense.” Okay? See you soon. Thanks for the meeting and see you next time.

August, 2024
Gravatá-PE, Brazil
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