GC: Hello, everyone! We are here for another videocast. Once again, Master Gualberto is here with us. Thank you, Master, for another videocast.
Today, I will read an excerpt from Joel Goldsmith's book called “Conscious Union with God.” In an excerpt from this book, Master, Joel makes the following comment: “You must feel a conscious union with God. God is all-inclusive. And since God is all-inclusive, you and I must be included in God's being.” Master, can you share your view on this issue of union with God?
MG: Gilson, here we come across a mistake: this idea of unity, this idea of union or unity with God. This is because we start from a principle that is already mistaken. The mistaken principle is that there is a real separation, a true separation between what you are and what God is, a separation between you and life. So, people talk about this union with God, this unity with God or this oneness with God; something that will one day be realized.
Note: there are already two things here. The first mistake is the idea seen as real: the idea of separation. There is no such thing as separation, because there are no two things like “me and God,” like “me and life.” There are no two things, so this duality is a mistaken principle, it is an error, it is an illusion. And the second, here, is the idea of an attainment, tomorrow or in future, of this unification, this union, unity, or of these two things meeting and becoming one.
Starting from a clear vision about this, all thought is, is a projection of the world where the “sense of someone” sees itself present, separate from life, separate from the other, separate from God, because the truth is that there is a present Reality, and thought does not reach this Reality. And all that thought has done, and has been doing for millennia, is to maintain a story about itself. See how curious this is: this feeling that you have of being someone is associated with the story that thought builds about a character that it says to exist, which is the thinker, but we are faced with a construct of thought itself.
So, thought separates itself, creating an identity that is, in fact, part of itself. It is a mistaken movement, an illusory movement, an imaginative movement of thought itself to construct this thinker. Thought separates itself, it constructs the “I,” the “me,” the thinker, situates this thinker as being the very constructor of thoughts – which is not true, because thought is nothing other than a movement of memory.
See how important it is for us to have a real approach to this, to undo this illusion of separation, this duality, in which you exist separate from life, separate from God. What there is here is thought, and thought is just a response that comes from the past due to the presence of a memory, of a recollection. See, we are faced with something that is chemical, that is physical, that is material – I refer to thought. This reaction of the brain, this response of the brain, in this representation of memory, is thought.
We are faced with something that is sustaining the illusion of an identity. So, thought sustains the idea of the thinker, that is constructing thought, while, in fact, it is just thoughts that are emerging here, now. So, when you say, “I am thinking,” what is present at this moment is not someone thinking, it is not a thinker thinking, it is just thinking. The movement of the brain itself responds to stimuli.
I ask your name and the brain is in charge of finding that answer, and it comes quickly. Some answers come quickly, others take longer. All of these answers arise because of the presence of memory. If I ask you a question and you have an answer for it, it will come, but it is not you who will bring this answer, it is the brain's mechanics, it is the movement of thought. So, there is thinking, there is not the thinker; there is the mechanics of thought. That is how we function, that is how thought works! So, there is thought, there is not the thinker.
So, this feeling-thought “I” is something that thought, thought itself, is constructing and sustaining, creating for us this illusion that we are present when a reaction happens, when a response arises. The only Reality, listen... the only Reality present is Life happening as It is; this Life is God! This element that separates itself, that sees itself as a separate element, is thought, creating the illusion of an identity. It is this illusion, this illusory identity that sustains itself by creating problems, sustaining dilemmas, conflicts, disorder and suffering. That is what disappears – just that disappears – and that which is Real is revealed when there is this Awakening.
So, you ask, “What is your vision?” You see, the only Reality present is God. This feeling-thought “I” is creating confusion of an entity separate and apart from Life itself, in its egocentric movement. This is what has created all the suffering in humanity for millennia. As people, in this sense of “I,” of the ego, we are envious, ambitious, greedy, possessive, arrogant, full of fears and desires. This is because we see ourselves as an entity separate and apart from Life itself. This is the condition of ignorance, of illusion about who we are.
A vision of the Truth about us is the end of this illusory identity, this false “I,” this “me,” this illusory, mistaken center. This is the end of egocentrism, of conflicts, of desires, of fears. Then, we are facing Life, being Life itself, because there is only Life! That's why it is not a union with God, but awareness that God is the only Reality, and this sense of “I” is part of a dream that thought is constructing. And if this is no longer present, Life is as It is. This is Liberation, this is the Realization of Truth, this is the Awareness of God. Getting closer to this requires Self-Awareness, it requires the awareness that reveals this Truth, which is Meditation.
GC: Master, we have a question from a subscriber here on the channel, Claudia. She makes the following comment and asks: “Rationally, I understand everything I have been learning, that there is only one and that we are all one Consciousness in action. However, I would like this understanding to transform into a real, genuine and permanent feeling, that would help me overcome the challenges of living here in the form and, most of the time, identified with it. Would the best path be through meditation?”
MG: Notice, it is a long question. Now, some things are interesting here in this question. The first thing we need to be aware of is that we need to Realize the Truth. It is not about having a theory, or a concept, or a belief about It, but about realizing the Truth, and you realize the Truth not to live well; you realize the Truth because Truth is Liberation, it is Liberation from all complications, from all disorder, from all confusion, from all suffering, because Reality, Truth, is That which we were born to live, to become aware of, to assume in this life.
Therefore, a real approach to the Truth about ourselves requires a new way of studying our reactions in the practice of living, here, in this instant, something moment by moment. Awakening means leaving this psychological condition of dream, of sleep, of confusion, where thought is establishing a form of world or a possibility of life for itself. So, we are faced with something very, very radical, which is the breaking of this psychological condition of the “I.”
Here, a mere understanding or intellectual approach does not help. Here, the desire to simply find a more adjusted, more reasonable, sensible and pleasant life does not solve the problem. What we need, in fact, is a complete break from this old condition, for something new present, for That which is indescribable, which is the Divine Life present in this moment. It is something much greater than overcoming challenges. It means living free from the sense of this “I,” this “me,” which faces challenges, which has to always overcome obstacles, which has to always go beyond these so-called “challenges.”
Here, it is a question of a life free from the sense of separation. Since this sense of separation is something that thought is establishing as a pattern, as a rule, as long as it is present, there will indeed be all kinds of misfortune, complications, adversities, problems and challenges. When the sense of “I,” of “me,” of the ego, is no longer present, there is no more conflict, disorder, problems, obstacles, barriers, difficulties or challenges. And how does this become possible? By having an approach to oneself, learning how to look at all this movement of the “I.”
Then, this is naturally released, it is liberated from us for the Realization of the Real Divine Life. Gilson, this work consists of emptying all this psychological content, which is the content of the “I,” and part of this content is all types of knowledge and information that it has, including at this level: at the level of concepts, verbal structures and theoretical knowledge about this subject. All of this is still part of this old structure, this old conditioning. All this training that we have at the intellectual level is insufficient. So, emptying all this is necessary. Awareness of the Reality of That, which is beyond the mind, is necessary, and this is what we are working on here with you in these online meetings, in these face-to-face meetings, in these retreats.
GC: Master, we have another question from another subscriber here on the channel. He makes the following comment and asks: “Master, I have always believed in the God that religion taught me, but I see that it is just a belief. How can I overcome this belief?”
MG: Yes, Gilson, they are just beliefs, they are just concepts. See, on an emotional, sentimental level, can it bring comfort? Yes. Consolation? Yes. Especially in some difficult moments in life, belief consoles, comforts. But notice, don’t be upset by what I am going to say here: it is also just another way of alleviating this pain. This does not solve anything! The pain diminishes and you temporarily escape from this pain. So, this consolation, this comfort becomes an escape mechanism.
In general, people seek this a lot, they want to be comforted and consoled when they are in some level of suffering. Here, we are proposing an end to suffering. So, a belief is something that can comfort, console, bring you hope. But for whom is this hope? For whom is this comfort, this consolation? It is still for the “I,” for the ego. Here, we are dealing with the end of the ego, the end of the “I.” This is something that becomes possible when you are beyond beliefs, especially this belief, because it is just a belief – note, it is a belief, it is an idea. This does not change anything internally on a real level!
Reality is not a belief. Reality is Reality. If It is present, we do not need belief; and if It is present, there is no longer any need; and if It is present, there is no longer any need for consolation, comfort, or hope. When there is Real Awareness of God, suffering ends, because attachments end, fears end, desires end, and all forms of dependence end. In other words, without the sense of the ego present, there is no longer any need for consolation, comfort, or hope. This is something present because of the ego’s need to temporarily have relief from its pain, from its contradictory state of suffering.
To break with the ego is to break with beliefs. When there is Wisdom, this Wisdom is Vision, it is not intellectual understanding, it is not theoretical belief, it is not an image, as all beliefs are, images of thought. Note, beliefs are images of thought. We no longer have any of this when the presence of Truth is present, which is Real Intelligence, Real Wisdom. The Vision of Reality dispenses with belief… It is the Vision of Reality! And the Vision of Reality is present when there is no longer illusion, when there is no longer the sense of separation, when what is present is Truth.
The point is that we are educated, taught – as she herself puts it here – within religion, in which we were educated, raised to have beliefs, to believe in God, but this does not change the fact that, despite this belief, we are still suffering, we still have problems, we still have this sense of ego present within us, we are still aggressive, violent, possessive people, attached to things, emotionally, sentimentally, to objects, to people, to our own conclusions, dispositions, ideas, concepts, opinions and beliefs. And all of this is basically suffering.
So, despite all the religious teaching, all the training we receive, this training is at a merely intellectual level, of theoretical conditioning. In life, in practice, we are still the people we are, carrying the weight we carry. The good news here is that this person is not the Truth of That which is You in your Real Nature. Your Real Nature is the Divine Truth, it is the Truth of God. That is why, in this Realization of this Truth, if That is here, everything disappears! It takes over life; It is Beauty, it is Love, it is Freedom, it is Bliss!
So, Gilson, getting closer to the Truth about ourselves is something that becomes possible when we learn how to discard this sense of “I,” of the ego. This is the great lesson we receive here in these meetings: how to learn about ourselves, how to go beyond this conditioning that we have received, which makes us live only in theory, in concepts, in ideas… and this solves nothing! You, in your Natural State of Being, are beyond the known, beyond time, beyond thought, therefore beyond the “I” and everything that culture, society and the world represent.
So, this is the Vision of Truth. This dispenses with, completely lets go of everything that was given to us by culture, because all of this is still part of this structure of thought and, therefore, of ignorance. A direct look at God is a direct look at Life without the “I,” without the ego. So, this is the Awareness of Truth. For this we were born. This is why we are together here, proposing to you a work in this direction.
GC: Thank you, Master, our time has come to an end. Thank you for this videocast.
And for those of you who are watching the videocast until the end and have a sincere desire to delve deeper into experiencing these truths, we invite you to participate in the meetings that Master Gualberto offers. In these meetings – which can be held online over the weekend, in person, and also as multi-day retreats – Master Gualberto is available to answer our questions directly. In addition and most importantly, because Master Gualberto already lives in this so-called Awakened State of Consciousness, he ends up sharing this State of Presence that he lives, and in this sharing, we end up getting a ride on this Silence, this Grace, and this Power that the Master lives. And this is an incredible facilitator for us to be able to investigate ourselves, to be able to observe thoughts, to be able to get to know ourselves. So, here is the invitation.
In the first comment, pinned, there is the WhatsApp link to be able to participate in these meetings.
And, Master, once again, thank you for the videocast.
