When you become aware of the importance of being aware of your reactions, of giving that Attention to those reactions – and giving Attention to them means being able to look at how you function internally, psychologically and, of course, how you respond externally in your actions, gestures, words, behaviors – when this happens, you are faced with the opportunity for the Revelation of the Truth about Yourself.
When someone turns to this work, the first thing they realize is that they are unaware of the Truth about themselves. Here we know nothing, absolutely nothing, about who we are, about what we appear to be, what we demonstrate to be, what we believe to be and what we make others believe about who we are. We are unaware of this.
So, discovering what is to pay Attention to these reactions is discovering the Truth about this Full Attention to oneself. So, when someone asks what mindfulness is, you see, some people take mindfulness or this approach to full attention as a technique or practice to better deal with the situations of the present moment without all the suffering that the past represents psychologically within us. But this is seen as a technique, as a practice, as something that you practice.
Here, what is mindfulness, the truth about mindfulness? The word mindfulness means this alertness of the mind, the mind in its state of awareness of itself. So, there is great beauty in the real, experiential understanding of this awareness of approaching yourself, about who you are or about what you represent yourself to be at this moment. Here together we are watching a playlist about learning about Self-awareness.
Our emphasis here is to discover the difference between learning and merely acquiring information, knowledge and experience. So, you acquire information, knowledge and experience, and act based on this information, experience and knowledge. The real way to learn is not something like this, it is not something mechanical. This is the way the brain naturally acquires knowledge, experience and the ability to deal with life's issues.
Yes, this has real importance within this context of life as we know it, but there is a new way of learning that does not consist of accumulating information or acquiring knowledge. This way of learning requires the awareness of this moment, of what is here and now. Looking at what is showing itself at this moment.
Something new happens inside you when the brain quiets down, when the mind becomes aware of its own movement, when it simply becomes aware of this movement that it has. When there is this awareness of the movement of the mind, once the mind is aware of its own movement at that moment, it becomes still, it becomes silent. At that moment, you are in a new state, which is the state of Attention to your reactions. So, this is a moment of alertness, a moment of mindfulness.
You are walking down the street, you are talking to someone, you are watching a movie, you are having lunch, dinner or a snack and at that moment, at that instant, there is only that moment for this awareness of yourself, so the mind becomes aware of itself at that moment. Everything continues to happen, but there is no psychological, internal, inner involvement within the experience. At this moment, there is a break in the continuity of this movement, which is the movement of the past. This movement of the past in us is a movement of the “I” in us, of this “me.”
Your evaluation, notice, is based on criteria that you carry, that you have. These criteria are based on memory, and this makes you have conclusions about what happens, conclusions about the moment, evaluations about it. And if this is present, the state is the common state of the mind stuck in the old and ancient movement of continuity. We have just put here, in different words, our psychological condition of ego identity.
Why is anxiety present, fear present, worry present? Why is guilt present, regret present, sadness present or this so-called joy, this euphoric thing due to the fact of remembering having just received a gift? Why is this present, why do we have these states? We have these states because the psychological condition of functioning in us is the condition oriented by the movement of thought.
Since thought is nothing other than a movement that comes from the past, forming images, pictures of pleasure and pain, you are always as a someone, someone in time, someone in this moment. This is how we are someone, and this sense of someone is the continuity of a psychological condition guided by this movement of past, present and future. Thus, there is no awareness of this moment.
Note how simple and at the same time very complex all of this is. There is a simplicity in the statement here, but there is also a complexity of understanding here, because psychologically our way of approaching these subjects is quite complicated. Life is now, here, totally here, and yet we are subjectively stuck to a psychological pattern of existence in time.
This is how human beings work: either they are in the past or they are in the future, due to the movement of thought itself and everything it represents when it arrives; because thought carries sensations, it carries the story linked to feelings, emotions, pleasure, pain, and our psychological life is within this condition. And why are we living like this? We are living like this because we are living in this sense of separation, in this mental conditioning, in this way of being someone separate from life, from the totality of life, alienated from this moment.
So, life is happening here, at this moment, and yet our way of approaching this moment is from the past, it is from what was, of what will be. We are always between the past and the future. Here we are with you working on learning about Self-awareness, on uncovering this psychological condition for something new, for something unknown, for something possible in this life and that some have already verified, which is the awareness of Divine Truth.
So, learning about ourselves, studying each one of us, studying ourselves, when this is present, in this contact with the other, in this study of oneself, we are facing a moment of revelation, of understanding how the other works, once we understand how the mind works. Our psychological condition is one of disorder and, therefore, of suffering, because we are living a life centered on the ego.
So, an approach to what is true Mindfulness and what true Full Attention, this means looking at each one of us at this moment. Just looking, bringing all this energy of Attention to this moment. Thus, we abandon this internal psychological dispersion, of orientation towards the time pattern “I am not, but I will be,” “I do not have, but I will have,” “I cannot, but one day I will be able to, I will achieve.” As long as this movement exists within us, there will be no awareness of life in this moment, of what it reveals here and now.
What we have recommended here for you is: become aware of this moment, become aware of your reactions. This does not require any technique, practice or effort. When there is a real interest in studying oneself, in self-observation, this occurs naturally, this happens. When you speak or when a thought is present or a feeling arises, it arises in that moment. We are never dealing with the past, we are only dealing with the moment.
Thought has a model of representation of history, that means, of what was; the model of thought does not deal with what is, but rather with what was. So, one of the most complicated things about human beings is precisely trusting in thought, because thought does not deal with reality, it deals with speculation: it speculates about the future, it interprets the present and it guides this interpretation of the present and this speculation about the future based on the past, but the past is just history, memory, something dead.
So, notice how interesting this way of functioning we have is, our life, based on thought, is grounded in something that has already happened. We are constantly, due to inattention, which is the lack of awareness of this moment, of what is happening here and now, vivifying that which is no longer, that which is not real. The past is something dead, but it receives life due to this inattention present in all of us.
The point here is that we have been conditioned, educated, programmed to continue the movement of the past, which is the movement of the “I.” This feeling, thought and sensation of being someone present in you is present due to the past. Here, this moment reveals life without the “I,” but thought interprets this revelation and places a present identity, an element that comes from the past.
So, we are constantly sustaining time that thought constructs: “I am not happy, but I will be happy,” “I have no peace, but I will have peace,” “there is no joy, but I will find joy,“ one day I will achieve love.” We are always looking to the future, comparing what is here with what will come, with what will be. This is how thought works, comparing what is here or what is not here with what was. So, we live within this psychological condition of lack of awareness of being.
So, what does it mean to have an approach to life as it is? It is to abandon the illusion of the idea of someone present. The idea of being present in this moment is a thought about yourself. You identify with the body, you identify with the mind, you identify with history, with all the memory, with all the past and, thus, you place a present identity here.
When you look at someone, if they are a known person, you see them from the perspective of thought, you treat them from the perspective of thought, you feel about them from the perspective of thought. So, what do you have about them? Absolutely nothing, just a projection of your own ego. This is how our relationships with the world around us, with the people around us, this is how our relationships with ourselves are.
The various psychological conditions present in human beings, in their relationship with themselves, in a mistaken way, as occurs due to the presence of the past, which is thought, which is this model of self-image that they have, puts them in situations of emotional disorder, mental suffering, and conflicting states. Here with you we are working on ending suffering, ending this illusion, this sense of “I” that sees itself as separate from life.
So, a new mind is necessary, so a new mind is something fundamental, a new way of perceiving, listening, feeling, acting, moving in life. Discarding this sense of “I,” this illusion of ego-identity is the end of this egoic mind. So, at this moment, there is Something beyond the mind, the presence of Something that is beyond the known, which reveals itself only when we have put an end to this illusion of this old condition, which is the condition of the ego.
Here in these meetings, we are working with you exactly on that. On Saturday and Sunday, we have meetings, they are our online meetings. So, through questions, answers and within contact with this self-investigation – what Ramana Maharshi called Atma Vichara – we are working here with you, on this channel, to get closer to Atma Vichara, this self-observation, this look at this whole movement of the “I,” this disposition for the revelation of Self-awareness. So, we are together on Saturday and Sunday. Here in the video description, you can find our WhatsApp link to participate in these online meetings on the weekends.
In addition, we have in-person meetings and also retreats. If what you just heard makes sense to you, here is the invitation. Leave your “like” here and subscribe to the channel. If you have already been watching these videos and have not yet subscribed, here is the opportunity, and take advantage and leave here in the comments: “Yes, that makes sense.” Ok? And we will see you. Thanks for the meeting and see you soon!
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