GC: Hello, everyone! We are here for another videocast; Master Gualberto is here with us again. Thank you, Master, for being here. Today I am going to read an excerpt from Joel Goldsmith's book called "Leave Your Nets." Master, in an excerpt from this book, Joel Goldsmith makes the following comment: "Grace and peace are here and now, but only when you withdraw your attention from what is already manifested in the world and give up trying to divide it." In this excerpt, Joel mentions attention. Can the Master share his vision on what attention is?
MG: Gilson, this expression "attention," notice, is something very, very important within the context of this work of Awakening, since it is the presence of this attention that reveals the Truth about Self-Awareness. If there is a fundamental element in this comprehension, in this vision, in this clarification about who we are, of who we are - which is the presence of Self-Awareness, which is the presence of this clarity about ourselves - one of the essential elements in Self-Awareness is this attention. Here we are dealing with full attention, perfect attention. It cannot be divided, if it is divided, it is not full attention.
Some people have an expression for this full attention: it is "mindfulness." But notice, this has been misunderstood by most people because they look at this issue of attention, this full attention, as an element or a tool for objectives within the "I" itself, within the ego itself. So, it is not the Truth of the revelation of the "I," it is not something within this awareness of Self-Knowledge. It is something that people interpret as a tool, an element to use for objectives within the movement of the "I" itself. The idea is for the person to find results from a technique called mindfulness.
Another word linked to this confusion is "self-awareness." Here, within this misunderstanding, it is about knowing our temperament, our way of dealing with others, learning to relate to others based on knowledge of who we are, but in the idea of knowing someone, in order to change, alter, improve as a person. So, these are two terms that we use here, fundamental, once their meaning is clearly understood for the Awakening of Consciousness, for the Realization of God. And yet, people are using these terms within a mistaken vision, as models or principles of techniques to improve as people, to self-improvement.
So, what is the truth of this attention? The truth of attention is what brings you closer to this observation without the "I," this observation without the observer. See, we are faced with something very, very natural; a child, even when still very young, makes use of this full attention. Note, there is no technique, no practice, no exercise that has been taught to them to make evident this awareness of looking without the "I." The interest of a child in looking at the trees, at the birds, at that green grass where the ants are walking, see, this is an interest in the child and it is an interest in each one of us. Even as adults, we continue to use this awareness of looking without the "I" in a spontaneous and natural way.
When you are in nature, your moment of encounter with nature, of connection with nature, occurs for a few seconds, but these are the seconds in which thoughts are not present, where emotions or feelings are not present. When we encounter nature, we have the presence of looking without the observer. We all know what this is. We love being in new places, because in new places you look without interpreting from a background, you look from a natural curiosity. This interest in looking puts you in an internal state of Stillness, Silence, and Peace. Because of this attention, the word "mindfulness" means the alert mind. And attention is nothing else, it is the alert mind. When the mind is alert, it has no thoughts, there is only the awareness of noticing the sound of the bird singing, the dance of those leaves on that tree, the sound of the sea with its waves. At that moment, you are in full attention.
Notice, there was no exercise, practice or technique. At that moment you are in this looking, in this observing. Therefore, this looking at yourself without reacting to what you observe is the true approach to this full attention of Self-Awareness. In life, we need to learn to approach, to look, to perceive life from this mindfulness. And we begin to learn about life when we begin to investigate the Truth about ourselves, when we learn to look at who we are, what we are. And this looking requires a free look of the observer.
This element in us that, based on looking, likes, dislikes, compares, judges, evaluates, names, classifies, this element in us is the observer. Our way of relating to ourselves, our way of relating to others, also to life, to events, happenings and circumstances, all of this occurs within this misunderstanding, from this observer. Our practice of living, our way of living, is from this observer; this observer is the "I," it is the ego. When this is present, there is no attention, there is no attention, that is this looking without the past.
The observer in us is the element that comes from the past. It is constantly responding to life, to what is happening here, based on the interpretation of the past. This is how we respond to life; our response to others, our response to situations, our response to ourselves, is based on this model, which is the model of the observer, which is the model of the "I." Thus, our psychological condition of life, of existence, is an existence centered on this ego-identity. The truth about this is that there is no such awareness of Truth about who we are beyond the "I," beyond the ego. Everything we know about ourselves is based on the "I," is based on the ego, is based on this psychological condition of conditioning, of thought, of evaluation, of judgment, of acceptance and rejection. This is the life of the "I."
Therefore, what is the importance of this attention? It is the importance of a look free from the past, it is the importance of paying attention to the moment, without anyone involved in it. So, the truth of the approach of attention is what facilitates this awareness of self-observation, of Self-Awareness, so that this can be realized. Thus, we have as a principle, for the Truth of Meditation, the approach of Self-Awareness; and of Self-Awareness, an approach based on this attention. An important thing about this attention: there is no effort. When one person says to another like this: "Pay attention!" see, what he or she is asking from the other is an intention or interest based on effort. Because if there was already a natural interest in him or her, you would not ask this from him or her.
This natural interest makes you pay attention, to follow that thing, to follow the subject, to be fully present in that moment. But because the person is divided between being there and another interest, we tell them: "Pay attention!" But here what we are demanding of them is concentration. Note the difference between concentration and attention. This attention is effortless, while concentration is when we are divided and need to be interested in something else, so we concentrate, but concentration is not attention. A true approach to meditation does not require concentration, it simply requires attention. See, this is also a confusion in people's minds: they don't know what Meditation is.
They try to push away thoughts or concentrate on thoughts. They want to get rid of distractions - which are the thoughts they want to push away - and they want to engage in this or that thought or mantra for concentration, to establish that thought as the basis of meditation. That is not Meditation. Meditation is that which is present when there is a complete emptying of all this content of the "I," of the ego. In the absence of thought, of the thinker, of the meditator, we have the presence of Meditation. Here, together, we are investigating this: how to have an approach to life free from the "I," free from the ego, through attention, through Self-Awareness, through Meditation.
GC: Master, we have a question from a subscriber here on the channel. Vinícius asked the following question: "How to get rid of obsessive thoughts?"
MG: So, Gilson, the question here is: "How to get rid of obsessive thoughts?" A real comprehension of this is a real comprehension of the movement of thought. How does it happen? How does it establish itself in this psychological model of existence in each of us? What is the nature of thought? How does it arise? Here the first thing is to become aware that there is no such thing as this one that is there, that can get rid of thought. What is present when obsessive thought is present is thought itself in this form of someone, which we call "I."
So, notice, illusion consists of the idea of this "I" who is thinking and who can free itself from its thoughts. The central idea is someone in control of thoughts, who can free oneself from one's thoughts. The greatest proof that this is completely illusory is that human beings cannot free themselves from these obsessive thoughts. The most we have managed to do is temporarily distract ourselves from them through a pattern of escape behavior. We can establish escape habits, patterns of escape from these thoughts, and that is what we have done. Human beings have been escaping, running away from obsessive thoughts.
Any quality of thought that is present is actually something that is present without being requested. In this sense, every type of thought is obsessive, it is a mania, it is an addiction, it is practice, it is a habit that the brain has, particularly in some people, of sustaining this addiction, this continuity of constantly reproducing thoughts. We need, Gilson, to investigate the truth about this idea, this illusion of this "I," of this thinker. So, we have to discover, first, the truth about what thought is.
Related to this, we have another question: "What is thinking?" We don't know anything about it. And we can't have a magic formula to get rid of thoughts without comprehending that this element that wants to get rid of thoughts is a fraud, an illusion. This element itself is still part of thought. The thing is that thought, in fact, comes in a block, as a whole, and when it appears it separates itself, it divides, it creates a fragment of this whole set, it separates this fragment that we call "I," "me," person, thinker.
There is only one real way to free ourselves from all the conflicts, disorders and sufferings established by thought: to become aware of the Truth about our essential Nature, which is not the thinker, the "I," the "me," the person, the ego. Otherwise, we will always find ways to temporarily escape from some level of contradiction, discomfort, conflict or suffering. This is what we are dealing with you here. You were born to realize your Being, and in your Real Nature there is no suffering.
Here, we need to get closer to Meditation, so take a look at the channel. We have a playlist about this awareness of Meditation and what this "learning about Self-Awareness" is. This is what gives us the basis for a life free from all this psychic suffering, from all this psychological suffering. We have to investigate this, to go beyond this psychological condition of disorder and suffering that thought has established in us. The good news is that you can do this, you were born to realize this.
GC: Master, we have another question from another subscriber. Elivelton asked the following question: "Master, isn't thought separate from the thinker?"
MG: So, Gilson, notice, we have another very interesting question here. And the truth about this question is that, in fact, there is no separation between thought and the thinker. Because of all this conditioning we've received from life, in this context of collective vision, of the structure of social, cultural, and educational conditioning we've received, we have the illusion of a thinker; a thinker producing thoughts. We have this illusion, the illusion of someone present within experience, being the experiencer; someone present looking, being the observer; someone present feeling, being the one who feels; someone perceiving, that someone as the perceiver.
See, we are faced with an idea, a concept, a belief. Thus, we also have the idea of thoughts from a thinker. Look at yourself and answer me this: if you were really the thinker of thoughts, would you be thinking, having bad, unpleasant thoughts, like, for example, those obsessive thoughts we talked about a moment ago? Would you be the thinker, creating thoughts of suffering, of worry, that produce fear? Note, we are saying that all of these are thoughts that come from memory, something that comes from the past.
Notice, you don't produce thoughts; they arise, they appear, and they appear because of this background that is the past, which is a memory. So, you don't think, thoughts appear because of a stimulus, a challenge. When I ask you something, you answer, but you answer based on the structure of the past. This is the structure of thought and this answer is an answer that your brain is giving. There is no thinker thinking, there is only thought being processed, happening. And an important detail: all these thoughts that arise are coming from the past. You cannot think about what you do not know, all your thoughts are within the model of the known.
This is how we think, but this "we think" is the brain functioning. It is the brain's response to this stimulus, which is the question or some scene that you see. So, we have external stimuli and internal stimuli. We are living in this condition, as human beings, without the slightest awareness of how we function. That is why we need to become aware of our reactions. That is when, in fact, we discover that this consciousness is the consciousness of the "I," it is the consciousness of the ego, it is the consciousness of this person. And this consciousness is nothing other than a content of memory, of remembrances, of recollections. That is how these responses, our responses, are. Going beyond this psychological condition of consciousness of the "I" is Liberation, it is the awareness of the Truth of your Being.
Thus, there is no such separation between thought and the thinker. Once you discover the Truth of this looking without the "I," of this perceiving without the perceiver, of this "becoming aware" without this element of the "I" involved in it, it becomes clear that the presence of thought is the presence of the thinker. And when you learn to look at this, here is the answer to the end of thought as we know it. It is when this condition of psychological disorder, called "compulsive" or "obsessive" or "negative" thoughts, vanishes.
So, our psychological condition of disorder is something that is present because of this illusion. We are holding the idea of a thinker. As long as this idea is there, thoughts are there. Free from the idea of the thinker, free from the idea, from the continuity, from the continuation of this pattern of thought as we know it, then we have a complete Liberation, a total Liberation from this disorder, from this confusion. To come closer to the reality of life at this moment, without this psychological condition, which is the condition of the "I," which is the condition of the ego, is the end of this inner condition of mental disorder, of psychological disorder. Then, we have the end of this separation and therefore of this illusion, both of the continuity of the thinker and of this pattern, which is the pattern of thought - restless, chattering, obsessive, possessive, of worry, that holds fears, conflicts of desires and all sorts of things. Thus, the real vision of life is Liberation, is the awareness of your Being, is the awareness of God.
GC: Thank you, Master, our time is up now. Thank you for this videocast. And for those of you who are watching the videocast until the end and have a real and sincere desire to experience these Truths, we invite you to participate in the intensive meetings that Master Gualberto offers. There are online meetings and there are also in-person meetings and retreats. In these meetings, Master Gualberto answers our questions directly, and much more than that. Because he already lives in this Awakened State of Consciousness, he shares this state of Presence that he lives in, and in this sharing, we end up carried along by this Energy and this Power. And this is an incredible facilitator for studying ourselves, for being able to observe our mind and have a vision of what is beyond comprehension, beyond intellectual understanding.
So, here's the invitation. In the first pinned comment, there's the WhatsApp link to participate in these meetings. Also, go ahead, give a "like" to the video, subscribe to the channel and leave a comment here with questions, so we can bring them to the next videocasts. And once again, thank you Master!
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