What is fundamental in life is the understanding of how this entire process of relationship happens. Observe that life is nothing other than contacts. Contacts imply the presence of relationships.
Notice that you are in a very intimate, close, and direct relationship with yourself. It is a relationship so close and intimate that you cannot escape it. Observe that when you are experiencing some level of suffering, emotional disorder, internal complication, or psychological distress, all you want is to free yourself from that condition.
But notice-this is a condition within you. It is with yourself. So, there is a very close, particular, and intimate relationship with your own thoughts.
Take note that it is the thoughts present within you that are causing this pain, this discomfort, sustaining this state of suffering. So, there is a relationship with yourself.
And we do not know how to deal with this because we do not know how to deal with thought. The awareness of this entire process of relationship requires an understanding of how thought has established itself within us. As a rule, in general, it guides our internal states-both emotional, where these emotions lead us to actions, and intellectual, where they lead us to respond adequately or inadequately to a given situation that requires the presence of logical, clear, and intelligent thought.
We do not have this because, in truth, we do not know how to deal with ourselves. We do not know how to deal with thoughts. So here, the question is: what is thought? Why do we need this awareness of thought? Because without awareness of thought, we have no vision of what thinking and feeling are within us.
As we have just stated, we do not know how to handle situations that require a precise, intelligent intellect capable of providing an intellectual or logical response in an accurate manner. We need this awareness of thinking because we need to have contact with what is happening within each of us-to the point of not suffering from these psychological conditions that conflicting emotions and feelings represent.
So, what is the truth about thought? What is the truth about thinking? What is thinking? What is feeling? What is acting? What is moving through life in response to both intellectual and emotional matters-within this relationship with ourselves, this relationship with others, this relationship with life? How can we deal with all of this without a complete understanding of how we function, of how we process all of this?
The truth about thought is that thought within us has been and continues to be the foundation of life as we know it. Everything you have ever accomplished in life has been achieved through thought. Every decision you have made has come from thought. Every action that has taken place in your life has been guided by thought.
Even non-decisions-this inaction-have also arisen due to the presence of thought or the absence of clear thinking, of simple, direct, objective, and intelligent thinking.
When we look at this entire internal movement within each of us, we have called this the mind. This mind, as we know it, is the foundation of this consciousness present in us. And we do not know how to deal with it.
We do not know how to situate ourselves in life as it happens when the only guidance we have is the direction provided by thought in the way it currently operates. This internal restlessness does not resolve itself, this fear does not resolve itself, the present anxiety, the present depression, the present worry-this internal chatter created by thought and sustained within us due to this lack of awareness.
All of this is what we know as part of this mind, this consciousness. Can we discover within ourselves a quiet brain, a silent mind, a precision of thought-where thought moves intelligently, surgically, and precisely, only emerging when necessary, instead of being constantly entangled in this internal chatter and restlessness, as is usually the case?
Observe that the psychological condition of human beings is one of repetitive, obsessive, compulsive thoughts.
Our feelings and emotions are laden with memories of the past, constantly creating internal states.
What would be the truth of life happening in direct relationship with it, without this background noise, without this restlessness? That is what we are investigating here with you.
We need, in life, to look at it without thought. Notice that when you are in contact with people, your contact is not truly with him or her. It is only the contact that thought has in you about him or her.
Your contact with events in life is generally personalized through this "me," through this "I."
This personalization is how the brain has functioned within us. Here, we are telling you that all this psychological malfunctioning present within us is due to the fact that we are living with a mind operating within a pattern, a format, a specific way of functioning-something we have carried with us since childhood. This is the pattern of the conditioned mind.
We have a conditioned mind, a conditioned brain, a conditioned intellect, a conditioned response to life.
Here, life includes our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with others, our relationship with events and situations. We have a conditioned response to life.
Can we go beyond this conditioned mind, this conditioned intellect, this conditioned brain, this conditioned thought?
We have just given you an example. Every response you have to your spouse comes from intelligence-and the presence of intelligence requires a brain free from the past.
Notice this.
Free from these reactions of memory. These memory reactions are the moments of pleasure and pain you have lived through with him or her.
This is how we are responding all the time within this context of relationship with him or her.
So, our brain is conditioned to provide responses of this nature in this context of relationship. And if this happens, confusion, suffering, and some level of contradiction are established in the relationship. You say something, and this statement comes from this background.
This is the response of the "I," the response of this "me," of this ego.
The ego is composed of thoughts, memories, and recollections of experiences stored within you that have not been concluded.
If you are upset, if you are irritated, that response comes from the past.
If you feel pleasure or fulfillment in this contact with him or her, it is due to past experiences-unfinished experiences.
We need to explore this issue of experiences recorded within each of us. Because these experiences are recorded within us due to the fact that they have not been completed.
They do not end when they happen.
We-this sense of "I," of ego, of this conditioned mind-record them and use these recordings in the next opportunity, in this next contact with him or her.
Take note of what we are pointing out to you: everything we have within our relationships is the past-it is the continuation of an experience that has not been completed.
We do not have contact with life as it happens in this moment.
What we have is contact with life from this background of records, of memory, of experiences that have not been completed.
This is the "I," this is the ego.
Can we encounter life in this instant, without the past, without this background, without this "me"?
The encounter with life, in this instant, is the encounter with the awareness of your own Self.
Here, with you, we are working on this art of meditation-the art of approaching life, the art of approaching freedom, the art of approaching intelligence, the art of approaching the presence of love in the context of relationships. This is the answer to the question: what is meditation? Meditation is the encounter with freedom, the encounter with happiness, the encounter with love. It is the possible encounter in the absence of this conditioned mind, in the absence of this background of egoic conditioning, of this illusion of the "I."
As long as this sense of being someone remains in this contact with him or her, self-centeredness will be present-this sense of a conditioned mind, of a pattern of behavior, speech, action, feeling, and thinking about the other based on the past, based on this old structure of the "I."
I do not know if this is clear to you or if it is very confusing. But it is possible that a first approach to this subject may seem very, very strange. So, have a little patience to follow along.
At first, we do not have a brain capable of investigating this, because all our training has been the training of this thinking standardized by culture, by society, where this very pattern of thought remains unexamined, unseen, unperceived. Thus, together here, we are with you, deepening this, discovering what this free mind is, what this mind is where this conditioned, programmed, repetitive, and continuous way of sustaining itself is no longer present.
A direct gaze at this moment, a direct perception of this instant, in this contact with the other, without the image that comes from the past, without that unfinished experience that we are carrying from the past-this is a contact of a different order, of a different kind.
When you hurt me, upset me, offend me, sadden me-I hold on to it. Our interactions, at this level of standardized mind, of conditioned mind, work this way.
We are constantly being wounded, hurt, offended. We are constantly wounding the other, hurting, annoying, upsetting the other. And they hold on to it, they keep it, they register it about us.
And we register it about them. So, what is present is a brain that is constantly recording, photographing. The brain is constantly being wounded, hurt, offended, storing it all.
So, the brain is conditioned. This entire psychological movement of memories and recollections is what we call the mind within us. This mind, then, is conditioned.
This is what meets the other the next time. It is this conditioning. See how important it is to understand this.
When I meet you, this "I" is nothing other than this resentment, this annoyance, this frustration, this hurt. When I meet you, we are facing an experience that has not been concluded.
See, we are doing this all the time. So, whether a relationship contains pleasure or suffering, the process is the same.
When I meet you, I like you because the last time I saw you, you praised me, you gave me credit, you honored me.
You psychologically fulfilled a lack, a need. So, I like you, and vice versa.
Then, in our next meetings, these meetings between us are of this nature. We live in this "I," this "me," this ego, in experiences that have not been concluded.
We always live in a psychological dependence on pleasure in relationships.
We always live in this psychological dependence on pain within relationships. This is how interactions between people happen.
Can we discover life as it is, without this psychological background of a conditioned brain, of a conditioned mind, responding to this moment free from the past?
Can I look at him or her without this background? Can we, at this moment, allow every experience to conclude, so that we do not carry it with us, so that there is no record?
So that, in the next encounter, we are before something new-which is life happening in this instant-before him or her, seeing him, seeing her for the first time?
Can I meet this moment without the illusion of an identity that evaluates, judges, compares, that colors this moment based on this structure of record, of past, of memory?
Thus, the truth of meditation is the encounter with this art of being.
What is the reality of the art of meditation?
It is the art of responding to this instant without the background. A response to him or her without the past.
Try this.
Do not carry the flattery, the praise, the applause, the acceptance of the other.
Try not to carry this.
Do not place the sense of this "I," this "me," within this experience, because in doing so, naturally, the entire programming of the brain is to register, once again, to maintain the continuity of this conditioning.
The brain registers.
This sense of "I," of ego, does this in search of security.
Can we let go of this security and, therefore, this conditioning, so as not to register?
Not to register the pleasant moment.
Allow this moment to end.
See, encountering the end of this moment, from a psychological perspective, is an encounter with death.
This encounter with the death of the continuity of the "I," of continuity, of conditioning, is an encounter with life.
Thus, we can eliminate both the pleasure and the pain, from a psychological standpoint, that the other gives me, that the other brings me.
Thus, we have an approach to life as it happens.
And it happens and ends.
There is no record.
There is no continuation of the past.
This is the end of the ego.
This is the end of the "I," here.
Can we realize this in this life?
The realization of this is the encounter with the awareness of meditation. With the art of meditation.
Perceive the beauty of what we are presenting to you.
Allowing each moment to end, each experience to conclude.
If this happens, the experiencer does not remain, the "I" does not remain, the ego does not remain.
Can we listen free from the past, look free from the past, speak with him or her free from the past?
Can we meet this moment here, allowing it to be what it truly is?
A moment without the past.
Everything we have lived so far in life is the continuation of the "I," the continuation of the ego, the continuation of the past.
We have not had an encounter with this moment free from the past, because we are cultivating memory, recollection, the structure of this conditioning of human culture and this conditioning of particular perception from this programmed, conditioned brain.
The beauty of this encounter with this instant is the divine truth revealing itself in this contact with life without the past.
Life is the reality that is present here and now.
And it becomes present when there is death to the continuity of the "I."
Death to the continuity of this psychological memory, which is the memory of this ego-identity.
Why is it that people are afraid? Why do people carry fear? Why do people carry worries? Why do they carry insecurity in contact with others, with life, with everything that happens?
Because they carry this background of mental conditioning, this conditioned mind.
The encounter with the reality of life is an encounter with the awareness, with the art of meditation.
This is present when the "I" is not.
Perhaps you ask: how is this realized?
It is realized when you learn about yourself-how to observe your reactions, how to become aware of how you function in this contact with yourself, with others, and with life.
Therefore, the foundation of meditation is not a reserved hour, not a silent place, not music to relax.
The foundation consists of observing your reactions, of being aware of how you psychologically function in this moment, in this encounter with life as it happens.
Thus, Self-awareness is the foundation, it is what gives us the structure for the awareness of this blossoming of the art of meditation.
And meditation is this awareness that reveals the truth of this moment, which is the divine truth, which is the truth of your Being.
Here, in these weekend meetings, we are working on this together. So, we have Saturday and Sunday together-two days.
This is an invitation for you. You can find the link in the video description, along with our WhatsApp contact, to join these online meetings on the weekends. In addition to these, we also have in-person gatherings and retreats.
So, if this resonates with you, go ahead and leave a like, subscribe to the channel, and comment below: "Yes, this makes sense." Okay? See you soon. Thanks for joining us, and until next time!
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