GC: Hello, everyone! We are here for another videocast. Once again, Master Gualberto is here with us. Thank you, Master, for being here. Master, today I am going to read an excerpt from a book by Joel Goldsmith called "Leave Your Nets." In an excerpt from this book, Master, Joel Goldsmith makes the following comment: "Yes, I know it sounds selfish, but we don't have much to offer this world until we have some proof of the fruit of these principles." Master, in this excerpt, Joel comments on selfishness. Can the Master share his vision of what ego is?
MG: Gilson, the ego is this element that sees itself present as the author of actions, the author of experiences, being the experiencer of these experiences. It is this element that sees itself present as the thinker of thoughts, the one who, in emotion, is someone present in emotion. In this feeling, it is someone present in this feeling. Therefore, the ego is basically the idea of ??someone present. This feeling of being a person, this sensation of being a person, this thought of person, present within us, is the presence of an illusory identity that sees itself within life being this entity - this "I," this "me" - the most important element in this context, in the context of its experiences, thoughts, emotions, and actions. This ends up leading us to a condition of existence, of life, where the sense of this "I" is the most important element in this context.
Thus, we are constantly moving through life from this center, this element that is surrounded by things, people, experiences, and situations that are happening. This center is an artificial center that is present, created by thought, sustained by a set of beliefs, opinions, ideas, and concepts. And we are constantly reaffirming the life of this "I," the life of this "person," this "me," this illusory identity. And we do this because of the presence of ignorance. We live in an ignorant way. We ignore the Truth about ourselves. We are not aware of who we are in this contact with the present moment, in this contact with life happening. Thus, this internal condition of ignorance, of illusion, sustains for each of us an existence in separation.
There is the presence of life and there is the presence of someone. When you look at nature, you perceive the presence of the duality of nature. There is the positive and the negative, the masculine and the feminine. There is birth and death, light and darkness. But what is the reason for this internal duality in us? Why is there the presence of this psychological separation present in us - which is the idea of ??this "I" and the "not I," of this someone present and the world out there? Why do we live psychologically in duality, between violence and non-violence, love and hate, pleasure and pain, happiness and unhappiness, attachment and detachment, desire and fear? What is behind this internal condition in which we find ourselves? What is present is the lack of comprehension, the lack of vision, the lack of direct perception of this present element that sustains this condition. This element is the ego.
So, when you ask: "What is ego?"... The ego is this "me," this "person," this sense of someone present, looking at the experience from a mask. Something we have addressed here with you is this. Note that the word "person" comes from "persona," as does the word "personality." And the persona were those masks that were used in theaters in Ancient Greece. So, in the past, in a play, the actors would enter wearing a mask. This mask was the persona. The word person and the word personality come from this persona, which is this mask. We have a way of dealing with life, of dealing with others, of dealing with ourselves: it is from a mask, from an idea that we have about who we are, about who the other is, about what life represents. All of this is seen from this perspective. This perspective is the perspective of the "I," of the ego, of this "me," of this persona, of this person.
The encounter with Divine Reality is the discarding of this mask. It is the discarding of this psychological condition, of this idea of ??someone present: someone in thought, someone in feeling, someone in action, someone in interaction with the present moment. This "someone" does not exist. We are faced with a psychological condition, constructed by thought. In this sense, this is what we are. So, yes, every response we are giving to life, from this psychological condition, is very real, but it is in this condition, in a condition of ignorance. So, every disturbance, confusion, disorder, suffering in our lives, is something present, because our life is the particular life of this center, which moves in an egocentric, personal, particular, self-interested way. This is the intention of the person, of this "me."
This contact with life without the presence of this separation is life revealing itself, without the person. It is life itself assuming its own space. In this space where life is, there is no conflict, no contradiction, no disorder, no confusion. It is in the idea of ??being someone, it is in the attitude of being someone, it is in the model of the person, of this "me," of this someone, that problem, the problem of life, is present. This is the problem of the "I"! Life is Beauty, it is Love, it is Freedom, it is Happiness, life is completeness, not the life that thought knows, that we know in this personal consciousness.
I refer to Real Life, Divine Life, the True Life of this Being - this is the Life of God. It is what we are together, here, deepening, comprehending, clarifying, becoming aware of for ourselves, in a direct way. It is not listening to these speeches, listening to these words and intellectualizing about them, forming new beliefs, adding to the beliefs that you already have these new beliefs that you believe you are receiving here. It is not a belief, it is something to be seen, and when it is seen, it is a fact, it is a reality. It is not an idea to be put into action in the future. There is no such thing as that future.
We cannot continue to live our lives based on ideas. Life is Real when we are free in living, in life itself. We do not need ideas, we need comprehension, vision, clarity, God-Realization, which is what we are working on here with you. This is the end of the "I." This is the end of the ego.
GC: Master, we have a question from a subscriber here on the channel. Rony asks the following question: "Master, is the practice of self-observation the best way to get rid of the ego?"
MG: Gilson, the truth of approaching this look at oneself is to become aware of what is present here. Learning to listen, to look, to perceive, without someone present interfering in it, involved with it, wanting to modify, transform, do something with it, is the approach to Self-awareness. The basis for Self-awareness - yes, in Self-awareness we have a clear need for this look, which is self-observation. Self-observation is the basis for this Self-awareness, but it is the truth of Self-awareness that brings clarity to what is present here, without any idea of ??how to modify or transform it into something else. Thus, the basis for this Awakening, for this Realization, is the comprehension of ourselves, which is Self-awareness.
Self-observation is something that gives you the basis for this attention to your reactions. Therefore, there are several elements involved in direct work towards this Awakening. In general, people use the expression "self-observation" or "observing oneself" in a mistaken way. It is not about someone present observing oneself. There is a way to get closer to this look at this moment, to listen, to perceive. And the only real way to do this is by bringing attention to our reactions. An attention that, when present, places you before this moment, without this element that is the "I."
When there is the presence of this attention, there is no separation between the observer and what he is seeing. There is no separation between the one who is present in this hearing of the sound - there is the presence of the sound. There is the presence of listening, but there is no separation between the one who listens and the sound that is being heard. Listening reveals the sound, looking reveals the vision, there is no one in it - this is the presence of attention. It does require this looking at ourselves. But it is not just looking at ourselves, it is learning to look at what is present here and now. There is no separation between the one on the outside and the one who is inside. This psychological separation is an illusion! So, it is about this "looking." You start to notice these reactions, the gestures, the tone of voice, the speech. whatever is present here, as well as the actions, whatever is arising here, that which is present, coming from you, coming from the other, arising as life, everything here needs to be seen without the "I," in this looking. This is the presence of Meditation.
When Meditation is present, there is a look without choice, a perception without separation between what perceives and what is being perceived. There is a verification in life. There is a perception of the moment. Thus, all of this is part of this encounter with the awareness of this Being, with the comprehension of life, with the vision of the moment. There is no one present in this moment, there is no one present in life. There is no one present in the answers being given, in comprehension happening, in action arising. Everything is present as life, being life. Thus, the real form of this approach to ourselves requires a new vision of these reactions that arise in this moment.
We cannot have a formula as we wish. Some think that meditation is the path to Enlightenment; others may think that self-investigation is the path to Enlightenment; others may think that self-observation is the path to Enlightenment. You see, we cannot particularize these expressions without comprehending the context in which they are found. All of this is part of the work of this Awakening, but it does not specify a technique, a system, a method, because we will be faced with an illusion, a belief, a suggestion still given by thought.
The fundamental element in this Awakening continues to be the mysterious, indescribable presence of Divine Grace. All the work that occurs, that happens within this Awakening process, is not the determining element. The determining element for this Flourishing is the power of this Grace, it is the power of this Divine Presence. This is what makes the Awareness of God possible, it is the Presence of God Himself. It is not the idea, it is not the belief, it is not the image that we call "God." We are talking about the Reality of this Mystery. We can have beliefs, ideas, images about God, but that is not what we are dealing with here. We are talking about this Mystery, this indescribable, unnameable Reality that, when present, does everything. So, approaching this work is allowing this Reality to find Its space and do this work here in this body, in this mind.
GC: Master, we have another question from another subscriber here on the channel. Guilherme asks the following question: "Master, how can we abandon what we are still attached to?"
MG: Gilson, this is another very interesting point. We have ideas, we have ideals, we have purposes, objectives. Tired of purposes and objectives and material achievements, the time comes when we turn to fulfilling these ideals, objectives and purposes that are so-called "spiritual." And we end up learning many things. This learning, as we know it, is acquiring knowledge of things. And we end up acquiring this knowledge, in this old learning about spiritual life, that we need to free ourselves from our attachments. But what is the reality of attachment? Why do we need an ideal to free ourselves from attachment?
Some have the ideal of freeing themselves from attachments. This or that thing or those things to which they feel attached. So, "I need to free myself from my attachments." This is the ideal of detachment to keep turning toward greater detachment and becoming someone detached. You do not need to get rid of your attachments, you need to become aware of the illusion of this present element, which sees itself as attached and which may also see itself, in a little while, as detached. This separation between what I am attached to and what I am not attached to, this separation is being created by this present element in us, which is the person, the "me," the "I."
In this format of thinking, we have attachments and we have detachments, but we do not investigate the nature of the "I." Your problem is not your problem; your problem is not your attachment. The absence of detachment, that is not your problem. Your problem is the presence of this "I." As long as we are placing our lives in the idea of ??someone present in life, this life of ours, this particular life, is the particular illusory life of a present identity. Whether this person recognizes his attachments or recognizes his detachments, he will still continue in the illusion of existing as someone, being the center of his experiences, of his responses to life, to himself, to others, to the world.
This is where we run into the problem: the problem is not the things you have. The problem is the idea that you exist having things. It is someone present having things. It is someone present existing as someone. It is not about letting go of objects, but about letting go of the "I," this ego, this person. The real letting go of the ego, the real letting go of the "I," consists in the comprehension of the nature, the structure of that which represents this person. This requires Self-awareness.
There is a huge branch coming into your yard. It comes from your neighbor's tree - he has a huge tree and he has a branch going into your yard. So, the leaves come and they fall into your yard. You are always cleaning your yard, removing the leaves, but the leaves keep coming from that branch of the tree that is in your neighbor's yard. That branch extends over the wall, goes over your wall and the leaves fall into your yard. And you are always cleaning those leaves, and you look up and there is the branch always producing leaves. So, we want to get rid of these leaves: by cleaning the yard. There is no way to get rid of these leaves in a real way, you will not get rid of these leaves by cleaning your yard. It is something provisional, it is something temporary. You clean it and in a little while the leaves are there again. Unless you get rid of that branch, which is coming from your neighbor's tree and is crossing over your wall into your yard, you will always have leaves in your yard.
So, we are looking for palliative, secondary solutions to primary problems, to fundamental problems. The problem is the presence of an identity here and now, an illusory identity, the sense of someone, who sees himself as having things, possessing things, controlling things. It is the end of the "I," it is the end of the ego, it is the end of problems.
GC: Thank you, Master, our time is now over. Thank you for this videocast. And for those of you who are following the videocast until the end and have this desire to truly live these truths, we invite you to participate in the intensive meetings that Master Gualberto shares. In these meetings, which are online weekend meetings - there are also in-person meetings and multi-day retreats... In these meetings, Master Gualberto, in addition to answering our questions directly, shares this State of Presence in which He lives, and in this sharing there is a field of energy, of Power and Grace. And we are carried by Master's energy, and, by being carried along with, naturally and spontaneously, we enter a state of Meditation, we quiet our minds, and we can have a vision of what is beyond intellectual understanding.
So, here is the invitation: in the first comment, pinned, there is the WhatsApp link to be able to participate in these meetings. In addition, give a "like" the video, subscribe to the channel, and leave comments here with other questions for us to bring to the next videocasts. And once again, Master, thanks for the videocast.
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