GC: Hello everyone, we're here for another videocast. Master Gualberto is here with us again. Thank you, Master, for being here. Master, today I'm going to read an excerpt from a book by Joel Goldsmith called "Practicing the Presence." In an excerpt from this book, Master, Joel makes the following comment: "Do not seek harmony or health; not even God. They cannot be found, they already are. Be still." In this excerpt, Joel speaks of the futility of seeking what already is. On this subject, can you share your perspective on what Self-awareness is?
MG: Gilson, Self-awareness is the comprehension of oneself. We don't have any comprehension of who we are, of what we are here, at this moment. We are constantly expressing ourselves, expressing who we are, but we are not aware of it. Thought within you, for example, is something that is processed unconsciously, just like feelings and emotions. We are not aware of how thought is processed within us. We have thoughts, but we don't know what thought is.
We also have feelings connected to thoughts. Therefore, feelings arise due to the presence of thoughts and sensations that have arisen. This process also triggers emotions, and we are unaware of this. The fact is, we don't know the truth about who we are, about what we appear to be, what we show ourselves to be. We lack a vision of ourselves. The absence of this vision places us in a movement of separation in life. The presence of the mind within us separates itself from the present moment. The experiencer and experience separate themselves. Thought and the thinker separate themselves. The truth about this is that, in this context, we are living in ignorance.
Self-awareness is clarity, the truth about this. And when there is this foundation, something emerges; something beyond this unconsciousness. This entire process within us is the presence of unconsciousness. The presence of the mind, as it occurs, as it happens, is in unconsciousness. We have divided the mind into conscious and unconscious. The most contact we have with here on the surface is the conscious layer, and what we have least contact with are the deeper, hidden ones of memory... The presence of memory is the presence of this mind, this consciousness. Both the superficial layer, which we call "conscious," and the deeper layers of memory, which we call the "unconscious" mind within us, all of this occurs unconsciously.
We are unaware of the truth about the mind, about the consciousness we recognize as present within us. Therefore, learning about ourselves, exploring, investigating, deepening this vision of the truth of how we function, opens up the door to liberation from confusion, suffering, disorder, and problems that are present in our lives. We need clarity. All our relations with people, before we have clarity about who we are, show to be confusion. We cannot comprehend others without first comprehending ourselves. We cannot comprehend life as it unfolds without first comprehending who we are. We see ourselves as a separate element from life, due to ignorance, a lack of comprehension of the truth about ourselves. We see ourselves as separate from each other. This is within ignorance, the illusion of this particular vision. This is how we live our days: in ignorance, in the illusion of the person.
What is the truth about the "I"? What is the truth about this "me," the person that "I" am? The descriptions I have of who "I" am are the memories and remembrances of what "I" know about myself. But what "I" know about myself is only the presence of knowledge being reported, put into words. Knowledge is the presence of ideas, of thoughts present in this brain, in this mind. But what are thoughts? What are these memories? What are these remembrances? They do not portray the reality of who "I am." They present an idea of ??what "I believe I am," "I imagine I am."
The importance of knowing oneself, the importance of Self-awareness, is to have a vision of yourself so that the Real Truth can reveal itself. Because the truth we have is not real; it is the truth constructed by thought, established by a set of beliefs. This is what we demonstrate, this is what we appear to be, this is what we live, being someone. But there is no such thing as "someone." This "someone" is an illusion.
Why are we concerned with this study here? Because without this study, there is no Truth in our relations. And life occurs constantly within relations: our relations with people, our relations with situations, with events, with happenings, our relations with ourselves... We don't know the truth about relations. We lack the awareness of Divine Truth. See the importance of this: what is most important in life is the Awareness of God. We have beliefs, concepts, theories. We have what religion has given us about God, but there is no Truth about Divine Reality, about That which is eternal, about That which is present here, beyond this dream of human existence, of personal existence.
Self-awareness gives us this foundation for the flourishing of this Divine Vision, this Intelligence, this True Perception of Life, of Reality; of the Reality of this Being, of the Reality of That which We Are. The Truth of your Natural, Real State of Being-not this common state of being someone, which is an illusion-is what we are delving into here with you, based on the presence of Self-awareness and true contact with the Awareness of Meditation, which is part of Self-awareness.
GC: Master, we have a question from a subscriber here on the channel. Vanessa made the following comment: "Master, I spend my life seeking to be a better, more spiritual, calmer person. Is this constant search a way of not accepting who I am now? How does Self-awareness fit into this?"
MG: Yes, that's the point. Gilson, our conditioning here is to reject what is present here, because we live in the realm of ideas. We disregard the reality of the moment because of the value we place on ideas. Thus, for us, what should be is more important than what is. We don't investigate the truth of what is present here. We have the ideal of what should be here, in this place. That's why we want to improve as people.
Because, yes, we are aware of the pain present, but we are not aware of the element present in that pain, which is the presence of the "I," which is the presence of the ego. So, the idea is to change as a person, to transform ourselves as a person, to become a different person, to become a better person. We have to rid ourselves of anger, fear, jealousy, and envy, but with the ideal as our starting point-the ideal of what we should be: "I can't continue to be envious, jealous, afraid, angry. I have to change as a person." You ask, "Where does Self-awareness fit into this?" Self-awareness comes in by showing that it's not about what should be, but rather the investigation of what is, here and now, in this moment. This is where the possibility of real transformation, of real change lies. It's not about changing to what should be, but rather about changing to something completely different from the idea, the imagination of what should be.
In general, the way we deal with what is shown here is by coming into conflict with it, because we project what should be, we idealize what should be, we imagine what should be: "I can't continue feeling anger, fear, and envy. I can't continue being depressed, distressed, sad. I have an idea of ??what I should be." The presence of this self-study puts us in direct contact with what is here. So, yes, we can investigate it. The investigation, the study, the observation, the perception, is what ends this model, this pattern. It is not the idea of ??being free that liberates us. It is the investigation of the truth of what is present here that brings this Freedom, this Liberation.
Self-awareness is what allows us to become aware of who we are, without any idea of ??what we should be. This requires the presence of attention to our reactions. This attention shows us the pattern of the "I," the pattern of the ego, the way it separates itself from thought to reject the thought it has, or to adopt the thought it has, being the "I," this thinker. Pure observation-looking without interfering with what is-shows us something beyond what we demonstrate ourselves to be, what we appear to be. It shows us something beyond what we are, without any idea or imagination of what should be. Thus, we eliminate the conflict between what we are and what we wish to be. And when this is eliminated, the present "I," the ego present in this separation, dissolves. Then, something reveals itself beyond the "I," beyond the ego.
This whole pattern of wanting to change, of striving to change, of an idea to change, is a complete waste of energy. It's still the movement of the "I," it's still the movement of the ego, projecting itself into the future to get rid of something. Here, I repeat: it is the vision of the moment, the attention on reactions that breaks the pattern of repetition, of the continuity of the movement of thought, and also of feeling and emotion, where the condition is the condition of the duality of this "I"-"I" and "non-I"-of this emotion of "someone," of this feeling of "someone, "of this thought of "someone."
The truth of contact with the present moment, without the separation between what is here and what should be here, is the presence of the truth of comprehending ourselves. Since there is no longer this waste of energy, it becomes available for the end of duality. Then, the habit, the pattern, the addiction to duality, here, in the moment, is undone. Then, a new state becomes present. This state is a state free of "I" and "non-I," free of this angry "someone," this jealous "someone," this fearful "someone." It is the presence of Meditation that makes this possible, because of the vision present in this "perceiving oneself" without the past. It is in this sense that we use the expression Self-awareness here, the basis for Meditation.
GC: Master, we have another question from another subscriber here on the channel. Rony asked the following question: "What is the difference between awakening to life and having awakened moments?"
MG: Notice that you speak of "awakened moments" and "awakening to life." When you have what you call awakened moments, are you awake or still sleepy?
See, when you wake up... Note this, Gilson, see the question. When we wake up at night and are not fully awake, we are sleepy. When you are awake, you are awake. But when you are sleepy, you are not yet awake. We have moments at night when we are sleepy, but not awake. We are between waking and sleeping. Thus, we have drowsy moments. However, awake is awake. That which is Truth reveals itself when there is Awakening. If there is not Awakening, that which reveals itself, reveals itself in drowsiness. Living in the sense of "I," of the ego, we have some moments of drowsiness where we have brief glimpses of something beyond sleep, but this does not mean Awakening.
Awakening is something definitive, while drowsiness allows you to do some things, but always between being asleep and being awake. Soon, you return to sleep, because sleep is what predominates when you are sleepy. Whereas the Awakened State, That which is Real, is no longer sleep, no longer drowsiness. This is your Natural State, this is your Real State. So, you ask what is the difference ... The difference is very basic: we are either asleep or awake. Drowsiness is within sleep, and the Awakened State is the Awakened State. That is the difference.
What is most meaningful in life is the beauty of the encounter with Awakening, with the State free from sleep, from this unconsciousness that is the life of the "I." The person lives in a state of sleep. The life of a person is a life in drowsiness. Yes, you may have glimpses of something beyond the world, beyond the mind, beyond the body, beyond thought, but you are back again and again to the pattern of sleep and, therefore, of unconsciousness. What enables Real Awakening, Real Waking-Up, the Truth of Awakening, is the awareness of how the mind works, how consciousness is present within you. There is the end of consciousness to something new, indescribable, in Awakening, in Waking-Up. Therefore, there is a huge difference. In reality, a great, unbridgeable abyss between the state of sleep and the Natural State of Being. This is what we are seeing here with you, delving deeper here with you.
GC: Gratitude, gratitude, Master, our time is now over. Gratitude for this videocast.
And for those of you who are watching the video to the end and truly wish to experience these truths, we invite you to participate in the intensive weekend meetings that Master Gualberto offers.
These meetings are much more profound and transformative than these videos here on YouTube. First, because the Master answers our questions directly, live.
And second, and more impactful, is that, because the Master already lives in this Awakened State of Consciousness, he shares a Field of Presence around him, and this Field is of Pure Strength, Grace, and Power. And in these meetings, we end up being carried by Master's Field of Presence, this Energy Field. And being carried by the Master, spontaneously, without any effort, we enter the meditative state, silence our minds, and can gain true insight into ourselves and the topics discussed here on the channel.
So, here's the invitation. In the first pinned comment, there's the WhatsApp link to participate in these meetings.
And, Master, once again, thank you for the videocast.
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