When you ask about this encounter with God or what it means, what it really means, we need to take a different approach here. In general, the idea of finding God is to get rid of despair, pain, suffering and existential emptiness. So, in the midst of this pain of loneliness, anguish, depression, or in the midst of some form of suffering, thought builds up in us the idea of a refuge that is permanent.
We already tried to escape in various ways and it hasn't worked. The whole movement of human beings towards the search for external conquests or achievements, in this idea of finding happiness, love, freedom, peace, there is behind it all, this movement of escape from the pain that they bring, that they carry within them. And we've been trying this, human beings have been trying this for a long time. And when they get tired of it, they now start to have religious ideas, aspirations for what they idealize, project, plan within this, so-called, encounter with spiritual life or the encounter with God. So, this idealism is just another way of escaping from the pain.
Here, with you, we are deepening this issue of this encounter, this real encounter with God; but this encounter with God is a contact, a contact that is possible when the Truth of God comes closer. You don't go to God being the person you believe to be. The Reality of God is revealed when that person is comprehended. The Truth of an approach to God is God Revealing Himself, and God Reveals Himself when we learn to look at what we are, without running away, without escaping.
What people don't comprehend is that people - the idea of being a person, this imagination of people present and of being a person in the context, in the relationship with them - what people don't comprehend is that we are dealing with an imagination, with a construction of thought, but it's not such a simple construction, it's very elaborated, extremely complex. This is the condition of human consciousness, of egoic consciousness, of this consciousness of the "I."
All this complication, disorder, confusion and suffering that is present needs to be seen. You must approach yourself; this approach to yourself will reveal to you that this element present in this approach is an idea of someone, it's just a belief, a thought model formulated in a special way, separating itself from the whole, which is the various thoughts we have.
It's just like when you look at a bonfire. When you look at a fire, you're not just seeing the fire, you're also seeing sparks, sparks coming out of that fire. When you're in front of a fire built of sticks, wood, firewood, you hear the sound of the fire and you also see sparks leaping out of the fire. The presence of this "I" is a special thought, it's a spark that has detached itself from the fire; it's a thought that has detached itself from the whole set of thoughts.
This detached thought is the "I," it's the "me," it's the "person." It finds itself frightened by the rest. It finds itself frightened by the rest of the fire, it finds itself loving the rest of the fire, it finds itself liking or terrified by the rest of the fire. This sense of "I," this "me," sees itself as a separate element, in itself, from itself, because thought is the "I" itself. This " I " is the thinker. This thinker does not separate itself from thought, it is part of thought, but it imagines itself as a separate element.
The spark in the fire, the flicker in the fire, is part of the fire. In the same way, the "I" is part of thought. That thought is the thinker, that thinker is the "I." There is no separation between the thinker and the thought. Why is the comprehension of this so fundamental? Because this clear vision of the illusion of separation between this "me" and the "not me," between this thinker and thought, between the one who observes and what it is observing, is the comprehension that we are facing an illusion, which is the illusion of duality, which is the illusion of separation, which brings us closer to a Real vision of God.
In this vision of God, God is aware, conscious, real, the only Reality present at this instant, without any separation; and in this present Reality, there are no more problems, no more suffering, no more searching, no more "finding God." It is the Reality that is present here and now, outside of the future, outside of this need of an encounter tomorrow. That tomorrow is mental, that tomorrow is an imagination of thought, that tomorrow is the future of the mind.
The moment you learn to observe your reactions without separating yourself from them, because there is a full comprehension that there is no such thing as duality, these reactions vanish. Look at the question: how long can you sustain sadness without thinking about what has made you sad? How long can you sustain anger, which is the memory you have of someone, when this memory is undone?
The remembrance is the element that sustains the anger of someone you are angry with. Without the memory of someone, what happens to the anger? Without the memory of what gave you sadness, what happens to this feeling, this sensation, this emotion that involves the presence of this pain, which we call sadness?
Thus, what is the truth about suffering? Discovering the truth about suffering is the end to suffering, and it is when suffering ends that it becomes clear that there is no one to suffer; and if there is no one to suffer, Something is present, and that Something is not part of suffering, that Something is the Reality of this Being. Notice that when you want to get rid of suffering, every move you make is to try to do something about suffering. That's the idea of getting rid.
You don't want to get rid of what is giving you pleasure, you want more of what is giving you pleasure. By wanting more of what is giving you pleasure, you support the continuity of someone in the desire. By wanting to get rid of what is causing you suffering or pain, you feed someone present in fear, rejection and resistance.
What gives continuity to this sense of "I," this someone, is precisely the movement of reaction; of a positive reaction in the search for more or a negative reaction in rejecting, refusing, trying to get rid of. So, we have the presence of an element separated from the condition, from the condition of pleasure that we desire or from the condition of pain that we want to get rid of. This separation is the continuity of the "I," the continuity of the "ego." It is this separation that sustains the authenticity of an egocentric movement, of a separatist movement, of a movement in duality. If this is present, it is not possible for Divine Reality to reveal itself.
Thus, the search for God is the projection of an entity that sees itself as separate from God. As long as this search is sustained, there will be this element in the search: this is the continuity of the "ego," this is the continuity of the "I." Besides, all this searching, as we've just said, is just a way of escaping from pain. Notice that when you're happy, there's no thought in you. At the instant of Happiness, at the instant of that Joy, of that intensity of ecstasy, of Freedom, of Grace, of Stillness, there is Something present beyond those words we've just mentioned.
The Reality of the state is none of these words. And when the Reality of this state is present, there is no element to separate itself from, to say: "How happy I am," "How wonderful this peace is." When any kind of thought like that arises, it's because that state is no longer there. See what an important thing we have here.
Real contact with the present moment, with experience, is the absence of an experiencer, of an element that separates itself from experience and, at this moment, there is no "I," there is no "ego," there is no God-seeker, no pleasure-seeker, no pain-seeker. Thus, it's the contact with the present moment, with life as it happens, when the "I" element isn't present, the presence of a Reality outside the known, outside the model of words, the model of thought, outside that future to reach or that future to get rid of. This is because there is no separation between thought and the thinker, the observer and the observed thing, the experiencer and the experience.
Can we deal with this moment without placing the thought on this moment, without placing the idea on this moment? Can we deal with this state without calling it pain or pleasure? This is the real approach to Self-awareness. The presence of Self-awareness ends this duality, ends this separation. The presence of Self-awareness reveals a complete emptying of all this psychological content of words, beliefs, ideas, concepts, conclusions, and it eliminates this sense of "I."
Thus, when we come to understand the truth about the importance of Self-awareness, which is to look at what is here without getting involved, without bringing in that element which separates itself in order to like or dislike, agree or disagree, think about it, draw conclusions, when we no longer bring in that element, there is a total emptying of all the content of the "I," of all the content of separation, of duality; this is when we get closer to the Truth of Meditation.
What Reveals the awareness of God is the approach to non-duality through Self-awareness, in this real approach to Meditation. The Truth of Meditation is something that is revealing itself in this very moment, when there is this approach to the present without the model of thought, without the model of the observer separating from the observed thing.
Notice, the observer is the observed thing. This separation is one that thought establishes within us. It is when this observer separates itself that it begins to idealize God, in the future, as something apart from itself, Love as something apart from itself, Peace as something apart from itself, pleasure as something apart from itself, the end of fear or suffering as something to be attained tomorrow. But such a thing does not exist because this psychological tomorrow does not exist.
Thus, the truth of this encounter with God lies in the Revelation of this non-dual Being, who is present here and now as the Nature of God: this is the Nature of your Being, this is the Nature of the Truth about each one of us, That which is present when the "ego" is not present, when the thinker is not present, when the observer is not present, when the experiencer is not present. This is what we are deepening here with you. This is what we are working on with you in these meetings.
We have online meetings on weekends, where we're together on Saturdays and Sundays, diving deeper into this subject with you - two full days. In addition to these, we also have in-person meetings and retreats. If this resonates with you, consider this an invitation. Go ahead and leave a "like," subscribe to the channel, and write in the comments: "Yes, this makes sense," alright? See you next time. Thanks for joining, and until next time!
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