Be with life, not the story about it. Sailor Bob and the nonduality group 20 Nov 2022

Good morning to each and every one. The same old, same old. We don't teach you anything here and we don't tell you anything. What we do is point toward and ask you to look to where we're pointing to to see for yourself. Because no matter what you believe or think, this or that, nobody can teach you or tell you anything. And what we point to is nothing new. You see it in all the great traditions. In Hinduism for instance, they call it Advaita. Advaita means non-duality and they translate non-duality as one without a second, not two. So what we're pointing to is one without a second.

What we're pointing to is that oneness, not two. Everything is that. Just this, nothing else. Another way I put it, I'm not speaking to any body. I'm not speaking to any mind. I'm not speaking to the body, mind, entity you might believe yourself to be. What I'm speaking to is that I am that I am. And every one of you know I am. And that I am is not the thought. I am. I am. I am. It's what it represents. It represents the sense of presence, the knowing that you are. If somebody asks you who you are, you'll say, I am so and so, whatever your name might be.

So we put this label on ourselves. It's taken us away from the absolute one essence into the belief that we are individuals, persons, separate entities. Where did this I am-ness come from? Because we learnt words. And when you ask yourself, look at how many words were you born with, you weren't born with any words at all. And you didn't pick up words until you were about two, two and a half. Somewhere around that age when the capacity of reasoning developed in you. Prior to that, you had no words. Every word you've ever spoken or ever liked to speak has been learnt or picked up along the way.

Because you had no words. People say, I was born. Tell you a story about it, but who of you can remember your birth? And you realise when you look at it sensibly, you couldn't remember something that you didn't have any words for or couldn't say anything about. So it's like all the stories we've got, they've all been picked up along the road. Every word you've ever spoken or ever liked to speak has been learnt. Take the word water. The word's not the thing. Try and drink the word. Try and swim in the word. See if you'll drown in the word. Take the word fire, try and cook with it.

Heat yourself, burn yourself. You can't. So what's this word, I or me? Which we call the body, mind, the entity. It's just a concept, a label. It's a thought. It's a concept. And that's what we call mind. We believe ourselves to be this body-mind entity, this separate entity, this individual, this person. Where does that word person come from? It comes from the ancient Latin persona, a mask, pointing out we've got this mask of concepts we believe ourselves to be. And this idea of a person is not the reality. It's this conceptual image you have. Investigate that. What we say here is the false cannot stand up to investigation.

We've taken on all these conceptual beliefs, taken them to be real, and we suffer accordingly. But have a look at belief. Look up your dictionary definition of belief. Belief is the non-questioning exception. Belief is the non-questioning exception. It's always the acceptance of something in the absence of reason. Acceptance of an alleged fact without positive knowledge of proof. So put your beliefs to this test and see if they'll stand up. And that's what they tell us. The false cannot stand up to investigation. And when you look into it and you investigate, you'll see it's true. If you recognize it's false, what must you be left with?

You must be left with this. with the truth. And that's the ancient call, know the truth and the truth will set you free. We're free of these beliefs and that's what we're entangled in all our lives, this conceptual image. We are this person and suffer accordingly. For it's only me that can be fearful, only me that can be unhappy, depressed, shame, jealous, envy, guilty, all my psychological suffering comes about because these beliefs that I am this separate entity. Non-duality they describe as one without a second, not two. It means exactly that, not two, just the one. And when you look at that and you see that's true.

Also that you are the one essence. And see, duality is relativity. Or relationship. Relationship relative to this, relative to that. And relationship is duality. We're not going to become it or get it trying to fix up the duality. It won't happen. So we say, and they talk about this Advaita, they describe it in Hinduism as Sat Chittananda Nama Rupa. Sat is existence, Chitta is consciousness, and the existence of the universe. And Nanda is blissful, loving to be. And the Nama Rupa is the body, mind. And they say Nama Rupa, body, mind, is Maya. It's illusion. They call this manifestation, it's manifestation Maya, illusion. It's all the manifestation in a dualistic way.

And they say it's manifestation. It's manifestation. It's manifestation. It's manifestation. It's appearance. It's illusion. It's appearance. Manifestation is appearance only. So we've got this appearance that we are. It's all like a living dream. And we take it to be real. Investigate it and see for yourself, are you the body? And you'll say, my body. Don't you say, my car, my coat, my hat, my this. And you'll say, my body. And you'll say, my car, my coat, my hat, my this. And you know you're not the car, the coat or the hat or the clothes. Well, who's the me or the my that it all believes in?

So you see that this idea of me, the conceptual image is not the real. Because going about that search into Nanda, Nama Rupa. Sat is existence. Is anyone not existing right now at this moment? And you'll say, no, I'm existing. You know that you are. What you are, you must know. You must know You might have all these concepts about you. You can't negate your beingness. Conscious, you're not unconscious. Are you unaware right now? No. You're not unaware, so you must be aware. Are you happy to be right now? Well, you don't want to be dead right now. Of course you're happy to be. So you realize you are already, that's that Chetananda.

You don't have to try and become or get to it. Like they tell you in the scriptures, you got to meditate and do this and do that and you will become. But becoming is not being. Becoming implies a future time. And when you investigate the concept of time and ask yourself this, is there a past if I don't think about it? And without a thought you realize you can't say there's a past or a future. So I'll say try and live a moment ago if you think you're in the past. You realize you can't go back and live a moment ago. You can recall it.

And the only activity you're giving it is what's recalled in this moment. If you can't remember what you, go back and remember what you were a moment ago, it's gone forever. And you certainly can't remember your birth because you had no words. So it's all based on these words or concepts we picked up. And doesn't it tell you that in the Bible, in the beginning it was the word. The word was with God, the word was God. That's all that God is, is a word. All things were made by him, by the word. And there was nothing made that was made without the word. Well isn't that the fact?

Look at this room, you're labeling everything in it. The carpet, the chair, the space, the trees, the flowers, the cars, the birds, everything is lined up of words. In the beginning was the word. And that's analogy, Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, paradise. But they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They picked up words. And got kicked out of paradise because of the word. We put on all these concepts. That's what we've done. We've learned these words and taken ourselves to be the word, separated ourselves. And we got this word, I or me. And look around and assume all these other things, they're not I or not me.

So we think there's something separate and apart. But they tell you in the text, ancient text, that there's no separation and there's no division. It's indivisible and inseparable. But we're separating and dividing everything with the word. Which the word is not real. This sense of presence, the knowing that you are, right now, is the life, not the body or the mind. It's that animating intelligence energy that's patterning, shaping and forming, breathing, beating the heart, growing an area of fingernails. It's the same life essence that's rolling the earth around the sun. Causing the planets to form, the stars. Causing the seasons to come and go, the tides to come in and out.

It's breathing in, beating your heart, growing your hair and your fingernails. It's that one essence that's patterning, shaping, forming, expressing as everything. And you are that. And isn't that the great mantra they tell you in the scriptures? I am that. This is that. That's that. Everything is that. And you all innately already know that. But instead of saying, knowing that, that you are the absolute, you are the great perfection, you are the telety, that's how telety, you take yourself to be this person. I am this body. I am this mind. I am this individual. And we get caught in that trap, and that becomes what we call the me or the I.

And it's only me that can be fearful. It's only me that can be unhappy. Only me that's angry, jealous, envy. Me is the cause of all my psychological suffering. And the anger, the fear, the jealousy, the envy, the unhappiness, all these concepts are the effects of the me. And that's all cause and effect is. What's cause and effect? They call that karma. Cause and effect. Cause and effect. What happens if I see that this believed in me is the cause of all my suffering? And I ask myself the simple question. Can there be effect if it's not related to a cause? Or can it? Look at it, you see, you're not related to a cause.

How can you say there is such a thing as effect? So this is what needs to be recognised. This way you can be happy. This way you can be happy. free of all these concepts and ideas and images. And live with the absolute, with the truth. Instead of living from the point of view of, yeah, this separate entity, this individual, that's unhappy, that's fearful, depressed, guilty. See how that works in your life. Me is the cause of all your suffering. Something comes up and you like it. How do you know? Well, I've had this before and it's good. We don't want the good things to go.

Not realising they're transient. Everything is transient and it's constantly changing. That body you walked into this room with is not the same body that's there now. And right in this moment, there are thousands of cells dying in it and being replaced. It's changing, constantly transient, constantly changing. But we don't see that. But if you look back on it to a few years ago, you'll notice the change then. But right now, we think it is the constant. It's not. Every moment, it's transient. It's constantly changing. And that's when you need to look at the concept of time. And you realise that time is a mental concept also.

It's a fiction. If there's a past, don't think about it. There's no past unless you think about it. There's no future. You need to think about it. So, time is concepts, thinking. As Shakespeare told you 400 years ago, there's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. It's what we think and believe in is good. So when something comes up and you don't like it, or you want to keep it there, you do like it, you want to keep it there, not realising no matter how much you love it and want to keep it there, it's going to change anyway. And you don't want it to change, so what do you do?

You resist it from going. You try to keep it there, you try to make it stay around. You don't want to let it go. That's good. So resistance, any resistance you are in is conflict. Conflict just means you're at war with it, you're fighting it. And when you're in conflict, it makes you uneasy. Another term for uneasiness is disease. So there's resistance, conflict and disease. Disease going on all the time. Something comes up and you do like it, it's good. You don't want, oh no, I said that, that's good, you don't want to, something comes up and it's something you don't like. Something, oh I shouldn't be thinking this, I don't want to think this.

Now they've got to get rid of it. Not doing them any good. So what do we do? We try to force it out, we resist it again. So whichever way you look at this, it comes up, and notice this in your life, there's this constant resistance going on. Might come up, things might come up and be good for a few moments, but after a while, the resistance will come about. And there's more resistance going on than what there is being, staying with the goodness. And that resistance is causing all this psychological suffering. The fear, the anxiety, the stress, the guilt, the remorse, the unhappiness. To me is the cause.

And what I'm thinking are the effects, the fear, the anger. If I ask the simple question, can there be effect if I'm not relating to the cause? If this cause is me, me is the cause, and I'm not relating to the cause, not believing the cause is false, me is false, it's not what I appear to be. It's not the conceptual image. Can there be an effect without a cause? Well, there can't be. So there's your clue. Recognise and have a look and investigate and see if you are this person. If you are this individual, you are the cause of all your unhappiness. When you see that me is fiction, what is there necessary to do?

Well, the only thing that needs to be done, then, is to leave everything as it is, without trying to alter, modify or correct it. No preference. No partiality. No comparison. Things left as they are, as what is, will change by themselves. And realise that and recognise it. Where are yesterday's thoughts going? Where are the thoughts you had five minutes ago if you don't recall them? Where are all your thoughts going? Where are all your thoughts going? Where are all your thoughts going? Where are all your thoughts going? all the past events and experiences that have happened, if they're not being recalled. They're all gone. Who changed them?

Did you force them out? You might have tried to, but a lot of the pains and griefs you've had, you carried around for years and years and years unnecessarily because you're fixated on the ideas. Look at it. What's your next thought going to be? You realise you don't know what your next thought is going to be, but a thought comes up and you claim it. I think. I think this thought. As soon as you say I think, what have you done? You've formed a subject, a thinker. I. That sense of presence, that I am-ness, which you take to be the word I am and be real, the thinker, has become the thinker.

And the thought, whatever has been thought, becomes a thought. And the object. So that's dualism. Thinker and thought. Subject-object. But have a look at it and investigate. Can there be a thinker without thinking? Well, there can't be a thinker without thinking. Have a look at it. Test it out. And can there be the thought? Are thinking this without thinking? No, there can't be either thinker or thought without thinking. So thinking is the actuality. Subject-object and dualism are constant. Now put that into the rest of the function. The seeing, the hearing, the tasting, the feeling, the touching, the smelling. I see. Does your eye tell you I see?

And can the thought I see actually see? It can't. But the seeing is happening and it's translated by the thought I see. The feeling I feel. Can the thought or a concept or an idea or an image feel? Feeling is sensation and the sensations are coming up and they're claimed by the eye thought. The hearing, the tasting, all the seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, experiencing. The ING is something that's happening in the immediacy all by itself. Just the same as that breath you took. You say I breathe. But isn't the breathing happening? No. No. I beat my heart. The heart's beating. Fear and fingernails are growing.

Food's being digested. None of it needs to be claimed by the conceptual image eye. And that's what we've done. And that's where our life has been divided. And we're all, the unhappiness and ceilings come from because this erroneous belief that we are this person. Just like the sun and the clouds. You go outside. You go out and look at the sky. You come in the dream. The sun's there. Don't go in. Was it the night of a storm? Did you believe it was just the inside? Another sun on a cloudy day? Would you say the sun's not in the sky? You wouldn't because you're then investigating.

And you see the sun's never left the sky. When you investigate a little bit further and ask yourself, what forms the clouds? You'll realise the sun itself forms the cloud. The sun doesn't know anything about the cloud. Radiance in its heat, what's it do? It evaporates water. In the ocean it evaporates water. The water rises and cools down a bit from the steam and forms a cloud which obscures the sun. The sun continues to radiate and the wind might come up which will blow the cloud away or bring it down as rain. So it changes by itself, just by the activity of that livingness or activity that's spontaneously functioning at all.

It's the same with the thoughts. So when there's no cloud in the sky, there's more clarity there. There's more warmth, there's more affection, there's more joyousness, more love, that's the same. The thoughts come up, the thinking happens, the thought comes up. And the thought, I think, comes about. When you investigate that the life essence itself brings those vibrations, those thoughts up. And the thoughts obscure the clarity. And so we've got all these thoughts, concepts and ideas which bring about, when the labels go in, bring about the fear, the psychological suffering, the anxiety, the stress, all these things. As Shakespeare told you, Nothing either can change.

Neither good or bad, but the thinking makes it so. So if I recognise that the thinker is a fiction and the thought is a fiction also. Thinker and thought, subject, object, are beliefs that there is a thinker. A subject thinking this, thinking that. But take the life out of this body. What will you have? You've got a corpse. But before it breaks down, that corpse, before it breaks down and rots, it's still got the eyes, still got the ears, still got the heart, the lungs, the heart, the liver, the kidneys, all the organs are still there. But they're not a bit of good without that life essence, that intelligence energy.

What I call intelligence energy. Or the godliness, if you like to call it that. We don't use that term because you can get confused with that term. All the different scriptures have got their different concept about what god is. So when I start talking about god, all the different religions, you'll have your concept right out. But I call it intelligence energy. Intelligence is knowing. Anybody who is not knowing right now, you realise, no, I'm knowing. And the knowing. The I-N-G is an activity, a movement of energy. So that's all that intelligence energy is, is the activity of knowing. Which we take to believe I or me or the person.

It's just a vibrating pattern of intelligence. It's the same intelligence as rolling the earth around the sun. Causing the seaming seasons to come and go, the tides to come in and out. The air and fingernails to grow, breathing in, beating your heart. It's the same intelligence that's functioning everything. Because it's one without a second. It's not two. It's only that life. So that means without that life. It's that life that's animating the body. And the body with its corpse, it breaks down, it rots, it disappears. Back into the life essence. Looks out and points out that you are the life. Itself. You're the same life that's functioning everything.

It's only the one life. There's not a personal life or a separate or individual life. And Sagalata tells of that when he says there is only life. There is nobody who lives a lie. Life lives on life. And out of life more life comes. Well see that, where did you come from? You realise you came from the life of your parents. That animating life essence. That intelligence in it. That pattern you call your father. Enabled in that pattern. The life essence in it through breathing. Causing it to breathe. Beat its heart and digest the food. Enabled in that pattern a little micro-swapped particle called a sperm to form.

You can't see it with the naked eye. That sperm was suffused with intelligence. It knew what to do. The same life essence in your mother. Enabled in that pattern another micro-swapped particle. Caused an egg or an ovum to form. That ovum was suffused with intelligence. It knew what to do. It attached itself to the wall of the uterus. And the sperm swam to the ovum. Knowing what to do and penetrated the ovum. Didn't just get there willy nilly or accidentally. It swam there. Again pointing out it was suffused that life essence or intelligence energy. And that little embryo formed. With all the genes and whatever was going on from the essence of the food of your mother.

And when it came out at nine months. That little embryo came out then. You or what you thought were born. It came into the world but how many words were you born with? You didn't have any words at all. When that cord was cut. You took the life on of your own. And so it's the same animating intelligence energy. Vibrating everything. It's the one essence that's firing at everything. The same thing applies when you look at your computer. So look at a computer. It's a good analogy for this. That computer's got all this information in it. Amazing information. What happens if you haven't got the power turned on?

You can punch those keys as much as you like or run the mouse over it. You'll get nothing out of it. The same with the sperm. It's all in this body. No life in it. It's not a bit of good to you either. So you'll see it's the intelligence energy that's putting the life into this body-mind. The activity of knowing. And that is what you are. And it's not the personal. Because the person has divided ourselves and caused all the suffering. So it doesn't have to be that way. A little bit of investigation and you'll see it. And recognise it. And there's some of you here that are already seeing it.

That's what we say. You can have a go and get a... Some of you here know it. Some of you think you know it. And you can express it. Put it out there because you might explain it in different words to what I am. Which might resonate with somebody. And they might hear it. So anyway. Don't forget. Don't forget to ask questions. Don't hesitate. If you've got any doubts or things. Don't hesitate to ask. So Kat. You can see what's come in from the outside. So welcome everyone who is online with us. I'm Kat, Bob's partner. And we have quite a few welcome messages and greetings.

And there is just one sharing that came from Jay. Everything I physically hear. Everything I physically experience was once only a thought in someone's imagination manifested through observation. The chair. This mobile device. The internet. Likewise. Everything I mentally experience can only come from thoughts in my awareness. It becomes really. It becomes reality through my observation. And subsequent actions. Infinite potentiality collapses to a finite reality through observation. Beautifully said, isn't it? Yeah. Obviously. They even say the baby who doesn't have words and can't distinguish things sees the homogeneous blob in which it slowly learns to recognize first the voices and then the world flips from being upside down blob to containing objects.

And then even the idea of time is not obvious for the baby. That's why it cries when the mother disappears. It doesn't have the idea of space that the mother went to another room. But that was a beautifully explained how the perception creates the reality. How bringing back the meaning and the recognition of the object from the hard drive there creates the experience. Thank you, Jay. Jay. And then the mic goes to you guys. So we invite everyone to open up and share and ask questions and tell us how you go with it and what's happening with you. Did you want to start, Josh? Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know what I'm going to say there, sir. Well, I knew I was going to say that. How am I going with it? Yeah. I guess I was going to say that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. . So it can be tempting to buy into the dream as though it's real and it doesn't it doesn't take much but a quote to remind me that the me only exists in thought it was very helpful so that's your quote favorite quote the me only exists in thought well nothing can trouble me except imagination you know and so the me it's like I think I've heard you say you know your only problem your problem is everything you say everything you think and everything you do is about a me and there isn't one that's funky oh I love that one too but I I found it I found these pointers to be very very helpful is life presented dramas and laughs and the last month you know and there's always here and there's no problem with here without a thought so I'm very grateful I don't think I can improve improve on anything you guys have offered yet anybody else want to jump in the loss for words which is rare yep yeah thank you Bob and always beautiful come here for me it feels like you just sort of come here and the truth like continually sort of eats through the false like you keep hearing the message of truth and that resonance sort of you know expands and the false can't grab onto it as much like it can't take hold of stuff and really I think it's a good thing I think this is so obvious sometimes I'm seeing more now like I'm just actually the witness of life playing out I'm not actually the character in the life it's almost like a witnessing and just observing of everything unfolding and playing out not like a separate witness and something else but just a direct witnessing of life and yeah the me wants to get in there and improve stuff and change stuff and it's never happy and it never works it's never it's never satisfied and it's it's it's a it's like a something chasing its tail it's never going to arrive anywhere or get anywhere and it doesn't have the ability to achieve anything or be anything it's all an imagined entity it's not even an entity so yeah so I'm just becoming more sort of the witness I guess and you know there is there's something here that's just knowing and observing and no thoughts are required you know what I mean it's like that direct like it's just there's no thoughts there but there's there's something here that's just bubbling away and buzzing away and just observing and looking and you know so it's pretty clear the thinker isn't isn't there it's not required to be here you know what I mean there's just here-ness and there's no the thoughts aren't you know they're useful but they're not they're not they're not that's not where the being is and the heart is and yeah anyway yeah thanks Bob um I found I've heard it lots of times but the leave it as it is was a really good pointer and it just made me uh realize how that resistance even that you can leave it as it is in a weird kind of way and then it can't be resistance anymore because if you're leaving it as it is what how can it resist anymore so it's kind of interesting um to do that and then realizing that yeah I don't exist except in a sort of an illusion uh as interesting sort of popped up today as well so yeah but leave it as it is I think it straight away is like I don't want to leave it as it is but then it's like oh we'll leave that as it is so that's the weird thing yeah so um yeah that's all I had thanks unaltered unmodified and uncorrected yep that's the one I have a hard time with sometimes who's that I who has this hard time with that see what Tristan was just saying it was beautiful and Adrian as well beautiful way of actually bringing back home the simple recognition that the me is a software is a program you don't even have to call it me that tendency to improve all the time if you watch the light wild wildlife they also the animals are also looking for decorating the nests the birds will bring colorful feathers there or you know the the wild creatures will get the better shelter better mate better food you know they have hierarchy the monkeys will fight for the top most sunny most ripe figs on the tree there is behavior which constantly alters modifies and corrects and changes things and there is no one there there is no narrative who says oh it shouldn't be this way so the action the natural functioning the breathing the heartbeat the running the mating the looking after the body is part of nature it's just that additional software that the human pattern has which is the narrative self which is located in particular part of the of the brain and it's called default mode network which constantly whatever is happening naturally spontaneously like in every other creature there is a narrator commenting and that one is what often becomes identified as this is me this is my voice this is I speak I don't like that I resist that I resist that I resent that I you know and that I is a program there is no I it's just like even Josh you highlighted you don't even have to know what you're clear about if the sense of clarity is there well who is there to know what or why you know the me that I'm clear about that not clear about that that's the me is a software it's so much more simple and elegant to see the world as it is you know to see the nature functioning as the nature the without needing to translate and relate everything through that application there in the mind the app you know this is me this is about me this relates to me important to me not important to me relevant to me not relevant to me no life unfolds like Adrian was saying the witness ing the consciousness open field of knowing presence within that life unfolds then the software will say no no it is for me it is to me it happens because of me or it's but that is just a narrative without that narrative resistance happens but there is no narrative resisting the resistance resentment happens no narrative even calling it this so you can't even say it is resentment you just see contraction and you can't even call it a contraction it's just a movement of energy like the animals they are moved to go this way or that way or behave this way or that way and respond this way or that way the responses all are natural without that narrative with that narrative of course as well because the narrative is natural that's part of the nature as well but that is the part of nature which as much as wonderful it is because it creates the storytelling it creates the connection between people it creates the similarities it selects the groups it brought up the whole modern world with the civilization it's wonderful as to bow down to but if you know that it backfires that it also creates that byproduct which is the identification and now my stories have to be defended and if those stories are not good enough I have to keep improving I have to keep growing I have to fix myself and everyone else of course so that one is the source of suffering like Bob was saying you know the me the me there is if there is no me well the anger may flow through you don't even call it anger but if there is a me oh this is my anger I shouldn't be angry oh yes I should be angry this is justified anger I should just destroy whatever causes the anger that narrative no it comes down to identifying yeah absolutely the identification absolutely yeah so if there's no I mean thoughts are going to happen but if there's no claiming of it it's the claiming yes that's the my the fixating yeah fixating fixating detach from it just leave it as it is it will change what is is not what was that's the past it's gone it's dead it's not the future that hasn't happened what is is a spontaneous functioning that's happening right now the me though I was going to say the me has got the ability to latch on to absolutely everything like even that oh it's the claiming of the thoughts the me is going to go into that and go yeah I'm here claiming the thoughts no I'm not claiming the thoughts like it'll just any ammunition it can get a hold of it will run it through to the end take it out of the space so I'm just saying that any time that goes to the thoughts trying to work anything out or needing x to be happy or anything like that it's a massive red flag and it's already given itself away it's seeing the thief trying to take it take it out of the space but the me is hell the me is fucking hell for a long long time it's painful and this is just persistence and earnestness and showing up and continuing the inquiry and something something will grace will come in at some point and take you a bit more I don't know that's my experience like the not me something grabs the not me takes you deeper in some way what he said thank you Paul and Kat and everyone beautiful did you want to say something Mum no the thing with me what you were saying is even more kind of red flag when you look at the spiritual seekers who want to find the truth who want to find the liberation and it usually initially is always for the me initially I have to get it I have to understand it I have to have clarity I have to know what is clear what is not clear that I that narrative that program can never ever have the answer or understand the mystery of world and life but would you say a general as well there is a deeper sense of presence the deeper sense of knowing not the conceptual sort of head based intellectual oh yeah I got it this is logical I yeah I I can convince others yes that sort of this being right others wrong separation yeah but there is a deeper sense of knowing and being and that being because I remember one of the guys who used to come here said yes but no matter what I do I understand everything but there is still a sense of me since that's the way I am I'm not the same person I'm not the same person I'm not the same person that I am here and Bob asked him where else would you be of course the here but is that me a conceptual image or is that pure unadorned strong intimate delightful sense of existence of pure life of pure aliveness of being the vibrance the radiance the love of life because that one is never gonna go away when the program the software of narrating claiming and translating and interpreting everything is recognized it's still keep yapping or it stop it doesn't matter because it's not a primary filter anymore but that sense of aliveness that sense of presence that very very intimate the most intimate the most delightful awareness of being becomes even more profound and it's comes it stems really from the heart it's not that someone tells me that I am is that it's not a feeling either it's not the feeling in a way that you feel sad or happy but it is the certainty which is beyond any you can't question that because you have to be there to question that so the being is prior to absolutely everything to every program to every perception there is a sense of existence and it's much much deeper than the superficial sense of defensiveness of that of that contraction called me I'm not good enough I'm not smart enough I'm not there enough I'm not wise enough not enlightened enough that sort of a contraction is basically just again the conceptual image the concept the set of past set of it's a conditioning really it's something that has been learned is something secondary to the being like Bob's most famous quote what's wrong with right now if I don't think about it if I don't know about the body I close my eyes and I go directly to the experience of presence if I push aside every thought I am a woman I'm polish I'm this I'm that if that one is out of the way the being still shines for it can't be denied it can't be pushed away is there is present is is vibrant and it has no boundaries I have a comment from Jody and she says our desires thoughts too for example desire to excel at something or for better appearance etc and there is when you look at a rock on the beach or tree in the park is there an urge to go and alter modify or correct it do we resist it most likely not there is no personal investment it's just phenomena so why they need to alter modify or correct the phenomena appearing in the current moment because one is me and the other is not me thank you and so that also kind of answers the questions about desire to excel at something or for better appearance what's the desire desire again is the translation of the urge we call it desire like have you seen a peacock it opens the tail when there is a there is a movement towards mating it's a very important thing and so Is there a desire to improve the look?

As far as we know they don't have default mode network, they don't have elaborated language to put symbols on actions, so no, no, there is no concept. So desire, when it is translated to a thought, is a thought and it's also a subtle resistance. Desire is subtle fear that what I want is not going to happen or what I desire is not going to come to me. It's just basically a feeling translated to a thought. But is it anything wrong in the urge to do whatever the life moves you to do? If you look at the birds that are flying, they're flying better and better.

That doesn't have to be a desire which moves them to practice. Life moves them to practice. So if we don't have a desire to improve the look, we don't have a desire to improve the look. If it does not translate to the urge of excelling or doing anything at all, the movement will still be there or not, it doesn't really matter. Did you want to add something to the desire? Just life expressing itself. When you have a look at it, you see that's all there is in life. What's the basic screen on which it all appears? They call it space-like awareness. The screen on which everything appears.

It's not just a screen. It's the kind of space-like awareness. The screen appears like space. Can you grasp space? Can you cut it? Does it have any centre to it? Does it have any boundaries to it? And can you postulate anything at all that could be outside of space? You and I and everything, the mountains and hills, are all the content of space. Space is no thing. You can't cut it, you can't do it, you can't see it. Not a vacuum or a void, silsh, but it's no thing. It hasn't got any shape, boundaries or form on it. And some thing, you and I are things.

The trees are things, the flowers are things, the mountains and hills are all things. Can some thing come from no thing? Actually, they all are no things. It's just a thing appearing in these patterns, shapes and forms. The void just hasn't got any shape or form. So it's that intelligence, no thing or awareness that's vibrating and patterning, shaping, forming, experiencing, experiencing everything. So no thing has ever happened. And this is what Agadatta points out. You're dreaming a dream, you call the world. And he says stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your concern. Your concern is you love one part of the dream and not the other.

And isn't that so? We want certain parts we like, we don't want others. He says love all of it or none of it. And the rest will be done for you. Like it's happening, like the earth rolling around the sun. Tides are coming in and out, the sun is coming out. Who's doing any of that? It's the life itself that's doing it. The rest will be done for you by the sun. It's the same life that's brought you into existence. There's no personal thing, the person. What's happened? Who's taken on this personhood? Me, it can be unhappy. Only me can be anxious. Only me can be fearful, jealous, envy.

Me is the cause of all this psychological stuff. And they're giving you the way out when they point to the reality of it. The one essence. The one life. The one intelligence energy. And you're already that. You don't have to sit for years and years trying to become something. Because becoming is not being. Becoming implies a future time. Anyone who's not aware right now, unaware, so you must be aware. And you call yourself human beings. Call God the supreme being, if you believe in God. Well take away that concept, that word human. Take away the concept supreme. Try and separate your beingness right now. Try and tell me you're not.

And you'll say no, there's something that knows that I am. What I am, you can load down with all these concepts. What you truly are is that pure intelligence energy. The activity of being, knowing and loving to be. That's all there is. Try and separate yourself if you can. I've got another comment from Donna. She says, we keep blaming me. We keep blaming the mind. The mind is just another thought. Yet we say the mind made me do this, do it. There is no me and there is no mind. There is simply life living. Nature of the relative is the absolute. But the absolute is not relative.

Beautiful. Beautiful. Yeah, everything is true in the essence but not in the way it appears. So all the relative, the essence of it is the absolute. So there is no mind. There is nothing wrong with. And even, yes, mind made me do it. Our mind got addicted. Our mind is running, running the life. Thank you, Donna. Yeah, it is a, it is much simpler way of looking at the world. Without relating it, without claiming anything, without blaming yourself for screwing up, without taking credit for achievements. It's just that life moving. How could I ever claim any credit for any achievement if that achievement was the result of the collaboration of the infinite amount of factors of the whole universe?

Even if there was an I that participated. That I would have minute contribution, that I would have minute contribution, contribution to the whole lot. So why would it ever need to take credit? And without taking credit or taking a blame. What's the problem? It's just life dancing. It's just life unfolding. And now we have Dean answering to Ram. And he says, Gilbert would take the rock home and sculpture it in order to improve it. Yeah, Ram was talking about not improving, not needing to improve on nature. Good on you, Dean. Yeah, we have one rock there behind Saroja that Gilbert improved into a beautiful sculpture.

It is a beautiful sculpture. And Gioti says that's his rock then. She says it would be his rock. Yes. And he is the absolute. Thank you all, she says. And Tanya says, No, no need to worry about having things to do tomorrow, right? Just live. Being right now, right? Yeah. And if the thought is required to plan actions for tomorrow, that thought will facilitate itself. If writing down the plan is also required, or booking is required, it will facilitate itself. The attitude of anything is, does it work? Yeah. So try it out. Yeah, yeah. And the idea is not overlooking this beautiful moment. And in this moment, which will never ever be the same again, whatever is required will present itself.

But very often what happens habitually, the attention goes away into the story about the moment, rather than being present with what is unfolding. And the invitation is to, yeah, test it out. See if it is a better way of living the life, being more with it, rather than trading, or just reading it for the story about it. Did you want to? I have another comment. This is Jai replying to Jyoti. Desire can be a thought, but also, also plants desire to reach out to the sun. The birds desire to migrate to somewhere warmer. Awareness desires to experience and to evolve to be better. And Jyoti says, thank you.

Yeah, that's a nice way of looking at it. Of course, that's part of the way we narrate the world. We project intentions. What we call desire is a thought. But yes, you could definitely see the world in a way of just a dance of desire, just a dance of Shakti, wanting to be, wanting to dance, wanting to experience and express. And we don't really know if there is any wanting. But deep down in the heart, that's who we are. That's what we are. And like Nisargadatta pointed it, there is only love and wisdom, everything and nothing. Everything's love. Nothing's wisdom. So if you are experiencing, that's love for being.

That's already a desire for being, love for being. Desire can have a sense of being. Desire is a fixation of the mind on an idea. He says, get it out of its groove by denying it attention. Yeah. Pass me the mic, please. So I'm going to ask myself, what is desire? Let me have a look. Desire is not a thought. Desire is an urge that's vulnerable to increase its energy by thoughts and images as well. I can do two things with desire. Either follow the desire, or either follow the desire, or let the desire be, which is a synonym situation for observing the desire. There is a consequence to observing the desire and there is a consequence to following the desire.

The consequence of observation is eventually desire stops coming. Desire stops coming. Or at least coming less frequent. And you can take control of it instead of it takes control of your life. Or you can follow it, let it takes control of your life by creating obsession or addiction. That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. It's actually when you look at non-duality, when you listen to this message, and you resonate with it, the love for being and the love for exploring that deliciousness of being and that different urges that come up suddenly bring about the same choice. Because ultimately, of course, there is no one who can choose to follow or not to follow.

But if the heart wakes up, there is a possibility to, instead of following impulse, suddenly there is an opening to investigate the impulse. Initially, the desire is like if you see the animals, they live in the natural state. The cat had a desire to sit next to me. It followed the desire. That's a narrative. Or the cat had a desire to jump on the table and it resisted the desire. That's a narrative. The cat didn't have, it's just action unfolding. But with us humans, initially, we are just like cats. We are following the urges. And if the desire is irresistible, if it is charged with so much emotional energy, if it's fueled to the point that is irresistible, the body will follow the desire.

Now, if the love for truth wakes up in the heart, now suddenly we can perceive the desire as an object in consciousness. So there seems to be an option to actually investigate the object in consciousness rather than just go with the energy. So even though, you said it beautifully, it feels like there is a doer who can choose whether to follow or not to follow, which we know there is no doer who can choose and take control. But there is a seeming, option showing up the moment the attraction to investigation comes into life. And it obviously is your case already, which is wonderful. A few weeks ago there was some resistance coming up to what was unfolding in the illusion of my life.

The quote that you mentioned earlier about, like, well, Nisargadatta, what he said about love all of it or none of it. Your problem is that you love one part of the dream and not the other. So there was an awareness that showed up as I was witnessing this whole unfolding that there was some, there was a lacking of gratitude for the drama. Like, it was definitely a not appreciating a certain part of that dream. That was really, that was helpful to be able to observe that and even be grateful as, as for the, for the drama. That part of the show was, it was dramatic.

But it was, it was like, there was, there was like then some gratitude for the drama. It was like, even then, it was, it was intense, but at the same time. I think of it as sort of like, you know, see, see, he said love all of it or none of it. There's nobody here that can, you can't force love. You can't force yourself to love anything. To love all of it. What I can do, seemingly, seemingly, okay, is notice where there's not loving and drop it. Seemingly. Seemingly. Seemingly. Yeah. I know it's all seeming. There's, I never do shit. Okay. Yeah. I understand that.

I know that. I never do anything. But at the same time, it's, it's very. Yeah, that's the same what Heyman was saying. You know, once, once you start realizing that something that shows up as an object of the consciousness and you are the consciousness, that's not you resisting something. That's resistance floating through. It's, it's a shifting perception. Yeah, it's exactly what, it was just a watching of the, Yeah. Oh, look at this. Hmm. What if I could be grateful for this? You know, why not? I mean, isn't it just a thought that would make me grateful or ungrateful? You know what I mean? It's a thought.

It's just a thought. Hmm. Huh. What if I could just be grateful? Yeah. That's much more fun. And, and you can recognize that as a thought too. That too. Yes. Yes. That's thought too. Yeah. And yeah. It's like the attitude of gratitude. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And gratitude doesn't seem to need a thought. Hmm. It's more of a being. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is a feeling really. Yeah, it's a feeling. Mm. I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Thought, feeling, emotions, three aspects of the one thing. Mm. They're interrelated. Mm. But they're not, they're aspects of the same thing. Mm. But they're not really the same. Just like steam, water and ice, the three aspects of that.

Yeah. Sensation or the feeling will come up, fear, anger or whatever it might be. Mm. And that's, that's just a feeling. Mm. And that's just a feeling. Mm. Yeah. And it's like, I don't want to feel it. Yeah. Yeah. I know I know. Then the tears will come or whatever. It couldn't have happened without the thought. Well you can have the feeling and then it can be translated to the thought. Like when you think of a baby, the baby doesn't have thoughts. It responds with feelings and then as it learns words it translates it to thought. But also within us human storytelling creatures, very often it's the thought that causes feeling.

If I tell you a compliment or insult you or anything, that will cause the response or feeling. Or if I tell myself a sad thing or a happy thing, it will cause the feeling. See babies are very good and toddlers are very good at just staying with the feeling. You know, they don't... Never seen a toddler hold a grudge. Never seen a toddler hold a grudge. Yeah. I'm sure it's happened but I've never seen it. I've never heard of it really. And it's that you say around age two, two and a half when this me begins. Starts to learn words. Starts to learn words. I mean they start earlier but they have enough words by that age.

Yeah. But around then that's when it starts to solidify this, at least conceptually. This, yeah, that's what I am is this body, mind, whatever. I am a story or whatever. People solidify... So many people think that children can let go easily because of the conditions of their brain but I don't think it has anything to do with that really. It's... They're just not buying into that me very firmly so they forget. Yeah. They forget I guess. Oh yeah. And then they go back to just being. And they're so allowing of it, aren't they? Babies are very interesting to watch. And cats. From Ram. Ram says, true, but he might break his toe if he tried to kick it.

It was about sculpturing stuff. It was about the stones by Gilbert I suppose. And, yeah, I guess he wouldn't be kicking the stones maybe. And then... Yeah. Oh, I'll have to get back to one. When you look at the rock on the beach. Oh yeah. That's the same narrative. And then we go to Jane. Jane says there is attraction or repulsion in the moment. No one who is attracted or no one who is repulsed. That's beautiful. Beautiful. That's a great reminder. Yeah, there is a movement of attraction. There is a movement of whatever, of repulsion. Just like in nature. The rest is a story. The rest is a story, yes.

When you see the animals, they're also attracted to certain foods, certain smells, certain behaviors, certain energy, and report from the other. And they don't have a narrative self. I don't see too many cats shooting on themselves for not being vegan. They live in a natural state. That's exactly right. And Gioti says, Donna, it all comes down to claiming it, taking ownership. Thank you. Thank you. It's up to date with our online community. Back to you guys. Any of our birthday girls have anything to say? Next to you, Zuma. Okay, maybe about the birthday. I feel that it's the consciousness that is recognizing itself. Yes. That the birthday is an idea of what I think that I am.

Mm. Thank you so much. Beautiful. It's just a wonderful excuse for the sangha to sample a cake. We had one last week. That was mine. It is an extraordinary meeting. This meeting. It is. It is. It is. And as soon as you started talking, Bob, or you know that what I've been in the last week since I've been here is a lot of worry about my sister and anxiety and turmoil. As soon as you started talking, it was like, oh, it just melted. Totally, totally melted. And I'm just here, totally. There's nothing, nothing, nothing else. And it is amazing. relief and just being with everyone here because i've been i haven't i'm not from melbourne i'm gypsy really but i'm on my way to tassie now but i'm going to come back to melbourne for a while and i want to be with you want to be with bob and cat as much as i can it's a treasure it's such a treasure and and and it's not just bob and cat it's everyone that comes to the sangha everyone is in their own right i can't put it into words but i've never experienced anything like this anywhere and i'm really you know i spend a lot of time this is the only place where i don't feel deeply lonely you know and it's not to do with people or you know they're getting anything or it's just a residence of something that i can't i haven't got the words for but it's just feels home or something even though it doesn't that doesn't make sense but um but i just am very beyond grateful really it's just oh thank god and what everyone what everything that has been said in this room and it and it had always been so here it's an extraordinary sangha and thank you thank you thank you thank you everybody thank you bob yes i think um you just need to realize that that feeling's within you and you're not alone and you're not alone and you're not alone and you're not alone you it's a part of you and that when you leave here you try and take that with you yeah and just think about it all the time yeah yeah be aware of it at all times yes which can be hard though which which can be hard it's because the world doesn't know it's not no it's not okay well it's you it's because the rest of the world doesn't facilitate that as you know you know like for instance okay i'm getting a plane soon a few days okay and you know i have people saying when when when are you going what time are you going what it's like i don't i don't know you know i i don't know i haven't got a all i can say is i haven't booked a ticket yet but that's not good enough i keep on getting us that's just a small example um of just i'll go when when it's the right time it's not enough time it's not enough time it's not enough time it's not enough for most people for me to say that when it's the right time i'll book a ticket and so that that's just a small example of you know um i just had a thought uh the world's like a mirror but an imperfect mirror and it just felt like when you were talking it just came to me that we look in the world like to see uh find ourselves this seeker and stuff but it's um maybe not a perfect mirror in that way or so but it's um maybe not a perfect mirror in that way or so something like that like we can only be ourselves or something yeah because i felt like same thing like you brought that energy here uh today and things like that and yeah that i thought yeah like it was in inside you you said uh you know and yeah yeah yes yes yes okay i don't know if that makes sense that feeling might be um an expectation on your part that when you come here um everything's good whatever that that might be an expectation on your part which if you when you leave if you can take it with you it'd be great yeah i don't know no okay i'm far from an expert said to me the other day you know just whatever i'm doing stop it yeah or perhaps your perceptions creating your reality and all the characters in it another way of looking at it but i have the same issue what's that i have the same issue yeah it's interesting yeah it's just part of being human that is the beauty of of being here and tuesday thursday nights and monday mornings well sunday afternoons if you're in the u.s but it's so nice to be able to like if i ever need to just gosh i can remember a quote or if i can't remember a quote i could always go to youtube and look at a sailor bob video and then i'm like oh yeah what was right and if I can't do that then there's always this Tuesday and Thursday nights or Sunday afternoons U.S.

where Monday was confusing because there is no time obviously but yeah it's so nice this community that is that we have here is quite extraordinary you know I mean I just came back yesterday from the U.S. and I went to visit with a lot of friends people I've known for a long time and people who usually like there's some of them are on a maybe a spiritual path but very different you know I went and I talked to some people actually I went to this place in Los Angeles the other day and they were talking about a progression that there should be like oh you seem to be very advanced to be like what oh yeah yeah well if there's only one soul how could there be an old soul are you young soul they they and if there's no time how many lifetimes have you had thank you there's only this so who cares well isn't it sweet that's sort of a dream like parallel you know what's more sweet is is this because you can go into parallel universes and say you know like some people say well that that there's this other universe where whatever choice I didn't choose I'm choosing that okay I'm like okay well that's not my experience now so it doesn't really help okay this is it like right here and so I could go back I could always come back to wait a minute if I have a thought happening it's pretty much about what seemingly will be or seemingly was it's not you how much of a thought can you have about this nanosecond like right here yeah yeah so and can you have a problem with that yeah I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know without a thought no it's it's beautiful so grateful and I'm so grateful for the community so yeah here's my little pitch firm for tomorrow if y'all want to come and on zoom so it's 930 here but go to his website don't say right yeah by the way there is a website on the website you have all the information is also for people who are here how to catch up with Bob one-on-one and sit with him and just clear your doubts if if you would like to just not show up and not speak up and not expose yourself in the in the group but it really is also a possibility for people from around the world to use Skype and have the same meeting we don't advise that you attend to a zoom at least once so you get used to Bob's style his specific language so the time will be saved for all the cross translations like you see we've touched on ideas like desires you go to Buddhism and you will have different ideas or different definitions you go to Christianity you go to particular groups every language is defined individually almost I mean there is a collective definition like English or like religion or group Bob uses language also in a particular way and it is just handy to get used to the way he's pointing to save time for the cross translation and clearing up stuff when someone is familiar with at least one talk that's why we invite people who request one-on-one meetings and everyone is welcome and it is awfully to attend the zoom and I have a couple of comments here still Jay says the drama in my life is what woke me up to the fact that my life is the theater nowadays I'm trying comedy good thinking this is a cosmic joke it is a comedy it's wonderful and Catherine and James I'd say you are the dimensionless point of no point that's it yes absolutely and James says this community is magical and general and avec a culture of cultural its people whose social processes are educational many things to choose from he said the also is K ECU yes sorry you're not here with us Dean we miss you and Tanya says thank you enjoy your lunch and the rest of the day sending lots of love we're gonna have two cakes and thank you everyone thank you thank you