Let the thought be there. Don't attach. Sailor Bob and team on nonduality. 8 Jan 2023

This cut. Michael. Julie. Julia. Jo. Tony. Just in time. Sarah. Leah. Sarah. Jill. Jane. Tess. Maureen. Dean. And there you go. Still up. Still up. Still up. Still up. Yeah. Um. You comfortable there, Peter? No, no, no, no. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly okay. How many are there? The papers. He's fine. But that. He's not fatigued. He just wants to I know. I know what keeps you from me. All the ones who didn't are going in the bad book. Then we can replay. Yeah. But it's got it. It's on the camera. Now, good to see you all. Everything's fine.

Same old, same old, no difference. Take it yourself. I'll take my ears off. I can't teach you anything, and I can't tell you anything. All I do is point toward and ask you to look where we're pointing to, to see for yourself, because that's the important part. It's only you, yourself, believed in self, that can understand it, because when you realize what we talk about, you'll see that can only be that. We talk about what they call in Hinduism Advaita, non-duality. That's what Advaita means, non-duality. They try to describe non-duality by saying it's one without a second. In other words, not two, only that. So that's all there is.

Thank you. Who is there that can teach you anything or tell you anything? Each and every one is a unique expression of that pure intelligence energy, all life. And that's the great mantra, my own mantra. I am that. People, unless it's been investigated, don't understand. But that they're talking about. But when you look at it, you'll know or see that everything is that, because that's the chair you're sitting in. That's the floor, the carpet on the floor. That's the room itself. Everyone in the room is that. And everything outside in the manifestation is that, which we discriminate with the word. We learn words and put the labels, different labels on.

But that, the one essence, expresses it in everything. So I'm not talking to anybody. I'm not talking to any mind. I'm not talking to the body, mind, person that you believe yourself to be. I'm talking about that I am that I am. And each one of us knows I am. And I am is not relating to the person. It's relating to that sense of presence. Is there anyone here who is not aware of being present right now, right here, and right now in that presence awareness? That awareness, you're not unaware. That awareness is ever fresh and ever new, timeless, spaceless, bodiless, without beginning or end.

It is the absolute. And a lot of people refer to it as God. But God is just another word or label we've got to use that term. We think there's some greater or higher power that we've got to become one with or worship or whatever. But it's the very life that's expressing through that pattern that you call yourself that body right now. It's that life which is enabling the breath to happen, the heart to beat, the words to appear, to come up, the thoughts, the feelings, the emotion, the hunger, the thirst. It's that life essence or intelligence that's patterning, shaping, forming, expressing as everything. You and I.

And all this manifestation are things. The chairs are things, the floors are things, the birds, the bees, everything else are things. And they say it's the one essence that's patterning, shaping, forming, appearing and expressing, and it is no thing. It's got no shape, no form, no pattern. So everything is a no thing. And the no thing, is everything. But what we do, we divide it with the word. As soon as we put a label or word on it, we separate it. And how many words were you born with? Realise you weren't born with any words. You didn't learn any words until you were about two or around that age, two and a half, a bit earlier, a bit later.

When your parents fussing around you started calling you little Johnny or little Jane or little Billy, or whatever your name might be. Put that label on you. And then you learnt another word, I am. And you say I am little Billy or little Jane. And you looked out there, the capacity of reasoning was developing then, and you looked out there and you said, well that's not little Johnny, that's not me, or that's not I. And so you felt separate from it. And with that sense of separation came insecurity and vulnerability. Didn't know what it was, you were insecure about it, especially as a little child.

And you became fearful or anxious or unhappy about it. And then later on we learnt more words and went to school and learnt more words. Nobody ever told us, you are prior to the word, you are prior to the thought. You're not there. You're not that person they tell you you are. You're a little bit more than that. But we were too far gone then to believe it. We kept in schools, we kept reinforcing that you were this person, this individual, this separate entity. And the belief became stronger and stronger. And see, light functions, and functions dualistically. And when you look in the dictionary, and see the definition of belief, the definition of belief is an unquestioned acceptance of something in the absence of reason.

We haven't reasoned it out, we haven't stayed with it long enough and thought about it. I take it for granted, I am Billy or little Jane or whatever it might be. Haven't questioned it at all. And so, then there comes up this believed in entity, fears, anxiousness, depression, guilt, shame, all the psychological suffering comes about because of this belief. We are separate. And we're unhappy about it. We want to become happy. That's the way we're weighed tells you. And he said, why are you unhappy? Because everything you say, everything you think, and everything you do, is for yourself. And he says there isn't one. We believe we are this self, this personal self.

Yet it clearly tells you in the scriptures, there's only one self, one Atman, one self. And that's the pure life essence or intelligence energy. And now we've got this personal self. We're trying to make this person happy or become realised or recognised as true nature. But the very trying, what's trying? That believed in personal self. And it can't do anything at all. We believe we can, but we can't. And so we stay locked in the conceptual image. And not knowing any different. We follow along with some of the religious traditions. Some of them started off alright. We recognise the true nature. But then whoever was passing it on becomes self-important.

And things that he couldn't work out or do, he puts concepts on. And you've got to do what I do. You've got to meditate. You've got to pray. You're a sinner. And all these concepts on. Instead of taking away these conceptual beliefs, coming back to the one essence, we're adding to them. And it gets worse as we go along. But some of us recognise, start to recognise or resonate. There's got to be a little bit more to it than this. Why am I suffering all the time? Well it tells me that this God is one and it's a saviour. And it'll fix me up if I pray to it and worship it.

Because you can do all the praying you like and all the worshipping. And you're not going to become what you already are. How could you? And that's what they tell you and the ones that really understand it. It's the great mantra. I am that already. That is what I am. And what is that? Innately you know that. What that is. Because you say that's the chair. That's the carpet. That's the tree. That's the flower. That's these other folk. These other people. You see, everything is already that. Which we put the word on. The label. And that's the problem. It tells you in the Bible. In the beginning was the word.

That's where it all suddenly began. And that's right with you too. That's where it began. You didn't have any words. Until you learnt words from your parents. And that's where the problem started. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. That's believed in. And the word was God. That's all God is. Is a word. Another word. Started like that. All things were made by him. By the word. And it's all around you. Anything in this room that's not got the word on it. Carpet, floor, tree, you, me, this, that, lights. All got words. And there was nothing made that was made without the word.

And when did you begin? If you go back and look into it. I tell you, you were born at such and such a time. Such and such a date. Can you remember that birth? People will say they remember. But with a little bit of common sense. How could you remember when you didn't have any words? You didn't have any language. How could you say I was born at such and such? So you don't remember your birth. But you say I was born at such and such a time. And you're taking on that belief. We keep learning concepts and words to add to it. And getting more and more.

And getting more entangled with it. As we come up with stories and beliefs about this, that and the other. Instead of seeing ourselves as the pure intelligence energy, the pure being. We've taken on this persona. And that word persona comes from the Latin language. Meaning mask. And we've got a mask of concepts. I'm Bob the Australian. I'm a good fellow. All concepts. All words. And I've added onto it. And taken it to be real. But the word is not the thing. Look at the word water. Can you drink it? Can you swim in it? Will you drown in it? You can't. The word fire. Can you eat yourself with it?

Can you cook with it? And will it burn you? It won't. When you look at this word I or me. You might recognise something about yourself. That you haven't seen before. Of that sense of presence. That awareness of being present right here. And right now. You'll say I am. Because you've learnt those words. I am. And instead of saying I am that. That they're talking about. That one essence. You say I am Bob or Bill. Whatever your name might be. I am this person. This separate entity. This individual. And it goes on from there. And you don't get anywhere. Because the person. Is not reality.

It's just a conceptual image. A label. Like all the other words. We've got. There's no word that this is real. But we take ourselves to be this person. This body, mind. Individual. Or if you investigate that. Am I this body? Am I this mind? And up there it keeps saying. You're not the body and not the mind. Is he right or is he wrong? I'll have a look. Look. You say my body. You say my house. My car. My coat. And you know you're not the house. You know you're not the car. Well in the same light. You may be. You're not the body either.

But you believe. You are this separate entity. This individual. This person. This body, mind. Well I need to investigate and have a look. My body. What's this body made up of? When you investigate. And that's an important thing they tell you also. That the false cannot stand up to investigation. All these erroneous or false beliefs. That we've got. If they're really looked into. Investigated. If they're false. They'll fall apart. And if they're the truth and you know them as truth. They're there. But if they're false. We're believing in all these false. Ideas. That are causing all the problems. We won't get out of them. By continuing to believe.

False can't stand up to investigating. Well investigate this body. My body. What is the body made up of? You realize the body is made up of elements. Consists of the air. Your breathing. The water. Your drinking. The fire. The body temperature. The food you're eating. All these things. Are elements. And all those elements. Can be broken down into subatomic particles. And those subatomic particles. Can be broken down into pure energy. Take the water out of your body. See how long it lasts. Without that element. Take the body temperature. You'd soon get hypothalian dye. Get out of space if you can. Get off the earth. So when you look at it.

You see you can't. Separate yourself from those elements. To break down into the elements. Is you can't. See those elements are separate. They can all be broken down. Into subatomic particles. Into pure energy. And they're safe. And it's just that. And they tell you that. It's all absolute. The great perfection is absolute. Absolute means there's nothing added to it. Nothing can be taken away. It's just as it is. Right here. Right now. As it is. Not as it was. Not as it will be. Right in this seeming presence of well. It's what is. What is means it's unaltered, unmodified, uncorrected. No preference, no partiality, no comparison.

See what happens then when left as it is. You mightn't realise it, but there's transient. It's constantly changing. It's changing right at this moment. There's not one or two cells dying, but there's thousands of cells dying in it right now. And they're being replaced. Are you replacing them? I've got a few cells to go in my heart. I've got a lot of them to go in the brain. It's not happening. But life itself is replacing those cells. That life or intelligence. Doing that, all those cells are broken down into energy. So all this body is... It's out. Absolute. You can't divide it or split it.

What can you add to absolute? Nothing. What can you take away from absolute? Nothing. Nothing to be added to it. Nothing taken away. So what would that mean? Wouldn't it mean it's just as it is? Right now? Just as it is. Right here, right now. You're not the body. Mind. Have a look at the mind. Are you the mind? You say my mind. Again, just like my code. My code. My code. My code. Well have a look at this mind. Show me your mind. Anyone show me a thing called mind? Well you can't. There is no such thing as mind. Apart from the thought word.

Mind. My body. We've got my mind. But what is mind? Investigate it. See the mind is nothing but thought. If there's what's wrong with right now if you don't think about it. See. And there's no thought there. What are you without the thought? You haven't disappeared. It's not the end of you, not the fear. The heart's still beating. You're still breathing. The life is still there. But this thing called mind if you're not thinking about it or not forming words, concepts or ideas. There's just a sense of presence there. Can't be labelled. Can't be named. But that life energy that's rolling the earth around the sun.

causing the seasons to come and go, causing the tides to come in and out, causing the patterns and planets to form, implode, explode. It's beating your heart. It's growing your hair and your fingernails. It's causing the thoughts, feelings and emotions to come up. All life. But using these patterns, we call bodies, to express through. In its absolute form, nothing can be added to it, nothing can be taken away, so nothing could be said about it. So it needs a pattern to express through. Expressing through all these different patterns, shapes and forms. And we put labels on them and describe the descriptions on them. But the description can never be the described.

The map can never be the territory, another way of putting it. And the map can never be the territory, another way of putting it. And what we're trying to describe right now is not its description. But if you follow what the description is pointing to, and see for yourself, you can't do anything else but recognize. Like the Buddha told you, it's a cognizing emptiness. We think we cognize the emptiness. But we don't. It's the emptiness that has that capacity of cognizing or knowing. And he made the statement then, a couple of thousand years ago, he said that emptiness is form. And then he turned it around the other way and he said that forms can be nothing other than the emptiness.

So you and I are forms. The chairs are forms. The carpets, the rooms are forms. All emptiness appearing as something solid and substantial is a form. The form can be nothing other than the emptiness. And emptiness is form. We are the absolute. The cognizing emptiness in which these patterns, shapes and forms appear through and are taken to be what we are. Form. But what about the absolute? Can you add anything to the absolute? It wouldn't be absolute. Can you take anything away from the absolute? You can't. It wouldn't be absolute. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing taken away. Recognize that you are that absolute.

From that point of view, who could ever be superior to you? Who could ever be inferior to you? And what would you want from anybody else? You've already got the lot. It's all there. You need to look at it. What's wrong with taking this poor me? I'm separate. And they tell me I'm a sinner. And I've got to pray, do this, whatever it is, sadhana, meditate, pray, and do all these things to become that. Have a look at that word becoming. And then have a look at time. When you investigate time, you see time's a concept also. Is there a past if you're not thinking?

When you're in deep sleep, can you say there's a past or a future? When you're relaxing here and the thought falls away, can you say there's a past or a future? You'll say, yes, I was in the past. Well, investigate. Go back and live yesterday. Or go back and live five minutes ago or ten minutes. Can you? You can't go back and live a moment in the past. But you can recall it. And you can only recall it for a little while. Because there's lots of past life that you don't remember. You don't remember your birth. You didn't have any words. And lots of other things that come up and let go of.

And if you don't recall them, they're gone for good. But a lot of it we make stories about and keep them in mind, keep them in mind as memories. And some things need to be remembered. But a lot of the rubbish and crap that goes on about past events and experiences are gone, over and done with. They're dead. Why regurgitate them? Why attach to them again? Form story. As Kipley said years ago, made this statement here. He said, a dog will return to its vomit and a pig will go back to its wallow. That's what we do. We go back and return to all these thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Regurgitate them. And they bring up all sorts of... They get worse. Habitually, because they were reinforced day in, day out for years. Now the habit needs to be broken. What can be broken? How can it be broken? Keep reminding myself, what's wrong with right now if I don't think about it? And just let the thought be for a moment. Don't attach to it and take it on and start a story with it. Because that's what happens. When we attach to this thought or feeling, we say more about it, add other things to it. And what comes up, we relate it to the feelings and ideas that the previous thoughts have formed.

Oh, this is a fearful one. This is an unhappy one. This is very depressing. And because of that, doing it constantly, for so long, it becomes more than what the fresh and new, spontaneous thoughts come up. So we're in more anxiety, more stress and more fear because of that belief than we should be. What is wrong with right now if you don't think about it? Anything at all about it. Now the thought. But it still is. It is what it is. The false concepts and ideas disappear, but the reality is ever fresh, ever before your eyes. Unaltered, unmodified, uncorrected. The definition of reality is that which never changes.

Feelings, emotions are constantly changing. Now if you see that, believe in that definition, know what the definition is, it's never changing. What is it that never changes? Isn't it the sense of presence? The knowing that you are? And isn't that how they describe it in the scriptures? Being, knowing, and loving to be? Not being this or that or knowing this or that. It's just the pure being. Negate your beingness. Try and tell me you're not. Try and tell me you don't know that you are aware. You're not unaware right now, you must be aware. There's lots of stuff you don't know in the thoughts, the concepts.

But can you know? But can you negate your beingness? Call God the supreme being? You call yourself a human being. I am this miserable human being. Take away the word human. Take away the word supreme. I've dropped them. But have I stopped being? No. I'm still here. Still present. Still aware. I can put other concepts onto it, but do I need to? Breathing's happening. Heart's beating. Life's going on. And the Buddhists tell us perfect's to say is absolute. And the Buddhists give it in one sentence here. They say the great perfection is non-conceptual awareness. Saying what I just did. I was seeing, hearing, tasting. And I wasn't conceptualising any concept, idea or thought.

These words are coming out of the mouth. I'm not giving them any forethought, what to think, what to say. If they don't come up, well, I get lost. I don't say anything. It doesn't matter to me. The ancients down through the ages, there's always been someone that's looked into it, hasn't been satisfied with the way things were, with the miserableness and the suffering and all that, and been moved to look a little bit deeper and seen the same thing, which they made all these scriptures in. And there's only been a few that's known it now, because the ways of communication, weren't very good. And they can only pass it on to one or two in the village, and not everybody would want to hear it.

And some of those that would recognise it, and say, well, if I pass this on, I'll have a lot of power. People will believe I was something right. So I better put a few rules and regulations on it. Tell them if you don't do this and do that, you'll be a sinner, a bad boy. Or you'll... Because all these concepts and ideas, and some of these things I had to do, so I'll tell them they've got to do that. And people try to become more than being, the ordinary being, become the supreme being, because that's what they're told. And they set these people up as saints, sages, saviours and seers, and they've separated it all again into different states.

And moved away from the one essence, the one life. And the greatest of these saints, sages and saviours and seers is God. One they believe is God. Not really that God is just a word. What are you basically? That pure life essence, if you like to call it that. You are that animation, that life, that being. Take the life out of that body, what have you got? A corpse. And that corpse, before it breaks down and rots, still got its eyes, ears, heart, kidneys, liver, all the organs are there, the brain, they're all there. But they're not going to do good to it without that life essence running through it.

And a good analogy to that is the computer. You've got a computer with all that wonderful information in it. But you can run those keys over it as much as you like, and that mouse over it can punch the keys. If the power is not turned on, what are you going to do? What are you going to get out of it? Nothing. So if the life is not animating this body, that life essence, what good is it to you? It's a corpse. And it's going to continue to break down and rot and go back into the elements again. Came out of the emptiness, the cognising emptiness, pattern, shapes and forms seemingly appeared, and they go back into the emptiness.

And it's still only that. Animation is going on in that pattern you call you. You are the life. When somebody around you dies, the pattern is broken down and it's lost. But where do you think the life energy, the energy went? Where else can it go but back into the energy where it came from? Because that is all that there is. That's what we need to investigate and look at. I heard it in many different ways for many different years. Different places. I was locked into it for many years, couldn't grasp it. Finally took me into all these different places where I thought I was going and I thought I was doing.

I realise now that I've never done anything as that person. And all the bad and troubled times it took me through those also. And I had to go through that because it was too stubborn to look at anything until it broke me down. But then when it began to happen, I listened to it and understanding it. It took me where I needed to go, needed to be. Where it was pointed out and realised and recognised. But even then, there was a recognition that came about. But the old habits continued to come up for a while. But they'd lost their hold and instead of reinforcing by going into and attaching to them, making more stories.

I was able to let the stories go. Detach from them. Let it just be as it is. And over the years it gets less and less. The life is still going on. Longer than what it should have. Should have been gone years ago. Years. You're still here. Everything's unfolding as it should. Exactly. Yes, well, and that's it. If you weren't, people weren't sitting there, there'd be less reason for me to live. There's more reason for you to listen to it and realise you can get an extension of that life. You can get more pleasure and joy. That is more your natural state. And this suffering that went on for years, it's not necessary at all.

It doesn't have to be there. Are you unhappy as Weiwei said? Because everything you say, think and do is for yourself and the risen one. Realise that. It just isn't this personal self. You are the absolute self. I am that. Be what you are. Not what you believe yourself to be or think what you are. I am. Know that for certain. That am-ness is not was. It's not what will be. It's what is. Right now. Isn't that a fact? What you heard, what you didn't. So, don't be shy with your questions. There's a lot of people who are not in this room and will be listening to the replay later on who can't ask those questions.

You might just give them a voice. Speak up, whatever. I don't know if it's as much of a question as it is more of a... Speak up. I don't know if I have as much of a question as I do. I'm just sort of yammering like I was thinking. It happens. I was thinking about this idea. I was telling somebody about how nothing could be different than what is. If anything could have been different. We have a belief that things could have been different. I could have, you could have, we could have. If then. And we have all these ideas of what could have been different.

And if it could have been different, it would have. So, like, in order for anything to be different, something would have had to be different. And it didn't. So, there it is. What is is exactly as it should be. It couldn't have been different. And then I was just kind of pairing that with what you were saying about the great perfection. You know, nothing could be different. Nothing could be added. Couldn't happen. Nothing could have been taken away. That's, that's, I don't know. I was just sort of seeing how, like, you know, what is. Another way to look at what is is perfect. Or what I am or what you are or what everything is is perfect.

Is because if it could have been different, it would have. I don't know if that makes any sense. But that's how I'm seeing it is perfect. Everything is different. And how it appears. But actually embracing what Julia was just saying. To actually realize that the past is gone, is dead, and it can't be changed. And cutting off all the ideas, if only I've done this or they did that, or if only, that actually shuts down all the, like, probably, potentially half of the stories we tell ourselves to overlook the reality. You know, like speculating. What if I chose another career? What if I chose another partner?

What if I became this? What if I had an idea, Julia often says, about starting Facebook in 2000? Yeah, I should have done that. Why did I not start Facebook in 2001? Make it the way it is today. God, was I stupid? Like, seriously. God. How could I have? Even the guys he stole it from couldn't have. Right? I mean, there's a movie that says Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea of Facebook from some guys at Harvard. No, he actually paid for it, I think. Well, no, he had to pay in a lawsuit because they sued him. Right? So that was how he paid. But, yeah, they apparently had the idea, but their idea was only for Harvard University students, a social network for Harvard kids.

And his idea was different. He was including all universities and then the world. And so only he could have done it. And only I could be talking right now. So I'll stop. Yeah, so what's... Oh, yeah, go on. Just to follow on from that topic, I mean, I think we've been taught to try and do something about it. That's the usual way is to do something about all the problems and, you know, psychological tendencies we have. That's what we've been taught. You know, try and modify it. Try and change it. We've been taught to try and change things and do things from the mind, from the concept of a me.

And it's like a habit, you know, to fix something we think that we have to do something about it. But this is totally the opposite to that. You leave it as it is because you see that any modification is coming from that same sense, from the mind or the sense of me. So it's really going against the grain of what we've been generally doing or taught. You know, this is quite radical in that sense. That's another one. That's a more subtle method of mind, isn't it? To meditate. But then I will become more present. Things like that. Do they actually work? I haven't found that they do.

No, it's just that seeing the truth and understanding the mind, and pulling it all apart, as you say, Bob. And then seeing what's actually going on. I have a friend who wants to become enlightened. Before I met you guys, I was taught or told, everyone is enlightened, we just tell ourselves we're not. Everybody is enlightened, we just tell ourselves we are not. Yeah. Yeah, okay, we all are that. But the concept of enlightenment is a concept that people have got an inflated idea about. And, you know, people do believe in their mind. They are that, but there is a strong belief in mind. So, you know, that has to be questioned.

Who else wants to say something? Bob. Going, going, gone. Sold the highest bidder. When we were driving in this morning, we were discussing a lot of different things. At the end of the day, there was a lot of disagreement. Feeling of agreement and all that sort of thing went on. Speak up, Bob. Yeah, sure. At the end of the day, you know, none of my ideas mean anything. Like, I throw them all in the river, every single one of them floats down to the sea. And that serves me well because, you know, including the idea of a me, if you like, personally. Because I feel like everything is a procession of thoughts.

And I think that's the thing. There's a procession, best thing you can hope for in a separate mind is a procession of paradigms. So you can talk about, you can talk with people and groove on a new paradigm, a new way of thinking, a new way of talking. That's not going to be... That's beautiful. It's not going to be either, is it? I like that quote. The best that can happen in mind is a procession of paradigms. Yeah. But don't get too attached to that idea either. Throw that one away too. They're not going to support you. All right. Or me. In the end run, I'm just brought entirely back to this place where that is all there is.

You know, I have no words for that. I have no concepts. I just know it. That's all, that's all I can say. I think all of us would agree with that. Essentially, you know what we're talking about here. It isn't anything very complicated at all. It's just one... I'm not sure what I'm going to say. But when I went to see Papaji years ago, The words of praise he gave to somebody was to say, he's thrown intellectual knowledge into the Ganges. And that, I mean, of all the things, there's so many things you forget, or I forget in the life, that he said as words of praise about somebody, he has thrown intellectual knowledge in the Ganges.

And I thought intellectual knowledge was important. So to hear that that was a mark of accomplishment or praise, it always stayed there. But, you know, I find I can't get out of my mind. And like at the moment, I've sold, or the family sold a house. It's been in the house. It's been in the house for 50 years. And I can't get past, well, regret. Because, you know, I bought it at different times. But in the end, I didn't buy it. But there were times when it was mine and then it wasn't, you know, just through mediation. But I just noticed this tendency to, which I guess everybody's been referring to, this regret going back.

And I think it's so hard to just not regret. Can you say anything about that? I didn't hear half of what you said. She's saying it's so hard for her to not regret. Can you say anything about not regretting? You can regret as much as you like. What good is it to you? No, it's not. You know, I think it's so hard for her to not regret. It's so useful. So just every time you see it, let it go. I realize simply that a sense of regret or any emotional response from the body is not personal. That you are beyond the habitual emotional response of the body-mind.

You are the awareness of those responses. In this way, you actually watch the body-mind responding with regret, with sadness, with joy. And there is. There is a subtle curiosity about that behavior, that responses. You're learning about that body-mind machine, which usually you consider to be yourself. But now, as you're learning about it, this is an object in the awareness. So that's not you anymore. There's nothing wrong experiencing any sort of, you know, any sort of feeling. If you look at the natural world, you will see the animals are experiencing, you know, different, you know, grief, sadness, whatever we label those emotions. They actually just experience responses.

And they don't have a story that that response shouldn't be there. I've seen those cats that are roaming around just contemplating their own responses. You know, the cat gets scared by the cat from the neighborhood and comes back and puffed up and tail up. She's sitting and experiencing it, and the cat is just fully, the surges of energy going through the body. That's fascinating. It seems like the cat is fully present with whatever is happening on that bodily level. What we do, we habitually say, oh this is me, this is my problem, and I have to solve it, and this is because of that, and that one is guilty, and that shouldn't have happened.

And what Julia was saying, oh what if, if it only happened the other way? What we do, we betray the present moment, and trade it for the story about it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because what's presently happening is that surges of energy. And what is not happening is that, oh, they shouldn't have done this, blah, blah, blah. So it's really about returning home to what is happening and putting your heart with what is really happening. And story is also happening, but it is happening on top of what is happening in the sensory world. And we only have limited capacity of processing information. So if the attention goes to the story, it misses out on the heartbeat, on the breathing, on the hearing, on the feeling, on all of it.

So if we actually prioritize what is happening tangibly in the sensory world, then our processing capacity doesn't have to go to the story about it anymore. And in this way, anchoring, falling in love with what is, with the curiosity. Curiosity of what is, openness and experiencing stabilizes. And in this way, regret can be a blessing. Any feeling, any emotion, anything that is happening is an invitation to recognize that, although it may feel very threatening and very personal, it is just a passing phenomena in the consciousness that I am. I spoke with a, I had one-on-one yesterday with someone who was saying, who had a good clarity.

I mean, for last couple of years, Bob and I, we have different sessions and he's got no issues, but you know, like marinated in the non-duality, the mind comes up and says, well, yeah, I've seen through it, but you know, who've seen through it? Who has seen that, you know, you should ignore the thought, who should ignore the thought? And as Bob was saying, okay, or who should be aware of the, of the regret? And as Bob was saying, if you don't think there is no problem, well, he says, yeah, I'm not thinking, but there is still that idea. Yeah, exactly. There is still that idea, that idea that maybe there is still a me ignoring thoughts or watching the regret.

Maybe there's still that me. Yeah. Okay. So whose idea is that, that there is still a me that is personally involved. Who is aware or what is aware of that idea? Is that idea? That is always there. That sense of things being personal, very personally threatened, because for the survival of the body, that's necessary. I mean, if the cat is being chased by the dog or by other cats, there is no question. It's personal. It runs for its life. But the idea that it is personal is not there. It's just the behavior, pure response, pure function. No idea. And without the idea, this is what torture us.

The ideas are torturing. Like Bob was saying, what's wrong with right now? If I don't think nothing is wrong, even if they just sold the house, even if it's really cold or really, oh, I'm starving. Even then, without the idea that that shouldn't happen, I shouldn't be starving. Nothing wrong. It's just what is. And that what is this is only wrong when the thinking comes. And makes it so please, if you if you feel moved, use it. Use that sense of regret and also, you know, recognize it as another face of love, love, attachment, whatever, whatever the movement is there is always coming from that some level of loving care.

You love the house and you care for yourself. So there is the regret. I want the best for myself. That's the most important thing. That's the mind, of course. But it's not an enemy. There is a sweetness in that pattern of trying to always negotiate what's best for me. You know, I want the money. I want a career. I want a boy. All that behind that desire is the program in the mind, which is to, you know, make this as comfortable and as happy as it is. But it is mechanical. It is mechanical. And in the moment it is. It is believed to be the reality.

Oh, this is me. This is my voice. I want it. This is I. This is I. And I suffer. Well, of course, then there is a hiccup. There is suffering. But if you see that this software is totally impersonal and it's totally helpful and sweet. And you notice it as much as you notice all the feelings. And it's like, wow, amazing, amazing. Regret. Oh, cool. Everything that shows up. Has its function in the way of maintaining the whole, the whole dream. But when you see it this way, it doesn't hurt. But of course, if there is identity there, this is me. I feel that I need to ignore thought.

I feel that I need to do something about the regret or I have to change something because this is unpleasant. All that having to is what Catherine was saying. And by the way, we have a comment. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Here, Catherine, for you. My God, it's like old home week. I haven't seen Catherine in many, many years. Please say that John says a warm hello. John who? John. From Thailand. I don't know if John wants his last name stated, but this is John who lives in Thailand now. American John. You know. John L. John L? Oh, John. John John.

I was wondering about this topic. I'm got to have my own side in this magic game of speaking. You talked about TSA. I don't know if I was ever going to be mentioned about that. I used to be on TSA. I have seen many of them. I was the only young adult. I think I was born in North Korea. You're a town girl. Yeah. You've got to unpack it. So you drop the story and that's similar to what Papaji said in that all knowledge is going in the Ganges. So all knowledge, you know, is the story. The story of me, the story of the other person, place or thing.

In your case, the thing is regret. So, you know, so they both said a similar thing, Papaji and Gangaji. Throw away the story or throw away all knowledge into the Ganges. The mind can be our servant or we can be its bitch. So there's this idea that this question, or it's really a statement that I've heard Bob say a lot, the false cannot stand up to investigation. An investigation, I think, is using the mind as a... as our servant. Okay, it's a useful use of mind to investigate. And any time in, you know, I just observed anyway, when there's an experience that's of, well, discomfort, regret, anger, sadness, or whatever, I can't, it doesn't matter.

I have found in my experience that it all falls away with the investigation. So if you investigate and you say, well, are you... a story of regret? Are you that or are you that which is aware? There's a question. That's something to investigate. And you can take a look and go, well, I must be that which is aware because I'm not a story, right? So the investigation, when the truth, when the false is revealed to be false, the truth reveals itself, I think. And you're just left with... back to... I love what she said about betraying the present moment. You come back to here. Because you...

because it brings you back to this. It's, oh, yeah, that's not... you know? Anyway. I used to work with a client with a diagnosis of about a mentality of two years old. And I just noticed when it started to drip, and I'm from New Zealand, it's cold rain there, you know, and it's for three days. But yeah, and he would just keep walking into the rain and just be like dripping and he'd be fine. Whereas I'm like, oh, crap, do I need to get an umbrella? I don't have an umbrella. I don't have a raincoat. Oh, this is... I hate this. You know, I tense up.

And yeah, it was just an awful experience. And he was fine. So I tried doing what he was doing. I switched off and it's like, oh, it's just a little bit of wet. It's nothing. Bob, can you elaborate on something about it all started with the Word or nothing happened without the Word? Yeah, from the Bible, on the beginning. Can you elaborate on that? Nothing happened without the Word. Nothing happened without the Word, I think you said. Yeah. Nothing happens. Can you discriminate anything without the Word? Can you say anything is good or bad, like or dislike? Yeah, if you have a question for it.

Maybe not, but something still happens. Something still happens. Happening. Happening happens, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Even, let's say I'm a one year old, things happen. So, you know, I'm a little bit older than my husband, but I'm a little bit older than my husband. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't get it, all these things happen, so I don't get it, the Word. Yeah. But Candice, what can you say, this is happening? I wouldn't have the words to express what is happening. Yeah. Oh, there you go. So, life's still functioning, the story is still about it. Things are still happening.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Well, I think you mean the quote from the Bible when Bob says, without the Word, nothing was made. Exactly. Sorry. Yes. Sorry. Yeah. Bible pointing so that's the one I didn't get yes nothing was made without actually having a label on as a baby it sees everything but it doesn't differentiate between things so nothing is made to a thing nothing is an object like the idea of I am here a subject and you are there as an object is really coming only with the language without the language I am the open field of consciousness within that field my hands happen your hands happen there is no separation only with the language separation comes about and things are made to an object oh yeah you mean nothing is made or the yeah nothing is made to an object what are you sitting in on a sofa yeah nothing is made to an object what are you sitting in on a sofa yeah didn't know that word what could you say boy oh I'd still be sitting on the sofa but I wouldn't say it nothing is made into an object yeah I'm confused as we describe things we give them we use words words are labels call it a sofa it's a sofa and has all these pastures you know it's a sofa it's a sofa it has all these pastures it's a sofa it's a sofa it's a sofa it has all these pastures connotations that I realized from past connotations that I realized from past connotations that I realized from past reference past association that if I past reference past association that if I past reference past association that if I don't label them where is it where is don't label them where is it where is don't label them where is it where is all these these associations do you see all these these associations do you see all these these associations do you see they will become one thing in truth I they will become one thing in truth I they will become one thing in truth I don't call anybody by name what are we don't call anybody by name what are we don't call anybody by name what are we what are we that are we one thing yes I what are we that are we one thing yes I what are we that are we one thing yes I don't know whether you can see that or don't know whether you can see that or know it's that it's the word that that that separates and divides so so it divides hot from cold right but what bob points out a lot is it's all really just sort of the same stick just different ends of the same stick so there's only the the one everything and then what happens is there's mine which by the way i have kids and if my kids didn't start using it at two two and a half i would have been worried as a mom because there's something bob i've heard him point out in the past i really love this pointer i found it helpful i don't know why he talks about the eagles i think with the birds the bird can see a mouse in the field 500 feet away can you see the mouse in the field 500 feet away the dog can smell stuff that i'll never be able to smell the bird can fly can you fly although but it's this reasoning capacity that's useful so it can be used to to see with binoculars now.

We can make binoculars to see further or microscopes to see better or helicopters and airplanes to fly and we could train the dog to smell. It's very useful capacity. We can also use it to investigate and ask who cares? Who's the one who's wanting to figure this out? So it's very useful capacity. That said, it's also divisive. It divides you from me, good from bad, good and evil. That's another thing he points out in the Bible. I love this pointer from the Bible. Adam and Eve, they were in, where were they? They were in paradise, right? And then what happened? They ate from what? A tree of what?

Knowing what? Good and evil. So before they ate from that tree, they didn't know good from evil. There was a meme I saw on Facebook. I loved it. It was Adam being the world's first lawyer and he's saying, in all fairness, how could I have known it was evil to disobey God when I hadn't eaten from the tree of knowing good and evil? Yeah. Yeah. Right? So there's no words. There's nothing differentiating. It's so easy sometimes. I remember like noticing babies, the perfection of infants, you know, you could know so clear and you look in their eyes and you could just, and I wondered, I remember at one point, when do we become imperfect?

Maybe we've always been perfect and we still are. It's just that what happened is about two and a half, three years old, we started having words. You're bad. You're good. You're wise. You're stupid. You're more enlightened. You're not enlightened. You're higher vibration. You're less. It's all in thought. All of it is in words dividing, making better and worse and this and that and not gold. But why do they use the word made? Nothing is made. Why not? Why not? Yeah. You have to ask someone who translated the Bible because how it was really said, I don't know, but it is still a good pointer that it was made.

You know, to make something. It is already a thing. You know, you don't make the totality you make a think you make an object. So you objectify. So the word made things into the objective existence labeling objectifies then it doesn't mean the potentiality doesn't exist, but the potentiality become actualized. When you actually learn what things are so as much as you write every pointer. language could be you know you could argue that it could have been said better way it could have been more clear no no yeah wonderful every question is the question is the rightest to the spell the confusion you want to do out something okay okay that anything mean you read that did you say there were no discriminating thoughts or the old mind ceases to be I say when no discriminating thoughts arise the old mind ceases to be you don't see see I thought it was it something different in the quotation from the Bible hmm yeah Josh was gonna be speak as well there's just 10 minutes to go as well in regards to the use of the word made what's made is the concept the concept or the label there's nothing actually in existence that nothing actually exists apart from anything else unless the concept of the label is made is the concept of the label is made is the concept of the label the concept is created for it.

And then that's attached to whatever this inexplicable experience is, the sofa or whatever. You could say, yeah, that's all I have to say. Give it the pen. Beautiful. Just a brief one, too. Yeah, I was giving an exercise in a workshop once where we just had to go out for 15 minutes and just create random other words or made up words to everything we saw, and we just kept doing that constantly. So it was a nice disruptor to the word meaning something. So I would say something about association, too. It's amazing to have a look at how we associate things with other things and put things in a timeline, for example, and make up a narrative self, which doesn't really hold any water when we look at it.

The associations can often be very illogical to the way we think about things. It's like the mind will... If you decide there's something about yourself, for example, that you are good for some reason, or intelligent enough, or not good-looking enough or something, then the mind will go out like a raging rabid dog looking and hunting down anything it can to associate with that, to make it real. And so it adds to the burden of guilt and so on. And that's how mind works, I think. And just one other thing. Yeah. Yeah, well, that'll do. Okay. No, no, you're done. You're not done. Please finish. I can't remember what I was going to say.

I'm sorry. It's all right. You can't. I'm just like a six-year-old in front of my class. I was just thinking about the word make, and it's just something I heard from an Alan Watts talk. And he was talking about the different cultures that in the East a child would ask their parents, they wouldn't say in the West, he'd say, how was I made, the child would say. But in Japan or in China, in the East a child would say, how was I grown? You know, I don't know. It just came up. Huh? In different languages. In different cultures. Expressions in different cultures. I just can't help coming back to a pointer that resonates with me.

All we see... All resistance and all conflict arises when there's, you know, an attachment to the story, the story of me and every person, place or thing that creates conflict or disease within me. So when I see, as Julia so beautifully pointed out, that the mind is the pairs of opposite, or the alleged mind is the pairs of opposite, it's actually, it's not mind. It's just a story of me and the other, you know. And there is actually, you can't find the mind anywhere, if you look. It's just a narration about what is. But what is, is still going to happen, you know. And it's the resistance and the story that separates us from what is, you know.

So I just think the mind's such an obvious clunky thing. It's me, you, happy, sad, pleasure, pain, yesterday, tomorrow, you know. And as Bob so beautifully pointed out, it's reality is the only thing that's constant. Everything else is transient. So every story about me, every story about the other, every story, it's just, you know, it's just a story, you know. And so I love that just coming back to home that also Julia said. And coming back to the place you never left, you know. And just watching the stories, you know. Just watching them like the clouds in the sky. Every now and again there'll be a fixation on something.

And as Kat so beautifully said, it's an opportunity to watch. What's that fixation about, you know? There's a song in that. Watching the stories go by like the clouds. Yeah, yeah, there is. Beautiful. Yeah, yeah. I have. I have a couple of comments from the online community who is watching with us. And we have just three more minutes, so I'm going to read the comments. And if anyone have anything, then just wrap it quickly. This is from Angel. And can you, she says, can you elaborate on why some radical non-duality speakers say that the awareness and consciousness are still knowing a separation? I mean, I understand it, it's words that is separate.

Yeah. I understand it, it's words that are still trying to describe what can't be said or described. But it is confusing. Also, is there a way I can talk to Sailor Bob privately or the both of you? Thank you. And yes, I actually answered in that comment. Then please pop us an email on sailorbobadamson7.gmail.com. And you'll find that email on his website, sailorbobadamson.com as well. And we can elaborate on it deeply. And with the words. You know, different speakers would define consciousness differently. Different speakers would define awareness differently. And they would have different words for different pointers. So don't try to reconcile. It's best to actually stay with one style of language.

I heard people who, when I was still speaking, would equate awareness and consciousness. And Bob differentiated for the sake of pointing. Consciousness is aware of existence. Awareness is not. So there is awareness of separation. It doesn't apply. It all depends on the definition of the words. But we can chat on that. You can chat with Bob or both of us. Whatever is easy if you like. And I have another comment. This is from Vivek. Words, expressions are mind's play, creating divisions. Words are misleading. Without words is silence. The reality, perfection. Beautiful. And then John says, Ooh, that's a long one. Let's have some fun. As always, spiritual folk forget that our objections are that.

That our desire to be enlightened is that. Absolutely. That our mid-course reactions and corrections are that. Well, we always say it's just one. It's only one. How could anything be away or apart? That is our object. That our objections are that. That our judgments are that. In fact, have a look at that one. Watch how that falls apart. Do we judge judgment? It is radically inclusive. It is not necessarily stuffy or safe. We are, we unbecome small and limited and pointlessly flexible due to small-minded interpretations of lawless spiritual pointless. Pointers, sorry. You are that. That means that that is in your objections as much as anything else.

That that is as much in our so-called seeking as in the stopping of so-called seeking. Come on, you guys, let's play. Pay attention. Look at that light shining from Bob's beaming bald head. . Woo! It's a halo, it's a halo. It's just slipped down a bit. I think we can press that down. There's a couple more. Beaming bald head. It is beaming, polished and perfect. Enlightenment. They can come again. If it's this unmodified, unaltered and uncorrected that this includes, includes even the pointless separation that spiritual people make while trying to stop seeking. Sending love to all of you, including that big bald headed dude. That's beautiful, John.

Thank you. And Gilbert says, watch the mind and see how it operates. Simple. Buying into the thoughts will only lead to inadvertence. Undistracted attention is totally possible. Beautiful. Thank you. And Angel says, thank you. And Tanya says, thank you. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the day. And Nat says, thank you, my dear Bob and Pat. And thank you everyone. We have Zoom tomorrow. And yes, we have Zoom tomorrow. All the information is on our site, www.bobadamson.com. Thank you.