The "I" is Emptiness. Sailor Bob and nonduality investigation 25 Feb 2024

Now, Joe, Hi, I Am Joan, Hi, I Am Jane, Ross, Jane, Tasha, Tim, Carl, Jimmy, Locky, Paul, Sally, Ali, Linda, Peter, Ben, Cam, Dean, Histo, and Blacken, yes. And Bob. Oh, there's someone else. Yes. It's just that. Will you? Yeah, just start, Bob. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Bob. It's the usual. Talk about nonduality, one without a second. Different labels we put on it. Basically, meaning only the one, nonduality, meaning one, not two. two., two. and two. two.hta, two. two.hta, two. two.hta. two. two And that presence is right with you right now. And that presence is right with you right now.

Nonduality is one without a second, not two. It appears to be two here. But, appears to be the many. But it is only absolutely that space like oneness. They call it the basic space of phenomena. The base of all phenomena is space. And you know that because each and every one of us now are in that space. We don't notice it. We look at the very first thing we see in space. We look at the things that are within the space. And miss out on the space. Space is no thing. Though it appears, there's been all these people here and everything in this room appear to be things.

And the things, that is all the things are. Appearance. Are seemingly so. The content of that space. And everything is the content of space. Space is no thing. So, you're a thing, I'm a thing, the tree's a thing, the planet's a thing. All this manifestation are things. But it's really all no thing appearing. They call it a phenomenal manifestation. And that's what the definition of phenomena is. That which appears to be. So, you, me and everything else, the carpet, the chairs, everything in this space like awareness. Is the adornment of that space. Same as to appear in the space. But if space is no thing, then the pattern shapes and forms that seemingly appear in it are no thing also.

Appearance. Like the mirror. You've got to look into a mirror. What do you see in the mirror? An image in the mirror. Or a reflection. Or a reflection. And you can't say that image is not there. But it's an adornment of the mirror. You can't say it's not there. Go up and try and grab the reflection out of the mirror. You can't say it is there. The same with all this manifestation. So, that's what needs to be recognized. That the basic space of phenomena is that which every thing and the no thing appears in. is in or seems to be in. We don't need to question that and investigate it.

Am I this body? Am I this mind? Because they tell us that the false cannot stand up to investigation. We need to question that to see if this space that we're pointing to see it as the actuality or whether this body or mind or the appearances in it are the reality. Well are you the body? Are you the mind? And each of us says my body, my mind. Well who's the my? You say my house, my car. Who's the house? Are you the house or the car? You're not. Maybe you're not the body. Maybe you're not the mind looking at it that way. Investigate it and you'll see.

What's this body made up of? Made up of elements, earth, fire, water, space. What are you doing now? You're breathing in the air. Body's made up of 60% or 80% water. The body temperature, the fire. All elements. All those elements can be broken down to subatomic particles. Into pure energy. When you investigate along those lines you can't say you are the body. You are those elements. All those elements broken down into energy. That's all this body is. A vibrating pattern of energy. It patterns, shapes and forms and experiences. And it's each unique expression of that pattern. That's all it is. A seeming pattern, shape and form.

What about the mind? Say the same thing. Why mind? Show me your mind. And I can't show you anything you can call mind. Can you? You'll regularly look at it and you'll see there's nothing called mind apart from thought. And if mind is thought, which particular thought are you? Are you this particular my thought, which is a thought, which is a thought, a thought thought? You're not. What's thought? Thought is sound, word, a vibration, a movement of energy. So this body, mind, patterns and everything else in this manifestation can be broken down into that pure intelligence energy. Timeless awareness. That's what they call it. Sat Chit Ananda.

Nama Rupa. Sat is existence. Chit is consciousness. Ananda is bliss. Or love of being. That's another way they put it. Being, knowing and loving to be. Naamba Rupa. The five factors. Well, anyone who is not existing right now, realise, no, I'm existing. Anyone who's not conscious, there's none of you there that are unconscious or unaware. Anyone who's not happy to be. So you realise that you are already that existence, consciousness and loving to be. So what is there to seek if you are that? And you realise, you hear them, you look at these things and question them, you realise the great mantra is, I am that.

And innately you know that. Everyone knows that because that's the chair you're sitting here. That's the room the chair's in. That's the carpet on the floor. That's the tree. That's the flower. That's you. That's me. That's the other person. Everything is already that. Which we put the name, shape and form and labels on which discriminate it with the word. So, how many words were you born with? You'll say, I was born. But can anyone actually remember their birth? You realise you can't remember your birth, though people say they do remember their birth. But how could you remember it if you didn't have any words? How could you say, I was born?

You couldn't. You couldn't. So, first couple of years of your life, you didn't have any words. But you were certainly alive, you were certainly being. That presence of awareness was expressing. And you didn't have any words to translate it or label it. And about two, two and a half, when the capacity of reasoning developed in you, as that little body, little baby grew, so the capacity of reasoning and things like large words from its parents. Where did it begin? And did it begin at birth? When you go and look into it, you see it's a bit more than that. That anemone can like that. That pattern and intelligence energy you call your father.

Enabled in that pattern a little microscopic... ...scopic... ...put... ...put it into it. Particle called a sperm to form. You can't see it with your naked eye. But that sperm is suffused with intelligence. Put it under a microscope and you'll see it. And you'll see it moving. And at a capacity. Or an intelligence for knowing. The same in your mother. That anemoneic life essence in your mother. Enabled in that pattern a little microscopic particle called an egg or an ovum to form. That ovum was suffused with intelligence and knew what to do. And the sperm, it attached itself to the wall of the uterus. So it was suffused with intelligence.

And the sperm knowing what to do swam to the ovum. And when those two came together. That intelligence in those two patterned microscopic particles. Doubled that cell, that energy. Doubled it to experience the expression. And formed the little embryo. The little fetus. Which is what you are today. And what were you doing about it then? You weren't doing anything at all about it. But that life. That intelligent entity. That knowingness. Or godliness. Whatever you like to call it. That livingness. Knew what to do. It grew that little fetus. That little embryo. And in nine months. It was born. It came out. And that was a little baby.

Which in another two years. Round about that age. The capacity of intelligence in it. Formed in it. And it learnt words. It was Paris. Paris fussing around you. Told you. You're little Johnny. Or little Jean. Or little Billy. And. Then you learnt those words. It learnt the words. I and me. And then. Whatever your name was. You took it to be the real. I am little Johnny. Or I am little Jean. Missing out on the very basis of it all. That I am that life. I am that intelligence. I am that intelligence entity. I am that pure in being. I am the absolute. Now we've got the idea.

That I am the person. The body mind. The separate entity. And we've taken that on. The parents didn't tell us any different. Because they didn't know either. They never investigated. And we've lived in that. From that point of view. Till. Later on in life. As there's. Something. Occurred to you. There's got to be more to it than this. And it takes you to look at other things. That's why you're looking into this. For a start off. We take. Realise. There's got to be a bit of a bit. Knife to it. And we're leaving this person. And all this. Spiritual. Stuff. That tells you you're a sinner.

And you've got to do this. And do that. And you've got to be beaten. The hell beaten out of you. And you've invented concepts like heaven and hell. Dualistic patterns. Which are not the oneness. We take on these beliefs. And question them. Instead of recognising. And realising our true nature. The very first thing you see. And should recognise. But is overlooked. The very first thing before your eyes is space. Emptiness. Emptiness. But we don't notice it. We ignore it. And look into the things that appear in it. You, me and the other things that appear in it. And then there's the sense of separation. There's me and you.

Me and the other. But in the investigation of the me. The believed in me. And seeing it's just a conceptual other. Conceptual name or label. And without me or the other. Where are you? Aren't you that pure being? That space like awareness? Without any concepts. Or words. What can you say about it? It's empty. It's a cognising emptiness. That emptiness. It's not we that cognise the emptiness. It's the emptiness that has that capacity. That no-thingness. That emptiness. That emptiness. Has the capacity. Of cognising. And the Buddha told you that a couple of thousand years ago. And he said emptiness is form. You've heard that statement.

And what have you? Say oh yeah. That's a good one. Emptiness is form. And he turned around the other one. Form could be nothing other than the emptiness. So I'm pointing out it's that cognising emptiness. That space like awareness. That vibrates into patterns, shapes and forms. An adornment of space. Something that's the dawn of space. And we take the form and we take the form and we take the form and we take the form and the shape and form it's expressing as the adornment to be real. So I'm pointing out it's that cognising emptiness. That space like awareness. That vibrates into patterns, shapes and forms.

An adornment of space. Something that's the dawn of space. And we take the form, shape and form it's expressing as the adornment to be real. So I see that everything is the adornment of space. You and I are adornments of space. Get that idea. Look at the good. There's the reflection in the mirror. The image in the mirror. You look in the mirror. Mirrors isn't empty. It's space. It's no thing. The pattern, shape and form appears on the reflecting surface. It's an adornment on it. And all sorts of things can appear in a mirror. But you take and try and grab something out of the mirror, you can't.

Because it only appears to be so. Why? That's why they tell you that this manifestation is an appearance only. It's a phenomenal manifestation. And the definition of phenomena is that which appears to be. It ignores that and we go into the idea that we are this entity, we are this person, we are this individual. And we need to become something. We need to become realised. We need to recognise that fact. And the trying to become. Look at that. Becoming is not being. And the existent translation of Satyatananda was being, knowing and loving to be. Not becoming. Knowing and loving to be. Becoming implies a future time.

And that would make you look into the concept of time. And when you look into the concept of time, you'll see time is just another mental concept. Is there a past if you don't think about it? And you realise without a thought you can't say there's a past or a future. But you'll say, I was in the past. What was in the past? Try and live a moment ago. Try and exist. Try and do something in the past. You realise you can't. The past is gone. It's dead now. All you can do is recall it. And you can't recall all of it. Because you've forgotten most of it.

You can recall certain parts of it. And recalling those certain parts of it. They're only there as long as you're recalling them. You no longer recall them. They're gone. And they're gone for good. And the future. You can't live a moment ago. But you can go back and recall it. What about the future? You can anticipate and imagine what you're going to do after you live here. Just like before you got here. You anticipated and imagined you were going here. But anticipation and imagine is not the future. It's an image about the future. What you think the future might be. But the future is another conceptual image.

Where does that leave you? Past, presence and future. Past, presence and future. Where is this presence? It's called omnipresence. Total presence. It's totally this presence moment. It's spontaneous. When does now begin? Right now. When is it ending? Right now. And as it's ending, it's beginning. It's got no duration. Time is duration. It has a beginning and an end. The spontaneous, naturally, presence, awareness. The presence of being is what you actually are. Everything comes back to being, recognizing, if you like to look at it, that you are that one life. That one essence. That one being. That one space like awareness. And all this manifestation disappears back into space again.

It's only a parrot emanation of space. An appearance. Like a, what do we call it? A adornment on that space. So it's all dreamlike. And you know what a dream is. You go to sleep at night. And a dream will occur. You'll find that body. Things will appear in that thing, in that body, in the so-called mind. You'll be in a building, be in a world somewhere, doing all sorts of things. Activities, emotions and things that are going on just the same. It's going on in this state. This waking state. It carries on. You can have a nightmare and have a loving dream. All sorts of things.

When you wake up in the morning, where does it go? It disappears. Disappears. And all the things that you've dreamed about go along with it. They disappear. But you don't realise when you wake up, you wake up to this dream. This awakened dream. This is what they call the waking dream. Because this dream carries on from where it left off the night before. And the room and the things and the people and the things you saw, they're still there. They don't disappear. They still come into that appearance. And the sargeter tells us that when he says, you're dreaming a dream you call the world. And he still stopped looking for ways out.

Trying to get out of this dream and seeing the dream as a dream. He says, the dream is not your concern. He says, you either love one part of the dream and not the other. And in doing that what have you done? You've separated. And the sense of separation is dualism. You've moved it away from the absolute. He says, love all of it or none of it. See it all as a dream. And the rest will be done for you. And this is a fact when you try it and see. Because what happens, like the dream unfolds of itself in sleep. So this living dream unfolds itself.

And you can take it to believe that there's the me doing it. But when you investigate it fully, you'll see it does happen by yourself. When he says the rest will be done for you, you'll see it does. Things happen spontaneously, naturally and effortlessly. And there might be a seeming thought feeling will come in and interact with it for a little bit. Which it did evolve. But the more it's recognised, the more it's said through. The less trouble there is with it. For it's only me that can be fearful. It's only this me that can be anxious. Only this me can be unhappy, full of self-pity, resentful or anxious.

Recognising that, you see, me is the cause of all this psychological suffering. The cause of me being unhappy, fearful, anxious and depressed and guilty. All related to me. I am sad. I am fearful. I am happy. I am this body. I am this mind. Never for once looking at the reality. I am the absolute. Because it's all pointing to absolute. And what can you say about absolute? Can you add anything to it? It wouldn't be absolute. Can you take anything away from it? It wouldn't be absolute. And if you recognise that, take it to be real, that I am absolute. I'm not this body of mine.

If I look at it. Then, if I look at that, what can I say about it? I can't say anything at all. But who can be superior to me? If I'm not related to that. Nobody can be superior to me. Because if it's absolute, you must be that, the same as I am that. And everything else is that. Nobody can be superior to me. Nobody can be superior to you. Who can be inferior to me? The same thing applies. If it's absolute, there's no superiority. There's no inferiority. And what would you want from anybody else? Who got this idea of separation, and somebody has got more than what I have, or they're better than me, and I like them, or they don't like me, or I think they don't like me.

And all this comes about because of this conceptual belief of me, this person. And why we told you that in the Scripture is why are you unhappy? Because everything you say, everything you think, and everything you do is for yourself. For that potential believed in self. And he says there isn't one. And when you look at that, there isn't a personal self. And they tell you that in the Scriptures, to see before your eyes all the time if you read some of them, that it's absolute self, it's atman self. There is no personal self. The person is not reality. The person comes from a word we've learnt, persona, the mask, ancient Latin or something like that years ago.

Meaning a mask. A mask is a conceptual image, a blockage we've got to put ourselves. We take it to be real. And I am this person, so I'm fearful, I'm anxious, I'm depressed, I'm unhappy. But in the recognition that all the cyclists have suffered from happening comes about because they've believed in me. And lead, me is a word, a concept, an image. And the word is not the real. It's another thing that must be investigated. I've got all these words, concepts, ideas. Which word is real? And real is no word that is real. Take the word water. Try and drink the word. Try and take the word fire.

Try and cook with it, eat yourself with it. Try and take the word me. When you look at it the same way, there's nothing there. Take the word life. You realise there is only life. And life is not the word. It is that animating, intelligent entity. Or there's many different words you can put on it. You can put on it as God, life, beingness. And all sorts of different labels you put on it. But the word's never the thing. And you are prior to the word. Because you were alive before the word for the first couple of years of your life. You didn't have any words.

So that means you're prior to the mind. We've got this moddy mind idea. We think we are this mind. We're trying to find the answer in the mind. And nobody has ever, or will ever, and can ever, find the answer in the mind. But there's people that found the answer, recognise the answer. And put that label on it, that's trying to describe it. That it is the one essence of Patnexian, experiences everything. That they know, but certain, their true nature. They are that beingness. We call ourselves human beings. If you believe in God, you'll call God the supreme being. You put a label on it.

Take away that label human. Take away that label supreme. Take anyone who is not being, without that label. And you realise, no. I am being. And being is this spontaneous moment. It's not becoming. Becoming, we go into time. Becoming implies a future time. And the point of our time is another mental concept. And that being is knowing. There is nobody here right now who is not knowing. And the basic knowing is that I am. But what goes on to the I am is not the reality. The I am is the sense of presence. The awareness of being. The loving to be. The awareness of being is bliss, they say.

The loving to be. It is the life. It tells you in the Bible. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. That's all that God is. Another label we put on a life. Or intelligence energy. Or being. It's all labels. That which you can't label. That which is the absolute. That which you can't negate. It's omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience. All words. All label. See what they mean. And know for certain that you are that. That that is all there is. That is what you've always and ever been. It's a cognising emptiness. Emptiness is form. And the form is nothing but the emptiness.

Look at how it works in your life. Something comes up. And we like it. Realise that things appear in this life. Thinker. Something comes up. But you don't know what your next thought is going to be. I ask you what your next thought is going to be. You don't know. But a thought comes up and you say, I think. As soon as you say, I think, you've formed a subject. A thinker. Thinker. And the thinker is thinking. And this thought has come up. So what have you done? You've conceptually formed thinker and thought. Duality. Thinker. And this is going to ask yourself this. Can the thought I think actually think?

If you've gotten real of the thought can't think. Can the thought I see actually see? The thought I see can't see. And the eye can't tell you I see. But the seeing happens through the eye. And it's translated by the thought I see. The thought I feel. The thought I taste. The thought I touch smell. The thought can do nothing whatsoever. But the life essence is doing it all. Thinking is happening. Seeing is happening. Tasting, touching, smelling, feeling. Living, being and knowing is happening. Spontaneously, naturally and everously. As you say, you can call it by the guide if you like. One of the life essence.

Or whatever name you like to put on it. But know for a fact. Or see for a fact. Recognise for a fact. That that is what I am. That lie. Or. You can try. And get the answer in the mind. And come back and tell me if you can. And if you look in all the scriptures. There's no one that's ever got the answer in the mind. What concepts and labels they can put on. Which are close to it. They can point to it. But nobody. Is anything other than that being. I say the thought comes up. I think. And you say the thinker. And it can be a good thought.

Be a thought of pleasure or happiness or joy. And I like that thought. And the things we like. We don't want to get rid of. We want to be happier all the time. Not realising. That thought is a vibration. No matter how much you love it. And want to keep it there. It's going to change. And any vibration must vibrate in it's opposite. It couldn't be good without bad. It couldn't be pleasure without pain. It couldn't be happiness without sadness. But we divide in it. So the thought is a vibration. And we like it. Not realising. It's going to change. And it's transient. It's constantly changing.

This body. Is transient. It's changing right now. You haven't got the same body you walked into the room. With it's changing. There are thousands of cells. Changing it right now. Dying and being replaced. What are you doing about it? Nothing. It's happening by itself. Just the same as the earth is rolling the sun. Round the sun. Seasons are coming and going. Tides coming in and out. Stars and planets are imploding, exploding. The whole of the manifestation. Which is a vibration of that life essence. It's transient. It's constantly changing. So that thought doesn't stay. And we don't want it to go. We think we are running the show by this belief.

We are this person. We want to keep that thought there. This is a good thought. Not realising how much we try to want to keep it there. I realise now how much we try to want to keep it there, how much we struggle with it, it's going to change. We don't want it to change but it does. And with that change you become unhappy or fearful or anxious. So we resist it from going and trying to keep it there. And any resistance you are in is conflict. You're in conflict with it, thought. That conflict makes you uneasy. Another word for that uneasiness is dis-ease. You are no longer at ease.

So there's resistance, conflict and dis-ease. And you can recognise that in yourself surely by the things that go on. Look at the other way. The thought comes up that I don't like this thought. I have a bad thought. Or I shouldn't be thinking this. This is bad. I want to get rid of it. I've got to be clear of thoughts. So what do I do? I resist it again. Conflict and dis-ease. No matter how much I try to resist it. It's the very try that keeps it there. Resistance. Conflict and dis-ease. What if I recognise it just as it is and leave it as it is?

See it as it is. That the good and the bad are not dualistic. They are two ends of the one stick. And you couldn't recognise one without the other. The life and the death are two sides of this intelligent energy. And there couldn't be one without the other. The fear and the anxiety. The guilt and the shame. The jealousy and the envy. So instead of trying to control your mind and divide them, see them as the one essence. And just like the sun, the earth rolling around the sun, which makes it light here in this moment, the earth's not doing anything to try and change it.

The sun's not doing anything to try and change it. It's left as it is. And it continues to move around the sun. And this end that's facing the sun will be facing again, turning away from the sun. It'll be dark here. So the darkness has come about. The earth's done nothing about it. And the sun's done nothing about it. And the other side of the earth, which is dark now, will be light. So you see, the seasons come and go in the same way. The tides come in and out. The planets form and change. Everything is constantly translating. There's still the one essence. And get in tune with that.

In tune with the infinite. Instead of fighting against it. And see the difference that will come about in your life. And the difference that will come about in your life. And the different S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way.

And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the other S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the S you are in the same way. And the and that's all we're quite doing at the moment.

And a lot of you know it and see it or you wouldn't be here and can tell us about it. And don't hesitate to do that because somebody who might be new here or in a bit of a struggle with it might hear what you're saying in a different way where you can hear this and it might resonate with them and take you to it. Because it's the only way you can be passed down and around as it does through the ages. Somebody's passing it on to another and it gets corrupted along the way with a lot of different papers and forms that you're a sinner, you're an evil person, you've got to do this.

The fear of hell comes into you, heaven and hell, not realising they're two same essence. Hell's an ancient English word where they put everything in a pen and tied it up. They were held in it. And heaven, look up into the heavens, look up in the sky, Adam and Eve, were in paradise, in heaven, the garden of Eden. They ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In other words, they learnt words and they were cast out into the world of concepts and ideas and images. It doesn't have to be that way. So, away you go. Thanks, Lord. Good work. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. In the same time, I was in the same time, I was in the same time,ivoct- Thank you. We have about 25 people with us watching and we have a few good morning messages, good morning to everyone and we have a question or comment from Tanya. She says, good morning Bobcat and everyone. Would you say that there is no one ideal way a body should look like? That whatever way the body appears like is good just as it is. If it was supposed to appear differently, it would appear differently. And Catherine answers to that. Is there one ideal fingerprint? And Tanya says, of course not.

Great point, Catherine. Thank you. Whatever judgment comes about, whatever mental image comes about, to have a comment about it. It is always the picture of Satchitananda. Body of the bird, body of the dog. And yeah, fingerprint, any form that appears in nature is in essence the same one essence and in the appearance is the Satchitananda. So anyone would like to elaborate on this one or maybe bring up some other question or other comment or this is the time when, oh yes, we have a question. What's your name? Oh, Kavisha, you. I thought it was your doctor asking the question. I didn't really have a question, but I've often thought that, not that there's necessarily God, but God likes to have fun.

So it creates just for fun, every kind of combination possible, you know, because creation is having fun, basically creating, that's all. So there's no idea of it, just magic, oh, this looks good, oh, try this one, try. I just imagine like creation being a big artist. If you are God, you have fun. I'll try my best. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. I didn't intend to say anything, but I will anyway. Recently, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping, you know, well, for a long time, I've been able to sleep. But what occurred to me was, okay, what are you going to do about this?

I just have to breathe. So I started to breathe in and out, and I felt, it struck me that this is the basic element of life, you know, just breathing in, breathing out. I felt like that. And everything else is a balloon that I've added to that basic unit of life, isn't it? Like all my stories about not sleeping, for example, everything else, I've added to that impending death because I can't sleep or whatever. You know, I can make it as delightfully, as you say, create delightful stories if I wish. You know, I can do that and I do that. That's what normal we do as humans.

That's what the mind is for, I think, is to separate yourself out. To resist something, because in that resistance I know I am something here, you know. But we have other options to solve a problem of life. The greatest one of these is simply to know that everything is patterning and shaping and flowing and forming the basic units of life, the unit of life or life itself beyond. And then, you know, finding one step back from that consideration of just breathing in and out. You know, the essence of it all is what we really are. And that's the basic, that's the best solution. It's a different one than what we're normally used to, isn't it?

Normally we're used to seeing a problem or be resenting something happening in our lives, going and trying to work with that and to find an alternative somehow through presenting a solution to the problem. But this is a different way. It's a way of seeing that we are simply life itself and all of that is past anyway. Why should we deal with the past? But that's what we do as humans, right? There's nothing to resist here, really. And in seeing things, we gain the resistance. Anyway, that will do me. Thank you, man. What was coming up here was the only thing I know for sure is that I am.

And similar to what Peter was saying, that I said a different way, is that there is that presence that I am, that pre-sense that I am, and everything else appears upon it. But there's always that presence that I am. To go back to, if you like, not that there's anyone to go back to it. It's always there. And it's all just contained in right now. And then that narrator comes in, and it's interesting to watch. It's interesting to watch the stories from that presence that you are. And not to have preference or partiality. Just to leave everything as is. Yeah. I've been very quiet lately, and it's when I haven't been noisy.

And, yeah, those quiet times are just beautiful. Yeah. And that quiet is always there, even when there's noise going on on the outside. There's always that quiet right there. Yeah. It's just, yeah. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's what's been coming up. Thanks, Jack. I definitely resonate with the non-resistance and the quiet. Last year, I went through a big episode of grief, where I cried nearly every day for five months. But the whole time, there was this space, space with it all. And although the body was releasing underneath, you could feel held, in a way. And I guess that connects also with how I felt in my 20s.

I was very, like, carrot-driven for this becoming enlightened rather than being. And I was doing lots of Vipassana and sitting 10 hours a day in meditation. And then just resting in awareness, my body started to move and shift. And then just resting in the middle of the night, my body started to move and shift in the middle of the night. You want to say anything? Oh, if there's enough, I think. I can say more if you like, but plenty of here to put things to say. Come on, Jamie, you can give us a bit of the verse. I've got the talking stick nothing either good or bad no I guess sort of speaking of dualism I was watching a TV last night and it was one of those matchmaker shows you know they'd match people up and they do a lot of talking of themselves and one thing that comes up a lot that you hear is this idea of you know I want somebody to I want somebody to to love me for who I am on the inside not just who I am on the outside and this was sort of coming up a lot you know and I just investigated my own experience and I can't find an inside or an outside that's just like a mental concept that we overlay on our experience that there's an inside me and an outside world but I challenge anybody to investigate right now and see if they can find an inside or an outside both both the concepts and I just demonstrated a good way that the mind conceptualizes this dualistic idea that you know there's a me me that lives in here and then when this me finishes here and then there's an outside and there's a another opposite of the inside and I had a look just while I was watching I can't find an inside me or an outside it's just it's non-dual it's just an idea it's a concept anyway that's my god the talking stick that goes with all the opposites too yeah all of them well you can use anything here there wouldn't be one without the other yeah yeah they're all all the um they're they're all concepts I guess another one that I could could use is when the me falls away there's people are always asking you know what's your favorite song and what who did you like best on this movie and when the me falls away that those kind of ideas of I like that one but I don't like that one fall away too and I struggle in those sort of conversations now I find myself having to just make something up but there's nothing nothing there that because there is no real preferences yeah yeah that's right and even like I was getting asked yesterday we should travel we should go somewhere don't you want to like see the world and have these experiences and I don't really feel like that anymore because I feel like wherever I go there I am it's it's like it's I don't I don't know it's just there's a shift that happens in this and that feeling of being a person in the world that's traveling and going and having those experiences seems to fall away and even though I do travel wherever I travel there I am it's like it's nothing really changes and there's no preference for sitting on my couch in the lounge room to being on a I don't know in the Caribbean or something like that maybe the sunshine's better but a lot of that sense sort of falls away and that that feeling of me in here that has to move through the world and travel and have these experiences seems to fall away but it doesn't with those you're interacting with I guess so therefore you kind of just I just find it interesting interesting that's interesting it's whether shall I flee from my presence if I take the wings of the morning and for the outermost parts of the sea there aren't with me that's what you're saying yeah another way beautiful that's beautiful also I would like to highlight what Jamie was saying that about the desires the desires actually really fall away and you are in the natural state just like this cut here the cut certainly has preferences I mean try to give her an orange she won't eat it she will though eat the beef Bob has preference for the beef over zucchini as well so those functional preferences are still there in the body because the body has to of course it has preference for breathing air over breathing whatever maybe not nitrogen oxide but some think or the other but the desires desire for things to be different desire for future engagement and imagination about the future any attraction towards trading this beautiful unique present moment that will never be the same again for something that doesn't happen right now Caribbean or whatever they don't happen right now why would I why would I put my heart and the precious attention the life essence into something that is not happening while this one is this one is the is the leaving now another thing Jamie said he had no preference yes the great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences and space and both have some everything's clear and undisguised space have no preferences but it doesn't mean that the body will not choose one food over the other the flower will normally will go towards the Sun that's just the energy a movement of energy and that's natural but the flower has no preference to no you know it's just it's just energy moving you know it's just energy moving yeah that's it yeah that's it yeah oh Peter was first I remember a time I really concur with that and that's yeah obvious isn't it nowadays it really is a thing no preferences for anything particularly you can take it or leave it whatever it is I remember once some time ago I went to Italy with my children went to Venice you know Venice is the destination I suppose you're gonna travel anywhere isn't it most beautiful city on water and ridiculous really a ridiculous city but anyway it's sinking buildings and all tragically beautiful worth billions of dollars the whole thing but for me it was just the same as being anywhere else you know whether I was in Venice make a scrap of difference really did not make a scrap of difference take yourself wherever you go take yourself wherever you go and the children really showed me that because the only thing that really made them happy was the escalators in the airport you know and you've got that in every city and you've got that in every city I just felt the word come up self-acceptance not that there's a self to accept really once you start looking but that incredible once you start letting go of the like and the dislike a peaceful acceptance and I think that's the the harmony harmonic flow comes and and a funny thing started happening to me it's like I go oh really like I don't know something or other and then it would appear all of a sudden whatever I needed or wanted it wasn't difficult to get that thing it would a circumstance would present itself and that thing would be presented so it's like being in this flow a harmonic flow and letting go of judgments put me in this state of and then becoming playful because everything's playful then it's this play you know so and I noticed that and not getting dramatic or something happens you go usually you go oh that's interesting instead of going into the drama of it and then you go oh that's interesting instead of going into the drama of it and then you go oh that's interesting instead of going into the drama of it and then you go oh that's interesting instead of going into the drama of it so it's a it's like a relief I guess to let go of the dramatic judgments of things I've just had a look I do I have a tiny question you know we talk about inside and outside and and and and the duality and the conceptual nature of that and and and and and and at one level you can say inside and outside are one thing I mean they're always you know talk and there you are you know top and bottom of the same thing you're not and I just I just had a look, I do.

I have a tiny question. I have a tiny question. You know, we talk about inside and outside and the duality and the conceptual nature of that. And at one level you can say inside and outside are one thing. I mean, they obviously are. Top and bottom are obviously the same thing. They're just whatever. What about emptiness and form? Same thing. Same thing? That's what I thought. Yeah, okay. Thank you. That's what the Buddha said. Emptiness is form. Yeah, but it's good to... Give him back his pick. No, no, say it. Go on. It's good to clear up people's use of words because words are used for pointing and...

and as such they're totally valuable. That's right. That's right. Totally valuable. And when you hear... I love... This is also a title of one of the books that were transcribed through Bob's teachings. One essence vibrating, appearing, expressing as everything. So that actually shows up how the pure potentiality, like pure energy that is not manifested, vibrates into different forms. But it is still the same essence. It's still the same energy. And one could say it's even less than the essence because as potentiality it neither exists nor it doesn't. It is emptiness. It has potential to exist as a form once it vibrates. But it's not a thing before it starts existing.

So that one sentence, one essence expressing appearing as everything, is just such a beautiful summary of that emptiness is form, which is yes, it's a nice statement appealing to the mind. And now the mind says, oh, do I believe Buddha or do I question it? How do I see it? How do I understand it? Mind can't because mind is the duality. Mind is always putting the concepts, the opposites, and every opposite has to exist, it can only exist in the background of its opposites. So if there is an emptiness, emptiness exists only if there are forms. So how they can be one or the other?

They can't. How they can be the same? The moment they are the same, there is none of it. So it is an interesting conundrum because the investigation, intellectual investigation will fail. But seeing through the way Bob points like a finger on the moon, seeing through that, ah, yes, that is that field of potentiality or that energy, vibrating into sound, of course, sound is vibration, vibrating into matter, of course, the matter is the subatomic particles vibrating, becoming solid, vibrating into images, the electromagnetic waves, they all vibration. And all the other vibration, microwaves, x-rays, all of those vibrations are vibration of nothingness, of energy, appearing. Therefore they are nothing in essence because they are just appearing.

Like Bob has the analogy of the mirror, the reflections appearing in it. But are they there? Not really. They are just appearance, they are just reflections. So that whole manifested world is the vibration of nothingness appearing as something. So it doesn't really have the objective reality like a dream at night, which just appears in that so-called mental space. But it doesn't have any solidity. The trees that you are maybe climbing or like Bob was saying, you might find yourself in the building. Nobody has built that building. It hasn't been there before you started dreaming. It just shone up in one big blow. And there is a comment here from Gilbert, Gilbert, a dynamic display of awareness.

The North Pole is not fighting with the South Pole. Dynamic display of awareness. How nice. And soul says emptiness, yet full of presence. Great point. Yeah, because that emptiness is not nothing. Bob always highlights is the no thing, but not a vacuum or a void. One could say, and this is the way Nisargadatta points it. When I'm nothing, this is wisdom. When I'm everything, this is love. So that emptiness is not a void. It's a potentiality for the expression of love or life. It's full of presence. It's alive. It's conscious. Or at least it has the potential to be. Because the consciousness is again only a reflection of it.

The field of potentiality or awareness is not conscious. Unless it is reflected in the form which can possess the consciousness. And the good ones too. In the mind, no mind. In the thought, no thought. Thinking that. Yeah, a little challenge. Or exercise. What can you say? Apart from the mind. I guess with emptiness and fullness, they're both concepts that in a way negate each other. And in that negation, sort of, where does that leave you? Yeah. Yeah. Non-duality is a concept too. Absolutely. Yeah. They're all concepts. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. That's why maybe Ramana said, you know, he uses the thorn to remove a thorn. You've got this thorn in your foot, which is the concepts that are self-limiting concepts.

And he takes another thorn, which he calls non-duality, removes, you know, negates those wrong ideas you have with his other ideas. And then they both get thrown away. Mm. That neither, you know, neither a truth. And that's also one of the forms of the investigation that all the spiritual teachings are inviting us to perform. The netty netty. Discarding. Looking at the identity of form. The body. And discarding. Am I the body? How could I be the body? Body is changing. Body was born very little. And now it is completely different. As Bob says, the cells are being replaced. Okay. So not this. And then, oh, okay.

The mind then. So am I the mind? But what is the mind? The mind is the thinking, really. One thought at the time or one mental image at the time. Could I possibly be one of those? Or all of them collectively? So when we see that one thought is missing or all thoughts are missing and the existence is still there. Even if there is no thinking, there is an existence. Then netty netty. Mind no. Not mind. So what else? Could I be the feelings? Well, sometimes the feelings are absent too and existence is there. So netty, not feelings. So maybe the environment or the world or the elements, the fire, the water, the space, whatever.

Everything that can be conceivable or perceivable, any element, any form can be questioned. And you can see that you are not that object in consciousness and therefore discard it, move it out. And what are you left with? Everything, every torn, every concept taken away. What are you left with? There is one thing that can never be negated. And that is the awareness of presence or presence of awareness. You can conceptually say, no, I don't exist. Or I don't know if I exist. But even to say it, there is an existence. There is a consciousness there to even say it, to even look at that. And that's what you stuck with.

But that consciousness or that presence or that aliveness, that beingness, if there is no conceptual framework put on it, if there is no limitation of the body, mind or personality or nationality or gender or anything put on it, what is it? It is limitless, it is birthless, deathless, unborn, infinite, timeless, spaceless. Spaceless, spaceless space. And that's a direct experience. Because everyone can pause a thought for a moment and experience pure existence without any boundaries. Because for any boundaries you do need the thought. And without the thought you see that there is an existence. And there is nothing you can say about it. You can't say that it is anywhere really.

That it has any limitations. Because for that the thoughts are quiet. It's experiential and it's ways, ways too simple for the mind to grasp or understand. Because mind needs concepts. And that's non-conceptual. Much closer before the concepts. Every little baby is born into it. Naturally. It's in a pure sense of existence. And so are we all the time. It never stops, never goes away. It's just covered up by ideas. Oh, I'm not this. I have to find it. I have to become it. I have to achieve it. I have to realize it. No one there. It's just the thoughts. Just blah blah going on. Creating that I that has desire to become or get.

There isn't anyone there. It's just a narrative. Just a commentary. If you see it for what it is. If you see that narrative, that commentary for what it is. Well, that's the time to laugh. Because it doesn't have to go. It doesn't have to stop. Like you were saying. You know, when the grief shows up or any emotion, any feeling, any thought shows up. It never obscures the space. The space is never touched or affected by it. And then even grief can have inherent beauty in it. Because it is another expression of love. If the love wasn't there, there wouldn't be in it. It's... And it's just so much simpler than any explanation or any practices or any methods of getting to where you never left.

As you were saying earlier about the tree. The trees out there, they're going to go into hibernation in a few weeks and the leaves will fall off. And the sap will stop running and they'll be dead. No idea what will happen. Yeah. And then being like that, they'll later on, then it starts something that stirs and starts that, it's up running again. Little leaves, then the flowers and the fruits come on. And we have a comment, a comment from James saying, A soul said emptiness yet full of presence and James says fresh and new. And Vivek, the changing world gives proof of itself that it is unreal.

And Peter, one can see why Ramana so praised Mona or silence free of any words or concept. That's that. What did you say, Peter? You were saying something? No. No? Oh. Maybe you can get. Okay. Okay. What else? I looked up the other day on YouTube a fellow that made an impression on me about 30 years ago. He's a natural physicist, but he grew up very much in touch with nature. And he knew from his scientific point of view, he knew that all this was just energy. That he had no personal existence. And he was quite happy with that. He understood that. And anyway, he seemed to end up in laboratories where he was recognized for his intuitive understanding of electromagnetics and different physical problems.

He's working in these laboratories performing tests on different apparatus. And once he was trying to pass an electron through an electromagnetic field, and the scientists who were doing this would shoot the electron through and it would go to the negative or shoot off to the positive poles. It wouldn't penetrate the field. And he said he wondered why they were trying to do this. Because he thought that nature always needed to breathe. In nature, this is what Peter mentioned, this in and out breath, the satipatana of Buddhist practice. And so he used the concept of an electron needing to sort of rotate through this field in a pulsing action.

And sure enough, it went straight through. And he tried this every time it worked. And so he thought he was up for at least a big promotion and pay rise. And to his astonishment, he found out that the people in charge of this laboratory weren't interested in his success. They were interested in getting the money from donors to keep the whole business going. And he said, we're here because we're paid to experiment, not to get results. And eventually he gave up and he left this job. He just couldn't understand it. But he found the same thing again and again. It was like when Tesla discovered how you could use free energy to generate electricity for the whole world.

The guy who was in charge of the whole industry at that time, it was JP Morgan I think, he said, can you put a meter on it? No, he couldn't put a meter on it. So they weren't interested. So this fellow, Ralph, Ralph, forget his second name, probably come to me. He continued to, with the understanding that this is all just a play of energy and it's a complete illusion. But he started to meet people who could help him in his pursuit of understanding. And he joined a group called Understanding, part of America somewhere, and met a fellow called CAR, C-A-R-R, and this fellow was doing experiments on anti-gravity and electromagnetics.

And he was virtually building spacecraft, flying saucers. And he had the same thing. People that were interested in this field were not interested in results. They were interested in just experimenting, but not too much, you know, not getting a result. But he's impressed this Ralph Ring, his name was Ralph Ring. He impressed him with his ideas and they had similar, similar ideas. And this car was doing experiments where so many people would get into this craft and they were going to travel to some destination. And he said, when you get to this destination, I want you to go outside, get outside. It wasn't far away.

It was still in the same regional, terrestrial region. And he said, well, I want you to get outside and I want you to pick up things off the ground, like stones, grass, anything you like. And I want you to put them in your pockets because when you get back, you'll have no memory of this taking place. So, I get into this craft and they're there for a while. And he said, well, we're going to travel up to this place and then we'll get out and I want you to get these, pick up anything you like, bring it back with you. And he said, okay, well, we're there now so you can get out and pick up these things.

So, they get out, they're in a distance of about a mile away from where they started. Not far away. And then he said, well, we'll get back inside. Well, we're back. We get outside and sure enough, they're back to where they started. But they had no memory of where they'd been. And he said, well, check your pockets and, you know, plug it out, all these rocks and things and collect it. So, what he was pointing out was that in this illusion, it's possible to do a lot of things which are basically magical. And this Ralph Ring, that changed his life. And from then on, he started to realise that sort of what Kavisha was saying before, that there's a kind of serendipity.

If you work within the laws of nature, you relax. It requires relaxation into that stillness of the pure being, total presence, however it's expressed. And you discover this magic that happens. So, from then on, Ralph and his life partner just played with the magic that was found in everyday life. Knowing at the same time that this is a complete illusion and sort of play going on or a... What do they call it? Leela. Leela or... Divine play. Well, the whole world's a stage, as Shakespeare said. And had a most wonderful life of no... seemingly no dramas. Everything was just what is and what... taken for what is.

And so that sort of... it's a nice way of seeing the... It's almost like that... Jokers to the right of me... whatever that song was. Flowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you. Stuck in the middle with you. I mean... That's a nice way to get out of it. Steelers' Wheel. Great song. Nice way to get out of it is to realise you're not stuck in the middle of it. And there's enormous possibilities for magic and... And joy and wonder. The whole thing. You are the middle of it. Beautifully said. Thank you, no. Thank you for sharing, Ross.

Lighten it up a bit, Commissioner. Oh. Yeah. I'll sit there next. Yeah. Yeah. W7 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 T5 Beyond ideas right doing, beyond ideas wrong doing, there is a field, a beautiful field. I'll meet you there, I'll meet you there. I'll meet you there, I'll meet you there, I'll meet you there, I'll meet you there. Join you first Beyond ideas are right doing Beyond ideas are wrong doing There is a field A beautiful field I'll meet you there I'll meet you there A beautiful field A beautiful field A beautiful field I'll meet you there I'll meet you there I'll meet you there Now Yay Thank you Dean?

No, I wasn't speaking I wasn't speaking No, you wasn't, but maybe now you are I guess so I sat here like about 10 years ago or so And sat here with you Bob And you said to me You started talking about this intelligence energy And you asked me to hold my breath I sat down, held my breath And I really did the exercise as best as I possibly could And I tried to not breathe And you're just demonstrating Because then it forces you to become really, really conscious Of the energy that is going to make that breath happen And you can't stop it, you can't control it And I don't know, over the time I realised that like this intelligence energy that you described That's really emptiness Cognising or knowing, recognising Itself, as itself Is governing the whole show Without an exception There's no exception And there's just It's just really beautiful being here With everyone And for the teaching Bob And it's just so lovely And I can't The gratitude isn't just from Dean to Bob It's like for, it's for recognising the whole show as it is And doing its own thing in its own way And it's so magnificent and beautiful and heartfelt And, you know, I could sit there and bow And scream and shout And just, and be an absolute idiot all at the same time And cry And it does, you know That's the expression of everything Patterning, shaping, forming Of nothing, patterning, shaping, forming In infinite ways And every pattern, shape and form Seems to be absolutely unique And, and, and it's just, it's just outstanding It's just And I think just if I don't know If we should all just get this message That you've been sharing for so long Bob And, but you can't There's no And, and, you know Like we talked about this emptiness stuff And I think, you know When you examine the reference point The sense of me The ego The, the idea that I It's, it doesn't exist And actually what it is Is that emptiness Yeah It's like, wow You know End of the, the game's over Like it's just And the game just begins Yeah Thank you That was saying something That wasn't meant to be Thank you Thank you Thank you Beautiful field Isn't it?

Beautiful field I'll meet you here The I and a U Is not two We have another couple of minutes Ben, maybe you would like to say no? No, anyone? Yeah Just a, just a quick comment When, when you were saying And the thing about how Scientists will avoid finding Getting results And, because they're dependent Their, their funding depends On keeping the thing going I just, that reminded me Of the whole spiritual industry I'm into that What a great point Yeah Yeah The whole idea of finding the answer In the mind Is impossible endeavor There must be money in that And, and also The whole idea of self-improvement And the spiritual growth And all that spiritual Self-help industry The point is You know If the business should run There's no final goal to achieve Because then you stop Subscribing and paying That was a good metaphor Yeah And what Dean was saying You know Like when you realize That that I That we all At some point or the other Belief That was real and existed Is the emptiness in itself Not only it doesn't exist But it actually is Another transformation Of that emptiness That's pretty mind-blowing I will say something It's just that The stuff that you mentioned About the spiritual journey And things And it does click that way But there is There's a transition period That we have to go through Because Yeah We live in this quasi-state This illusion And you can't You can't force it To waken up Awakening Awakening Comes in its own time By its own means That's right And you've got While we're still seeking We are nonetheless Enabling A level of causation To occur That allows awakening To gradually come through So it's not that we cause The awakening Because it is Self-caused It's self-originating Right But if we don't actually Open some doors To speak It doesn't have the chance To come through It could But we wouldn't Recognise it So if we don't Actually spend some time Working at recognising it When it appears We just go right past it Not seeing it at all So there's this Time of transition This quasi-state we're in And even after we awaken We're still in that quasi-state Because we're still seeing This separation Once you're fully awakened The separation doesn't appear Anymore But there's no you To fully awaken Correct Which is why There's no separation appearing That's it Yeah Very well said And there is And there is this saying In Desiderata That no doubt The universe is unfolding As it should And there is no one Who is the seeker And there is no one Who stops the seeking No one who opens the door And it's just That beautiful game Plays itself It's just that beautiful Divine expression Of one essence Appearing as a confined Poor miserable little me Getting a little bit better More confident Maybe more at peace with itself And then eventually giving up Getting that mind worked out To the point where The hard drive just stops Everything unfolds as it should Yet that illusion of me Can stop it from coming through Yeah Because we can hold on to an illusion Any kind of attachment We can hold on to an illusion And stop that which is Yeah From appearing to us That also So we can create our own misery Forever Yeah Life creates the misery It's not true Final words from James I was just going to say something Regarding awakening Because awakening is not an event Really But in it Where this is what it seemed to be Here was like Awakening to being awake The awakeness was always there And that was kind of like the joke It's like It's this It's so simple So it's It's not like an event That you go from one state to another You just awaken To already being awake To the awakeness That's Already Always present Beautiful And you never did a thing No You never did a thing No No Nothing Nothing happened actually There was no No volition at all You had thought occurred Why didn't I see this before?

Funny Yeah Beautiful My cat has just said God's got a good sense of humour Yeah Thanks Kat Beautiful Thanks mom Thank you everyone Thanks everyone Thank you