This transcript was made by speech-recognition software, so names and some words may be misheard. The recording is the original: watch on YouTube.
Oh yeah. Yeah, so Joel. I'm gonna get your ears off. I'm gonna see what I put in with that. Thank you. Everything's going quiet. God. It's good to see you all. Good to see you all. Good to see you all. All know what we're on about. Give it a name. Nonduality. Names and forms. All illusions. All mire. Talking about the one essence of patterns, shapes, forms, experiences and expressions as everything. Only that. That's the great mantle they talk about. I am that. And everybody knows that. Everybody. Everybody. Though there is the appearance of bodies, there is no body. It's only how it appears. Though all this manifestation, seemingly real.
It's only how it appears. And they tell you that the appearance is not reality. What's it leave? What's it leave? What's it leave? The reality is no thing. It's not reality. Yet, it can appear, express and experience as everything. If that is the case, you and I, and every so-called body in this room, is already that everything. But the experience is these patterns, shapes and forms, which we call human beings. And we look outside and see other patterns, shapes and forms. And expressing, we call them trees, flowers, mountains, rivers, hills, countries, stars, planets. The variety and immensity of the patterns, shapes and forms is amazing.
But all and everything is the adornment of space. It's all appearance of patterns, shapes and forms appearing in space. Space is no thing. Because the definition of reality is that which never changes. And space has never changed. You can't find a centre to it or a beginning. You can't find any dimension to it or any pattern, shape or form. But we seem to try to divide it into all the so-called divisions, which we pointed out are just adornments on it, just patterns. And it's no thing that seeming patterns, shapes and forms vibrate or seeming form. Why are we saying and looking into all this? Because it is the separation that's causing all the problems.
We have so many problems. We have so many seeming problems. How many of us are fearful, anxious, depressed, unhappy, sad? Most of us, nearly everyone is. Because they've taken on the idea that they are this person, this individual, this separatity. Instead of seeing the individual as the one essence, the only, we take it to be the personal. And with that sense of personal separation or dividedness, we are these minute pattern, shapes and forms, which are insecure. You are vulnerable because you see the things appearing around you, they are different. And you can't, they seem to be moving and pattern, shaping the fire. And we've learned how this will affect me.
What will happen if I, because I believe this, what am I going to do about it all? Because it's not going the way I think it should. And then that idea brings about fear, anxiety, stress, guilt, shame, remorse. All these labels we've got for the psychological suffering that goes on with each and every one of us. And then, not the other, they're more and more added to it as we go along. All sorts of dramas, traumas and things like that. What happened if we had to look, as we're told to, by some of those who have understood it. So investigate. Have a look and see.
Are you this body? Are you this mind? Are you this person? No, of course. And then of course, we get this, say, well, how can I investigate? Because you think you are the person. But without taking on that idea that you are the person, look and see. Look and see. Who is looking? Well the seeing is happening right now through each and every one of you isn't it? And then we put the term I see on it. That belief that I see we're relating to this believed in conceptual image we've formed when we learnt words. When our parents put the name on us, your little Billy or your little Jane or whatever your name is, taking it to be real and we relate everything to that personal concept we heard.
And everything is a concept also which we don't realize. Because all this manifestation, though it's appearing as something, is still only no thing appearing. Look into it and see. How real is it? The definition of reality is that which never changes. This body that I believe to be real, has it changed? Of course, it's always changing. It's changing. It's changing right now. The trees around you, they're changing. Everything is changing. The city is changing. I went past the city yesterday, I haven't been for years, and it's totally different to what it was. Everything is changing. Everything is changing. Even this thing that's seeing, this body, is not the same as it was years ago.
And the concepts it had about things is not the same. It's constantly changing. But with that change. And the recognition of what's going on. All the fears, dramas and traumas that appeared in it, were so strong and caused all sorts of damage. Not only to the seeming pattern, but to those near and dear to it and all around it. And so, it was only when the innate in essence turned it to look, realization, this is not how it's expressed in some of the ancient traditions. Maybe there is a bit more to it than what they're telling me I am and what I need to do and how I am.
How I feel and how I shouldn't feel. Comparing me to this, that and the other. And then when these ancient ones that I read about said it was only the one. The absolute. The pure, perfect, intelligent energy. The pure life. And from the personal. And from the personal. And from the personal. And the person. And the person. I pointed out it was not the reality. It was only a conceptual image. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real.
The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real. The real about this pattern that doesn't come and go. And I reckon that doesn't change. The body's changing, the concepts are changing, the mind is changing.
But the life itself that's breathing, patterning, shape and forming, that doesn't change. So, it expresses as that thought, I am. A sense of presence expresses a thought. And when did it start to express as a thought? When I was about two years old. Before that I had no words, had no concepts and labels. How could it express as anything? But the life was there. The knowingness was there. The beingness was there. Burnt words. The words, and it's a, this word I or me, is what I am. So I believe I am this body. I am this mind. And the other patterns, shapes and forms were not I.
They were you. Other than me. That was the belief. And if there was something other than me, there was a separation from it. And because of that separation I was insecure about the other. Vulnerable. What could this other do to me? And not sure of it. So that created all these concepts. Fear, anxiety, stress, guilt. All the dualistic patterns because I put label on these other things. Didn't see it as a one. That's a tree, that's a flower, that's a bird, that's a room, that's a space in the room. All these words were vibrations expressed as other than the reality. And when there is me and not me, and insecurity about it, there is conflict.
And that conflict was the form of the anxiety, the stress, the guilt, the fear, the unhappiness, the depression. That's how the living was. And it was destroying this pattern. Make a very miserable existence. And yet, told in the scriptures, it was existence, consciousness, bliss, being, knowing, loving to be. It was awareness of being to be. It was one and all. Everything was that. Absolute. And then investigating, looking into it, it had to be seen. It couldn't be otherwise. Like if you investigate anything well enough, you'll eventually see through it. It was recognised that I wasn't this person. I wasn't this individual. I wasn't this, separate entity.
I was not unaware. I was existing, certainly. I was conscious, certainly. Not unaware. And without any of those concepts going on, there was a sense of wellbeing. A sense of loving to be. Because naturally, that innate intelligence in you, the reality that you are, was not aware. I was existing, certainly. I was conscious, certainly. I was conscious, certainly. Not unaware. And without any of those concepts going on, there was a sense of wellbeing. A sense of loving to be. A sense of joyousness. Which I had taste of all of it in life. Because naturally, that innate intelligence in you, the reality that you are, the base in which of everything, and the concepts that are put upon it, are naturally seen through.
Because what is not real, cannot last forever. Because it changes. There were moments when it was seen through, and that's where we get the taste of our true nature. Recognising, though we got lost in the way it was dividing, in the unhappiness and the fear, trying to fix it. When the moments of silence and quietness came, and the realisation there's more to it than this. Instead of carrying on in the story, we were able to do what they told me. Detach from it all. Detach from the story. The story or the word is not the real. The beingness is real. The knowingness is real. The loving to be.
The life itself. The love. The love. Told that in the scriptures. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Christ told us that. And also in the Sermon on the Mount, He says, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall wear. Your father knoweth he have need of these things. And what was his father he was talking about? It wasn't Big Daddy or somebody up in the sky. It was that innate life that was there prior to the thought. It was the father-mother of the thought. Father and mother of the pattern. That through which it expresses it.
The innate life or intelligence entity which in a lot of the scriptures are important. knoweth he have need of these things. And what was his father he was talking about? It wasn't Big Daddy or somebody up in the sky. It was that innate life that was there prior to the thought. It was the father, mother of the thought. Father and mother of the pattern. That's through which it's explicit. The innate life or intelligence entity which in a lot of the scriptures they call God. And I looked into that term and didn't believe in any God. Didn't like it. And couldn't stand it. And thought without it, you know, they were told I was a sinner and condemned to all this, to hell and all the other places.
But then they pointed out that it's only a word. Only another word, a label, for something they point out is the basic life. The father of everything. The life of everything. It's that which pattern, shapes and forms appear in and sort of. So I don't use the term anymore. I use the term what it represents, intelligence energy. Intelligence is knowing. And you're knowing this, you're knowing that. Knowing everything else. Not what was known or the label we put on it. Or what will be known. But the knowing that's going on right now. Is a vibration. It's an activity. The activity of knowing. And that activity, that vibration is energy.
So that's where the term I use, that's where the term I use, intelligence energy. And the third I see is expressed in that way in other traditions too. Intelligence energy, the activity of knowing. And that's what is here. That's what is in this room. It's full of that activity. Because the activity is happening right now. Changing. And the energy. Energy is the activity of the movement. There's breathing. There's heartbeating. There's changing in it. Things moving around in it. Outside is more so. There's insects, birds, animals, trees and everything like that. Constantly patterning, shaping, forming appearances in this space. The space which is no thing. It hasn't changed.
It can't change. Because there's nothing to change. Does it have any beginning? It hasn't got any beginning. How is it ever going to change? We have beginnings. And all the parents of patterns have beginnings and endings. And they're constantly changing. But space, no. No beginning. No centre. No ending. No circumference. No shape or form. It just is. And where could any pattern shape and form appear if it wasn't on or appearing in that space or on that space. So it's only vibrations of the space or similar things that happen that simmer and appear as vibrations on the space. But they never touched it. Never contaminated it.
Never corrupted it. It's always been so. And nothing's ever been added to it. Nothing's ever been taken away from it. It is absolute, complete, in itself. Nothing at all can add to it and take it away. So it hasn't got any beginning. Hasn't got any ending. But something that begins is going to change before it ends. And the things that appear on it are recognised that something, what we call things, cannot come from no thing. If it's nothing, how can anything at all come from it. So there are only patterns, shapes and forms or beliefs. There are only seemingly so. And that's what they call the absolute.
The unchanging, uncontaminated, uncorrupted. The great perfection, absolute. The definition of the absolute is that which never changes. And that's what the only thing or no thing that never ever changed is the space like awareness. And you and I and everything else are expressions or patterns appearing. But those expressions can be broken down into it. And realise if it's seen that it is already so. That I am already that. I am that life. And not the pattern, shape and form it's appearing as. They appear as solid. Seemingly real. Seemingly solid. But the essence is I am-ness. The sense of presence. Absolute. You can't add anything to absolute.
So in that case, if there's nothing else to it, all these pattern, shapes and form. Who can be superior to any of it? No one. Or no thing. As you are already that. Who can be inferior to it? Again, no one or no thing. You are already that. And what would you want from anything else? No thing whatsoever. Because it's- look at it. It changes by itself. It appears, disappears and plays around. And all sorts of things go on. The screen itself is not corrupted or contaminated or touched. And without the screen can no movie or anything happen or appear. But when we recognise that we're not so solid or substantial as we think we are.
We're not the big deal or the know all and think all. Or we're not the inferior, unhappy, miserable idea we've got about ourselves. We are that absolute which expresses as everything. What they call in the description text is the play of consciousness or the dance of Shiva. Shiva is the absolute and Shakti is his consort. Consort dances and the world appears. And that's what seemingly happens. This conceptual image constantly changes, appears and disappears. But the essence itself doesn't change. And in the way it vibrates, it vibrates dualistically. Good, bad, like Shakespeare told you a couple of years ago. Nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
We have learnt these thoughts concepts and they vibrate in the opposites. But is the thought real? This seemingly thing that's dividing it. Is the thought real? When I investigate it, I can't say it's real. What thought? A sound. What's a sound? A word from a sound. And what's a sound? And what's a word or sound? Vibration. What's a vibration? A movement of energy. So, you can't say it's real. You can't say it's real. All sorts of sounds can appear and disappear. If they seemingly appear, you can't see the sounds. You can hear it. But you can't see it. But you can't see it. So, it really has no depth or shape or form.
Just like all the rest of this manifestation. It's nowhere to lodge. It can't add anything to space. You can't take anything away from space. So, it is all the space-like awareness. That's what they call it. Space-like awareness. And there's no one who is unaware right now. You know that. No, I'm not unaware. I am aware. But so many thoughts come up and seemly obscure it. They call those thoughts stories. That's all books and sounds like. Stories, fairy tales. And all those fairy tales, they had a good finish to them as a rule. But the fairy story all starts with once upon a time. And into time.
Is there such a thing as time? Is there a past if you don't think about it? You realise there's no such thing as past. Is there a future if you don't think about it? There's no such thing as time. And those terms we put on past, future, and bad and all of us are just thoughts, ideas, stories. And that points out that the story is not reality. Once upon a time. Is there a past if you don't think about it when you look into time? You'll say, I was in the past. Alright. Go back to yesterday. Or last week. Or last year. Or even five minutes ago.
Try and go back and live it. You can't. There was only a seam of patterns shaped and formed and disappeared. There's no such thing as past unless you think about it. And the only thing you can say about past is what you can remember of it right now. You don't remember everything. And the future. You can anticipate and imagine something that's going to happen later on. But you can't live a moment in the future. When is the livingness and the beingness going on? Right in this moment. What we call now. And when does this moment or now. Is that now? It couldn't be any other time.
Is it any now? When does it end? Now. That's the label we got on it. It's now. Immediately. So that's all there is. This now-ness. And recognize that. I am now. That's all there is to it. I am this now now. No other now than now. How am I going to get lost in the stories? If I recognize that what I really am is now. This space like timeless awareness. Some of the things that have seemingly happened in the past and the future. can be very useful. can be very useful. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was..
I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. I was.. happened in the past and the future can be very useful for the expression of now instead of going back and having to regurgitate it every five minutes to see how it appeared, when it appeared and realised that that which is useful can be utilised but that which is of no use doesn't have to be clung to and remembered. It can be let go. In the letting go, the energy which is so contaminated and corrupted by the past, we have very little time to stay in the future and recognise what's going on right now.
We constantly, so a sad thought or a sad feeling comes up, instead of detaching from it and leaving it as it is, seeing the false side, we keep it there and we keep going into these sad thoughts or bad thoughts or wrong thoughts continually and not giving the good ones a chance to hang around anymore because they're obscured by the other. They're not obscured by the other and you see, let the other go, detached from the so-called fears and anxiety and stresses, stay in the presence awareness, see what happens. No use me or anybody else trying to tell you. This is something that can only happen to that pattern, shape and form that you are because that's, you are all that there is.
All these patterns, shapes and forms of others are appearing to you. I'm appearing to you. You're, everybody around you is appearing to you. How is any other thing, pattern, shape and form, which is really no thing going to tell you anything? It can't. So, it's only you that can do it. And that's why they say do this and do that and get taught this and do that. I can't teach you anything. I can't tell you anything. All that happens here is to point out what a simile recognised, point out and ask you to look, to see for yourself. What's wrong? Just have a message on the screen.
So, I'll send the message on the screen. Oh, okay. All good. All good. Okay. That's enough. I've babbled and gone about nothing. You've all got to recognise it for yourself and you can. Where's Cat? Get yourself, get yourself here. That is it. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat.
I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. I am Cat. Have your door taken off? Have your door taken off? Yeah, we had a little drama today. So I heard. So we only have good morning messages from various parts of the world. We invite you to contribute, ask questions, tell us what resonated in Bob's feel or highlight or repeat on just contribute. Anyone? Thank you. Thank you. So, So, Yeah, So, a couple of weeks ago, I think I had a taste of, you know, just very taste, a little taste, even sure if it's right.
Doubts comes up all the time. And it was, just that, I am sense or presence or whatever, and that, you know, people refer to it different terms. I think it dropped, as that it's, basically, it's, that thing in me that always been me, since I was a little kid. And, I think when I was a kid, I would refer to it to myself, as my soul, you know, something like that. I just thought, maybe it's as simple as that. And, I have to just start from that. You know, you know, and that comes up all the time. And I think, this is not that, you know, can be, you know, all that.
But, anyway, I'm exploring that mystery. And when I, when I, look into it, I can't say that it has any age or gender, you know. Um, but then I just wanted, it, it's that, It's that, right? Can you experience it right now? Yeah. Can you, can you stop experiencing it at any point? No. There you go. It's always here, It is. Hmm. So, you're talking about that. Absolutely. It's simple as you just, okay. It's never been hidden. That's why they call it ignorance. We ignore it. We look at a story. We're so used to the stories, the tiles. the great story about it. It's not good enough.
Nothing simpler than one. And it's not even one. It's not? It's not even one. Can you open the door? I open the door. I open the door. I open the door. So, that is the absolute basically. That thing, is the absolute. That sense of presence of that. that thing that's been with me all. So, so, then I think, in a very... I'm not the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right.
I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. I can do the right. that thing that been with me all. So then I think... Yeah. Sorry? I think. No thinking. No, I was just wondering if that's it. Full stop. It doesn't really feel... Sorry? Full stop. People don't go there. Yeah, if that's it, then what? It's not good enough. I needed some clarification. No, well, I was wondering, so what is that that's been aging then? I mean, it's getting wiser compared with when I was five. I mean, I don't feel wise enough, obviously, but...
You mean what is comparing? Because there is a wisdom of five-year-old, there is a wisdom, there is an experiencing of 40-year-old, there is an experience of 95-year-old, but there is something that compares them, right? So there is like a piece of a software which actually compares one state with the other, which has constant flux of concepts going on, constant dreaming. It's like a dreaming machine that is contextualizing every experience, putting it in a bigger picture or smaller picture, focusing on details. It's a movement of attention. That one is happening on that screen of presence. And that one is happening, as you can see, it happens according to the way it was programmed.
So is that the right way of putting it, that when I was, for example, twelve, right? The state of consciousness, the absolute would manifest itself in... You're trying to work it out in the mind. You won't find the answer in the mind. Okay. What's wrong with right now if you don't think about it? I just wonder, what about the ignorance? Yeah. It's also that? Everything is that? Like I am talking to you, it's like the absolute actually talking to you right now. So I am that, with all my ignorance, with all my doubts, with everything. Yeah. Drop all those concepts. Sorry? Drop all those concepts and just be.
Okay. And yes, but you got onto something. Yes, it expresses us everything, including thoughts, concepts and ignorance. And every thought and every concept is actually dragging the attention away of the natural state. So you can say all of it is ignorance because it prompts the ignoring of the natural state. Yeah. And that's that too. The same way the electricity is a field of potentiality before you flip the switch and then it becomes light. Or a heat, or a movement, or a steam, or a spin. Okay. All of it is that. So when Bob said, drop all of this and just be, nah, I'm, no thoughts.
Am I that now? Yeah, stop ignoring. Yeah. Thoughts will come up. Thoughts will come up. All right. But are you the thought? No. What's your next thought going to be? But the thought comes up, I think. So when that thought arrives, I think, you've formed a subject, a thinker. Now you've become this thought up subject, me, that's thinking this thought. And the thought has become the object. It's divided itself from the subject object, duality. Can there be a thinker without thinking? No. Can there be the thought without thinking? No. I mean, I can't even separate the space of the thought and me, whatever it is.
Right. There's no thinker, no thought. Have you disappeared? No. Have you stopped breathing? No. Have you stopped breathing? No. Have you stopped breathing? No. The life is going on. No. You are the life itself. It doesn't need a concept. But concepts will come up as we've learnt them. But understand there are only patterns, shapes and forms that appearing, displaying as a sport of the life, you know, vibrating in all this patterns, shapes and forms. Experiencing, seeing, tasting, touching, smelling. It's all patterning, shaping and forming. But we say, I see, I think, I feel. We relate it to that believed in belief that you have about yourself.
And that personal self is not real. It's only the one self. It's like emptiness is looking now? Yes. The whole life. Emptiness is form. And the forms are nothing other than the emptiness. That's what Buddha told you then. I just need to rest in it. What is that? You have to speak up. I need to just rest in this. Exactly. Just rest and relax. Yes, that's what they tell you. Let it rest in its uncontrived singularity. It is a singularity already, you know, it's for making one. But all the thoughts are contriving this, that, and how that. I can't hear you. I hear you. So, I just need to rest in that.
Yes. Relax. Relax and not be, if you can. You can't not be. Being, knowing, loving to be, that's the subject of the air. I understand that. That's the absolute. This yearning, the longing for the truth is coming from that, right? Yes. And that yearning and longing in that simplicity of it you're recognizing, that'll turn into the joyousness, the sense of being well. Nothing wrong. The love of being. The joyousness for life. But it's not for me, to be honest. No, because you're not staying with it. Because I'm not? You go into the concepts again, into the thoughts. We think we can grasp it with a thought.
And they say we try to grasp it with a concept. And we fail. We're bound to fail because it's non-conceptual awareness. Are you unaware right now? No. What's wrong with that if you're not adding anything to it? Everything is okay. Where is the yearning? You don't think that there is anything missing. You don't think a thought. But you know, if I just believe it like this, it's just a belief. Because somehow it hasn't been clearly shown to me enough that I would say it's my experience. I mean, okay, it's my experience. I can't really say there is anything in me and there is any boundary in my body.
I don't, right now, I don't feel the boundary. I can see that emptiness is looking. But it's not... The habit is trying to... Give him a... Wait Gilbert. Give the magic wand. The habit we have, you know, and you could say everybody has it, is this referencing of the self-image, me. And that it has to be seen to be a fiction. Yeah, it has to be a fiction. So, if it's seen to be a fiction, everything to do with the me is also a fiction. And what needs to be recognized is the being, the beingness is wordless, silent. It doesn't have any beliefs. It doesn't have any opinions.
It doesn't care about good and bad. It's prior to all of that dualistic stuff. The actual being, it's not my being. It's just being, which is all-inclusive. Right? But our habit is to try and label it. By labeling it, I can say this is my experience. But it's bullshit. Everything to do with the me is a fiction. And so, in the scheme of things, that's what needs to be seen. And as Bob suggests in his first book and all the books, have a look. See if you can find anything with any substance or independent nature called me. I can't. You can't. You can't. Well, how many times do you have to look until you realize it doesn't exist?
But I can't also say that my being is everyone's being. Yes. You can't always need to say. I can't. I don't have any evidence that I say this is my being. This is my being. I can't. Who wants the evidence? I can't say. Who wants the evidence? No, I mean, um, but my being is right here. I can't say it's extend to your. It's not worth everything. Ah, who wants the evidence? That's a very good. I think that whatever I am, could that be wanting it? It seems like it's wanting it. Whatever that wants, you may verify when you stop thinking. Because concepts appearing on that.
So if you really, if you say, oh, that the absolute wants the evidence through an entity called Mitra. No, that's not a direct absolute having a wish. That's a dream. Absolute is dreaming. So in its absoluteness, if you want to actually see what it is missing or lacking, stop thinking for a moment. Stop conceptualizing. Rest in non-conceptual awareness and see if in that non-conceptual awareness, the absolute needs any evidence. If the absolute needs any proof or if absolute has any concept that this is my being and not your being. If absolute has any concept that there is any separation between any being and any label that this is my, this is not mine.
If there is any space for the mine or yours, any space for anything, if there is no concept. Then you will see in that absoluteness, nothing's missing, nothing's lacking. It's the natural state of natural completeness. From that to the dreaming comes. And if you follow the dreaming and you believe the dreaming, suddenly you dreaming you separate. Suddenly you dreaming that you should be experiencing what Gilbert is experiencing and other nonsense. Then of course, welcome to hell. Welcome to human suffering, human condition. I don't have this. I want that. This is not enough pleasure. That desire, the other desire. All the nonsense of missing out what is present, what is here to be loved and appreciated.
And focusing on what is not. Like this beautiful little poem Bob sometimes quotes. As a rule the mind is full. When it's hot it wants it cool. When it's cool it wants it cold. Always wanting what is not. Never wanting what is God. And this beautiful moment which will never be the same again. So complete, so full. There is seeing happening. What a miracle. Hearing, tasting, touching, smelling. Nothing's really missing unless you think something is missing. And what do you think is missing? Oh yeah, but I don't experience everybody's being. And I have no proof that everybody's being is the same being. Well, do you have a proof to the contrary?
Of course not. No, no, no. That's another problem. I want to have a proof to the contrary. They're all thoughts. They're all thoughts. You can see how the habitual focus of that conceptualizing dreaming machine is always on what is not. Always looking for what is missing. And that's a fantastic capacity. That's the capacity that allows the body to function in optimal way. Always finds the environment somewhat incomplete and improved. Therefore, you know, find better food, better shelter. You know, it's nothing wrong with that. It's every animal also have that tendency to improve its situation. But if you fall for the narrative about it, you suffer.
Well, what is wrong with right now if you don't think? I get all that you say, everything. It makes sense. It just, if I accept that intellectually, I have to admit it's not my experience. There is still a lack in my experience. Because you didn't stop thinking. Because the lack is a thought, isn't it? That is true. Yes. So if you really stop thinking for a moment, what sense of luck do you have when you sleep at night? Nothing. Nothing. And what sense of luck do you have if you really, for a moment, pause the thinking and throw yourself into the oblivion of pure experiencing?
There is no processing capacity to conceptualize any luck in the fullness of this moment. There is a lot of resistance to do that. I can see that. Enjoy it. Because maybe it's not going to be there for long. Who is resisting? Who is a me? That's right. I can say who, but I just feel that I don't want to experience the moment. I just do anything to avoid it. I mean, I don't even know who is I now that I talk about it. Maybe if you don't know who is I, just try seeing without saying I. Right. I don't know who is I either. I can't find any.
So why would I even need to know who it is if I can't find any? That's right. So what did you see without saying I? What do I see? I can't say there is anymore someone that is seeing. Just seeing happens. Just seeing, seeing is happening. Where they are not claiming I see. Now that's pure seeing. Yeah. It's pure seeing. Pure hearing. You are not saying I hear. Yeah. Pure experiencing. Not my experience. That's right. Pure thinking. Yeah. Pure thinking. Yeah. So is it so terrible without the I? No. See the difference? When the I comes out, other concepts will come up. And the I do.
And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. And the I do. that I do. and the I do. You are the pure being, the seeing, the hearing, the tasting, the feeling. You cannot negate your beingness.
You can't say, I am not. We call ourselves human beings, we call God the supreme being. Take away the word human, take away the word supreme. Now try and tell me you're not without those words. Just the being. It's so empty. Settle with that for a while. Settle with that for a while. Okay. And it's just, as you say, it's just a pure seeing, hearing, where there's no conceptualising going on. That's what they try to achieve when they're meditating. The silence, the stillness, the knowingness. They recognise just exactly what you are right now. Thank you. Thank you. Test it out. I know you can test it.
Thank you. You may actually find a place when you enjoy, you know, that activity of the mind. You can enjoy the mind. You can enjoy the mind always wishing you well. more pleasure, more money, more insights, more bliss. That's lovely, isn't it? But if you don't actually subscribe to it. If you don't believe that, oh, this is me, I'm experiencing luck. More money. If you are that space-like awareness. You can find a place where you can find a place where you enjoy, you know, that activity of the mind. You can enjoy the mind always wishing you well. More pleasure, more money, more insights, more bliss.
That's lovely, isn't it? But if you don't actually subscribe to it. If you don't believe that, oh, this is me, I'm experiencing luck. If you are that space-like awareness and within that space-like awareness, you see the mind doing its job. That pattern, that program. Looking for improvements, looking for improvements, looking for expression of love. And you can see it with curiosity. Oh, where is the attention going to go now? Oh, chocolate ice cream or oh, ganja or whatever it is. If you don't actually subscribe to it, if you don't believe that, oh, this is me, I'm experiencing luck. If you are that space-like awareness and within that space-like awareness, you see the mind doing its job.
That pattern, that program, looking for improvements, looking for expression of love. Or whatever it is. And the motivation behind it is always to provide for that body-mind. Like in that famous quote of Nisargadatta, everything is always love. Fear is love for safety. Desire is love for, you know, providing for the body. Everything is that. You can see that mind functioning the way it does from the perspective of space. And you can find it is impersonal. It is just doing its job. It's just like white blood cells are destroying the viruses in the system to provide, protect the whole machinery. The same, this one is the same kind of motivation behind it.
It provides for the smooth functioning of the machinery so that life can see and hear and taste and touch and smell. And you can be curious about it and have no judgment about it. I mean, if you recognize you are that space, that's naturally happening. Oh, look, there is an energy bubbling. Oh, the label coming up, anger or anxiety, whatever. Oh, interesting. It's interesting how that machine functions. Gilbert of them quotes Bob reminding, watch the mind, see how it operates. It's so revealing. It's so incredible to actually see that miracle because it is incredibly complex and simple at the same time, if you see through it.
And it's fascinating. It's the best entertainment in the world. And you don't have to believe what it says. You just see it say, oh, there is a thought appearing in the mind. It's not my thought. It's not me thinking. Just notice the appearance. Wow. But you stay what you are. Relaxed space like background awareness or empty, what you call it, blank screen or camera. Canva. Relaxation takes you there. Doing doesn't. Yeah. I experienced a little bit of it yesterday, but every time I get the fear comes up. Wonderful. Then I just stop it and I just go. Isn't it fascinating? Yeah. Yeah. If you don't call it fear, what is it?
I wouldn't even call it fear, but then from the heartbeat and tense tension, I feel like it's fear. And before I just face it, I just distract myself. Let's go and have a smoke, you know. That's been my reaction. Thank you so much. I think it's a good example of somebody who's invested a lot of, they've invested all of their money in a counterfeit enterprise, but they think it's real. They think they're going to get big dividends constantly. And then one day they find out that the whole thing is counterfeit. It's just a fraud. And everything they've put into it is worthless. And this is our situation.
Belief in me is a counterfeit enterprise. The me is a fiction. And we, you know, we need to see that it's a fiction because it's the cause of all of our psychological suffering. This world appears to be full of psychological suffering. And it's all a fiction about a fictional belief in me being a separate entity. And nobody else can do it for us. We have to look and see. Fear will come up because, you know, I've been protecting that counterfeit enterprise all my life. But what's the option? To carry on psychological suffering until I die like a dog? A miserable, starving dog? Or I face this thing and really have a look and see whether there's anything with any substance or independent nature that I can say is me.
It's not there. You won't find it. It's just ideas, a cluster of ideas, images, a habit of referring to this image, me, self. And nobody can make me see because the seeing is spontaneously happening. Life is spontaneous. That's the essence. Life is spontaneous. Nobody can tell you where life came from. You know, Big Bang Theory. What does that mean? It's a theory. It's a concept. The beingness is now, always now. It's spontaneous. I didn't choose my parents or I didn't choose to come into this world. You know, it just spontaneously happened. And when I go, it'll be spontaneous as well. But that I is a fiction.
And this every breath that is taken is taken spontaneously. You know, if I start running, I do it rarely nowadays, but if I start running, the breathing will accommodate the need for oxygen. If I sit quietly, the breathing will settle down. So it's all spontaneously functioning. There's no one telling the heart. You know, like Bob says, you don't have to tell the heart to beat. It's beating by itself. The seeing is happening. The hearing is happening spontaneously. Tasting, touching, all of the senses are happening spontaneously. But then we get this idea about me. You know, I'm in control. I'm doing this. I'm the doer. And then the suffering comes.
You know, sometimes things work out for us. And sometimes things don't work out for us. Nisargadatta said, the expected rarely happens. The unexpected always happens. You don't know what your next thought is. When it appears, it's unexpected. And the recognition of our so-called true nature is sudden and unexpected. So all of this doing messages and practices and pushing to get enlightened or whatever is actually preventing the natural abidance with what is. What does I am that mean? Nisargadatta said, I am that. And it's an ancient saying, Tatwa Masi. I am that. That is a chair. That is a carpet. That is a person. That is a picture.
It's all that. I am that. What separates me from that is an idea, a seeming distance, a separation, space and time. Time, what time? As Bob says, what time is there if you don't think about it? Can I get out of space? No. And the ancients called it space like awareness. So awareness is like space. It has no centre. It has no boundary. But the self centre is fiction. We create the self centre and everything is relative to me. And in an ordinary sense, you know, of course, as I look out, everything is relative to these eyes sitting here. I look over there. Everything is registering here.
But that's a fiction as well because it's everywhere. The seeing is actually everywhere. It's not my seeing. It's not your seeing. It's the intelligence energy. The energy appearing as everything. The activity of knowing, which is cognition, is happening spontaneously. I'm not doing it. When I open my eyes in the morning, it's there. But I'm not doing it. I don't have to start a motor and turn a switch and kick something in to say, start seeing now. It's happening. So that's, you know, if I'm taking myself to be a separate entity, that's kind of humbling to realise that, oh, I'm not doing that. What am I doing?
What am I doing? I'm creating psychological suffering by constantly referring to this fictional image of me. And it can stop. But it won't stop unless it's seen for what it is. And nobody can do it for us. It has to happen spontaneously. Anyone else? There is no one else. Sorry. That was perfect. I couldn't say that any better myself. But, um, I was watching this video of Terence. I think that's his name. He used to come here. And he's got some videos on YouTube and he talks about, you know, basically everything everyone here talks about. But, um, specifically he talks about looking at what you're not.
And, um, you know, that kind of resonated with the me. And, um, and I was like, what am I not? And then, uh, you know, someone said something to me. They said, man, like you're, you're a spiritual, uh, spiritual dude, aren't you? And I, and I was, I really took that to heart. And I, I was, you know, I took that quite seriously. And then I had to think, I was like, well, why am I taking, uh, this, you know, this comment someone's made about me being spiritual so serious? Why does that feel like, you know, a needle in my heart? And, and then, you know, thinking about, uh, what Terence said about, you know, um, uh, look at what you're not.
And what am I taking seriously? And, and then, you know, under, you do a bit of investigation, you find what you're taking seriously, it's just an image. And if you take that image seriously, then yes, you are gonna, you know, suffer because that image is a piece of shit. Or at least someone could call it that. Or, you know, someone is a, is an image as well. So this image that you take serious, you end up investigating that and seeing that it's not real. It's not who you are, you know. Um, and so you start, I guess you don't take that seriously anymore. And then, you know, it's just an image.
It really is just an image. How can you, you know, if you want to take an image really seriously, you know, we're gonna roast that image. And, um, until the image doesn't exist anymore. And it's just, and then it's just what is left. Um, yeah. Back to you Mitra. I'm gonna throw a left field one in. What's your habit? Gilbert said the word habit five times, six times. What's the habit with your awareness? Exactly. It's not the, was it? It is the, here right now. I'm here. Are you able to experience what you are by being aware as that? I don't know what he's doing, but I can.
But you've seen, you do have experiences of it. You keep saying it. You have that ability. Yeah. Okay, yes. So if you make that the habit, then it becomes consistent. Then it abides. That's not the habit of doing what? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But the Mitra perceptive mechanism has a habit of doing what? What's your, yeah? Yeah. So if you want to doubt, turn that habit. Test it. Test. And if you turn that into the habit, then it becomes normal rather than doubter. I need the clear scene. The clear... The doubter. The habit allows it to become more persistent, consistent and deep. Okay. And everybody's a habit machine.
What's our habit? Not me. So I've just spent 18 days in the bush training a 15-year-old wild lace monitor to be nice. Can I take it in my head? And if they bite, I won't have to go to hospital. When those things bite you, you can lose your limbs. So I had this thing crawling all over me. It trusted me. It learned human commands. And it responded to tonality. It's a habit machine. Everybody's a habit machine. So what's your habit? It's a different way of looking at it. But if your habit is to be aware as that nothing that's doing nothing, that is everything, that becomes the habit of how you live.
Test the habit. You don't need beliefs for that rubbish. Beliefs are rubbish. That's a head thing. I went on a habit. I went on a habit. I missed the habit. I missed the train. I went on a date with a nun. And I said, can I kiss you? And she said, yes. But don't get in the habit. Bob spoke a lot about space today. No beginning, no end, no center. And I actually happened to listen to Papaji this morning. There was a small clip where he talked about space as well. And where if you have a cup or a jug and you take that jug and you go from Mumbai to Melbourne, what happens to the space?
It's untouched and unmoving and yet it's everywhere. And that thing that you said, Mitra, is looking, has always been looking and was there as a child and you've recognized it all the time. But that's all. Isn't that like the space? Like it's always everywhere you've ever been. Because you've never been anywhere that you're not, have you? No, that's true. And it's always been now. Like Bob was saying earlier, there's no beginning. You can't go back in time again. So anything else is a story. So just that thing that's looking has always been now and wherever you've ever been. And even those thoughts that come up in it are just coming up in that.
Aren't they? You're there for it. And it's happening now. Even those beliefs or those thoughts are happening here and now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that something's there now while that thought's arising. So when you say me, isn't that the thought? Yeah. So that something, you say you can't separate the me from something that's here now, looking, aware, like coming up in what's looking. Yeah. So you are separating the thought from me. That thought of me from that. Yeah. Well, they have it in the same space. Yeah, everything does. Yeah. You said a really good thing, actually, before. before, and it reminded me of what Bob, kind of the investigation Bob does with the elements.
Is the body separate from the space in which it's appearing? Or the matter, what we call matter, that we kind of call all of this. But if you kind of look at it in terms of energy, or you question yourself like, okay, well, what's the basis of everything that's being experienced? Can it be any different? So can the content of the body here be any different to any content at the deepest level of anything else? And I guess that's why we point to space here, because space is this kind of equalizing thing. It's everywhere, it's in everything. Or you can say, you know, is anything not made of atoms or energy?
Whatever the thing that gets you to see that it's all just like made of the same stuff, or essentially all one thing. Yeah, that's really cool. I think that, yeah. So you mean that space, you know, have more space in there than anything? That's all I wanted to say. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, if you look, it's kind of a logic-based thing to start off with, like intellectual to begin with. But I think to have the intellectual basis can be really helpful. Because even if you kind of go, well, yes, space at the basic level, or again, like molecules, or atoms, or you can say energy.
I think energy is good. Because, you know, atoms are made of energy. We know from Einstein, E equals MC squared, right? So it's all the one thing. Yeah. And so you keep reminding yourself of that. I think that the elements pointer is good too. Because it's a, you could say it's a sensation, it's like an experience of feeling. It kind of brings in the, you know, hot, cold, and all of that. And for myself, who I like the, I guess the thinking about it can be like part of it. Yeah, that, the kind of, there's nothing you can look at or see. Like Bob says, there's nothing you can postulate outside of space.
There's nothing you can experience that's not, that's not being experienced, or that feeling, or you can call it energy, or whatever, you know, it's all, yeah. How do you feel the elements, basically, or what you're trying to tell? Yeah, air is a space for example. I don't, I don't know. Hmm. Yeah, I don't know. But it, but it still comes back to it's all that. And if you just stop there, it's done. It's done. There's no more to talk about. It's just, it's that and stop. That's it. It's so simple. But the brain obviously wants to get involved. And that's okay too. However, see it for what it is.
It's just another little layer on top of the simplicity of it all. So if you can get rid of all those complicated layers, your concepts, it still comes back to that. Which you have seen. And you know. And just go back to that. There's no something? No. And over to you. I've had a friend recently asking me some questions about whatever this is that we discussed here. Um, and he's very open to answers and, and looking in the moment. And there's kind of a beautiful thing that happens when you have a question, a questioner and an answerer where you both at the same time are discovering whatever is being discussed in that moment.
And, you know, I, I tell him like, I don't really see myself as someone who understands. But when he asked me this question, then we look at it together and follow these simple questions that we discuss here. There's just a beautiful seeing in the moment when that happens. And I, I've told him that often a question that gets thrown around here when people are having questions is who wants to know. And it's often, you know, like thrown around almost flippantly. And sometimes it becomes, that question becomes a habit. It's a habit that I've kind of formed of asking myself. But then sometimes the risk that comes with that is you have a habit of like, oh yeah, who wants to know?
That's right. And you fail to take the moment to actually ask that question and then truly look who wants to know. And it's not the question or the, the answer that there's no one there. Like that's the conclusion we come to each time is there's no one there. But if you jump straight to that remembered conclusion and don't take the moment to use that question as an opportunity to look, it's the looking and the seeing that is actually the, the answer almost. And I'm, when I first started coming here and people would be like, who wants to know? Who wants to know? I'm like, shut up.
That's not useful. But then when I actually take that question, I'm looking at who wants to know. And as my friend is asking me a certain question, which I don't know the answer to, my response is genuinely who wants to know. And then we look together and see there's nothing. And that seeing is the answer. And it abolishes all questions, which is, it makes it hard to ask a question sometimes. I'm like, oh, I should ask questions. And then like something comes up and that kind of destroys the question. And so then when you ask a question, Mitra, you open this beautiful space for everyone to have a go at answering the question and us to discover together.
So thank you. And it's, it's just such a simple and powerful pointer that we talk about all the time. And when you follow it, that's, that's it. So yeah, that's it. Thank you. Yeah. At the base of it all is the activity of knowing. So everything you've ever experienced, seen, tasted, touched, whatever. The base is the activity of knowing. And that is the movement of, or the energy expressing itself. So everything is that. Everything that we see, you know, the stars, the moon, the trees, the birds, the cars, the trams, whatever. It's all that movement of one energy appearing as everything. And that activity of knowing is happening with everyone, whether they consciously know it or not.
And this agarra says, be conscious of the consciousness. Be aware of the awareness. You know, awareness means you're awake. Unawareness means you're asleep. So you are not unaware. And what did you have to do to be aware? Nothing. It's spontaneous. So all of this suffering of trying to get something is unnecessary. As Bob says, start from the fact that you are already that. Then see what comes up that tries to take you away from it. Nothing can take you away from it because you are that. Concepts appear to take us away from it. And we appear to get lost in thought and reactions and anger and all the rest of it.
But actually it's all registering in the immediacy. There's just not a person there to judge it or claim it or try and get rid of it. That's all fictional. What is, is what is. And as Bob says, leave it as it is. Unmodified, uncorrected. And there's another thing I always forget. Unaltered. Unaltered, yeah. Don't, you know, we're trying to alter everything mentally. But it's a fiction. What's wrong with what is. What is, is beautiful. Doesn't matter what's happening. But the self-preference, I want it like this. I don't want this. I want this. And that's the road to suffering. Because what is, is not going to change because I want it to change.
I might not like what's happening, but it's happening. But is it really happening? Or is it my interpretation of what's happening? Because at the core of it, nothing ever happened. But it's like too much to take. Oh, what about me? Hi, I have a few things from the online community. Did you want to speak, Michael? No. Okay. So Laura says, 100% for non-essential effort. And Jay says, when there is no luck, there is gratitude, presence, observation. And Ariel, beautiful, precious spontaneity here now. And Laura, lizard training. The lizard king. Yes, good reflection. And Rakav. I feel the self-response when question comes from the heart only.
Because the self knows that the answer will release you and bring you back to space. But question coming from the heart only. But question coming from the mind will breed more questions and words. Which keeps you attached to words, I feel. Best is to rest now. And Tazi, if you see there is no time, you will see there is no person. Beautiful. And I had a couple of email exchanges. I don't really have that much time answering. But the person actually answered me when Bob was doing a spiel and I had to reflect back on it. He says it was really helpful. I gave him a couple of tips.
You know, when you look back into that emptiness and you experience fear. And obviously it's not a survival related fear because there is no threat for the body. So I told him that if it keeps reoccurring while you look what remains when the story, the past, the ideas and concepts are temporarily absent, there are few things that may help. Number one, love. How much love can you find in your heart for that oneness, for that source of life? If it is strong enough, so you are willing to die for it. Would you be willing to die in love for that love? That was my experience.
You know, if you experience fear, that is the response. Okay, I'm going to die. Fine. Am I willing to die? Am I in love with that oneness? Am I so, you know, the longing, that desire for the truth, the love for the truth. Is it strong enough? Focusing on love. That was point one. Accentuated longing to the point of the solution of separate self, even if only temporarily. Back then it helped me. Number two, courage and trust. How badly do you want to find out the truth? Do you trust Bob, Nisargadatta and others before and after them to know that it isn't the body that is about to die, but only the sense of separate self or so-called ego?
Let it die. Freedom will remain. And it can't die because it isn't alive anyway. Santa Claus or the flat earth didn't really die or get destroyed. When you learned it was dressed up old man or the wrong model, it was never real. Therefore, a sacrifice wasn't required. So love was the first tip. Courage and trust was the second tip. And now the logic. Mind seems to like logic. The time will come when it won't be any helpful. Like Josh was saying, you may understand that everything is atoms and it's moving and it's made of the same shit. But you understand it once. You don't chew on it all the time and keep bringing it up.
You see it once and you drop it. It's logic. But if you do understand already that this sense of separate self existing in time, continuing from past through to future isn't real, if you saw and accepted that any sense of personal volition or control isn't real, if you actually logically saw it and you understand it and you accept that any sense of personal volition or control isn't real, what you are going to lose. Isn't it only an illusion of control that you are going to lose? Aren't you holding on to the illusion only? So that is the third tip. Use the logic. And disclaimer to that, it isn't you, the separate self, holding on to the illusion of control.
That's just a disclaimer because there is no such thing. Of course, it isn't you, of course. It is a piece of software in this biocomputer called BodyMind which prioritizes familiarity to optimize functioning in the constantly growing complexity of its environment. It can only process that much. And even though the non-dual operational mode is much more efficient energy-wise and overall, it is somewhat less familiar. It has been forgotten about the age two, two and a half. But it is there. Knowing it is a software, it can be witnessed in the all-knowing, all-being field that you are. Therefore, it can be depersonalized. That is just a little disclaimer to that logic point.
And now the fourth point which might be helpful or inspiring is the curiosity which I mentioned. You know, the response to the fear arising when you look into the void. When there is a seeming you looking into a seeming void because there is no separation between one and the other. It's just a movement of attention. So, space, curiosity. Space that you are has no attributes. It isn't even neutral because it isn't even fully there. It is and it isn't. It's neither and it's both. Completely beyond mind grasps. Relaxing into it and enjoying the show. Show being fear, joy, object, sensations, etc. Fully experiencing the miracle of a sentience.
Witnessing the mistrust folding as space. As a curious field of appreciation for life's creativity. It's only natural. Finding that curiosity for the unfolding. This is natural. So, that was the fourth tip. And I wouldn't even go into reading it. But I just received an email an hour ago that was really helpful. So, maybe it will inspire. And that is really it. And, yeah. No more contributions from here. Thank you, Kat. Thank you, Kat. Thank you, everyone. Thanks, Toby. Thank you. Thanks, thank you.