Grass growing by itself. Sailor Bob's team. 30 Jun 2024

Julia, Brenda, Lockie, Michael, Will, Lucky, Gerardo, Anita, Roman, Ross, Peter, Steve, Warren, Dean, Josh. Morning, everyone. Good to see you all. Well, it's the same old, same old. You get sick of the same old thing over and over again. But we've got to point it out somehow, I guess. What we point out as nonduality, or what they call an Advaita, one without a second, only that. And we need to realise or recognise that. Or God. They call us God. And they say God's the creator of everything. Well, what the fuck do we want to realise that he's created us? Is he ignoring us or are we ignoring him?

Bloody bullshit, isn't it? Though it is recognised as one essence that's patting, shaving, forming, expressing as everything, and it is only the one. If it was really God, he'd get mixed up. Those atheist bastards, I don't want to have anything to do with him. But that is all there is, and we know that. Because most of the scripture will tell you that, I am that. That is what I am. That is all there is. As Moses on the mountain realised, when he's got the Jewish people there, he's got to, they're playing up a bit, he's got to give them some order to live by. So, he sits in misery, sits quietly for a while, and tablets came to him, ten commanders.

He says, that would be a good thing to live by, but I've got to tell them. When I go back, they won't take any notice of me, else shall I say, send me. And it came to him then and then. Tell them, I am sent you. I am is my name. And that's what you'll see in most of the scriptures. I am that. And what we don't realise is that everything is that. That's the chair you're sitting in, that's the carpet, that's the tree. That's the flower, that's the space, that's the room. Everything is that. And the aim we take to be the person, the separate entity, instead of realising.

That it's the one essence, the one intelligence energy, that's vibrating, patterning, shaping, forming, and expressing as everything. Only the one life, the one essence. And the definition of reality, it's that which never changes. So what is it that never changes in this manifestation? When you investigate and look into it, the only thing that never changes is space. Can you find the beginnings of space? You can't find anywhere where it could begin. They say it began with a big bang. If it began with a big bang, what was the big bang in? It would have to be in space, wouldn't it? Space is no thing. And can you postulate or think of anything that could be outside of space?

And you realise it can't. And some of the great, the real texts and scriptures will tell you. It's the basic space of phenomena. Phenomenal manifestation and the definition of phenomena is that which appears to be. And all this manifestation is appearance. And it's all the content of space. So what it appears in is space. Space is no thing. It's got a beginning, any ending, no shape, no form. No divisions, no patterns or anything at all. Just is that. And I, you and everything else is that. And that's the great mantra, I am that. Innately you know that immediately because I say that's the chair I'm sitting in.

That's the carpet, that's the tree, that's the flower, that's the sea, that's the stars. Everything is already that. But we differentiated by the words we picked up. How many words were you born with? And you realise the words, you weren't born with any words. You didn't learn words until you were a couple of years old. When the capacity of reasoning developed you. Where did you, how did you come about? We'll start with your father and your mother, that animal life essence. That pattern you call your father. And that pattern through the food he's eaten and the energy and prana and things that are breathing through.

Enabled in that pattern a little basic thing called a sperm to form. You can't see it with your naked eye. But that sperm was suffused with intelligence. It knew what to do. And the same in your mother, that animal life essence in your mother. Enabled in that pattern another microscopic pattern called an egg. Or an ovum to form. And that egg attached itself to the wall of the uterus. And the sperm swam to the ovum. It wasn't just a blob of goo. It knew what to do. And it penetrated the ovum. And the life essence intelligence in those two coming together formed the little embryo.

The little fetuses are what you are today. What were you doing about it then? And what are you doing about it now? So it was that life. That when those two, after nine months that little two pattern formed the little embryo, the little fetus. Which is what you are today. Naturally and effortlessly. But what happens then? You weren't born with any words. So whether you say so or not, you cannot remember your birth. How could you if you had no words? And you didn't learn any words until you were a couple of years old. When the capacity of reasoning develops in you. And you learned words for your parents.

Father and your mother. Fussing around you. Speaking words. And you learnt the basic word I am. Because they put the name on your little Johnny or little Jean or whatever your name might be. I am little Johnny or I am little Jean. And we've taken that to believe that that's what I am. The word. And when you look at the word, the word is not the thing. Take the word water. Can you drink the word? Can you swim in it or drown in it? Take the word fire. Can you cook with it? Eat yourself with it? You can't. What's the word I or me then?

Just another concept. The word. 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, is the word. All things were made by him, by the word. And there was nothing made that was made without the word. You can read that in the Bible. It tells us that. God is not the word. So, we've learnt words. We've taken this word, God, to be a greater, something greater than what we are. But there again, when you look into these, some of these texts and scripts that are understood what they call it, they'll call it the great perfection or the absolute.

Now, if it's absolute, that means that there's nothing added to it, nothing taken away from it. It's just as it is. It's just as it is. Or in Buddhism, they call it the great perfection. It's the same with the perfect. You can't have anything perfect. You can't take anything away from it. Now, have a look at that. If you recognise you are the absolute, who can be superior to you? If it's absolute, totality, nothing can be superior to you. Who can be inferior to you? Another thing, nobody can be inferior to you. And what would you want from anybody else? Nothing. Nothing. But you see, we've taken ourselves to be these persons, these separate entities.

And we want this and want that and haven't got this. They're better than me or worse than me. And we're already looking to acquire or attain or gather something other. Not realising or recognising that I am already that. That is what I am. This presence, awareness. And they do that when they talk about the Advaita teaching, Satchit Ananda, Nama, Rupa, existence, consciousness, bliss, name and form. Anyone who is not existing right now, you'll say, yeah, I'm existing, of course I am. Anyone who is not conscious or unaware, and you know you're not unaware or unconscious. Anyone who is not happy to be evil, nobody wants to be dead right now.

No matter how bad life is, you don't want to be at the end of it right now. So you already are that. And the other two factors, Nama, Rupa, name and form. They'll tell you it is Maya. The body, mind, the name and form is Maya. It's illusion. But the existence, consciousness, bliss or loving to be, is the actuality. And that's what you are already. But we've taken on this belief that we are the separate entity, the person. And think, if we do this and look into that, and follow this or believe in that, we will become something other than what we are. Or what's becoming?

Becoming implies a future time. And when you look into the times, the concepts of time, you'll see there's no such thing as time. Is there a past if you don't think about it? You'll say, I was in the past. But can you go back and live a week ago or last year or even a moment ago? You can't. You can recall some of it and you can't recall it all. Only what you can recall, you can give some energy to and it doesn't last long. And all that can't, that's happened and can't be recalled, well it's not there anymore. And you can't live a moment in the future.

You can anticipate and imagine the future time. But you can't live in the future. So all you've got left is this now. And have a look at that. Can you grasp this now? Well it's now, right now. And it's still now as I'm saying now. It's got no duration to it. And it's always this spontaneous presence awareness. Not a past awareness or a future awareness. Are you unaware right now? And you'll say no, I'm not unaware right now. And you are that awareness. And what's awareness? Not a concept. It's a pure certainty or knowing of being. It's awareness of being. It's awareness of being. And that's another way they put such an end.

Awareness of being is the bliss. Sense of well-being. Sense of everything's okay. There is nothing wrong anymore. But while I'm living in this conceptual, pattern shapes and forms, it's only me that can be angry. It's only me that can be jealous, envy, fearful, anxious or depressed, guilty. Me is the cause of all the psychological suffering. I look into this me and ask what is this me? Realise me or I is just a concept. A word I've picked up along the way. And when that period's told me you are, I am Billy or Jane or whatever the name was, instead of saying I am the absolute, we've taken on that belief and believe ourselves to be the separatity.

It's got to become realised or recognised. Not realised or recognised that that is all there is and I am already that. Christ told you that when he said I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. People thought he was talking about himself. He wasn't talking about himself. He was talking about that sense of presence. That expresses through the mind. As this thought I am. Now what are you this person? And you look at the word person. Where does that word come from? A word we've hooked up along the way. Coming from the Latin persona, the mask. So it's a mask of concepts we've taken upon.

Our thoughts, our ideas and image. And believe ourselves to be that mask, a concept. Instead of realise that I am that life. I am being. I am knowing. And I am happy to be. And have a look at that word being. You call yourself a human being. If you believe in God, you'll call God the supreme being. Take away that word supreme being. Take away that word supreme. Take away that word human. Try and tell me you are not being without those words. Realise that beingness is there. It is not just to put human or supreme on it. It is just pure being. And being is not becoming.

And it won't be becoming. We try to become something. But becoming implies a future time. And time is a mental concept. There is no past. And this you think about it. And there is no future. And this you think about it. And Shakespeare tells of that. A couple hundred years ago. And he said, There is nothing good either good or bad. But thinking makes it sad. Look at the way we think. We are always thinking. We are always thinking. And he relented the latest pairs of opposites. Either past or future. Pleasant or painful. Happy, sad. Loving, hating. Positive, negative. Always in the opposites. And there is nothing, he tells you, good or bad.

But thinking makes it sad. So we put the belief into it. And it is good. Or it is bad. And see how that functions in your life. Something comes up. And you like it. And the things you like, you don't want to go away. Not realising that this manifestation is transient. It is constantly changing. Always changing constantly. But we don't want the good to go away. Not realising that it is transient. No matter how much you love it. How much you are going to keep from it. They are going to change. And they will change. Just the same as that body you are sitting in right now is changing.

It is transient also. But we don't want it to change. So what do we do? We resist it from change. Trying to keep it there. And realise that resistance is conflict. If you are resisting this shows what is going to happen. You are in conflict. And that conflict makes you fearful, anxious, depressed, guilty. And that puts you up and makes you uneasy. So there is resistance, conflict and disease coming up. The other way around. Something you don't like. Oh I shouldn't be thinking that. That is terrible for me to think that. No good. I have got to get rid of it. So we resist it again.

And more conflict. And more disease. So you see no wonder where all this psychological mess all the time. It has to be constant. Relating to it and resistance to it. And relativity, relationship is duality. There is absolutely no duality in non-duality. And we got this male-female relativity. And there is a belief in that duality separation. No wonder we are in constant problems. But when there is a natural merging, a natural coming together and understanding this life itself that is recognising itself and joining with itself. There is a different take on it altogether. But while we are in conflict, there is fear, there is anger, there is distress, guilt, shame, remorse, all these things are there.

Me is the cause of all my psychological suffering. And the effects are the anxiety and the fear. Cause and effect. Is that what so called karma is? Cause and effect. What happened if I looked into it and asked myself, can there be a cause, can there be an effect if I am not relating to the cause? If I recognise the cause me as a fiction, where can the effect lie? You can recognise without relating to the cause me, there cannot be the effect. So everything settles down to it as it is. So there is your answer. How many of us do that? We don't. As for example.

Who am I investigating this idea? Am I this body? Am I this mind? Am I this person? Well, have a look at the body. Am I this body? Well, don't you say my body? My mind? My house? My car? My coat? You know you're not the house, the car or the coat. Well, by the same token, maybe you're not the body either. And when you look into it, what's this body made up of? And you realise it's made of elements. Air, earth, fire, water, space. Take the air out of your body and see how long it lasts. Take the water and die of thirst. Take the body temperature.

Time of hyper-themia was. Get off the earth, get out of space. So you realise when you're looking at things, you're not separate from any of those things. And that sense of separation is a fiction. And realise all those elements can be broken down into a subatomic particle, into pure energy. So all this body is a vibrating pattern of energy. What about the think all mine? Say my mind. Well, show me a mind if you can. When you look at it, there's no such thing as mine, apart from the thought. And if I, mind is thought, which particular thought am I? You realise the primary thought is I am.

Now, if you were that thought, and you believe you are the thought, you were that thought, you wouldn't let go of it. You'd be frightened by losing it, because you know without that thought, it'd be the end of you. If you are the thought, if you are the thought, if you are the thought, and you'd cling to it, but we gladly give it up every night when you go to sleep. That proves it innately, you know you're not the thought. And the Shakespeare tells you there's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes you so. You might have something there. Look into it. And see that it's so.

And it's always but evading any interrelated opposite. But if it's not you or me, what is it? It's just as it is. And what is, is not was. It's not in time anymore. It's out of time. It's just as it is. It's not what will be. Or what was. It just is. Anybody who is not present or aware, that presence or awareness or isness is right with you right now. So what needs to happen? It's a matter of recognising. They call it a cognising emptiness. We think we cognise the emptiness. We don't. The emptiness itself is cognising. There is an innate knowing there of cognising.

And the Buddha told you that when he said emptiness is form. All these forms, you and I are forms, and all this manifestation are form. He says the forms can be nothing other than the emptiness. So it looks real. You'll see it's all patterning, shaping and forming. It's all appearance. A phenomenal manifestation. And the definition of phenomena is that which appears to be. And appearance means it's only simply so. And you know that yourself when you look out there in nature and you're so, you've recognised that so many of the so-called appearances are not how they seem to be. You go down to the ocean, I'll say, get me a bucket of blue water out of the sea.

You've got what appears to be a blue sea there. And you won't be able to get a bucket of blue water out of it, because the water is not blue. The same on a clear day out there, the clear sky. There's a blue canopy over the sky. Sky is space. Space right here in this room. Where's the blueness? You go up the place, go up the plain 30, 40,000 seconds. The blueness will always be further out. So it's not how it appears to be. And you'll see a rainbow in the sky, colours in the sky. And when you look at it, you'll see it's only the sun shining through the cloud, through the mist, that forms colours on the background.

So there's a lot of things when they talk about the snake and the rope and many other metaphors they use to point out the erroneous belief we have about this manifestation. So these things need to be questioned and looked at and seen for what they are. And the recognition that I am that. I am. The sense of presence, which translates and expresses through the mind as the thought I am. Not the thought, but the sense of presence, which translates as the thought. And they say the Greek for fiction is non-conceptual awareness. Awareness without any concepts or words. And words and thoughts and concepts and ideas are just translations of how it appears to be so.

And the recognition that I am that. What's there? There's a sense of there's nothing wrong anymore. A sense of being well. A clarity. A cognising emptiness. A sense of love or wellbeing. Being well. A sense of being well. And all the concepts. The hate. The jealousy. The envy and all of it. Disappear. Because if it's only the one essence. If I am absolute. Then nothing superior to me. Nothing inferior to me. And what would I want from anybody else? Nothing inferior to me. And that's the life. And that is what I am. And it is what you are. It is what everything is. It is the one thing that pattern shapes and forms and expressing and appears as everything.

And that is all there is. So some of you here recognise this already. And they'll ask you that. They'll tell you about it and put it in a different way than what you might hear it here. Where something might resonate with you. And make it a bit clearer. Others here have doubts and questions. Well the paper might answer them for you. Don't hesitate to ask questions. But the thing is to get into it. And have a look. Question, doubt and argue if you've got them. Or if you've recognised. And it has dawned on quite a few. Let it out. Because it's only if somebody is expressing it.

And somebody else is open enough to hear it. And resonate with it. And that's how it moves on. Not by having, thinking you're going to get it by sitting in silence and looking at this, that and the other. But recognise the reality of it. That one essence, the life, the beingness, that's expressing as everything. And you are that. So cat. Thank you. She's got cat paralysis. Yes. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah, that's her home. She lives here. We have to respect her. So this is the part of the meeting where we invite everyone to speak, to ask questions, to share. The best way to go about it is to actually share what you heard, what resonated, what really rang the bell, what the body responded in like full yes.

Because one pointer is enough to hear actually just one. And that one pointer, every single pointer can just bring you all the way home. Because it really is about dropping away excessive concepts and ideas that are actually standing away. There you go. We're all on the birthday. We're all on the birthday. Aw. They run the shoulder cuts here, they're not poor. So anyone would like to start and share something, say something, ask something? The wand matches. That's great. The thing I think I hadn't heard you say today, Bob, is such a simple pointer, but you said, now is now. And it's like, you don't have to go anywhere to find, like the thing that I'm looking for, I guess that we're all looking for is right now.

It's not, there's nowhere else to go. It's just acknowledging that this is it and that's all there is. And there's just a, like a, oh gosh, don't have to worry. Don't have to be like, go searching or make a plan or how to get there. Cause it's just right now. So, um, yeah, that just rang the bell today. Yeah. I think it is yours. Mine. And it is the pointer which unfolds all the way because it's so uncompromising. You can see how the past is also happening right now as the memory, how the future is happening right now as the imagination. Yeah. It's nothing but the now.

And this is also one, uh, Ariel is saying, roll call. Is there anybody here who is not present? That's what she heard. And thank you for that, Ariel. Yes. It is the presence that is already here. It's nothing to be added. It's, uh, it's just to recognize of what is always and forever here. And what Bob always says is nobody can give that to you and nobody can show you that. They just point to that obvious thing. You're already here, here, right now. Nobody can give that to you. I love that. Correct. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Spontaneous, isn't it? Just the spontaneity. That was a word that stuck with me.

What a beautiful word that is. Everything is spontaneous now. You just have to rest in that, don't we? What a beautiful thing. Thank you. Yeah, beautiful. I remember when I heard that pointer probably some good 12 years ago or something. And that precisely that word spontaneous. And I was going around still living in my head, obsessing about it. And every time I saw it, I saw it, I saw it, I saw it. And I saw it, I saw it, I saw it. And I saw it. And I saw it. And I saw it. And I saw it. And I saw it. And I saw it.

And I saw it. And every time it would kick in, it would just relax the obsession. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful quality in that non-quality sort of a presence. Spontaneity is a quality of the appearance. Yeah. And once you see, again, this is the pointer that takes you all the way. Because if everything is spontaneous, where there is any place for you and me or anyone else to control anything whatsoever. It's just art, the space, holding a space for that spontaneity to roll, for the Maya to dance. Beautiful. I won't talk about everything else. No, we'll just leave that one. Go. Go for it. No.

Anyone else? Ross? Ross? I just, what came to mind was fixation on ideas. And in that little book, Bob wrote, there's an example of when you use a magnifying glass, focus on the skin that burns. Yeah. It burns. Yeah. It burns. fixation on ideas and in that little book Bob wrote there's an example of when you use a magnifying glass and focus on the skin it burns. It's like the fixation of ideas so that takes us out of the present seemingly out of the present and we're in the past or we're worried about the future instead of just letting go and then the natural state comes into view.

But that is a beautiful highlight because you can easily see how fixation on ideas is the only problem you can ever have because in the present moment as it is there is no problem unless there is a thought that it should be different or it will get worse or whatever other thought and fixation believe in that thought creates a hell creates a misery suffering. Even if the present moment is not particularly pleasant but there is no thought or no idea that it should be any different there is no suffering. There may be pain but not suffering not a resistance not psychological suffering. Fixation on ideas yeah that one pointer again it can bring you all the way home.

Just noticing how the mind gets fixated in the moment of noticing there is natural relaxation because the mind can't notice that it got fixated just like the eye can't see itself and the fire can't burn itself. The noticing is the ying is the noticing just like a seeing it's not eye that is seeing is the seeing and within that seeing is the eye and the object in that noticing is the mind that is that is being noticed. So, anyone? Anyone? Any other pointer? They are all so elegant they are all so simple and beautiful I never actually heard even when I was a seeker and I was listening to everyone I could I never found anyone who would that beautifully and elegantly put it in one-liners like Bob.

It just reminds me of a story of Mira. Mira who was a wise woman ancient times in India and she was outside in the dark looking looking looking and people said Mira what are you looking for? I'm looking for my needle she said I'm looking for my needles. Your needles in your house like why are you looking out here? Yes haha that's what I'm showing you this is what you're doing you're looking for the needle outside the house by being a seeker you it's actually in it's uh mm-hmm so she was laughing at them so she was dim making fun of them by doing that.

Yeah beautiful how true how true how true the whole quest a human quest for happiness is usually either the quest trying to find God or trying to find oneself but we all look in the wrong places even you know people go for their silent retreats to the other side of the country or the world or the fasting to find themselves how could you get rid of yourself? But I think that's important I think actually it's important to do that because we have to do it's like netty netty we have to find the things mmm and um I have to say the first time I ever did say Vipassana that was really important for me because say our conditioning you know with school and you know the church and the parents the society and everything is so antithesis of that and it was the first time actually got to sit down and be with myself as myself I think I do think there's a place like it's until you go through that journey it's really hard to appreciate this I think it's important that's the point you can't choose to go or not to go the moment you put the idea that this is important maybe you can start telling others this is what you have to do but there is no one there who has any choice how the how the particular life book unfolds whether you have to go through the alcoholism and you can say oh but this was important that I had to go to that because without it I wouldn't have suffered so it is how it unfolds but there is really no one who could choose you were you know like the life force in you was attracted to Vipassana I've done few of those two and they were brilliant beautiful this is how the life unfolded I think that was a very important I thought I do think sometimes I think it's important not to be too smart ass about yes it's now and everyone else is a fool because they're going on these retreats but they're not fools because they have their choice everyone's on the journey and you've got to respect that too that's the point if you believe that there is someone who is smarter than the other because they did something or the other you believe that there's someone there you know if you look from the ultimate perspective there is life you know one cat will live in the house another one will live on the street in India and they neither of them has any choice your attraction towards the retreats and I've done them too there was a natural attraction and Bob did something else everyone is kind of you know like that one life out putting through everyone is finding its own flow but there's no one who has the choice and it's not that I've done it I've done it right and those who didn't do it done it wrong or they who didn't do it right and those who did did wrong because no one has anything that's the beauty of it but no one is ever wrong in anything no one is ever guilty of anything because there's no one there and and you're totally right it's so beautiful to go through all the you know Bob had the Kundalini experiences the most incredible peak experiences cosmic unions of people who have psychedelic experiences they're just such a gorgeous highlights of the of that dream that we all collectively living is all of it is totally to be appreciated in in fact if there is any reason for all the manifestation to even exist at the first place it would be for the life to actually see the reflection of itself and love it and appreciate it all of it is nothing nothing wrong even you know finding yourself in the prison cell for a crime that you allegedly done and that was a wrong thing all of it well the now is everywhere it is so yeah eternal mmm yeah beautiful one thing that resonated a lot for me today was I am life or just wreck just kind of going into the heart and recognizing I am that which is not if you're regularly in a sense of superior or inferior in some way that's kind of this this experience where it's like I'm included or I feel at ease or you know so yeah I can't I can't remember if you said that exact phrase today Bob but but that's what kind of sunk in or deepened or something yeah yeah that's beautiful he said it in many ways you know he said it in a way that there is a sperming of them and the life that life force that made them come together and divide it's all life behind everything recognizing that you are that life expressing and experiencing as every moment that's yeah that's the final realization what else is to realize really just stay with that see if we have any comments and we do uh uh ariel says i agree cut Bob's spiel is so simply spoken and so completely encompassing it landed here in this being quite profoundly for some reason yeah it was beautiful to witness that uh vipassana was very useful here it is brilliant and gilbert said that was from laura yeah i agree it was quite an adventure hey what does it have to say and gilbert says uh i am he doer is the illusion of separation yep and that's that i did this past as well and i was told that i might have to do um 10 more retreats or 20 and then come back and serve and then i might have to do a thousand lifetimes before i awaken i just thought that i thought that was funny i think really i have to do all of that and then they banned me because um i got kicked out i was told not to come back you were talking too much no i didn't talk i don't it's because i do hypnotherapy and they said that when you retire you're welcome to come back now speaking to someone about that they said oh um just don't tell them tell them you've retired so i went to apply for another vipassana and they said no you're still working so i've been banned i don't understand i don't either that's the human mind and i don't know i didn't say anything wrong i didn't behaved i meditated yeah they do because because it's such a usually it's a big gathering they do have restrictions like if you have mental illness they do have to also select you out and uh hypnotherapy now it is it is just obviously i was there in addition but hypnotherapy is also some sort of a mind altering practice which they uh they believe actually i i loved how clean and pure the vipassanas i've been four times i've i've attended but every time i made the point to ask the teachers how clear they are and they said no they're not how long do you practice 30 years 40 years 25 years and are you enlightened no no no it doesn't no it doesn't work this way and i wish i could come back there and say hey you are you just don't know it you just don't realize you're looking for something different than this moment and this moment the moment you put the mind aside is the natural state is the buddha nature is there is no escape from that it's just a recognition that is missing and i remember when i did my introduction to non-duality in india and i was i had the meditation in which the elements of vipassana were used but they were taken to the next level because there was much much much more to include in the observation but there was always a flip look at the one and try to locate the one who is observing the sensations if you can locate that one because sometimes you can maybe behind your eyes or in the heart whatever whatever the mind will come up with is a brilliant improviser which always comes up with the answer as you know from the hypnotherapy if you can locate that one find the one who has located the one and then stepping back very very quickly there is no one to locate or to be located and then i remember crying after that 20 minutes i said shit you know so many days and hours of vipassana and that little instruction was kind of missing and that was the first breakthrough to actually see the non-dual awareness when everything landed that there is no separate self who can be located anywhere and then later on of course habitually the mind would rebuild the identity and without the repeated questioning the identity would stuck but yeah you can't say what was and what wasn't necessary or important in whatever the life unfolded because why argue why even judge that's how it pan out i love when bob answers that on the interview you know when he says that's how it unfolded he went through incredible ups and downs in all the areas of life including health finances love life spiritual life all of it that's how it pan out is it necessary no does it have to be replicated absolutely not there are people in brazil who let themselves be nailed to the cross because they want to have the experience of christ or in philippines sorry yeah so yeah that's how how how that's how it unfolds yeah life is so incredibly creative we have another comment here from larry simply come back to the wakefulness bob and gilbert often use that pointer it is not that wake wakefulness there as that which is appearing as retreats bars kundalini experiences and bad sex the rise your hand if you are unawake beautiful larry thank you yeah come back to the wakefulness it's always there and if you are asleep then of course instruction doesn't apply it's no problem and julia british julia is laughing and say 25 000 more lifetimes once it is seen it is so simple and clear exactly you see the thought as a thought the idea concept not now not this not this is me all concepts they all equal they're flat they're just line of text and gilbert says there is no final realization or final understanding life is spontaneous and everything is spontaneously fresh and new nothing repeats itself how wonderful is that yeah and there is of course you know if there was a final realization who would be there to have it if there is no self to have it is just life life is all there is is singular is one in thousand different forms ten thousand forms whatever infinite and bradley says uh the i am is gifted with thinking then thinking makes i am an object then the parasite convinces that host that it's the parasite yeah yeah i like the the analogy of the you know the eye the the imagined self that is hallucinated in particular part of the brain some language center of the brain is sort of a virus in a system although it is a little bit of a pejorative uh perspective which would deny the brilliance of the absolute it's not it is you can call it a virus as a pointer but there is a brilliance even in that installment of that hallucinated sense of separate self because without it there would be no realization there is no self everything is experienced only on the background of its opposite that cat is living permanently in the natural state and it takes it for granted never know any better it has never ever been caged in the concepts as far as we know they don't hallucinate separate self that's that that's what's the most popular is the um goenka strand and um um the original version was sayaji uba kin a buddhist teacher from burma um and the and the the difference is in the approach to it so goenka is very much effort it's all about effort uh so how do you go back in his approach is work with zestful ease so it's just sort of approaching a more relaxed state um but they never really um but they never really get there because it's all about doing or subtle doing oh yeah and um um it's only when you completely give up the doing that there's an opportunity to see um um um the simplicity of it of just being consciousness and uh bliss happiness to be uh so the uh the uh vipassana is a lovely practice but the fact that we're seemingly in a duality that it's only when you get to a basic level that you can actually have insight and um appreciate the the beautiful simplicity and naturalness of uh of the non-dual so it seems um yeah it was actually uh it was quite a sad realization for me goingka died not that long ago and i've seen the last interview in which he was actually saying that he did not achieve the great enlightenment or what they call it and maybe the next lives or something maybe the merit is accumulating and well in in one way okay that's again how life unfolds and the the mind training or the meditation the concentration training it has a great value in itself as a life skill same as cooking cooking has a great value if you can cook i mean your life is going to be so much easier your sense of freedom is going to be so much greater or when you can drive you know all those things are a fantastic life skills but bob very often and maybe bob you would say it you know when he warns people about attaching to a practice because that creates the one the practitioner who is to achieve a goal in the future through the practice and effort can you can you say something about it you often talk about the you know the meditation as a practice something to do for someone what's wrong with right now if you don't think about it yeah but what about you know the famous concept of spiritual bypassing nothing nothing honestly uh i hear that concept every now and again and that very concept the concept of spiritual bypassing is exactly what it is it is a spiritual bypassing you are bypassing the basic fact that there is no self that can do anything wrong anything oh but that self didn't do the therapy there is no self to do therapy if you find yourself on the therapist chair doing some sort of hypnosis or whatever a shadow work or whatever that's how life unfolded if you find yourself not doing it but instead you know singing in a choir or painting mandala or walking in the forest that's how life unfolded the idea that there is a me that could do something wrong because it bypassed something it's a bypass itself it's a funny concept because it's so engaging for the mind so many people suddenly they've so clear they understood so many aspects of that simplicity of that non-dual awareness and they fall for that crap oh no there's still this me and i didn't do i didn't work with my inner child or i didn't do this well who is there to do anything at all if life will take you this way yeah yeah but if i don't maybe i'll be abusive or maybe i will become a guru and will have some you know will exercise some powers or or scam people of money well it may happen this way still no self that is responsible or guilty of that things happening and beautiful that no one wants to be the bad guy that's really lovely and no one has a saying and apparently at least in my life experience when i look back they were people who felt immensely hurt by me because they imagined that what i said meant something different i couldn't have prevented it not in a million years and there are people who did not get offended when i really slapped the wrists because they were mature enough to actually see that this was what is happening no one is doing anything sometimes i i remember also the uh brilliant saying of the 12-step alanon program you can't prevent the crisis you shouldn't prevent it you shouldn't cause it the truth is you can't do either of it you can't prevent it you can't cause it but the truth is if we would really have the the will and the power to protect someone from suffering we could have also protected them from the investigation and eventually from the awakening thankfully we don't have that power and even having the thought of compassion and love and just easing the suffering and helping is given by life or not that's how uncompromising how simple and uncompromising no one has done a thing cool isn't it we all forever innocent what you tell us just recalling um this the 16th in the 16 stages of vipassana knowledge as taught by how do you bakin or or goanka um the only one that's not explained is nirvana nirvana because it's kind of it can't be explained because it's it's silence no thinking just being and when is it never not here when is it ever not here underlying the noise of thinking where is not is that ever absent yeah it's the natural perfection um um you said uh resistance creates conflict but resistance creates conflict where does that like if you just accept the conflict that's it then wasn't resistance sort of needs like necessary or it wasn't really a bad thing it didn't create conflict if you just accept it yeah yeah you just recognize that you know there is no you to actually create anything or to accept anything but if you actually see how the identification with the conflict relaxes and now you are the space in which you don't have any objection towards the conflict that's how the identification dissolves so to use it in a pointer when you are identified as a me i don't want this weather to be like that this is all wrong i want it to be sunny and not raining and cold that is suffering but the moment you actually accept that this is how it is another way to put it is you relax out of that identification with resistance into that space of presence in which there is no objection to the way the weather is so it's neither acceptance nor rejection of what is basically the identity of me self being in conflict opposing life is dissolved and now there is just a space of presence of cognizing emptiness no identity it's not that you don't have to not do anything yeah it's not about completely accepting so you don't do anything but the state of mind that you're doing taking action is not stressful yeah you're free free of suffering you can still if someone's after you with an axe you can run but it means that you're in a flow state as opposed to completely freaked out and totally anxious so you allow yourself take action that you need to take but you're not crippled by the resistance and anxiety this shouldn't be happening around you know it's happening flow that's what i think is that it's doing happens you're doing it naturally but your mind isn't engaged in this shouldn't be happening when that already is too late i guess then you're already having to accept like the conflict that's already been made and it's gone every moment you know too late that moment is gone now is a fresh new moment in which that thought that it is too late oh i haven't done it five minutes ago i should have accepted it that's gone that's just thinking now is a free new moment and past is dead so now okay okay now oh i haven't oh okay now see how life is leaving you how life brings rejection and how life brings acceptance whatever it is life is lifeing the action also comes from that life the impulse that life gives you to get up or to say something you don't know what your next thought gonna be life will bring it and you will hear it when it's spoken or maybe you'll hear it silently before or rehearsed or whatever but the moment in which you haven't done anything you should have is dead is gone forget about it yes bob bob wants to say something let it rest in the sun contrived singularity leave it as it is one is restful and the other one has got lots of mind chatter around so one is in in the moment is there's this um there's more relaxation within the body mind it's just an acceptance of the flow and as uh kavisha was saying you know whatever has to be done in the moment gets done but the other one is the mind continuous mind story around it that's where the suffering is it's a bit like the commentator at the footy i reckon so you've got the commentator the game's happening out there but there's always this just behind it all this yep yep yep yep yep yep yep and that's the making us um value judgments on it all yeah and it doesn't have any impact at all on the play on the plane it's just noise after the plane yes and we have uh oops i lost the screen uh gilbert says um no one to accept or reject anything what is is what is who is going to do reality beautiful and soul says resistance arises spontaneously even identification with a separate self arises spontaneously identification with a person is not personal beautiful absolutely there's nothing personal it's an illusion beautiful thank you i think if you do everything a hundred percent and that's it there's no room for any other element to it whole story about conflict develops after that fact doesn't it that you you know that you make something else of it and that's it trying to wreak having on the past which cannot ever be you cannot it's craziness and so in this the spontaneity the present moment having given everything to whatever it was you can let it go be here now is there a difference between so like what you were saying like surrendering but you still have to feel the conflict right you still have to feel if you're angry you have to feel it or are you disconnecting from the life force is that that can arise too it can by all means i mean life is so completely unlimited in the way it experiences and expresses itself it can experience and express itself through resistance and a fight and a singing uh you know like surrender that oh yeah now i remembered and now i'll give up and i will lie down i'll be humbled that narrative is one of the ways life experiences itself but there's no one doing it again it may be what is happening it may be a good description but it is not what necessarily would happen it may be something that i like course in miracles calls a miracle it is a sudden shift of perception from that very very strong position of oh i'm right and life is wrong into just like a soap bubble yeah okay but it might also because life is unlimited it might also be a huge internal struggle and dark night of the soul and whatever whatever you have okay julia i was just thinking about what what you were talking about with um things coming up and metaphor that i'd i'd heard you mentioned before of uh you might see a bird on the beach seagull or something you run up to it it flies off but then it goes back and like a moment later it's i don't know looking for food or whatever on the beaches though nothing ever happened because it's not it's not going oh man that that jerky scared me yeah i've gotten going to a story it just kind of stays with what is so as she was saying if somebody's coming after you with an axe you might run you know you know a fear can come up it's okay it's it's just um it doesn't have to be dwelled in you know that's that's uh an option of uh you could just always come back to here it's always available beautiful i have a comment from tristram he says uh what really moved me this week was this one from nisargadatta when i look inside and see that i am empty that is wisdom when i look outside and see that i'm everything that is love between this my life turns that's yet another translation different translation yeah but it's it's equally close empty when when i see i'm empty or i see i'm full i see i'm nothing and i see i'm everything it's just still in that particular translation is still that i that is seeing something but they are translations when the eye is completely out of the picture when i'm nothing this is wisdom when i'm everything this is love that is without the i am seeing this i am seeing that either way it's a beautiful description it's just a description of the natural state in which for anything to be experienced there have to be a flow so in nisargadatta's case this flow between the love and wisdom wisdom or emptiness and fullness being everything or being nothing and that's sort of a poetic description is his way of putting it and linda says by all means attend to your duties action in which you are not emotionally involved and which is beneficial and does not cause suffering will not bind you you may be engaged in several directions and work with enormous zest yet remain inwardly free and quiet with a mirror-like mind which reflects all without being affected this is a quote from nisargadatta yes it's another quote from nisargadatta and it is another beautiful description because he actually says that you know like being completely unengaged or neutral and yet engaged in all the duties and actions so it it is a description it isn't a prescription that you should engage in your duties because there is no you to engage in the duties but as a description is quite beautiful the actions that don't cause suffering won't bind you the suffering is the identification as a separate entity that is the binding action so without that identification anything just like julia was talking about the bird bird doesn't have any concept about needing to fly or needing to come back elsewhere or anywhere or anywhere yeah yeah thank you linda anyone maybe a song oh yeah yeah mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm love this um poem by bachelor insane poet spring comes and the grass grows by itself sitting so let's speak ken Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing.

Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself, sifting silently, doing nothing. How beautifully relevant. Those Zen poets, they've got away. Yes. Yeah. And Tanya says, beautiful Kavisha, thank you. And Debra also says, thank you, love listening. Thank you. So, I don't have a question, but I'm sure if I start speaking, then I'll end up wondering about something.

You know, I'm finding, I guess, about the, you know, there is no ego really. It's an illusory, temporal kind of thing. It's a concept. It's a concept. Concept. Concept. But while we appear or apparently believe in it or believe ourselves to be it, it feels or the sense is that it's kind of, you know, an individual or experiencing something. And I guess if we have a, or if there's an idea that there's maybe some place that we can reach, then, you know, called enlightenment or something, then the fear is that we'll never reach that place. And that's why maybe this, I've kind of been coming here because some part of the system or structure that's the body kind of feels like, as long as what's said about this experience experience is experienced by an apparent separate self or as long as it's pointed to in a way that kind of can concede to the fact or not the fact, but the concept of time, like, oh, okay, I'll work until I get something, you know.

Yeah. I guess on the relative level, you can talk about that and say, okay, well, you know, I'll go to get a job and I'll save money or something like that. But when we're trying to understand maybe or question what the deepest truth is that we can understand or the, the kind of can be known by, by, or through the expression of a vehicle, you can only point to what's happening or like in this moment. And I'm, that's kind of, I'm trying to get that to make sense, but you know, so. Yeah. See, this is called non-conceptual awareness. Yeah. It is a direct experience of existence right in this moment, not through the concept, not through the concept that I have existence or I am existence.

No, it's direct undeniable fact of existence that you can't deny. You can't deny your being. You can't deny your presence. It's direct. It doesn't need to go to the head, find words and come back and express it as me having something, experiencing something right now in future. You know, it doesn't need that. It's direct. Everything else that you talk about, you know, the apparent ego, well, call it ego, call it body, mind, whatever you want to call it. Now that one is going to age or he's going to find a job or it's not going to, this is not you, it is the vehicle. So you can say vehicle lives by the rules of the dream.

It belongs to the dream and it will stay in the dream until its time is exhausted. So in the relative terms of the dream, you can talk about it. But if you want to talk about the truth, truth is direct, immediate and is experienceable right now without need for concept. And the truth is that you're not unaware. You are, there is no, you are not, how do you call it Bob? You're not unaware. And what was the other one? Loving to be. Yeah. You're not, you, you aren't unaware. What was the other one? Anyone is not existing right now. You're not not existing right now.

Are you not existing? You can't say you're not existing. If you try, try and stop existing for a moment. Just, just to give yourself a little shot to just, just to make sure that that's not in your hand, to stop existing just for now. Can't do that. Can you? You can't stop being. So being is immediate and is direct and you don't need words. When you were born as a little baby, that being was already present and known directly. The child doesn't have to learn words for that consciousness to lead its eyes. So this is the final truth. But now the mind steps into the picture and creates an image that now there is a me and final truth is something else.

It's something out there that I need to achieve and get for myself. A lot of separation, a lot of division. And pain as well. Absolutely. That all comes from conceptualizing and believing in concepts. And you're right. If you believe you are an ego, you're going to experience it. You might ask Julia, she believed at some point she was the queen of the universe. How did it feel? Fantastic. Fantastic. You know, there are people who feel that they are unworthy of living and they take their lives. There are people who, that's the belief. The belief, you know, they were people, Bob often points to that example, who believed that the earth was flat.

And there was no concept of building a ship and sailing to the other hemisphere because they would believe they will fall off the edge. So that's how debilitating believing in concepts can be. How limiting it can be. But the truth is known directly. It is to be recognized. It doesn't have to be achieved because there is no one to achieve it. It's just that if you look through the mind, it feels like it's not significant enough. The fact that I am present and I am not unaware and I am not non-existent. It feels like, yeah, whatever. So what? Where is my ecstasy? Where is my orgasm?

Where is my bliss? I want a pleasure. I want a happiness, which is pleasure. Who is the I who wants something else than this moment? Who is the I who overlooks the most incredible miracle of existence itself? Which, you know, without that, there would be absolutely nothing. Existence is a base. And it's largely overlooked just because we use the dualistic mechanism, which divides and separates to see the non-duality, the truth. But if you drop to the heart and you feel that radiance, that brilliance of existence directly, fully, how nourishing, how incredible it is, that one will take second place. It won't be that important. This is just a distraction.

It's just a mechanism to distract from the obviousness of existence, a miracle of it. Just see it for what it is. It's a tool. It's a noisemaker. It's a helpful tool. It's an incredible instrument. But it is not for that job. It's never going to amount to anything in non-duality because it is a duality creator. It's brilliant. Without that duality creator, nothing would be experienced. It's to be bowed down and loved, but it's not to be trusted. At least in that matter. Julieta, do you want to say something? I was just going to say, I guess in that moment, there was a believing in this fictitious character that could be something.

I just love that pointer of the false cannot stand up to investigation. There is a difference between stupidity and insanity. There was absolutely an insanity. But not incredibly stupid. There was the memory of, oh yeah, well, buying into this, fair enough. Maybe it's real. Let's take a look. You don't have anything to hide if you really think this is true. And so there was a looking. And then there was a seeing. You know, but... If you look, can you find the one who can blah, blah, blah, be or become anything? If there was, there was a, when, in that looking, there was... Anytime it's, I look there, I could never find anyone.

And then you are, you're back to here. And the false is... When it seemed to be false, the truth reveals itself. That's all. Beautiful. And we have Gilbert, and Cathy also sang beautiful for the song. And Gilbert says, all knowledge is dead. How is this known? The activity of knowing is ever fresh. And this cannot be found in memory. The me of memory is a fiction. And Cliff says, thank you all. Oh, great. Yeah. Yeah, everything that is... Can I ask a question? I guess, yeah. I can't say anything. Good. Yeah. Do we have time? Yeah, couple of minutes. Okay, 45 seconds. Uh... It's weird though, because...

Like a person can say, and experience... I don't experience a me. I don't experience an identity or a personal self. But... A body... Or someone can also say... Oh, I feel like... I'm still suffering and... Or I'm experiencing something I would rather not or... Um... That's when you're going to practice non-resistance. And then you'll see what happens to your suffering. Mm. So... Yeah. It's a bit... A weird kind of dual thing, because I think... Um... Sometimes people can get into the... The... Kind of... Pattern of being like... Of kind of... Saying... You know... Mm. Like I... I don't... I don't... I don't... I don't get it.

And then... I can say to them... Well, you do get it, because you're... You're not unaware. You are it. Or you are it. Mm. Um... For example, a friend of mine... But he's... But he would respond with saying... Yeah, but that doesn't... That doesn't help the relative world... Or that doesn't... You know... Wonderful. Yeah. Wonderful. This is not a manipulation tool. This is not non-duality. The wisdom of the final truth or realization... Is not a tool in the hands of a psychopath... To make a dream... A better place. It's not. Otherwise, you will have all the... All the psychopaths using it... Against you. It is not a magic wand...

Which will change the dream. It is the realization... That you are not... You are in the dream as a body-mind... But you are not of the dream as the essence. The dream is happening within what you are. Mm. Mm. So it isn't... People often say... Oh, yeah, okay. I know there's no self. So why don't I lose weight? Or why don't I get a boyfriend or something? This is... You know... Can you see the absurdity of this? This is not a magic wand... It is not a magic wand... Which will change the dream. It is the realization... That you are not... You are in the dream as a body-mind...

But you are not of the dream as the essence. The dream is happening within what you are. So it isn't... People often say... Oh, yeah, okay. I know there's no self. So why don't I lose weight? Or why don't I get a boyfriend or something? This is... You know... Can you see the absurdity of it? It's coming... Yeah. Toward it... Oh, I know there's no self. And then the self coming back in and saying... Well, I can use that... Exactly. To then become something. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And then if you talk about the resistance... You know, if you realize that really there is no one there...

But yet there is still resistance towards cold or hot. You know, look out in nature. There is a resistance. Absolutely. You know, take that... Pull the... Not too hard. The cat's tail. You will see he will resist it. I guarantee you. Or she. Both of them. The difference is there is no resistance to arising resistance. Yeah. When the resistance is what arises... It is perfectly what arises. Yeah. And the idea that it shouldn't arise... Is not being resisted. It's just moved aside. That is also what arising. I have preference for pleasure. That's what arising. There is displeasure right now. I don't like it. That's what arising.

Maybe action will arise from it or maybe not. But there is no objection even to the resistance. And that which doesn't object to the resistance is your true essential nature. Does that mean the resistance plays out still or... Of course. Yeah. Try and pull that cat. Move the cat out. Not too hard. Not too hard. Not too hard. Not too hard. Not too hard. Yeah. So resistance absolutely arises. I mean she can get cold, she can get hot, she can get hungry. And she'll resist it. Okay. Final question then. Because if I believe I'm the one... If I'm this body and I'm doing things, then in built in that is the...

Okay. This feel... This is better. This is worse. Because it feels like... Okay. Uh... There can be a resonating with truth. Or the truth resonating and that can be expressed here. Mm. But then at other times seemingly out of... Out of... Like a... Uncon... Unconsciousness you could call it. Of course there's no unconsciousness really. But... But the hidden aspects... Destruction. Yeah. You know the resonance is a natural thing. Mm. That is something that you knew as a baby. Mm. And then you kind of trained yourself to be constantly distracted by that entertaining... Uh... Center here. Mm. The thinking, the projecting, the... You know, analyzing, computing.

So the distraction is what obscures that natural amazement of being. And the curiosity of being. So yes, sometimes the clouds are very heavy and dense. And sometimes there are no clouds. But sky is never obscured. But some of those clouds may say, oh, this is me, this is I. And then it's the suffering. Then there is investigation. Oh, is it really? Am I really? And when you see that you're not, bah! Relaxation again. Thank you. Mm, beautiful. Thank you Kat. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thanks everyone. Thanks.