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No, yes, no. Okay, then I'll get into it. Yes, so as I said, no teaching. There is nothing that could ever be taught. Whatever you learn, may be valid in the dream, may be valid in your life, so-called life, and they're wonderful things to learn, wonderful skills to have. But in the non-dual investigation, we are transcending that which can learn or that which teaches. So the mind which is malleable, which is adaptable, which is trainable, teachable, coachable, changeable, whatever you want to say. Which can be fixed or disciplined or focused or crazy, that is under the scrutiny, that is under the investigation. So that is being witnessed as an object in consciousness.
So it is being transcended. The first principle is that's why Bob Wood often starts that he can't teach anyone anything because he's just an appearance in so-called mind, a collective mind. So it is just a part of the dream.one part of the appearance can teach another and else yet whatever can be taught can also be unlearned or forgotten and we are pointing to ultimate reality that which is beyond all teachings and beyond pointers And that is to be recognized and not learned and not achieved and not gained. So it means it's already here and it is forever here. It is the reality and reality is that which is, that which never changes, that which does not have a beginning or an end.
So how could that be taught? How could you learn that tomorrow or in a month's time? It is already here, it's already present, it's already known, and you already are that pure knowing. So it is really just bringing it back into the foreground because it has been, frankly, it has been overlooked. It has been ignored. So this is really what it is about. It's about reminding what was once obvious and then forgotten, forgotten through the conditioning, through the learning of language, through the beautiful capacity of telling stories. Through which weWe all feel the dream has so much to offer because we have stories of our relationships, stories of friendships, stories of nationalities, stories of joining, joining us as men or women or humans.
Those beautiful stories completely cloud over and cover up that magnificence, that miraculousness of pure existence. So it is somewhat taken for granted, it is hidden, is ignored. So we're bringing back, we're reminding. So there is no teaching, there's nothing that you need to learn. You already are existing. You already are present. You already are conscious. So in this way also, it doesn't matter. In which way or in which words this is brought into attention, because it is not about the words. It is about what the words are pointing. And this is why I always invite someone else to give us a burst, because that is again transcending even the attachment to particular way of saying it or pointing to it.
And also to just come out from that certainty.that yes, of course, you know, of course I'm existing. Of course I'm conscious. Of course I'm aware of that. Of that I am. And getting in touch with that and getting out of the way and seeing that expression flowing naturally through you is a special thing. So we never encourage people to go and become Jehovah Witnesses and go and convert others or indoctrinate others. Or like one of our friends sometimes says, she's always capturing innocent victim over the phone, a taxation agent or someone, and is hammering non-duality against their will. That's not the point. That's why the invitation is here, to see how it flows through you without needing to impose it.
Because there really is no need for anyone to become a spiritual seeker. That idea of unbecoming or waking up from being a seeker. Or dropping off the identity of being a seeker. It's really not required for those who never adopted the identity. They're already free. Everyone is already free, whether they realize it or not.Now the pointers, not every pointer will resonate. There are pointers that may trigger, and my pointers that might cause irritability, anger. There are words that may have negative association or positive association. The truth is beyond language. The truth is beyond words. The pointer is not it. The label is not it. Bob would call it cognizing emptiness, and that's not his label.
Somebody else, probably Buddhism, somewhere in Buddhism, they called it cognizing emptiness. It could be even as far as Nagarjuna, a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand years ago, whatever. Nearly, whatever. So, intelligence energy, that wasn't his invention either. That was Krishnamurti who came up with that one. But that is not it. No label is it. No word is it. Their fingers pointing at the moon. And the finger intention of the pointing at the moon is not to look at the finger. Though, of course, it is just natural that every body-mind has particular settings, default settings, so it resonates with...pointers and it doesn't with some other pointers.
Therefore, the main thing is really to just come back to your heart and remember why you are here, what you really want. Do you want to be right about certain pointer or you want to see where it points? So stay with those pointers that really speak to you. Stay with those that really touch your heart, that really cause that resonance. And if there is a pointer that doesn't do it, just overlook it. Just ignore it. Look past it. It doesn't matter. Not every pointer needs to be understood. I remember hanging out with Bob for years and years. They were still pointers that weren't a preference.
That somehow just didn't sit right. I don't remember what it was. But at some point, it just clicked that, aha. Yes, there is a way to see it in this way. But it doesn't matter whether it happens or not. It is enough to understand one pointer. Which one? Oh, I'll have to salvage my jumper. The cat is just trying to wreck it. Go on, my crystal. Go on, baby. We got a big pig or something. Sorry, guys.So one pointer. Now, which one is yours or which set of pointers does it? Which reminder is basically just shifting the attention out of the mind? Just dispersing that attention instead of laser focusing on the thinking or stories or ideas or dramas which pointer kind of causes that natural unfixated awareness the relaxation So there is tons of them.
I even wrote a book called Sailor Bob, Bags of Pointers, because there really are bags and bags of pointers. And you can pick out any. I actually linked them to Bob's name, the anagram of the name, because it's just so much. But we all have our favorites. What's wrong with right now if I don't think about it? Have a look. Have a look. It's not about repeating it as a mantra, but it's about following it. It's not about mouthing the words, but looking where they point, that moon. So what is wrong? Ah, let me see. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Okay, there's nothing wrong, but the existence is still there.
The being, the...presence is still there. Yeah, so other pointers that Bob really liked, you know, relax. Or look what's looking, or who is looking. Or there is, actually, I had an interesting encounter last week with... With a book club, a lady who is having a book club in America offered the book What's Wrong With Right Now If I Don't Think About It for people to read, her group of people. I don't know whether it was.few dozens of them, I don't know, maybe more, and they would meet for seven or eight weeks. I think there is seven or eight chapters in the book, and they would contemplate on each chapter, read it together and contemplate.
The answer is not in the mind. That's the first one. And then on the last meeting with that book club, she invited me to join the meeting. And there was international crowd there. They were Europeans, Americans. She was American. And people who I don't know what their exposure to Bob's message was. Some of them probably never heard of it. Other books they were reading together might not be related in any way. They actually got surprisingly a lot from that group endeavor of reading together and focusing on those words together and resonating together and creating that energy of togetherness. In this, the online group that they had.
And then they had some questions, some clarifications. We had absolutely delightful 90 minutes of a call. And I wonder, we may even consider reading a couple of paragraphs of the book. When no one wants to share, we could have Bob actually speaking his own voice. But for now, just a five.pointers. The answer is not in the mind. That's one of the beautiful, beautiful potent pointers, which reminds you again why it can't be taught, why there is no teaching, there is no achieving or understanding that you can gain in the future. Because whatever is understood, whatever is gained, remembered or forgotten is all in the mind.
And the answer is not there. There's tons of answers, but not to the ultimate, not to the nature of who you are and life and everything. That is prior to mind. Mind is only a minute appearance in that field of infinite possibilities, possibility of all-knowing, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience. Answer is not in the mind. So stop seeking. Stop looking for the answer there. Just relax. And the next pointer, which is the next title of a chapter, is just as it is. And that's another beautiful pointer to this moment right now. Because just as it is. It's not how it was. It is not as it will be.
It is right now. And that pointer to right now, to that immediacy, to that which is experienced through the channel,of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, thinking right now, rather than the overlay of that which is not experienced right now, but what is imagined, what is remembered, which is remembering also the memory and the fantasy. Or anticipation is all mental imaging. So it is all form of imagination, imaging, imagining. So that's what's not happening is to be embraced in the world of this current immediacy as a phenomena arising and moving away just like the sound just like a sight just as the smell the mental images are part of the dream of that which appears to be but this immediacy as it is This right here, right now, or now here, nowhere, this isness is prior to the phenomena, is prior to the mental imaging.
It is there even if I don't think about it. It is there, the current breath, even if I don't call it breath. The phenomena, the incredible capacities that this body has to sense, to smell. It is there even if I don't label them, even if I don't think about them, they are in that infinite field.field of possibilities. And then another chapter that the beautiful book club was reading, watch the mind, see how it operates. So watching the mind again is already transcending the mind because it's not the mind watching the mind. Well, it might happen. That the mind will loop and okay i'm watching my thoughts i don't like my thoughts i want my thoughts to go well that's obviously the computing going on mind watching the mind because cognizing emptiness that does not have any judgment does not have any tendency to reference whatever is arising is just as it is it's not i like it i don't like it because there is no i in it and there is no liking not liking it just is as it is So seeing how the mind functions in that field of knowing is another beautiful pointer that, you know, even if it is applied, it's not really applied, but even if the resonation is just...
Over so slightly on the surface just to notice how the thoughts and feelings and emotions are associated how they arise nearly simultaneously not not really how they are related correlated evenlearning about how the body-mind responds to the aggression, offense, criticism, to how it responds to tiredness or anger or anything, learning about this body-mind, how it functions, how it operates, how it takes things personally. How it functions when there is no relating going on, when there is a natural relaxation in the system, a natural joy. It is a beautiful pointer and it has infinite depth to it. But even just on the surface, there is another chapter that is called non-doership.
I'm looking at what's wrong with right now, the book, the non-doership. And any of Bob's books, Spiel has the same, as you know, he was so incredibly generous in every channel. He would give you everything, everything that could potentially brings back that, that resonation. Ah, right. Of course. So that just watching how I am not the doer of anything, you know, the world is appearing. I'm not the doer of the capacity for hearing. I don't do the hearing. I wouldn't know how to do that. I don't do digestion. I don't do even, I can't even choose whether I'm going toscratch my head next or not.
It depends on 10,000 things. So I'm not the doer, I'm the discoverer. I'm the observer, I'm the witnessing. Not really observe air, observe ing, the knowing. Because observer kind of The mind jumps on the label straight away and builds up a new identity. And that new identity is just another phenomena arising in that field of knowing. So that's another pointer that might be to your liking. And then another chapter is called No Thing. Again, beautiful pointer to the nature of things, the emptiness as the nature of things, interdependence as the nature of all things. And Bob would give examples like, you know, you can even look at the solidity, seeming solidity of things, and you can see how dependable it is on that, how this machine is tuned.
You know, if the sequences, sequencing of the rotating fan and the eye were slightly different, we wouldn't see the solid object. We would see that there are gaps and spaces. But the appearance of solidity, the appearance of solidity of the objects also, you can put them under a microscope and you will see that there is vibrating particles of air.energy there's nothing solid and yet because of the tuning of that instrument that instrument the whole instrument that dream appears as solid and you can see also when you are dreaming at night that whatever you interacting whoever you interacting appears solid You are appearing to have the capacity to see, to move, sometimes even fly.
So it suggests that you have a body in the dream also, because the physical body is not participating. It is sleeping on the bed, probably not even moving, and the eyes are probably closed. So that body is also an instrument created in the dream to interact in the dream, just like this one. But what is or who is experiencing and expressing itself as the body in the dream, as the dream and the body within? That's the question or the question one could say, who am I or who wants to know? Who is inquiring or who is there? Anybody there? Who's looking? And this is another beautiful way of stopping the mind by just, just, just simply give it a second.
Hmm. What's looking? Anybody there?Anybody there somewhere behind? Can't sense anything. Can't say there is a void. Can't say there is a darkness. Can't say there is lightness. Can't say there is anything at all there. So there is no one, there is no thing, and yet the seeing is happening. Can't say where it actually begins, where it starts, where is the point. can't even sense it in any other senses than seeing, and yet it is happening. So the non-doership, the mystery of no one moving the planet around the sun, no one dropping the rain, no onecreating anything or experiencing anything and yet it is being created and this being experienced no particular person anywhere and yet the the whole beautiful colorful dream right here And now another pointer is no reference point.
So the reference point, the idea that there is someone inside, again, someone who is doing the looking, someone who is doing the thinking, someone who should be doing better than that. Someone who should get it by now. Someone who is suffering, who is small, who is not good enough. Someone who should achieve great enlightenment and be whatever, nothing, or be a greater, bigger, grander I or self or whatever. All those things are arising as the ideas.And all this tendency to reference myself as a subject are only here because of the language. And there comes a story Bob sometimes reminds about Adam and Eve, who learned the language.
Because they have eaten a forbidden fruit, a fruit from the forbidden tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of dividing good from evil, distinguishing good from evil, labeling. This is good for me, of course, and this is bad for me, of course. And that's where the reference point comes to the picture. I like it. I don't like it. Who is that I? What is that I? What is that reference point? And again, this is not about getting rid of reference point, because who would be getting rid of it? It's like washing away blood with blood. Ego getting rid of the ego or reference point getting rid of reference point it is just to be recognized there is nothing wrong right at this moment if you don't think about it just as it is just as it appears is absolutely perfect you are already that existence full and complete whether the reference point arises or it doesn't it makes no difference if you
recognize it.
If you recognize that this is the function of the body-mind machine, to just narrate whatever the urges in the body are communicating, it narrates in the language of duality because of the fruit of the evil and good, good and evil. So the reference point recognized for what it is, again, is a beautiful aid in navigation, is helpful, is relatable. We love exchanging stories. I can't tell you how I love every little bit of the story of Bob, which I'm writing a book about. And many, many other stories, other people's stories. I mean, the great success in life, which brings you a lot of friends and a lot of recognition and a lot of fulfillment is to be a good storyteller.
Oh, you know, I am a grateful Al-Anon member. Oh, I am a grateful member of the feminist movement or the gym or the football club or whatever it is. Suddenly you feel that. Sense of relatability and connection and joy of seeing that reflection of yourself that part of yourself because apart from those social memberships you may be also somebody's daughter or or somebody's son or father or a boss or employee thousand little stories that create the richness of that incredible dreamNothing wrong with any of that. What a wonderful channel for that life essence to experience and express itself in such colorful way. Provided you don't believe that to be the reality and you don't believe yourself to be that poor little victim, that miserable little me who is not good enough as a mother, employee, a football, whatever it is.
But you see us live the incredible possibilities. Of colorful expression that that that one function of narrating story creating the division the duality gives that life so let life experience itself through the reference point as a reference point to all at once and you be the witnessing presence in which that happens Because as that presence, you are just watching an amazing, amazing show. But you are not trapped anywhere. You are not trapped in that book you are reading. You are not trapped in the movie you are watching. You are completely free to be amazed by the extent and believability. And by the incredible seeming reality of that which is on the display.
And now we have...another chapter which says one without a second and this is another pointer that you may like or you may not like it may be too many words one without a second it goes usually with not either one not even one so that is a mindfuck that is a little bit of a gymnastic okay so one Without a second and not even one? Too much thinking, too much intellect, too much trying to work it out, grasp it. But really, if you look at the moon and not at the finger, it shows that the division, any sense of division, It's just an illusion. It's just a mirage.
Everything is that one essence appearing and expressing, experiencing as the whole show. Everything that is appearing within the field of seeing, including the one that sees, and including everything that is being seen, is just that one seeing. Interpreted by the again the dualistic language as the 10 000 things how marvelous everything is just one field vibrating shaping forming patterning experiencing expressing as everything and that that you are that field that if you don't createThere is no you and there is no conscious creation in any way. But if attention does not give a belief, the energy of belief, to any imposed boundaries, to any ideas that I am what is within that skin, And what is outside is not I, is not me.
That creates a division, separation. I am here and not there. See the cat there next to the sewing machine? That's not me. That's me. Only when I think about it. If there is no thought, there is just one field, one... Open field of experiencing. I cannot separate myself because I am. I am that field. Only the idea that I am inside this vehicle and not anywhere else. Is that creates the division. In the direct experience, I cannot separate myself from the seeing, from the hearing, tasting, touching, smelling. It's only the thought. And the thought is not the reality. I think the next one, oh no, next one is just testimonials.
But that was another pointer. That one has just a short chapter. That's why I guess they picked it for the book club, because you don't have to study it forever.I don't think anyone would pick my book. That's probably about 100 chapters there. Never finish. Though they are short. They're quick. Anyway, that's another pointer. The thought is not the thing. No thought is ever a thing. The thought water can't quench your thirst. And the way we narrate the story, and I had a call this morning with someone who knows the message and resonates, but it is still hard for him to comprehend that. Whatever is happening on the other side of the world is just thought.
It's just mental image. It's not right here, right now. Yes, but it is happening. Yes, but is another thought or mental image. It doesn't matter whether it is happening objectively or not, because what is happening right now, this is what matters. The objective reality out there on the other side of the world, objective reality of the planet going around the sun, objective reality of sun is not here. No such thing. No such thing. Where is it when I don't think about it? Can it be experienced directly? No, it can't. It can only be...experienced as a belief in thought. And when the thought is believed, yes, it feels real.
Yes, there is a cosmos out there. I believe it, so it's real. But what if I don't? Does it matter? It completely doesn't. Direct experience of this current breath, seeing, hearing, this is the reality. Whether I believe in cosmos or God or angels or I don't, it really is so secondary, it's so unimportant. Arguing over that, having holy wars, killing one another over that, which is not happening. So there is a way of living the life, there is a way of experiencing in accord with the natural state where what's first comes first. Bob would say, give credit where credit is due. That life essence which animates the body, which moves the stars and the galaxies, which breathes you, which beats your heart.
That one. In its essence, the substrate of all things, not the way it expresses, not the way it appears, is your essential nature.Back to the beginning. There is nothing wrong. And if you see that there is nothing wrong, that's it. That's the space. That's the consciousness. That's the pure awareness seeing. If there is a thought coming, yes, but there is something wrong or it shouldn't be this or this pointer is wrong or I don't like the way you speak this or I don't like whatever. That's the mind. And there's nothing wrong with that also. If you can see that the mind arising and complaining. Is part of the appearance and there's nothing wrong with that.
You're not it. Therefore, there's no need to defend the mind. There's no need to believe the mind. It arises, it does its things and it moves on.And that guy I was speaking with, I was explaining also that, look, you know, the body has its behaviors, just like Pavlov dogs. You know, you ring the bell and the dog is salivating. This body may have a behavior that if it is abused severely, it may cry or it may punch. Who knows? And what does the space care? The subtle expectation is that the moment the message is embraced, those responses disappear. And like in the whole Zen stories, the master will give his body to the hungry tiger because it doesn't care.
Well, obviously there is some brain damage if the survival instinct doesn't work, because how can life experience or express itself through this body if the body is dead? But there is no judgment if there is a brain damage either. There's no problem with that also. But the expectation that some patterns, some behaviors need to change. And now there can't be a crying or if there is a disappointment or betrayal or if there is a death of a loved one. There shouldn't be any human response in the body or there shouldn't be any sense of referencing.That is in direct contradiction to the pointer that it is already so.
You are already so. So if you are already that life essence and you do have a response of punching someone or laughing or crying or burping or whatever it is, then it must be included. There is nothing excluded. The realization that as it is, even if you are sick, even if you are poor, as it is, there is nothing wrong unless you think about it. There is nothing good or bad. Unless you believe a thought. So this is it. This moment is it. There's nothing better than that. There's nothing better to be achieved later on. Settle down. Let it unfold. Let it show you. Let it shine forth.
Let it shine in its full glory. And this is the non-dual paradigm versus mind paradigm. Because the mind will always complain. Always. That's its job. That's what it has been designed to do. Let it complain. See the complaining. It doesn't matter. It doesn't have to stop. It's the energy. It's the life. The belief. That makes it seem real. But when the belief...relaxes and it doesn't fuel that that complaints any longer And what does it matter whether they're there or not? And that is the natural state. It's almost healthy if you see your child being sick. It's to complain, oh my God, I hope the ambulance comes on time.
Oh shit, it's coming late. It's almost healthy to have this type of the responses. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong when the cat is meowing when I'm running late with its dinner. There's nothing wrong with the volcano erupting when there is too much tension under the shelf or whatever. There is nothing wrong. In the presence that you are, all that is darkness and the light and the pleasure and the pain and the joy and the sadness and the depression and disappointment and all of that, in that light of being, in the light of knowing, they take turns. Just like seasons, just like tides, they take turns.
But that presence, knowing, that one is not happy or unhappy, pleasant or unpleasant, cold or hot. And that is who you are. And the recognition of that. Makesbring some subtle sweetness even to the darkness, even to the sadness, even to the loneliness or fear. They're just an appearance. They're just a mirage. So this is what can be recognized. Only now, not tomorrow. Just now. And I think that's enough in the title of introduction. And we have someone in the chat. The great perfection, says Yvonne. Another beautiful pointer. Thank you, Yvonne. Yeah, beautiful pointer. Great perfection is the non-conceptual awareness. That's one of the Dzogchen quotes that Bob really liked to bring up.
Dzogchen, non-conceptual awareness. Hank, would you like to unmute?Yes, can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Yes, beautiful cat. And yeah, I was also planning to say something about, you know, some experience last week about, yeah, Bob's pointer like, Yeah, it's the one essence and that there is no separation, you know, and I had a feeling that, you know, I'm part of a big, bigger whole and that's It doesn't matter, but we are all made of the same stuff, you know? Yeah. Like our essence is the same, so there's nothing to gain or lose. So nothing to worry about, you know. Just, it's just actually, you know, I have to say.
Yeah, that's what I had a clear notion of that. And what you were saying just now, it was also kind ofaffirming that. I thought by myself, I want to say something about it during this session, but you already did. Yeah. So, like, we are really one. And even there is also a maximum of diversity. Many forms, you know, are there. But, yeah, it's made from the same essence. And I think that essence is what we are.That's how it feels for me. Yeah, that's what I wanted to share. I think. Hallelujah. But not, I don't mean as a Jehovah Witness or something. Hallelujah. Yeah. Yeah, but I'm really, I'm a pagan, you know, I'm a pagan.
I'm not, I don't care also. I'm just saying it's like, you know. Yeah, what to say? It doesn't matter. We are here now. And that's all it is. So something like this. That's it. Absolutely. And yes, this is a great news. Absolutely. It's always worthy of highlighting. Yes, we won in essence. The division comes only from concepts. Everything is happening right now. Everyone is experiencing existence, the same existence with a different content. But the content is only different when you start comparing, which means when you start communicating, talking, in essence, it's just this. As it is. Complete. Yeah.Yeah, so yeah, it's like this, we are all connected also.
Something like this, yeah. Yeah, yeah. One in essence. Yes. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Beautiful, beautiful to hear that. And Ivan, would you like to tell me it? Yes. Yeah, when I heard Hank talking about the oneness, that we are all one in essence. And yeah, we're thinking about Nisakadatta, who said to see that I am nothing is wisdom and to see that I am everything is love. And that reminded me of a poem of Chekhov about call me by my true names. Do you know that poem? I can tell it in short that I am the mayfly on the surface of the river and I am the bird that arrives in time and eats the mayfly and I am the frog.
Swimming in the pond and I am the grass snake that eats the frog and I am the child in Uganda all skin and bones and I am the the one who sells the armsin Uganda and I am the 12 year old girl who has been raped by a pirate and throws herself into the ocean and I am also the pirate who is not capable of love and compassion and I am all of it, so call me by my true names. That was what came up when I heard Hank talking. That I am none of it and all of it at the same time.Wow, wow, yeah.
I tell it in short, the poem, but this is the essence. And he has a very long poem, but in essence, he tells about that we are everything and none of it. Yeah, yeah, you see, yeah, it would have to be very long. It would have to never end to include absolutely everything. But yeah, we got the gist, definitely. Yeah, it's either all inclusive and everything's included, or it's just... Acknowledging that empty aspect of it because it's both emptiness and fullness is beyond and is neither yeah it's so incomprehensible so beautifully beyond words call me by my true names Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
And we have a comment here on the screen. Says Jenny, such a beautiful spill cut, bringing it back to the knowing, the great wisdom of life that is holding, embracing every little piece of appearance. Nothing wrong. Sitting in a restaurant so might not be able to communicate verbally oh well bon appetit jenny and love it all or none of it says jenny yep yeah that's what needs to get outI was saying, yeah, in another quote, there was one quote about being everything and being nothing versus being wisdom versus being love and nothing, everything or wisdom, love. And he would say the fluctuation, the life dances between the two, because if there was no dance of life, there is nothing.
If not for the duality, there is no appearance, no experiencing, no expression. La viva duality. The appearance. Hallelujah. And Yvonne says, love the food journey and all of it. That's it. Yep. If they bring cold soup, love it too. It's empty anyway. I'll make it empty. Yes. So. What a celebration of just pure being, of pure being showing up in 10,000 ways, in 10,000 faces. And Thich Nhat Hanh, we kind of, you know, kind of try to keep it to Bob's pointing, but I was, I think, probably about 14 or 15 years old when I was given, maybe 16, a book of his that completely, completely shocked me.
And that was roughly what you were quoting, that poem. It wasn't a...poem it was a heart heart of the heart sutra or something or the stories where he was actually showing the interdependence of all things showing how it really does make the young prostitute in philippine a fault of the wealthy people living their lives in disregard for those who are in poverty somehow interdependently co-arising and that was such a horizon opening thing is still the information that is comprehended and is adopted and accepted by the mind but it is really just to blow it blow the mind the interdependence interconnectedness of all things is just to blow the mind completely because it really proves that there is no separation separation is just
story and hanks says emptiness cannot hurt emptiness yes that was another part of the conversation i had this morning about and that often comes up the general nature of suffering the suffering in the world the suffering of people showing up in the news, you know, there was someone who was murdered and there is a global catastrophe because there are tons of people that are suddenly completely foreign, you know, just like it was with Princess Diana who became a legend, a story, an icon.
And people would invest a lot of feelings, a lot of affection. So when she died, it caused a lot of disturbance in the public opinion. And yet, that is just a public opinion. What about those beautiful people who died without being photographed or without being put on Facebook or news channels? Don't they deserve compassion? Include everything. If you want to get dysregulated because of some... Horrible tragedy that happened to some person on the other side of the world, include all of it. Include every little tragedy, includingthe tragedy of the cells that you just handicapped or killed by touching your own face, including the species extinction, including just blow your mind by the process of inclusion.
Rather than giving reality, because that's really where the suffering comes from, giving reality exclusively to that which catches the attention. And you can see how then you become slave of the mind, wherever the attention is going. The slavery to the mind. It is, and especially today, everyone has the ADHD because the competition for your attention is so fierce. You go to the shops and there is millions of things competing for attention. The advertisements, the mobile phones, everything wants a little bit of the energy of belief to exist and make itself important. So see how the mind operates. See how it works. You'll be mind blown.
And we have Isabel has the hand up and then we have Cornelius after Isabel. So direct to unmute Isabel.Yes, hello. This is maybe not knowledge, but more seeing that we had about Princess Diana. When I'm a little girl and I go to the funerals from family members, and when I now go to the funerals, for me, here was always the nicest place where I've ever been. Because the people were so earnestly, they were lovely for each other. They're crying their eyes out. Even people they don't like. Woman or man was dying. And that was also a recognition for surroundings for me, my aunts and uncles.
They never left a tear for no one, for nobody. And then in the funeral, they are really honestly on that thing. They cannot stop the feelings. And that has nothing to do with the truth.But it was for me, and even now, and I go to a funeral, the family is coming together, many people see each other for many, many years, not even that. They come all around the world. And for me, it's the funeral, the most lovely place to be. Because then I see the softness and the sadness and I never saw before. Yeah, that I want to share. today. It's not in what is true, but it was more for Princess Diana, that the whole world was crying and they lost also maybe a lot of energy with that, I don't know.
It's a story, what I'm telling now. Yeah, that was it. Yeah, that's a touching story, Isabel. You're right. It is, you know, in situations like that, you can see the depth in people that you haven't seen in other situations. So, yeah, it's a good thing to notice and to appreciate, too. Appreciate. Yeah, thank you. And Cornelis, would you like to unmute? By the way, I have a little affinity for cemeteries. I always like them. There's just such a peace there. The beauty.Beautiful trees, flowers. When I was a kid, there wasn't that many fake flowers. They were usually real. But still, there's something magical about the love that people have for the memory or the story or the remains of them.
Of their loved one is something, something again, just the appreciation. That's it. Cornelis, would you like to unmute? This came up in response to what you were saying about Bob's pointers and story. Yesterday I sat in the car for a long time and I was reading his little book. There's a pointer about the planes that ride in the sky. Skyriders and that when you see something written in the sky and it gradually fades awayWhile I was reading that, I became aware of the hands holding the book and the car and the rain falling on the windscreen. There was... A separation like all this stuff seems to be the appearance of all this stuff and the body, There was something not involved in it, but aware of it.
And I thought, oh, this is a moment. And then a few hours later, I was back home sitting on the step outside and there was a bunch of flowers in front of me. And now as I'm saying it, those...what seemed like moments, they've become like the writing in the sky. It sort of fades away. This comes up in response actually to a woman that was in the Sunday morning meeting and she was talking about, oh yeah, but what if someone smashed your legs with an axe? And you went, well, that's not happening now. And she said, yeah, but I broke my ribs a few weeks ago.
I was like, yeah, but that's not happening now. Yeah, but it really happened. It was real. So this... There seems to be a sort of a friction between this world constantly trying to remind us, me, that this stuff's real that happened yesterday. Which somehow like by an echo makes the potential stuff that could be happening henceforth, we sort of are tricked into thinking that that's going to be real. So I like this. The plane writes these words in the sky and they disappear. And that's kind of like what my yesterday in the car and then the flowers and the woman with the axe and the broken ribs andAnd so, yeah.
Which brings me back lately to just, this is it. Like, this is just it. Like, this is just it. All this floaty yesterday and tomorrow is... Is it a habit? Is it a habit? Yeah, that's so beautifully put and so powerfully put. It really is. Because so much investment, so much energy of belief goes to asserting that yesterday is real. It's more real than this. Come on, come on, it's real. Therefore, tomorrow is real too. So let's obsess about that. Let's completely ignore the fact that none of it is actually happening right now. What an incredible trick. Well, and the beautiful metaphor, where really is that yesterday?
It's just like, you know, like the wake behind the ship that's already kind of merging to the ocean, disappearing, or the sky writing, just dispersing completely. So if that is what happened with this so-called yesterday, Where is tomorrow? Why give it any credibility? Why give it any attention?I exchange this alive, vibrant, ever fresh present moment now for something that is chemtrail, says Jenny. Beautiful life being a chemtrail. Yeah. And Yvonne says, who wants to know? Is it a habit? Yeah, yeah. So many masks falling away at the funeral, says Jenny. And yeah, who wants to know the habit, the habit of always... Always engaging and and that's you know let's face it it's just part of the dance we are always grateful for those who really really really wants to know and argue argue their their dear life or oh yes but this is real this person really died or my ribs were really broken Okay, okay, but is it actually more real than the fact that you are breathing right now?
Or is it maybe a little bit less real because you can't breathe that air that you did then is gone, is dead, you can't. The food that you've eaten is gone, is dead. What is it? What is it right now? Isn't that just a mental image? Right now.Yeah, it is mental image, but okay, so it is mental image, full stop. Seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, mental imaging, it's equal. It's not that this mental image is bigger, greater, better, more reliable, more important than this current breath. This current aliveness because mental image is dead is flat is dead it doesn't have sentience in it it only exists because of because of the belief because you think about it it disappears the moment the thought is paused it disappears That's how real it is.
You are enjoying Zoom meal more than food, says Yvonne. Food for the soul, one could say. Although, again, what is the soul?Yes, so... I can pick up the cards. Oh, maybe not. Maybe I will actually read a paragraph. Maybe I'll just read a paragraph like the book club of that beautiful girl that invited me for. Oh, actually, I'm going to read introduction. It says. This is a revised edition of the book. The original book proved to be turning point for many who read it. However, the simplicity of what Bob is pointing out can be missed or even dismissed by many of those who are laden with unexamined beliefs about spirituality or religion.
We are beyond that. Okay. Significant feature of this book is that Bob is not asking anyone to believe anything. His attitude is to test it for yourself and see if it is true. Contempt prior to investigation is a sure way to miss the simplicity of the hundreds of pointers in this book. The simple clarity of Bob's way of expressing is so simple that many only skim across the surface of it, thinking that they understood. Yeah, this is the point. And sometimes people think they know because they can recite every pointer under the sun.That which knows is not your true self. The true self is knowing, not me knowing, not I.
So if you think you understand, keep looking. There's no one there who could possibly understand. Sorry. So I have witnessed a large number of those who have been very familiar with Bob's talks for many years suddenly recognize the depth of a particular pointer. They say, I have heard Bob say that hundreds of times, but never truly heard it before today. And that is also the invitation because yes, that is often the case. The pointer, when it really lands, it speaks from within. The words dissolve and oh, there is another angle of that beautiful display. Revealing itself to itself. Through the pointer. So it is so simple.
We dismiss it. Taking it as just another book is definitely not the way to approach the devastating exposure of so many erroneous beliefs. Many teachings emphasize on awakening, but you will not find any of that inIn this book, ordinary, everyday awareness, simple wakefulness is the key. That's the difference. The promises, promises. When you will finally get enlightened or when you will finally awake. Hello? Aren't you awake right now? Are you asleep? Nope. That wakefulness, that basic wakefulness. And this book can assist in bringing you back to recognize the unchanging essence of what you are. Non-conceptual, pure being. This pure being is what we call the natural state.
The peace that is beyond all words and is itself silent. True understanding is basically mind in alignment with intelligence prior to all the words that the intellect has learned. That was from the editor, from Gilbert. And then it goes with the preamble, which is also Gilbert, or is it Bob already? That's Bob. Okay. So a paragraph from Bob. What you are in essence is self-shining, pure intelligence. The very idea of shining implies a movement. Movement is energy. I call it pure intelligence energy. It is shining through your eyes.You cannot say what it is and you cannot negate it either. It is nothing. It cannot be objectified.
How many pointers in one short paragraph? Bob's always so giving, so giving. So that's it. The pure, pure being, the essence, the no thing, not an object, not to be grasped or understood in any way, not to be encapsulated in any label, not to be possessed, not to be had. No thing.So there's nothing to get. But also there is no one that could get that no thing. So this is simpler than the words could ever explain it because it's already here. It's already present. It's already effortless. It's already that simple, basic wakefulness. The fact that you are not unconscious, that you don't have any doubts.
Whether you exist or not. You know you are.Now the concepts come and bring up the story of what you are, where you are, but that's just a story that exists only with thought. Without the thought, you just are. Even the idea that you are a body is a subtle thought. Without that thought, you don't really know. The idea that you are male or female is again a subtle thought. Without that, you don't know.And you are... Oh, no, we've seen that one. So, anyone, Tanya, would you like to say something? I guess what resonated for me, Kat, was in your spiel. Was when you said that not every pointer, you don't have to understand every pointer.
And that led me to think, well, you don't even have to understand the spiel itself. Just be present, hold space for it. The last thing really you want when you're listening to a spiel is you're trying to analyse what's being said. Just relax into it and let it wash over you or soak it up like a sponge and just let life do what it does and get out of the way. Simple as that. It's effortless. Effortless. And, you know, Bob's book, you know, Beyond Words, Beyond Mind, the whole answer is in the title. Beyond words, beyond mind.tells you something. When you're caught up in the tunnels and the dead ends and the rabbit holes of trying to analyse and pull to pieces and deeply understand in order to get somewhere, well, actually, you know, the freedom comes when you let all of that go.
Because, you know, one of my favourite points is, you know, you'll never find the answer in the mind because it is beyond words, beyond mind, it is prior to. It's there and it's not in the mind, which we can't even find anyway. And it's just a natural. Knowing and asking the question, can you not be, takes you there immediately, immediately.That's it. It was a beautiful spell, as always. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, beautiful. Anyone else? Anything? We have another 15 minutes. I can pick a card. We have a beautiful sunset here. Oh, Cornelius, come on. Tanya, thanks. Can you say that again? Ask yourself the question, can you not be?I didn't kind of get it.
It's kind of a weird syntax. Yeah, Bob, that's the trick, right? It's the negative question in the negative that stops you in your tracks. Can you not be? And the reverse is, you know, are you aware right now, right? Yeah. But the can you not be is brilliant because, you know, the mind goes, ooh, boo, does not compute for a tiny, you know, moment, whatever, and, oh. Hit a wall, hit a dent, can't even imagine that. Can't even imagine it. And where does all imagination happen? You know, it's all, it's in the supposed mind. It's really just vibrations in this thing we call space. Which is no thing.
So, yeah, that is, Bob used to ask all the time, you know, try not being. Can you not be? You can't deny being. Just the simple act of asking the question makes it a ridiculous question.Yeah, thanks. Yeah, yeah, that is such a gorgeous highlight. Highlight. Are you unaware? Nope. Are you not existing right now? Can't say that. So what's your problem? That's it. You are the existence. You are the consciousness. You are the law of being. You are existing, self-evident. You cannot not be.You are conscious. You're not unconscious. And you're not dead, obviously. You didn't take your life. So you're loving to be. That's it.
That's the reality. Sat Chit Ananda. Being, knowing, loving to be. Proving the pudding. What is not reality, what is unreality, what is illusion, what is maya, what is fiction, is the two other factors. Nama Rupa, name and form, shape, body, mind. I am this and that. I am is the reality. This and that is Maya, is fiction. Yes, Cornelius. And so having said all that, it's just like you say, common garden awareness. It's just like, this is it again. This is it, just regular old now. Okay, thanks. This is it. Beautiful, he said. Beautiful garden variety. Regular old now. Only it's fresh and new. It's fresh and new every moment.
But yes, that's it. That's it. Nothing flashy, no fireworks, just this. Get on with that. This is it. It's already here. It's too late to complain. Just get on with that. And then... Relax and let it show you that it's quite delicious. Ordinary, boring, regular, garden variety, usual now. And that breath, it brings so much vitality. Wow, the appreciation comes even from not blowing that precious life essence into that dungeon of imagination, but keeping it here. And suddenly, hmm. Okay, that ordinary now is quite satisfying. There's nothing wrong.Just nothing wrong. Peaceful. It's just peaceful. But, hmm. Hmm, okay. Now the roller coaster of life brings the pleasure and the pain.
And this is always peaceful. Hmm, wow. Wow. That's cool. It's untouched. It's always free. uncontaminated, uncorrupted, unaltered, unmodified, uncorrected.Yeah. Jenny. Now I'm out of the restaurant. And I just wanted to add that, or it has probably been said, But again, that it is the trap of being caught in the mind. The other day I was bicycling with my dog. I was ruminating about happenings during the day, re-chewing conversations. It was raining. And then suddenly I became fully present again. And I saw the colors and the rain and felt the sensations on my skin. And in the midst of all that rumination, there was suddenly such great peace and clarity.
So it is when, you know, the mind sometimes just takes over and that's okay too. But the beauty is also when we are this.I say this waking, waking up is, you know what I mean? It just kind of this, aha, ah, wow, look, look at this flower. Well, look at that. And then the beauty of that experience was I continued to bike on. And then suddenly this most magnificent, humongous, full rainbow appeared in front of my eyes. You know, a really full rainbow. And I was just mesmerized like a little child, but of that rainbow. So I mean, it's just being on a ride, you know, letting life do its thing.Having Bob in my head, my mantra, what's wrong with right now if I don't sing?
It becomes so true, so true, so true, so true. And actually there's nothing more that needs to be realized in a sense, because that full stop, that pause, that just... You know, freeze moment or what, pause time or whatever you want to call it, thatjust brings back this sweet taste of nothing wrong. And that's what I wanted to share. Oh, it's fucking freezing. Excuse my French. The sun is shining, but it's like, autumn is coming. So big love to all. Thank you, Jenny. I've seen Stephen a couple of times and he disappeared. Just the hand went up and then disappeared. Are you there, Stephen?Yes, I like the just this, nothing else, I think seems to resonate quite well.
And there was one thing you were talking about today, Kat, when you said you had this phone call with somebody who was talking about things that are really occurring on the other side of the world. And the thing that really made an impact was when you said it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's real or not. I mean, because I've always struggled with this idea, like you'll hear something like, you know, something will appear. You know, as a visual object or something like my cup, you know, my cup there, but it doesn't have an independent nature. And I think, of course, it's got an independent, of course, it's there, you know, I picked it up and hit somebody with it.
And of course, that's going into the mind. And I really like that thing. It really made an impact that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's real or not. If it's out, you could say out of sight, out of mind. And the other thing that came up was this thing about a few comments about when Princess... Diana died. Now, I was in a monastery at the time. We didn't know anything about it.TV, no newspapers, no nothing. And then we had meditators come in on a Sunday morning. They came in, they were all in tears. They were all in buckets. And one chap was saying, I'm in bits.
He's going like this. And it was, you know, clearly it was tragic. It was very well known. Director but people are dying all the time in all sorts of situations but that was interesting because it clearly was a case of out of sight out of mind the people I was living with, we weren't affected anywhere near as much as the people who were seeing all the newspapers and the TVs. Because even when the funeral went on, we didn't see any of that. And that was quite interesting. I'll say another thing about newspapers. We had one chap with us. It was a dear friend of mine and he was very, very much into politics.
This is one of the monks and he would literally walk. He wasn't meant to read newspapers and he would walk about five or 10 miles on a Sunday to catch a glimpse of a headline in a in a shop. A newspaper stand and from that little snippet he could then work out all what was going on in the world so um he was he was clearly loved what was going on in his mind and um had great fun with it but that but so just you know i always always getting caught well istill to get caught up in the mind, you know, and the answer is not in the mind, you know, and that's sort of known now, it's not in the mind.
I think for ages we sort of think we're going to work it out and it's not about working it out. Anyway, so I just thought, and I love what everybody was saying, and your stuff, Kat, was great at the beginning, and thanks very much to everybody. Thanks. Thank you, Stephen. I love that. You know, it's so relevant and it's so appropriate, out of sight, out of mind. I never really kind of made a connection how what a beautiful pearl of wisdom is that. It really is. And it's a common wisdom. It's a common observation. Like no one argues with that. It's like the other slogan which says, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.It's just something that Bob would say.
And it's also a common slogan. It really doesn't turn to matter. If the mind doesn't mind it, if there is no minding of it, it's not no attending to it, then it doesn't become solid. It doesn't become substantial. The substantiality of things is given to it by the energy of belief, by that fire, that fuel of belief that keeps the fire alive, that keeps the flame. That only energy, Bob would call it intelligence energy, we could call it also just life essence, or just that concentrated stream of consciousness, that the moment your attention look at the wall, suddenly the wall is real. The moment your attention looks into a story of a past trauma or conditioning or a funeral on the other side of the world, that very attention brings it to life.
It becomes, it gives it a reality. It animates it. It literally creates it. It projects it. So where is it when you don't think about it? Who cares? In the direct experience without a thought, it doesn't. For all that you can say about the direct experience, if there is no thought of Africa, there's no Africa. Now there is a thought and it's a mental image. Oh, yeah, is it, is it, isn't, isn't.Is it real? Who cares? Again, Stephen, would you like to meet? Yeah, just pondering on the point you were making about that, you know, wherever something's happened on the other side of the world, it doesn't matter.
I think that's quite impactful because it cuts through all this mind stuff, you know, because the mind's always saying, hang on a minute, there's got to be... We know there's all these things. I'm very much into space and SpaceX, and we're going to get, hopefully get a Mars and all this sort of thing. And it might happen, but from this point of view, from this, what's being looked at here or pointed to here, it doesn't matter. It may well be true. I think it is. To actually start questioning that is going straight back into the mind and thinking, this has got to be sorted out.
What do they mean it's all just in the mind? It's just consciousness. It doesn't really exist. And you get some, that position gets taken off. You know, there is nothing out there. It's just what appears, you know, it's being created by consciousness. Oh, come on. You know, that's what the mind goes. Come on. It doesn't matter. I think that's the key thing. I mean, it seems to be. I don't know why it's really resonated with me today. It doesn't matter. You know, and I've always had a problem with that. So. I'm going to what would Bob say? Try that on for size. So I'll try that on for size, you know.Yes, they are physicists and psychologists and there is tons of big, big, big square heads in the world having that discussion, the hard problem of consciousness.
Is it real? Isn't it real? How is it that the consciousness is creating matter? How is it that matter or the consciousness is a product of matter? Who cares? What does it matter if we have the answer to this or to that? It's like the dream. It's like the dream at night. Whether the galaxies that you see when you're sleeping at night, are they real? Maybe they are. Who cares? Like the, you know, everything that the life gives life is alive. You know, Santa Claus was real one day. Angels, devils, witches.Yeah, that's a beautiful highlight, Stephen. Thank you for that. Yes, see how important is that right now.
You know, right when this beautiful, magical moment is never going to be the same again, Cornelis, come in. So if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it still make a noise? And the correct answer is, who cares? Yep. Who cares? That's a good answer. Anybody there? Keep looking. I think that's a great point to stop. And thank you, everyone. And we're going to be here in a couple of days. So thank you. Thank you very, very much. And have a wonderful day or night. Thank you. Thank you. Love. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.