Youtube recording: 01/05/2025
Meditation: MP3 Audio file
SanghaOfOne.com
Alternative MP3 player
Dear Jeff, please let me know if this works better (on your Android phone):
Hello, everyone.
Thank you, Richard; he’s an old friend.
So just a reminder
for some of the newcomers
that the first part of the meeting
is a guided meditation,
followed by
questions.
So,
sit comfortably.
And simply let things be.
Rest
whichever way,
you can
rest as
presence,
meaning
without past,
without future.
Not too interested in
what appears to you,
but without pushing anything away.
If a thought appears to you,
to simply notice,
without a need to do anything.
Restful wakefulness.
Not some sort of torpor,
but to,
in a way
celebrate awareness,
the openness,
the effortlessness
of awareness;
very alive,
awake,
shining.
Not trying to fix anything
or get somewhere.
Thoughts appear to you
out of the universe,
out of the cosmos.
They appear to you,
meaning,
they appear
to awareness.
They appear
in the vastness of awareness.
So you can also invite
your body to release.
Notice whatever tensions,
sensations there are in your body,
maybe your shoulders
or your back
or your neck,
sort of notice
and allow it to be.
No, no pushing.
No effort.
Simply notice the space,
the aware space
in which every sensation appears.
It’s all good.
There are no judgements.
There is tremendous freedom
in the absence of judgment.
Try it!
But when we
are expecting something
or wanting something,
there is a sort of tension,
in the tension of personal desire.
And in this tension,
there is a sort of judgment
of our current experience,
which somehow
we are not satisfied with it.
And there is unhappiness
in this dissatisfaction.
The Peace is not savored
in dissatisfaction.
To notice
what is taking place,
and to notice the judgment
without judging it.
A simple noticing,
a sort of open listening,
where everything which appears
comes to rest
in this openness,
in this loving welcoming.
The glimpse in our true self,
the glimpse of understanding,
reveals that beyond the mind,
there is
infinite reality.
This reality
is my reality,
is that which I am.
And the mind
is just one of the
infinite manifestations
of this reality.
And within the mind,
there is the me-thought,
the play or the game of personhood,
which we are very familiar with:
I am this person,
I’m a man,
a woman,
I am this and that.
And the game of personhood
veils the universality of being.
It is as if
your face is formless,
and you put on a mask
that defines this formlessness
into a particular form,
which you identify with.
And in doing so,
your universal nature is veiled.
And as a result,
you experience
the sense of separation
and limitation,
the sense of lack,
fear and desire.
What is revealed in the glimpse
is that what you believed
yourself to be
is not what you truly are.
Your entire story,
your entire history,
your entire narrative
about yourself is just that,
a narrative,
a story that you are viewing.
You are not in the story.
You are not defined by the story.
That which you believe yourself to be
is an illusion.
A game of sort.
God’s game,
veiling itself from itself
and unveiling itself.
Sometimes we wonder
what to do after
the glimpse into truth,
into reality,
into peace,
into freedom.
Well, there are many answers
to this question.
Because the understanding
that is revealed,
has many levels of depth.
In this moment,
what do you believe yourself to be?
Just to keep this question open,
alive and to see
the belief structures operating:
I am such and such and such.
This and that and that has happened to me…
Notice how
we’re always referring
to ourself via the past.
How can you live presence
when you are referring
to yourself in the past?
How can you be free and happy,
unburdened
by thoughts and beliefs
that belong to the past?
The judgments,
the comparisons,
the stored narratives…
What sort of freedom,
what sort of happiness,
what sort of love is there
in dragging the past,
living as somebody
existing in time and space…
it’s a burden.
So you ask yourself,
what am what am I gonna do
after my glimpse?
What do you mean
by after your glimpse?
After, like what’s after?
Isn’t it just thinking?
What am I gonna do after?
Thoughts about tomorrow,
about the future,
comparisons.
It’s not as if we are planning
a trip to Alaska,
which requires thinking,
of course,
about time.
No.
We’re thinking about ourself.
What am I gonna do?
After…
what am I gonna do?
What is this I?
When there is an understanding,
you cannot un-understand
the understanding.
You cannot reverse
the understanding.
You can overlook it.
You can choose to forget about it.
You can choose to shelve it somewhere,
file it, file it.
But you cannot
reverse the understanding.
The understanding is there.
I am
this infinite borderless awareness,
this invisible aware presence.
I perceive form.
Form does not perceive,
form is perceived.
That which perceives
is not perceived.
This moment,
the I,
the I that perceives,
this Self that perceives
is real.
It is invisible to the senses.
It has no color,
no gender,
no age,
no history,
no past,
no location.
It’s always there shining.
The shining light of awareness,
that is what I is.
That is what being is.
Being awareness, Sat-Chit.
Being awareness.
The name,
the gender,
the form,
the the the the the age,
the color of the eyes,
all of that belongs to that
which you perceive as the body.
That which you perceive
may be blue,
yellow,
tall,
short,
green.
Maybe liquid,
maybe solid.
That which you perceive.
You are the perceiving aspect,
the perceiving element.
And then the thought appears,
well, what am I gonna do with that?
What am I gonna do with that?
What does what is
what does this awareness
have to do?
Nothing!
Well, then the thought may arise,
that I want to do something.
No, go ahead.
What do you want to do?
I want to climb Mount Everest,
but go ahead.
I want to learn skydiving.
Go ahead.
I’m gonna…
I’m gonna become a better,
enlightened person.
Good luck with that illusion,
with that big masquerade lie
that you’re telling yourself,
I wanna become a better what?
Better musician?
Okay.
A better cook?
Okay.
A better father or mother?
Okay.
We can work on that.
But more enlightened,
more stable enlightenment…
when, tomorrow?
Take a look.
It’s available to you,
your thoughts,
your stories,
your beliefs,
your narratives.
I am missing this and that.
What are you missing?
A pair of shoes?
Go buy a pair of shoes.
Well, if you can,
if there are shoes for sale.
I’m missing a relationship?
Well, okay.
Be available for a relationship.
But but do not make your happiness
dependent on the pair of shoes.
Do not make your happiness captive.
So I may be interested.
I’m interested in better health,
better wealth.
I’m interested in living the truth.
Okay.
Oh, that’s good.
How do we live the truth
right now in this moment?
If there is depression,
we can take a look at that.
What is it that is depressed?
How come there is depression?
Is there a belief in me
that I am a personal self?
That I’m a man
and a woman
that’s lacking this and that and that,
and therefore,
oh my god,
how depressive that is?
Of course,
it’s depressive
to be a limited human being.
You could have
the best relationship in the world
or the best fortune in the world,
and in a glimpse,
it all reverses itself,
and you’re pretty miserable.
Everything that manifests
is changing.
What to do after it lives?
You live.
You live as love,
as presence.
You live as freedom.
You explore that.
Nobody’s gonna give you the answer.
You know how to live this moment
as love,
as freedom,
as understanding,
with whatever situation
is appearing to you.
Because there is always
a situation appearing to you,
a life situation appearing to you.
How to deal with it?
How to live with it?
Are we going to live
for a personal gain
and personal protecting
our personhood?
Then you will experience misery
and unhappiness.
Why?
Because you are starting
with the belief that you are
a limited mortal person,
and that is not happy.
What’s the other option?
To live without knowing
what you are.
It may be scary.
It may appear scary,
but this fear
is just the fear
that you experience
when you see a paper tiger.
It’s a paper tiger.
To live without defining yourself
via the past or the future,
to live as this borderless,
transparent presence.
Yes,
it is available for you
to explore that direction,
because it is that which you are.
You are
this formless aware presence,
which is not male, not female,
which is not born,
which does not exist
in time and space.
Right now,
in this moment,
in every moment,
the shining light of awareness
effortlessly.
Know yourself as that.
Understand yourself as that.
Realize yourself as that.
Experience yourself as that,
because you are that.
That is what
being awareness
is:
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Nothing to do.
…
Okay.
So if you have any questions,
please, make sure you unmute yourself.
You can raise your hand
or use the react icon
at the bottom of the screen
by clicking it.
There is a raise hand type of thing,
and you’re welcome to
turn on your videos
since I always like seeing you.
So any questions?