What can you 'get' from talks about the Self?
Welcome, friends, in this awakening world,
in which everyone is slowly awakening to the fact that they exist, that their existence is prior to all of these assumptions, costumes, and ideas of self.
Today I want to talk a little bit about what you can ‘get’ from these kinds of non-dual talks or videos about the Self that you are watching on social media or here on my blog, for example. And I think that it might be very helpful for a lot of people, also in knowing where to place your attention.
So the first, the first aspect obviously talks to your mind. There is hopefully a growing conceptual understanding. What is this understanding about? First of all, that something that is already here, that is already you, has been ignored. That's ignorance. What does it mean that it has been ignored?
It means, similar to how you are not usually aware of your heartbeat or your unconscious, you are usually not aware of your true Self. That Self, as consciousness or as awareness, is already where you're looking from. It's just ignored. That's why this is also always called a pathless path, something that is to be realized, but you're not becoming anything else than what you already are. You're just becoming aware of it. You're just awakening to it.
And so this conceptual understanding is really relevant, like to conceptually understand something has been ignored and ignored by everyone. Then an understanding of why it has been ignored. That is because you have identified with what is arising, with what is perceivable, with the world, with this form, with all these vestments, garments, clothing.
And so this is obviously much more interesting to look at than becoming aware of your formless essence, or so you think. And because that formless essence is also always already what you are, there's also actually always already an awareness of it.
And because we are perceiving that we are somehow inside this body, and we are unclear that this body is not something that is also actually perceivable, and that you're actually always the one that is also perceiving this body, this mind, all these things, because you're not usually aware of it, that's where this false identification comes in (with the mind-body).
And that's why you are then trying, because you think you are this; that's why you're trying to get some form of relationship to this formless dimension. However you want to call it: consciousness, pure awareness, the divine, the larger you. Pure presence. So many names actually. The emptiness of mind. So many names for the same kind of finding. Differently put. There is always someone who is trying to speak what is found. So it's also about your finding.
So there's an understanding of what that ignorance is. There's an understanding that the Self is being ignored, even though it's actually more fundamentally, more essentially you than this life, more, more essential to you, namely existence, or being. Before you are this or that, you already are.
Even conceptually you can understand this: that being or existence is always before; that the formless dimension is always prior to its manifestation in form. That's the conceptual part that you can gain from listening or watching these talks. You're starting to understand conceptually.
And so these kinds of talks, sometimes someone says something. Hopefully I sometimes say something, and there's a different clarity arising within you. Even conceptually, what is this actually about that so many people want to point you to? Only pointing because again, it is already what you are. It just has been forgotten.
And we are in these great, like I always say at the beginning, in these great awakening times where more and more people are becoming aware, hey, this isn't something that is so far from my reach. It cannot be far from your reach because it is what you are. It's just that your attention or your awareness isn't usually put on this discovery, and the mind usually keeps you preoccupied with thoughts.
And then there is the part that this discovery is meant to be experiential. So I'm understanding what ignorance is conceptually. Now this finding has to come in your own immediate experience. Usually, if this is in your interest, if you're prompted to realize what you are essentially, then there is also a discovery that needs to be made. You have to actually become aware of awareness, how it's so nicely put.
Okay, so then the next part about these kinds of talks is more what comes forth on a more subtle level from that recognition. Because this ‘I stance’, even conceptually, you understand that if I say consciousness or awareness, it doesn't seem to hold the same kind of ‘I stance’, even though you are that. I, consciousness- that seems weird, doesn't it? Because then there's no more of these kinds of, you know, the same kind of attributes that you would describe a person with. It has no stance.
You understand it is universal, formless, essential. You could say a deeper, non-separate I. And because of this universality, what comes out of this remembrance is also usually differently inspired. Yeah. What comes out of this realization is the finding of yourself being love and the emergence of the non-causal level of yourself. That's why it's such a great discovery, because for the first time in your life, you're discovering what has no cause. A love that has no cause. A peace that has no cause. It means it doesn't need to be instigated. Doesn't need to be triggered. It doesn't need anything; it comes out of itself. It comes out of itself. It is simply what you are.
That's why people then shine in distinct, distinct perfumes of itself: oneness, unity, love, peace. So you're listening to these kinds of talks, and there is already no separation. It is distinctly one. You yourself suddenly feel what comes out of it. You will feel that non-causal level of yourself. The Self makes itself known within you. Not just vibrationally, from talks about the self, because they also hold a different frequency range.
But there's also this energetic component: you will feel drawn to it, you know, it will draw you to it.
Yoga philosophy puts this so nicely: the question of why we are all here. Why? What is this whole experience? Why are we all here? What is this about? The Yogasutra says we are here for two things: Bhogam (experience) and Apavargam (liberation). Bhogam is experience, enjoyment.
Something that you (consciousness) want to experience distinctly through your form, something that this world helps you enjoy. But then also always apavargam, liberation, you know, this certain maturity that happens through experience. At some point you've seen it all on a soul level. You've seen it all.
You've known it all. You've tasted it all. You've heard it all. There's also a certain finality to what the body-mind can experience within this identified stance. That's why when you look at different minds or different people's minds, so often the same thoughts, the same kind of ideas, the same beliefs, the same hopes, the same desires, it’s mostly the same.
And you will feel that within yourself, within your own mindset. What kind of desires are, you know, are popping up again and again and again over your life? So at some point these kinds of talks then start to draw you. You start being drawn in by you wanting to awaken. This urge comes from deep within, and it won't let you go.
You start being interested in the Self as something that you want to discover. When this starts to become more and more desirous, when the other desires are no longer so desirable, and then this desire comes, these kinds of talks draw you in. It's an energetic thing. And it's a calling. Something from deep within.
What is that energetic thing about?
Also, because what is taught from the Self talks to the Self and then the perfume, the energetic component, you know, after these kinds of talks, you suddenly come into touch with something causeless within you, like causeless joy, causeless happiness, peace, clarity, you know, love, expansion, freedom, whatever you feel actually arising, something to become aware of. Also a nice thing to become aware of. Why am I watching all these talks?
Obviously because you want to understand, and that is the draw. There's the pull already toward liberation, toward knowing yourself, toward stepping out of ignorance—all of this.
But also, what do you feel after, you know? What is it? Expansion. You already know. This is not the mundane material kind of knowledge that this is about. This is about Jnanam. Wisdom. The knowledge of the Self. The wisdom of the Self.
And then there's a component also that comes from not being separate. Being is not separate; awareness is not; consciousness, universal consciousness, is not separate. And so what can also happen to you by watching these kinds of talks, for example, are these profound, profound gaps, moments in which there are no thoughts, in which your 'person' comes to a halt. You know, there's lots of thoughts going on all day, da da da da da. You watch these kinds of talks. Suddenly there are these gaps.
Another thing to become aware of.
Why is that so relevant? Because in those gaps, if they are consciously perceived, they can be so profound. You can realize there is something in you distinctly prior. You can, you can literally, you know, there's a first time you can grasp what seems so intangible. Something is here that is prior. It's always already here. It's just you're becoming aware of this.
You're awakening. It is awakening to itself. Sometimes even by watching these kinds of talks, you know, these moments. When there's nothing, a blank, no thought, just a pure moment, pure cessation of the mind. And there you can, you can start to see, wow, I still exist in these, in these, in these brief pauses. This formless essence is more me than a thought. But to become aware of that, that that is so distinct.
Or the phenomenal quality, phenomenal quality suddenly of thoughts, you know, there is a clarity that can arise. This is phenomenal. And even also to see it's all not so real, you know, all what, what is seen. Sometimes this also can come out of it. The rug under your feet is starting to be pulled (by your Self!).
What do I mean by that? We're usually so, you know, what comes with this ignorance is this solidified, crystallized idea of yourself to be found in this body. And with it the idea that everything is separate from yourself. Or that thoughts are just yours, you know. All these beliefs start to become known to you as not reality.
You're not separate. The separate entity is based on thought. Something about you is before thought. Who you took yourself to be all your life is not what you fundamentally are. This world is not separate. Objects are not separate from the observer. Behind the observer is you.
And so it's just to have your attention more on these different aspects. And hopefully, in that way, a different clarity is always coming online for you about this path. About this awakening. About this recognition. And also not to place it, you know, even in the future.
Know that, always here now, it can dawn to you.
We are in this great miraculous world in which awakening takes place.
Namaste.
