Using the 3 Clues for Recognizing the Self - 11th August 2017

So, what is happening now? What is happening now is that we're coming to the recognition of yourselves. How are you coming to the recognition of yourself? You're using the three clues to finding out what is it that witnesses all phenomena. What witnesses? As we examine, we find that everything with any attribute, any quality, including that which witnesses the sense of space—so the fact is that the witness of all the elements and the space in which the elements are included—this is the first clue: this witness. The second clue we're finding is that this is unchanging, has no past, present, or future. And the third clue is that it has to be your direct insight, although unlike most other experiences, you will not find this a phenomenal experience. So in a way, we can say it is a non-phenomenal experience.

As you are coming to this recognition of the Self, you will find that to believe the story of the mind is the opposite of your own insight, which is saying that you're a phenomenal object, you are full of change, and you are a perceived power of perception just like any other object. This is what the mind is saying every time it gives you the story of your limited objective existence. It is actually contrary to your own insight about your back. This is why we find that it becomes more and more difficult to believe what the mind is saying. What the mind is saying becomes more and more ludicrous and unreliable, and it becomes unbelievable, and you find you have more and more space for this recognition. That's why I call this the virtuous cycle. So the recognition is the popping of the conditioning with disbelief in the mind, but disbelief in the mind is for recognition. That's how they operate.

Notice how much allegiance we've had to the mind even now, many times even when we are in Satsang here, believing mental conclusions about even the words of Satsang. Notice the various poses of this mind. One pose is a judge: 'This is right,' 'Oh yes, I don't like that.' Like a judge sitting over there confirming or denying or declaring. Even in Satsang, sometimes it becomes like a judge. Sometime it poses as if it were a frustrated one: 'I don't think I'm getting any of this,' 'This is all this is beyond me,' 'I'm so tired of spirituality,' 'Even the Satsang pointers are meaningless,' 'Not getting anywhere.' Is it this kind of pose?

Then sometimes when the recognition happens, it will flip. It also comes in that 'I am enlightened' pose: 'I got it.' And that all-decorated mask of the mind, auditioning for your attention as the resistance is coming up. All these poses to audition for you. Which mask are you going to pick up now? The empty heart—what the Master is doing actually is asking you something. Something is feeling drawn towards the Master, and yet the Master doesn't want to meet you through the obstacles, through the prism of this mind. Throw this away so we can meet as one. Throw this away so we meet as one.

So it will feel like a position or the mind can feel confusing, or that I'm speaking about this mask. What is this persona, pose, facade that we are presuming about ourself? Because just because the mind is telling us the story, why would we believe something which is contrary to our own insight? Am I saying, am I saying just because I am saying it, you believe it? I'm saying you find, using these three clues, you find out what you are and you stay with that insight, what your discovery is, irrespective of what the mind is saying for some time. And don't be so quick to say 'I didn't get it' or 'I'm not able to get it' or 'I got it.' Neither of these conclusions is valid because even that can become a pose, even that can become a mask.