What is the Nature of This Presence? & Ashtavakra Gita Ch. 18, V. 44 & 45 - 5th September 2017

Then are the individual entities outside of this which are outside? So the various ways in which you can approach this, once you see that there is no individual me, then it will become more and more clear that there are others. They really came to work one and said so. Now that I find this truth, how do I deal with others? And the one said, 'There are no others.' If there is no you in that way, they can be no others. So that's the core is to find yourself. What is it that you are? Now the good news is that we are in for a surprise. We're in for a nice surprise, which is that you did not find a limited entity here. Instead we found on—what do you mean by God? This very same consciousness. Why do we say it is God? When God is present, then the world is. And the presence of consciousness is not there, then there is no experience of any phenomenal world. In the light of your existence, does the word exist? Whatever you might be experiencing, to call it a dream, call it waking state, whatever you call it, you have to exist. You have a dream unless you exist. Then you have to waking state unless you exist. Therefore your existence must be angry.

So you went looking for an individual entity, instead you found this presence, this consciousness. When I asked you, 'Can you stop being constructive?' So what is this being? Can you found find the boundaries of this? This, what is the nature of this presence? Before you can decide what you want, what you have to do, can we find what is the nature of this one? We after you find the nature of this one, can you decide that something is missing? What else is needed for it? So what is the nature of this consciousness? How can you measure this one consciousness and tell me you and what does it be? 10 milligrams? Which what is the weight? What is the shape of it? Is it located in a particular crease in the room? Where is it? Where is it happiness? Can you give you like a send maybe? So if you write on to the send of happiness and go try to go to the source, or do you find cousin happiness exist without your existence? So happiness as an opposite of grief or unhappiness, for this happiness is also changing quality. The you see that exists, is that a change in quality? Happiness and unhappiness is the changing quality.

So now you are saying what? That this be is too abstract, isn't? Or happiness compared to these emotions, sensations at which you call more abstract things. So happiness, all you define happiness has a taste part of model physical case, but is you can distinguish between the taste of happiness and the taste of greed. Now this being does not have any taste like that, and so you say until empty of all qualities. So these we can call qualities. Dan is behind this woman's little bit of sadness, weeks changes, bittersweet. So all this is are your qualities. But this being, your existence, what can you say about the quality of it? If there was a constriction, then that would become a quality. Like the sky or the space, it is open. That means it is empty of course. It takes one a particular shade, there may be a solid with some quality. The only thing that we can see, couple of things we can semantically: one is that it has the sense of existence, the presence of existence to be, and it is the perceiver of all things we have. I exist, and in my existence all this perception is happening. It coordinates with the attention in a way that it means this phenomenon to life. This is your beam.

So we went out looking for a person and we found water instead. Omnipresent, always present, omniscient, moves everything, harmony put em. In the light of which existences when it goes the entirety of existence. So it matches up to all the descriptions of God. Now this is the ultimate con, timid calm all of the mind, which is also design of consciousness itself is to convince you that your presence is personal. Very naturally we used to say, 'I woke up, I did, I went here,' to refer to our consciousness and to our attention in this room. If it's alive, it is just because the intimacy of these bodies' sensations, the centrality of this body perspective, the consciousness as designed to hear this game of belief as an individual entity. That is variety said, isn't it? And went looking for God and I found myself, and I went looking for myself you. When you actually look without judgment, without interpretation, what is a finding? What is here is that simple as that. You could have been a spiritual seeker for 50 years, it doesn't matter to you. If you were to look just now, what is it that you find?

I know. I know that I exist.

You've gone even beyond what I'm asked. This eye that moves, it exists. What can you say about this? It is not limited. What else? This awareness, this meanness that is aware of existence is definitely not emitted. In fact, the concept of limitation does not apply to it because it has no quality, shape on styles. This is meaning point of satsang. Everything else that we talk about on this side with the nominal say, the moving side and I said 30 in the play, rare one comes to this point where whatever might be moving on the side, they are rarely interested in that. We are coming to they finding joy in the recognition of their own source. So this existence which has been playing with phenomenal time and space now is done with the clear of time space and finding only interesting coming to the discovery of its own souls.

So what is the factor I that knows that you exist? Don't answer the question from the mind. Stay with your own not inside and keep quiet. Keep quiet doesn't mean you can talk, you can speak. Keep quiet notices you just imagining things. All imagination also comes and goes, so don't fall for any imagination. Find out who witnesses even this you. What is aware of your existence? Whatever might be moving, whatever might be changing, I know what witnesses that. Is that also changing? Okay, is the opposition? Are you just in the moving? Are you just phenomenal? I'm just an appearance. What are you here? Are you the meditator? You, you, you're either closed or open. Does it make a difference to what you are? If there are million phenomenal things or there are no phenomenal things, does it make a difference to that which is aware of even your existence? Does the mind bother you here? The mind only deals with you normally, only cubes. Or can you truly say about nothing? And it visualizes the note thing which is empty of all color, black or white. Not imagining yourself. You might think about you cannot forget yourself. Mind might be rushing to conclusions, just let them come and go. That's what I mean by keep quiet. Don't buy any story of yourself. Morty is getting anything, nobody is missing anything. There is nobody beyond the nominal perception. Is there greater reality that no thing? Not greater and phenomenal terms, but greater because it is only unchanging. Even your existence ultimately is com—

The thing which is empty of all color, black or white, not imagining yourself—you might think about it, you cannot forget yourself. Mind might be rushing to conclusions; just let them come and go. That's what I mean by keep quiet. Don't buy any story of yourself. Nobody is getting anything, nobody is missing anything. There is nobody beyond the nominal perception. Is there a greater reality? That 'no thing'—not greater in phenomenal terms, but greater because it is only unchanging. Even your existence ultimately is coming and going. Yourself remains you, although a very subtle point is that you're discovering that who is nothing and the self is everything. Only understand what I'm saying. When I say like, 'He who is nothing but the self,' is that making sense? Who does not exist? He's like the blue cat in this room. He would be like the blue cat in this room.

So if I told you a man just came, so I said, 'No, that's sorry, there's a blue cat.' Because he trusts me, he might believe that. And that belief—if he's got a fear of cats or he loves cats—there might be some attraction or aversion. But what is actually there? Nothing. When you see there is nothing, when you come to the recognition of the self, it is not the same as that. I kept looking for the self, but actually, like the blue cat, it is nothing. It is not—it is, but it is not a thing. This is our identity, which is this belief 'I am something.' This 'I am something' tries to make something out of that. It's a mistaken disease. And tell me, we just saw them, who is only referring to nothing? Nothing, actually. If there is no owner of this body, there is no owner of this mind, in that individual there's nothing. And yet, the Saumya is a very honest person, so he attached. How do we empty of all attributes, documentaries, dreams, all the things that we have put in our basket of disease?

Now, if you did not have a quality to refer to this one, then would it exist? Is there a formula? If there was not even the energetic sense of separation, just don't feed it your conscience, then it will not last, you see. I rarely talk about them, you know, because the more we talk about it, it gives us a project that we have to get rid of. Now, this energetic sense of separation—since you've got it up as a couple things—the energetic sense of separation relies only on the nutrition of your belief and thoughts. It's like the tree which is nourished with a belief and the 'I' of ego belief. You will find this energy has no real power. And what look at GN donator look like that? And this, something I don't talk about it because then it gives us an idea that something has to be done about it. If it is not fed with identity, if it is not given belief in the thought, this seeming energetic sense of 'I' has no power.

In fact, mostly we are calling this sense of impersonal I Am consciousness itself, individual 'I'. It is a big corner that the misidentification in relative terms doesn't really dissipate because it is real in those relative terms. What it seems to happen is that it itself brings some focus on belief into the identity, just the way of its claim as the individual existence. Existence just existing—it is not individual, it is not separate. That's why you do not find the boundaries of it. It's only that we are supplied it with limited notions. And this way, not exactly 'I am this,' 'I am personally interested in money in the world,' or 'I am a Sadhu.' There is a limitation. 'I am bound' and 'I am free'—depending on the 'I'—are both limitations.

So now what is happening is that every time you go and check for the blue cat on that side of the room, you are not finding it. This is why you are coming to this inner insight. Those who are actually looking are coming to this inner insight that there is no such person here. There is no blue cat here. And yet, because it has been believed for so long, we suppose now for one billion years you will hang out a bowl of milk every day for this blue cat. And then you might have to say, 'Who tells you there is nobody there?' This is the habit. There again, using 'you be, you be.' Just as today it was not so, today why take the chance? Every day we are taking over and over, depending on how much that habit has been nourished. It's taken some time, seemingly taking some time to... what is the material? Just a set of energetic appearances. Yes, the belief belongs to consciousness itself. So that is what went through.

So it can be given to the mind or concepts from the mind, but the power of belief does not belong to the mind. This is consciousness itself choosing to play in this way, and consciousness itself choosing to get out of this individualized with I Am itself, who's playing as 'I am something,' 'I am somewhere.' And then I Am itself is talking itself a song. Yes, but that clear though is very simple because it already happened in you. That I just said that would take some time because it's been a long habit, or I mean, but it just happened. If you would check right now, you're empty of all conditions. Before your next thought comes in, you don't have a condition. When this next thought also goes, you have no condition. In that moment of picking up this idea to be meaningful or true, we seem to bring that entire conditioned entity back. For the effort isn't true, try and keep it alive, not to drop it. Actually, you don't have to drop it. Nothing happens now.

Now, I said once, if there is a seeming choice, just make the choice not to pick it up again. I'm paraphrasing, but simply, you know, don't go your stream of thoughts. Better we are saying, but simply pick it up. Wait now. Okay, so let's experiment with this now. Now you are empty and you did not buy the notion of what this thought was going to say. So it can feel like, 'I have to come to some sort of a conclusion.' You don't have a conclusion about the feeling as well as everything that is moving. Just let it play because otherwise, again, you pick on the pose, the mascot. Once you have a particular set of... they can shock. Wait, what is witnessing all of this? Is that a void? Therefore, the appearance might be whatever, the quality of the feeling might be whatever, the thought might be whatever, but the witness that are you in that primarily—are you the witness of it? What is going? Attention as well. Attention is going in and out. Let attention also go in and out. It's okay. Without believing at all, then what is your true position?

So now one set of thoughts might be meaningful to you, which is saying that there is a gap and when it is filled up with something, then I am free. And you see how it is not true. If you can't tell me, because you are experiencing a set of feelings, the interpretation of those feelings is that this is not I Am, or something. Okay, so there is a knowingness that something is not it. Yes, it is not it. What about the knowingness itself? What can you say about that? No, that is the content of the mind. I'm saying, what can you say about yourself? Okay, don't have that notion that you have to become. I know you heard in some... if you didn't have this notion, what is actually here? You say there is a knowingness of some sensations and emotions and something, and there are concepts about it. Now, if none of those concepts meant anything to you, if they seemed to be in an alien language, in this being here, is it in itself incomplete in some way without a concept? Just stay with your being. I don't need to put anything. Tell me, what is the incompleteness?

This is coming from also from the mind. The mind is posing as the policeman saying that you still... is that not an interpretation? And a question is asked this way. You use a word 'stay standing,' but at this is not right. I feel it is home, it is over water will be sweet, or there will be an incitement of them. This on whatever twist interpretation that you can give to your insight that you are seeing for yourself, just use your words. You see here to say it, just yeah, just nothing now.

Just again, from just like that, without any interpretation, this report: what is it that is missing? Is that missing? It's coming from again mind comparing it to another statement with more clarity. Suppose now you didn't refer to any embryos. There was no looking required. Father, here looking is required as me to check on the veracity of that statement, on the battery of this too. Before looking is required to exist, to be. What is that which we are clarifying now? It is just so that we can drop the false. It is not so that you can come to the truth. The truth is ever-present. This is that you are believing yourself to be limited in some way. You're buying the notion of something missing. The looking is so that we no longer buy that notion, believing the notion that we are a drop. So we are looking and saying, 'What is actually here?' Not to find the truth. It's very important. The removing of the false is the same as the recognition of its completeness in some way. That is, if you say it is, is it not?

What is it that is here? Here is perception. Perception. I think there is some tightness that is still some tightness that is just... I am merely the witness of this tightness. Yes, tell me about this witness.

And it is... it's just watching the witness from the tightness is exploded.

So you say there is a witness which is unbound. The tightness is... you know this, verify for yourself in your own insight and then use your words except you to represent what you're seeing.

Sense of body-mind is the tightness, Father. And all the sensations of body but in mind, that is the tightness.

But his name is a sense of body-mind, very, very specific body with sensations in the body, sensations in the body, sensations of the body. Yes, all their sensations. Is the witness bound by these sensations? So how is it communicating this with you? If you were something which is enclosed in this body sensations and the witness is outside of you, out of the communication... you're here in the body, stop, the witness is somewhere outside. So how is it? Is it screaming? Merely sending you some photos? It's just that and I see without with clarity to say 'I,' it is kind of more going more towards the tightness that would still...

What is attention? Yeah, what is their attention reporting back to? Reporting back to tightness or to the... it see. So your attention is going even this is going to the appearance of these sensations and reporting back to you or to someone else? Report back to the witness and then somehow you come to me. Count this is directly reporting to knowingness. No, I don't know it. I'm not really... I'm the knowingness because there must be already an idea of what 'I' is. Yes, it is very inspired to feel seen all of this and you see that your attention is going and bringing back these sensations, this visual, this sense of constrictions. You know very well that attention is reporting back to you and you have no trouble with saying that is coming back to the witnessing itself. But because there is a strong idea of what 'I' can be and what 'I' cannot be, therefore there is this hesitation to say or see that it is you. Anything that maybe not...

Is there also a feeling? Many get this feeling that it is too arrogant to say 'I am this witnessing' or 'I have no awareness.' I don't know if it is hidden. That also, don't have to worry about doing a post-mortem of that. Just do the insight and tell me what is your real position. What you're thinking, what you're feeling, what do you see? And don't be scared to take your attention anyway. Let it go. It is going on because of the opening up with this tightness. It's something changes witnessing. Yes, it's no. The barrier fingers have little value. The tightness is dissolving. No, seeing we have to say it's easier to say 'I'm the witnessing' because yes, but what if what changed in your actual seeing? The solution of some perception happened, yes, or change or that which was the witnessing of this? Nothing changed for the witnessing except that I feel more desire it slowly inside you upset. This is which one? This is a change for that, yes.

It is easier to say 'I'm the witnessing.' Yeah, I know it can seem like this, you're playing with words. We're just looking at some conditioning. We either conditions which we find what can...

I'm doing inquiry because, yes, but what if... what changed in your actual seeing? The dissolution of some perception? Happy, yes, or change? Or that which was the witnessing of this? Nothing changed for the witnessing, except that I feel more desire slowly inside. You upset this... which one? This is a change for that, yes. It is easier to say 'I'm the witnessing.' Yeah, I know it can seem like this. You're playing with words.

We're just looking at some conditioning. We either find conditions which we find... what can we say about the witnessing? It is restricted. And because our idea is there, there's some constriction. Sometimes you say, 'Then I'm free' or something like that. So now the mind is playing this gorilla or fencing. I see, no, that went away before. Don't make any inference. It's very subtle like this because these influences have become part of our very way of life, in a way, so that while having such clear insight, also they can come and participate.

You said already this has no qualities; it is not bound. That's to catch it. And then you say when some perception is dissolved in you, it's just perceptions. Whatever it was—tight—means whatever the experience might be, it is just a perception. So the dissolution of that, you are watching with the witness of my sight, you see? Anything changed with the witness? Or what had to change for the witness? Is there another one here besides the witness? Is it only true for this particular sensation or constriction? If I was to say anything might happen nominally, but nothing can touch reality. It is true. This is the power of going beyond direct insight.

I'm trying to see what influences are arising, just allowing them to step aside for a bit. So much that which was seemingly missing was already here: clarity. But then there is this fear that comes up. Saying fear is super simple, just right at the root of what is. What is the condition moving here must dissolve. Suppose you didn't have that condition, what would happen to you? When there's no condition, it's ready to disperse. Suppose it is not true. Suppose you contradict anything about it. Does it have to dissolve for you to be you? Or is this witnessing actually hurt by clarity? Hungry?

Now you come to this point where all this dissolution might be. Suppose you have no idea what the target looks like. What is the state I have to get to? Fear illustrates something. Stay and highly illustrate. Oh, we have no such idea. What are you saying about yourself? This intuitive you that you'll be checking. So could you simply be present? Totally present? Do you have to do anything now? What appearance can come then that can actually make us cry or depend on this witness? Can it actually be able to change? So your mind comes to believe your story. You look at what actually happened to that. It is a dead father because this time just goes on.

See, this is back to the 'nothing happens to the witness.' This is outside of it, it feels like. And then it's like the past happened, happened. You can't really make a prediction of the future which is strong, which is you just dropped. With that, you drop all the karma, all the load, everything. And you have to choose every every second, every nanosecond. Has the choice taken? Who has a choice? So the teaching of devotion on lordship can be confusing because I had the blue character, got no choice because you don't exist as consciousness or God. All of this is God's will. Your choice is the same thing as God's will. As consciousness, full choice. Playing this game completely because of God's will, really. And as that from which even this consciousness emerges, then concerned with this choice, nothing is happening.

So for the Self, the question is irrelevant. Consciousness, everything is its will. For the person, it itself doesn't exist, so how can it happen? So when I say I'm dropping it now, I'm speaking with consciousness and there is no egoic 'me' there. Which now, egoic 'me' is also whose grace? This place... there is no such thing as ego only if there is belief in some notion, some thought. That is how the play is designed. So when you drop it, it is consciousness. Because I don't know, am I in the mental realm when I'm willing to drop things? And drop the belief in the thought? The mind is not an existent entity. There's an aspect of your existence itself that cannot do anything. Just a bundle of appearances, bundle of forms. So the will or the sankalpa is past consciousness everywhere that makes it really hard.

Hello to karma. You don't have to worry in this moment. Just talking, just recognition in this moment, making it again. Thank you. Openness what makes the conversation simple. It's this sense of moving along, then it becomes a conversation full of trouble because the inferences seem that much more powerful. If you open and I say anything that you're leaving it, stay with what you're seeing and translate it as truly as possible. What will be poor can be able to lead on later in their instant. What you are seeing for yourself can never be brought out, but I can smell on it where it is coming from.

So when you're really checking the fragrance of truth through inquiry, you're just asking: so who is it which is? Then I can tell which is it coming from, inference. So it is your openness which leads to the conversation that I'm embracing. If you are open, then you will find simplicity in what is being shared. Simple idea which is impossible, and possibly difficult for the mind, that you exist but without any phenomenal qualities. Prior even to your presence, the mind cannot grapple. It refuses to look over to check what is here is undeniable. You notice the play of the check over here, yes? But actually, when I hear this, then this happens to me. Which is the 'me' that you are representing?

Unless I said that and a child, Father. So she reminded me of this movie Benjamin Button. My teenage child right now, then you're going backwards soon, come to your infancy. It's what's happening in something that all of us are coming to our infancy, you see? What is the team? A true maturing, spiritual maturing, is to come to a conceptual infancy. Spiritual maturing, the conceptual understanding. My job is to do a lot of things. It was not possible. It was possible only because you demonstrated that you are the child of your own Father and one himself. Even before the mother of God starts, he says that you are, so I am. So you, I know you are, and also be myself knowing a bigger ring, ever clean myself. See, it's gone. Fish not come to me. You are the truth of it. You are the truth of it, Father, only because you are the living truth, don't you? So I know what is the living truth or fixed, but I just don't hear you, my dear.

I'm sorry, I was just trying to tell you that I hope my audio is not as bad as yours is because some sentences were coming and then most of it is not being heard here. Maybe it is mine, but thank you. Shivani has been through this, being through the screaming and tantrums, running out of puff. I promise you one last word, not that we spoke much about the verse. To get timid men and women on... I think that to make money here, sensory experience, much as they do divers, they seek refuge in caves and they try to unthink the world. This is exactly what we were looking at right now.

There is no sensory experience or phenomenal experience which can hurt the reality of what you are. Now don't pick up the idea that, 'Okay, whatever might be coming, and this fear should not arise now that I'm here' or something like that. It can also come, but you will see that no matter what is arising, it does not hurt the reality of what you are. Agata, you might actually do funny. We will see that in this play of consciousness, this Maya movie keeps going on. That which witnesses it, that which is the light of the movie, the light which plays all this play of light and sound, is unholy light whatever the movie might be projecting. And remember to introduce this body as part of the movie. Then you'll talk institutions of how this body should react, whether it continues to see came over, whether it reacts in anger, included in this appearance.

She says no, he says just by you figuring out it's a dream doesn't necessarily give the dream characters some advantage in this dream. Yes, I'm sorry, experience. So then life seems to go beyond this poorly play of this running towards pleasure and on a more even a reality you recognizes beyond. You seek refuge in caves, try to unthink the world. It's like the ostrich. The ostrich will put its head in the sand and just hope that everything will be according to how it wants, but not willing to look at whatever is appearing. So many who are seeking refuge in caves, minds will be like that. Escapism does not work in that way. Even if you escape, what they will alter events which is still believing yourself to be a limited entity. If you're still believing what your mind is saying about you, and something will find you wherever you are, whichever cave you might be living.

Who is here who says, 'I don't want to know order, just need to throw all by your grace, Father'? This is the feeling. Then see that it's all talk, all is gone. The offers will keep coming to pick it up. The salesman will keep trying to sell you this garbage. What is the price we believe you pay for the garbage of individual identity? With the price of suffering. I know the words can seem hard, hoping that something worthwhile will come from this ego because our denial of consciousness and denial of what we do is that we consider ourselves to be something limited. It is one sitting there trying to do it. So we talk about Atma. These words will work on their own by whilst coming into that satsang, allowing your attention to stay with these words a little bit. It's enough of the job you have to do.

Like the one is to say that you're on the train now. The train is going to the destination. You don't have to run inside the train. Many are tired in such them because of that. We come to satsang and you still don't even sit inside the train. Inside the train moves, it's finding so difficult. What is difficult? Presence of the Guru is here. Whatever needs to be pointed to is being pointed to. You have really no job in this at which you consider yourself to be. Hold this neutrality. In the laps of the train, in the last stop now. Thank you all so much for being in satsang today. Pranam. Nearly this power to my vision and this is where... okay, the big metaphorical, don't take it in this light. This rule lives, so let your life from him. This power now, blue power, trouble. Even if there is trouble, whose problem? God's. All is His power. You.