This talk looks at how to shift from our addiction to the ego/intellect channel, to true nature/essence. The talk includes reflections and practices for creating more aware presence, calm, and connection in your life. Essence is who we truly are, so let's live it together.
Meet your Teacher
Hawaii County, HI, USA
Transcript
Intellect to Essence There is a Pali word in Buddhism called moha, Spelled M-O-H-A. And moha means ignorance. But it's a certain kind of ignorance. It's an ignorance to what you truly are. We think we're the individual body, Mind, And emotions. We think we're the ego-intellect. But what we truly are is an infinite, Timeless essence. Identifying with the ego is like being on a spiritual journey with a three-year-old attached to your hip. The three-year-old's life is based on how many crayons can I get. It's a primitive operating system, No offense to three-year-olds. Your three-year-old intellect wants to put its thumbprint on everything. Mine, Mine, Mine. It needs to be the star of the movie. Intellect system always needs more. It's like an AI chatbot. It has one more question, One more request, One more need. And your intellect system is never safe, Never safe enough. It's constantly seeking, Then when it gets it tries to keep, So it's seeking and keeping, Seeking and keeping, Over and over. The mind is an inherently unstable system that can never provide lasting peace. Why? Because its safety is based on controlling impermanent external objects, Which is impossible. Versus finding true safety in what you already are, I. E. Essence here now. Your intellect system can even hijack spirituality. One more retreat. One more book to read. I'm not enough. We can turn spiritual or psychological growth into a kind of personal attack mode. But ask yourself, When is an oak tree good enough? At one year, At 20. At 50, At 100. When is an oak tree good enough? The oak is already an oak from the day it is born, But is always becoming. Similarly, You are already Buddha, But always becoming Buddha. They both are true. And yet. What do we do with this three-year-old attached at our hip, The insatiable mind that wants to get all the crayons for the duration of this spiritual journey? Well, You don't have to do anything, But you do need to see. All that's necessary is to see. Why? Because seeing gives you better choices. C, Which operating system are you in? The primitive insatiable intellect or your timeless essence, And then let it shift. Let it show. It will shift. You could also think of it as two channels. The mind channel is enticing and loud like commercials. And the essence channel, Also here, Is quiet and empty. Shifting to that. Also, When you see, You can make better choices by checking throughout your day. What am I giving my life force to right now? Intellect, Or essence. Which one am I most devoted to? Intellect or essence. Just ask and see. And then again, Let it shift to the essence channel. It will do that. Let it shift without the judgment. The intellect system and our timeless essence are like a heartbeat, Up and down, Up and down. They both are here. It just depends where your attention is. The choice is yours. We do have a choice. Some people have a very fast heartbeat. They go in and out of intellect and essence many times a day. Others spend a lot of time in the three-year-old intellect and rarely shift to essence, Or vice versa. But it's through seeing, Synonymous for awareness or mindfulness, That you can shift from the intellect system to the essence more and more. And if you do this enough, You hang out in the essence enough, There's like a tipping point that can happen with it. But the good news is you don't have to wait for that. The benefits of the Essence channel are available here and now. How so? The more aware you become now, The less suffering you have. The more you default to the essence view, There is less suffering. I have 45 years of practice evidence seeing this in myself. My life has become way less suffering, And a number of friends meditating for decades have said the exact same thing. Awareness equals less suffering. More awareness is less suffering. And it's not that your life circumstances get easier. It's not some New Age prophecy for an easy life. This is a no matter what happens, You get happier and happier and more at ease because you have changed. More love and joy come online regardless of the circumstances in your life. Why? Because this is the nature of essence. The essence channel is inherently peace, Joy, Loving-kindness all the time. So what is this essence view I'm talking about? It's actually not a view because it's all there is ever. And the intellect is a position within essence. But for now, I'll call it a view because it's easier to understand this way. The Buddhists sometimes refer to essence as, Well, Their word for it is the unconditioned. And Zen master Banke named it seen with our birthless and deathless eyes. One Hawaiian teacher referred to Essence as the grandmother before the winds of time. And Ram Dass called it seeing with the soul. I'd like to use this talk to illustrate this heartbeat phenomenon. The intellect view would be the heartbeat up. The essence is the heartbeat down. And I've used the heartbeat up for the intellect because it represents an activated state, Whereas the heartbeat down mirrors an emptying out into essence. And I'll be giving examples in a call and response format. Intellect view, Heartbeat up. I'm not safe. The world is scary. I feel helpless. I feel despair. We all know this. Essence Heartbeat Down Your essence never sees anything as hopeless because it sees from the vastness of all there is. Your essence sees the infinite because it is the infinite right now. We actually have amnesia for our infinite self. What if you were helping someone with amnesia right now? You'd remind them over and over again like a three-year-old, Hey, It's bigger than you think. But then they'd forget and get worried again, And then you'd remind them again. We miss this vast view all the time. Take a look right now at a common assumption that you have. I'm the separate body here and everything else is out there. But are you sure? Your body can't exist without the space in the room. Or the sun. Or the earth, Or the trees, Or the ocean. We think, I am this body, And I am these thoughts, And I am this awareness. But actually the body and mind are occurrences in an infinite field of aliveness. And there's no divide in aliveness. Ever. There's no divide in awareness. Ever. It's a classroom set where everything arises together. So you can't separate out you that exists independently. From all of the aliveness that is here now. And not only is it a classroom set, But everything has a timeless, Infinite nature. Aliveness might take on forms and illuminate forms, But its essence has no beginning or ending. A simple example of this is the oatmeal some of you might have had for breakfast today. Did the oat have a beginning? Trace it back and see. There's no point where it starts, Only the rain before it, And the cloud before the rain, And on and on. There's no clear starting point. And no clear ending point either. And this is true for you as well. Teacher A. H. Almas from the Diamond Heart approach refers to essence as presence, And he says this, It's all presence. When we see a table or a tree and see the concepts and words and thoughts only, We don't see the pure presence. Trace back concepts to being and to pure presence. Our mental structure overlays presence. When you awaken, Concepts return, But they don't function as a layer of perception. All just happens in realized beings. All just happens in realized being. IntelligView. Heartbeat up! But I need to work on my spiritual practice. There's more I have to learn and do. Essence. Heartbeat down. The spiritual is not separate. All of this is spiritual. What is the most sacred thing you're going to do today? It's this. This moment is the most sacred one you'll ever have. Why? Because the now is all you have. It's not the what, And it's not later when you're meditating. Now is the only place the sacred lives. IntellectView. Heartbeat up. But I feel so overwhelmed. I'm tired. Life is a lot of work. Essence heartbeat down Almost everything is being done for you. This wonderful breath and the heartbeat that keeps you alive for this hour are all doing themselves. And your cells are all coordinating by themselves. The sun is moving across the sky, The earth is rotating, All doing itself. And gravity, You don't have to make sure the plates stay on the table or water flows downhill. Gravity does this for us. There's an infinite number of things being done just for this precious body right now, And yet you think there's too much to do. Intellect view, Heartbeat up. But why did I come here? Why isn't this working out so well for me? Essence view. Remember you have amnesia. You won a ticket to planet Earth. It's like winning a multi-million dollar lottery. The Buddhists say it's such a rare gift to be born a human that it compares to a blind turtle on the bottom of the ocean that only comes up once every hundred years. And there's a tiny ring floating on the vast surface of the ocean. And the likelihood that when this turtle comes up every hundred years, It's going to poke its head through that ring. Floating randomly on the ocean. That's the likelihood of this precious human birth. You won a ticket to planet Earth. This is not a punishment like your amnesia intellect might think. But why is this not a punishment? Well, Because on Earth you get the ability to be love all day long in a myriad of circumstances. And then tomorrow. You get another day to love. Earth is actually like a gym. A gym workout for love and essence. You go off and you don't think you should be able to quit the gym or be finished. It's what you do every day. It's a gift. It's a privilege. Also, There are unique circumstances on planet Earth to practice love. Did you have gratitude for paying your bills? Or doing your taxes? In other world systems, Or if you don't have a form, You're not going to do this. You won't be able to do these things. There are so many unique ways to love here on Earth, And we miss them. It's limited time only to practice this kind of love. There's coffee and animals and airplanes and trees and rivers. Limited time only to practice this particular version of love on Earth. Enjoying these things, Playing within these things. There's a Navajo saying that roughly translates as walking in beauty. On Earth, We're always walking in beauty, We just don't see it. You can walk in the love that's possible every sacred moment here on Earth, No matter what's happening. Limited time only, Enjoying. Whatever your walk and beauty is today. Coffee, Animals, Trees. And to luck you heartbeat up. But I can't be that grateful. I feel too judgmental. Essence Heartbeat Down. Your essence is inherently non-judgmental, Not as a practice, But as the only way to be that makes sense. When you judge someone, You're also judging their parents, And their parents' parents, And the food they ate. The person before you is made of millions of life circumstances, So when you judge them, You're judging all of life. And the reverse is true. When you have love or gratitude for someone, You're honoring all of life in that moment, Their parents and their parents' parents, And the circumstances that created them. So the choice is yours. Judge, Or blast. And see, Again with that seeing, Which one makes the most sense to you. Intellect you heart beat up. My life has a lot of problems and the world seems to have so much suffering right now. What do I do? Essence heartbeat down. Essence meets all suffering with connection. It does not try to fix or rationalize suffering. Essence is the love alongside the suffering. Essence is love alongside the suffering. Essence also sees that life communicates via circumstances. Life directs you every day via circumstances, Not words. So what if every circumstance in your life was a folded note? And actually, What if these life circumstances were actually folded love notes to you for our collective awakening? And if you don't open these circumstantial love notes, Life keeps giving them to you again, Have you noticed? In all colors, Shapes, And sizes of people. Notes that difficult boss or partner over and over again until you finally open the note and go, Oh, Thank you. And unfortunately, Our collective essence that these notes are trying to wake up, It doesn't really care whether you personally get the job or whether you are in good health or poor health. It doesn't care what you think about your circumstances or what you think about the world. It just wants to bring you back home. It wants you out of the amnesia. So we can all return home. Life will do whatever it takes, Which unfortunately includes life's ice water buckets dumped on your head. And those life-ice-water-bucket circumstances are really not. . . Intentional suffering, They're trying to pry you out of your intellect view. No, You're not your bank account. No, You're not your health. No, You're not the role you thought you were in life. Again, It's not pointless suffering, It's a redirection, A redirection to your timeless essence. And perhaps this might seem like a stretch for some of you, But think about your life in the past, Something that was really painful or suffering decades ago. Go way back, Because it's better you go farther back to see this. But didn't that end up being one of your best teachers? In my case, The worst thing in my life. I can see now, Paradoxically, Was the most positive growth producer for me and the many people I teach. It serves and served our collective awakening. And to let you heartbeat up. I have a lot of trauma and pain. I need to fix it so I can be okay. Essence. Heartbeat down. Essence has no trauma. Essence has no trauma and is already okay, Liberated, And complete. Your essence doesn't need more work or more time. In fact, Your infinite essence here now has always been okay and will be forever okay. Even when your intellect is upset or distressed by something, Your true nature is fine no matter what. But don't believe me. Check for yourself right now. Ask inside. Even if you're having some difficulties in your life right now. Ask, How is your essence doing? Is your true nature, Your essence, That presence deep inside, Is it upset? Is it unsaved? Your depth, Is that unsafe? Remember, It's about seeing for yourself. The Mind Channel, That intellect three-year-old, It's never satisfied. It always needs more. But check your essence. Shift channels. See. Feel. Be. Feeling and knowing your essence in every circumstance is a radical form of safety. And you can shift to it anytime. A good example is some trauma in your past with this essence view. There might have been a time when your body was injured physically by something or someone. And if it's not too difficult, Look back into that time and see. Was your essence ever really harmed there? The body and mind might have been wounded or traumatized, But your essence most likely was not touched. I've seen this personally and with many clients, That even in the worst circumstance where the body and mind was harmed, It was clear that there was something way deep inside the soul or the essence that was never touched by that circumstance or that person. Never touched, And if you can get a glimpse of this, Something liberating happens, That radical safety. Your deathless nature is here. And then you stop needing to protect your costume. The costume is going to get sick and die. It will get traumatized. It will be hurt. This is the way of costumes. But the real you, The essence you, Is never hurt, Never touched, And forever safe and protected. This is not a spiritual bypass. It's an AND. Your body and mind can be in pain and your timeless essence is always fine. Both are true. So throughout the day you can look and see. Where is my awareness living? Forms are formless. What am I devoted to? Where's my attention? Intellect or essence. Remember, More awareness equals less suffering. The Buddha described it as, I am in the world, But not of the world. In the world but not of the world. The body. But also in the essence. And by the way, Being devoted to the essence view will not make you empty or cold to others' pain or suffering. On the contrary, Your heart will melt like butter with the suffering of all beings. But it will also abide in the vast awakeness simultaneously while it melts. The two will be here together. Intellect view. Heartbeat up. But I feel so alone. I feel so isolated. Essence Heartbeat Down. Remember! You have amnesia. Our true nature is a collective. You forgot that you were here for all beings. It's not my awakening, It's the awakening. We are all walking each other home as one being. Supposedly, It's prophesied that the next Buddha is a Sangha. Or community, A we. So think of your awakening as walking into a collective knowledge that belongs to no one. And if it's a collective, Then you already are it. It's not something you have to strive for or do. There's only one essence here now. Already Buddha? Always becoming Buddha. Teacher Ram Dass said before he died, The ego is who we think we are. But the soul is who we really are. If you identify with your soul, Then you will see other people as soul, And souls love one another. Souls love one another. And if it's a collective, This means you're never alone. All your life, Down to every moment, Every breath, Every thought, Every emotion, Is held in loving awareness. The Buddhists might call it the Dharma field. The Dharma field is like the arms of a really good mother or father. That's holding us all right now. Arms of the Buddha holding us all right now. Behold that. Now if you can. The space in the room is holding us all, The feel of aliveness. Is holding us all. And when division arises, When people fight, See that it's just their costumes fighting. IntellectView. Heartbeat up. There isn't enough time for me to understand this. I don't have enough time to awaken. Essence. You are the timeless. Teacher Adyashanti says, Thought produces the experience of time. Your fundamental being is timeless, Where nothing ever happened. Awakening isn't a moment, It's a timeless happening. IntellectView. Heartbeat up! I should have been more loving this time. I've blown my chance. Essence heartbeat down Notice how your mind kidnaps your mouth and makes a problem when you are just here now. Your intellect system, Or your thinking channel. That three-year-old says, I blew it. Or even it could be the reverse. That three-year-old could say, I've got this. However, All thoughts lie within that system of illusion or moha. See that thoughts have no relevance to the real truth. Mind is like AI. The intellect system is a limited system. Ultimately, You see that whatever mind says doesn't matter, Because Essence exists independently of that. And that's a real game changer when you realize what your mind says really doesn't matter so much because there's The real you. The essence you exists independently of mind and the intellect channel. One thing I've noticed in myself and others is there is this process of emptying out the illusions of the intellect channel. First, We empty out of the identification with depression and anxiety. That was my case. Then of trauma memories. Than we empty out of the circumstances of our life's story? Than emptying out of the addiction to thinking. And eventually we empty out of a separate eye view. And as these identifications empty out, What's left more and more is just this undivided essence you. The Collective. And you don't have to worry about blowing any chances. Because you can actually be anywhere and be loved. You know, Right now we have. We can be loving in this form of body and mind. But when you don't have a form of body or mind, Which guaranteed will happen at death, You can be loved there. Even though the body and mind come to an end, Love itself never comes to an end. Forms come to an end, But love does not. So why not start being unconditional love right now? Go ahead and try it. And I've noticed more and more that life is just really love on love on love. When the intellect view is not in the way, Not impeding the perception of the essence, Essence sees everything as love on love on love. I mean, That's how essence sees it. Intellect view. Like I said, Sees everything as a problem. But essence just sees the love. I worked with a young woman many years ago who died of cancer, And she went through numerous difficult treatments, And yet she still was determined to learn about freedom and meditation. And after several brutal years of chemo and surgeries, In the last hour before she died, She started slowly pointing at everything in the room. She pointed at the curtains, At each person, At the dog, At the chair, To the bed, To the trees outside. And she just said, Love, Love, Love, Love. Love to each thing she was pointing at, Each person, Each thing. She saw through the forms to the formless. She was seen from essence, An essence forever and always. Just sees love, Love, Love, Love. Last question. IntellectView. Heartbeat up! Okay. But what do I do next? Essence. Heartbeat down. Essence is inevitable and already the case. Already Buddha. Don't make essence into another thought or belief. It's not something you have to do or get to. This is the three-year-old intellect. It wants to make it personal, Mine. It wants essence to be like a toy it can grab and possess. But see, You already are it now. It's already here. It's in you, Of you, Around you. And. If you get confused. If you get confused. It's really simple. Just keep showing up. It's a self-driving car. Get back in the self-driving car over and over again. Even if you fall out, Just get back in. Love will come back for you. Yes, You. Because love comes back full circle and picks you up as the completion of itself. It did not forget about you. Love comes back full circle and picks you up as the completion of itself. Heartbeat up. Heartbeat down. Heartbeat out. Heartbeat. This is the nature of things. Simply resolve that I will become love. And never quit. Stay in the car until there is no car. Stay in the car until there is no car. Resolve to become love. And finally, Trust. Trust. In your good faith all these years, Your practice all these years, Your intentions all these years. All the momentum. Whether it's even a short time or a long time, The momentum of your practice will bring you back home, Even if you don't know what to do or where to go. Truss. In the momentum of your good faith, Practice, And intentions. Because all you really need. Is a love of the truth. Trust, All you really need is a love of the truth. Keep going.
