A day for just coming back to this wonderful space of receptivity.
As you breathe in and breathe out,
Just letting go of the mundane-ness of too many thoughts or too many problems that the mind tends to focus on,
Just coming back to this open receptive state where you're just watching,
Awareness is just watching,
Without a need to get caught in this or that,
Just watching whatever is happening without an attachment to what is happening.
This is known as mindfulness.
Just being aware,
As you move deeper into this mindful aware state,
You can come back home to a state that is even more profound than just observing or being aware of what is going on.
That is,
Being aware of the witness,
The aspect of yourself that is aware,
That has the ability to be aware in the background.
So not the mental aspect of your mind,
It's not that you're aware and then translate an experience into concept through your mind,
Oh this is nice or oh that's not so very nice.
The awareness that happens directly before the mind is activated,
This is what receptivity means.
So when you're open and receptive,
You're not throwing in belief systems into the picture,
You're not throwing in a concept about if the experience is good or the experience is bad,
You're just watching the witness as it observes all things that are going on around,
Inside or outside,
Or just as a thought or a feeling or just as a body sensation.
It's very interesting.
You breathe in and breathe out,
It's very interesting to do this.
You begin to understand the self,
It's called self-actualization.
The self begins to understand what is going on.
So you're not understanding just through thoughts,
You're understanding through your whole experience.
So it's almost like receptivity allows for more than the mind to be in communication to one's experience.
The self recognizes much more than just the thoughts which come and go,
Which depend on many many circumstances and are very very changeable.
The self is more permanent.
It's the space where things make sense,
Things fall into place.
This is what receptivity means.
Just allow this wisdom,
This sense of orientation,
Integration,
The sense of coherence that happens as you relax and let go of the stresses and the anxieties,
The problems and the situations.
This coherence begins to communicate in a very very clear way.
The self begins to orientate itself within the experience and it makes sense so it's easier.
Someone was asking me the other day,
Should I just give up on my dream?
You know,
Should I just let it go because it seems like it's difficult to reach out for the dream or to actualize the dream.
This is a thought that many have,
Hence why I'm communicating some very interesting facts around such thinking.
It's also very interesting if you come back to this sense of self,
Self actualization,
Because very often there are many stages that for some of us are very important to go through to get to the point where self actualization is very real,
It's tangible.
It's not just something you read in a book or someone tells you this is what self actualization means and you think oh yeah that's a wonderful thing.
It's an experience that unfolds sometimes very slowly,
Sometimes very quickly and the self begins to understand or make sense,
Orientate,
Create a sense of coherence in the experience itself.
And what is very important when this is happening is that we have a clear map in our minds,
Clear model of understanding that helps us to come back into a state of stillness,
State of relaxation.
Otherwise with so many different things going on as we come back to the self and the self begins to understand a lot more than before,
Becomes aware of situations in a very different way than before.
Before perhaps things were just mentally understood.
Oh today I feel good,
Today I don't feel so good.
And it didn't really create this sense of understanding,
It was just a reactive process to a situation that wasn't really that important.
Maybe the experience in that moment would be important but just things come and go.
As the self begins to connect to the deeper and more profound aspects of consciousness,
Of awareness,
Then very often we become aware of certain models that we orientate ourselves through,
Certain maps that we look at and say oh this is the way forward.
Certain ways of understanding the world that we believe to be the reality by which we can come back home to a dream,
Say.
And I'm still speaking about this question,
Is it even worthwhile to follow one's dream?
This was the question.
And what I'm highlighting is,
And this is what I explained to the person asking me this question,
Is that really the question is totally irrelevant because the question is just a repetitive thought.
What is important is the process of self-actualization and that you make sure that the process of self-actualization is happening from a point within oneself that is still,
That is quiet,
That is not reactive,
That is the opposite of reactive,
That is receptive.
Now that is easier said than done.
Very often we want that experience,
We want to be receptive,
We want to be open,
We want to be flexible,
We want to just be free.
But that doesn't matter.
What we want doesn't really matter because what matters is how we are moving forward.
If we are moving forward in a way that is reactive and our mind says,
Oh I want to be receptive,
But you get upset or you get angry or you get caught in this orientation within a model or a map that takes you the opposite way of the way that comes back to realizing that the self is the center of your experience.
If you're constantly moving out of the self and saying oh that's the way because that's the map that I'm looking at and the map is reality,
The model is reality,
Then it's very easy to separate oneself from the experience and create a distance and that distance is usually immediately filled by time and the time measured in such a way where time exists,
Not in the present moment,
But where time is manifest in the future or as part of the past.
So you fill the space of separation with time and time immediately holds into itself thoughts,
The mind,
Especially the egoic aspect of the mind and all aspects of the mind that relate to the mind.
Belief systems and habits that are dysfunctional,
That create suffering,
That we are aware of or maybe unconscious and not aware of,
Immediately get pulled into the space of separation or now this space that has condensed into time and time then becomes magnetic and pulls into itself all these experiences.
Say the little habit that you know deep inside the self knows this habit isn't actually helping me to fulfill my dream,
This is a this is a habit that is challenging my dream.
Say doubt or say a lack of lack of integration into this sense of loving-kindness,
Instead pain or anger or irritation or not only doubt but despair sometimes.
All these aspects get pulled into the space because the magnetism of the space becomes stronger and stronger as you create more space in this space,
As you create more distance to the directness of an experience the space between the experience,
Meaning this present moment,
And the self expands in such a way and that emptiness between the self and the experience that is right now happening in this moment is created and we then create realities and belief systems and so much more and place it within that space that the distance between our dream and the distance between this present moment and the self extends into an infinite karmic circle that then is so very magnetic that it seems impossible to the mind that is creating all this in the first place,
Seems impossible for the mind to reach out and touch this directness of communication,
This connection to all and everything in such a way that actually that way would make sense or is tangible enough for the mind to say yes this is a true experience.
So for some people this means that we give up and for other people it means that we daydream about our dream,
Or we reminisce about our dream,
Oh so nice to have this dream but you know maybe in the next lifetime or whatever when you when some people are older,
Oh I had this lovely dream when I was young kept me going but now you know bit older,
Bit more difficult to really do these things,
I'll just continue because the way things have been going,
I'm still alive,
Still functioning,
Not happy but I'm still functioning.
This is called the disease model,
Means that we invest our energy,
Invest our spiritual practice in fulfilling a model that creates disease and disease simply means you are not at ease,
You're not comfortable,
You're not at home,
You are separate from the ease or the stillness or this quietness within yourself,
The self is in a disease,
It's not happy.
Now what does this mean in practice?
Well it means that because you believe in this model,
Even if your mind or some part of you says no I don't want to believe in this model,
I want to be receptive,
Your actions speak louder than words,
So even though you may have thoughts that you believe in something different,
The world is beautiful,
Oh but I don't feel it,
I'm a kind person,
Oh shout shout,
You know actions are more important than words.
So the disease model in actuality means that on some level,
Whether you're aware of it or not,
You believe that the worst in life will happen to you and you're preparing for that worst,
Everything consciously and subconsciously,
Your body is in this sort of subconsciously,
Your body is in this sort of anything bad might happen and your mind is constantly playing this pattern or belief that the world is a bad place,
The world is a place which doesn't feed you or nurture you,
The world is a place where you have to struggle,
You can continue sort of filling in the gaps here if this relates to your belief system,
Relates to many people's belief system,
Basically we're prepared for the worst.
If the desire model,
That desire model,
The disease,
Yeah could be a desire model too,
The disease model is part of your structure,
Meaning your experience,
Not the self because the self is perfect,
Not this present moment because this present moment is as perfect as the self because it is part of the self,
But the space that we are creating between the self and the present moment becomes full,
Full of these magnetic thoughts that pull into themselves,
More of the same thoughts,
See when you have one negative thought it's very easy to think of another negative,
It's very easy to feel another negative feeling,
It's very easy to gossip and to create all sorts of mony-tony type things in your brain,
Oh world is a horrible place,
Or you communicate that to people,
Or it's so easy because it's magnetized and it pulls more and more into itself unless you bring awareness,
Which is mindfulness,
Into the situation where you watch what is going on and you realize oh this is what I'm doing,
Gosh is this what I want to invest my time and energy doing or do I want to do things in a different way,
Well what does this mean in practice,
Okay you understand you've got this situation happening just as explained now,
Well do you have a choice in the matter,
Most people at this point say no I don't have a choice,
There is I cannot feel the freedom,
I cannot experience the freedom that mystics speak about or you speak about,
It's just difficult,
It's just suffering,
So what to do,
Yes what to do,
See besides mindfulness you can't just sit there and do nothing,
That's called doing nothing,
If you do nothing nothing happens,
So you have to do something,
Yeah so because something is happening on some level and that level as you know is that the space that now is time has been is manifest as time has condensed into these very challenging and very negative experiences that create pain and suffering and it is a natural there is a natural inclination to focus on those,
To look at those,
To fill your brain with the reactions to those situations or to those thoughts or to those feelings or to those manifested realities so-called realities around you so what can you do,
Well you can continue focusing on these things,
It's what most people do,
That's how most people survive,
Oh and then at 60 or 70 or 80 or now I've lived my life this way too late to change,
I had a dream but it's too late really for me,
Does it need to be this way,
Of course not,
Because just as it is possible to focus on the negatives,
The weaknesses,
The problems which is what a disease model means,
You're focusing on the negatives,
The disease model means you're focusing on the negatives,
That is whether you want to or whether you are just pulled into the negative because of the orientation that you've created inside of yourself and inside of the activity and communication that happened within yourself so just as easy as focusing on the negative is to focus on the positive and some people say no it's not easy of course it's not easy,
If it was easy then it would be like buying candy in a shop and you just have to say oh can I have this candy and say okay no it doesn't work like that of course it's not easy because the space that is now super magnetized pulls you into that negative bias which the brain has evolved into believing to be our survival mode and now that you're in a disease model you are sort of in a survival mode because the body the mind the emotions believe that you are sick that there is a threat that you're that you really need to do something about things and so what is the problem what is the negative here the mind will be thinking and the body will be sort of what do I run away from what is there out there this fight-or-flight mechanism that's playing out in the body what is out there that is threatening me because my mind keeps focusing on the problem so there must be a problem out there and we have disease so to focus on positivity isn't just some sort of new age type thing okay I'm feeling good right now I'm feeling good right now and you repeat that sort of and hopeful mantra to yourself and oh well it's not really working maybe I need a different type of mantra maybe I need something that's stronger you know and then whatever people go and research books and internet and do all these courses and what have you and to try to find the secret mantra that will cure somehow the problem but it's not about curing because there is no disease it's a mental concept so the first step to realize that it is a mental concept is to move the focus away from weaknesses or problems and come back to the state of gratitude where you realize that your experience right now is perfect you're alive your body every cell that trillions of cells in your body are vital vibrating even if they're sick you're still alive you're still having this experience where it is possible consciously to make a choice to move your focus away from weaknesses problems negatives to just appreciating the simple things in life which means that you are not trying to escape on happiness and this is the rope by which we're pulled into deep suffering I'm so unhappy the mind keeps reminding you or you anyone I'm so unhappy to be challenged in this way to be caught in this disease model I'm so unhappy I don't know if there is a future if there is a possibility for me to ever be happy there is a future if in the future of my dream is realistic if in the future happiness is possible I know it's not now but maybe tomorrow or maybe next year when then the mind says I caught you you again fall into this quandary this horrible situation where you feel that if you fall into the right time frame and somehow the clock will ring 12 and you awaken some part of yourself ding dong it brings nothing happens because you're trying to escape unhappiness but where is unhappiness it's not in the reality that the self is experiencing it's not in the reality of this present moment usually 99.
9% of the time it's in the future or part of the past or at least very much in the future very much as part of the past and so we're trying to escape from time time travel maybe maybe that's possible in the future but as things are today trying to escape from time so where we've created time we've created this magnetism of space between the points the wonderful points of the true self and the present moment and we've created this gap this sense of separation and we're trying to escape separation unhappiness it's called by most people I'm trying to escape my quandary I'm trying to escape my difficult situation my thoughts my feelings my problems I just want to come back to happiness I just want yeah nothing happens just because you just want wisdom is required to transform things from a level of suffering to a level where you recognize what is creating the suffering what is the reason as to the suffering being continuous of course we'll have moments where there is suffering but if it's continuous which is the case for many people look at depression unhappiness sadness around in modern society it's it's they say the number one problem beyond the physical diseases of heart problems which in my opinion have a lot to do with this unhappiness the sadness and this depression the reason why we eat and live our lives in such an unhealthy way because we believe in the disease model we don't believe in anything because we're lost in this time gap and this time gap is so so unhappy that we're wanting with all our strength to move beyond such but it's impossible to move beyond such because we are focusing as we move anywhere anywhere within ourselves we are focusing on the same problems we're focusing on the same weaknesses we're focusing on the same situations so we we become dependent week our our thoughts become habitual we're not coherent in what we are thinking rather we are reactive because of this habitual state which we believe to be reality so why avoid pain in the first place because it seems like our minds are focused on pain that is the reality by which we believe our experience has to fall into it's called the disease model so what about if we moved into a more healthy perspective what I call a coherence of experience of understanding of the experience an integration that allows us to focus on the positive allows us to focus on the gratitude of this beautiful experience that we're having even if the mind can't see it but in deep deep inside of our state of being that now becomes more clear as we come back to mindfulness as we come back to awareness as we come back to not just being caught by the minds thoughts but as we come back to our hearts what about if we just are happy for the simple things that are happening right now beautiful colors in nature the beautiful sounds in nature there's so many beautiful things but we're not focused on them what about if we slowly teach our minds to come back to this moment to come back here and to recognize the simple things that are beautiful all around our simple experiences the experience of breathing the experience of touching I remember once swimming in tropical water and the experience of just swimming in this water which was as warm as a bath incredible but true swimming and just sensing with my whole being the sea it was just so warm and the body relaxed to such a degree and was so open and receptive to the sensation beyond just the sensation that happens on the skin but just the sensation that is awareness that there was a state of oneness in in just the simple act of swimming so that is a profound transformation away from this model that drives most of humanity today to a model that is not accepted as very real is not highlighted as important we we highlight that it's more important to escape from unhappiness than it is to nurture the simple things that create happiness so our society today is you know if you're sick we will put all our energy and efforts into making sure that you survive at least not that you get better or more healthy but that you just stay alive and and the simple things that could be done at school or could to help children to recognize the beauties of nature or being mindful and being grounded here in this present moment the simple things that can be communicated in in the different aspects of our experience child-rearing or just work policies the way that politicians interact and communicate and how they can become more real and just so many things if we moved away from the disease model and rather than trying to escape from unhappiness trying to escape from unhappiness whilst focusing on all the problems and all the situations that are making us unhappy just come back to gratitude gratitude where the difference is where the separation isn't the driving force but rather the connectedness the oneness is the driving force then we have state of happiness because that is what I experienced many many times just in simple aspects of manifestation like swimming in this tropical sea it's such a simple thing you don't need anything it's all there and it's the same with breathing you don't need anything same with walking in nature hopefully you know for the next however many years it's still possible to enjoy nature so what makes a difference here is that we are now focusing not on avoiding pain but on acceptance not on trying to find a dream this is what I was explaining to the person not trying to find the dream or rekindle the dream or make sure that their dream happens and all these efforts that go into fulfilling one's dream but rather just allowing for the perfection of manifestation to show itself so that means rather than avoiding pain you're receptive to the reality of experience that is happening in this moment you're receptive to the communication that the universe is blissfully continuously connecting connecting to your thoughts connecting to your your heart connecting to your feelings connecting in such a way where there is a message there there is deep communication that says all is okay relax this disease model is the creation of your mind let go of it let go of the mundane and come back here the natural response as you come back here to this moment is that the space between the self and the present moment slowly begins to contract and your heart recognizes that you're getting somehow closer you don't know how you don't know why but you recognize that the space that magnetism that created separation in the first place that creates suffering for all human beings now contracts and you are more here present as you breathe in more here present as you breathe out present in such a way where the light of your experience shines so that you remember the wisdom the wisdom that is integration that is coherence that is not the disease model that is freedom as you breathe in and breathe out continue today focusing on the beautiful things that life provides you with however simple they may be let go through the out-breath of stress anxiety let go of the problems your weaknesses your your this or that just be here celebrating life deep breath you may wish to continue in meditation for a few more moments thank you you you
