Know Thy Self- I Am Not My Breath

So welcome,

We are going to start with a short ceremony,

Shorter than usual because part of the homework is the practice that I'm gonna share,

So just to make sure that we're all aligned and to give a chance for the latecomers to join us.

So let's sit comfortably on our seat and make sure that our phone is silent there's nothing out there to disturb us in the next hour or so.

Let's take a deep breath in and let go.

Let's close our eyes,

Take another deep breath in and let go.

And the next breath in we keep it,

We don't breathe out.

Slowly breathe out and let go,

Let go of all your efforts,

Let go of everything that already happened in the past,

Let go of everything that may happen in the future and allow your breath to guide your attention back to the present moment,

To whatever is happening right now.

Everything that is happening around you and within you,

Become aware of the posture of the body on its seat.

Place the whole weight of your body on the seat make sure there is no tension hiding anywhere in your body and if you find somewhere that is tensed,

Contracted,

Allow your breath to fill it up with peace and tranquility and allow it to breathe out any remaining discomfort.

Another deep breath in and let go,

Let go more and more.

As you're seated comfortably,

Become aware of your presence as part of this virtual circle.

Let's unite our individual intentions into one unified intention.

The intention to grow,

To develop,

To evolve.

With a smile let's take another deep breath in.

When you feel comfortable you may open your eyes.

So welcome again to this occasion where we give ourselves a chance to walk the path together,

To hold hands and develop not just as individuals on the path but also as a united consciousness.

We are gathered here as part of a series of talks under the title of Know Thyself,

The eternal invitation and we do that by uncovering the truth that is behind the seven layers of existence and as we peel away misconceptions and false identifications,

The truth reveals itself not as an idea or as a concept but as as direct experience and for that to happen we have to make sure that we come to this journey with courage and honesty so we can truly grow.

So let me quickly review what we've discussed so far.

The first layer of existence was the body and we're going to finish some unfinished business regarding the body today before we jump forward to the second level.

So just quickly what did we say about the body?

We said that the body is not who we are.

The body is the temple in which we are hosted.

Realizing that we are not the body immediately brings into attention the fact that we have a relationship with our body.

So the first invitation was to make sure that that relationship is healthy and balanced.

So in order to do that we have to sharpen our communication skills,

Make sure that we know how to listen to our body and to be aware of its wants and needs and this was what we focused on in the previous session.

Make sure that we become more and more aware not just to what we demand from the body but also from what the body needs from us and as much as possible to provide that.

And another thing that we learned is that the body comes with an expiration date.

The body belongs to the realm of phenomena.

Everything that has a beginning and an end.

But we that are hosted in the body are not.

We do not belong to that realm.

So as the body decays through the years our consciousness,

Our spirit,

Whatever you want to call it,

Our soul,

Many names,

Flourishes and grows in the opposite direction.

So instead of becoming attached to the body and demanding from the body security,

Comfort,

We are not attached to that anymore and we allow it to be however it is free of demands.

That's how we heal our relationship with the body.

So there was some unfinished business apparently that we are going to discuss now about the body and Carly here is going to sound the voice of the sincere seeker instead of you.

Or at least on top of you because you can only text.

So feel free to use this platform in text your questions whenever they come.

Don't censorize yourself.

This is your contribution to this discussion.

So I couldn't attend the whole session last time and I did put a question in the chat and I wasn't able to hear the answer.

My question was about when it comes to consent,

Particularly with the body around the physical space that you have between yourself and another person,

But also consent from yourself about how you treat or or manage your your own body,

The decisions that you make around it.

And I can't remember exactly what my question was or how I worded it but I think sometimes when when you teach about staying in the moment and surrendering to everything that happens in that moment there's some confusion around when there's a situation where you need to say no or stop because there the assumption would be that in this moment you would be surrendering to everything that was happening and that everything is a yes.

So I think I think I don't quite understand what it means if there's a moment when you feel like you have to say no or stop and I think consent regarding your physical space and your body is a good example of that.

So if you feel that a situation occurs that requires you to say no it could be one of two things either this is a natural harmonious flow of love that is requiring a boundary at this point and then you are just the messenger or the deliverer of that boundary or you simply don't know the capacity of what you are and what you can experience and you believe that whatever is happening now is beyond that capacity so you feel the urge to say no because this causes some kind of a boundary that you put it's an artificial boundary.

Do you see the difference?

So one of them is a natural cause of a situation harmonious flow of love that at a certain situation requires a border saying no this is enough this is given not because you need it and awakened consciousness doesn't need anything doesn't need anything it doesn't come with an agenda I'm never putting a boundary or a border because I need it okay and without it I'm lost or it's overwhelming it's too much this never happens sometimes the border is required not for my sake but because of the situation that person needs to know that it's enough now it's time for something else and because he's so overwhelmed with his own agenda and drama he is not sensitive enough to recognize it so you are the deliverer of that border but again not because of any personal sake so if you feel the need to put that border for your own sake because your consciousness is not yet aware of its capacity then you make sure that you put this border lovingly fearless okay I know it sounds challenging because at that point you put the border because you are afraid but still try to do that with as much compassion and love as you can harness and you will see the more love you bring into the situation the further and further the border gets away from you and you realize you can actually experience much more than you can initially allow yourself so yes the body is here to allow us to experience the physical realm without the body we cannot experience the physical realm we are pure consciousness we needed the body to be able to experience the physical realm so now we have that opportunity and instead of rejoicing it we victimize ourselves on it and we are putting ourselves in a position that is constantly threatened and afraid by the situation by life and I say rejoice the fact that you have a body and you can experience pain and pleasure comfort and discomfort both are there for you to experience the only exception the only star that I would put there is if your life is in clear and immediate danger no because we are here to live to use this opportunity to the max and if there is a situation here that threatens your life or your health then you definitely need to protect yourself and do something about it to avoid the danger as much as you can but these occasions are very very rare very rare thank God we don't live in the savannas there are no lions running after us anymore we live in a protected healthy environment most of the time so we're not talking about that kind of fear we are intimidated not because of clear and immediate danger we are just overwhelmed with stories of what may happen so Christine says surely you would avoid a painful experience though no no you see that's what happens you know the intellect starts to divide reality into two desired and undesired good and bad beneficial or problematic you know and this is where duality is generated and we are having a relationship with life based on craving the good and aversion of the bad right craving and aversion craving and aversion this is the core source of suffering and the awakened consciousness doesn't divide life like that it won't rain but it runs between the drops not to get wet no no if it rains that you open and you get wet that's the whole point of rain if it's not comfortable then you are not comfortable it's okay if you avoid pain you cannot be experiencing pleasure fully never if you avoid sadness you will never be able to be happy truly so the idea is in the moment as much as you can to be conscious of of what you're experiencing to feel it as fully as you can and to know that you are big enough to take in everything that's happening in this moment everything if it's happening in this moment it's because you are capable of experiencing it and if if if there's a place to set a boundary or a no or a stop or redirect or whatever it's it's because the love is flowing in that way that it's not anything that that I need to to to feel safe or to feel okay that it's that it's that's what's required of that moment yeah these occasions are rare but they do happen sometimes and how do you know that this is the case because you are not afraid and still border is required and you don't feel contraction or constricted at all contraction is the physical experience of fear right so if there if there is no fear there is no contraction so if we use these practices of mindfulness meditation the these these tools that you're you're teaching us then that the idea is to use those tools to to become more aware of what happens in our body when we we contract and constrict and when we are able to stay open and aware and free to experience everything exactly so I would recommend listen to recording of the previous session it will be available probably by tomorrow on our website on inside timer listen to it again and then practice daily that guided meditation about my body and me practice it daily this will help you to become more and more attentive more and more available to listen to your body and connect with it so it seems to me like this listening to the body part is really important because this is obviously this is the way that we feel all of our sensations through when when we can fully experience something we know exactly what's happening inside our body and it's like a way that it's it it gives us a lot of information and messages if we can stop and pay attention and listen yeah the body is such a wise machine think about it it's a product of millions of years of evolution there is so much wisdom there the body knows you know you just need to be able to tap into that knowledge and for that you need to be able to listen stop only demanding from your body you need to listen to the to your body and then that ocean of knowledge is available to you so I feel like there we come across a lot of barriers to that you know in a lot of systems that we engage in as human beings you know they're like our medical system you know and to a large extent doesn't really respect these these messages that are given I mean I suppose in some ways it does but in terms of the you know if if you think of a doctor-patient relationship there's not a lot of questions about to the patient about well what do you think is going on with you and so we're not really encouraged to listen to our bodies in that way when it comes to our health particularly and I'm I'm wondering to the second question that I had was around body image and how that plays into whether it's the the messaging that we get from the outside and not understanding from the inside what's going on with the body when we have messages that seem to be distorted about body image okay so first of all yeah Western medicine is not enough and definitely I would recommend to add to Western medicine some kind of traditional medicine like Ayurveda you know Chinese medicine that is more attuned to look at your whole system holistic way of medicine not just what modern science has to say of course modern science has a lot to say and it's good to listen but I would add to that for sure and meditation and those guided meditations listening to your body listening to your breath that we learned today this also will help you to be more attuned to what's going in inside of you what's going on so definitely it's a skill that is crucial to learn on this path so regarding body image what is body image but the image is an idea that we have in our head about an alternative reality that when manifest we can be happy right this is the same trap like all other traps that we put to ourselves when can I be happy when something else is happening when can I be happy when my body looks more like the idea that I have in my head younger thinner more beautiful more blonde less wrinkles whatever idea you have no you have an image about the way the bodies should look in order for you to be happy right either because you would be more agreeable or other people would be more agreeable with your body so the invitation here is to recognize that trap happiness cannot be found somewhere else some other time even though we are so programmed to believe that it's not reality true happiness cannot be found somewhere else some other time there is no alternative reality that can manifest in order for you to be happy and content and fulfilled it's not going to happen even if for a moment you know the stars aligned according to your plan and now you are happy because of the situation you already know that this is temporary and tomorrow the situation will change and something else will come and destroy that perfect image that you have in your head so that's not true happiness true happiness can only be realized through self-awareness when you you realize the nature of yourself as happiness and that radiates to the reality that you experience and not the other way around it's not a consequence of events it's a consequence of self-realization do you see the difference so forget about the idea you have about other realities and the promise that they hold including your own self image body image that's just a trap you need to free yourself from that trap if you want to be free so so is it a matter of ignoring the the outside ideals of what the perfect body image is or is it the reverse where we're looking to the inside to find our our our peace and joy and then because that's developed that is expressed on the outside an awakened consciousness doesn't include them and what other people think and believe but the fact that I'm aware of what other people think and believe doesn't mean that I have to dance to that music no I can listen to that music but I don't have to dance you know I'm not a robot I can decide if this music is a tune that I would like to dance to or I choose to remain in my center and be peaceful so it's not a question of ignoring anything you become fully aware but stay centered you know don't be a football of other people's opinions and what they think a life that is devoted to pleasing other people is a life full of frustration there is no way you can please all the people all the time I feel like I can I can recognize people who who have that are able to to to radiate that joy because they have that balance and inner peace or they found that somehow regardless of what their body looks like and then there's other people who you you know just don't radiate that and you can see I can see that difference regardless again of what their body looks like so if we if we really think of it it doesn't have anything to do with what the body looks like it has everything to do with what you're saying where if you can find that that inner true self that that's what comes through this is when you become attractive really people are thirsty for that unconditional love you know unconditional content people are thirsty for that this is when you become attractive when you can radiate that you know unconditional happiness I'm happy because I am because I have this opportunity to experience you in front of me now that's it you know and then wow people say yes this I didn't know but this is what I was looking for you know I don't it's just a beautiful painting you know you have a beautiful body so what in five years it's going to get old and how do you call it full of wrinkly that's not the point at all you know that Cynthia says the body is a beautiful tool I am charged with taking the best care of it although I'm I am NOT my body the body is an out out picturing of my consciousness yeah so it's I call it the temple in which we are hosted so you take good care of the temple no it's a holy place so you make it you make sure it's clean and it's beautiful and inviting and people feel inspired when they walk into that temple definitely use it wisely yes it is the housing for the divine 100% and that divine is me and it seems to me like in that process where the love would flow would be like you say taking care of it keeping it well kept but also enjoying it you know enjoying the body through various different things that we can access that whether it's taking pleasure in eating something delicious or something you know that you're not supposed to eat but in moderation you know that we're not we're not eating those things that we're not supposed to eat because we're trying to fulfill some sort of void that we feel in lack yeah yeah enjoy it rejoice in your body for sure 100% you only have what 20 30 40 more years with it that's it enjoy the moments you have with your body just don't fall into that trap where you believe that through the experience that your body is having now you can be happy you know because then you've built addiction you know you think you are happy because of the ice cream that you eat because it's tasty and sweet then you eat more and more and more until you get sick or you see a beautiful woman and you chase this woman and that woman and you think the more woman I can have the more happy I will be and you know it's not the case eventually you disgust yourself right oh you think this expensive perfume will is so beautiful and you put some and put some more and eventually you can't smell anything anymore just stink you know oh you listen to beautiful music and more and more and eventually you cannot be without that music and you need that constant white noise and it's just a headache no or you touch you think that through touch through sex you gain pleasure and you engaged in more and more sex until it loses its appeal because joy and happiness are not hiding in the experience and they are not in consequences of your five senses rejoice but don't get attached to that this is not the cause of your joy joy is who you are and that is expressed through the experience and not the other way around okay enough about the body are we ready to go to the second level existence or is there another question three two one okay second layer of existence I am NOT the breath the breath is the bridge that sits between those two riverbends the physical body and the emotional body energetical body the mind between the inner worlds and the outer worlds sits the breath so like the most like most important things in life you know these are the things that we tend to forget first and we just cling into the nonsense so the breath is very crucial essential of course without breath we can't leave you know we can live without food without water but we cannot not breathe for more than a couple of minutes that's it so we are completely dependent on that on our survival the breath brings two major gifts that we are going to discuss today and it's important that we are aware of those gifts and we use them wisely but first we need to understand that bridge you know for every emotion we have a different associated type of breath did you ever think about that when we are happy our breath is different than the breath that we have when we are sad naturally we don't think about it it's just a different type of breath right when you're sad that the breath out is much profound more profound than the breath in and when we are happy the breath in is much more profound than the breath out right Wow oh come on you know have you heard how a baby cries you know it's like we we right so the breath out is much longer and more profound so the inner world of emotion expresses itself into the physical realm through the breath naturally when we are upset it we breathe different than when we are calm and relaxed right so it's important to understand that this bridge is there and why is it important because that bridge can be used in both directions not just for the inner worlds which are very vague and spontaneous right you cannot decide to stop being sad can you decide that consciously or to stop being angry or to stop thinking about something did you ever achieve that don't think about elephants now don't did you achieve that so that realm of mind emotions sensations thoughts that we will discuss next session is very unattainable but if there is that bridge between that world and the physical world which is manageable and controllable we can use that bridge to go back from the physical into the inner world and generate a required change and that's a miracle and an awakened consciousness is always there with the breath in Hebrew breath is Neshe my and soul is Nesha ma it's almost the same word same in Sanskrit it's almost the same word Neshe my Nesha my soul and breath it's almost the same so the soul is sitting there on the breath so we are going to use that tool use that bridge in order to create a desirable change within us instead of trying to fight with those emotions sensations and thoughts and force the change we can use the breath to naturally encourage it so one thing I would like to say is that if you want to dive deep into the mystery of breath and and master that realm I would strongly recommend to take the out of living course just go to Google and type out of living dot org and you will find the teacher wherever you live they are all over the planet tens of thousands of teachers and take an out of living course and you will learn how to use your breath wisely I would strongly recommend but the two main gifts that the breath brings I would like to focus on the remaining time that we have the first crucial present that the breath bring is the invitation the eternal invitation to come back to the present moment if I ask you to breathe 15 minutes ago can you do that or to breathe in five minutes can you please breathe in five minutes no possible no you can only breathe right now right right now the breath can only happen right now and what is happening right now life life is happening right now life cannot happen anytime else anywhere else life can only happen now some teachers this is the whole Dharma this is the whole teaching come back to the present moment you know there is the story about the Zen master and his disciple and his disciple was so curious and he came to to his room and he asked full of questions you know please tell me the meaning of life what is the secret of meditation you know is there a God what is the meaning of God so many questions you have to tell me my master I'm I have to know I cannot be restful if without that knowledge and the master is smiling and taking a cup of tea and pouring it and he says the wind is blowing you know are you aware that the wind is blowing you're not because your mind is somewhere else looking searching for something else believing that once something else is revealed and understood then you'll be completed happy enlightened whatever but that's never the case your thought is like a pendulum that goes between the past and the present past and present right if you are not really concentrated even now on what I'm saying you will find that you've been in the past thinking about things that already happened you know he said that to me and I did that to me this happened oh you are in the future next time I will see him I will tell him that you know did I leave the stove on the fire what I have to do tomorrow the thought goes like that like a pendulum all the time that's the nature of thought don't take it personally it's nothing to do with you that's how the thought works so what to do they say that thought is like the wind blows left and right and the kite is just blowing with the wind the thought is like the kite but the breath is like the string the string can control the kite so with the breath you can always come back to the present moment and experience life when it happens because the breath can only happen in the present moment so the scourge is always available to take you back home always as long as you are alive if you feel that you are carried away by thoughts by movies about the past and the future and you want to recenter yourself come back to the present moment well the only thing you need to do is that's it you're here and if that didn't help again that's it so coming back to the present moment again and again and again this is a huge progress on your path the ability to remain present in the present is a clear how do you say telling sign is a clear sign of maturity on the path and the second gift that the breath brings is the fact that it helps the body release stress and toxins you know we use our body as a trash can we spoke about it last session frustration disappointment anger sadness all that we bottle inside we don't want other people to see we want to to have that image of successful happy people no so we bottle it inside and another year and another year of misery and frustration is built within us eventually generating symptoms and diseases they say that most of diseases are cause of imbalance in that sense so what to do with all this tension and toxins you breathe it out use your breath wisely 80% of the toxins the body generates naturally are exposed expelled out of the body because of the breath so but normal people don't use more than 40 or 50 percent of their capacity lung capacity so the more you are attuned to the power of the breath and you're you master that knowledge that technique the the more the body is able to cleanse itself from all those years of negativity and negative emotions the breath is just like you know when you clean the flute you know there is this special thing that you put in the flute and you clean it from the inside so the tune can be harmonious without any disturbances same your body can be like a flute so the divine music can be played through you the breath can help you to do that again if you want to master that I recommend go to the out of living course and take the course this is where I grew up spiritually okay so these are the two presents that the breath brings come back to the present moment and clean yourself from toxins like we did in the beginning of the session if you if there is a place that is contracted or if it tends to breathe into that so first you need to be aware that you are contracted first chakra first level of existence right becoming more and more tuned and aware of what's happening in your body okay I feel there is a contraction here what to do breathe into that area fill it up with light with prana with energy and as you breathe out let go and again let go ten times like that until there is no tension anymore and you see if there is no tension there is no fear even if it's only for a temporary time you know you cannot be afraid without tension or contraction and you cannot be contracted without fear so if there is no contraction there is no fear in you think about it if you are preparing for a very important speech and your ego is like what will they say I don't want to make a fool out of myself you'd use this technique find where you're contracted and release that and you'll see for an hour or two you are free of fear it works what do you say Christians Cynthia says and the Bible says God breathed the breath of life into man that is the divine spirit is the brief is breathed into upon us upon entering this human experience 100% what is the first thing that we do when we come to this world what is it take a breath take it breath in and the last thing we're going to do before we leave this world breathe it out expire and between that you know breath and outer breath the whole life and you can say the same thing about that specific breath that you are currently taking between this in breath and out breath whole life is happening why because it's happening now the rest is just a story historical story or futuristic story but life happens now and we keep missing it because we are busy about what may happen what have happened so this lesson about the second level of existence will be recorded and available in my track list in a few days but today you can start practicing the guided meditation that is called my breath and me and it will take you through 10 12 minutes of this journey to reconnect with the breath and restrength the bond you have with it it's very recommended especially before we move forward to discuss the third level of existence of that very vague realm of mind questions about the breath I I know that I struggle with that meditation and I wonder no it's not that meditation that you struggle with struggling with the different pace meditation yeah it's a different meditation don't scare the people in the meditation that I'm referring to now is very simple you know you just observe the breath as it's happening naturally so there's nothing to it everybody can do it you're three years old if you're 93 years old everybody can do it yeah I feel like in any breath exercise that changes the pace of my breath I don't know why but I I really struggle with it does it does it say something about me and where I am on my path you're hopeless forget about it you know some techniques has to do with manipulating the pace of the breath this is something for example you can learn in the art of living because that pace has influence on our inner world and when we play with the pace we create a desirable change in our inner world so there is a lot of mystery around that how it works but if you are curious to know to experience that I definitely recommend you to go there and check it out try it take the course I feel like breath can be used you know like in the Kundalini practice and you know some of these breathing techniques can be used to alter consciousness to 100% and that maybe that feels a bit scary or like I don't want to go into that place of the unknown don't be the unknown is the most beautiful realm you can venture to the known is boring why would you want to stay in the know you know you already know it go venture explore of course it's scary but it's worthwhile this is how we expand you cannot expand within your comfort zone you can only expand the comfort zone but you cannot expand while you are blissfully numb challenge yourself to go to the edge of your comfort zone and beyond that you know life mysteries waiting for you to be to unveil it life's mysteries what can be more thrilling than that Cynthia says this live delights my soul you both radiate love kindness and beautiful wisdom thank you for your dedication and willingness to share with us with love Barbara says I did my homework and learned a few ways to treat my body better since we last met example my shower water is too hot for my skin fantastic example and thank you Barbara for sharing it's really really important this path that we are engaging on now the seven layers of existence I tell you guys it's really dogmatic you know it's level upon level upon level so go through all of the homework don't be lazy every day practice you know me and my body me and my breath practice this every day you know and make yourself more and more ready more and more ripe for the next level of existence you know this is how you gain the maximum out of this series of talks this is not just one hour to listen to people online you know this is just starting your daily practice you know yeah Barbara says practical I I find I'm I like to be really efficient and practical and so I find for myself I end up integrating this stuff into whatever I'm doing you know I don't separate it or try not to and that and that for me makes it more real in my life you know it's like I can really resonate with you know seeing the I can't remember how you worded it something about seeing the divinity in the soap bubble of the dishes or something like that finding the divine within the soap bubbles of the dishes that you currently do Cynthia asks are the levels of homework you are talking about on your profile meditations yeah you know if you go to my web page on insight time and you will find those there so that now we have to do two different types of guided meditation the first one is me and my body or my body and me I don't remember how I named it and the second one is me and my breath okay practice those it's 10 12 minutes not more than that every day practice it and on Saturday we will be reconvened we will reconvene we will reconvene to go another level on the ladder of seven level of existence so we're going to discuss the mind which is an extraordinary talk don't even think about missing it yes so thank you guys for coming thank you for your attention and your beautiful questions thank you for your donations and we'll see you again on Saturday probably around lunchtime yeah our time Eastern or no we're not in Eastern Mountain we're in Mountain Time so wherever you are on the planet look at my website to be reminded exactly when it's gonna happen on Saturday wishing you good night good morning wherever you are enjoy the practice J go there