So,
Today is different than what we were used to in this path,
Because in the real realm there is no attendees listening to this lesson,
Only online.
So Barbara,
I don't know if it's only you and me,
Or if there is any other dedicated disciples listening to this session.
But anyways,
It's going to be an online event,
Rather than a hybrid one.
Hi Chiara.
OK,
So we are going to start as usual with a short ceremony,
Just to make sure that we all are aligned,
And maybe to give a chance for the latecomers to join us as well.
So let's sit comfortably on our seats,
And close our cell phones and everything else that might bother us in the next hour or so.
Let's take a deep breath in,
And let go.
Let's close our eyes and take another deep breath in,
And let go.
And the next breath in,
We keep in,
We don't breathe out.
And slowly breathe out,
And let go.
Let go of all your efforts.
Let go of everything that already happened in the past,
And let go of everything that may happen in the future.
Oh,
And allow your breath to guide your attention back to the present moment,
To whatever is happening right now.
Become fully aware of your surroundings,
And all the voices that you may hear,
The smell of the air.
Become aware of the temperature of the air on your skin.
Become aware of your own body,
And the space it takes within your surroundings.
Become aware of the position your body took upon its seat.
You may scan your body from the tip of your toes to the top of your head.
Make sure there is no tension hiding anywhere in your body.
And if you found an area that is more condensed,
Contracted,
You may guide your breath to that area,
Fill it up with oxygen,
With life.
And as you breathe out,
Allow the tension to flow out of your body,
Do that a few times until you're completely vacant of any stress,
Comfortable and relaxed.
And a deep breath in,
And let go.
Let go more and more.
Allow your attention to move,
To the realm of thoughts.
Become aware of what you are thinking of right now,
Without getting too entangled with any specific thought.
Allow them to flow,
Appear and disappear in their own rhythm,
Like clouds in the sky you just observed.
Become aware of any phenomena that may happen now,
Around you,
Or within you.
And as you observe the endless flow of events,
Allow your attention to turn away from that and observe itself,
The source of awareness.
The observer is observing the observer,
That space within that exists before and beyond any phenomena,
Where there is no movement,
There is only silence.
And for a moment,
Become that silence.
And a deep breath in,
And let go.
Become aware once again of your body,
On its seat,
In the soul,
A part of a virtual circle.
Let's unite our individual intentions into one unified intention.
The intention to grow,
To develop,
To evolve.
And a smile,
Let's take another deep breath in,
And when you feel comfortable,
You may open your eyes.
Welcome everyone to this fifth session in our journey under the light of Tantra,
The supreme understanding.
This journey is a unique one,
Because unlike any other spiritual path,
Unlike any other religion,
Tantra doesn't promise us anything.
Actually,
The first sentence in the song that we follow is clearly stating that this hope is futile.
And the idea that we can ever reach salvation,
As it is described in the religious paths,
Is hopeless.
So don't bother.
If this is your first time here,
And also for the rest of us,
A quick reminder of what we've discussed so far in the first four chapters of the song.
Tantra,
The supreme understanding,
Describes a conversation between a spiritual teacher and his beloved disciple.
He sings that song as opposed to teaching knowledge,
Because he claims that what he's experiencing cannot be described in any word,
In any form,
In any concept,
In any idea.
Nothing can hold Tantra.
Tantra holds everything,
But nothing can hold Tantra.
So the attempt to try to describe it or explain it is pointless.
This is the first teaching as described in this song.
And also explaining that there is nothing you can do to help you achieve it.
It's not a reward at the end of your effort.
So realizing that,
And still choosing to walk that path,
Is a very unique attribute.
Not many people have.
The fact that you chose to come here and follow this path says a lot about you and the matureness of your soul on its journey.
So stop and appreciate that for a minute.
The second chapter of the song is describing the root cause of our suffering,
The root cause of the problem.
Tilopa,
He's the teacher,
He's saying,
Instead of trying to cut the branches,
You need to go down to the root problem.
Understanding that the problem is always the mind.
It's never an outside circumstance.
It's always the mind and the way you perceive reality,
The way you judge reality.
For instance,
Someone complained about a person trying to deceive her and it caused her a lot of pain and suffering.
Does it sound familiar?
Tilopa says that's never the case.
Nothing can cause you suffering.
It's always your mind,
The way you interpret reality,
The way you interact with it.
And we'll talk about it more today.
So you need to understand the nature of the mind.
If you really want to take responsibility of your own freedom,
Your own happiness,
Otherwise you can stay in the position of blaming,
You know,
Victimizing yourself.
Everyone else is responsible for your happiness or misery in that case,
Right?
This also shows a great deal of matureness,
Where a disciple realizes that it was always up to him or up to her.
Taking back that power,
Taking back that responsibility gives you a lot of independence,
Allows you to grow towards freedom.
The third chapter of the song is talking about realizing the nature of darkness.
Instead of dedicating your life to fight darkness,
Like so many people do,
Realize that darkness is not an object,
It's not a thing.
It's the absence of light,
That's what it is.
Darkness is the absence of light.
So instead of putting your energy,
Trying to fight darkness,
Which you can never successfully do,
You are 100% going to lose this fight.
Tantra is encouraging you to spread light,
And darkness will go away as a natural side effect of more light.
The fourth chapter is about being able to disattach from the realm of objects,
Disassociate from the realm of objects.
Instead of focusing on something,
Trying to do something about something,
Tantra is inviting us to focus on the not.
Identify with the not,
With the background of objects.
Just like when you look at the skies,
Instead of focusing on the changing shapes of clouds,
You realize that behind those clouds there is a blue background,
And you melt into that.
The background of events,
Of changing events,
This is the invitation Tilopa is suggesting in the fourth chapter of the song.
It says that recognizing that there is blue between the clouds,
Or behind them,
Is bliss.
And melting into that blue,
Becoming that blue,
Recognizing that that blue is me.
I am the background of all events.
This is called Samadhi.
Samadhi is eternal bliss,
Unshaken bliss.
So these are the four chapters of our song,
That we already covered in the first chapters.
Today we're going to start with the fifth one.
So remember,
Tantra is a vibration.
It's not about the words and the concepts.
It's about the vibration that invites you to dive into that realm of direct experience.
So I'm going to read that song to you now,
The fifth chapter.
You may close your eyes or just listen,
But don't try to understand.
Just be with this invitation.
And the song continues.
The practice of mantra and paramita,
Instruction in the sutras and precepts,
And teaching from the schools and scriptures,
Will not bring realization of the innate truth.
For the mind,
When filled with some desire,
Should seek a goal.
It only hides the light.
He who keeps tantric precepts,
Yet discriminates,
Betrays the spirit of Samaya.
Abandon all desire,
Let thoughts rise and fall,
As they will,
Like ocean waves.
He who never harms the non-abiding,
Nor the principle of non-distinction,
Upholds the tantric precepts.
He who abandons craving and clings not to this and that,
Perceives the real meaning given in the scriptures.
So this is the fifth chapter of this poem.
Varen?
So in order to dive into the meaning of the words,
We first need to understand what is the tantra attitude.
What does it mean?
Well,
The first thing to know about the tantra attitude is there is no attitude to tantra.
Tantra looks at life as a total experience.
There is no attitude there.
There is no concept,
There is no idea about right or wrong,
Preferred or unpreferred.
You see,
This distinction does not exist in a tantric mind.
This is something crucial you have to understand.
When you look at life in its totality,
Free from agenda,
You realize that life is not good or bad.
This distinction happens in your own mind,
Or if to say more accurately,
It happens in your intellect.
What is the intellect?
It is that inner movie critic that sits inside you,
Observing the reality that you encounter and decides for you if it's good or bad.
Is it what I want or is it what I don't want?
Is it helpful or is it destructive?
Should I hold on to it and protect it or should I avoid it and run away?
These discriminations happen in your own intellect.
You have to realize that reality never comes with this sign plus or minus embedded in it.
You put it there.
Do you see that?
Think about it.
The same circumstance can be and is interpreted differently by different people.
The same circumstance can be good for someone.
A trivial example is a sport competition.
Someone is winning,
The other one is losing.
Is it good or bad?
It's good for the winner,
It's bad for the loser,
Right?
But the situation itself,
Is it good or bad?
It's not good or bad.
It's just happening,
Isn't it?
You create that judgment.
And in both cases,
If you decide if it's good,
You're in a trap.
If you decide that this is bad,
You're in a trap.
In both cases,
You are trapped.
Let me explain why.
If it's good,
You're trying to hold on to it,
Making sure it won't be taken away from you.
It won't change.
Because you enjoy it,
Because you think it's beneficial,
Right?
So there is craving.
This is what I want.
I want more of that.
Trying to hold on to reality,
Which is impossible.
By definition,
Reality is the ever-changing flow of events.
So trying to hold on to reality is futile.
Making sure that it will never change.
Because it's going to change 100%.
Anything that is born must die in the realm of phenomena.
Anything is changing.
So you're trapped.
You're trying to hold on to something that is,
By nature,
Fluid.
And if it's bad,
If you decide that this is bad and you believe it's bad,
Then you're trapped.
Because now you're trying to avoid it,
To run away from it.
Trying to manipulate reality in order to change it.
Right?
So it doesn't matter if it's good or bad.
In both cases,
You are trapped.
Realizing that reality is not good or bad.
Reality is just happening.
One moment is inevitable.
Barbara is saying,
Yep,
I do it all the time.
Literally,
Almost all the time.
Good.
Recognizing that is the first step.
You know,
What do I recognize?
That again and again,
I judge reality.
I determine if that reality is good or bad.
Artificially.
And realizing or reminding yourself this is not helpful at all,
Is an important step forward.
Realizing that once you've judged,
You're trapped.
You discriminate.
And this is a sure way to make yourself miserable.
I'm going to repeat the story that I'm telling in these circumstances.
About heaven.
Do you know the story about heaven?
Adam and Eve?
Like it is written in the Old Testament?
So God created man and then created heaven and told him,
Listen,
I've created this for you.
You go and enjoy.
Everything here is for you to enjoy.
So just enjoy it.
There is only one thing I ask you not to do.
Do you remember what it was?
There is a prize for the first winner.
What was it?
Come on,
Someone must know this story.
He said,
There's only one thing I ask you not to do,
And that is do not eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
Isn't that beautiful?
This is the first commandment.
The first time,
The first sentence as described in the scriptures,
That man heard from God.
This is for you,
Go enjoy,
But do not do that.
Do not eat from the tree of knowledge,
Tree of knowledge of good and bad.
But man said,
No,
No,
I'm going to eat from that tree.
I want to know what's good and bad.
I want to determine that.
So God says,
Okay,
So then you have to leave heaven.
You can search for good and bad out there.
And the gates back to heaven are open,
They are not locked.
But you need to let go of the idea that you know better what is good and what is bad.
Do you see what I'm saying?
A tantric mind,
Tantric consciousness does not discriminate.
What do you think about that?
Share your thoughts with me.
Can you imagine what happens to a consciousness that doesn't argue anymore?
Let's go of all preconceptions,
All agendas,
All concepts about good and bad.
Try to imagine,
Try to imagine what happens to a consciousness that is completely in love with reality as it happens.
Comfortable or uncomfortable,
Pleasurable or painful.
Tantric mind is constantly,
Unconditionally in love.
This is the invitation.
Walking on this path,
Meaning you expand yourself so much,
So much that you can include everything,
Embrace everything,
Fall in love with everything,
Everything that is happening.
Falling in love not just as an emotion,
But as in the biblical term.
Become one with it.
Falling in love so much so that you melt into it.
You become one with it.
This is the invitation.
If you need to sum up the tantric state of mind in one word,
It would be yes,
Definitely,
In two words.
Baba is saying,
I find it to be a tough lesson.
I want to try to do what is right.
Also to think of myself as someone who wants to do the right thing.
So how would you know what is right and what is wrong?
That's very noble.
I want to do the right thing.
But how do I know what is right and what is wrong?
I have an idea about it,
But do I really know?
The answer is no,
I don't know.
And if you're stuck in a position where you're not sure what is the right thing to do at a given moment,
I would recommend a very simple process.
Ask yourself,
What would I have done if there was no fear in me at all?
If there was only a flow of unconditional love bursting through me,
Where would that flow turn?
Would it turn left or right?
Then you know,
You follow that flow.
This is the right thing.
Unconditional love is what you are.
Being hesitant,
Being doubtful,
Unable to commit,
Unable to surrender.
This is your ego,
Busy with conditionings and discriminating,
Because he's concerned about where will I lose less?
Where will I gain more?
Cravings and aversions,
Do you see that?
So if you're stuck and you're not sure what is the right thing to do,
Just follow your fearless heart.
It will guide you.
It doesn't matter if you're still afraid.
Just know,
This is what I would have done if there was no fear.
And you go there,
Even if the fear is still there.
Doesn't matter.
You will see your life will get a very special turn of events.
Maybe all the way to total transformation.
All possibilities open up when the limits of my judgment are gone.
Yes.
Yes,
Christian,
Exactly.
All possibilities open up.
A tantric mind does not discriminate any possibility just because it's irrational or,
You know,
Unaffected or maybe dangerous.
Who knows what I might lose if I choose to do that?
It doesn't matter.
So I think we know enough by now about the tantric attitude to life.
We can go back to the poem and see what it says.
So the practice of mantra and paramita,
Instruction in the sutras and precepts and teachings from schools and scriptures will not bring you realization of the innate truth.
Again,
You have to put that into perspective.
In that time,
If you were,
Like most people,
Dedicated to a spiritual path,
There was always a set of rules and regulations.
Back then and today as well.
You know,
If you follow a specific path,
Doesn't matter if it's a religion or,
You know,
Some other spiritual path or whatever,
Teaching of a teacher,
There is always a set of rules and regulations that are supposed to keep you on the path,
Right?
Things that you know that you should do and you should not do.
And scriptures that try to explain the truth to you.
Tilopa is the great destroyer in that sense.
He's saying,
No,
No,
Forget about it.
If you think that you'd pray three times according to the scriptures or whatever,
You know,
You don't eat meat or you do eat whatever,
Another thing,
Or sleep so many hours a day and read enough of the book again and again.
If you think this will bring you closer to the innate truth,
You're mistaken,
Gravely mistaken.
It's not going to happen.
People dedicate their lives to a path,
Religiously follow the rules and regulations,
Believing this will help them to come closer and closer to salvation,
To nirvana,
Doesn't matter which path and the terminology it uses.
Tilopa says,
No,
No,
Forget about it.
It's nice to have,
But it's not going to bring you to your destination.
It's like chanting mantra and meditating.
It's a common practice back then and also today on the spiritual path.
You know,
Chanting mantra will calm your mind,
Help you to realize some inner truths about you.
Yeah,
Yeah,
Definitely.
From personal experience and the experience of many,
Many disciples that I've taught throughout the years,
This is definitely helpful.
I find myself saying these sentences now contradicting myself because I've been telling thousands of people throughout the years how important it is to keep on your sadhana,
Your spiritual practice and your meditation.
And now Tilopa is saying,
No,
No,
No,
Forget about it.
It's nice to have,
It will calm your mind.
Yeah,
Maybe your sleep will improve,
Probably your sleep will improve,
But it's not going to bring you to the promised land.
Nothing in the scriptures,
No knowledge taught in the scriptures can bring you there.
Only an insane or a very,
Very brave and fearless consciousness can tell you this,
Especially in the context of when it was told.
Think about it.
Where there are so many spiritual paths laid,
Crossing this culture in India.
Everyone has a guru.
Every guru has teachings,
Different sadhanas that are supposed to be practiced,
Ceremonies that differentiate between the paths.
If you want to walk on this path,
You have to do this and that.
Everyone follows one of those paths.
In India specifically,
If you don't have a master,
A guru,
If you are not a part of a spiritual path,
People pity you.
It's like a homeless or an orphan.
Someone with no back,
Just lost in the world.
So everyone has a spiritual path.
And Tilopa says,
Yeah,
Yeah,
This is nice to have,
But I'm sorry to say it's not going to lead you to Shambhala.
Sorry,
You need to let go of that,
Of the idea that any scripture,
Any practice can lead you there.
This is revolutionary.
Mind-blowing.
Like,
He's just destroying every foundation people try to hold on to,
To create some sort of stability that can lead them to a destination they hope for.
You think you found the right path?
You think you found the right guru that teaches you the right knowledge and the right practices?
No,
No,
No,
No,
No.
You think you found the right book?
It's not going to lead you to what you hope for.
This will not bring you realization of the innate truth.
For the mind,
When filled with some desire,
Should seek a goal,
It only hides the light.
Look back.
Look back to your life story.
What motivated you to choose to do this or that?
What was the motivation?
What was the motivation to,
You know,
Learn a certain profession?
Your motivation to engage in a relationship?
What was your motivation?
I'm asking,
Hoping for an answer,
A written answer.
Can you give an example of a motivation that guided your decision-making process?
Love,
So we're saying love.
Love has no motivation.
We'll talk about that.
Parents,
Hopes,
Future,
Security.
My dad was a teacher,
So I became one.
So I wanted to please my dad,
What?
I wanted to look like my dad.
Yeah,
You know,
We are motivated by hopes for a better future.
More prosperous,
A future where we can be more achieved,
More successful,
More happy,
More loved,
More appreciated,
Right?
So this is the type of relationship we have with life.
We hope that in the future life can be more generous,
Providing all the wants and needs that we feel we lack.
Well,
Yeah,
These are the two powers,
The two essential fears.
The two essential fears that guide us are what?
First is the fear of not having what I think I don't have,
What I need.
The fear of not gaining that,
That life will not provide it.
So I channel my life to make sure that I do get it.
The profession that I choose is,
You know,
I can earn enough money,
I can create some sort of financial security,
Right?
I feel that otherwise my life is too hectic,
Too dangerous without that stability.
So not gaining what I think I don't have enough of,
This is the first fear.
And the second fear is losing what I think I don't,
What I think I already was able to gain,
What is mine.
Fear of losing that.
This is another type of fear.
These two fears generate the motivation that guides your decision making process.
See that?
Motivation driven by fear.
And Tilopa says,
No,
No,
This is not the way to move forward on this path.
If you want to move forward on the path of Tantra,
You need to keep reminding yourself that the mind,
When filled with some desire or seek a goal,
It only hides the light.
So a Tantric consciousness is completely devoid of any type of motivation that is generated by fear.
By a sense of lack.
By the hope that only the future will be able to sustain me enough,
Protect me enough.
What I have now is not enough.
What I am now is not enough.
What I have is the first layer.
What I am is the inner layer.
But there is a dissatisfaction there.
I am not satisfied with my outer circumstances.
There is not enough money in the bag,
There is not enough people loving me,
There is not enough sense of stability,
Security,
La la la la la.
And everything is motivated by trying to gain more of that,
Hoping that only after more is accumulated,
I can rest,
I can be happy.
Or in the most inner level,
Me,
Myself,
I'm not good enough as I am.
I need to improve,
I need to grow,
I need to become somebody else,
More perfect.
And only then,
At the end of that journey,
I can be available to be happy,
Be fulfilled.
So,
These two types of dissatisfaction is what motivates most of us.
Tilopa says,
No,
No,
No,
No.
A mind that is driven by desire,
That has a goal in mind,
Cannot hold Tantric consciousness.
In this path,
Accepting yourself and your circumstance is not the end of the journey,
It's the beginning of the journey.
Accepting circumstances as they are,
Letting go of the hope that they need to change,
That they are supposed to change,
Your circumstances reveal themselves to be perfect as they are.
And then letting go of the idea that you should grow and change and become somebody else.
Accepting yourself,
Truly,
As a perfect expression of Divinity,
As you are right now,
With your strengths and with your weaknesses,
Realizing that you are an expression of absolute beauty as you are.
This is the beginning of a Tantric journey,
Not the end of it.
Don't wait for the end of your journey to accept your reality and accept yourself.
Because that end will never come.
If you don't accept yourself today,
You will never accept yourself.
No,
No,
I need to lose 20 pounds.
Only then I can be happy.
Oh,
No,
No,
No.
I need to overcome this or that fear,
Or I have this trauma that I'm carrying with me.
Only when I learn how to overcome that,
I will be available.
I guarantee it will never happen.
Or my situation is too complicated,
You know,
I need to divorce.
Only then,
Oh,
I need to get married,
I need to have children.
I need to finish my degree,
I need to find a job,
I need to retire,
I need to have more money in the bank.
So many excuses.
Tilopa says,
No,
No,
No,
No.
This is not something that happens at the end of your journey.
Either it is now or it never happens.
In return,
A mind filled with some desire,
Seeking a goal,
Only hides the light.
So next time you believe something should happen in order for you to be happy,
See if you can recognize that in real time.
Remind yourself you're just hiding the light.
The light can only be found in the present moment,
As it happens.
This is important to understand.
If you hope to meet God,
There is no other place to seek God.
God cannot be found somewhere else,
Some other time.
God can only be found now,
Here,
Because he only exists here.
God exists beyond the realm of time,
Past and future.
Time is just a psychological idea we have in our mind,
Combination of memories and expectations.
Real time is just the present moment,
Where God is waiting for you.
Do you see that?
So next time your mind is filled with desires and hopes,
Remind yourself,
No,
No,
No,
No,
I'm just hiding the light now,
Avoiding perfection to be revealed in the present moment,
As the present moment.
Do you see what I'm saying?
You're too quiet,
Guys.
You need to communicate with me more.
This is what makes this session juicy.
If you don't agree,
It's okay,
Let me know.
Let's put it on the table,
Now is the time,
If you have any preservations or if you have any insights,
Questions.
You're saying,
I'm content,
But I feel that what I am and have is not enough for others to love and accept me.
Others as family,
Friends,
Relatives,
Yeah,
Yeah,
Yeah,
It's definitely,
It's a beautiful insight about yourself,
Motivated by the hope to be loved and appreciated and accepted.
So you are trying to be worthy of that,
Worthy of their love.
This is beautiful.
And of course,
Very common.
Most of us are driven by this.
We don't,
What's happening?
It's a sense of lack.
Lack of what?
Lack of appreciation,
Lack of attention,
Lack of love.
We believe we don't have enough of these.
So we try to gain,
We try to get it from the outside in.
Trying to play,
To be the good boy,
To be the bad boy,
Whatever we think people expect of us,
So we can have that.
That's how we regenerate psychological processes from father to son,
From mother to daughter,
Again and again.
The only time we,
People noticed us,
For example,
Is when we created havoc.
So we keep generating that havoc,
Hoping that people will recognize we are here,
Will give us the attention that we need.
The only way for us to feel seen is when there is a huge drama around us.
So we keep creating that drama,
Hoping to receive that attention again and again and again and again.
This is what I learned from my mother,
This is what I'm teaching to my daughter.
How to stop that?
You realize love is not something you gain.
Love is not a currency.
It's not something you gain out of life.
You don't need other people to be loved.
You are loved.
You are love,
An expression of pure,
Unconditional love.
This is a consciousness that is awoken to the nature of itself.
Tantric consciousness is not driven by a sense of lack and need.
Otherwise you will always be driven by,
I don't have enough,
I don't have enough,
I don't have enough,
I need more,
I need more.
And the little I do have,
I need to protect because life will take it away from me.
Craving and aversion.
This is the source of misery,
The source of suffering.
Love is not a consequence of events.
Meeting the right person,
I can feel love,
Or not meeting the right person,
I cannot feel love.
Love is not just an emotion.
Emotion is just a very narrow expression of love.
Love is the very basis of your existence.
Know thyself.
Realize love as the substance that you are created of.
And once realized,
You will never seek it again.
You will be an expression of it.
Hello?
And as long as this is not your nature,
Or realized as your nature,
And you still find yourself searching outside of you for that,
At least when you wake up to see that this is what you do,
Have compassion to yourself.
Just remind yourself,
I don't really need other people to give me love.
It's just an illusion,
It's an imprint from childhood.
But it's an illusion.
I don't really need it from anyone.
I am love.
Other people are there not to give me love,
But to enjoy the light that I shed.
That's it.
Well,
Sean is saying,
This is a struggle of mine.
Are we here to strive or be seemingly content with how things are?
Are we here to strive or be content?
It's a beautiful question.
Tilopa says,
No,
No,
No,
No desire.
No desire.
And I say,
I'll give you a discount.
There can be only one desire in you.
And that is the desire for an awakened consciousness.
That's the only and the last one that will lead you.
It will take you further than anyone else,
Because people are so split between conflicting wants and needs and desires.
So they want this and they want that and they're unhappy with this,
Uncontent with that.
And they just keep on circling in circles,
Creating turmoil and drama.
You are having this sankalpa,
This very narrow,
Very distinct resolution.
This is what I want.
Focus of attention.
And this will lead you further than anyone else on the path.
What do I want?
An awakened consciousness.
I want an open heart.
That's what I want.
I want nothing to stand between me and unconditional love.
No idea,
No concept,
No preconditioning,
Nothing,
No fear.
I want a heart that is completely open all the time to any circumstance.
So this is the discount I can give you.
If you want to walk the Tilopa Way,
Then the answer is very clear.
No desire at all.
Even the desire to be free,
To get awakening or whatever you want to form it.
This is also a hurdle,
An obstacle on Tilopa's path.
Let go of the idea.
This is not a part of the way he describes.
He who keeps tantric precepts,
Yet discriminates,
Betrays the spirit of Samaya.
So you may hold all the right ideas about the tantric path,
But you still discriminate between what is the right way and what is the wrong way.
If you do that,
You betray the spirit of Samaya.
He's being very extreme here.
So he's saying basically,
It doesn't matter what idea you have about Tantra,
You know,
You may hold all the right ideas,
But you still discriminate.
What does it mean?
You believe that your path is more true than other paths.
You believe that good and bad are there and you know the difference.
You believe that one reality is preferred to a different one.
If you create those discriminations,
Then it doesn't matter how noble your tantric ideas are,
They are worthless.
A tantric mind does not discriminate.
On the contrary,
A tantric mind is wide enough to include everything,
All possibilities.
Like someone said before,
All possibilities.
Huh?
So Laura is saying,
But it is nice to feel loved.
Yeah,
It's nice.
Good to have.
But make sure you don't depend on that.
Yeah,
We are social animals and we like to be surrounded by other people who recognize us and appreciate us.
That's nice.
But if we become dependent on that,
That's it,
We are lost.
But don't be trapped in this idea that reality is imperfect.
It should be different.
More people should be around me,
Loving me,
Appreciating me.
Only then I can be happy.
That's it,
You're lost.
So enjoy it when you have it and enjoy it when you don't.
When you don't have other people to love you,
It's a great opportunity to dive deeper,
Find love within you,
As you,
Instead of keep on searching for other people to provide it.
You can use those circumstances where you are loved and cherished as rest stations,
Where you can rest your head.
But the true challenge is to find that peace within when discomfort from the outside is unavailable.
Don't run away from that challenge.
So much of what I benefited from is the striving of others before me.
I hope I understand your question.
If you dedicate your life to help other people,
To relieve them of their misery,
To heal them,
That's great.
But don't build a personality around that.
Think about people who devote their lives for the benefit of society,
For the benefit of the planet.
What happens to them if everybody is saved?
Just a theoretical thought.
What happens if everybody is saved?
While you were busy dedicating your life to saving people,
Now there is no reason for you to exist.
You are lost again.
Do you see that?
Yeah,
Yeah,
The nature of love is to spread and touch other people.
It's not your nature.
You don't need to do that.
You don't need to do anything.
Love will operate through you.
Don't worry about that.
And you will become whatever,
A healer,
A teacher,
A doctor.
You can become whatever,
But don't build a personality around it.
Don't create an identity around it.
Then you're stuck again.
Do you see that?
Pradeep is asking,
Other people are too malicious for us to put our happiness in their hands.
Attaching it to reasonable achievements is a better path,
I guess.
No,
No,
No.
Attaching your happiness to anything is against the teaching of Tilopa.
Happiness cannot be attached.
If you attach it to something,
Doesn't matter if it's people or circumstances or your choices and the outcome of your choices.
You bound yourself and this is a path of complete freedom.
You cannot be bounded and free.
Do you see what I'm saying?
Happiness is not a consequence of events.
It never was.
Free yourself from that idea.
Only when something has happened,
Only then I can be happy.
I feel like happiness is best experienced as a reward.
If our default state is happiness,
Does happiness exist at all?
Yes,
But not as an expression of events,
Consequences of events.
Happiness is your nature.
You are happy just by the fact that you have a body and you can experience life on a physical realm.
Painful or pleasurable.
Some people just crave for attention.
Without it,
They feel completely lost.
Completely lost.
Because they have no connection with their own nature.
Do you see what I'm saying?
The tantric path that Tilopa is suggesting is reminding yourself again and again to be driven forward not by wants and needs and lack and fear,
But as an expression of unconditional love,
Free of any discrimination.
Nothing can be excluded from your experience of this life.
Let me say this sentence again.
Nothing can be excluded from the experience of your life.
If you are honest on this path,
You will become wide enough to embrace everything,
Everyone as they are.
Every situation as it is happening right now.
Comfortable or uncomfortable?
Huh?
Yes?
Yes or no?
Yes or no?
Cease all activity.
Abandon all desire.
Let thoughts rise and fall as they will,
Like ocean waves.
Remember,
This is a reminder of the last chapter.
He is repeating himself here.
Remember the difference between action and activity.
Hmm?
Activity is the cause of restlessness.
You do something because you cannot find peace and you have to do something.
Action is an expression of peace.
It's not trying to achieve anything.
It's just a reaction,
A natural reaction to a certain situation.
So,
He's saying drop all activities,
Any doing that is a consequence of feverishness in you.
Drop that.
Abandon all desires,
Even the desire to be free and to attain an awakened consciousness.
Let thoughts rise and fall as they will,
Like ocean waves.
This you can only do when you observe the stream of thoughts.
Otherwise you are caught in that stream.
A fish will never be able to describe the water it is swimming in.
How can you describe something that is just engulfing you?
You have to have some distance from the object of observation in order for you to relate to it.
Same with thoughts.
If you are caught up with that endless stream of thoughts you have in your mind,
There is no way for you to disassociate yourself from it because you are a part of it.
You need to have the ability to zoom out,
Like we did in the beginning of this session,
And observe it,
Observe that endless stream.
And see how,
Once you do that,
You are able to see how thoughts are just rising and subsiding.
They come and they go,
Like a scratch on your nose.
A scratch on your nose.
It's itchy here.
And now it's not.
Laura is asking a beautiful question.
So how do you move without desires?
This is a beautiful question that people ask again and again and again.
How do you move without desires?
This is based on the idea that if you don't need anything,
Then why are you motivated at all?
The only reason to be motivated to do anything is based on lack and need,
Right?
Wrong.
I mean,
It's right if you only look at motivation as a source,
As an expression of want and need.
You can say that there are,
You know,
The two forces that play together to allow life to happen in the physical realm are the positive and the negative,
The masculine and the feminine.
Fear and love.
It doesn't matter how you name it.
Fear and love,
For the sake of this discussion.
So you can be motivated by fear.
Like most people.
Lack and need and want.
I'm afraid I won't get what I need,
Or I'm afraid I'm going to lose everything.
I'm afraid I won't get what I need,
Or I'm afraid I'm going to lose what I have.
Or,
You can be motivated by love.
And you're right,
Then it's not really a motivation.
Love is free of any motive.
It's just a natural flow of abundance.
Free of any condition.
So there is no real motivation.
It's just a natural phenomenon that flows through me.
But definitely,
You won't become,
You will not become stagnant when you stop desires.
When you stop being pulled forward by wants and needs.
You won't become stagnant at all.
The opposite.
You will finally become full of love and life.
And life force,
Prana.
So don't worry about that.
So observe the rise and fall of thoughts in you.
Like ocean waves.
And you never know,
Sometimes you go to the ocean and it's flat.
There are no waves.
Enjoy that.
Remember,
Thoughts have no power.
Thoughts have no power.
Unless you believe,
You identify,
Then they have all the power.
So as you watch the waves in the ocean,
Rise and subside,
You watch the flow of thoughts in you.
Enjoy it.
And enjoy when there are no thoughts.
And there is only silence in you.
Enjoy that.
He who never harms the non-abiding,
Nor the principle of non-distinction,
Upholds the tantric precepts.
So again,
He keeps repeating himself.
He who never harms the non-abiding,
And the principle of non-distinction,
This is never threatened again.
If you really want to walk on Tilopa's path,
If you really want to walk on Tilopa's path,
You make sure you never harm the non-abiding.
You never discriminate again.
Ever.
Preferring one situation over the other.
Preferring one person over the other.
You make sure you are always available.
You are always wide enough to embrace everything and everyone.
Lovingly.
He who abandons craving,
And clings not to this and that,
Perceives the real meaning given in the Scriptures.
Abandon craving.
And I would say,
And aversions.
Craving and aversions,
Right?
I want this or I don't want that.
It's the same coin.
You need to abandon that tendency.
And cling not to this and that.
You don't hold on.
You don't hold on to anything.
To any idea,
To any concept,
To any agenda.
You don't hold on to anyone.
Once you are held by something outside of you,
You cannot be free anymore.
Do you see that?
Enjoy it if you have it.
Enjoy it if you don't.
This is a tantric consciousness.
The non-abiding Barbara is asking,
What is that?
Anything that you have an idea about.
Let go of all those ideas,
All those concepts.
A tantric consciousness has no ideas about anything.
It comes completely natural,
Clean of any preconception.
It is innocent like a child who has no idea.
That's a beautiful example of a tantric consciousness.
It has no idea.
It has no idea.
Yet all the knowledge is expressed through it.
And it is wise beyond description.
But it's completely empty.
So a consciousness clean of any judgment,
Any discrimination,
Preconception,
Agenda is what Tilopa is aiming for.
Or at least trying to describe Podip is saying,
For an object to move,
It has to give something up unless an external force is applied.
Yeah,
You are now quoting Newton.
If we are not giving up happiness,
Psychological comfort,
I wonder how we can achieve extreme goals in a short amount of time unless that external force,
Help,
Is there.
What if people enjoy the suffering,
Then everyone can be a cristiano,
An expert at what they do in a short amount of time without looking for work,
Life,
Balance,
Etc.
Successful people have this cheat code with them.
I feel like I hope I understand what you're saying.
People dedicate themselves to achieve a goal.
Yes,
Successful people know how to dedicate themselves totally.
That capability to be total in what you do is unique.
Most of us are compromising.
We do it until it stops being interesting or we lose interest,
Just getting tired.
Our attention is going somewhere else.
We are easily distracted.
Totality,
That quality of being total in what you do is definitely important and it separates those special individuals.
On the spiritual path as well,
People with that totality in them are definitely bound to reach higher grounds.
The rest of us are just,
You know,
Stopping in some rest stations along the way,
Enjoying the view,
Which is beautiful.
But,
You know,
If you really want to reach the top of the mountain,
You have to have that inner calling that drives through the difficulty,
Through those boredom moments,
Around the pitfalls that life puts in front of us once and then and just push on through.
Again,
If you are able to put that in the top of your priority list,
This is what I want,
Then it's more important for me than anything else.
This will definitely take you a long way,
Further than most people.
And don't get busy comparing your progress with other people's progress.
People,
Well,
They seem to be progressing faster than me,
You know,
And I'm envious and I develop this inner frustration and judgment.
I should have done more.
I should have been somebody else more successful,
Etc,
Etc.
No,
No,
No,
No,
No.
You just do your 100% and let go of the idea that there is a goal that you should reach.
If you want to walk on this path,
And I tell you not many people do,
It's not a popular path,
But if you choose to,
You walk on it full-heartedly,
Free from the idea that there is a destination there for you to reach.
The only thing that you need to consider is how open your heart is.
That's it.
If there is one criteria I suggest you use,
It's that criteria.
Is your heart open?
And if not,
What is still closing your heart?
What are you afraid of?
At the end of the rainbow,
The destination of your journey,
There is only one thing waiting for you.
And that is an open heart.
And I tell you,
Your heart cannot be open if it's not open now.
Make sure your heart is open.
And now,
I'm going to give you a moment.
Good,
Good,
Good.
Any more?
Or enough for today?
So let's take the next week to ponder on about this invitation we heard today.
Let go of all idea,
All desire,
About a different,
Better reality waiting for you in the future.
Remind yourself that all those wants and needs and desires are just hiding the light from you.
Pradeep is saying,
Afraid of easily being happy before getting where I want to be.
The solution to that is wanting to be where you are.
Then you realize there is nowhere to go.
There is nothing to do.
You already are.
It's not about getting there.
It's about remaining centered in the origin point again and again.
There is nowhere to go.
And there is no better reality waiting for you somewhere else where you can be free and happy and enlightened.
No,
No,
No,
No.
If you are not enlightened now you will never be enlightened.
Guaranteed.
Don't wait for something else to happen.
That's the invitation Tilopa is telling us today.
How about being happy all along the way?
Yeah.
What's wrong with that?
Be happy.
Be happy when you're happy.
Be happy when you're sad.
Be happy when it's pleasurable.
Be happy when it's painful.
Be happy when it's comfortable.
Be happy when it's uncomfortable.
Be happy because you are happiness.
Not because something out there happened.
You are peace.
You are joy.
You are love.
That's your being-ness.
Amen.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your attention.
Your beautiful questions.
Your participation.
Your donations.
Don't forget to put something in the bin just to make sure that you stay balanced.
And we're going to meet you again next week,
Same time for the sixth chapter.
Love you very much.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
