So,
Welcome.
We are going to start as usual with a short ceremony,
Just to make sure that we are all aligned.
So make sure your phone is switched off and won't disturb you,
Like I do now.
And sit comfortably on your seat.
And let's take a deep breath in.
And another deep breath in.
Let's close our eyes.
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.
And allow your breath to guide you back to the present moment.
To whatever is happening right now.
Become fully aware of your surroundings.
And all the information it produces.
Become aware of the presence of your body in that space.
And the position it took upon itself.
Become aware of the general sensation of you being in your body.
Without judging anything.
Just observe.
Are you comfortable in your body?
Or uncomfortable?
Doesn't matter.
Just observe.
You may scan your body from the tip of your toes to the top of your head.
Making sure there is no tension hiding anywhere in your body.
If you found an area that is condensed,
Stressed,
You may guide your breath to that area.
Fill it up with oxygen,
With life.
And as the breath leaves your body,
Allow that stress to flow out of your system as well.
Do that as many times as necessary until there is no area in your body that is stressed anymore.
Comfortable and relaxed.
Another deep breath in and out.
Become aware of your own thoughts.
What are you thinking of right now?
Without getting too entangled with any specific thought.
You just observe as they pass like clouds in the sky.
There is a gap between thoughts.
Observe that gap.
If you observe the nature of thoughts,
You realize that thoughts have no power.
They appear and they disappear.
Or you just observe.
Do not resist any sensation or emotion or thought you may be experiencing right now.
You just observe.
And as the realm of phenomena around you and within you keeps pulsating in its own natural rhythm,
Allow your attention to turn from it back and face itself.
The origin of awareness.
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.
Another deep breath in and out.
Once again,
Become aware of your body that is seated here,
Upon its seat in this room,
A part of our virtual circle.
Let's unite our individual intentions into one unified intention.
The intention to grow,
To develop,
To evolve.
Take another deep breath in and out.
And when you feel comfortable,
You may open your eyes.
So hello again,
Everyone.
Welcome to this unique opportunity we give ourselves once a week to stop the rush and hold hands and walk the path together.
Growing not just as individuals,
But also as a united consciousness.
This is our task and our intention.
And it's not a lecture.
I don't have slides.
This is a talk,
A conversation.
So the more you are participating in this conversation,
The more you contribute to its growth.
And the more forceful it will be for you and for everyone else.
So don't hesitate to ask your question,
Share your insight.
We are walking on the path of the Mahamudra,
Tantra,
The supreme understanding.
This is the sixth session on our journey.
We're going to briefly,
Very briefly,
Review what we've covered so far.
We are following a poem,
A song that wrote a spiritual master called Tilopa 800 years ago,
As he finally met his beloved disciple called Niropa.
And in his song,
He starts by explaining that the journey that they are about to embark on is an impossible journey.
Because the experience that Tilopa is experiencing is beyond words,
Beyond symbols.
It cannot be expressed or understood.
So there is no point.
He starts by expressing that very vividly.
There is no way I can explain or express to you what I'm experiencing.
So don't even hope for that.
This allowed Niropa to relax,
Realizing that it's not in his hands.
There's nothing he could do to achieve clarity in that sense.
The only thing he could do is just to let go and relax and surrender to the path laid by his master.
That's the beginning of the journey.
And then in the second session,
Tilopa is explaining that the root problem that you as an individual,
A seeker on the spiritual path,
Is having is your own mind,
The nature of your own mind.
That was always the problem.
It was never outside of you.
It was never the circumstance.
It was never your state of evolution on your path.
It was always the ideas and the way you perceive reality.
So in order to grow towards a tantric consciousness,
Tilopa is saying you don't need to try to solve individual problems.
That's pointless.
He's directing you straight to the root cause of the problem,
Which is your own mind.
Understanding the nature of your own mind will take you there.
Session three was the nature of darkness.
Tilopa is saying darkness is a non-entity.
Instead of trying to fight darkness,
Which guarantees you're going to lose,
You only need to add some light.
Once light is added,
Darkness is gone.
It's a natural phenomenon.
There is some light,
So no darkness.
He's putting in parallel darkness with ignorance and light with knowledge,
Self-knowledge.
So the more you know about your own self,
The nature of your own self,
The less darkness you experience in your life.
And then in the fourth session,
He is guiding us to shift our attention from the object to the non-object.
You do not,
You see not,
Observe not.
Instead of focusing on the object,
On the changing events,
On the realm of the phenomena,
You shift your attention.
Instead of watching the clouds,
You watch the blue.
Instead of watching the thoughts,
You watch the background of the thought,
The gap between the thoughts.
Or like we did,
You shift your attention back to the origin of awareness.
Once you stop focusing on the realm of phenomena,
You find inner peace.
On the fifth session last week,
Tilopa is explaining that the tantra,
The tantric path,
Cannot be included in any spiritual path,
In any religion or any practice.
It's beyond any restriction.
You know,
Any spiritual path,
Any religion has those restrictions that tell you how to behave,
What to believe,
What to do and not to do.
Tantra is off from a different realm.
It's got nothing to do with what you do.
And this is an invitation to start the meeting today,
Discussing the sixth chapter of the Mahamudra.
So I invite you to listen to those words.
You have them on the chat as well.
Listen to them,
Not just for the sake of trying to understand their meaning,
But allow them to vibrate within you.
Remember,
This path is very energetical.
It's nothing to do with your logical understanding.
But it is directed to help you soften and open your heart.
So listen to those words as if it was spoken by your beloved.
And then?
So,
Tantra,
The supreme understanding,
Chapter six,
The great teaching.
The song continues.
In Mahamudra,
All one's sins are burnt.
In Mahamudra,
One is released from the prison of the world.
This is the Dharma's supreme torch.
Those who disbelieve it are fools.
Whoever wallow in misery and sorrow,
To strive for liberation,
One should rely on a guru.
When your mind receives his blessing,
Emancipation is at hand.
Alas,
All things in this world are meaningless.
They are but sorrow seeds.
Small teachings lead to acts.
One should only follow teachings that are great.
And then?
This is the sixth chapter.
So let's unfold it gently.
First,
It's important to understand the nature of the tantric path,
Or the tantric realm,
Or whatever you want to call it,
The tantric consciousness.
You know,
As opposed to yoga,
Which is also a spiritual path.
Yoga is based on the idea that you put your attention and intention and effort towards a goal.
And the more you practice,
The more you chant your mantra,
The more you sit and meditate,
The further you become on your path.
Right?
It's almost like mathematics.
If you do this,
And this,
And this,
And this,
There is like a recipe.
Then you come closer and closer to enlightenment.
You need to have that effort,
And skill,
And sankalpa,
This intention.
Of course,
These are very valuable.
And they definitely will propel you forward on your path,
If you commit to the path of yoga.
But Tilopa is telling us tantra consciousness has got nothing to do with that.
Nothing to do with your efforts.
It's not a gradual process that happens through time and effort.
Tantric consciousness is spontaneous.
For that matter,
If you're not enlightened now,
Or at least if you don't believe you are,
You are guaranteed never to be enlightened.
If you believe that you still have a path to walk on,
Processes to complete,
If you feel that you're not ready,
You're not ripe,
You're not worthy,
You will never experience tantric consciousness.
Tantra has got nothing to do with your commitment and your efforts.
It is spontaneous.
A spontaneous event,
A spontaneous happening of merging,
Of unconditional love.
So this is important to understand when we discuss a tantric consciousness.
It's got nothing to do with a gradual process,
Coming closer and closer towards a goal,
Achieving a goal.
This is not tantra.
And this is revolutionary.
You know,
Every,
Think about it,
Every path laid by all the teachers,
Every religion,
There is always a path you need to commit to.
And Tilopa probably is one of the only teachers saying,
No,
No,
No,
There is no path.
There is nowhere to go.
Nowhere to reach.
It's all about remaining in the origin point and melt into that in the present moment.
It's not a futuristic event.
Do you see what I'm saying?
So in Maha Mudra,
All one's sins are burnt.
First of all,
What is Maha Mudra?
Maha is the greatest you can imagine.
And Mudra is a position.
So it's the greatest position you can be in,
The greatest expansion of consciousness you can hope for or imagine.
This is the meaning of Maha Mudra.
So if your consciousness is rested in Maha Mudra,
Tilopa says all your sins are burnt.
All your sins are burnt.
There is no right doing and wrong doing.
There is no rules and regulations.
And you cannot cross a boundary because there are no boundaries.
As opposed to a traditional path,
A spiritual path,
A religion where there is always rules and regulations.
And if you don't follow them,
You collect sins that eventually you will need to repent for.
Right?
Even in the old traditions,
Like the Hindu traditions of samsara,
You build more and more karma and then you have to burn your karma in future incarnations and so on and so forth.
It's an endless event.
And think about it,
You get a new life and in this new life you try to burn your karma and be better,
But you still sin and you generate more karma.
Even that effort of trying to be better,
I want to be better,
Is a karmatic event.
Because there is an I that wants something.
I that is seeking salvation is already a karmatic event.
So it seems like it's an endless situation.
It's impossible to break that wheel of sorrow and misery again and again and again.
Tilopa says,
No,
No,
In Mahanudra all this is burnt.
All those past events that you are identified with and carry as a burden because you identify,
All this are burnt.
There is nothing holding you back anymore,
Immediately,
Spontaneously.
You don't need to try to be a better person.
Mahanudra is not about that at all.
In Mahanudra one is released from the prison of the world,
The prison of this world.
Why prison?
Because,
You know,
We live like we are surrounded by balls in a cage,
Not realizing how great and timeless we are.
From a frightened perspective,
We look outside of the cage to the world,
Afraid of losing what we believe we already gained,
Or afraid of not gaining what we believe we need and want,
Hoping that this will make us happy and fulfilled.
It's like we are surrounded by balls in a cage,
And those balls are made out of our own fears,
Our own projections,
Our own set of beliefs about what is good and bad and what is recommended and what we should avoid,
Cravings and aversions.
These are the balls of the cage that we built around ourselves,
And only a few lucky ones believe that this cage has a door,
Has a lock,
And even fewer are trying to open it.
And those lucky ones who actually open it and step out,
They are the only ones that can have this revelation.
What is that revelation?
They can turn back to look at the cage they just left,
Realizing that there is no cage,
That this cage is just an illusion created by our own ego,
A sense of separateness.
Otherwise,
If you don't step out,
You will never be able to realize that.
In Mahamudra,
You realize this is an illusion.
What do you say?
I'm waiting for your comments,
Guys.
This is the greatest knowledge you will ever hear.
Tilopa is saying,
Supreme Torch,
The brightest light is shed on your path.
If you surrender to this invitation,
Those who disbelieve it are fools.
Whoever willow in misery and sorrow.
This doesn't sound like a spiritual teacher,
Does it?
If you don't believe me,
You're a fool.
I don't know,
But I have a sensation that the word fool is not translated accurately,
Because it was spoken in Sanskrit.
Because it was spoken in Sanskrit 800 years ago.
And I believe that the word that Tilopa was using is better translated as ignorance.
Ignorant.
If you don't see that to be true in your life,
You are ignorant.
John is asking,
Who is this teacher?
The teacher is called Tilopa.
He lived 800 years ago in the northern part of India.
And he had one disciple called Niropa.
And he was singing his teaching to his beloved disciple.
And Niropa was attentive enough to write the song down,
So we can discuss it 800 years later.
Ignorant.
Ignorance versus knowledge.
You know it.
We observe life in this duality.
Our mind is splitting the reality that we encounter into two,
Always.
The main differentiation that our mind is doing,
Or intellect to be more exact,
The main differentiation is between good and bad.
What we see is good,
Or what we see is bad.
And then there are many subcategories.
Is it advantages or disadvantages?
Is it supporting my goals,
Or is it harming my goals?
Is it something I want closer to me,
Or do I want to get away from that?
Cravings and aversions.
Cravings and aversions,
Right?
This is the way the intellect is splitting reality into two.
My recommendation is very simple.
Don't try to split reality into two,
Because reality is wholeness.
Reality includes everything.
All prospects,
All aspects are included.
Tantric consciousness is wide enough to include everything and everybody.
If you have to split reality into two,
I would recommend using this criteria.
Is it based on knowledge or on ignorance?
The way this person is reacting,
The way he is speaking,
Acting,
Interacting,
Is it based on knowledge or ignorance?
Knowledge of the truth,
Knowledge of the nature of self.
So if you don't see that Mahamudra releases you from the chains of your past,
The only reason is that you're still ignorant,
Lack of knowledge,
Self-knowledge.
This is not a judgment.
This is just a wake-up call.
You see,
You cannot sin when you are unconscious,
Right?
Think about,
I mean,
What is the common reason why people don't go to jail when they commit crime?
It's because they were not responsible for their deeds when they committed the crime,
Right?
You know,
Maybe they're able to prove that they had some psychotic event or something that they didn't know to differentiate between right and wrong,
Right?
Or if someone is committing a crime when he's sleepwalking,
For example,
You know,
He's not aware of what he's doing.
So how can you punish him?
Tilopa is saying exactly the same.
You cannot sin if you are unconscious.
So all the wrongdoings from your past,
All your sins,
All your karma is forgiven because you are not aware of the true nature of your own self.
Ignorant,
Asleep.
Tilopa is saying,
Just wake up and you are free from all this burden.
Aaron,
Don't hesitate to interrupt me with your questions,
Guys.
To strive for liberation,
One should rely on a guru.
This is an amazing sentence.
To strive for liberation,
One should rely on a guru.
Why?
Especially for Westerners,
This culture of a guru is not common at all.
In India,
Everyone has a guru.
It doesn't matter which caste you belong to or if you live in the city or in the village.
Everyone has a guru.
If you don't have a guru,
You are considered to be an orphan.
People have pity on you.
Everyone has a guru.
It's part of their tradition.
Doesn't matter if you're religious or not religious.
Paying respect to your guru is a part of the tradition.
Guru Purnima is the most festive day of the year where you acknowledge the presence of the guru in your life and give thanks for that.
But in the Western world,
This doesn't exist.
On the contrary,
You are encouraged to be independent and think for yourself,
Be doubtful.
It's very mental,
Logical.
The Western approach to knowledge is very mental.
While in the East,
It's much more emotional.
It's a matter of an emotion connection.
So Tilopa is guiding us to do that journey from head to heart.
When you surrender to the master,
It propels your journey forward dramatically because your heart is open.
It's like a love story.
Now,
I would strongly recommend go back to my Insight Timer page and look for the talk about how to find the right guru for you.
There is a detailed explanation.
Why is it important to have a guru?
How to find the right guru?
I don't want to get into the details of that because that was already covered.
Just go back and listen to that recording.
But just see that,
Feel that,
Sense that invitation that Tilopa is giving us now.
The presence of guru is so beautiful in the sincere seeker's path.
A sincere seeker's path.
What is the meaning of guru?
It has many meanings.
One is teacher.
Another one is heavy.
The guru is heavy.
His presence is loaded with knowledge,
With love.
It's like a heavy cloud that is just waiting to rain down and spray you with love.
So your ability to stand under that and just receive it is so beautiful.
In the West,
It is sometimes hard to find a guru,
Someone that you can trust and resonate with.
Yeah,
I agree.
It's a challenge.
You go and sit in front of every teacher that you can find until you resonate that and you feel you are able to open your heart and surrender.
And this is what the guru is for.
Help you to open your heart and surrender your intellect.
Surrender your hardships,
Your difficulties,
Your drama,
Your karma.
Surrender that as an offering to the divine.
That's it.
You're free.
The guru is wide enough to take that away from you.
And there is only bliss.
Again,
Listen to that talk about the guru.
It's really important.
You know,
Sometimes people find the guru in a tree or a river or a book.
It doesn't have to be a person.
But just make sure that in that relationship,
Your ego element is settled.
The river takes your ego away and it doesn't come back anymore.
When your mind receives his blessing,
Emancipation is at hand.
What is the blessing of the guru?
In front of the guru,
You see the most developed version of your own self.
This is the gift you receive from your guru.
It's like looking in a mirror which is spotless,
Crystal clear,
Like no mirror you've ever seen.
There are no distortions.
There's no stain on that mirror whatsoever.
Crystal clear.
You can see this is the highest version of your own self.
Think about it.
In any relationship you have,
There is always two egos playing.
Your ego and the other person's ego.
You want a need,
Then they want a need,
And this is a constant negotiation.
Right?
But in a relationship with a guru,
There is only one ego.
And this ego is yours.
And the guru can show you that,
Reflect it back to you.
And this is an amazing opportunity to grow.
Because now,
If you are really honest,
Now it's very clear.
Okay,
So this is my pattern.
These are my preconditions.
These are my beliefs,
My fears.
Okay,
I see that.
I want to grow and make myself free of that.
The guru is an amazing gift in that sense.
It's a great blessing.
Emancipation is at hand.
Question is,
Do you really want it?
Well,
Alas,
All things in this world are meaningless.
Tilopa is not the first one to say that.
It was written in the Old Testament 3,
000 years ago.
The only true element of this world is your consciousness,
The unchanging.
Everything else about this world is changing.
The only thing that is timeless is your consciousness.
The only true,
The only real thing in this world is your consciousness.
And this is usually the last thing you are aware of.
You're so caught up in changing events,
In the ups and the downs,
And the highs and the lows,
And the sadness and the happiness,
And the good and the bad,
And the right doing and the wrong doing.
Somewhere out there,
Beyond ideas about right doing and wrong doing,
There is a field.
I will wait for you there.
Isn't that beautiful?
How do you find your guru?
You keep on searching until you find it.
And when you sit in front of the guru,
You don't think with your head.
Is it good or bad?
No,
No,
No.
You open your heart,
You know,
And see if that resonates.
You open your heart.
Meaningless.
All this changing events,
All this realm of phenomena is meaningless.
The sooner you disattach yourself from that,
Hoping that this will give you pleasure and happiness,
The sooner you do that,
The closer you are to emancipation.
They are but sorrow's seed.
Beautiful.
Sorrow's seed.
Seeds of sorrow.
Trying to cling onto something,
Hoping it will bring you some sense of stability.
It's just ensuring sadness,
Misery,
Suffering,
Or the eternal rush to grab something,
Believing that only when you get that,
You will be happy and fulfilled and completed.
Doesn't matter,
No?
If you believe that this is encapsulated in a husband,
Or in a different career,
Or in your next vacation,
A different house,
Whatever you have in your head,
There's an idea about your own happiness.
Seeds of sorrow.
Small teachings lead to acts.
One should only follow teachings that are great.
This is very unique for Tilopa.
Tilopa is saying again and again,
It's not about the doing,
It's not about what you do.
Small teachings are trying to train you to do the right thing and avoid doing the wrong thing.
But emancipation is not about the results of your doing.
It doesn't matter what you do.
It's not about the right doing or the wrong doing.
It's about you realizing the nature of your own self.
The reason that you do that or that.
What is your motivation?
This is key.
As long as you are stuck on what to do,
How to do,
You are in a loop,
Endless loop.
But if you shift your attention from what you do to why you do it,
What is your motivation?
Now there is a whole new realm open for you.
If you see that your motivation to do something is based on lack,
Of need,
Of fear,
Which is in most cases,
Then you realize this is not necessary.
It's based on ignorance.
And on the other hand,
If you see that what you do is just an expression of your love,
Unconditional love,
Love that is free from agenda,
Then you are on the right path.
So it's not about what you do,
But what motivates you to do it.
Small teaching only narrows the focus on the doing,
Right doing,
Wrong doing.
Tantra is all about settling into that space of contentment.
And there is no lack anymore that guides your decision making of what to do and what not to do.
There is no lack.
Tantric consciousness embraces everything.
It's an expression of abundance,
Abundance in action,
Love in action.
This is akarma yoga,
As opposed to karma yoga that builds more and more karma.
Akarma yoga is a result of unconditional love in action.
So no more karma is there.
Building up for you to resolve next life.
Do you see?
Everything is included.
We have time for one more question.
Who would like to use this opportunity?
So while you think about your question,
I'm inviting you to spend the next week observing the motivation of your decision making.
What propels you to decide to do this or that?
Be honest.
If you had a guru,
It would be easy.
But without a guru,
Just add honesty and courage to your investigation.
What really propels you to do this or that?
Is it unconditional love?
Or is it based on a sense of lack,
Of need,
Of want,
Or fear,
Or suffering?
Laura is asking,
How do I know who is moving my action?
It's a beautiful question.
If me or infinite intelligence.
Infinite intelligence only can move you through love.
That's very simple.
If you feel that you're doing something,
But you are contracted,
You know you are now driven by fear.
But if you do something and you're completely flexed,
How do you say,
Completely relaxed in it,
Free of contractions,
Then you know love is flowing through you and translating itself into action.
You can call it an infinite intelligence.
Okay.
So if you're not sure,
Observe your body.
It's a great teller of where you are.
Are you driven by fear or by love?
Ponder on that.
Ponder on that.
Next week,
We will rejoin same day,
Same time to discuss the seventh chapter on this amazing path.
So do join us.
Bring your friends.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your donations.
And I'm looking forward to see you again.
Love you very much.
Bye-bye.
