When Drama Is Less Attractive Than Silence

48:56

48:56

When Drama Is Less Attractive Than Silence

by Yaron Etzion

Rated

5

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

90

The day drama is less attractive than Silence- is the day of Awakening. Join this talk about the obstacles we put on our path to Self-realization. Let us unite our longing for an Awakened Consciousness, as a lever towards evolution. Be vulnerable and use this knowledge to grow beyond your Self-acclaimed limitations and doubts. Share it with your friends and enemies.

Meet your Teacher

Edmonton, AB, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Edmonton, AB, Canada

Transcript

To this unique opportunity we give ourselves weekly to stop the rush for a minute, Hold hands and walk the path together towards an awakened consciousness, To remind ourselves what we are and what do we really want more than anything else. And we grow by harnessing that tension, The tides between the question and the answer. So the more sincere you are when you're sick, The more honest you are, The more courageous you are. During this hour, The more evolution, Potential you have there to manifest. So for those of you who are here for the first time, I offer an extra welcome and remind everyone that I am activated by your questions. So don't be giving up on this opportunity to grow by sharing your question. Who would like to be the first one to jump into the walls? Well, Any question, Any doubt, Anything that you feel still stands between you and fulfilling your highest potential. Nomi says, I'd like help with rumination. I don't know this word. What does it mean, Rumination? Please explain. Detaching from the I. Detaching from, Who wants to detach from the I? Obsessive thinking, Okay. That's more like it. Because you see, When you say, I want to detach from the I, That's a bit futile. It's like a dog trying to bite his own tail and running in circles endlessly. That's not gonna work. Don't bother about trying to detach from the I. Just an idea. A concept, A spiritual concept. Don't worry about it. This is a natural outcome of your evolution. As you are mature, As you are ripe, This naturally happens. Obsessive thinking, Let's talk about that. It's difficult to remain empty. You know, Don't try to be empty. Don't try to chase away thoughts or feelings or emotions that you may have. The secret doesn't lie in an empty mind. You know, People sit for meditation for half an hour. They take the position and everything. All the ceremony, And then they open their eyes and you ask, So how was it? And they say, Well, It didn't work for me. Why not? Because there were thoughts in my head. So what? Why is that a problem? You know, I'll tell you a secret. Enlightened people think. They think as well. Occasionally. There is an idea, A spiritual concept we have about what should be in order to allow us to be free or to be fulfilled or enlightened or whatever name I'm gonna give it. Enlightenment is not different from what you are as you are right now. Please embrace this. There is no different version of you waiting to manifest so you can be enlightened. If you believe there is a better, More mature version of you, Then I guarantee enlightenment will never appear, Will never be experienced. 100%, You sentence yourself to a life of endless seeking, Which will truly end in frustration and disappointment. Not because you are not enlightened, But because you believe something else should happen. Different circumstances, Different version of yourself. What is now is not good enough, Is not accurate enough, Is not majestic enough, Whatever you have. And a concept, An opinion you have about it. You see what I'm saying? Opinions comes between you and enlightenment. Concepts, Ideas. So if you meditate and your mind is full of thoughts, You just observe. That's it, Observe those thoughts. Okay, This is what is happening right now. So, It's not a problem. When will it be a problem? The moment you reject those thoughts and believe, No, No, No, No, No. Those thoughts should not appear in an enlightened mind. You know, There is a story of a guru, A spiritual guru. Nevermind the name. I mean, He's telling the story. He says, One of those days I was teaching in front of a crowd of students in a university. And when it was time for questions, One of the students rose and asked her a question and I couldn't even hear what she was saying. She was so attractive, Truly beautiful. And I didn't even hear what she was asking. I was just, Wow, This is a gorgeous woman. I had this thought in my head. Maybe I should, In the break, Maybe I should try to find her and maybe something would happen. And the students are, His disciples are, What? This is not something a spiritual teacher should think of. And he explains, The fact that the thought was there is not a problem. It's actually expected when the man come in contact with an attractive woman. And it's not personal. I mean, This same thought happens to be in this guy's mind a minute ago. And now it's in my mind. And the next minute it will be in the other guy's mind or woman or whatever. See what I'm saying? The fact that it passed through me is not a problem at all. It would become a problem if I would identify with it, Believe it. And confuse myself to believe that I should actually act accordingly. Then I'm a captive of that thought. I give all the power to that thought. Just because it entered my mind, Now I'm a captive, That's it. Think about a television screen. If you watch Fox News, The television believes that it should be right-winged. And if it watches CNN news, Then the television believes that it should be left-winged because that's what it's broadcasting. It is as stupid as this. Thoughts have no power. That's why meditation was created, To let you realize that. Thoughts have no power, Not emotions and not sensations. They have no power. Emotions, Sensations and thoughts and opinions, It's just phenomena crossing through your mind. That's it. If you identify, If you believe, Then they have all the power. But it's up to you. You can experience that without believing and identifying with it. That's freedom. In one of the silence retreats, One of the participants gave me a note after a few days of silence and she said, And she wrote down, Such a bliss to think a thought and not believe it. You can do the same. Thoughts are not a problem. Next time you find that your mind is full of thoughts, Stop arguing with that fact. Just observe, Okay, This is what's happening now. What's now? What's happening now? You would see the thoughts move like any other phenomena, They move. The only way thought can stick and persist is if you resist. What you resist persists. You see, You give that power, Then it sticks. Then the phenomena, If you resist the phenomena, It sticks. If you resist pain, It becomes chronic. If you resist sadness, It becomes depression. Right? Do you see that? You give that power. By trying to avoid, You resist it. Then all the power is at the phenomena and you are victim until the phenomena will change. You are stuck. Why? You chose that. Take back the power. Don't believe, Don't identify. Then you would find a miracle. You know, Any phenomena, When you don't resist it or cling to it, Craving and aversion, Craving and aversion. If you don't do that, Any phenomena will pass after 36 hours, Max. 36 hours, That's it. Sadness cannot stay. Happiness cannot stay. Pain cannot stay. Pleasure cannot stay. No phenomena can stay more than 36 hours. It will replace itself with something else. That's the nature of life. Unless you resist, Then it persists. Understand? Do you see what I'm saying, Noni? Don't try to remain empty. Emptiness is your nature. Like, You know, The blue skies, They don't try to shake off the clouds so everybody would see that the blue skies are there. The blue skies are there. That's it. Sometimes it's cloudy. Sometimes it's a bright, It's a bright day. Clouds cannot intimidate the skies. Just like that. Phenomenas cannot intimidate your consciousness. It is wide enough to experience everything. Do you see what I'm saying? Your job is to appreciate and love whatever life has to offer. Make sure you are available to fully experience it with a full heart and a willing soul. Who else wants to ask? I'm struggling to forgive my persecutors. Whoa. Persecutors. That's a strong word. Nobody persecuted you. You're still alive. You're talking to me. My husband's children are seeking revenge for their father loving me. We are all surrounded by ignorance in various forms. Don't be quick to judge people because they are ignorant. People are not bad. People are not evil. If you have to label them as something, The only criteria I recommend is wisdom versus ignorance. And unfortunately or luckily, However you want to look at it, There is a lot of ignorance around us. What is ignorance? Seeing just a very narrow perspective of our own existence. Very egoistic and being completely governed by our own opinions and ideas about what should happen and should not happen. What is good and what is bad. This is ignorance. We are ignorant many, Many times. Being fooled by our own ideas and opinions. Isn't it so? How many times have you been led by your own opinions that are trying to persuade you that you know better than life what should have happened? Trying to convince others that you know better what should have happened. Every time you wash the dishes but believing that somebody else should have washed the dishes, That's happening. You see, In awakened consciousness, You will never find that happening. If you wash the dishes, That's an expression of divine love. As holy as can be. Then, So what happens when you meet ignorance? What do you do? Either it's your own ignorance or someone else's ignorance. Acting out of ego, Fear, Anger. Exactly, Barbara, You throw compassion at it. When you are in the presence of suffering, What do you do? You be compassionate. Don't try to patronize, Don't try to preach and to persuade the other person to understand something that he doesn't understand. Don't worry about that. He's acting as good as he can in the limitations of his consciousness as it is right now on the journey to matureness. So if he's suffering, If she's suffering, If I'm suffering, Just add compassion. Feel that pain of ignorance. That's it. Don't bother to forgive. Forgiveness. Forgiveness is required when you believe that that person made a mistake, Even a conscious mistake, An error. And now you need to forgive. That's a weight you don't need on your shoulders. I know what should have happened and because what I know was not manifested, I'm willing to forgive. No, No, No, You don't know what should have happened. Throw away this garbage. You don't know what should have happened. Never, Ever. It's just a concept. Reality is stronger than any idea you might have about it, Justifiable as it may be. Well, Don't bother trying to forgive. Just be compassionate. Sometimes people are ignorant, Acts because of ignorance. My husband's children dragging me through court trying to take all of our possessions for me. I want to forgive them rather than protecting myself from them. Since he died, I feel so vulnerable that he's not here to protect me from them. I realize my fear of them is mine. I want to let go. What to do? Many times life seems so dramatic and the decisions that we need to make seem so important. Life changing. I tell you, This is an illusion. Life is very simple. It may be very intense, But there is no drama in life. Never. The drama we create, We create the drama. Why do we create the drama? Because, Well, A few reasons. Two of them that comes to mind is, One, It fills our lives with purpose, With meaning. The other one is, It gives us an identity, An answer to the question, Who am I? I am the one that all this drama happens to. This is who I am. Let me tell you my story. I can explain why my suffering is justified. And around that suffering, I build a personality. This is who I am. All those things that happens to me, By life, This is who I am. Is it? As you mature on the path, You come to realize this is just a story that you tell yourself. It's never the case. It's never an answer to who I am. I recommend you go back to my webpage on Insight Timer and look for this talk called, I Am Not My Story. Listen to that talk. I am not all the things that happened to me or keeps happening to me. These are changing events. They belong to the realm of phenomenists that starts and finish, That are born and dies. I don't belong to that realm. I, That I that I'm seeking for, Does not belong to that realm. That I is eternal. Eternity cannot be intimidated by changing fleeting events. Do you see that? Eternity cannot be intimidated by changing fleeting events. Fleeting events. You need to grow up beyond that identification. You are not your story. And those decisions that seem so brutal, Crucial, They are just a part of the game. Play the game. It's okay to play the game. But remember, It's just a game. There is no real drama there. Nobody is truly affected by that because there is no body. There is only one consciousness that we are all a part of. The drama has that tendency to make us forget. It's so addictive. And I keep returning to this sentence. The moment that silence becomes more attractive to you than the drama is the moment of awakening. The moment that silence becomes more attractive to you than the drama. What? Let's talk about being vulnerable. You say that since he died, You feel so vulnerable. He could be vulnerable. Life is not something that we are supposed to protect against. Vulnerability is so beautiful. It's actually a necessity on the path. You cannot walk the path without vulnerability. If you're not vulnerable, Life cannot really touch you. How can they touch you? You're covered with layers of protection. So you don't feel the pain as much as you could. Excellent. But the price you pay to protect yourself from pain is that you cannot feel pleasure as well. Not truly. You cannot feel a tantric union with life. You cannot feel the orgasmic, Ecstatic life force that flows through you as you. If you are vulnerable, That's fantastic. Dive deep into your vulnerability. Allow life to touch you. Yes, It may be painful at times, For sure. That's why we are currently experiencing life through a body. So we could feel that pain. We could experience that pain. Interaction with life goes through friction. It's inevitable. But same is pleasure. Pain and pleasure cannot be experienced when there is no body. Enjoy the fact that you have a body to experience these phenomenas. Celebrate your existence here on the physical realm. Don't try to mask, To hide yourself, To reject the pain. Embrace it as much as you embrace the pleasure, Right? Then you know you're ready. Well, What do you say? Who else wants to ask? Don't miss this opportunity, I tell you. Don't sit on the fence. Jump. Be vulnerable. Now is the time. Okay, You make it sound so beautiful to be vulnerable. This feels like accepting myself as I am in flow with the changing universe. Yes, Jai Gurudev. Welcome. The first day in the rest of your life. Heather is asking, Is time an illusion? Yes, It is. Next question. It's an illusion of continuity. Yeah. Why have I wasted five years after divorce? I stay in fight and flight mode. Like why can't I just relax? I don't know. You tell me. There's only one reason. The reason that you cannot relax is fear. Now it's up to you to identify the fear. What are you afraid of? Fear is what makes you contracted. My teacher is saying, You live your life like that. You know, With your fists closed trying to protect fight life. And then one of two things may happen. Either you let go or you die. Whatever comes first. In both cases, What happens to your fists? They are opening. So what do you want to come first? You letting go or death? Both cases, Your fists will open. And you know what you will find? They are empty. There is nothing there in your fists to protect. They were always empty. Stop torturing yourself. Stop doing that. Stop now. Nobody else can stop it for you. Instead of arguing with life, Trying to protect yourself against life, Hide from life. Embrace it. So everything is supposed to happen like the way it is. The alternative to that is suffering. The alternative to fight, The alternative to embrace life, To love whatever is happening, As it is happening, When it is happening, Is suffering. Torture, You use that word. Very heavy word. Yeah, Torture, Self-torture. Accepting life, Meaning you close the gap between what is and what you believe it should have been. Closing the gap again and again and again and reminding yourself that reality is not confused. You are confused. Reality cannot be confused. Just you and your opinions and your ideas and your ego trying to manipulate reality to be happy. Something else should happen in order for me to be happy, To be fulfilled, To be safe, To be enlightened, Whatever. No, No, No, Whatever, This version is not good enough. Whatever is happening now. Or me, I am not good enough. I'm not worthy. That's never the case. Never ever the case. Just ideas and concepts and opinions that masks your clarity. Drop them. Close those gaps. Stop torturing yourself. Embrace life as it happens. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's horrific. Sometimes it's pleasurable. Sometimes it's majestic. Yeah, That's life, What to do. Your job is to experience it with a full heart and a willing soul. What do you say? What else? Nothing. The rest will happen. Don't worry about the rest. Life happens. You just make sure you are wide enough to embrace all pleasure and pain are one and the same. It's very feminine quality. The feminine energy. See that? Only when the feminine is fully matured, Then the masculine can take you forward. Then you can truly evolve. There is this sankalpa, That clarity of intention. This is where I want to go. This is what's most important to me. But first you need to fully blossom in your femininity. Embrace, Love reality. Love yourself. Love the seekers and love the sinners. I think this is what Jesus said, No? Ah, You said what else because I keep saying what else? So, What else? We have time for one more question. I would like to use that time. Am I married and have kids? Yeah, Two actually. Two lovely boys. My pride and joy. See if you can take that example of unconditional love you have for your children and expand that. Include more into that. Not just your children. If you don't experience unconditional love to your children, Then there's a problem. You need to work on that. Because your children only need one thing from you. And that is unconditional love. They don't need you to educate them or guide them. They don't need anything other than unconditional love. That's it. And you're the only person on the planet that can give that to them unconditionally. You and their spiritual master, If they ever have one. And once you do, And I hope you do, Experience unconditional love to your children, Expand that and see if you can include more and more in that quality of your love. That's your purpose here. To expand your unconditional love circle. So much so that as you are fully matured and blossomed, All is included. Nothing is excluded. That's oneness. That's the definition of oneness. One love that you melt into. That's enlightenment. Baba, I saw a sign this week. I saw a sign this week that said, Mind the gap and thought of you and smiled. Good, Good. If you think about me and smile, Then something I'm doing right here. What do you teach your kids about the people in this world that cause war, Drama, Et cetera? I teach them to pour compassion when they meet these people. That's it. Just add compassion to the situation. And the rest will happen in the most natural, Effortless, Precise, Accurate way. Right? Good, Good, Good. Let me ask you, Do you think, Do you feel that what we've covered today is useful in your life? Nobody? Anybody? That's not a theoretical question. I truly want to know. Is what we covered today here useful in your life? Lady Peacock missed most of it. I will post a recording of this meeting so you can listen to that full meeting later this week. Okay, People share that it was useful. So I'm asking you, Share that. Share that knowledge with your loved ones. Share that realization with people around you. Share that with the people that you hate, With your enemies. Share that with everyone around you. Invite them to come to the next meeting so we can grow together. Imagine a world where everyone around you that you know are actively involved in this journey. Don't be shy about it. Invite them to come. There is a long list of previous meetings you can listen to and share with your friends in almost any subject. Scroll down the memory lane of the previous meetings and whatever inspires you, Share that. Let's make it a party. So thank you for coming tonight. Thank you for your beautiful questions and your honesty. Thank you for your donations. They are very helpful. And I look forward to meeting you next week in the next meeting. It's a good day. Bye bye.