0:00:09.134,0:00:11.479 Awakening 0:00:11.479,0:00:15.265 is the next natural stage[br]of human development. 0:00:15.497,0:00:20.471 So awakening is simply to recognize[br]the nature of our essential being. 0:00:20.564,0:00:26.530 Is not some weird,[br]mystical religious experience 0:00:26.530,0:00:28.282 that's only available to the few. 0:00:28.282,0:00:30.650 It's available to everyone. 0:00:30.165,0:00:35.911 What we essentially are[br]is already fully awake, fully aware. 0:00:35.911,0:00:38.289 And it's totally unlimited. 0:00:38.289,0:00:41.247 Your true nature is closer 0:00:41.416,0:00:44.538 than the you that you think you are. 0:00:45.214,0:00:48.840 Consciousness[br]is the ultimate reality of the universe. 0:00:48.895,0:00:53.544 The next step in science is to say[br]that consciousness is fundamental. 0:00:53.792,0:00:56.448 What is awakening anyway? 0:00:56.448,0:01:00.954 Somebody explain that to me. 0:01:23.742,0:01:26.211 What is awakening? 0:01:26.628,0:01:32.196 Whether you call it the true self,[br]the imminent self or "no self", 0:01:32.405,0:01:37.225 or Buddha[br]nature, Tao or Christ Consciousness, 0:01:37.406,0:01:40.422 it really doesn't matter. 0:01:40.422,0:01:45.098 In this film,[br]we're going to refer to it as awareness. 0:01:45.230,0:01:46.622 Awareness 0:01:46.622,0:01:49.750 is not the property of any religion. 0:01:49.750,0:01:53.163 Awakening or realizing awareness 0:01:53.175,0:01:55.599 is like waking from a dream. 0:01:56.190,0:01:58.440 The dream of your character 0:01:58.440,0:02:00.907 in the play of life. 0:02:01.440,0:02:03.423 Through our characters, 0:02:03.423,0:02:05.834 we experience the world 0:02:05.834,0:02:10.130 in all of its beauty and its ugliness. 0:02:10.444,0:02:14.467 We can call this experience of life[br]and death duality. 0:02:15.197,0:02:19.885 Around and around[br]we go, fixated on the characters, 0:02:19.885,0:02:22.498 thoughts and sensations. 0:02:22.618,0:02:24.123 Good and bad. 0:02:24.123,0:02:25.553 War and peace. 0:02:25.553,0:02:27.397 Light and darkness. 0:02:27.397,0:02:29.546 Birth and death. 0:02:30.016,0:02:31.818 Until we wake up and find out 0:02:31.818,0:02:34.904 we are not the character. 0:03:03.970,0:03:06.458 In this film,[br]we are extending an invitation 0:03:06.458,0:03:10.068 for you to directly experience[br]your true nature. 0:03:10.568,0:03:14.652 To find out directly, not intellectually... 0:03:15.122,0:03:16.791 Who are you? 0:03:17.530,0:03:19.373 We will repeat this 0:03:19.373,0:03:21.814 invitation in different ways. 0:03:22.535,0:03:25.502 When inquiring into who you are, 0:03:25.983,0:03:29.632 let everything be exactly as it is. 0:03:30.251,0:03:34.319 Don't[br]move the mind to make something happen 0:03:34.740,0:03:38.211 or to find some answer[br]on the level of mind. 0:03:38.681,0:03:41.939 And yet, don't try to push away the mind. 0:03:42.616,0:03:46.315 Simply intend to directly experience[br]who you are. 0:03:47.399,0:03:52.785 Letting the mind be a [br]"don't know mind" 0:04:02.085,0:04:08.806 Awakening is the answer to all of [br]the world's problems on every level. 0:04:08.806,0:04:13.569 All of the world's[br]problems stem from a delusion. 0:04:13.696,0:04:17.645 The fundamental delusion of the mind. 0:04:18.045,0:04:21.965 And that delusion is that[br]I am this limited character. 0:04:22.770,0:04:25.702 When we're living from a [br]small, separate self, 0:04:25.841,0:04:29.917 there's always some kind[br]of perpetual dissatisfaction. 0:04:30.122,0:04:34.118 So this can be big dissatisfaction[br]like trauma, 0:04:34.190,0:04:38.081 or it can be just this [br]background feeling... 0:04:38.085,0:04:39.745 "something's not right. 0:04:39.745,0:04:42.420 Something's wrong. I'm missing something." 0:04:42.760,0:04:47.875 Even when I have some pleasure,[br]even when I achieve something in world, 0:04:47.875,0:04:51.070 even when I have a good relationship, 0:04:51.070,0:04:54.274 if I just have a pause or a moment, 0:04:54.929,0:04:58.058 there's this dissatisfied feeling like 0:04:58.589,0:05:02.233 I'm isolated or cut off from something. 0:05:02.251,0:05:05.680 So this feeling, which it seems like 0:05:05.680,0:05:09.434 most people have, can motivate us 0:05:09.600,0:05:13.479 to awaken from that small, separate self 0:05:13.479,0:05:18.521 whose nature is a kind of separation[br]anxiety. 0:05:18.681,0:05:24.532 This limited character has a tendency[br]to grasp for what it wants. 0:05:24.532,0:05:28.058 It's just a collection[br]of conditioned patterns 0:05:28.232,0:05:33.265 of of craving what it wants or[br]trying to push away what it doesn't want. 0:05:33.490,0:05:37.628 It's this endless process of[br]you can say a pleasure 0:05:37.628,0:05:42.221 principle, you know,[br]going after pleasure, avoiding pain. 0:05:42.450,0:05:44.635 And if we believe we are this 0:05:44.927,0:05:48.976 character, this conditioned pattern, 0:05:49.296,0:05:52.935 then we suffer[br]and we create suffering in the world. 0:05:53.275,0:05:59.258 The world becomes a reflection[br]of that egoic consciousness. 0:05:59.690,0:06:02.215 The benefit of awakening 0:06:02.372,0:06:05.232 is that you suffer less 0:06:05.232,0:06:07.978 and the people around you suffer less. 0:06:08.076,0:06:13.067 There's no doubt in my mind that [br]my initial connection with 0:06:13.129,0:06:18.527 my understanding of God[br]was an awakening 0:06:18.527,0:06:22.625 for me in my life, the biggest awakening[br]that I've ever experienced. 0:06:22.735,0:06:27.599 It was very much as if I had been asleep[br]really for 50 years. 0:06:27.988,0:06:32.690 Walking around like a robot, just doing[br]the things that I was taught to do 0:06:32.980,0:06:36.396 from the time I was a young man,[br]you know, I had a formula down, 0:06:36.396,0:06:42.157 get the girl, get the car, get a job,[br]get the house, get a spouse. 0:06:42.157,0:06:46.624 A formula that I thought was [br]how I was supposed to work 0:06:46.685,0:06:48.582 until I got to be around 53 years old. 0:06:48.582,0:06:53.166 And I realized that while I had done[br]most of those things and had become 0:06:53.496,0:06:59.200 professionally successful to a degree,[br]then I realized that 0:06:59.200,0:07:03.543 no matter who woke up somewhere[br]around the age of 53, realizing 0:07:03.956,0:07:06.620 none of this matters, 0:07:06.620,0:07:08.668 none of this means anything. 0:07:08.668,0:07:12.144 I was shocked to find[br]how this literally meant, 0:07:12.306,0:07:16.246 how pointless it all was. 0:07:29.840,0:07:32.279 When you stop following the script 0:07:32.279,0:07:34.493 that has been laid out for your character. 0:07:35.225,0:07:37.860 The one inherited from parents, society 0:07:37.917,0:07:40.543 and biological conditioning, 0:07:40.903,0:07:44.560 then new dimensions open up[br]within the game. 0:07:45.377,0:07:47.467 The path opens up, 0:07:47.957,0:07:51.499 but it is not a path[br]to reach some destination. 0:07:52.185,0:07:54.917 It is a pathless path, 0:07:54.917,0:07:57.727 a stripping away of illusion to arrive 0:07:57.727,0:08:02.851 exactly where you are in the now. 0:08:10.198,0:08:12.658 My name is Rupert Spira. 0:08:12.658,0:08:15.161 I speak about the essential 0:08:15.620,0:08:18.664 non-dual understanding that underlies 0:08:18.706,0:08:22.835 all the great religious[br]and spiritual traditions. 0:08:23.365,0:08:28.277 And I write and lead guided meditations 0:08:28.277,0:08:33.179 and have conversations[br]whose purpose is to lead 0:08:33.513,0:08:38.151 to an experiential recognition 0:08:38.267,0:08:41.605 of this understanding. 0:08:42.396,0:08:44.306 Understand that 0:08:44.306,0:08:46.984 the peace and the happiness 0:08:46.984,0:08:49.471 for which we all long 0:08:49.471,0:08:52.856 above all else, can never, 0:08:52.856,0:08:57.286 by definition[br]be found in objective experience. 0:08:57.854,0:09:00.718 It can never be provided[br]by objects, substances, 0:09:00.718,0:09:04.161 activities and relationships. 0:09:04.377,0:09:06.235 I would suggest 0:09:07.480,0:09:09.234 understanding that 0:09:09.234,0:09:12.116 clearly and not spending [br]the rest of one's life 0:09:12.116,0:09:16.660 seeking fulfillment[br]where it cannot be found. 0:09:16.810,0:09:22.478 Anyone who is watching this movie is doing[br]so precisely because they have 0:09:22.478,0:09:27.049 either understood or at least intuited 0:09:27.049,0:09:31.375 that the peace and happiness[br]for which they long cannot be found 0:09:31.515,0:09:35.116 in objective experience and have begun 0:09:35.226,0:09:38.588 this investigation into their true nature. 0:09:38.977,0:09:42.312 That is the most important investigation 0:09:42.749,0:09:46.708 one can make,[br]and it is the investigation upon 0:09:46.708,0:09:51.733 which the depends our happiness. 0:09:52.040,0:09:54.883 The biggest question of my life,[br]of course, 0:09:55.000,0:09:59.882 which I believe is the question[br]most people look at sooner or later, is 0:10:00.382,0:10:02.995 "What is the point, actually?" 0:10:02.995,0:10:05.579 "What is the point of life?" 0:10:05.731,0:10:09.984 That, much to my surprise,[br]I was told that the point of life 0:10:09.984,0:10:14.907 had nothing to do[br]with anything that I was doing. 0:10:15.448,0:10:17.914 It wasn't about my job. 0:10:17.914,0:10:20.439 It wasn't about my career. 0:10:20.439,0:10:24.558 It wasn't about hardly anything[br]in my physical life. 0:10:25.119,0:10:28.419 Those were aspects of my life[br]were not the point of life. 0:10:29.378,0:10:32.640 The point of my life,[br]as I have come to understand 0:10:32.640,0:10:35.717 it was for me to experience, 0:10:35.717,0:10:39.023 express, demonstrate and fulfill 0:10:39.525,0:10:42.836 my true identity, who I really am. 0:10:43.689,0:10:45.811 I think that the biggest question 0:10:45.811,0:10:49.353 that most people face is a question[br]that hardly 0:10:49.353,0:10:53.037 anyone ever asks themselves[br]or ever answers. 0:10:53.810,0:10:56.543 The biggest question of life, 0:10:56.543,0:10:59.616 in my understanding, is "who am I?" 0:11:00.159,0:11:03.120 Who am I? 0:11:04.997,0:11:08.165 Am I simply a physical entity 0:11:08.265,0:11:11.222 like a bird in the sky or fish in the sea? 0:11:11.313,0:11:15.936 You know, perhaps more sophisticated,[br]but just a physical entity. 0:11:16.276,0:11:18.855 I'm born, I live, I die. 0:11:18.862,0:11:21.715 That's the beginning and the end of it. 0:11:21.715,0:11:24.821 Or is it possible, just possible 0:11:25.059,0:11:27.228 that I'm more than that? 0:11:27.269,0:11:30.388 Is it possible that I'm a spiritual entity 0:11:30.978,0:11:33.780 simply having a physical experience? 0:11:39.209,0:11:41.975 Every experience in your life 0:11:41.975,0:11:45.650 has brought you to this one[br]universal question. 0:11:46.249,0:11:48.416 Who are you? 0:11:50.418,0:11:55.614 Don't look for an answer with the mind. 0:11:56.930,0:12:01.845 Let everything be exactly as it is. 0:12:04.793,0:12:08.655 Who is aware of the mind? 0:12:11.496,0:12:15.725 Feel everything that comes up. 0:12:17.317,0:12:21.431 Who is aware of those feelings? 0:12:23.036,0:12:26.900 Have a complete experience[br]of everything that comes up 0:12:26.900,0:12:31.146 as a result of your inquiry. 0:12:42.450,0:12:44.699 I'm Donald Hoffman and I'm a professor 0:12:44.701,0:12:48.418 emeritus of cognitive sciences[br]at the University of California at Irvine. 0:12:48.618,0:12:51.642 My work has been teaching students,[br]although now I'm emeritus for 0:12:51.648,0:12:54.199 I don't teach. And now I do research. 0:12:54.199,0:12:58.613 I do research right now[br]on consciousness, mathematical models 0:12:58.613,0:13:02.655 of consciousness,[br]and how physics and spacetime might arise 0:13:02.655,0:13:07.978 from a theory of consciousness[br]that's completely mathematically precise. 0:13:08.570,0:13:11.094 My own journey has been 0:13:11.129,0:13:14.469 both from the spiritual side[br]and from the science side. 0:13:14.469,0:13:19.792 So my my father was a minister,[br]fundamentalist Christian minister. 0:13:19.921,0:13:22.727 So I got that on Sundays 0:13:22.812,0:13:26.436 and I got science at school[br]and they conflicted, right? 0:13:26.486,0:13:30.260 The stories I was getting were,[br]contradictory. 0:13:30.260,0:13:35.112 And so as a teenager, I realized[br]I needed to figure things out for myself. 0:13:35.112,0:13:37.843 And I decided the question I 0:13:37.843,0:13:41.445 wanted to answer was,[br]are we machines? 0:13:41.445,0:13:43.624 Are people just machines or not? 0:13:43.624,0:13:48.473 I mean, from the physical point of view,[br]are we just be machines 0:13:48.494,0:13:52.610 From a spiritual point of view,[br]we wouldn't be machines. 0:13:52.155,0:13:54.773 It wasn't precise enough[br]to say what we would be. 0:13:54.773,0:13:58.357 And so so I decided to ask the question 0:13:58.420,0:14:00.929 scientifically, are we just machines? 0:14:00.929,0:14:04.743 And the best way I thought to do that[br]would be to study artificial intelligence. 0:14:04.743,0:14:07.542 And so so I went to MIT 0:14:07.542,0:14:12.041 and was in the artificial intelligence[br]lab studying artificial intelligence 0:14:12.139,0:14:15.605 and also in what's now the brain[br]and cognitive science department, studying 0:14:15.605,0:14:17.814 the human side of things.[br]Because I wanted to do both. 0:14:17.814,0:14:20.929 I wanted to see what can machines do[br]and what is special, if anything, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 0:14:20.929,0:14:24.280 about humans and human neuroscience.[br]To answer that, 0:14:24.405,0:14:28.367 that very question[br]ar the spiritual traditions right? 0:14:28.367,0:14:30.536 Or are we more than just machines 0:14:30.536,0:14:33.914 or is the physical, scientific[br]point of view right? 0:14:33.914,0:14:35.291 And we are just machines. 0:14:35.291,0:14:38.335 And consciousness is just an artifact 0:14:38.335,0:14:42.756 of brain activity. 0:14:42.756,0:14:48.095 The scientific materialist paradigm that[br]has been predominant in the last century 0:14:48.679,0:14:52.141 denies the existence of[br]anything beyond the physical, 0:14:53.225,0:14:54.476 anything that cannot be 0:14:54.476,0:14:56.729 verified by the scientific method. 0:14:58.397,0:15:00.774 Science is an impasse. 0:15:00.774,0:15:05.195 It cannot move beyond the paradox[br]that is fundamental to quantum physics, 0:15:05.529,0:15:08.282 which brought it face to face[br]with the observer, 0:15:09.074,0:15:12.119 with consciousness itself. 0:15:12.119,0:15:15.581 Likewise, religions are,[br]for the most part, functioning 0:15:15.581,0:15:18.792 only on the level of belief. 0:15:18.792,0:15:23.714 They've lost their original purpose,[br]which was to lead to direct experience, 0:15:23.923,0:15:26.467 to the truth of who and what we are. 0:15:27.760,0:15:30.638 The split between science and spirituality 0:15:30.930,0:15:33.098 has rendered both impoverished. 0:15:34.141,0:15:38.604 Religions and spiritual systems[br]desperately need rigorous methods, 0:15:38.896,0:15:42.608 which can be shown to create conditions[br]for awakening to happen. 0:15:43.359,0:15:46.028 And science desperately needs an openness 0:15:46.028,0:15:49.156 to the possibility[br]of something beyond the physical. 0:15:49.782,0:15:52.993 It is not about giving up religion[br]or science, 0:15:53.410,0:15:57.831 but about going deeper,[br]being willing to change ourselves 0:15:58.165,0:16:01.585 so that we become a better tool[br]for investigation. 0:16:02.378,0:16:05.047 We are the ones doing the experiment, 0:16:05.506,0:16:10.052 and the experiment itself. 0:16:10.052,0:16:14.556 Religion has been the language[br]and the container 0:16:14.765,0:16:19.895 of these traditions[br]of meditation, spirituality 0:16:20.437,0:16:24.108 that have been written down and passed 0:16:24.108,0:16:26.860 on through the generations. 0:16:27.236,0:16:32.241 Certainly there is some language[br]that is very literal, 0:16:32.241,0:16:35.077 which divides religions and divides 0:16:35.494,0:16:37.871 cultures when things are taken literally. 0:16:38.414,0:16:42.793 But if you feel the spirit of religion, 0:16:44.044,0:16:45.170 you can follow the 0:16:45.170,0:16:49.425 thread back to authentic awakening. 0:16:49.425,0:16:54.430 Anyone has the potential,[br]whether they have belief or no belief, 0:16:54.847,0:16:57.975 because awakening is inherent 0:16:57.975,0:17:01.812 within our human consciousness,[br]just by our human birth. 0:17:02.354,0:17:05.607 So whatever you call it,[br]and whenever language is used, 0:17:06.150,0:17:09.611 there's certain principles[br]that seem to be the same 0:17:09.945,0:17:13.365 throughout these different religions 0:17:13.365,0:17:16.035 and spiritualities[br]and meditation traditions. 0:17:17.036,0:17:19.872 When I was younger, this understanding 0:17:19.872,0:17:24.543 was mainly available[br]in the Eastern spiritual traditions. 0:17:24.543,0:17:27.046 It was available in the Western 0:17:27.046,0:17:31.300 traditions,[br]but it was so disguised and codified 0:17:31.508,0:17:34.845 in those traditions[br]as to be almost inaccessible. 0:17:35.179,0:17:38.974 So many people of my generation[br]went physically 0:17:39.892,0:17:44.563 or at least intellectually,[br]to the East to find this understanding 0:17:44.897,0:17:48.817 and Eastern culture by comparison with 0:17:49.318,0:17:52.321 Western culture is exotic. 0:17:53.322,0:17:58.452 And so this understanding[br]acquired a flavor of the exotic 0:17:58.619,0:18:02.331 from the cultures[br]in which it was expressed. 0:18:02.831,0:18:05.667 And many people, myself included 0:18:07.002,0:18:08.921 thought as a result of this 0:18:08.921,0:18:12.758 that there was something exotic[br]about the non dual 0:18:12.758,0:18:17.846 understanding; that it required[br]some extra ordinary way of life, 0:18:17.846,0:18:20.641 that you had to give up family life 0:18:20.849,0:18:24.895 or grow your hair[br]or get a special name or subscribe 0:18:24.895,0:18:31.068 to some kind of teacher or or tradition[br]or engage in strange practices. 0:18:31.068,0:18:34.696 All these kind of things[br]which had nothing to do 0:18:34.696,0:18:38.158 with the core understanding.[br]They were to do with the culture 0:18:38.158,0:18:42.496 in which the understanding[br]was expressed at a particular time. 0:18:43.080,0:18:47.126 So now the understanding[br]has been completely divested 0:18:47.334,0:18:53.715 of the traditional cultural packaging[br]in which many of us first heard about it. 0:18:53.882,0:18:59.138 And now just the essential[br]understanding is available 0:18:59.138,0:19:02.808 in a way that enables us to carry[br]on leading our lives 0:19:03.016,0:19:07.062 exactly as they are. Family life, work[br]life... 0:19:07.563,0:19:12.734 it's not necessary to make[br]any external changes in one's life. 0:19:13.360,0:19:16.155 The challenge we have on this planet 0:19:16.155,0:19:18.407 is that we think there's more than one 0:19:19.366,0:19:20.701 essence. 0:19:20.951,0:19:22.536 So we live in a 0:19:22.995,0:19:26.123 world of what I would call duality. 0:19:26.123,0:19:28.333 There's male and female, black and white, 0:19:29.084,0:19:34.006 big and small, fast and slow, up[br]and down, here and there, before 0:19:34.006,0:19:36.717 and after,[br]but in fact, there's only one thing. 0:19:38.177,0:19:42.389 All things are one thing. 0:19:42.389,0:19:44.433 There is only one thing. 0:19:44.766,0:19:47.686 So it turns out that when [br]we look deeply at everything 0:19:47.686,0:19:51.857 we see that here and there, big and small, [br]fast and slow, up and down, left and right, 0:19:52.566,0:19:57.696 male and female, are all the same thing,[br]simply expressing 0:19:57.946,0:20:01.992 different characteristics[br]but in no way separate from each other. 0:20:02.701,0:20:05.120 I believe that all of us 0:20:05.120,0:20:07.915 are individuations 0:20:07.915,0:20:09.374 of God. 0:20:10.000,0:20:12.461 I believe that God exists in, as, and 0:20:12.461,0:20:18.050 through every human being[br]and for that matter, every sentient 0:20:18.050,0:20:21.094 being in the cosmos. 0:20:21.094,0:20:24.473 So I see then that[br]I am in relationship to God 0:20:25.515,0:20:28.393 as a wave is to the ocean. 0:20:28.393,0:20:31.063 A wave is no different[br]from the ocean; it's 0:20:31.063,0:20:35.317 simply an arising of the ocean[br]in individual form. 0:20:36.151,0:20:38.570 And when that individuation is complete, 0:20:39.279,0:20:41.865 the wave recedes back into the ocean[br]whence it came. 0:20:41.865,0:20:45.160 To arise again on another day. 0:20:46.662,0:20:51.375 So I believe that[br]we are all individuations of divinity, 0:20:51.375,0:20:53.669 and when we see everything as divine, 0:20:54.419,0:20:57.047 we change our relationship with everything. 0:20:58.215,0:21:00.425 And everything becomes 0:21:00.509,0:21:02.594 different in our experience. 0:21:03.595,0:21:16.525 That's how the world changes. 0:21:16.525,0:21:20.404 Consciousness[br]is the ultimate reality of the universe, 0:21:21.238,0:21:26.368 so we might well ask if consciousness[br]is the ultimate reality of the universe 0:21:26.368,0:21:30.455 and everything, and everyone[br]is obviously that, then how come 0:21:33.583,0:21:37.629 the world appears to us as a multiplicity[br]and diversity 0:21:38.213,0:21:42.968 of discrete[br]and independently existing people 0:21:42.968,0:21:46.972 and animals and things[br]all made out of stuff called matter. 0:21:46.972,0:21:51.268 How can we reconcile this statement[br]that consciousness 0:21:51.268,0:21:54.187 is the ultimate reality of the universe[br]when it appears 0:21:54.438,0:21:57.941 as a multiplicity and diversity of objects[br]made out of matter? 0:21:58.066,0:22:02.362 So the the evidence that I'm using[br]to suggest that consciousness 0:22:02.362,0:22:03.196 is fundamental 0:22:04.656,0:22:06.908 has many aspects to it. 0:22:06.908,0:22:09.411 One is that physics itself 0:22:09.411,0:22:12.581 says that space time isn't fundamental 0:22:12.581,0:22:15.375 and evolutionary theory[br]also agrees that spacetime 0:22:15.375,0:22:17.878 and physical objects[br]are not fundamental reality. 0:22:18.462,0:22:23.800 Now, both of those theories tell us only[br]that that spacetime is not fundamental. 0:22:23.800,0:22:25.927 They don't tell us[br]what is beyond spacetime. 0:22:26.595,0:22:31.183 And so my argument[br]is that what the physicists are finding 0:22:31.183,0:22:34.019 beyond spacetime, they're finding[br]mathematical structures, 0:22:34.644,0:22:37.022 but what those are about 0:22:37.230,0:22:40.901 is not really clear. What is this[br]realm beyond space time about? 0:22:41.151,0:22:45.238 And so I'm proposing that the realm[br]beyond space time is about consciousness. 0:22:45.781,0:22:48.742 And I would suggest that[br]infinite consciousness has the ability 0:22:48.742,0:22:53.955 to localize itself as numerous separate[br]subjects of experience, 0:22:54.289,0:22:58.627 that is, all sentient beings, all people[br]or animals. 0:22:58.919,0:23:03.423 Each of us are localizations[br]of infinite consciousness, 0:23:03.423,0:23:07.094 in infinite consciousness[br]made only of infinite consciousness 0:23:07.719,0:23:10.305 from whose perspective it views 0:23:10.305,0:23:13.850 its own activity as the outside world. 0:23:14.851,0:23:15.185 So what 0:23:15.185,0:23:18.021 appears to us as a world[br]made out of matter 0:23:18.480,0:23:23.360 from our localized perspectives,[br]is from the point of view of reality, 0:23:23.568,0:23:27.823 simply the activity of the one[br]infinite consciousness. 0:23:28.031,0:23:33.161 In other words, in the ultimate analysis,[br]there are no discrete 0:23:33.161,0:23:36.998 or independently existing things[br]or people. 0:23:37.457,0:23:40.419 There is one infinite, indivisible, whole. 0:23:41.211,0:23:44.714 The unity of being that is only refracted 0:23:45.715,0:23:49.094 into an apparent multiplicity[br]and diversity of objects and things. 0:23:49.553,0:23:53.306 When the one looks at its own activity 0:23:53.640,0:23:55.934 through the perceiving faculties 0:23:56.351,0:23:58.728 of the finite mind. 0:23:59.271,0:24:00.856 If we are awake, 0:24:00.856,0:24:04.693 we realize that there's one awareness 0:24:05.235,0:24:09.072 that is disguised as all of these[br]different beings on the planet, 0:24:09.698,0:24:13.410 one awareness[br]shining through everyone's eyes. 0:24:13.452,0:24:17.747 Then we literally see ourselves in others. 0:24:18.081,0:24:22.169 And that tendency to operate as an ego, 0:24:22.169,0:24:26.006 the tendency to take for oneself 0:24:26.381,0:24:30.677 falls away[br]because we directly realize the truth. 0:24:31.261,0:24:34.431 The truth is[br]that we're all one consciousness. 0:24:35.765,0:24:38.268 The experience of my spiritual self 0:24:39.519,0:24:41.646 was only possible in the realm 0:24:41.646,0:24:43.899 of the physical for a very good reason, 0:24:44.649,0:24:48.820 because only in the realm of the physical[br]was the opposite available. 0:24:49.738,0:24:52.115 In other words, just use a simple example, 0:24:52.866,0:24:55.619 if I wanted to experience myself,[br]if I could speak 0:24:55.619,0:24:57.829 metaphorically, as the light, 0:24:58.872,0:25:02.375 I couldn't experience being the light[br]if I was amidst the light, 0:25:02.918,0:25:04.961 nothing else around me but the light, 0:25:05.420,0:25:09.466 which is a perfect definition[br]of the realm of the spiritual. 0:25:09.966,0:25:13.762 So I would come to a realm[br]which I call the realm of the physical, 0:25:13.929,0:25:16.348 where there is something[br]other than the light. 0:25:16.973,0:25:19.601 Because if I want to experience myself[br]as the light, 0:25:19.601,0:25:22.979 not just know myself as that,[br]but experience it, 0:25:23.480,0:25:24.731 I could only do that 0:25:24.731,0:25:28.401 where there was the opposite of the light,[br]in this case, the darkness. 0:25:29.528,0:25:30.904 So I brought 0:25:30.904,0:25:36.201 this opportunity to the physical realm[br]where the light and the dark exist 0:25:36.201,0:25:40.288 simultaneously, and then in that outward 0:25:40.288,0:25:44.543 expression of myself as the light,[br]I could be who I really am. 0:25:45.335,0:25:47.671 And this understanding suggests 0:25:47.671,0:25:53.426 that behind our differences[br]we are all the same, 0:25:53.593,0:25:59.724 being not a similar being, but[br]we are all literally one... the same being. 0:25:59.724,0:26:04.646 And love is the felt experience 0:26:05.313,0:26:08.316 of this oneness or shared being. 0:26:08.733,0:26:14.281 It's a theorem of our theory that[br]there is ultimately one consciousness. 0:26:15.699,0:26:18.910 So we have this dynamics of many,[br]many conscious agents. 0:26:18.910,0:26:22.163 But the theory tells us[br]that ultimately all those conscious agents 0:26:22.163,0:26:26.084 are really just projections[br]of a single one consciousness. 0:26:26.084,0:26:27.711 The current 0:26:28.169,0:26:29.963 paradigm in science 0:26:29.963,0:26:32.549 has, and it has been for for centuries, 0:26:32.799,0:26:36.386 is that space and time[br]are the fundamental nature of reality. 0:26:36.428,0:26:39.931 They're irreducible[br]and they are the foundation of everything. 0:26:40.515,0:26:43.643 And prior to Einstein, space[br]and time were viewed as separate. 0:26:43.935,0:26:47.647 Now, space and time together,[br]a unified into spacetime are viewed 0:26:47.647,0:26:49.524 as the fundamental nature of reality. 0:26:49.524,0:26:51.818 And science has then assumed that 0:26:53.153,0:26:53.862 spacetime 0:26:53.862,0:26:56.990 and objects in spacetime[br]are the foundational reality. 0:26:57.616,0:27:00.243 And so, for example,[br]when we talk about consciousness, 0:27:00.910,0:27:06.082 consciousness itself then must be somehow[br]a product of objects in space and time. 0:27:06.374,0:27:10.837 In that physicalist framework[br]space and time and physical objects 0:27:11.713,0:27:15.008 without any consciousness[br]are the fundamental reality. 0:27:15.008,0:27:19.804 And consciousness comes later on[br]in the evolution of the universe, right? 0:27:19.846,0:27:21.514 So that the big bang, 0:27:21.514,0:27:24.559 there was no consciousness,[br]there was just spacetime and energy. 0:27:24.768,0:27:26.978 The energy coalesced[br]into massive particles 0:27:27.187,0:27:30.982 and eventually life emerged after[br]who knows how many millions or hundreds 0:27:30.982,0:27:32.525 of millions or billions of years. 0:27:32.525,0:27:35.987 Then after that consciousness came,[br]even later. 0:27:37.197,0:27:40.867 From that point of view,[br]when you die, the physical complexity 0:27:40.867,0:27:44.329 that gave rise to consciousness dissolves[br]and so your consciousness dissolves. 0:27:44.329,0:27:48.708 And so the physicalist framework[br]really does eliminate consciousness 0:27:49.042,0:27:51.127 as a fundamental thing,[br]altogether 0:27:51.127,0:27:54.381 and says that when your body dies,[br]your consciousness goes with it. 0:27:56.216,0:27:58.134 From this other point of view... 0:27:58.134,0:28:01.638 what I've done with my colleagues,[br]we have we used evolutionary theory 0:28:01.638,0:28:03.139 to point out 0:28:03.139,0:28:04.015 that it's 0:28:04.015,0:28:07.811 an implication of evolutionary theory,[br]that space and time is not fundamental, 0:28:07.811,0:28:10.980 so the physicalist interpretation[br]of evolution is wrong. 0:28:11.690,0:28:14.734 The idea that that space[br]and time and particles 0:28:14.734,0:28:20.657 somehow have evolved due to human[br]organisms 0:28:21.074,0:28:24.369 is is the wrong framework or because space[br]time itself is not fundamental. 0:28:24.577,0:28:27.747 We're positing a dynamics[br]beyond spacetime that's much richer. 0:28:27.747,0:28:29.833 The dynamics of consciousness. 0:28:29.833,0:28:32.168 What we do not do is throw away[br]our old theories. 0:28:32.293,0:28:34.337 When physicists say spacetime is doomed, 0:28:34.337,0:28:38.133 that doesn't mean[br]we no longer pay attention to Einstein. 0:28:38.133,0:28:40.593 Absolutely not.[br]We pay attention to Einstein. 0:28:40.802,0:28:45.098 Any new theory beyond spacetime that[br]the physicists come up with better project 0:28:45.098,0:28:48.810 into space time and give us back Einstein[br]and it better give us back quantum theory 0:28:48.852,0:28:50.353 or you're wrong. 0:28:50.353,0:28:52.313 All of our old theories 0:28:52.313,0:28:56.109 are wonderful, wonderful friends[br]and we're going to keep them 0:28:57.068,0:28:59.320 as special cases of a deeper theory. 0:28:59.863,0:29:02.323 So in our theory of consciousness,[br]we have to do the same thing. 0:29:02.949,0:29:05.076 We can't just propose anything we want. 0:29:05.076,0:29:07.954 We have to have a theory of consciousness[br]that projects and gives us back 0:29:07.954,0:29:08.830 space time, 0:29:08.830,0:29:12.417 and gives us back quantum theory,[br]and gives us back special and general 0:29:12.417,0:29:15.545 relativity, and gives us back[br]evolution by natural selection. 0:29:15.837,0:29:19.632 If we cannot do that in precise[br]mathematical detail, 0:29:19.924,0:29:21.593 then there's no reason for scientists 0:29:21.593,0:29:24.137 to take our theory of consciousness[br]seriously. 0:29:24.137,0:29:28.600 It's as if infinite consciousness puts[br]on a virtual reality headset. Infinite 0:29:28.600,0:29:32.312 consciousness puts on a a VR headset[br]made of thinking and perceiving. 0:29:32.645,0:29:36.983 And in doing so,[br]the moment it puts on the VR headset, 0:29:37.233,0:29:41.112 it localizes itself[br]within its own activity. 0:29:41.529,0:29:46.743 And through that headset[br]it looks out through the perceiving 0:29:46.743,0:29:50.789 faculties of a finite mind; seeing,[br]hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. 0:29:51.080,0:29:55.418 And it fragments[br]the unity of its own being 0:29:56.503,0:29:59.339 and makes it appear as 10,000 things. 0:30:00.423,0:30:02.467 What I'm suggesting is that 0:30:03.009,0:30:07.806 there is very much more to to the universe[br]than the finite mind. 0:30:07.806,0:30:13.520 I'm not suggesting that the universe[br]only appears in each of our finite minds. 0:30:14.020,0:30:18.733 The universe exists outside of our finite[br]mind, but inside consciousness. 0:30:19.067,0:30:22.570 But it is the limitations[br]of our finite mind 0:30:22.987,0:30:26.199 that give the universe its appearance. 0:30:27.617,0:30:31.955 So when we look out at the universe,[br]we're seeing the reality 0:30:31.955,0:30:35.667 that exists prior to its being perceived. 0:30:36.376,0:30:40.421 But we are seeing it through the lens[br]of our perceiving faculties, 0:30:41.881,0:30:45.593 which gives it its appearance. 0:30:45.593,0:30:50.640 So the idea of awakening in many spiritual[br]traditions has been the idea 0:30:50.640,0:30:53.685 that what we have taken is reality 0:30:54.644,0:30:57.605 objects in space[br]and time, our physical bodies and so forth 0:30:58.898,0:30:59.649 is not the 0:30:59.649,0:31:02.527 final reality,[br]that there is a much deeper reality, 0:31:02.819,0:31:06.865 a reality of consciousness that transcends[br]space and time and physical objects, 0:31:07.365,0:31:10.034 and that we're not divorced[br]from that reality. 0:31:10.034,0:31:13.705 That reality is, in some sense,[br]the essence of what we are. 0:31:14.038,0:31:17.083 And so awakening is awakening[br]from the illusion 0:31:17.083,0:31:21.671 that I'm just a little body in space[br]and time to the fact that I am 0:31:21.671,0:31:24.966 in fact the author of everything[br]I see inside of space and time. 0:31:24.966,0:31:36.728 I create it on the fly[br]as I look and perceive. 0:31:36.728,0:31:41.441 One becomes awakened by recognizing that 0:31:42.483,0:31:45.486 what we essentially are is already 0:31:45.945,0:31:49.032 fully awake, fully aware, 0:31:49.032,0:31:52.368 complete, whole, fulfilled at peace. 0:31:53.328,0:31:55.330 It's like asking how does the 0:31:55.663,0:31:59.000 sun become illuminated? 0:31:59.626,0:32:01.377 Its nature is light. 0:32:01.377,0:32:03.129 It is already fully illuminated. 0:32:03.129,0:32:07.967 The nature of our essential[br]being is already peace and happiness. 0:32:08.384,0:32:11.846 It's not clear to us all,[br]because our essential being is so 0:32:11.846,0:32:15.975 thoroughly mixed with the content[br]of experience that its innate 0:32:16.601,0:32:19.938 Peace[br]and happiness is dimmed by experience. 0:32:20.563,0:32:25.193 And for that reason we think that our[br]essential being needs to be enlightened. 0:32:25.193,0:32:27.487 No essential being[br]doesn't need to be enlightened 0:32:27.487,0:32:31.366 any more than the sun[br]needs to be lit up in the early morning. 0:32:32.533,0:32:35.203 The sun's[br]always shining with the same brightness. 0:32:35.203,0:32:39.415 Our essential being is always shining[br]with the same peace and joy. 0:32:39.749,0:32:43.086 But that peace and joy are dimmed[br]by the agitation 0:32:43.086,0:32:45.797 and lack that characterizes[br]our thoughts and feelings. 0:32:47.548,0:32:50.551 There's no person that awakens. 0:32:51.177,0:32:54.597 So the I that awakened 0:32:55.598,0:32:57.642 I awakened from this Dan 0:32:57.642,0:33:00.812 structure at a meditation center. 0:33:01.229,0:33:03.314 It was a Zen center. 0:33:03.314,0:33:05.984 We were doing a Zen sesshin 0:33:05.984,0:33:09.529 which is a long period[br]of intensive practice. 0:33:10.238,0:33:15.118 So Zen is amazing[br]for creating this container 0:33:15.493,0:33:18.246 where there are[br]these conditions of no escape. 0:33:18.663,0:33:24.252 So the Dan character[br]that had learned meditation, 0:33:24.252,0:33:27.338 the Dan character had been doing[br]all this meditation, 0:33:27.547,0:33:29.841 this doer of meditation, 0:33:30.675,0:33:33.094 realized that it couldn't awaken. 0:33:33.469,0:33:36.597 It's like all the meditation tricks, 0:33:36.597,0:33:41.894 all the practices that had been learned[br]were of no use. 0:33:42.186,0:33:45.565 It got to the point where that character 0:33:45.773,0:33:48.359 who was trying to awaken, failed 0:33:49.027,0:33:51.154 to awaken and had to fail. 0:33:51.487,0:33:56.367 That the character that I had been living,[br]the character that I've been playing 0:33:56.534,0:34:01.330 all my life, had to let go or die and 0:34:02.457,0:34:03.791 what was left? 0:34:03.791,0:34:06.961 What was left [br]when there was no doer 0:34:06.961,0:34:10.214 when there was no meditator 0:34:10.214,0:34:14.510 meditating[br]or doing something called, meditation, 0:34:15.261,0:34:18.723 what was left was my true nature 0:34:18.723,0:34:21.059 or me... just me. 0:34:21.059,0:34:25.480 When we awaken from this small, separate[br]sense of self, it's 0:34:25.480,0:34:28.775 not that we're killing the ego 0:34:28.816,0:34:31.694 or we're fighting it. 0:34:32.153,0:34:35.990 It's actually we're allowing it[br]to semi retire 0:34:36.365,0:34:39.035 from its job of ego identity 0:34:39.702,0:34:42.455 and then relax to be part 0:34:42.455,0:34:45.541 of our team, part of our consciousness. 0:34:46.417,0:34:49.837 And this gives us[br]a sense of freedom immediately 0:34:49.837,0:34:53.633 that we're not looking at the world[br]through a small lens, 0:34:53.633,0:34:58.513 that we're we're open[br]hearted and open minded in a way that's 0:34:59.931,0:35:01.933 expansive and yet 0:35:02.683,0:35:05.853 at the same time, more intimately[br]connected. 0:35:05.978,0:35:08.898 Enlightenment[br]is not about becoming awakened. 0:35:09.565,0:35:11.818 Nobody becomes awakened or enlightened. 0:35:11.818,0:35:16.322 It's a recognition of the light,[br]the light of pure knowing 0:35:17.281,0:35:19.075 whose nature is peace and happiness 0:35:19.075,0:35:21.327 that we always and already are. 0:35:25.873,0:35:26.624 My name is Lisa 0:35:26.624,0:35:30.044 Natoli,[br]and I'm known as a spiritual teacher. 0:35:30.169,0:35:34.298 I teach about healing and awakening[br]and transformation. 0:35:34.298,0:35:38.302 Awakening[br]is the recognition of your true nature, 0:35:38.803,0:35:44.142 and it's the realization of what[br]you really are, which is consciousness. 0:35:44.517,0:35:49.355 And consciousness is just one word[br]for many words that people use 0:35:50.148,0:35:55.027 for awareness, life, love, God, 0:35:56.529,0:35:58.114 light. 0:35:58.573,0:36:03.786 So waking up to the recognition[br]that I'm not this body 0:36:04.203,0:36:07.832 that I am, that which never dies[br]and that which is never born, 0:36:08.666,0:36:11.627 and the 0:36:11.627,0:36:15.673 easiest way for me,[br]that was a very difficult idea for me. 0:36:15.673,0:36:18.759 I've been on a spiritual path since 1992. 0:36:19.677,0:36:21.971 I started with A Course in Miracles. 0:36:21.971,0:36:24.348 I always studied it religiously. 0:36:24.348,0:36:28.603 I mean, I was someone who was so committed[br]to knowing the 0:36:28.603,0:36:33.858 Self, knowing God, waking up.[br]I couldn't get it, 0:36:34.734,0:36:37.069 because I was under the belief 0:36:37.069,0:36:40.031 that awakening was something mystical, 0:36:40.406,0:36:44.827 that something would happen,[br]that something would occur, 0:36:45.703,0:36:47.830 and it would be like Jesus 0:36:47.830,0:36:51.250 or Buddha[br]or all of these enlightened masters 0:36:52.460,0:36:53.920 and it wasn't happening for me. 0:36:53.920,0:36:56.339 I couldn't understand why. 0:36:56.505,0:37:00.259 Why am I so committed 0:37:00.259,0:37:05.806 and I'm having deep moments of peace and[br]happiness and joy... and still struggling. 0:37:06.349,0:37:09.518 I started to realize the simplicity 0:37:10.061,0:37:12.313 of our true nature, which is awareness. 0:37:13.272,0:37:18.402 So for someone who's listening to me[br]right now, 0:37:18.945,0:37:23.950 the awareness that's hearing this voice,[br]that's what we are. 0:37:24.784,0:37:28.955 And it doesn't have a location,[br]it doesn't have a gender, 0:37:29.163,0:37:31.958 it doesn't have a color,[br]it doesn't have a body, 0:37:33.042,0:37:35.211 and it's totally unlimited. 0:37:36.587,0:37:39.840 So awakening is where we wake up 0:37:40.841,0:37:42.635 to our true nature. 0:37:42.635,0:37:47.598 We wake up to the realization[br]that I am the awareness 0:37:47.974,0:37:51.936 of this experience right now[br]as I'm here. 0:37:53.020,0:37:54.355 And it's so ordinary 0:37:54.355,0:37:55.564 we miss it. 0:37:56.357,0:37:59.151 We think it can't be that simple. 0:37:59.151,0:38:00.987 The recognition of our true nature, 0:38:00.987,0:38:03.239 it doesn't lead to happiness. 0:38:03.864,0:38:07.118 It is happiness... the nature of being 0:38:07.576,0:38:10.121 is happiness itself. 0:38:10.121,0:38:13.582 So the recognition of our true[br]nature is the experience 0:38:13.582,0:38:20.381 of happiness. 0:38:20.381,0:38:22.717 Who is aware in this moment? 0:38:24.635,0:38:25.511 The mind will 0:38:25.511,0:38:28.514 look for something,[br]or try to complicate it. 0:38:29.765,0:38:31.809 You already are 0:38:31.809,0:38:36.731 that which the mind is looking for. 0:38:36.731,0:38:38.858 The mind will always miss it. 0:38:39.650,0:38:42.236 So don't look to the mind for an answer. 0:38:43.195,0:38:45.281 Don't push away your thoughts 0:38:45.281,0:38:49.535 and don't get caught in the thoughts. 0:38:49.535,0:38:54.665 Simply let go of the interest[br]or attachment to thoughts, ideas 0:38:55.124,0:38:57.084 and beliefs. 0:38:57.793,0:39:00.755 Intend to directly experience 0:39:00.755,0:39:04.425 who you are. 0:39:04.425,0:39:09.013 Don't try to negate the mind[br]or to achieve some state. 0:39:10.139,0:39:13.184 All doing, all manipulation, 0:39:13.184,0:39:17.188 all movement is more controlling[br]by the mind. 0:39:17.855,0:39:27.823 Allow the mind to be as it is. 0:39:27.823,0:39:31.869 Sometimes people can awaken[br]just in day to day life. 0:39:31.869,0:39:34.789 They don't necessarily need practice. 0:39:34.997,0:39:39.752 So sometimes things will happen in life[br]where there's an interrupt 0:39:39.752,0:39:44.465 in the pattern of you.[br]And there can be a spontaneous awakening. 0:39:44.965,0:39:50.054 But if someone's life is just going on[br]in a kind of robotic pattern 0:39:50.054,0:39:52.431 or repetitive pattern, then 0:39:53.140,0:39:55.976 some sort of intervention is necessary. 0:39:55.976,0:40:02.483 if one is called to awakening[br]and that interrupt in the pattern of you 0:40:02.691,0:40:06.821 is sometimes called sadhana[br]or spiritual practice. 0:40:07.071,0:40:10.032 And these practices are always 0:40:10.991,0:40:11.951 conditioned. 0:40:11.951,0:40:14.954 Thet are something that we learn[br]with the conditioned mind. 0:40:15.371,0:40:19.291 So they can make it more likely[br]for awakening to happen, 0:40:19.542,0:40:23.170 sort of by loosening the bonds[br]within the self structure. 0:40:23.629,0:40:28.300 Sometimes they say[br]that awakening happens by accident, 0:40:28.509,0:40:31.512 but the practice makes you more accident[br]prone. 0:40:32.304,0:40:35.766 The techniques,[br]the practices can be very useful 0:40:36.058,0:40:38.561 to make you more accident prone. 0:40:38.561,0:40:42.606 But then at a certain point[br]have to be let go. 0:40:43.524,0:40:47.736 Because if the mind[br]is continuously doing some practice 0:40:47.736,0:40:50.906 or some thing, then the mind has 0:40:50.906,0:40:54.201 the reins, mind is in the driver's seat. 0:40:54.577,0:40:58.456 So the practices are useful, very useful 0:40:58.456,0:41:03.335 as steppingstones[br]for making the self structure, 0:41:03.335,0:41:07.631 you can say less dense[br]or enlightening up the self structure 0:41:07.882,0:41:11.093 so that it becomes more permeable 0:41:11.343,0:41:15.639 to our true nature. 0:41:15.639,0:41:19.935 The paradox with practice[br]is that when you finally awaken, 0:41:20.311,0:41:23.022 you realize that all of the practices 0:41:23.189,0:41:25.566 were being done by the false self, 0:41:26.317,0:41:30.237 the character in the VR game,[br]and that YOU, 0:41:30.446,0:41:35.075 the true self, was never bound. 0:41:35.075,0:41:38.871 All you have to do[br]is give up the preferences of the ego, 0:41:39.580,0:41:43.834 to give up the fixation on things. 0:41:43.834,0:41:48.714 Anything within the field of changing[br]phenomena is not the true self, 0:41:49.632,0:41:53.719 the you that you think you are, the you[br]that you've always been 0:41:53.719,0:41:56.388 identified with will never awaken 0:41:56.847,0:41:59.475 you awaken from that character. 0:41:59.892,0:42:04.104 You awaken from the delusion[br]that you were this conditioned character. 0:42:04.396,0:42:08.317 So when people come to these[br]retreats, they think this 0:42:08.317,0:42:12.196 "I" this little "me" is going to awaken,[br]some great thing is going to happen. 0:42:12.488,0:42:15.699 But at a certain point,[br]that little me will never do it. 0:42:15.699,0:42:17.743 It has to give up, it has to fail. 0:42:18.035,0:42:20.079 And it's only in that failure 0:42:20.371,0:42:26.418 we realize who we are, that we've always[br]been aware, we've always been present. 0:42:26.710,0:42:30.381 We just got hooked into this character[br]and we believed 0:42:30.381,0:42:42.851 we were that. 0:42:42.851,0:42:48.774 I started my spiritual search[br]in the classical Advaita Vedanta 0:42:49.775,0:42:51.777 tradition, which was a devotional path 0:42:52.486,0:42:56.198 that involved mantra meditation, 0:42:56.198,0:43:00.160 which I practiced[br]very diligently for 20 years. 0:43:00.578,0:43:02.913 And mantra meditation involves 0:43:03.789,0:43:07.209 focusing your attention on a sound 0:43:08.294,0:43:10.546 and then gradually the sound fades. 0:43:11.088,0:43:12.673 However, it was 0:43:12.923,0:43:15.759 four really when I came in touch 0:43:15.759,0:43:18.429 with the direct path that 0:43:19.597,0:43:24.852 my spiritual searcg[br]really reached its culmination. 0:43:25.227,0:43:28.856 Because in this direct approach, 0:43:28.856,0:43:32.943 we don't give our attention to any object,[br]however 0:43:33.152,0:43:37.197 subtle, for instance,[br]a mantra, a sound, the breath, 0:43:37.656,0:43:41.201 we allow our attention to sink inwards 0:43:41.201,0:43:43.746 or backwards into its source. 0:43:45.164,0:43:47.916 Let's use an analogy. 0:43:47.916,0:43:51.670 Imagine that you are watching your life[br]on a television screen. 0:43:52.046,0:43:54.965 You are identified with the character[br]on the screen. 0:43:56.258,0:43:57.593 Day after day, 0:43:57.593,0:44:01.722 year after year you are involved[br]with the story of the character 0:44:02.264,0:44:05.434 when suddenly you wake up out of the story 0:44:05.809,0:44:09.104 to notice the screen[br]on which the character appears 0:44:09.563,0:44:13.275 and you realize you are not the character[br]you've been watching. 0:44:14.109,0:44:16.445 Objects can come and go on the screen. 0:44:17.446,0:44:19.448 Characters come and go, 0:44:19.448,0:44:21.825 but the screen remains unchanged. 0:44:22.785,0:44:24.995 The character can get wet, 0:44:24.995,0:44:29.500 but the screen does not get wet.[br]The character can be disturbed, 0:44:30.042,0:44:33.045 but the screen is not disturbed. 0:44:33.045,0:44:36.382 Without the screen,[br]the characters would not exist, 0:44:37.091,0:44:39.134 yet screen goes unnoticed. 0:44:39.593,0:44:42.554 The characters go about their scripted[br]lives. 0:44:44.014,0:44:46.016 Awareness is like the screen. 0:44:46.767,0:44:49.603 It is like the space[br]in which all thoughts, 0:44:49.770,0:44:53.649 motions, all states of consciousness[br]come and go. 0:44:54.942,0:44:57.069 Thoughts, sensations 0:44:57.069,0:45:02.157 and the entire outside world[br]appear on the screen, constantly changing. 0:45:02.658,0:45:06.995 But the screen does not change. 0:45:06.995,0:45:12.918 It's the mind that changes states[br]through the human experience. 0:45:13.293,0:45:17.840 But there's something, that what you are,[br]that remains. 0:45:18.257,0:45:20.426 Something that is ever present, 0:45:20.968,0:45:24.012 that is aware of those changing states 0:45:24.430,0:45:28.058 and that is consciousness[br]or our true nature. 0:45:28.642,0:45:31.854 As long as there is attachment[br]to a character on the screen, 0:45:32.438,0:45:36.483 a sense that I am that character,[br]then there will be suffering; 0:45:36.900,0:45:39.486 maya the illusion of the self. 0:45:41.113,0:45:43.282 Nothing you can do as the dream 0:45:43.282,0:45:47.953 character will help to free you.[br]Whether you follow the script 0:45:48.078,0:45:51.665 in the drama of your life[br]or rebel against the script, 0:45:51.790,0:45:54.626 if you act from the point of view[br]of the character, 0:45:54.877,0:45:58.255 then you're caught in the illusion. 0:45:58.255,0:45:59.798 To awaken, 0:45:59.798,0:46:05.345 stop identifying[br]with what appears on the screen. 0:46:05.345,0:46:07.806 Recognize that it is all impermanent. 0:46:08.515,0:46:12.936 Stop reacting to thoughts[br]and treating the program as real. 0:46:13.687,0:46:17.733 If I withdraw attention from the screen,[br]turning awareness 0:46:17.733,0:46:21.320 towards itself,[br]an unfathomable thing happens. 0:46:22.154,0:46:27.785 Awareness itself wakes up. 0:46:27.785,0:46:30.037 This is not a happening. 0:46:30.037,0:46:32.456 Happening is what happens on the screen. 0:46:33.791,0:46:36.960 Awakening is just recognizing the screen 0:46:36.960,0:46:38.962 that was always already there. 0:46:40.756,0:46:42.925 Do not believe your next thought 0:46:44.134,0:46:45.385 instead, 0:46:45.385,0:47:00.192 turn awareness towards awareness itself. 0:47:00.192,0:47:02.986 I have always been myself. 0:47:02.986,0:47:06.740 My sense of my self runs[br]throughout my life. 0:47:06.740,0:47:09.785 It remains[br]consistently present throughout my life. 0:47:11.078,0:47:13.038 What is present in me now, 0:47:13.038,0:47:15.999 that was present yesterday,[br]last year, ten years ago, 0:47:15.999,0:47:20.587 and when I was a two year old child? 0:47:20.587,0:47:23.257 What is this essential "I" or self 0:47:24.174,0:47:26.802 to whom all my experience happens? 0:47:28.095,0:47:30.305 The recognition 0:47:30.305,0:47:34.643 of the nature of that one[br]is the great secret to life. 0:47:34.643,0:47:37.187 It is the direct path to peace 0:47:37.187,0:47:41.525 and happiness. It is not something[br]that a person initiates. 0:47:43.151,0:47:46.488 It's something that a person recognizes. 0:47:47.739,0:47:49.449 To re-cognize. 0:47:49.449,0:47:52.744 That is to know, again. 0:47:52.953,0:47:55.539 What we've known from the beginning 0:47:55.539,0:47:59.960 but is simply forgotten, or denied[br]or failed to believe. 0:48:00.669,0:48:03.255 So we cannot initiate closeness to God. 0:48:03.964,0:48:08.969 We can simply recognize,[br]to recognize that it's always been there 0:48:10.095,0:48:12.347 and will always be there. 0:48:12.347,0:48:16.643 It was only this direct pointing[br]to awakening, 0:48:16.643,0:48:21.356 this opening to what's already[br]here that allowed me to find 0:48:22.858,0:48:23.775 a new way of 0:48:23.775,0:48:26.528 being- a new stage of development. 0:48:26.862,0:48:33.201 Many people think it's[br]a very impossible or out of reach goal 0:48:33.201,0:48:38.040 to know the self, and my own 0:48:38.415,0:48:42.127 sort of purpose as a teacher,[br]just because of my own awakening, 0:48:42.127,0:48:47.466 has really been wanting to make it[br]very practical, very down to Earth. 0:48:47.466,0:48:51.386 I love to teach people, it's[br]available to everyone. 0:48:52.137,0:48:55.891 If we believe and feel 0:48:56.058,0:48:59.603 that we are a temporary,[br]finite, separate self, 0:49:00.604,0:49:02.773 we are, whether we know it or not, 0:49:03.440,0:49:05.859 searching for peace and happiness. 0:49:05.859,0:49:09.279 In other words,[br]it's not possible to be a separate self, 0:49:09.529,0:49:13.867 to feel oneself as a separate self[br]and not be in search of happiness. 0:49:14.743,0:49:16.954 So what is required 0:49:16.954,0:49:21.083 in this case is to reorientate[br]one's search for happiness, 0:49:21.083,0:49:24.586 instead of seeking for happiness[br]in the objective content of experience, 0:49:25.003,0:49:27.631 to seek happiness in oneself. 0:49:27.631,0:49:30.926 So the spiritual practice that is required 0:49:31.510,0:49:36.014 is to direct one's attention[br]or more accurately, 0:49:36.014,0:49:40.268 to relax one's attention into its source, 0:49:41.603,0:49:44.856 pure awareness, rather than directed[br]towards 0:49:45.065,0:49:48.568 an object substance[br]activity or relationship, and so on. 0:49:49.236,0:49:53.323 So the spiritual practice,[br]if we can call it a practice, 0:49:53.615,0:49:56.535 would be this relaxing 0:49:56.618,0:50:00.247 of the attention,[br]this subsidence of the attention 0:50:00.914,0:50:04.126 into the heart of awareness, 0:50:04.376,0:50:06.586 resting in being as being. 0:50:07.963,0:50:08.880 Love. 0:50:09.881,0:50:12.718 Pure love is my true self. 0:50:12.718,0:50:15.095 It's my true nature. 0:50:15.095,0:50:17.472 Pure love for everyone and everything, 0:50:18.473,0:50:20.892 for every aspect of life. 0:50:20.892,0:50:23.895 Even those things with which I disagree. 0:50:24.521,0:50:28.775 For one who has recognized the nature[br]of their being, they know their being 0:50:29.067,0:50:32.654 as the the source of the peace 0:50:32.654,0:50:35.115 and happiness for which they long. 0:50:36.616,0:50:40.704 So the world no longer becomes the place 0:50:40.704,0:50:45.375 in which they seek[br]happiness, seek fulfillment. 0:50:45.375,0:50:48.295 Doesn't mean to say that such a person[br]no longer has desires, 0:50:48.837,0:50:53.091 but the desires are not there[br]to fulfill the sense of lack 0:50:53.800,0:50:57.220 that is characteristic of the separate[br]self. 0:50:57.971,0:51:01.099 As such,[br]a person has found the source of happiness 0:51:01.391,0:51:06.563 within themselves and their desires[br]come from that sense of happiness. 0:51:07.064,0:51:09.232 They do not go towards it. 0:51:09.232,0:51:11.860 For instance,[br]in the realm of relationship, 0:51:11.860,0:51:14.863 it makes a big difference[br]to our relationships. 0:51:14.863,0:51:16.740 We no longer seek an other 0:51:17.866,0:51:21.620 to fulfill the needs of our self. 0:51:22.329,0:51:24.581 We seek another to share 0:51:24.790,0:51:27.667 the experience of happiness[br]that we already have. 0:51:27.667,0:51:31.338 And this relieves our[br]our friends of the impossible burden 0:51:31.755,0:51:35.759 of providing happiness for a voracious, 0:51:36.760,0:51:38.845 unsatisfied self. 0:51:39.304,0:51:42.474 Nothing occurs in my life 0:51:42.474,0:51:46.269 that is has not brought me[br]benefit or will not bring me benefit 0:51:46.645,0:51:50.982 in the sense that every moment,[br]every activity, every outcome 0:51:52.275,0:51:54.528 moves me forward 0:51:54.528,0:51:57.030 in the process[br]of the evolution of my soul. 0:51:57.405,0:52:00.200 And that's why I came here[br]to the physical realm, 0:52:01.118,0:52:09.793 to evolve. 0:52:10.377,0:52:13.213 Remain open. 0:52:13.213,0:52:15.757 Feel your inner aliveness, 0:52:15.757,0:52:20.011 letting energy circulate freely. 0:52:20.011,0:52:25.058 Don't try to make anything happen. 0:52:25.058,0:52:27.602 Who is aware of that energy, 0:52:28.353,0:52:35.569 that inner aliveness? 0:52:35.569,0:52:39.823 Notice the mind's tendency to control[br]and manipulate, 0:52:40.448,0:52:42.909 to get involved. 0:52:43.869,0:52:47.080 Without the use[br]of your memory or language, 0:52:48.039,0:52:50.876 Who are you? 0:52:51.459,0:52:53.837 Beyond the mind and senses, 0:52:55.005,0:52:57.382 who are you? 0:52:57.549,0:53:17.444 Who is aware? 0:53:17.444,0:53:20.739 Many people who are hearing these ideas[br]for the first time, 0:53:20.739,0:53:24.659 they've never even heard this idea[br]of the self. 0:53:25.118,0:53:28.121 In my mind,[br]there's two different camps of people. 0:53:28.121,0:53:32.334 There are those who are on a spiritual[br]path and they have heard this idea. 0:53:32.334,0:53:35.921 They're trying to reach the self,[br]they're trying to be the self. 0:53:35.921,0:53:37.923 They're seeking, they're searching. 0:53:38.215,0:53:42.010 And then there's other people[br]who have just been living their life. 0:53:42.010,0:53:44.346 They've never heard of these ideas before. 0:53:44.387,0:53:46.514 They've never heard of Know Thyself. 0:53:46.514,0:53:50.435 Many people think[br]know thyself means know the body, 0:53:50.435,0:53:53.313 know yourself, be yourself,[br]be authentic. 0:53:53.438,0:53:59.027 What it really means, to know[br]thyself is to know what you are, 0:53:59.027,0:54:02.948 to know what you are in truth[br]and to really know your true nature. 0:54:03.281,0:54:06.576 The words know thySelf were carved 0:54:07.035,0:54:11.039 on the entrance of the Temple of[br]Apollo in Delphi, and as such 0:54:12.040,0:54:13.208 stand as an 0:54:13.208,0:54:17.462 invitation that the dawn of Western[br]civilization to humanity, 0:54:17.796,0:54:22.133 suggesting that to know thySelf[br]is really the foundation 0:54:22.634,0:54:25.679 of all civilization. Why? 0:54:26.054,0:54:31.142 Because our Self stands at the center[br]of all our experience. 0:54:31.476,0:54:36.398 Whatever we are experiencing,[br]it is we who are experiencing it. 0:54:36.815,0:54:39.734 Whatever we think and feel, our thoughts 0:54:39.734,0:54:42.988 and feelings arise on behalf of our Self. 0:54:43.571,0:54:47.993 Whatever activities and relationships[br]we are engaged 0:54:47.993,0:54:53.790 in, we engage those activities[br]and relationships in service of our Self. 0:54:54.541,0:54:58.837 So our Self stands[br]at the center of our experience. 0:54:59.170,0:55:04.509 So what could be more important[br]than to know the nature of our Self, 0:55:05.302,0:55:08.346 and would it be possible 0:55:08.596,0:55:11.016 to know the nature of anything else 0:55:11.599,0:55:15.937 if we do not first know the nature of that[br]which knows it? 0:55:16.479,0:55:18.940 I think awakening is 0:55:19.899,0:55:22.402 about ending the nightmare 0:55:23.194,0:55:26.740 and stepping into the dream. 0:55:26.740,0:55:28.950 By that I mean 0:55:29.492,0:55:32.871 we desert or[br]finally abandon the nightmare of what 0:55:32.871,0:55:37.959 we've been told about life, about God,[br]and about ourselves. 0:55:37.959,0:55:40.712 And we step into the dream[br]of our grandest notion. 0:55:41.629,0:55:45.258 I often ask,[br]What do you think your life would be like 0:55:46.301,0:55:49.679 if you found yourself[br]stepping into the highest 0:55:49.679,0:55:53.975 grandest, most wonderful thought[br]you ever had about God, and about life 0:55:55.060,0:55:56.686 and about yourself. 0:55:56.686,0:56:02.233 So this recognition of our true nature[br]is not only the recognition 0:56:02.233,0:56:07.155 that brings our desire[br]for happiness in the world to an end. 0:56:07.655,0:56:10.658 It is also the recognition that enables us 0:56:10.658,0:56:15.663 to live in a way[br]that is consistent with the understanding 0:56:15.663,0:56:20.794 that at the deepest level,[br]everything and everyone, are one. 0:56:22.337,0:56:23.505 This understanding would 0:56:23.505,0:56:27.634 bring kindness, compassion, justice, 0:56:27.967,0:56:32.222 tolerance, understanding into our society. 0:56:33.098,0:56:35.266 Our society would be revolutionized 0:56:35.266,0:56:37.477 by this understanding. 0:56:38.478,0:56:41.689 As humanity lets go of ego[br]based approaches, 0:56:42.065,0:56:45.276 then science, religion, politics 0:56:45.527,0:56:49.489 and economics[br]start to reflect the perennial wisdom. 0:56:50.198,0:56:53.118 Whether it is the native traditions[br]who realize 0:56:53.118,0:56:55.328 Great Spirit in all things, 0:56:56.121,0:57:00.333 or the Egyptian/Kemetic traditions[br]who describe the human 0:57:00.333,0:57:03.711 evolutionary journey from the lowly scarab 0:57:04.045,0:57:06.631 to the one source, 0:57:06.881,0:57:08.383 or when we hear the words 0:57:08.383,0:57:11.261 of the mystics of the Christian, Hindu, 0:57:11.594,0:57:13.847 Muslim, or Buddhist traditions, 0:57:14.681,0:57:19.060 or the teachings of Plato and Plotinus[br]we find that 0:57:19.060,0:57:24.816 those who have realized their true nature[br]speak of groupings of conscious agents. 0:57:25.400,0:57:28.611 Of course,[br]they used the language of their culture 0:57:28.611,0:57:32.407 and times[br]to express the one perennial truth. 0:57:33.491,0:57:34.659 Science is now 0:57:34.659,0:57:38.830 starting to see[br]not a world of unconscious particles 0:57:38.830,0:57:41.916 and fields, but a universe made of 0:57:41.916,0:57:44.711 conscious agents. 0:57:44.919,0:57:48.631 Something new is emerging[br]in the world of science. 0:57:49.674,0:57:52.302 As Nikola Tesla said, 0:57:52.302,0:57:57.140 the day science begins to study[br]nonphysical phenomena, 0:57:57.140,0:57:59.976 it will make more progress in one decade 0:58:00.560,0:58:04.147 than in all the previous centuries[br]of its existence. 0:58:06.024,0:58:14.908 That day is today. 0:58:14.908,0:58:18.161 Every time that we've had[br]a mathematically precise advance 0:58:18.161,0:58:21.623 in science,[br]it has opened up new technologies 0:58:22.123,0:58:25.668 that look like magic compared[br]to what we had before. 0:58:25.919,0:58:29.923 So my feeling is that this theory[br]of conscious agents beyond spacetime 0:58:30.965,0:58:33.426 will give us technologies 0:58:33.426,0:58:35.553 that will be truly mind boggling. 0:58:36.012,0:58:37.263 For example, 0:58:37.722,0:58:41.476 right now,[br]most of the galaxies that we see, 0:58:41.809,0:58:44.145 I think 97% of the galaxies that we see, 0:58:44.437,0:58:49.317 we can never go to. They are receding from us[br]faster than the speed of light. 0:58:50.026,0:58:52.403 So they're not moving through space[br]faster than the speed of light. 0:58:52.403,0:58:55.657 Space itself is expanding so quickly[br]that they're 0:58:56.282,0:58:58.785 moving away from us[br]is greater than the speed of light. 0:58:58.785,0:59:00.954 So we could never travel through space 0:59:00.954,0:59:03.915 to go to 97% of the galaxies[br]that we can see. 0:59:04.249,0:59:07.085 So there's all this real estate out there[br]that's waving at us and saying, hi, 0:59:07.085,0:59:09.462 we're out here[br]and you can never come to us. 0:59:09.462,0:59:11.589 That's if you go through spacetime. 0:59:11.589,0:59:14.717 But what if you realize that spacetime[br]is just your headset? 0:59:15.301,0:59:17.595 It's just the format of a game 0:59:18.513,0:59:20.890 and you're not stuck inside the headset. 0:59:20.890,0:59:26.104 You can play with the software[br]that's running the game. 0:59:26.104,0:59:30.191 So it's like someone who's like in Grand[br]Theft Auto, you're a 0:59:30.191,0:59:31.484 Wizard of Grand Theft Auto, 0:59:32.652,0:59:33.403 so you know how to use the 0:59:33.403,0:59:36.281 car and drive the roads[br]and you can beat everybody in the game. 0:59:37.282,0:59:40.577 But suppose you actually know the software[br]that runs Grand Theft Auto. 0:59:40.577,0:59:42.704 So you step outside of the Grand Theft[br]Auto headset 0:59:43.121,0:59:44.414 and you can play with the software. 0:59:44.414,0:59:48.084 Well, you can take the gasoline[br]out of the tank of the wizard. 0:59:48.084,0:59:49.877 You can give them a flat tire. 0:59:49.877,0:59:51.546 You can change the geometry of the roads. 0:59:51.546,0:59:53.172 You can do whatever you want to. 0:59:53.172,0:59:56.259 So once we understand[br]our space time headset, 0:59:56.718,0:59:59.679 we won't have to travel[br]to the Andromeda Galaxy 1:00:00.555,1:00:03.308 through space time,[br]which would take us 2.4 million years. 1:00:03.683,1:00:10.481 We can just go around space time. 1:00:10.481,1:00:14.152 I see the world around me as stepping into 1:00:15.194,1:00:15.820 a quieter 1:00:15.820,1:00:19.699 expression and experience[br]of what it means to be human 1:00:20.116,1:00:22.619 and what it means[br]to be an aspect of divinity. 1:00:23.578,1:00:27.290 But I don't think that we have[br]an endless amount of time. 1:00:27.290,1:00:30.001 I get a sense that time is 1:00:30.001,1:00:33.338 running out, that it's now or never time. 1:00:33.796,1:00:35.965 I think we're on the right path. 1:00:35.965,1:00:41.262 I have a sense of optimism[br]that because of the kinds of opportunities 1:00:41.262,1:00:43.389 that we see today in the world[br]to communicate 1:00:44.515,1:00:46.934 powerful and important ideas 1:00:46.934,1:00:49.729 ways that we didn't have even[br]a few years ago 1:00:50.897,1:00:54.734 are creating the possibility[br]that we can get to that place of critical 1:00:54.734,1:00:57.820 mass, that we can reach critical mass 1:00:58.738,1:01:01.240 before our time runs out. 1:01:01.240,1:01:05.286 But we would be mistaken if we think[br]we have an endless amount of time 1:01:06.788,1:01:08.623 on this planet. 1:01:08.665,1:01:10.958 When each individual 1:01:10.958,1:01:14.337 disidentifies[br]from their conditioned character, 1:01:14.921,1:01:18.341 then they're no longer[br]acting as an egoic entity. 1:01:18.883,1:01:22.845 And that brings[br]about a transformation on the planet. 1:01:23.346,1:01:24.722 This brings a new Earth. 1:01:24.722,1:01:28.017 Life as we know it right now[br]on this planet, 1:01:28.976,1:01:31.813 I think we need to make some changes[br]and make them quickly, 1:01:32.563,1:01:35.066 dramatically and radically 1:01:35.066,1:01:37.694 if we want to see the tomorrow[br]for which we've all dreamt. 1:01:38.194,1:01:42.573 So, could this understanding[br]become mainstream in our lifetime? 1:01:42.573,1:01:43.866 Why not? 1:01:43.866,1:01:48.371 Yes. The challenge we have right now is[br]nothing is working, 1:01:49.163,1:01:54.252 and the time has come for us[br]to stand up and say that's true. 1:01:54.252,1:01:56.337 Surely we can do better than this. 1:01:57.088,1:01:58.339 Surely, 1:01:59.841,1:02:02.260 we can expand our understanding[br]of who we are 1:02:02.719,1:02:07.306 and our expression of our true nature. 1:02:07.306,1:02:08.433 We need to pay attention 1:02:09.434,1:02:10.810 to our environment, 1:02:10.810,1:02:13.312 to our politics, to our economics, 1:02:14.313,1:02:17.525 and to our spiritual process[br]on this planet. 1:02:19.360,1:02:22.405 Because the problem in the world[br]today is not a political problem. 1:02:23.322,1:02:25.867 It's not an economic problem. 1:02:25.867,1:02:28.995 It's not a social problem. 1:02:28.995,1:02:33.166 It's a spiritual problem. 1:02:33.166,1:02:35.168 It has to do with how committed we are 1:02:35.168,1:02:41.215 with stepping into the highest[br]spiritual truths. 1:02:41.215,1:02:44.886 This is not New Age philosophy. 1:02:44.886,1:02:47.096 These ideas have been around 1:02:47.096,1:02:54.145 for thousands of years. 1:02:54.145,1:02:57.398 The perennial wisdom has been expressed[br]through 1:02:57.398,1:03:01.861 countless traditions and cultures[br]and like awareness 1:03:01.861,1:03:05.656 itself, has always been hidden[br]in plain view. 1:03:07.116,1:03:08.743 In Christianity, 1:03:08.743,1:03:12.038 the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas contains 1:03:12.038,1:03:14.874 direct pointers to our true nature. 1:03:15.958,1:03:20.838 The disciples asked Jesus,[br]When will the kingdom come? 1:03:20.838,1:03:24.383 Jesus said,[br]It will not come by waiting for it. 1:03:25.051,1:03:30.223 It will not be a matter of saying,[br]Here it is, or there it is. 1:03:30.223,1:03:33.559 Rather,[br]the kingdom of the father is spread out 1:03:33.559,1:03:36.646 upon the earth and people do not see it. 1:03:38.397,1:03:39.649 The Kingdom 1:03:39.649,1:03:44.529 is not here or there. Awareness is not here[br]or there. 1:03:45.238,1:03:48.950 It is not fixed in time and space. 1:03:48.950,1:03:51.494 If you are waiting for something to happen 1:03:52.036,1:03:56.666 for some outward event or some state,[br]some ascension, 1:03:57.083,1:03:59.794 some healing or some energy, then 1:03:59.794,1:04:02.839 your conditioned mind is still seeking. 1:04:03.256,1:04:06.300 It is still mediating your experience 1:04:06.300,1:04:07.969 of the now. 1:04:09.387,1:04:11.973 in Buddhism they say samsara, 1:04:12.265,1:04:15.309 the world of suffering and nirvana, 1:04:15.768,1:04:20.231 the world of liberation[br]are not two separate worlds. 1:04:21.065,1:04:24.026 They are one and the same. 1:04:24.026,1:04:26.654 We don't manipulate or change things 1:04:26.863,1:04:29.740 to arrive at some mystical reality. 1:04:30.700,1:04:35.413 When we awaken,[br]the perfection of the world is revealed 1:04:35.872,1:04:43.087 directly, as it is. 1:04:43.087,1:04:48.551 Is it possible to simply be here[br]and now in this moment, 1:04:48.551,1:04:53.556 unmediated by that seeking mind? 1:04:53.556,1:04:58.394 Is it possible to be okay[br]with this moment as it is? 1:05:01.439,1:05:02.899 To simply be.