A Different Look On Enlightenment

Join us in this unique discussion, where truthseekers like yourself, investigate the nature of an enlightened consciousness. Free your mind, the rest will follow...

This Q&A session leads the listeners on a clear and simple path beyond preconceived ideas about life and themselves.
Be brave, and be honest so we can grow together.

Transcript

So,

Hello,

Dear people,

Welcome to this White Path meeting that we are all working on,

Taking a break from the rush,

Holding hands,

Supporting each other on our journey,

Reminding ourselves what is most important to us,

Driven by the longing for the truth,

That tension that hides between the question and the answer.

So,

This is your opportunity to contribute to the evolution of our united consciousness by sharing your questions,

Sharing your doubts,

Sharing your difficulties,

Sharing your insight,

Everything you feel that can help you evolve and other people around you.

So,

Who wants to be the first one to jump into the waters today?

Do you feel mystery,

Unresolved?

If not,

Look inside and ask yourself,

Did you hope to achieve anything joining the meeting today?

And if so,

What is it?

Arab Arbon is saying,

I don't want to achieve anything,

But there is nowhere else I'd rather be.

That is beautiful.

There is commitment.

I've had two weeks of supporting a loved one in intensive care in the hospital.

Lots of time to reflect,

Think,

See my fears.

Any conclusions?

Close the gap!

Exclamation point.

Yeah,

Everybody here knows what close the gap means,

What it is referring to.

Benji is saying,

Yes,

Exactly,

Referring to what Barbara has said.

We could do anything else,

But we came to listen to you impart your wisdom.

So,

I have a couple of things to say about that.

That's fantastic.

Realize this wisdom is not mine.

I have no ownership of it.

This wisdom is revealed to us as we dance together,

Together,

Carried by the innate tension between the question and the answer,

Or you can say between the source of knowledge and the consciousness longing for it.

So,

If you came to this meeting hoping for wisdom to light your path,

The way to connect to that wisdom is ask questions.

That is how I am activated.

Barbara is saying,

There is a difference between pain and suffering and I observed it over and over.

Yeah,

It's an important resolution.

Pain is inevitable,

Suffering is optional.

Suffering is me unwilling to accept anything,

Or in this case pain,

As pain is inevitable.

How do I know?

Because now it's painful.

But suffering is your choice.

Can you experience pain without suffering?

Definitely.

Remember,

Pain is only a phenomenon that we are welcomed to experience from time to time.

Our judging of it is related to the context that we give it.

Pain can be good,

Pain can be bad,

Pain can be useful,

And it can be harmful.

You give that context.

Sometimes pain and pleasure are the same thing.

Right?

Don't try to avoid the pain,

Branding it as bad.

Not on the white path,

Not if you are sincere.

If you are truly honest,

When you choose to walk on the white path,

You remind yourself again and again,

Embrace,

Love life,

Live what life has to offer.

And sometimes what life has to offer is painful.

So you embrace that.

What else?

You see,

Today we have an inspiration,

This guy.

Buddha is with us,

So you can invite his presence to your questions.

Merle is busy bringing life to this world.

So she cannot be with us physically today,

Unfortunately.

You know,

Carly and I are busy finishing the book that we are writing.

And in the book,

There is one chapter that says that sometimes it's very challenging,

Difficult for us to find perfection when we look in the mirror.

We look in the mirror and it's completely obscured by all the preconceived ideas we have about ourselves,

The judgment,

All the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves.

What we can do,

What we cannot do,

All that.

If we are worthy of all the goodness,

Or usually,

Why aren't we worthy for all the goodness that life has to offer,

Etc.

,

Etc.

Perfection is seldom found in the mirror.

So my recommendation in that sense,

As we wrote it in the book,

Is,

Look,

If you find it difficult to find perfection in the mirror,

Look for it in the eyes of your partners.

Look and find perfection there.

When they look at you,

Find that perfection in their eyes.

And if that is not possible,

Look for it in your spiritual master.

What you see in the eyes of your spiritual master are just a reflection of what you are already.

So Marci,

When you say,

You guys are awesome,

You find that awesomeness as a reflection of you.

And a spiritual teacher is not there to make you jealous.

Oh,

He's such an evolved and I'm down here in the gutter.

No,

No,

No.

A spiritual teacher is there to reflect back to you what you are already.

Just wake up.

Okay,

Barbara is asking,

What does it mean to have an open heart?

First of all,

We came to an agreement after AJ was very persistent in this inquiry,

That the actual translation is not an open heart,

But a whole heart.

A whole heart.

Okay,

This is what we now are referring to.

On the white path,

The mantra is a whole heart and a willing soul.

This is the ultimate goal of this journey.

To reach a state when you embrace life,

Melt into life with a whole heart and a willing soul.

What does a whole heart mean?

You don't leave anything outside of that.

You're completely,

Completely surrendered.

You let go of all the cratches,

All the entanglements,

All the issues you have with yourself,

With life.

And you allow yourself to truly,

Completely,

Unequivocally surrender,

To become fully exposed.

Fearless.

This is what it means.

A whole heart is a heart that doesn't leave anything for later.

It doesn't leave anything,

You know,

On the side.

It's whole,

It's complete.

That's it.

There's nothing else.

Right?

Michelle is asking,

Does acceptance equal open heart or whole heart,

As we call it here?

Yeah,

Acceptance is the first phase.

Okay,

There are four phases of our maturity on this path.

And this book that we are writing clearly describes it in detail.

The first phase is accepting,

Meaning you stop suffering.

Right?

When you accept the situation as it is,

You don't argue with it,

So you don't suffer.

There is no gap.

You are able to recognize the gap and close it,

So now you don't argue with life,

You accept life.

The second phase is you stop fearing life.

You evolve beyond your fears.

The third phase is when you don't argue with life and you are not afraid of life.

You're available to love life,

Embrace it,

And love the opportunity you were given to experience the present moment.

And then this leads to the fourth phase,

Which is melting into life.

Tantra.

Tantric union with life.

This is the journey as described on the white path.

So,

Accepting is the first step towards stopping the suffering,

Then evolve beyond your fears,

Then love life,

Then merge with it.

Disappear into it.

Angie,

I think we'll never find perfect.

We just have to love and accept ourselves as we are,

Which is the definition of perfection.

Just need to let go of your ideas about what should happen.

Do you see that?

Perfection is not something else similar to the ideas that I have about what should happen.

Do you see that?

You just create another gap.

Think about people who are perfectionists.

They live in this gap chronically.

Nothing is good enough as it is.

Everything needs to be different,

Similar to what they believe perfection should look like.

And of course,

That never happens.

Why?

Because they keep believing something else is more accurate,

More perfect.

You just need to adjust the focus on your lens,

Recognize that the present moment is perfect.

Divine perfection.

You see that?

If you think you'll never find perfect,

I guarantee you will never find perfect.

But if you wake up to realize the present moment is perfect,

Then you will never see anything else but perfection.

Yes?

Imagine your life unfolds while you are free from ideas about what should be.

Can you do that?

Breathe under your refrigerator.

Live like that for a week.

Tell me what happened.

I want to live my life free from ideas about what should happen.

Yes?

Everyone that agrees put a heart,

A floating heart.

Who is going to take this challenge?

Not one brave soul here?

Or one?

Or two?

Or three?

Or seven?

Or eight?

Or 10?

Or 11?

Or 21?

Or 30?

Or 30?

Or 30?

Or 30?

Or 30?

Anyways,

Chad is saying,

Sounds good to me.

Good.

Angie,

So everything,

Everyone is perfect in divine accuracy.

It doesn't mean,

Doesn't matter if you're a religious person,

If you believe in God,

Or doesn't matter.

Just wake up to realize nothing is broken.

This is as good as it gets.

Did you see that movie?

The evolution is not from imperfection to perfection.

That's not how consciousness grows.

The evolution is from perfection to a more expanded version of perfection.

Can you imagine that?

Quality of evolution?

It doesn't change to fix something that is broken.

Nothing is broken.

It's already perfect.

That's it.

As it happens.

May meet your expectations,

May contradict them.

It doesn't matter.

That's your story.

But the present moment is inevitable.

And perfect.

And it grows.

It evolves.

As life unfolds.

And that is also inevitable.

And you are a part of that evolution process.

You evolved together with everything around you,

Together with nature.

Together with the collective consciousness.

You evolve.

Question is,

What kind of impact do you want to contribute to that evolution?

Are you a contributor of misery,

Frustration,

Anger,

Violence?

Is that your contribution?

Because you believe this is not perfect as it is?

Or are you contributing harmony,

Compassion,

Love,

Joy,

Which are all a description of your true nature?

Just ask yourself,

What kind of contribution do you bring to that universal evolution?

What are you doing to make this a more harmonic environment?

For yourself and for the world.

And she says,

Yes,

Peace,

Love,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Etc.

Good.

That's a conscience choice.

And I guarantee you will forget.

And find yourself in a few hours,

Tomorrow,

Next week.

Find yourself asking,

Wait,

Wait,

But I was intending to bring peace and kindness.

What the hell happened here?

How did I become frustrated and angry and judgmental?

How was I developing envy?

This is not what I intended to bring.

So what do you do when this happens?

You don't judge yourself.

You don't criticize yourself.

You're not disappointed with yourself.

You just smile.

Note that you forgot,

But now you remember.

Right?

Now you remember.

Ah,

Okay.

I was confused,

But I now remind myself.

This is more important for me.

What is more important?

A whole heart and a willing soul.

That's it.

Barbara is saying,

Sometimes I forget with one minute.

Then I remember.

Yeah.

And you'll see something amazing.

I guarantee that.

People here can testify.

The more you practice,

The more you keep those four pillars alive.

Seva,

Satsang,

Sadhana,

Sadguru on your path.

You'll find it will be more and more difficult to forget and much easier to remember.

And the way back home is much shorter.

Now you open the gap.

Realize that.

Close the gap and back home.

That's it.

It could be one breath away.

Hmm.

Angie is saying,

Very rare after 20 years of living by Buddhists philosophy.

What is very rare,

Angie?

Forgetting.

Forgetting becomes rare.

Yeah.

So if this is something that you would like to cultivate,

A life free of forgetfulness and filled with remembrance,

I invite you to join the white path.

Join us on our weekly meetings.

Join us on Tuesday's meetings.

Devote yourself to that.

Make it the most important thing in your life.

Statistically,

It's proven that people that are most advanced on their spiritual journey are those people who make it the most important thing for them.

Devote themselves to that journey.

Hmm.

Ask yourself,

What is the most important thing for you?

Angie's saying,

No,

I was saying I don't forget to be living in peace,

Etc.

What I wrote above.

Ah,

You don't forget.

Good.

Fantastic.

You keep on shining kindness and compassion and love and peace.

Excellent.

It's a way of life.

Good.

So I was talking to all the other people here that have a tendency to forget.

Baba is saying,

Ah,

Yes,

What I pay attention to grows.

So true.

No.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you pay attention to the gaps between.

The reality and the opinions you have about reality.

These gaps go.

And you dive deeper into.

Frustration and anger.

Despair.

How to get out of that.

Close the gap.

Refocus what you put your attention to.

Instead of your ideas.

Put attention to the present moment.

Your ideas become redundant.

They are not important at all.

Everyone has an opinion.

A dozen,

A dime.

A dime,

A dozen.

How do you say it in English?

Angie says,

Choice is always available.

Yeah.

I would like to invite you to listen to the whole talk about the illusion of choice.

Just look for my inside timer page and listen to that talk.

Don't be lazy.

Go there.

Do that.

As soon as we finish.

What else?

Who has questions?

A dime,

A dozen.

Go deep.

What is still standing between you and an awakened consciousness?

Illusion of choice.

Marcy says sometimes it is an illusion.

Yeah.

Not gonna spoil your listening to that talk.

Go there.

Listen to it.

The heading of that talk is the illusion of choice.

I'm gonna say something controversial.

All of you people that are currently listening to my voice have a belief that they are not ready.

As matter how we word it,

How do we word that belief?

I'm not worthy.

I'm not developed.

I need to grow.

I need to learn.

I need to change.

In my current state,

There is still a lot of work to do.

Things around me should change.

I should change.

There is some sort of a belief or a whole set of beliefs that persuades you that you are not ready.

That this is not enough.

Something much more grandiose is waiting for you.

Waiting to be revealed.

A more evolved version of yourself is waiting to be born.

So,

This current version is not perfect yet.

Do you hear what I'm saying?

There is always something else bigger waiting.

And I'm saying there's a gap.

The gap between you and enlightenment is identified by one belief.

And your quest is to identify that belief.

And Angie's saying,

I am.

I am ready.

I am worthy.

I am.

All,

We all are.

We all are.

And I'm going to challenge that.

As long as this statement,

I am ready,

I am perfect as I am right now,

Is not integrated into your identity.

It's just another idea.

A new age idea about,

I don't know if you've noticed,

When you meet enlightened teachers and they speak about enlightenment,

It's never with a personal context.

It's never with a personal context.

An enlightened person will never say the sentence,

I am enlightened.

This is an oxymoron.

The sentence,

I am enlightened,

Cannot truly exist.

Because enlightenment is a stage of consciousness that is beyond identification.

There is no I that can relate to anything else.

Enlightenment included.

Specifically,

Especially to enlightenment.

I can be identified on the surface level,

No?

This and that have preferences that has to do with my persona,

No?

But you don't confuse yourself to believe that that persona is who you are.

So this is just a game.

But in the very essence,

Enlightenment is not an identification of who you are.

There is no I that identifies anymore.

So my invitation is for each and every one of you to do some soul-searching.

Identify what do you still believe is missing?

What is still unresolved?

You may say that although enlightenment is intangible and exists beyond any explanation,

And there's no concept that can describe it.

But one way to look at it is to say that enlightenment is a consciousness that grow beyond self-doubt.

So there is no idea about a different reality clouding self-perception anymore.

Do you see what I'm saying?

I'm not talking about enlightenment very often.

Enlightenment.

So you probably want to listen to this again.

I'll pause the recording.

See if you can hear that invitation.

What do I still believe I don't have,

I need to have?

What do I still believe needs to change?

Whether it's outside of me or inside of me.

As I remember that enlightenment goes beyond all these doubts,

All these conditions.

What do you say?

Talk to me.

Galba is asking,

May I have ears to hear,

And courage to be with the tension between the question and the answer.

What do I believe is missing?

Well,

We are forming our own version of AA.

May I have ears to hear,

And courage to be with the tension between the questions and the answers.

What do I believe is missing?

Isadora is asking,

Please repeat what you said.

Enlightenment is a consciousness that grows beyond self-doubt.

Beyond the doubt that we are all merged in.

No,

No,

This is not good enough.

Me as I am,

This is not enlightenment.

Can't be.

That's why talking about enlightenment is a bit counterproductive now,

Because you hear about it,

You read about it,

And immediately you develop concepts about how it looks like,

How it feels like,

How is it experienced.

And these concepts don't help you.

Now you have an idea,

And you compare it with the reality that you meet,

And you see they don't match.

So this is not enlightenment.

Enlightenment is something else.

How do I know?

I've read it,

I've heard about it,

I've seen enlightened teachers,

They don't look like me at all.

That's it,

You're lost.

So on the white path,

We don't give much description about enlightenment.

But we focus on what keeps us away from it.

Do you see the difference?

What is still the barrier between me and an awakened consciousness?

Angie,

Right now,

Need nothing to change.

There is perfection in this moment.

Yes.

Good,

Good,

Good.

So I know,

Yeah,

We've been spending this hour discussing some abstract content.

And I appreciate the fact that you didn't run away,

And you stayed.

And I love your enthusiasm and devotion,

And your beautiful questions.

Do join us on Tuesday.

Ask me how,

I will explain.

And stay tuned to our next meeting.

Zador is recommending an HBO show,

So check it out.

Enlightened.

Have a great day,

Merry Christmas,

And I look forward to see you again.

Much love.

Bye.