Ending Self Tyranny

In this recording we will be discussing the concept of spiritual apathy, how it affects us directly and what we can do to get out of it in order to realise those higher dimensions within ourselves. We will also be referring to Gurdjieff's ancient parable of the cart, the horse, the rider, and the sleeping master in the back to illustrate the relationship between the body, the emotions, the intellect, and the potential for awakening.

Transcript

So,

You know what the straw that broke the camel's back was that they wanted to charge 20 cents on every WhatsApp message.

And that's the straw that broke the camel's back.

And the people had enough and an uprising began.

And this is the beginning of an uprising,

The fact that the government wanted to charge 20 cents on each WhatsApp message,

Apparently.

And the reason I started to tape this on this idea is I think it's a wonderful way of probably beginning to have this discussion is what is the straw that breaks the camel's back in our own life?

You see the parallel?

What is that straw that's going to break the camel's back in order to get us to rise up,

To get out of spiritual apathy about our lives?

What is that one thing?

What is it going to take for us to uprise,

To rise up?

So this is an interesting question and riding on the back of this idea of what's happening in Lebanon at the moment with the people having for so long been subjugated or under,

You know,

They've experienced so many wars,

Two,

Three wars since the 1970s.

And I think that unemployment is 35% of the country or whatever it is.

But we can also personalize this.

We can individuate this.

We can make it about ourselves also and say,

Well,

What kind of tyranny am I living under?

What kind of tyranny am I being subjected to?

And what is the straw that's going to break this camel's back?

What is the thing that's going to cause me to rise up out of apathy about my life,

About the facts?

Do you see the parallel?

What is that one thing that's going to make the difference in my life that's going to get me to rise up,

To wake up,

To snap out of this spiritual apathy?

So in the past,

We've talked about the parable,

This ancient parable that a teacher called Gurdjieff or Gurdjieff,

As some people call it,

Brought to the West.

It was this ancient parable of the horse,

The cart,

The driver,

And the sleeping master in the back.

The cart is the body.

The horse is the emotions.

The driver is the intellect.

And the sleeping master in the back represents the potential for awakening.

So what is this thing that's going to get the master to wake up,

To rise up in us?

This ancient parable is basically a description or a way of understanding the relationship between the body,

The emotions,

The mind,

And the sleeping master,

And the reins that connects the mind,

Or in this case,

The driver and the horse and the cart.

You know,

The reins,

There has to be a good connection for the mind to be able to reach the horse.

And if the reins are too loose,

The horse and the cart,

The emotions and the body may cause damage along the path.

And the idea in this is that along the way,

The horse spots what looks to it like a snake,

A coiled snake in the road,

And bolts.

Remember,

The horse is the emotions.

And it bolts and takes off,

Dragging the whole organization with it,

Including the sleeping master in the back.

But the snake is not a snake.

It's an actual fact.

It's a rope.

And because the driver,

The intellect,

The mind,

Has been drinking a little bit,

Is incapable of stabilizing the horse,

Controlling the horse.

And now the horse is bolted and is going over the cliff.

The idea of this is emotional overreaction.

How do we emotionally overreact?

How does our horse bolt and causes us to go over the cliff?

And what's happening to our body as this happens?

The wheels and being dragged all over this terrain,

Rocky terrain.

So you see how this parable,

You see how this relates to our understanding or how we can use it to understand ourselves,

The connection between the body,

Between the emotions,

Between the mind,

And between the sleeping master in the back.

So now this horse that was raised,

And every horse is different,

Everybody's emotional reality is very different.

It depends on how you are raised.

It depends on the type of emotional reality,

Your genetic emotional reality,

And also on how you were raised,

How you were treated as a child.

So some people are emotionally sensitive,

Some people are emotionally guarded,

Some people are emotionally defensive,

Probably the same thing.

Some people are emotionally aggressive,

Subversive,

All these various types of horses,

All these various types of emotions.

So not every horse is going to spot a rope and mistake it for a snake and bolt in the same way.

The reactions are going to be different.

And the same thing for the intellect.

So the idea is this,

What is it going to take to wake up the master and the sleeping master in the back?

Because each one of us,

Each one of us is being guided or each one of us is emotionally overreacting in some way to an illusion,

Which is the snake and the rope.

We believe that our fear that a lot of us live with that's guiding our lives is real.

But in this case,

The fear is a snake,

Coiled snake,

Which is in truth,

A rope that our horse,

Our emotional reality is overreacting to.

And our intellect,

Our mind is too feeble,

It's too weak to do anything about it.

And in fact,

It's now cooperating with the horse.

It believes because of its drunkard conditioning,

It believes that it really is a snake.

So what is it that's going to wake up the sleeping master in the back?

Because the whole organization,

Body,

Emotions,

Mind is being dragged over the cliff.

So what is it that's going to make the difference?

What's the straw that's going to break the camel's back that's going to cause an arising?

The people have risen.

When the people rise,

Then something can happen.

Unfortunately,

Usually what happens is a revolution.

Some idiot is replaced with another idiot.

And for the next 20,

30 years,

40 years,

Whatever it is,

There's some level of contentment before the same reality comes in.

And what reality is that?

It is that basically the human is intended to be his and her own governor,

His and her own guide.

And so long that the human is at the level where he expects others to guide his or her reality,

Then revolutions are going to be necessary every now and then.

But I prefer an involution,

The idea of an involution or a uvolution rather than a revolution and outer replacement of power.

How do we dispose of our own despot tyrant and what we usually call the ego?

It's a fascinating way of looking at it,

Isn't it?

So let's take a moment to consider in our own lives what fear are we operating under?

This ego,

Despot,

This ruler,

This inner tyrant ego,

What fear is it using?

What tactics is it using to keep us living conditioned lives instead of lives that are in accordance with the seasons of our heart?

In other words,

Inwardly guided lives,

Intuitively guided lives,

Divinely inspired lives and guided lives as opposed to lives that are conditioned by the mind.

That's something to think about for a moment.

Reviews

Profound insight from Bassam. This teaching should be listened to multiple times. Then we can discover the valuable nuggets of wisdom within. Highly recommended!

Bassam the parable that you share brings so much more clarity about the relationship between our emotions, body, mind and potential awakening. My understanding is deepening, allowing curiosity to uncover my own “snakes/ropes” and take intentional action So much Gratitude 🙏🏿

I really enjoyed this talk and will be thinking about what is holding me back from achieving more vibrational alignment with my inner guide which is my ultimate intention for this life experience. 🙏

Yes we all need to stop and look within to figure out what are the internal factors that will awaken us and the need to try to figure out how to stop the external factors from trying to guide us ….. trying to find my spiritual awakening or the straw that will break my camel’s back👍😊

Very interesting again, Bassam. I especially liked your description of our different emotional components, depending on our upbringing. Thank you 🙏🌸🧡💖

Thanks

Bassam is a very knowledgeable and deep philosopher. His words of wisdom and a very calm voice makes his talks and meditations very powerful!

Very interesting. Thank you 💜 x

Looking forward to the next part.
Thank you 💕

Thank you Bassam 🙏