Stop Reincarnating Yourself GF Live 8-8-26

Key Lesson #1 Part 1: You can't work with what you are not, and you can't change what you hope to be. Work begins and ends in the same place: with where you are, and what you are in the moment. Any other effort is but part of a dream, as is the inevitable shock of being awakened from it.

Key Lesson #2 Part 1: Response is preparation.

Key Lesson #2 Part 2: Every response reveals the level of consciousness that will meet itself in the next moment.

Key Lesson #3: To work on yourself, especially when you don't feel like it, is to prepare the way for a higher order of being, one that knows better than to listen to any parts of yourself secretly poisoning you with the promise that a better time will soon be coming to do so.

Transcript

So. Nice deep breath. Which means what? Which means I come back into my body. I'm aware of the world around me. I'm aware of the world within me. At the same time, I'm as present as I know how to be. That's where we must always start and that's ultimately where we must end. So I'm going to. . . Set the stage for the talk today by first asking Kate to bring up the talk title. And then I'm going to actually read to you a story that I wrote. That will set the stage for our studies. So if, Kate, You have that. Talk title. It is realize this spiritual law and stop reincarnating yourself. Now every so quickly I'm not talking about some silly notion that a person may or may not have that may or may not be silly. That's not for me to say. I'm simply saying that we reincarnate our life virtually every day without knowing so. When we meet moments. With the same kind of response we've always met them with. That always tells us we must prepare for something that may or may not be coming. And so our response in one respect sets the stage for preparation. And then we're off and running, Without knowing it that we are perpetuating the very unconscious nature that is the core of our conflict with life. So let me read this story to you. And we'll get into our material. A well-respected pianist by the name of Catherine had retired into a life of teaching and after more than 20 years of playing in the city's Philharmonic Orchestra, Her life had become dedicated to working with young prodigies so that they might fully realize the gifts with which they had been born. Her wish, As would be natural, Was to pass along the knowledge and skills that she'd acquired over many years as a master of the art. Now one evening following the first public recital of one of her most promising students, His name was Paul. She asked him if they could share a word or two in private behind stage. Paul said, Sure. And they met. Thereafter, He had received some congratulations and he walked into Catherine's small but well-appointed office. Now, He had been in there before, And I don't know if you can follow this. Have you ever been invited into the office of your teacher? Or someone respected said, I want to speak with you. So anyway, He's there and he's not there for terribly long when maybe it was the tone of her voice that she asked him to come see her, That he felt a little more nervous than usual. Please sit down, Said Catherine. Paul says, Sure, Thanks. And even as he spoke the next words casually, Well, What's up? He knew that they were way too easygoing, Given the situation, And had betrayed his mounting apprehension at being in that moment. For what he knew wasn't a friendly conversation. Have you ever sat down with someone that you knew wasn't going to be in quotes a friendly conversation or more accurately one that you didn't want to hear, Maybe because something you had done precipitated it? She says to Paul, How do you think you did this evening? And Paul kind of shook his head a little bit. I don't know. What do you think? And by the way, Anytime that someone answers a question that you ask them with a question, You can be sure that they are dodging what's coming. I don't know. He had already realized from her tone that she wasn't pleased with his performance. And to deflect the pressure that he was feeling, He came back with a pretty quick response, As would seem likely. Well, He said everyone there seemed to think it was a pretty good performance. But with no smile on her face to indicate or verify his finding, Catherine looked into his eyes and said, But I didn't ask you what others think of your work. I'm asking you, What's your opinion of how you played that piece that you had prepared for this evening? Now, At that point, Paul knew that she was digging for something that he did not want to uncover because he recognized he'd stumbled several times during the middle passage of that piece that he was playing. And he feared just this moment that she would say to him, How do you think you did? Because he knew that this part of sort of a multiply complex set of arpeggios in the section demanded a feat of dexterity that was only possible with the lightest of fingers. And that his fingers weren't exactly light, Rather they were kind of tense. So the entire emotional meaning of that passage was lost. And the whole composition suffered accordingly. Let me stop for a second. Are you following this story? Are you getting the drift of what's going on between the master and the student? Anyway, He looks down at his feet. And he says, I know it didn't go well. I mean, At least through the middle passages and after pausing a moment, He said, Look, I'm sorry, Catherine, I didn't mean to disappoint you. And she said, You're mistaken, Paul. My disappointment doesn't figure into this conversation at all. What matters is that you obviously didn't spend the time needed to prepare the piece. So you see, She said, It isn't me that you let down here. It's yourself. And Paul, Resisting, He said, But that passage in that piece is so hard, He said. And looking up at Catherine, At least for a little sympathy, But none came. Instead, She said, Answer me this question, Paul. And then I'll tell you why playing that piece seems as hard as it did and does to you. " And he said, Sure, What is it? She said, How much time did you put into practicing those sections, Especially the hardest ones? Be honest, Paul. Realizing that there was no point in pretending otherwise, Paul said. I guess I didn't give it very much time, Or certainly not the time it needed. And Catherine called with her eyes for his, And she said, Exactly. And that's why it was so hard. It was so hard because you did not recognize what it is that you needed to work on, And not just what you needed to work on, But who you needed to work on that didn't want to do the work. Can you see a parallel here at all? Between your life, Your spiritual work. And what we will call the master, Love, Real life. Because if you can, Then we have a ground to explore together the next body of material. Kate, Let's bring up the first key lesson, Please. Part one of it anyway. Read along with me, Everybody, Please. You can't work with what you are not. And you can't change what you hope to be. Work begins and ends in the same place, With where you are and what you are in the moment. Any other effort is but part of a dream, As is the inevitable shock of being awakened from it. As is the inevitable shock of being awakened from it, Much as Paul had the shock of experiencing that his lack of preparation, His lack of work, Actually set the stage for the misery that he is experiencing now with Kathleen. So that's part one of the key lesson and now setting the stage. Part two. Easy does it, John. Practice does not make perfect. You'll see why I say that. Bring up part two, Please, Kate. Read along with me, Everybody. Because this explains part one and sets the stage for the subsequent material. Under unseen celestial laws, Conditions will always reveal the places within us, The parts of us that we have not prepared ourselves to meet. Why didn't Paul practice those difficult passages? Do you know why? Can you answer it for yourself? Because he did not want to meet his own limitation. That was the most difficult place. And instead of diving into the most difficult place, He avoided it, Hoping he would be able to five his way through it, Which obviously you can't do because in the eyes of the master, It will always become evident that you've been given an opportunity to meet parts of yourself, That if you do not prepare the proper way to meet them, You will be sure those same parts that deceived you into avoiding them will bring about the punishment that follows. Can you see this relationship with me before we go on, Everybody? The parts of us we have not prepared ourselves to meet. Now, Transition. Go with me, Please. Prepared for what? Prepared for what? Look, In the world, We can recognize a certain fact. I am going to go into the laboratory. I'm going to work with certain chemicals. I'm hoping to find a relationship and I need to prepare in advance as best I can what it is that I want to test and hopefully receive as a result of the testing. But when we think of preparation in the world, We are not talking about the same preparation. Preparation in the world, Can you see this, Means that I have an expectation. I'm hoping for an outcome. I prepare for the outcome I hope. That's in the world. In the spiritual world, You cannot prepare for an outcome that you hope, Because in the spiritual world, To hope for an outcome is already to be tied to the fear that you won't achieve it as you've imagined it. That's a mouthful, But I'm trusting you can see it. Because when we think of preparation, We're mostly tomorrow, There's some challenge ahead of us. Have you ever prepared a conversation in advance with somebody that you know you'd want something from or that you fear may not go well? So you prepare a conversation in advance, Yes or no? But what if what we call our preparations as evidenced by the fear or the avoidance of the moments we go into. We're not just limiting our higher possibilities, But actually in that same moment, In that preparation, Perpetuating the moment we don't want to meet. Let me give you an example before I give you the next key lesson. I'm. . . Well, I don't know what you say. I like to play golf. I enjoy it immensely. The whole of it. And I go to the range to work on my swing. A couple times a week if time allows me to. And when I go there, What I see is men and women practicing to be imperfect. Because they keep making the same swing. Hoping that the swing that they keep making will bring about a result other than the one they don't want because they keep preparing in the same way with the same swing. So men and women in this world, Prepare. To continue imperfection. Because it's familiar and we don't want to step outside of the familiar. So when the fear comes up of doing something other than what we know to do, Our response to that fear is to perpetuate by doing what? By preparing and doing the same thing we've done before. Can you see this with me before I go on? Because I'm bringing in this very nuanced key lesson. Because to understand any of this brings us to a remarkable revelation. I'm going to ask Kate to put up key lesson number two now, And just live with it for a second. Response is preparation. Response is preparation. Now, How is response preparation, Kate, Part two of that key lesson, Please? Because I've been alluding to this. Every response reveals the level of consciousness that will meet itself again in the next moment. Response is preparation because every response reveals the level of consciousness. That will meet itself in the next moment. Here's this level of consciousness, My habitual mechanical self. Here comes the stimulation, Whether it comes from outside or I want to become a better golfer. Here comes the stimulation. My response to that stimulation is what will either release me from that nature or it will perpetuate it when what? When I prepare. By listening to that consciousness telling me, Don't step outside the bounds, Don't change anything, Just try to groove what you already know and find that little nuance that'll make it better. This idea that every response reveals the level of consciousness that will meet itself in the next moment is a very deep, Powerful spiritual law. Maybe one of the most important that we can discover. It means simply this. My consciousness receive something that acts on it. Moment to moment. Something stimulates what is passive in my consciousness. The response of this stimulus upon this consciousness is what? It is to prepare for what that response has told me may or may not happen. So that I prepare to meet in the next moment, What my response is telling me is coming the next moment. When my response in the moment can't be separated from my reaction to the moment predicated on what my mind is telling me the meaning of the moment is. So I'm literally inside of a loop that I don't see whatsoever. Look, Let's, Let's simplify it. Consider what happens when life presents you with an unwanted moment. We all have them, Right? Maybe somebody criticizes you. Maybe you feel ignored or something doesn't go according to plan. In those moments, Tell me what happens. At least think through. Someone criticizes something. I feel ignored. This isn't going right. Isn't there an instantaneous response? And a mechanical one at that. Of irritation. Of some form of fear, Maybe, Or defensiveness, Or blame. Isn't that what happens? Here's the stimulus. It brings up this reaction. And suddenly I know who to blame and I know what to do because I'm in pain and now I want to free myself from it. And we call that response and our preparation to develop it, We call it our response. But is that my response? Is the preparation that follows that mechanical reaction my preparation? Or does it belong to a conditioned nature that is always doing what it has always done and will keep doing it until I begin to suspect the relationship between this unconscious response followed by this futile preparation to protect myself? Do you see it with me? If my usual response to someone or something challenging me is resistance, Then isn't that resistance preparing me? To resist what comes next, If my habitual response is fear. Isn't fear quietly preparing itself to meet the next thing it will fear. So if I justify my anger today, In any given moment, Then I'm strengthening the nature that believes no one should say anything other than something flattering to it. Do you see this unseen cycle where right now there is no space whatsoever between stimulus and response? And the stimulus that brings up the response brings up the preparation that this response says we must do in order to protect ourselves. But maybe if you're following me, We can find out it isn't that way at all. Maybe what I'm preparing to do is to not protect myself, But I'm being duped into protecting a nature that only knows one way to meet a moment it doesn't want, And that is to respond to it with resistance and then prepare itself for what it fears may or may not be coming along. So if we see that this preparation, If we can from this perspective, We can understand. Well, No wonder certain experiences seem to follow me through life. Do certain experiences follow you through life? I mean, The names may change. But the circumstances. They may seem different, But it's the same result. Because if I'm not upset with you, I'm upset with the waitress. If I'm not frustrated because this happened, I'm frustrated because I can't accomplish that. So that the same disappointments come around with different reasons for them. And every time we have a different reason for the disappointment or the fear, We simply come up with one more way in which we'll prepare not to have to go through that the next time. And the next time never comes. Do you see it? The next time never comes, Or more accurately, It comes and it comes and it comes, But the next time we're promised. Never appears. So what are we seeing? Why is that so? Because the nature responding in this moment is preparing to respond in the exact same way the next moment. It doesn't seem like it. Here I have this response. It seems like I'm going to go do, I'm going to go get. But suddenly I start to realize this response to go do, To go get, To get rid of, To add, That response is preparing me to have the same response the next time something challenges what it prepared for and didn't come. So each time we identify with some habitual mechanical reaction, We are in truth, Literally preparing to reincarnate an unconscious nature. Whose basic response is what? Defined by fight or flight. Isn't that the basic response? Fight or flight. Followed by an immediate explanation or a justification or some kind of excuse. Because that's all this nature can do. When something comes and stimulates it, Something acts on it. The only way it knows to respond to what has acted on it is by telling itself the nature of what has acted on it that it cannot know. But that it calls from its condition of thinking into play so that, Why? So that then I can prepare to deal with this darkness that has just come. When really what I'm preparing for is not the darkness that has come, But a darkness that has swallowed me up whole because I'm unaware of the fact that every time this happens, What feels like a form of self-protection is actually this unconscious nature, Not just protecting itself, But ensuring its continuity. Let's take a pause. Everybody still tracking? We're talking about two completely different worlds. Whenever my response, Your response. Is colored by some unseen force. Negativity. Call it resentment, Blame, Fear, Resistance. Do we not in that moment prepare ourselves to not meet that moment again. Isn't that what our preparations are? We got the figured out. We got them. We know what to do. We know what happened. So my preparations are always to ensure that I do not experience that moment again. Yes or no. And then I might spend a lifetime, By the way, Pursuing what I believe possessions, Powers, Influence, Because if I just get enough of that, That'll bring an end to these moments. But what we're looking at here. Is that when that response to that moment. Is to prepare so that, And protect myself from it again, I am secretly validating this unconscious nature that will always respond, Not just to the same moment, But increasingly so, Because now it's more identified and attached to its preparations that it thought would bring about a peace that it cannot do. So when this happens, We're actually preserving the nature. That will continue to resist the stimulus. Because it's more and more identified with what it believes it's prepared to make it work out okay. So if you're following me, And I trust you are, I'm going to shift gears slightly because now we're getting into the work involved. We're looking at something important. Now, How do we apply what understanding, No matter how small it may be, To this idea? So for that, I revisit something I talked about last weekend. I quoted Viktor Frankl. Who said that between stimulus and response, There is a space. And we discussed this at some length, But we're going deeper now. Between stimulus and response, There is a space. In today's vernacular, Between stimulus and response, And response that leads to preparation, And preparation that secretly validates the fearful nature, Between this stimulation and this response, There is a space. Now ordinarily, Please see this with me, We don't see any space between what you said and how I respond to it. It's virtually instantaneous, Isn't it? You acted this way, I acted that way. You were negative, I got negative. The world turned left, I wanted to go right, Now I'm confused. Do we see right now, There's no space between stimulus and response the way our present mind operates. Action, Reaction, Just like that, Inseparable, Yes or no? In the physical world, Action and reaction are inseparable. In the spiritual world, Stimulus and response are not inseparable. But we need to understand and see where it is that we have been deceived into accepting this machine, This movement. You said that? What? They did this? Why? Oh my God, Look at this idiot, Because I look out and see something that stirs some kind of resistance in me. So most of us hear words. And we conclude that, Well, Here's the stimulus. So there's a space between me and the response. So I'm going to work harder to control myself. And we think of this distance between stimulus and response as some form of controlling the reaction. Because if I can control the reaction in quotes, Then at least I'm no longer merely operating from this unconscious response. Now there's space. No, There's not. You cannot control a reaction. By a reaction. It's a deception. And a reaction cannot control itself. But here's where we get into something I hope you will see with me deeply. The difficulty is that by the time this reaction appears, And see it with me when I have a reaction. The moment the reaction is there. In that same moment appears I, Me, Who's having that reaction. So the appearance of the reaction. And the corresponding sense of self. They seem to be separate. Here's the reaction. Here's the me that's reacting. We must see that when there is a reaction, It is not producing, As a result of it, A me. The me that is having the unwanted experience of that reaction cannot be separated from that reaction. The reaction and the I that is defined by it appear at the same time. The reaction and the sense of self that is confined by it appears at the exact same moment. And there is, For that sake, To strengthen that, No one there by your name or my name before that reaction appears. The reaction produces the identity that claims the ownership of it. The reaction produces the identity that claims the ownership of it. And the reason that identity claims ownership of it is because then it can prepare itself to no longer be troubled by the pain of the reaction that it's actually identifying with. And this is why controlling ourselves never works. The me that reacts and tries to control the reaction belongs to the same mechanical movement. They're one thing. Are we communicating because we're getting ready to move into the exercise portion of this talk? If this is true, And it is. The me that reacts. Here's the stimulus, The response, And then the planning and preps. If that's all one movement. And I can't see it as being one movement. Then I need to begin to suspect the problem lies with the fact the reason I can't see this all as one movement is because the stimulus and the response that seem separate are actually fused together. By the identity that is produced in that moment. Identification fuses stimulus and response. Identification. Here's the stimulus. I'm reacting to it. I can't react to the stimulus unless there's something in me that knows whatever it is shouldn't be like that. So I already have in the depths of this unconscious nature, Some idea or image of myself that now resists what is stimulating and bringing it to bear. In that moment of stimulation. What happens? Here comes my response. And the response is always to avoid what has stimulated it. That's the same as identifying with the nature that is suddenly brought into my awareness that I didn't know was there prior to that stimulation. We must learn not to think about the reaction, Not to analyze the response, Let alone the preparations that we're going to take. What we must learn to do is study the entire reaction. We must learn to study the reaction, Not search our memory for some spiritual idea to understand it. Which is what we always do. Here comes a moment, I'm disturbed. My mind always goes looking for a cause, And if I can't find cause, Or if my mind says, Well, You must understand this, Then that same mind will turn to an explanation it gives itself for the cause of conflict it feels. And we fail to see that the mind finds the explanation that validates the disturbance. It doesn't dismiss the nature responsible for it. What every explanation, Analysis, Every so-called spiritual or religious idea icon we call on, Every last one of them validates this sense of being a victim of some moment, Because now at least I know what's going on. So what? So now I am other than the experience of that moment, Which is the fact that we need to see isn't true because identifying as we're describing creates a link that we don't see. Links this moment of stimulus and response. I'm working towards this idea again with you as best we can. That response is preparation. Response is preparation. If in that moment that we've just described, My response is the usual response. Then that usual response is doing what? It is preparing, In quotes, For me to have the same response again. Do you see it? I respond to you negatively. I don't think to myself, I wonder what's going on and why this relationship is troubled the way it is, Because my response includes what I know is the problem, Which is you. So every time this response comes up, And I'm not aware of the response and I identify with all of the movement that follows it, I am following this unconscious nature. The blind shall follow the blind and both fall in a pit. So when this happens, If you're understanding me. We must learn to study much as a naturalist does. You know, A naturalist goes out and they're, Let's say he's observing a nesting eagle. The Nationalists never interferes with any of the movement that takes place. He or she just observes the entire relationship, Everything that comes, Everything that goes. Everything that lives, Everything that dies. All of that is part of the observation of that creature the naturalist observes. We must learn to become the observer the one who studies the creatures in our own consciousness. Because for now, When we have this response. The way that we are, This response that we've described again and again, And as the key lesson said, And I repeat it, That the response is preparation. If I respond with fear, I'm preparing to be fearful again. If I respond with anger, I am preparing to be angry again. You can't undo the math. So the nature responding in the habitual way is ensuring it will respond habitually again, In the exact same manner, Maybe using different words, Finding different reasons for it being there, But it will be the exact same response and the exact same outcome. Do you see this with me? Because it brings us to this point. To study the whole movement. To see all of the creatures in this unconscious nature that seem to be separate because that's what this nature does is separate all of the various aspects of itself. It requires seeing stimulus and response simultaneously. Look at this with me. Here comes the stimulus. What do I do? Something comes. I see the cause for this suffering. I see the cause, The stimulus, I'm suffering. I see this suffering. Now, Without knowing it. I see this response to this suffering. As if the me that's responding to this suffering is other than the me doing the suffering. So they seem separate. Stimulus and response seem to prove that what is suffering can escape it if it simply responds other than in the habitual way it does. But any response to mitigate the suffering is ensuring the nature that only knows how to suffer when it is challenged will be there again, And we will respond in the exact same way time and time again. Are you tracking with me? This is challenging and I know it is. Only as we work to see what I'm describing to you. Do we begin to see what cannot be described? Because we discover the space. This awareness. That exists between stimulus and response that actually holds them. We see something there that can't be seen in any other way. We see to begin with that stimulation and response are actually not separate at all the way we imagine them. Rather, They are bound together by our unseen identification with the reaction. So I identify with, I know the problem. I identify with, I know what to do about the problem. And when I'm identified with the left or the right of that equation, It never dawns on me that what's holding them together and making them seem as though they are inescapable is the identity that is creating the condition it will live again and again and again. Because its response becomes its preparation. Imagine preparing to be defeated. Every time you become anxious or worried and start thinking about what to do and how to prepare to escape that pain, You are preparing to have the same feeling again and again and again. If you could see that in that moment, That would mark the beginning of a completely different order of preparation, Wouldn't it? Do you see it? If I actually see is I have the same response, Same negativity, Same pain, If I actually see that, And then in doing so, I'm actually preparing to experience the same process again and again, And again, If I saw that with great clarity, What would happen? I'll tell you what would happen, It would mark the beginning of a totally different order of preparation, Because now why? Because now I'm not listening to fear tell me what to do, Because I know that's preparing to be afraid again. And I'm not listening to something tell me what to do about this problem. That would how to fix you because I understand it doesn't matter how many times I fix you. It doesn't fix the nature that keeps running into painful relationships because of its nature that demands people treat it the way it wants to be treated. So when we recognize this, We are no longer rehearsing resistance. When I feel resistance, And I plan out of it, I'm ensuring the continuation of that nature that we'll always have something to resist. Instead, When we learn to study the whole of the moment, We are learning to release the old response before we identify with it. Meaning we're beginning to recognize that it runs in a cycle. And that it is a cycle. So we're no longer strengthening the old self. The old nature. Tell a lie, Perpetuate the liar. Tell a lie, Have to protect the nature that was moved and compelled to speak it. Enable somebody and then have all the reasons in the world why you do it without understanding that your perpetuation of that nature is hidden in everything you do to please someone so that you don't have to experience this, This unconscionable self. We have to sow the seed of a new relationship. Which is what we're describing here. So that every unwanted moment in essence becomes another opportunity to study rather than identify. Do you see it? Here's the moment. No, I identify. What's identity? Resist, Not want, Change, Plan, Prep. Every last part of that is the perpetuation of the nature that meets it, That is stimulated into all of the ensuing action. So now I know, All right, The task here isn't to identify with want, Not want, Go, Don't go, Hurry, Stay still. It's to observe, Not justify. To observe, Not justify, To be present. Rather than to agree to be possessed by whatever those reactions are bringing up inside of me as unavoidable consequences if I don't act. Then every moment in life, Every challenge, Which life is, Becomes practice. Every interruption, Every moment of impatience becomes preparation for releasing the consciousness that only knows how to blame someone for the stimulation that it is experiencing through its own resistance. This is what our young pianist Paul was supposed to learn. He avoided learning those difficult passages, Didn't he? Was he actually avoiding the difficult passages or was his response to meeting them ensuring that he would do that every single time with every difficult passage in his life? Every time. The question is, And you have to ask yourself before I bring up the last key lesson. Are you preparing, Am I preparing the continuation of a level of self? That as we do so we keep incarnating it. Or are we quietly preparing? Entering into the space between stimulus and response, Entering into that awareness that holds what seems to be an inseparable movement to reveal them as being a singularity bound together by the way in which we identify and keep identifying the way this nature keeps identifying with want and not want, Run, Fight, Flight. Because if I can answer that question in the affirmative, Then maybe I can start to meet these moments. With a completely different kind of response. I can be present and increasingly so. When there comes this action, This stimulation, The stimulation. And it doesn't have to be from outside. You know, Your own mind constantly stimulates itself. To understand all this is to begin to work in a completely different way in a new world, To bring about a new result, Which is the end of reincarnating yourself, Which you don't know that you are presently complicit with doing. Let's bring up the last key lesson, Kate, Please. Read along with me because. . . Let the implications in this key lesson fall where they do. To work on yourself. Especially when you don't feel like it. Is to prepare the way for a higher order of being, One that knows better than to listen to any parts of yourself, Secretly poisoning you with the promise that a better time will soon be coming to do so. You don't have time outside of the moment in which you can be aware of stimulation and response. And the more you see that they are in fact unfolding together. The more you will be willing to respond in a completely different way. Again, Not thinking to yourself, I'm going to respond differently. Not thinking to yourself, I just don't have all the information necessary, But I'll go gather it from a book or a teacher, Then I'll respond differently. No, See your response. And don't separate the response from what it brings up as it calls into play all of this preparation. Oh, Look at that. I better protect myself. Why is this that way? I better ensure it's not that way tomorrow. So that every last one of these mechanical responses produces a mechanical preparation, A mechanical response. That's why the title of the the title of the talk, Just to reiterate it one more time, That special key lesson. Is to understand responses preparation. Response is preparation. You can't know how to respond to a moment. But when you think you know what the moment is that's coming, You will not only know how to respond, But your response will ensure that those unwanted moments keep coming. That we connect. Because we can take a few minutes now if any of you have a question or a comment. I've only got four minutes left and I'm happy to have you post a question or whatever it might be that would be significant to you, If you wish. I'm happy to have it. I can't tell you how. I can't tell you how. Devastating it is to the possibility of your awakening. To listen to and live from a nature that on one hand is the laziest thing that ever lived. It doesn't want to be uncomfortable. Where did you get the idea that the spiritual life is a comfortable one? Where did you get that idea? I'll tell you where he got it. You got it from people who sold it to you and you sold it to yourself because that's what you want. You can't have a comfortable life until you see through the nature that keeps seeking comfort through anxious states. You can't find real comfort until you're absolutely awakened to this conflicted nature that keeps promising there will be a time to come. And if you just go there, If you just prepare enough, You'll finally be at peace. You cannot prepare for peace. But you can see how your response keeps you from entering into a world where peace waits for you. That much you can do. Couple minutes. Happy to share. And if nobody has anything, Then we'll just go ahead and. . . Call it a day. Do your work. Enter into that space by studying the nature that seems to create an inseparable relationship between you and the life you don't want. There is a space there. Learn to study yourself, Learn to study yourself, Learn to study yourself, And not just when you want to study yourself. The best time to study yourself is when you are least inclined to do so. The best way you will ever discover what you need to discover yourself is when it seems like there's absolutely nothing there for you to discover and you listen to that response tell you, Well, We'll prepare, We'll plan later. Later is not coming. Later is the illusion of a mind that doesn't understand how action and reaction sow the seed of the next set of actions and reactions. Something must come between us, Between that stimulus and that response that shows us there is another world that holds stimulus and response in which we can realize this response. I'm actually preparing myself for the next moment this consciousness will experience. You do that, You will see a miracle take place.

Reviews

Every time I listen to this lecture the goosebumps increase and the window creaks open just a few more inches. I can't recommend this talk highly enough, it cuts to the very core.