The Wisdom To Be The Master Of Your Own Life GF Live 7-6-24

Only as we run out of ways to explain our pain to ourselves do we come to realize the true source of that suffering; a revelation that includes the shocking fact that whatever keeps giving us the reasons for this pain...is inseparable from its unwanted, yet unabated continuation.

Transcript

The theme for our study this morning is this idea of what it means to master our own life,

To be in command of it.

And I trust that I don't need to go into too much detail to outline the fact that by and large most of us are not exactly in command of ourselves,

In particular during certain moments when it feels like people,

Places,

Conditions are predatory.

So I just want to open the talk with reminding you if you ever saw the film The Edge,

It was with William Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins.

It's a great film.

If you never saw it,

I recommend it as a truly beautiful spiritual metaphor.

The movie The Edge itself,

The title of it referred to a certain relationship that we intended to have.

And so let me just get into this.

The film opens when Anthony Hopkins,

A super wealthy person,

William Baldwin,

His assistant,

Second in command,

Hopkins' beautiful wife,

Much younger than she,

They go to a hunting lodge.

They fly in on one of those airplanes that lands in the water.

And before they take off,

The owner of the lodge and the guide is kind of hinted that Anthony Hopkins is a man of great knowledge,

Knows everything.

The guy says,

I'll bet you five bucks I have a question you can't answer.

And Hopkins says,

All right.

And the guide pulls down this paddle,

Alec Baldwin,

Thank you,

Pulls down the paddle from on the wall and on the side that he's holding towards Hopkins,

There's this picture of a jaguar,

Big jaguar,

Large cat.

And the guide says,

What's on the other side of this paddle if you can tell me I got five bucks for you.

And Hopkins doesn't wait too long.

He says,

On the other side of the paddle,

There's a rabbit smoking a pipe.

And of course,

The guide is distraught,

Turns the paddle over.

Sure enough,

Flip side of the paddle is a rabbit smoking a pipe.

Turns out,

Explained ever so briefly that this is in the Cree Indian nation,

This paddle represents a relationship between two natures.

And the guide says,

Well,

What's the meaning of that?

And Hopkins says,

Well,

The reason the rabbit is smoking a pipe is because he's smarter than the jaguar.

He knows the jaguar's nature better than the jaguar himself knows it.

There's a beautiful little illustration of a hidden relationship that we're intended to have with our own nature that we don't have presently that we're going to look at together and hopefully sort out some ideas and look at some bigger pictures that we can begin to be profitable in a new way in these difficult moments when we are being stalked by that jaguar,

By those shadow thoughts and feelings,

Those moments we don't want.

So let's get into it.

A long,

Long time ago,

It's reputed that the Buddha said it's better to conquer oneself than to win a thousand battles.

Better to conquer oneself than to win a thousand battles.

Now,

Unfortunately,

For most of us,

We think of this idea of conquering ourselves,

Of killing or destroying somehow or other,

Becoming stronger than the part that's stronger than us now.

And that isn't at all what is implied in that idea of better to conquer oneself than to win a thousand battles.

Buddha was referring to this idea that it is better to be the master of all of yourself,

All of the creatures that lurk in the jungle,

The jaguars,

The lions,

The tigers,

The bears,

The pigs,

The squirrels,

All of these creatures that live within us that we don't know about,

That we,

Without understanding,

Live to some extent in the service of.

And because we don't know these qualities,

Because we have not understood what it means to master ourselves,

We serve these characters and qualities instead of them,

Meaning all of these parts of ourselves,

Serving a greater whole.

So I want to make a little transition here.

I ask you to be as honest as you can,

Like I do every time I speak.

Who is your master moment to moment?

Driving down the street,

Sitting at a restaurant table with friends.

Who is your master moment to moment other than whatever it is in that moment that comes up from this unconscious nature and commands us?

And it does.

Every attempt to justify,

Explain,

Make peace with all of these ideas that run rampant through this mind when it has been seized and set to serve something that is self-compromising,

All of this is a way in which we try to learn to live with the fact that in these moments we are not in charge of our own life.

And it is,

Strangely enough,

And I'll get to a special key lesson later in the talk.

Yes,

A false guide,

Cher,

Just like we talked about last Wednesday,

Last Saturday,

A false guide,

Not a true guide.

If we ever want to have real command over ourselves,

We're going to need a new master.

Now I have to tell you,

I understand there are no ways in which I can escape saying certain things in certain ways,

English language,

The skill of communication,

The difficulty of putting into context certain higher ideas.

Human beings hate the idea of anything greater,

Bigger than themselves.

It is so abhorrent to this nature of ours,

This idea that you and I would in fact in one way or another be in the service of something other than perhaps what we've imagined or it painfully agreed to put ourselves in the service of for what we think will eventually put us in charge of our life.

We live from an unseen set of ideas,

And it's impossible to be in command of ourselves until we see how we are presently commanded by these notions,

These social,

Cultural,

Economic,

Even religious ideals.

For instance,

It is part of our mindset.

I'm asking you to see this.

The fewer people or circumstances that we have to serve,

Or conversely,

The more people and circumstances that we can arrange to serve us,

The more profitable we are.

And the more profitable we are this way,

Serving fewer,

Being served by more,

The more command we are in our life because there's less things to disturb us.

So basically,

Though we don't see it,

The idea of our life and pretty much all that moves us through it is this idea of a time to come when the only thing that we have to serve is whatever we believe serves us in our pursuit of more power to place others and circumstances in our command.

If you look at your life,

It's there.

I can't take the time in these talks to spell this out.

What is my mind involved with all day long,

Trying to corral everything that I hold valuable into a single place,

Keep away everything that threatens to get in and mess with my pleasures or my possession,

And then build somehow or other a way in which to ensure that that remains uninterrupted.

So here's the point.

If you can see this with me,

Maybe I should ask,

Are you following me today?

Are you meaning,

Are you with me intellectually,

Emotionally?

Do you understand what I'm leading to?

And if what I've said is true,

And it is,

Again,

You have to see it,

That we have all of these ideas wrapped up into a certain kind of lifestyle idea,

Image of ourselves.

When is it then that we lose command in quotes of what we think we command,

Meaning everything that we put together?

When is it that we lose command?

And what is it that takes command from us?

And the short answer is we lose command over ourselves.

When life comes along and challenges everything that we've put together,

That when we could look in the mirror of ourself and see it,

We think,

Well,

I'm content.

Now I have security.

So in the very moment of any threat at any level,

Even as passing comment from a waitress can set us off.

And the next thing we know,

We are filled with negative reactions.

And we are in fact commanded by those negative reactions.

And the proof of that is that we either summarily resist them because that's not the kind of person we're supposed to be,

Which means the negative reaction is still the authority.

It's still our guide in that moment.

Or if we don't actually suppress them this way,

Then we express them.

And you can explain it till the cows come home.

How can a man or woman who is angry,

Frightened,

Anxious,

Rushing around?

How can they even begin to assume for a moment they're in command of their own life?

When they're not even present to the words that come out of their mouth.

You know,

Most of us speak all the time and have no awareness at all of what's talking for us,

Let alone the tones,

The energy,

What's moving us to speak.

And if we can see that we are not in charge of these negative reactions,

Then it begs the question,

Who is?

What is the source of these reactions that command us to be anxious?

To tell us you're not up for this,

You're not good enough.

What is the nature of those thoughts that tell us we have to go do and act towards certain people in a certain way,

Otherwise something terrible is going to happen.

So we don't just act against them in cruelty or ambition,

But we act against ourselves and don't even know it.

Because we can't talk about what it means to be in command of ourselves better than a thousand to win a thousand battles until we understand this interior struggle that's going on between something inside of us that we've come to believe gives us authority when the truth is,

If we could see it clearly,

We haven't been given authority through the actions and choices we've made to try to make of ourselves something special in this world.

In fact,

It's the last thing that we've become is in charge of ourselves.

Because in order to become what we've imagined and command who and what we would,

We first had to imagine ourselves being someone in possession of some power,

Authority.

And to the exact extent that we become identified with one of these desires and you can't separate imagination from desire and desire and imagination from the identity that gives rise to it and then becomes identified and attached to it.

So that we can begin to see that the last thing that's happening is that we're not in command of ourselves.

The more we imagine ways to get through this and go that and make them understand.

That's the last thing command is because the more,

Once again,

That we are identified enthralled with whatever that idea or images and the sense of self that's derived from it,

The less in command we are of ourselves because we have handed over our life to something that in exchange,

Now listen,

In exchange for our obedience to the illusion of being in command of ourselves as granted by all of these thoughts and feelings that have driven us and that we have drawn to us the things they say they must.

That the obedience of this illusion is what?

That there is a time coming in my life when unwanted conditions will no longer command me because I'm going to put together everything in such a way that it becomes rock hard,

Solid,

And I will be safe within myself because of all the things that I've acquired,

Including all of these ideas I might add about myself,

Spiritual ideas,

Spiritual knowledge,

Being able to quote scripture or whatever it is.

So that we don't see we're like a hose that just spews out whatever is pumped up from within us when some kind of pressure comes along.

And the only way we know to change is to try to spray everything and hope that something sticks.

To see how we believe when we're in the pursuit of something that we desired,

To see that in the very pursuit of the thing we desire to free us is to be commanded by that desire and that imagination that derives an identity from that pursuit.

I hope you're following.

We're looking at something that if we could even begin to grasp it would help us realize that what's taking place here is that what we call our will really isn't our will at all.

Let's bring up the second key lesson,

Kate,

Please.

Read along with me.

This is the unseen dilemma and the secret sorrow of virtually every human being.

All of us imagine ourselves as the harbor master and none of us even own our own boat.

All imagine themselves the harbor master and none even own their own boat.

How many of you tell everyone you know how to set their sail,

The right course for them to take,

Failing to see how many times the storms come along and sink whatever this vessel is that we call ourselves,

Filled with this certainty,

This idea?

And isn't it,

I think it's so interesting,

I hope you do too,

Have you ever noticed how in command you are of yourself when you're commanding others to do as you've told them to do?

You're so sure.

So what is the nature of this reaction that commands us to do,

Say,

Things that we know are against us and others?

In essence,

What would you say it is?

And I've been alluding to it.

Our will is primarily inseparable from whatever the will is of whatever the main desire is in that moment.

Try to see it with me.

I'm sitting at home.

I look at the clock.

Whoa,

I got to go.

Suddenly,

There's urgency.

Well,

Am I not,

By the way,

Commanded by that urgency?

Do I not jump through whatever hoop it says I've got to do?

Start rushing,

Right?

So some desire in that moment is not promising,

Not just promising,

Get going and you'll get to the place.

It's saying if you don't get to the place,

Something bad's going to happen.

So without knowing it,

The strength,

What we call the strength of our will,

Is really the degree to which we're attached to whatever that reaction is threatening or promising in the same moment.

And this that we call a strength,

Our strength,

My this,

My that,

You're that,

I'm going to,

All of that is actually a weakness,

Not a strength,

Not being in command of ourselves.

It is being commanded and we don't have even any idea who or what it is that's commanding us.

And that's the point of this talk.

Because the moment we become identified with some negative state,

Again,

Can you see it with me?

Can I be identified with a negative state without being in the hands of what for now I'll call the will of some resistance?

Can I be the instrument of this resistance,

Pushing away,

Slugging away?

Can I be in the will of that resistance without something in me saying,

I've got to get away.

I have to escape this condition.

I have to make you see.

I have to turn the page here and get onto the plan that's been thwarted by whatever that person or that predicament produced,

And then struggle to escape the unwanted condition.

Believing that the condition we're trying to take command over is the world,

Someone,

Something in it,

When really what we're struggling with isn't the condition.

What we're struggling with is a condition of our own consciousness attached to and identified with some formulation,

A desire came up,

God only knows at what point in our life that's lodged there.

And that our belief that if we could just do this,

Get that,

Have this,

Get through this moment,

If we could just do that,

Then we would be back in command of ourselves.

And so we listen to the temptation of a promise of a time to come when what we want will be in place and what we don't want will be gone.

And this is exactly what Christ was talking about when he said,

You cannot serve two masters,

You'll love one and despise the other.

Because what are the two masters that are in command of my life?

Ask yourself,

What I want and the depth and breadth of my identification with that time to come when I'll be finally in command,

I won't be negative because I'll be able to have whatever it is or what I don't want,

Where I'm in a summary relationship with every moment that challenges whatever little kingdom I put,

This unconscious nature is put together.

To see what I'm describing to you clearly is as paradoxical as it may seem,

The beginning of realizing a new relationship with a new master.

And in that new relationship,

Finding a command that requires no thought at all,

Requires no planning.

What a relief.

Let's bring up the next key lesson,

Please,

Kate,

It'll forward us along.

There exists a great and grand paradox when it comes to being in charge of oneself.

It is impossible to experience higher levels of self-command without learning to be obedient to a higher state of oneself.

There is a great and grand paradox when it comes to being in charge of oneself.

It is impossible to experience higher levels of self-command without learning to be obedient to a higher state of oneself.

Let me rephrase that because I'm about to tell you a story to kind of set the stage and help us understand a kind of exercise.

It's inherent in everything we're studying together.

But listen to this idea,

Please.

If you followed me,

Meaning even just today listening,

We've been betrayed.

And to be clear,

There's no conspiracy to betray you.

Anyone or anything that sets out to betray you themselves were first betrayed by the idea that there was a power they could have over other people.

What a ludicrous idea.

Anyone who wants power over another person is himself an attached victim of their own need for power.

And the very thing they rely on in order to get that power,

They live in fear of.

That's why it's an unending story.

The circle of violence,

Control,

Power in this world.

So to understand in any way at all,

Even in the smallest way,

I'm going to go have a conversation on the phone with my daughter,

I have a meeting,

They've asked me,

Do I want some more authority responsibility at work?

To even,

Even suspect in those moments that the very onset of whatever the impression is produced by that condition brings up inside of us,

What a fear,

A worry,

A doubt,

An anxiety,

A sense of inadequacy,

Maybe loathing ourselves.

And in the moment that that unconscious gunk comes spewing up from this unseen,

Unconscious nature without understanding that it is part and parcel with the revelation of that consciousness,

We identify with these things,

Feel the resistance to things inside of ourselves that we don't want to feel,

See,

And certainly don't want to go through.

And in that moment,

Our life is taken over.

Fear becomes my false guide,

Promising to give me what I need to be fearless.

Anger becomes my false guide,

Saying,

Here's the strength you need to deal with this.

Failing to see with no question about it,

That it's impossible to be angry with someone or something unless you sit there with a demand upon them.

And the demand belongs to the attachment and the identification,

Whatever the images or idea that we have of ourselves.

So that anger and fear and all of these negative reactions are the byproduct of a way in which we have not seen yet.

We have agreed to be commanded by this dual nature,

This unconscious mind that says to want and get what you want is to be free,

Failing to see that every time you get what you want,

You live in fear that what you want will be taken from you.

To get away from what I don't want is what it means to be in command of myself.

And I've worked hard.

I've got the money.

I can get away.

And here you are and believing that not wanting is the proof of command because you have the means in order to escape a circumstance.

You can't escape a circumstance you don't want.

You are the circumstance you don't want.

And it goes with you everywhere in the shape and form of an unconscious nature that believes somehow or other to be in command of oneself is to be able to desire something I haven't had yet and will,

And then I'll be free.

Or to escape the things that challenge what I thought my freedom was based in,

Only discover once again I wasn't free.

The need for a new master sets the stage to begin actively surrendering yourself,

Ourselves,

To the awareness of that need.

The need for a new master sets the stage to begin actively surrendering ourselves to the awareness of that need.

And how the awareness of that need is the beginning itself of entering into a conscious relationship with the actual indwelling master that's needed.

The need for a new master sets the stage for becoming active,

Surrendering ourselves to the awareness of that need.

Look at this with me.

We all suddenly feel the need to be in command of a situation when whatever challenges us seems greater than our ability to deal with it.

And so without knowing it we hand ourselves summarily over to whatever the reaction is that points to the problem and then try to find a sense of command without seeing we're being commanded.

Because the identification with whatever that strong negative emotion is,

Whatever that passion of the moment may produce,

The identification with it gives us the sense of self of being solid and real in command and you're not furthest thing from it.

And to begin recognizing that that's the truth means there has to come a moment where I start to have this gotta go,

Gotta get,

Gotta rush,

I start to have these moments where here comes these reactions inside of me,

Oh no.

And in that split second instead of looking for some way to command the moment,

A moment that wouldn't exist if I hadn't become attached and identified to what something told me the last time would allow me to escape these kind of moments,

If in that moment I'm aware that a false master is there in thought,

Pumping sensations,

Dark,

Fiery emotions,

Reactions,

In that moment I see this can't be my master.

Then the very awareness of what I'm describing begins to bring you into a relationship with the very awareness itself.

I go before you to make the crooked places straight.

I come into relationship with something that shows me where it is that I'm about to unwittingly hand over the command of my life to an unconscious nature that once again,

First by its identification with the original images and attachment,

First creates the condition and then resists anything that challenges it and around and around the circle of self we go.

And the only thing that changes is the suffering we do,

The struggle involved in trying to figure out how do I come back into command of my life.

The awareness of that need is the beginning of entering into a new relationship with the actual indwelling master that's needed.

So let me tell you now a story,

And I can only trust and I hope that it's so that some of these stories that I tell,

Parables,

Are pretty immediately grasped,

And some have a nuance,

Something that you have to lean into a little bit,

Something that you need not to just listen to with your ears,

But that you need to listen to and hear,

In particular during these talks,

Because you have come into some contextual relationship with what's being revealed through the ideas as they're given.

And you can start to see there is this,

There is some truth to this.

I am,

Without knowing it,

The servant of an unsettled,

Constantly conflicted nature that I don't know is there until something unsettles it and puts it into conflict with the present moment.

And then now I'm there,

And I believe that the surge of that negative energy,

That that negative energy is there to serve me.

That fear,

Psychological fear,

Is there to serve me.

After all,

It's pointing to the pain and the problem,

And then the same fear is telling me what to do to release myself from a condition that wouldn't exist if it weren't for an unconscious nature that did not go before me to make crooked places straight,

But that had screwed everything into some little kingdom that convinced me the more identified with it,

The more command I had over my life.

So please,

Let's go to the story.

And again,

To that key lesson that Kate put up,

Just as a reminder,

There exists a great and grand paradox when it comes to being in true charge of oneself.

It is impossible to experience higher levels of self-command without learning to be obedient to a higher state of oneself.

Here's the story.

So somewhere,

Somewhere back in time,

When I started saying,

It's not back in time,

God,

If you could see that,

Somewhere back in time when nations were warring with each other and stealing from each other materials and product and populations,

Creating slaves to serve.

Do you think the slave system is gone?

It's just changed.

It's just become sophisticated.

And you and I,

We don't want to,

Because you and I see,

We want to be the one who has people in our service,

Positions,

Powers,

Places,

Things that serve us,

Failing to see that the only reason we're so drawn to and dedicated to keeping all of this in place is because we live in a mortal fear that if anything stops serving us the way it's supposed to,

Then somehow or other we're going to wind up in the service of someone or something else.

We don't want to.

And all live in the service of an unconscious nature that drives the struggle and the suffering that validates it,

Instead of seeing what I'm trying to show you with this talk and the story.

So long,

Long ago,

Imagine a household,

Beautiful,

Palatial place,

And there's 10,

15,

20 slaves,

Servants that have been captured from other countries or whatever,

And put into some kind of bondage.

And so there is this one of these slaves who relatively new,

He looks and it seems that this head slave,

That's all he knows to think of him,

Is actually the head of the household,

Seemingly close to the master of the house.

And he says to this head slave,

What do I have to do to be like you?

You have so much more freedom than everyone else in this household.

I want to know.

How do you,

As in this place that I am in,

Have all these freedoms?

The man looks at him,

He says,

You think you know what you don't.

He said,

Long before you came here,

Were brought here,

I too had been captured in a war.

And when that war took place and decimated my country,

In that country,

I was a man of means.

I had slaves of my own.

And then everything changed in a heartbeat.

And as I came here,

I went through exactly what you're going through.

Everything constantly comparing myself to others that I wanted,

If nothing else,

At least the advantages they had.

But the thing is that what took place is that I started to be aware of the fact when I could get over being indignant that I had to serve anyone,

I became indignant that I started unable to see what I could now,

Which is that my master,

The master of this house,

He treated me with respect.

I never treated those that were under me with deference.

I wanted them to be what I wanted.

But the master of this house,

He treated me very differently than that.

The slave inquiring,

He said,

Well,

That,

You know,

Great,

That's a fine story.

But I want to understand how you got into the position you are,

Because I want to be treated the same way.

And the head slave says,

You don't understand what you're asking.

Your assessment is all wrong.

You think because I wear a tunic similar to you,

That I'm in the same position you are.

I'm not.

What do you mean?

I'm not a slave here anymore.

What?

What do you mean you're not a slave here?

You work here.

I see you talking to the master all the time.

I don't understand what you're saying.

And the head master,

Head slave said,

Long before you came here,

Long before you came here,

The master of this house gave me my freedom.

Oh,

I'm having a problem following you.

What do you mean?

Gave you your freedom?

That's crazy.

If you were given your freedom,

Why are you still here?

That makes no sense at all.

How is that possible?

Why remain in the service to the master who set you free?

And the head slave said,

You know,

Long ago,

I came to see what you,

God willing,

Will come to see for yourself,

And that is that the master of this house has things that have to be done and taken care of.

And like yourself,

Back in the day,

I was full of resisting and resenting this relationships.

But as I began to do what I was asked to do,

Not only did I begin to see that there was a certain wisdom in the choices the master was making,

But I was being educated as I acted out what it was that he asked me to do.

So in time,

And it took some time,

Not only did I see that the master was good and wise and kind,

But as I learned to make his will my own,

I started to realize that there was little difference between myself and the master.

And apparently,

Whatever was going on,

The master recognized as well,

Because there came a day when I was carrying out what he asked me to do in one of his businesses.

He came and he said,

I give you a share of this business and your freedom.

You are no longer in bondage to this house.

Now you are a partner in some of the business of this house,

And may you prosper from it greatly.

And I did.

And with that business and the new relationship came new,

Bigger responsibilities and more freedom.

And as I gained more responsibility and was given more freedom,

The master made me a partner in more of his businesses until eventually I had command over my own life and the means to do so.

And the other,

The questioning saying,

I just,

I don't grasp it.

I don't understand.

And he said,

When you understand that in this life,

There's not a question of whether or not you're going to serve something.

To be in a body of any kind at all,

To be a creation in this world is to be in service to that which you are a part of and that which gave you a part in that creation.

There is no escaping service.

The question is,

What do you want to serve?

Because when you can begin to serve the right idea,

The right feeling,

The right understanding,

You're no longer in conflict with whatever it is that relates to you and relays to you in those moments.

What is what you're being asked to do?

Now before I get into this exercise,

What do negative states ask me to do?

What are negative states ask you to do?

Whose service are you in when for your suffering you lash out at another human being?

Who is your master when you feel inadequate to the moment and rather than do what you've been asked to do,

Which is to meet it as consciously as you can,

You do everything you can to avoid those conditions.

Who's your master?

Who's your master when you can't sleep at night and your mind is tormenting you and all you know how to do in those moments is to sit and resist or otherwise get up and go drink or eat or turn on something so you can distract yourself?

Who's your master when you have to distract yourself?

And the answer is right in front of us,

Which brings us to the exercise.

I hope you'll make this leap with me.

There'll be no question that multiple times today there will be this sudden wish that life wasn't the way it is,

That you didn't have to go through what you have to do,

That you could escape the experience of yourself,

Believing that the unwanted experience is a product of the condition that has now come to steal from you or put you in captivity.

In the middle of these moments,

As many times as you can remember,

But especially in these moments where there's this sense of being agitated or disturbed,

Come awake as aware of all of yourself as you can and ask this one simple question of yourself.

Who is the master of my life right now?

Right now.

I saw something on television that brought up this memory of this person who did this to me.

I look at the news.

I'm agitated.

I'm so frustrated.

Who is my master when I'm filled with rage?

Nevermind how all of that rage is then validated and somehow or other made justifiable.

That's all,

I almost said a bad word.

That's all nonsense.

Who is my master?

And if you don't go into thought,

If you don't allow imagination to come in,

Christ is my master.

Buddha is my master.

You don't go into thought and you remain just simply present to yourself,

Let alone refusing to get into any form of judgment over what you see.

If you remain in that temporarily awakened state,

Enhanced by the question,

Who is my master right now,

Then in that moment and in that awareness will be revealed to you in proportion to your willingness to remain there,

The answer to your question.

And the clearer that answer becomes,

For instance,

I'm anxious,

I want to rush.

Who's my master?

Fear of missing out,

Greed.

If I see that fear is my master,

I'm not going to drop to my knees and say,

Please rescue me.

Please help me get someplace faster so I can be freer.

That's insanity.

I'm filled with a sudden surge of impatience.

Who's my master?

That master doesn't exist without demand.

That demand doesn't exist without attachment and dependency.

So the very awareness,

To whatever degree it's possible,

Who's my master right now,

Puts you in a new relationship with the very awareness itself that is inseparable from the light of God,

The light of truth.

Then you begin to move,

Make the change,

The true metanoia from one unconscious relationship with the master that does nothing but promise yet produce punishment to another master that reveals the former master.

And in the revelation of the old master,

You are released from bondage,

Released from fear,

Anxiety,

All of these things.

And these old characters that we never knew consumed us now become part of the food of the soul,

Part of what liberates us instead of imprisoning us.