It Is Not What You Think It Is - Open Talks

In this episode, Navid points out the fact that we normally mistake our experience to be what our mind thinks about it. Which is a very limited way to experience the vastness of this existence. And by reconnecting to our raw, undefined and real experience, we can unveil the underlying magic, playfulness, intimacy and beauty of this thing that we call life.

Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome to another open talk with Simran Meditation.

In this one I would like to talk about a small thing but quite important one.

Something that we have,

All of us pretty much forgotten.

And that is the fact that none of this,

Nothing,

Is what we think it is.

What we think it is,

Is just a word,

A concept,

A projection,

A definition that exists in our mind.

But nothing,

Not a single thing itself,

No experience,

No event,

No object,

Is what we think it is.

It is not limited to our version of it.

So,

Let me explain.

Let's take a country,

Like Sweden.

When I walk around here,

My mind thinks I am in Sweden,

This is Sweden I am seeing,

Or the city of Tirp or something.

That's what my mind thinks this whole thing is.

But none of that really exists.

Sweden,

It's an imagination,

It's an agreement we have on earth amongst humans.

No birds see Sweden,

No deers,

No moose,

No deers.

None of them see Sweden.

And not even we see Sweden,

We just project Sweden on it.

We project borders.

And sometimes to a degree that we believe it is Sweden.

And sometimes we believe that so much,

That we fight for it,

We kill each other for it.

But in reality Sweden never existed.

There is no tree saying,

Hey,

I am a Sweden tree.

There is no forest,

There is no river,

There is nothing in nature that is what we believe it is.

Can you see that?

And this goes for everything reading.

Your friends,

If we take one of your friends as an example and if you look at them,

You can see that your mind has a name for them,

A story,

Associations and so on,

Memories connecting to them.

But that person is not what you think they are.

They are not the name,

They are not the story,

They are not one of their moods or traits.

To know them and the only way to know what something is,

Is to experience it directly in its raw,

Direct and pure form,

In its expression.

So,

You see what I mean?

You could even try this out.

You can go towards a friend and suddenly put your whole idea of that friend away.

Forget their name,

Forget what you think about them,

Forget everything.

Just don't look at them through your mind.

And instead really look at them.

Don't even say that is a human or a homo sapien or anything like that.

Just experience them as if you were just being born.

Like you see the face for the first time,

You see the eyes,

The sparks,

The tendencies,

The energy,

The vibration,

The smell.

Then you'll know them.

Then you'll know what they are right now.

And your mind might say,

Oh no,

But they are so much more,

There is all these stories.

But all of that is actually expressing now.

Everything that they have ever experienced,

All their story,

Is actually a part of their expression right now.

You can experience and know someone fully and sometimes even more than themselves by just being totally empty while experiencing them.

Being totally present without any filters.

And that goes really for everything.

Whether it's something we call chocolate or food or running,

Anything.

You can experience every event,

Every object,

Every experience,

Every appearance.

Either through your mind's version of it,

Through your mind's definitions and projections and the filters.

Or you can experience it purely for what it is,

Without the name,

Definition or label.

Just sense it,

Touch it,

Smell it,

Feel it.

See it.

So,

Why am I even talking about this?

What does this have to do with meditation or Simran meditation?

Well,

This ability,

You can say this quality this way of seeing beyond your mind's version of things is obviously very essential when it comes to being able to explore the nature of reality.

Because if you want to see what this reality is,

If you want to know it,

Then you can't cover it with your mind's version,

With all the thoughts,

Associations,

All the old conditioning,

All the concepts and really all of that.

Just cover your experience of this life.

If you want to see as close as you can what this life is in itself,

You put away your mind's limited version and you go straight to the core,

You go straight to your experience of what is life,

What is this experience I call existence.

You sense it,

You surrender to it,

You surrender to the mystery of it.

Instead of calling it something,

You listen to it,

You let life show you itself instead of projecting it.

And then in this beautiful receptive state,

You can also turn your attention towards what you call self.

When you are in this open,

Direct experiencing state,

When you are in this clarity,

When you are not filtering experience through your limited mind,

Then if you turn your attention towards yourself,

The eye that is experiencing everything,

The eye that is seeing,

Smelling,

Tasting and so on,

You can know eye for what it truly is,

You can know it beyond any name,

Story or anything like that,

You can sense it and you already really know it is very familiar,

It has always been you,

In every dream,

Every moment,

Always.

The only thing is that it has been mistaken to be the mind's version.

But now,

If you want,

You can go straight to the core of the self without your mind's version covering your experience and see what it is.

Of course,

Not everyone wants to do this.

Many people are happily living in the world that the mind presents,

The mind's version.

Because that one is defined,

It has meaning,

It has names,

Comparisons,

Associations,

It's analyzed,

In there we can pretend to understand things and feel like we have some control and so on.

And therefore,

Many people like to stay in the world which their minds present to them.

And that is totally fine.

But if,

And that's a big if,

If you value to gain clarity about the true nature of existence and yourself more than the mind's version of life,

Then I welcome you to step out and see this thing for what it is.

And I promise you,

Those of you who feel the calling genuinely,

And you take this step,

You won't regret.

In my experience,

Personally,

All the true treasures of life,

The beautiful freedom,

The playfulness,

The craziness,

The magic,

The intensity,

And all of those mind blowing cosmic experiences,

All of that,

They hide in the real,

Raw,

Direct experience of this place.

And they are not even really seen or recognized when I look through the mind.

So,

For me it's not really a choice.

It is very obvious.

Let's see what it is for you.

So,

That was all for this one.

I hope you enjoyed.

See you shortly in the next talk.

Namaste.

Reviews

Truly, your meditation/talk is one that has touched me the most. It made me quite emotional.
What a life altering way to perceive humanity, the world and oneself.
Thank you 🙏🏼✨

I wish to be still and listen to know what It is We are experiencing, my friend. thank you Brother

Great experience. Understand much better the meaning of my innate state of being just is. That's it. Everything else is perception and interpretation of my mind. Thanks for the talk. Awesome

Thank you so much for your precious wisdom and thoughts

Very relaxing and calming. Reminded my of my own inner knowing. Thank you 🙏

Short and to the point. Reminds me of ACIM teachings. Thank you. Need this to be front and center in my daily life. Namasté.

Beautiful reminder. Just what I needed to hear. Thank you :)

So wonderful to hear your voice again and to be inspired in the way that I always am when I hear your teaching. Wordlessly and deeply I have always known what you are talking about but I forget and you have guided me back again. It’s so freeing and such a relief not to carry around all that story, all that projection and to have a beautiful glimpse of the raw reality of life. Love and metta to you, Sue x

This is a good invitation to the reality I strive for. Thank You 🙏

Very unique.
I’ll try your examples 😁👍🏻
You’ve given me so much to contemplate, I’ll open my eyes and mind 🧡💖🧡💖

Really great reminder of how the world we live in is a social construction with all the labels we give it and how we constrict ourselves and build limiting boundaries by holding on to these constructions as reality. Thank you 🙏🏾😊.

Another clever talk, dear Navid, I especially like the projected borders and to experiment with people we know.. Namaste 🌼 🌊 🙏 ❤️

It's so true what you say Navid... That we don't even really see each other if all we understand about life is through the mind. Our definitions are our prisons in some ways I think. Thank you for this talk. I am profoundly grateful.
Namaste
🙏🏽🦋💫

Wow, the most insightful 10 min. I've spent in a long time. Thank you for the reminder! 🙏🏼🙂☀️

Whoa. That was so powerful, so intense! What a beautiful way to experience life😊🙏

Wow and wow! Found you by ‘accident’… no choice. Your words are amazing. Beautiful clarity & wisdom.

Reminds me of one of my favorite ACIM teachings, “projection makes perception”. There is nothing there. Deep gratitude.✌️

brought me back to my true self. thank you navid 🙏

Your voice is soothing and powerful. Your message inspired me. Thank you.

Amazing thank you so much. I will return to listening to this

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be”