03:40

No Self No Problem

by Anthony De Mello Legacy

Rated
4.8
Type
talks
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
1.9k

What few ever understand is that the problem isn’t the situation; the problem is that you are afraid of the situation. The situation is neutral; it's whatever it is.  The stress is not the result of something happening to you, it's something happening in you, namely the fear through which you see it.  Through awareness you can identify the fear, see it as mind-made, as not real, and allowing it to pass.  The more you practice allowing fear into awareness the less it controls you.

AwarenessFearNegative EmotionsNegative BeliefsReframingSelf ReflectionRealityPerceptionEmotional ResponsibilityControlReality PerceptionNegative Emotion AwarenessReframing Thoughts

Transcript

Lots of people have negative feelings they're not even aware of.

Lots of people are depressed and they're not aware they're depressed.

It's only when they make contact with joy that they understand how depressed they were.

You're not going to be able to deal with a cancer that you haven't detected.

You're not going to get rid of wolves in your farm if you're not aware of their existence.

So the first thing you need is awareness of your negative feeling.

What kind of negative feeling?

Gloominess for instance.

You're feeling gloomy and moody.

You feel self dislike and self hate or guilt.

You feel that life is pointless,

Makes no sense.

You've got hurt feeling.

You're feeling nervous.

You're feeling tense.

Get in touch with those feelings first.

Second step,

Understand that the feeling is in you.

It's not in reality.

Now that's such a self-evident thing.

Do you think people know that?

They don't,

Believe me.

They've got PhDs.

They're presidents of universities.

They haven't understood this.

They didn't teach me how to live at school.

They taught me everything else.

Like the guy who said,

Well I got a pretty good education and it took me years to get rid of it,

To get over it.

Yes,

You really need it.

That's what spirituality is all about,

You know.

Unlearning,

Unlearning,

Unlearning all the rubbish they taught you.

Now,

That negative feeling is in you.

It's not in reality.

So stop trying to change reality.

And our bosses and our friends and our enemies and everybody else and everything else.

You don't have to change anything.

The negative feeling is in you.

No person on earth has the power to make you unhappy.

It's very important.

There is no event on earth that has the power to disturb you or to hurt you.

No event,

No condition,

No situation,

No person.

Only nobody told you this.

They told you the opposite.

That is why you're in the mess that you are in right now.

That is why you're asleep.

They never told you this.

But it's self-evident.

Rain washes out a picnic.

Who's feeling negative?

The rain or you?

What's causing the negative feeling?

The rain or your reaction?

When you bump your knee against that table,

The table's okay.

It's busy being what it was meant to be,

A table.

The pain is in your knee.

Not in the table.

Reality is all right.

Reality is not problematic.

Problems only exist in the human mind.

Reality is not problematic.

Take away human beings on this planet and life would go on and nature would go on in all her loveliness and her violence.

Where would the problem be?

No problem.

Meet your Teacher

Anthony De Mello LegacySan Francisco, CA, USA

4.8 (201)

Recent Reviews

Jeffrey

October 18, 2024

A quick but reality altering talk/meditation!

Padre

September 1, 2022

Many years ago a group of us had Anthony de Mello as a retreat director in the Philippines. What a blessing it was! Just like this enlighening talk.

Alice

August 29, 2022

adm at his best. definitely saving this one. 🙏🙏🙏

Dora

August 26, 2022

Tiene toda la razón Necesito tenerlo consciente y presente pues se me olvidada frecuentemente Gracias por recordármelo 🙏

Bryan

August 26, 2022

Oh my, such wise advice! Definitely being saved a repeated often as a reminder. 🙏

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