And M Hazin Blyde River by So,
We begin today as we slowly,
Slowly move towards another very powerful event.
Today was the celebration of the solstice,
A very powerful alignment that probably was experienced for most people in a joyous and blissful way,
But for some,
Of course,
The intensity turns things a little bit upside down,
And we have to look at things in a different way.
But now we really head towards another very powerful event,
Which is the New Moon and the Super Moon.
So,
I'm going to celebrate this with you very soon.
So,
There is a buildup of energy,
There is a movement of energy,
And I would say that it's important to come back to a state of awareness when there are so many changes or so many different things happening around physically and different things happening to people and situations around people.
It's very important to come back to awareness.
I remember this incredibly touching picture that I have in my mind watching a little bit of a news clip.
I don't usually look at the news,
But this was one of those news clips that just starts before you can turn it off,
And it was to do with a situation.
It's interesting when we look at situations,
They put things into context.
We worry about little things,
And then we see that really it's nothing compared to what some people go through.
And this situation was obviously a dramatic situation,
The war in Syria,
Which is,
Of course,
Not very nice.
And who knows why and what is happening in the place itself and why people are so upset with each other.
It's too complex to analyze.
But one person didn't want to analyze this and just wanted to create a positive healing in a very tangible way,
A positive healing that is different from the confusion that must be obvious to those in the war zone.
And the clip was this person playing piano,
Classical music,
Out in a war-torn sort of city,
All you could see was the rubble of buildings and people walking around with a very confused look in their face.
And he was playing classical music.
He managed to save his piano,
Obviously,
From the rubble and brought it out there,
Put it on the streets.
He was playing music,
Classical music,
I suppose.
This is what we do when everything around begins to transform in such a dramatic way,
As in war.
Hopefully,
This won't happen in the world today,
In more places.
But even so,
There is this tension,
There is this aggression in the world that is not only projected onto situations around us.
Today,
More than ever,
I see people getting upset with everyone.
There is all sorts of things,
People so easily reacting to situations without thinking or breathing or coming back to a state of awareness.
It's so much more difficult to predict people's behavior,
Even,
Because sometimes people just – it's out of context,
But for the person,
It doesn't seem so.
Their behavior seems quite normal,
So a dramatic reaction or a warlike reaction,
Aggression towards others,
Just seems normal for many in this situation,
Because reactivity creates a normality in such behavior.
It makes you feel that it's justified to think or react or believe in those things that are creating this turmoil.
And it's a pity,
And war is the same.
But what can we do?
What does awareness really mean?
Of course,
You could go around and shout to everyone,
This war is unfair.
It won't make a difference,
Because reactivity creates a normality around such situations for people.
In a war,
Of course,
There is suffering and emotional turmoil,
And it just escalates and becomes what it is,
A war.
But what about awareness?
Of course,
That state of awareness that I'm speaking about can only come through activity and positive action,
And doesn't mean that you think or worry or stress about the situation.
So,
You know,
It's so easy to judge others and say,
Oh,
They're reactive,
And look at this,
And terrible war,
But it won't happen here.
We know,
Even in London today,
There is a feeling,
Like an atmosphere that's more tense than before,
Just because it's easy for reactivity to follow certain events that are dramatic or certain events that create such reactivity.
That's human nature.
So,
Coming back to awareness doesn't mean coming back just to an awareness of the reactivity or the awareness of the difficulties,
Such as in a war zone.
But playing the piano,
For me,
Was very interesting,
Because that is exactly what is required in a state of awareness,
A certain creative impulse or a creative movement that allows for awareness then to expand beyond that reactive state,
Which seems normal.
Of course,
It's not.
In a subjective sense,
It's totally normal,
Because you're looking at things,
And specifically looking at certain things.
But creativity requires a certain objective presence.
You have to be present to yourself.
You know,
To play piano,
Somehow you've got to come back to a part of your brain that functions in a different way than the reactive one.
So,
You need to come back to a certain level of creativity that requires presence.
You're present to the creative instrument that is producing this classical music,
Or present to a creative aspect within yourself that allows for meditation to transcend the process of reactivity,
So as to become more objective and realize what is truly going on.
Now,
This is easier said than done,
And this is why practice is so important.
I'm repeating this many,
Many times.
It may seem like that's almost all I said,
You know,
Practice,
Practice,
Practice.
But I'm reminding everyone to be like this wonderful person,
No matter what the situation is.
You know,
Put this into context.
You know,
You're not in a war zone,
Hopefully.
You're not in a war zone and facing the turmoil that this person was facing.
But still,
Your pain and your suffering or your challenges or your reactive process is,
In a subjective sense,
As important as whatever else is going on around you.
So,
It matters.
And it can only transform if you come back to a certain objective relationship to your heart,
To the feelings that are beyond the reactive feelings,
To the feelings of being in connection to yourself,
To being here.
And that means being active in the creative process of communication.
So very often people believe that awareness means that you have to negate or like fight,
Push aside the reactive emotions that happen,
Especially around this time when there is an intensity in the air and because of the various alignments and because of just the evolution of humanity and consciousness transcending certain limitations that are historical and that have been very much part of the paradigm of our culture.
There is a certain intensity in the air,
But even so,
That is when it is more important to be objective and present to your being than ever before.
And awareness isn't about negating that which is opposite of such an experience.
It's not saying,
Looking at yourself and saying,
Oh,
I don't want this.
I don't want my mind to be depressed.
I don't want my mind to be upset or to be lost in whatever.
I want my mind to be like this.
It's impossible to mold your brain like some sort of clay that you decide I want this and create whatever picture that is important for your mind.
It's impossible because it's beyond such.
Creativity in communication means not only being objective but having the courage and energy flow within awareness that allows you to move beyond the obvious,
Beyond what you want to sort of do in this moment.
So awareness means an awareness of the unknown states that come from letting go of that which is obvious around you.
So what is obvious around you?
For this,
For example,
In a practical,
Tangible way to understand this,
What is obvious around you if you're in a war zone?
It's the pain and suffering,
And that's real.
It's so powerful that the mind says,
Well,
I can't think of anything else.
This is what's going on.
And it's the same if you're depressed or if you're reactive.
If you're driving a car and you get upset because someone does whatever,
It's the same.
In that moment,
Even though it's not objective,
The subjectivity of your experience is all embracing.
And so it's difficult to step outside into a space that is beyond such and into the unknown.
In that moment,
To your heart or to your state of awareness,
There is an unknown factor within experience because awareness is so solidified and so structured around the subjective perception of what's going on,
War or pain or whatever,
That it's difficult for the mind to come back to just breathing,
To just being,
To connecting to what's going on.
If we were able to do this,
Just be objective about our situation,
We wouldn't invest so much of our energy,
So much of our time getting caught in that which is creating the imprisoned feeling of the mind or the feelings or even of the experience,
The physical experience around,
The imprisoned feeling that you can't get out of the situation because it needs to be resolved first.
We need to change this.
We need to come to a peaceful resolution.
But the peaceful resolution cannot be present in your activity unless you change and become that which is your wish or your goal or what you're reaching out for.
The transformation has to happen now,
Not when.
This is so difficult for the mind to understand because it lives in the space of subjectivity,
Which means a linear dimension of time that only makes sense within that linear dimension of time.
There is a beginning and an end and a reference from the beginning and a reference from the end.
So this is what the situation is.
This is what I want out of the situation.
So how do I do it?
And then you get caught in the situation.
To step outside like this person and just be creative for no reason at all than to come back to a more objective state of awareness where you're just present to the unknown doesn't compute in the mind.
It just doesn't make sense.
And this is why when you're in a state of turmoil,
The first step is to come back to relaxation.
If you're in a state of agitation,
The first step is to come back to a state of relaxation,
Deep and profound relaxation.
And it may seem irrelevant because there is something that is calling your attention and it's much more powerful,
But that's the first step.
And that is part of creativity.
So you just sit and to play a musical instrument or to do whatever.
There needs to be certain tension,
Of course,
But that's a creative tension.
But there needs to be deep and profound relaxation for your being to be connected to heartfelt process of creativity,
Music,
Whatever.
There needs to be a space where you can relax into this more connected communication that happens when you are creative.
So relaxation is the beginning of creativity and the beginning of the flow of energy that allows you to then transcend and leap into your potential.
See as soon as you come back to creativity,
Then it's very difficult to stay in the subjective perception that the mind imprisons you within.
As soon as you become aware,
More aware,
Then it's difficult to remain in ignorance.
And the awareness starts with yourself.
It's easy to be aware of all that's around you,
But it starts with yourself.
What is creating this dynamic movement within yourself where you're caught by certain situations?
And I'm not asking you to look deeper and to identify them and analyze them,
But as soon as you put this within the context of how you're looking at things around you,
You're not just reacting to situations,
But you're observing from a creative and relaxed state.
You're observing what is going on.
Then it's much easier to say,
No,
I don't need to invest my energy in this.
I can continue to relax because the sensation of relaxation is actually healing and pleasant.
It brings about joy,
Even in the midst of chaos.
As you let go of the chaos,
It is nice for the body to just come back to the still,
Deeper,
More peaceful state.
And you can practice this any moment of your life,
Any time,
Whatever is going on,
You can practice this.
So right now,
As a practice,
Just come back to this natural awareness of creativity where you're relaxing,
You're moving with the flow,
You're moving with the wonderfully deep rhythm of breath that you're now experiencing.
