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A Direct Introduction to Perfect Presence 7 December 2014 Mooji Sangha Bhavan Sunday Satsang [Mooji] OK. Om. Namaste. Welcome everyone to satsang today. And welcome, big welcome, also, to the many friends who are joining us today via broadcasting, from all over the world. We are very happy for this, because we know many people would like to be here in person or in form, but for whatever reason are not able to be here in this way. But we can join in, in real time via the internet. So we're very happy for this. I see, also, many new faces. And I'm hoping that you're a little familiar with the subject that we meet about today. I don't even want to limit it to say, the subject 'discussed' only, because the very totality of us being here is concerning the subject of our true nature. And we can come to clarity, for it seems most human beings are not aware of ourselves at the deepest level. And what is this life? What is this life? And who are we in this life? So this is the topic here. And I want to say from the start that in coming together like this, my own perspective is not merely to discuss, and to exchange concepts, or to impart some philosophical outlook to you. But every moment is the opportunity to go within and to discover. It's more than simply to learn, but to discover. Because that alone will stay with you, what you know in your heart, not only what you think with your mind. So with that said, welcome, and ... Very, very good. OK. You come, then, for me. Hi, darling. Very good. Good to see you. Come, sit there. [Questioner] Hi, Guruji. [Mooji] Hi. [Q.] There's a sense of a huge effort going on. [Mooji] Yes. [Q.] And at the same time, it's seen. Yet, at the same time, somehow, the seeing doesn't seem to make the effort any less. [Mooji] The effort is for what? You said, 'There's a huge effort going on'. So the effort is for what? [Q.] It's to be. There's an effort to be. [Mooji] Without the effort to be, what are you? [laughter] [Mooji] What are you up to? [Q.] I know, it sounds crazy. [laughs] [Mooji] When you put it like that, yes. [laughter] [M.] Because you must be already, even to be asking the question. Then the effort to be is on top of the effortless being. Is there not an effortlessness about being? Or ... Because we are referred to as human beings, not human becomings. [laughter] Human being, human being making an effort to be. So I feel it's important to look into that extra - to be what? More than what beingness implies? So, 'Effort to be', it must be something that we picked up, and we have not quite understood. And you must not practice something unless you have an understanding what you are doing. So if you try to be, at least clarify, acutely, what it means to practice 'to be', as it is understood in your own self. What does it mean? I mean, first of all, is it enough 'to be'? Because everyone knows they are. Everybody knows they are. You know the feeling, 'I am, I exist'. What is not known is, as what do you exist? Because we say, 'I exist', but when you say, 'Who is it that exists?' We have not gone further than just the feeling of 'I'. 'I' is what? The person? Largely, it is accepted that, when it is said like that, it is spoken by a person. The person exists. But is what you are, merely a person? And what is a person? If you are 30 years old, 25, 30, 40, have you been consistently the same person? What is a person? Does it change? Or is it constantly the same? What is a person? Is it one thing, but keeps on changing? Or is it never just fixed, it's always changeful? And memory makes it seem as though it's one, but it's always changing. What is a person? Even to look into this alone, is going to be of some interest, some value for you. Because we say many things, but we haven't looked deeply into what we're saying. We only seem to understand superficially, because if you are from Portugal, you learn to speak Portuguese very naturally. And you inherit words from other people and from your environment without having to look deeply into them. And if some word is important, it must be the 'I'. The 'I' word must be the most important, because other words cannot happen until the 'I' word is there. Because every time you say something, you say, 'I think this thing', or 'I want', or 'I choose', 'I remember', 'I used to do this', 'I want to do'. 'I, I, I, I.' It's behind every utterance, every statement, even thought, it's behind each thought - 'I think'. Remember - 'I remember'. Breathe, even - 'I breathe'. Have you ever seen an 'I' breathing? It will claim even that! The breathing is happening by itself. When you're in deep sleep, breathing is going on; nobody says then, 'I breathe'. But the 'I' takes even this - 'I breathe'. So it's important, as you will come to see more and more, if you want to go more into the subject of your own reality, you will have to find out what 'I' is. Because to find out what everything else in life is without finding out who the 'I' who finds them out is, then your knowledge is not reliable, if you don't know the knower of knowledge. Who is 'I'? Is it constant? Now, some of you may have come and think our subject would have been discussed in another way, like, 'Is yoga good?' Or, 'I've done this type of thing, and I'm going to go to India. Would you advise me to go to this ashram?' I say, Listen, who is your 'I'? 'Whoa. I'm not ready for that. I am me. I am ...' And you start to describe you, or try to define you, and all you're talking about is your body. 'I'm 25 years old.' The body is 25 years old. 'I'm a woman.' We can see that, it's a female. And everything we speak, almost, is about our body. Are we merely our bodies? So I like to start at the fundamental things. If we understand the fundamental things, then all the other things will fall into place. If your foundation is no good, then your building will be suspect. And of all foundations, the 'I' foundation is the most important. We all say 'I', but what do we understand, or feel, or take 'I' to be? 'I' and 'being', they are synonymous. Even the feeling, 'I am', is there anyone here who can get through a day without feeling, 'I am'? Everyone refers to themself as 'I'. 'I' is our natural name, actually. And yet, nobody gave it to you. 'I' is our natural name, and yet, nobody gave it to you. No parent has named their child, 'You shall be called ''I''.' Then the child grows up, and they say, 'This child will be called John'. And the child seems to grow up and says, 'I am John'. But 'I' is not John. We need to find what 'I' is. So if we can clear up only this, it will touch a place within ourself that I'm sure, it will be ... You will say, 'Yes, it was worth it, just to look into just this thing'. Rather than study, go to university, study all the things, study astronomy, study astrology, study politics, study biology, study geography, study religion. I say, study your 'I'. If you know your 'I', then you'll know the others, because they came out of 'I'. Without 'I', they are meaningless. And nobody has gone ... in no curriculum, in no university you see the subject is 'I'. Nobody discusses it, nobody looks into it. Only those regarded as the sages in the human kingdom, the Buddhas, and the Christs, the Shivas, and so on, understood the power of 'I', the truth of 'I'. And they found it, in its true meaning, to be so important that they forgot everything else. They forgot everything else, including themselves. They forgot everything else to find what this 'I' is, and where this 'I' comes from. And because they forgot everything else, including themselves, the whole world cannot stop remembering them. Isn't it funny? [laughter] Yes. They forgot themselves, and the world cannot forget them. We are desperately trying to remember ourself, to keep a self, [laughter] to even be important in the world. People say, 'No'. Why did we get onto this subject? [laughter] You started only by saying, 'I want to be'. But I said, But you are, no? When you say, 'I am', it means 'to be'. 'Am' means 'to be'. One says, 'I am'. Who is the 'I' who 'am'? Can you imagine, we know so many subjects, there's no other species on this planet that has studied like the human being. They're the most curious species. They want to know everything, not only on this planet, but other planets, also, they want to know. We want to know other planets. We want to know what happens, some people talk, '50 billion years ago, this was what was happening'. [laughter] And if you ask them what they had for breakfast yesterday, they can't remember. [laughter] 50 billion years ago. [laughter] [Mooji] There's a joke somewhere in this, I think. [laughter] Who is the 'I' that 'am'? What is it? If 'am' means 'to be', what does 'I' mean? What is it? [silence] If you don't allow this feeling 'I' to connect with any thought, any concept, from any zone of time, it is there. What is it? We can do it now. We can find out now. Something is here. It is not connected with anything from any language, any word, any concept, any belief, any form, because it perceives everything. If it is not attached to, or connected with any concept, try it now, and see, what is it? Don't say the words, because even the words you speak will not be it. It sees the words being spoken. [silence] It observes the breath, even. It sees seeing. It perceives perceiving. It does not need the mind. It watches mind, but not even with interest. Can you feel? Can you feel or not? [Q.] Yes. [Mooji] Yes. You can feel. [Mooji] What can you describe? Everything comes after. First, the 'I' must arise. If you woke up this morning at 7 o'clock, at 6:59:59, where were you? What could you discuss? What was your name? 7 o'clock, something comes into being, a natural sense of, 'I am here', even without the words. It is the first to arise. You cannot perceive the sense of 'you', before the sense of 'I'. First, the sense of 'I' must be there. This knowledge, this consciousness, 'I am', must be there first. Then the sense of 'you', or 'other', or 'world' can come. So you can say it is the first born of consciousness, the feeling, 'I am'. So, this 'I am' itself arises, because at 6:59:59, it was not there. At 7am it came into being, you can say, it became self-aware. And now, it is 3:33pm, it is still in the waking state. Now, it knows time, three, three, three. But can anything know 'it'? Even to say, 'I am', it knows 'I am'. It perceives the sense, 'I am', the thought, 'I am'. It perceives the thought 'you', and 'world', and 'late', and 'breakfast', and everything else it is perceiving. But does it have a shape? Breakfast this morning is muesli. The body consumes, enjoyment takes place, and is perceived to take place. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction also arises, and is perceived to arise from the place of 'I'. That is a kind of witness, a kind of a witnessing of what is arising. So before even any of this, I say, don't attach any intention, or idea, or identity to 'I', nothing at all! When you start counting, you start counting from one, not from zero. One, then two, then three, then four. But before you get to one, one arises out of zero. But you don't say, 'zero'. OK? 'I' is at the zero place. It watches one happen, and two, and three, and four, and five. Isn't it? So don't touch any, don't touch one! Are you, or are you not? Am I on my own in this, or what? [Sangha affirms] [Mooji] OK, we're all here? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Thank you, thank you. So you don't touch one, you're here. OK? You, naturally, know you are. You don't need a mirror to know you are. You know you are. Supposing someone was having an operation, or you are in some coma, or you wake up, suddenly become awake, and there's nothing to see, nothing to touch, or to feel, or to measure, nothing at all to perceive. Would you not know that you are? Wouldn't you naturally know, 'I exist'? Yes. As what do you exist? First feel, then say. Do it now. Don't hold onto anything. [Friend] I am that which is all. [Mooji] 'I am that which is.' Why 'all'? Where does 'all' come from? 'All' is later. You can feel. I gave an example last week and I'm going to repeat it this week, because many are new. And I think it's worth to share. Once, we were making one guided meditation, we were recording a guided meditation. And then, at some point, I was listening to the guided meditation, and there was a period of silence. And the silence ... I remember that the silence was longer before, and it was chopped. Someone was editing, and felt the silence was too long. And so they chopped some silence, but it was too short now. OK? So, they wanted to put back some silence. [laughter] OK? You follow or not? OK? So what they did was they just recorded blank, some digital silence. They put some digital silence in. OK? Then, we played it. And you can discern the real silence from the digital silence. Because the real silence has an atmosphere. The digital silence is dead. Isn't it? Nothing in the universe is like this digital silence, it's a newcomer, this digital silence. OK? [laughter] When you leave everything now, like this, you leave everything, don't attach anything, what remains here? Is it a digital silence or another silence? Feel your being. What are you perceiving? Is it sound? Is it form? Because I didn't ask you to suppress your senses. I said, Don't be attached to them, leave everything. Because senses, you can perceive also. So don't identify. Don't say, 'I am the hearing, I am the seeing'. No, no. Don't touch anything at all. What is here? It is not a thought, go beyond thought, don't touch any thought. [Friend] I sense a presence here. [Mooji] Ah! She says, 'I sense a presence here', 'A presence here'. [Mooji] Is she correct or not? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Yes? There's a presence here. OK? Is it particularly female or male? No! It's not female or male. Is it Portuguese? [laughter] Is it Christian, or Hindu, or Muslim? Or anything like this? Does it have any kind of distinguishing characteristics? So this presence which has no data, has no other quality, this is your Self, when you're conscious. This is the Self of the waking state, you can say like this. This is your dynamic being. This is the seed being. It's not a doctor, it's not a mother, it's not a wife, or a husband. It's not a Master or a disciple. It's not red or blue or pink. It has no size and no shape. Let's just give a few moments, just to acknowledge this, that you have seen. Does it know time? Is it affected by time? [silence] Everything passes in front of this. This is the very seat of perception, where even perceiving is perceived. All knowledge reports to this. All knowing-ness springs from here. This is where witnessing of the existence is taking place. It is referred to as the Godly sense, or principle inside each form. It announces itself inside the body as the sense, 'I am'. It knows it is. But it doesn't belong to anybody, nor does anything belong to it. As you become aware of it, notice your inner state, how empty and silent and deep. [Mooji] Do you feel disturbed? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. [Mooji] Do you feel alienation? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. Do you feel separation? No. That's because you are resting inside your own being. Even to say that you are resting inside your own being is too much. Simply, you are. Now, does it take any effort? [laughter] Forgive me for taking so long to answer your question. [laughter] [silence] What is making effort? And to do what? [Q.] It's the person. [Mooji] Yes. [Q.] Identity with the person. [M.] Yes, and could we clearly ... Because I've heard about this person. [laughter] I think it's the same guy showing up all over the world. But I want to meet this person. [laughter] Because it's only been a rumour, so far. We want to meet this person. Where is the person? [laughter] What is it made out of, the person? Is it the same as this, the effortless one? Is it the same as the sense of presence? The person? [Q.] No. [Mooji] No. OK. [Q.] There is a mixture of belief, like, really strong belief of this person or identity that wants to get the presence, somehow. [M.] Yes. [Q.] Yes. [M.] But the presence is there already, isn't it? [Q.] Yes. [Mooji] So how can the person have the presence? [Q.] You tell me. [laughs] It doesn't make any sense. [Mooji] Which is the greater, the presence or the person? [Q.] It's the presence. [Mooji] Yes. [Q.] And everything comes from that. It's the seeing of that. And at the same time, this other ... [Mooji] Where did the person come from? [Q.] From the presence. [Mooji] Yes, OK. [Q.] From the source. [Mooji] Yes. [Mooji] And you are? [Q.] The presence. [Mooji] OK. [Mooji] And what does it want? [Q.] It doesn't want anything. [laughter] [Q.] Thank you, you got me. [more laughter] [Mooji] But does the show end there? [laughter] We have to look! Because we look for the person, because the person wants a lot of things, and the person is invited, 'Please, speak for yourself'. OK? Because presence doesn't want anything, but we hear the person wants a lot of things. Will the person please stand up? [laughter] And make a case for yourself. What is it that's missing? What do you want? Hello? [laughter] 'Oh, it's back! The person's back!' [laughter] Are there two? How many people are living in this house? [laughter] Is this a single apartment or a shared apartment? [laughter] Are there two 'I's or something? [Q.] Why is it still going on? You know, this ... [Mooji] OK, so this is what we want to find out. First of all, very few people have had the chance, the opportunity, to really have a sense, or to really recognise, or acknowledge, or come to a place where you are in the direct experience of presence. So presence and you become the same thing. It's the same thing. OK? You just have, and you are. Now, when the presence disappears, please put your hand up and say, 'The presence has gone, only the person is here now'. OK? Anytime we're here, when the presence just goes, or vanishes, noisily or quietly, and you become aware of it, just say, 'Sorry, presence has gone, and I'm the person'. OK? So we want to know why is the person still persisting, after you came and you looked, and you say, I asked you, This sense of presence is here, is it shared? Is it a shared accommodation? Is it in there with something else called a person? Did you answer this question? In this house of being, or in this house of ... [Q.] It seems to be mixed. [Mooji] Mixed with ...? [Q.] The presence with the person. [Mooji] OK. What would notice this? What would be able to notice that it's mixed? [Q.] The presence inside. [M.] Is there another one now? [Q.] Or the presence itself, the awareness. [M.] 'The awareness.' Can I ... I listened to you say something. Is the presence mixed? [Friend] The presence is not mixed. It's just watching. What is watching the presence feels like intelligent space ... [Mooji] OK. So this is good. I went to her, because when she answered before, she said, 'There seems to be just a sense of presence'. She didn't say, 'I think there's a sense of presence'. You were ... Your tone told me you are affirming and confirming that there's a sense of presence. But when I asked the question, What is aware of presence? Is there an awareness even of presence? And you say, 'Actually, there seems to be something like, a kind of an intelligence, in which even presence is seen'. Would that be true? Let's go back again to the sense of presence. Is there anything wrong in the sense of presence? We are communicating now all together, we're in the room, close the door, please, let nobody out. Please answer this question, Is there anything wrong, or missing with the state of presence? You alone can answer this question now, because you don't have any textbook in front of you. [Mooji] What did you say? [Sangha] Nothing. [M.] Nothing. Yes. Nothing is wrong with it. So it is quite good? It's quite happy. What is the environment of presence like? How do you feel? Do you feel well? Or you feel ...? [laughter] Just presence now! So in spite of feeling very, very well, there is even something beyond presence, it seems, in which even presence itself is perceived. At least someone in this room knows it, or senses it. Then that's behind presence. What about in front of presence? What is happening in front of presence? Behind presence, you say, 'There is a space, a kind of intelligence. We don't know what to call this thing.' It's not even a thing! Because is presence a thing? Then even presence itself is perceived, meaning that whatever is perceiving presence, is even more subtle than presence. OK? So let's go back in front of presence, to what we say must be a person. Because in spite of recognising that there is just ... well we're using the word 'presence', it doesn't have a sticker called 'presence' on it, but the word presence seems satisfactory for the moment - presence. In front of presence is coming some thing called 'person', scratching about. What's this person feeling like? Is it also ...? Is it an object? Is the person an object? What is it made out of? [Friend] Dreams. [Mooji] 'Dreams', somebody says, 'Dreams'. [Friend] Thoughts and feelings. [Mooji] 'Feelings.' 'Thoughts.' 'Energy.' 'Condition.' All of this seems to come together, to create the sense of a person, sense of a person. OK? It's comprised of thought, feeling, imagination, projection, conditioning, vibration, some person says, or energy. OK? OK. Is it tangible, as a unit, the person? Can it be caught? Can you introduce your person? [Friend] It's changeable. [Mooji] 'It's changeable.' OK. [Friend] It's like a contraction. [Mooji] 'Like a contraction.' All the things you mention are what you are perceiving, isn't it? [Mooji] Because all the things we put together, we say, 'Yes, this is what comprises a person'. And the vibration, everything. So something looks upon the person, it's studying the person, OK? That which is aware of the person, is it a person? Which is greater? That which perceives the person or the person? [Mooji] Which is more constant? [Sangha] The perceiver. [M.] The perceiver. This is called experience. The person wants something. Why does the person wanting something matter to you, the presence? Again, you have come to a place where you are aware of yourself as presence. OK? Is anything attached to presence? Does it connect up to something? Or how is presence? Is it needing anything? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. Is it unhappy? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. OK. [Mooji] Can it die? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] You feel confident to say this? Can it die? [Sangha] No, it cannnot die. [Mooji] No. OK. What is the connection of the person with presence? When you say 'I', what are you indicating, the person, or the presence? [Sangha] Presence. [Mooji] Presence. [Mooji] Is that all the time? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. [Mooji] Why not all the time, then? When it feels so good? [laughter] [Friend] It is all the time. It's all the time. Sometimes I don't know it, but it's all the time. It can't be ... There's no other way. It's all the time. [Mooji] And, 'Sometimes, I don't know it', 'I' referring to what? Please look, because we don't have to speculate now, because we are, actually, in the experience, itself. When you are in the experience, you don't speculate. You simply share. You can simply observe, isn't it? What is the concern for the presence with person? [Q.] Yes, it seems the attention goes there, somehow. [Mooji] The attention goes there. When the attention goes there, does it mean the presence goes there? Does the presence go there? So the presence is even capable of observing the movement of the attention going somewhere. [Mooji] Does it alter the presence? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] OK, what's the trouble then? Identification comes, and somehow, the sense of presence seems to get converted, converted into the state of personhood. And it's the presence that's believing that it's the person, for a while. So belief comes, and although belief itself can be perceived by the presence, it can see, 'I'm identifying again. Yes, I can see strong belief. If I can see strong belief, I am not the belief.' So the belief, when believed in, must give ... Some effect happens to the presence, whereby, it goes into some kind of hypnosis, and gets converted into the state of person. Is it absolutely that this happens? No. So there is some sense of going in and out of focus. So sometimes it feels, 'I'm now the person', and, 'Oh no, my life is so terrible'. When it goes back into presence, it says, 'Oh, my God! Thank you, I feel so good! Om Namah Shivaya.' [laughter] When it goes back into person, 'Oh my ... I don't think I'm ever gonna get this. I don't think I'm worthy enough. I don't feel like ...' Like this. So something is oscillating between the sense of person, and then, presence. What is it? That creates ...? [Sangha] Attention. [Mooji] 'Attention.' OK. But the presence is able to observe the attention. But not always. So the practice is to try and keep observing the habit that when the attention goes, and belief goes with the attention, it creates a kind of drug effect upon the presence and the presence starts to behave as a person. OK? When the presence becomes self-conscious, that it is always capable of watching, then that delusion doesn't happen, that hypnosis doesn't happen. When the consciousness keeps on being conscious of consciousness, after a while, it doesn't have to do it anymore. And the sleep is over. Just like, when this body was ... [M.] What is your name? [Q.] Priya. [M.] Priya. When this body was born, the name Priya, or any other name didn't come on the forehead. Did God say, 'I'm sending you Priya'. No? The body came empty, no name, and somebody thought, 'What should we call this one?' Whatever, whatever. So their name was decided. Also, name can change, religion can change, belief can change. But there's something that cannot change. And there is something that changes. The body is changing, thoughts are changing, the perceiving of thoughts, changing is there. Spirituality, or the search for Truth, begins when there is consciousness that you can observe without identifying. And when you observe without identifying, a space opens up inside, and you begin to feel, [exhales] very well, and very unattached. And this detachment, itself, is a great joy. [Q.] How to get to that stage, then? [M.] How to get to what stage? The stage where you are not troubled? [Q.] The detachment. Yes. All the time. [M.] So again, you must ask, where are you asking this question from? From what state are you asking? You are only asking this from the identified state. Isn't it? No, but you must be aware of it. Otherwise, you're just taking your questions for granted, you're not using them. When you say, 'How can I get to that state of presence?' But you were there just a second ago. [Q.] Yes, what you were just talking about, the consciousness being conscious of ... [Mooji] Yes. At first, it is true to habit, the repetitive habit of associating with the body, that, 'I am the body', 'I am the thought', 'I am the thinker of thoughts', and so on. Now, there are two exercises. One is that you keep saying, 'But I'm not this thing. I'm not this thing.' You can look. Or you can also recognise that you cannot be it. Rather than simply saying mechanically, 'I'm not it', you can actually see that all that you see, you're not. All that you see is phenomenal, meaning that it cannot exist independent of your perceiving of it. And keep holding onto the perceiving, stay at this perceiving place. Just doing that, by itself, you'll find that your mind stops worrying. No more worry comes. Because everything that comes, you see it comes and goes. Everything is a cloud, simply coming and going. And you're only the witness of the cloud, you're not a cloud. That comes from the state of presence. Everything is appearing to it and going, coming and going, coming and going, like this. Only when the presence becomes the person, things become sticky. When the presence becomes person, things become personal. And all problems are personal. That's why the presence has no problem. [soft laughter] You understand? Like this it happens. So for a while, the habit is being seen through, you keep seeing that it's the habit, to just assume you are the person. And this unchecked habit perpetuates the condition of delusion, you're always behaving ... Everyone here is consciousness, we are all consciousness. You didn't decide to be, you are choicelessly consciousness. But what happened is that it was not encouraged in life that we should be self-conscious in the proper way. We became psychologically self-conscious, meaning that you become over-conscious of being a person. And that is a very insecure state. This is why we are not comfortable with each other. True self-consciousness is to be aware that you are the presence, not the person. So when you speak, 'Oh yes, I'm gonna go and do this, and what I think ...' Some people can keep it up for a very long time. 'I went this', 'She said this to me', 'I really didn't like it'. 'Next time I'm gonna getcha!' 'I'm not gonna resign!' And if you listen, you can say, 'This is all coming from the ''I am the body, I am the person'' idea'. And yet, it's using the same 'I'. Because I say this, God says, 'I am', the devil, also says, 'I am', the ego says, 'I am'. So is it the same thing? And yet, somehow, we are also using these words, 'I am', mostly to mean, 'I am the body'. When your 'I am' becomes 'I am consciousness' or 'I am presence', your whole world will change. Your whole way of experiencing, your life, existence will change. Mostly, we are speaking on the basis, 'I am the body, I am the person'. Now, that you are made conscious of it, you'll begin to notice, your parents, your teachers are doing it, employers, students, everybody, children are doing it, everybody, you are doing it. We all speak from the basis of, 'I am a person'. Are we obliged to say, 'I am the body'? Is it something that's unavoidable? Or is it just a habit? You need to find out. What is important is that there's an awareness that the sense, 'I am a person' is not a fact, it's fiction, in fact. The fact is that this fictional person is perceived from the state of presence, but you're not conscious enough that you're presence, because of the habit or the reflex, to keep on going back to the position of the person. Now, when you come to satsang like this, and we are in this environment, the environment, the charge of consciousness, is at a higher state of consciousness. When you are in the field of a higher state of consciousness, automatically, your environment, internally, becomes higher in the state of consciousness. And so you're experiencing the feeling, or the state of presence, much more easily. Because nothing here is promoting person. And when you're not in the space where you're promoting person, how well you feel. [soft laughter] Now, did you create this state of presence? No, it is here, it has always been here, it's the background. You can say like this, for the moment, it's the background state. Whereby, you understand the feeling of personhood. Like this [snaps], something will go, as you have demonstrated. Because you are, very clearly, in a state of presence, without any ... Are you making any effort to be presence? Is anybody making any effort? Are you saying any mantra, 'I am presence, I am presence', to be present? You are naturally in a state of presence, isn't it? The mind at the moment is, 'Grrrrr ...' [laughter] 'I'm not liking this at all.' [laughter] It's a bit like that, no? Because its food is, 'I am the person'. The 'I am the person' mode is hungry for a bit of gossip, a little bit of chat, a bit of chit-chat, a bit of nonsense, a bit of this type of stuff. It's a habit. It's like athlete's foot, itching, itching ... So sometimes, you have to give the mind a bit of doggy food, get back into that state. But as you become more accustomed to being in the higher state of your own Self, it's not of someone else's self, it's your own Self, how well you feel, naturally. You're in the height of your own Being. You're in the Himalayas of your own Being. How did you do it? What exercise did you do? What gymnastics did you do? Nothing at all. Just you are made aware that there's a space inside you can look from, which normally, you're not accustomed to looking from. Then for a while, it seems it's very difficult to be in the state of presence. Because the mind is saying, 'How can I go up there? I can't stay!' You go back into being the person. And it feels, 'Oh yes', 'Give me another smoke'. [inhales, exhales] It can't. But now, what effort are you ...? You are effortlessly in the state of presence. Then, it has been said here, in this room, 'But there seems to be a space within which even presence, itself, is perceived'. Now, I wasn't expecting we would go there so quickly. And yet, going there means nothing, because there is no distance. There's no distance to travel. Just the awareness. Confirm. 'But even the state of presence ...' At a certain time, maybe at 12 o'clock tonight, or 11pm, or whatever time you go to bed, this state of presence, also, would subside, into deep sleep. And its world, which comes out of the seed of consciousness, will also subside into oblivion. Something is still there, though. If you are the state of presence, and this presence subsides, it means that you're finished. Or there's some break in your being. If you went to bed at 10 o'clock, wake up at 7am, then for 9 hours, you don't exist. Can we look at this together now? [M.] Do we have some space for this? [Sangha] Yes. [M.] OK. Let's look at what happens then, if you go to bed at 10pm, wake up at 7am. Now, in the waking state, you have the full awareness of the state of presence. The state of presence in the human kingdom is somehow ... Some beings are not living in the state, consciously, of presence. When I say, Of conscious presence, I don't mean that they're being conscious of presence, like work. Sometimes it's effortless, effortlessly self-conscious, effortlessly presence. They're not doing anything to be presence. And some are doing a lot to be presence. Some have got to do mantras to reach the state of presence. So they may have to say, 'Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya'. And it lifts the consciousness, naturally, into the state of presence. And when they are in the state of presence, even if they don't say, 'Om Namah Shivaya, Om Namah Shivaya', unconsciously, it still goes on and they're in a state of presence. But the best is to be in the state of presence without effort. That's your natural state. Just like you don't have to keep remembering, 'I am Priya, I am Priya, I am Priya'. No. You neither remember, nor forget it. It's just there. If you are doing some complex work, and someone calls, 'Jennifer!' You will still do your work. 'Priya?' 'Yes?' But you're not thinking, 'I'm Priya'. So that feels natural for you. The fact that you are consciousness is even more natural than that. Because without consciousness there to remember that you're Priya, if you don't have to make any effort to remember you're Priya, then how much effort do you need to remember that you are consciousness? The very fact that you exist means that you are consciousness. The very fact that you are existing means that you are presence. It's just the habit of converting or believing that the presence is the body and the conditioning, which gives rise to the belief you are a person, that seems to hide your intuitive knowingness that you are presence. But you are presence! Or consciousness, the same thing. But in deep sleep, the sense, 'I am', the feeling of being and witnessing of the world with detachment subside, go into oblivion. Who are you, now? When you are in the state of presence, when I ask you, please, can you describe yourself as presence? What will you say? I ask you, in the state of presence, you are presence now, if I ask you to describe yourself as presence, can you each give a separate biography of presence? Do you feel you've lost your privacy now? Because the person can be private. Does presence need to be private? OK. So the state of presence is here. Like that. Can you define presence? Can you say something of presence? I can say something. Of this state of presence, it's said, 'The perfume of this presence is peace, and a natural joy, and an intuitive knowing-ness that something here is eternal. It has no beginning or ending. It has no form. This is what I call the perfume of the presence. Does the presence have any weight or size? Can we say, please? Does the sense of presence have any weight or size? [M.] Do you have to speculate to know this? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No, you know it directly. OK. When you go to sleep, when you go to sleep ... Presence somehow causes witnessing to happen, so you are observing. Observing of the world, of names and forms and different beings, and time and so on takes place, or occurs to the presence, but the presence is not particularly doing anything. It is the Beingness itself. Isn't it? But in deep sleep, witnessing of the world is not there. So even the sense of presence, which is the witness of the manifest world, that functioning also subsides. What remains then? Because every night, I think every one of us goes there. We spend a lot of money to buy the best bed in order to go to this place, where you have no experience of world and relatives, you have no religion, you have no belief, you are not from any political party. You are not a mother or daughter. You could get married today, be on honeymoon, but in this deep sleep state, you are no husband, no wife. Nothing at all is there! And yet, you don't protest. Nobody goes, 'No! Please! No! I don't want to go! I don't want to stop experiencing.' Nobody says this. We go nicely. In fact, we should not have to wish each other, 'Sweet dreams'. Dreams are not that sweet. And also, you don't rest if you are dreaming. Total, total lights out. Dead sleep. We must wish people, 'Dead sleep'. Isn't it? Nothing to report. Because not even your sense, 'I am' is there. And we say a day is, in human measurement, 24 hours. 24 human hours we call one day. And yet nobody is living, consciously, 24 hours. So for about 8 hours, you are nobody, you've got no name, you've got no status. You could be the prime minister of your country, you are nobody in deep sleep. OK? And yet everyone loves this state. Do you enjoy sleep or not? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Yes. And yet who are you in sleep? [Q.] Nobody. [Mooji] So therefore you enjoy being nothing. Isn't it? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] A sage is one who enjoys being nothing when they're awake also. You only enjoy being nothing when you are in deep sleep. But if somebody tells you in your waking state, 'You are nothing!', you want to fight them, isn't it? [laughter] Because in the waking state you want to be something! So the best thing is to appear to be something, yet inwardly, to be nothing. [laughter] It's the best of both worlds, isn't it? Because if you tell anyone in the world, 'You are nothing', you're not going to go very far there. OK? Because everybody just wants to be something. So you don't have to put yourself into difficulty. You can say, 'What do you do?' 'I am a doctor', and so on. 'What do you do?' 'Yes, I am so and so.' Because that keeps them happy. But inside, you stay as? [Sangha] Nothing. [Mooji] Nothing. [laughter] And it's not something that you are speculating on, because now, you directly experience. [silence] Someone in the sangha said, 'Thank you for allowing me to be nothing'. When you are something, you have to keep it up. One time one woman said, 'Mooji Baba, I love to see you, because when I talk with you, you always sympathise'. Now if I were to accept this, every time she comes to talk to me, I have to sympathise. And that's a pressure I don't want to keep up, just to accept this compliment, 'You always understand'. I said, Sometimes I don't understand. [laughter] 'You always are on my side.' No, no, no, no, sometimes I'm not on your side! [laughter] What do you want, to accept, 'Yes, well, I'm always on your side'? Then you always have to be something! So the one who wants to be nothing, they call him wise. Wasn't it one they call Socrates? He says, 'I know nothing'. That one knows nothing, just like in deep sleep, 'I know nothing'. They call him the wisest man. Wise man! Why do they call someone, who admits they know nothing, wise? Therefore, the one who calls Socrates wise, must themself be wise. They must know, 'Listen, you don't know it, so you are wise'. Well, you must be wise to know that. And then the whole world accepts that Socrates is wise for knowing nothing, so they must also be wise, isn't it? [laughter] Or are we all pretending by that time, I don't know. 'They say he knows nothing and that means wise, so ...' [Friend] Most people don't know the guy. [Mooji] I don't think anybody here does. [Friend] In the normal world, nobody knows Socrates. [F.] If I say 'Socrates', they say, 'Who?' [M.] Yes. Do you know him? I don't know him. I never met the guy. [laughter] This whole satsang has been about you. [laughter] This is what has triggered all of this. It's been worth it or not so far? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] That's very good. A direct introduction to your own Self. Would you say, or if you write a biography of yourself, all this information, that all this information is true, this is what you are? Or what you have discovered here today in this moment, this is what you are. Which one will you choose? [Q.] This one. Now ... [Mooji] Now. Which one will you show your boss? [laughter] We have to be smart, we are not stupid. You show him the other one! No? You show him the other one, but this one you keep to yourself. Because in being nothing, it doesn't mean that you perform less. In fact, sometimes you perform much better, because you're not so attached. You're not working for reputation. Just like, you go to the bank, and you talk to the bank clerk at the window, and you talk, and she says, 'Well, we give this much'. And, 'Here, we will give you that'. And she talks about it as though it's her money, but this is not her money, personally, at all. In the same way, we speak, 'I did this and I am doing that', but inside you know, it's not quite so. This is why, you will find amongst many people who have reached a certain stage of awakening, they can tell you, 'I am, in a way, I'm sharing, but I'm not sharing. I'm giving, but not giving. Something appears to be giving, but inside, behind this, there's neither giving nor receiving.' It's much more profound than the logical mind can admit. Because when we live as a person, we're living in only one dimension. But when you're aware of your Self, you understand what it means to be a person, where we're speaking from, from the idea you have of who you are, that's what a person is. The idea you presently have of who you are, and these ideas are changing. But something is unchanging. Now you begin to be aware of what is unchanging. When you're aware of what is unchanging, and yet you are aware of what is changing, and you know the unchanging and yourself as the same, then you can allow the changeful to be. When you put so much effort in the changeful, we are always making unreasonable attempts to try and prevent change, at a certain point. And then you are not in synchronicity with the world's unfolding. When you've found your stability, from there you can allow the world to move in its dynamic spontaneity, without needing to prevent or to get in the way. Has anyone lost presence since we've been talking? Has presence departed somewhere? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] Here? Somebody said, 'Yes'? Where? Who? Which one? [Friend] Here, it just went ... [Mooji] The presence went? [Mooji] So the absence is speaking? [Friend] No! [Mooji] The presence? [Friend] Is speaking. [Mooji] 'Is speaking.' Yes, yes, yes. The presence can be without the person, but the person cannot be without the presence. Please stop and see if this is true. The person is the constant within the waking state. The presence is the constant relative to the person, the person is the variable, it comes in and out of the picture. Underlying the person is the presence. The presence can be without the person, but the person cannot be without the presence. Your Self is like space, our mind is like wind. The wind needs space to move about. The wind seems restless, the wind moves, but the space does not move. The space can be without the wind, but the wind cannot be without space. Judge which is the greater, stay as the greater. You can never say you are not. You can only say you are not such-and-such-a-thing, but you cannot say you are not. Because in order to say, 'I am not', I must be there to say, 'I am not'. Therefore, the sense 'I am', it is complete, relative to the person. The person says many things, 'I am this, I am that, I want this, I want that, I did this, I did that', and so on. The presence is constant, relative to the person. Now, I gave a picture that I saw some time ago, and I often refer to this picture. I saw a picture of a bird, two birds are in a tree, one of them is making a nest, it's busy, flying off, bringing things, making a nest, busy. Above this bird, on another branch, is another bird that's just looking. Again, there's a bird in a tree building a nest. It's active, it's doing something. Above it, on another branch, there is another bird that's just looking. It's not doing anything. The active bird is the mind, it's the person, it's intention, desire, attachment. Above is the bird that's not doing anything, this is the presence. I'm only talking about aspects of one thing. The active bird that's moving about is our dynamic activity. The passive bird is the state of presence, from where witnessing of the activity is taking place. Are we aware of this or not? [Sangha] Yes. [M.] Just like you can feel the sense of a headache coming, getting stronger and then going and you know you're not the headache, at any point. So you experience feelings and emotions, coming and going, knowing you're not them. It is only when I believe, 'I am the body, I am this particular body and the conditioning that arose for this body', when I believe this, I can believe other conditioning that comes on top of this, easily. You become aware of the sense of presence, that it simply is, it's not on the way to somewhere. Feel this now, like a vastness, a silence. It's much bigger than your body. You are not something that's stuffed inside this body, as far as your fingertips and as high as your head. From the perspective of presence or consciousness, you can say, 'I am in the body', but you can also say, 'The body is in me'. In fact, all bodies are in me, everything I see is in me, as consciousness. But if I believe I'm only the body, I feel, 'Only what I can see, I can see, but I'm always apart'. Everything appears inside consciousness. Just like a movie is watched only on the screen on which it's projected; beyond the screen it is not. In the same way, we are perceiving on the screen of consciousness. The difference is that this is a three-dimensional screen in which we also play a part as this person moving in it. At a certain point, you are able to perceive without the identity or the belief that you are a person. There's only functioning. Now, it may sound a bit cold, because we feel that the person brings heat and passion to something, but as you become aware of presence again - please do that now - is presence cold? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No, so, is it ... Do you give anything to an experience by being personal? And is an experience lessened by being presence? Does it benefit by being personal, in your experiencing? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] So the same thing has happened, the same function, the sight and the senses are functioning in front of presence just as it appears to be functioning in front of the person, isn't it? But experience is different. The person experiences and is also capable of observing, but the difference is, the person is observing with self-interest. The presence merely observes. It wants nothing. It lacks nothing. It wants nothing because it lacks nothing. It is a state of completeness. [Mooji] Can you verify this for yourself or not? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Thank you. This is called direct experience! I'm not asking you to believe something. But you can see now from your own direct Self, how it feels for you, and you can speak for yourself, not from what you've read in a book. You are seeing now and you're corresponding with life in real-time with the universe. You don't have to go to the past to answer any question I'm asking. Because the consciousness, unlike the person, the consciousness does not rely on past. The person is obsessed with past. It's always bringing things back from memory, from the past, 'You said this last week!' 'And you said you would do this!' The presence doesn't need any of this, because it's the complete state. [Mooji] Can you see? Can you verify or not? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Very good. Take a few seconds again and just simply [inhales and exhales deeply] marinating in your own presence. Neither doing nor undoing. Nothing to change, or to fix, or to heal. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to leave. Nothing to become or un-become. Beyond need, beyond desire, beyond fear. Not waiting, not needing next, nor past. Not supported by any concept, not affected by any concept. Pure awareness. [silence] Now there is a force or a tendency inside the presence, or the consciousness, that has a habit to go back to the person, to relate from the person. And to hold your attention on trivial things. It has a tendency to remember wrongs being done to you, things from childhood, injustices, and all of these things. But it does not serve your truth. It only keeps you feeling personal. [Mooji] Are you aware of this tendency? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Yes. OK, don't worry, they're there from habit. You simply keep acknowledging the presence, and that the person is a construct. The person comes and goes. The person is the needy self. The presence is complete and whole. You're always looking from the person. The person is the greater, [correction] the presence is the greater, the person is the lesser! Again, the presence is the greater. It is the constant relative to the person, which is coming in and out and is only an apparition, only a kind of a ghost. Now, you're aware of the state of presence. The presence cannot be sick, it cannot get better. It does not have good days or bad days. It is always perfect. Can you confirm for yourself? [Sangha] Yes. [Mooji] Yes. So for the first time for many people, you can speak something from your own heart, from your own Self, without relying on something from the past, what somebody else has said, something that you believe, you can speak directly from the state of presence. It is greater than any theory, than any thesis, than any speculation. It is your immediate and direct experience! There's not a lot you need to know, in fact. There is studied knowledge, and there is intuitive and spontaneous knowledge. As you stay with the sense of presence, your life will come into a flow of spontaneity more, where you don't have to be strategising your existence. Your intuitive powers will rise up. You'll be more conversing with life, intuitively and energetically, more than always mentally. Mentally has its own role to play, but by itself, it is inadequate for a complete life. You can see this. It's not that you have to now practice many things and keep many things going. You will see that if something is needed, it comes into play at the appropriate time. All you do is keep staying in the position of presence. Your actions will become ... There will be more space inside. Now as you look from presence, do you feel any claustrophobia at all? [Sangha] No. [Mooji] No. Always it is space. There's a spaciousness there. The personhood state is quite contracting, it's always tight. One of our modern diseases is a lack of inner space. But it's only because we're living life too personally. From the state of presence you are not living life personally. The person is only a mask that is worn for a short time by the state of presence. The mask is not what the presence is. Now you're in your inner spaciousness. Even this spaciousness is not quite inner, it has got no dimension, inner, outer, it's beyond this, in fact. Don't give this to your mind. Don't try to capture with your mind, there's nothing you need to capture. [silence] You are one with the vibration of Being, the vibration of presence. You are moving into a state more of holiness, than of personhood. You will naturally know this thing. You feel lighter. You may have a feeling you know nothing. This is a very healthy state of being; do not be afraid. If a thing needs to be known, it will manifest quite spontaneously. You will notice this. If it doesn't manifest, simply keep quiet. You don't have to know everything. [silence] I'm very pleased with the way this time has gone today. That we have focused in such a simple way. We have not picked up any domestic questions, we have not talked about ... [laughter] Have you noticed? And we have not talked about, 'This thing', and lots of problems. We are simply focusing on the sense of being. We didn't go somewhere to get the Being, we didn't rent it from somewhere. It is always here, from within your own self, without turning to the left, or to the right, up or down. You are in direct oneness with your Self. It is not merely belief, it is your immediate recognition, your direct recognition. It is not one thing recognising another thing, but self-recognition. And sometimes I refer to it as a non-phenomenal recognition, which means that it's not recognising an object, it's only the Self, Self-aware. Spiritual knowledge is not about amassing lofty spiritual or philosophical concepts. Amazingly, it's not about concepts. So maybe the word 'knowledge' is not the true word. Or maybe, in this context, it's the only true word. To 'know' means 'to be', where knowing and being are the same. If knowing and being are not the same, if knowledge and beingness are not the same, knowledge itself is only phenomenal, it's only information. You are more than information. You are not information. You are Spirit, presence, Being. This is true for everyone. One religion doesn't have it more than another. One people don't have it more than other. In fact, nobody has it. It has you. [laughter] But higher than that, there is no you personally, in fact. It is just a working title, you as person. What we are is presence. The one appearing as many. The many recognising it is one. [silence] The unique fragrance of each person, you can say, each form, that uniqueness does not interfere with the oneness of being. In fact, it only sings its magnificence that even on one flower, each petal is unique. So consciousness in each form expresses uniquely, yet is one common source. Consciousness is our language and our Being. Consciousness conversing with consciousness about consciousness. [laughter] Can we sit with this for just a moment or two? [silence] Notice that as we are sitting here, wherever you find yourself, your natural state, knowingness, is simply that of existence, 'I exist'. No effort needs to be made, no striving. Simply, you are. More information is not required. This sense, 'I am' is not information. [silence] Notice that you're not waiting. Nothing, no event or object, or action, can make you more 'you'. [silence] Though the mind seems to possess or have the sense of time, of past, present and future, you, who witness the mind, are timeless. You are beyond all categories, subtler than attention, subtler than belief, subtler than all concepts, subtler than space even, for space is perceived in you. Nothing defines your Being, nor confines it. You are not on a journey, you're simply here. [silence] You're not waiting, not expecting, not controlling, not receiving, not giving. [silence] You're not being entertained. [silence] You're not seeking or pursuing, simply you are. And there's no pressure in this, notice this. No anxiety. No drama. There's no threat, there is no threat. There's nothing to protect or defend. Totally empty, silent. You are not imagining this. There's no need to imagine anything at all, nor to move your mind. You are not in a state of stress. You're not holding anything together, there is no need. Effortless, complete. [silence] You're not in a state of transformation. You simply are. Acknowledge this, recognise this. Nothing is against you. [silence] Mind is not your enemy. Mind is not your friend. You're neither sociable nor unsociable. Unmixed presence, timelessly complete. [silence] You're not in search of any experience. [silence] Like space, you are everywhere. [silence] You have no colour, nor design, no shape, nor size. Pure awareness. This body is merely a vessel, a house, a temple, in which you reside for a time. But you are the imperishable, the unbound. This is not a compliment. It's a reminder. You're not a work in progress. Stay as awareness. There's no strain, there's no suffering, except that which is offered through your mind when you identify personally. [silence] As pure awareness, there's nothing to give up or to change. There never was. Nothing sticks to you. For this, you must descend into the state of personhood. Every sensation, every thought, every feeling is merely like a cloud that's floating in the infinite expanse of space. [silence] You're not your mind, nor your thinking, neither are you offended by them. Let things come and go as they will. You cannot go, because you never came. Like space, awareness is everywhere. Remember and know this deep inside your Being. There's no end for Truth. You're neither a good story nor a bad story. All things come and go, let them come and go. You're the witness, only, of them. [silence] How you felt yesterday, and how you feel today, have got nothing to do with what you are. [silence] Feelings come and go as does everything else. Remember this. Observe this. [silence] Do not attempt to define yourself, because to define is to confine that which is ever free. [silence] Happiness is your nature, not something you should find. It is what you are. Peace also is your perfume, joy, love. It seems as though we forgot this. They don't return merely by remembering, but by recognising. [silence] Om Namah Shivaya. [silence] Thank you. Om. [Sangha] Om. Thank you. [Mooji] OK. To close this part of the satsang, could somebody come? We have someone to come? We're going to have some music just for a few minutes. Thank you! [laughter] The name Priya is really The Beloved. All this was about The Beloved. We are both the Beloved and the lover. [Q.] Thank you. [Mooji] Very good. So at the end of this bhajan, we will just have a break for 15 minutes, take some chai, and those of you who feel you need to leave, you can leave. We will come back, and the second part of satsang today is usually offered up for reading through some of the mails that are sent each week, each day, to myself, and it's a beautiful time for looking through and responding to some of these mails and everybody is welcome to come for this. So ... [silence] [music] [Mooji] Om Sri Sat Guru Ramana Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Papaji Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Sri Buddha Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Sri Christ Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Sri Anandamayi Ma Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Mooji] Sahaja Ki! [Sangha] Jai! [Friend] Sri Moojiji Ki [Sangha] Jai! [laughter] [silence] Copyright © 2014 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.
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Channel: Moojiji
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Keywords: sacred, Krishna, destiny, truth, heaven, hell, self, wisdom, yoga, guru, depression, surrender, peace, life, self-inquiry, meditation Satsang, spirit, Buddha, grace, awakening, Liberation, suffering, religion, contemplation, advaita, Mooji, possessed, mind, ego, soul, free will, philosophy, love, enlightenment, spirituality, identity, Jesus, being, bliss, awareness, presence, God, devil, desire, disciple, negativity, delusion, belief, eternal, freedom, evil, holy, dream, eternity, reality, divine, master, Self-realization, christ
Id: 8ui3vIvymDE
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Length: 128min 45sec (7725 seconds)
Published: Mon Feb 23 2015
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