Simple Guidance for Anyone
Struggling With the Mind (with subtitles) [Mooji] We are giving an exercise
which I have been offering, to just watch your breathing for a moment. It's a very simple exercise.
Your breathing in and out happens naturally. In fact, you don't even have to decide to do it.
It's happening anyway. But now, bring your focus onto that,
so that as you breathe out have the sense that
all the things that are in the mind, plus identity, all the thoughts,
all the different kinds of things, as you breathe out, you are exhaling all that, because breath and mind are very linked. Watch and you're going to see. As you breathe out, [long exhale]
it's taking everything out. When the air comes back in,
it comes back empty. It's not able to bring anything back with it. It comes back in only as air and space. Out, [long exhale] everything that felt like it's been holding on,
everything like this, your attention is present,
everything goes out. [long exhale] This is an exercise that
after a very, very short time, you see, actually, you're empty anyway. Because first, you used that guidance.
Just ... [long exhale] It doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter what the thought is saying,
you exhale. [long exhale] They say when we breathe,
the body takes in oxygen. What does it breathe out?
Carbon dioxide, isn't it? So what you breathe out you don't need. You're breathing out the carbon-dioxide-mind.
[long exhale] In, pure air. [deep inhale] Space. Not taking in anything,
but pure air, space. Out, [long exhale] like this. Don't become attached to this practice.
Just use it. Just watch. And quickly, it drops everything. You'll find that everything has left.
What remains? Pay attention to what remains. Any intention, anything still left behind, is out on the next train out. [exhales] That's simple guidance for anyone to use. If you want to bring the attention to be clean, bring the attention
from clutteredness to silence, let it out, like stale air,
which the body doesn't need, the being doesn't need. [long exhale] If you want to slow it down
just for more enjoyment, you can breathe it out through your teeth.
[long, slow exhale] When you come to the end, if want to give more, give another three squeezes.
[demonstrates short quick exhales] Relax. Let the clean stuff come in, clean air. It's useful only to drop the association. Then you drop. What's left? What's left that's not a breath? What's left that is clearly not a breath, that was also there during the breath, but was not touched?
Now you can see clearly. When this is clearly seen,
beyond mood and feeling, it begins to register in your being, so that when the mind-stuff comes, you say, 'OK, mind come! Full party! Raa!'
[mimics dancing] It is within the vastness of this. One simple exercise,
you can make use of it. Mind is growing, always going,
[chattering sound] because it has been fed.
By what is it fed? Just like a fire must go out
unless you keep putting more fuel on it. What is feeding the mind?
Interest and identity. You believe what it says. [inhales and exhales] It is breathing on that. That is its food. So, what is feeding? Even the thought 'I',
the 'I-thought' is direct fuel. The 'I-thought' is not the 'I am'. The one who is present, thinking,
'The mind is troubling me', that's the 'I-thought', that's the 'I-person'. Then you see that
that itself is a thought. You may call it a 'magnet thought' that attracts other things to it. Then, see that as thought also,
and see what happens. Then let them go and fight in the bush
by themselves. That's not you.
Learn to pay attention to that. Otherwise, this one who suffers
is going to keep on suffering. You can get a diary for the next however many years
you continue that relationship, because the mind, the psychological mind,
the maya mind, is a relationship. Between who and who? Obviously, the sense 'I am' must be there,
but the 'I am' itself is in its own hypnotic state
by believing it is a person. And the person and its world,
they go together. These things you must see more clearly. But I don't want to give time,
nor should you take time to be kind of figuring out
what you know but won't accept. Maybe because you give it to your mind, the mind's saying, 'No, I don't like that. I want rum and raisin.
I don't want vanilla. Rum and raisin.' You say, 'OK'. You are not accepting that you already know,
and you already are, and you replace that with 'trying to be'. So these things are pointers
which should go directly in, directly in! You shouldn't be trying to understand. This knowledge is not coming from outside. It's just been woken up in you,
stirred up in you. As soon as grace has touched your life, you begin to wake up to deeper realisations
beyond the surface, deeper realisations of your true nature. It's as though, like some reflex, something grips onto the sense of the person, like the person is dissolving,
and then some fear comes. A fear that can take many forms, also. A fear, 'I'm not going to survive',
or that you're going to disappear. Some people experience it like that. Or that the very mind
seems to be turned against you and is threatening to destroy your life. How can that be? How can that be? You are choosing ... You have chosen
to go more deeply into Self-discovery. Self-discovery and God-discovery
are the same thing, actually. In the beginning, you feel,
‘Oh, the ego is in my way.' [Mooji] 'It is stopping me from going deeper.' [M.] Actually, I want to say something. [M.] It might sound very unusual for many of you. It has to happen! Because we are still identified with the person. As long as we are still identified
with the person, the mind is very much connected together
with the person. If the person is transcended,
this ego-mind also collapses, you see. They work together.
But you are deeper down than merely the superficial personal identity. So, as soon as you begin to discover
the deeper truth in you, it's as though
the mind is going bananas about it. And why is it doing that? Well, actually, the mind has no power without your co-operation. It's a subtle thing. But what is happening is that, what we have developed,
in the state and the stages in the realm of personhood, feels challenged, because we have developed
many, many wrong ideas about life and about ourself. And as you begin to go more deep
into your real discovery, it is as though something is rebelling
against this change, but it is not something like ... It is connected with the person, also. When I say, Don't worry about this ... Let me go back to your letter here. 'The ego is striking hard to hold me captive.' To hold you captive means it is trying hard to keep you
in the state of personhood. As long as you identify personally, his muscles will feel really big to you. [Mooji] But as you begin to recognise that even the person that you have, for so long,
identified to be yourself is only an imagined self, you are slowly discovering that, and that the person itself and the mind, the person and its problems are both visible to a deeper consciousness in you, then you are already out of the trap. But because we have a relationship, through memory and habit,
with the old identity, whenever we go back
into the state of identity, it's like the mind will bite you. But this very same thing, this very same play is actually going to become a help to you,
at some point. [M.] You'll say, 'Wait a second,
the reason why I'm hurting [M.] is because I've gone again
into the shape of my person. [M.] When I'm looking
only from the neutral place of the observer, [M.] the detached observing, I can see all of this
as though they are on a screen.' It's as if you go to a movie
and watch something on the screen, it doesn't matter if you see a train
coming towards you. I remember as a child
when I first saw television, and it had a train coming towards us, and when the train filled the whole screen,
everybody went, 'Whoa!' We forgot it's only a screen! Like this. But we grew accustomed to it,
that the movies work like that. The train cannot come through the screen at all. So then after that, you laugh. Similarly, when you can see that when you take the position of the witness, the neutral and detached witness, the person, which previously
felt so strong and so intimate, becomes more distant and bearable. You can look at it with detachment
and with distance. You must have had some of this experience. And what's happening now, because you have come to a point now,
to deepen even further, the mind is putting up its strongest ... It's part of the play of what we call maya. You are coming out of the sleep of personhood. And it's like starting to wake up, but something is calling you back into sleep to show you where you are attached, to show you where you had promises,
and fantasies, and projections that aren't going to get fulfilled
if you continue going like this. But at the same time
as you are discovering your deeper nature, you are feeling fulfilled without things, because you are discovering that your own being is content and complete in itself. It doesn't need objects to make it happy. When we are in the state of personhood, we need so many things to be happy. You need a good relationship,
you need money, you need to have a car, a house, you need friends who like you,
you need places to go to. That's the nature of personal identity. But as you are discovering the root, the deeper awareness of yourself, that's not a thing, that's not an object. That you may call the pure subject itself. And something is merging nicely
into that unity. And it appears as though, the mind and the person don't want to go there. Then you can see,
as you are leaving one realm to go to a deeper or higher realm, you see you have this little tension,
this friction is there. But don't worry. You cut the strings to that by remembering,
'But I'm still here'. Look to your Self. Don't look through the senses,
and the mind, and memory, because they will confuse you. Just keep paying attention
to that formless awareness in you, and these things just vanish like this. [Mooji] You know. No? [Questioner] Yes, Baba Mooji. Thank you so much.
[M.] Yes. [Q.] Thank you so much!
I have a question. Can I ask it? [Mooji] Yes, please do, please do. [Q.] So, I know it's the story of the ego, but I would like to expose it. So, when I am the awareness and I'm just observing all this heating and the sadness, and all of that, the doubt, there comes so much doubt. Like the ego voice is saying, 'You're not That. You're not the Self!
You're just empty.' So, I would like to expose the doubt. [Mooji] Thank you. Thank you.
But actually, remember that the doubts also, you are aware of them. Even the doubts and the belief,
you're aware of them. The feelings, you're aware of, and the memory. Everything that is perceivable
is arising on the screen of consciousness in this field of awareness;
you're seeing everything! You're discovering this more and more. So it's not clear enough yet,
but it's getting clearer. Actually, you're none of these things, absolutely. We are none of these things. But because you've had
a long relationship with them, and have this sensation, the feeling that, you don't know any different, or any more ... Because you feel in the world of personhood,
you learnt about things, about people, places and things, and ideas, but when you're discovering your Self,
your Self is not a thing. It is the place, the root, the source from where all things appear inside you. You say, 'When I am awareness',
but actually, you are always awareness! It's just that you're not remembering that you are the awareness.
You forget, somehow. So forgetfulness happens in awareness and you forget that
you are aware of forgetting. It's very subtle.
Maybe you'll have to listen to this talk again. [M.] Even the feeling of confusion,
or, ‘Oh, I forget I'm the awareness’, gradually you're going to see that even remembering and forgetting
are perceived in awareness. This is a very subtle point
and many people will miss it. The 1st time they hear it, 2nd time, 3rd time,
many times they hear it, they think,
'I just don't get that, that's not for me'. But, gradually, you're going to get it. And as soon as it becomes clear... Like in the old days,
we used to take Polaroid pictures, and when you get them,
they just look like white paper. And slowly, slowly the images become clear until they are fully developed. In the same way,
as you continue to earnestly follow the pointings, not just up there, [indicates head] but just spend time listening deeply
to what you are hearing ... You don't have to listen to many, many things, unless you have the capacity
to take a lot of things in at once. But some people ...
Even if you find one thing that is being said that really resonates with you, you can just put your attention on that only,
for a while, and it will keep opening and expanding,
in terms of ... Your awareness will grow. This is not a university. This is universal, but it's not a university. You don't have to learn so many things,
study so many things. This is my good news for you, also. Because it is so ... Actually, the greater the teacher,
the simpler the teaching. Do you understand what I mean by that? The greater the understanding,
the greater the discovering, the simpler the pointing. Why? Because ultimately,
it's not about words or teaching. The teachings are only a finger pointing to something
which is beyond teaching! It's only to be recognised.
And that becomes your experience. So please remember that. We don't have so many things to listen to
and remember. No, not at all. In the beginning, the mind says,
'You're never going to get it! It's too much for you, you're not good enough. You don't have a spiritual background!'
It tells a lot of lies. But this is part of your growth,
so that you come … Every lie, every failure
is going to be a teacher for you. You come to see,
'I had to go through many things'. Not everything,
as you've gone through many things already. You don't know that. Many things, throughout the journey of your soul, you've gone through already. Now you have a portion of things
you must look at. And if you see them properly, [M.] you may not have to go through
much more again. [M.] This is where I am coming in with you. [M.] You have some things
this life has brought you that you must be aware of them. They are not meant to be on top of your head. Don't go up in your head,
stay in your heart and watch from that place. Know that everything you see, hear,
touch, feel, sense, or imagine, is just illusory. You don't have to hold on to
any of these things. Don't reject them cynically, but don't combine yourself with anything. And you'll see that you come to
a place of a kind of emptiness inside you. And automatically, you'll begin to recognise you are in the presence of God. You're not going to meet God
in a noisy place within yourself. The noisy place is more the mind. When we say, Meet God,
I mean like you are becoming singular. You can meet ... When I say God,
don't think of God as some shape, as some particular entity, because God is so amazing!
He is in everything! Nothing can exist, not one atom can exist without, what I call,
the God Supreme Awareness Self. It's all the same one.
We just know and call it by different names, because we have different temperaments,
and different education. But you're going to go beyond all these things and find this place within you
that has no shape, and you see that, actually,
it is not different from what you are. We have been so accustomed
to identify with shape, the shape of this body,
the shape of your education, the shape of your conditioning,
or whatever we have called it. But it's OK for a while.
We are not all at the same stage. As you mature spiritually, you will find that
you can bear your own shapelessness. I have said before, When you can bear and be the emptiness,
you are free. Always we are holding on to some shape and every shape is a limitation. But God made all the shapes also. At one time some things were
very precious to you as a shape, but as you grew they became less important, and eventually you could give them away even. Sometimes you spent a lot of effort, a lot of money,
a lot of struggle to get one thing, and after a while, it loses its value for you. It never had value in itself!
The value was in your mind. And as you grew and became more mature, you could surrender it,
you could give it away. One day, you can give the whole world away and you will find that
you are supremely complete. Giving it away simply means,
it's not yours in the first place, but you give up your attachment to things. And don't think you insult God by doing that. In fact, He puts everything in front of you. Like the mother puts all the toys
in front of the child to play. One day he wants this toy and that one.
Then he's crying, wanting another. Then one moment,
he just wants his mother only. [M.] One day you'll not want these things. [M.] They are useful up to a point,
but they're only here for you to grow and to realise that
all these things exist in you, but they are not 'you' physically only. That is what you are discovering. So what you're going through,
regard it as, 'This is God's Grace to me. He gives me all these troubles
so that I can overcome them.' I used to say that
consciousness creates the sense of a problem in order to have the experience
of transcending it. By transcending something you go beyond it. It means that it cannot tempt you anymore. It's not in your way. You don't have to go through everything
in the world one by one. Find the things that come to you, that bring you into the state of personhood, these are the things you need to look at, because these things
will give you the sense of binding you. Don't curse anything, don't curse anybody, and you will find you are doing very nicely. [Mooji] And I stand with you on that one. [Q.] Thank you, Guruji.
[M.] Thank you. [Q.] I love you so much.
[M.] I love you so much. [Mooji] So, good, good, good.
So wonderful! So wonderful! [Mooji] Thank you, thank you, my love, Jacinthe. Copyright © 2021 Mooji Media Ltd.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.
