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What we are experiencing is not what is happening, it is the brain’s interpretation of what is happening. And our brains have been programmed.
Transcript:
So, I suppose it all comes down again to behavior. We’re not really people people-ing. We’re behavior behavior-ing. We are behavior. We’re not our true selves.
So, then I was looking at: how come we’re not our true selves?
And … I saw it goes back to the brain. And the brain, as far as I see, is designed to keep us as safe and secure as possible – and predictable as possible. It’s its job to take care of us. And probably in the womb, but certainly as soon as we’re born, it’s looking around and seeing what’s safe and what isn’t and storing the information.
And as it stores the information, it stores the information according to our surroundings, according to our circumstances. And so, a Muslim or a Jew or a Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist all have their brain programmed in a different way. And it’s so that they can be safe, accepted, be in the environment in which they’re programmed.
And so when anything is said or happens, that information is fed instantly to the brain – instantly. And it comes through the ears or the eyes or touch… And then the brain – very fast in an amazing way – sends that to the archives to work out what it is, and is it safe or is it dangerous?
And so we’re all different people; we’re all unique depending on how our brain has been programmed.
Now almost everybody is not aware of the process. They’re not aware that what they’re experiencing is not what’s happening, it’s the brain’s interpretation of what’s happening. And of course it does make mistakes – different sounds, different … different sight, different circumstances – but the brain interprets what it thinks it’s experiencing on the outside.
And so, in a way, we’re automatons, we’re … we’re robots, because we leave the brain on autopilot. Which means, we don’t really realize that it’s the brain taking the information, interpreting it, and feeding it to us, and we believe it.
And so we’re on automatic pilot. We’re automatic. We’re … we’re not really here. We’re not really present. Until we start saying, “oh, well, I’ve heard that I’m not my behavior. I’m going to take a look at that. I’m going to see if that’s true or not.” Then by groups or meditation or something, start to look.
And at first, of course, it’s a hypothesis. But eventually something starts to happen and there’s a realization that the behavior is not me, that “I’m not that. That was automatic. I don’t want to hurt that person, and yet I did. That was a reaction. I got angry at them. But there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to be angry at them. Just the opposite in fact. So that was automatic, and that was not what I am now calling: ‘me.’
“So what is this that keeps operating all on its own – really without my permission? Although of course it has to have permission on some level. But I’m withdrawing that permission. I am now going to become responsible for my reactions. My behavior. And it might be too late. I might have said it and done it, but then I’m going to say, ‘I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. I take responsibility. It’s not your fault that I was upset at you. There’s something in me that got disturbed when you said that. And I’m going to look for that in myself.’” And if that responsibility is taken and we keep looking at this automatic process, a click happens. And the click happens is, there’s a realization that: something is watching the reaction.
So what’s the something? It’s not the reaction. It’s not supporting that. That’s … seems to be, it is happening. So then if we withdraw permission something quite devastating happens. When we withdraw the permission to behave automatically, a major thing happens and that is: we don’t know who we are. “I know who that is – that’s totally predictable. If that person says that, that’ll be automatic. So who is it, when I’m not automatic?”
And I think that’s when most people get scared – in meditation even. They get scared. So, “Who am I?” – the classical question – “Who am I?”
And of course, in meditation groups, when we say, “Who am I,” the meditator expects an answer and there isn’t one! There isn’t an “I.” Even the “I” is an illusion. And the illusion is that there is an “I” separate from the Thing That Has No Name. The Unformed, the Source. The separation is an illusion. And it’s real, and it’s an illusion. We really are one.
And just to make it more complicated, you see, that person that said something about which you felt upset is your friend! They’re giving you a gift. And it’s not a coincidence. And everything that happens to us isn’t a coincidence. In some way, we’re drawing it to it, in some way, we’re asking. Until this click happens, we don’t realize it. Once it’s happened you’re grateful for every upset: “Oh, I got to see that more clearly.”
So when this realization happens that “I am not my automatic behavior, I am not my reaction, I am not that,” then comes, “So, who am I?” And that’s where most people … want to go back, because …
… there isn’t anyone … that’s separate from everything. There is … only … is-ness. Is-ness. And we’re all that. “Thou Art That.” “When the seer and the seen are one.” One-ness! [pause] And then … everything stops.
Jesus described heaven as, “There will be time no more.” No time. Now, our brain can’t comprehend that. It, it is impossible for the brain to comprehend “no time” because the brain only works in time – past or future. It can’t comprehend present.
Presence … is. And that’s all there is. There is is-ness. Is-ness … now!
Zen says, “Every second is the first second of your life.” And it is, unless you go to the brain. The brain goes to the past and projects the future, but it’s all based on the conditioning you were given as soon as you were born.
“Time no more.” Now when there’s time no more, we’re just here. Here.
Now what does here feel like? Well, here … can be transferred to … the senses. And the sense of here is like a tingling. A brilliant, shiny tingling. Somebody described it once as the “brilliant darkness.” Here is tingling. It’s all the way through the body, it’s in every single cell, it’s in every single atom, every single molecule – tingling, tingling, tingling….
And once we’re just here, just now, being one with the tingling, we realize the tingling doesn’t stop at the skin. In fact, the tingling isn’t ours at all. The tingling is out and in. Again Jesus, “When you see the inside as the outside, the up as the down, the down as the up, when thine eye be single, then will thy body be full of light.” Tingling, tingling light, but not just the body – everything’s tingling, including the air. The air at this frequency is no different than anything. Just … tingling!
And then there’s a sense that everything’s tingling and it’s tingling at exactly the same frequency! We’re all tingling! We’re all that! Old fashioned word: divine, the Source, the Unformed.
Now, when we have that sensation, say, sitting still, and if we get up with that sensation and move very slowly, every … single … step, we feel our foot on the ground and the effect that the foot has. It actually sends a little vibration through the body. Sound in the distance sends a vibration through the body. And we move, to start with, so slowly, with such awareness that the tingle inside and outside is harmonious, is in balance. Heraclitus called it the “Hidden Harmony.”
Now if we suddenly say, “Oh, the phone’s ringing,” and we forget our awareness and we’re going towards the phone, then the tingling is sort of disturbed. It’s … it’s like walking through smoke and sending waves around, because we’re no longer present. If the phone rings and we stay aware and we move towards the phone, then the tingling passes through us. It’s almost as though we’re transparent, invisible. Nothing is disturbed and we’re in that “peace that passeth all understanding.”
So of course, you can’t understand this peace. It’s … it’s not the opposite to anything. It’s an indescribable … state.
Now here’s the thing: that state doesn’t change. Listen, it’s not still. It’s always moving, but it doesn’t change. It tingles. And it’s always there. It’s us that’s not there. “Oh, yes I’ve got to … write that down.” Suddenly, we’re not here! We’re going to write it down. We’re not being in that moment, following the response to write it down, but staying with the tingling passing through us.
And so … monks dedicate their lives, 18 hours a day just sitting, and still very few of them have woken up. It is possible, but it’s, “What’s your priority?”
Here’s a silly example, just popped in. It’s like you’re working really hard ‘cause you want to save money. So you don’t listen to anybody, you’re working, you’re working, and you’re working, and you’re putting your money into a bank … that’s going to crash! It’s a fraud. It’s not a real bank. But you don’t take time to check the bank, ‘cause you’re so busy earning money to put in this bank that’s going to crash.
We all have this treasure inside. It’s here. It’s now. It’s everywhere. We can’t get out of it. And yet, we’re looking all over the place for it. We’re looking everywhere for it and it’s here.
Somebody was saying recently, “I’ve given up groups now, I’m looking inside.” Right! It’s inside! And you can still get assistance from here and there. But the main thing is: it’s here … and it’s now.