To live without expectations

Transcript

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Thank you for being here and for spending your time examining beliefs to make sure that our experience, all those things which are beliefs and opinions that we are conducting our whole life according to are actually aligned with reality, are not illusions, are not ways to escape, and that we are acting according to our nature. That which is effortless to us, that which is peaceful to us. And instead of being here and doing the work of life, as we say, you could be distracting yourself by stirring up arguments just so that there's some kind of action happening, by being on your phone, by worrying about your reputation, by worrying about and thinking about the opinions of others. Instead of doing all of that, you are here doing that, which increases the vision of peace and of our true nature, which is peace, which is all that is effortless and natural, and requires no permission or the approval of anyone else. This is your true power. This is truth itself. I am looking for just pretty, I would say, simple clarification. Um you talk about vision a lot, the word vision. Um working on our vision, not ourself. Um the vision is what's being trained, and that can contract or expand. Uh, even you know, we lack the vision or the vision of the true self. And I I'm I'm asking you to open up uh a little bit more about that, uh, so it can help clarify um that term. Uh so I assume you watched the I think it's the most recent video about imagination. Uh yes. Yeah. So having watched that, where I talk a little bit at least about imagination versus vision, right? How we think that a lot of things that um vision gives us, we need imagination for. In other terms, imagination is we could say image making. We are producing images. We go into our mind, and with the amazing power of our mind, we are imagining. Because if we were not image making, then we would simply be image seeing. Right? It would be the case in reality, and it can be an abstract thing. That doesn't mean that we need our imagination, because even abstract things, if they're truly there. Uh, for example, uh, if I went to get a bagel this morning, I must have done that because I had the intention, the inclination, a reason to do so. That reason is most likely, I might even say, definitely, not a physical object. But I can see that reason and I can observe that intention, no imagination necessary. That I would I sit there and say, um, ah, I wonder why I got that bang on this morning. Let me see. Uh, and then go into my imagination. No, say I I just felt like one. I was craving one. And so that's a vision. So imagination is not necessary. So whether we are trying to imagine a physical object that is not existent or not in front of us, or we are trying to uh imagine an abstract, non-physical thing, we must be going into imagination because in fact it is not in front of us, whether in front of us in the mind or in front of us physically, visually. It must not be there. That's why we're imagining it. Making images. And so what I'm saying is every single thing that we think we need to produce ourselves, imagine ourselves is actually what is keeping us from the reception of what would otherwise come through reality, through being put in front of us. So when I am imagining um let's say, you know, because especially in the video I also talk about creativity, right? We the first thing that my mind went to when I was deciding if I need imagination or not, I I thought it came to me this argument of what about art? What about all the beauty in the world? What about all the paintings and and music and surely someone must have sat down and imagined all these things? As in, make them in their head when there was nothing, make something. And step by step put things together, put melodies together, etc. So I said, so it occurs to me that we perhaps need imagination to do this. And if I let go of imagination, and by the way, why would I ever want to let go of imagination? Because we also see very clearly that imagination harasses us, right? Our imagination is a machine that is also running when we are not at all wishing for it to run. It comes to us with unreal scenarios, right? It says this scenario could occur. Of course, it is not occurring right now, otherwise, we would just be experiencing the situation. So it is not there. So we are creating the situation, which so far so good, right? It could just be what would I do in the case of an earthquake? And then, okay, um, step one, step two, step three, perhaps we could say. But our imagination does not only work logistically, it runs itself, it wakes us up in the middle of the night or in the middle of uh a beautiful moment of silence, of of quietness, where nothing's happening and everything is just fine. Our imagination comes in, but what if this, what would you do then? What if this happens again? Do you remember how terrible that was? And so our imagination does this all the time. It harasses us. It harasses us. So this is one reason to think this is what always makes me suspicious when something is harassing me. And I think, well, if this is harassing me and I'm the one allowing it, of course, why am I allowing it? And then the argument comes back. Whoever is speaking, I'm not sure yet, right? The argument comes back, but you need it, but without it, you could not live. And that makes me suspicious every time this happens because as I see, once again, as I cannot help but see, time and time and again, it seems to be a law of the universe that everything that is truly good is wholly good. Everything that is really good is entirely good. So if imagination is not entirely good, this makes me suspicious. If it is not entirely good, it must not be truly good. And so, okay, so now I'm suspicious. But um the argument remains, what about art? What about beauty? What about imagination, this beautiful creativity that it leads to? Okay, so we're suspicious, so let's let's just keep thinking. Let's use the mind, actually. And let's consider this uh with reason. Let's be scientific about this, right? Because this is my life, this is my daily experience. This is not some abstraction, some fantasy. And so let's be scientific about this. So, okay, so what about creativity? Every single time I consider that question, what about creativity? I see that creativity does not come from imagination, from image making, from considering countless scenarios and judging their worth as good or bad. I see that every beautiful piece of art, every amazing, as we call them, creative solution, any beautiful piece of design, anything whatsoever. If an artist is ever asked, or a designer or a creator or a maker, whatever you want to call it, don't they say, it came to me. It came to me, it came to me. What does that mean? When we when we imagine, we go into our imagination. This is a process that we allow and encourage and initiate. We go into it, there's a blank page or whatever, and we say, okay, let's see. Hmm, how about this? How about and we put it together? No. And and we go on so f forever, often. If we if we allow it, this can go on forever. And yes, of course, things can be imagined, and perhaps there is a good idea or two in there. But what is always good? What is always perfect? What is always a stroke of genius? There are so many expressions for this, so this cannot be denied, right? What's a stroke of genius, for example? Once again, this is a term for reception, right? It came to me, a stroke of genius. Um, all of a sudden it was there. Uh, I felt like I was receiving these things rather than coming up with these. This is what artists say. This is what creative, we're talking about creativity, this is what creative people say. All I had to do was to write it down. All I had to do was to just not forget it. So when we actually look at the creative process, which produces, like I said, anything from creative solutions to the most amazing and inspiring pieces of art, there is talk, there's a lot of talk of reception rather than me going in there manually for hours and hours and days and weeks and months, um, putting countless random things together, and it doesn't work, and and but finally it does work. We don't hear that. Now, is there a lot of imagination going on of okay, I see this, but how do I make it happen? Yes, absolutely. Logistically, we are saying, okay, would these tools produce this result that I'm looking for? Um, let me see, imagine uh maybe, okay, so so then I'll go try that maybe. So, imagination, in other words, image making absolutely has a use in logistics in the so-called physical realm. When we are, again, talking about creative solutions, let's say we are a work and we need to make a decision based on information that is lacking. We have some information, but we don't have all of the information. Otherwise, once again, imagination would not be necessary. You have all the information right here. What does it tell you? It tells me I need 40 more boxes of this. Okay, so go order 40 more boxes. So then imagination wouldn't isn't necessary anyway. When it becomes necessary, it means there's a lack of information. And so it says, okay, so we see that there's going to be demand in the future. There always has, always will be. But this year it's a little different. There are these certain conditions happening. And so I'm not sure, are we going to need more than usual or less than usual? So now I can go into my imagination and I say, well, if we had less than usual, this would happen, and we could save some money if in fact the demand is lesser. Okay, but uh if we have more demand and we are caught with less supplies than we normally have just because we're trying to save money, that would be a bigger problem. I can see that that scenario would be worse than in the scenario where I have too much stock and there's actually less demand than normal. Okay, so you know what? So what I'm gonna do, I think what would be better is to order more than uh I could possibly need. Because that's the lesser of the two evils, so to speak, of my problems that could occur. Okay, so I can see both scenarios. I imagined them. And based on that, I'm making a decision, and that decision can still be wrong, but I would rather do it like that. So that's imagination to me. This process has no value whatsoever, it seems, in the non-logistical realm. When I say uh spiritually, again, not logistically, but spiritually for the lack of a better word, how should I lead my life? What is it to act with justice? What does that mean? And is that really of any value to me? What is truth? What is beauty? What how can I live more according to that? What is my natural state as a as a human being, not necessarily even just as a body, as in okay, my natural state is to be eating these kind of foods. No, that's again not what we're talking about. We're talking about what's a fulfilled life? What's a meaningful life? Let me imagine a meaningful life. People do that all the time. Let me imagine a meaningful life. And then they think, okay, maybe it's a car, maybe it's a career, maybe it's being a parent, because if I can feel needed, that perhaps will give me a lot of meaning and a lot of purpose in life. And so that might be it. And then so they go chase that, or whatever, I'm gonna fall in love and everything is gonna become beautiful and meaningful in my life. And so they imagine these scenarios, and that sets up expectations, which we then put on other people, and then we're disappointed, or we are uh we're really proud of ourselves because we saw that coming just right, and everything went according to plan, and all this mess. Whereas vision, again, in this non-logistical realm, in this when we talk about the highest good, what do we rely on there? Is reality really something that is incomplete? Just like when we're trying to figure out how much stock to order, is that just like our information is incomplete there? Is reality an incomplete thing? Is reality missing some of itself? Is the present moment the way the world right now is, not what it could be, not what it should have been, but the way it that is right now? Is that not a full and complete thing? Does is reality not not whole? Whatever a reality is, but is it not whole? Is it uh missing half of itself? I've always find that reality is whole. The peasant moment, the way it is just is, we might be confused about it, we might not understand it, we might wish it to be different, but it always is what it is, and it is fully and complete, whatever it is. And so why am I receding from that, going into my very limited imagination and trying to figure out reality? So this little mind, this little person that I am, is trying to wrap itself around reality. Meaning, what is the one entity that we could possibly imagine that could wrap itself around reality and fully understand reality? Someone like a god, right? Whether it's the Greek gods or whatever gods. So do I am I now seeing myself as a god? Because otherwise, why am I trying to do it? Do I think I have the capability of an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-being God to be able to do this? No. So if this is a futile attempt of my imagination trying to wrap itself around reality and in fact shape reality as we often try to do, if that's futile, then why am I doing that? Why don't I come out of my imagination and look? Look, what is the present situation without imagining, without judging, without wishing it for it to be different or more of what it already is somehow, without doing any of that? Why don't I come out of my imagination, drop all of my judgments, all of my little beliefs and opinions, and just see. This is what I'm talking about with vision. Again, vision is not necessarily just viewing this room physically, but also viewing this moment, which is a non-physical thing. View it rather than imagining it. So apply vision rather than imagination when it is about reality, when it is about the present moment, when it is about meaning, about purpose, about truth and love, all these things that we are trying to be aligned with, or at the very least, not go against our nature as human beings, as also spiritual beings. Again, for the lack of a better word, that word spiritual is very loaded. All I'm saying with that is non-physical, non-physical. We know about our daily schedule, but how about what's on the schedule of meaning and purpose in life? This needs to be seen rather than imagined. And whenever we are, notice, whenever we are in our imagination, we are there. We are not here. The attention can only be in one place, or it can be split into two, perhaps, although I think science is also saying that this is not possible, that we cannot really pay attention to two things at once, that we can only switch back and forth very quickly, if anything. But regardless of that, I can only be a one place at one time. And again, imagination has its place in the logistical realm, in the physical realm. My car is broken. How do I get there now? This person has said this about me at work, whatever. What should I do? What can I do? Okay, I need to go tell this specific person this is their job to do, and then so and then this process, and so and so this paperwork, whatever, okay, fine. But when it comes to this reality, this present moment, every time we go into the imagination, we leave the viewing of the of reality, of the present moment, and we go into fantasy, into unreality. Because if it was reality, why are we there? Are there two realities, one right here where we are, and then one this place that we go to, that too is reality? How? How? And so I'm advocating for coming out of our imagination, and I talked about this in the video a little bit, why we uh allow this imagination so much. It's because uh, my little opinion, and this doesn't matter, the whole thing stands without this, but um thinking of our childhood where we were, where we really were forced, where we um did not determine our own schedule and what we should be doing, what we want to be doing. And so we experienced reality as something that we don't like. Because things keep happening that are against what I would like to be doing right now, or I would like to be feeling, how I'd like to be uh perceived, or whatever. I have no control over anything. Aha, but in my imagination, I have control over everything. I can have it be nighttime there, and I can be swimming in a lake there. I can be uh have my favorite superheroes come visit me there and talk to me there. And so this is almost like, not almost like it literally is an escape. So we use our imagination that should only be used, that which the proper use of which is only logistical. And we've used it as a spiritual, again, for the lack of a better word, escape. Because we did not like reality. We judged reality as lacking, as evil, as bad, as uncomfortable at the very least. And so we escaped into the one thing where we have the illusion of control. Because it's not really nighttime. I'm not really swimming on a lake. I'm not really talking to my superheroes. So it's an illusion. And this went on forever, right? Um kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, et cetera, et cetera. And then a lot of us get into professions that are much the same way where we feel like we need to do that, because we're still thinking of that mind where, okay, the world is just going to lead me to whatever, and there are certain established things, and I must not go against them. I have no right or have no power to go against them. And so we're in the same disposition where we just keep doing. I mean, people get married just because they think that's what they need to do, or someone told them to do it. They make children just because someone told them to do it, or someone expected them to do it, rather. It's the same disposition. And even as adults now, we escape into our imagination. It's something there's this meeting coming up in this job that I really don't like anyway, in the first place, that I only accept it because that's what you do. And so the next three hours of my life are toast. You know, it's going to be very uncomfortable. It's not what I would ever want to do. So I'm going to escape into my imagination. I'm going to imagine how nice it's going to be when that thing I ordered on Amazon is finally going to arrive and how I'm going to have a little bit of fun with that. A little, another escape. Or I'm this this weekend, this movie is coming out, and I'm going to do nothing else and I'm going to allow anything else. That's me time. That's me time. And so we fast forward in our heads, in our imagination, we go there, but it's not real. We're not there yet. Of course, it's an illusion. Literally, and we know that and we want that and we like that and we escape into that. And so we imagine in the meeting, we imagine ourselves sitting in the in the theater with our friends and watching our favorite, newest installment of our favorite movie, whatever, or anything else, or is a concert coming up, whatever. And we're already there, but we're not really there. And so we live this life of constant escaping and judging the present moment to be either too boring or too overwhelming or too whatever. And we're never where we are actually. We are never where we are actually, hardly ever. And those few moments where our what we want to be doing, what is constantly happening in our imagination, is actually aligning with what is happening in front of us, we compare it to how we imagined it. And then even rarer moments, because most of those times too then are spent saying, ah, this was not as good as I imagined it. And those very few times we're like, wow, this is even better than how I imagined it. We get a thrill, we get excited, and a few moments later it's over. And now we're chasing that. Now we're saying, Oh, if I do that again, well, that would be amazing again, right? And then we do it again. It's not, it wasn't quite as amazing as before. And so now we're down again. But what if we came out of imagination altogether? What if there was nothing wrong with the present moment? Even if we are in a boring meeting, what if that could not really harm me? And I just fully I just experience it. I'm here. And all of a sudden I'm telling you, um, we are going to see things, we're going to have the vision for things that we did not have before. It is so beyond any imagination, amazing in every word of the in every sense of the word, just to be alive. This is the one of the rarest things that any living being, any real being can experience in this universe. It's the rarest thing. Whether you think the world is 4,000 years old or 13. In any time frame, our life is a very short thing. It's a very precious thing. And so just to be here, this is reality. This is some planet in some corner of one of the trillions of galaxies within which there are thousands, billions of solar systems just like ours. This is one of those tiny little rare planets. This is a real thing. This is a rare thing. And this is a beautiful thing. So even in the meeting, what am I looking at? Okay, this is a person talking about something I have no interest in. What else is it? There's a screen of some sort, let's say, right? A monitor, a television, whatever. That thing displays images of human beings talking or whatever else ever happened that has been recorded, and it's essentially made out of sand. Chips are made out of essentially sand. And then an electric current, whatever that is, runs through it and is displaying these things. I mean Do you see this now? This is real. This is not an imagination. That this is fact is fact. How is this not more amazing than whatever was going on in my imagination, which was an illusion, by the way? No matter how amazing it was, it was an illusion. This is real. And I'm talking about one object in one, as we say, boring meeting. The meeting is gonna end at some point too. And when we come out, I mean, what flower, what what uh other human being, what situation perceived in this way in its true full form, could be worse than even the very best thing that is going on in our imagination? How could this be worse? And even if it was worse, how could it not be better to commune with whatever is part of real reality than of illusory illusion? How could that not be better? But this again is a vision, even the seeing of this imagination versus vision versus reality, whatever, even the vision of that is something that first needs to be acquired, or rather, whatever is obstructing it needs to be lifted. And so when we say, wow, yeah, in my childhood, I did do that. And it's I can't see how it is any different to what I'm doing now with my imagination as an escape. So I see. So that's how that happened. Interesting. Okay, you know, I'm gonna try this out. Just as an experiment. Again, scientific. I'm not hoping for any conclusion, any expectation as I always do in my imagination. I'm just gonna do this as an experiment. My imagination harasses me at least some of the time. At least some of the time. There's no human being on earth who does not give into imagination as a spiritual practice. Again, big difference, not logistically, as a spiritual escape, and does not feel at other points at least harassed by the very thing that they're escaping into. No human being like that. And so clearly that's not the perfect system. It's not the perfect thing to deal with our moments that we feel are boring or overwhelming. That much is established, I think we can all agree. And so, just as an experiment, I'm gonna try out this other thing. If it's better, it's better. So then I'll adopt it, right? What's better, what's more beneficial for me than to uh find something, discover something that is better than the current system that I've been employing. Okay. And if it is worse, no harm done. I'll go right back to my imagination because the imagination is always available, right? That's the whole point. So what is there to lose? Okay, so in this way, we can also uh not at all, we need to we don't need to overcome fear or anything. Because we can tell fear, look, this is just an experiment. And if it doesn't work, I'll come back to imagination and I'll come back to it ten times harder. Because now I know this is the better thing. Okay. And if it's not the better thing, then we'll go all over to this other thing and we'll do even better fear, don't you think? And fear will allow us to do that in that way. When we're scientific about it, because science is against fear, right? And so this is what I encourage everyone to do. It is not because I said it or because whoever else says this said it. It is because I believe it will show up in your in your experience. And so go try it. And it, if it does, in fact, show up in your experience, you most of all people are going to want to continue this. There's no trust involved, there's no so-called blind faith involved in this. Go try it as you try anything else, right? When you're unhappy with your clothing, you try different kinds of clothing. This is just like that. This is no different. You're bettering yourself, at least potentially. So, since that's what we are chasing and everything we do, bettering ourselves, okay. Then let's try this too. This is another tip. This is another life hack, just like any other thing. If we like those, then what's why not try this? And you come and report back to us right here. If you say, I tried it, it was worse, it was terrible. I just want to tell everyone. Okay, so then we'll know that. So free us of our ignorance. And if it did work, again, it would be a great privilege that you could bestow upon us to come back and say, This worked for me. I encourage you to at least try it as well. There's nothing better than viewing reality. I don't care how amazing the illusion is. I would much rather be right here and listen to any one of you than to sit at the theater and watch a superhero movie. Because the superhero movie is not showing me anything. It is an escape. And no judgment if you like superhero movies. There's a right way to watch that and a wrong way to watch that, right? Just like we said about everything. Intention is everything. If you go there uh and watch the superhero movie because it's I'm interested in computer graphics, and so obviously that's been really well developed these days. And uh so I watched that for that because I'm so interested in that, and it's and it's the latest development in that. So, okay, so that that would be a good intention, I would say. So the same thing would be great to do. But what do people do with those more often than not? It's an escape. It's even better than the imagination at times because then I don't even have to do anything. I could just sit there as an escape and just watch that and be entertained and be um and forget my troubles or my boredom or whatever it is, and I'll just I'll just give myself zero effort. That's the wrong intention to watch. That's an escape, that's an illusion, that's living in unreality, and it doesn't help you at all for when you get back into the world, so-called. This is what people say. I I want to escape and then I'll go back to the real world. You are always in the real world, you are always in the real world. Only in our imagination we think we are somewhere that we are actually not there, we're always in reality, and so this is a fact. No one can ignore this fact, and if anyone thinks that they can escape reality, as so many people think that they are doing, they are wrong. It is not love to tell someone that their imagination is good and escaping for them is good, and that they deserve a break from reality. This is fostering an illusion that it is possible at all to step away from reality. So imagination says I will aid you in that escape. And vision says we are going to see things as they are. Or at least we're going to look at them and perceive them, however, fine. But at least my imagination, I am not intentionally escaping into anything. I am at least looking. Maybe I'm seeing the thing wrong, maybe I'm not seeing it right. But um, that's what it is. And so this is what it is. This is what we're trying to do here. This is what vision is. That's uh beautifully put. I absolutely 100% understood everything you said. Uh, it feels very open and clear of what you're talking about, just that being present, looking to receive reality, and that feels um exactly right for me. And I appreciate you clarifying all of that, including the imagination, as the I guess I would say forecasting or logistical purposes. You know, it's that that's meaningful. Yep. And this is this is what I'm always talking about, and this is sort of what we need to um at some point consider. But we're not allowed to. Our imagination does not allow it because this machine has been running for so long. Is is understandably not going to, and this is an expectation. I don't even want to say this, but it is often the case. It's not just gonna, it's not just gonna stop. And so it takes some time, it takes some doing, it takes some uh giving ourselves to it, exploring this. But uh why not? Why not do this? And when are we finally going to do it, if not now? All right, so let's let's do this, let's take one step. We don't we don't ever have to fully commit to truth. Truth does not uh require anything from you. It does not say prove yourself to me, give yourself to me fully now or I'm leaving. It doesn't say that, it's always there. And you can go at your own pace. You set the pace. Truth does not set the pace, but it accepts anything. And so just a little bit today, just a little bit today. Whatever our ego allows, whatever fear allows, whatever our illusions or false beliefs allow today, let us do that much. Let us do that much. No one's requiring it anymore. Just whatever it is we can do, let's do it today. And tomorrow's another day. That would again be imagination to say, but can I do it today and tomorrow too? And next week and next month, and if I can't do it for a year, why would I even start? This is all imagination. Because once again, we're trying to imagine what is is going to be. If I kept this going, what will this be like in a year? That's an imagination. It's not here yet, it's not reality. But today is a reality. What makes sense to me today is making sense to me today. And uh why not do that much today? And then we'll see about tomorrow when it comes. This is the simplest way to live. But we think it is required to um think of the most complicated ways, things all the time. We always say, if I make any change today, uh, what will be the what will that look like? What will that end up being down the road? And that's a future projection. That's imagination is required for that. And again, if we have to make a future projection for logistical purposes, there's no other way around it. Decision needs to be made right now, then we go do that. But we don't tie our um peace to that, our meaning in life to that. We're just saying, no, I'm just making it logistical, you know. And as soon as I stop doing it, I'm out of it. But with imagination, with these things, we're constantly thinking how to be happy, how to be satisfied, how to have meaning in life, how to, how to, how to, and that imagination is constantly running because there's no logistical end to it. Life is never gonna tell you now you're happy, and you're happy everlasting, by the way. Forget about it. You there's no problems whatsoever, no threat to that ever. Is the mind ever gonna say this? It's never going to say it. So there's no logistical end to it, there's no physical end to it, there's no hard stop to it. It will go on forever as long as you allow it. And so why not try it today, live like this today, right now, and then we can still evaluate and see that was terrible, and we can go back to our own way. So let's do it today. That felt good. Now it's the next day. Since that felt good, I'm gonna do it today, and so on and so forth. And if it doesn't, I'll stop. What's simpler than this? And so this is why we say, and this is what I truly mean when I say truth is simple. This is truth. This is a true thing. It is making sense to us right now. It is ringing true, right? And so let's let's give ourselves to it as much as it is ringing true. That's it. No imagination necessary. No, how will this turn out? It is turning out right now. It's so simple, and we and we but we don't trust simple things. We say, there's literally this saying, right? Anything worth achieving is difficult. And this is this is the mind talking. This is what the mind says. I don't want to be engaged in in simple things. I don't want to uh look at a at a simple fact and say, yep, and then not be needed anymore. I want to keep going. The mind wants to keep going. The mind is very energetic. And the mind is very powerful and can send rockets into space, right? But again, sending a rocket into space is a logistical thing. And it's an amazing thing, but it's a logistical thing. I'm not saying it's a lesser or more or whatever, but it's a logistical thing. And so why are we employing what is so good and what is made for logistics in the non-logistical realm? Where it has nothing to go off of, but it will go off of and go off anyway. And uh there's a whole it's a mess, and it is a mess. So uh thank you for that question. I often hear people saying, Well, what do you mean with that? And so hopefully this was an opportunity for us to uh clarify it a little bit more for everyone. Uh and again, these are all just suggestions. You take any or all or or however much of it that you'd like and you apply and you try and you see what happens. That's it. So I hope that clarifies it a little bit. Again, thank you very much for that question. Really appreciate it. Um, and I want to ask you, though, the question of the week. If you want to answer it, you don't have to answer it. I'm just gonna ask you, and then you can say, actually, I don't want to answer it. Uh, but the question or the question of the Fortnite actually is what does it mean to empty yourself of yourself? Hmm. Yeah, I I did uh I did answer it for myself. And uh for me, it's it's to examine and re examine my life. Um you know if if I'm always looking to uh be better or be refine myself um I think that's visiting it on a daily basis of practicing that re-examining and so emptying my emptying myself of whatever I accumulated I guess or just examining things is this where I want to is this where I want to be is this is this what I want if is this what I want to be so that that would be my answer and I think you the question and thank you for that answer and I think your question is very related to this as well right with the imagination because when we use the imagination to do this examination that's again where things get complicated and things get unsure and confused and conflicted. But let us now apply vision to do this uh so-called examination and re-examination because vision sees what is and it is very much of the nature of reason whereas imagination see there are these groups appearing right imagination is more of a very emotional thing right imagin imagining good things makes us feel good imagining bad things makes us feel bad and a lot of judgments going on a lot a lot of things a lot of value judgments saying I want this I want we make our reality in there in our imagination and that's a very emotional thing both in process as well as in in outcomes and so I hope that helps with that a little bit as well and it's just something that to try again the scientific process just try and see what happens and then uh whatever the outcome is that's what it is and and no matter what it is an advancement because no matter what it is truth right the result of a scientific process is more often than not simply but it shows us how things are and we want to live according to how things really are right and so um thank you also for that for that answer. I think like I said those things are very related and um I'm gonna move you back to the audience for now with thank you great gratitude once again and uh having said that I will invite our next speaker please okay our speaker they just invited dropped out maybe something um maybe some technical difficulties there I will invite our speaker after that um to our former speaker who dropped out uh request again I just opened the request just put your name in it again okay thank you um and hello to our speaker who's here right now hello hi for the past weeks I have tried what uh you you have uh explained us in in beautiful words um about imagination and destruction and in this week I had the question of what's the intention of destruction or or trying to answer that uh in some way or bringing myself to answer that because certainly um what's really quick for me was uh to realize that I was doing many things without knowing uh intention without being aware of the intention and stopping to do them stopping uh to do many things and once you are aware of of your intention uh those things then become distraction and those things are not something that takes you away from reality or things that makes you feel trailed in a certain way makes you um think you are becoming something um and it is these things are very confusing for for for the intellect or for reason because we cannot really understand this. I think these are false beliefs when we um think that we are not whole that these activities would bring something to us that is not in us um so I I think the the question I leave it also for for everyone what is the intention for the distraction and I would like to I would be equally grateful to listen what's your point on this already you have said beautiful things and things that uh I believe are true but still if you want to add something about this because it is it is certainly something true um I would be equally grateful to to listen more about that. Yeah thank thank you for your question and and I want to say even more so thank you for sharing your experience of how when we become aware of our intentions and that's all we need to do. This is again so simple and we try to make it so complicated we we approach a so-called problem that we have let's say I'm on my phone way too much so let me get a different kind of phone that does not allow me or makes it harder to access certain apps no no that's so complicated why treat yourself like an animal that you cannot communicate with and try to put physical obstacles in its path so that it does not do this harmful behavior. Why not go the other way? Turn around instead of going out like that turn inside and just observe how simple is that just observe yourself being on your phone because when we're on our phone for too long we're literally scrolling we're not thinking about anything we're not even we're not even thinking that we are human beings not actively right if someone would ask us hey are you a human being we would of course say yeah I know that I'm a human being but I'm not at all aware of that or anything else or who I am or what's happening or what has been and what will be when I'm scrolling I'm literally looking at the images I'm saying I'm seeing this now I'm seeing this now I'm seeing this now I'm seeing this now. And at some point I become fatigued maybe and I look away and I see wow it's been an hour. But if I observe that do it do it exactly the same way you were doing before don't punish yourself. Don't be ashamed of picking up your phone don't say this is yet another failure I am failing in I'm giving in to my desire which I know is wrong don't say any of that say I have the desire to pick up my phone why because I think I'm bored right now because clearly reality is boring to me it is not good enough to me so I'm going to go enhance it with my phone observe that that just happened wow that's what I think what an amazing thing okay and no judgment and and continue pick up your phone go to the uh what you consider to be the worst app for this the worst app that you want to get away from go on to that and go do the worst thing on the worst app but all the time observing all the time being aware I'm doing that right now I'm clicking that and I'm doing this and I'm getting a thrill right now and I know thrill seeking is it only becomes higher higher higher and higher the more I feed it. I know that too I am aware of that too and this is wrong okay I'm aware of that too but no judgment on the fact that I'm thinking that it's just something that's arising okay I'm aware of that too and I keep going and I but I stay aware I don't go into that again of only thinking about the things I see there only about the images but I am I am noticing the phone and my hand around it and the room around it. I'm still doing it that's fine but I'm noticing everything that is also in my peripheral vision both in my physical vision as well as in my mind vision right in my mind vision there isn't only the cat video I'm looking at there is also now this is not right this is only going to make things worse this is not a good use of your time you are doing this as a distraction you are doing this as an escape and reality is not going to change just because you try to escape from it all these thoughts are present there as well right next to the cat video. So become aware of that instead of just looking at the cat video focusing your vision both physical vision as well as mental vision only on the cat video and on nothing else as we do when we are distracted become aware zoom out zoom out and see all the rest that is in fact occurring you are not producing that you are not adding that it is already there you're just normally not aware of it maybe and so go become aware of everything that is happening not just that and as you're aware of this I'm not saying it's gonna you're gonna stop doing it right away that too is just an expectation that too is just an expectation which then ends in shame and guilt. Let go of that too and put down the phone whenever is whenever you felt like putting it down anyway and say all of that happened and I was aware the whole time or at least a lot of the time that you need to be aware of the of it the whole time is also just another expectation that's going to end up in the verdict of a failure of shame and guilt which is entirely wrong and unnecessary rather and um when the time when the urge comes again do it again this is my recommendation I'm not telling you to do it again but it is my recommendation and be aware of it the entire time again and again and again and again and again and again and perhaps at some point there's going to be this very natural very effortless very simple loss of interest loss of interest. I'm not interested in these cat videos anymore. I used to get such a thrill but you know I keep seeing and seeing and seeing and seeing that this adds nothing that it is actually not that interesting either and I'm aware of all the possibilities of other things that I could be doing that I genuinely want to be doing that I love doing and that I totally approve of doing I'm aware that that time is going there and I've seen that again and again and again and again and I don't even know why really but I seem to have lost interest in this is what happens this is what aware people say they say I just give it awareness and I see its effects fully and also see the enjoyment in it fully I ignore nothing I suppress nothing and however long it takes however long it takes that's how long it needs to take and so I think this is um yeah I'm sorry to interrupt you no no um but I um in a logistical and probably more personal uh thing um in in university there is a person that sometimes tells me about many things that he believes uh that I am a very fearful person because I don't give a try into pure logistical things pure external things and to view things with a particular ambition uh and oftentimes this evokes emotions in me or this provokes certain emotions I am observing that this appears and as as as we have said it is accompanied with a lot of unawareness and maybe we don't really see the picture emotion uh things like comparison like judgment like expectation um it's so easy to appear uh it's so easy that those things appear and with distraction I was uh sort of um connecting this because I think what this person has uh been telling me about this is strongly their opinion and it's a distraction from truth a distraction from what really is and um maybe that's the way they see that and when you see this uh that's how you lose the interest too in in ambition or in judgment or in envy to lose interest but it's because simply you don't have any more an intention with doing those things with judging with being envious uh or trying to copy I don't know what what many activities uh appear in those moments but at least in in what happened uh I saw that and I am thankful for that person to have shown me again um that certainly uh the the the observer can get easily distracted and might you might a produce person might engage in those type of things and but but just let it happen and as you're saying you it observe it and if you uh lose interest is because you don't have any more intention to do that to do something with that um and I I I think that's that's all for for my sharing and thanks for listening to to my words and have a have a good day. Thank you so much for saying all of that and uh I I want to talk a little bit more about that I'll I'll move you back to the audience but uh what you said is is very very valuable and I hope everyone was listening. There is no need to force yourself to do the opposite of some sort of action that you do not approve of there is no point in that it doesn't work have you noticed it can work with certain physical habits perhaps because over time you just get rewired of course but that is such an effortful and and often complicated way of doing it the simple way of doing it and the one that works with not only certain physical habits but like you know all kinds of all kinds of uh intentions is to just observe it to just see it happening time and time and again and to not judge yourself at all because it is entirely pointless and unnecessary to say oh it's happening again you are not responsible for it happening again you are not responsible there's something there that is making you do it and that just and that could be a false belief it can be an identity it can be some other person's manipulation somehow fine whatever it is we don't even need to know what's simpler than this we don't even need to know all we need to do is to apply our own nature to it which is awareness. Observe another person cannot be a distraction to you if you don't want it to be so don't think uh of that of something happening to you and this is a bad thing and this is a catastrophe and this is gonna make me worse no be aware and you're right it's it's just a loss of interest it is not a force we don't achieve anything by force in in this realm it is by quite the opposite by letting things happen letting also awareness we force awareness to to go away when we go into a distraction that's the point of a distraction we want to be unaware of course awareness itself is always there even what we're doing when we're distracted is only done with awareness. If we didn't have awareness we would not even know it happened what I'm talking about is awareness of awareness we need to be aware of awareness and we do that by simply being aware of everything we do and that there's an observer of all of this of course there is an observer that's how we do anything but by observing the observer by being aware of awareness by being conscious of consciousness do we see what is really happening? What's what? And that is exactly what will make us lose interest in that very thing or even increase our interest if it turns out to be a a good thing. We were doing it for the wrong reason but actually there's a right reason to do this very same action then let's do that action even more awareness reveals everything. The light reveals everything we cannot escape into the shadow and uh think that we don't exist anymore. We're still there we're just not seen there's no light I hope that makes some sense and when you asked uh about the intention of distraction the intention of distraction is escape we think reality is too boring and so we escape to whatever imagination or any other million other things we escape all we need to do is say I'm gonna observe my boredom rather than run away from it I'm gonna observe it. I'm just gonna be bored and as we do that we are gonna gain a vision that is already there but obstructed of that reality is actually not boring. It's actually never boring it's just the the mind is running so fast and we have been feeding it with unreality with with thrilling fantasies for so long that we think the absence of that now is boring. But when we adjust the speed when we just sort of let truth catch up to us let reality catch up to us and then we we move with it rather than ahead of it that's when it's not boring at all actually and uh I will go back to our previous speaker here who dropped out before I'll invite our speaker okay I sent the invite no response yet but we'll give it a few more moments see is this boring right now let's use see let's not escape into our imagination let's not look at our phone while we're waiting for our next speaker to to fill in reality there's nothing to fill in is this really boring right now or is this just a beautiful peaceful stillness as we are waiting for things it's allowed we are allowed to wait for things not everything needs to happen all the time we need to we don't need to fill everything with something happening waiting too is part of reality and it is full it's not lacking anything that we need to compensate for or enhance this is not boring to me right now. So see I wouldn't normally actually have taken uh or invited our next speaker right now because I was like this is waiting too long but um this too can be used for advancement look we are even turning this little situation which anyone could call a technical failure a boring part of the whole thing and skip this and this is not worth my time we are turning even that around into the recognition of recognition Recognition, awareness of awareness, and are turning to reality rather than away from it. Even this so-called boring moment, and this is another thing that you're gonna find happening. All these judgments are gonna start falling away from you. Again, a loss of interest, of judgment. Say, this is exciting. This is not quite as exciting. I'm I'm gonna do that. These are all judgments, these are all expectations. That too is gonna fall away from you because I didn't expect this to happen. I certainly didn't make this happen. Yet I am here right now and I am waiting. Yes, but is waiting a really a positive or a negative thing? Or is it just? It just is. And so I'm just gonna relish in this right now, actually. A few more moments. Do we have the vision now that this is actually not boring? Is this not a living example of this? Of everything we've been talking about? This is what I'm saying. Hello. Um grateful to be here again. Um I wanted to talk about my I guess suspicion on importance and how I think it's actually not important to label things as important. I don't know. I feel like when I think about importance is just my expectation of something that it will better something or bring me more of something. The fact that I consider it important attached me to it and that I don't wanna let go. Or when I when it do leave me, I I don't like that it left. That that's it. Yeah, thank thank you for that reminder and thank you for that observation. I think you're absolutely right. This is what happens, and this is why I keep pointing out this uh particular feature of importance of speciality um in so-called romantic relationships. And because we have confused the romantic relationship with love, or rather made them one and the same thing, we think that love requires importance and speciality to hold things in high regard, to say that they are special, to feel that they are special, and to of course protect everything that is special and important. As soon as we feel that something is important or special, no matter what it is, we will defend it in some way, shape, or form. And to defend means to oppose something, to fight something. And whenever we fight, we are not at peace. And here again, I can already hear some minds revolting and saying, okay, so we'll just let the murderer, we'll just let the whatever do their thing. And we won't fight, we just we'll just let them be, we won't oppose anything, we'll say nothing's important, nothing matters. Do you really think that's what I'm saying? I'm not even gonna argue against that. I'm just gonna echo what's going on in some minds right now, and I'm gonna ask, do you really think that's what I'm saying? And if the honest answer to that is no, probably not, but I am still confused, okay, then we can talk. And to that I would say, once again, this is um the distinction between the logistical and the non-logistical, the physical and the non-physical. Um to process a crime, to say this occurred and this is wrong, this is against our laws of the land, against our criminal system. And um this needs to be reported, this needs to be processed, this needs to be dealt with, the um responsible parties need to be held accountable, is not fighting necessarily. Again, it's the intention behind it. If we can do this without thinking of that, this is the most important thing, this is special, this is me fighting for justice and me fighting against injustice, this is all illusion. Justice does not need us to fight for anything. Justice cannot be touched, justice cannot be harmed. Only objects and physical bodies can be damaged. And that damage is not right. If it's not someone's property, they cannot do that. If if someone comes and damages my property or even my non-physical possessions, whatever they might be, they don't have the right to do that. And I can fully see that, and I can hold them fully accountable, and I can hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law without once thinking that what is happening is so important and so special, and that I'm defending what is right and that I'm fighting what is wrong. No, I'm not making this a bigger deal than it is, and even though I'm holding them fully accountable, I am not fighting. And because I am not fighting, I am at peace. So I am both holding accountable and doing exactly what I would do otherwise, if not even more, because now I have the clarity of reason rather than the blindness of rage. So, to all those people who say they think they need anger and all these things to hold someone accountable to do the right thing, no, not only do you not need it, without it, you could do it better. The people who are not angry, the people who don't believe in importance and speciality and judgment and fighting and all that are more effective than you are with your objectively crazy anger. This is another vision, this is another thing that is seen in the world, can be seen if we only let go of the blinders and if we consider it. And so this is very much, I think, in line, at least with what you're saying. This is so true. All our judgments and and a lot of our misery and everything, and certainly all of our fighting comes from the idea of importance, from the belief in speciality. My family, my house, my reputation, my suffering. So important, and it's so special. And so it's everything. And everything that is a danger to my family, to all the things I think are important and special, um, are a danger to peace itself, to love itself, to justice itself. Calm down. That's what we need to tell ourselves. Calm down. It is not so. Love does not require you to fight for it. Love does not require you to fight against anything. Go do your physical things that you need to do to take care of the people that or people and objects that you uh would like to have in your life. Go do everything, everything with while still realizing this person is no more important than another one. This object, just because it is mine or just because it is beautiful objectively, is not more special than any other thing. This can be done, and this need be done if our objective is peace, which is the most effective, also state to operate out of. Those people who operate out of peace are the most effective, the most so-called successful, to speak in regular terms. If that's what you're chasing, effectivity and success and power and influence and real change, especially then you should give up importance and specialty and all these ideas and anger, certainly. Of course, someone who truly gives themself to peace will see that none of these things are necessary to begin with, but that's even better. So uh uh thank you very much for for bringing that here. Um was there anything else you wanted to mention or ask or share? Um yes, but I'm conflicted because I want to only bring up one topic each time I get to speak. Both so that we we get to focus, right? Um on one thing. On one thing and and really digest it. But also out of respect of everyone else here and wanting to listen to their beautiful ideas or confusion that that is helpful to me in my own um uh endeavor or whatever. Um so yeah, I I think I think that's it. But I'd like to answer the question Yes, absolutely. So the question of the Fortnite is what does it mean to empty yourself of yourself? I I thought about it. Um I think to me, um what what it sounds like is that I need to be more present, I guess. I need to include myself by emptying of myself into reality. Like I need to empty all of these distractions that I have in my head so that I can exist, I can be an experience, and also to this is more in the physical realm, I suppose, but I I realized that it has some effects on my thought process personally, um, to be gentle, to to not be rushed because gentle gentleness, not not just not because I want to be uh I'm such a kind person, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna be gentle. Um I'm gonna act like this for so that people see me no. But I realize that there's patience in being gentle to everything. You you you're aware of your space of where you are around something. You're aware that oh, to be gentle, you're also in control. You're controlling, you're refraining from rushing from I don't know, it just I feel so much more aware when I'm gentle, and I feel so much more empty of all of these distractions. It feels like I'm in such a moment, like it's just me and that and being and noticing things, and I'm not oh but I but I gotta do this uh at this pace, or oh I don't know. Um I I still haven't been able to do that um for the entire day, but each moment I get to be in that. I I'm I'm very appreciative and it feels very thank you so much for sharing that reminder with us because this is so so powerful what you have just said, and it and it reminded me of what you just said. I I haven't been thinking about that for who cares, but uh I I just felt this appreciation when you brought this up. Slowing down is one of the best things you can do for what is generally referred to as mindfulness or what we've been talking to uh about today of becoming aware of awareness. Yes, it's not going to feel good for at least a little bit, perhaps, when we force ourselves, again, these are not perfect terms, but to slow down. When your mind is racing, or when your mind said, come on, pick up the phone, call this person, or get on an app, or um whatever, just go outside, see what's happening, talk to your roommate, whatever it is. When the mind says, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, you on principle, not because it's easy, not because uh you don't kind of want to listen to the mind, but it's but because it's actually difficult. On purpose, say no. Just no. No matter what you suggest right now, I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna do the opposite, I'm gonna be still. And that effort, that friction that we feel when we do that, and it almost feels impossible. I'm just like, why? No, I could just pick up the phone. What's wrong with that? I'm just gonna do it. That is sort of a transition to real time. It's sort of like, I do you do this when I'm on YouTube, uh, a lot of times I I double the speed of the video. Um, not because I'm impatient, but because uh sometimes I feel that instead of spending 20 minutes on something that I genuinely want to be doing, I could do it in half the time. So it's sort of a logistical thing. Um but when we do that with when we try to do that with what is happening around us, and then obviously that doesn't work, and then we escape into these things, that's wrong. That's what takes us out of awareness because we we expect that double speed from life as well. Uh, that's not how it works. And so let's purposefully force ourselves to to watch reality to be in reality in real speed, in real time. And that's one of the best practical um suggestions that we could ever receive. And so thank you for giving us this. Yes, slowing down is the number one uh perhaps, although that doesn't matter. I don't know why I just said number one. It's very, very conducive to um becoming aware of awareness of living in the real world at the real time. So excellent, excellent. Try it if you haven't tried it, try it. Just force yourself, do it anyway, even though the mind wants to say, gimme, gimme, gimme, don't do it. And uh once again, as always, I want to thank you very much for coming here and speaking. Uh, very, very valuable. Um and uh I I also appreciate you saying uh yes, there is more I want to ask, but I want to do it one week at a time. There's no such expectation. I'm not saying that is good or bad. I'm just totally appreciating that you are uh doing this with awareness and you're saying that's just how I want to do it, and it feels right, and if it feels right, that's perfect. Excellent. And uh of course, you're also right, some with certain things. Um sometimes we have two or three questions, and as the one question is being answered, we're already uh thinking of the second and third question, and so we're not listening to the what's happening right now. That can happen too, and so I appreciate that. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. It's a beautiful space you've created, and I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And uh I'll move you back to very close and then as always. I have to give this reminder. Yes, I started this place, but it is everyone who's here that makes the space because I can start a hundred spaces if no one's in there, or if the people who are in there are just not people who value kindness and openness and honesty and awareness and all these things. What's the use? What's the use? And that would be fine too, but I'm just saying, whenever we speak of the value of this place, it uh has just as much to do with every individual person here as this particular individual person who started it. We have to realize that. The value that you see out in the world is inside of you. I want to repeat that. I always say that in the comments when someone says, Ah, thank you for this, blah, blah, blah. I say, whatever value you see in this is inside of you because if it wasn't inside of you, you could not recognize it outside of you. This is an amazing thing to realize. And I will quickly invite our next speaker. Uh, I don't know if I would have the time to ask you my question. So if if if it's okay with you, we can go uh to the question of the Fortnite directly, if if that's okay with you. Of course, yeah, whatever you whatever you think is best. Um, so the question of the Fortnite is what does it mean to empty yourself of yourself? Yeah, so um I've been thinking about the question, and I've tried to answer it in a simple way, as you always uh tell me to not complicate uh things. And yeah, so when when I tried to answer the question, uh I found it to be paradoxical at first, because it seems to suggest that we can somehow remove ourselves from ourselves. But that only makes sense if we first distinguish between different meanings of the word self. And um so as we always uh discuss, the self is what we usually identify with, like the thoughts, the memories, the personality, emotions, and the ongoing narrative that says this is who I am, this is what I would call the constructed self. And so to empty yourself of yourself, it does not mean necessarily destroying existence or erasing our personality or becoming nothing, but rather it means loosening your identification with that constructed layer. And when we answer like this part, this is where the idea of the true self becomes important. Because if there is a true self, it is not simply the accumulation of traits, roles, or the memories. Uh as you always mentioned, those things may describe us, but they do not exhaust what we actually are. So the true self would be what remains when identification with those descriptions loses. So not a personality, not a story, not a role. So simply the awareness within which all of those things uh appear. And in that sense, to empty yourself of yourself is basically to stop confusing the story of me with that which is aware of the story. And lately, because we've been paying close attention to words, I found myself drawn to another particular word that captures this movement, which is disown. And it was just a fascinating word because it carries a double meaning. So first to own something is to possess it, to claim it, or basically to identify it as yours. And this is exactly what the construct itself does. So it takes every thought, every emotion, and memory, and it says, Oh, this is mine, this is me. But own also means to acknowledge something honestly and to recognise. It suggests like separation, which is not destruction nor like denial. It's just stepping away from the picture. So disown does not mean pretending the thoughts are not there. It does not mean erasing the personality or destroying the narrative. It means withdrawing the claim. So and then just to conclude it, perhaps to empty yourself of yourself, is ultimately to disown the constructed self, to stop signing your name to every thought that passes through you. Because basically the thoughts remain, everything remains, the memories, the emotions, but we no longer mistake them for our deepest identity. And what remains after that disowning is what was always there before the claiming began, which is the awareness that witnessed it all, never once needing to possess any of it. And that is uh the true self. So it's emptying yourself of yourself is basically the act of releasing authorship of the story while we remain the one aware enough to read it. So basically, this is how how I try to answer it. I I think I speak for everyone when I say sort of uh amazing, mind-blowing insight into I think exactly what that idea, what that question is trying to point out. And uh I could not be more thankful, and especially bringing in some word analysis in there just really tops it off. You are so right. To empty yourself of yourself is not to destroy anything, it is more to disown. Because we identify with something, we say, This is me, and now we're saying, okay, that thing that I identified with, it is real and it's not an enemy. I don't need to destroy it. I just let go. Let go. Because it was never me. It is an activity of mine, perhaps, perhaps a possession of mine, and and it is real and and it is not bad or good or anything like that. It just is, but I'm not gonna hold on to it anymore because it's not needed. And it's so true to look at it in in that way, I think is very, very helpful. And um that's exactly what uh I intended this question to point out. Um, not to say that uh the other responses or the any other possible responses are not of value, not at all. I I think they're they could be perhaps even more valuable. But um I'm just saying this was the intention to point out to you this week or these couple of weeks. And uh, I think you said it so beautifully, I don't even want to add anything. I mean, I'm so glad that's recorded. And so if we are forgetting, we can listen to that, we can go back to it. But I would leave it exactly as that. Um so I appreciate that very much. Thank you. And just to give a little bit of a background information, the phrase, if I'm not remembering wrongly, I think I took the phrase empty yourself of yourself from our good friend uh Meister Eckhart, who keeps talking about this, and he says, empty yourself of yourself so that God can fill you up. And God is just another name for um truth, or truth is another name for God, right? Truth, reality, can fill you up. And this goes so along with our what we unintentionally have made the theme of this particular uh meeting here today, which is imagination versus vision. Empty yourself of imagination so that vision can fill you up, empty yourself of illusion so that truth can fill you up. And once you are filled up by truth, you are truth. And there is no effort in that, and there is no becoming in that, and there is no achieving in that, and there is no failing in that. You cannot. And this is what we're trying to see more and more, and we will see it more and more. All that is uh needed is is a certain dedication and just an openness, really, not even dedication, just I'm open to this. I'm not closed off thinking that imagination, that's it, that's all I need, and I need to escape sometimes because reality is just not good, and and all these rigid beliefs that are closing us off, they are filling us up. And so just to be open for more or for something else or for something different, and just to be open, just to be open, not to expecting anything um to come or to happen, but just to be open for the sake of being open, that is to empty yourself or to be empty rather. And we empty ourselves with uh philosophy by examining and re-examining, by simply looking at a belief and saying, is this still true? Does this still still serve me? Does this show up in my experiment experience? And if so, how is it conducive to my nature? Is it conducive to peace? Is it conducive to my values of of justice, for example? And if not, why would I hold on to it? Either way it's a win. Whether I'm confirmed in it or I'm um proven wrong that I should have this belief. Either way, I advance. Either way, I'm closer to to things to how things really are, and I'm closer to peace and effortlessness. So thank you very much for that. Um where I think we're again I speak for everyone when I say very, very we're very grateful, and this is such a good reminder and also way of looking at everything. So I hope once again everyone was listening. Thank you so much. Yeah, thanks, Iathis. Thank you so much for the question. Absolutely. If I mean the question is only there to motivate, I'll move you back to the audience to motivate this kind of answer, or any kind of answer, of course. But again, this was my intention with this question. That's why I said that. And so beautiful, beautiful. And I will let's see, let's try to take at least one more speaker here, see what happens. I often learn stuff like there are some topics and there are some things that I learn. I really like those topics. I sometimes often like they are in my head as well. But when it comes to embodying, when I reflect back on my actions, sometimes I see that those things that I've learned, those conditions that I'm actually trying to impose on myself, not actually trying to impose, but like selectively choosing for myself that these are the things that I do on a carry, because these are the things that I like the most. But when it comes to embodying them and um like totally like when I do something, what I wanna do is like what I have learned, I'm gonna just fully embody the head and follow those things. But sometimes I see myself not actually following those things, but I do have those things in my head, so I would be looking for some um insights of yours on this, on how to actually do that. So, who or what requires you to embody the things that you already approve of? Uh the things like currently I am because of my circumstances, okay? But I do want to actually choose selectively because before that I was not so much of self aware. I will not label myself as self-aware now right now as well, but I was who I am like I am because of my circumstances, but I do want to choose some things specifically for myself after getting to know myself that these are the things that I do wanna choose. Like no one is actually forcing me to choose, but I am forcing myself to choose those things. The one who is forcing you, the one you call I, is not you. It's something that definitely I seek outside of myself that I like because of my conditioning, maybe. Yeah, but the one who uh says uh I want to choose this and I choose this and I want to embody this, and sometimes I fail to embody this, and how can I embody this more? Because embodying is the right thing, and if I don't embody it, then I'm in a bad way, and I'm still choosing the bad thing, and everything is gonna get worse. That's not you. The true self already has chosen that. It is already embodying, although it doesn't embody anything, it doesn't need to embody anything. The one who requires you to make a show of it, the one who requires to see proof of it, the one who requires you to embody it and to be something and to be perfectly and fully that, that is not you. You are identifying with something that is not you because there is this achiever inside of us, and there is this one who works on themselves, the one who betters themselves, the one who hopes to be bettered and what one day, and the one who is becoming. All of these are identities. You are not the the seeker, you are not the becoming person, you are not the one who is trying to embody but sometimes failing, but hopes to embody it one day. You are not any of those people. This is a mind construct, right? Um, and and perhaps you're also identifying with habit because the true self has already discerned this to be the right thing. It is already approving of it, and that process is effortless, and that process is instant. It can't even be called a process. The the moment you you became aware of what is right, you were already approving of it. There was no process of trying to convince yourself somehow. No, it's it was momentary, if if at all there was any time to it. And it is the habit that needs to catch up to it. Right? I say, I see the consequences of lying, for example, in my life. It complicates my life, it makes it worse. I have to keep track of my lies. Uh, I disappoint other people with them. And actually, I'm not very smart enough to keep track of all these lies anyway. And what's the point of me doing that? There's no real point. That's been decided. That's being seen already, and it's being seen fully. But the habit, the person, the personality who has been lying for so long because they thought it's easier that way, that one is a mind construct that dissolves perhaps slower. Right? So you approve of something that is instant and full, and you see the you discern something to be right, and that is instant and full. But the the habit, the personality, the the one who needs to build a certain um conditioning to actually live that way, that is the personality. That is someone that is not you. And uh that one also has expectations. That is the one who says my habits should be perfect, and they should be exactly how my discerning faculty chooses things to be. But that is not a requirement. It's not a requirement. That one that requires that needs to be seen, needs to be observed, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's not an enemy, it doesn't need to die, it doesn't need to go away, it cannot hurt you. It's there, and that's real, and that's true, and fine. But you can completely disregard that. The intention is already there. The discernment of want of seeing that this is right is already there. All of this happened. Without that happening, there could not be a requirement, and they there could not be a disappointment of this requirement. Make sure that you see this. Without the perfect discernment, fully and perfectly already having judged this thing to be right and to approve of it, that has already happened. And without that, the disappointment in living up to something or to to embody something and the failing of doing so could not happen without that. But that one who sees these things as a requirement and who and who wants to embody something, that one is not necessary to actually embody that or to actually approve of that. That is already seen, that is already happening, that is already real. And so don't fall for it, don't identify with that. Always, as I always say, always ask who is speaking right now. And this is the red flag, this is the telltale sign of identity, of the ego, the false self speaking. Number one, it is speaking of time. There is no time in this. Number two, it is speaking of a struggle. There is no struggle in this. Number three, it is speaking of becoming. So the one who speaks of becoming is not the true self. The one who speaks of um danger to this. I'm trying to become a wise person, but these ignorant people around me, they they could possibly prevent me from doing this, and they are preventing me from doing this. This is the false self speaking. The true self has no, knows of no dangers, of no problem. It knows that nothing can touch it. Your practice of embodying something that you have discerned that you have approved of that practice failing cannot harm that which you are approving of. And it can also not harm you approving of it. Your approval of it is not going to diminish, it is not going to be forgotten just because the practice is not keeping up with it. This is the most important thing that I want to tell you. Your practice needs to catch up to what you are approving of. True. And it will. You are not in a worse way, you are not being harmed, you are not in danger of losing the very thing that you approve of. You are not. See this. Let the embodiment fail. Time and time again, let it fail. And see that the thing that you are trying to embody is still fully there and it is already yours. The thing itself has never required you to embody it. If you want to be a person with integrity, doing the right thing no matter who sees it, if you want to be that kind of person, let the embodiment of the of integrity fail time and time again. In this situation, again, I did not have integrity or not quite as much integrity as I wanted. And then see, wow, I love integrity just as much, and I approve of it just as much. And I want to have it in my life just as much as I did before. And in fact, the one who has integrity when it has integrity, that one is not being harmed. That one still can still have just as much integrity and even more. Your practice of acting with integrity does not harm neither integrity itself nor your approval of integrity. It cannot harm that. Time needs time. Time needs time. And your habits, your actions, your behavior, your personality is within time. Is within time. But you are not your actions, you are not your personality, you are not your habits, you are not your practices. You are the one that discerns and immediately recognizes integrity. And the one who feels integrity to be natural to it, you are that one. And by seeing that, you are you are that. You are that, you are already that. The one who requires to show for this to show up in practice, to be seen by others and to see be seen by the self, and who keeps track of integrity in 2024 was this much, in 2025 more. Ah, in 2026, though it was a little less. The one who keeps track of that is not the true self, is certainly not integrity, has nothing to do with it, can harm neither the true self nor integrity itself, and does not need to be listened to whatsoever. It doesn't need to be uh killed either. It doesn't need to be seen as an enemy, it does not need to be fought against because it cannot do anything. It can speak, it can say these things, but it cannot actually harm anything. So why give any attention to it? But also, if you do give attention, that too is not a failure. That too is not going to harm you. It's just not something that you are interested in. And you're gonna lose interest in that more and more. The more you see it, the more you're with it. Let integrity come in, it's coming in anyway. It's not gonna listen to this one. It is what it is. The true self is what it is, integrity is what it is, whatever other thing that you could uh properly um see as natural to you is already what it is. You cannot make it better or worse. Again, you're gonna see your actions, you're gonna see your behavior be more and more aligned with whatever it is that you are um trying to align with. But however much you achieve, you manage to align yourself with it is not a measure of your success, and how little you manage to do this is not a measure of your failure at all. At all. There is no problem. There is no issue. I cannot give you a solution because there is no issue. For me to for me to say, oh, try this and and use this to fight against that, or this is how you can more uh embody it, that would be to recognize a problem that is not there. I'm not gonna do that. I can't do that. I don't know how to. All I can tell you is uh what we say for everything become aware of this. Become aware of that this is happening. Don't no need to suppress, no need to ignore anything, become aware, be aware. And uh you're gonna see more and more that this um failing to embody something does not harm you, and the achieving of embodying this finally as much as you wished does not make anything better, it does not make the true self better. Does that make sense? Yeah, it did a lot. Okay, this is all there is to it. Yeah, go about your day, whatever you're doing, and just be aware. Um, okay, I'm I'm embodying more or less, but you're gonna see this whole idea of look even looking for am I embodying this or not, is not necessary. None of it is necessary. If what you are trying to align yourself with is right and proper, it's actually inevitable for it to happen. And you cannot help that process or you cannot harm that process. Yeah. Now, now I I'm able to actually grasp that what I was doing is like labeling that I do lag and I have to fill that lag. No, there is no need to actually fill that, just be a keep it and recognize that's that's it, and over time it will you will be it. There's no need to mire. There's always this thought that if I will do this more, then I will become something. There is no need to become, there is no need to mire from behind as well. Just let it be, and you will be able to recognize that. Exactly. So um try it out. There's nothing to believe or trust or anything, just try it out, try it like this. Try observing that uh your failure or your achievement of embodying or being able to embody something more does not make the thing itself better or worse, and it doesn't make the true self better or worse. It doesn't do anything, has no effect. And so um thank you for your question. I gotta end it here, but um I'll get back to the audience because we are getting a bit over time here. But once again, this is the experience and the proof and the everything in itself of what is happening here. This is kinship. This is the experience of truth, this is the practice of philosophy, of the love of wisdom, so to speak. And this is this is all that's needed if we want to expand our vision. There's no requirement, but if you want vision more in your life, what what is the case is already the case, right? But if you want also to see that what is the case is already the case, then it is needed to examine beliefs to see if they're false or if they should be doubled down on, actually. And this is the process of doing it, this course. And I want to again uh point out that this course does not necessarily mean two people talking. One person can do this by themselves by, for example, journaling. Right? In journaling, you have this beautiful practice where you have to slow down, you can't really type as or write as quickly as you can think, right, which is actually a benefit. And you can slow down, you can really, really go step by step by step and to see if there are any gaps and how those gaps might be filled, etc., etc. And all kinds of insights, all kinds of vision is going to be expanded in that. So there are many ways of discourse, and uh discourse is philosophy. It's synonymous, actually.