Transcript
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[0:09] >> Welcome to the Michael Singer podcast
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[0:46] Mhm, jagrative try masters.
[0:50] If you're sincere about your growth, and
[0:53] everybody goes about their growth
[0:54] different ways,
[0:56] which is fine.
[0:59] Over time,
[1:00] you start to see things
[1:02] that you didn't see before.
[1:05] And the two of the very prominent things
[1:08] you'll come to see
[1:10] as you get clearer and clearer
[1:13] are the mind and the heart.
[1:16] When you're not clear,
[1:18] it's just commotion.
[1:21] They go up, they go down, they're noisy,
[1:23] they're quiet,
[1:24] they're problematic, they're not so bad,
[1:27] they're fun, they're a lot of not fun.
[1:31] There's just constant change, it's
[1:33] constant
[1:35] non-stability, instability
[1:37] in those two objects of the universe,
[1:41] mind and heart.
[1:43] When we're really lost, we don't see
[1:44] them as objects of the universe,
[1:47] just see them as
[1:48] who we are, we just see them as
[1:50] something we have to deal with.
[1:53] The heart is very difficult to deal
[1:54] with.
[1:55] It's very difficult. The mind is very
[1:57] difficult to with. That's why there's
[1:59] all these teachings about mind control,
[2:01] about positive thinking,
[2:02] about keep your heart open.
[2:05] I always say, "Why do you need to keep
[2:06] your heart open?" Because it tends to
[2:07] close.
[2:09] And the truth of the matter is,
[2:11] people don't know how to control their
[2:12] mind.
[2:13] And people don't know how to deal with
[2:14] their heart.
[2:16] Why? They have never been taught,
[2:18] really. Mind control is not
[2:21] a way to deal with your mind. And I'm
[2:22] not saying there are teachings,
[2:24] wonderful teachings, that can help you
[2:25] tremendously. But if you have to control
[2:27] your mind, there's something wrong.
[2:30] You're saying that?
[2:31] If your car is out of control,
[2:34] control your car, it could hit somebody.
[2:36] It's not supposed to be out of control.
[2:38] Right? It's a car. It's there to serve
[2:40] you. Your mind is not supposed to be out
[2:42] of control.
[2:43] You shouldn't have to control it.
[2:45] Your heart is not supposed to be out of
[2:46] your control.
[2:48] You have to fix it, solve it, to protect
[2:50] it. All the time protecting it. No,
[2:52] there's something wrong. There's
[2:54] drastically something wrong that you
[2:56] have to control your heart and control
[2:58] your mind.
[2:59] So, that's what I like to talk about.
[3:02] Not how to do it,
[3:04] why you need to do it.
[3:07] Let's start with the mind.
[3:11] What is the mind?
[3:13] Again, most people will never in their
[3:15] entire life step back enough
[3:18] to even ask the question.
[3:20] They're too busy trying to do what the
[3:22] mind wants and not do what the mind
[3:23] doesn't want.
[3:25] That is how they spend their entire
[3:27] life.
[3:28] And you're probably not a big exception.
[3:31] All right? When the mind's giving you
[3:32] trouble,
[3:34] you'll I think this is hilarious. When
[3:35] the mind's giving you trouble, you go to
[3:37] your mind to figure out what to do about
[3:39] it.
[3:40] What do you want to bet you lose?
[3:42] Your mind is a problem. You don't go to
[3:45] a problematic mind and ask it to come up
[3:47] with a solution, cuz it will not do so.
[3:49] It will just come up with more problems.
[3:52] And don't tell me you don't do that.
[3:54] When your mind is giving you trouble,
[3:55] you go to your mind to figure out what
[3:57] to do about it. That's I Can we talk
[3:58] about that?
[4:00] The thing is obviously not working well,
[4:02] right? And then the worse it is, the
[4:04] worse it is, the more you go to it for
[4:06] advice.
[4:09] I I'm depressed. I'm so depressed. I
[4:11] don't know if I'll ever be happy again
[4:12] the rest of my life. What should I do? I
[4:14] don't know. You can go run away and hide
[4:15] in the woods and I don't know.
[4:17] It's going to give you some weird
[4:18] advice.
[4:20] Who's telling you to do that?
[4:23] The mind. Which mind? The mind that's
[4:25] having the problem.
[4:26] So at some point, there's a good
[4:28] foundation for people to wake up. So
[4:31] it's not about mind control. It's about
[4:33] what is going on and how am I so
[4:38] ignorant if you would, ignorant. I'm
[4:39] ignoring the reality that my mind is
[4:42] giving me trouble and I'm going to my
[4:43] mind to tell me what to do about it. And
[4:45] I'm going to tell you right now, it will
[4:46] not give you good advice.
[4:48] Like the people that got married
[4:51] and had their honeymoon at Niagara
[4:52] Falls. That's it.
[4:54] They're not getting along very well.
[4:56] In fact, all they do is fight.
[4:58] They just fight. It's not working out in
[5:01] years of fighting.
[5:03] They go They stop and they say, "What
[5:05] are we going to do about this?"
[5:07] And their mind says,
[5:09] "Let's go back to where we had our
[5:10] honeymoon
[5:12] at Niagara Falls."
[5:14] Are you kidding me?
[5:16] You're going to bring your fight with
[5:17] you.
[5:18] There's no You have in your mind what it
[5:21] was like when you got married.
[5:24] You're not like that. He's not like
[5:26] this. She's not like that. It's not like
[5:27] that. What are you doing?
[5:29] But the mind will do that, won't it?
[5:31] All right. So now you start to
[5:32] understand the mind. Okay. How did it
[5:35] get that way? Cuz it's broken. It's
[5:37] broken. That's ridiculous to go to the
[5:39] mind to solve your problems. The mind is
[5:42] the problem.
[5:43] How about I said to you, you know, like
[5:45] this. The mind is always the problem.
[5:48] I'll talk to you little now.
[5:50] How do you know you have a problem?
[5:53] Cuz your mind told you you did.
[5:55] Well, well, no. No, no, that's not true.
[5:59] My husband's leaving me.
[6:01] Okay, is that a problem? You decide.
[6:04] Could be a blessing.
[6:07] >> [snorts]
[6:07] >> If you're a people fight all the time,
[6:09] can't get divorced, and all of a sudden
[6:11] there's this letter on the side of the
[6:13] table and it says, "I'm leaving. You can
[6:14] keep the kids."
[6:17] All right? Is it a problem or not? You
[6:20] can't answer me, can you?
[6:22] I'm I'm getting older.
[6:24] I'm getting older. I got real old. How
[6:26] did I don't know how that happened. All
[6:27] right? I'm getting older. Is that a
[6:29] problem?
[6:30] You understand getting old is like
[6:32] getting liberated. People don't expect
[6:34] anything of you. Oh, he's old.
[6:38] You burp. I got to That's an old man.
[6:41] What's the difference?
[6:42] >> [laughter]
[6:43] >> It's It really is truly liberating, all
[6:45] right? It's like you don't have to worry
[6:46] what you look like cuz you don't look
[6:48] good anyway. You're busy trying to make
[6:49] yourself look good with you know,
[6:51] plastic surgery, all kinds of stuff.
[6:52] When you're old, it it doesn't look
[6:54] really good.
[6:55] >> [laughter]
[6:56] >> It looks like an old person that's
[6:57] trying to look young, all right? Just be
[6:59] old, all right? So, what if your mind
[7:01] told you to stop getting old? What if
[7:04] your mind told you Say, I don't like to
[7:06] share this. Very very special moment in
[7:08] my life once. I was living alone doing
[7:11] my intense sadhana in that house up
[7:13] there.
[7:14] Total silence. Doing everything,
[7:15] meditating 6 hours a day and stuff. And
[7:18] somebody gave me kind of a black market
[7:21] tape of Yogananda speaking.
[7:24] As far as I know, he didn't put it out.
[7:26] It wasn't a standard one of his
[7:28] lectures.
[7:29] But, it was kind of neat. Somebody taped
[7:32] it. It was rough to hear.
[7:34] And I'll never forget his words.
[7:38] He said,
[7:39] "Practice these kriyas,
[7:42] the techniques I've given to you.
[7:45] And when it's time
[7:47] for you to come across,
[7:50] I will come down myself,
[7:53] reach out my hand,
[7:55] and take you to my beloved.
[7:58] >> [gasps]
[7:58] >> Okay, I'm getting old.
[8:02] And he's your guru,
[8:04] the words of truth. And you had it Let's
[8:06] say you've had enough inner experiences
[8:08] to realize
[8:09] Yeah.
[8:12] Now, you don't get to rush. This is what
[8:13] I'm telling you this, right? It's
[8:14] happened naturally.
[8:16] But
[8:17] now you have a totally different mindset
[8:20] about what it means to die
[8:22] as opposed to you're going to hell.
[8:25] One sin, I'm keeping track.
[8:29] You better straighten it out, okay?
[8:31] That's a totally different mindset when
[8:34] it comes time to die, right or wrong?
[8:36] All right? Which is it?
[8:38] It is whatever your mindset says it is.
[8:42] I mean, in the end you'll find out what
[8:43] it is, really, you have the experience.
[8:45] But until then, it's what your mind
[8:47] says.
[8:49] Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? I'm
[8:50] going to go there. What's going to
[8:51] happen? Is somebody writing down
[8:53] everything I ever did in a little book
[8:55] down there, right? It's like your mind
[8:57] decides. And don't ask me which is it
[9:00] cuz my answer to that is you'll find
[9:02] out.
[9:03] That is the proper answer to
[9:06] what's your philosophy of what happens
[9:08] when you die. I would never that
[9:10] interested in your philosophy. Why have
[9:13] a philosophy? You're going to find out.
[9:16] Your mind is doing all of this.
[9:19] Which mind? Ah,
[9:21] the crazy mind.
[9:23] Does it give you trouble?
[9:25] Then how can it give you answers? It's a
[9:27] problem.
[9:29] We'll talk about the proper use of mind.
[9:31] When I said the car's out of control,
[9:33] that's not right. Doesn't mean you don't
[9:34] drive a car.
[9:36] You don't need mind control. You need
[9:38] mind control cuz your mind's out of
[9:40] control.
[9:41] Okay? And then you struggle with all
[9:43] that your whole life. And most people
[9:45] don't even struggle with it. They just
[9:46] do whatever it says.
[9:48] What's the easiest way to to have your
[9:50] mind not struggle? Just do what it says
[9:51] to do.
[9:52] >> [snorts]
[9:52] >> Try Try it out sometime. I think I've
[9:54] eaten enough. Just keep I want to keep
[9:56] eating. I got to keep eating. Okay, I'll
[9:57] give you
[9:58] Do you know that your mind does not eat?
[10:02] No, seriously. But it says, "I want
[10:04] more." It's not even eating. It's never
[10:07] eaten in its entire life. The mind
[10:09] doesn't know that's about the stuff,
[10:11] right? That's something the body does.
[10:12] The mind's back here thinking thinking,
[10:14] "I want more. No, I don't like what it
[10:16] tastes like. Take it away from me. I
[10:17] don't like it. Give me more. I want He's
[10:19] not eating. She's not [laughter] eating.
[10:21] She's never eaten. Are you getting a
[10:23] picture of how I look at mind?
[10:25] It's a thing
[10:27] that you hang out with.
[10:29] That is what your mind is.
[10:31] You do call it your mind.
[10:34] My mind.
[10:36] Well, my is a possessive pronoun. Whose
[10:38] mind is it?
[10:40] Pay attention to me.
[10:42] See, your words are very intuitive. You
[10:44] say that, "My mind's causing me trouble.
[10:46] I meditate and my mind is so quiet now."
[10:49] Whose mind?
[10:51] That's a possessive pronoun. My car,
[10:54] my house, my violin,
[10:57] my girlfriend, my boyfriend. These are
[11:00] things you have a relationship with.
[11:02] They're not you.
[11:04] If I say my girlfriend or my boyfriend,
[11:06] am I them?
[11:08] No, by definition, I used the word my. I
[11:10] made it very clear.
[11:12] I'm me. They're them.
[11:14] I have relationships so they're mine.
[11:16] Okay?
[11:17] You do say my mind,
[11:20] don't you?
[11:22] How do I ask you, "How's your mind doing
[11:24] lately?"
[11:25] Your mind? Whose?
[11:27] Okay? You are not your mind.
[11:31] You're not your mind.
[11:33] You're the one that has one.
[11:36] You have a body.
[11:38] You have a mind. You have a heart. Who
[11:41] does?
[11:42] Remember Maharishi, there was an entire
[11:44] teaching.
[11:46] Who sees when I see? Who thinks when I
[11:47] think? Who feels when I feel? Who is in
[11:50] there
[11:51] having these experiences? So, you have a
[11:54] mind. That's a good starting spiritual
[11:57] discussion. You have a mind.
[11:59] Without getting embarrassed, how's it
[12:01] working out?
[12:03] So,
[12:04] you have one, but somehow it's a
[12:06] problem.
[12:08] It causes problems.
[12:10] And you try to solve them. I said once
[12:12] more, I'm telling you, pay attention.
[12:14] You try to solve the problems of your
[12:16] mind by listening to your mind.
[12:19] I'm not happy. I don't like what's going
[12:21] on. Well, what should I do?
[12:23] Well, you should get divorced. You
[12:25] should leave. You got another job. You
[12:27] should find something more interesting.
[12:28] And if you find something more
[12:29] interesting, why don't you do what
[12:31] You. Your mind.
[12:33] And beautiful, pay attention. You're not
[12:36] your mind. And it's a serious problem.
[12:39] What? That you're not your mind? No,
[12:41] that you don't know how to deal with the
[12:42] thing or how it got that way.
[12:44] How the mind got the way it is.
[12:48] I don't need to write a treatise on it.
[12:51] It's very simple how your mind got the
[12:54] way it is.
[12:56] I've discussed it with you before, but
[12:58] let's do it now that you're listening.
[13:00] You know, we're talking about that thing
[13:01] that talks in there, your mind. Why does
[13:03] it say what it says? How did it get that
[13:05] way?
[13:06] How did it come up with the idea that
[13:07] it's not okay? And how did it come up
[13:09] with the ideas of what it should do to
[13:10] be okay?
[13:12] It does that stuff, doesn't it? How did
[13:13] it come up with that stuff?
[13:15] You have had past experiences. How many?
[13:20] Every moment of your life you're having
[13:21] an experience.
[13:22] Some of them, like 90
[13:26] I want to say 99% but you pick on me.
[13:29] 95%.
[13:31] Go right through.
[13:34] What do you mean?
[13:35] You're driving on the road.
[13:37] Cars are driving by.
[13:39] You see them. You experience them. And
[13:41] then you're be here now. You're not back
[13:43] with them. You stop the car and go
[13:45] running after them, did you?
[13:47] Sometimes. But no, they just come in and
[13:50] they go through. That's what be here now
[13:52] means.
[13:52] They come in.
[13:54] You do experience them. You don't not
[13:56] experience them. Your mind can
[13:57] experience it. Comes into your mind,
[13:59] which is very nice.
[14:01] Comes in and passes through. Then the
[14:03] next thing happens. Next thing happens.
[14:05] But not all of them pass right through.
[14:08] Like I said.
[14:09] Do they?
[14:10] >> [clears throat]
[14:11] >> Some of them get stuck in there.
[14:13] Some of them Like they come in and the
[14:16] cars are driving by. And the example I
[14:18] use in in the
[14:20] Untethered Soul is cars driving by.
[14:23] Everything's fine. Driving by. Happy
[14:25] day. Happy mood. No problem. No excited.
[14:28] Just driving on the road.
[14:30] Uh the freeway. Plenty of cars driving
[14:31] by.
[14:32] And all of a sudden a car
[14:35] It went by real quick. Looks like your
[14:38] girlfriend or boyfriend is in the car
[14:40] hugging somebody.
[14:45] Does that go right through?
[14:48] What do you mean go right through?
[14:50] It just is like any other car. It's like
[14:51] any other situation. It just comes in
[14:53] and it goes through. There were
[14:55] thousands that went through earlier in
[14:56] the day. You're out all day. You just
[14:57] drove down the expressway.
[14:59] But this one
[15:01] didn't go right through.
[15:03] It stopped. What did I just see? Was it
[15:07] really her or him? I don't know. I
[15:09] better think about it. I wonder where
[15:10] they are. What should I do about it?
[15:12] Should I call and try No, I don't want
[15:14] to do that. I might go get hurt. I'll
[15:15] get hurt. I'll wait.
[15:17] Here it is.
[15:19] Deciding it has a problem.
[15:22] All the other cars drove by.
[15:24] But what is that about? And now it's
[15:26] trying to figure what to do about it.
[15:27] There it is, your day's over.
[15:29] Okay? Do you see what I'm saying?
[15:31] Something stopped that.
[15:33] What? That experience, that moment, that
[15:36] sensory input that came in. It was just
[15:38] like any [clears throat] other sensory
[15:39] input. Atoms are floating around out
[15:41] there and they come in and you
[15:42] experience them and so on.
[15:45] That one stayed. How do you know it
[15:47] stayed? Because it's still there after I
[15:49] drove by. So I don't know what to tell
[15:51] you. Somehow it's staying in there. Next
[15:53] thing I know, instead of continuing to
[15:54] drive down the road, I'm thinking about
[15:56] stuff. About what? What I just saw. But
[15:58] it's already over. No, not for me, it's
[15:59] not over. There.
[16:01] Okay? So now mind isn't just an
[16:05] experience
[16:07] that's picking up the input from the
[16:09] senses and passing through and you're
[16:11] having your life and you're experiencing
[16:13] it. All of a sudden, it got stuck. How
[16:16] did it get stuck?
[16:18] What made it get stuck? Is there glue in
[16:20] there? There's no glue in there. There's
[16:23] no super glue in there. There is no
[16:25] little crevices where it gets stuck.
[16:27] There ain't nothing in there but
[16:28] nothing.
[16:29] There's empty mind.
[16:31] There's clarity, just beautiful. Just
[16:34] passing through the air. It does, I
[16:36] said, 95% of the time just pass it right
[16:38] through. What made the difference?
[16:40] You're in there. Who? You who is
[16:42] experiencing it. You experienced the
[16:45] experience. You're a conscious being.
[16:48] Aren't you? You're the awareness that
[16:50] had the experience. You're not the
[16:52] experience. You're the awareness that
[16:54] was aware of the experience.
[16:56] So you're experiencing all these
[16:57] different things. They're coming in and
[16:58] passing through. You are experiencing
[17:00] them. You're not not. But you in there,
[17:03] I'm talking about the self.
[17:05] I'm talking about the Atman, the soul.
[17:07] The in-dwelling being, whatever you want
[17:10] to call it.
[17:11] You are conscious and you are not
[17:15] helpless in there.
[17:16] You have this thing called will.
[17:20] Rarely do people talk about it.
[17:22] What is will?
[17:24] It is a power that you have.
[17:27] Consciousness, awareness of being
[17:30] has a power. It can stop that thing from
[17:33] passing through.
[17:35] Can't it?
[17:37] Isn't amazing? You don't think about it.
[17:39] It's happening so fast. It's so natural,
[17:40] right? You have the ability to focus on
[17:44] that incident, that moment more than
[17:48] every other moment that's passing
[17:50] through.
[17:51] And when you focus on it, it gets stuck.
[17:54] It is literally the focusing of your
[17:56] awareness
[17:58] that holds it. You're aware of it, but
[18:00] everything non-dual, everything's the
[18:03] same. There's cars driving by. Yes,
[18:05] there's cars driving by. There's people
[18:06] there. Yes, there's people there.
[18:07] There's weather happening. There's
[18:09] noise. There's music playing. There's
[18:11] billions of things going on at the same
[18:12] time. And it's coming in and you are
[18:15] experiencing it.
[18:16] But all of a sudden this one thing comes
[18:18] in
[18:19] and you stop it. You assert more focus
[18:23] on that. That's That's as clear as I can
[18:25] ever tell you about will, right?
[18:28] You focused more on that moment than the
[18:31] other ones, didn't you? It distracted
[18:33] your consciousness enough to draw your
[18:36] attention, whatever we're going to use.
[18:37] It drew your attention to that object.
[18:41] When you focus your attention on
[18:43] something, you stop it from passing
[18:45] through.
[18:46] It's one of the first things I learned
[18:48] in deep meditation. You start noticing,
[18:50] "Wow,
[18:51] if I focus on it, it stays there.
[18:54] The more I focus on it, the more it
[18:56] stays there. In fact, if I focus on it
[18:58] enough, it could be called traumatic.
[19:01] It stayed there my whole life.
[19:03] It kept coming back up.
[19:05] Why? Cuz I focused on it. What if I
[19:07] didn't focus on it? Then it's not going
[19:09] to stay there.
[19:10] Can you understand that? Do you know
[19:11] that? I'm minding my own business and I
[19:14] wanted to do some math in my head. Okay?
[19:17] You have to focus your attention on the
[19:22] blackboard inside your head or however
[19:23] you're doing it. Okay? When you focus
[19:26] it, it stops. It Oh my god, give me
[19:29] shivers. You have such power in there.
[19:32] And how have you used it? You have
[19:34] power.
[19:35] Will isn't just because you hold a
[19:37] thought in there.
[19:39] How do I pick up this glass? Did I pick
[19:42] up the glass?
[19:43] Did I break physics? Is there no
[19:45] gravity? What happened? Where Where
[19:47] Where's the oil? Where Where's the
[19:49] atomic energy? Where's something that
[19:51] gave the power to offset the the power
[19:53] of gravity to pick up this glass? Will.
[19:57] You asserted will. You passed the power
[20:00] of your being down through the nervous
[20:02] system to carry out intent. Will is a
[20:06] phenomenal thing. You're going to do
[20:08] wrote a lot about will. All these All
[20:10] these lessons are all about will. Kind
[20:12] of neat. I look back at them now 50
[20:13] years later. Oh, that's what he was
[20:15] talking about. A master like that,
[20:17] enlightened master, understands the
[20:19] power of will. Because they're back
[20:21] there watching and they they will to do
[20:23] something and then it happens. You could
[20:25] just order. You know, honest guru used
[20:27] to say something like, "I'm going to do
[20:29] this. This will take place." Right? And
[20:31] they they question him. "How do you know
[20:33] that it will take place?" And he said,
[20:35] "Sooner the sun and the moon should
[20:37] change places in the sky than this won't
[20:40] take place."
[20:41] In other words, I'm going to apply my
[20:43] will.
[20:44] I ain't going to stop till it happens.
[20:46] You're welcome to do that. Some people
[20:48] do it for really bad stuff, okay? But
[20:50] you have will.
[20:53] Have you noticed?
[20:55] So will is when you focus the power of
[20:58] your indwelling being is God, but it's
[21:00] focused on this little thing. So it's
[21:02] God condensed on you. But the power of
[21:05] God is will. The same will that created
[21:08] the universe.
[21:09] The same Shakti, the same power that
[21:13] boom, manifested the entire universe is
[21:16] what is staring down on your mind.
[21:19] That's who's in there, the self, the
[21:21] Atman, God. And that power can manifest
[21:25] by stopping thoughts, by stopping
[21:28] emotions. Freud talked about this. He
[21:30] had these words. I like Freud a lot.
[21:33] >> [snorts]
[21:34] >> Suppression, repression, denial. Ever
[21:37] heard those words?
[21:38] They're the finest psychology. What is
[21:40] suppression?
[21:42] Something came in.
[21:44] It didn't make it through.
[21:47] And not only did it not make it through,
[21:50] I don't want it getting close to me in
[21:52] here.
[21:53] I'm in here. I ain't letting that thing
[21:55] come close to me.
[21:57] Till they keep something away outside.
[21:59] I'm keeping that away inside. By doing
[22:01] what? Using your will to push it away.
[22:04] That's what suppression is. Using the
[22:06] will, the indwelling being has will, to
[22:09] push the thought that came in, got
[22:12] created, and would have passed through,
[22:14] but it didn't pass through cuz you
[22:16] didn't let it. So, suppression,
[22:18] repression, denial, they're all the same
[22:20] thing.
[22:21] They're basically I'm in here and I
[22:23] ain't letting that thing touch me.
[22:25] I don't want that touching me. What? The
[22:27] thing that came in. It came in through
[22:29] my senses. Here it is. It's not coming
[22:32] The snake doesn't come in. He stays out
[22:34] there, right? But boy, did it leave an
[22:36] impression.
[22:37] I can't take walks in the woods anymore.
[22:40] I'm afraid of rattlesnakes. I I can't go
[22:42] to houses where people have babies cuz
[22:43] they have rattles and scares the hell
[22:45] out of me.
[22:46] Why? Cuz I held on to that. That is what
[22:49] suppression, repression, denial, or
[22:50] resistance. You resisted it. So, there.
[22:53] Now you understand mind. What do you
[22:54] mean I understand mind? I asked you a
[22:56] minute ago, why does your mind say what
[22:57] it says when it says it? How does it
[22:59] come up with solutions it thinks there
[23:00] are? Because you've had past experiences
[23:04] most of them pass right through.
[23:06] Here you're you're having some heartache
[23:08] and some trouble with a relationship.
[23:10] And you ask your mind, "Oh mind, what
[23:12] should I do?" What it'll say is, "I've
[23:14] been here before. I've had relationship
[23:16] problems before. You can't tolerate
[23:17] don't let people talk to you like that.
[23:18] They talk to you like that, they'll run
[23:20] all over you."
[23:21] >> [laughter]
[23:22] >> You mean you have past experiences
[23:24] that you held on to. And you started to
[23:26] build this model inside your head, mind.
[23:29] You built a model based on your past
[23:32] experiences
[23:33] of what you like and what you don't
[23:35] like. How? How did you decide what you
[23:37] like or don't like?
[23:38] You didn't just make it up.
[23:40] You've had past experiences.
[23:42] And some of them came in and felt good
[23:45] and some of them came in and didn't feel
[23:46] good. And let me tell you a secret, the
[23:48] ones that came in didn't feel good, you
[23:50] don't want them to happen again. I'm
[23:51] sorry, I don't want to pick on you. The
[23:53] stupidest thing I ever heard of is that
[23:55] if you have an experience you really
[23:56] don't like, you keep it.
[23:59] >> [snorts]
[24:00] >> You keep it your whole life.
[24:02] What your mother do? What your father
[24:03] do? What your sister do? What your
[24:04] brother did? 40 years ago.
[24:06] Why would you do such a thing? It's
[24:08] over.
[24:09] But you did. So you resisted it.
[24:12] You used will to resist it. It got
[24:14] stuck. I don't like to say stuck cuz
[24:15] you're holding it there.
[24:17] What do you mean I'm holding it there?
[24:18] Does it ever come back up? Does it ever
[24:20] come back up even though it happened 20,
[24:22] 30, 40 years ago? What do you do when it
[24:24] comes back up? You push it back down.
[24:28] No, don't talk about it. Don't talk
[24:29] about that. Don't not talk about the
[24:30] subject around me. You know I don't like
[24:31] that. I had a relationship with before
[24:33] that was like that. Stop it.
[24:35] Push. Push. Push.
[24:37] Push it away. Push it back down.
[24:39] Okay? So there are That's how we built
[24:41] our mind. That's why the mind is the way
[24:43] it is. That's why every mind is
[24:45] different cuz all of you had different
[24:46] experiences. No one has had the same
[24:48] experiences, not even close. Your entire
[24:51] life No one who ever existed ever had
[24:53] the same experiences as you.
[24:56] I don't know. You're pretty special,
[24:57] aren't you? Okay? and what you do with
[24:59] those experiences is take the ones you
[25:01] don't like and store them
[25:03] so they make a mess of your mind.
[25:05] The mind's going to get broken if you do
[25:07] that.
[25:08] I once had Once Once I was giving I saw
[25:10] it clearly, right? If you take every
[25:12] single thing that ever disturbed you
[25:15] and store it inside, and you do,
[25:18] what's it going to be like in there?
[25:19] Disturbed.
[25:20] That's why it's disturbed.
[25:22] It's not because somebody said
[25:23] something, didn't say something, did
[25:24] something, didn't do something. You know
[25:25] You know what I'm saying there? It's
[25:26] because you stored something, and what
[25:28] they did hit the thing you stored. And
[25:30] the next thing you know,
[25:32] mind's going crazy.
[25:33] So, if something happens outside that
[25:36] your mind's past experiences
[25:38] has judged as you don't want it,
[25:41] your mind has trouble.
[25:43] It's now experiencing something it
[25:44] doesn't want to experience.
[25:46] But you did it. You did it.
[25:48] A great master does not do that.
[25:50] Enlightened being, everything comes in
[25:53] and passes right through.
[25:55] They can bring it back and think about
[25:57] it a little bit, and pass right through.
[25:59] How would you like that? Okay?
[26:01] [laughter] When you want to think about
[26:02] something, you bring it back, like a
[26:04] computer.
[26:05] I don't want to sit there and play with
[26:06] a computer that's sitting in the doll
[26:08] dumping [snorts] its stuff all over the
[26:09] place by itself. It's supposed to be
[26:11] something you bring back out of memory
[26:13] when you want to do something with it.
[26:15] That's not how it happens to you.
[26:16] You stored this stuff in here and you
[26:18] put all this
[26:19] resistance and power and so on, and it
[26:21] keeps popping back up and causing
[26:23] trouble.
[26:24] That's why the mind says what it says,
[26:26] why it does what it does, that's why it
[26:28] gets in trouble. The more you suppress,
[26:31] the more you repress, the more you store
[26:33] that stuff down there, it's like a
[26:34] virus. It just Whoa.
[26:38] You're in trouble, aren't you?
[26:40] Okay? That's why. It is not because of
[26:42] what's happening outside. That's not why
[26:44] you're in trouble. It's because you
[26:46] couldn't handle before what happened,
[26:48] and you built this whole model of how
[26:50] you think it needs to be for you to be
[26:51] okay. Do you have one of those?
[26:53] Do you or do you not have a model in
[26:55] your mind of how things need to be for
[26:57] you to be okay?
[26:58] And the same opposite side of that, how
[27:01] they cannot be or you're going to be not
[27:04] okay.
[27:05] And now your mind's running around with
[27:07] that model, yes or no?
[27:09] So you think you know what you want. You
[27:11] think you know what you want.
[27:13] How about I said what you want is for my
[27:15] not to do that. That's what you want.
[27:16] [laughter]
[27:17] You want to have a clear empty mind
[27:19] that's able to handle reality. You still
[27:21] deal with it, but you don't push it away
[27:24] and store it and say I can't handle
[27:25] this.
[27:26] Does your mind ever say I can't handle
[27:28] this? Has your mind ever said I can't
[27:30] handle this?
[27:31] That's your mind saying that. You can
[27:33] obviously handle it. It's just an
[27:34] experience. Don't worry. You won't be
[27:35] here very long. 80, 90 years, you can
[27:37] handle it.
[27:39] But your mind says I can't handle it.
[27:40] Why? Because you had past experiences
[27:42] that bothered you, you suppressed them,
[27:44] and you built this whole I can't handle
[27:46] model.
[27:47] And then you built also I I have to give
[27:49] it fair time. I don't want to. Built a
[27:51] model that says this is what I want.
[27:53] Do you understand how wrong you are when
[27:55] your mind says this is what I want?
[27:57] Where did you get the idea this what I
[27:59] want?
[28:00] You watched a Disney show when you were
[28:01] young and you wanted to be a princess or
[28:03] something. I don't know. You've had
[28:05] impressions that you held on to. Not
[28:07] just bad ones.
[28:09] I guarantee you 99% are bad ones cuz
[28:12] they distract you tremendously. The ones
[28:14] that don't feel good, the ones that have
[28:16] difficulty and you hold on to them. Then
[28:18] they hit each other and it it really
[28:20] gets pretty negative, doesn't it? I was
[28:22] saying that we're spiritual people,
[28:23] right? We're supposed to practice
[28:25] positive thinking. Why? Because if we
[28:28] don't, it's pretty freaking negative.
[28:30] Really, what does positive thinking
[28:31] mean? It means if I'm not practicing all
[28:33] come okay, it'll be okay. Yes, I love
[28:35] her and I love God. If you're not doing
[28:36] that, what's your mind doing? Come on,
[28:38] tell me the truth. And then needs. Okay.
[28:40] That's why the mind is broken.
[28:43] It's broken because you stored
[28:44] everything in it that you didn't like.
[28:46] And you kept it at a distance. When it
[28:48] comes back up, you keep it at a distance
[28:49] again. But what stuff I did like? I have
[28:51] to give it a fair time. Here's what
[28:53] happens with things that you do like.
[28:55] Ready? You want something to happen
[28:56] again.
[28:58] You sure?
[28:59] Things you really like?
[29:00] Want it to happen again?
[29:02] Guess what? They can't happen again.
[29:05] They can't happen again.
[29:06] Because you were new having that
[29:08] experience. That's the first time you
[29:10] heard that song. That's the first time
[29:11] he or she said, "I love you." It will
[29:13] not feel the same for 4 years.
[29:16] Every time they say, "I love you."
[29:18] There's a way you can, by the way. I'm
[29:20] not talking against relationships, but
[29:21] you know darn well that the more you
[29:24] experience something, the less impact it
[29:26] has on you.
[29:27] Therefore, to say, "I really like this.
[29:29] I want it to happen again."
[29:31] You just set up a problem in your mind.
[29:34] And now you're going to start comparing
[29:36] whether this is the same as what it was
[29:38] last time. The food at the restaurant
[29:40] was so good, but they're not having the
[29:42] same special, and it's not the same
[29:44] cook, and the waiter is not as cute as
[29:46] he was last time, and they're not
[29:47] playing the same music. Right or wrong?
[29:49] You start comparing. I keep talking to
[29:52] you like this, all right? But I have to.
[29:54] I'm a teacher, all right? You start
[29:56] comparing the experience that you held
[29:58] on to, not the experience you had. You
[30:01] won't have an experience. Welcome.
[30:03] Something new will happen all the time.
[30:05] Have fun.
[30:06] No, I know what you do. You cling to it.
[30:08] That's the Buddhist term.
[30:10] You cling to it cuz you liked it. Now
[30:13] what? Now you compare everything against
[30:15] that. Does it ever really work ever
[30:17] again? All right? Isn't there always
[30:19] something a little bit wrong from the
[30:21] way it was last time?
[30:22] You're comparing everything. And you
[30:25] say, "You guys should not love me as
[30:26] much as you did." Why? Because it
[30:28] doesn't feel the same as it did the
[30:29] first time you kissed me.
[30:31] I wonder why. It's not the first time I
[30:33] kissed you.
[30:34] And it will never ever be the first time
[30:36] I kissed you, will it?
[30:38] It's new.
[30:40] This is the second time I kissed you.
[30:43] Isn't it fun? No, I like the first time.
[30:48] >> [laughter]
[30:49] >> You tell me am I exaggerating or is that
[30:51] not the craziness that goes on in there?
[30:54] So that which you stored that you didn't
[30:55] like and that which you stored that you
[30:57] did like made your mind be the way it
[31:01] is. Remember we're talking about mind
[31:04] and you're in there and you know it's
[31:05] that way.
[31:07] Okay, and so is everybody else's. Don't
[31:08] worry about it.
[31:10] Do you ever worry?
[31:13] Do you ever worry guys? Anybody know
[31:14] anything about worrying?
[31:16] Okay, you know, you don't want something
[31:18] to happen so you worry that it might.
[31:21] You want something to happen and you
[31:22] worry it might not.
[31:24] Well, that's pretty easy to do. I mean
[31:27] it might not, it might. So now we're not
[31:29] going to deal with what happened, can I
[31:31] deal with it? Now can I have a thought
[31:34] about what happened that I didn't like
[31:36] and not be bothered by it? That was a
[31:38] long sentence but you heard me and the
[31:39] answer is no, I can't. If I have that
[31:41] thought it bothers me. Now do you
[31:43] understand mind?
[31:45] That is how your mind got the way it is.
[31:48] That's not its natural state.
[31:50] What's its natural state?
[31:52] The world is unfolding. It is coming in
[31:55] through your senses. You are
[31:58] experiencing it as it passes through
[32:00] your nervous system and then it renders
[32:02] in your mind.
[32:04] There's so many things I'd love to talk
[32:05] to you about but I can't do there's so
[32:06] little time.
[32:08] Things come in. They affect Does it come
[32:11] in?
[32:12] Light comes in, sound comes in and you
[32:15] get to experience it. I Did this the
[32:18] other day. I did it for a second, right?
[32:19] You do understand because you're
[32:21] intelligent that you are not looking at
[32:25] me through your eyes.
[32:27] Your eyes are not portals, windows that
[32:30] the self looks out and sees what's out
[32:33] there.
[32:34] That is not what's happening.
[32:36] Well, what do you mean? I'm looking at
[32:38] you. No, you're not.
[32:40] What's happening is there's atoms out
[32:42] there and some keep the shape of my
[32:45] little body and when light hits them
[32:48] they reflect back, refract back, and
[32:51] that light hits your optical nerves.
[32:55] Stimulates it. And then passes those
[32:57] patterns of light back into your brain
[33:01] and renders it in your mind. So, you see
[33:04] is me or you or the wall and so on,
[33:07] that's happening inside not outside.
[33:10] Do you know that all the science agrees
[33:12] with me?
[33:13] There's nothing going on out there but
[33:15] light hitting atoms, hitting molecules.
[33:19] Well, what if there wasn't light? Then
[33:21] you wouldn't see anything. It's called
[33:23] being dark.
[33:25] Turn the lights off. That's a fun thing
[33:28] to think about, right? Turn the lights
[33:29] off and you're not there anymore.
[33:31] I don't know. I don't see you. I don't
[33:33] see you.
[33:34] Why? Because the truth is light just
[33:37] bounces off of stuff. Take the light
[33:38] away, you ain't seeing squat. And that
[33:40] goes for sight and all the senses.
[33:42] They're just picking up vibrations
[33:45] passing them back. And the key to what
[33:47] I'm talking about, your mind is so
[33:49] brilliant that you don't see these
[33:51] atoms. You don't see these light
[33:53] patterns. They come in and your mind
[33:57] builds them in your mind like a TV
[34:00] screen. It builds this.
[34:03] You're sitting back here
[34:06] looking at a movie of that.
[34:09] Your eyes are sensors.
[34:12] They pick up something and it gets sent
[34:14] back to you. Your mind renders it to
[34:16] look like this.
[34:18] That's the function of mind. Is it picks
[34:20] up light that's passing through, it
[34:22] stimulates the nerves, the patterns pass
[34:25] through, and when when it hits the mind,
[34:27] not the brain, when it gets back into
[34:30] the mind as subtle energy, recreates
[34:33] this scene
[34:34] and you're sitting back there looking at
[34:36] this.
[34:37] Why am I talking about it? Because this
[34:38] is mind.
[34:39] Your mind has a purpose. That's quite a
[34:41] purpose.
[34:42] Okay? So, your mind has function. But,
[34:45] if you stop the picture and push pause,
[34:48] what happens if you're watching a movie
[34:49] and push pause? You don't get to see the
[34:51] rest of the movie.
[34:53] You push pause. You're pushing pause all
[34:55] the time.
[34:57] I don't like it. I don't want anything,
[34:59] blah, blah, and you're holding and
[35:00] you're building something inside mind
[35:02] that was not meant to be built like
[35:04] that.
[35:05] Mind is a the receptor of all of ability
[35:08] to see life, sight, sound, touch, all
[35:10] that kind of stuff comes in and your
[35:12] mind is gifting you, you the self in
[35:15] there is gifting you the experience of
[35:17] life. But, if you hold on to what
[35:19] already happened and push pause all the
[35:21] time, you're always little pictures
[35:23] floating around on the screen. I'd like
[35:25] to watch them TV like that.
[35:27] Every single thing you ever thought
[35:30] that you held on to is a picture in that
[35:32] screen. This is all very confusing in
[35:34] here. It's in here. I'm glad I talked
[35:36] about it cuz I know you have to
[35:38] contemplate. What does it mean that
[35:40] you're not looking out through your
[35:41] eyes?
[35:42] I talked about it enough. I want you to
[35:43] contemplate it.
[35:45] I'm watching a ball game out in San
[35:46] Francisco. Comes in, goes to satellite,
[35:49] all this stuff, and then it renders on
[35:51] my flat screen TV. Is the ball game
[35:53] actually in there?
[35:54] It looks like it is.
[35:55] It rendered it on the screen. You are
[35:58] back in there watching that screen of
[36:00] your mind's energy. The mental plane
[36:03] recreating, hopefully well, recreating
[36:07] what came in.
[36:09] And so, there's your mind. That's the
[36:10] basic function [snorts] of mind to do
[36:12] that.
[36:13] And so, basically now you come down to
[36:14] what if you suppress? What if you hold
[36:17] on? What if you cling? What if you
[36:18] resist? Then it gets stuck in that image
[36:21] like having a stuck image on your TV
[36:24] screen. And so, I turn the TV on to
[36:26] watch a movie, but that every news catch
[36:28] you didn't like and every person
[36:30] everything was all stuck in there,
[36:31] right? You got to look through all that.
[36:35] Is it fair that we dare to talk about
[36:37] the truth? Is it not true? Okay? Is your
[36:40] mind clear?
[36:41] Now you know what a clear mind means.
[36:44] You're clear.
[36:46] There's nothing stuck in there. You
[36:47] don't come in there with preconceived
[36:49] notions of what you want to happen what
[36:50] you don't want to happen.
[36:52] You come in here to experience what's
[36:54] happening. Be here now. That's how deep
[36:57] that is. It's functioning the way it's
[36:59] supposed to function. You're
[37:01] experiencing reality. Who is? Me in
[37:03] here.
[37:04] What's it like? Wow! There's
[37:07] butterflies, there's snakes, there's
[37:08] babies, there's There's never a dull
[37:11] moment, is it? It's just coming in. Let
[37:14] it come in. But I didn't like that.
[37:16] Okay, you can not like it, but let it
[37:19] go. What a stupid thing to do to keep it
[37:21] cuz you didn't like it. I just don't
[37:22] understand it all. There's a food. I ate
[37:24] the food. It made me really, really
[37:26] sick. Can I have a doggy bag, please?
[37:30] And I do take it home. I have a room
[37:32] called the sick room. And every single
[37:34] thing ever made me sick before I put in
[37:36] the sick room. And every day I go and
[37:37] take a little bit of each one. No, not
[37:39] eat little of each one. Some jump up a
[37:41] little bit more than the other on a
[37:43] given day. And that's what you're doing
[37:45] and that's what you did by keeping that
[37:47] which you don't like.
[37:49] Do you Do you not remember things you
[37:51] didn't like more than neutral leaves,
[37:54] wind, rain, whatever? I I can't even say
[37:57] it cuz you're probably not okay with
[37:58] leaves. I don't like when they fall.
[38:00] You're probably not okay with rain, not
[38:01] on my birthday. So, I don't know if
[38:02] there's anything you're okay with. It's
[38:04] pretty messy in there, isn't it? That's
[38:06] why. Took me a while, but do you see why
[38:08] your mind is the way it is? That's why
[38:10] it says what it says, why it complains
[38:12] when it complains, and there's a magic
[38:15] part. You go to that mess and say, "What
[38:19] should I do about the mess I now have?
[38:21] I'm so unhappy. I'm so depressed. I
[38:24] can't do anything. I don't know if I
[38:25] want to live.
[38:26] Who's telling you this?
[38:28] Your mind.
[38:30] It doesn't have to be like that. It's
[38:32] not supposed to be like that. And I
[38:34] talked about the mind, I don't have to
[38:36] give a talk about the heart cuz it's the
[38:37] same thing.
[38:38] The stuff you shoved down that you
[38:40] didn't like got into the heart, too,
[38:43] didn't it? Okay? Jealousy is not just a
[38:46] thought. And oh, a feeling. It just all
[38:48] polluted your psyche. And you're running
[38:51] around with what? And then it's telling
[38:53] you what to do. My favorite is, "No, I
[38:55] know I'm right. I know I'm right. I can
[38:57] feel it in my heart."
[38:58] I'm sorry.
[39:01] I'm sorry cuz what you feel in your
[39:03] heart, other than if you're very clear,
[39:05] right? I
[39:06] put your picture on the wall. What you
[39:08] feel in your heart is part of that stuff
[39:10] you shoved down there.
[39:11] No, I've been talked to like that
[39:13] before. I just feel this tremendous
[39:15] anger and fear. It's wrong. It's wrong.
[39:17] Well, what if you didn't ever get talked
[39:19] to like that before?
[39:20] What if it's just somebody talking?
[39:22] No, it sounded just like my mother.
[39:25] That's how she used to talk to me. And
[39:27] that's emotions come up, don't they? All
[39:29] right? And can you trust them?
[39:32] You can't trust the things going on in
[39:34] there till you're clear.
[39:36] Go meditate for a while.
[39:38] Get completely clear.
[39:41] And tell me whether you're okay.
[39:43] What age do you meditation? The self,
[39:45] the consciousness, is not being drawn
[39:47] down into the crazy mind and the crazy
[39:50] heart.
[39:51] It's experiencing itself. It's
[39:53] experiencing what it's like to be at
[39:55] peace, to be calm. Christ called it the
[39:58] peace that passes all understanding.
[40:01] What does that mean? It's pretty
[40:02] understandable if you feel peace when
[40:04] you get what you want, isn't it?
[40:05] Everything just That's what I wanted to
[40:06] be. I feel so peaceful and right about
[40:08] it. You're okay. The peace that passes
[40:10] all understanding is the one that no
[40:12] matter what's going on,
[40:13] you feel peace.
[40:15] So, now do you understand mind better
[40:17] now?
[40:18] That is what your mind is. If you listen
[40:19] to it, walk out of here, you'll be
[40:20] listening to it.
[40:21] Well, what's my choice?
[40:23] You can get out.
[40:26] Because it's your mind.
[40:30] It's not you. It's something you're
[40:31] experiencing.
[40:33] You can learn how to step back.
[40:36] Ultimately, if if I take all the 55
[40:39] years of growth, right? Is it about
[40:41] stopping the mind? No, it's not about
[40:44] stopping the mind.
[40:45] It's about ceasing to be distracted by
[40:47] the mind.
[40:49] Meher Baba,
[40:50] a very high being,
[40:51] once said, "Oh, beloved ones, Baba now
[40:54] knows that the mind does not have to
[40:56] stop to enter samadhi."
[40:59] Samadhi is the highest state of
[41:00] enlightenment. What does he mean? It
[41:03] means he's not down there fighting with
[41:04] his mind. If it doesn't distract you,
[41:06] what's the difference what it's doing?
[41:07] Then it's just like driving on the road
[41:09] with no girlfriends in the car. You're
[41:11] just driving on the road. It doesn't
[41:12] distract you. It doesn't pull you down.
[41:14] Oh, but it doesn't pull you down, you go
[41:16] up.
[41:17] And that's what I'm saying. So, the
[41:18] point is the mind is not a problem. The
[41:21] problem is that you stored everything
[41:23] you didn't like in there, and now you
[41:24] expect the world to match or not match.
[41:26] It has become a problem. Well, believe
[41:28] it or not, you did it.
[41:30] I'm not blaming you. Don't feel guilty
[41:31] because I said that. Don't you dare do
[41:33] that, right?
[41:35] Who else is in there?
[41:37] Who's in there with you?
[41:38] >> No one.
[41:39] >> Thank you.
[41:40] It's a single-occupancy apartment in
[41:42] there, isn't it? If it's messy, I wonder
[41:45] who did it. If you live alone in a house
[41:47] and no one else lives there, and there's
[41:49] pizza crusts and bugs and roaches all
[41:51] over the place, I wonder who didn't keep
[41:53] a clean house.
[41:55] And this is what it means. You stored
[41:57] all this stuff in there, and now you're
[41:59] sensitive, and now you worry, and now
[42:01] you have anxieties and tensions because
[42:03] the world doesn't match what I want. And
[42:06] then the mind goes crazy. Your mind can
[42:08] get weird about stuff, can't it? You
[42:10] know, the tiniest little thing.
[42:12] I was going to a a flower show and I was
[42:15] taking this beautiful rose that I grew
[42:17] by hand and took such care of it and
[42:19] everything of this perfect perfect red
[42:21] rose and I was going to take it to the
[42:23] show and you get up in the morning, you
[42:24] go to get it and this this this stupid
[42:27] little ladybug got in there and and and
[42:30] chewed a little bit off the little tip
[42:32] of my rose.
[42:33] Are you okay? No, I'm not okay.
[42:36] I'm going to give my hands on that
[42:37] ladybug and now I don't know what to do.
[42:40] Should I go to the show anyways, right?
[42:42] Should we like creative artist and and
[42:45] glue the ladybug in the edge and say,
[42:46] "Here's real life." I wish I The mind
[42:49] would have gone crazy, wouldn't it? It
[42:50] wouldn't stop thinking about it. It may
[42:52] think about it for years. I would have
[42:53] won that damn thing.
[42:57] I hope you're laughing.
[43:00] Maybe I'm talking to the wrong audience,
[43:01] I don't know. That is what you've done
[43:03] with your mind.
[43:04] Not purposely. It's just
[43:07] it's hard to be comfortable with
[43:10] discomfort, isn't it?
[43:13] How about that for a statement? It's
[43:15] hard to be comfortable with discomfort.
[43:17] If you're not comfortable with
[43:18] discomfort, you push it away.
[43:20] Oh my god, he just said you store it.
[43:22] That's what I do with my discomfort. I
[43:23] decided to store it cuz I'm
[43:25] uncomfortable with it.
[43:26] Right? Well, maybe I'm a scary I can
[43:31] learn to be comfortable with discomfort.
[43:34] How? By accepting discomfort.
[43:38] By accepting you just said something to
[43:40] me, I'm not sure what you meant by it,
[43:42] but it didn't hit me just right. Wait
[43:45] you see what your mind does with that. I
[43:47] guarantee you I know what you said was
[43:48] negative even though I admitted a moment
[43:50] ago I'm not sure what you meant. By the
[43:52] time your mind's done with it, it'll be
[43:54] hit every single thing you ever stored,
[43:55] every objection you ever had, anytime it
[43:57] ever hurt you, and not to mention
[43:59] mother, I'm sure she'll come back up.
[44:01] So, then basically, you come to the
[44:03] point where how do I get out? Yes,
[44:06] meditation is wonderful. I don't teach
[44:08] meditation. There's plenty of meditation
[44:09] teachers. What I teach is this.
[44:12] I teach why it's good to meditate. Why?
[44:15] Because I would like you to learn to be
[44:17] comfortable with being uncomfortable.
[44:19] When you learn to be comfortable being
[44:21] uncomfortable and you don't Don't get
[44:22] scared. We'll We'll take it slowly.
[44:25] If you learn to be comfortable being
[44:26] uncomfortable, you don't have to store
[44:28] it.
[44:30] Yes, it's uncomfortable. So, what
[44:31] happens to it? Um You go pass it
[44:34] through. I asked Ramakrishna, a great
[44:36] enlightened master, "Does an enlightened
[44:38] master ever feel anger?"
[44:39] He shocked me back in the '70s. I'm
[44:41] like, "God, you're an enlightened
[44:42] master?" And he said, "Yes."
[44:45] But it's like writing on water.
[44:47] What the heck's the difference? You
[44:47] write on water. It doesn't stay for
[44:49] billionth of a second. The moment your
[44:50] finger goes down, it's gone.
[44:52] That's what he's talking about. It can
[44:54] pass through. Have you ever had
[44:56] discomfort?
[44:57] Does it have to stay?
[44:59] There are women, all right? I'm not
[45:01] picking on women. They They're the ones
[45:03] that have the babies, all right? There
[45:04] are women that had a baby and it was
[45:06] uncomfortable. I hear tell it can be
[45:08] very uncomfortable. And they go back for
[45:11] seconds and thirds and fourths and
[45:14] It's worth it.
[45:16] It's worth it. And there are some, "I'm
[45:18] never going through that ever again.
[45:20] That was the worst experience of my
[45:21] life. It was so painful. No. Nope. No.
[45:23] No. Don't No." Wow.
[45:25] Wow. What's the difference? Can you
[45:27] handle being uncomfortable? Cuz
[45:29] sometimes you're going to be
[45:30] uncomfortable. Well, let's say a
[45:32] positive thing happens. Can you handle
[45:34] that it might not happen again? Or do
[45:36] you need to worry and manipulate and
[45:38] control to try and make it happen again?
[45:40] Are you willing to experience reality?
[45:42] That's what it comes down to.
[45:44] Are you willing to experience reality?
[45:47] If the answer is, "It depends."
[45:49] >> [laughter]
[45:50] >> Okay? Then you're not. You're not
[45:52] willing to. And so, you know my
[45:53] teachings. I start It sound hard. I've
[45:56] been hard on you. I know I start really
[45:58] simple. Can you handle that it's
[46:00] raining?
[46:02] Don't laugh cuz you can't.
[46:05] Wait, better yet. Can you handle it's
[46:07] raining on your birthday?
[46:09] And you were planning to have a party
[46:10] outside.
[46:12] Or is your mind giving you trouble about
[46:14] that?
[46:15] Can you handle the driver in front of
[46:17] you just took a left-hand turn without
[46:19] using his blinker?
[46:22] Nice blinker, buddy.
[46:24] Can you handle life?
[46:28] Give me an answer.
[46:29] No.
[46:31] Not me, I can't. I can if it's the way I
[46:34] want it to be.
[46:35] That's the normal answer for mine. I can
[46:37] handle it just fine if it's the way I
[46:39] want it to be.
[46:40] I can't handle it if it's not the way I
[46:41] want it to be. Can you learn
[46:44] to handle reality?
[46:45] Cuz that's what life is, reality.
[46:48] Reality, it happens. Things happen.
[46:51] Can you learn to handle reality? I can
[46:52] guarantee you can learn to handle
[46:53] reality. How? Don't start with the big
[46:56] things that have always bothered you.
[46:57] No, no, no, no, don't worry about that.
[46:59] Start with the fact that it's raining
[47:01] out and you don't want it to be raining.
[47:03] It's okay you don't want it to be
[47:04] raining. Can you handle that you don't
[47:07] want it to be raining?
[47:08] Can it just be a moment in your life?
[47:11] Into every life some rain must fall.
[47:14] Okay? And you just find it rained.
[47:17] I'll play inside.
[47:20] Instead of outside.
[47:21] Can you handle that? Can a driver be
[47:24] driving 15 mph below the speed limit
[47:26] when you're in a rush?
[47:28] Can you handle it?
[47:29] Come on, be honest now.
[47:31] Do you ever talk to the driver in front
[47:32] of you?
[47:34] Come on, buddy. You just passed a sign.
[47:35] It's 55 mph, you're going 40. Come on,
[47:38] what's the matter with you? And look at
[47:40] you, you won't even let me pass. Every
[47:41] time I go to pass you, you move.
[47:43] Do you or do you not talk to the driver
[47:45] in front of you?
[47:46] Does it do any good?
[47:48] Maybe we can learn to handle
[47:52] my book, Living Untethered,
[47:54] I do it this way. I'm a businessman. We
[47:57] have studies called cost-benefit
[47:58] analysis. Don't you? You know about
[48:00] that, right? Cost-benefit. Well, to be
[48:03] bothered by the driver in front of you
[48:04] when you can't pass,
[48:06] the benefit is zero, the cost is 100%.
[48:10] You can learn to look at that, look at
[48:13] the mind, and say, "Really? Really?
[48:17] You're going to do that about this?"
[48:19] You can have fun with him. It's hot out.
[48:22] It's so hot. You happen to be walking
[48:24] from the car to the house, and it's hot.
[48:27] Boy, where's my violin? It's really
[48:29] tough, right? In the meantime, for the
[48:30] entire walk, "Oh, it's so hot. I'm
[48:33] melting. I I can't
[48:36] How about what's the cost-benefit
[48:39] analysis of that one?
[48:41] Cost 100%, benefit zero. Maybe don't do
[48:45] it.
[48:46] Maybe you learn not to do it. How? How?
[48:50] By You can use positive thinking, look
[48:53] at the mind, and say, "Hey, hello. You
[48:56] can talk to your mind. It's your mind.
[48:58] It always talks to you.
[49:00] You can talk to it. You sit down and
[49:01] say, "Hey, hi. Hey, I used to I don't do
[49:04] it anymore, but I used to Hey, Mick.
[49:05] Hey, hey, hey, mind. Hi, mind. Hi, wait,
[49:08] wait. Wait a second. We'll discuss this,
[49:09] right? Is it hot out? Yeah. Is there
[49:13] anything you can do about it? No. Does
[49:15] complaining help? No.
[49:17] Does it [snorts] make it worse? Yes.
[49:19] Then let's have a little agreement. We
[49:21] won't do it anymore.
[49:23] When it's really hot out, we'll say, "I
[49:26] love the heat.
[49:28] It's beautiful. I love the fact that
[49:31] there's a star up there." I go, "I can't
[49:33] help myself. There's a star up there, 93
[49:36] million miles as far as Miami. Someone
[49:39] got to swim to Miami. About 360 360
[49:42] miles. That thing's 93 million miles
[49:44] away, and you're complaining about the
[49:45] heat? How hot must that thing be?
[49:48] Wow. It's a star, and you're close
[49:51] enough to the star to feel its heat.
[49:53] Whoa. You could do that instead,
[49:55] couldn't you?
[49:56] And you can do that with everything.
[49:58] Just start with the small things. Okay?
[50:00] Guess what? When you start doing this,
[50:02] the mind's happier. Cuz it's not
[50:04] complaining. All right.
[50:05] >> [laughter]
[50:06] >> And then it'll figure out, do I need to
[50:07] move? I need Where is it not so hot? But
[50:09] I don't like snow.
[50:10] What are you doing?
[50:12] He's just made a complete mess out of
[50:14] your life and out of your mind. And so
[50:16] little by little, you can do it slowly,
[50:17] it's fine. Little by little, stop it.
[50:22] Work with yourself to let go of the part
[50:26] of the mind that is a result of the fact
[50:28] that you stored all this garbage in
[50:29] there. And what will happen? I guarantee
[50:32] you, they're right here from all over
[50:33] the world, that it will start to get
[50:35] nicer in there.
[50:37] And it'll then it'll get nicer. And then
[50:38] something else will happen that you used
[50:40] to be bothered by, and you will find
[50:42] you're not bothered. Why? Cuz you've
[50:43] learned to handle discomfort.
[50:46] Now, funny thing, no one will try to do
[50:47] it that way.
[50:48] They're going to teach you how to
[50:50] cope. They're going to change
[50:51] everything. If it bothers you, change
[50:53] it. The Go to get your hair cut, and you
[50:55] cut it just a little bit fraction of an
[50:57] inch more than you wanted. Don't ever go
[50:59] back there ever again. No, it wasn't the
[51:01] way you wanted it to be.
[51:02] Don't you dare tell me it's not that
[51:04] way. You can't handle any discomfort.
[51:06] You've run your whole life trying to
[51:08] avoid it. How about we don't? I'm not
[51:10] talking about, you know, broken arms and
[51:11] legs or people abusing you. I'm not
[51:13] talking about that. I'm talking about
[51:14] simple stuff that you get bothered by.
[51:17] How about practicing handling it?
[51:19] Uh-huh, what's so much fun. I guarantee
[51:21] you they're going to get bigger and
[51:23] bigger. What will? The stuff that you
[51:24] can handle. And eventually, and then I'm
[51:26] going to stop. It's hard. But I got you.
[51:28] Do you hear me? Eventually, you will
[51:31] wake up in the morning and you'll
[51:32] realize there's not a single thing that
[51:34] happened today that I can't handle.
[51:38] I don't have to worry about it. I don't
[51:40] have to be psychic and figure it out. I
[51:41] don't want to know the future. I don't
[51:43] want to go somewhere that tells me what
[51:45] is going to happen tomorrow. I don't
[51:46] need a horoscope. I don't care. It's
[51:48] going to be fun. Why? Cuz I can handle
[51:51] it. Well, what if it's disturbing? Okay,
[51:53] then I'll learn to handle that. If it's
[51:55] really disturbing, that's a level I
[51:57] haven't learned to handle yet. Oh, put
[51:59] me up against a good pitcher. I learn to
[52:01] bat against them.
[52:02] They're just challenges.
[52:04] Does it mean you don't deal with them?
[52:06] You deal with them, but not because
[52:07] you're not okay.
[52:09] When you're not okay with something,
[52:10] you're the wrong person to deal with it.
[52:11] When you say, "I can't handle this."
[52:13] Well, then somebody else better do it
[52:14] cuz you just admitted you can't. It has
[52:17] to be, "I can handle it. Bring it on."
[52:20] Cuz I grow every time I'm challenged.
[52:23] Every time I'm challenged, if I work
[52:26] with it, I become a more open person.
[52:28] Mind gets clear that way. It's like
[52:31] meditation. If I can handle everything,
[52:33] then nothing bothers me.
[52:35] How'd you like to know that nothing ever
[52:36] going to bother you for the rest of your
[52:37] life? That'd be a nice thing, wouldn't
[52:39] it?
[52:40] So, we're not talking controlling the
[52:41] mind. I started that way, didn't I?
[52:43] Now you understand what's going on. You
[52:44] start with this garbage. It's going to
[52:46] get hit. Welcome it.
[52:48] Welcome it up. Offer it up. Work with
[52:51] it.
[52:52] Mhm. Decorative.
[53:10] >> You've been listening to the Michael
[53:11] Singer podcast, produced by Sounds True
[53:14] >> [music]
[53:15] >> in partnership with Shanti Publications.
[53:18] For more information on Michael's body
[53:21] of work and all back episodes, please
[53:24] join us at michaelsingerpodcast.com.
[53:25] [music]
[53:28] Thanks so much for listening.
[53:30] Sounds True, waking up the world.
[53:41] >> [music]
[53:58] >> Mhm.
