The Search for Enlightenment
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares their spiritual journey, detailing an initial quest for truth through various teachings, culminating in encounters with teachers like Mooji and Gangaji. They express struggles with the desire for enlightenment, likening it to an addiction, and the challenge of distinguishing between true spiritual longing and craving for an unattainable experience. The speaker is advised that enlightenment is not an exotic experience but the recognition of one's own being, which is inherently peaceful and complete. The dialogue emphasizes that happiness and fulfillment are not found in external objects or spiritual practices, but in recognizing one's true nature.
Takeaways
- 🌱 The speaker has been on a long spiritual journey, exploring different teachings and paths in search of truth and self-realization.
- 🤔 The speaker expresses feelings of jealousy and frustration when discovering others who seem to have found enlightenment more easily.
- 🧘♀️ The speaker compares the desire for enlightenment to an addiction, similar to craving material things or relationships.
- 🗝️ The speaker's teacher advised them to 'drop the desire' for enlightenment, which initially provided some relief.
- 🔍 Despite advice, the speaker continues to feel an urgency to find enlightenment and worries about never achieving it.
- 🌸 Enlightenment, as explained, is not an experience or something to be obtained; it's the simple recognition of one's being.
- 💡 Enlightenment is often misunderstood as the ultimate object or experience, but it's actually the awareness of the self that has always been present.
- 🔑 Happiness or fulfillment does not come from external objects or relationships, but from recognizing the completeness of one's own being.
- ⚖️ The teachings suggest that people mistakenly seek happiness through material or spiritual objects, when true contentment lies within themselves.
- 🌀 The direct path to peace and happiness involves turning away from external objects and recognizing the nature of the self as already complete and fulfilled.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial reaction upon discovering 'A Khatola'?
-The speaker's initial reaction was one of jealousy, thinking that 'A Khatola' was lucky, and wondering why they themselves were not as lucky.
How did the speaker's spiritual journey evolve over time?
-The speaker explored various spiritual teachings, starting with Christianity and moving through others, before eventually discovering Mooji, Gangaji, and similar teachings. About five years ago, they found a teacher (referred to as 'MSG'), who helped guide them further in their journey.
What realization did the speaker come to after talking with their teacher about enlightenment?
-The speaker realized that the desire for enlightenment was like an addiction, similar to wanting a material object or life goal. Their teacher advised them to 'drop' this pursuit, which helped to some degree, but the speaker continued to struggle with their longing for self-realization.
What advice did the teacher offer about enlightenment?
-The teacher explained that enlightenment is not an experience or something that happens to you. It is the recognition of one's being, and it's not something to be added to oneself. The self has always been there, and it is simply the veil of thoughts and feelings that obscures its clarity.
How does the speaker describe the nature of the self?
-The speaker describes the self as something that has always been present throughout their life. It has remained unchanged, even though thoughts, feelings, and experiences have come and gone. The self is imperturbable, peaceful, and not influenced by external circumstances.
What distinction does the teacher make between desires for material objects and spiritual desires?
-The teacher points out that all desires, whether for material objects or spiritual enlightenment, are ultimately desires for happiness. The pursuit of these objects is motivated by the belief that they will bring happiness, but true happiness lies within, not in external objects or experiences.
What is the role of spiritual traditions according to the teacher?
-The teacher respects spiritual traditions but emphasizes that rituals, mantras, gurus, and other religious paraphernalia are not directly related to enlightenment. Enlightenment is simply the recognition of one's being, and all the spiritual practices are tools that might help point toward this recognition.
How does the teacher describe happiness in relation to the self?
-The teacher describes happiness as the nature of the self. It is the absence of lack, a sense of contentment, and the fulfillment of being complete in oneself. True happiness is not something to be achieved through external means but is inherent in one's essential being.
Why do people seek spiritual paths, according to the teacher?
-People seek spiritual paths because they have recognized that conventional objects and experiences cannot provide lasting happiness. After exhausting the pursuit of material and relational fulfillment, they turn to spiritual practices to find peace and happiness, often leading to a direct path of self-recognition.
What is the direct path to enlightenment mentioned in the script?
-The direct path to enlightenment involves recognizing that peace and happiness come from within, without relying on external objects, rituals, or spiritual paraphernalia. It is about directly understanding and experiencing the true nature of one's being.
Outlines
🙏 The Journey Towards Self-Realization and Struggles Along the Way
In this paragraph, the speaker reflects on their long spiritual journey, starting with the discovery of 'a khatola' teachings 12 years ago. They initially experienced jealousy, feeling unlucky, and sought other teachers like Mooji and Gangaji. The speaker shares the persistent longing for enlightenment, seeing it as an 'addiction' and a challenge they constantly face. Despite receiving advice to 'drop it' and let go of expectations, the speaker struggles with doubts about ever achieving self-realization, fearing they may spend years searching without success.
🧘 Enlightenment: Not an Experience, But a Recognition
Here, enlightenment is described not as a tangible experience or object to be obtained but as a simple recognition of one's true being. The speaker emphasizes that enlightenment is often misunderstood as something akin to obtaining an object, like a car or a partner. Instead, it is the realization of one’s own self, something that has always been present. This recognition does not add anything new to a person but uncovers the true nature of the 'I' that has existed throughout one’s life. The self is not to be enlightened; rather, it is to be unveiled from thoughts and feelings.
🌙 The Constant Presence of the Self Through Experiences
This paragraph highlights the consistent presence of the 'I' in every experience, from dreams to deep sleep, from childhood to adulthood. Despite life’s changing circumstances, the essential self remains unchanged. The speaker points out that while experiences and feelings may fluctuate, the observer, or the 'I,' remains undisturbed and constant. This undisturbed nature of the self is referred to as peace, and recognizing it is key to understanding one’s true nature.
🕊️ The Nature of True Peace and Fulfillment
The speaker explores the nature of the self as inherently peaceful, fulfilled, and complete, needing nothing from the outside world. Any sense of lack is illusory because the self is already whole. The desire for material objects or relationships is driven by the mistaken belief that they will bring happiness, but true happiness is found in recognizing the completeness of one's own being. The paragraph discusses the futility of seeking external fulfillment and encourages the recognition of the peaceful nature of the self.
🔄 The Shift from External Seeking to Internal Recognition
The final paragraph delves into the universal human pursuit of happiness and how most people are conditioned to seek it in external objects, relationships, or substances. However, after repeated disappointments, some turn to spiritual paths, hoping to find fulfillment. Even spiritual practices can become objects of desire that fail to deliver lasting happiness. The speaker suggests that true peace comes from directly recognizing the self’s completeness, without relying on external sources, whether material or spiritual. This direct path to happiness is why people gather to seek such insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Enlightenment
💡Addiction
💡Self-realization
💡Object of desire
💡Happiness
💡Peace
💡Cultural conditioning
💡Seeking
💡Fulfillment
💡Direct path
Highlights
The speaker discusses their initial reaction to discovering spiritual teachings, experiencing jealousy and feeling like they were missing out.
After trying multiple paths, including Christianity, the speaker began exploring the teachings of Mooji and Gangaji.
The speaker expresses a deep longing for self-realization and how it felt like an addiction to becoming enlightened.
Their teacher advised them to let go of the desire for enlightenment, comparing it to wanting material things like a Porsche or a relationship.
Despite understanding the advice, the speaker still struggles with expectations and fear of never achieving enlightenment.
The speaker has a recurring fear since adolescence that they might die without discovering their true purpose or enlightenment.
Enlightenment is described as not being an experience or something that can be found, but a simple recognition of one's own being.
The teacher explains that enlightenment is not an exotic experience but a recognition of the self that has always been present.
The speaker acknowledges that despite experiencing various emotions throughout life, their essential self has remained unchanged.
The teacher emphasizes that the self is never disturbed by thoughts or emotions and its nature is peace.
The teacher clarifies that enlightenment is not a state to be attained but a realization of the ever-present nature of the self.
All desires, whether for material things or relationships, are ultimately desires for happiness.
The teacher explains that people often mistake external objects or experiences for the source of happiness, but true happiness is found within.
The speaker is encouraged to recognize that their essential being is already complete and doesn’t need anything external to fulfill it.
The final lesson emphasizes that all spiritual practices and traditions are merely pointers to the self and true enlightenment lies in recognizing the nature of one's own being.
Transcripts
hello thank you for the opportunity I
think about 12 years ago I discovered the teachings of a khatola but I think already a
long time before that when I was young that I was that had this urgency of finding the truth so I
tried Christianity or Christian Church as I tried many things so um when I did discover a khatola my
first reaction was just jealousy actually thinking okay he was lucky why am I not lucky and somehow I
don't know I didn't go in too deeply into it for years yes after and just about five years ago I
started to hear and learn about the teachings of Mooji and gangaji all kind of G's and and I don't
want to make it put it down I'm just saying that there was this and after sometime they had this
big longing for finding a teacher and msg yeah just the G was missing but the rest was there and
it was like a mixture of a friend and the teacher I was very lucky finding him and after some time
I told him look it feels like an addiction this wanting to become enlightened when will this ever
stop you know where it either has to stop or I've finally have to find out this self realization and
I know I know all of this that it's there and that's why I can't see it because it's so close
and it's very very easy actually and that that is the problem but still this urgency was there
and he told me look it is the I'm addiction like wanting a Porsche or fortunate wanting a great car
or wanting to find the man of your life or it's pretty much the same thing so just drop it and it
did help me you know in the sense of okay I can't make it anyways so why not just drop this and it
did help me but still I find myself in just like coming here this weekend and I try not to have
expectations and still I find myself and waiting for you to give me some kind of key or hint so
I can finally find it you know and it's a mix of disappointment desperation and even the sphere of
will I be doing this in twenty years from now you know going to some kind of retreat or and still
having the same feeling and this fear been having also since almost as a teenager that my life would
end and I'm very grateful for my life it's not that I suffer or anything not a lot at least but
that my life would end and I would think I missed it I missed the very much thing what I came for
yeah I don't really know what I expect from you to say I can see that I'm trying to find
some relief or you know if to be honest if I could get rid of this wanting to see or to
find or all this that we have been talking about these days then I would you know and
also I don't know if I can really distinguish when it is an addiction for wanting to have
something that is not there or that feels like it's not there and from by theory I know it is
and the distinction the distinction between that and a real like a very
genuine wanting to see it has been I would say accompanying me for quite a long time
an addiction is always an addiction to something or for something for some kind
of object of experience and the way you speak of enlightenment it is some kind of experience that
you think you're going to find or that he's going to be added to you or given to you like the the
Porsche or the man of your life but only better steadier more reliable nor more like the ultimate
object and then this is this is how many people perhaps most people conceive of enlightenment
the ultimate object of gratification the ultimate experience that is more stable more reliable more
trustworthy basically permanent and as long as we feel that enlightenment is such an experience we
are by definition going to be disappointed enlightenment for want of a better word it
is not an experience I don't know how to say this more clearly or more simply enlightenment
is not an experience not something that happens to you it's not something that
can be found it is simply the recognition of your being of the nature of your being
there is nothing remotely exotic about enlightenment the taste of tea is more
exotic than the recognition of the nature of your own being your own being is simply that
which shines in your experience as the knowledge I am before what I am has been colored or qualified
by experience it is to say it is intimate it is not right because it suggests that it is very
very close to you it is not close to you it is you it is just the recognition of what you have
been calling I all your life it is not something that is added to I it is not something that I am
might experience if I'm lucky enough it is just the recognition of what we call I it is not that
in fact enlightenment is a complete misnomer our self doesn't become enlightened our self
is simply veil for most people their self is veiled or in darkened by thoughts and feelings
and therefore they do not see themselves clearly yes and I've heard this many times you know it's
I am established about yourself now you have always been yourself yes yes okay so yourself
has always been with you no tell us about the self that is always with you not even always
with you it is always you when you are a five year old girl you you felt I am myself when you
were ten fifteen twenty twenty-five you've always thought I am myself irrespective of what you were
experiencing you always felt I am myself and you always thought that my self is the same self yes
yes when you look back on yourself yesterday you feel yesterday I was the same self that I
am today and when you look back 10 years ago you feel I was the same self 10 years ago as I am now
what is that self what is it that has remained the same throughout your life you you call it
I it's always I who is experiencing whatever it is you are experiencing tell tell us about that
what I can say about it is that it was always there it's always present yes that's true what
else when when you were dreaming last night it was I who was having the dream when you slept deeply
last night it was I who slept well so whatever you are experiencing yesterday or last year or
10 years ago it was I who was experiencing and so yes you have always been present your best
moments your worst moments your happiest moments your most miserable moments you've always been
pregnant present what else that it didn't change perfect what you know changes but that which
knows it never changes perfect so whatever it is that was knowing your experience when you
were a five year old girl is the same that is knowing your experience now yeah it hasn't aged
nothing has happened to it all these years all the wonderful experiences you've ever had and all
the awful experiences you've ever had have not changed your essential being perfect what else
nothing else not really let me ask you a few more questions about it your your thoughts and feelings
may often be disturbed or agitated but but you the one that knows them the one in whom they
appear is that one ever agitated does he share the disturbance of your thoughts and feelings no what
would be a would be another way of saying that what would its nature be in that case
just observing yes observing but observing without being changed by what it disturbs
in in other word by what it observes in other words it is imperturbable cannot be disturbed
yeah in other words its nature is peace but remember we're not talking about how
you might become we're talking about how you are now they're just looking at what you call
you what you call I am we're just looking at in trying to find words as best we can to describe
how it is now not how it might become does any experience that you ever have or ever have had
to add anything to your essential being no in other words your essential being is not
in a state where it needs to be completed by an object it is already complete prior to any
particular experience it is not incomplete it is not in a state of incompletion always
needed to be completed by an object or a relationship it is it is already complete
it needs nothing from experience well what's the common name for that meeting nothing
or the absence of lag my mind is going nuts the common name for
it is just happiness or fulfillment or contentment
what more do you want you've recognized that I get the impression that you're
speaking from your experience you've recognized that who you essentially
are now yes is ever-present it's never hurt or tarnished
by experience it's never disturbed it needs nothing but what more do you want I
can't trust if the wanting will stop you can't trust it let the wanting will stop
what are you wanting if you have found that in yourself which is inherently peaceful and has
no sense of lack what are you lacking there's nothing what do you want the one thing will
only stop when you recognize that you are what you want because you don't really want to push
no or a man what you want is a what you hope the only reason you want I know you don't want the
Porsche or Amanda I don't know I'm presuming that the reason we want to push or a partner
is not really the Porsche or the partner it's it's the happiness we believe will be derived from them
what would you desire a Porsche or an intimate partner if you knew that the moment you receive
them you would be miserable you wouldn't if you were if you were if you were offered a Porsche
on the understanding that you would be miserable the moment you received it or or a third hand for
but you knew that the moment you got it you'd be happy which would you want you'd go from the Ford
yes yeah of course of course why because it's not really a Porsche or a car you want its happiness
you want if you were offered the most handsome intelligent generous loving man in the world
but you were told that the moment you started your relationship with him you'd be miserable
or you were offered a guy who was he looked okay but nothing he was he was
reasonably intelligent but nothing nothing great he was unemployed and
didn't have much money but yet you were told that the moment you started your
relationship with him you'd be happy Oh which of the guys would you choose
because it's not the guy you want it's the happiness you want it's all desires our desires
for happiness never for the object so here we go directly for happiness we don't go via an object
happiness is the nature of our self by happiness I don't mean that you're always singing and
dancing and smiling I just mean just the ease of being the absence of the sense of lack the feeling
that I don't have to leave than now because I'm just content fulfilled I am complete I don't
constantly need to be filled up by someone or something I'm just at peace it that is your nature
it's what you are it is the nature of yourself well all that's necessary is to to recognize
the nature of us up that that's what enlightenment is, all the stories the gurus that the mantras the
yoga's the the names the photos the images that all of this is just religious paraphernalia it
has absolutely nothing to do with enlightenment nothing enlightenment is just the recognition
of our being that's it that's all it is the recognition of the nature of our being
why is this room full of people then
because then this room is full of people who have like all 7 billion of us been seeking
one thing alone happiness and we have all been encouraged by our culture to seek happiness in
objects substances activities and relationships and all of us have been failed numerous times
by these objects and activities and we've begun we've either understood or we've begun
to understand we've intuited that the happiness we longed for simply cannot be delivered by a
relationship or a person or a substance so many of us in this room had this recognition several
years ago two or three decades ago and we turned to the spiritual traditions for happiness and we
were given the mantras the gurus that chanting the etc and this for a while satisfied us but
sooner or later even these more refined objects left us unsatisfied so almost all the people I
would I'm guessing that but I would suggest that nearly everyone in this room has come to meeting
this weekend because they've either understood or you are on the brink of understanding you
have intuited that the peace and happiness for which we all long cannot be found in the
conventional objects of experience the thoughts the substances the activities the relationships
nor even in the less conventional objects the spiritual perronnette paraphernalia the Guru's
the mantras the yoga's the chanting all of this and when when we have exhausted all the
possibilities like the prodigal son who has got to the end of the possibilities nothing else in life
no other object however fine or Noble that maybe can satisfy us there is this turning around and
that turning around is the beginning of the direct path that's what we do here the direct path means
we simply go directly for happiness we don't go by the conventional objects of experience objects
substances etc but nor do we did go through the conventional spiritual objects the gurus
the teachers the mantras or all of that I know that there are several of you here who have been
on and please don't misunderstand me I have great respect for these traditions there's a place for
them but I know that there are people here who have been on you know on a spiritual path for
years if not decades and those spiritual paths their true spiritual paths they're genuine I'm
not suggesting that these paths and the teachers at least some of them are not and are genuine and
they are but at some stage we get even to the end of this conventional spiritual path we're
ready just all we want is just happiness directly peace and happiness or peace and fulfillment and
that's why everybody is here this weekend it's why you're here this weekend I would suggest yes
thank you
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