How Mindfulness Can Bring Balance to Your World | Eckhart Tolle | Rubin Report

No matter what the circumstances of

your

life are, the message is: wake up. I'm Dave Rubin, and joining me today on the Reuben Report is the internationally best-selling author of The Power of Now, which has sold 12 million copies

world

wide since it was first published. with translations into 52 languages ​​along with his most recent book A New Earth which has already sold over 15 million copies

world

wide and has been translated into 50 languages ​​Eckhart Tolle welcome to the

report

Reuben thank you. I'm really excited to have you here and I suspect this will be an interview like no other I've done.

Do you have a preference on which language, since it's been translated into basically every living language on Earth? Will English be okay for the purposes of this? I will be happy with English. I wrote it in English. Sometimes I give talks in German and Spanish, but before doing so I always prepare myself in a region of translations of the book in German and Spanish. Yeah, well, okay, we'll go with English. at least during the initial part of this, so the way you end here because I think people are going to say "wow", this is a little different from what's happening at Dave's Garage.

Typically, you came here to watch an interview that I did with my friend, my mentor and really the guy who I think is the best interviewer of all time, Larry King. I thought it would be an interesting way to start because I think that's how I was introduced. Yes I do. I've also been a fan of Larry King for many years and I came across

your

interview with him on YouTube and I was very impressed not only by you as an interviewer because you have that openness that a lot of interviewers lack and that, of course.

Larry King has done it too and I was very impressed with some of the things Larry actually said about how he conducts interviews. It always comes from a place of curiosity, from a place of not knowing, from a place of wanting to know the interviewee's perspective and most interviewers, of course, come from a mental position that they seek to protect or are trying to prevail with their mental possessions, they're not really interested in what the interviewee has to say, so after watching that interview, um oh, I think during the interview with Larry King I actually mentioned that he interviewed me a few weeks later.

I saw that interview and that was another coincidence and when Larry King interviewed me I mentioned seeing your interview with him and then our makeup artist connected us because she works. for Larry and you, yeah, and here we are and here we are okay, well, I guess that's a good way to start for the few people who watch and don't know you. Can you tell me a little about your background? and until you were 29, spirituality wasn't really your thing, people are so associative with you, but can you tell us a little bit about my growing up?

Yes, I grew up in Germany until I was 15. At 15 I left school I just couldn't take it anymore so I refused to go to school my parents had divorced my dad had moved to Spain and my mom didn't know what to do with me I was just wandering around. At home he no longer wanted to go to school so I told him to live with my dad in Spain where I lived for four years until I was 19 without going to school. My dad was always a very unconventional person and he asked me to do you want to go to school I said no so he said well then don't go then what were you doing I followed my own interests I read some who started reading literature of course learning Spanish learning English I loved languages ​​I loved reading I loved literature at 16 I started working at part-time as a restaurant menu translator and then became a tour guide.

He was 17 years old. I became a tour guide taking people on cruises around Spanish Town where we lived and then at 19 I moved away. to England to work in England I immediately felt at home. I have to feel a deep connection to England and I worked in England for four years full time and I became more interested in intellectual things, so I took all the necessary exams that were required. to enter the University, they were called well at that time, they were called all levels in levels and so on, so I took those exams and finally got a scholarship to enter the University of London, where I studied modern languages ​​and literature, and that's how it is. the outside story on the inside I experienced increasing periods of terrible anxiety and depression even while working and while I was a student, can you describe what that was like?

Yes, it was an inability to stop my mind, my mind was continually racing and creating scenarios where I failed, where I lost even the little I had, went way back in time, where I felt embarrassed by things that happened in the past, but not just because there was a deeper existential fear and existential angst that is difficult to describe it's a kind of alienation from the world uh alienated Asian is probably the best word where everything you come into contact with feels strange and alien or disconnected from everything and everyone and that is something that I believe many people suffer today, although it has also existed, it has happened to isolated individuals in the past.

If you want to read about that state, I recommend that in the Old Testament there is the Book of Ecclesiastes, which It starts with a famous phrase like in the ancient translation vanity of vanities everything is vanity, but what it really means if you use the modern term I would translate it as everything is so fucking useless, what is the point of all this to feel deeply affected by the apparent lack of meaning in the life around you? I remember when I went into a department store in London or walked through the streets, it seemed so absurd to me that people would buy all this stuff and then come out with their shopping bags full of things, it all seemed so absurd and meaningless that they were almost producing. a kind of nausea and that Nordic is actually a novel for example satra where it describes that state, that is exactly how it is, it is also described in various places in world literature, for example, in Anna Karenina at the end of the book, just before her. she commits suicide, uh, the world, the big story describes how she sees the world right before how she commits suicide and the whole thing is that every human being she sees is despicable and terrible and it's a total disconnection from the world around her, so that's it. the existential language that uh I also experienced quite often if you had a kind of bottom moment, there was a specific moment that then started your change, yeah, so I would often break down in the middle of the night in a state of panic or fear and almost feeling breathless and one night I woke up again at three in the morning and my mind was racing and then a strange thought came into my mind that said I can't live with myself anymore I can't live with myself anymore and then thinking that occurred some sort of small shift was taking me away from that thought so to speak and I thought what a strange thought do you think I can't live with myself am I one or am I two who is that me?

I can't live with who I am, so some kind of inner separation happened and I felt like I disappeared into some kind of void and the next morning I woke up and felt incredibly peaceful for some reason, I didn't understand why. It took me several years to understand why from that moment on there was always a sense of inner peace, sometimes in the foreground, sometimes in the background, no matter what my external circumstances were, but now I can explain what happened that night, There was a disidentification in my consciousness from the compulsive and incessant stream of thought that most people have absolutely no control over.

People say "I think," but usually that is not the case because they happen to think, they have no control over This is why it is actually incorrect to say "I think". It would be the same as what you were saying I'm beating my heart You're not beating my heart It's done by you It happens to you Yes So there was this thing that I now call The Voice in the head that I was completely identified with, so I was completely identified with the flow of thought, which is quite normal for many people, and much of that thought stream was negative in nature, so I did not experience the reality around me except through the veil of negative self-talk.

I veil the mental veil of negatives of negative labels and interpretations and I, everything I consider my life, I had not realized until I disidentified what I took to be my life, was a narrative in my mind and consisted of certain things from the past What I identified with things that had happened to me was a set of continually repeating thoughts that gave me my sense of self, and it was an unhappy sense of self, it was a narrative-based sense of self, and that night I was shocked. foot I came back from this narrative that is fueled by continuous thought, stepped back and realized for the first time a dimension of Consciousness within me.

That was deeper, you could also say higher, depending on how you want to look at it, deeper than thinking now in this dimension of Consciousness. That's deeper than thinking. Now I call it consciousness or sometimes I call it presence and that exists in every human being, but most humans are not aware of it at all, they do not know that there is a deeper dimension of Consciousness in them and that Dimension is beyond thinking about it, You experience it when the Mind remains still for a moment, this is what people want to achieve, for example, when they meditate, it can also happen to you when you are involved in a dangerous activity like mountain climbing, then you cannot engage in it. .

Thinking that you have to kill conceptual thought stops but you do not lose Consciousness, so the important thing is that there is a state of consciousness possible in humans in which you are completely conscious without the activity of conceptual thought, that is also the essence, for example, of Zen and I would do it. I suggest that actually the essence of all spirituality is to find that state of consciousness in yourself where you can be alert and aware, but there is no conceptualization in my mind, that doesn't mean it stays that way for a long time and then comes back. in thinking but if you are able to access the dimension in yourself you are no longer possessed by your thinking mind you are no longer used by your thinking mind you are actually able to use your mind instead of being used by your mind as long as your mind uses you, all your mental activity is a reflection of the conditioning that has happened to you, so you take on the conditioning on a personal level from your parents' school background and that conditions the way you think. you have the collective conditioning around you, you take on the conditioning of the culture that you inhabit and that surrounds you, uh, if you watch the media every day, then you adopt those views and you believe that they are your thoughts, they are not your thoughts. you take these thoughts from outside and they become part of your identity, so identity is a key word because identity everyone is extremely interested and in finding their identity you could say that after meeting the needs for food and shelter almost immediately after That is, come and look for an identity that already begins with a child, when the child has a toy that he feels is mine, it is my toy, someone takes it away, there is great suffering in the child, he cries because the child began to identify with something and called mine and that's just the beginning of the course, so please, there's so many things in there that I want to get into very well.

I guess first let's get to some of the techniques that you use and that many other people use to achieve this kind of level of peace and separation from that kind of endless stream, but do you think that most people, whether aware about it or not, they are spinning all day like a spinning top out of control where they come in and out of it all the time, so you can do all kinds of things during the day that are distractions and you can get angry about politics or consume drugs or wasting time on this or that, but then we all have that voice in We know more about the right way to do things or about a more peaceful way of doing things, but we, but we don't have any way to really not I know, it's controlling the right word, I don't know. yes control is the right word but we have no way of really determining what is really happening, yes, unless you are completely neurotic or even clinically insane you probably have some access.

I'm not talking to you in standard terms, you can diagnose me at the end um if you're not if you're not uh continually in a state of confusion or anxiety or depression if you're not if you occasionally feel good you occasionally feel happy you probably have some access to that. dimension in yourself without knowing it without recognizing it so we could actually describe this as moments in your daily life brief moments that you are not really thinking about but they are very tend to be for most people very brief but they are very significant These These are moments, maybe you're looking at something and you're looking, maybe you're looking at a tree or a flower in the sky and for a moment there are three seconds in which you take this in completely, often it's something natural that you're looking at andYou're looking at the sky and maybe for the first three or four seconds that we look at it you feel a sense of inner expansion, almost like you're resting, and then maybe after four five six seconds, the Mind comes in and interprets.

What you just saw I also find that people enter that state without knowing it when they relate to pets or animals, when you meet a dog, you look into the dog's eyes. Now the dog is a conscious being, but the dog has no conceptual thought, so when you look into the dog's eyes, you instinctively realize that the dog is not judging you in any way. way because they have no concepts to judge you, so you feel that when you look into the dog's eyes you feel a moment of Liberation of your conceptual self because there you have a being that has no conceptual concepts. yourself so that you can feel what, so to speak, the beingness, the being of the dog and that is, and at that moment you are not thinking, a few seconds of inner spaciousness and then it feels good to be with this animal that I call dogs . guardians of the being and then another is to look into the eyes of a one-year-old baby when this baby is looking at you and this baby has not yet reached conceptualization but obviously there is a luminous Consciousness there and the eyes of The baby can be just incredible when he looks at you like that and you feel: "This touches you deeply." In that moment you are free from conceptual thinking because the baby is not thinking conceptually and you are connecting with this beautiful being on a deeper level. level, so there are times when you are naturally free from the stream of thought and those are the most valuable moments of your life, ultimately, it could also happen when you are in nature, you are hiking or you are doing something. physical activity and you are not thinking much you are taking in the world around you essential sensory perception you are taking in everything you are completely present where you are in the forest or the mountain on the beach you are completely present and suddenly you feel so at peace why are you do you feel so at peace?

Do you feel so at peace because you are in nature? Well, indirectly yes, but the real reason you feel so at peace is because you are aware at that moment. and consciously perceive but not think, do you think? Do you think one way to describe it in somewhat simplistic terms would be that when you're doing something that you're supposed to do you can lock yourself into that kind of thinking? because I can give you two quick examples for me, I've had a few moments in the hundreds of interviews I've done where there's something where I can look someone in the eye and we're here doing exactly what we're supposed to do. be doing what we're supposed to do that actually some of the background almost becomes a little blurry.

I can, I can feel, I mean, I can feel a little bit of that right now, actually there is and you can't, you can't. I don't hold it, it just comes and goes and all that stuff, so I had it in this very room and then the other time I think I had it was when I was doing stand-up and there was one particular night. where I was killing, I mean, I had the room in my hand and I remember seeing myself from behind, I could actually see my back and I don't even remember what I was saying, but it was almost like slow motion.

It was like, this is exactly what I was supposed to do. That can happen when you are involved in an activity and, unfortunately, you are guided by an intelligence that is greater than the collected information you have in your mind now. Intelligence, that is, I call it unconditioned Consciousness, while the mind is the conditioned Consciousness. That intelligence can use your mind and then your mind becomes a creative tool so that you can be spontaneous, for example, in your presentation when you are on stage and you will come up with things that you could never have thought of if they come because you are connected to a deeper level of Consciousness within yourself and that, ultimately, is with the way you live, since no one is one hundred percent connected. of time with it, but being connected with it when you are involved in whatever your main activity is, it is an act of Grace if you are able to do that and then you are empowered, whatever you do is empowered by something. much bigger than you and what is that I say you have access to what I call sounds perhaps a little mystical Universal Intelligence of which the human mind is just one expression are countless expressions of universal intelligence and all the spirit all the ancient spiritual teachings they actually point in that direction, if you don't mind, I can interpret something Jesus said because I think it's actually exactly the same thing.

Jesus often talks about the kingdom of heaven, an interesting expression and there is a line I opened the Bible the other day and I saw the line that says that Jesus went from town to town and from town to town and he said: repent because the Kingdom of Heaven is near and everything is already contained there, repent means it is miss, it is a bad translation, repentance, the original Greek is metanoia, which means a change, a change, a complete change, so repentance, then people He considers it like apologizing or something, yeah, hit yourself, I'm such a miserable sinner, that's not it, it's a fault. it is a misinterpretation of repentance that began when it was translated into Latin as Latin penitentia, which was already wrong and now we have metanoia as repentance, no, a complete reversal, a complete change, in other words, a change in consciousness, repent Now, what do you mean by the Kingdom? of Heaven no Christian traditionally believed that it is something that is going to come that she believes they completely overlooked when Jesus was asked when when does the Kingdom of Heaven come he said that the Kingdom of Heaven does not come with observation in another translation It says the Kingdom of Heaven does not come with signs to be perceived you cannot say it is here or it is there because the Kingdom of Heaven is within you no, what is that that is within you where you can never say it is there or it is over there?

I retranslate Kingdom of In modern terminology by Kingdom, Heaven would replace dimension and Heaven, what is heaven? When you look up at the sky you see the vast Heaven, the breadth of the sky, he used that analogy to point us to an internal reality, he used it because language generally refers to the external. things you can see and touch, so the closest Jesus could come in the external world to pointing out something in the inner kingdom was to look at the vast expanse of the sky which in itself has no particular shape but is amazing and he said: kingdom of the heavens then it is the sky my translation is amplitude interior amplitude that is the ordered Mind Consciousness without conceptual without thought is internal alert Stillness the dimension of the amplitude finds the dimension of that is the primordial teaching in Jesus finds that within you finds the Kingdom of Heaven finds the dimension of inner space where you are able to be alert and still fully aware but without thinking and that is the essence of Jesus' teaching to find that when you write when you interact with other human beings you can feel the same dimension .

In the other human being, although he has a personality that is a conditioned self, but underneath, so to speak, the personality is a deeper being and the deeper being is his unconditioned Consciousness, but it is not Consciousness, it is not something personal, so when I look at you for the first time What I would see is your personality and of course the physical body and personality, whatever constitutes your personality, but if I look deeper and not only look but actually feel your presence , I know that beyond your personality there is an Essence in you that is one with the essence in me and one good to describe as Consciousness itself the essence of Who You Are the essence of who I am is consciousness when I recognize that Consciousness the same Consciousness that in me this Consciousness beyond the condition itself recognizes Consciousness in that which is beyond your conditioned self and that recognition is what Jesus called love and that is why he said love your neighbor as yourself but that as a separate statement does not work but when you put it together with Kingdom of Heaven then it reads If you find the Kingdom of Heaven within you in the dimension of breadth, then you will recognize your neighbor, which is anyone you are with, you will recognize him as yourself and this recognition that, in essence, you are someone, that you are deeply connected, that you share the con of one Consciousness when you recognize it in the other then suddenly you have a flow of benevolence and Goodwill and you love not the love of the ego but the love true towards which in the Old Testament in the New Testament agape spiritual love for another human being being you can feel their own beings and that is the whole secret of all spirituality is in Jesus in the teachings of Jesus um it is our purpose here beyond Of the personal purposes we have, everyone has their personal purpose, work you do whatever, there is a deeper purpose that the personal purpose must be aligned with and that deeper purpose is to live from that deeper place.

The way I interpret it, you know, the English language doesn't have a word that describes both men and men. women is the German language has Mensch which is also used in Yiddish for the Germans means both man and woman for a long time. I'm sorry the English language doesn't have a word for human, you have to say human, but now I. I am happy to have to say being human because that describes exactly the two dimensions: the human being is the conditioned self, it is a personality, your historical person, which comes from the past and is based on who you are as a person, which includes your physical body. and your psychological.

I sometimes call it your form identity, there is a physical form and there is a psychological form of you which is the human and then there is a being, the being is the Deeper Self which is unconditioned consciousness and no human life is fulfilled unless the human to have at least some access to this Dimension within them, which really is the ultimate purpose, at least maybe not completing the access, but at least having glimpses of that which transcends the self to have glimpses of self-transcendence in your life If it doesn't matter how successful you are. In this world, if you have never had a glimpse of self-transcendence, then your life lacks purpose and you are highly unlikely to be a happy human being.

This is the ultimate paradox of all this: it is almost impossible to hold on to it. So even someone who has spent their life trying to reach that state where you can't, can't, function as a human, maybe not as a human being, but just as a human, it would be almost impossible to be there constantly. in that state in a world that does not exist in that state, yes, not constantly, but it is possible to not have it simply when perhaps you are, say, engaged in a spiritual practice or you are meditating or when you are outside. nature and its unhappy moments in nature it is our task to incorporate as much as possible that deeper level of Consciousness in our daily life, even if we do not achieve it all the time, it is okay, it is part of the practice, then it could be say then. our purpose in our daily lives beyond personal purpose which is also important because we need to honor who we are as a person and we need to honor our identity as a person because certainly that exists and whatever it is that makes up your identity, whether it's primarily your type Personally, if you identify with a certain group that surrounds you, it could be your religion, it could be whatever it is or the culture that you grow up in, it has its place, there is nothing wrong with it, but if that is so.

Everything you know about yourself is very limiting so you honor it, but there is more to you than that and that is why the ancient Greeks said starting with Pythagoras in 500 BC. C. Know thyself, perhaps the most important saying of ancient Greek philosophy that was carved on the walls of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, know yourself very deeply, saying not who you are in your essence, because you have the identity of form, which is a personality, and you do not have, as I call it, an identity of essence, and thus know yourself. This Essence is called in India, in some Indian spiritual philosophies in India it is called self-realization, so you know it and then the practice becomes daily life to live as much as possible from that dimension, for example, countless others examples one could give.

Some very simple things like what I recommend, for example, when you are waiting for something in the elevator or you are in the elevator or you are waiting for a phone call or you are waiting in line somewhere in the airport, you are waiting for this. Nowadays, we spend quite a bit of time waiting at traffic lights, most people take out their phone when they wait because this means there is a continuous contingent of their mind becoming more and more cluttered. I call it clutter, clutter is useless information. They often take out their phone, they don't know why they take out their phone because someone next to them is taking out their phone and then they start to change, there is a moment when you are waiting for an opportunity to at that moment, collect your mind and create a little of inner spaciousness, the Kingdom of Heaven, the dimension of spaciousness, for example, this is a very ancient and verySimple, by becoming aware that you are breathing, you are becoming, I call it a mini. meditation a conscious pressure that is the hug and you follow the chest with your attention you feel the air moving towards the body you can even feel it in your afternoon towards your abdomen the energy and then you exhale one and what does that do why is it so important when you are aware of your breathing, you take your attention away from thinking, you can't be fully aware of your breathing and think at the same time, you can think or be aware of your breathing, so that's a quick way to have a little spaciousness in your life a conscious breath It may be too much conscious breathing.

Everyone has time for one or two conscious prayers every now and then during the day. Nobody is so busy that this guy can't take six, seven, eight seconds to let the Mind tell you, you know? ? you have a lot to do, it's a lie, don't create every thought that comes into your head and then create space, the more spacious you create, the more effective your thinking will be when you start thinking again, because then the thought can connect with this creative intelligence . That is the unconditioned intelligence that is in you and then you can draw inspiration from that.

I would suggest that every creative person who creates something truly new has some access to that dimension in the area of ​​their creative endeavor, probably not in the rest of their lives. They may be as crazy as everyone else in the rest of their lives, but when they participate in their Act of Creation, they have access to their Dimension and that is so, once you touch this power within you, which is not egoic power, it is not. The power over someone else is paramount, the power of life itself when you can feel that within yourself, that becomes the basis of your sense of who you are and it is no longer the story in your mind and that is the change for that you free yourself from the identity that you have to have.

Identifying completely with your past derives your consensus about who you are from your historical past, which is most people's past, it's just a mix and there are a lot of things you may not like, instead, your sense of who you are comes from a deeper perspective. place and that solves all the questions of what concerns people with self-esteem, self-confidence, people go to therapists to develop their self-esteem because there is no kind of thing, but once you touch that level of Consciousness within you, self-esteem comes from there. But it is no longer comparative so you can feel the power that lives within you and you do not need to compare yourself with anyone else and say I am powerful because I have more than this person.

You know that essentially every human being has that, but the majority. Many of them don't know it, but it is there like a siege, you could say in every human being, it is simply wonderful to realize where the past guilt is, which I think you are referring to. I just fit into this because we mentioned Just before we started I was on tour with Jordan Peterson and during the Q&A I see so many people saying to him, "You know, I just read your book and I'm applying the 12 rules for life and mine ". It's better, my relationships are better.

I'm not doing drugs, whatever that is. I have repaired relationships etc etc but are having trouble getting over some kind of past guilt yes and I think what you are describing here is the first step. to get away from that, but I think a lot of people think that it's something that you can do like that, but it's not like that, no, you need to recognize where it comes from, how it arises in you, of course, guilt is related to grievance when it refers . to another person it is a pain you have a resentment or a grievance towards another person when it refers to yourself then it is called guilt but it always refers to something you did to someone that you now recognize as wrong in some way uh unethical: maybe you did something when you were younger, maybe you raised your children in a way that you now recognize as dysfunctional in some ways or you hurt someone or caused someone suffering, whether it be emotional suffering, mental suffering, even physical suffering in extreme cases.

He might even have killed someone in very extreme cases and that creates guilt. Now guilt is something you did that you now recognize as wrong. This becomes a thought form in your head and becomes incorporated into your sense of identity. What you do not know. Realize that you did something because not your Consciousness, your level of Consciousness at that moment, manifested that type of behavior, no human being can manifest a Behavior that is beyond his level of consciousness, so if you inflicted harm on someone, the ego tends to do it. turn it into an identity for yourself and that creates guilt when you see that this is your essential self is guilty, that can be a big ego boost, there can also be a big ego in both declaring someone else guilty as well as someone who did something.

To me, people carry a grievance or resentment sometimes for many years and then what they are doing is transforming someone's behavior. I call it unconscious behavior when you inflict suffering on another human being except, of course, in self-defense or whatever, but you inflicting suffering on any form of life or a human being you do is unconscious as Jesus is supposed to have said in the cross forgive them because they don't know what they are doing translate it into modern terminology if they are unconscious they don't know what they are doing do it people do all kinds of things sometimes in states after having consumed drugs they become even more unconscious or they have consumed alcohol they become more unconscious even with the no more unconscious than normal unconsciousness for unconscious by the way and maybe I need to explain what I mean by unconscious, which in spiritual terms in conventional usage, unconscious obviously means that you are right about the lost Consciousness, but In spiritual terms, unconscious means that you are at the mercy of the conditioning of your mind and your emotions, the ways in which your emotions have been conditioned, you are being directed by that conditioning, there is no way for this human being to be aware of his conditioning, There is no consciousness at all and the human being who has zero consciousness may not have it throughout his life at times when he is very unconscious.

They get triggered by something, like I said, they take drugs, anything, they become zero consciousness and then they do what they do, and then you look back and then you mistakenly incorporate that time in your life where you weren't even there, you were. directed by an automatic program in your mind and in your emotional field you were not even there, but the ego will transform it into an identity and says: I did it, this is not part of who I am or it will be done to someone else, there was a During For a long time I resented my father because my father was quite unconscious, except very late in life.

He had a very strong ego and living with it as a child was like living with an unexploded bomb that could explode at any moment without these intense rages. He was suddenly coming in several times a week, so he was living in a constant state of background anxiety, but when will this bomb go off again? And then for a long time, when I was 20, I had resentment towards him until I went to the shift in consciousness and suddenly realized that he did what he had to do, but there was not enough consciousness in him to act differently. , so he was at the mercy of his own conditioning and once you see that it no longer makes it an identity for him and so you free him and really maybe this is the meaning of forgiveness.

You can forgive yourself by not turning unconscious behavior from your past into an identity for yourself or someone else. Now a question may arise. This is an interesting point now is that this means that people are not really responsible for what they do. That's an interesting question in fundamental terms. It can be said that it is true that they are not responsible for what they do, but they will have to suffer the consequences of their unconsciousness because we, humans, are destined to become more conscious here and one of the ways, or even one of the, perhaps The main one, in which a very unconscious human being evolves eventually or potentially is suffering the consequences of his unconsciousness and, at times, Consciousness may have to do so. going to prison is not like that, but it is, even if you know a prisoner, it is important if they did something in the past, let's say they killed someone in the past, of course they have to suffer the consequences and conscience, but when you meet a human being like that, you can still, you might be able to feel that there is more to this human being than this unconscious person, so, then, how does that influence your perspective on free will?

So ultimately free will doesn't come in until there is something. awareness in you that's where free will comes from until you have some awareness, you are directed by the conditioning of your mind and therefore have no choice, the element of choice comes into play when you become aware of, for example, the thoughts that go through your head. and you may suddenly realize and for some people that is the first time they awaken spiritually when they realize that for 20 years they have had a voice in their head speaking to them, it could be a monologue, it could be a dialogue with the one you could have a conversation with.

You can, you can beat yourself up and say why you're not good enough, right? and then it's another part of yourself okay, well, I'm doing the best I can, I just can't, I can't do it, I'm not, I'm not good enough, the voice in the head for some people, spiritual awakening comes when you realize that there is a voice in your head and there is an awareness at the right time, that is the awareness you might even have. able to choose to let go of a certain thought a repetitive thought that you no longer need that you no longer want and then you give it away or breathe it out you don't need it you consider it an emotion sometimes people and they hold on to strong emotions, but if there is a little bit of awareness there, If they act out, let's say it's anger, suddenly anger comes up, but deep down you're aware that there's the emotion of anger, so there's a little element of choice that comes into play. then you want to attack this person, if there is awareness, you can observe the anger, but for a long time you may no longer need to represent it.

I'm not talking about repressing, but recognizing that the more awareness you have or presence, the more options you will have in your life and then it is only then that you really become truly intelligent because this awareness is not a matter of IQ in the way that you can have it. I have met very intelligent people with one, two or three academic doctorates and others who are completely unaware, completely unaware, but completely in their thoughts. Minds and people and in their personal lives are often very dysfunctional personal lives, so it should not be equated with intelligence, this consciousness, um, is a what do you actually do with that life?

So if there's someone who exists in that state all the time but then turns around and, you know, a scientist or a mathematician or an athlete or whatever it takes that changes the world, they have to stay in that, whether consciously or No, they have to stay in that mindset, what are you doing with that life that maybe not? focusing on listening to the inner voice, it can be an extremely un

balance

d life and no matter how smart they are, even the people who have it, there are some people who are very creative in one area, but the rest of their lives are completely un

balance

d and more.

People are almost destroyed by the lack of balance in their lives, like famous people, even some famous pop artists, who are quite creative in the way that Michael Jackson, for example, as a person who just arrived, just I mean, he's already passed away, but I remember seeing him in an interview as a person, it's just a little, I just have a lot to say and he said teammate and oh no, but the moment he moves he does a dance move or just a power flows through him. and I saw that, but this, um, the important thing is this, that creative intelligence needs to go into the rest of your knife, it needs to become a work of art, a creative work of art, not just in one small area of ​​your life. .

So what the world really needs is not more intelligence, it doesn't need more knowledge. I mean, we're just drowning in facts and information that we don't need any more of that, to use an old-fashioned word. needs are wisdom wisdom is inseparable from consciousness arises from consciousness without wisdom you are torn you can relate to the polarities of life perhaps it is worth mentioning here you know the ancient Chinese Yin and Yang way of seeing the world there is The yin is the feminine principle and Yang is the masculine principle, so these polarities are everywhere in life.

This is a very strange way of looking at things, but Chinese philosophy, ancient Chinese philosophy says this. The game of the world is a manifestation of the game between yin and yang, the masculine feminine principles, you can remember the symbol of Yin and Yang, birth, um, and here you can also be in the grip of a particular energetic movement without to realize. can fall into the clutches of yang and then you would becomequite destructive if you go to the extreme a country can be in the grip of Yang energy like Germany was Russia China any country where this dictatorship is in the grip of extreme energy Traditionally, yang society um, at least in the West, has been dominated by youthful energy with occasional but relatively insignificant Yin interludes in between, for example the 19th century Romantic movement in art and literature, but not for long. put the Enlightenment Enlightenment there was a little bit of Yin coming in yes, yes, but the first half of the 20th century was an extreme manifestation of Yang, the world wars, the genocide in Germany, Russia and China, Cambodia and other places observed unconsciousness and then the world.

The Western world especially experienced a reaction to the extreme Yang ex influx of Yin started in the 60's actually a very strong influx of Yen and with that came the women's movement and all those things, more empathy towards other human beings arose and also an openness to what spirituality is. Rather than the rigid patterns of institutionalized religion, there was an openness to the influx of Eastern spirituality reaching the West. There was empathy. This is where the embassy with disadvantaged human beings arose. Empathy towards the suffering of people who are physically disabled, mentally disabled or the so-called marginalized, all of those things is something wonderful, you could feel their suffering and more empathy arose and this was something great, it is something necessary, education changed completely from being dominated by young people with disciplined energy. and I was young and now education became more and more permissive, you do your own things, it became so permissive that eventually there was no structure anymore, everything was and the schools became chaotic and the family in many families became totally chaotic and hence the wonderful empathy towards other human beings.

Beings became politically correct quickly, the world was moving towards an extreme of Yin and to counter it, but there was no consciousness, so people were first caught up in the youth movement and identified with it as a collective and now a significant part of Western civilization no. everyone, except a significant portion of the population, is in the grip of a yin movement and it does not stop, it goes to the extreme, but it is something that was initially good and necessary, yes, now trans, everything that goes to the extreme becomes destructive and another ancient saying in Greek philosophy is nothing in excess, nothing in excess, so now the collective is in control, not everything, but they were given a part, especially the mass of the media, universities, etc. ., are strongly in the yen group.

Germany is an interesting example. They like to go to extremes. They were an extreme of young people. They became the most aggressive country in Europe and now they are reaching an extreme of Yin. They are the most compassionate country in Europe. Except for Sweden, they open their borders completely. , so at least we want to help you. This consists of two things. The compassion that arises when Yen enters. There is another element that must be mentioned. Yes, there is also guilt that replaces the second part. It's a combination of. guilt and Yin energy so yen is symbolized as this is open receptive Yin this is Yang you can see Yang is that masculine the pushing principle is almost a sexual Yang so Yang says let's close the boundaries The extreme form of Yang says let's expand our country and then close the borders, attack the neighboring countries and then we will be even bigger the end of Yin says that there are no borders at all in an American book and this is it, it feels so good to be able to say how we can deny beings humans who If you want a better life, how can we deny?

It feels so wonderful to say that SpongeBob lacks wisdom. Compassion is there and it is wonderful. Then you have yin and yang. What's missing is that they must be instead two polarities, so they must be a triangle. At the vertex of the triangle you need to have awareness, if there is enough awareness, then you don't need to go to the extreme of Yin or Yang. You know it's really interesting because I really wasn't planning on doing anything political with you. but I actually think that in the last few minutes you've given me a good political analysis of where we are without getting into the nitty-gritty of politics, yes your premise is basically correct and that's why I always say the road to hell pays off with good intentions. the people I'm frustrated with right now that you're describing like Yin, I don't think are evil people, there may be bad actors within that, let's say, or people who are.

They're not acting and they're conscious, but I don't think most of them are, but if we act, if we're in this moment, we're caught between this, how do you function as a good, decent person that I think most people are? They are the ones who can go in and out of their higher selves and all that stuff, but they want a decent world, how can we help these sides get to that place? Well, first you must be careful with yourself so as not to let yourself be carried away by one or the other extreme because now the reactive way of going too well towards Yin would be to go too much towards Yang and therefore a society in which it returns to enter completely would produce fascism again, that is the danger, so the individual must be aware that he does not enter into reactivity to remain conscious and not contribute to polarization in the world.

So what does it contribute, whether on social media or in person, when you talk to someone or When you write something, be careful not to also confuse someone's mental and emotional position, who may be a mother there or there, with who they are and then you consider him an enemy. The ego field is strengthened. The more enemies he can have, the stronger he feels. There is always the tendency of the unconscious ego to turn others into enemies, so we need to develop enough awareness to be able to carry on a conversation with another human being without considering the other, who might have very different mental positions, as the enemy.

I was very happy to see recently. having to watch a YouTube interview with a guy who's come a long way Russell Brand has come a long way with this, he's doing great, thanks now if anyone who hasn't seen it in a while should check it out again. Candice Owens oh I saw it, I saw it and they actually, it's pretty incredible, they had an interview he's on the left, she's on the right, in many ways they had opposing views, they respected each other as human beings without converting the other into an enemy. It's wonderful if they can do it, but other people can't do it, it just takes a little bit of awareness so that you can, so I have a conversation and it's only by having a conversation that you can find a middle ground, a middle path.

There is a Buddhist expression that Buddhism is called the middle path, the middle path is found somewhere. If we don't have conversations with each other, we have different points of view, then there will be deterioration and eventually it could even be violence, so it's interesting because I know you talk a lot about collective consciousness, which I obviously want to say, look, you saw me. on YouTube that got us here, now your message can reach a lot of other people and all that stuff, which is absolutely incredible, so that's that's the big part of the Internet that I think has fed the collective unconscious, but then there's another part where we're apparently fighting all day and you mentioned before that we're distracted all day so if we're standing around. in a corner we automatically go to our phone do you think that level of distraction and technology and we are teenagers in relation to knowing what is really going on by having the world in our pocket at all times do you think that is leading us to a kind of strange existential crisis that could never really have happened before just because of the speed with which we can communicate, learn, hate and all that stuff.

Yes, well, there is both what is communicated through these devices and what is communicated through these devices. The fact that this device exists was many years ago, there was a book by Marshall Mclue and he says that the medium is the message that was about television, but the nature of the device itself, we have to be very careful because what it does. Does it contribute to the clutter of our minds, so it doesn't matter potentially, it can be very beneficial to connect with humans through these devices, but right now the dangers that it could be destructive are greater?

I can see what it does to children that from a young age you interact with them they can no longer have personal relationships an increasing number of children have attention deficit disorder now what is definitely an attention disorder? They can't concentrate on anything for long anymore, what does that do to human consciousness? What would happen to a civilization if humans now grow up without the ability to focus on tension for a long time because finishing any creative act requires you to be present with something for a period of time to pay attention to it and if humans lose the ability to pay attention to it? attention, then they lose the ability to be creative, if they lose the ability to be creative, they lose the ability to even solve their problems because the problems they have created require wisdom and true creativity to solve those problems, so all kinds of scenarios are possible. the scenario of the collapse of civilization within two generations is a possibility, but these things, if they are, we need to learn to use these devices in the same way that we have to learn to use our minds because they are an extension of our minds, so If we become more aware of what our mind is doing, then it might be easier to also manage these devices because they are an extension and amplification of the mind and the dysfunction that we see on the Internet with all these dysfunctional behaviors and so it is simply an externalization and an amplification of human ego dysfunction.

You can see it much more clearly now that it's old for everyone to see and it might be good to see it because then we can really realize it. What are we doing to ourselves? It's a good question what we are asking ourselves. This is going crazy and the moment you see that it is crazy, then there is some sanity in you because no one who knows his madness is completely crazy, the real crazy ones. I don't know your answer, so if you see the insanity in the way we communicate collectively, you say, "Okay, I'm not going to be a part of that," you need to see it and then your responsibility as an individual is not to feed it. stay conscious to stay present so that your entry is conscious and does not seek to destroy other human beings and demonize others, you dehumanize and demonize other human beings so that you really see that as the antidote, let's say, to the mafia culture that we have because there is You can feel this, you know, it's funny this morning I was checking your Twitter account and your Twitter account is basically a breath of fresh air, it's like when I was reading it, there's like a breath and it's and it's nice and you know.

There are some of your sayings and some of the ways that you want to help people think clearly about all of those things, but that's the opposite of what most of Twitter is and I'm part of that other world and , sometimes, sometimes I feed it. And I try not to, but you know I'm not perfect either, but I do see this thing where the mob moves on Twitter and sometimes they come to force me to say yes, and there is an innate human feeling. You see something and it gets a lot of attention and it's shiny and it's whatever and everyone wants in, but you're basically saying that if you took that breath if you just said I don't want to be involved in this, eventually Actually, you can almost take other people out. of this also with your own behavior.

Yes, because this is not just about you. Yes, also not to feed others if other people post negative things about you. In many cases, no reaction is best. thing instead of feeding it, that's a lesson I need to learn. I'll try to take that one that applies both online and offline in your personal life too often. Alright. I believe Jesus was talking about non-reaction when he spoke of turning. The other cheek, I don't think it should be taken literally, but it means that when someone attacks you, not physically, it's an analogy he uses, it's a parable, uh, spin the other secrets, it means just being free of reaction and that, uh, that. uh, very quickly it deflates even the other person's ego, doesn't it, if the ego needs the reaction, it needs the reactivity, so that's a powerful thing, but how can you avoid becoming an easy prey inside that pit? ?

In some situations it is necessary to say something, but even then that can come from you, you could say, especially if you are with someone, that kind of behavior is unacceptable, you can say that in a conscious way, rather than knowingly, in a destructive way. and aggressive, you can actually be very firm and conscious. or when you say no to someone you don't have to be aggressive uh it's really clear is that I call it high quality no uh someone says: can you lend me again? Havethe two thousand dollars that I need, I know I still owe you 20,000 but I need a little more and then and then not make the other engine enemy just no, I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore, it's high quality, no, that It's, uh, you're present while you're saying it and then you can set boundaries if necessary, so in some cases it's necessary to say something.

I need to do something, but in many other cases complete non-reactivity can be very, very powerful, giving you the most joy in your life, now the little things in life the little things walking in nature sometimes sitting quietly in a room just being I love being nature I still enjoy traveling and the greatest joy is teaching giving talks because that is the purpose of my life and that is why once every time I participate in my life purpose, then I am really in a state of joy and greater vitality and that's why I still do it.

Yes, would you say you are inherently optimistic when it comes to Human Destiny? Do you mean Humanity or in general? I'm not saying it personally, I'm actually just saying it in the world at large, are you hopeful? Oh yeah, I'm fine, sometimes call it I'm a long-term optimist I always say Short-term world-weary optimist I don't know, it's possible who knows where humanity is headed right now no one could predict where it's headed everyone Individuals All individuals can only take responsibility for their own State of Consciousness, but that is very important because your state of consciousness determines the way you experience reality and that has many repercussions that affects many other humans through your State of Consciousness, so don't underestimate the importance of your State of Consciousness in the present moment, there is much more we could do here, but I want to be respectful of your time, so I will ask you one more time and then when we are done with this , I will beg you to come back. but if someone is watching this right now and they're really in what Jordan Peterson would describe as the state of chaos or the state that you were in when you were 20 before you had your Awakening and they listen to you and say, well, you know, taking that.

The first breath is not going to be enough if they are really in a bad mood right now. What would be some way you think you could help them get through this? Give them something concrete that would help them click. You know, stop. this and fix themselves or start the process let's say yes, yes, well, the best starting point is the present moment, uh, now, whatever I say, whatever advice I give them, it's very possible, if not likely, that your conditioned mind deny what I say and I will say that this is not going to work, so don't believe what I say now, if your mind says this is not going to work, don't believe what your mind says, just try what I have, what I'm saying now, so we will become more fully aware of the present moment right now because that's all there is, your whole life is experienced and unfolds in the present moment, most humans don't even seem to realize of that because they always live as if some other moment is more important than this one.

You must honor this moment. It is a foundation for the soul for the future. remember it's always a new member now so come into the present moment be aware of your breathing and another one I recommend to anyone, this one was actually very powerful yes it sounds almost too simple but it is very powerful, feel the vitality within your body and If you don't know what I mean, I generally advise people to Close their eyes, hold their hand like this and ask themselves, without looking at my hand or moving it, how do I know if my hand is still there?

That question requires you to direct your attention to your hand and then after a few seconds you will probably feel a little tingling or liveliness in your hand, that is the beginning of being able to feel what I call the inner body. This is the energy field that permeates every cell in the body. If you can start with your hands, then. You feel your legs, your feet, your hands simultaneously and then you incorporate your entire body and thus your attention moves from your mind. You are

bring

ing Consciousness to the body, so you could say that you are now inhabiting your body consciously and when it is a very pleasant sensation and you will notice that you are no longer thinking much about how you can't and that all the problems you have were largely created. by dysfunctional thoughts and the emotions that accompany this functional thought most of the time.

The problems reside in your mind, so if you are able to be more present then you access a higher or deeper dimension of Consciousness and to be more present you have to be able to get out of your mind without losing Consciousness so that Consciousness enters the mind. body and the body becomes an anchor, you can hold it for several minutes at a time it becomes an anchor to be present, become as present as you can also present to sensory perceptions, science is very important, perceptions can also

bring

you at the present moment, an expression. you could use is come to your senses in both meanings of the word expression come back to your senses look around you be consciously absorb everything without the label that needs to be mentally labeled and then suddenly you are aware of your surroundings. aware of your inner energy field you are in the present moment and in the present moment there is no problem it cannot be there is no emergency sometimes yes then you have to act but it is not an emergency he has no problem so your ability to deal with Your supposed problems become much greater if you are able to access the power of your presence.

So when you choose to deal with your problems, say "Okay", now apply concentrated thinking. What can I do when you return to the presence? It will always continue. you are thinking about learning what presence is there is the Kingdom of Heaven is near he said it is here it is here do not look for it elsewhere and then you realize the unhappiness in one's life Buddha called it duka suffering. He says that every human being suffers unless he is awakened and that much of his suffering is not due to the circumstances of his life, although most people think that most of their suffering is due to their mental commentary on the circumstances. of their life. the mind is telling you something that creates unhappiness even you can try it in a simple situation you are in line somewhere you get irritated it is taking too long you are waiting you get very angry and irritated then experience how I would experience this situation without adding any thoughts if I did not add no thought to this moment alone and suddenly well, actually okay, it wasn't before you were unhappy, but we're not unhappy because you had to wait, you're unhappy because of the narrative in your mind, so there are millions of people who carry very toxic narratives in their mind and they call it my life, that is not it, it is a terrible bird and they carry it with them, it does not have to be like that and the essence of all spirituality is to be able to get out of that, realize even if it is a little of self-transcendence, which is inner breadth, and then that grows and then you can begin to feel that there is a power in you that transcends the person and that is also the place where you can transcend the uh the feelings of happiness and unhappiness that continually fluctuate.

I'm not saying that it's not happiness that you finally find happiness it's a little superficial uh yes, I did it and the next day, on the contrary, it is something that transcends happiness and unhappiness is a deep sense of rootedness in the being of a deep sense of inner peace that really doesn't have much to do with your personal circumstances. I have received letters from people in prison who have written to me saying: "I feel free." now because I read your book and I practiced it and my life was transformed and now I am teaching others from many letters from prison prisoners, so it is real no matter what the circumstances of your life are, the message is wake up, wake up.

You arise from a complete identification with your mind and that is your ultimate purpose in life is to awaken. This has been an absolute pleasure. I don't think so. I think I know I had a few of those brief highlights while we were on. We were here and I thank you for that and I think if my audience gets even one percent of that over the Internet airwaves that go out, I think this will be something that I will always remember. I hope we can do this again because we thought. You just started here. Normally I tell my guest's Twitter username, but in this case I'm going to look at the camera and tell them to take a breath.