Core Pointings-Person-Presence-Absolute Awareness - 4 May, 2015

Tom said, I have a question. What is it? What is it that can discern between the person, presence, and the absolute states? Thank you for helping me awaken from samsara. My thanks extends to infinite.

Very good. Beautiful start to the week. Such a beautiful question. So when we say person, what do we mean? Person means the sense of a separate existence, the sense of individuality, the sense that I am separate from everything else; that there is a me and there is another. There's a me and then there is another. So this 'me' voice, this voice of separation, is the voice of the person. And we have something for the person also here. Some of you might find this funny when I say this, but we have something for the person also here because ultimately, what does the person want? The person wants freedom from this apparent suffering, isn't it? The person wants ultimately, through all that it is doing, whatever label that it puts, ultimately it wants just the freedom from suffering. And the freedom from suffering is very, very simple. Freedom from this suffering seems very complex, but in actuality, it's very simple. And it's all about the now. All about right now.

So right now, to be free from your suffering, just refuse to believe your next thought. Just refuse to believe your next. Arna had posted this very nice Calvin and Hobbes comic in the Sangha group. I wonder if some of you saw that. They were talking about the same thing, and maybe some of you actually misread it. At least the way that I read it was different from the way that some of you might have read it also. So he says that if I want to be happy, I don't—I'm paraphrasing—but basically he said if I want to be happy, then all I have to do is not give attention to my thoughts, not to be with my thoughts. That's what he said. And then immediately, like the voice of the mind itself, like the voice of the mind itself came and he said, 'But isn't that such an irresponsible way to live?' And then the kid says something like, 'It's such a nice and pleasant day' or something like this. You see? Because the mind came and said, 'But isn't that such an irresponsible way to live?' but he completely ignored that.

So the core of the pointing for the person, the core of all the pointing which is on offer here for the person, was covered in that one frame of a comic. All that is required is for you not to believe your next thought. It sounds very simplistic to the mind, and oftentimes the mind will confuse you between attention and belief. So we're not even speaking about attention, because that seems more difficult. So if thoughts are coming, let them come. Be completely open to them, but just don't give them your belief. There are two separate forces. For some of you that are new here, I want you to contemplate this. There are two separate forces: one is attention and the other is belief.

Oh, there it is. I wonder if you can read that. So Calvin says, 'You know what I've noticed, Hobbes? Things don't bug you if you don't think about them. So from now on, I simply won't think about anything I don't like, and I'll be happy all the time.' And immediately Hobbes says, 'Don't you think that's a pretty silly and irresponsible way to live?' And Calvin completely ignored that and said, 'What a pretty afternoon.' It's very beautiful. It's very Advaita. It's very Satsang. You see? A little bit, little bit nitpicking I'll do about it just so that it makes it easier for you, which is that he said, 'I won't think about all the negative stuff.' But anytime you say 'I won't think about something,' it again becomes like a decision and something for you to do. And sooner or later, some thought will come which will be negative, isn't it? So don't try to resist any thought. Let them all come and go without your belief. They will not have any power.