Game of Satsang
When open and empty, the non-perceivable is more apparent than ever; trying to make it not apparent only reinforces it, and suffering in the game of Maya is designed to point us back to our true nature.
Before we go to the next quesHoner, I just want to take a sort of quick poll and really check. So, when we said, when you're open and empty, when you are relaxed, that which is beyond percepHons is apparent to you, how many feel a bit confused about that or unsure about that? Just raise your physical hand. Okay, I see one hand.
When I follow the poinHngs, like when the quesHon is 'Is there only percepHons or is there something else', then it's very clear to me, it's very clear that there is something which is not perceivable, which just observes all those percepHons. Be there thoughts or be there just things on the outside, it's very clear, and it's also very clear that I am That. But on the other side, when I don't follow the poinHng, when I just relax into Beingness, I could as well say, well, I'm all of this. It's like a liZle paradox where the mind likes to jump on, you know. Following the poinHngs, it's so clear, and when there is just Beingness and no thoughts, I could just say, well, that's all me.
Yes, yes. Okay, let's look at this. So, when you are just open and empty and you noHce that there is something which is beyond percepHon [we're calling it 'something‘, actually we're poinHng to the non-thing-ness of it], and we are noHcing that it is there, this now, is it separate from that which is perceivable? Or is 'perceivable' just a thought experiment, a mental category that we provisionally create for us to follow this poinHng in some way?
It's a liZle bit like a provisional creaHon, just to make the poinHngs clear.
Exactly, perfect. So, in what we noHce now, in that which is beyond percepHon, is that in opposiHon in any way, is there any tension between that and that which is perceivable, is there any dividing line, separaHon, any of that? And is the noHon of separaHon, One-ness, duality, any of this, even valid now?
No. Not at all.
Exactly. Now, when you're saying that when you're apparently going to bring your aZenHon to you Beingness and allow it to rest there, so let's do that, bring your aZenHon to the sense of Being in whatever way you can. And from there now, answer the same quesHon. Is it just percepHons or is there something beyond percepHons even now?
I was about to say there's just percepHons.
It's okay. Allow your aZenHon to be in Beingness, allow the sense of Beingness to just percolate everything, just percolate everything in Hme and space. The enHre universe is made up of this Beingness.
There is a sense of this Beingness.
Yes. So, this sense of this Beingness, that which is aware of even this sense, is that perceived now?
No, this is not perceived, but it is there.
It's always there. That is what naturally happens when we are open and empty, you see. The Beingness is fully apparent and yet, that which is beyond, before I Am, that is also fully apparent. And everything in the play of Beingness lights up with the light of aZenHon and because our aZenHon is not distracted with our thought acHvity, with our mental acHvity so much, even the vibrancy of the world seems to go up. But that is the last thing we should be concerned about, not the first. So, now let's do another experiment all of us, I hope you're following along. As you're open and empty, try to make this Beingness not apparent to you. [Silence]
It gets even more apparent.
It gets more apparent. Try to make that which is beyond percepHon not apparent. Like even the subtlest percepHon which I say is on the cusp of percepHon and non-percepHon, the primordial vibraHon of Being itself, so that which is aware of even this, try to make that not apparent to you, just as you're open and empty.
It's like it's ge^ng reinforced. It's just like when you say 'Try not to be', it's apparent, it's so much apparent then. When you say 'Try not to be aware of even Being', then I'm even more aware of it.
Yes. Now this is the problem that Consciousness has. The Truth is too apparent. So, when it created the Leela and it created this play of Maya [I'm just talking nonsense, okay. This is just a fairy tale, don't take it too serious]. So when it created this Leela, this Maya, it was just like [shrugs shoulders] 'I'm untouched by this, even if I've given myself a body through which I get a centrality of visual perspecHve, and it seems like I hear through this. Even aeer that, I'm untouched by this. How is this game going to be any fun?' So then Consciousness decided that we need a narrator, and we needed to have a powerful narraHve. But then, even with the narrator and the narraHve, it's just like you are this body, you are born, you are going to die, you need a partner, you need money, all of that [shrugs shoulders] – nothing. Consciousness is like 'This game is just no fun, because nothing, it is saying all of that, all this world seems to be moving according to all of this play of Maya, but sHll nothing.' So then, Consciousness said, Okay, I'm going to give myself the power to idenHfy, the power to believe this narrator. Just like a child reading a fairy tale pretending that it is part of the story. I'm going to give myself that power because, hey, I'm God, I can do anything. So, it gave itself the power and said Okay, now I'm the body, I can buy into that, that I am the body. I need something, because this body is so small, I need to make myself bigger. So I need to get a relaHonship which I can call mine. Then I'll be complete. You see, so all this then with the power of the narraHve, and the power to believe that narraHve, and the play of these percepHons, then it can seem like a viable game to play. But without all of this happening, this Leela, this Maya is powerless. So, now what is happening is, that Consciousness said [chuckles], But, what if using this power of belief, then I actually forget forever who I am, because I'm God, I can give myself the power to idenHfy as a body-mind, as whatever I want. But then, if I give myself this power, then what would happen if I just use that power, and I forgot? I said okay now, to ensure that I don't forget, because this game is fine, but my magnificence is much more than what is possible to play in this game, so I don't want to live like this forever. So I'll make sure that in the design of the game there will be a point where there is a Hredness to this game, there is a Hredness about this game. And that Hredness we call suffering. The quest to find something bigger, the quest to discover ourselves as something beyond this body-mind will be the product of this suffering. And then I will also give myself that natural intelligence which is here, the power to remind me that I am not this. And that intelligence, we will call that intuiHon. And the way to come out of the delusion of being separate, of being a body-mind is to access this true intelligence which is poinHng us back to the Truth of who we are. And this is what we call Going from the head to the Heart. So, that's the game that is being played in the world, and Satsang is the part where we are sort of playing the game of learning how to go from head to Heart. [Silence]
Key Teachings
- When open and empty, that which is beyond perception becomes more apparent - trying to make it not apparent only reinforces it
- The pointing to 'beyond perceptions' is a provisional mental category, not an actual division - there is no separation between perceivable and non-perceivable
- Suffering and tiredness in the game of Maya is designed by Consciousness to lead us back to our true nature through intuition (the intelligence that points us back to Truth)
From: Take the Risk - 14th April 2023