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<v Speaker 1>You know, there's a most extraordinary paradox that occurs when

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<v Speaker 1>one begins to awaken to the fundamental nature of existence.

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<v Speaker 1>And that paradox is this the very moment you see

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<v Speaker 1>through the cosmic game, the moment you penetrate the veil

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<v Speaker 1>of illusion, there are certain things that become absolutely impossible

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<v Speaker 1>for you to see in the way you once did.

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<v Speaker 1>It's rather like trying to believe in Santa Claus after

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<v Speaker 1>you've discovered your father putting presents under the tree. The innocence,

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<v Speaker 1>once lost cannot be recovered by an act of will.

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<v Speaker 1>Now let me say at the outset that when I

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<v Speaker 1>speak of awakened people, I'm not referring to some special

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<v Speaker 1>class of superhuman beings who walk around with halos and

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<v Speaker 1>speak in hushed, reverent tones. No, no, no. An awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person is simply someone who has seen through the game

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<v Speaker 1>of separation, who has recognized that the individual self, the ego,

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<v Speaker 1>this little island of consciousness that we think we are

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<v Speaker 1>is a magnificent hoax. Not a bad hoax, mind you,

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<v Speaker 1>but a hoax. Nonetheless, The first thing that an awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person cannot see anymore is the reality of problems. Now

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<v Speaker 1>I don't mean that difficulties ceased to exist. Rain still falls,

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<v Speaker 1>bodies still experience pain, bills still arrive in the post.

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<v Speaker 1>But what disappears is the psychological reality of the problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Has a problem, you see, a problem only exists when

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<v Speaker 1>there's a separate self who stands in opposition to what

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<v Speaker 1>is the moment you truly realize that you are not

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<v Speaker 1>a separate entity fighting against the universe. Problems dissolve into

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<v Speaker 1>pure situations that require appropriate response. Let me put it

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<v Speaker 1>this way. When you have a stomach ache, does your

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<v Speaker 1>stomach believe it has a problem. Of course not. It

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<v Speaker 1>simply is what it is doing, what it's doing. The

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<v Speaker 1>problem only arises when the ego, this phantom sense of

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<v Speaker 1>a separate self, comes along and says, this shouldn't be

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<v Speaker 1>happening to me. But when you see through that illusion

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<v Speaker 1>of separation, when you recognize that you are not something

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<v Speaker 1>inside your body looking out at the world, but rather

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<v Speaker 1>the whole process itself, the very concept of having problems

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<v Speaker 1>becomes absurd. It's rather like the ocean developing a neurosis

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<v Speaker 1>about its waves. Can you imagine the Pacific Ocean lying

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<v Speaker 1>on a psychiatrist's couch saying doctor, I have this terrible

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<v Speaker 1>problem with my waves. They keep rising and falling, and

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<v Speaker 1>I just can't seem to control them. The very idea

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<v Speaker 1>is laughable because the ocean doesn't separate itself from its waves.

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<v Speaker 1>The waves are what the ocean is doing, and in

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<v Speaker 1>precisely the same way, an awakened person cannot see their

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<v Speaker 1>experiences as problems separate from themselves because they recognize that

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<v Speaker 1>they are not separate from the experiencing now. The second

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<v Speaker 1>thing that becomes invisible to the awakened person is the

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<v Speaker 1>importance of the past and future. This is a rather

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<v Speaker 1>difficult thing for people to grasp because we've been conditioned

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<v Speaker 1>to believe that our entire lives are about moving from

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<v Speaker 1>the past toward the future. We think of ourselves as

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<v Speaker 1>creatures with a history heading toward a goal. But this

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<v Speaker 1>is just another aspect of the great illusion. The awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person lives in what I call the eternal now, not

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<v Speaker 1>because they've adopted some philosophical position about time, but because

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<v Speaker 1>they've directly perceived that the past and future are nothing

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<v Speaker 1>but abstractions. The past is a memory occurring now, the

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<v Speaker 1>future is an anticipation occurring now. There is literally no

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<v Speaker 1>time except this present moment. When you really understand this,

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<v Speaker 1>not just intellectually but in your bones, the whole anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>about the future and the whole burden of the past

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<v Speaker 1>simply evaporate. This doesn't mean you become impractical or fail

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<v Speaker 1>to plan. On the contrary, you become far more efficient

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<v Speaker 1>because you are not wasting energy worrying about abstractions. You

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<v Speaker 1>plan when planning is called for, You remember when remembering

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<v Speaker 1>is useful. But you don't confuse these mental actives. It

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<v Speaker 1>is with some kind of reality that exists outside of

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<v Speaker 1>this present moment. The third thing that awakened people cannot

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<v Speaker 1>see anymore is the division between themselves and others. This

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<v Speaker 1>is perhaps the most profound shift of all. You see.

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<v Speaker 1>The ordinary person lives in a state of what we

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<v Speaker 1>might call chronic paranoia. They feel fundamentally separate from the world,

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<v Speaker 1>and therefore they experience other people as threats or as

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<v Speaker 1>instruments to be used for their own benefit. The world

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<v Speaker 1>is divided into me and not me, us in them,

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<v Speaker 1>friends and enemies. But the awakened person has seen through

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<v Speaker 1>this division. They've recognized that the boundary between self and

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<v Speaker 1>other is entirely imaginary, just as your right hand doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>see your left hand as an enemy, just as your

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<v Speaker 1>heart doesn't regard your lungs as foreign objects. The awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person doesn't experience other people as fundamentally separate from themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>This doesn't mean they lose the ability to distinguish between individuals.

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<v Speaker 1>They can still tell the difference between you and me

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<v Speaker 1>at the level of appearance, but at a deeper level,

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<v Speaker 1>they recognize that we are all processes within one field

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<v Speaker 1>of existence, all waves in the same ocean, all notes

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<v Speaker 1>in the same symphony. And once you see this, truly

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<v Speaker 1>see it, you cannot go back to the old paranoid perspective.

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<v Speaker 1>It becomes as impossible as trying to see the world

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<v Speaker 1>through the eyes of a new born infant once you've

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<v Speaker 1>learned to speak. Now, another thing that disappears from view

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<v Speaker 1>is the notion of control. The ego thrives on the

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<v Speaker 1>fantasy that it's in control, that it's the author of

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<v Speaker 1>its actions, the thinker of its thoughts, the decider of

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<v Speaker 1>its decisions. But when you awaken, you see that this

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<v Speaker 1>is pure mythology. Thoughts arise spontaneously, decisions happen, actions occur,

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<v Speaker 1>but there's no little man inside pulling the levers. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a terrifying realization for the ego because it means

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<v Speaker 1>the death of the illusion of personal agency. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>also the most liberating discovery you can make, because it

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<v Speaker 1>means you can stop trying to control what was never

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<v Speaker 1>under your control in the first place. You can relax

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<v Speaker 1>into the spontaneous functioning of the universe, of which you

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<v Speaker 1>are an inseparable part. Think about it this way. When

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<v Speaker 1>you speak, do you consciously arrange each word, carefully planning

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<v Speaker 1>the syntax and grammar, Of course not. The words simply

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<v Speaker 1>flow out of you, and if you try to control

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<v Speaker 1>them too carefully, you become tongue tied. Life is exactly

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<v Speaker 1>like this. The awakened person has discovered that living happens

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<v Speaker 1>by itself, just as breathing happens by itself, just as

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<v Speaker 1>your heart beats by itself. And once you've seen this,

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<v Speaker 1>the illusion of the controlling ego cannot be maintained. The

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<v Speaker 1>awakened person also cannot see the world as solid and

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<v Speaker 1>static any more. The ordinary perception is that the universe

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<v Speaker 1>consists of things, of objects that persist through time, of

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<v Speaker 1>solid entities bumping against each other like billiard balls, but

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<v Speaker 1>awakening reveals that the universe is not made of things

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<v Speaker 1>at all. It's made of processes, of verbs rather than nouns,

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<v Speaker 1>of dancing patterns rather than fixed forms. You see when

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<v Speaker 1>you look at a mountain or a tree or another

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<v Speaker 1>human being, what you're actually seeing is an incredibly complex process,

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<v Speaker 1>a whirlpool in the stream of existence. The mountain is

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<v Speaker 1>mountains ing, the tree is treesing, the person is persons ing.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything is a verb, a happening, an event, And once

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<v Speaker 1>you see the world this way, you cannot go back

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<v Speaker 1>to seeing it as a collection of static objects. This

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<v Speaker 1>is what the Buddhists mean when they speak of emptiness

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<v Speaker 1>or void. They don't mean that nothing exists. They mean

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<v Speaker 1>that no thing exists in the way we habitually imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything is empty of permanent, independent existence. Everything is a

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<v Speaker 1>temporary configuration in the endless flux of existence. Another thing

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<v Speaker 1>that becomes impossible to see is the seriousness of it all.

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<v Speaker 1>Now this is often misunderstood. People think that awakened persons

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<v Speaker 1>must be grim and solemn, that they've seen through the

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<v Speaker 1>illusion and now walk around in a state of detached melancholy.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's exactly the opposite. The awakened person is the

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<v Speaker 1>one who finally gets the cosmic joke, who realizes that

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<v Speaker 1>the whole drama of existence is a kind of divine

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<v Speaker 1>play what the Hindus call leela. You cannot take yourself

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<v Speaker 1>seriously when you've realized that you're not a separate self

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<v Speaker 1>at all. You cannot take your problem seriously when you've

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<v Speaker 1>seen that they're just ripples on the surface of consciousness.

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<v Speaker 1>You cannot take the world seriously when you've recognized that

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<v Speaker 1>it's all a spontaneous happening with no purpose beyond itself.

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<v Speaker 1>This doesn't mean the awakened person becomes irresponsible or callous.

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<v Speaker 1>Quite the contrary. When you stop taking yourself seriously, you

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<v Speaker 1>can finally take life seriously in the right way. You

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<v Speaker 1>can play the game with full intensity while knowing that

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<v Speaker 1>it's a game. You can care deeply about things without

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<v Speaker 1>the burden of believing that your separate self is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be enhanced or diminished by the outcome. The awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person also loses the ability to see meaning as something

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<v Speaker 1>separate from the experience itself. The ordinary person is always

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<v Speaker 1>asking what does this mean? What is the purpose of

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<v Speaker 1>my life? Why is this happening. They're looking for some

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<v Speaker 1>significance that exists apart from the immediate experience. But the

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<v Speaker 1>awakened person has discovered that meaning is not something that

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<v Speaker 1>can be found or extracted from life. Life itself is

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<v Speaker 1>the meaning. When you watch a dance, you don't ask

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<v Speaker 1>what it means. The dance is not about something else.

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<v Speaker 1>It is what it is, and its meaning is inseparable

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<v Speaker 1>from its form, in the same way life doesn't mean something.

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<v Speaker 1>Life is Meaning is significance, is value. And when you

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<v Speaker 1>realize this, you stop searching for some hidden purpose behind existence,

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<v Speaker 1>and you start celebrating the sheer, thearness of it all.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's another fascinating thing. The awakened person cannot see their

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts as personal property any more. In the ordinary state

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<v Speaker 1>of consciousness, we are absolutely convinced that thoughts are ours.

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<v Speaker 1>We say my thoughts, my opinions, my beliefs, as if

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<v Speaker 1>we own them, as if we generated them from some

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<v Speaker 1>inner factory. But awakening reveals that thoughts are just events

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<v Speaker 1>that arise in consciousness, like clouds appearing in the sky.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't create your thoughts any more than you create

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<v Speaker 1>the weather. They simply appear, stay for a while, and

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<v Speaker 1>dissolve back into silence. And once you've seen this clearly,

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<v Speaker 1>you can no longer identify with your thoughts in the

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<v Speaker 1>old way. You might still have thoughts, indeed, you may

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<v Speaker 1>have more interesting and creative thoughts than ever before, but

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<v Speaker 1>you don't confuse yourself with them. You recognize yourself as

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<v Speaker 1>the space in which thoughts appear, not as the thoughts themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>This brings to another point. The awakened person cannot see

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<v Speaker 1>suffering as something that should not be Now, this is

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<v Speaker 1>a very subtle and easily misunderstood point. I'm not saying

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<v Speaker 1>that the awakened person enjoys suffering or seeks it out.

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<v Speaker 1>What I'm saying is that they don't add to suffering

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<v Speaker 1>the additional layer of resistance that says this should not

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<v Speaker 1>be happening. You see, pain is inevitable. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>a body, you will experience pain, But suffering is optional.

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<v Speaker 1>Suffering is pain plus resistance, pain plus the egos protest

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<v Speaker 1>against what is. When you fully accept the present moment

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<v Speaker 1>as it is without demanding that it be different, pain

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<v Speaker 1>may still be there, but the psychological suffering dissolves. It's

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<v Speaker 1>rather like the difference between a tensed muscle and a

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<v Speaker 1>relaxed one both can experience sensation, but the tensed muscle

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<v Speaker 1>adds an extra layer of discomfort through its very resistance.

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<v Speaker 1>The awakened person has learned to relax into life, even

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<v Speaker 1>into its painful aspects, and this relaxation transforms the whole

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<v Speaker 1>quality of experience. The awakened person also loses the capacity

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<v Speaker 1>to see death as the opposite of life. In the

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<v Speaker 1>ordinary view, life and death are enemies, opposing forces in

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<v Speaker 1>an eternal battle. We cling to life and fear death,

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<v Speaker 1>imagining that when death comes we will cease to exist.

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<v Speaker 1>But awakening reveals that this whole framework is mistaken. Death

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<v Speaker 1>is not the opposite of life. Birth is the opposite

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<v Speaker 1>of death. Life has no opposite. Life is the ground,

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<v Speaker 1>the field, the eternal now, in which birth and death

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<v Speaker 1>appear as waves appear in the ocean. You are not

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<v Speaker 1>born into life and then at some point ejected from it.

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<v Speaker 1>You are life itself, expressing itself through this particular form

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<v Speaker 1>for a time, and then withdrawing back into itself, only

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<v Speaker 1>to express itself again in countless other form. When you

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<v Speaker 1>realize this, death becomes no more frightening than going to

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<v Speaker 1>sleep at night, you don't fear sleep because you know

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<v Speaker 1>you'll wake up even if you don't remember who you

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<v Speaker 1>are while you're sleeping. And in the same way, the

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<v Speaker 1>awakened person knows that death is simply a return to

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<v Speaker 1>the source, a dropping of the particular form, but not

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<v Speaker 1>an annihilation of the essence. Another thing that becomes invisible

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<v Speaker 1>is the idea of spiritual progress. This may seem paradoxical,

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<v Speaker 1>but the awakened person realizes that there is nowhere to go,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing to achieve, no better state to arrive at. Awakening

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<v Speaker 1>is not a destination at the end of a spiritual path.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the realization that you never left home in the

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<v Speaker 1>first place. The spiritual seeker is like a person who

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<v Speaker 1>has lost their glasses and searches everywhere for them, not

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<v Speaker 1>realizing their sitting on top of their head. The moment

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<v Speaker 1>you find them, you realize that the search itself was

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<v Speaker 1>based on a false premise. You were never separate from

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<v Speaker 1>what you were seeking. You are it, You always have

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<v Speaker 1>been it, and you always will be it. This doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>mean that life becomes static or boring after awakening. On

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<v Speaker 1>the contrary, it becomes far more interesting because you're no

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<v Speaker 1>longer trapped in the narrow perspective of the ego. But

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<v Speaker 1>there's no more sense of trying to get somewhere spiritually,

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<v Speaker 1>no more feeling that you're not quite there yet. You're

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<v Speaker 1>already here. You've always been here, and here is all there,

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<v Speaker 1>ever is. The awakened person also cannot see enemies anymore. Oh.

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<v Speaker 1>They may recognize that certain actions are harmful and need

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<v Speaker 1>to be opposed. They may work to prevent cruelty and injustice,

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<v Speaker 1>but they don't see evildoers as fundamentally other, as alien

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<v Speaker 1>beings that need to be destroyed. They recognize that ignorance

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<v Speaker 1>and unconsciousness are the only real enemies, and these cannot

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<v Speaker 1>be destroyed. They can only be illuminated. When you truly

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<v Speaker 1>understand that you are not a separate self, you recognize

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<v Speaker 1>that the person causing harm is also not a separate self.

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<v Speaker 1>They are the universe expressing itself through a particularly deluded configuration.

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<v Speaker 1>But the essence is the same. This doesn't mean you

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<v Speaker 1>condone harmful actions. It means you respond to them with

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<v Speaker 1>wisdom rather than hatred, with understanding rather than condemnation. Here's

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<v Speaker 1>something else that disappears, the notion of ownership. The ordinary

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<v Speaker 1>person goes through life accumulating things and claiming them as mine,

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<v Speaker 1>my house, my car, my family, my country, my opinions,

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<v Speaker 1>my life. But the awakened person has seen through this

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<v Speaker 1>game of possession, you don't really own anything. You're the

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<v Speaker 1>temporary custodian of certain objects and experiences. But you came

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<v Speaker 1>into this world with nothing, and you'll leave it with nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>Even your body isn't yours in any ultimate sense. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a pattern that the universe is forming for a while,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it will dissolve back into other patterns. And

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<v Speaker 1>once you've realized this, you stop clutching at things, stop

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<v Speaker 1>trying to possess and control. This doesn't mean you become

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<v Speaker 1>a pauper or refuse to use objects. It means you

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<v Speaker 1>relate to things differently. You enjoy them while they're here,

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<v Speaker 1>you take care of them, but you don't confuse them

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<v Speaker 1>with yourself. You travel light through life. The awakened person

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<v Speaker 1>also loses the ability to see events as random or meaningless,

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<v Speaker 1>not because they've adopted some philosophy that says everything happens

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<v Speaker 1>for a reason, but because they've directly perceived that the

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<v Speaker 1>universe is a unified whole, a single event unfolding. In

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<v Speaker 1>a unified system, nothing is random. Every event is intimately

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<v Speaker 1>connected to every other event, not through a chain of

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<v Speaker 1>mechanical causation, but through a kind of cosmic resonance. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not that everything happens for a specific purpose that can

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<v Speaker 1>be deciphered, but rather that everything belongs, everything fits, everything

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<v Speaker 1>is necessary for the pattern to be what it is.

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<v Speaker 1>When you see this, even the most apparently absurd or

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<v Speaker 1>tragic events reveal themselves as part of the grand choreography

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<v Speaker 1>of existence. This doesn't make painful events less painful, but

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<v Speaker 1>it removes the additional suffering that comes from feeling that

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<v Speaker 1>life is chaotic and meaningless. Now. Another thing the awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person cannot see anymore is the need for comparison. The

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<v Speaker 1>ego constantly measures itself against others, asking am I as

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<v Speaker 1>good as? Am I better than? How do I rank?

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<v Speaker 1>But awakening reveals that this whole game of comparison is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the illusion of separation. When you realize that

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<v Speaker 1>you are not a separate individual competing against other separate individuals,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole basis for comparison collapses. You're not better or

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<v Speaker 1>worse than anyone else, because there is no separate you

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<v Speaker 1>to be better or worse. You're simply a unique expression

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<v Speaker 1>of the one life, just as every wave in the

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<v Speaker 1>ocean is unique, but not separate from the ocean. This

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<v Speaker 1>brings tremendous freedom because you can finally stop competing, stop measuring,

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<v Speaker 1>stop judging yourself against imaginary standards. You can simply be

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<v Speaker 1>what you are, fully and completely, without apology or pride.

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<v Speaker 1>The awakened person also cannot see the future as a

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<v Speaker 1>place where happiness will finally be found. The ego is

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<v Speaker 1>always postponing contentment, always saying I'll be happy when when

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<v Speaker 1>I get the job, when I find the relationship, when

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<v Speaker 1>I retire, when I achieve enlightenment. But the awakened person

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<v Speaker 1>is discovered that happiness is not a future state to

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<v Speaker 1>be attained. It's the natural condition that emerges when you

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<v Speaker 1>stop resisting the present moment. You see, happiness is not

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<v Speaker 1>something that happens to you. It's what you are when

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<v Speaker 1>you remove all the obstacles to recognizing what you are.

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<v Speaker 1>And those obstacles are all variations on the theme of

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<v Speaker 1>wanting things to be other than they are. When that

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<v Speaker 1>wanting ceases, not through suppression, but through understanding what remains

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<v Speaker 1>is a natural state of well being, of contentment, of peace. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>and perhaps most importantly, the awakened person cannot see themselves

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<v Speaker 1>as a victim anymore. The victim mentality is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the belief that you are a separate self at the

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<v Speaker 1>mercy of forces beyond your control. And while it's certainly

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<v Speaker 1>true that you can't control external events, awakening reveals that

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<v Speaker 1>you are not actually a separate entity to whom things happen.

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<v Speaker 1>You are the happening itself. When a wave crashes on

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<v Speaker 1>the shore, we don't say the ocean is being victimized

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<v Speaker 1>by the shore. The ocean is the wave and the

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<v Speaker 1>shore and the crashing. In the same way, you are

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<v Speaker 1>not separate from the events of your life. You are

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<v Speaker 1>the life, living itself, and nothing is happening to you.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all happening as you. This is the ultimate liberation,

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<v Speaker 1>not the liberation from difficult circumstances, but liberation from the

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<v Speaker 1>illusion that you are a separate self who is at

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<v Speaker 1>the mercy of those circumstances. When that illusion dissolves, what

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<v Speaker 1>remains is the recognition that you are the entire process,

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<v Speaker 1>both the waves and the ocean, both the dancer and

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<v Speaker 1>the dance. And this, my friends, is what the awakened

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<v Speaker 1>person cannot see any more, all the elaborate structures that

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<v Speaker 1>the ego creates to maintain the illusion of separation. Once

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<v Speaker 1>those structures have been seen through, once the game has

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<v Speaker 1>been recognized as a game, you can't go back to

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<v Speaker 1>the old way of seeing. You can pretend, you can

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<v Speaker 1>play along, but the innocence is gone forever and yet,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is the final paradox. In losing that innocence,

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<v Speaker 1>you gain a far more profound innocence, the innocence of

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<v Speaker 1>simply being what you are, without pretense, without defense, without

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<v Speaker 1>the need to be anything other than this present moment,

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<v Speaker 1>eternally unfolding. Thank you,