Waking up in any moment

Could you say that we are dreaming a dream? That nothing is real?

It's not a dream that we have in the night, but it's a dream that we are these separate objects. We can wake up out of this dream, this belief, that we are just these separate objects, and if we understand, then what is waking up? It is the one energy, this matrix, the totality, you can use the word God or Consciousness, whatever word you want to use, it is waking itself up.

That's why we call it Self-realization, so that opportunity to wake up, out of the dream of separation, out of all these false beliefs, is given to us, by ourselves and is available at any moment in our life. So if we see it in one way, it's a bit of a comedy.

We've chosen to forget who we are, to identify with being just this body-mind organism and of course the whole story that goes with it, and we have photos to prove that story, and then we go looking for answers to the questions concerning who we are, concerning our suffering, concerning this life we're living, concerning our fears, our dreams, etc., but fundamentally the oneself which is what we are, has chosen to fall asleep, to forget, to not know itself.

Does it need any practice, so realization can happen?

It doesn't need any special conditions, it doesn't need a special practice, even though we suggest practices and inquiries. It can happen anywhere, at any time, day or night, the opportunity is always available.

It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, doesn't matter how bad you've been. I was very bad, well, I thought I was very bad. There are stories of murderers who have woken up, who have realized their true nature. I don't know if they continued to murder afterwards but probably not. Great kings, beggars. Ramana Maharshi had a few animals in his ashram and he talks about even the animals waking up to their true nature, realizing who they are.

Why do we place so much importance on this, waking up from the dream, realizing oneself? Because most of our, what we call, suffering, most of our psychological and emotional pain is based on the idea, the deep belief, that we are separate.

If you look at that for a moment, you look at your own suffering, your own pain. If it's not big suffering, big pain, then just look at your seeking, what you're looking for, and see how, if for a moment, even just for a few seconds, you could totally accept: "I've never actually been just this separate body, mind, ego but I'm actually an inseparable part of the totality of life. I'm not separate from the trees, or the animals, or the sky, or the rain, or the snow, or the air I'm breathing. I've never been. I never will be.'

If, just for a second, you can see that your mind can understand that, then how does it feel? What do you then think about yourself? What do then feel and think about other people? And more importantly, what do you then think and feel about the things that have happened to you in your life which have made you suffer, and experience pain. That have caused you to look for answers to your questions. Just for a few seconds, see that.

(long pause)

In those few seconds, or from the memory of those few seconds, or if you've had longer experiences of this in different forms, then how do we see the other people in our life? How do we see ourselves? How do we see the suffering that we are carrying, even if the suffering is simply confusion, or not knowing something in particular, or the questions we have, even if it's that kind of suffering? It doesn't have to be major trauma or major suffering. How do we then see the others in our life? How do we then see ourselves, what we call ourselves, with this understanding, that we've never been separate, ever been separate from life itself.

For some of us it might be humbling. It might be a feeling of great love, gratefulness, or compassion, connection, unlimited joy and peace. For others it might feel a bit strange or even fearful. It might seem confusing. We can understand that any emotion that's arising, any emotion we are feeling in our body right now and all the thoughts we're having about what we're hearing, not only in our own head but also from the voice of the person saying these things, all these reactions are also this One Source. It's one Consciousness, one God, One Energy, infinite matrix, which we've never been separate from.