— So, we notice that some of you report changes in thinking, and that is a very good sign. I mean notice changes in our thinking.

We use thinking, of course, in order to survive. Without thinking we will not survive. Thinking is helping the body to survive, to navigate in this world. And when we are using this kind of tools — when we are using meditation, activation and questioning beliefs about ourselves, the negative beliefs about ourselves especially — then this change in thinking happens by itself.

We notice how negative thinking is getting less. Negative thinking about this person, negative thinking about the future, negative thinking about this present moment. It's losing its power more and more. It's a very good sign. Actually, the thinking starts to become less, generally.

I remember that Eckhart Tolle, when he got it, he was little bit shocked, to say the least: “What has happened here?!” And it took some years actually for him… “What has happened...?!” Then he finally eventually met a Zen Buddhist teacher who said — among other things he said: “Enlightenment is no thinking”.

Then it struck Eckhart: “Ah, this is what has happened here!” The thinking is, to use a figure, 80% less than before. The whole psychological thinking is gone. There's no “me” to think about, having negative beliefs about it. There are no philosophical ideas that “I'm not worthy” and so on, and “this soul is not mature enough”. All philosophical thinking was gone.

What was left was practical thinking. And if we don't need any practical thinking in the moment — it's quiet. Quite silent, I would say. It can be for some time.

I remember one satsang with Nisargadatta Maharaj, and he said: “Now we have been sitting here, no thinking, for two hours”. Sounds madness, right?

But when the thinking is needed in order to survive for the body, thinking is coming by itself. Practical thoughts are just arising because something needs to be done. Something needs to be fulfilled.

And of course, creative thoughts — because we don't want to sit in the cave the whole life, right? that is just half-cooked, half-life — so of course, creative thoughts are coming. By themselves, not by us. And of course, there is no any possibility to live, and to sit — outside the cave even — without thinking.

Because thinking is creating the story. At every moment, there is an interpretation by the thinking mind. “Now I am listening to Christer talking on Zoom”.

When you don't think so much of practical or creative, and you don't have negative thoughts about yourself — but still, the thinking mind is active. But it's so automatically trained, that we don't think about it. We don't notice that actually the whole story is created by thinking. Without the thinking, there will be no story.

So, just now there is an interpretation of this moment — that is of course interpretation by thinking. The thinking is not an enemy at all. It's a beautiful tool for practical and creative purposes, and to explain, to express facts, and to interpret what is happening from moment to moment.

Even enjoyment is increased by thinking: “Oh, what a beautiful flower!” Yeah, you could say that you are destroying a little bit of the sense of seeing the flower, but you can also add it to it, comparing with other experiences.

So the thinking mind is very deep and broad in its functioning. It's not an enemy at all.

It's only when the psychological thinking comes in: “Something is wrong with me”, or “I'm not worthy of happiness” or something, or the protest of the present moment, and worry about the future, and “I have to fix”. It's only when this kind of thoughts coming in. It's nothing to do with reality, actually.

When there's suffering and struggling, we don't see this beautiful freedom place which is underlying it. Which is there, hiding beyond that filter. So when I hear this report from you, that the thinking is changing, having less negative power — it's a very good sign actually.

And you don't have to worry — the thinking will not stop forever. It's just part of life. It's a beautiful part of life, it's a beautiful tool.

So it's getting more and more free. The freedom is showing more and more of its aspects.

And as you know by now, the activation is also developing, for some reason. They don't ask me, it's developing by itself. Activation has been based on the freedom, on the silence first, when it came one year ago. It was to let you see the silence aspect of your being, the untouched peace of your being. Then it went into seeing the oneness of your being. And then it went to showing you the love aspect of your being.

Do you want more? Should we have some more aspects? Okay. Some bird has been whispering in my ear that tomorrow I'm going to introduce another aspect of your being — bliss. What is life without enjoying? So we will focus on the bliss aspect tomorrow. It's not my choice, it just happens this way.

Anyone has any questions around this? Any comments or protests?

It's not about reaching a quiet mind. That is a big misunderstanding. It's about not having thoughts grabbing attention during meditation — I'm talking about non-doing meditation now. It's not about reaching a quiet mind.

“So quiet mind is here…!” — So what? What's next?

So, all the techniques that have been produced to create a quiet mind — they are not useful actually. That's not the point. The point is to not be grabbed by it. But trying to stop the thinking is very stressful. It’s a big burden. It becomes a practice, it becomes a job. We're not working here — we're discovering what is already the case. It's not about going from A to B. You don't have to do anything. Just getting still, and see what is here then.

Sorry, I started to talk again. Now I will be open if there are any questions or comments.

— Hi Chris.
— Hello, Kaushik. Nice to see you.
— I have a question from something you spoke yesterday — you spoke about protesting against the present moment.
— Yes.
— So I have something to share about that, that's the case here. When it happens it's not only there is a problem against the present moment, but simultaneously arises the “I”. That “I” need to fix this problem. The “fixer I” arises along with. “I” need to intervene and do something about it.
— Yeah, and is it possible to do that in the present moment? Because it's already here, it's too late, right? Late to fix.

But I know what you mean. The “me as a fixer” is very common, of course. The protests can come in a form or expressed as the idea “I have to fix this”. That is one expression of this protest. But it's coming too late.

If the idea “I have to fix this” is about the future — then it's not any big problem about the present moment, really. It's not a protest about the present moment. There can be two options here, two scenarios, right? If the idea is “I have to fix this”, and it's a protest against the present moment — then that’s the case that we talked about yesterday.

But it can be also that the idea is “I have to fix this in the next moment”, right? And that is another subject, so to speak, which of course can come in that situation. And that is a new struggle — not only the protest that “it shouldn't be like this”. The next step is “I have to fix it” also — so it is double. Double struggle, right?

And if that is the case, if we have an idea about ourselves that “I have to fix this”, that in itself can be the main obstacle for not seeing the awakened state, which is hiding behind.

So if you have that problem — it's a good point to bring up here, Kaushik — if you have this regularly arising in your daily life, “I have to fix it”, — well, the suggestion is — because it's not so easy to make a general instruction to cope with these things, because everyone is unique here, and “I have to fix it” can be expressed in so many ways uniquely for the person, each person has his own version — so the suggestion is, as you know by now,….. is going to a course where we are looking at it in much detail.

It is a very good point — that it is not only a protest, but this protest in itself leads to another negative idea. It's not only that “It is a problem here, I don't like this moment, can I please have another one” — It's not only the protest of this questioning of what is actually already the case, which is totally meaningless of course, but it also creates a new thought: “I have to fix this”.

So it's a good insight to see that even if I don't protest so much about the moment — but there is still some struggle in it, because another thought is coming. And it can be expressed in two ways: “I have to fix it” with no emotions involved, as just a practical thing, a practical thought coming, manifesting itself in action — or it can be in the version we talk about here: “I” have to fix it — the burden on our shoulders that there is a “me” here who has to fix life again, and again, and again. While the truth is that there is no fixer at all. It has never been.

But to talk about it doesn't help so much. It has to be seen. That is why we are using these tools that we are using, which are uniquely tailor-made for each individual.

It's a very good point that you see that there's not only one — I make it simple usually by saying it's one thing, but it's actually more complicated than that of course, as you expressed here. You want to say something more, Kaushik?
— That's it. Thank you.
— No? Okay.

So, there is a question here if we can start one hour earlier tomorrow. But I have to say that we can't do that. The schedule is totally full around these group sessions — I have individual meetings before and after the session. The whole day is full, so we will meet the same time tomorrow.

And it's also good to have the same time all the time, because then people know that it is 5 pm CET (Central European Time), always. It was just an answer to the question here. Someone else having something?

So, see you with bliss tomorrow then. Maybe no bliss in the beginning of the session, but bliss at the end of the session, hopefully.

Okay, thank you very much for today. See you tomorrow.