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Original Satsang

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Introduction

This document summarizes the core themes and ideas presented in the provided text, which delves into the nature of human suffering, the pursuit of happiness, and the path to inner peace through a shift in perception and a deeper understanding of oneself. The speaker explores the relationship between our internal state and external circumstances, advocating for a life guided by feeling rather than rigid thought patterns.

    

Key Themes & Concepts

The Flow of Life and the Nature of Pleasure and Pain

• Life unfolds as it is destined to, and this flow is experienced as either pleasure or pain based on our preferences and circumstances.
  • Quote: “So when life unfolds exactly as it’s going to unfold, that’s the flow of life and it’s either pleasure or pain. So if it’s in line with what we like, it’s pleasure. And if it’s not in line with what we like, it’s pain.”
• These experiences of pleasure and pain are not defining of who we are at our core. This is crucial to understanding human happiness, as it implies our essence remains untouched by external events.
  • Quote: “And whether it is pleasure or pain is not a defining factor on who we are at our core. This is the key to human happiness.”

    

The Problem of a “Wrong Formula” for Happiness

• We suffer because we have an incorrect belief that happiness lies in controlling external circumstances.
• This false formula stems from a feeling of unease that arises when life doesn’t align with our preferences, leading us to seek external solutions. This feeling is an error, stemming from a wrong idea of ourselves, and taking direction from it only leads us further astray.
  • Quote: “Uncomfortableness with oneself comes from a wrong idea of oneself. So if we take instruction from the feeling, we’re taking instruction from an error, so we’re going to be seeking in the wrong place.”
• The speaker emphasizes that we often pursue “fixing” external circumstances, not realizing that the real desire is for the end of inner discomfort.
  • Quote: “We try to fix circumstance all the time, try to control circumstance. But deeper down, we’re just looking for the end of the uncomfortableness.”

    

The Source of Suffering: Identification with Outcomes

• Suffering arises from our identification with an “idea of ourselves” that is defined by outcomes. When life doesn’t go according to plan, we perceive it as an attack on our self-image, causing inner resistance and discomfort.
  • Quote: “If we feel defined by the meeting that we were going to have, which we’re now going to miss, then that situation is an attack on who I believe myself to be. And the feeling inside is of resistance to life which is attacking me.”
• This is where the speaker introduces the idea that the “uncomfortableness” itself is an indicator that we are on the wrong path. It is a sign that we are taking our ideas about ourselves as being true.

    

The Path to Peace: Resting in the Heart

• The true source of happiness is found internally, within a “field of being” or “spiritual heart.” This is a place of peace that exists prior to, during, and after any activity or thought.
  • Quote: “It’s a field of being that exists prior to, during and after the thinking A field of being that exists before, during and after any particular activity. And it’s the very core of who we are.”
• The speaker points out that most of us live within the “spectrum of thinking,” constantly judging life as good or bad, thus identifying with the “idea” of who we are.
• This identification with the thinking mind has to stop in order for us to connect with this place of peace. The text suggests that “feeling in the body is a very important component” to dropping into “being.”
  • Quote: “What this means is, we have to start feeling and not just thinking.”

    

Awareness and Consciousness: Beyond the Body

• The text argues that our true self is not the body, but consciousness or awareness itself. The body is simply an object within the field of awareness.
  • Quote: “In the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj, which is an awakening teaching to this consciousness that is the true subject, in the teachings, one of the most repeated concepts is you are not the body, you are consciousness or awareness.”
• Awareness is always present, allowing experience to exist. It doesn’t grow or develop, but is a fundamental aspect of consciousness.
  • Quote: “Awareness doesn’t grow. Awareness is ever present. Awareness is the very functioning of consciousness that allows experience to be here.”
• Awakening happens when awareness becomes aware of itself rather than just the objects of experience.

    

Doing vs. Shoulds and Shouldn’ts: The Path of Authentic Living

• We live with long lists of ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts’, a conditioned belief system that happiness is to be found in outcomes. Society and our parents instill these lists in us.
  • Quote: “And part of this belief manifests in a long list of how I should live my life that’s been put in place by our parents, by society, that have told us these are the important things in life.”
• The speaker’s priority became the end of internal conflict rather than outcomes, realizing that peace of mind is our true longing.
• He describes an example of following what he feels like doing, rather than what he should do and the changes it brought to his own life. It initially looked like a very irresponsible course of action.
• The speaker came to see that his feelings are not something that he creates. His feelings are source functioning through the body.
  • Quote: “I’m moved by the feeling of hunger. I’m moved by the feeling of tiredness.”
• Our decisions should be based on what we feel like doing, after consideration of biological feelings, the working mind, and our intuition.

    

The Nature of Anger and Blame

• Anger is described as a biological reaction and not suffering. This is an essential distinction made by the speaker, referencing his discussions with Ramesh.
• Suffering is the psychological reaction to the anger, the blame and judgement we place on ourselves or others.
• Even enlightened individuals experience anger, but they witness it as a happening arising in a body-mind organism, not as “their” doing.
  • Quote: “For the sage, the anger is witnessed as a happening arising in a body mind organism. Not my doing, but a happening.”
• Blame towards the other and blame towards oneself (guilt) is when we treat the other or ourselves as the doer. The unhappiness stems from this attitude, not from the circumstance.

       

Living Authentically: The Integration of Feeling and Awareness

• Doing what you feel like doing is not about irresponsibility but about aligning with a deeper feeling.
• The speaker advocates for a shift from living according to external ‘shoulds’ to honoring the internal guidance of feeling.
• Living this way brings about an increase in freedom and flow in our experience of life, a life that is lived without resistance.
• By following the impulse of the body we are following the impulse of the divine.
  • Quote: “What I have found is that when we follow the instruction from god that is in the body, it’s an instruction that keeps us in line with an easy flow.”

    

Conclusion

The text presents a compelling argument for shifting our focus from external achievements to internal awareness and acceptance. It challenges conventional ideas about happiness, urging us to question our ingrained patterns of thought and behavior. The path to peace, according to this perspective, involves understanding that we are not defined by outcomes, and by resting in the awareness that is our true nature, we can start living a life guided by feeling rather than our list of ‘shoulds’. This life is not one of ignoring others, but a life that can integrate both the internal and the external while moving with the flow of life rather than in resistance to it.