Michael Singer describes the layered structure of consciousness — energy beneath, awareness above, mind in between — and how preconceived preferences in the mind interrupt the natural flow of energy. He frames freedom as the witnessing position from which the mind's commentary loses its grip.
Transcript
eventually through clarity of witness consciousness of just watching observing seeing learning where you come to see and that underneath there's a tremendous ocean of energy when it flows that's the nectar of your life it's as simple as that that energy is everything when you feel it you use words like happy hi love excited joyful contented peaceful when you don't feel it use words like depressed down burned-out etc and it's that simple underneath there is energy above there's you in between there's mine and it is that simple what stands in between your consciousness your experience of being or experiential being and the joy of your life your Chi your Shakti spirit energy juice I love Paulo ever you want what stands in between you and that is mine it doesn't look like that what it looks like is what stands in between you and that is world and this is very important to see what's going on it looks like I don't feel loved because he or she won't pay attention to me or because this didn't happen or because that happened that I don't feel good about myself because somebody else got a raise or got an A or that somebody else want a contest or he's more interested in somebody than me these is what it looks like and you have to look very carefully to see past them why does it look like that and it really does look like that it looks like that as follows underneath there is joy Chuck T mind blocks your ability to see and experience the chakra T the same as clouds block your ability to see the Sun the Sun is always there even on a cloudy day the Sun is always there if you go into outer space and you look toward the Sun what you're gonna see is not only as the Sun always there but to you're shocking amazement it never Rises and it never sets and it never has a bad day and it never has a good day and for five billion years it has been exactly the same it is just sat there in one position I mean relative alright on relative position shiny you understand that that's not what it looks like is happening it looks like it's going up and going down and it's having not coming out on cloudy days and so on and so forth that's not true it's just there it's just there it's pretty amazing alright that is what is true of your Chi have your Shakti of your spirit it is like the Sun it is just there nothing makes it be anything other than there nothing ever has nothing ever will nothing can stain it no matter how dark the clouds are the Sun does not get dark understand that no matter how long the clouds stay the Sun does not get work nothing happens to the Sun nothing ever was and ever will happen to the Sun because of the clouds the clouds block your ability to see the Sun so the mind blocks your ability to experience the Shakti spirit so that's your first understanding so now why does it appear that it's the outside world because as follows just as the clouds are not always there there are breaks in the clouds there are sunny days so the mind is not always equally thick the mind is not always equally obstructed sometimes the mind thins out and when the mind thins out that Shakti that she can flow through just as when the clouds thin out the Sun can shine through and sometimes the mind can actually disperse be obliterated for short periods of time then you really experience this tremendous rush of light of love of joy of high energy that is not because of what happened outside that is because the clouds cleared during those moments and the consciousness which rests above the clouds and looks down and the clouds stand in between it and the Shakti the conscious is then able to experience unobstructed the experience of ecstasy the experience of joy the experience of this energy all right so the mind can thin out what makes the mind thin out well that's easy the world makes the mind thin out and this is why it appears that the world is giving you the joy the mind closes down based upon what it thinks is supposed to be happening if the mind decides it wants certain things to happen and they're not happening you might have noticed the mind gets upset when mind gets upset it's like the weather getting upset it gets Tremmel to us it gets thick the clouds darken more and more thoughts get created when your mind doesn't like something note that then why is it this way who did it what should I do about it every one of those thoughts is a thicker darker cloud therefore the more you think about something the worst off you are that's why that happens if you sit there and decide I can't be happy unless this person likes me that's a thought I want you to chalk up every single fought to a cloud it's a cloud if you could see it it a thought creates an energy cloud and depending upon how much energy you put into that thought and the vibration of that thought it can be very dark and if you put energy into it it grows and it stays and then because it's dark and you sit there and say God if this person would only like me then I'd be okay the more you think about it the more clouds you create then when you are in the press of this person your mind starts thinking why is he paying attention to other people why is she doing this more thoughts more depression more clothes more heavy feelings if all of a sudden that person turns and pays attention to you and says really nice things to you your mind is shocked your mind has gotten what it wants and when the mind gets what it wants it just doesn't even know what to do with it so it disperses it's almost like that never happened before I think I'd have a mind attack and it literally dispersed his mind it doesn't know what to think about now because I was worrying about this and now all of a sudden it didn't happen and so if the mind gets what it wants or starts to look like the minds gonna get what it wants the mind starts to thin out because there's not that much more to think about I understand that if the mind is not getting what it wants it starts to think about how to get what it wants and you think the thinking about how to get what you want is going to move you closer to feeling energy it's not it just creates more clouds in the mind and therefore you actually get denser and thicker and you get more tied up in yourself and more screwed up in yourself but when the mind gets what it wants then the mind sends out it suspends for a moment the moment the clouds suspend and thin out the self you are able to experience what is underneath the clouds which in this case is pure ecstasy such an under your joy pure love and the problem is it reinforces your feeling that it's outside you thought if this person likes me I'm gonna feel so much love it's gonna be so wonderful it'll be the joy of my life and then it got reinforced by the fact that when the person said they liked you or paid attention to you you did feel all that joy and so that your mind says see I was right you got it okay it's very tricky and you have to understand this because that is what's happening the mind is blocking you and then when the mind gets what it wants it's unblocking you and then it's taking credit for everything that happened be like if somebody was hurting you squeezing your arm and hurting you and that says you want to see how good a friend I am watch I'll make you feel better and they loosen up say you really are a friend you must be doctor I've hurt really bad before you did that no that's not a doctor don't call that personal doctor that's dr. dread or something right after somebody bad all right it's like it's not a good thing the mind is doing the same thing it is blocking you then thinking about how to unblock you which makes it more blocked and if life just happens to line up which you had no control over that person suddenly deciding they like you or pay attention to you life just unfolded that way and so it just happened to happen that what the mind wanted match what life did and I'm telling you maybe you've noticed that when you get what you want it makes you happy hey I wonder have it anybody ever noticed that how young were you and your first notice li getting what you want made you happy pretty young it's like that that one's like Skinner's rats you know you're not hard to learn that one but isn't that funny and nobody pays attention to that nobody has ever questioned why is it they're getting what I want makes me happy we just take it for granted of course getting what I want makes me happy because what I want I was right see you think its genetic we got it then this thing will make me happy so I got it it in me or what happiness are made of there's like two ends of the same pole when these two things come together of course it makes me happy cuz I fulfilled the circuit you're wrong that's not what's happening and I'll prove it I can prove it too any time you want it is not true that the thing outside of you somehow has something to do with you and combining it with you it creates the chemistry that makes you happy what is happening is the thing outside of you has a relationship with your mind and it's not cosmic or dharmic it's mental it's a mental case your mind decided something that's the relationship what's the relationship between that object out there in my mind my mind has an opinion about it doesn't it it formed an opinion some time ago I like red oh she's wearing red I like her I can't stand red and I wouldn't like anybody who wore red you weren't right I don't like her that's what your mind does so the relationship between your mind and the objects outside is that your mind has preconceived notions about what it likes isn't it how many do you have more than our stars in the sky you