Non-Duality: It Is So Simple — Francis Lucille on Effortless Understanding

How to get to effortlessness? How to get to a state which is   effortless. It's obvious that we cannot get there  through effort because more effort cannot take   you to effortlessness. There is another type of  event that, all of a sudden, brings about a change   effortlessly, and that originates from us: it's  understanding. Yeah, I'm just like a hound dog on   a scent that's looking for the way to this... Sahaja.  Well, if I paraphrase what he said, it's  that when there is no concentration—meaning   no effort, meaning no goal—right? Meaning not  going anywhere, meaning no intention to change   what is at that moment, meaning complete welcoming  of what is going on at that moment. That's Sahaja. The question is not what Sahaja is, that's clear,  because then he says all the senses are open,   there is no choice. Yeah, but there are  two things. Number one, most people,   even when they experience Sahaja  fleetingly, they want something else.   So they immediately decide that that's not  enough, and they go back into the future,   into the past, into fear and desire. The second  thing is: how to get there? You see, Sahaja means   Sahaja Samadhi. Samadhi means state. Sahaja Samadhi  means the natural state, the effortless state. So, how to get to effortlessness? How to get to  a state which is effortless? It's obvious that   we cannot get there through effort because more  effort cannot take you to effortlessness. So,   what is it in our experience that brings  about a change effortlessly? What is it in our experience? What kind of   event brings about a change effortlessly  but nevertheless seems to originate from   us? I understand that if a cop stops you  for speeding, it's an event that brings   about a change. You're going to have to pay a  fine, right? But then that's an external event   which seems to be completely independent  from you. So what kind of event that seems   to... that is felt as originating from us brings about a change  effortlessly? Can you think of something? Yes, it's a repose, it's a relaxation, it's  sort of a dropping back. That's how I kind   of experience it. If we let it happen,  yes, but there is another type of event   that all of a sudden brings about a change effortlessly, and  that originates from us: it's understanding.   You see? We cannot understand through  effort; understanding happens, in fact,   when we kind of relax the effort to understand. So, understanding comes from  desire. We seek understanding,   we have the desire for it, but it's a desire that   has no direction because we don't know the  solution. Therefore, because we don't know,   we cannot go in a predefined direction.  So, it's a desire in which the energy   of the desire is no longer directed into a  defined direction because we don't know. So,   the energy of the desire goes  back onto itself, so to speak,   because it is not given a direction. And  then, effortlessly, understanding happens. As a result of this understanding, we are  left in our natural condition. In other words,   as a result of this specific understanding—not an  understanding about phenomena or what we have to   do in life in a given situation,  no, but an understanding about   what we are: Consciousness, Reality. When  we understand that we have no reason to   believe that we are separate. That's the  understanding we are talking about here. For a short moment, in the beginning, we are  in our natural state. We just cannot stay in   it because we forget the understanding. The  understanding was telling us: "Everything is   just fine right now." And then the old habit comes  up: "No, no, no, it's not fine. I want this, I   want that, it's not good, not good enough. I want  to see God, I want to see the angels, I want to   see the Symphony of the Angels," etc. And now we  are cooked, because then we start making efforts  to see the angels, or whatever, right? Or having  some bottle of champagne or a bottle of whiskey. So,   when we fall in love with Truth as a result  of the glimpse, immediately after a glimpse,   we are left in our natural state. We have  to know this! But then there is a residual   habit to escape it. It's an effort.  We cannot rest in the effortlessness. So, we leave the natural state because it seems so  natural to make an effort to do this, to do that,   to think about other people. And then, because  it seems so innocent to think about other people,   but it's already ignorance. You see,  it's very insidious how ignorance   comes back to us, because remember, as  we see others, we see ourselves. So,   if we see other people, if we think: "This person  is very nice," that seems very innocent, to say:   "This person is very nice." Of course, if we  say: "This person is a jerk," that's... So, it's very insidious how we—because we have...  uh, that is taking a bite at the apple, you know,   the original sin. You know, every time after a  glimpse, we are in our natural state. In other   words, we are back in the garden, naked,  you know, happy, right? And then we say:   "Oh, oh, there is this apple here," right? And  we take a bite of the apple, and then we are   kicked out of the garden. In the beginning,  we don't even realize it because we enjoy the   taste of the apple. So, we are teleported out  of the garden before we know it. And in fact,   there are many apples on the trees; they have  different shapes, different colors, right? Right. In other words, there are many  ways to commit the original sin,   the essential sin of ignorance. There are many  ways, and they seem innocent. That's how we   leave our natural state. Sahaja is our natural  state, meaning that's... We are there already. We don't leave it, really, we just pretend that we   are leaving it. How can we leave that which we  are? We cannot leave Consciousness. So,   the trip out of the garden is not a real  trip. It's a dream. It's a bad dream.   It's a bad dream that seems like a good dream,  and then it turns sour. Yeah, and you've used   the expression "readily available" before,  because it's not usual to be in that non-state   of Sahaja 100%. Some of the time you're just  into the... No, either we are knowingly in it or not. So, we are not 70% in Sahaja. It's a yes  or no situation. And the way to test it is,   at that moment, what do I truly believe to be?  At that moment,. If at that moment I believe to be a separate,   limited person, I'm out of the garden. If  I don't know, I am in the garden. I don't   have to know that I'm not separate, I simply  have to disown the belief that I am separate.   That's very important because it's simple.  It's very simple to reach a conclusion that   I don't know that I am separate. And if, in  the moment, I don't know, I am in the garden.   But the next moment, I believe I know, I  want something else, etc., and... I'm out of it. So, it's this oscillation in and out,  in and out. Over time, it stabilizes, but... In... Maybe another time I can find the quote,  but I think it was in here, and I think you've   mentioned it. I think the way Jean Klein mentioned  it is having like two directions of the head:   one looking back and one looking forward. Yes, yes, but that's... I mentioned that also. Yeah. And there is a text by Plotinus in Greek  in which he says: "Some people—meaning those   who had the glimpse—have a double head." He said  "dual kephalē" or something like that. They have a face,   a double face. They have a face through which  they look at the world like everybody else,   but they have a face behind through which  they look at God, really at the One,   at Being. It's like something has  opened in us, an unknown direction   towards this presence. But that’s only,  in a sense, the beginning of the story. Because, yeah, Jean Klein says somewhere that in  the beginning it seems like that's a very tiny,   tiny dot in the back and a tiny, tiny opening. But  then there is a change, a transfer of reality, if   you will, whereby the reality that was attributed  to the objects flows back to this point.   And then, in turn, this point  becomes the entire space,   and so everything that appears floating in  it is not as real as the space of awareness   that manifests it. Yeah, that’s the  idea. So, he was kind of describing   a process that seems to happen over time. Is  that pretty general, pretty like for everybody? All of these descriptions, you know, the  problem with those is that we try with   the mind to understand what I am saying and asking  the question: "Is it happening to me? Has that   happened to me?" We try with the mind to reach  a kind of judgment whether it has happened to   me or not, and this judgment by the mind is  not important. Why do we want to judge that   in the first place? Because what matters is  the understanding, which is not of the mind. To seek an understanding... Because when we  understand it—what it means, that it is my   experience—we say: "Oh yes, now I see what Jean  meant, but perhaps I would have described it   differently." And no description will be  adequate. And so, if I describe it from   Francis’ perspective, which I sometimes try to do,  but it's not important for me to describe that,   perhaps you hearing it or each of you will  have a different representation of what I say,   and none of these representations will  be correct. And perhaps one of you,   ten years down the road, will say: "Oh, that’s  what Francis meant when he said that! Oh,   I would have expressed it  differently. " Yeah. Right? And it is not something that starts happening when  we realize that, you say "Oh no, no, oh yes, it   was going on for a long time already. It's just  that we didn’t match the words of Francis with the   experience." And this matching of the words with  the experience is not important in this case. What is important is... Because that kind of  describes a state, so any description of a state   will be sufficient or adequate. The understanding  that matters is the understanding that relates not   to a state but to the witness, or to the reality,  to the witness of the states, or to the reality of   the states. Whatever you understand that relates  to Consciousness or Awareness is the same in me,   in my case, to "I," to Reality, to Being.  That is the only thing which matters. The rest is the fluff. Okay, thank you.