Awakening
There is knowing the chemical composition of chocolate, and then there is tasting it.
Whilst Bernardo has clear intellectual framework for reality, mystics have claimed the same insight can be experienced directly. It is possible to 'wake up' to the underlying unity of existence, and to its essential nature as awareness. To experience existence as alive.
If that is the case, who is doing the seeking? Why is it common to feel like an entity separate from the rest of the universe? And what would it mean for this illusion to drop away?
This week, we'll start with questions related to this topic that were submitted during last week's 'Ask me Anything', like those listed below.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Amir
WHO OR WHAT IS ASKING THE QUESTIONS? - Rita Conde
When the human mind inquires into its own origin and identity "who are we?" "where do we come from?" — who or what is asking these questions? Is it our inquisitive ego, or is it the universal mind asking questions about itself? If all minds are manifestations of one single mind, does the impulse to ask such questions reveal an inherent self-knowing tendency within reality itself, and isn't that a hint that the one mind is self-reflective?
IF PERSONHOOD IS AN ILLUSION, WHAT KEEPS REINSTATING IT? - Adnane Aggour
In my direct experience, there are moments where the sense of being a separate "doer" dissolves, actions happen, decisions get made, life flows, but nobody seems to be driving. Then the narrator returns, claims ownership, and personhood snaps back. Is the very desire to see through the illusion itself another move of the illusory person?
HOW BERNARDO WOULD RESPOND TO AWAKENING - Gray Daniels
Bernardo, I heard you say once that the capacity to regress your attention to the point of pure apperceptive subjectivity, as has arisen in the mind of sages past and present, has not as of yet arisen in your mind.
My question, however impossible it might be to answer is; if it did arise in your mind, what would you do? How might the orientation of your life change? And most importantly what would be the wise way to employ the energies of the psyche if this Understanding crested over the horizon of your mind ?
If time allows, we'll continue with questions from last week's AMA, and if not, return to this next week.
Amir Giles
Zoom link
Tues 26th May 2026
6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST
