Michael Singer - Learning to Stay Open

TR every person in truth is awake if you weren't awake you wouldn't know you had thoughts you weren't awake you wouldn't know you had problems so everyone is awake in there the problem is no one is taught what it's like to live inside themselves they're just taught how they're supposed to be behave outside all of the social training is outside how you're supposed to act how you're supposed to dress what you're supposed to do how you're supposed to talk what you're supposed to do with your life just everything is all outside stuff and except for

rare occasions no one has talked about very simple stuff such as hi you're in there and you have things in there with you you're not alone there's thoughts there's feelings there's energies which is what I want to talk about tonight if you don't pay attention to that it just runs your life it becomes everything to you if it becomes Disturbed inside you don't understand you just know you're not well and so you do whatever you can to try to be well if it is really nice inside you say I really really like that and it's

so rare and you try to figure out what's going on that's making it nice inside and then you try to own that you try to possess that you try to cling to that everyone knows this is the truth because there's no exception if you notice you're not doing well you try to find out why and get rid of it if you notice you're doing well you try to find out why and own it what it takes a while to catch on to in very few catch on is that the act of trying to get rid

of it makes it worse and the act of trying to own it destroys your well-being if you were feeling love and you decided this is the person that is causing that you will be scared to death of losing that person you will want that person always with you you'll be so neurotic the more you believe believe that that person is the key to your happiness the worse off you are because you want to do well and it's doing well inside and so you don't want to lose this you don't want to blow it you'll be

afraid what you should wear and how you should look and what you should say and the whole psyche will become neurotic inside because that's what need does and it is the same thing if you have a problem with something or you have a problem in inside and you decide that this is what's causing it or you decide that I have to avoid this you just think about it all the time you become neuronic about it about how you don't want to have this experience and what should you do and did you blow it and what

should you do now and you just the whole inside becomes weird when you don't want something or when you want something now the first level of learning everybody knows they don't know it consciously but they're in there and it can get nice or it can get ugly in there or everything in between so you do what you can outside to try and control things so it's the way you need it to be then perhaps you're one of the rare ones who wakes up to realize that this is not working that the very Act of needing

and the Very Act of fearing means I live in need and I live in fear not hard to figure out okay it's like it looks like the fear is good because it's going to get rid of the thing that's bothering me hello the fear is bothering you the fear of experiencing the thing that is bothering you or that here let's do the might bother you you ever worry about something hasn't happened yet but might all right so if it hasn't happened yet it's not bothering you but the thought that it might happen creates fear therefore

it's bothering you so the event is not bothering you but the fear bothers you so if it's not happening yet you get the booby prize of being disturbed anyways surely if you're disturbed when it's not happening how are you going to be when it is happening very disturbed so that's your trade-off now am I disturbed because I'm afraid or I'm very disturbed because that which I was afraid of is happening now I'm both afraid and freaked out and I'm telling you if you will watch you will see this is what's going on and and the

tradeoffs you're being forced to make are you know just basically at least it's not too bad I'm doing okay ask people how you doing okay it's not really all that good okay it's kind of like yeah not too bad it's like how often when you ask somebody how are you doing they say I'm just ecstatic I make sure I say it all the time just to blow people's minds that's my stock answer ecstatic but that's not what people say they say not too bad could be worse that's the one I like the most could be

worse I bet it could I've been better I'm sure you have I it's just it's amazing and so you look at it and you once in your life get it straight if I need something to be okay then I'm not okay if I fear something happening that will make me worse then I'm not okay and if you check it out you'll notice you are always needing something you always looking for something that will make it better and you are always worrying about something that could make it worse I'm not trying to be negative but just

check it out right that's sort of like the underlining and everything's going on and what you will see someday is the act of fearing and the act of needing no objects there going to be any objects out there there nothing to do with the world just inside yourself the act of fearing and the act of needing are enough to destroy your life so if you're not careful you will never live a full life the fear and the need will drive everything you do and way you act and so on so what about we do about

this what are the choices in a nutshell what you have to start watching if you want to break free of this is get it very simple you know what it feels like to be doing well and you know what it feels like to not be doing well as we've discussed numerous times before eventually you will reach the point where you see when I'm doing well I'm open I'm receptive I'm positive when I'm not doing well I'm closed I'm constricted I'm pulled in and it creates a tension and a tightness inside of me and eventually you

get to the point where you just look at it in relationship to that am I open or am I closed that's simple not do I like it do I not like it do I want it do I fear it am I open right now am I open sometimes you're open it feels relaxed it feels good it feels open you can breathe sometimes it's closed isn't it it's like something went wrong in there and it got tight in various spots sometimes your head gets tight sometimes your stomach gets tight yes or no all these things are

real so you watch it and you see if you will watch you will see when you are open when you feel open expansive open you're doing well you feel well you look forward to meeting new people you look forward to different foods you look forward to vacations you just look forward to school you look forward to many different things because you are open that's what it means we could spend all night talking about what does it mean to be open means receptive enthused you are open to something are you open to this right are you

open to going here are you open to what does that mean I like it we use those words right it means exactly what it says are you open are you closed are you closed to this meaning I have no interest in it I don't even want you to talk to me about it I don't even want to discuss it I don't want to see pictures of it I don't want to hear the word ever again I am closed to this subject you ever been closed ever been open which is more fun and you're going to

catch on that that's all that's going on it's fun to watch once you see it what you'll see is that when you're it's like your position it's not the world when you're open you like things they're fun even things that aren't so good dress are cute they're fun all right when you're closed you don't like things then you start to question this whole thing about liking and disliking maybe it's me she doesn't like the same things I do he doesn't like the same things I do so what is this all about and what you're going

to see is that when you're open you like things and when you're closed you don't like things can you be open and love somebody and then close and not love them you know darn well that you can be open and feel tremendous love and then something happens to close you and we'll talk about what that means in a minute but to close you and then you don't feel love when you look at them you don't want to be around them just soon they leave the room I need my space told you sometimes I need my

space people call them moods I just call them opening closing right she's in a bad mood no she's closed she's in a really good mood no she's open so then you come to questioning if that's what's going on what is this and that becomes the real spiritual ual Journey there all these words and books your real spiritual journey becomes when you wake up consciously and you say you know I am much happier when I'm open and I am miserable when I'm closed that it's all about am I open or am I closed not what's going

on out there if I am open to what's going on out there I'm fine with it if I am closed to what's going on out there it bothers me and when you're closed the events that are taking place hit the part of you that's closed if a door is open and a wind blows nothing happens if the doors close and the wind blows it rattles it's taking on the force in opposition of what's taking place so if the baby's crying or the person's doing this or something's happening so he's beeping their horn irritating you is

because you're close to it and if you are not close to it even things used to irritate you just pass right through and they don't bother you so what it means to be irritated is that you put an obstacle inside of you you close to something it's taking place and so it hits your closure you have to decide is the answer to stop the thing from happening or is the answer to stop closing and that's the deepest thing I'll ever teach you the spirituality is everyday life it's not something you do on Sunday or Friday

night or Saturday it is if you want to grow if you want to experience Beauty and wholeness and love then you have to learn these kind of things otherwise you will act reactively something will bother you you will try to stop it something will make you feel good and you'll try to own it like I started that's what will happen if you don't pay attention but then the world is running you you have no Freedom you are just a reaction machine to whatever is taking place in your environment and what you'll do is is go

out there and try to control everybody and try to control everything and you'll never be happy you won't you may think you're happy but you'll see that it's really not it's it's work life becomes work it becomes this overwhelming thing of having to control everything so it doesn't bother you and so you don't lose what you think you need I don't want you to live like that I want you to be like just happy to be alive and just enjoy your journey on the planet Earth you know wake up in the morning and giggle and

just say well okay I'm back I wonder what's going to today and then just go about your business during the day and whatever happens is like going to Disney World rcot you know she like oh look what happened and then go to sleep and laugh that it was fun and then get up and do it again if you have your choice between which ways you want to live which do you want this overwhelming burden where you have to control everything because it's bothering you or you're afraid of losing or do you want to just be

open happy so what you see is that it comes down to opening and closing it comes down to you understanding that it has nothing to do with anything else it has to do with whether you are closing to the situation or whether you are opening to the situation and you'll start to practice with this and realize if I can be open I can handle anything if I can be more open I can enjoy anything if I can be even more open I can literally be in Bliss and joy and Ecstasy with every single thing that's

going on every moment of my life the only time I'm not is when I close in other words someone wants to raise your hand yeah but I could never be open to this and so what you're saying is that event is going to close me and that's natural I can't argue the natural unnatural we work on all kinds of things in our lives you don't just accept the thing as it's that way you try to optimize the highest that you can reach if you find out that remaining open to things makes your life much easier

you don't have to fight with anything you don't have to be overwhelmed by anything nothing bothers you ever again it's just the experiences of your life whereas if you are close to things everything bothers you it becomes irritating you ever hear the expression he gets on my nerves that gets on my nerves doesn't get on your nerves your nerves are inside nothing's even touching you it is because you are closed to it that you put up opposition to what's coming in through your senses that tension that opposition means the force that's coming through your senses

hits that closure and that's what messes up all your energy and all your nervous system and all your digestive system and all that stuff it is you who is resisting the experience you're having that is causing the problem not the experience you having these are just deep understanding that they should start teaching Us in kindergarten that is completely under our control it is completely up to us the quality of Our Lives it is not up to the experiences we're having all experiences are worth having if you're open to them no experience are worth having if

you're going to close to them that's simple so people are in a relationship people have so much trouble with relationships why because they open and close if you could stay open at all times no matter how anybody was or what they did you have a wonderful relationship it's like it was fine we there for 2 years new just wonderful everything it was neat getting to know the person right and he was weird well he got weird sometimes that was neat it was exciting and and whatever happens you're fine but if you're like most of us

and you're just very restrictive in the areas where you're okay it has to be just this way especially in relationships where you get close and intimate with somebody it's sort of like it's almost as if you're saying in a relationship if I'm going to let you get close to me then I want you to know all the areas where I open and close and you better never close me and you better always do things that open me that's your responsibility because I said I love you if that's what you mean by I love you keep

it I'm run all right it's like you can't sit there and say I'm going to figure out what makes him or her open and what makes him or her close and make sure I never close them and make sure I'm always pleasing them so that they keep loving me you will have 10 all the time you'll be afraid of saying the wrong thing even in your closest relationships even in your marriages you can't let that be the basis of your relationship and so the alternative is to not accept cart blanch that I open and close

and that there are things that open and close me people say it's just the way I am there's nothing I can do about I've always been that way yes there are reasons that you open and close they are changeable and that some day you will realize is the most important work you will ever do in your entire life what is learning to stay open it's more important than your college degree it's more important than who you marry it's more important than way you have children it's more important than your finances it's more important than your

health hey like that you go work and be the healthiest person that ever lived and just be an neotic mess who closes over every single thing that goes on if anything goes outside your comfort zone you freak and your comfort zone is you know micrometers all right that's how tight you are with everything what if you're like that who cares if you have health well good is it you're staying healthy so you can be miserable those kind of people they want to live long because they want to have more suffering I'd rather not be so

healthy but be filled with joy all the time there are people like that okay they have problems but they don't have any problems it's an amazing thing so you reach the point where you realize if I have a One Life to Live I want to live it I want to live it I don't want to just react everything that's going on out there and you realize the foundation of this and the foundation of the quality of your life is how open you can stay to the events that are unfolding in your Universe now you could

say listen I'm willing to stay open as long as they do what I want them to I'm a very open person as long as you treat me the I want to be treated as long as you wear what I want you to wear as long as you do what I expect you to do you'll find me to be very open that's not open that's closed hiding is open okay you have these borders these boundaries and the moment anybody or anything goes outside those boundaries you close well they're going to go outside the boundaries it's going

to happen all the time every day the weather's going to go outside how you want it to be people are not going to be the way you want them to be everything all the time is going to irritate you it's going to be just this underlying thing of of tightness why live like that if you don't have to so you get to this point where you realize your work your mission should you choose to accept it is the more open I can stay the less problems I have how do you know that because nothing's a

problem until you say it is look at him he's wearing a blue shirt like my blue shirt I mean sometimes people who wear you know they go to a party they spend a lot of time in their dress or something in a prom and somebody's wearing the exact same dress and people get upset don't they so I'm freaked out man I sure it looks a lot like mine I could do that couldn't I all right and then it ruined my evening but I did that he didn't do that and you're going to catch on that

you have problems because things fall outside your comfort zone the bigger your comfort zone becomes the less problems you have it's almost as if you believe some people believe the following if I work on myself and do spiritual work the whole world changes you should see it everybody's much nicer and things start going my way hey guys that's not what's happening the world is just doing its thing you're opening so more of the world fits in you and therefore it bothers you less therefore you're getting what you want more because you want what is more

you get it it's really pretty neat okay some people will say you know the universe is so perfect if I'm fine with 10,000 things and there's only one thing I'm not fine with just one thing that really irritates me it seems like it always happens it just knows how to get me God's against me or for me I don't know that's not what's happening what's happening is more of a psychological projection type thing if you're fine with every single thing in this room except for one thing I guarantee it's all you'll think about you'll look

all the time to see what that person is doing or what that thing is happening because you are fixated on a particular thing it causes you to separate that thing out of all the other things that are out there and pay attention to it why because you're afraid of it you either need it or you're afraid of it therefore it seems like that's what's always happening it's really neat so karma is that perfect if you have a problem it's going to happen you'll make sure of it because you'll see it everywhere so it's like a

wise person wakes up and realizes my God I'm doing this it's me I have this Zone and every single thing in the universe either fits or does not fit within that zone period it's that simple do you like looking at the stars no I never like looking at the stars that took you a billionth of a micro second to close to looking at the stars now you go on a date a guy said I'd like to go look at the stars he's off he's off the list that's it we're not going to bother checking any

other things no other credentials he likes looking at the stars I don't look at any other stars that's the end of it and you eventually catch on this is what's happening it's not a philosophy is it okay it's happening in China it happened 500 years ago it's just what is it's truth it's reality you you are doing it you are doing it and until you wake up and realize I end it up inside of a machine the machine has the ability to open the machine has the ability to close and to varying degrees let's give

open this word open science open the kind of words that everybody uses so we'll sit there and say how are you doing today okay all right you're not closed or not too bad that means you're not too closed okay how you doing today I'm pretty good I feel pretty good today like you're surprised you know I like whoa It's a shock right so you're more open nothing closed you yet right how you doing today God I just I feel great I don't know why or maybe I know why I met somebody you know I I

just feel great you're open how you doing today I am so glad you asked cuz I needed to tell somebody I have never felt this good in my whole life I just met this person and we just hit it who it was like the chemistry was phenomenal all right and it's like I'm just floating on of cloud now that's really open now imagine how open you have to be to actually float in a cloud right say whoa you broke gravity or something you felt like that haven't you these are all degrees of openness and because

I care for you I won't do that about closing because we know what those words sound like don't we right it goes from middle down down down it's cute isn't it it's all just opening and closing do you see it once you see it oh you're so lucky if you see it cuz then you realize it has nothing to do with the world it has to do with whether I'm open or closed the more open I am the more beautiful my life is the more closed I am the uglier it is but then you realize

the world has the ability to open and close me people have the ability to open and close me weather has the ability to and close me doesn't it I don't like it it's cold I don't I don't like the cold it's hot I'm sweating I just you're all weird cuz it's hot does the weather have the ability to open and close you how you doing I I I'm concerned I I got this party outside tomorrow and I'm afraid it's going to rain there not a cloud in the sky I know that that's the problem if

it would rain today it would use up the clouds right it doesn't matter if there's not a cloud in the sky or if it's cloudy you're going to figure out it's going to rain tomorrow and you're not doing well with it even the weather can open and close you isn't that adorable once you see this it's like so simple you can open and close when you're open to whatever degree you're open you're doing wonderful and you're close you're doing terrible there these are the basic underlying truths that cut through all the noise and then you

look and you realize the world has the ability to open and close me but not the same as everybody else what opens me closes somebody else what blows me away doesn't even affect somebody they didn't even notice it why a wise person a scientist sits there and says why would it be that way how did I inherit is this DNA right are they're going to find jeans that say oh she likes hot weather and he likes cold and she likes blue and she likes red and this is that kind of thing right probably they will

but net result or at least they'll believe they do net result is I can guarantee you one thing ready now we're going get serious we lay the ground work there's not a single not a single tendency that's what they are Tendencies aren't they Tendencies to open and tendencies to close there not a single one inside of you you can't change not a single one it doesn't make any difference you're afraid of heights change it anytime you want you like this kind of person not that kind of person change it anytime you want it is completely

changeable and it's not even hard okay now that'd be something worth learning if that's true why because if I like it when it's open and I get to change it oh boy this is going to be fun that's the work I'm going to do every day of my life I'm going to learn to stay open I'm going to learn to not close again why would I waste my time doing that because everything else you're doing with your life is an indirect way to do that the reason you want to get married you think it will

open you the reason you want to get rich is you think buying things will be fun and open you and do things the reason you don't want to get sick as you think it will close you the reason you don't want to get a little speck on your face is because you'll be embarrassed and it will close you you have all of these preferences because you've decided what needs to happen so you don't open or close there's a much more direct way to do it don't close open I don't know how to talk about it's

so funny what if you really did have that ability right what if there was a window only one window in your old house and the blind some goes down and some it's electric some goes down some goes up you have no control over it and you love it when the sunlight comes and it's really depressing when it's dark for a long time and so you just wait around for that window and it opens you go run up there all right and you just can't see anything that's going on what if you found out that you

had complete control of that window that there was just something you weren't seeing and that you could get that blind to stay open then whatever you were doing before to try and hope it would stay open to try and bide your time till it does is a waste and this is what a yogi or yogan or somebody works on themselves comes to see it is under your control I love whatever part of this you don't understand you need to separate that out and look at it in other words do you believe do you see that

when you're open you're happy do you see that when you're closed you're not the things you're closed about really freak you out and things that you're open about you really enjoy and do you see how hard it is to get things to be the way it matches you and then the question becomes have you yet seen that you have control over this that you do not have to just accept the programming that has taken place inside of you when you reach that point where you realize all I want to do is enjoy my life I

want to be open all the time and I have the ability to reprogram myself to retrain myself to work with myself so that I am more open more receptive and do not close as much and if I do that work every day of my life will be higher than the day was before every day every hour of your life will be higher than the hour before why would it not high is about being open you just learn to stay open with more things there for as you go through your life less things close you more

things open you you are winning when we have this Ledger and here are the things that close you and here are the things that open you the less you have on the closed side and the more you have on the open Side by definition the happier you are and happy you will always be and the more you will not worry about things why what if you get to the point where there's nothing on the close side there's nothing anymore that freaks you out or closes you what you going to worry about nothing because all you

worry about now is that which will freak you out what if there's nothing on that side can you imagine never worrying just putting all that energy you do into worrying into studying and dating and do what the heck you do right just enjoying your life you can do that I know no one ever tells anybody that so I'm daring to be bold you can have nothing on the other side you just go through a life where every single thing is enjoyable where every single experience blows you away where there's just this constant feeling of enthusiasm

and joy and my God that's neat that I get to do this all right whatever it is and to the degree that it's not that way it's because you closed as simple as that so once you realize this it becomes pretty straightforward as to what I should be doing with my life since everybody's doing it anyways they're just doing it I call it indirectly you know what that means that thing out there made this happen so I won't work with what's inside of me I'll work with what outside changes what's inside of me okay when

I'm in his presence I Feel Love Therefore I have to try and stay in his presence and try and let him stay in my presence because that's the only way and how to F love that's indirect because the love is inside of you if I understand that the reason I Feel Love In His presence is because I feel open in his presence for whatever reason all right whatever reason I feel open it's just a fascinating thing as to what it is that causes you to be open under a given situation all I know is that's

indirect you're going outside in order to make the change take place inside a wise person will cut through it does the following my chakras my energy centers the things that open and close are inside of me they belong to me they are part of my being it's like my diet it's like my workout it's like my hygiene these are mine okay I'm responsible for these things I am responsible for my heart I am responsible for my power center my ego chakra I am responsible for all of my centers if they close it's my responsibility nobody

else's nobody it's my responsibility to learn how to work with myself so that it will open I think it's a lot like working out you know a lot of people can do a lot of things for you parents friends boyfriends girlfriends right they can't work out for you doesn't have any effect on your muscles I don't want to say it man it's got to be something you do right they can't meditate for you either it just there are certain things you have to do because they're about you this is one of them the opening and

closing of your centers is your responsibility if you want to hand it off to somebody else you're going to get hurt and you'll never reach any optimal they're yours I mean it's even true that if you need to work with your biceps and somebody takes your arm and moves them up and down that will not work with your biceps no matter how much they love you no matter how hard they're trying you must assert the effort nobody can lose weight for you you have to do it nobody can change your diet you have to do

it it is the same with your chakras it is the same with your energy centers you get to the point where you realize I want to do this this is the most important thing in my whole life it is what determines the quality of my my life now and in the future all right how do you do it once you decide it's what I want to do it's not hard to do it it's fun okay I've decided that I want to stay open I want to stay open because it's more fun so I going to

work with myself so you walk out into the world and I guarantee you're going to close I give you 15 seconds 10 seconds something is going to happen a raindrop is going to fall on your nose oh my God it's raining wind will mesh your hair up a little bit you know you'll drop something on your pants and get a spot you know somebody won't say hello to you or somebody will say hello to you they don't want to say something is going to happen I guarantee you that is going to change how you feel

that's opening and closing this whole thing about how I'm doing is energy flows and opening and closing so you make it a game it becomes the game of your life it's so much fun it's like a you know you kids nowadays get caught in the video games don't they especially young ones and they're just always doing the video games you're doing a video game inside yourself that's what it becomes like to take this path your energy system is Whoa man it's weird in there right it's opening and closing and do all kinds of things you

take on the game of playing that video game you're in there playing with your own Energy System and you make it a game it's fun when you're sitting there playing a video game or doing something like that and and it it's hard you like that you concentrate you focus more I watch the kids they just get into it they don't like throw it away or something like that and then when they lose they go play again they won't stop it's amazing right actually it teaches some interesting qualities they go right back to do better do

better I got to level three I got level four right they don't quit because they didn't get to level 10 on the first try they enjoy the challenge of learning and working and bettering their abilities that's how a yogi and a yogan becomes about their own little inner video game I don't care how many times I don't get to the highest level the very Joy of playing the game is fun so you walk out into the world and I'm telling you it's going to close you it's just going to affect how you're doing like I

like when you're doing well something happened you liked or you met someone you like you're just bouncing around you feel good how long is that going to last before something brings you down something anything slows that energy down eventually if you'll watch you'll see 10 seconds it's just amazing how things affect you so you start playing the great game of this is trying to close me and you slow it down how by paying attention and you'll see you don't go from open to closed you go from open to a little bit weird you know it's

going to close don't you like the stomach gets some butterflies heart does something it just changes in there and then it starts to close over time if you'll watch you'll see you have time in between and that there are things you can do when you start to close that make it so that you don't close and that becomes your work and this is how you learn to transform yourself so it starts raining when you're outside me my shoulders go up I don't know why it's not an umbrella I just don't get it you the shoulders

go up and it goes like this oh you know in the morning shower you didn't do that when there was water falling on you but because you're outside it is I don't know I haven't figure it out but net result is that's sort of like the natural tendency okay it's not helping you at all it's not keeping water off of you fight it fight what fight that tennis what do you mean drop the shoulders oh my god when it's raining yeah because it doesn't do anything when they go up it didn't probably more is getting

wet you know when they're broader it protects what's below it or something I don't know but what an amazingly stupid tendency right you know what I'm talking about when it goes like this right just crunches up that's closing that is your body doing the body language of closing don't do it play with it play with it just it's a little game you just relax your you can do it all the time no matter what it takes no time at all you're going about your day but there's always time for this because it's in a different

plane it's at a different level it's inner work whereas before you're always doing outer work it doesn't take any time you don't have to quit your job you don't have to not get married you don't have to not go to school you don't have to do anything keep doing what you're doing why because it'll close you it's like a battlefield your life is this unfolding Battlefield in which what's coming in through the senses is trying to close you and your game is I ain't closing today I ain't closing and you'll see that it's not easy

but if you'll paid attention to the whole first person the I gave I hope what I got across is there's nothing more important it is what everybody else is trying to do get that feeling of Joy get that feeling of excitement they're just going about it the wrong way and it's not working this way does work always and every moment that you invest in learning to reprogram your energy system to remain open it'll be that way for the rest of your life if you learn not to scrunch up when it starts raining and you just

relax your shoulders relax the heart relax the tummy and if you choose relax the posterior all right because you're going to see it gets tight right and by the time you're done with the butt the shoulders are back up I want to warn you of that okay it's it is so much fun to watch like what is has this always been like there some people come to say Mi this is making me worse I'm making your worse just noticing okay this is how you have lived your life so you just just relax it again and

you just make it a game and if you will do this what will happen is first it'll be the fun of relaxing then next time next time and then at some point you'll notice that the rain comes and you didn't scrunch up and then a little time after that once you break the pattern it happens very quickly a little time after that it'll start to rain and you'll feel Joy you'll feel refreshed it was all about what you did in between are you getting it you practiced it's it's so silly to talk about it's so

free it's like a free joy free High free quality of life it costs nothing and it changes and transforms your entire being so you do that with the rain and once you learn to do it with these easier things why do I call them easier because there's really no threat you know it's like like the cost benefit analysis is 100% benefit in zero cost with that rain thing I just showed you what's the cost nothing what's the benefit lot okay I have a happier time in my life and then you'll start realizing that even in

the bigger things that it's easier for you why you practiced you learned to stay conscious in the midst of closing the moment you can stay conscious in the midst of closing and not just react and freak out because you closed if you can do it about the rain then you can do it about the person who's standing too close to you when they talk shoulders go up stomach tightens up okay okay I got it it's not comfortable but the meantime you have to deal with this person and depending about how you deal with the fact

that you're not comfortable or that they're standing too close if they're standing Too Close you need to deal with that but you're an ecstasy it will be a very different experience than if they're standing too close and you get so uptight you just bite their head off okay you end up reacting your life becomes one of reaction instead of one of presence and decision- making because you are able to handle the rain fall falling I'm guaranteeing you you will be able to handle the person who standing Too Close you'll be able to handle the person

who didn't say hello when they walk by you'll be able to handle the fact that something happened that was embarrassing when you're in the presence of somebody else you know somebody said something to you so the first thing is the outside things you'll just keep doing the same thing you'll keep relaxing the shoulders relaxing the chest relaxing the tummy relaxing the butt that becomes your immed imediate action based upon the fact that you feel closure starting to take place then you're not buying into the closure because you don't buy into it it happens less and

less and eventually it doesn't happen and you will get to the point where you say I can't even believe I used to be weird about that it doesn't even bother me anymore just doesn't do anything anymore you can't even relate to the fact that it used to be that way that's kind of neat what are you doing you're investing in yourself in a real way you're investing in the fact that you will have a more beautiful life from then on because you have learned how to remain open then something's going to happen it starts to

internalize what do you mean you start realizing it's not just outside things that close me I close me I could be doing wonderful and then my mind says something that closes me how about you can your thoughts close you oh yeah and they do they do somebody says I love you you're just feeling wonderful till they walk away and your mind says but will you love me tomorrow doesn't it all right in which case it closes the mind can close your chras what an amazing thing to realize you know it but nobody pays attention to

it so the rain can close you that's weird right how close somebody stands to you can close you that's pretty weird what people wear can close you or open you it's just the most amazing thing in the world what opens you that's very interesting and what closes you and so you notice that outside and then you start to notice it inside all it takes that's when you really wake up to what's been going on one thought one micro thought have you ever been conscious enough to notice that you can close before the thought even expresses

itself that you know that a negative thought is coming you don't know what it's going to say yet but you're already feeling weird have you ever felt the thought being made it's really neat it's like it's very sensitive in there and so you start to realize this thing about open and closing this this is quite a battle and if you don't fight it you lose it wins if you don't play this game the default is you suffer Buddhist said all of life is suffering the reason all of life is suffering you'll see it so clearly

once you was this closing because everything closes you your thoughts close you events close you everything it's amazing it's like a struggle to stay open you're lucky if you stay open you're write in your diary if something good happens I don't want you didn't bother having a diar because there aren't enough pages every minute of every it rain today the sun came up this guy came and talked to me the other guy didn't it's like whatever it is should be Joy it should be ecstatic the way you do that is to practice remaining open so

now once you've worked with the outside you start to work with the inside it what do you mean you start having a thought this this is graduate school you catch yourself to where you start having a thought sometimes you'll think about what happened when you were 5 years old ever think about your past whoever thinks about their past whoever thinks about their past in a way that closes them things that happened to them that weren't so comfortable things that got said to them that hurt them things that happened from any age all the way through

including yesterday and every day before well if you're trying to stay open why are you doing that to yourself why would you do that to bring these things back up in your mind that are bothering you it's bad enough the world bothers you now it's completely up to you and you're bringing up this stuff that bothers you so this is how a wise person thinks they sit there and say I want to be happy and I can't be happy while I'm doing this so you start with the outside things you relax your way through them

and you'll see right away that you have complete control then you start with the inside things you start to see a thought about a week ago about what somebody said not on my watch not on my watch what that person said A week ago belongs to a week ago doesn't belong to now how can I ever be happy if I have stored inside of me every single thing that ever made me unhappy and I keep bringing it up and making it part of my life today all the things that happened every day of my life

that bothered me before people do do that I won't say you do that I know you don't want to own that I hope you own it cuz we do do it don't we then it's like you're guaranteed you'll never be happy and then the older you get the more miserable you'll be why because you had more things that bothered you and if you're in the habit of bringing these things back or they come back by themselves then even things that made you a little happy won't oh the grandkids came to see in this beautiful yeah

you remember Sally's grandkid died when 5 years ago and oh I'd die if this kid died and what are you doing you're ruining the beauty of the moments that are now because of these memories and these things that you're doing I just I can't even talk about it so what do I do when a thought starts if you're Vigilant you're clear you've worked with the outside you've practiced you do the same thing the minute that thought starts you notice I guarantee your shoulders will be up your stomach will be tight just relax your shoulders relax

your stomach and don't t touch that thought just let it do whatever it wants to do pass right through while you relax through it the same as you did with the rain the same as you did with a person who stood too close every time you do it it's not just affecting this event you're practicing if I lift weights I'm not only strong on that weight am I right if I go over to the other machine I'm strong too and if I go to New York and do some weights I'm strong there too aren't I

it's not just that weight that I did I use the weight to build myself it extrapolates out to everything that's what happens with this work if you will relax in the face of the rain if you relax in the face of the little spot on your clothes if you will practice with the things outside starting with the small things you just relax through it you're going to start to notice that you earn the right to work inside and that's real work and you become conscious where you start to see that you're making the thoughts that

are closing you and if you do that you'll never be happy I'm sorry you'll never be happy if you meet somebody who you love but you're in the habit of having bad thoughts the relationship will not stay love it can't because you're going to close yourself right and what I'd love I could teach you nothing else I'd love to teach you at least don't close yourself it's bad enough that other things close you don't close yourself cuz you lose you'll always be able to close yourself you're very good at it aren't you come on how

good at it are you of ruining your own happiness how good at it are you of making sure you're worrying about a whole bunch of things that could go wrong you're real good at it I don't want you to be so good it's the one thing I want you to fail at all right so you learn that the moment the thought starts you don't pay attention you just relax you relax and you're going to find these thoughts come and go now you get into the real deep teachings what do I do with my thoughts what

do I do with my thoughts ready nothing that's what you do with your thoughts nothing and you know I'm talking about personal thoughts not talking about 2 plus two pay attention to those I'm talking about this stuff I'm talking about just your past the garbage that you've collected the personal garbage you've collected inside yourself and you you could raise your hand say Micky you telling me I'm doing I swear to God I'm not I don't tell these thoughts to say these things they're like voices in my head they just talk and ruin my life I

agree I'll give you that what do I do about nothing if you can do nothing they will just come and go so you're sitting and mind your own business enjoying here I've met somebody and I love them I'm attracted to them and oh my God this is so sweet but I know I have this pattern that when they're not there and then I see them talk to somebody else I get jealous if I just met them 10 seconds ago and I like them and they go talk to somebody else I like own them it's like

you just start noticing these patterns that you have inside and you notice that they ruin your life and they ruin every relationship and they ruin the lives of everybody around you what do I do I don't know how to make it not happen you don't have to make it not happen what you want to do is listen to and hang out with people that have done this for 10 20 30 40 50 60 years all right people that have walk this path and laid it down for you to say okay yes you're right this is

what's going on inside and I don't want it going on inside I want to be happy I really do right it's not like I'm trying to be a mess all right I would love to stay open and you remember open not close open that's your watch word and so then when the thought starts you see it's going to close you you know you're not stupid you're in there you know what thought's going to close you what thought's going to open you and the minute that thing starts you instead of paying attention to it relax your

shoulders relax your chest relax your tummy and relax what you're going to see is that it doesn't close you as much because you didn't pay attention to it you didn't side with it you didn't get involved with it in instead you did this stay open thing so you start realizing that thought is no different than the rain here you went through that whole cycle of learning to enjoy the rain now let's see you go through the whole cycle of enjoying negative thoughts there I just took you the whole way enjoying negative thoughts aren't I supposed

to get rid of negative thoughts good luck there's reasons that thoughts come up negative if you want to transcend and go beyond all this it is not that you try to not have negative thoughts it's that that you try to not close in the face of negative thoughts just like you didn't have to move to Arizona where it doesn't rain in order to not crunch your shoulders up you learned to enjoy the rain learn to enjoy the fact that there are thoughts look there's a thought that one's really negative look at that where did that

come from boy and it used to be one thought like that and my day or week would be ruined now it's funny it's funny that I could have thought any thought in the whole universe and that's the one that popped up and it made me laugh the day that you find that you are completely comfortable if not ecstatic about all your thoughts negative positive or otherwise just the fact that they're there is funny it's just funny why would there be these things popping up inside my head I'm not doing it right they're just there and

you just find them interesting come see me I want to look at you right because you've reached a very great state because now your burden is light just like that you didn't change anything nothing bothers you anymore even your own self the mind's free to do what it wants the world's free to do what it wants the heart's free to do what it wants and you're fine you're just relaxing through it and I guarantee you anything you are willing to relax through will come and go and eventually it will come and go and won't bother

you then it will come and go and you'll feel funny about it then it will come and go and the energy of the thought will send you into ecstasy even if it's the stupidest thought that ever was it's like like I'm telling you maybe now in your life you don't like being wrong you're around a group of people and everybody's given their opinion and you give yours and somebody else walks in who knows what they're talking about and says well you all are pretty right except for her that that that's no no sorry no that's

wrong right and like you don't like that it's like you want to Crunch up again right you want to go away right I'm telling you you will reach a point in your life where that is the most exciting thing to you that the way you were thinking about something turned out to be wrong which means you can perfect how you think about things you actually learned something by definition because the way your mind regurgitated your knowledge was wrong so either your know knowledge data is wrong or your process of cognition was wrong of how you

put it together both are worth changing aren't they because they generated the wrong answer therefore a wise person is excited when they're wrong I'm serious they're like honored right you just literally sit there say God thanks wow all right let's look at this why did I get honored because I was open to being wrong back to open aren't I and all of a sudden you realize nothing bothers you it's all fun it's all just this exciting process of being alive once you have reached that state outside and you've reached that state inside that sounds great

you've gotten nowhere yet nowhere you haven't even started once you reach that point then you are no longer holding yourself down you got it and you go up you go up you just start all this Energy starts to go up and I've discussed this with you you start to sent literally there is an Ascent your being your essence you in there we started talk by saying you in there how you doing okay starts doing very well I'm telling you my burden is light as close I can get you have no burden because you can handle

everything and all of a sudden because there's no burden you don't have to do anything you still go to school you still get married you still have kids but you're not doing it because you're not okay you're just doing it because it's there it's fun just something fun to do when you're on the planet Earth but be because you don't have a burden you're going to start to feel your spirit your soul your being your essence your Consciousness starts to lift inwardly and you start feeling this wave of joy and love pouring like water just

pouring down over your being you know where it comes from but it starts feeding you all I'm telling every second of your life you have to learn to handle it it's that strong all right it's just you wake up in the morning can't get a bed cuz you're just pouring through you why because you're open so open doesn't just mean the things that are outside can come in it means that whatever's inside can flow doesn't it open goes both ways and you're going to see there's something very great inside of you amazing but it's been

blocked by all the closing and so all this Energy starts flowing that's why it's called spirituality it's about spirit and spirit is Shu this energy that's inside of you that now can't flow because you're closed that's as far as I'm going with that and how high does that get there is no end no end no one ever reached the end you're like a little Brook and then you go into a river all right and then you go or a stream and then you go into a river and then you start to flow into the ocean

right it's like it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger it's infinite you inside as you start to explore the source of your energies and that's where all these great states that the great beings have gone into every one of you are capable of that but it all all starts with your feet on the ground your eyes open saying I don't want to close look at the cost of closing look what it's stealing from you all right that's your work should you choose to accept it and I hope you do right work on these things

Dr