Sandra Gonzalez: Listening Without a Listener and Living in Harmony

What is truly here, right now? What is revealed by listening without agenda, judgment, and urge to fix or change? What remains when self and other, inner and outer, past and future fall away?In this episode, Sandra Gonzalez reflects on decades of practicing direct observation of reality, moment by moment. Years of intense solitary retreats led her to the realization that the belief of separation is the root of suffering, healing her many physical and mental afflictions. When seen clearly, the energy of suffering returns home to spaciousness and well-being. Working with others further chipped away at the sense of separate self. Sandra discusses how practicing listening to reality as a community reveals the false assumptions that fuel conflict and collective suffering. In what she calls the “autumn of her life,” Sandra feels an urgency to share this practice with younger generations, not to preserve a tradition or establish a legacy, but because it is essential for our evolution, both individually and collectively.Born and raised in Nicaragua, Sandra began sitting at Springwater Center with Toni Packer in 1988. In 2003, she was one of the few invited by Toni to continue this work. She has since guided retreats and dialogues at Springwater and in California, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, and Nicaragua.Learn More about Sandra Gonzalez: https://www.springwatercenter.org/teachers/sandra-gonzalez/Learn More about Springwater Center: https://www.springwatercenter.orgMusic: Ben Bigelow (https://www.youtube.com/@BenBigelow3)Time Stamps: 00:34 "Deep Listening": Clearly Seeing the Present Moment Experience10:47 Not Judging the Judgment15:38 The Deepest Realization20:59 Peace and Spaciousness in the Process of Dying23:44 No Inner or Outer & No Self and Other28:44 The Experience of Time35:43 Breakthrough During the First Retreat with Toni Packer45:49 Healing of Migraine48:41 Five Years of Meditating Alone in a Room55:15 Transformation Really Comes in Everyday Life01:05:35 Finding the Practice01:13:09 Love Is Another Word for Awareness01:16:06 Meditative Dialogue: Listening Together01:27:25 "Awareness is Ethical"01:36:27 Addiction to the False Notion of a Separate Self01:39:14 The Future of Springwater01:43:02 Advice to a Young One01:44:30 "Don't Know, Will See"