Specialness ~ An extra-ordinary talk by GD

This is one of the best talks I’ve ever heard. It is one of those group sessions where GD opens to a page in A Course In Miracles, starts reading it, and opens up a discussion in the group based on the lines. This is a talk I kept visiting once…twice…thrice and every time I did, I became more aware of acting out from specialness. Eventually I just sat down with my journal and started making a note of all the places where I play out this specialness, pausing it at very intervals. GD has so incisively pulled out the many different angles to this subject that it is one hell of an ego buster! Though of course, he does it with his characteristic humour that softens some of the blow 🙂

I invite you to hear it with this context – Are you aware of the many ways in which you try to be special? Do you see how specialness is actually a curse, a burden? Going through this audio one thing is certain – you will start seeing the many ways in which you have built an egoistic structure that commands you to be special.

Here is the audio (shared with permission from GD):
[Duration: 39:35 minutes, Talk date: December 4, 2009]

Specialness

Osho has a very beautiful extract on “Specialness” in his book, Sermons in Stones:

I do not feel ordinary – I am.
The people who have talents, the gifted, the geniuses – they also suffer the same problem that you are suffering because they forget that the whole existence is ordinary. A sunrise, howsoever beautiful, is pure ordinariness. A sky full of stars does not feel in any way special. A rosebush full of beautiful flowers and fragrance is just part of the ordinary existence. The talented people get into trouble because they forget their relationship with existence. They become confined and imprisoned in their small talents. What are your talents and what are your geniuses? Because you can paint, you are a genius? Look at the butterflies, look at the flowers, look at the sky when the sun is setting – the whole existence is so colorful. And because you have painted a small canvas, you have become special. And what have you painted? The existence has to be remembered; then you will not get caught in the net of an egoistic feeling, that ”I am special.” The moment you feel you are special, you have lost contact with life, with love, with the totality of the whole – you are alone.

A true genius does not know, does not feel that he is special. That is the criterion whether he is a true genius or not. If he feels that he is special, he’s not a true genius. The very feeling of specialness arises out of your inferiority. The more inferior you feel, the more you try to pretend, to pose your specialness.

Update: The link to the audio track has been updated since it was not accessible earlier.

crea Written by:

13 Comments

  1. May 27, 2013
    Reply

    Reblogged this on superaalifragilistic and commented:
    Deepti Gujar’s “extra-ordianary” post on Specialness includes a free audio download of GD speaking on the subject. Where all do you still try to maintain your specialness? Where have you become imprisoned by your talent and cut off from life? A worthy exploration…

  2. May 27, 2013
    Reply

    thanks so much for posting this. i listened to it last night and it really made an impact on me. it will be interesting to see how it shows up throughout my day today! : ) namaste, aleya

  3. May 28, 2013
    Reply

    The link is not there! Anyway.. Just what you have written and this subject is very dear to my heart..
    This morning I also woke up with the insight about the myrtle in the yonder valley that dear Kahlil speaks of:
    I quote:
    “There are those who give little of the much which they have – and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
    And there are those who have little and give it all.
    These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

    There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
    And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

    And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
    They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
    Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.”

    That is ordinariness.. Just being who you are!

    • May 28, 2013
      Reply

      Thank you Kiran, I’ve updated the link. It should be downloadable now.
      And thanks for quoting Khalil… he is a favorite… 🙂
      Much love

  4. May 31, 2013
    Reply

    Great, GREAT teaching – now listening …

  5. May 31, 2013
    Reply

    Reblogged this on who is bert and commented:
    Thank you Deepti for this fantastic post and audiotalk by GD.
    I have tried to band the word ‘ego’ out of my blogs, since it has never been well defined, and means something different depending on the background of people talking, listening, writing or reading.
    However after listening to GD’s talk on ‘specialness’ – I think that it is this specialness that most people see or suffer from 🙂 as their ‘ego’.
    I really enjoyed the talk …

    • May 31, 2013
      Reply

      Thanks Bert! Share it freely… I hope more people listen to this. It can actually block a lot of things within ourselves, this specialness.
      Take care. Love & light

  6. October 17, 2014
    Reply

    Hi Deepti,

    I have been a student of “A Course in Miracles” for a few years and it is great to have found another ACIM student from India. It will be great to get in touch with you and talk a bit more about our respective journeys.
    Best wishes,
    -Manav

    • October 30, 2014
      Reply

      Dear Manav, it would be great to keep in touch. I’ve got your mail… Thanks for that. I’ll be writing to you soon. Love and Light

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *