21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, TeachingsPage 1 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ Expressing Appreciation and Gratitude The teachings I share have been inspired and shaped by many I came in contact with over the course of my life – for which I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude. The teachings are alive and naturally evolving, being further refined every single day to improve upon their quality, preciseness and effectiveness. In conjunction with the Bentinho Massaro Team, the Free Awareness Foundation Team, and the help of all of you, our global community, we are steadily setting forth our vision of a flowering Earth, where love, compassion and integrity reign naturally; where the need for control or manipulation has vanished because all have realized their innate power to be fulfilled within and to create beauty all around, no matter what. A world where trust, abundance, generosity, clarity and transparency are as natural as sunlight. A world where everyone is fully empowered to know that all possibilities lie within them to the point where we no longer believe we have to fight ‘others’, ‘them’ or ‘the world’, in order to be who we wish to be, to get what we want to have, and to do what we love to do. I wish to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my core team members, the many volunteers that have helped me over the years, and last but not least: all of you — this community of friends, who share in this vision and participate wholeheartedly in setting free your own hearts, so that you may shine upon this planet wherever you go and radiate pure goodness in whatever you do. Biography of Bentinho (pronounced Ben-teen-yo) Ever since I can remember, I have had a heightened sense of the endless possibilities that lie forgotten within the human being, or rather: within our nature as consciousness. This intuition, coupled with what I saw in the world around me and my personal frustration with my circumstances, the stupidity of going to school, and the unconscious acting of people in general, as I perceived it — culminated in a compulsive urge to get to the root of all things; to find the truth that lies at the Heart of all that is. So it was, that at the age of 16, I consciously decided to commit myself to the search for ‘The Source of All Things.’ I intuited that this Ultimate Answer, as I called it at the time, would reveal to me (or anyone else sufficiently aware of it) such a deep understanding of the workings of life that – through and by the power of that understanding – one would be capable of resolving any issue, question, or practical matter for any individual’s path to total well-being, as well as lead to our entire civilization’s liberation from conflict altogether. 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 2 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ I soon realized that the understanding I was seeking would not only contain access to any answer ever asked for, but would also effectively deal with the causes of internal suffering and the belief in separation and lack. In retrospect, the innate qualities or tendencies (earnestness, dedication, compulsion, intensity, seeking drive, extremism, etc.) which caused me to strive and suffer the most in that approximately 6 year period of intense spiritual, mental, emotional and physical ups and downs, were also what heavily contributed to my relatively swift liberation from suffering altogether. Our perceived flaws usually turn out to be our greatest allies when we give them enough space to reveal their true purpose.–Bentinho Massaro My journey led me to many teachers, teachings, philosophies and deep into places within my own consciousness. Here is a list of some of the things I studied and applied in depth until I felt I had exhausted the techniques’ usefulness, and had seen their pros and cons, their ins and outs: Various forms of Meditation (Vipassana, Transcendental, Yogic, Samyama, Motionlessness, and others); Mindfulness, Yoga, Pranayama, Ayurveda and the yogic philosophies and practices of higher consciousness; I went to live in spiritually-swamped places in India for a while (which is a practice in and of itself); NLP, EFT, several personal development courses and intensives; Silva Mind Control (utilizing the Alpha and Theta brainwaves); Reiki, Initiations, and some other things. Some of these I became certified in; others I decided to leave behind me before I reached the end of the course, for they served no further purpose. And why hang around something that no longer lifts you up beyond where you thought you could be? This was my attitude with everything I could get my hands on at that time. Liberation: The end of desperation, but the beginning of your life! After years of this desperate quest, filled with effort, judgment, self-torture and constant striving, I finally gave up on trying to follow other teachers’ ideas of what to practice. I decided to trust myself instead, out of sheer mental exhaustion. This exhaustion and letting go happened in a state of utter despondency and disappointment at the failure of my relentless attempts to ‘get it’ and to ‘get it in time’, and to play by other people’s beliefs. These people were, I finally realized, no more enlightened than I was – even if they had practiced some form of meditation for 30 years, had a long beard, or were perceived as enlightened by others. I realized that the status some people wore of being ‘an enlightened one’ meant absolutely zero to me. It was then, in India, that I had my first profound shift in allegiance toward that which I already knew underneath to be true, but had doubted because of the apparent authority of ‘other enlightened ones’: The infinite potential, all present vibrantly and brilliantly, always and already right here and now. It 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 3 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ was this truth of the very presence of (my) existence itself that had nudged me all along and carried me through my desperate yet focused search, and purged me out into self-reliance, self-responsibility, and Self-Realization, as well as into a life filled with ever-expanding wonder, awe, joy, and empowerment in ways I could not imagine before. Following the shift in allegiance from ‘others know the truth’ to ‘what I am is the truth’, a deep relaxation remained — a non-referential ease of being. This had been recognized before, but its ever- presence was overlooked because of the belief that I did not yet have the answer. Life revealed itself to shine fully and completely by its own power alone. It offered its presence with an incredible naturalness, requiring no effort or maintenance whatsoever. This, I realized, was simply The Natural State of Existence Itself. Finally, I had found what I was so desperately seeking: I was now in touch with the foundation that could provide any answer to life’s many callings; therefore, this realization of Life Itself, was indeed The Ultimate Answer. I naturally continued, as if taking a bath, to sink into this indescribable freedom that didn’t, and still doesn’t, seem to know an end or boundary. This awakening was the beginning of my life and the end of an unpleasant dream where I thought lack and separation could truly, possibly exist. Ha! Enlightenment is not the end, it is only the beginning — the foundation for any real evolution or transformation to occur. So what are we waiting for? Instead of dreaming of a faraway place called ‘enlightenment’, let us at least get started realizing the truth that never leaves our presence; for it is our presence. This freedom is all-inclusive, ever-available, never-ending, and it is meant to be discovered, at the very least, by everyone.–Bentinho Massaro The Teacher in Me While exploring each philosophy or method I came across, as well as facing the different depths and heights of my own consciousness, I always found myself extracting from these experiences and methods what I felt was truly useful and effective, and soon learned not to hesitate to leave behind the things that were not. 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 4 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ Or, as I once explained: “In addition to my own self engaging in these different teachings, I always felt a presence representing ‘the average Joe’, looking over my shoulder as it were, helping me to distill from all that I learned the things that would most likely be useful to most people later on, and to leave out the rest. I naturally desired to have my discoveries be made 100 times easier and more accessible for others.” And: “I knew that if I could find infinite peace and empowerment within, there must be a way for my grandmother and my next door neighbor to recognize and benefit from all this as well. If something is absolutely true, it has to be true anytime, anywhere, and for anyone, including those with no interest to go on a desperate search for Enlightenment, like I did. “How to bridge Enlightenment to the everyday collective?” – has been, and still is in many ways, my greatest passion and talent in this life. It is what I live for, ‘what I came here for’.” My teachings have gone through many facelifts over the years, as I fine-tune my understanding of what seems most effective for people, and as the deepening continues of my own on-going realization of the infinite facets of reality and the endless subtleties and levels we as human beings have created for ourselves in our relationship to Existence. Although the teaching is ever-evolving and still refining itself, adjusting and responding to the changes made globally in our collective consciousness as well, I feel it has reached its completion, in the sense that it comprehends, and is able to encompass, the most individualized and personalized level of creation, up to the most Absolute level of reality beyond all forms, shapes and experiences, and to address pretty much anything in between these two extremes that is relevant for where we are at as individual human beings and as a species. A Parting Note 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 5 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ As I have written this biography over the course of a few months, and in pieces, I notice how the illusion of time and linear-identity has so lost its grip on my consciousness that this biography was one of the hardest things to write, and took me longer to come up with than anything… maybe, ever. I clearly see that history too is optional, and that my past is one of many optional realities, all co-existing Now. Whichever one we define as real, becomes effective in our Now. But all of them are optional and equally valid points of view of the eternity of Now. My lack of involvement in ‘my past’ shows me so clearly, yet again, that identity does not carry over from one flicker of creation to the next. It is this experience of timelessness, and many other joyful and enlightening facets of a life lived in freedom, that I wish to share with you all by example; by simply being myself in everything I do and decide to be. I hope you enjoy these teachings and find a great amount of benefit in them for your own life. I often say: “Don’t take advice from anyone you don’t want to end up like.” – And I can gratefully tell you that I wholeheartedly desire for you to end up like me, albeit in your own unique and beautifully owned way. May my advice and my sharing lead you to the experience of life as I perceive it. Because for me, there is nothing in creation that I could find – and I have sought until I felt there was nothing left to find – that tastes better and proves more fruitful than the ways in which I have come to intimately experience and understand existence. And if I have any wish for you, how could it not be to see existence as I do, when all this gives me is freedom, unimaginable resourcefulness, unconditional love and bliss? This is not a fairy tale; it is my daily living experience, and I wish nothing more for you than to be authentically yourself with this joy, love and freedom as the basis of your every experience and self- expression. With love, Bentinho Fun facts: Idols: Superman, Bruce Lee Hobbies: Rock climbing, teaching, being in overwhelming Bliss/Love/Peace/Presence, hanging out with his closest friends at night, inspiring people, and so much more depending on what the day inspires in him. Bentinho: is 25 years old. was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. started teaching about awareness more publicly at the age of 21. 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 6 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ prematurely quit a yoga & meditation teacher program after two years, to travel to India and pursue his intense search for Enlightenment. has lived in India for 6 months where he had his first sequence of big awakenings. tasted deep depression, existential fear and despondency to the point of debilitation and not feeling safe anywhere, anytime with anyone. usually stays up until sunrise. is a Reiki Master. has a degree as a coach in something akin to the Emotional Freedom Technique. has developed a crazy clear intuition that he relies on for every single decision in his life, from the smallest to the biggest. used to score very high in intelligence tests, but was completely unmotivated in school and did only whatever he truly had to do to get to the next year. wanted to quit high-school by the age of 14, but decided to finish the remaining 3 years for his parent’s well-being. got into practicing telekinesis for a period of time at the age of 16. won a European championship with his team playing a team-based tactical shooter (Rainbow Six vegas – video game) in his teenage years. pees sitting down because it’s more hygienic and respectful toward housemates. this causes him to poop more than the average guy, since he’s sitting down anyway, might as well… he therefore probably consumes slightly more toilet paper per year than the average guy. did martial arts as well as tournaments for 3 years as a teenager. has the most amazing, incredible friends. has a 3-book contract with a very patient publisher, all three of which were supposed to be finished in 2011. has always rebelled against existing teachers, teachings and traditions. Still does so today. has since learned not to care what people think of him. enjoys to climb the Flat Irons and other rock formations without a rope. Does not recommend it. always believed – and still does, even more so today – that he will one day be able to fly like superman. was exposed to his first conscious meditation at the age of 10 (Silva Mind Control method). loved reading the Winnetou and Old Shatterhand series by Karl May. ever since the age of 6, he was always in love with a girl for years in a row that wasn’t interested in him. 21/07/2014 02:21 Bentinho Massaro's Biography: Vision, Liberation, Teachings Page 7 sur 7 http://www.bentinhomassaro.com/about/ his first ever fully reciprocated serious relationship started at the age of 18 with a 27 year old woman he met at a yoga/meditation retreat. They didn’t meditate at that retreat as much as they originally intended. is a believer in ‘teaching by example’. doesn’t believe anyone can die unless their entire being (spirit and all) really wants to depart from this body. likes to inappropriately call things ‘exciting’ or ‘fun’ when everyone else in the room thinks these things are horrible or shameful. loves (to create) socially awkward moments. likes to have FUN. is fucking happy, man. He’s living his dreams, facing every challenge with confidence, grace, ease, excitement, integrity and happy results. And he wants you to know that this is totally possible and easily doable for you as well.