CLARITY

By Nathan Gill

"...That was it! Suddenly it was absolutely clear to me that these experiences - I call them transcendental events or experiences - actually have nothing to do with clarity. A transcendental experience can last a few seconds or ten years or maybe even the rest of your life, but a transcendental experience is just that. An experience. Many people have had these experiences and then the experience is gone and often the person is left with a desire for more of it. They think they have been given a taste of 'enlightenment' , when all that has happened is that they have had a transcendental experience. Walking down the street is an experience, but it's an ordinary one so you don't go looking for more of it.

The confusion was gone. I knew what I am without any doubt and it was obvious that I already had been that all my life. I no longer required any transcendental experience to prove it to me.

The whole of my 'spiritual' search had been added on to what I already am and I also understood why people are confused around this whole issue. Why they confuse 'spirituality' with clarity. This recognition of my true nature was not associated with any transcendental event or experience. It was clear that a transcendental experience of any kind is easily confusing if it occurs before you recognize with clarity your nature as Consciousness.

It is obvious that the transcendental event that was experienced had nothing to do with clarity of recognition. The occurrence of the event brought my confusion to a head and allowed me to see clearly how I had been subtly waiting for an event as permission to be what I already am.

I see now that no transcendental event has any significance in the light of the plain, ordinary, everyday clarity of what you really are."

Read the entire book HERE.

Shifting Paradigms

The wisdom and understanding of our own divine essence is like a beacon that invites us inward toward ever deeper connection with all around us. Yet rather than look within, most in this world have long preferred to look outward for divine wisdom, thus sustaining a dependence upon a vast hierarchy that stretches between the individual and the Divine. 

 

In all our wanderings away from the Divine, humankind has virtually eliminated its most compelling features through misapplication of the logical mind, and through persistent belief in a language of limitation arising out of the controlling mechanisms of the hierarchical paradigm. Within this paradigm, language has often been used by those who desire to exert control to impose a form of limitation. Though in relative terms their words may appear liberating and empowering, those in power in the hierarchy have often used language as an instrument of entrapment and tyranny. 

At the other end of the spectrum, some of the noblest efforts of humanity in the usage of language have resulted in the Divine being gradually illuminated by the great spiritual visionaries of our world. Yet even the images portrayed by the language of these inspiring leaders cannot help but dilute the pure expression of the most compelling features of the Divine.

The Divine dances outside of the constructs of any language. It is complete within itself, and has a singular purpose of expressing the collective potential of all life in the universe. It is the archetype of perfection. It is the standard bearer of each soul's innate design and ultimate destiny. The essence of the Divine is far beyond mental conception, yet humanity's tendency is to resort to the limiting language of the hierarchical paradigm to define and understand it.

To read more CLICK HERE

The Beginning is Near

Change is afoot. Can't go under it. Can't go over it. Can't go around it. Gotta go THROUGH IT.

Pace yourself. Breathe. Smile. It's all good.

Trees are Happy for No Reason

My continuing passion is to part a curtain, that invisible veil of indifference that falls between us and that blinds us to each other's presence, each other's wonder, each other's human plight.

~ Eudora Welty

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Fear is the cheapest room in the house.

I would like to see you living

In better conditions.

~ Hafiz

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Don't flail about like a man wearing a blindfold.

Believe me, He's in here.

Come in and see for yourself.

You'll stop hunting for Him all over.

~ Lalla (14th Century)

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Life is like arriving late for a movie, having to figure out what was going on without bothering everybody with a lot of questions, and then being unexpectedly called away before you find out how it ends.

~ Joseph Campbell

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

In meditating, meditate on your own divinity. The goal of life is to be a vehicle for something higher. Keep your eyes up there between the world of opposites watching your 'play' in the world. Let the world be as it is and learn to rock with the waves.

~ Joseph Campbell

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.

~ Osho

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

This silence, this moment, every moment, if it's genuinely inside

you, brings what you need.

There's nothing to believe. Only when I stopped believing in

myself did I come into this beauty.

Sit quietly, and listen for a voice that will say, 'Be more

silent.'

Die and be quiet.

Quietness is the surest sign that you've died.

Your old life was a frantic running from silence.

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.

~ Rumi

Charles Eisenstein: Sacred Economics

Chapter 21

http://bit.ly/zgLqNx

The following is the twenty-second installment from
Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of others.” -Albert Einstein

Trusting Gratitude

The question comes up again and again: How can I share my gifts in today’s money economy and still make a living? Some people who ask this question are artists, healers, or activists who despair of finding a way to “get paid for” what they do. Others have a successful business or profession but have begun to feel that something is amiss with the way they charge for their services.

Indeed, to charge a fee for service, or even for material goods, violates the spirit of the Gift. When we shift into gift mentality, we treat our creations as gifts to other people or to the world. It is contrary to the nature of a gift to specify, in advance, a return gift, for then it is no longer giving but rather bartering, selling. Furthermore, many people, particularly artists, healers, and musicians, see their work as sacred, inspired by a divine source and bearing infinite value. To assign it a price feels like a devaluation, a sacrilege. But surely the artist deserves to be compensated for his work, right?

The idea behind the word “compensation” is that you have, by working, made a sacrifice of your time. You have spent it doing work when you could have instead spent it on something you want to do. Another context in which we use the word is lawsuits, for example when someone seeks compensation for an injury, for pain and suffering.

In an economy that deserves the adjective “sacred,” work will no longer be an injury to one’s time or life; it will no longer be a matter of pain and suffering. A sacred economy recognizes that human beings desire to work: they desire to apply their life energy toward the expression of their gifts. There is no room in this conception for “compensation.” Work is a joy, a cause for gratitude. At its best, it is beyond price.

To keep reading, Click Here

Be Yourself.

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken."

~ Oscar Wilde

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

When anybody laughs, he has no mind, no thought, no problem, no suffering.

~ Papaji

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

You impose limits on your true nature of infinite being. Then you get displeased to be only a limited creature. Then you begin spiritual practices to transcend these non-existing limits. But if your practice itself implies the existence of these limits, how could they allow you to transcend them.

~ Ramana Maharshi

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.

~ Eckhart Tolle

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

"Who cares if you're enlightened forever? Can you just get it in this moment, now?"

~ Byron Katie

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

Be still. It takes no effort to be still; it is utterly simple. When your mind is still, you have no name, you have no past, you have no relationships, you have no country, you have no spiritual attainment, you have no lack of spiritual attainment. There is just the presence of beingness with itself.

~ Gangaji

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

For a day,

Just for one day,

Talk about that

Which disturbs no one...

And bring some peace

Into your beautiful eyes.

~ Hafiz

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

There is no profound knowledge. There are no good words. Everything you've been told is a lie. The only truth that exists is your self, but who is the self? The self is you, just the way you are. The mistake most people make is they want to change themselves. How can you change yourself? You think you've got problems, or you think you've got a bad mind, or you think something is wrong and you want to change that. Those things don't exist. There is nothing to change. That's what I mean when I say, "Be yourself, just the way you are." Yourself, just the way you are, spontaneous, live in the now, has no time to worry or think. When you are yourself you are God, you are consciousness, you are absolute reality. You are always yourself. You never were anyone else. You never were anything else. Your nature is divine. You are not what you appear to be. The only thing to remove is the appearance, or the belief in the appearance, for the appearance is false.

~ Robert Adams

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

Nothing is born, nothing is destroyed.

Away with your dualism, your likes and dislikes.

Every single thing is just the One Mind.

When you have perceived this,

you will have mounted the Chariot of the Buddhas.

~ Huang Po

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------

"I can walk on the clouds!" says a child.

But if she reached the clouds,

she would find nowhere to place her foot.

Likewise, if one does not examine thoughts,

they present a solid appearance;

but if one examines them,

there is nothing there.

That is what is called

being at the same time

empty and apparent.

Emptiness of mind

is not a nothingness,

nor a state of torpor,

for it possesses by its very nature

a luminous faculty of knowledge

which is called Awareness.

These two aspects,

emptiness and Awareness,

cannot be separated.

They are essentially one,

like the surface of the mirror

and the image which is reflected in it."

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Peace, Love, Compassion

Nothing I say can explain to you Divine Love

Yet all of creation cannot seem to stop talking about it.

~ Rumi

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

Love is seeing

the unity

under

the imaginary

diversity.

~ Nisargadatta

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.

So instead of loving what you think is peace, love other [people] and love God above all. And instead of hating the people you think are warmongers, hate the appetites and the disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.

~ Thomas Merton

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance.

Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender.

When you accept what is, every moment is the best moment. That is enlightenment.

~ Eckhart Tolle

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

The truth is that a whole new state of consciousness already exists, that every part of your experience that’s unfolding right now is already enclosed within absolute stillness, absolute ease. And so there really isn’t

anywhere to go or anything for which to search. Struggle only gets us deeper into the very thing we’re trying to escape. This is a very important thing to know about egoic consciousness: The harder we try to get out, the deeper we dig ourselves in.

~ Adyashanti

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

We try to grasp something strange and mysterious because we believe happiness lies elsewhere. This is the mistake. The Self is all-pervading. Our real nature is liberation, but we imagine that we are bound, we make strenuous efforts to become free, although all the while we are free. Birth and death pertain only to the body, they are superimposed upon the Self, giving rise to the delusion that birth and death relate to the Self. The universe exists within the Self. Discover the undying Self and be immortal and happy. Be yourself and nothing more. Thoughts change but not you. There is neither past nor future; there is only the present. Yesterday was the present when you experienced it; tomorrow will also be the present when you experience it, therefore, experience takes place only in the present, and even the present is mere imagination, for the sense of time is purely mental.

All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that? Your true nature is that of infinite spirit.

~ Ramana Maharshi

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

Enlighten your desires.

Meditate on who you are.

Quit imagining.

What you want is profoundly expensive,

and difficult to find,

yet closeby.

Don't search for it. It is nothing,

and a nothing within nothing.

~ Lalla - 14th Century North Indian mystic

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******   ***

The Ineffable Mystery of Being

What I have discovered through my spiritual practice is an increasing self-intimacy. ..a sense of authenticity and real-ness, that has become the cornerstone of my daily life. I cannot imagine how I could have lived without this living presence and sense of emerging fullness.

Our awareness is incredibly powerful at enabling the unveiling of ourselves, revealing a fuller picture, illuminating our experience, but only if we are willing and committed to knowing the fullness of what we are.

I find as I continue noticing and encountering this awareness in my life what comes into view is both particular and vast, discordant yet harmonious, life sustaining yet challenging and not necessarily easy. This active engagement demands my courage and honesty, this is no walk in the park.

As I continue, the sense of congruence and authenticity begins to sprout and this self-intimacy becomes the rule, in time. Although it is not as though there is one mode of being, that of self-intimacy, no, it is more like that a dance has begun.

This dance, fueled and enabled by the openness and desire of wanting to know myself, is both exhilarating and liberating and, as I develop trust in the unfolding, I soon begin to recognize that any ideas or desires for Awakening need not concern me....it no longer is of interest as my life has filled up with a delicious fragrance of authenticity.

I no longer care for anything other than supporting what has taken root within me…if the self concept or ego continues I don't care, the teachers and teachings tell me this and that and I don't care, life is its usual mix of struggle and strife, joy and love, and I no longer care...why would I care when I know the golden key is within? Why search for anything when the very fabric of experience is the path of unfolding. Everyday experience reveals this once we get a little more familiar with ourselves and stop trying to awaken, stop meddling with our experience long enough to notice what is.

At some stage there was a key realization, one among many, when I realized I can let go of all concepts about the teaching and just feel comfortable in everyday experience without any framework or concepts about how it ought to be. Is their a doer? Is there an ego? Is there an awakening? Are we perfect? None of these conceptual frames of reference are important. Instead I relax and notice that all that stuff is just ideas about...about the ineffable mystery of being.

~ Rob Matthews

Just JUMP!

Listen!

Here’s all you need to know to become enlightened:

Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what’s true until you know.

That’s it. That’s the whole deal; a complete teaching of enlightenment, a complete practice. If you ever have any questions or problems—no matter what the question or problem is—the answer is always exactly the same:

Sit down, shut up, and ask yourself what’s true until you know.

In other words, go jump off a cliff.

Don’t go near the cliff and contemplate jumping off. Don’t read a book about jumping off. Don’t study the art and science of jumping off. Don’t join a support group for jumping off. Don’t write poems about jumping off. Don’t kiss the ass of someone else who jumped off.

Just jump.

~ Jed Mckenna

*******  ***  *******  ***  ******* 

I said Oh no! Help me!

And that Oh no! became a rope let down in my well.

I’ve climbed out to stand here in the sun.

One moment I was at the bottom of a dank, fearful narrowness, and the next, I am not contained by the universe.

If every tip of every hair on me could speak,
I still couldn’t say my gratitude.

In the middle of these streets and gardens, I stand and say and say again, and it’s all I say, I wish everyone could know what I know.

~ Rumi

*******  ***  *******  ***  *******

First, the question itself is the obstacle to progress, not lack of an answer. The question is the key. Once we truly understand the question, we’ll have the desired answer. The desired answer is always the removal of the obstruction a correct question represents. The question, understood correctly, is the obstruction. If it’s not, see the second point.

Second, come up with the right question. There’s always only one. Wherever you are right now is where you’re stuck, and the only question that ever matters is the one that gets you unstuck, that takes you one step further. All other questions are fear-based ego-sparing time-killers. Forget concepts and ideas, forget past and future, forget mankind and society, forget God and love, forget truth and spirituality. Find that one question; the exact question that ego doesn’t want you to ask. Put your full attention on it. That’s how progress is made. Everything else is a stall tactic.

To move forward, you must figure out exactly what is obstructing you. Whatever it is, it isn’t really there; it has no reality, no substance. It’s your own creation, a phantom lurking in the shadows of your mind, a shadow demon. Your obstructions are your demons, and your demons are shadow dwellers. They live and thrive in the half-light of ignorance, so the way to slay a demon is by illuminating it with the full force and power of your focused attention; by looking at it, hard. Banish shadow with light and see for yourself that no obstruction exists, nor ever did. We create our demons and we feed them. To awaken we must slay them. That’s really the whole process: Slay one demon, take one step.

Repeat.

~ Jed McKenna

Unraveling the Sweater

When you were born into this world, you were undifferentiated consciousness. No concepts, no ideas, no words, just the Isness of awareness, pure and unsullied. And then someone pulled a sweater over your head that was knitted from their ideas and beliefs about the world, what they had been told was important and real and true, and they passed it on to you. And because you had little choice in the matter, you accepted this sweater, and came to believe it was a part of you and it even became the invisible backbone of your identity. Everyone wore a similar sweater, so it was clear that the sweater was a part of being a human being without exception.

If someone wore a sweater that was fairly similar to yours, there was no problem, but a different color or design sometimes was quite disturbing. It was hard not to warn anyone with unusual patterns in their sweaters of the dangers of nonconformance, and there were those who took this to an extreme whereas different sweaters had to be excluded and shunned, maybe even imprisoned or killed. A sweater, after all, is not just a sweater, it is the symbol of self, and must be true. A different sweater means something about you is incorrect, so to remain intact, one must reject whatever sweaters clash with one’s current fashion statement.

One day, as you were getting older, you noticed that the sweater had become a little tight, a little uncomfortable. So you were sent to a knitting class and learned how to sit quietly, knitting away, adding more to the sweater. Of course, you were very careful to not get too flamboyant with the design, just enough to show you had some creativity. And sometimes you would get together with others who also liked to knit and discuss how enhanced life was having discovered “the way” to knit.

Knitting was so embedded in the social structure of your life that there was little time for anything else. Everything was based on being a successful knitter, how else was anyone to tell who you were except by the sweater you wore? It was essential to keep one’s sweater in good repair and to learn how to maintain it. Everyone loved to talk about each other’s sweaters, offering compliments or criticisms as appropriate. You could always tell your enemies from your friends by their knitting techniques and yarn colors, so it was important to learn the differences and pass your knowledge on to others.

But there came a time when knitting took up so much time and energy, and questions arose as to what and who and why. Though these questions triggered great anxiety, you tried putting down the knitting needles for a bit. And for a little while, you were free from knitting and it was exhilarating! But knitting was such a habit that before you knew it, you found yourself knitting again, especially when your friends came over, since it was all anyone ever talked about. Still, you couldn’t forget that scintillating sensation of cessation, so, in secret, you began to sit without knitting, a little bit every day.

On days when your friends visited, you would pick up the knitting needles as usual, but it became apparent after awhile that you were getting a bit sloppy, dropping stitches here and there. Your friends thought perhaps you needed a refresher course, and they all had taken up with a new knitting teacher who was supposed to have the latest in techniques, especially when it came to repairing holes and tears. They encouraged you to attend these knitting workshops and at first you thought they might be right. I mean their sweaters were so beautifully done, with silver and gold thread in incredibly intricate designs. But the truth you were so reluctant to reveal was that you were tired of knitting. And you were afraid to say so, since everyone knitted something. Even ugly sweaters were better than nothing.

One day, while you sat and pondered these things, you noticed a loose thread hanging from the sleeve of your sweater. Usually, you would have taken out your needles and started furiously repairing the abnormality. But instead, you started pulling on the thread. Suddenly, the sleeve of your sweater started rapidly to unravel, at a rather frightening speed. Quickly, you took out your knitting needles and began pulling the yarn back together until one could hardly tell there had ever been a mistake. But you knew.

Now it was all you could do not to pull on that loose thread. It became like an itch under the surface of the skin. You couldn’t help it, your thoughts kept roving to the idea of no sweater and not-knitting. What would it be like to just stop? Would you be an outcast, would your friends and family leave you? Could you survive without your sweater, naked? You sat with your friends, your knitting needles idle in your hands, and many were worried that you had lost it entirely. Perhaps you would have to go to the hospital and have a surgeon repair your sweater for you, or in the worst case scenario, knit you a new sweater entirely! One friend said she would introduce you to the Swami Knityananda, who would put one of his sweaters on you and they were supposed to be just perfect, it was said no one could make a better sweater! And that his philosophy, “Knit This, Knit That”, took one to the highest levels of Knit-vana!

Well, all this talk became a bit much, and you stopped going out and you stopped inviting people over. You sat with your sweater, looking at it in the mirror, wondering at its colors and textures, its strangeness and its beauty, its ugliness and shabbiness, the whole of it. And you pulled at the loose thread. You pulled and you pulled. First one sleeve went. Then the other. You were terrified for a second, having never seen your bare arms before. But it was so freeing. So you kept pulling. And pulling. And finally the remnants of the sweater fell to the floor. And you saw your Self. The Truth of your Self. And you knew you would never be able to knit another sweater, because you knew that nakedness was sweet. And you just started laughing and laughing at the joke of it all.

One day, your friends came over and you were just sitting there, naked. At first they were outraged, then concerned, then curious. After all, you were so happy, grinning like you had an in on the biggest secret! So, as they furiously knitted away, they tentatively asked you what had happened. And with a little sparkle in your eye, you said, “It’s simple. Ask yourself “Why Knit?”

Suddenly, all the knitting needles clattered to the floor.

#OCCUPY YOURSELF - 28 OCTOBER 2011

For one day, we shut the system down!

 

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY AS POSSIBLE...WE DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME!

A momentum is occurring
People are uniting across the world
They are sending a message
The next step is fast approaching

On Oct 28th 2011
WE SHUT THE SYSTEM DOWN.

For one day we peacefully protest in a symbol that will be felt across the globe.

We step out of the system and step back into ourselves.

Turn off all lights
Unplug all electrical devices
Abstain from using TV, radio and internet or phone.
Abstain from making any purchase of any kind
Choose that morning to cancel any services you feel you no longer need
That morning call in sick to work

Do NOTHING that generates money into THE SYSTEM.

We will send a message
We will unite

Most importantly, for one day...
We live without distraction

Read a book
Meditate
Play
Sing
Dance
Create
Frolic in nature
Love

On Oct 28th 2011
Step out of the system and get back to yourself

Spread the word!
SHUT IT ALL DOWN!

Join us on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=275706552463169&notif_t=event_ph... 

Freedom "To" vs. Freedom "From"

...And this myth that I can rest in some assuredness. That I will  never again feel insecure or feel fear, or feel doubt, or feel those emotions we don’t want to feel. If I'm truly enlightened I will never feel those emotions.
Forget it. That’s not it. That's the pipe dream. That is the opium that is sold to the masses. And they eat it up and they never get there and they end up disillusioned.

Freedom is never freedom "from." If it's freedom "from" anything, it's not freedom at all. It's freedom "to." Are you free enough to be afraid? Are you free enough to feel insecure? Are you free enough not to know? Are you free enough to know that you can't know? Are you free enough to be totally comfortable, to know that you can't know what's around the next corner? How you will feel about it? How you will respond to it? That you literally can't know? Are you free enough to be totally at ease and comfort with the way things actually are? That's freedom.
 

~ Adyashanti

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 

You are not "in the now"; you are the now. That is your essential identity--the only thing that never changes. Life is always now. Now is consciousness. And consciousness is who you are. That's the equation.
 

~ Eckhart Tolle

If this were your only spiritual practice, it would be enough: to withdraw identification from opinions, positions, thoughts.

~ Eckhart Tolle

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- 

Not to know is profound; to know is shallow. Not to know is internal; to know is external. 

~ Chuang-tzu

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

To one who knows naught it is clearly revealed. 

~Meister Eckhart

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment; Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment is intuition. 

~Rumi

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Rejoicing in nothing and knowing nothing are the true rejoicing and the true knowledge. 

~ Lao-tzu

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

All I know is that I know nothing. 

~ Socrates

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

When you’re blind to your own nature, the Buddha is an ordinary being. When you’re aware of your own nature, an ordinary being is the Buddha.
 

~ Hui Neng

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead it's about becoming more fully human. . . . It is the end of ignorance. 

~Lama Surya Das

Take A Good Look

You cannot have made the decision to look, because that would mean that reality was split between you and your decision. The present is the entirety of reality. You cannot have something that stands before it, making it happen, because the only time anything in the past existed, it existed as the present.

~ Cieran

“I” does not exist. It is a referential concept only. A way to put our collected memories of experience over time into a handy photo album we can pull out and display at whim. We think it is real. We “think” it into reality and then turn it into a narrative, a story about “me”. It is fiction. It is a fantasy, a fairy tale, no different then pulling a children’s book off a shelf and saying “Here’s the story of my life.”

Have you ever actually looked for this “I”? Where is it here and now, as you sit reading these words? Who is reading? What is reading? Is there an “I” present? If asked, does there appear a roster of qualities, a list of personal attributes, as if by magic? Is there a recitation occurring, is there a voice in your head?

Do you believe that voice is you? Does it speak with your voice, spell out your ideas and beliefs? Has it a point of view you call “yours”? Is it the way you present yourself to “others”? Do you seek validation through it? Is it true?

You probably have never really thought to look at the possibility that there is no self and never was. You might consider the idea preposterous. But there’s no harm in looking, is there, to scientifically examining the possibility that the idea of self is merely conceptual and has no reality? If there is no self, what would that mean? Would that change the way you actually function? Is a separate self necessary to operating in the real world or is it an obstruction, a detriment? Is having a separate self actually helpful, or does it cause arguments, dissatisfaction, and disappointment?

Does this separate self have real needs or are they imagined? Could it be that this separate self is just a thought, a symbol of an idea dressed up as a body? Could it be that this idea has parasitized the life in the body by encumbering it with myriad desires, plans, expectations, feelings, motivations, and more, all in order to perpetuate itself? Has this virus of mental/emotional selfhood so overcome humanity that it has completely forgotten its natural state of freedom and joy?

Have you ever stared into the eyes of a newborn? There is nobody there. Only emptiness. But there is tremendous life force. It silences you completely. It is the state we are born to, before words, labels, ideas, and beliefs become the predominant way we interact with the world. A child has no concept of separation from experience. A child is its experience.  It is fully immersed and one with life, right at the start. And then the parents begin injecting the generally-accepted version of reality into its vulnerable brain, starting with the labels of “boy” or “girl”. Before you know it, the child thinks it’s the label. Identification with labels, words, and beliefs leads to the formation of the fictional idea of “I”.

“I” relates to categorized experience, listed and filed under headings such as good/bad, right/wrong, like/hate, etc. The categories are arbitrary and are not necessarily connected to what happened, only to how it was perceived. This remembrance of experience is not a bad thing when applied to what is actually happening. No one wants to forget what “hot” means, or repeat an action that could cause bodily harm. But when a concept replaces an experience of actual knowing, then life is immediately corrupted, disconnected, and disjointed. It becomes a lie.

Living a lie leads to intense suffering. Living in a world based on this lie spreads the suffering to everyone. And this all begins with the erroneous and false belief in a separate, individualized self.

This lie can be seen through. Prove it to yourself. Look for yourself. There is no “I”. It is only a concept. Concepts are not real things. They can only point to real things. What does “I” represent? What is the sense of it? Take a good look. Take a real good look.  Look into the face of what you fear most, the demise of “you”. What is real cannot die, what is unreal never existed.

Take……….a………..look.

Marked Eternal: There Is NO SELF

This is the simplest, most logical; most obvious truth- there is no such entity as self. There is no self at all, no nothing, but life flowing freely, all is one reality, one life. Life just IS.

It is so simple, that it's most difficult to see. Thinking that we all have a special separate self that is in charge of our lives it's nothing else, but unquestioned assumption. It's a core belief, through which a human sees life. The feeling of separation persists in everyday life, making one always stressed, depressed or seeking for more. There is deep constant feeling that something is wrong, that there is something to find out, that life is not full, not abundant, stressful.

Of course there is something wrong! There is this feeling that something is wrong. It rises up from deep and keeps us searching for answers.

The answer is simple- there is no self! There never was. We are not doing anything in life, life is happening as us. There is no manager involved that decides what, when, with who, why. Life just happens, by itself, for no other reason. It's life alive. It's Life-ing.

The big question is how to see that there is really no self in reality at all. If you accept this as a belief, without testing, nothing will change. You will have one more belief running in the system creating more conflicts than before. To see the truth of it you need to look.

Looking is also very simple- one just needs a clear intention to finally see the truth, no matter what distractions stand in a way. It's not scary, it is not magic. One just needs to start thinking for himself and answer some precise questions with whole honesty like never before. 

When you start looking first thing to do is clear the path. This can be done by writing. You can have somebody guiding you or just do it yourself! Take nothing for granted, question everything. There is nothing at all that you need to know to start digging. Just begin writing and clarify stuff for yourself. No one can do the looking for you. Don't even think about that.

(Don’t start just yet. Read the whole thing to the end, then start)

I came up with these steps as a result of seeing what really works for most people. 

CLICK HERE to continue reading......

"There is Only Enlightenment, There is Only Unity"

The Myth of Yoga or Integration

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definitions:

Yoga - System of meditation and asceticism designed to effect reunion with the universal spirit.

Integration - The combination of parts into a whole.

Common questions that one sees are 'how to integrate self-realization into one's day to day life?' or 'how to achieve yoga - union?'. However, both of these questions are based on a false premise which is that there is something separate which needs to be reunited, or combined, into the universal wholeness. Now it can be readily seen, on the experiential level, that each moment is just an experience consisting of thoughts/mental- images and sensations appearing in Awareness (I.e. we are aware of them). So that deeper than this flow of objects (thoughts/mental- images and sensations) we are this constant conscious subjective presence - Awareness. For a more detailed exposition of this see chapter two of Beyond The Separate Self or chapter one of A Light Unto Your Self.

Once this self-realization has occurred one sees that there never was any separation, as that which one truly is - pure Awareness, consciousness at rest - can never be separate from the Totality of consciousness. In the same way it can be seen that nothing is ever separate from This (consciousness) which exists in two states, at rest as pure Awareness, and in motion as cosmic energy. Every thing in existence is a configuration of this energy for modern physics has shown that matter is equivalent to energy, and the string theory posits that all matter is composed of strings of energy vibrating at different frequencies.

Now all motion arises in stillness, exists in stillness, is known by its comparison with stillness, and eventually subsides back into stillness. For example, if you walk across a room, before you start there is stillness, as you walk the room is still and you know you are moving relative to this stillness, and when you stop once again there is stillness. In the same way every 'thing' (consciousness in motion) arises in Awareness (consciousness at rest), exists in Awareness, is known in Awareness and subsides back into Awareness. Awareness is still, but is the container of all potential energy which is continually bubbling up into manifestation (physical energy) and then subsiding back into stillness.

Therefore pure Awareness, that which we truly are at the deepest level, is the substratum of all existence, the source, ground, seer and dissolution of all things. So there is, and never was, any thing that needed to be reunited, or combined, with the universal wholeness; for no separation is possible. In the same way our 'day to day existence' is never separate from This (pure Awareness) and thus no integration is necessary. For when examined living is seen to be a series of momentary experiences that seem to merge together to form something we call my life. As previously stated, it can be readily seen on the experiential level that each moment is just an experience consisting of thoughts/mental- images and sensations appearing in Awareness (i.e. we are aware of them).

So we need to be very careful when contemplating reality not to fall into the trap of assuming that we need to integrate ourselves, or achieve yoga (union), as there never was any separation. Any mode of thought that seems to posit a separate self which needs to be integrated, or united, subtly reinforces the myth of separation, and thus should be avoided or treated with care.

~ Colin Drake

Order Colin Drake's books as ebooks or in hard copy at

http://nonduality.com/colindrake.htm

Invitation to Liberation

This is not new. People have seen this before. All that's changed is that we've broken it down to the core trigger mechanism. That means it can be spread. That means that if you're not free, reading this, you can be. In seconds. There is no you. Look.

The self doesn't exist. There is nothing there. But because we assume some outside cause for reality itself, we assume there is – and because it's THE fundamental cause, it's so important to us. It's almost as if, when you look at the lives people live, the lie of self is like a kind of disguise that thoughts and feelings use to sneak up on people and eat them alive. We are so often the puppets of ideas and emotions that we think of as being us. That is why we have so little control over our lives - over our internal lives.

The fundamental problem of a life lived under the delusion of self is that your life is limited. If you want something too much, you get consumed by that wanting, and it takes you over and plays you like a puppet. Almost always you lose the thing you wanted anyway. Or if you care too much about something, or someone too much, you get consumed by that caring, and it takes you over and destroys you. And then you lose the thing you cared about anyway. Often if you love someone too much you get can get consumed by that and it takes you over and destroys you. And then you lose the person you loved anyway. That's the fucking devil right there, laughing all the way to the bank. Or how about anger? What about when we encounter something horrific, something terrible, something that needs to be confronted? But we shy away from it, because we know that if we let that genie out of that bottle, we'll never get it back in. And everyone knows it. I think that's maybe why we all tolerate such horror in the world we live, because anger, which is often necessary and justified, sucks us up into this whirlwind we have no way to escape.

Liberation is not the end of anger. Or pain. Or sadness. But. There is no you. There's nothing there, just an emptiness where that you should be, but isn't. That emptiness is always at peace, and can never be consumed. So - that nothing that you are, and your sight of it, means that you will always have a way out of hell. Now yes, if you want to, you can simply stare off into that void for the rest of your life, and bliss out, and feel the peace. You have that option now. Billions do not. Billions of real people living real lives chained to a process that is eating them alive.

I don't really have time for or respect for recreational zen. I think that when you look around, look at the scale of this, the scale of the problem and the scale of this opportunity, there is another option than sitting down and wallowing in peace for your own amusement and the adulation of whatever followers you accrue. That's Enlightenment. This is different. It has the same core, the same trigger mechanism. But what we do here we call Liberation. And Liberation is different. Because once you have that freedom, you can experience life to the full, and never be crippled or destroyed by it. Even if the whole world was free, I would still not choose to wallow in peace. There's just so much living to be done. And freedom not exercised is no better than a cage. To those who wallow in peace I say, you have exchanged the metal of your bars for cushions and comfort. But you are still not free.

And the world's not free. It's trapped, and we now have enough of a handle on how to trigger this freedom that it's not in any sense crazy to imagine that we can, in one generation, free this planet. I think we can do it quicker. And to be honest, I don't know of any adventure I'd rather live.

Are you in?

~ Ciaran in "Brutal Beginnings"
http://www.mediafire.com/?73x9ap155nh20ey#2

Sometimes Enlightenment Can Be a Real Kick in the A**

Very Clean Enlightenment - This is More Like It

DIEGO:
05:33
hey ciaran
my name is diego, and i´ve been reading your work lately

CIARAN:
05:33
word
how you finding it

DIEGO:
05:34
quite frankly i´m frustrated and angry

CIARAN:
05:34
cripes

DIEGO:
05:34
bc i don't seem to get it

CIARAN:
05:34
yeah
it can be a bugger
so where are you at right now
re the whole
no you thing

DIEGO:
05:35
there is no you, looking at it from that lens

CIARAN:
05:35
ok

DIEGO:
05:35
but i get pissed, bc i only am at the point of mentally understanding it, not seeing it

CIARAN:
05:35
ok
still
that's not a bad point, eh?
could be worse
might not have any idea about it
could be on fire
or in a bag
all of which would be worse
ok dude
look
you have to have a level of understanding
i mean, shit
you might just stumble across it
but that's a million to one
everyone i've ever popped
had to get some level
of clear idea
of what it was they were looking for
that's not just fine
it's important
it really is
and yes
while yes
of course you do need to see it
because that's where the juice is
don't be so down on yourself

DIEGO:
05:37
so it's best to define why i want this to happen?

CIARAN:
05:38
no
that would be silly
ignore that sort of thing
pointless
it's best to get try and get the issue
clear in your head
to the extent that you can
when you are not enlightened
which is to say
you have to allow
for a certain level of haze
but
you still gotta get some sense
of what you're looking for

DIEGO:
05:40
and how do i go about it? other trying to understand or thinking about it

CIARAN:
05:40
well look
the difference with this thing
as opposed to another idea
is that this is actually true
and that changes the playing field a little
in your favour, actually
this no you thing
isn't just true
it's totally true
from every conceivable angle
in every possible way
it could ever be thought of
one of the major problems people have
is that they're trying to see it in this one thing
or maybe from two or three angles
or whatever
and they get stuck in some paradox or other
and they start spinning out
thing is
it's true from every angle
100%
you can look at it from your ownership of a sandwich if you want
whatever
and actually make it
in 10 seconds
it is that total
so point one
is don't worry too much about angle of approach
because all angles hit it
after a single honest step
just pick whatever you feel most comfortable with
the second thing
is what you're actually trying to do
with this angle
or whatever

DIEGO:
05:44
what do you mean by that?

CIARAN:
05:44
well look
i say this over and over
it's like we're so stuck in thinking
that ideas are things
well, not things
that the arena of ideas
is the main arena of interaction
in which we operate
i know i'm getting a little out there
try to stick with it
that we don't really credit reality itself
with actually being there
we think we need to believe this or that
or whatever
otherwise it will go away
people think enlightenment
is like a special kind of confidence
you know?
that if you hold the peace
and believe there's no you
then you'll get all the hot new age babes
or whatever
but it's not like that

DIEGO:
05:46
hahaha im
guilty of that

CIARAN:
05:46
more than anything
cheeky scamp
more than anything
it's like seeing one of those magic eye patterns
like in the film mallrats
"it's a sailboat not a schooner"
if you've ever seen it
the truth is that there is a boat there
you don't see it
because it's unusual for you to look in that way
it's not impossible
or even particularly hard
your eyes focus in and out all the time
but you've just got to jiggle the thing a little
and then pop
sailboat
or schooner or whatever
look
there actually is no you
in real life
it's not a game
or some special thing
that you believe
which is magic
or makes you awesome
by it's internal awesomeness
it's just a single thing
that is actually the truth
really
check it out man
it's trippy as fuck
really
there really is no you
there's just the life
that 'you' think that 'you' are living
but there's no you
there's just thinking
and living
is that not
something of a headfuck?

DIEGO:
05:50
yes it certainly is

CIARAN:
05:50
is it true?

DIEGO:
05:51
honestly, i get glimpse that it isi

CIARAN:
05:51
well
check them
look deeper
find out
find the real truth of this
is this just ciaran talking crap
or is it real?
you get a glimpse of it
glimpse harder
you know?
is it true?
ask yourself that
right now
is it true?

DIEGO:
05:53
it's weird, it clicks in my thoughts

CIARAN:
05:53
is it true?

DIEGO:
05:55
don't know right now

CIARAN:
05:55
find out right now
there is no you
behind your life causing it
or in front of your life
being effected by it
there's just your life
and it's not yours
it's just life
and you
are just the imagination
of yourself
headfuck yes
true?
look
see
look at it
look how totally fucking true it is
it is mental
it is everywhere
look
it's so obvious
it's not magic
it's just the truth
look
look right now
look
it's real dude
look at the fucker
there's no you
in any sense
there's just life
it's crazy, yes
but it's 100% real
right now
look
there's no you

DIEGO:
05:59
have got a headache right now, from looking

CIARAN:
05:59
no you haven't
there's just a headache
it's not your headache
there is no you

DIEGO:
06:01
so life just is?

CIARAN:
06:02
you tell me

DIEGO:
06:02
i'm frustrated and scared by this

CIARAN:
06:02
no you aren't
there's just frustration
and fear
they're not your frustration
and it's not your fear
there is no yo
you

DIEGO:
06:03
that feels so true

CIARAN:
06:03
is it?

DIEGO:
06:04
it is, but there's no change

CIARAN:
06:04
no change in what?
in 'you'?
you dumb bastard?
i will slap you

DIEGO:
06:04
yes, in thinking in terms of me

CIARAN:
06:04
no shit
so
you're not thinking
in terms
of you
there's just thinking in terms of 'you'
and the 'you' involved in that
is a fucking fiction
that does not refer to anything
fucking look you dumb bastard
it's right there
come on
seriously
it's so simple
it's not some mental complex equation
there just isn't a you
at ALL
there's just life
look
and NO
it will not MAGICALLY change things
but
if you see
that it is actually true
yes
it's pretty fucking mental
so look
and see
if it's fucking true or not
now
and don't just stare off into space
repeating it like a mantra
actually look
for the actual answer
to the question
is there really no me?
actually answer it
in real life
for yourself
now

DIEGO:
06:08
there's only the thought of me

CIARAN:
06:08
YES
go on

DIEGO:
06:08
there is no me, it's not anywhere

CIARAN:
06:08
GOOD
YES
go on

DIEGO:
06:08
it's not physical, it's not of substance

CIARAN:
06:08
true

DIEGO:
06:09
it's not fully definable

CIARAN:
06:09
no
it's not in ANY way definable
because it does exist
at ALL
try again
doesn't exist rather
you know what i meant
ahem
there is no you
look
it's incredible isn't it
the totality and the simplicity
of the delusion
it's just huge
but at the same time tiny

DIEGO:
06:10
it is simple

CIARAN:
06:10
yeah
just so simple
it's right there all the time
but we just never look
it's crazy right?
this 'delusion of self'
thing
yeah?

DIEGO:
06:11
its unnecessary

CIARAN:
06:11
of course
is there a you
in any sense?

DIEGO:
06:12
no, it's just a belief, fake

CIARAN:
06:12
uh huh
look at how deep it is
inside everything
it's like the foundation stone
of all human bullshit
there's just life right
this one moving flow
of consciousness and life
we call the present
in it there are thoughts
actions
will
belief
truth
lies
but no you
never a you
incredible
that we would be so deluded
about something so intimate to us

DIEGO:
06:13
everything just is

CIARAN:
06:13
yup
tell you what
keep exploring it
post something up whenever you see something cool
i'm off for a smoke
but will be back
in just a little while
but keep exploring how real it is
as it is
pretty mental to look at
and quite cool

DIEGO:
06:14
thanks man

CIARAN:
06:15
just keep looking
and keep on the conversation
just see if you can't see some more stuff
it is quite cool to look at the truth

DIEGO:
06:16
there's no you to keep protecting
there's no self to keep nurturing
there's no self love
there's no self help
the only thing that is, is freedom

CIARAN:
06:19
freedom indeed my newly enlightened chum
stick with it
you're really getting somewhere now
go further into it
just explore the truth of it
you don't need to persuade yourself of anything
just keep checking it the fuck out
it is quite cool
as i'm sure you'll agree

DIEGO:
06:21
there's a feeling of lightness
and some joy
like a big release

CIARAN:
06:21
yup
that's the one
stay with it
keep looking into the truth of it

DIEGO:
06:23
this moment is very full
full of life

CIARAN:
06:23
isn't it just?

DIEGO:
06:23
there's no struggle

CIARAN:
06:24
nope

DIEGO:
06:24
but more of a childlike curiosity

CIARAN:
06:24
yeah
dude
i think we're finished here
that was rapid
even by the standards
of people who are very quick
you did good here
you're american right?

DIEGO:
06:25
nope, from el salvador

CIARAN:
06:26
but you go to uni in penn state?
how long have you been in america?

DIEGO:
06:26
yeah i went to school there, i was in america for 4 yearsi
then came back to el salvador after graduating

CIARAN:
06:26
ok
cool
not sure what it is
about hispanic people
you guys are very good at this
seriously
hispanic and irish
for whatever reason
no idea why
maybe just the fact
that both groups
are a little insane
i have irish blood
and am something of a nutcase
probably helps
anyway
now you've popped
here's the deal
all the thoughts and stuff
and the feelings
they don't go away
you can if you do nothing now
stagnate at a very shallow level
of enlightenment
so don't
get yourself
some eckhart tolle
there's a great audio thing he does
called 'through the open door'
it's really good
what you want to do now
is to deepen your vision
of the truth
not for a laugh
or because it is magic
but because there is a world
at the mercy of a lie
that's very simple
as you now understand
and cracking a person out of that lie
is not magic
nor is it really
that hard
it's a little tricky
takes a clear eye
a firm hand
and a kind heart
but it absolutely can be reproduced
i have no interest
in recreational buddhas
there is a kind of belief
in my country
Britain
that if a person has the ability to help others
they also have the duty to do so
you now have the ability
to help your people
in a way so deep
and so permanent
that it will change the whole dynamic
of the world
and turn the people of el salvador
into a beacon of truth
that can literally guide the world
out of the dark age
it is currently in
so deepen your state
and sharpen your scalpel
the world has need of you
diego
the question is
what's more appealing to you
the serenity of a mountaintop
or the glory of a free world?
what's it gonna be?

DIEGO:
06:34
definitely help others

CIARAN:
06:34
good man
ok cool
well
you did real good tonight
that was a pleasure

DIEGO:
06:35
have you tried this with relatives?
thanks

CIARAN:
06:35
with some limited success
i used to be pretty harsh with it
you can be clean
and firm
firmness is important
but so is just sort of letting the purity of the truth
do all the heavy lifting for you
anyway
run along now
download some tolle
sign up on the forum
and PM me so I can add you to the list
of enlightened people
and also

DIEGO:
06:36
ok will do

CIARAN:
06:36
start thinking about ways
to get this shit out
ok?

DIEGO:
06:37
ok, thanks
had to say that again

CIARAN:
06:38
haha
no problem hero
this is going on the blog btw

DIEGO:
06:38
going to bed now, catch you later man

CIARAN:
06:38
very nice enlightenment
sure man

There is more where this came from at RUTHLESS TRUTH

Also check out the forum for some gritty one-on-one, get the job done:
Ruthless Truth: The Arena

SIT SILENTLY AND DO NOTHING

ZEN WILL BE YOUR PATH. Dhyana, meditation, will be your path... and Rinzai was one of the greatest meditators. His meditation is the simplest -- JUST SITTING AND DOING NOTHING.

IT IS THE SIMPLEST AND YET THE HARDEST -- because if people are told to do something, they can; even if it is difficult, they can manage to do. But when they are told not to do anything and just to sit, it becomes almost impossible. NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO DO NOTHING, nobody knows how not to do. People know how to do things; it is easier. Once the knack of it comes to your consciousness, you will laugh that it was so simple: one can simply sit.

So, start at least one hour sitting, mm? I will give you other groups that you can do, but make it a point that whenever you have time, to just sit silently under any tree. GO TO THE RIVER OR ANYWHERE AND JUST SIT. There is nothing else to do, just go on sitting for one hour. Thoughts will come -- let them come and go.

Rinzai's famous saying is: SITTING SILENTLY, DOING NOTHING, AND THE GRASS GROWS BY ITSELF. There is no need to do anything -- the grass is growing by itself. And so grows the soul... so grows the inner being!

~ OSHO

*********** *** *********** *** ***********

THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING AT HOME has to be spread slowly, so that for twenty-four hours you are at home -- waking, sleeping. But this is possible only if you learn THE GREATEST ART OF BEING SILENT. Then you are settled in yourself. Then your whole energy is turned into a silent pool, without any ripples.

AND IF YOU CAN ATTAIN THIS STATE... existence does not want you to fulfill any other condition -- this is enough. You will be accepted, welcomed... by all the mysteries and all the splendor of existence. Right now, it is a small taste. But I have made it clear to you why it is happening.

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT ON YOUR OWN. Just go into the forest and sit silently, or by the side of the river, JUST SIT SILENTLY. Or just here in the ashram, anywhere, sit silently -- just being alert of whatever is happening all around, not thinking about it... what this bird is saying. They are not saying anything; they are just feeling so joyous in the early morning with the new life that the sun has brought again -- one day more to dance, to sing, to enjoy the whole expanse of the sky.

Just listen to them, the way you listen to me, and you will feel at home. And slowly, slowly you have to learn that it is not a question of listening, IT IS A QUESTION OF THE INNER CHATTER STOPPING. Then whenever you find the inner chattering is starting, simply say, "Shut up!" ...and you will suddenly be at home.

ONCE THE MIND UNDERSTANDS that you have found something greater, something better, something higher... slowly it recedes into the darkness. Its function is fulfilled; it is no more needed; it is an unwelcome guest.

~ OSHO

Reality As You Know It Does Not Exist

THRIVE - What On Earth Will It Take?

THRIVE is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what's REALLY going on in our world by following the money upstream -- uncovering the global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives. Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness and activism, THRIVE offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented and bold strategies for reclaiming our lives and our future. THRIVE is being released online on 11.11.11 at http://thrivemovement.com.

THRIVE contains interviews with several prominent activists, journalists, and authors, including Duane Elgin, Nassim Haramein, Steven Greer, Jack Kasher, Daniel Sheehan, Adam Trombly, Brian O'Leary, Vandana Shiva, John Gatto, John Robbins, Deepak Chopra, David Icke, Catherine Austin Fitts, G. Edward Griffin, Bill Still, John Perkins, Paul Hawken, Aqeela Sherrills, Evon Peter, Angel Kyodo Williams, Elisabet Sahtouris, Amy Goodman, and Barbara Marx Hubbard.

You Are Avoiding This Moment

If you really look,
you will see
you are avoiding
this moment,
you are avoiding
experiencing
this moment.

It is not that you
are somewhere else
and you have to get
back to here,

it is that you are
actively
avoiding this moment.

If you can really
be honest
and see this reflex
of avoiding this moment,
then you can really begin
to let it go
and drop into this moment.

You can begin
to let go of thinking
and experience what is here.

Our problems
make us important.
Our knowledge
makes us important.

They keep us
separated from this moment.

We hold on to our problems
and what we know
because we are scared
of the nothingness
underneath it.

We are afraid
of being nothing,
of being nobody.

We hold on to hope
and improvement
and 'feel good' quotes
because the present moment
is too vast and empty.

Yet the very thing
we keep avoiding
is the very thing
we are seeking.

The moment
you give it all up
and fully immerse yourself
in what is really here,
there is unconditional peace.

The silence of this moment
completes you.

~Kip Mazuy

So Much Beauty.....

"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I realized there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever."

~ 'Ricky Fitts', from the movie "American Beauty"

Effortless Freedom

Enlightenment absorbs this universe of qualities.
When that merging occurs, there is nothing
but God. This is the only doctrine.

There is no word for it, no mind
to understand it with, no categories
of transcendence or non-transcendence,
no vow of silence, no mystical attitude.

There is no Shiva and no Shakti
in enlightenment, and if there is something
that remains, that whatever-it- is
is the only teaching.

~ Lalla

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

"If you want God and you chase God, God will be out of your reach. If you stop and drop every concept of God, you are enfolded in the Living Presence of God."

~ Gangaji

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

seeker of truth

follow no path
all paths lead where

truth is here

~ ee cummings

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Acceptance is your inherent state, non-acceptance is artificial, fabricated.

~ Jean Klein

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

There is no island of bliss to which we finally arrive post-awakening. The experience of Silence is always available, of course, and it is the background of all experience, but it does not REPLACE or NEGATE experience. It remains the birthplace of personal experience, which goes on just like before but without the personal attachment that used to make it so joyful or painful. We must keep our eyes open and move forward into whatever life presents from moment to moment, even as we rest as that Creative Silence. Such radical courage is what reveals that we are also Life Itself.

~ Richard Young

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

There is another, sweeter power available to us all, regardless of how many words we know. It starts in the heart and is effortlessly spoken through the eyes. Sometimes, just for perspective, take a break and hear the music.

~ Gangaji

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Listen to your life.
See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.
In the boredom and pain of it
no less than in the excitement and gladness:
touch, taste, smell your way
into the holy and hidden heart of it,
because in the last analysis
all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace.

~ Frederick Buechner

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

The Treasure Chest of the Body

Everything we have ever fled from, as separated consciousness, is here, right here in our body, in our nervous system. We don't have to travel far to know ourselves, to meet ourselves.

This fleeing the body is what keeps us bound. And now we have an even more sophisticated form of leaving ourselves - the use of spiritual concepts. How frequently the mind tries to chew on these , in one more valiant, exhausting effort to get away from the 'ouch' of life, from what we are actually feeling, from the discomfort, the waves of angst that rise in the body.

Discomfort arising is a gift. It is the body's way of defrosting itself, of integrating the massive amount of old shock, separation energy that is stored there.

Don't deny your experience, even if you know at some level it's not real. Imagine telling an upset baby it doesn't exist. Where and how could that land. Let your experience become truly unreal by giving it the reality
and attention it first needs. It is through this body of ours that we come to realize we are not the body.

Presence and sensation with no ownership of any of it. Our sanctuary, our favorite resting place, our true resting ground.

~ Mags Deane

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

in time of daffodils

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me

~ ee cummings