"Do you hear what I hear?"

The question is, do we want to listen to the thoughts in our head (the neurotic roommate) or do we want to listen to God?

I had heard that the winter solstice (which was last Friday night) can be a time of personal transformation.  I spent some time in meditation that night and opening to a higher sense of Self.  At the same time I was experiencing some sadness related to a situation in my life.  When I woke the next morning I initially thought about the situation which was bothering me.  I decided not to listen to these thoughts and instead to listen to God about this situation.  The bothersome thoughts and feelings about the situation completely disappeared.

Since then I have not been able to completely stop listening to my psyche although the thoughts and feelings about that particular situation have not returned.

It is possible to transcend the human drama by choosing to align our thoughts with the God within.  Whenever I am taken off center (out of peace) by a thought or feeling I remind myself to let it go and return my attention to listening to God.

On this Eve of the birth of more Light, Truth, and Joy in our lives I solidify my intention to listen to God and to listen for God instead of listening to the voice in my head.

Do you hear what I hear?

Merry Christmas!

Accepting more Light!

Regardless of your spiritual tradition, this is the time of year for accepting more light into our lives.

More than ever before I am seeing the limiting thoughts that block the light and opening to a Truer sense of who I really am.

For example, if a judgment arises I choose to let it go and remind myself that I choose Joy instead of judgment (the path of Unconditional Happiness). Or I may look more deeply at the situation to see what feeling is fueling the judgment (perhaps I am feeling hurt by someone else or fearful that I am not enough and this is causing me to judge) (the path of Nonresistance).

Like a snake shedding it's skin, I choose to let all of this go and embrace the Divine Essence that is the core of Who I am.

During this Holiday season I choose to be gentle with myself as well as others.

I step into a greater expression of Self which is Whole, Wise, Loving, Joyful and Confident (in Latin this means 'with faith').

Peace and Light to you!

"Always work with the mind, not the the world."

One of my favorite quotes from Michael Singer goes something like "Always work with the mind, not the the world."

It is the mind (i.e., conditioned thoughts from our past experiences) that causes the lack of harmony in our lives.  Although life can seem challenging at times, most of these problems are caused by the meaning that we give to situations rather than the actual situations themselves.  Noticing the chatter in the mind and choosing to let it go allows us to approach each moment with a fresh perspective and can greatly change our experience.

I have been working on showing up in relationships without an agenda, judgment, expectations...  When I open to the moment without listening to the mind something lovely often blossoms.  Why wouldn't this be so? We are already connected.  When we let go of the egoic chatter we are allowing the unity and love that we are to show up.

When  a challenging situation arises I ask myself, "What am I holding onto that is blocking me from experiencing my good?"

It is always an inside job.

I choose to set the world free.

I work on my mind.

Let there be Light!

I have been noticing more and more beliefs, feelings, and perceptions that are blocking me from embodying love, peace, and joy.  Letting go of this is like cleaning out a closet that is crammed full of unwanted stuff.  I have been cleaning out this closet for years but it is a very, very deep closet that never seems to run out of things to throw away.

Michael Singer says that "Thoughts stay because we invite them to stay."  I can see that with resentments, blame, judgments...oftentimes we just want to hold onto these ideas.

The same seems to be true of feelings.  Feelings are lodged in the body.  We hold onto feelings by tightening up our bodies.  I notice how I tighten up in the face of fear, and this keeps it locked within my body and my psyche.

As simple as it sounds, taking long slow deep breaths and relaxing all of the tight places in my body seems to be the best way to let go of fear.

(And an added benefit to this kind of belly breathing is that it helps the immune system.  When we are under stress our breath is more shallow.  When we breathe deeply we stimulate our immune system.  This may be part of the reason why people are more likely to get sick when they are under stress.)

So, breathe...and let go.  Let the fears and limiting thoughts and perceptions go.  Nature abhors a vacuum. When you let go of what you no longer need, the emptiness within will be filled with light.

As you inhale allow the air to nourish every part of your body. As you exhale allow the limiting thoughts and feelings to float away.  Relax your body.  Relax into this moment.  Be at peace for all is well in your life.  The God that created you will sustain you, guide you, and will fill you with love and light.  All you need to do is let go.

I release

This has been a week of noticing and releasing for me.  I have noticed how I get in my own way by continuing to hold onto negative beliefs/perceptions/feelings about myself, others, and life.  Although subtle, these negative energies that were programmed from my past, limit my ability to experience peace, love, joy and harmony.

I had a situation arise which caused some inner discomfort and I became aware of how it was hooking my issues. Once I accepted my feelings, chose to see myself and others through the eyes of compassion, and surrendered the outcome, the situation unfolded easily and harmoniously.

I see that whatever I am holding onto on the inside is what I will experience on the outside.  If I am holding onto inner conflict, unworthiness, anger or judgmental thoughts than that is what I will experience on the outside.

I see how I have continued to hold onto such limiting beliefs.

I see how they have blocked me from Truth.

I no longer choose to cling to perceptions, expectations, beliefs and feelings.

I release.  As Michael Singer says, don't release them one at a time that takes too long...just let them all go.

I write it all down on ice and watch them melt away.

I am a precious being endowed with purpose...and gifts...and an unlimited capacity for joy and love.  My life unfolds in perfect harmony as I release stored up energy and negative patterns from my past.  I no longer cling to this man-made identity.  I open to God, making room for my True Identity to express itself.

For this awareness I am eternally grateful.

perfect Oneness

This week I have been focused on the idea that we are not separate. There is only God expressing Itself through and as life, as each of us.

Focusing on a separate self sets me up to compete, judge, and try to defend this image of self.  Recognizing that I am One with all of life engenders a more caring and generous attitude.

At our core we are all One and we are perfect. On the surface, we are imperfect human beings.  We make mistakes.  We sometimes say and do the wrong things.

I heard a beautiful expression recently: When something goes wrong, write it on ice.

As I notice human foibles and mistakes (my own and others), I will write them on ice.  As these stories melt away into the nothingness from which they came I will return to the awareness of Truth: that Life is an expression of God...that there is no image to protect...that there is only One.

Get your bloated-nothingness out of the way

We seem to spend a lot of time an energy focused on worldly concerns...whether they be physical/material, social, intellectual, emotional...and comparatively little time trying to get to know who we really are.  Even our spiritual practices are often about feeling better and dealing with worldly problems as opposed to discovering our true nature as expressions of Love and spiritual beings.  And then we wonder why we are not happy, fulfilled, at peace, nor experiencing harmonious and intimately connected relationships.

Michael Singer suggests dealing with the mind not the world...dealing with the mind so that we can move beyond it into a higher expression of Self.

I am learning to allow my issues/blockages to arise as life unfolds.  I am learning to let these situations have their way with me.  I am a diamond in the rough.  If I authentically open to what is in front of me, then each situation will chip away at this self and bring me closer to realizing the diamond within.

More and more I am looking for this diamond within myself and others.  The focus is less about making things right, and, more about joining with the flow of life which is leading me back to my True Self.  The alternative to realizing our true nature is to stay stuck in this false identity (aka, bloated-nothingness) bumping up against other false selves as we struggle with and through life.  No thank you.

Instead I ask myself again and again:

Who am I?  Who am I?  Who am I?

beyond the mind

A native American elder who spends a couple of hours each day without thought reports that he has learned to live in harmony with life without relying on his intellect.  Fishing is a big part of his culture and he does so without relying on the thinking mind.  He and other fisherman in his village locate sea lions and halibut with incredible accuracy by relying on their intuition, senses, and the wisdom that comes from connecting with One Mind.

All week long I have been reminding myself that there are ways to live from a place of wisdom that does not rely on the intellect.

As I watch my life unfold and watch my reactions to my life, I am aware that life is showing me how I need to open up and what I need to let go of.  Instead of looking at so-called problems as something to get me down, I see them as opportunities to grow.  Life always shows me where I need to grow just the way that life is guiding the Native American fishermen to the fish.  I find that when I move out of the judgmental and analytical mind and ground myself in what is showing up, insights and guidance arise on there own.  Thank you life.

Adyashanti's insights

Some insights from Adyashanti during the retreat that I attended in August:

All self is imaginary

Bring all of myself to this moment.

Nothing in the manifest world is perfect...just look at nature...the green needles turn brown.  (We too are not and never will be perfect in the human sense).

Surrender.

When life goes haywire it is often due to not listening to one's Truth.

Anything that remains after I stop thinking about it is real.  Everything else is imaginary.

When feeling lost, ground yourself in Truth.



My intention this week is to sit with the last 3 ideas.  What is Truth?  What is real?  What is imaginary? Interesting questions, worthy of contemplation.  

the path of nonresistance

I recently heard a very sweet, spiritual man give a talk about his life.  He was a Hindu monk for about 29 years.  At this point in his life he is experiencing a health issue that is debilitating.  Instead of being bitter, his attitude is one of acceptance.  He said that he is going to experience it all...whatever it is that life has to offer. This is the path of nonresistance (see chapter 16 of The Untethered Soul "The Spiritual Path of Nonresistance").

I have been sitting with what I heard from the speaker this week.  What if we are not here to solve all of life's problems, nor to arrange our lives so that we can have peace and happiness?  What if the reason we are here is to wake up to the truth of who we are...expressions of Divine Love?

Life can be very difficult.  And in the difficult moments it can be very challenging to let go of struggle, blame, fear, efforts to control life, and, accept what is showing up.  But as we do so, we open to a higher reality and a deeper peace than what the world could ever give us.

I know that this body that I inhabit and the persona that I present to the world are not who I really am.  I am much, much more.  Protecting this identity and fighting with life no longer serve me.  I choose to move into acceptance, thus opening myself to God's will flowing in, as, and through my life.

listen

Since life is uncertain and I cannot rely on my limited egoic mind to tell me what to do, then relying on God (i.e., the Universe, my Higher Self...) seems to be a good choice.

This requires listening.

It has been suggested that we "Stop telling God what to do and listen to God instead."

Adyashanti emphasizes being in the silence as a way to listen.  He gives three steps to meditation which I find to be very helpful at quieting my noisy mind:

Enter into stillness
Open your heart and mind
Lovingly return to Source.

I remind myself that God is always communicating with me.  If I am caught up in the world or in my conditioned self then I will miss what God is saying to me.  I choose to spend more time in the silence...more time listening and communing with God.

uncertainty

I was reminded this weekend that life is uncertain, but within that uncertainty lies the unlimited potential for joy, the peace that passeth all understanding, and love.

Why would I rely on my limited egoic self (which is not much more than a set of conditioned beliefs, feelings and perceptions based on my past experiences) to direct my life when Truth, Unconditional Love, Divine Wisdom (or whatever you want to call that which created life) is already in charge?

Please join me in taking lots of deep breaths and letting go...over and over again until there is nothing left to let go of because we have merged with Truth.

Beyond Fear

The spiritual path is a path to freedom…freedom from the tyranny of the egoic, limited self.

One of the biggest fears that blocks us from realizing this Freedom is the fear of letting go (i.e., surrendering or leaving the comfort of one’s beliefs, expectations, judgments, sense of control).

Every time I whole-heartedly surrender my life to God something inevitably occurs that causes me to come face-to-face with the areas where I am blocked (i.e., the areas of my life where I struggle the most). I have a decision at this point to either resist and struggle with what is showing up or continue to let go.

If I choose to let go, then right in the midst of the confusion or fear or stress I breath in and out through my heart.  I get out of my head by noticing what I am feeling both emotionally and physically.  I surrender my concerns and ask God for guidance.  I express gratitude that an area where I have been blocked is now free to be released.

When I let go, I am taking down my walls one brick at a time (Think of Michael Singer's analogy of the dark house built in the middle of the sunlit field).  I am surrendering my life to God one moment at a time.  I am not allowing fear to stop me from knowing and experiencing the truth of my Being. There is freedom on the other side of the fear.  The question is, am I willing to experience the discomfort of letting go in order to experience this Freedom?

letting go of my identity

If I really, really want to be free than I will have to let go of this identity that I have created.

"Remember your self-concept is just a collection of thoughts about yourself" (The Untethered Soul, p. 36).

That sense of self that I have spent 50 plus years developing, solidifying, protecting, improving, nurturing, criticizing is non-existent other than in my mind.   It is really hard to believe this.  It is hard to let go of the fact that I am not who I thought I was.

Inherent in this identity is a series of beliefs and expectations about what is right and wrong, good and bad, how things should be and shouldn't be...in order for me to be happy.  Holding onto this identity prevents me from responding to each moment with an open mind and heart.  It keeps me from accepting life as it unfolds.  It causes me to try to fit everything into my mental model and that results in struggle.

Who I really am sits beneath the surface of this self in a glowing field of light just waiting to radiate out through my being into the Universe and back again.

I choose to let go in each moment and bring my awareness back to the presence within...to the wholeness and radiance that I am.  In the moments where I cannot access this presence, I ask myself "Who Am I?" and I let go of the limited identity.

set the world free

When my ego gets hooked and I start to judge, or cling, or feel anxious... I remind myself to "set the world free" (a quote by Michael Singer which I heard on one of his CDs):

"You are you. You are not who I want you to be.  You shouldn't be who I want you to be.  I shouldn't have 'I want you to be...'"  (Michael Singer)

The world owes me nothing.

I am in this world but not of this world.

God is my Source, not the world.

I set the world free.

I return to the presence within which is always connected with my Source.

When I turn within and stop reacting to the world out of fear and need, I am guided by God to act in a way that is in the highest and best interest of all parties involved.

Thank you God.

And so it is.

Grace

A busy week for me with school beginning so I will simply post a quote from Adya:

"Grace is all around us, if we only have the eyes to see it.  The good moments are grace, the difficult moments are grace, the confusing moments are grace. When we can begin to open enough to realize that there is grace in every situation, in each person we meet, no matter how easy or difficult we perceive them to be, our hearts will flower and we'll be able to express the peace and the love that each of us has within us."  (falling into grace, p. 230)

Gandhi speaks...

Inspirational words from a pamphlet titled "Ghandi speaks... Selections from his writings"

"I can truthfully say that I am slow to see the blemishes of fellow beings, being myself full of them.  Therefore, being in need of their charity, I have learnt not to judge anyone harshly and to make allowances for defects that I may detect." (p. 6)

"I have no special revelation of God's will.  My firm belief is that He reveals Himself daily to every human being, but we shut our ears to the 'still small voice.'  We shut our eyes to the 'pillar of fire' in front of us.  I realize His Omnipresence." (p. 9)

Please join me in the intention to live with our hearts open to each other, and, our eyes and ears open to God.

Who am I????

Many of the great Master teachers suggest that we focus on the question "Who Am I?"  The suggestion is to sit with this question and let the answer reveal itself to us, not in an intellectual way but as embodied awareness.

As I proceed on my Spiritual path I am becoming more interested in this question.  It is becoming clearer to me who I am not. I am not this limited self that narrows it's awareness down to such minor experiences such as the conversation that I just had, what I am going to do this weekend, or how my hair looks...  Not that these things should be neglected.  But when I attach to these type of concerns and allow them to define me or dictate my mood, then I am limiting myself unnecessarily.  I am blocking myself from experiencing myself as an expansive Being with unlimited potential.

Who I really am is not yet within my grasp.  That is okay.  I will continue to let go of what I am not, making room for Truth to reveal itself to me and as me.

embracing life, embracing God

Whenever I have an experience where I embody or deeply realize my connection with God, my drive/longing to know God in this intimate way becomes stronger.  It is an experience like none other.  These experiences help me to recognize that this Oneness with God is my true nature.  The pull to surrender my life and open my heart to God becomes stronger.

Sitting in the silence is one part of my spiritual practice that opens me to this kind of connecting with God.

The other is living my life.  Life always shows me what I need to let go of and what I need to embrace more of...such as finding my voice in situations where I feel uncomfortable speaking up.  Adya talks about bringing our "whole self" to each moment.  This helps me to deal with what is happening in my life in a centered and grounded way.  I bring my feelings, thoughts, and intuition into the situation instead of just reacting from my head or from past conditioning.  When I do not speak from my gut nor listen to my gut I find that my life gives me consequences that I would rather not experience!

A quote that inspires me to stay present, grounded, and open:

"Embrace the full measure of your life at any cost.  Bare your heart to the Unknown and never look back."  (from one of Adya's teaching brochures)

from ego to being

The retreat with Adyashanti was a beautiful, amazing experience.

One of the realization that I had was a deeper awareness that this identity that I call Donna (and all of the characteristics that I attribute to my identity) are not real.  Life is God expressing itself as me, you, the birds, the trash along the side of the road etc.  It is all just God being.   This self called Donna is an empty vessel that God is pouring Itself through.  There is nothing about me that belongs to me nor comes from me.  The love that I feel and express to others is not my love...it is God's love that comes forth through me.

In The Way of Liberation, Adya suggests contemplating the following statements:

"To look within and not find yourself as a self is the beginning of finding yourself as a presence (being)." p. 33

"There is only being living itself through you, as you, and as all that exists." p. 34

"Beyond ego is universal being; beyond being is the Infinite*." p. 35

(*Adya defines the Infinite as pure formless potential. p. 35)


When we connect to our being-ness on deep level (i.e., realize the presence of God within) nothing else matters.  All of the concerns of the ego fall away.  The truth of our being, the truth of God is all that really matters.  

Consciousness is everything

I heard a great speaker recently, Dennis Merrit Jones, whose message was similar to my blog posts.  Dennis began his talk with the idea that our consciousness goes before us to announce our arrival before we get to where we are going.  This being said, it is our consciousness that needs work, not our lives.  Fix the consciousness and our lives will fall into greater order and harmony.

Consciousness is awareness (i.e., what we are aware of).  When I put my awareness on Itself (i.e., I am aware that I am that which notices what is happening in my life) I abide in a neutral state.  This neutral state is the portal through which God expresses itself in, as, and through me.

In preparation for next weeks meditation retreat with Adyashanti (and as a daily spiritual practice) I move my awareness to the Observer.  From here I watch my psyche or little self have its drama and fears and hopes... As the Observer, there is no good and there is no bad.  There is no low self esteem and there is no high self esteem.  There is only space. This space if filled with potential...the potential to be everything that God intended me to be.

Each time I move my awareness to Itself and let go of that which my little self is holding on to I am making room for a shift in consciousness.  I am taking a step closer to my True Potential.

(I will not be posting next week while I am on retreat.  The next post will be during the week of August 12th)

experiencing the inner presence

If you have Adya's book "Falling into Grace" check out the sections "To Be Everything and Nothing at the Same Time" and "The Great Return" on pages 93-98.  He asks:

"Is it possible to start to feel, in this very moment, that our bodies, our minds, and even our personalities are ways through which our spiritual essence connects with the world around us?" (p. 93) 

I love what Adya is saying, that it is our spiritual essence expressing through our bodies, minds and personalities that connects with the world around us.  It can be so easy for me to use my mind to navigate through life, but that is completely different than connecting with my spiritual essence and allowing that to express itself through my mind, body and personality.

Adya suggests that we "Look within, right now, in this very instant. Don't search for anything...just look, listen, and feel, and allow yourself to experience that inner presence, that inner transparency to spirit." (p. 97)

"Only then do we get on with the business of how to be what we really are, how to not be lost in our minds. Use your body and mind as an expression of your essence, as a way to connect with others and as a way to remind others of the truth of what we are." (p. 98)  

How lovely it would be to interact with others from a place of unity...without comparison, competition, judgment, control, jealousy, insecurity, rejection...  How different the world would be if our primary goal was to help each to recognize our True Nature, to know that we are all One Divine expression of life and of love.

I will connect with that inner presence frequently throughout my day.  I will relax into that space and open my heart allowing the energy of God's love to pour through me and as me.  And so it is.

a new way of looking at one's self

The following is part of a letter that Adyashanti sent to those of us who are preparing for a retreat with him in August.  He is talking about coming to the retreat with an open mind and an open heart, but his ideas can be applied to our daily lives as we practice witnessing and releasing.

"This clear and new way of looking at one’s self is one that assumes no position that is for or against what is seen. Therefore there is no aversion to or grasping at ideas, thoughts, beliefs, or past experiences. This is a moment to moment looking, investigating, questioning, and “seeing” into the very structure of our conditioning without contracting into new ideas or making new conclusions based on what one sees.

In resting within an open and free awareness of what is and in being willing, without flinching, to see how we literally create and recreate suffering and ignorance from moment to moment, we can come to a place where we exist that is prior to all limitations of the body and mind. We awaken to the Unborn, Undying, and Uncreated, i.e., one’s True Self.

I encourage everyone to engage in this challenging moment to moment investigation. Don’t wait for a more ideal time in the future. Put an end to delaying the Revelation of Truth that is always in the present moment—in the now. Surrender to the Now without hesitation. Simply stop, be still, and effortlessly rest in the core of your Being. Surrender to this core of Being. In perfect surrender Truth is met; illusion is dropped; and Liberating Freedom is revealed to be one’s very Self."

Sounds like what I wrote about last week from Michael Singer...letting go of mental boundaries.

As I am doing more and more of these spiritual practices I am seeing the need to let it go, let it all go, the judgments, thoughts, beliefs, feelings, desires, expectations and perceptions... Letting go of the conditioned beliefs and resting in the core of my Being to allow Truth to be revealed.

As I have been practicing this, I have run into some of my blocks.  I have also run into situations where life demands a response, situations in which letting go of all thoughts does not seem practical.  For example, one of my teenage children has been procrastinating (according to my standards anyway) about an online summer class.  I really wanted to jump in and try to fix the situation.  Letting go was feeling far beyond my comfort zone.  However, I decided to give myself permission to feel the discomfort and then I went into the silence and asked for guidance.  What came to me first was to continue to walk through my discomfort without getting involved in the outer situation, and, second to see this child as One with God, letting go of all limiting thoughts and beliefs about the situation and about my teenager.

Adya is talking about letting go of clinging to all beliefs and thoughts, not just the limiting thoughts but all thoughts.  When we cling (even to the positive thoughts) we contract and build an identity around the thoughts.  We begin to have expectations about what is or what should be or what is good versus what is bad.  Adya is talking about being in the Now without relying on anything that the mind is saying.  He is talking about a Higher Truth revealing itself when attachment to all thought, belief, perception, desire, expectation is gone.  He is talking about transcending the limited sense of self, transcending the belief in a separate self, and merging with Truth.  

It 'seems' like there is a lot to be lost by letting go to this extent (the loss of the egoic, separate self) and yet there is a lot to be gained: Self experienced as Liberating Freedom, Unconditional Love and Pure Joy.

facing reality without mental boundaries

I found a lot of meaning in the following quote from Michael Singer (I don't know where it came from...probably one of his CDs):

"I free myself from the limits of my mental model. I accept reality.  I go beyond my model by not believing it. I face reality without mental boundaries.  I go beyond my comfort zone by handling what is happening NOW and relaxing."  

As I have said in recent blog posts, my spiritual practices include giving myself permission to have feelings and letting go of thoughts related to the feelings and situations in my life.  It became clear to me this week that accepting reality (i.e., what is showing up in my life) has absolutely nothing to do with the past or the future although, it requires conscious effort on my part to separate the present from the past and future.  When certain situations happen I sometimes find myself saying things like "Of course, things always turn out this way" or "When am I going to get this right?" or "So and so always acts this way" or I may just expect certain areas of my life to go in a certain direction because they always have in the past.  In other words, I fall prey to expecting my future to turn out like my past.

Back to Michael's quote.  These projections or expectations form the limits of my mental model.

I can choose to let all of these limits go.  I can focus on what is happening now, feel the feelings that are present in this moment (they will move through me as long as I let go of the thoughts that keep them in place), and relax.  Just because I have encountered a similar situation in the past has nothing to do with what will happen now or in the future.  If I stay stuck in negativity or worry about not being able to move forward I will block myself from receiving the good that the Universe has to offer me.  Perhaps I will block myself from knowing God.  God can be found only in this moment.  If I am consumed with worry or concern about the future or if I stay stuck with my limited mental model about how life works I will miss the opportunity to open my heart to God expressing Itself in this moment.

The reality about my life is that I have no idea what is in store for me.  I only have this moment to deal with.    I would much rather use this moment to open myself to God's grace and allow my life to unfold according to God's will, as opposed to viewing life through the lens of my limiting beliefs which are based on past experiences.

I face reality without mental boundaries.

the heart of reality

Sometimes when I am unable to let go of feelings and situations it is because I am holding onto thoughts.  The thoughts keep the feelings in place.  Thoughts such as "Why does it have to be this way?" or "Why can't so and so just be nicer, or calmer, or smarter...?" or "When am I going to change?" keep us from accepting and dealing with reality and allowing the feelings to pass.  

A good practice is to hold our thoughts lightly.  This can be hard to do because we hold on to our thoughts in order to keep our lives in order so we feel comfortable, in control...   Letting go of thoughts can leave us feeling vulnerable.  Adya says that

"Beyond this...void of not knowing, there is something greater: the heart of reality... The heart of reality is a vast expanse that we actually live in.  What if we began to relate to each other from this place where we know that our thoughts aren't ultimately true, but we're still going to use them?  We're still going to communicate aren't we?" (falling into grace, p. 85)

He goes on to say that we would still tell each other our stories knowing that they only approximate truth.

If we accepted that our thoughts only approximate truth "Can you imagine how much more lightly you'd hold your mind, the next thought in your mind, the thought that tries to convince you to struggle? What would happen if your mind were disarmed?  What would happen if you suddenly realized that happiness, peace, love and freedom weren't going to come from your mind?" (falling into grace, p. 85)

During this Independence Day please join me in freeing ourselves from the confines of the (limited) mind and the psyche.  Watch your thoughts but do not attach to them.  Feel the feelings without attaching meaning to them and allow them to move through you.  Deal with what is right in front of you.

God is our Source of happiness, peace, love and freedom.  Those states are already within us. We just need to remove the blocks.

Happy 4th of July!

God and I are One

Recently I was experiencing some negative energy that was not moving through me. Nothing that I did helped me to let go of it.  I tried feeling through it, witnessing it, letting go of thoughts that were contributing to the feelings...   I prayed about it and asked God to guide me.

I then decided to focus on my heart.  As I breathed into my heart and reminded myself of my intention to live with an open heart in each moment regardless of what was happening in my life the negative energy began to pass.

Different tools work for different situations.

In each moment I will choose to do whatever it takes to let go of that which blocks me from being aware of my connection with God.

God and I are One.  My heart's desire is to be fully aware of this Oneness and to live as God intends for me to live.

Thank you for reading this blog and sharing this experience with me.  Peace to you!  

tuning into an inner expansiveness

In chapter 5 of Falling into Grace, Adya talks about being present with feelings and letting go of the conclusions that we draw about what is, what was (what should have happened that didn't or what shouldn't have happened that did), and what will be as a way to free ourselves of suffering.  Living in the present moment can feel uncomfortable however, and Adya suggests the following:

"In your willingness to pause during a moment or difficulty, to take a few breaths and tune in to all that is there, you may notice that a comforting presence starts to arise.  It's by allowing yourself to feel and experience this presence that you can open yourself more and more to what is revealing itself in this moment. Even if it feels frightening, there is an underlying sense of well-being that is always with you and fully available even if you don't feel well."  (Falling into Grace, pp. 117-118).

Adya goes on to say that this presence is the "foretaste of another state of consciousness."  (It is the neutral Self that Michael Singer would label as the Observer or Witness.)    

"By giving your attention to it, by becoming aware of this inner presence and stillness, even in the midst of activity, you make yourself more and more available to the dawning of this vast expanse where you can awaken out of the belief and experience of separation.  You realize yourself to be a deep well of awareness-an inner expanse that's always there.  You just have to open to it." (Falling into Grace, p. 119.)

My intention this week is to give myself permission to stay present with whatever I am experiencing, let go of thoughts and conclusions about what is happening in my life, and tune into a deeper presence in the stillness of the moment.

embrace the moment

This week I've been noticing when I am feeling stressed and I have been saying to myself "I give myself permission to fully feel this."  Somehow this statement helps me to really accept what I am experiencing.  I stop resisting the feeling.

There are many stressors throughout each day and there is a tendency to skip over many of the little ones or try to handle the situations instead of being with the feelings.  For example, worrying if the weather is going to be good for the beach party on Friday might prompt me to check the weather forecast instead of sitting with the feeling.  I can't control the weather.  I can't predict the weather.  When I stop resisting the feeling I am free to actually deal with the situation instead of having to deal with the discomfort about the weather.

Being concerned about how my kids are going to do on their final exams may cause me to tell them to study (which may or may not be the best thing to do) instead of staying centered and deciding how to handle the situation wisely.  If I don't accept that there is inner discomfort about their final exams, I will be acting in ways that take care of my discomfort instead of acting in ways that take care of the situation (e.g., my kid's study habits).

Most of us experience inner discomfort often throughout each day.  If we don't accept the discomfort we will be trying to make it go away...in essence we are reacting to our discomfort instead of reacting to what is right in front of us.  This is what The Untethered Soul is all about.  

In my personal experience as well as in my work with clients I have found that one of the best ways to let go of feelings is to stop resisting them.  The nature of feelings is to move through us, but we need to stay with the feelings in order for that to happen.

Stay tuned for my next blog post about how this state of acceptance leads us towards an awakened consciousness.

taking the struggle out of letting go

Adyashanti says the following about meditation:

"In order to let everything be, we must let go of the effort to control and manipulate our experience-which means letting go of personal will.  This cuts right to the heart of the egoic makeup, which seeks happiness through control, seeking, striving, and manipulation."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 20)

"As you gently relax into awareness, the mind's compulsive contraction around objects will fade.  Silence of being will come more clearly into consciousness as a welcoming to rest and abide. An attitude of open receptivity, free from any goal or anticipation, will facilitate the presence of silence and stillness to be revealed as your natural condition." (The Way of Liberation, p. 22)

I find the above quotes to be useful in meditation as well as in daily life when I am trying to let go.  Some situations are difficult to let go of and this can lead to an inner struggle...not wanting to have the thoughts and feelings but being unable to let them go.

Having "an attitude of open receptivity"  means I give myself permission to have the thoughts and feelings no matter what they are...I do not try to control my inner experience...I let whatever is present be as it is.  Then, as I gently move my awareness to the neutral observer (or to the experiencer) I find that the thoughts and feelings move through me.

Practicing this in meditation has helped me to do it in my daily life (off the cushion as they say).  It takes some effort to stop and do this when discomfort arises but what could be a more valuable use of one's time than transcending the limited egoic self?

Self

A quote from page 136 of The Untethered Soul:

"If you are willing to let go, you'll fall back and it will open into an ocean of energy.  You will become filled with a light that has no darkness, with a peace that passeth all understanding.  You will then walk through every moment of your daily life with the flow of this inner force sustaining you, feeding you, and guiding you from deep within. You will have thoughts, emotions, and a self-concept floating around in inner space, but they will be just one small part of what you experience.  You will not identify with anything outside of Self."  

Please join me this week in letting go of identifying with the false self.  It is not you.

Surrender to your Highest Self and let it guide you.

taking the journey to peace

If you have a copy of The Untethered Soul, check out the last 2 paragraphs of Chapter 14 Letting Go of False Solidity on pp. 136-137.  Here are a couple of lines:

“If you want permanent peace, permanent joy, and permanent happiness, you have to get through to the other side of the inner turmoil. You can experience a life in which waves of love rush up inside of you any time you want.  It is the nature of your being.  You simply have to go to the other side of the psyche.  You do that by letting go of the tendency to cling.  You do it by not using the mind to build false solidity.  You just decide once and for all, to take the journey by constantly letting go.”  (TUS, p. 136) 

 

Letting go of the false self that we have built is scary.  The reason we have built this self-concept is to give us a (false) sense of security (i.e., delude ourselves into thinking that we are in control of what is happening in our lives in order to avoid feeling fear or vulnerability).

The way to get to the peace that passeth all understanding is to witness the false self and let the pain/fear pass through. 

I am ready to dive into this kind of letting go.  I’ve been noticing when my mind rationalizes and tries to make sense of happenings in my life so that I can feel comfortable.  If I am not alert I will habitually do whatever leads to feeling comfortable on the inside.  Sometimes I try to think my way through situations in order to avoid feelings of pain.  I may take a comment that someone else has made and try to make them wrong in my mind so that I feel better.  At other times I try to figure out how to fix things so that I can try to prevent whatever the unwanted situation is from happening in the future.     

I find it helpful to remind myself that God is in charge.  Whatever the situation is I give it to God and I bring my awareness back to whatever thoughts and feelings I am holding onto and let them go.   

Instead of looking for inner comfort, I am retraining myself to accept whatever I am experiencing and when that is uncomfortable I say to myself “Good! This is my false self that I am bumping into.  I see it, I feel it, and I choose to let it dissolve.  This will help me get to the other side which is where I want to be…living my life as True Self.”  

Take no thought

Whenever I am having a worrisome or unwanted thought, it is so freeing to remind myself that those thoughts are not real...my thoughts are just the ramblings of the neurotic roommate…they are not based on fact…they are not reality.  I remind myself often that I do not need to pay attention to my thoughts.   For example, if a worrisome thought about finances pops up I remind myself that my ego does not have the answers to my financial status and that God is my source of all that I need.  If the feeling of worry persists I allow it to be and I relax my body.  Sometimes the feeling moves through me.  If it does not, I continue to allow it to be but I do not feed it with additional thoughts of worry.  

The same can be applied to thoughts about health, relationships…

I practice not listening to my mind, no matter what it is saying.  As I let go of worrisome thoughts, judgments, commentary about what is or isn’t happening, what I expect, what I think I need, and conclusions that I have drawn my life seems less complicated.

It is not productive to deal with the incessant chatter of my mind.  It is productive to deal with what is right in front of me.  I deal with life with much more clarity when I let go of the chatter in my mind. 

Michele Longo O’Donnell:

If we remove from our mind a thought that has kept us from realizing the Presence of Spirit, then because we have provided space for it, Spirit will move into that space provided. It will appear in whatever way or form that will correct the human condition.

ALL problems are caused by the mind

Michael Singer says that  "ALL problems are caused by the mind."

Adyashanti says "We are so busy and obsessed with our restless thinking about everything and everyone that we have mistaken our thinking about everything and everyone for everything and everyone.  This tendency to take our thoughts to be real is what keeps the dream state intact and keeps us trapped within its domain of unconsciousness and strife.  To many people the very idea that what is is more real than all of their beliefs and opinions about what is is hard to believe." (The Way of Liberation, p. 15)

Adya presents an example, if you think everyone should be nice than by all means be nice, however, when you impose that belief onto others and hold it as objective reality (i.e., people should be nice to each other) than you are not dealing with reality and you will suffer.  What is reality is that people are not always nice.  So when that happens deal with it but let go of the belief that things should be otherwise.

Our minds (e.g., the way we see things, the meaning we give to situations, the conclusions that we draw, the judgments and opinions that we hold) cause our problems.  It is when we let go of the conclusions to our story, and, the beliefs and expectations about what should be happening that we feel lighter, less burdened.  

God gave us a gift called life and a beautiful world in which to enjoy our lives.  But most of the time we live in our minds not in the world.  When we are so focused on making the world and our lives (including the people in our lives) fit our specific ideas we miss all of the beauty and the joy.  

The way out is to remember that we are the experiencer of life.  Accept what is.  Deal with what is right in front of you.  Let go of the judgments, conclusions, expectations and enjoy the ride.

“It will be done to you according to what you believe.”

If we look at how our lives are showing up we will see what we really believe.  The areas of our lives that are showing up as lack, limitation, struggle, fear are clues to what we are holding onto which blocks us from experiencing our Oneness with God, from Awakening.

For me it is not about making my life work so that I can be happy.  It is about looking at where my life is not working so that I can see what beliefs I am holding onto that aren’t Truth.  These beliefs are ideas of the psyche not God.

 

My ego does not always want to let go of it's beliefs.  So I pray…God help me to let go of that which no longer serves me so that I may stand firmly in the awareness of my True Self.  May Your will be done in, as, and through my life.

And so it is.  

sandals by the shore

I had a reaction to a situation this week which gave me an opportunity to practice letting go.  It was a painful situation and the fact that I could not let the pain move through me caused me to suffer.  Adya's practice of telling your story, feeling the feelings about the story, and most importantly, letting go of the conclusions that you have drawn about the story (e.g., this should not have happened, blaming self or others...) helped me to accept the situation and the pain but without the suffering (See Falling Into Grace, chapter 5).  And as I kept reminding myself to let go of my conclusions, which in this case was blaming myself, the pain lessened.

In addition to my "conclusions" I also saw how my expectations and preconceived notions were restricting me and keeping me stuck.  I wanted things to be a certain way so that I could feel comfortable.  I could fully relate to Michael Singer's analogy of the secure and comfortable home built in the middle of the sunlit field (See The Untethered Soul, chapter 12) .  I could see how my judgments, preconceived notions, and beliefs were the walls of the house and that my Spirit, my ability to feel Love, Peace, and Joy were locked inside.

I know that if I want to be free I will need to leave the comfort of my beliefs.  

As Kirtana sings, "Leave the world of mind...like sandals by the shore."

Let go, Let God

When life hits your 'stuff' and you start to feel a disturbance of the energy inside, Michael Singer suggests letting go.

"A wise person remains centered enough to let go every time the energy shifts into a defensive mode.  The moment the energy moves and you feel your consciousness start to get drawn into it, you relax and release.  Letting go means falling behind the energy instead of going into it.  It just takes a moment of conscious effort to decide that you're not going there.  You let go.  It's simply a matter of taking the risk that you are better off letting go than going with the energy.  When you're free from the hold the energy has on you, you will be free to experience the joy and expansiveness that exists within you."  (TUS, p.65)

Let go, let God.

Being is everything

Michael Singer talks about the fact that we have very, very little control over what happens in our world.  When I stop and think about how big the world and the Universe are and how small I am in that huge arena it is very humbling.  It points to the reality that we cannot control most of what unfolds in our lives...we can not control what other people say and do, how long they are with us, the economy, whether we get to keep our job or not, our health, the weather...  We even have limited control over our own thoughts and feelings.

When I sit down to meditate I often have a hard time letting go of my thoughts and feelings about my life. I can get very attached to thinking about what I am going to do that day.  I find my mind planning activities and situations so that my life will unfold the way that I want it to.

When I allow the ego to just be, without trying to control it, I settle into stillness.  I connect with my Being-ness.

It is from our Being-ness that everything happens.  My ego-driven desire to figure out how to best do my life has very limited power over what actually happens, and in fact, it blocks me from my source of love, peace and joy.

Jesus, who was able to perform many miracles did so from his deep connection with his own Being-ness.  "It is not I, but the Father within me that doeth the work."  

I see now that I have been misguided for most of my life.  It is not for me to figure out how to run my life.  It is for me to connect with the Spirit within me and to allow that to inform me...to allow that to live through me and as me.  It is for me to notice when I am allowing myself to be wrapped-up in egoic thoughts and feelings and to find a way back to Truth, back to my Being.

I am beginning to realize that I am simply a vehicle or vessel through which God expresses and when I return to my Being-ness I am allowing that divine expression to flow.  I simply need to watch and to listen.  I am the awareness of my life unfolding.

more from The Way of Liberation

I have been using some of Adya's ideas to open my heart when I am feeling blocked or closed.  I have been working with the foundational principle of "being a good steward of your life" this week.  It is about facing all aspects of yourself and your life and not using spirituality to avoid any of these areas.  I use to think that reaching a spiritual awakening would allow all areas of my life to fall into order.  I am now learning that areas of my life that are challenging or difficult can keep me from experiencing a Higher Truth or a Higher Self.  

One way to work with issues that come up in my life is to contemplate questions such as "Is it really true that I can not be happy unless so and so (e.g., the new job, relationship...) happens?"... this type of question deals with Absolute Reality.  I also look at the human/egoic issue in the situation and question that.  For example, "What belief am I holding onto that is keeping me from experiencing more harmony in my life?"...this question is about limiting beliefs that keep me tied to egoic consciousness.  Adya makes the point that being open to Absolute Truth and dealing with the human condition are both important.

The idea is to sit with these questions and not use our heads or analytic reasoning to find answers.  (More about these techniques in future posts or read chapter 3 in The Way of Liberation).

Happiness is a Choice

I have been enjoying the path of unconditional happiness.  For the most part I have been able to bring myself back to joy or love regardless of what has been showing up in my life.  However, there was one particular instance when an issue related to judgment of myself and others came up and I had difficulty moving through it.

This is how the path of unconditional happiness works…samskaras or unfinished business will interfere with our experience of joy, presenting us with an opportunity to work through these issues.

 

During a meditation on Saturday I decided to contemplate the judgmental thoughts and feelings.  I stayed present with what I was experiencing, chose to see myself through the eyes of compassion, contemplated the origins of being judgmental (e.g., recognized that it developed out of past wounds such as feeling like I needed to be self-critical in order to make sure that I measured up…).  I felt pain, sadness, loss and then I was able to allow the thoughts and feelings to pass through me and I experienced a lighter heart. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live with an open heart all of the time?  This is possible.  It is a matter of shifting away from having to have things be a certain way in order to be happy.  Can we accept things as they are?  Do we really need more money, better relationships, more time, approval from others…in order to be happy?  The next time you find yourself feeling down about not having something or about having something that you do not want, ask yourself what belief you are holding onto that is blocking you from being happy and then challenge that belief.

We are made in the image and likeness of God.  Joy and Love are our True nature.  It is the ego or the false self that holds onto beliefs, expectations, pre-conceived notions etc. which interfere with our natural state of Joy.

Set the intention to live with an open heart and work with yourself to remain open for as long as possible. 

unconditional happiness

I am going to veer away from The Way of Liberation for this post and focus on a message from Michael Singer's CD "The Journey Within.  Love is Inside.  Go Find It."

The gist of the CD is that happiness, love, joy etc. do not come from anything outside of ourselves.   They are inner states that are often triggered by something outside of us but the feeling itself comes from within.  Some things cause us to open and we feel love or joy.  Other things cause us to close and we feel depressed, blocked, heavy...  What determines whether we open or close to something is our past conditioning.  One thing (e.g., a piece of art) might cause one person to open and another to close.   As a result, most of us go around trying to fill our lives with things that make us feel open.  However we do not always get what we want and even if we do at some point that particular thing that opens us will either go away or stop making us feel open (e.g., the new car is no longer so wonderful, the new job becomes boring).

This spiritual path is about working on the inside to stay open instead of trying to change the world to meet our expectations.  You do this by noticing when something closes you and figuring out a way to stay open.  With this kind of practice you could be feeling love all of the time.  Any job that you are doing should fill you with joy.

We limit ourselves from happiness by our expectations, beliefs, preconceived notions, negativity.  For example, the other night I had to go to the store to buy something that one of my kids needed for school the next day.  I found myself thinking things like "I'm really tired.  This is the last thing that I want to be doing right now...(blah blah blah)"  However, it only takes a moment to notice this kind of attitude and choose to feel joy instead.

I am not talking about what we "should" do, or what is the right or wrong way to handle situations, or which attitude is more spiritual.  It is more practical than that.  If I want to be happy, than I can choose to be happy during the moments of my life regardless of what is happening.  This makes much more sense than trying to keep everything outside of me in order so that I can feel good on the inside.

Michael suggests that instead of praying for a relationship, a new job, a new car... pray to feel love, to feel secure, to feel happy.

from false self to presence

Adya says that the "false self is the greatest barrier to the realization of our true identity of universal being... The problem is that the self that you became convinced was the real you is a phantom that exists only as an abstraction in your mind...The false self is both an obstacle and a doorway through which you must pass on your way to awakening to the dimension of being.  As you pass through the void of self, the identification with self dies, either temporarily or permanently, and you are revealed to be a presence."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 12-13).  

The false self or this identity which I have created in order to navigate through life is a phantom.  It does not exist anywhere but in my mind.  Adya gives a very convincing description of how we are not this self on pages 12 and 13.  It is very liberating at times to realize that I am not this identity that I have created and that I do not have to maintain any particular image, nor try to fit in, nor do anything to be accepted...  At other times I cannot imagine going through my life without this sense of who I think I am.  It can be frightening to imagine how I would operate in life without this set of beliefs, expectations, perceptions...    

Each and every time that I notice my attachment to a thought, feeling, perception, assumption and choose to let it go, I am that much closer to embodying presence and living in Reality.  I have been listening to a music CD by Kirtan (A Deeper Surrender) where she says things like "we think something happened but nothing ever did." and "everything is only me."  Could this whole experience be an abstraction in our minds?  Wouldn't it serve us to get on with letting go of the phantom, and awakening into the dimension of being that is our doorway to God realization?

Now is the time.  Join me in noticing whatever is hooking you at this moment.  Recognize that it may not be as real as it seems.  Breath and relax your chest and belly.  Let it go.  The false self is a mask that we wear.  Beneath this mask is a Divine expression of life in the form of you.  Nothing that is happening in your life right now defines you.  You can choose to open your heart and follow the path of Unconditional Happiness (part 5 of The Untethered Soul) regardless of what is happening on the outside or you can choose to be obsessively focused on this false image.  I suggest letting go in each moment until you connect with the presence within...only then will you be able to walk in freedom.   

the central issue of life

"Most of us live in a state where our being has long ago been exiled to the shadow realm of our silent anguish.  At times being will break through the fabric of our unconsciousness to remind us that we are not living the life we could be living, the life that truly matters.  At other times being will recede into the background silently waiting for our devoted attention.  But make no mistake: being--your being--is the central issue of life." (The Way of Liberation, p. 10)

The egoic part of me that wants to see itself as separate and in-charge wants to stay away from being.

But, I am not this little self.  I can choose where I put my awareness and how I spend my precious moments on this planet.  I choose to let go of all of the energy that I have wasted on fear, worry, judgments, and illusions about reality.  I choose to let go of the reigns and relax into the present moment.  I surrender into the beingness that I am because I know that I am One with that which created and sustains life.

I choose to live a life that truly matters.

an empty vessel

Wow...read these two powerful excerpts, both saying something similar:

When we go into a state of humility and request the truth that will make us free, and we let go of everything that we have accumulated, offering an empty vessel, then truth comes.
We can see that which has always been present and has never changed. Everything is already in a state of wholeness and completion. (Michelle Longo O'Donnell)

"To remain unconscious of being is to be trapped within an ego-driven wasteland of conflict, strife, and fear that only seems customary because we have been brainwashed into a state of suspended disbelief where a shocking amount of hate, dishonesty, ignorance, and greed are viewed as normal and sane.  But they are not the sane, not even close to being sane.  In fact, nothing could be less sane and unreal than what we human beings call reality.

By clinging to what we know and believe, we are held captive by the movement of our conditioned thinking and imagination, all the while believing that we are perfectly rational and sane.  We therefore continue to justify the reality of what causes us, as well as others, immeasurable amounts of pain and suffering."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 10-11) 

To obtain enlightenment, freedom, peace, or joy we must let go of what we know and believe...we must empty ourselves of everything in order to make room for truth.

It is so hard to stop clinging to my assumptions, beliefs, expectations, desires, identity, judgments.  Yet I clearly see that they are what blocks me from truth. There is a higher Reality that is not based on my ego-driven conditioned thoughts and the way to connect with that Reality is to stop clinging to what I call reality.

Be A Good Steward of Your Life

Being a good steward of your life means

"that you are not using spirituality to avoid any aspects of your life...The Way of Liberation is a way of completely facing yourself and your life without withdrawing into denial, judgment, or magical thinking. It is a means of piercing through the veils of illusion and awakening to Truth."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 7)

I find the best way to completely face my life is by being present in each moment. I remind myself to fully immerse myself in the moment...noticing and accepting what is happening, what I am thinking, and what I am feeling.  Sometimes this tends to simplify things as I realize that I only have to deal with what is happening now, not anything that might happen in the future nor anything that happened in the past.  This can make things more clear.  I may recognize an old tape that I am listening to in my head and decide to let it go.  At other times I notice pain or discomfort.  As Adya points out, the key is to notice without denial, judgment or magical thinking.    

Whatever is happening in the moment is important.  It can help us to awaken.

"Your life, all of your life, is your path to awakening...Pay attention to what life is trying to reveal to you.  Say yes to its fierce, ruthless, and loving grace."  (p. 7)  

"Never Abdicate Your Authority"

This is another of Adya's foundations.

"This means that you take full responsibility for your life and never forfeit it over to someone else."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 4)

Spiritual teachers and spiritual teachings are supposed to point us toward Reality but they are not Reality in and of themselves.

"To be in a true and mature relationship with a spiritual teaching requires you to apply it, not simply believe in it."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 5)

This week I have been focusing a lot on bringing my awareness to the Witness and noticing my experiences.  I have been noticing my feelings, whether or not my heart is open, and the tension in my body.  I have noticed if I am being honest with myself about what I am thinking and feeling.

It is so easy to see everything that is happening in my life as "reality."  And at the same time I notice that my perceptions of people, places and things can change dramatically and quickly...then what is reality?  As Adya and Michael Singer tell us, there is an Essence within each of us that knows Reality.  However true this is, I cannot rely on what these Spiritual Masters have said to change my experience of Life, Self, and Reality...I must apply what they have said thus making room for a new experience.

This being said, I move into this week with a lighter hold on what is happening in my life and I remind myself to watch and let go.

"practicing absolute sincerity"

Another foundation that Adya discusses is "practicing absolute sincerity" which includes honesty, genuineness, and integrity.

"To be sincere does not mean to be perfect.  In fact the very effort to be perfect is itself insincere, because it is a way of avoiding seeing yourself as you are right now.  To be able and willing to see yourself as you are, with all of your imperfections and illusions, requires genuine sincerity and courage.  If we are constantly trying to hide from ourselves, we will never be able to awaken from our illusion of self."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 6)

How easy it is to hide from oneself.  Sometimes this is very subtle such as when I deny feelings, judgments, and negative thoughts. Being defensive and closed instead of letting a vulnerable feeling surface is another way in which I avoid being genuine.  Efforts to please others or make them feel good can get in the way of my being sincere and genuine.  Or there are times when I have to face an aspect of my dark side which can be very uncomfortable.

"The capacity and willingness to be honest with yourself is your greatest guard against self-deception and deceit, and aligns you with your genuine aspiration.  There is no greater challenge for a human being than to be completely honest with oneself as well as with others, and yet such honesty is absolutely necessary if we are ever to awaken from our dream of separation and live a truly genuine and undivided life."  (The Way of Liberation, p.6)

Asking myself if I am being sincere in the moment grounds me...it brings my awareness into my body and reminds me to check in with my heart and my mind.  It makes me think about how I am behaving and what choices I am making.

We are all imperfect in our human ways, yet at our core we are made in the image and likeness of God.  Our Essence is perfect.  Adya is pointing us in the direction of being aware of the human imperfections...otherwise we will be busy hiding and therefore not able to open to Truth.  I no longer believe that being "spiritual" means being good or doing the right thing all of the time.  Being "spiritual" means noticing how I am showing up in my life.  It is about being honest with myself and others, letting go, and opening to a deeper and higher expression of Self.

Joy

It is a busy week and I may not get to writing much on the blog.  But for now, here is a quote that I really like from one of Michael Singer's CDs:

"If how you are causes a disturbance inside of me, that is my problem.  If I didn't have the psycho-mumbo-jumbo going on inside of me (e.g., I need you to be a certain way for me to be okay) than I would be feeling the joy that I am and that would permit you to be what you are."

We are 'okay' because we are one with God...not because of how others are being or what they are doing around us.

May we let go of our attachment to how we think others should be and step into the Joy that is our True Nature!

Unconditional Follow-Through

Adya's second foundation is: Unconditional Follow-Through which has to do with "what you are willing to do or let go of doing...it requires you to be fully present, sincere, and committed now, with absolute honesty and a willingness to uncover and let go of any illusion that comes between you and the realization of Reality."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 4).

Notice what Adya emphasizes - it is about being present and committed now...not striving for some future state of awakening.  I find this powerful and humbling.  How silly it seems to long for some awakened state in the future when there are many times when I am not even present to this moment...at times unwilling to even deal with what I am thinking/feeling/perceiving in this moment (i.e., a fear, a resentment, a judgment...).

Adya also emphasizes the willingness to let go of all illusions...that includes the illusion that I am separate from others, or any illusion that my judgments and opinions reflect Reality.  As I go through the ups and downs of my day and notice how my heart becomes so invested in what is happening in my world, it is easy to forget that most of my experiences are based on illusions.

My focus is to stay present in the moment, noticing if my heart is open, accepting what is showing up in my life without clinging and without pushing it away.  There is more to life than what my limited perceptions are showing me.  I do not know what this Reality is that my illusions block me from seeing.  So I will wait.  I will watch my experiences, I will let them move through me and I will "wait upon the Lord" to show me Truth.

Clarify Your Aspirations

Adya talks about 5 foundations on which his teachings rest and the first of these is to "Clarify Your Aspirations."   This means:

"knowing exactly what it is that your spiritual life aspires to, not as a future goal but in each moment.  In other words what do you value most in your life-not in the sense of moral values, but in the sense of what is most important to you." (The Way of Liberation, p. 3)

He suggests that we contemplate and meditate upon this question until we are perfectly clear about what we aspire to.

What I might aspire to in the big picture is to help the world to heal, but taking this question down to a moment by moment experience changes my response somewhat, making my goals more specific.  The goal that I aspire to at this point is to live each moment with an open heart thus allowing myself to stay connected with my authentic experience (i.e., noticing when I close in fear and choosing to relax my heart) and with the energy of Spirit.

"The importance of this first Foundation cannot be over-emphasized, because life unfolds along the lines of what you value most...Generally most people have competing and conflicting values, which manifest as both internal and external conflict.  So just because you think something is your deepest value it does not mean that it actually is.  By deeply contemplating and clarifying what you value and aspire to, you become more unified, clear, and certain of your direction."  (The Way of Liberation, p. 3)

I have experienced some of this (internal) conflict this week...despite my aspiration I found myself at times feeling defensive and closed.  Staying aware of what I aspire too in each moment has reminded me to stay open.

If you would like to share your thoughts, I would greatly appreciate hearing about your aspirations (either by posting on the blog or sending my an email).

Wake up or perish

I see the pull that the world has on my awareness.  The pull is for the ego to get something...whether it be to get recognition, love, friendship, respect, security, peace of mind...or to get something materialistic...or to get more time...  The list of wants and needs that my ego has is insatiable.

I can stop feeding the ego by letting go of the believe that I need any of these things in order to be okay or to be happy.

Letting go of my attachment to this egoic self has increased my desire to know and embody who I really am.  

I will be using Adyashanti's book, The Way of Liberation, to wake up to a deeper experience of Self.  (It is a short paperback book and can be purchased for $10).  

Here is what Adya has to say about this point in time:  "Awakening to Reality is no longer a possibility; it is an imperative.  We have sailed the ship of delusion about as far as she can carry us.  We have run her ashore and now find ourselves shipwrecked on an increasingly desolate land.  Our options have imploded.  'Wake up or perish' is the spiritual call of our times.  Did we ever need more motivation than this?  And yet all is eternally well, and more well than can be imagined."  (The Way of Liberation, Introduction xiii)

If you want a different experience of your life...if you want to experience that everything is eternally well, please join me in choosing the way of Liberation.  This is not an easy path.  It involves letting go of the known and trusting God to take care of everything.  It involves letting go of the self, the identity that we use to navigate through life.  It means letting go of judgments and expectations and desires.  It is a tall order but as Adya says, did we ever need more motivation than what we have now?