life knows what it is doing

 When a so-called "negative" experience showed up in Michael Singer's life he simply surrendered any preferences for or against what was happening and returned his awareness to the peace within.  He did not seem to be at all interested in figuring out why he was manifesting any particular situation.  Instead he let go and allowed the natural process of life to remove what needed to be removed.  Michael's process was consistently one of letting go, returning his awareness to the peace within and taking care of whatever tasks were presented to him.  As a result his life experiences have been truly amazing.  And although there were challenges, situations always righted themselves as Michael continued to surrender no matter what was showing up.

In talking about the idea that life knows what it is doing Michael says:

"At some point there is no more struggle, just the deep peace that comes from surrendering to a perfection that is beyond your comprehension.  Eventually, the mind stops resisting, and the heart loses the tendency to close.  The joy, excitement, and freedom are simply too beautiful to give up. Once you are ready to let go of yourself, life becomes your friend, your teacher, your secret lover. When life's way becomes your way, all the noise stops, and there is a great peace."  (The Surrender Experiment, p. 252)

letting life call the shots

Here is how Michael describes his practice:

"I could see that the practice of surrender was actually done in two, very distinctive steps: first, you let go of the personal reactions of like and dislike that form inside your mind and heart; and second with the resultant sense of clarity, you simply look to see what is being asked of you by the situation unfolding in front of you. What would you be doing if you weren't being influenced by the reactions of like and dislike?  Following that deeper guidance will take your life in a very different direction from where your preferences would have led you." (The Surrender Experiment, p. 65)

Nothing new or out of the ordinary has presented itself to me, therefore, there has not been much for me to say 'yes' to this past week.  However, I have been focusing on letting go of expectations (both negative and positive), preferences, and desires.

I have also been spending lots of time in the silence/meditation in order to develop a connection with the deeper guidance.

Please join me in letting go of  likes and dislikes, and letting life call the shots.  

The Surrender Experiment

I am half way through Michael Singer's new book, The Surrender Experiment and I cannot say enough about the book.  It tells the story of Michael's spiritual journey, which involves his surrendering all personal preferences and saying "Yes" to life.  Michael refused to listen to the voice in his head which tried telling him what he liked and didn't like and to base his decisions on these personal preferences.  Instead, Michael decided to say "Yes" to what life was asking him to do.  As a result he has had an amazing journey filled with miraculous events and situations falling in to place with little effort on his part.

"I could see that it was these mental preferences that were creating much of the ongoing dialogue about how to control everything in my life. In a bold attempt to free myself from all that I decided to just stop listening to all the chatter about my personal preferences, and instead, start the willful practice of accepting what the flow of life was presenting me." (The Surrender Experiment, p. 53)

He started with the weather...accepting whatever was happening with the weather.  "Look how beautiful it's raining."

"The rules of the experiment were very simple: If life brought events in front of me, I would treat them as if they came to take me beyond myself.  If my personal self complained, I would use each opportunity to simply let him go and surrender to what life was presenting me." (p. 54)

As you will see if you read the book, Michael had great success with letting go of personal preference and letting life lead him.

I am going to give it a try and let go of personal preferences as often as possible and allow life to take the lead.  Stay tuned for more about letting life be in charge.

quiet the mind

I thought this passage was very interesting:

"The well-disciplined mind should only speak when requested to perform a task. Untrained, the mind becomes an unruly 'on-stage' performer and a nuisance.  The self needs to learn respect for the Self and the Silence of Presence,  By observing the mind, it becomes apparent that it represents the disruptive, unruly child who constantly seeks attention.
     
It is usually fruitless to try to block thought or force the mind to be still without removing its motivation and pay-off.  Its motivational roots can be identified and surrendered.  It is then surprisingly possible to make a decision: just do not think about anything. This is made possible by aligning with the Infinite Silence out of which thinkingness arises.  It is located not between thoughts but just before the emergence of thoughts." (Transcending Levels of Consciousness, p. 236-237)

Peace.  Be still.