You are invited to share your insights and experiences related to teachings represented in The Daily Now.
Quotes from Eckhart Tolle and random thoughts on EMDR & Nondual Wisdom
You are invited to share your insights and experiences related to teachings represented in The Daily Now.
Dancing in the waves of time,
stealing moments so sublime.
Choice you see, the hidden treasure,
dark is light thus pain is pleasure.
Mystery lies in our next breath,
awareness cheats the lie of death.
Getting here, the goal we seek,
to simple for a mind so weak.
Just being efforts Not the will,
and silences the pain we kill.
It must be felt, not out but through,
as nature’s course reflects to you.
Relaxing in this instant’s glory,
with heart flung wide, we write the story.
Peace,
Mark
Wow! Eckhart’s really lookin’ good these days!
The quality of the experience:
I like this experience-It is pleasurable
I dislike this experience-It is painful
I accept this experience- I am grateful-I received the
Message from the messenger.
The messenger arrived by the law of attraction
I was thinking the same thing, Rick!
Thanks, Jordan, that gave me a giggle.
Hey, Y’all,
I am new to this blog but I have perused most of the archives and I,(preference), Like what I am hearing here. Thx for being available and visible on the web.
Peace In,
Mark
Hi everyone,
from Larry: “Most if not all spiritual teachers and masters appeal to that universal trait in humans to want to feel better in some way. Since most everyone has it, I conclude that it’s natural and right. Even if the particular teaching starts off with feeling pain or a lot of disipline the end result is to in some way feel better than before the teaching. In other words it’s OK to want to feel better. It’s fine to want to experience life as sweeter. I think it’s even alright to feel good about yourself. I’m not an ego buster. I think we need the ego or as some say the false self to look within and go deeper to the One.”
wow! i totally agree with what Larry said! i’ve thought/felt similarly for years but haven’t been able to put it into words. (also thanks to everyone for the wonderful discussion prompted by my question last month). i feel that the MB emphasis on not focusing on wanting to feel better, is more about allowing yourself to feel the pain you probably couldn’t afford to fully feel at the time some trauma occurred, particularly from childhood. when a child, we’re just not in a position to fully integrate powerful experiences and feelings for a variety of reasons. but the body remembers, even if the mind ‘forgets’.
i did a performance piece about the (scientific?) study that the cells in our bodies have memories–that incidences, trauma, etc are stored in our cells and our bodies give us clues (eg. illness, uneven hips, etc) to something that has happened to us that we don’t consciously remember. so, for me, MB has provided a way (one of many) to access those ‘memories’ and clean them up, cuz they are operating and impacting my life anyway, albeit unconsciously.
i asked about the seeming similarity of loa and mb, because the quote sounded like something a loa practitioner would say and i was surprised by that. however, after reading the comments, my general feeling is that loa may be jumping the gun a bit. (btw, i’m not attracted or un-attracted to loa. i’m into whatever works! i only get irked when steps are left out). if you read abraham hicks, the process is solely focused on feeling good all the time, thereby raising your vibration and what you want will come to you. ok. sounds good & reasonable. however, they never deal with what is ‘making’ you feel bad to begin with, the underlying issue which is sure to reassert itself in your experience again and again (according to mb, so that it can be paid attention to & digested). so, in loa you’re always potentially operating ‘on top’ of all this stuff. which, depending on how good you are at controlling and acting on top of your feelings, you can still probably get great results. at least for awhile. well, that sounds like some exhausting sh*&t to me.
on the other hand, i perceive mb’s approach is that if you go inside and face and integrate whatever needs to looked at, then the ‘positive’ or ‘feeling better’ will be a natural occurrence or consequence of having truly felt whatever feelings you’ve been avoiding. but, as larry mentioned in an earlier post, its not going to feel good at first. maybe not for awhile! so, logically, if ‘feeling better’ is the stated goal, and it doesn’t happen right away (hey, you might feel worse! yikes!) then you won’t stick with it. without being willing to feel the painful feelings at first you can never really access the ‘good’ feelings either, like love, peace, acceptance, joy. drats!
the trick is to keep feeling those ‘bad’ feelings until they integrate! i don’t think mb saying once you integrate your childhood issues that you’ll never feel sad, upset, etc again but it will be about whats happening NOW and not when you were like, 3. and then, you can respond in the now, as an adult and not as if you were a child in the past. i least i hope so!(there i go again, hoping) i could be wrong-i am certainly no expert. i’m going thru the presence process for the 2nd time and some things are happening that are making me feel really scared. but i know a lot of the fear is old, old, old. so, i’m just feeling my feelings as best i can…
thanks for listening!
namaste
~mf
ps. jordan i find this blog very supportive and helpful on my path. thank you.
Unconscious actions, spurred by life experiences and conditioning and meshed with the human obsession of experiencing pleasure and avoiding pain, play themselves out constantly throughout our “adulthood”.
Present moment awareness offers us the opportunity to “see” the patterning arise and to truly “see” them as they Really Are….
Just Patterns, grooves in a record.
Feeling good and feeling bad are just sensations that come and go in awareness. WHAT remains constant as these feelings and sensations arise and fall away in this pristine moment?
Does it serve to go back and try to “Resolve” situations and “Past Pain”? To “seemingly” face the empty demons of the past is to give those ghosts a power that they Do Not Posses….without your attention To Them.
~DRENCHED~
The continuity of a powerless play,
A subtle frequency which holds fear at bay.
A dazzling dance of moments begs me to stay,
A fire eternal illuminates the way.
Many dances through a myriad of moons,
A deathless season, vibrational monsoons.
A journey backward yet forward to the womb,
A silent calling to unearth a mental tomb.
Silence rises to consume a fortress strong,
falling forward into realms of endless song.
A hopeful heaven right here before the throng,
Elusive moments to rest where we belong.
Nothing to conquer, no endless search in vain.
A seed of beauty born of bitter pain.
The death of reason, eternal life anew,
Heaven’s elsewhere mirrors heavens home in you.
Atop the mountain yet drenched in gutters ooze,
A mute perception unlocks uncharted hues.
A perfect footstep leads forward onto death,
A faltering fumble awakens your next breath.
Peace In,
Mark
Mark E, nice poem. You believe and say “Does it serve to go back and try to “Resolve” situations and “Past Pain”? To “seemingly” face the empty demons of the past is to give those ghosts a power they Do Not Possess… without your attention To Them.”
I can only speak to this subject from my own experience. Before I did feeling therapy I was so numb, I could’nt laugh, cry, feel love, joy, anger, grief etc. I was able to feel depression. I think thats a form of holding back anger and grief- i.e. I could’nt get no satisfaction.
What you call “empty demons of the past” I call (unfelt) feelings from the past that definitely effect my present. These “ghosts” did possess power, especially when I ignored them. It seemed to me or this body/mind that they wanted to be felt and set free. So I or this body/mind felt them as fully as possible. Now I can feel everything. I can feel LOVE. Peace
The “Truth” is a pathless land.
R.M.
YES,Larry
Everything is valid in the appearance of things.
I too, have delved Deeply into this body/mind’s story of a Very Traumatic childhood, teenagehood And adulthood ans suffered All the ensuing consequences of those stories of a “me” that never really was.
I have played the victim And the martyr, both equally valid and real In The Appearance… And BOTH got me to exactly where I AM….
Here and Now.
My big scripting revolved around the “Spiritualization” of the pain that was felt as an entity “within” this body/mind organism.
The choice was to escape to Divinity and avoid the humanity that “I” embody.
Believe you/me I am Immersed in this appearance, having 9 children and 3 businesses. The only diff is that the “me” with all of its attendant stories of pain and suffering have absolutely no validity in the Pristine and ~*Shocking*~ that enfolds and contains all of us beings human..
I do not dig anymore, but honor (or whatever), any path, process or method that gets ‘er’ done.
If something arises in the moment it is immediately “seen” as having Only the substance that I give it through attention and repetition. Take for example if a resentment arises in the mind and I “Go There”, and allow it to play itself out, it just disperses and dissolves, due to lack of attention.
If that same thought is Re-Sent (ReSentment), back thought the process again, it gains strength, substance and validity in the “appearance”. What most do, in addition to that is that they begin to tell others all about the story and that in turn increases the seeming reality of that story 10 fold +++
Anywho, Larry, I So Do honor “What IS” for everyone,,, just sharing NoN Personal experiences~~lol
Hey, I wrote this when I was a teenager, kinda about the “Loss of the “Myth”, growing up and spiritualizing pain….In-Joy,
Mark Ellis
~No More Kings~
Empty boyhood’s piercing treasure,
Gaping wound flows without measure.
Fatherless well so dank and musty,
Mother’s apron stained and dusty.
Flying on to spiritual glory,
buried below a shameful story.
Puzzles locked in many rooms,
descend in fear to ancient tombs.
Gold plated terror, worn by time,
Glossed by light to hide the crime.
Oceans of tears to deep to sail,
become the gull to no avail.
Enlightenment seeks to be the goal,
oozes through the gaping hole.
Empty life lay in the ashes,
no eyes to peer through sequin sashes.
Blinded by God’s who’ve lost their throne,
society’s men are mindless drones.
The blood dance done, the scepter broken,
whispers heard, where lies are spoken.
Who then will ascend to highest tower,
claim the throne and sword of power?
Who then will feel the pain this brings,
no throne, no sword, and no more kings.
Peace In,
M.E.
JVS “I think that referring to thought is a much more powerful pointer than using the concept of ego.”
I believe certain pointers are more powerful for some-other pointers are more powerful for others. What works well for me may not work well for you and visa/versa.
Ramana refers to the ego, (Dictionary= The individual as self aware) as the I-Thought. So to R the ego is a thought.
For me putting my awareness on me-the individual self, leads to realizing the impersonal self-The one self.
“JVS “I think that referring to thought is a much more powerful pointer than using the concept of ego.”
I believe certain pointers are more powerful for some-other pointers are more powerful for others. What works well for me may not work well for you and visa/versa.”
That has no meaning. Nothing works for no one.
Ramana refers to the ego, (Dictionary= The individual as self aware) as the I-Thought. So to R the ego is a thought.
Yep. That’s good.
So, if a thought is the ego; then what is a group of thoughts?
Or better yet, If the ego is a thought then how to counteract the ego but with a thought? Not thoughts.
What is the one thought that matches the ego?
“For me putting my awareness on me-the individual self, leads to realizing the impersonal self-The one self.”
When you realize the ‘impersonal self’ ; what do you have? What did you find? How did you know you found it?
What will you find next?
They are not the same thing. The ego is an energetic force that must be felt to be known. During causal felt resonance- the urge to get up move away- do something other that feel. The subtle urge-the tempter. The ego is the motivator but it always motivates towards a physical doing. It is a reflection of “I AM” in this plane.
Its only job is to motivate. It can not decide productive or un-productive. It wants movement and was created ultimately to make sure we evolved. With out it we may not get off the couch. Its purpose must be transcended though. Like I said it must be known through feeling not intellectual concepts. Very ,very, subtle.
A group of thoughts can be an attitude.
J: That has no meaning. Nothing works for no one.
I am not sure how you came to that conclusion. Something works better for some. Something works better for others. Something (works for many). Just not the SAME thing.
J: So if a thought is the ego then what is a group of thoughts?
Ramana says all thoughts originate from the I-Thought. I am not sure if ALL thoughts originate from the I-Thought but many do. How often do you use the words I, Me or Mine in a sentence or a thought?
J: What is a group of thoughts? A group of thoughts. What is a group of thoughts to you?
J: What is the one thought that matches the ego? I am me.
J: When you realize the ‘impersonal self; what do you have? What did you find? I found my identity which is I am everyone, everything and the space that all happens in.
J: How do you know you found it. I don’t (know). It is not a thought. It’s an experience of being everything.
J: What will you find next? Good Question. Whatever I find or don’t find. What will you or anyone find next?
Is anyone on this blog working in the corporat world???? I find and am experiencing present moment awareness there, however, am finding it more and more challenging to stay present as the structure requires more and more mental and not present awareness, because of the mental plane of this experience. I do know my work is to stay in the moment. The Moment appears to require no space for presence. I hope what I am articulating resonates some similarity for someone out there. Yes, presence is the portal. The impression I am getting is that you must leave that arena in order to be and actually experience essence. Has anyone experienced this???
You do realize that this is about going ‘beyond’ this teaching.
It is not about adopting a new set of beliefs – to later defend. There is nothing to defend. Nothing to understand.
There is no one that needs to ‘get’ this because there is nothing to get.
I want to give people an example of how many opportunities there are in relationships to get into and feel feelings. I just recently got to feel some feelings by reading a recent post to me from Jordan and by my answering it.
When I first read J’s post to me I felt like I was being attacked so, the feeling I first experienced was some fear but also anger. I was able to feel it and write a post back to J with my answers. But then I soon became aware of another feeling that was very old but one I still have not integrated. It is about my relationship with my stepfather. I desperately wanted him to love me but he would’nt or could’nt. Even though he died at 43 I still hope for his love.
So the feeling I had after my exchange with with Jordan was ” Oh no, I’m scared -daddy wont love me because I disagreed with him.” I have been feeling that for a few days. So what J and I said to each other helped me to feel what I needed to feel. It is also helping me to integrate an old feeling. Can anyone relate to that?
Yes, we’re all doing that all the time.
I had two clients last week who’ve superimposed the images of two people while doing EMDR sessions. (Basically, EMDR is ‘focusing’ that is turbo-charged).
One was seeing his mother-in-law and mother in the same images. The two people have never met or been in the same place but he saw them talking with each other. The interesting thing is they both do or have done same behaviors (drink to excess) that trigger his feelings of abandonment.
The other was a mother who got angry with her daughter during a sports activity. We targeted the worst part of her anger to focus on and at some point she saw her self as her mother being angry with her daughter; and then it was her mother being angry with her. Images were superimposing, as if time and distance were irrelevant. Which, of course, they are.
Both of the people are experiencing trance states – not during the EMDR but in ‘real’ life when their feelings of abandonment or not feeling not good enough, or fear or anger kicks in.
The MB pointer is that we keep having the same emotional experiences over and over. The situations are different, the actors are different but the ‘feelings’ are the same.
Good insight. And that doesn’t mean I’m not in some kind of trance on this end.
Wow, Thank you Larry and J. yes, there is nothing to get and I did not real eyes that I am experiencing the same feelings in my work that I felt as a child. This is truth and something for me to feel through.
Hi there Penny,
In our world now structures are collapsing. They’re becoming clearly unstable (a la Eckhart?;). And if one is in a highly structured environment like you are, while at the same time having the capacity to feel its limitations… yeah. I would say your discomfort is par for the course.
From Penny: “Is anyone on this blog working in the corporat world???? I find …. Has anyone experienced this???”
+++++++
That’s a good question, I’m glad you asked it.
Also, you might consider being like a scientist
Being like a scientist means investigate:
1. Ferret out the beliefs you are believing.
a. For example, “…the structure requires more and more mental and not present awareness…” is a belief.
b.“I do know my work is to stay in the moment.” Is a belief.
2. Test the beliefs to determine if they are ‘truths’ or if are they ‘assumptions.”
a. Remember, it only takes one exception to turn a truth into an assumption.
b. Ask, “is it true,” “is it really true”, what would it mean to ‘me’ if it weren’t true. (Katy)
3. Identify the different ‘me’s
a. For example, the ‘me’ that loses present moment awareness
b.The ‘me’ that is aware of the ‘me’ that loses present moment awareness.
c.The ‘me’ that says there is a problem.
4.ID identify how each ‘me’ appears:
a. As a feeling, body sensation, thought pattern
b.Feeling cluster, body sensation cluster, thought cluster
5. Watch each ‘me’ as it appears and disappears.
a.Stay with it, see if you can locate and stay with each ‘me.’
I’d be interested in hearing about what you find out. The results of your investigation. Thanks. j
Really Clear, J Thx~!
ET: “The story based ‘me’.
At first there is an experience of consciousness. Some like to call it I am-ness but the word ‘I’ can be confusing. Amness might be better.
Then there seems to be a need to be someone in particular. Not just consciousness. When this someone, (this me) says (my arm), it implies (it exists), and it is the (owner) of the arm.
When we clearly look at this someone, (this me) we see we have taken consciousness and extracted/fabricated a false personal identity. If we look behind the false identity, we see it was fabricated from consciousness.
It then becomes clear we are really consciousness and not a personal identity. Not a someone we call me or I.
Hi again, Y’all,
Is this blog related to another site or weblog, Besides ET and Advaita? It seems as if the is another dialogue relating to this one going on. I don’t want to overstep my involvement or comment on things that do not pertain to ongoing conversations, Prior to my arrival here… respect is due and I apologize if I stepped on anyone’s toes. I just Love to write and I do it for a living.
So far I’ve seen some excellent questions (one’s I’ve had as well)
and some really good pointers.
ThanQ to All,
M.E.
Is anyone on this blog working in the corporat world???? I find and am experiencing present moment awareness there, however, am finding it more and more challenging to stay present as the structure requires more and more mental and not present awareness,
Penny,
This experience was given to you. With your presence you realize the difficulty with maintaining equanimity within this experience. You have been given more energy to process. You may think if this experience were different you could be more present. It goes to MB post of fiddeling with effects. The effects is the circumstances requireing more mental. More mental does not cancel out presence.
The desire is for something to be different for there to be more presence. The need … is … to be able to be able to process this energy. You could say it is to be in control and centered.When we are unable to process the energy of our experiences we attempt to control the experience and thus become engrossed and entrapped by our experiences.
This is the secret of becoming desireless. Desires are wants that are based on wanting to have something from the physical world to satisfy and produce a temporary effect. Behind every desire is a need of the soul.
When an individual becomes very present in the moment they are able to perceive the need behind the desire. They give the need the attention.Fulfill the desire and we get more pain fulfill the need and we have growth and liberation.
When you feel these affects your attention has become scattered. The need is to develop concentration. This is given to us by many who have great presence in athletics on the battle field in business etc. Most have never heard of this teaching.
If we were not so tranfixed by the physical world we would see how simple it all really is and we could let go of all of these mutations of what we think the present moment is.
If we are not allowed to blog about what Mark E alluded to, I guess I’ll find out. Mark, is there another site related to this one, that people can blog thoughts, feelings, experiences etc? I’m not sure but it seems like you might know. For that matter does anyone know, for those of us with itchy fingertips?
Steve, This teaching/blog is not about being ‘one who knows’ answering questions for ‘those who don’t know.’
It’s more in line with these teachings/blog to speak from personal experience, such as, “this was my experience and how I was present with that…”. Being aware that there are only questions and no answers. That there is no-one who knows nothing.
Can you be in the nothingness of even this experience?
Beliefs or strategies such as, “… The need is to develop concentration.” is fine to believe but it is adding the dimension of time and implies there is something you can do. ‘Develop’ implies future and who or what is the ‘you’ that can do anything.
This is just not reflective of what is being shared here.
I am sorry you have so many rules for your blog.By the way you just did yourself what you asked me not to do. I am here to share my experiences and they are different than yours. I have read Eckharts books. I have done the presence process and spent time with Micheal. It is hard to get where you are coming from some times. It is a contradiction.
Yes, there are contradictions. Absolutely.
Our traditional way of learning new information, is to learn the material, which means learning is a system of beliefs, incorporating those beliefs and then living by those beliefs. The final step is when we can take those beliefs and teach them to others.
That is not this and this is not meant to be that.
Any ‘doing’ that adds time into the equation is simply not ‘it.’
What’s being sought is here right now.
Any belief that needs to be defended is not ‘it.’
‘Who’ is there to defend a belief, and what is a ‘belief’, anyway?
“We are not here to share viewpoints and ideas, but rather to be present for the cultivation of human fulfillment.” Peter Fenner.
I worked in about as corporate environment as you could get for about a year. (About 3 years ago) I cried every morning before going to work. It was the worst and the best experience I’ve ever had. It pushed me into finding a different way of living. If I HAD to work in a corporate environment again I could probably do it better now. ( A lot of the stuff that drove me crazy then, I find amusing now, looking back.) But, I choose not to put myself in that environment now. I’d pretty much rather push a shopping cart.
This teaching/blog is not about being ‘one who knows’ answering questions for ‘those who don’t know.’
Is sharing one’s experience being perceived as this?
I share not only the “Me’s” personal experiences ans poetry but the wisdom of other who have been integral in the complete loss of the “me”.
There are hundreds of Non-Duality, Present Moment Awareness, Advaita etc. I just liked what I heard here, after I linked in from Katie Davis’s site.
It feels like this is Your Blog, and that only your advice or seeming help is what wants to happen here,,, So Coolio~~
Peace In,
Mark
“This teaching/blog is not about being ‘one who knows’ answering questions for ‘those who don’t know.’ ”
“Is sharing one’s experience being perceived as this?”
No. See Joy above. Sharing one’s experience is not saying, “… and here’s what you need to do,” implied or otherwise.
“I share not only the “Me’s” personal experiences ans poetry but the wisdom of other who have been integral in the complete loss of the “me”. ”
Sticking with posting your own stuff is preferred.
“It feels like this is Your Blog, and that only your advice or seeming help is what wants to happen here,,, So Coolio~~ ”
This is a moderated blog, and that’s what happening – it’s being moderated. j
MB: “we are bound by the conseqenses of our every thought, word and deed.”
To me the law of cause and effect is, if I touch a hot stove i’ll get burned. If I believed in what I think MB is talking about, it would be very difficult for me to stay in the present.
I would be caught in the past with regret, guilt and shame.
I would be caught in the future with worry, anxiety and fear.
I have not lived the life of a saint. Have you?
“If my thought-dreams could be seen, they’d probably put me head in a guiatine” Bob Dylan
I reread MB’s blog and realized I have a number of problems with it. I like Michael alot. It is just this particular blog that really bothers me. It starts with,
“Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, whether we believe it or not, we are bound by the consequenses of our every thought, word and deed.”
His saying it like that makes it seem like it’s a fact and not a belief, idea, or a concept. The danger here is there is a tendancy to experience what we strongly believe to be a fact. A self-fulfilling prophecy. Thus if one (believes) he thought something impure, did or said something (he thinks) was wrong, he will make sure he is punished, even if he has to punish himself.
Also I don’t see how this “law” sets us free to do, say and think exactly as we choose. It seems to me it does just the opposite. We would be constantly watching and judging every thought, word and deed to make sure they (in our opinion) were all good pure and right.
It also directly goes against the non-dual idea that we are not the choosers, the doers of deeds or the authors of thoughts.
Jordan,
Thanks for the grins about the monk and monkey – both are in me!
B
“Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, whether we believe it or not, we are bound by the consequenses of our every thought, word and deed.”
He is pointing to the truth that by the time we ‘have’ the thought it is too late to change it. We don’t get to choose our thoughts. Therefore, we get what we get whether we choose/want it our not – so we might as well want it, or believe we have chosen it.
The way out is the way in.
The point isn’t whether he is right or wrong. The point is, “What would you have to give up to believe it is true, or untrue?”
“It also directly goes against the non-dual idea that we are not the choosers, the doers of deeds or the authors of thoughts.”
Be careful of adopting the belief ‘that if I can just get the right beliefs’ – ‘non-dual idea’ – then I am somehow enlightened or awake.
What’s True is that ‘we’re not the choosers and we are the choosers’; we’re not the doers and we are the doers; we are the authors of our thoughts and we’re not.
Discover the internal sense that wants to hold on to any particular belief.
The part that feels defensive and wants to explain or defend.
Shine awareness on that.
Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, whether we believe it or not, we are bound by the consequenses of our every thought, word and deed.
This is my understanding of this: We live in a ocean of energy, thus every thought,word and deed being a energetic expresson has an effect on everthing thing it comes in conact with. It is universal law. It is a factual truth.
If we accept this then we place ourselves into a space of resposibility for our deeds and thoughts.
The ability to respond and freedom are one and the same.
Micheal teaches, resposibility-free will and choice.
What would I have to give up to believe it is true or untrue?
To me thats like saying-What would I have to give up to believe I really Know nothing. Answer: Nothing- because I really do know nothing or if I do know something for sure, I’m not aware of it. Maybe I should’nt assume (everyone) is like me and really knows nothing because how could I possibly know that for a fact. Whatever I say is always just a guess. How could it be more?
That being said there is no danger of my adopting any belief non-dual or otherwise or in believing I am enlightened because even if I am I am not aware of it.
I’m becomming more aware that Michael teaches personal responsibility, free will and choice.
I also am becomming aware that Michael teaches Karma, Karmic debt
and that all thoughts, words and deeds have (consequences).It also seems he teaches or believes in reincarnation i.e. “we are and always will be our ancestors.” Of course all of this is just a guess. I dont even (really know) if any of you people are real. This may all be my dream or imagination. I’m serious. The closest I can get to knowing something is that (something is) or there is (something rather than nothing.)
MB: There is no blame, there are no victums and there is no force but ignorance and forgetfulness to overcome”
(For what it’s worth), I completely agree.
There is no blame, and there are no victums because, there are no idividual someones to blame or to be victums.
There is no force but ignoramce and forgetfulness to overcome.
The ignorance of believing you are an individual someone, and the forgetfulness that all there is, is consciousness.
Has anybody been to Eckhart Tolle’s site lately? He now has Eckhart Tolle TV that you subscribe to. I think he is becoming Oprah.
Thank you Francis….how much more simpler could it get….be what you already are..NO-THING. After all when you honestly look to find who you are…your actual experience always is you find…NOTHING. That what is. So what need is there to renounce anything…we just see the facts at hand….everything points to that one undeniable fact…YOU ARE THAT WHICH ALL YOU KNOW APPEAR.
HOW UTTERLY SWEET
ANY THOUGHT OF HOW TO DO THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT
HOW IS JUST WHO SPELLED BACKWARDS
WHO YOU ARE IS THE POINT WHICH YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM EVEN IF YOU TRIED.
EVERYTHING IS SINGING TO YOU….SINGING THE SONG OF YOU.
Hello Larry,
I was stimulated by a question you asked in a earlier posting.
What would I have to give up to believe it is true or untrue?
Another question came and that was, Where would you be left if it was believing you had to give up?
Another Question followed that one for me also. It was if I gave up believing who would I be?
Thanks -It was an awesome Journey from the stimulation.
Steve you have to give the credit to J for that question. He asked it. I dont think I answered it but thats OK. It got me feeling if not thinking.
Jimmiji, YES, when I look for me I find nothing, I find no-one.
Yes-I had similar. If I have no beliefs then I have nothing. Who am then is “I Am” I am in the present moment with whatever is.
It seems simple but it is a huge pointer, or marker for- are we beleiving we are present or are we really present.
Love It!
Larry,
I think what you said first about it got you feeling-about the question is important. My experience was one of getting into the question. I did not think about it either, but imagined it. Then it came the nothing-ness
Steve, Jordan and everyone, One thing seems clear to me. We do not have to mentally agree on all or any concepts, Ideas or beliefs to remember that we are one. That we are one, goes beyond knowing. It is experienced.
sometimes i watched
the thoughts keep going and going in a circle ( like a sheep that is plugged and only has the allowed meters around…)
till the way is walked so often that there is nearly no possibility to step out
the traces are to be gone
and then you see the traces
and try to climb out
this addiction of the thoughts is great
it does not let leave the traces…
and there is a moment
where you turn on your inner light
and see that these are only thoughts
and not you
and this light shine more and more
and the traces become less and less
until the thoughts know that there is gone
any possibilty for plowing deep traces..
love
v
Maybe if I become enlightened, I would realize I was everyone, everything and everywhere. There would be no place to go, nothing to do and no-one to do it with. It seems like the same thing as being nothing.
Maybe (I’ve been pretending and forgot I’ve been pretending) that there is me and there are others sentient and insentient.
Do I really want to remember I’m pretending? Do I really want to become enlightened/awake? Do I really want to go back to being everyone, everything and everywhere-which seems like the same thing as being nothing? I have to think about this.
“Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, whether we believe it or not, we are bound by the consequenses of our every thought, word and deed”
I think this is is very Buddhist. Karma is not a heavy duty guilt trip. Your life just gives you everything you need to open your heart.
The more I read about Shambhala Buddhism the more I see it in MB’s teaching.
JS “Be careful of adopting the belief ‘that if I can just get the right beliefs’ – ‘non-dual idea’ – then I am somehow enlightened or awake.”
The Buddha really pulled the rug out:
He taught:
What ever we believe has to be let go. Dwelling on any description of reality is a trap. Holding on to anything blocks wisdom. Any conclusions we draw must be let go.
Pema Chodron says: The only way to fully understand the teachings is to abide in unconditional openness, cutting through all our tendencies to hold on. To stop struggling against uncertainty. Total fearlessness.
Joy: “Your life just gives you everything to open your heart.”
Now THAT I experience. I can’t say everyone has that experience, at least not in one lifetime. But I can’t speak for any one else. Some (seem) so superficial, have never experienced much suffering and do not seem to have much compassion. But that may just be this life experience. I don’t know what other experiences they have had or will have. It does seem to me the suffering I have experienced has caused me to have compassion and for that I am thankful. I love having compassion but I am now looking for a way of less suffering and more joy, Joy.
Joy and Peace
I’m practicing to be a wit, and I’m half way there.
Joy sorry I misquoted you, but I think I know what you mean.
I have an open question concerning free will versus free choice. I see a difference.
Lets say I have tried vanilla icecream and chocolate icecream. I found the taste of chocolate icecream disgusting. The opposite is true for the vanilla icecream. I loved it. It was (to die for).
Now someone puts two bowls of icecream on a table and says, choose the one you want and eat it. Obviously I would choose the vanilla and eat it.
Is that free will. I say it is not. I am being a slave to my taste buds. What I call that, is free choice. I do not see individual free will existing. What I see is sometimes (not always) free choice. Comments?
I think it was Martin Luther who said – the only act of free will is to say yes to grace.
Like a switch that gets thrown to the on position.
Yes!
I think it’s Byron Katie that says, ” We don’t make choices but they do get made.”
She says she doesn’t make choices.
She gave an example of making a choice of ice cream flavors. She said she eats chocolate ice cream until she doesn’t anymore.
She says she married her husband because she couldn’t think of a reason why she shouldn’t.
William, I think saying “yes to grace” is a good thing. Question: Does everyone know what grace is or does each individual know what (their version) of grace is? Also I believe there is always something that (causes) an individual to say yes or no to their version of grace.
Joy, I agree. Even saying individual free choice exists does not seem true. There is always something or things that ultimately are the (cause) of the choice. If there is a cause or causes of the choice other than me, then that or they make the choice. Thus, if I am not this mind/body I am not the cause or causes. The way I live, it seems easier in the moment to act (pretend and not know it) as if I make the choice. But when I become the watcher of the body/mind it seems like every move it makes is being caused by a force other than it (that may include the body/mind) but is also beyond it.
I have heard of the idea that desires or wanting causes suffering. It also seems to me impossible to give up all desire. It feels automatic-something causes me to have desires. I believe that something is the ONE. So I don’t resist desires.
I have the desire to be happy and healthy. I also have the desire for all life forms to be happy and healthy since we are all one. I would have that desire even if we were not all one. So my strongest desire is that we are all happy and experience joy and bliss forever. Peace Joy and Bliss
I think the desire that causes me the most suffering , is the desire that things should be different than they are.
It seems to me most desires are for experiences or (things) to be different than they appear. I like to keep this Idea in mind because since I adopted it, I feel much better and alot more positive.
Whenever I say or think “the way things are” I shift that idea to “the way the illusion appears to me.” Nothing I see or experience in this life are (the way things are.) What I experience of what I used to call reality, now seems very fluent or flexable. It does’nt seem solid or real. It seems more like a dream. It also feels like my experience of the appearance can change.
For some wanting something and not getting it, can be devastating.
Thats not true for me. At the same time I don’t think I should’nt want anything, because I might not get it.
hi everyone
from larry: Whenever I say or think “the way things are” I shift that idea to “the way the illusion appears to me.”
somehow that helps…slightly loosens a knot of confusion i have regarding having/not having desires or wanting things…maybe its about things/experiences being an illusion, an appearance…then why can’t ‘i’ (or whatever) change it?
but then again, i do see/feel the value in being open/willing to let things be as they are or as they appear to be as well. its sort of giving up the struggle and embracing something else (don’t have a name for it – maybe peace?)
i have a difficult time discerning which principle to apply to which circumstance — i.e. when is it best or right for me to actively assert my (something) and change the appearance of an experience (if i can) and when is it best for me to let things just be as the are (even if i’m not so keen on it and would prefer a different experience).
do you (i) do one first then the other or one or the other? hmmm..feeling my way through this one…thinking of it as an illusion does seem to lighten it all up a bit (not so do or die). i can relax.
wouldn’t mind hearing of others personal experience (if any) regarding this issue. not looking for advice, per se. just curious to see if anyone has a similar spot of confusion in this area.
happy easter!
namaste
~mf
mf, I see this universe experienced by the senses as holographic. I have (had) the experience of being helped to change it or my experience of it. I’m not sure if there is a difference. That does not mean I have been helped to create owning a million dollars without working, and somehow earning the money or whatever. So far thats not what I really want because I dont feel it. The main thing I want to is to experience this love for God/One/All more and more intensely. I believe to be helped to create a circumstance or situation, it has to be something (you really want.) I can not throw this idea away and believe it is impossible, because I have had help creating other circumstances and situations that I wanted. Maybe this is an ability everyone has, but is not aware of. Also this idea might go against certain (ingrained beliefs) i.e. life is hard-nothing is free, etc. It seems to me the main belief that would get in the way, is the belief that this is impossible. Since most of mass consciousness has some of these beliefs, one would have to get beyond it. Mass consciousness may/can affect you. Knowing what I want is like knowing if I want to eat and what I want to eat. I also believe if what you want help with, is to cause harm, you wont get it or it will turn against you. I know what you mean by accepting what is, (what appears to be) There is a feeling of surrender and peace but this is difficult if not impossible, if you experience yourself as drowning or starving. You or your body will try to do something to change the apparent situation. If someone disagrees with what I’ve said, I understand but I am basically writing about my own experiences. Anything insinuated about others, their beliefs or experiences is a guess.
I felt this was very interesting. In an earlier blog I read the Buddha taught:
What ever we believe has to be let go. Dwelling on any desciption of reality is a trap. Holding on to anything blocks wisdom. Any conclusion we draw must be let go.
The way I understand this is I don’t know anything for sure. But it seems I have to assume certain things are true to live, and believe certain ideas are true to experience life the way I want to or have to.
In a later blog I read about a buddhist idea. Karma is not a heavy guilt trip. Your life just gives you everything you need to open your heart.
Is’nt that a statement or conclusion about reality?
Also if we accept the above teachings of Buddha, are we not to believe most of the teachings about reality by the main masters or teachers on this blog? Are we to see believing them as a trap?
Nis: “Being happy-Making happy. This is the rhythm of love.”
It seems like most people want to be fulfilled or happy but they assume (what) will make them happy or fulfilled. If your not in a lot of physical or emotional pain, in a terrible relationship, in poverty or dont have enough money to make it through the month, but dont feel happy or fulfilled, dont wish for a million dollars and all the (things) that can buy. Wish for Happiness, Love and Fulfillment and (this may be the hardest part), BELIEVE it will be given.
I know these ideas are not the same as this teaching, and no-one has to accept them, but they are my beliefs because I have experienced them. Not completely, but enough to know there IS something there. I offer my truth in Love.
I was wrong. Wishing for something is like thinking (I dont have it.) First understand what you really want. If it is a loving relationship-think- (I have a loving relationship.) Thoughts have energy to influence the ONE that connects us all and that we all are. Thoughts have energy to influence the illusion we see as reality. This may be a birth right that we need to discover. I believe the subconscious mind is our link to the higher self and it relates to the (present.) Not I will get-I wish or even I want. It understands (I have.) That way, there no problem with time. I had to think about what I actually do.
“What ever we believe has to be let go. Dwelling on any desciption of reality is a trap. Holding on to anything blocks wisdom. Any conclusion we draw must be let go.”
I think all the teachers on this blog teach this. That reality “just is.” To put labels, descriptions or interpretations on it blocks us.
ET talks about sitting there thinking (or whatever word he uses) 2 coins in my pocket, not much food in my stomach. That’s reality without interpretation. Wringing your hands saying, I’m a loser, I’m poor etc., etc. is putting judgments and labels on reality. He says if we stick with reality without interpretations we will know what to do without anxiety or stress. It will be clear what we need to do.
Next idea:
“In a later blog I read about a buddhist idea. Karma is not a heavy guilt trip. Your life just gives you everything you need to open your heart.
Isn’t that a statement or conclusion about reality?”
My answer: I would think putting a guilt trip on yourself or others would be adding something to reality, it would not be letting reality be.
I just loved the Michael Brown Quote today. I think it is brilliant.
Our life experience is an unfolding answer to all the questions we have been asking.
If we do not enjoy our experience, we must ask different questions.
It’s putting cause and effect on it’s head and taking full responsibility for my experience.
Thanks Jordan for putting this daily email together
Blogs of the 12th
FL; “See for yourself then, if you appear in your body or mind, or if they appear in you”. I agree they appear in me.
Does anyone believe Francis Lucille believes that (contrary to what most believe), his body and mind appear in him, and your body and mind appear in you? Does any one think FL needs to let go of this belief-this decription of reality because if he does’nt he will be caught in a trap? Maybe eventually he will let go of the human mind with all it’s beliefs including this one, even though at that point he may also realize this particular belief he held while still being human was true.
ET: “The body is a portal.” Does ET really believe this and if he does is this a trap? Someone should let him know he has to give that and all his other beliefs up, if what Buddha has been said to say is true.
MB: “The answers will not only manifest as mental thought-forms in our minds eye, but all as real physical and emotional experiences.” Does MB believe this and (most) of what else he says? Hmmmmm.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” The Buddha. Is that a (belief) or conclusion about reality or the nature of people. Maybe it is. Maybe at some point he let go of it.
I think/feel that people put labels and judgments on reality in order to understand what we are perceiving. I also feel that it probably serves some sort of purpose. We need some level of labeling/describing/interpretation so that even if you allow reality ‘just is’ you know WHAT that reality is. Otherwise, with no labeling whatsoever how would we be able to distinguish one thing from another? Also, usually with a circumstance comes an accompanying feeling. I think its the ‘feeling’ that people often become confused and possibly terrified by and try to explain, not necessarily just the circumstances themselves.
For example, I think Larry mentioned something about knowing what he wants is similar to knowing that he is hungry and what he wants to eat. Granted, that sounds fairly simple and straightforward. Well, if anyone on this blog has any experience with weight gain, then you know it can become really difficult to know if you are hungry and what to eat if you are(I’m not speaking of eating disorders here just maintaining a healthy diet). In my (limited) experience, feelings/emotions are very intertwined with food/eating–without identifying/clearing those, what & when to eat can be a very hard and complex decision to make!
So, maybe its the lack of understanding the feelings we are having and mistaking them for something else that causes a lot of inner confusion for people. Especially if the circumstances happened very young with no words/labels for the accompanying feelings, in addition to not really knowing why adults are acting the way they are (and assuming it has something to do with us instead of their own stuff). And isn’t there a psychological thing people do (jordan help me here) regarding making meaning? So, to borrow from the Nisargadatta quote for example, if you love your mom and she doesn’t love you back, and you go on loving her (because she can’t stop you from loving her) but you are in PAIN and HURT over her not loving you back, and the pain & hurt makes you feel like crap (and even worse, unsafe), then what is the pain and hurt about? WHY does it feel painful for your mother not to love you if it ‘just is’? Why doesn’t it feel like nothing or neutral? Why is a feeling attached to that circumstance? And if a thought such as “I want her to love me back” or “I must be a bad person” provokes the feeling/emotion of pain, why does it do that? And where does that thought come from anyway? And I’m speaking of the very first time it’s felt, not later in life when we are re-creating it in other relationships or reflecting back on it as adult.
If reality ‘just is’ and therefore has no intrinsic meaning (i.e. it doesn’t say anything about you, your way of thinking or being), and emotions and feelings mean nothing, they ‘just are’, then is life (or whatever is happening here) essentially meaningless?
And don’t we already do a lot of accepting reality just as it is while children? Especially since, for most of us, you can’t really do much else. But our lives don’t get easier or more open. Most likely the opposite happens. after awhile, those backlog of feelings/emotions that you don’t know why they are there or what they mean, if anything (I am speaking for myself, of course), and it all becomes too much. I can see why most people just cut their emotional/feeling part off, it seems too nonsensical. The language/code of feelings are no longer accessible as an adult,(assuming that they ever were) and it begins to feel like you are residing in your own personal tower of babel, with no real communication just a lot of emotional noise.
MB: “Our life experience is an unfolding answer to all the questions we have been asking. If we do not enjoy our experience, we must ask different questions.”
I just asked a lot of questions! LOL. This passage is also in the part of PP that I am going thru now. Synchronicity?
I hope I understand the answers (or drop wanting them all together) to know what different questions to ask so that I may enjoy a different experience.
Although life probably isn’t so bad right now…but it could be better!
namaste
~mf
MB: “Our life is an unfolding answer to all the questions we have been asking.” I do not understand what that means.
(First) I have experiences. (Then) I ask questions about why I had them. In other words reverse order.
MB: “If we do not enjoy our experience we must ask different questions.”
How about if we do not enjoy our experience we must make different statements. That is what works for me.
mf, for me suffering as a child and an adult has built compassion and love so there was a gift in the that suffering. There are also other gifts if you look. Look for the gifts. Also blaming my parents (caretakers) anyone else (or me) robs me of happiness. So let throw that word (blame) away. For me, resposibility is saying the actions of this body/mind, (that is not really me) caused this effect. Yes, there is cause and effect but it does not have anything to do with who I really am. (Consciousness JUST watching.)
mf, yes the hunger/food thing is simple for me but I understand how complex it can be for an apparent other. It seems I speak/write from two different entities. Many times the body/mind/personality/history/circumstances etc, etc, etc. and sometimes simply (consciousness watching). I find (me)? going back and forth so I probably sound quite confusing at times. Who is the real (me)? The one who experiences or the one who watches.
Back to the hunger/food thing. Many things,doings,thoughts are used to mood alter i.e. to feel better. Food can be used like a drug. To numb uncomfortable feelings, feel better etc. It is legal unlike certain drugs, but can be just as detrimental to ones health. John Candy died at 42 from over eating. There are foodaholics, alcoholics, gambling addicts, workaholics, sexaholics or using thinking to mood alter. So to know what you want, (food) was a bad example.
If I did not know what I wanted I would make this statement to my subconscious and my higher self both of which know a lot more than this conscious mind. “Tell me what I really want. Give me a prioritized list. My list starts with love, fulfillment, joy and peace. Namaste
I remember reading something that Papaji said about what the best thing to want is. Papaji was Gangaji and her ex-husband Ely,s teacher. He said just want freedom. I was confused by that because when I think of freedom, I think freedom from what? If I am trying to be free, I’m trying to be free from something. I did’nt know what it was. I think Papaji meant freedom from this bondage. This bondage of believing I am a seperate individual someone. I need/want to understand what I want freedom from. Others may have different ideas of what freedom means to them and what they want freedom from. So maybe wanting freedom from this bondage will take care of all my other wants. So far I still seem to want Love, fulfillment, joy, peace. Maybe because I have not totally given up being this individual. I understand it and sometimes feel it but I still go back and forth and I’m OK with that at this point. That may change. To Freedom
MB: “If we do not enjoy our experience we must ask different questions.”
For me I would ask the question “How can I see this differently” I use this for the “bigger moments” like when I’m caring for my grandkids and I need to get home but my son has stopped by the pub after work. When I start to get angry, worried or any of the myriad of emotions that come up, I ask myself this question. Or, I’ll do a Byron Katie worksheet. I usually start to have a lot of compassion for him and I’m able to call him and leave the message “I know you are probably having a good time with your friends but could you please come home soon, because I have a project I need to get out tonight.” And to my surprise, this works. AND, when I have nothing better to do that night, I give him an hour at the pub with out calling at all. He always shows up early, apologetic and needless to say our relationship has changed for the better.
I guess the ineffective question to ask at the time is, “Why is my son such an inconsiderate A@@.” “Why is his drinking more important then coming come on time.”
When I get into asking these questions I really have a miserable experience.
or for the smaller stuff I ask:
What am I doing? This I ask all the time when I’m doing the dishes or folding laundry. It brings me back to the “now” so I can enjoy just doing the dishes.
My whole life I have been hurrying to get things done to be on to the next thing to get done. Asking these questions does work for me.
Joy,I can relate to the question “How can I see this differently”
Instead I might say “I see this in a much more positive less stressful way.” What happens then is I start to (feel) much more positive and less stressful about the situation. I’m already feeling great by the time I call my son. This works for me.
I am glad you brought this up because I wanted to explain how I use a statement instead of a question. It seems both ways can work. I believe everyone should try both questions and statements and see which seems or works best for you. Just use positive questions and positive present tense statements. Peace
The only problem I see with “I see this in a much more positive less stressful way” Is that, Is that the truth? When I’m angry, sad, lonely what ever, I don’t see it, at that moment, as more positive or less stressful.
How do I make it more positive or less stressful by just saying so?
Personally, I have to turn around my anger or sadness first.
By asking “How can I see this differently?” it reminds me to
remove the person or object from the anger. Then I can get a grip on “the person” as just a catalyst for my anger. Sometimes I thank them, silently, for showing me something I need to make peace with inside myself. (yet again)
I think if you just add a “can” to your statement (for me) it would work better.
“I can see this in a much more positive less stressful way.”
I’m not trying to be nit picky. It’s just that I’m really trying to stay with “what is” above anything else.
This might sound really off the wall but often “what I say what is” (what appears to be my experience of this flexable reality/illusion/maya) becomes what I say it is or tell it to be.
In quantum studies there is a phenomena known as the observer affect. It is well known and accepted by quantum physicists. What it means simply, is that one or ones thoughts influence reality. It has been proven in many experiments. Just having someone (anyone) observe a quantum action/reaction changes it.
Thus, I tell/think the illusion (reality) how I want it to appear to me. I tell it directly and in the present tense. I also naturally (feel) the positive feeling/emotion of the positive thought. I also think having this strong belief that me or my/its thoughts can influence (reality), helps a lot.
“What is” (is my experience of what appears to be) and it is not set in stone. We or our thoughts have the power to change what we will experience next.
I have done feeling work and I believe in it. I just feel there is often more than one way to accomplish something.
Trying to use the unconditioned to condition the conditioned only leads to more suffering and is not nonduality. It’s okay, if that’s what you want, but it’s not that.
“MB: “Our life experience is an unfolding answer to all the questions we have been asking. If we do not enjoy our experience, we must ask different questions.” ”
This is not literally about asking ourselves different questions. He is jumping paradigms.
He is pointing to the truth that our lives are a question and the answer is what unfolds. Be in the question of that.
I had 8 years of continuous physical pain. I went to the same hospital to try to get an operation I believed would end the pain and suffering. I was seeing urologists. They would change urologists every three months so I saw at least 30 different MDs in those 8 years. None of them believed the operation I wanted would end the pain, so they would not perform a relatively simple procedure. I started thinking if I was in my home town with my 18 uncles and aunts and 40 cousins, (and one of them was a urologist), I would without a doubt, get the operation because my own family would believe me, or just try it to see if it would work. Now my large family on my mothers side is named (Freedland). So the Dr’s name would have to be Dr Freedland. I had seen Doctors Rose, Smith, Moreland, Santagata, Peters. Well just look at how many names are in the Los Angeles Phonebook. Millions. So after thinking that thought, I went to see my 31st Doctor. He said “hello my name is (Dr Freedland)”. Not my family but the same name. As soon as I heard his name I knew he would perform the operation. When I told about the pain and would he be willing to perform the procedure he said “Yes Ill do it”. I said “when.” Dr Freedland said “how about a week from tommorrow?” I said Ill be here. He performed the operation-All pain and suffering was gone within 10 days. It was an incredible success. The pain has never returned. So believe what you will and allow me to do the same or dont. I’m going to believe what I believe anyway, no matter who says what. I have to
By the way, the conditioned is the unconditioned. There is only the One and the one plays all the roles. In other words you, me, and everyone is the One-is God. And the One has limitless power. For the One influencing the illusion is childs play. Have we forgotten who we really are?
“MB: The energetic connection between all causes and their inevitable effects manifests in the present moment.
The present moment, when we are not aware of it, is a blind spot in our awareness.
This blind spot makes it challenging to perceive the continuity running through all our life experiences.”
KIP: “The key to instant freedom
is observation.
Observing your inward experience
in this moment
without any control or resistance.
Problem is
you carry all of your memories
into this moment.
You carry all of your memories
everywhere because
it is how you define yourself.
You believe you exist
out of everything
that happened before now.
This is the mind.
It is simply linking all thoughts together
to create one identification.
So really, the way you live
is that you are living everything at once.”
Hi everyone,
To me those two quotes in today’s Daily Now contradict one another. I happen to believe in both by the way. Or rather I feel how both can be true in my experience. But the contradiction or paradox confuses me. I actually experience living all of my life at once a la Kip’s quote (I don’t really have a firm belief in past,present,future-it all feels as if it is happening NOW) but I see where MB is coming from. But Kip says that seeing everything as connected, all your experiences, is a problem. Or are they both essentially saying the same thing but I don’t understand it?
namaste.
mf, this is not exactly what you are talking about but I wanted to comment on what Kip and MB are saying (to me) in todays blog.
Kip is saying to be in the present, let go or the past. But to let go of the past you would have to let go of your mind. Now for me thats easy with the conscious mind but the unconscious mind is a different story. The unconscious mind is where most of the past is stored. We need a way or ways to let go of the unconscious mind. KIP does’nt say how to do that.
MB is saying something that a lot of people want to believe. It is LIFE IS FAIR. It seems people want life to be fair but it often seems like it’s not. I have often heard people say “Life is’nt fair”. Most don’t like that, so now we can feel better knowing that (Life is fair) if we believe MB.
mf – I think they are saying the same thing.
MB: “The present moment, when we are not aware of it, is a blind spot in our awareness.”
Kip: Problem is you carry all of your memories into this moment.
I think Kip is saying here that this makes the blind spot in our awareness that MB is talking about.
FL: “I can assure you that you will regret nothing.”
Everything that isn’t real will drop away but you won’t regret it because you will be left with what is real?
FL: “Your family, too. Everything will be changed.”
This is an interesting statement, because it is only from one perspective that it changes. Me thinks.
ET: “If you see certain Buddha statues, you’ll see a slight belly, very slight, and the Buddha is resting here, in the body.”
I knew there was a reason for my belly fat. Buddha is resting there!
MB: “Synchronicity is an experience that occurs when we enter present moment awareness and are able to percieve the energetic connection between cause and effect.
I always perk up when I read or hear the word (synchronicity). I have had so many experiences of synchronicity and each time I have one I feel wonderful-intense gratitude. Sometimes I start laughing.
It feels like a force-the force is letting me know (through an experience) that (it is) and that (it is with me). This power is who/what I call my techer, my master, my beloved. It seems like my being able to experience this force has something to do with all the feeling work I did. My explanation (for what it’s worth), is when my subconscious was busy repressing (holding down feelings fron conscious awareness), I could not be in the present moment. I was stuck in the past. Now that I have stopped repressing or at least repressing less, I am more able to be in the present moment. Thus, I am more able to connect and experience this force. Namaste
I wanted to add my 2 cents to the law of cause and effect.
To me the law of c&e has to include the idea that every cause(s) is also the effect(s) of a previous cause(s). Going all the way back to the first cause. The big bang? The beginning of phenomena?
No cause(s) can exist without having had a previous cause(s). So every cause is also the effect of a previous cause. Like a row of dominos falling. Each domino falling is the (effect) of the previous domino falling and the (cause) of the next domino falling.
At least this is the way the mind makes logical sense of phemomena. The problem I have is, I dont trust the mind to always tell me the truth (through logic) about (reality)
Mb-The present moment, when we are not aware of it, is a blind spot in our awareness.
If we are not aware of the present moment then we are living in time.
MB-This blind spot makes it challenging to perceive the continuity running through all our life experiences.
Time is a measurement of distance. Thus in time the distance can be too great to perceive the continuity. Take away time and you have relativity, which provides for continuity. Cause and effect are instantly known. Everything becomes relative.
MB: “Synchronicity is an experience that occurs when we enter present moment awareness and are able to perceive the energetic connection between cause and effect.
When we live in the mental paradigm called time, the connection between cause and effect cannot easily be perceived.
However, our lack of awareness about it does not render this law inactive.”
Byron Katie has said that the universe is always friendly, whether we are aware of it being so or not. The universe is always helping us. Through “seemingly” negative or positive experiences.
I guess we just become “aware” of it when we enter present moment awareness.
The thing that kind of confuses me is that “synchronicity” seems to refer to the “seemingly” positive events that come along to help us. But it seems it should include the “seemingly” negative events as well. But I don’t see that in most writings about it.
For instance:
You find out you are in dire straights, financially, then you go to work, lose your job and come home and your house has been robbed.
As opposed to:
You are in dire straights, financially and a check for 1000.00 shows up in the mail and you go to work and get a promotion.
Are these both synchronicity.
Everyone experiences life the way (they) need to, to learn what they need to learn. At least that is how it appears to me. All I can write about is my experiences.
Most (95%) of my experiences of synchronicity are spontaneous and are not about a seemingly very negative or very positive set of experiences.
They are experiences of something, anything repeating 2,3,4 or more times in a second to 48 hours.
For instance I watch a rented movie at noon. The movie begins with a song I love but have not heard for (25 years.) Four hours later I get into line at the health food store and the same song begins playing. I get to hear the whole song again. I have not heard this beautiful song for 25 years and now I hear it twice in 4 hours. “Thankyou. I love you. Not so much for the song but for me letting me know you are and you are with me.
In the previous blog who is (me) and who is (you)? Are we the same? Is the seeming difference an illusion? Or are we different and the same?
Joy-
Are these both synchronicity-
Yes all experiences are essentialy nuetral like a core of iron until you run a charge through it and it becomes polorized. Our experiences contain a hidden message only perceived in the present moment.
Some teachers don’t teach this because some just are not for real they write flowery abstract things that sell books. Only your own experiences can be trusted.
Sometimes I am aware of an obvious messgage and sometimes I am not. But there may be a hidden message in many synchronistic experiences. The following is an obvious message. And when I heard it made a lot of sense to me.
I rented two videos that did not seem to have much in common except they were both movies. I used to be pretty addicted to watching movies.
In the first movie a woman says to her boyfriend “Get out of your head, it’s a bad neighborhood.” I thought “thats funny and a cool way to say it.”
In the second of the two movies, someone says to someone “Get out of your head, it’s a dangerous neighborhood.”
I then realized this message was for me. I was way too much into thinking and worrying. It was amazing grace. I was being given a direct message. Thankyou, Namaste
By the way I have (never) heard a similar statement or saying before or since watching those two movies.
I was reading some of my past blogs and I realized there is a seeming underlying theme which is -desire- or wanting some particular thing or experience to be relized in the future. That or the past is the only (place?) where something can appear different than things appear in the present moment.
The Buddha said something like-desire is the root of all suffering- or something like that, and so have others. This may be true but it seems as long as we appear in these physical bodies, it is impossible to get rid of all desire. At least it seems so for me. Even wanting to get rid of desire and it’s built in suffering is a desire. Wanting that peace of -no desire- is a desire.
It seems we can try to change desires but not get rid of desire.
When I desire something (that the body does not HAVE to have, like air, water, food, shelter) I have to be completely willing to never get it, because I may never get it. It’s a form of surrender. The final decision is not in my hands. All this body/mind can do is try to get or achieve something.
I have also read that one can change desires from what one wants (that is different from what one has now), to exactly what one has now. It is not resigning to what you have now, but really wanting it. Thus if you are paralyzed in a wheel chair, (want that) instead of wanting to get better and walk. Then you get to have exactly what you want.
I dont know if I could do that but if wanting to walk failed to work for a long enough time, it seems that would be the next best alternative. The reason I would’nt start with wanting to remain paralyzed is because it seems to me, that would further cause this body to stay that way. That is my belief. Namaste
Why we have desires:
Desires are reflections. They are reflecting real needs of the soul. We may desire more money because we think it makes us feel secure. It seems to give us something. This can vary among each person but will revolve around security and value. It is a temporary gift take it away and puff. The real need is to build permanent security within the self.
To deny the desire also denies the need. To become desire less fulfill the underlying need. The distance is shorter. You can spend lifetimes acquiring things that just disappear.
Most people approach this teaching of presence or present moment awareness to reach a destination of bliss or a certain state of mind. This is what appears that a lot also teach. It is only through being fully present that we can perceive the presence of the need. It is how we extract the essence of our experiences. The experiences become the teacher and they always were. Presence has always been presenting through our experiences. Karma is presence coming back repeatedly to present the message. Please receive this so you may know me in a greater and greater way. If presence came all at once we would blow apart unable to contain the energy. One bit one part at a time. This is why separation was given.
The 144,000 in the book of revelation that are raised to heaven are the separate aspects that are brought together into one body. A “wholly” man is born
I know I’m writing a lot of blogs compared to others. I guess if other people were writing more it would’nt seem so obvious but, it is what it is. I had an experience last night which I feel is important to talk/write about. I dont remember exactly what I was thinking before I had it but, I have been for quite a while, looking for who/what I really am.
I had an experience of going from (I am me) to (I am). (Me) being a costume or disguise that is worn over beingness or consciousness. (Me) is a constructed character made of experiences, beliefs that were taught or assumed by the way I was treated, thoughts, feelings conscious and subconscious, a name a body/face that keeps changing, etc.
With the first realization of this consciousness, it was looked for in the body but it is soon realized it is not only in the body but everywhere.
There was something else. An amazing ability to merge with anything that was looked at. A stone statue, the walkway. For some reason I did’nt want to do it with people. I stayed with inanimate objects. It seems so obvious that this entity I think of or feel is (me), is a construct and disguise over undifferentiated consciousness.
What did it feel like to merge with these objects? Did it have a hallucinogenic quality?
It difficult to explain in words because it was an experience, like trying to explain what the exact taste of a pear is, to someone who has never eaten a pear.
When I was not any (thing) in particilar, I could be what was seen. Anything that was seen. I dont think it was hallucinogenic.
It was very nice to be able to be what I saw. With the stone statue it was so peaceful. It was nice not being me for a while.
MB: In the same light, our children are us until we stop behaving like our parents.
JVS: I’m not sure what it means but it’s an interesting observation
+++++
I think it means that what I see is always my only reality formed by my ego. I see what I want to see. I see my children like I perceive my parents saw me. My parental introject sees my child introject.
Blessings all: KAt
MB: In the same light, our children are us until we stop behaving like our parents.
JVS: I’m not sure what it means but it’s an interesting observation
What I have seen is that my children repeat the patterns I am repeating from my parents.
The one in front of me is marrying a person who does not match in the areas of Mind and Spirit.
FL: “…is the erroneous idea that this true being, this joy, and this eternity are not present.”
Because we are not living in the present. The present or the “now” is the only place that this true being, this joy, and this eternity is.
We are usually in the past or future which are thoughts. Give up the thoughts…. then we are in the now. Or so says ET.
Easier said then done of course.
MB: In the same light, our children are us until we stop behaving like our parents.
JVS: I’m not sure what it means but it’s an interesting observation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
although i primarily take with a grain of salt, advice/comments regarding parenting from people who do not have or are not raising children, my impression was that MB’s observation refers to patterns that are being continually passed on unconsciously from one generation to the next.
i essentially agree with kat, with one caveat – i see not what i want to see, but what i have seen (and mistake as reality when it is just the pattern running and running).
namaste
~mf
MB: In the same light, our children are us until we stop behaving like our parents.
JVS: I’m not sure what it means but it’s an interesting observation
~~~~~~~~~~~
also, probably what it is to experience living a truly recursive life, reflecting back on itself, ad infinitum.
got 2 jokes from wikipedia illustrating/defining recursion:
Definition;
Recursion: See “Recursion”
Recursion: If you still don’t get it, see: “Recursion”.
funny.
FL:… is the erroneous idea that this true being, this joy and this eternity are not present.
To me FL means by (not present), (here and now within easy reach.)
When I look for beingness, I don’t take the route of trying to be in the present or trying to give up thought. I dive into beingness. Turn my awareness toward (I am) or beingness)
Everyone knows (I am), but most also think (I am me). I drop the (me) and turn my attention to what I already experience. (I am). That (I am) is beingness. I keep awareness on (I am).
If beingness can only be experienced in the present without thought, I find out once I am in it. What I do may be just a different route to get to the same thing, but to me it seems more direct.
Beingness is just the feeling of being. Not being anyone in particular. Just the feeling of being. Namaste
I gotta tell you I don’t get the “I am” thing. ET also mentions this briefly and I know John Sherman say “Just look at yourself”
I just don’t get it from that direction.
Ramana says: “Destroy the ego by seeking it’s identity.”
Don’t get it.
There is one quote from the essential teachings of Ramana–
” I Am That I Am” sums up the whole whole truth; the method is summarized in “Be Still”
This makes more sense to me that you will find yourself in the stillness, in the present.
But if anyone has knowledge of this so called “direct method” please help me to understand.
Thanks,
Joy
I think saying (I am) is or could be confusing because the word (I) is usually associated with this individual human someone most think they are. I think instead of saying (I am) one could say (Something is) experienced. (Beingness is) experienced. I know John Sherman says look at me. He is referring to the me that once looked at a 5 year old child in the mirror, a teenager in the mirror, an adult in the mirror. That me has never changed. It has always been the same. That me is not the body or the personality or the belief system, etc.
Ramana says “destroy the ego by seeking it’s identity.” When I see the Source of the ego which is pure consciousness or beingness, it is seen the individual and the ego was constructed or fabricated from consciousness. The sense of being an individual or ego came (after) consciousness. Thus consciousness was used to build an illusory ego. Beingness was used to construct an illusory individual and illusory ego just like cement is used to construct a building. What these people want you to look at is, you are not this apparent tall solid building. You are the wet cement. I’m kidding. That was a bad example. But they do ask you to look at the beingness that you really are.
You say you will find yourself in the stillness and present. I believe you will find the stillness and presence, in who you really are.
Agree with you mf that it is what I have seen and experienced rather than what I want to see. I am conditioned by my past as my parents are conditioned by theirs and so on. Yet what I wonder about is even though I think and act as my parents and grandparents did–somehow I am reading CompassionWorks and blogging though my ancestors never had that opportunity. There is an executive me separate from past conditioning.
Kat
To me, Larry’s writing feels quite helpful. Thank you.
“My parental introject sees my child introject.”
This means, for example, that if a father abuses his son, the father is abusing himself in the form of his son.
No?
“I was reading some of my past blogs and I realized there is a seeming underlying theme which is -desire- or wanting some particular thing or experience to be relized in the future.”
Can you or are you willing to explore who or what wants something realized in the future and who or what realizes that?
It seems what wants something realized in the future is the illusory individual. This particular human someone.
What realizes that seems to be the one who has the future desires and that which sees everything-consciousness/beingness.
I have had experiences of being consciousness/beingness but I have not as yet established being that on a permanent basis. I do notice the desires are getting weaker. At least the desires for self fulfillment.
There still seems to be this desire to reduce the suffering I see and/or imagine going on, or apparently going on. Like I see murder and suffering in many places in this world. There is also the feeling that it should’nt be like this or does’nt have to be like this, but maybe it does. In this world of apparent duality everything shows up in pairs of opposites. Like good and bad. Pleasure and peace or war and suffering. I desire to love and be loved unconditionally.
Thats why I believe that is where/what I come from and where/what I want and want everyone to go back to. A situation where there is unconditional love given and received. Where there is eternal peace, bliss, and pure beingness for all/one. If this desire causes suffering than I surrender to that suffering.
JS: “Can you or are you willing to explore who or what wants something realized in the future and who or what realizes that?”
I think wanting “self realization” in the future is something I (the ego?) have desired for a long time.
I (the ego?)listen to various teachers when I drive or when I’m working on my computer. I was listening to ET a while back and I suddenly realized that “self realization” wasn’t going to come in the future because there isn’t a future. The future is only a thought form. There is only the now. This realization took a lot of pressure off. There is nothing to “get” in the future. (I have heard this a million times but it seemed to connect for me suddenly)
Not paying much attention to my thoughts, separating my emotions from what appear to be causing them and just feeling them as much as possible is how I try to live in the now. This requires a sort of alertness to the ways my mind tries to go back to old thought patterns and ways of “dealing” with situations.
I woke up to a leak from the ceiling in the bathroom. My mind went to blaming and anger. I so wanted reality to different right then. I then kind of “woke up” to what I was doing, I separated my anger from the situation, felt it, felt it some more, threw a towel down and went about my business of the morning. When I got back I had plans to call a plumber and take care of it but the leak had stopped. Don’t know what it was and it might start again but I will be able to just take care of it.
Maybe “awakening” is just waking up see what we do to make ourselves and others miserable.
It’s interesting that we are attracted to the unresolved. I do see how my behavior is repeated in the actions I take… for example, in the romantic relationships I have chosen. But although I have clarity on my “issues” and I certainly see the progress I have made, I find myself still falling into a similar cycle. Maybe not as often or as severe. How do you ever resolve your issues? Is it through acceptance? Can you just decide the issue is resolved? Does that work?
I believe you can’t live or be in any place but the now or present moment, but there seems to be an endless amount of present moments an endless amount of nows. There’s this now-then there’s this now-then there’s this now.
What if everyone is self-realized or whatever one calls it. I believe everyone has this self realization but to see it they have to get rid of whats in the way. Whats in the way is the knowing and feeling that they are an individual. Realize and know the individual is an illusion and see what you have left. Thats what I do by looking for the source of the individual. If there is an individual and ego I believe it/they to have a source.
SL, I’m glad you’re joining us. Welcome.
The following questions are good ones: “How do you ever resolve your issues? Is it through acceptance? Can you just decide the issue is resolved? Does that work?”
I would invite you to consider: What are you doing now that is working? What is not working? What is your experience of acceptance? Who or what is experiencing that?
Others are invited to comment, especially from the point of view of sharing their own struggles and apparent experiences.
(Advice giving in the form of: “You need to do this, etc” or A lot of explaining about this, that or whatever, is generally not helpful and unnecessary; and points to a lack of integration of this teaching by the advice giver, or the ‘one who knows.’) jvs.
SL, I was attracted to and had a long relationship with a woman that was very much like my perfectionistic step-father and my abandoning mother. She had the worst qualities of both. One thing is, it seems she was what I was used to. It also seems I had this unrealistic expectation. I was going to have a relationship with the negative qualities of my mother/step-father and change them to what I wanted. Unconditional love.
It did’nt work.
“Enlightenment is the disappearance of the one who wants it”. Sally Ann Hughes
I have read similar statements from those who have been exposed to enlightenment or awakening. Enlightenment simply is. It can not be owned or won like a trophy. The realization of enlightenment brings with it the sudden understanding that there is no one and nothing to be enlightened.
In other words there is no one. There is no individual. There is only oneness-self aware consciousness. Enlightenment is the realization of that and probably much more.
If one is not sure if one wants awakening or not, It is good to know some of this in advance.
JVS: “It’s not about deciding ‘which situations are okay and accepting those. That is not acceptance”
I would add it becomes much easier to accept ‘any’ situation whatever it is (whether you are paralyzed or win a new car), once you “know” both situations are ultimately not real. All things and phenomena including you are illusory. It’s all just a story.
ET: …you do not need to become dysfunctional as the new state of consciousness arises.
I agree with Larry, that it is good to know what we may be getting into. ET and Byron Katie (who both had sudden awakenings) have talked about being unable to function. Byron Katie had to have her daughter go to the grocery store with her because she didn’t know what all those boxes were. Very funny stories.
On the other hand, MB is very skeptical about sudden awakeners, if I may coin a term. Don’t know why he feels that way, just heard him say it at a presentation he gave.
JS, Do you know why Michael feels that way?
I got my degree in philosophy, because I liked to sit around and think. It seemed like a positive quality back then. Gotta laugh now. I will find myself deep in thought, completely disengaged from the present moment. There is still a me who would like to be free of this.
I am a strong believer in what I call a law. I call it the law of belief. If I believe [something] with enough conviction, there is a high probability that I will experience it.
If I strongly believe in sudden awakenings or even gradual awakenings I will probably experience that. If I dont I probably wont. If I have no belief in awakening, I may or may not experience that.
This idea goes along with the idea that we co-create what we experience.
Ramana was speaking to a questioner. The Q asked will I have to pay for all my mistakes and misdeeds (like in karmic debt). Ramana asked do you believe you are the chooser and doer? The answer was “No”. R replied “then you have no debt”. Even if it it is believed debt exists (which is doubtful), it is not yours.
I also have a belief in what Larry called the “law of belief”. For a while, it bothered me that I had almost no real beliefs left. It seemed that one by one they kept dropping away. It felt like meaning was being sucked out of my life. Then something shifted and now this new lack of beliefs feels more like(and I can’t really describe it) unconditional love or something.
The tricky part for me is that I’m always asking myself, “What should I be doing right now?” With this lack of “shoulds” in my life I don’t come up with any answer that’s better than “be who you are.” Whatever that means.
Then sometimes I’ll think, “Well, you can create whatever you want so you could just as well play with that while your here. It’s something to do.”
Joy, on the 25th you bloged, ET: “you do not need to become dysfunctional as the new state of consciousness arises”
The same day in the next post, I said something about Ramana.
Read what ET says in todays Daily Now
FL: “Discovering your fear is therefore, a crucial first step.”
I used to have a lot of intense panic attacks. The main fear was I’m dying. I even ran out into the street yelling “I’m dying” hoping someone could save me. I guess it’s that built in instinct to survive. I think it has gotten weaker.
Part of the process FL is talking about is letting that sense of me existing as (me) die. I have to let go of the individual to let consciousness/beingness take over. It is getting easier. I am more willing to let this (me) go. In fact sometimes when I am not aware of this me there is relief.
Eliizabeth, It seems to me whatevever I’m doing at any particular time is exactly what I should be doing, or (more to the point) what I have to be doing. Otherwise I would be doing something else. It is very much like a movie that we are in. We are each the protagonist or main character in our movie. We are also watching the movie. As this individual, it does’nt seem like I wrote this movie but maybe who I really am or what really is wrote this movie. So I can relax knowing whatever I apparently do is exactly how my part was written for this movie. I could say we are all apparently doing what we have to do. Some say there are many probable futures and we can even choose the one we want. But the one we choose is the one we have to choose. I guess if what I think [is true] it all depends on exactly how our part was written to play this particular individual.
Elizabeth, sorry about not spelling your name correctly. I guess that (like every thing else), was what I was supposed to do.
Joy, I think it maybe inaccurate to think Eckhart and Byron Katie had sudden awakenings. They both spent several years in pain that led them to that point of awakening. One about to commit suicide the other lying on the floor in a half way house.The pathway of awarness for every individual is first through the unconscious.This is what they did-they went through hell which is both a reality and a metaphor for what lies below the surface. The Mayan have a wonerful image of of a figure standing on a level with stairways above him and below. The stairways above can only be accessed by first going underground. The underground is the unconscious. It is much more benificial to take this journey in a deliberate conscious fashion. Either way it is still hell. It took me 4 years of constantly integrating the energies present to bring stability to this experience. THis journey also prepares one for the journey into the vibrational. They feel about the same because it is about the movement of the being through…. Movent causes friction and initialy pain this is why most avoid or pretend they are becoming enlightened. It is painful.
Joy, thankyou for mentioning Byron Katie. I got some tapes of her showing people how to do ‘the work’ she teaches, and I believe it will help me.
I will be a good student for this ‘work’ because I tend to not trust the mind and it’s beliefs or conclusions, and yet I do see that I act and live as if a lot of the ‘negative’ beliefs/conclusions of this mind are true.
This greatly affects my personal life in a negative way. I tend to isolate, feel worthless and unlovable. Thats why I talk alot about wanting unconditional love. Besides just looking for it in oneness, I also am going to look for it in this personal life. For me it does’nt seem like I can skip this personal life for spiritual bliss. I have to start working on some of these negative beliefs/conclusions about me and others. Peace
More references to the unresolved in todays daily now, which I find intriguing. It seems to me that life keeps presenting opportunities to resolve our issues, either reflected in our family members or other relationships. I read somewhere that we don’t have many relationships, instead we have one relationship with many people. That concept struck me as true.
I love Katie’s turn-arounds. I do them in my head now. No need to write anything down unless I’m really stuck.
Steve- you sound just like MB, very insightful.
I have been having a lot of feelings, sadness or grief and I have not turned to anything to sedate them, TV, reading, eating. They go back to some abandonment from my childhood. Stuff I really don’t want to feel but I was quite brave this weekend and felt some of it anyway. I felt very vulnerable today, guess it’s a good thing.
Glad we are all here in the same boat.
JS: Basically, I got angry defending my position that we never need to get angry!
Needless to say, I was never invited back.
Great laugh this morning, Thanks.
“Basically, I got angry defending my position that we never need to get angry!”
What fun, a pain body party! Pain bodies love a get together!
It’s been a good month because I finally got to a place where I am arguing with these beliefs I have had almost all my life. I’m not blaming anyone. It is what it is. The beliefs I argue with are: You are not good enough. You are a looser. You are unlovable. When I hear one of these beliefs in my head I usually insist the opposite is true i.e. I am good enough, I am not a looser, I am lovable-I love myself and I’m loved by most others.
I feel if I am going to co-create something this is it. I dont need a new car or a lot of money to hide my worthless, unlovable self behind. Thats just going to keep these negative beliefs going. I was shown this by what is. Namaste
I have not been enlightened or maybe I have had some small doses of it. Maybe the experience of awakening is going to be gradual. If and to what extent it happens, is what will happen. I do believe in it. I believe in God. There are many terms describing the qualities of God. Consciousness- beingness-oneness-unconditional love, my favorite. But God or the power of God has revealed itself to this mind many times, and all I can tell you is God is real and God loves you. Namaste, Om shanti
thoughts on impermanence from 400 years ago:
Our revels now are ended
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
— William Shakespeare
Well I agree with Bill up to a point. Everything that seems solid will eventually turn to dust. After that it’s any ones guess.
I like what Rumi says but I dont have the exact quote. It’s something like this.-After I die I will dance with the angels. After I die to the angels, what I experience will be unimaginable.
When I have the thought, of instance:
“I’m not good enough.”
If I replace that thought with:
“I am good enough.”
I am still in my thoughts, I have just replaced one thought for another. Yes, maybe a better thought but still a thought.
Who would I be without either of those thoughts?
My answer is usually, free.
So the thought of not being good enough is a conditioned thought. It comes from the unconscious. It is imprinted and backed with an emotional charge. In essence the form of this must be broken apart and transformed. In the presence process we learn how to sit with this charge and respond to it.
A really cool picture of this process is when Jesus would remove a demon from someone. Jesus is the aware self that has idendified an aspect of the self requiring tranformation. He then many times would cast the demon into swine and they would run into the water and die. The demon would be an unproductive charge/ way of thinking etc. He cast it into swine to show the conditioned habitual nature of it. That is how animals function. The water represents our conscious experiences and death is change transformation.
The moral of this is that all change occurs and is demonstrated through our experiences. Our experiences and how we receive thm will always demonstrate the our truth to ourselves.
If we have moved beyond reacting and thinking certian ways we will always be given an experience to verify this.
We also can not think ourselves different. We have to have the experience of first being with what is and then by living it in the experience. This is how it is cemented intothe being as a permanent experience. Wisdom.
When I have the thought “I’m not good enough” I definitely feel it at the same time. If I just had the thought without the feeling it probably would’nt hurt. But it does hurt and I find myself hiding or isolating from other people.
I know beside feeling it I want to go go to battle against it with the opposite thought. “I am good enough” It feels like that is what my inner child wants. In my case it feels like nature abhors a vaccum. If I had neither thought there would be a vaccum. If I am ever able to get to that point, I’ll see if it feels like freedom.
In the mean time I’m going into battle with the opposite of the thoughts and feelings that I have been programmed with, most of my childhood.
I know how to feel not being good enough, unlovable and worthless and just feeling has helped, but now I need to hear someone say you are good enough, you are lovable, you are worthwhile and that someone is the adult me. This feels like what my inner child needs. So for now, I am going to give it to him.
Larry,
I just wanted to commend you on what I see as a new approach you have taken lately. It is worthwhile and it shows your own worthiness. You are being respectful and honest with your experience.
One thing I may offer you is that when it feels hurtful and you want to hide and isolate yourself that you become present and stay put. If you are able to move yourself and even, take the step to be around people at this time amazing things can happen. In essence, you would be stepping into your own future. When we are able to do this, it is the beginning of the end. It is the alpha and omega and in that moment you are “I AM” This is when we bring presence all the way out into our human experience. We are no longer waiting to have an experience we are approaching ourselves here and now.
Last year I was having some thoughts about potential money issues that could occur in the future. I thought this would be uncomfortable if it happened. I realized in that moment why wait for the physical event to come. I immersed myself in the pain and discomfort now. I went into the future from the present moment. I went hunting to put an end to this.
It was a few days later that I was also given a gift of a vision of the economic crisis that came this past September. I trusted myself and removed my retirement from all mutual funds. I know that it was because of the fact that I stepped into my own future that I was directly rewarded with a gift that saved me a lot of money
Steve, your right. I need to take some risks. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Thats walking right into the fear. But I feel I have to stop hiding and do it. Peace
As FL said yesterday:
“Draw the strength to look at it [fear] from your thirst for the absolute, for freedom.
When you begin to feel it, think, Come here, fear. Show yourself to me. Make yourself at home. I am out of your reach.”
I had this “thought.” He says ” I am out of your reach.”
I guess fear does not touch who we really are. The (ego) self is what is fearful. When we feel fearful, it is our (ego) self that is fearful.
It’s kind of like when ET talks about how “he couldn’t live with himself any longer.” It’s the realization that there is the ego and the ego is not me.
I wonder why the ego puts up such a fight to keep us thinking that is who we are? And why does it stoop to keeping us fearful? This thought then started me down an evolutionary trail that I’m too tired to go down right now.
Good Night Warriors
I believe whatever we think we are: egos, individuals, consciousness identified, The ONE (if you believe there is only one), wanted or had to have this experience. Now it seems the ONE is having more and more wake up from this experience. A lot of the best selling books are written by non-dualists. And this is a good time for it with the internet being so popular.
It seems the ONE that we all really are thinks/feels this is the right time. I am grateful that I am living in these times.
Even though I need to work on my negative personal programming, I am also working on awakening to who/what I really am, because that is what the ONE wants. I know it because that is what I want. Namaste- To me that word means to the ONE we all really are.
I have learned a lot from MB. The main way I am helped by MB is his invitation that I feel whatever feelings are experienced and realize I am repressing feelings (not allowing them to become conscious).
Since this site is dedicated to non-duality, I also see MB is not a classical non-dualist. When he talks about his philosophy it seems pretty obvious he does not agree with classical non-dualists.
It seems like some people (mainly me), are confused by some of the ideas Michael has about, individuality, personal responsibility, etc but when it is realized that MB is not a classical non-dualist, it becomes a lot clearer for me.
Since my beliefs go toward classical non-duality, Michael helps me to feel and not repress feelings. For beliefs and philosophy I lean much more toward FL and the Stillness Speaks link which is about direct inquiry. I also am attracted to imitating awareness or presence which is to me, dedicated awareness to what is being experienced in the present moment.
There is something to be learned from each teacher,so I learn what I can (what feels true), from each one.