Being

The meaning here is different than western trad of A Being or being that something.

In eastern meaning Being is merely a verb, how to be... its not a place, substance.

{ I am being == eastern I'm just being... ; not that I AM a being }

Be here in this moment. This is the most important practice. This is real enlightenment. Newcomers to spiritual teachings often think that enlightenment is a distant possibility, kind of like heaven in that it’s later on. There might well be considerable mental preparation in order to reach an enlightened state of being here in this moment, but nonetheless the possibility is right now and is always right now. And it’s not the moment that matters; it’s oneself. Can I be here in this moment? Can I be here in this particular space and time? The moment is always changing, but I can continually be here in it. And this is what makes life special.

First of all, awareness needs to be here in this present space. But also our whole being needs to be here, our whole being and awareness, which also needs to include our heart. So this is the goal, to be present with our whole being. The presentness of our whole being has to include our heart and sincerity, both our love and the realness of our self. It must also include inquisitiveness, or curiosity in the present moment. And finally, it can also include being openly receptive to the highest Divine.

What makes it difficult is the distractive mind and the reactive emotions. These are the main obstacles, and solving this is the work. The distractive and scattered mind needs to re-center itself in the moment and in the place at hand, being here in this particular place right now, rather than thinking about somewhere else or some other time. Reactive emotions also take us away from being here in the present, because our reactions are usually based on our hopes for the future – and reacting to these hopes being squelched, or else we are having emotional regrets.

Often, mind is either dwelling on the past or speculating about the future, either of which is not in the present. Mind can sometimes get caught up in thinking about the past and often thinking about what could have been. “I could have…” “If only I had [done something else different…], then things would be better. This is regret, mixed with hindsight. The other obstacle of speculating about the future is a mixture of fantasy with either fear or hope. Future speculations can be useful and we do this in planning, but this can become a dysfunctional habit if we regularly do this with too much fantasy and not enough reasonableness.

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Mahamudra -- Natural Mind

Is the meditation of effortless being. Most meditation practices incorporate some kind of effort. One is supposed to do this or do that, in order to achieve an ideal spiritual goal – such as liberation in Buddhism or closeness with God in Christianity. And it is true that effort is part of the path, even more so in its beginning. Yet, there is a potential Place of Repose, a State of Repose, which is to just Be. This is simply Being – without effort or posturing, without working on a practice like I need to do this or that, without trying, and without any goal.

In this, one does not reject thought or emotion, nor do anything to it, but just let everything be as it is – letting it be but simultaneously letting it go.

Accept and release all natural fluctuations, as a rhythm of breath.

And continue Fresh Awareness … with.. Unconditional love

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All experiences are of one’s mind, so one can withdraw into essence.

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The most important downstreaming spiritual practice is being conscious. In this conscious practice we also include our natural love and intelligence, as part of who we are. Sometimes we need an effort to become conscious, but mostly this is an effortless practice in that we are not particularly trying to fix anything, nor are we trying to go against the flow of our mind. Love and intelligence is also effortless, in that we are simply being as loving and intelligent as we happen to be in this moment. There is some amount of effort in being conscious and in being all here, but mostly this become effortless.

Basically, this practice is to be simply conscious of our thoughts and emotions, and we keep our consciousness continuous by way of the breath. One keeps a consciousness of breath, while also conscious of thoughts and thought topics. So, this practice is to keep a continuity of consciousness of breath, thoughts, and emotions. But this isn’t trying to necessarily fix anything or make ourselves be something other than who we are in the moment. Nonetheless, throughout this conscious practice one might transform some thought or emotional energies, due to the inclusion of love and intelligence in this.

As far as the breath, we are not trying to make our breath into any particular rhythm or pattern or beat. We are simply allowing the breath to flow as it will, moment by moment, and being conscious of this. So we are being conscious of the breath as it flows in whatever way it does. Sometimes it will move into spontaneous discharges of energy, or sometimes into quick rhythms, but other times it may come into a harmonious pattern. We let it be as it is and flow as it is. Yet, our consciousness, love and intelligence, which we are including in this practice will gradually influence the breath into a more harmonious rhythm. So our breath may transform in this practice, just as our thoughts and emotions, simply because of the inclusion of consciousness, love and intelligence. Remember that intelligence does not need to be manipulative or commanding. In fact, it is better not even think about this at all, because when we bring our consciousness and love together, our natural intelligence will also be there. It’s our natural intelligence, not the critical judge.

As our consciousness and love meet our thoughts and emotions, there is an intelligent transformation. Remember, in this practice, we are mainly just being conscious of what is going on – our thoughts and feelings. But when we also add in our love and natural intelligence, these thought and feeling patterns will transform. We are not trying to be a saint or great master, nor are we expecting much from this. We are just being conscious of who we are and what’s going on, as we watch the breath and our thoughts.

This can also be considered a thought clearing practice. But we are not trying to get rid of any thought; like, “here is a thought, I have to get rid of it or eliminate it.” It’s not like that. Instead, we are simply observing, or simply being conscious of the thoughts as they occur. We might even find interest in some thoughts and that is alright. We might need to work through some stuff or figure something out. That’s alright too. But we stay conscious, through conscious breathing.

This consciousness of thought is different from how thought usually works, because usually thought just goes on in a semi-conscious way. That is, we are conscious enough to get some things done and not run into the wall, but mostly we are walking around, or talking, in pretty much a subconscious way. And any thoughts that go on subconsciously will always continue the same pattern. Subconscious contents just continue as they are; they are repetitive, like a computer program. So they don’t ever transform or evolve. Real transformation and evolution happens by way of consciousness and the inclusion of conscious intelligence. And consciousness is best maintained by conscious breath.

Notice there is no external authority dogma in this. There is no should. There is no step by step ritual for achieving some spiritual goal. You are completely on your own, and the only work is to be conscious of who you are and what’s going on, one moment to the next, along with being conscious of the breath. Transformation will happen within this practice and within your own inner world, as long as consciousness, breath, intelligence and love are all present.

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The most important practice is consciousness in the moment. We are already being in the moment, because we cannot do otherwise. But it is possible for consciousness to be somewhere else other than the moment, or to be lost in thoughts dealing with past memories or future speculations. Notice, when in company with others, how often they tend to talk about either past or future, but seldom about the present. Yet talking about the present is the most satisfying conversation of all. So being conscious in the present moment is the most important spiritual practice; not the only important practice, but the most important.

Now when people practice this they tend to just focus on physical and external things, like the body, or the breath, or the physical surroundings. This is good and it may be the start of this practice, but it’s not all that one can be conscious of in the moment. For we can also be conscious of what’s going on inwardly in the moment, which includes our thoughts and feelings. It might also include our higher intuitions about life and truth. It might also include our inner spiritual or psychic relationship with Teachers, Guides, or even God. This could be Jesus, or Muhammad, or Moses, or Krishna; or it could be a relationship with God, the Universal Being, or with Mother Earth, or Mother of the Universe.

The first inner realm to be conscious of, though, is our own thoughts and feelings. This is like what’s going on locally. Be aware of this. If we are not aware of this, then these thoughts and feelings simply go on in a sub-conscious manner, and they tend to just be on automatic. Also, unless we are aware of this inner going on, we cannot learn from it and we cannot transform it into higher truth. Then, when our ongoing thoughts and feelings become transparent to consciousness in the moment, there is a chance to raise consciousness into the higher intuition, which is really just being conscious in the moment of what is already intuitively present. Intuition is already going on within us, even in this very moment, but we have to become conscious of it. Just as, in any moment, there might be some undercover feelings going on subconsciously and also undercover thoughts; so too there are higher intuitions going on, but we are not conscious of them. We have to bring into consciousness everything that is inward and subjective. In this inward present consciousness we can also notice our own unfolding inner world. Our inner world is unfolding, which is the spiritual world unfolding through us, but it doesn’t unfold into actuality unless we become conscious of it. This is the importance of inward noticing. So this becomes an important and necessary aspect to the present moment consciousness practice.

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Being meditation and self-discovery

Deeper meditation is beyond thought. It is being conscious in the very quality of being. For example, as meditation deepens, a 'meditation on love' becomes a conscious 'beingness of love', which also includes a radiance of love. Meditation on light becomes a conscious beingness of light, including a radiance of light. Goodwill becomes a beingness and radiance of goodwill.

One might begin with some thoughtful reflection on examples of love and light, and then reflect on the purpose of these as well. But at some point this reflective meditation can progress into being meditation, whereby the mind is absorbed in a particular quality of being, with consciousness and radiance. Then from this deeper state of meditation, one will understand more about the quality, as this deeper understanding will come from real and direct experience. Also, when we reach this deeper place, we have reached our soul. Then we have direct soul experience.

The thinking mind can reflect upon the meaning of soul, its qualities and purposes; but this will still be an understanding about the soul from the thinking perspective, in which the soul is an object of our thinking or something that one is thinking about, yet different from the thinker. The soul will seem to be something separate, or it will seem to be inside oneself, or perhaps one will think it is above the head or some mysterious dimension beyond oneself. But when one is just thinking about the soul or reflecting upon what it means, etc, then this understanding lacks true experience and is somewhat speculative. It's like trying to understand what's in the ocean from a boat, rather than actually going into the ocean and having a real scuba experience.

Now it is true that, from our normal experience and perspective, our soul love, soul light and soul power are within. Yet when our consciousness deepens into the depth of our being, then this becomes our new perspective, whereby we are now in the centre of our being, which is our soul, and having experience from here. Now, our soul is experienced from its own centre, where from our consciousness is looking out, as it were. So from this perspective of being centered in our soul, “I am the soul: I am love, I am light, I am the spiritual will.” The qualities of our true being are experienced directly and immediately, from the very centre of our being, which is our soul. So it is not as though one were looking at the soul or these qualities from a 'separate' place or from a thinking-about-it place.

Remember the goal, which is to consciously be these qualities of being (or qualities of soul). This is the goal of deep being meditation. It is a meditation of self-discovery.

I'm copying this to File : Balance

Patience and Meditation

Meditation is awareness with patience. We are habitually doing. Or else we are planning a doing, or getting ready for doing. Doing has become so important, while people tend to neglect just being. Doers are the achievers, and doers tend to be more materially successful. Yet people who can just be, without doing, tend to be more successful in peace and wisdom. But of course there is nothing wrong with doing and achievement and success. It’s just that being without doing is also important in life. So we need to find some balance between doing and just being (not doing, but with intense awareness). In being without doing, there is an opportunity to understand. This might be useful to consider. By just being, consciously, there is an opportunity to understand. What to understand? This self and life.

Patience is difficult to learn, but it’s a wonderful quality to have. Trust is also important and is complementary with patience. Patience plus trust equals peace. If we trust, then patience is all the more easier. Imagine standing and waiting at a bus stop. Some people get impatient. But if one knew for certain that the bus was ten minutes away and definitely coming, then there would be a comforting certainty along with a knowing that it cannot get here any faster. Thus, there is nothing to do but wait, and it would be stupid to worry about it and stupid to think it could get here any faster. So one might as well be patient and at peace with it.

Life could be like this, if only we trusted that our bus was really on its way. It’s down the road somewhere, and it will take some time to get here, but it’s on the way. So relax and be patient, because there is nothing we can do to make it come any faster. And if we have to wait anyway, we might as well not be ruining our time with impatience and doubt. This is why trust and patience go so well together. They create peace. Yet patience is difficult because it is not doing. It is a pause in doing. Peace in being is like this as well. It’s a pause in doing. And when we have to wait, there could be a pause in our habit of doing. Whatever we might have to wait for is an opportunity for patience. It’s also an opportunity for meditation -- conscious being without doing. In other words, any time we have to wait and cannot get on with our habitual doing is an opportunity to just be and meditate.

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One of the essentials of practice is emptying the mind of active content – which are thoughts. The mind is often like a movie or radio show of thoughts, each thought associated with other thoughts.

Two main kinds of thoughts are often going on. Very often we are remembering past experiences and thinking about them; that is, we are reviewing these past experiences and interpreting them or judging them. The other kind of thought most prevalent is solving problems, which includes figuring out future plans.

So most often, the mind is either reviewing the past or trying to solve something that is a worry or a problem. Yet we really don’t have to understand what kind of thought is going on; we just need to practice the letting go of this thought. Well of course, it might be needed to actually use the mind to solve a problem or resolve a worry, or we might use the mind to remember past experiences in order to understand or interpret them. These are good uses of the mind. But we will find that many times our mind’s tendency is to ramble on and go over the same stuff, again and again. In fact, people often do this in conversations. Well, we need to make some choices about the active mind. At times, we do need to be solving problems, or we do need to consider the recent past and understand it. But if we are truly honest with out own introspection, we will notice that the mind is very often wasting time and energy. It’s heedlessly running around, bouncing around.

So the needed practice is emptying the mind, which is necessary in order to reach a deeper level of self-knowing. For we cannot hope to know our true deeper being, if our mind is always full of thought contents, as they bounce around in our head. The key is transformation of thought energies. Thoughts are sort of like things in the space of mind. So they can be burned up to get the energy out of them, or like Einstein figured out, matter stuff can be transformed into just energy. Thus, thoughts can be transformed into pure energy; or one could understand that the energy of thoughts can be released back to where they first came from – which is pure consciousness. Thoughts emerge from consciousness, but they can be released back to consciousness. And by doing this, consciousness has more energy. Thus, the energy of consciousness can be increased by releasing thought energy back to it; similar to how matter can be transformed back into a more primordial energy. This release of thought, this transformation of thought energy into its primordial source of consciousness, is also a blissful feeling.

We are speaking here of transformation of energies. Specifically, we are recognizing that thoughts have energy, which can be released or transformed into a primordial essence – which is pure consciousness, and thus the energy of consciousness can be increased by this transformation or release. This can be described in an even more profound manner. We are transforming all contents of mind into pure love. Release everything into love. Release all energies into love. And this is conscious love. It is consciousness plus love. This is the where it can all go, into love, and ultimately into conscious love.

The transformation of thought back into its source of consciousness itself is also a new beginning. By analogy, think of how one can make a clay object, but then destroy this object back into its primordial clay, and then re-create something else. Thoughts are similar to object creations. They were created by some mind, maybe yours or maybe someone else's, but all thoughts were created at some point and by some mind. And all thoughts are made of mind stuff, which is a mundane term but it gives a basic understanding. Well, these thoughts can be dissolved back into pure mind stuff, and then one has more mind energy to create newer thoughts, and maybe better thoughts. It’s like a creative process of an artist, who makes something but then lets it go or transforms it into something else.

We might briefly mention three modes of mind relating to thought. Mind is either creating thought, destroying thought (by dismissing it or by letting it dissolve), or engaging with thought. Mostly we are engaging with thought, meaning that mind is engaged with thought processes or thought associations. These thoughts might have been created by the personal mind engaged with them, or these thoughts might have been created by someone else and given to one by parents or culture or books, etc.

Now what is interesting about thoughts which we acquired is that these can be transformed back into their primordial energy, or transformed into more positive or truer thoughts; and this transformation is efficacious in the whole world and not just in our own minds. In fact, this is one way we can affect the world in profound ways, that is, by transforming collective social thoughts.

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Practice of Clearing the mind.

Pure, Clear Mind is True Being and is our natural condition. This is the same as Primordial Awareness, which has no form. It has no form or image. It has no idea. It has no conditioning. It is the original emptiness of Awareness. Yet, this is the power capable of experiencing and expressing any form. All forms and images emerge from this Primordial Essence, Consciousness, Mind. This Essential Mind is unaffected by all forms and forces. Yet all forms and forces emerge from it. This is the all-pervading Space of Pure Awareness. Come from personal mind into this Pure Mind. Surrender personal mind into this Primordial Eternal Mind, the Pure Mind. The personal mind gets affected by other forms and forces, and it gets identified and attached. But come into the sanctuary of Pure Mind, where nothing is greater.

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The Essence, the Essence-Self, the Absolute Being, (different names of the same), has no particular form. It has particular name. All qualifications about it are not IT in Itself. Qualifications, descriptions, and attributions are helpful for a pragmatic understanding, but the Being-Essence Itself is formless and without any qualities. This is why Buddhists described the Absolute-Essence as Formless Emptiness. It’s not like a Father God, or a Ruling Zeus, or a Dancing Shiva, or a Lover Krishna. It is Transcendental and Formless, so in sense it is Emptiness. Yet, from this Transcendental, Primal Essence arises such Attributes of Consciousness, Love, Intelligence, and also Ideas and form. We know there are ideas and form. Even if one were to say that all ideas and form are illusions, one would still have to admit that these must have arisen from somewhere; and if they must have originally come from the Absolute Formless, it would mean that they were inherently potential in the Formless. In other words, if all ideas and form come from the Formless Essence (and where else would they come from?), then they must have been potentials in that Essence originally. See the paradox. Philosophers and theologians have argued about these things, endlessly it seems, but one has to simply see and understand the paradox. You see, there is only ONE BEING, yet this has a transcendental Formless aspect and also an immanent form aspect.

Absolute Essence remains independent of all ideas and manifest things. Yet this is IN all things. BEING IS and through all things.

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Return to Original Being. This means to return to an original state of consciousness and feeling, whereby there is no particular content to self-consciousness, for it is like a state before one has acquired any particular personality, or thoughts or feelings about oneself, or about life or about anything. Try this simple meditative practice or meditative imagination. Imagine being just born – with full consciousness and feeling, but without any ideas about oneself or the world. This could also be called an emptiness, yet being fully consciousness. Now consider one idea – that you are loved by Life. You are a child of Life and loved by Life. Know this essential connection with Life. Know that we each are a child of Life, and also loved by Life.

This imaginative practice brings us to a beginning point of our life, and also a beginning point of thought. It helps us start all over from the beginning. And we have to empty our mental vessel, in order to really experience this beginning, which is to return to our Original Being. We start from the original emptiness, before any thoughts or the making of personality. Then, from here, we discover the very first essences of truth. And what is this first essence of discovered truth? It is the self-evident truth that we are born from Life. We are from Life and of Life. We are a child of Life. This is the most self-evident truth. It is self-evident both empirically and by reason.

The next discovered truth is that we are loved. Life loves us. Now it is possible for reason to argue about this. How do I know that I am loved? Well, this is not always self-evident to the mind. But it is self-evident to the heart. The mind is not really the discoverer of love; nor is reason. For love is discovered by the heart. We know love by feelings, more so than by thoughts. Right? Sometimes one thinks they are loved. But it is much more real to feel loved, than think it.

Truth is that Life loves us. Much of the Teachings are about God loving us. But many people do not get the idea or meaning of God. They hear the word God and think they understand what it means. Most likely, they have some particular idea or image about God. So when people speak about God, they think people are referring to what they think. It all gets very confused. Even people who do believe in God have all sorts of ideas about it. But Life is much more simple and tangible to our common understanding. To realize that Life loves us is very profound in feeling.

We know this in our heart.

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Just being, here and now. Move into just being, rather than doing. So often we are in the mode of doing, which includes thinking about doing, or thinking about past or future. To find God and our spiritual centre we need to just be in the here and now, just being. Discover the mode of just being. Then a great spaciousness of being will unfold. And if we continually open in this beingness, we will be in the spacious, inclusiveness, openness of God.

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Just Being

Let us review three important modes in the transformative work of meditation and prayer. All of these modes are well after any initial stages of relaxing and emptying the mind. These are really advanced stages in meditation. The first mode is experiencing a quality of being. A certain [spiritual] quality enters into experience. Or one might say within awareness a quality is noticed. We will call this the ‘experiencing’ mode. For example, one might experience peace or love, which are spiritual qualities. Suppose that in meditation there is an experience of love. In the Experiencing Mode, then, this love is experienced and enjoyed, which is kind of like hanging out with love, or sitting and relaxing with love.

The next possible mode will be called the ‘identification’ mode. This is just as important as the other mode yet does not replace the other mode’s importance. The Identification Mode has a transmutive function. So, for example, in the Identity Mode one self-identifies with this love quality. This is an intentional experience of ‘I am’ this love; this is who I am, or this is one of my own essential qualities. ‘I am’ is a needed affirmation for one mode of alchemical work. This is how we transmute one frequency of Identity to a higher one. For example, one might have a self-identity that one is not well connected to love, but then suddenly in meditation there is this new intensity of love. This love might be more intense and meaningful than ever before experienced because of reaching a very deep place in oneself due the meditation, and so it might also be difficult for the thinking mind to accept that I am this very deep love because of its intense newness. But this is simply a new discovery about oneself.

The Identification Mode, using ‘I am’, helps to transmute previous patterns of self-identification and also transmutes self-beliefs in our subconscious mind. Realize that the qualities of experience discovered in meditation IS who you are. So affirm this truth. Make this immediate self-identification with the sincere affirmation that ‘I am’ this spiritual quality of being. And of course, this ‘I am’ mode can be applied to other qualities of meditative experience; such as, I am this light, I am this consciousness, I am this mind, I am this intelligence.

The third mode in meditational transformation is subtle and most difficult to describe. Let us say that you are presently in the ‘I am’ Identification Mode. The next mode can be called just Being Mode. In the ‘I am’ mode, there is a subtle dualism of I and this quality. There is nothing wrong with this, because we need to have experiences in all levels and all modes. But the next mode involves a dissolving of the ‘I am’. The ‘I’ is given up, released. For example, ‘I am love’, when the ‘I’ dissolves, transforms into just love, and there is just the Beingness of love. The Quality of Being just IS. In the ‘I am’ Identification Mode, I am this Truth. Yet in the Being Mode, there is only this Truth, but without the ‘I’. As part of a mystical Sufi practice, the ‘I’ surrenders to God, so that finally there is only God [with no ‘I’, as the ‘I’ dissolves back into God]. The secret to reaching this just Being Mode, from the Identification Mode, is surrender of oneself and surrender of all self-identity.

One can also surrender in to Just Essence, which is the Un-qualified and Un-differentiated Beingness. This is the Pervading Being-Essence which is Background to all spheres of experience and identification. In other words, whatever experience there is, or however the Divine Being is experienced, or whatever Level of Identification there is; there is always the Greater Background Being-Essence. So this is the Infinite Greater Beingness, which is always Beyond any spiritual realization or self-realization. That is, no matter how great of spiritual experience or realization one has, there is always The Beyond, the Mystery Beyond, the Transcendental Background of Infinite Being. This means, practically speaking, that whatever State one reaches, or however Vast is the experience, there is always The Vast Beyond even this.

In Vedanta, the ‘I am’ consciousness is Atman, while the Transcendental Essence is Brahman. In the Qabala, the ‘I am’ mode relates to Kether, the highest world, while the Beyond is Ayn, in which the Tree is, or from which the Tree emerges. The Tree is The Self. Its top is its pure ‘I Am’ Consciousness, and the other centres below are its levels of Quality and Function . Yet what is often forgotten is that one Tree exists within a Greater Tree, and so on. So the Ayn of one Tree is but a Greater Tree, and the Ayn of this is but an even Greater. Thus, there is always a Self Beyond any Self-Knowing, a Greater Beingness Beyond every Being. All reality is Layers within Layers, Levels within Levels; yet all Beings and Levels are pervaded by One Absolute Ultimate Essence-Being, which is the Eternal and Infinite Beyond.

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Considering presence and what it means

The minimal meaning of having presence is awareness. Though this awareness has to be more full than, say, the awareness one has of the road when driving and talking with someone, which can be virtually subconscious. So the presence we are speaking about has to be a full, conscious, self presence, which is unified and whole, rather than fragmented or partly automatic. In this sense, then, having presence is fairly synonymous with being conscious. Yet presence adds in another necessity, which is to be conscious in this very present moment and of all that is being revealed around one. Of course, the extent of how complete one’s consciousness is, and of how much one is aware of what is being revealed in the world, may range all the way up an extraordinary capacity. Still, the most important requirement is being conscious in the present moment, or consciously present in this moment.

Additionally though, having presence also means bringing the fullness of oneself into this present moment. The fullness of oneself also means the fullness of our soul, or the fullness of our spiritual potential. The question to ask is… Am I totally present? Am I fully here?

First of all, is my consciousness fully here, my mind fully present, right here and right now? And how much of my mind is here? Completely here, or just partially here with some of mind preoccupied or fragmented off into other concerns. We all know how easy it is to work on some task while part of our mind is dreaming or thinking of something else, or when we are sitting listening to someone while part of our mind is really somewhere else. Being fully present means having a unified and unfragmented awareness, mindful both of oneself and the space around, which is facilitated by conscious breath.

Second of all, am I fully present here with heart, as well as mind? Surely, we are not merely mental beings and, surely, having awareness is not the sum total of who we can be. So to be fully present and having presence must also include an awakened heart, a revealing heart, a loving heart. To be fully present must include a presence of heart, a presence of love. Mind without heart could only be a half presence.

A third question might be… Are all of my divine qualities present in this moment? Or are they still sleeping in the unconscious realm of potential? Maybe only a full spiritual Master could have all divine qualities present, if that is even possible, but we at least could have a few divine qualities present. This means bringing a special Quality to this present moment and to others around us, that is, revealing and emanating a Divine Quality through one’s presence. This brings us to another essential meaning of having presence, which is to bring forth and emanate, in this moment, a Quality (or many Qualities) of one’s being. [Quality is capitalized here because it is a Divine Quality revealed through one’s being].

In fact, sometimes we speak about certain people as having a special presence, or spiritual presence. What are we noticing about them? There is something about their presence, something about a quality that is emanating from their being. So in this sense [of people with presence], presence means a quality of energy emanating from the person. A person with a fine spiritual presence is someone emanating present-centered awareness and loving heartfullness, yet probably also emanating other Divine Qualities as well. Thus, we may say that a certain person has a peaceful presence, a kind presence, a patient presence, a wise presence, a healing presence, or a loving presence. In contrast to these positive spiritual qualities, other people might emanate darker (or lower-ego) qualities, such as a hateful presence, an angry presence, an untrustworthy presence, a self-gloating presence, a cold mean presence, an apathetic presence, etc.

Also to mention is the possibility of a deceitful presence or a performed presence. The performed presence is very common in modern life, with politicians and sales people often becoming very skilled in performing or emanating a certain quality – in order to be liked, admired, accepted, or believed. There is nothing inherently bad about performing well, and maybe we all sometimes make performances around people; it just depends on how deceptive or insincere or disingenuous it is. Yet, the true spiritual person has a genuine and sincere presence, emanating genuine spiritual qualities, without ulterior motives to look good, or show off, or persuade people. Real spiritual presence is genuine, sincere, and motivated by the Divine Urge to be, which is within each soul.

Some people put on a good performance of presence, in order to be highly admired or to satisfy an ego desire for success, or sometimes for an ego desire to hold power over others. At worst, this might be intentionally deceptive, but even more often this happens subconsciously and the person isn’t aware that they are performing and really being motivated by an ego desire for admiration or success. By having the right appearance and speaking in the right way, it is certainly possible to put on a convincing spiritual presence and be admired as a spiritual person, just as possible as an actor playing the part of a saint, with the help of dressing the right way and acting the way one would expect from a holy person, as well as quoting from holy books or repeating spiritual clichés.

I’m not perfectly sure about how one can objectively know the difference between genuine spiritual presence and performed presence. Personally, I would have to just trust my own sense or intuition. Yet one objective test might also work. First, a genuine spiritual presence would have a real positive effect upon people, facilitating real healing, real love, real wisdom, real goodness in them. Second, a genuine spiritual presence would produce a similar resonance in others, such that those who are sufficiently receptive would resonate with the same Quality and thus start to become that Quality themselves. That Quality will vibrationally strengthen in those people who are in the presence of this genuine spiritual person. For example, a real loving presence will resonate real love in others, who will then become more loving presences themselves.

Prophets probably had a special presence with special Qualities. I think that a real prophet probably brought forth a particular spiritual Quality that was yet to be revealed, and people recognized this as a unique and special Quality, which is also a potential in themselves. [this includes eastern prophets such as Siddhartha Buddha]. These special people brought forth a very intense and unique presence, which was also new and fresh, rather than being a repeat performance or imitation of how previous saints walked, talked or dressed. Real Prophets probably defied ‘normal’ spiritual behavior, in some ways, and did not behave merely like other religious teachers of their time. They probably brought a unique and even perhaps a challenging quality to the status quo of their time and culture.

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Consciousness

Usual, unevolved consciousness is continually jumping from one thought to another, or from one external focus to another. Basically, it is trapped in the mental habits of that personality. This is one of our hardest problems to solve. Our mind is habitually scattered and jumping around, from this to that, rather than being able to settle down into one particular contemplation or place. So the first step in developing the mind is practicing staying settled in on one idea, or even one view if one is enjoying nature; rather than letting the mind run all over the place. In the east an unsettled mind is called a monkey mind.

The next step is a bit different in kind. In this step the goal is to break free of the mind’s boundaries. Every fixation of thought, even a focused contemplation, makes a mental boundary. So in this step, the consciousness needs to break free of its mental boundaries. This is the practice of consciousness expansion. I as consciousness/being, intentionally breaks free of any present thought or focus of attention. Often, this will be a freedom from the present train of thought, this present thought-concern; in other words, it is breaking free of whatever the mind is now wrapped up in. Then, once free, consciousness flies freely. I as consciousness then expands freely. This expansion is also an experience including more in consciousness. In a way, consciousness is like a container, so in the practice of expansion the container opens to include more of life, more of reality.

One purpose of this practice is to become free of habitual patterns of mind. Yet another purpose is for consciousness to return closer to its original Essence of being unlimited space. For the true Essence of consciousness is infinite space. These two purposes need to be specially pondered upon. The third purpose is also deserving of special consideration. The third purpose of freeing consciousness and expanding consciousness is to become a greater being-person via an expanded and more inclusive consciousness. Include more of life into consciousness; rather than being bounded by a limited consciousness of life.

The practice here is a transcendence of consciousness, that is, a transcendence from the present pattern of thinking. In other words, whatever is the present focus of mind and emotion is transcended – which is to break through the present fixation and limitation of mind, due to its present focus, preoccupation, worry, or any obsessive thinking or thinking pattern. Essentially, this is a practice of freedom. For there is an inner freedom of mind to be gained, just as there is an outer freedom to be gained. Both kinds of freedom are liberations from some kind of bondage. Outer bondage in its extreme form might be slavery or imprisonment. Though there are less extreme forms of bondage, which are more subtle; such as bondage, slavery, imprisonment to a job or to any requirements imposed by others.

Our inner, mental bondage can also be a kind of slavery or entrapment. Buddhism especially teaches about this. So does Sufism. We are so often imprisoned by and slaves to our very own thoughts, beliefs, worries, and habitual patterns of mind. An extreme example of inner bondage, which can also be a model for it, is the person addicted to a drug. Or another example/model is a person habitually fixated on a particular TV show, or maybe a ballgame; whereby the mind and attention is seems fixated and wrapped up in something. Of course, though, the mind could also be fixated and wrapped up in an idea or a ‘position’- a point of opinion or belief.

Emotions are also part of this inner bondage. Many examples of this….

Emotions are actually tied to thought; they go together, both reinforcing the other. Thought gives content and reason to emotion; while emotion gives motivation and passion/energy to thought. Every emotion has a thought that goes with it and supports it. Every anger has a thought or belief about what someone is doing, which provokes the anger. The thought or belief actually comes first, before the anger. It is not that one is arbitrarily angry without any cause. Something causes the anger; because anger is a reaction. But it is not that some person directly causes my anger; rather, my anger is triggered by my thought or belief about what this person is doing or what they are probably thinking about me. In other words, my thought is the mediating cause between my anger and the outside reality. If I had no thoughts about this other person, I would not be angry at them. Joy, for example, is also tied to a thought or belief. Certain kinds of thought spark off joy; just as other kinds of thought [about others or about life] might trigger anger or maybe sadness.

This is generally the way it is, this connection between thought and emotion. The only exception are emotions that come directly from the inner soul. These we call qualities of the soul. In other words, this is simply the essence of who we are; or, it comes from our inner essence (soul). Joy can just appear in us. So can other high emotions. Because these come from our own inner soul; these come from our own inner nature, for who we really are.

Getting back to the theme of transcendence



consciousness and Essence and expansion and contraction.

First of all, Consciousness just is. The whole universe is made of Consciousness. This is the primary element, and all physical energies and elements emerge from this. Thus, Consciousness is everywhere, and in reality there is only One Consciousness. Now what we call our own consciousness is a portion or amount of this One Consciousness which happens to be working through our physical body at this time. This portion is our individual consciousness. But what we might realize is that this consciousness (our consciousness) is not in essence ours, because there is only One. Think of your consciousness as an energy; in fact, it is a light energy. So we each have this energy called consciousness. But it’s the same essential energy we all have. Your specific thinking might be different from mine, but our consciousness is the same kind of energy. Similar to air, we each take in breaths of air, but this air essence is the same for you and me.

Now let us consider conscious experience. Consciousness functions in two opposite modes, which are contraction and expansion. Contraction is when consciousness is focused on either sensations, thoughts, feelings, or external things. And when consciousness is focused (contracted), either internally or externally, a larger field of reality is ignored or unconscious. Yet this is not a bad thing, because focus on details or self-issues is often necessary in life. But it would be a shame if consciousness were always contracted on smaller fields or concerns.

So now consider the other mode, expansion of consciousness. This is an opening into a much wider field of reality, or the world. But in order to come into this mode of expansion, we need to relax our tendency to contract consciousness. We need to relax the contraction. We need to release our contraction/focus. Once there is a release of contraction (focus on ourself or on particular things or people) and also an opening, then consciousness naturally expands and a much greater expanse of the universe opens up. The secret of this is to allow and let in the whole world and then finally the whole universe. But we need to relax the consciousness, because this cannot happen if we are in a contraction mode.

Another kind of obstruction to this expansive consciousness are barriers and blocks that we have set up, over time, in order to block out the energies of other people and the world around us. If we consider the possible emotional hurt that we may have incurred during early childhood, due to other people’s energies of anger, judgment, and disappointments; the early construction these barriers makes some sense. Barriers are for protection and defense. Yet these have now become subconscious patterns; even though now we are much stronger emotionally and can now deal with such energies. People have these barriers because of subconscious fear or expectation that negative energies or emotional assaults will come from the world, unless one holds up the barriers. Well, sometimes barriers are needed, and maybe at sometimes in our lives; but it is a waste to live this way all of our life.

Take a breath of courage and spiritual trust, and let down the barriers to the world around. Open your heart and mind, and let it all in. And know that nothing can really harm you, because you are like the wind itself. You are the spirit. And nothing can harm you unless you react to it. Build up your inner strength and inner faith, enough so that there is no more fear about the emotions or thoughts of other people. All of those energies can be allowed into one’s inner abode of love, acceptance and forgiveness. When you are an abode of love, acceptance and forgiveness, and cease to react against threats to your emotional well-being, then nothing can ever hurt you again. Then, now, you can open up, relax, and let it all in. Let go of the barriers and the contraction of consciousness, and let in the world. Then consciousness is expansive, open, and also relaxed.

On a deeper level of experience and practice, one can simply open up to the Spiritual Essence of the universe, which pervades the universe and everyone in it. This Spiritual Essence has many Qualities. Three primary Qualities are Consciousness, Presence, and Love. So one can open up to the Greater Spiritual Consciousness, or Presence, or Love. In practice, try each of this at different times, to experience how they differ in subtle ways. Yet all of these Qualities are ways to experience the One Spiritual Essence, which is what is meant by opening up to God or remembering God – which is really to experience God. This Spiritual Essence is also known as the pervading Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit. This is God pervading existence, or God as the Essence of existence. This is the Essence between transcendence and immanence. For in one sense, it is before or pre-manifestation; yet it pervades and is in manifestation. Thus, we call this the Spiritual Essence, which is primarily experienced as either Presence, Pure Consciousness, or Love; and from these primary Qualities come Intelligence, Guidance, and Beauty.

In Sufism the Spiritual Essence is in the sound of HU, which in Arabic is the pronoun for God. This HU God-Essence is prior to qualification, so it is not actually a quality or name, because it is the Essence before it becomes qualities and names. If we open our spiritual hearing we can hear the sound of HU, the sound of Spiritual Essence, pervading everywhere and through everyone. Being in this experience, in openness to the pervading Spiritual Essence, HU, is a non-contracted expansion of consciousness, wherein the usual contracted focus on oneself or on particular external things has dissolved. In the full experience of this practice, there is only HU, there is only Divine Presence, there is only God. The Sufis say HU in meetings in order to remember God and also to remind each other of this practice. Also, sometimes they sound the HU through an out-breath of love which transmits the awakening and healing qualities of Divine presence into others and finally into the whole world. This is the expressive service practice involving HU.

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The ability to experience Spiritual Essence, or Presence, or any spiritual qualities in the world, is called spiritual perception. Some people have more of this developed than others. Even those who have spiritual perception will sometimes lose it, if they get too caught up in material issues or if the stresses of physical life get overbearing. Most people lack spiritual perception because of emotional barriers and self-defenses, which was explained above. The other main obstacle to spiritual perception is consciousness contraction upon oneself or upon a particular desire or thought. If we get caught up in our own emotions or thoughts, then our consciousness is contracted upon this limited selfness and cannot open up expansively to the pervading Great Spirit-Presence, or Essence, that is all around us. This Spiritual Presence/Essence can be experienced throughout nature and also through people, but our spiritual perception has to be open and un-contracted. Another obstacle is wanting to be somewhere else, or thinking about somewhere else or some other time, rather than being fully present in the here and now. In fact, if we can be fully here and in the present, then spiritual perception often naturally opens up.

A question has been asked if one can be in both modes, expansion and contraction, at the same time. This is the optimum ability. Consciousness expansion is necessary for spiritual perception of Essence, while consciousness contraction (as focus) is often necessary for practical life and the experience of particulars. It would be optimum to be in both at the same time, in an integrated mode. This is possible, but it is rare. Yet, over time in one’s spiritual practice, this integration occurs more often. The most important practice, though, involves a way to obtain the expansion mode of consciousness to experience the Spiritual Essence. The contraction mode is already well developed, and in fact, has probably become a psychological pattern. So our first step must be towards consciousness expansion and spiritual perception. Once we are definitely in this expansion, or once we are experiencing the Spiritual Essence everywhere, then we can focus attention on a particular person (or area) and experience the Spiritual Essence in them. This is how the integration occurs. First get into the expansive spiritual perception; then focus on particulars but without losing the spiritual perception. Then, we perceive the Divine Spirit in this person and through this person. This is when spiritual perception becomes remarkably real in everyday life and with people we love.

The experience of Spiritual Essence pervading everything, including oneself, is a mode of Unity experience. It is one of the main ways for one to experience Unity, because it is the same Divine Essence unitively pervading all of life and the world.

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Expansion and Contraction

Our mental, emotional, and sensory reality, which pretty much comprises our experience, can range from contractive to expansive. Both contraction and expansion have their own respective value, or their own special function to play in the greater metaphysics of life. Contraction of awareness, or of experience, is needed to concentrate on certain things or on certain ideas or on certain aspects of life. We concentrate in order to figure things out or to get things done, so contraction of awareness can be quite practical. On the other hand, contracted awareness can also be fixative, obsessive, and imprisoning.

An extreme analogy is to be stuck in a cave or stuck in a little house, and never get out. So we want to be able to concentrate on particular issues of life, but without getting stuck in that concentration – which we could then label as a fixation. It is good to enjoy the many rooms of a museum, each with its little interesting details or things, but we don’t want to get stuck in particular rooms, nor stuck in the museum. Yet, people very often get stuck in just one or two rooms, continually dwelling on the same things, or becoming fixatedly obsessed by the thoughts and emotions of one room. So we need to remember this and occasionally check to see if we have gotten stuck in a kind of cave or maybe even in a room with quite attractive stuff.

The way out of such contraction is of course expansion – which could also be called freedom. Expansion is relief from contraction and imprisonment. It is relief from our own fixations and obsessive worries. Expansion is quite the opposite of a contracted consciousness or concentrated attention, because nothing in particular comes into focus. It is more of an opening and allowing, and it’s inclusive. There is spaciousness and fluidity in this, which is also why it a has a feeling sense of freedom and relief. External objects of awareness, as well as particular thoughts and feelings, will still be part of our experience, be they will seem fluid and unfixed, and we will not be grasping at anything to hold or to keep. The expansive awareness is like an open hand. It receives and touches, but does not grasp or hold onto. Whereas contracted awareness is like having walls, expanded awareness is when walls disappear.

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Of course, sometimes the contracted state can feel safe, familiar, and even cozy; so let us not have simplest negative spin on it. We are just concerned if this turns into fixation or limitation that holds us back from new experiences and self-growth. And if we were always in the expansive state, then it would be difficult to get practical stuff done. So both states need respect, and both can come into some sort of balance together. We want an ability to relate specifically and intimately with particular others, or with particular issue, but also have an ability to freely expand our heart and consciousness to include much more.

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Freedom is one the great themes in spiritual truth. There is freedom for the self and freedom from the self. Both are significant. Freedom for the self is the ideal of being able to do what one wants, free from outside burdens or restrictions. This is creative freedom for the self, or we could call it artistic freedom, though remember we are all artists in one way or another. Throughout history, societies, governments and religions have often restricted individual freedom to help insure the overall maintenance of the collective. Organizations and societies always tend toward conservatism, as defense against collapse. Yet innovation and imaginative creative thinking are really necessary for long-term adaptability. So there is value is in individual creative freedom. But this self-freedom is not necessarily good. The immature ego may simply use this freedom for its own selfish gain and maybe harm others along the way. So freedom has to be watched, since the lower ego will use this freedom as an excuse or mandate for its own schemes while being neglectful of other’s needs.

This then brings us to the topic of freedom from the self. The little self ego can become quite a spoiled brat or even a fierce tyrant. Attachment and compulsion free to itself can actually hold us back, ironically becoming our real chains. So self-freedom can easily become self-bondage, when compulsive desires or neurotic attachments dominate our psyche space. Even the simplest patterns of self thinking or emotion can become bondage. Thus, freedom from self becomes an ideal. Sometimes we get to a point when we just want to be free from our own stuff. Of course this is a time when a higher level of self is considering the state of its lower levels. All of this depends on where “I” is, as to the point of view. So freedom also means to free ourselves from lower levels of attachment and compulsion, lower levels of forces and patterns.

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Being, core qualities of love, peace

Esoteric wisdom reveals that each person is, in essence and at core, a substance of Being, and there is just One Being. Or in other words, each person has a being-essence, the very essence of oneself, which can also be called the individual soul. So, an individual being is equal to an individual soul, while Being is equal to God – or might also say Universal Being or Absolute Being. Next, realize that being is like a stem or a seed from Being, or it is like a microcosm of the Macrocosmic Being; so that every individual being has the same Qualities as Being Itself, just as the DNA of a child carries the DNA of the parents. Therefore, if we can understand that universally in essence there is only One Being, One Pervading Spirit; then, whatever is in this universe or a part of it, has the same spiritual essences or qualities, as derived from Being. This is one of the fundamentals of esoteric spiritual wisdom. Its not to be simply believed as a dogma, or as coming from some mysterious authority; rather, it is knowable by each person’s direct intuition (or by what medieval teachers called Reason).

One of our being-qualities is love. This means that at the very core-essence of every being is love. But then, why are people so often lacking in love? It is because their essence-quality of love is either undeveloped, suppressed, or distorted. When it is said that we all have an essence-quality of love, or that love is at the core of our being, it means that we have this natural capacity or potential. It does not mean, necessarily, that we have successfully discovered it and have allowed it to flourish. The love is still there, in our potential, in our essence; but perhaps it is still undiscovered, or it has not yet matured, or perhaps it is being suppressed by the conditioned-ego, or maybe it gets distorted as it tries to naturally emerge. To discover a true essence-quality in ourselves we need to make an intentional inner meditation into our essence of being, and in order to do this we also need to break free from the outward fixations of our conditioned-ego and its distortions of self-knowing. For the conditioned-ego is not the same as our innermost natural essence. So if this ego, this false self, is dominating our experience of life, then our natural essence and the natural quality of love might not get discovered and be allowed to express in our life. There is a needed inner-work of true self-discovery and allowing our natural essence-qualities to emerge and express.

Now, besides love we have the essence-quality of peace. Peace is a primary quality of Absolute Being and of our own being as well. All that we just stated about love is also true of peace. That is, peace is a natural quality, capacity, potential, in us, yet not necessarily discovered and actualized. It could be undiscovered in us, or suppressed, or distorted. So we have to make some kind of inner meditation to discover this peace, and to do this we also need to break free from ego-habitual agitations and desire-obsessiveness.

Now let us briefly explain ego. We don’t want to simply understand the ego as some kind of evil demon. The ego is our self-consciousness that is habitually lost in outer world stuff, physical and social desires, reactions to not getting what one wants, and it uses a kind of reasoning to justify anything one does. In a nutshell, the ego is who you are. This is your situation. You are this ego. This is your normal reality. It is not your true self. It is not your true essence. Yet, most people know nothing more about themselves than this ego – which is largely conditioned by society, parents, and by accidental circumstances, and the contents of this ego may also be an accidental creative development. ( the ego-personality development is often created from the child’s creative imaginative response to stress or problems; which then becomes a personality pattern.)

Now let us return to the topic of self-peace. But realize that the diversion into the topic of ego was appropriate, since it is the agitated and desire-obsessed ego which deters the discovery of self-peace. Transforming or gradually eliminating the agitated ego is quite difficult and takes a long work. So we need to, at least, gain an ability to suspend our habituated ego, for as long as we can, in order to meditatively delve into the true essence of our natural being – to discover our true inner qualities of love and peace. Then, once we discover and come into our own essence of peace, the usual dominating ego seems to fade away. This is because our true essence qualities, such as love and peace, are far more powerful than the usual ego.

Love and peace have a higher vibration and a more pervading vibration, than separative ego thinking and self-agitation. Love and peace have a connecting, unifying, and synchronizing energy. Therefore, these quality-energies are more powerful and pervading – in contrast to emotions like selfishness and conflict, which are unconnective and disunifying and create dissonance. Love and peace are resonating, unifying vibrational energies. So when we are in this love or peace, we are immediately unified with the many others in the same beingness. And this unity with others creates a great resonating power, a synergetic power, which brings others into the same resonance. So these qualities of love and peace are far more powerful and efficacious than their opposites – because the opposites of love and peace are separative, agitated, and producing conflicting resonance. Therefore, get into the love and peace space, within oneself, so to resonate with many others who have discovered and affirm the same truth. We will transform this world.

Realize that peace creates harmony in oneself. Peace creates a harmonizing vibration. So if we can find peace in our self, the peace within, the peace already real in our deep being-essence; then this will create harmony in oneself. Find the inner peace first, then harmony in oneself will naturally follow, because peace is a harmonizing quality, a harmonizing energy vibration, which gradually brings all other energies around it into harmonious resonance. This is the power of inner peace, which is also the power of God within us. God comes into the dimensions of our mind, emotions and body, and works into these dimensions, from within, from inner beingness into our manifest lives. So within us the great power of God, the divine power, which emerges from our deep being-essence, and peace is one of the powerful qualities of God-Being. So is love. Peace is very intimate with love.

We all want these feelings of peace and love. It is natural to enjoy such feelings. In fact, our well-being needs these feelings. We need to be in the experience of peace and love. And when we are not, we naturally feel that something is not quite right, or that we are missing out in what is naturally possible for us. If people are truly honest to oneself, they will feel a kind of lack or even a kind of sadness, if they are not experiencing love and peace. It is, like, everyone knows intuitively that love and peace ought to be present in oneself, so when it is not here one naturally feels deprived, frustrated, disappointed, and even cheated in some way. It is, as if, each of us has an inner feeling that love and peace is possible and true in our being, even if one does not feel these qualities present at this time.

Yet, peace and love are not merely nice feelings to have in oneself. We want those feelings; we need them; we need to have self-experience of these essential human qualities. But peace and love have an outward resonating effect as well. In other words, these beautiful feelings of peace and love, which we can discover within, are also powerful, transforming, healing qualities for everyone around us, and they even resonate throughout the whole world. So here is an example of how inner energies ripple outward into our surroundings and help to transform the world. They transform the world by resonating in other people, such that the natural peace and love deep within others will be awakened. Use music as an analogy. Let us imagine that everyone already has an inner memory of peace and love, and that these quality-feelings are like a beautiful piece of music. But most people have forgotten that music or have lost touch with it. So, if they somehow hear the music, they will remember inside. If we could play this music throughout the world, it would resonate with the inner-being [lost] music of others, thereby awakening that music.

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Peace harmonizes; first find peace

Peace is a harmonizing energy, within oneself and also in the outer world. Once there is a foundation of peace, and also a realization of its primary value, then this peace will begin harmonizing all parts in that system. The harmonizing energy of peace will gracefully ripple and reverberate through every aspect of our self, thus bringing harmony and health. This is the powerful, transforming, healing effect of inner peace. It unifies, synchronizes and harmonizes all parts of oneself, and then also into the world around. From within to out. Of course though, harmony and peace are intimately tied. One could build harmony in oneself and in world, which then creates peace. Or discover and live from peace, which then produces harmony. Each way works. But from peace to harmony seems the easiest route, because peace is already a natural quality of inner being. Achieving harmony in all parts of oneself , or in all parts of the world, is more difficult a task and can be regarded as an advanced goal. So it will be easier to achieve harmony in oneself and in the world, if we first begin with a foundation and realization of peace.

Yet let us not become too impatient about the effects of peace. It is harmonizing, but complete harmony will not necessarily be instant; nor will there be an instant elimination of all conflict. In other words, self-conflicts or conflicts of interest in oneself will not immediately be resolved when inner peace is realized. We should be realistic about such things; otherwise there will be disappointment. The resolution of self-conflicts and even disharmonies in oneself, as well as in the outer world, is a gradual task requiring continued self-effort and resolve. The music will not instantaneously transform into a perfect integrated harmony. This will be an ongoing creative task, within oneself and in the outer world. Yet this harmonizing work will unfold more successfully when we have an inner realization and foundation of peace in our self.

Along with this we need to have patience with conflict – patience with self-conflicts and also with world-conflicts. In a sense, we need to be self-accepting and world-accepting about conflicts; though at the same time persevering to resolve them. Conflict is not essentially bad. It is not like peace and harmony are good, while conflict and argument are bad. Rather, conflict and arguments are part of the Process of both self and social evolution. If we do not accept conflict, or if we treat all conflict as negatively bad, or if we try to instantly squelch any conflict, in us or around us; then we are actually creating new conflict and also loosing the energy of peace. Thus, peace has to be central and foundational, and this includes a sense of acceptance and patience with conflict as it is, rather than trying to immediately eliminate or suppress conflict. It is not that we need to love conflict or love argument; but rather, we can maintain love and peace through conflict. Just as we might hold an acceptance of something, though not feeding it and not seeing it as the goal. In other words, we can see conflict and also disharmony as part of an ongoing creative evolutionary process, yet we strive to create resolution and harmony – from our inner foundation of love and acceptance. … For example, the resolution of conflicts in ourselves can be regarded as a work-in-progress, while simultaneously maintaining an inner peace and pervading love. And this also applies to outer world conflict.

But how can peace and conflict exist together? Isn’t this a logical contradiction? The explanation for this is that each can exist on different levels. One can be peaceful in their innermost being, at their core awareness, while still experiencing various kinds of self conflict on more outer levels of oneself. In the most simple model of self, everyone has two levels. The innermost level is essence, heart, soul. The outer level is ego, practical mind, and reactive emotion, all mixed in to form one’s complex personality. So if we can experience inner peace, even while being in a personality conflict, or in a outer conflict, then the inner peace will gradually transform the conflict into harmony, since peace is more powerful than conflict. This is why we say that peace is a harmonizing quality. It’s not that there has to be a complete end to all conflict and arguments, before there is peace. Rather, peace can be obtained before an end to conflicts, and then peace will help resolve those conflicts. Of course though, if the conflicts are too rampant or too violent, then peace will be impossible, so there has to some reasonable perspective to this idea.

Peace and harmony are very possible states of the heart. Everyone can experience peace and harmony in their heart-being. It is a very special experience, which some people have while others don’t. But we must remember that peace and harmony are foundational feelings of the heart, or we might say natural for the emotional heart. So the reason why there is often not peace and harmony is because the person is in emotional conflict, a conflict within themselves, due to competing desires and interests in oneself. Another reason is because of distress or worry about stuff. That is, the emotions cannot relax and be at peace because of reactions or stressful patterns of worry. This where meditation and also a sense of spiritual trust can help. People who trust more in life or in God, will naturally be more at peace; and also trust in oneself. So many people are stressed about stuff and also worry, which prevents the emotional heart from relaxing into peace. This is key. One has to relax into peace. Then, when in peace one also experiences emotional harmony.

Another barrier to experiencing emotional peace is over-stimulation of the senses and even over-stimulation of the thinking mind. Excitement is not a bad thing, but one can actually push away any experience of peace because of an addiction to sensory stimulation, loudness, and even to chaos. And related to this is a tendency be distracted by sensory stuff and also especially by social drama. Many people seldom experience emotional peace because they are so easily distracted outer stuff going on, especially the emotional drama of others. And finally, there is a possible barrier to peace because of unresolved feelings of dislike, irritation, jealousy, envy, anger, or even hatred, just to name some of the possible emotions that we call negative because they are barriers to peace and harmony.

Now, if we consider these problems and barriers to emotional peace, we can also see their relation to outer peace and world peace. Outer and world peace can not possibly come about if those inner barriers to self-peace continue day by day. Outer and world peace cannot possibly come about by people, unless those people understand how to make inner peace in themselves. If we cannot make an inner peace, then how could we make an outer peace? Or, for example, how could one who is trapped in emotional anger, or constantly stressed, or plagued by continual emotional conflict, ever help bring peace in the world? This is not to say that we should never work towards world peace, unless we are perfectly stable in ourselves. Few are perfectly at peace and in emotional harmony. But it is something to consider, that lasting outer peace could only be expected from people with inner emotional peace.

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The Path can be understood very simply. First, we find ourselves as quite selfish, self-centered, and self-concerned. This realization itself is a much higher level than where we actually begin - in complete ignorance and self-deception. Second, we begin to surrender this selfness and the desire self. Then, with much inner work and surrender, we could reach a state of selflessness. But we could also understand this as reaching a state of radiance. Just be the radiance.

There are two ways of being; either we are closing our hand, or we are opening our hand. Simple as that. Imagine this, or do it physically. What is the experience of closing? It is contraction, or grasping, or it’s mine, or this I want. What is the experience of opening? It is letting go, let it be, surrendering, it’s all yours, and here have this. The self-ego is closing the hand, grasping, grabbing. While the spiritual heart is opening the hand, surrendering, and giving. Open the hand and just let it remain open.

The enlightened ones are just radiant. They are suns. They have no desire for getting, except for receiving Light from the Divine Source. Nothing else to say.

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the sun radiance is enlightenment.

open hand vs. closed hand

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Spiritual paths and also spiritual books can sometimes give people a false sense of acquisition, giving the impression that one is acquiring or needs to acquire something. This feeds right into the desire ego, which wants to acquire more. So the desiring ego gets all excited about acquiring spiritual knowledge or attaining high special states. The ego wants to get more of this spiritual stuff, and it also feels righteous and special about its imagined spiritual attainments. So the spiritual path can often serve these ego purposes. But spiritual realization is not an acquisition nor an accumulation. If you think it’s about gaining something, then you won’t have any true realization. Instead, realization is a sacrifice of oneself to the Greater. It’s really a giving away of oneself. It’s not an acquisition; it’s an abandonment.

A Greater Beingness comes into play when we abandon and give away the self-absorbed ego. This is the deep meaning of self-sacrifice. Greater Being enters, but this is not an acquisition for the ego. In fact, it can only happen when the self-ego loses what it is holding on to. So for the self-ego, spiritual realization is a big loss. It’s not a gain. And yet, there need not be any pain in this. Pain occurs when there is struggle to resist. This would be a self suffering. But in willing sacrifice of the self, there is no pain, no suffering. And the result is Realization, great bliss, great love, and expansion of consciousness.

Realization is not an acquisition, not an accumulation. It’s a sacrifice.

It’s a sacrifice into the place we are, or into the space around us. There is always a surrounding space. We are all beings in some kind of place and in a surrounding space. Sacrifice to the space that is. Realization is by sacrifice in where we are and in the space we are in. It’s a jumping into that greater space. We are all in something. Everything existing is in something or in some kind of greater space. This greater space is like a greater being that one is in. So realization is not acquiring this greater space; rather, it is a sacrifice into it.

Why are we so protective of this self? Surrender into this greater space. Then, one can serve this greater space. This is the key to expansion and realization.

Sacrifice to change. Change is inevitable. Surprise is also inevitable. Acceptance is very profound. Yet trust in God and in the great power of divine healing. Stay in faith of God’s Grace.

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One doesn’t need to change anything about oneself nor about one’s circumstances, in order to realize true being. This awakening does not require any change. People often think they have to change something in themselves, or in their circumstances, and then spiritual realization will finally occur. But no change is necessary. Spiritual being is always right here, and each moment is a unique matrix for awakening. Every moment is different in some way. Every moment and every circumstance is unique. But spiritual awakening does not require one kind of circumstance over another; because awakening is really about awakening to what is here, no matter what is here, and being consciously fully here, no matter what. It is true that a peaceful circumstance or environment will be more favorable to spiritual awakening, but any kind of unique circumstance is nonetheless offering this possibility. And ultimately, a master will be profoundly awake in every kind of environment or circumstance. It is true that a peaceful or meditative state of mind will be favorable to true self-realization, but really there is possibility for instant realization from any state. So no matter what state of mind you are in, and no matter what circumstances, each moment offers the possibility for spiritual awakening. And remember that every moment is changing anyway, so real awakening is staying awake through all the changing, and flowing with the changes.

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Traditional paths are various means for getting one ready, or into a ripe condition, for making a leap of conscious sacrifice into life. This conscious sacrifice does not need any of the traditional methods. That is, in order to come into Realization, there is no necessity to do any spiritual practices or rituals or initiations. None of these are necessary. Nothing is necessary. An immediate potential for Realization is always present, and it only requires a complete conscious sacrifice of self absorption. The ego death, as a result of this sacrifice, initiates Realization. Upon this death of ego, or sacrifice of self, there is a release of the self-contracted consciousness, and the Divine Being suddenly appears in experience. Divine Being is realized. Absolute Realization is being consciously absorbed in the Divine Self. The value of all spiritual practices or rituals is merely to prepare the aspirant and help bring him/her into ripe and favorable conditions for this conscious sacrifice. Yet language is not always adequate in explaining this, so maybe this way of explanation is inadequate, but it’s the best possible at this time.

Changes in oneself are not necessary for Realization. Yet some changes in our self might make Realization more possible. Realization is always possible in any moment, but some self conditions and some circumstances are more favorable to this Realization.

Also, positive changes in self and world are part of life’s purpose. We are here to make life (and our self) more Divine in quality. It’s not that all things are equal in quality. Seek a higher quality in oneself and in life, and help others manifest higher quality, and help improve the quality of the whole world.

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Awareness needs to be free of self-absorption and self-contraction, which is very often the condition of our self. Awareness is meant to be pervasive and expansive, though it is true that for practical purposes awareness will often need to concentrate.

One of the more advanced esoteric practices is to be Fully aware of what’s going on. Be more mindful, and then more some. Be most Fully aware of both inner and outer phenomena. Let awareness pervade all contents, inner and outer. So be intently aware of what is going on in thoughts, feelings, body, and actions; not caught up in any of this, but just aware, like you don’t want to miss anything, miss what’s going on. It’s quite important to know what’s going on in mind, feelings and body, rather not know, because this is knowledge about oneself. In addition, be most Fully aware of what’s going on outwardly, as best one can. Thus, awareness pervades both the inner and outer reality. This presence of awareness, maintained through all the inner and outer phenomena, helps defeat a tendency for awareness to contract into specific thoughts or emotions, or into specific sensual phenomena; whereby only a small fraction of what’s going on (inward and outward) is actually noticed. In fact, this is our usual condition, to be so focused in a particular thought or emotion or external form, that we lack awareness of everything else going on. Much of what is happening inwardly with subtle thoughts and niggling emotions is completely missed. But if our awareness pervades more of what’s all going on, then contraction is transformed, and particular thoughts or emotions do not simply take over the awareness. Please ponder on the importance of this. For once one grasps the usual condition of oneself, and also understands what is possible, then there is real motivation to wake up and make awareness a moment by moment practice. The aim is for awareness to become pervasive through the changing contents of inner and outer reality. Both realities are very often in change. The outer world is changing; or that is, new phenomena is newly coming into view. And the inner world is also in change, even more so, as new thoughts and emotions keep coming into view.

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RE: self-contraction (wherever the writing is on this? )

But we are most often self-contracted from This, or disassociated for this.

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Not only self-contraction is an obstacle, but so is contraction of awareness upon external things and people. Often, our consciousness-awareness contracts upon, fixates upon, enthralls upon particular things, people, or sensory events. These external fixations usually relate with our internal fixations of desires and plans, and worrying about what might not be satisfied.

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Contraction

In some cases, contraction would be a mere pattern of closing up from divine opening and expansion; and this might be originally due to fears or hurts from the past. This would then be in need of transforming or healing. and possibly what might be a key would be 're-membering'  or re-connecting with the Divine within oneself (and so even within the contraction)

Yet in some cases, we might see a positive purpose in contraction. By analogy, consider that sometimes it's good to view an overall wider landscape, but other times it might be good to focus (or contract attention) more on one are or on one tree. Sometimes it's important to consider the whole larger circumstances of life and humanity; yet sometimes it's important to focus (or contract attention) on just oneself. So if we take these analogies; here is my idea......

that (at least sometimes)  when one is contracted, there is a goof purpose for this, which is that we need to take care of business here --  we are contracting because there is important local stuff to view and take care of. So when I'm contracted, I would then try to see what in myself is in need of a more focused attention. 

I mean, the ideal is not to always be in an expanded universal consciousness.  Because the details of life and the smaller needs of ourself also need attention as well. And so might this kind of contraction be understood as positive ?

also coming to mind is how sometimes we might really need to be alone and contract from the world and others. again, to take care of business or to give heartfull awareness to certain parts of our self.

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RE: relinquishment . add in ?? to above ??

When asked about what he achieved, Buddha says, ‘nothing.’ When asked about what is the essential experience of enlightenment, Buddha says, ‘nothing.’ Nothing was achieved because nothing really happened except a different way of experiencing life. Objectively, nothing changed. His body was about the same, though frail from not eating, and his environment was about the same. He didn’t gain anything either. Did he gain knowledge? No, because he did not acquire any knowledge contents. He did gain a greater, more profound knowingness, but there were no bits of knowledge gained. You see, the knowing or enlightenment of Buddha was not about acquiring bits of wisdom. Later on, his thinking mind produced bits of wisdom to help others. But the enlightenment experience itself was not a downloading of wisdom bits (or bites). Rather, it was a clearing away. So his essential experience of enlightenment was literally nothing, because it was a clearing of all mental and emotional programs. The actual pathway to his absolute enlightenment was all about clearing, dis-attachment, and non-identification. {{explain?}} The Buddha Enlightenment is to be nothing. And there is nothing in it – no content of thought or emotion. And in this state of nothing, one is completely present in each moment and with each person. For there is nothing else in oneself to obscure this present-ness of being.

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to add: Buddha questioned the reality of his beliefs, especially his self-identity beliefs; so much that they became see-through and non-substantial. Consequently, he became non-attached to any self-identity, non-attached to any belief about himself. We too can come into this non-attached, non-identity state. This was the realization, the enlightenment. People asked what he realized. But he could only say nothing. We tend to imagine that the great spiritual Realization is a realization about something, or something about oneself; such as “I realize this,” or “I realize that.” In fact, most realizations do describe something. This might be a realization of being one with all Life or all Nature or with Spirit. Or maybe it is a realization of love’s bliss. These are very high and deep realizations. But Buddha’s realization seems to be of a different kind, and he does not realize anything at all. Rather, his new state of being is best described as an emptiness or annihilation. All beliefs and identifications, as well as all desires and attachments, have now dissolved. The whole bag of self was surrendered, or given up. And because of this, he became at one with all life, and he was simply present in every moment with whatever presented itself in that moment.

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Enlightenment is realization. So maybe they are talking about how each is really divine but have not yet realized it. To realize it one moves into enlightenment. Though to realize divinity requires work and practice.

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selfless state of being

How can selves exist without I and still be in relation, etc. ???

Many spiritual teachings idealize a selfless state of being, whereby a person transcends an ordinary ego state of selfishness to become selfless in thought and in deed. We will explore this theme of selflessness and the abandonment of ego-selfness. A selfless state of being is devoid of indulgent self-desires and obsessive self-centeredness. Instead of holding a pattern of continually self-focusing, self-referencing, self-thinking, self-wanting, and self-interests; one’s awareness and concern is turned inside out, whereby the world and environment becomes the subject of attention and concern, rather than one’s own mere self. Now the question we might ask is: In a selfless spiritual state, is there any real need for I-ness and I-want? Are these to be completely abandoned? The most radical mystics have said yes to this abandonment. So it may be possible.

Yet, for spiritual initiates who are working in the ordinary world of human relations and practical necessity, there does seem to be a functional need for I-ness and I-want, though certainly not as often as one ordinarily expresses such self-ness. We might find that some amount of selfness is functionally useful in our world of human relations, but this useful selfness is humble and life-serving, rather than selfish and self-centered. Some degree of selfishness is in most people; it is related to self-desires and seeking gratification primarily for the sake of oneself. Desire in itself should not be thought of as something lowly or bad, but desires of the self can become obsessive and take people away from being of service to a higher purpose.

Self-desire is desire for one’s own gratification, or the favoring of self-interest over the interests of others. This mode is classic and has been spoken about so much that it is hardly worth going into. Self-desire is preferencing one’s own desires and interests over and above everyone else’s and the greater community in which one lives. Unselfish desire is preferencing other people’s desires and interests over and above one’s own, and at best it is serving the interests and needs of a greater-wider ecological and social community. Thus, unselfishness is serving needs of a greater community, or serving the greater Field of Being, rather than a focused desire and preference for serving just one’s own self gratification. Yet within this unselfish ideal, we should also acknowledge a need to bring goodness, happiness and health to our own physical and emotional well-being; for each of us are certainly important in the cosmic life.

An important question is about what kind of desires we express and seek to fulfill, because desires can range from very narrow selfishness to finer expansive desires for the good of many others and the whole world. Thus, instead of completely abandoning individual desires and self-expressions, it would be better to refine and ethically improve our individual desires and self-expressions, so that these assist and support a greater good in the world and in our social relations. Some amount of I-desire seems quite healthy in this spiritual journey relating with the world, and also a healthy amount of celebrative self-expression. Here I am, and here I express my unique intrinsic divinity! Good! Yet the more refined spiritual expression is more expansive and inclusive, rather than narrowly focused on me-ness or I-want. And gradually, narrow forms of I-ness and narrow forms of I-desire are transformed into expansive and inclusive forms of we-ness and us-at-work. The ordinary narrow self-ness, or ego-ness, gradually dissolves into being-in-relation and working for a greater good and common purpose.

The second potential problem with selfness is self-centeredness, which is a tendency to obsessively indulge in self-consideration. This may be an excessive fascination with oneself, either with one’s looks, one’s social status, one’s accomplishments, or with one’s emotions. Most common is an obsessive focus on one’s emotions; then obsessively self-reflecting on these emotions or obsessively talking about them. Although some degree of emotional awareness, self-reflection, and sharing about oneself is certainly healthy. The problem is over-indulging in self-focus.

Self-centeredness should not be confused with self-centering. A tendency of many people is that their awareness becomes scattered in a multitude of outward directions, and their emotions get pulled hither and dither. In addition, people tend to get wrapped up and emotionally tangled in all sorts of outward projects or dramas, then lose touch with their own emotional centre and conscious being. So, self-centering is a returning of scattered awareness to one’s own self-centre of awareness and emotion.

Conscious breath practice is one of the best tools for self-centering, the returning to the centre of oneself or to the integrity of oneself, to become self-aware of one’s honest feelings and reconnect with one’s own free will and self-power. There is a great tendency in people to become uncentered, whereby they imitate and take on other people’s emotions, while losing touch with their own sincere feelings and self-integrity. People also can lose touch with their own power and self-will and freedom. So, self-centering is a return to one’s true feelings, integrity, self-power and freedom. This particular discourse will not elaborate much on self-centering practices, but if one reads carefully above on what it is about, then much will be understood and practice can begin from this.

But moving back to the topic of self-centeredness, let us consider the tendency for I-ness and me-ness. Over-obsession with oneself can be an obstacle on the Path. There are obvious obsessions with things of the world, the attractions and glamours. Often people become obsessed with certain foods, drugs, pleasures or other experiences. But one can also become obsessive with oneself, by obsessively focusing on one’s own opinions and emotions. Related to this is an over-indulgence of self-reference, or an obsessive self-referencing. This is when one is either focusing on oneself or talking about oneself. Of course it would be agreed that some amount of this is psychologically healthy, but there is possibility to over-indulge in this, where upon it becomes obsessive behavior. For example, one might try to observe how often one is talking about oneself, or thinking about oneself, using the words I and me in almost every sentence or thought. I did this, I feel this way, I want, give to me, listen to me.

Probably the most popular subjects of thought and social discussion are one’s emotions. Many people are obsessed with their emotions, and obsessively indulging in expressing those emotions. And when not expressing those emotions, they are obsessively talking about them. This tendency becomes obsessive when there is an almost constant focus on one’s newest emotion, and this becomes even worse when one thinks they have to always talk about the newest emotion. So when an emotion first arises, this person either has to express it outwardly or at least talk about it. Now we need to be careful about balance here, because it is healthy to express emotion and sometimes talk about the emotions. Yet restraint can also be healthy. And one may indeed find that if they hold back on immediately expressing every little emotion, the emotion might well transform into a more refined emotion if they give it time to mature before expression. So even though it is good to sometimes self-expressively reveal oneself; one needs to not allow this to become a pattern of indulgence in self-referencing or obsessively discussing one’s latest emotion.

Yet some amount of self-referencing seems to be needed for honest, practical, social-interactive purposes. There is a logical need to refer to oneself as a centre of perspective, opinion, emotion, choice, responsibility, and action. Moreover, we are each centres of unique and significant experience, and this should not be discounted or devalued. Sometimes one needs to refer to oneself as an individual agent of action, saying for example, I am doing this or I will do this. I-ness, or self-referencing, might also be used to acknowledge oneself as an individual decision-maker, acknowledging that I am deciding this, not someone else. And this relates to I-referencing as a sincere acknowledgement of self-responsibility; as in, I am responsible here. So I-ness can be in reference to one’s own individual centre of self-responsibility. Also in practical social life, there are occasions when it is honest to use self-referencing as an acknowledgement that one’s expressed declarative statements are personal beliefs, opinions, or interpretations, rather than absolute fact. And finally, we might occasionally need to make reference to our self-emotions, as in I-feel, to share with others about one’s feelings. In conclusion, we might best seek out a healthy balance between spiritual abandonment of self-ness and necessary functional self-referencing. The real potential problem with self-referencing is becoming fixed in Identification, or getting stuck in habitual modes of I-ness.

One might also acknowledge a necessary need to self-express, to be an individual self that is self-expressive, which another necessity of I-ness. There is nothing inherently wrong with expressing one’s own individual desires in a larger social context, or in relation with another individual. I want this, and you want that, and hopefully we can agree at some point and reconcile any differences. This part of being a healthy individual within social context and interpersonal relations. If one did not express any individual desire, then the larger social relation would be imbalanced with just other people’s desires. If one completely abandons their own desires and hopes, then one is merely pushed here and there by other people’s desires or by social forces. So we need to hold some sense of our own integrity, by acknowledging individual desires and also seeking to fulfill them. On the spiritual path, there should be more and more of we-ness, with less and less of I-ness; yet some amount of I-ness seems practically necessary in ordinary social situations.

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Finally, if we consider cosmic metaphysical truth, we might understand how the I-ness of self-desire and self-referencing actually fits into a larger scheme. For this theme relates to the metaphysical fluctuation between Unity-consciousness and the pluralism of self-consciousness’. Or we could say that Consciousness fluctuates between Unity and plurality. Unity is a oneness consciousness, in contrast to its opposite but complementing pole, limited self-consciousness. Metaphysically, the One Being fluctuates between Unity-consciousness and the vast plurality of self-consciousness’. Though this fluctuation is actually simultaneous. Self-desire and self-referencing, then, are functions of this pole of self-consciousness. So in this sense, they are part of the cosmic life, or the cosmic rhythmic breath. Thus, in our own journey, in some moments there is self-consciousness or self-ness, while in other moments there is no selfness but only the self-transcending Unity of Being. In one moment there is self-separation, while in another moment there is union with God and all life. This is the breath, the rhythm, the dance; at least potentially.

But what can go wrong is when people get stuck in just their selfness, their self-desires, or their self-centeredness. And they never experience the real joy of losing all of that selfness, that constant self-centeredness and self-concern, and that obsessive I-ness and me-ness of the ego. Maybe they are afraid of losing all of this, or maybe they just don’t know how to lose it. But there is joy at the other end. Lose everything you have, and gain the Kingdom of Heaven. Lose it all to find real love. Let go of the I and the me, let go of self-desire and self-centeredness. Then a vast universe of Being opens up, because you have come out of your little house, or maybe you busted down the walls. Or maybe you undress your selfness, to just be in the naked Truth of Being. This is known as the return to Unity; but one cannot experience this if one is still in an ordinary self-centeredness or selfishness. A humble and spiritually aspiring selfness can approach this Unity of Being, God, but even this finer selfness must finally abandon itself in order to truly experience what is beyond it. When the limited-self surrenders into non-existence, then God-Being shows itself to be the only Reality.

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to be liberated free

Now how do we find ourselves? At first we are unconsciously involved in the world. This is called unconscious involution. Then it is possible to be liberated from this, to be free in consciousness and will. This awakening is a step in spiritual evolution. So now we are free. So what now? Now the goal is to remain free, yet re-involve oneself in the world, this time with free will and consciousness. Thus, consciousness re-enters the world, with intention to be involved but without losing its freedom, and our creative free will intentionally enters the world to consciously serve life, and also to enjoy it. This re-involution is actually part of the evolution.

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La illah ha

As freedom-liberation of consciousness and the return.

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True selflessness is the way of Bodhisattva, the way of giving all of oneself to benefit others, with no preoccupied concern for one’s own little existence or desires. This is really synonymous with the way of Christ. There really is no difference in meaning between these two names, Bodhisattva and Christ, for in both there is a complete annihilation and sacrifice of the personal-desire self and personal-concern, and in place there is only a concern for the needs and welfare of humanity and the planet. There is only a selfless desire to bring good and good thought into the world, for the benefit of others and future others, not just for oneself. There is only one great concern or project at hand, which is all about the greater field of life, the whole planet and the field of humanity. Its all about the very purpose of humanity and the world, and helping all of this. The common theme to both Bodhisattva and Christ is to be liberated from personal concern and identification, and instead be concerned and caring about the greater field of life around oneself. In this state one does not even care about one’s next life, nor about rewards in heaven or from God. One is not concerned about oneself, but rather about the state of others and the future of the world. This is the consciousness of Christ and Buddha.

The needs of humanity and the help needed are as follows. One general need of humanity, or each person, is to be liberated from the bonds of socially conditioned beliefs and egotistical selfish desires. The third liberation is from identification with the physical body. These three liberations are extremely difficult to accomplish. Buddha manifested through the personality called Siddhartha, in order to bring these liberating ideals into the mind of humanity. Read these again, contemplate on their significance, and visualize your success in such liberations. Buddha’s further teaching was that suffering is primarily founded on mental and emotional attachments. So if we eliminate attachments in ourselves, sufferings will be alleviated. So what can we do for others? We can help them liberate from the bonds of socially conditioned beliefs, egotistical selfish desires, and identification with the physical body. Another significant teaching of the Buddha was to diligently observe the activity of mind and emotion, in order to see directly these conditionings and attachments, and how they so often cause negative effects, negative karma.

The teaching of the Christ was not as focused on liberation, but more so on who we really are, the love-wisdom within, the divine being who we are. Jesus, being the physical-emotional-mental vehicle for the Cosmic Christ, said “Let your light shine.” This is in knowledge that we are, essentially, spiritual light. Jesus focused on three great themes. One theme is that we are essentially divine, that we are children of God. Next that our purpose is to shine our spiritual light everywhere and to everyone. Be a divine ray, a divine radiance. The third theme is to care about others and help them.

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Our true purpose here in life is to give something to the greater whole of life. We are here to give a unique contribution to the greater spiritual ecology. We can give to the earth ecology or to the ecology of humanity, or both. We are not here to just take from the ecology, or from humanity, but also give back to it. One teacher called this reciprocal maintenance. It’s a responsibility we all have. The key is what we can give or contribute to the greater whole, and to the future. In this respect, the Bodhisattva attitude is significant.

Consider the idea of karma, which is cause-effect. The law of karma is generally that whatever we are doing now is causative to the future. What we do now, and even what we think now, is causative to the future. So the traditional teaching suggests that one do good now, and think good now, so that one’s future or future lives will be better for it. We see an analogical reasoning in Christian and Islamic religions, in their suggestions to be good now so that we will fair well in the final judgment of God. But the bodhisattva attitude is more sublime; for it suggests that one do good and think good, in order that all other people in the future are benefited. In other words, one does good and thinks good, so that everyone else and the future of the world will benefit, while the focus and concern about oneself in all of this is relegated to unimportance. This is the bodhisattva attitude; a dedicated concern for humanity and the future of life, but without primary focus or priority on one’s own little self welfare in it all.

In the attitude of Christ, one becomes a living sacrifice for the good of the whole humanity. By our work for the good, and our thoughts for the good, and our being for the good, we contribute to the greater soul-field of humanity; and the best of these are made with an attitude of self-sacrifice for the greater good, and without a focus on self gain.

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More on selflessness:

The lower stage of ego tends to be engrossed primarily in its personal desires, its personal concerns, its personal reactions, and its own self-pride or concern for status. There is also a tendency for compulsiveness and repetition of personal patterns.

Self pride can be difficult to recognize in oneself. This pride is different from self dignity. Self pride is an inflated sense of self-importance, while self dignity is acknowledging the significance of being a unique human being on this earth and not passively allowing oneself to be used or hurt by others. Self dignity is also acknowledging one’s own spiritual value and one’s unique spiritual capacities and gifts. Yet self pride inflates one’s sense of self importance in a way that imagines oneself to be more important than anyone else. And if it is not imagining oneself in this way, it is probably wishing or trying to be more important than any one else. There is a sense of being big in a powerful way; also a sense of getting whatever one wants. And another common tendency for self pride is to make oneself a center of attention. These are all possible attributes of self pride, and most of us could recognize at least a few of these in ourselves. Sometimes it is subtle or indirect in people, but sometimes it manifests in the extreme as self arrogance and also as very manipulative of others.

Yet in contrast to arrogance and self pride is humility and selflessness. In contrast to feeling big in importance, the humble self feels small compared to God and Truth, and one acts in a very different manner than the prideful self. Instead of being pride-fully big in importance and large in everyone’s attention, the humble self is content with invisibility. And instead of needing to achieve wealth or status for oneself, the humble self is happy to serve and achieve good for others. The prideful self is like a giant icon in the landscape; while the humble self is like a blade of grass. The giant icon has its moments of glory, but at some point is blown away by the Wind of Real Truth, which is God; yet the humble blade of grass just enjoys being close to the earth and the other grasses around it, so when the great Wind blows it doesn’t break down like the inflated monument.

The humble self realizes it is small compared to the Divine, and its power is small compared to the Divine Power. The humble self realizes its dependency on the Divine and is thus humbly submissive in its relation to the Divine. The humble self realizes that there is a greater Self, even within oneself. There is a greater Purpose, which is much greater than any self purpose one might have individually. There is greater Power, much greater than the little power one has individually. There is a greater Soul of one’s own soul, just as there is a greater Fire invisibly behind any manifest fire, and a greater Love behind any love. When we see magnificent beauty or great achievements we very seldom realize the Cause of the cause of the effect. Often we see manifestations of beauty, but seldom do we realize the invisible and inexplicable Cause of the effect.

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For Buddhism there is no real self at all. My self, this self is ultimately an illusion. What is real then? Most Buddhist say that the Real is emptiness. In other words, oneself (and other selves) are ultimately illusion, and what is Real is emptiness. Let us consider what all this might mean. First of all, my self, or this self, or any self, is an illusion, because it has no separate or independent existence on its own. This is fundamentally why they say it is ultimately an illusion. No one is denying, though, that selves are temporary phenomena. Many Buddhists would say, in fact, that this temporary phenomena of self can continue beyond physical death into future reincarnations. This temporary phenomena of self continues as long as the illusion continues, and the illusion only ends when the self itself realizes its own self-maintained illusion. So the self does have a property of existence, yet temporary, and the continuation of this existence depends on how long the illusion is carried on. The very goal for Buddhists is to extinguish this illusion and thus extinguish the self; that is, extinguish the self back into primary emptiness, or nothingness, which means no-thingness or no-content or empty of content. The illusion of self can be extinguished, though not by any god power, but by a realization of oneself as essentially an illusion, a false premise or false concept.

One main reason why Buddhists view the self as illusion is because it lacks separate and independent existence. One realizes there is no ‘self’, no my-self, no this-self, and no ‘selves’ at all; because this very idea requires a separate existence and independence that we can refer to as self. Buddhists are right that there really isn’t a completely separate and independent self. They are also right that ordinary mind assumes that selves are separate and independent entities. Yet just because selves are not completely separate and independent does not rule out another possibility, that selves are partially separate and partially independent. In other words, an enlightened view of selves is that each self is semi-separate and semi independent or semi-autonomous. While it is true that no self is completely separate and independent from other selves or from the rest of nature. The fact is, though, a self does have some degree of self-autonomy.

I, as self, have some power to think for myself, decide on my own, and act without total coercion from others or by total instinct from nature. I can think separate thoughts from others, and I can act independently without the force or power of others, So, some degree of self-autonomy must exist, and thus there is some real meaning of self-ness. Of course it is true that the uniqueness of a self depends on its unique beliefs and desires. If everyone had the same beliefs, perceptions and desires; then there would be no meaning in separate self-ness. But many of us do have different beliefs, perceptions, emotions, desires, and values, in relation to other selves; so there is meaning in referring to this or that self having some degree of separate and independent existence. It is significant, though, to make clear that no self is completely and utterly different or independent from others. For everyone has been influenced by someone or some group, at least, and there are many complex weavings between everyone and anyone. Thus, the self is a complex meaning; it may be partly autonomous, but certainly it is interconnected interdependent in various ways with other selves.

This understanding of interconnection and interdependence, in regards to ‘individual’ selves, is relevant in these historical times when an ecological crisis is at hand. If we understand the interdependence between people and environment, and also between people and people, then our choices would probably be more wise. Any actions that create disharmony or pain in the ecological environment, or in the human environment, will be felt by everyone on some level, because we are all interconnected and interdependent. Thus, harm to others or the natural environment is as stupid as hitting oneself in the face. This whole world is who we are. There are no distinct boundaries or separating barriers between myself and everything else. This is quite a radical change in self-understanding. The usual understanding is that I self am a separate part of existence, so that what happens out there, or what I cause to happen out there, doesn’t matter very much to me, and what matters to me is the separate pleasure I can get and the possessions I can hold onto as my own. It is easy to see how this old usual belief about oneself, this delusionary belief, has a tendency to produce un-intelligent choices and actions. Someone who understands their interconnection and interdependence with the rest of life will treat the rest of life much more kindly and respectful, than the one who simple-mindedly believes in their separative individual existence. So as this false belief in a separate self dissolves, due to a true awakening of life’s interconnection, empathy and concern for everyone and everything begins to grow stronger. Love grows stronger and also wisdom. The self is no longer just a small piece separate from the larger world of life. Rather, the self is like a temporary container for life experience and a maturing perspective in relation to all life.

Yet, while we understand the interconnection and interdependence of this mind and body called self, we also need to acknowledge the reality of a semi-independence and semi-autonomy of self. For there is a distinct uniqueness between one self and another. This distinctness and uniqueness, this individuality and the rights of its freedom, need to also be valued. Each individual self has its unique box of experiences, its unique history. Human selves may have different perspectives about life or about what is happening. So when we as a whole group speak of truth, we need to take into consideration the full variety of unique perspectives about what is true and what is right. The time of dictators and rulers of mind should be over, whether this be political or religious or economic. So as a self we each carry around something unique, we each have unique interests and abilities, and we each should have freedom to uniquely explore and express life.

So the reality about self is that it is not separated from the rest of life, yet nor is it without any degree autonomy, independence, and uniqueness. One on hand, the eastern view tended to emphasize the non-separative, interdependent and illusionary properties of self. On the other hand, the western view tended to emphasize the individual, unique and independent properties of self. Reality is somewhere between these extremes; for the self is not completely one way or the other. It is not completely separate or independent, and it is not completely empty or unreal. Every self has some degree of self-autonomy and freedom to be unique. Each self has its own unique self-history and its own power to freely decide its fate (within certain boundaries, of course). Each self may have a unique perspective on life, and come to its own conclusions about life, and have its own beliefs about what is truth. And these freedoms ought to be respected in the world. So in this sense, we may well be separate from others in some ways. Nonetheless, we do all influence one another, if not physically then certainly by our thoughts which spread throughout the world like water vapors in the air, at some point being breathed in or ingested by someone else, or rejected and returned right back to us again.

The other reason why Buddhists view the self as illusion is that the self is temporary, not permanent. Well so what, really? Isn’t everything temporary anyways? The self is viewed as temporary, yet it is also viewed as continuing through reincarnations. What continues is not a distinct physical body, but rather the more inner qualities of oneself. These qualities include basic desires and emotions, but also fundamental assumptions about oneself, like ‘I am important and powerful’, or in contrary ‘I am victim’, or whatever defining beliefs we hold about ourselves. And our basic abilities might also be carried on to the next life. So there is a carry-over of a bundle that we call the our ‘self’. Yet these desires and concepts of oneself will eventually fade away, for there is nothing essentially permanent about them. They are only maintained as ‘real’ or ‘permanent’, just as long as we believe they are. Only as long as I believe that such or such is my desire or is the truth about myself; this is only as long as these desires and beliefs last. In other words, they are all maintained by my assumption that they are actually important or real or true. These desires and beliefs are maintained (and do not fade away as illusions) only as long as I believe in them. I believe this is real, so it goes on. I believe this is truth, so it goes on appearing as true. I am maintaining the phenomena of this (which composes the self) due to a sustaining belief in its reality and truth. Yet, in reality as it were, there is no desire or self-belief that is ultimately true. Everything about the self is simply maintained by belief or by assumption.

Now the important lesson here is that we can dissolve false concepts about ourself, even it takes many lifetimes. We can see the emptiness of it all; that there is no ground for these beliefs but belief itself. Thus, Buddhists say that all beliefs and desires are ultimately empty. All of these things are maintained by beliefs, and these beliefs are essentially illusions. They are not really real. They are maintained by the more powerful beliefs or by deeper assumptions – which are created by self and these selves exist only as long as their underlying beliefs are maintained. So the whole enterprise is seen as empty of any real ground.

The more practical meaning of emptiness is a return to original mind, or primary mind – without any held or fixed content. This is the same as open mind. Nothing is there, so nothing is tampering with the incoming experience, nothing tampering with perception and projection, and thus one is free from a-priori assumptions and beliefs. From this emptiness of selfness, self-concept and self-assumption, one then naturally responds to life in a more intelligent and compassionate way. One then acts spontaneously in-relation with life, because the separate barrier between self and other, self and world, has disappeared into emptiness. The world remains, life remains, but separative selfness (separate I) has disappeared.

This also relates to a Buddhist view on life and death. For each selfness continues, through reincarnation in future bodies, until this selfness dissolves back into emptiness. That is, each reincarnating self is like a bundle of content, including fundamentally held self-assumptions, general desires and patterns of emotion. Each self also continues with its unique degree of holistic wisdom, selfless compassion, and intelligently-expressive qualities. Progress, as it were, along this process of reincarnation, could be measured by the degree that separative self-beliefs, self-desires and fixed patterns of emotional reaction are dissolved, for these temporary phenomenon are ultimately self-delusions; and progress could also be measured by the degree of holistic wisdom and selfless compassion, which of course is dependently related to the dissolution of separative self-assumptions and self delusion.

In a most practical and simplified experience, the illusion of separate selfness (or this me-ness) can be dissolved into just love. For when our experience is just of love, or in love, there is no longer any separative self. The transformation from separative self to just love is like a clasping hand opening into open hand. It is like removing the walls one has created to barricade out the world; the walls fall down in trust, and the heart becomes like open space, like an open prairie. It is like opening your windows so others can see in and you can freely see out, instead of keeping them closed out of fear or embarrassment. Love spontaneously runs and plays when the spirit calls. Love cannot be stuck in a corral or cage.

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More on love….

Be a bowl of love.

Scattered ideas TO ADD in somewhere

about ego-self

The biggest problem is to identify with ( as “this is real me”) one of the many possible ego states, such as pride, anger, envy, greed, manipulation, etc.

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Before the annihilation of the separative sense of ego-self and self-beliefs, there should first be a secure certainty (true faith) of Divine Being as the Ground of oneself.

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In speaking about a Buddhist kind of philosophy regarding self and emptiness, we also need to consider at least some about practice. Buddhism has to emphasize practice, since it does not emphasize being saved by any deity power. There are deities, both of the supernatural and natural type, within many sects of Buddhism; but even so, the main responsibility for salvation is upon the person or practitioner. In essence, we have to save our self from its own self-delusion. One might ask, then, who is doing this saving? How can a self-illusion save itself from its own delusion? The Buddhist say that every self and every thing is a result of cause and effect, known as karma. But if everyone is determined by past karma, then no one could be free enough to get out of this karma train.

The answer is that there is a Real Self at the essence of every illusionary self (or ego). And there is really only One Self, which is Open Consciousness or Pure Mind. This reality is the essence of everyone. So because of this power of Real Self (or Pure Mind) at work, there is a progress [of salvation] towards freedom from illusion and dissolving of the illusionary ego-structure. Unless there were a power of freedom within each person, that is transcendental to the illusionary ego-structure, there could not possibly be any progress towards freedom. Again, how could a self that is completely trapped in illusion gain freedom from this illusion? Or how could a self that is completely determined by its past karma gain freedom from this karma and do other than what it has been doing before? A power of freedom must already have to exist in this scheme of self and world. And even though Buddhists refrain from speaking theologically about God, this transcendental power could just as well be called God or Allah or Brahman. They call it Buddha Mind, or Empty Mind. Whatever it is called, it is a necessary existence, in order to explain how trapped egos in this world could possibly ever become free. So it is the Free Self within that ultimately saves us from the mechanical self, the karmic self, the illusionary self -- an illusionary concept of self. This reality of freedom at the essence of being is what saves us from an otherwise chain-full deterministic karma.

Yet there is no efficacy in merely having faith in this. Our attitude cannot simply be that the Free Self within, or Buddha Self, will certainly get me out of my karma chain and out of this structure of self-delusions. It just does not happen so easily. It is more like there is a special capacity within us to be awake in pure mind without preconceptions and fixed beliefs, and this is the Free Mind, the Buddha Mind. Buddha means awakened one, or enlightened one, or wise one, but it could just as well mean the Free Mind, and this is our own real nature or our own true essence, though obscured by the delusionary ego-structure which continues due to karma; until the ego-structure is dissolved or has become transparent enough for the Buddha Mind or Pure Mind to shine forth.

So there is this special capacity within, to be free of karma, free of mechanical chains, free of self-delusion, free of all fixed concepts of oneself, free of limited self-belief structures, free of compulsive desires and reactive emotions. This we call Free Mind, Pure Mind, Buddha Mind, or Real Self. But it would be foolish to simply have faith in just this to save us from our mechanicalness and self-delusions. It is not all so easy. There is work to be done. There is no transformation without work. If we could stay in this free and enlightened mind, then everything would be fine, but the mechanicalness, the karma and structures of conditioning are all powerful forces, which hold us back from freedom and self-transcendence. So Wise Mind figured out that it needed to be pro-active in these circumstances. It needed to be proactive in transforming the structure and conditioning of self. So Wise Mind, Buddha Mind, developed various practices for achieving this transformation of self, or the dissolution of the delusionary ego-structure. Most of these practices are really forms of meditation; though in all sects of Buddhism there are various principles and ethics, as well, which are efficacious to follow.

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At certain points during a day there will be openings to the Free Self, when somehow there is an awakening out of the usual mechanical karma. These are points that one can advantageously use. Another helpful tool is instilling in one’s mechanical routine an added practice of spiritual practice. However one can get out of the everyday mechanical routine, the need is to practice meditation, because meditation leads us to the Real. This is not a time to specify various techniques of meditation, for this discourse is for those who already know. Real meditation brings us to our real self. It brings us to our free self.

What others never told you is that no real meditation could ever begin unless there was already a Real Free Self within. This is the True-One who really begins any real meditation. Of course, before this happens there may well be certain practices that the ego does to get into this opportunity. Many people try meditation techniques, but they may not get very far because they are still doing something mechanical in the conditioned mind. True meditation is not mechanical and is not a routine. One might need routines or formulaic methods to get into true meditation, but true meditation is not routine nor formulaic.

True meditation is a concentrated experience in being sincerely oneself. Or another way to put it, meditation is an inner discovery of one’s true being. Ultimately, the deepest meditation is just consciously being. Just consciously be, and then discovering what this is. You are not looking for the Buddha Self, like I’m looking for my Buddha Self. This is another example of thought or concept getting in the way. You are merely in a discovery of your self, or shall we say, who is this? For even in saying this is a discovery of yourself tends to suggest that what you discover is just about your own self. It is not really about your own self, though it is as well; rather, the discovery is about Being itself, which is really a trans-personal discovery. In other words, the meditation and discovery is not just about you, though you might at first think it is; rather, it is about the True Selfness or True Beingness which is Trans-personal. It is really about discovering the experience of life itself, which in essence has the permeating quality of love. In conclusion, meditation leads one to a pure conscious beingness and discovery of one’s essential true qualities. This is the essential Buddhist practice, because in this meditational experience (or state of consciousness) one finds the True Self, the Free Self, the Open Mind, and empty of self-conceptual illusions.

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Add to above: ?

Buddha mind and Buddha nature, both actually being the same reality, is the true essence and potential of every human being. If the illusionary and impermanent stuff of mind is somehow stripped away, like removing the clothes we were given by our cultures and families, then what remains as Truth is this Pure mind/nature given the name of Buddha. Buddha mind (enlightened mind or wisdom mind) is empty of self-concepts. Buddha nature is empty of self-obsession. This is why the Buddhist masters say that in truth there is no my-self; because my-self is based on illusionary self-concepts and self-obsessions. Buddha nature, Buddha mind, is free of this. Because there are no held self-concepts, the enlightened mind simply perceives the reality of what is, without falsely generalizing, categorizing, or judging. And because there are no held self-obsessions, our pure real nature is free to simply empathize and love all of life. This is the true nature and pure mind that we need to get back to. If we do not get back to our true inherent reality, then we continue to be trapped in the wrappings of self-concepts and self-obsessions, which keeps rolling on like a causal train, as each illusionary concept leads to another and then another and then back again in cyclical karmic patterns.

This carry-over phenomena from one trapped state to another is our karmic chain. Yet because of our true Buddha nature or our true Divine nature, depending on what terminology one uses, there is possibility of freedom from this. At first there is little possibility, due to an undeveloped capacity to be awake in freedom, but with practice and advancement greater capacities emerge. We can call this an advancement up the freedom ladder. To help understand, envision a model where at the bottom is absolute mechanicalness and no freedom, while at the top is complete freedom and no mechanicalness. We are somewhere in between. So in between are levels of freedom; that is, levels of freedom capacity, regarding how free we are or how mechanical we are.

First, we need to realize the calamity of our trapped situation and its cyclical mechanicalness. Somehow we have to catch ourselves in this and unravel the knot, or disperse the fog, or step out of the cyclical pattern. We can do this by meditation and self-observational practices. We need to catch ourselves before falling back into our old mental patterns, reactions, and instant judgments; that is, before falling back into the old dream-like patterns. Freedom is possible in any moment. Freedom is possible because the reality of mind is really free. Mind in essence is really free. The essence of being is really free. The essence of our self is really free. Our true nature is really free.



One important practice is called beginner's mind, which is basically the same as empty mind. The emphasis of beginner’s mind is to be in each new moment with a new mind, with new curiosity and fresh perception, to see what is or who someone is, without carrying on our past concepts and labeling about what or who is present in front of us. This is a practice of being perceptive and mindful in each present moment, whereby mind is new and fresh in each moment, with curiosity and interest in the present. The key here is to not allow the mechanical part of mind to carry forth past concepts into the present and take over the present. Thus, return to a beginner’s mind.

The beginner mind is open to learning from each moment and from everyone, while the ‘already know-it’ mind brings its preconceptions and labels into each situation and thus brings forth a narrow perception. Not only does mechanical mind bring forth past concepts into each new present, but also the past-self carries on. Self-beliefs and pretensions carry on from past into present, unless one practices to re-acquire a pure and fresh mind, not only about the world around but also about oneself.

Imagine entering into a village for the first time where no one knows you. How will you be? Could it be possible to leave behind all past beliefs about yourself and all self-pretensions? Then instead, just be freshly open to the unfolding present, being completely new in how you perceive others and in how you are with others. Leave behind all pride and fear, and be willing to leave behind all of your past personality, and instead be new and open to whatever unfolds in this new relationship with this new environment and new people. Everything and everyone is new, and so are you. This is the beginner's mind, or it could be called the innocent mind or self.

Allow yourself to be a novice in each new moment and even with people you already know. With a courage to be a new novice and in a refreshed innocence, learn who they are and who you are in each new unfolding moment. Be an ‘I don’t know’, instead of being an ‘already know-it’. If one can do this, if one can make this change in mind, and return to the new and fresh, then a whole new world opens up, a whole new life opens up, with all so many possibilities and possible pathways, and with an excitement of not-knowing mixed with curiosity in new knowing. There is a whole fresh world out there, and fresh new possibilities of oneself; if the past mind does not mechanically carry over into each new moment.

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The most important downstreaming spiritual practice is being conscious. In this conscious practice we also include our natural love and intelligence, as part of who we are. Sometimes we need an effort to become conscious, but mostly this is an effortless practice in that we are not particularly trying to fix anything, nor are we trying to go against the flow of our mind. Love and intelligence is also effortless, in that we are simply being as loving and intelligent as we happen to be in this moment. There is some amount of effort in being conscious and in being all here, but mostly this become effortless.

Basically, this practice is to be simply conscious of our thoughts and emotions, and we keep our consciousness continuous by way of the breath. One keeps a consciousness of breath, while also conscious of thoughts and thought topics. So, this practice is to keep a continuity of consciousness of breath, thoughts, and emotions. But this isn’t trying to necessarily fix anything or make ourselves be something other than who we are in the moment. Nonetheless, throughout this conscious practice one might transform some thought or emotional energies, due to the inclusion of love and intelligence in this.

As far as the breath, we are not trying to make our breath into any particular rhythm or pattern or beat. We are simply allowing the breath to flow as it will, moment by moment, and being conscious of this. So we are being conscious of the breath as it flows in whatever way it does. Sometimes it will move into spontaneous discharges of energy, or sometimes into quick rhythms, but other times it may come into a harmonious pattern. We let it be as it is and flow as it is. Yet, our consciousness, love and intelligence, which we are including in this practice will gradually influence the breath into a more harmonious rhythm. So our breath may transform in this practice, just as our thoughts and emotions, simply because of the inclusion of consciousness, love and intelligence. Remember that intelligence does not need to be manipulative or commanding. In fact, it is better not even think about this at all, because when we bring our consciousness and love together, our natural intelligence will also be there. It’s our natural intelligence, not the critical judge.

As our consciousness and love meet our thoughts and emotions, there is an intelligent transformation. Remember, in this practice, we are mainly just being conscious of what is going on – our thoughts and feelings. But when we also add in our love and natural intelligence, these thought and feeling patterns will transform. We are not trying to be a saint or great master, nor are we expecting much from this. We are just being conscious of who we are and what’s going on, as we watch the breath and our thoughts.

This can also be considered a thought clearing practice. But we are not trying to get rid of any thought; like, “here is a thought, I have to get rid of it or eliminate it.” It’s not like that. Instead, we are simply observing, or simply being conscious of the thoughts as they occur. We might even find interest in some thoughts and that is alright. We might need to work through some stuff or figure something out. That’s alright too. But we stay conscious, through conscious breathing.

This consciousness of thought is different from how thought usually works, because usually thought just goes on in a semi-conscious way. That is, we are conscious enough to get some things done and not run into the wall, but mostly we are walking around, or talking, in pretty much a subconscious way. And any thoughts that go on subconsciously will always continue the same pattern. Subconscious contents just continue as they are; they are repetitive, like a computer program. So they don’t ever transform or evolve. Real transformation and evolution happens by way of consciousness and the inclusion of conscious intelligence. And consciousness is best maintained by conscious breath.

Notice there is no external authority dogma in this. There is no should. There is no step by step ritual for achieving some spiritual goal. You are completely on your own, and the only work is to be conscious of who you are and what’s going on, one moment to the next, along with being conscious of the breath. Transformation will happen within this practice and within your own inner world, as long as consciousness, breath, intelligence and love are all present.

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Practice of Clearing the mind.

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The most important practice is consciousness in the moment. We are already being in the moment, because we cannot do otherwise. But it is possible for consciousness to be somewhere else other than the moment, or to be lost in thoughts dealing with past memories or future speculations. Notice, when in company with others, how often they tend to talk about either past or future, but seldom about the present. Yet talking about the present is the most satisfying conversation of all. So being conscious in the present moment is the most important spiritual practice; not the only important practice, but the most important.

Now when people practice this they tend to just focus on physical and external things, like the body, or the breath, or the physical surroundings. This is good and it may be the start of this practice, but it’s not all that one can be conscious of in the moment. For we can also be conscious of what’s going on inwardly in the moment, which includes our thoughts and feelings. It might also include our higher intuitions about life and truth. It might also include our inner spiritual or psychic relationship with Teachers, Guides, or even God. This could be Jesus, or Muhammad, or Moses, or Krishna; or it could be a relationship with God, the Universal Being, or with Mother Earth, or Mother of the Universe.

The first inner realm to be conscious of, though, is our own thoughts and feelings. This is like what’s going on locally. Be aware of this. If we are not aware of this, then these thoughts and feelings simply go on in a sub-conscious manner, and they tend to just be on automatic. Also, unless we are aware of this inner going on, we cannot learn from it and we cannot transform it into higher truth. Then, when our ongoing thoughts and feelings become transparent to consciousness in the moment, there is a chance to raise consciousness into the higher intuition, which is really just being conscious in the moment of what is already intuitively present. Intuition is already going on within us, even in this very moment, but we have to become conscious of it. Just as, in any moment, there might be some undercover feelings going on subconsciously and also undercover thoughts; so too there are higher intuitions going on, but we are not conscious of them. We have to bring into consciousness everything that is inward and subjective. In this inward present consciousness we can also notice our own unfolding inner world. Our inner world is unfolding, which is the spiritual world unfolding through us, but it doesn’t unfold into actuality unless we become conscious of it. This is the importance of inward noticing. So this becomes an important and necessary aspect to the present moment consciousness practice.

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Patience and Meditation

Meditation is awareness with patience. We are habitually doing. Or else we are planning a doing, or getting ready for doing. Doing has become so important, while people tend to neglect just being. Doers are the achievers, and doers tend to be more materially successful. Yet people who can just be, without doing, tend to be more successful in peace and wisdom. But of course there is nothing wrong with doing and achievement and success. It’s just that being without doing is also important in life. So we need to find some balance between doing and just being (not doing, but with intense awareness). In being without doing, there is an opportunity to understand. This might be useful to consider. By just being, consciously, there is an opportunity to understand. What to understand? This self and life.

Patience is difficult to learn, but it’s a wonderful quality to have. Trust is also important and is complementary with patience. Patience plus trust equals peace. If we trust, then patience is all the more easier. Imagine standing and waiting at a bus stop. Some people get impatient. But if one knew for certain that the bus was ten minutes away and definitely coming, then there would be a comforting certainty along with a knowing that it cannot get here any faster. Thus, there is nothing to do but wait, and it would be stupid to worry about it and stupid to think it could get here any faster. So one might as well be patient and at peace with it.

Life could be like this, if only we trusted that our bus was really on its way. It’s down the road somewhere, and it will take some time to get here, but it’s on the way. So relax and be patient, because there is nothing we can do to make it come any faster. And if we have to wait anyway, we might as well not be ruining our time with impatience and doubt. This is why trust and patience go so well together. They create peace. Yet patience is difficult because it is not doing. It is a pause in doing. Peace in being is like this as well. It’s a pause in doing. And when we have to wait, there could be a pause in our habit of doing. Whatever we might have to wait for is an opportunity for patience. It’s also an opportunity for meditation -- conscious being without doing. In other words, any time we have to wait and cannot get on with our habitual doing is an opportunity to just be and meditate.

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One of the essentials of practice is emptying the mind of active content – which are thoughts. The mind is often like a movie or radio show of thoughts, each thought associated with other thoughts.

Two main kinds of thoughts are often going on. Very often we are remembering past experiences and thinking about them; that is, we are reviewing these past experiences and interpreting them or judging them. The other kind of thought most prevalent is solving problems, which includes figuring out future plans.

So most often, the mind is either reviewing the past or trying to solve something that is a worry or a problem. Yet we really don’t have to understand what kind of thought is going on; we just need to practice the letting go of this thought. Well of course, it might be needed to actually use the mind to solve a problem or resolve a worry, or we might use the mind to remember past experiences in order to understand or interpret them. These are good uses of the mind. But we will find that many times our mind’s tendency is to ramble on and go over the same stuff, again and again. In fact, people often do this in conversations. Well, we need to make some choices about the active mind. At times, we do need to be solving problems, or we do need to consider the recent past and understand it. But if we are truly honest with out own introspection, we will notice that the mind is very often wasting time and energy. It’s heedlessly running around, bouncing around.

So the needed practice is emptying the mind, which is necessary in order to reach a deeper level of self-knowing. For we cannot hope to know our true deeper being, if our mind is always full of thought contents, as they bounce around in our head. The key is transformation of thought energies. Thoughts are sort of like things in the space of mind. So they can be burned up to get the energy out of them, or like Einstein figured out, matter stuff can be transformed into just energy. Thus, thoughts can be transformed into pure energy; or one could understand that the energy of thoughts can be released back to where they first came from – which is pure consciousness. Thoughts emerge from consciousness, but they can be released back to consciousness. And by doing this, consciousness has more energy. Thus, the energy of consciousness can be increased by releasing thought energy back to it; similar to how matter can be transformed back into a more primordial energy. This release of thought, this transformation of thought energy into its primordial source of consciousness, is also a blissful feeling.

We are speaking here of transformation of energies. Specifically, we are recognizing that thoughts have energy, which can be released or transformed into a primordial essence – which is pure consciousness, and thus the energy of consciousness can be increased by this transformation or release. This can be described in an even more profound manner. We are transforming all contents of mind into pure love. Release everything into love. Release all energies into love. And this is conscious love. It is consciousness plus love. This is the where it can all go, into love, and ultimately into conscious love.

The transformation of thought back into its source of consciousness itself is also a new beginning. By analogy, think of how one can make a clay object, but then destroy this object back into its primordial clay, and then re-create something else. Thoughts are similar to object creations. They were created by some mind, maybe yours or maybe someone else's, but all thoughts were created at some point and by some mind. And all thoughts are made of mind stuff, which is a mundane term but it gives a basic understanding. Well, these thoughts can be dissolved back into pure mind stuff, and then one has more mind energy to create newer thoughts, and maybe better thoughts. It’s like a creative process of an artist, who makes something but then lets it go or transforms it into something else.

We might briefly mention three modes of mind relating to thought. Mind is either creating thought, destroying thought (by dismissing it or by letting it dissolve), or engaging with thought. Mostly we are engaging with thought, meaning that mind is engaged with thought processes or thought associations. These thoughts might have been created by the personal mind engaged with them, or these thoughts might have been created by someone else and given to one by parents or culture or books, etc.

Now what is interesting about thoughts which we acquired is that these can be transformed back into their primordial energy, or transformed into more positive or truer thoughts; and this transformation is efficacious in the whole world and not just in our own minds. In fact, this is one way we can affect the world in profound ways, that is, by transforming collective social thoughts.

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watching the mind

Briefly, here is more specific instruction in one

meditation technique, called watching the mind. The goal is to have a pure, empty, open mind, without rampant thought or dream images or emotional reactions. To reach this state one should sit quietly, and simply remain aware to what is going on in the mind, which is often a stream of thoughts, sometimes mixed with emotions. If the mind gets a bit sleepy, the content often turns into dream images. Remember that the goal is an empty but conscious mind. Also remember that mind will focus on any content, which then uses up the mind energy. The less content there is in the mind, the more energy there is available for consciousness. Then, when there is enough consciousness energy available, the mind can be intentionally directed into more profound contemplations and levels of wisdom. But first, one has to gain freedom from the uncontrolled stream of thinking, and one will notice this stream of thought when one sits quietly and observes mind in this practice. And one will also notice that most of the time, the quality of thinking isn’t all too profound anyway. So really, this chain of thinking isn’t important enough to hold onto.

Let go of these thoughts, surrender these thoughts. This is important to the practice. So one quietly observes the thoughts and also surrenders them as they occur. One might see that these thoughts are not really important, at least right now. If they are extremely important, like something one needs to promptly do at this moment, then take care of what you need to do at this moment, and come back to the practice later. Or maybe you will find that these thoughts are not needed right now, or you are not really needing to think about this right now, so agree to yourself that you will think about this later, then let it go because it isn’t important right now. The same advice applies with emotions. Consider whether this is really important to hold onto right now, and if it isn’t then let it go. If you really do feel it is important to be angry or sad or depressed, then go ahead and be that way, until it doesn’t feel so important anymore. Then let it go, surrender what is holding onto your conscious energy. Surrender what is holding you back from experiencing your deeper being, which is underneath the thoughts or emotions at the surface right now. For this is the goal of meditation, to come into a deeper experience of your true being.

Essentially this practice involves noticing one’s surface thoughts and emotions, then letting these go, or letting them empty, and then gradually coming into a deeper experience of oneself; but not letting thoughts distract you from this deepening, and not letting thoughts control the mind, and not being just like a mechanical thing as one thought uncontrollably moves to the next and so on. There is a way to stop this usual mechanical stream of thoughts and reactions, which is to sit or walk quietly while our intentional consciousness observes the thoughts arising and lets them go before they quickly take over our whole experience, and they will if left to their own steam. Then along with the letting go, one allows the mind to sink into peace and emptiness of thought, but without falling asleep. One essentially enters a thoughtless pure space of mind, yet with a greater intensity of consciousness. In this deeper state of conscious ness, the consciousness energy increases as the thought distractions decrease, and mind begins to experience a vast spaciousness of pure presence. This is meditation, but one has to practice the techniques to get there.

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Our usual meaning of knowledge is having ideas about something, and knowledge is a bunch of content, much like information. This content can be called knowledge, as long as it is true rather than false. But there is a higher kind of knowledge, which we should really call knowing, so to avoid confusions. This knowing is a direct experience, and it is not merely a content, like something we can write down or even speak about. Rather, this knowingness is conscious being. It is the knowing of our being, without the secondary process of thinking or explaining about it. It’s just the knowing, just the experience, without any content, without any thought, and without explanations. This pure knowing of just being, or just being consciousness, is atman (in Vedanta), or soul of the person.

The Vedanta master Sankara says that this pure being-consciousness knowable in each person IS Brahman, the Universal God-Essence. No difference, which is why this is called a non-dualist view. Brahman is atman; atman is Brahman. The essence of myself is the same Essence of God. The consciousness experiencing through me is none other than God. Ponder on this. Meditate on this. And Sankara says that the highest wisdom is not merely understanding this mentally or conceptually, but actually experiencing this Unity, without any extraneous thought about it.

Other Vedanta teachers, such as Ramanuja, made a qualified distinction between atman and Brahman, explaining that atman is Brahman but in a limited way. Atman is the same as Brahman, in that both are substantially Light-Consciousness, but atman is a microcosm of Brahman (the Macrocosmic Being); and thus atman and Brahman are not exactly the same. Atman is like a smaller version of Brahman, like a portion in relation to the Whole, like a drop in relation to the whole Ocean. Thus, our own essential consciousness, or essential being, is in substance the same as Universal Consciousness-Being, yet limited or portional.

Yet, when deep in meditation in itself, is this portional being-consciousness any different from the Universal? The purist advaita view of Sankara, the most purist unitive view, is that in the most pure, deep, and uncluttered experience of just being-conscious is the very same as Brahman-God Consciousness. God is conscious through me. The consciousness experiencing through me is none other than God. Thus, in one sense, I am an instrument through which God experiences. In another sense, I am actually God using this instrument to experience through.

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Same meaning of Brahman and atman.

Philosophers have debated over such issues as whether atman and Brahman are identical or different. But the debate is skewed by confused semantics. The makes this into an either or debate, but the truth is much simpler. When one experiences pure consciousness or self essence, this is evidently located here in the individual self, and thus we will give this the name of atman or soul. Yet because this is pure consciousness, it is the same substance as Universal Consciousness Being, just as a portion of light is the same substance as all light itself. Thus, this consciousness localized here is a portion of the Universal Consciousness of God-Being, called Brahman. This IS the Universal Consciousness Itself, but localized in this individual. So it’s the same. But when we speak of the localization we call it atman, and when we speak of the Universal Totality of it all we call it Brahman. So one is localized, while the other is Universal. Thus, there is difference in one sense, but sameness in another.

Another difference is that atman is limited. It may not be limited in its complete potential (which would be Brahman), but it is limited in the experience. To explain, consider that Brahman is the total experience Being. Brahman knows Itself, experiences Itself Totally. Yet in one’s own individual experience, Brahman is limited. This experience of self-being IS Brahman (the Universal Being), because being IS Being. A portion of water is still The Water. But the experience one has is limited. The experience of this Beingness is limited. So the atman distinction is also significant due to our limited capacity as individuals. In practical terms, I can realize that an experience of Divine Presence through me (or in me) is God; but I must also acknowledge this experience as limited. My experience of God, Brahman, Divine Presence, is of THAT, but it is also limited because my capacity for such an experience is limited. Thus, atman is the individual’s limited capacity for God realization.

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souls become bounded in human life bodies and become obscured (thus ignorance) by mental , emotional and body concerns.

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Those liberated from ego-identification, ignorance, are then guided by the Love-Wisdom of the Divine Self, which can be equated with the Divine Will. This liberation is a clearing of the mind-heart, so that Divine Expression becomes purely transparent and unobscured.

Maya is an idea in Hinduism, which can be understood as the world as we see it, or as we believe it is. Notice that most everyone we know has pretty sure ideas about the world, other people, and also themselves. People tend to see the world and others in a particular way, and also they have beliefs about how the world is. This is Maya. It’s your own conceptual illusion about reality. But of course, who would actually think they are living in a conceptual illusion? This is the power of Maya. We can philosophize about it, but few can actually confront it. You have to see through it, first with oneself and one’s own beliefs. Cut through any fixed ideas about how life is, or even about yourself. Be tough with Maya, or Maya will destroy you. She is really highly imaginative, exaggerating, paranoid, fanatical, obsessive, and extremely confident about how reality is. She is extremely attractive and enthralling. She is part of who we are, and we need to know this. All of us are participants in Maya. We are Maya’s co-creators.

In our own limited way, each is a creative power, a microcosm of God-power. We usually think about this in terms of how we manifest or express ourselves. But foremost, we are creators of thought – which can have positive effects for the world, or these thoughts can add to the false beliefs and illusions of the world. Intentionally, we need to see through the illusions and break free of them, and we also need to empower with affirmation the positive and true thoughts. Remember that thoughts have definite power. Each thought has creative power. So beware of one’s thoughts. Remember their power. Then, hopefully, we will discard false and negative thoughts, while affirming positive and true thoughts. This is not a trite practice. This is one of the most significant considerations and in need of continual diligence. Beware, be aware of thoughts. For every thought has creative power. Thus, make sure the thought is true. And consider if it is positive. That is, does this thought promote a positive effect in the world or in my life?

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Brahman, Universal Being, is transcendent and without any specific content or form. No thoughts can directly describe Brahman. And yet if Brahman could not be experienced, then it would always remain as a philosophical speculation; for unless this can be consciously experienced, there would be no way to know its reality except by reason. We are saying here, though, that Brahman can be consciously experienced. But the experience is without form and without thought. When thought enters, then consciousness is in the dimension of thought; but the experience of Brahman, God, is in a dimension without thought. You come into that pure space of Being, where there is no thought.

So in the mystical experience of Pure Being, Absolute Essence, Brahman, God, there are no distinct appearances, no thoughts, no world, no contraries of good and bad, no nothing but Being. This is the Divine Source of all appearances, all thoughts, the world, the contraries, and everything there is. This mystical experience is simply entering back into the first cause of all things, the Source, the Essence, the ever-Permanent Being. The world of phenomena is everchanging, but the Being-Essence is ever Permanent.

Some philosophies then say that the outer world is an illusion or not real, because it’s always changing. But this is misleading. The world is not-real just because it is changing. Rather, this world is simply changing. The Absolute Being is unchanging permanence, while the world is everchanging. Yet Being and world are intimate. One is the inner and the other is the outer. But when one enters into mystical experience of just Being, the experience of outer world disappears. Form, body, and all plurality disappear. But this doesn’t mean that the world actually disappears; it just disappears from one’s experience.

Some eastern philosophies make a distinction between Brahman/God and maya/world/appearance. Maya is sometimes meant as illusion, but this is misleading if it regards this physical world as an illusion. This world is temporary, just as dream is temporary, but it is certainly real in our present experience, and we ought to treat this world with due respect. Be thankful and respectful for the world, and treat this life as a blessing; don’t just disregard the world as merely an illusion. Maya is better understood as appearance. How life appears to be, from our own limited and sometimes distorted thinking, might well be an illusion; but we need to accept this overall world as quite real, and then deal with it.

Maya-world is everchanging. So this can be contrasted with Brahman, the ever Permanent Being. Maya is also spatial and temporal; it’s also space and time dependent. Forms are always in some space context, and they are always time constricted and temporal. In addition, maya-world is conditioned and dependent on cause-effect. This world is bound by cause and effect, which in the East is called karma. This world, this maya, is the interplay of cause and effect. Yet the permanent and inexhaustible Being, Brahman, is completely independent of cause and effect. It is only Cause. It is never an effect. It is ever only the Original Cause. It always has Causal Power in relation to the outer world. Ponder on this.

Brahman, God, is CAUSE to manifestation and is IN manifestation, but not conditioned by it. Brahman, God, holds all potentials, but only some of these manifest at any time and place.

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Brahman is the One Self everywhere. It is the Total Universal Self. Atman is the name for individual soul. Yet each Atman is not different; there is only one Atman. This is because there is only Brahman-God, and Atman is merely how we refer to Brahman-God when experienced within as this localized Essential Self. Atman is God within. Brahman is God everywhere. The Atman God-within is the same as the Brahman God-everywhere. It’s just that when the God-everywhere is experienced as God-within, it is called Atman. Thus, Atman is the same Self as Brahman, but just experienced inwardly and subjectively, rather than outwardly. Atman is merely Brahman localized. So find God within, Atman, and surrender to God everywhere, Brahman. Ponder on this, and practice.

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Atman is the name given by Vedanta and Yoga philosophies to our own most essential being. This is our essential consciousness. Essentially then, Atman is the individual consciousness. But most eastern philosophers did not believe there was any difference between individual atmans, so my atman is the same as anyone else’s. The difference between individuals is not in atman, but in the subtle energy sheaths surrounding the essential atman, like layers of an onion, and these sheaths contain karma from past lives. Atman, though, is the same for everyone. It’s just the pure essential consciousness that is present in each person. Love and will is also present in Atman, but we will have to consider these later. Most eastern philosophers emphasized consciousness as the more significant essence. So let us consider what consciousness is, as we experience this in ourselves.

The first understanding is that consciousness is a necessary essence, or a necessary instrument, for any experience. One cannot have any experience without consciousness. The world could not be perceived and known without this power, this instrument, of consciousness. Nothing inward nor outward could be known without consciousness. Thus, any experience and any content in our mind whatsoever must presuppose consciousness; that is, we have to suppose that consciousness is, in order for there to be any experience at all.

Next, consciousness can be understood as the experiencer itself. This is not merely studying consciousness objectively, or as a necessary essence, but it is realizing that consciousness is none other than the experiencer, the subject-agent who is experiencing right now. And this is none other than me. What else about me could be regarded as who I am, more than this consciousness-experiencer? That is, is there anything about myself which is more profoundly who I am, than this experiencer? For example, I often identify with this body, or maybe with a desire of the body, or maybe with an idea about myself. But is this the essential I? I get caught up in these identifications. Yet who am I really?

Essentially, I am the experiencer, the consciousness that is experiencing. So if I want to discover my most essential self, the most essential of who I am, it is discovering who is experiencing. Essentially, who is experiencing? Know this without any idea; for to know oneself, the experiencer, is not to merely have an idea about oneself. It is to know the experiencer directly, and the experiencer is not merely a content of the mind. The experiencer is conscious of an idea, but it is not the idea. An idea about ourself is useful, but we are not just an idea. This experiencer is who I am, most essentially.

To reach this essence of self, this consciousness in itself, or to be just the experiencer, IS one of the profound kinds of enlightenment. Spiritual aspirants seek a profound goal, either seeking the very essence truth of themselves, or seeking the Universal Ultimate Being Itself. Yet realize the path is potentially quite short. One can run here and there; seek here and there. But the goal is quite close. Who is experiencing this moment? This is who you are, most essentially. And God is found through this knowing. This is why they say the spiritual path is not a journey outward, but inward. And it doesn’t have to be a long journey at all, because the destination is this consciousness who is right here.

Being

One of the great Journeys in life is to discover oneself, one’s true self. This is the discovery of “who I am.” Some teachings call this the self-inquiry into ‘who I am’. Yet there is a paradox in this, because the one doing the self-inquiry is already the I (self) for whom the inquiry is being made. Yet if one treats the self as an object of inquiry, then this is merely a conceptual exercise, since any object of inquiry is most likely to be merely a concept. So the practice itself of self-inquiry often misleads one by presupposing that an inquiry is being made about something or even someone, as though this were other than the very self doing the inquiry. Really, at the moment of self-inquiry the very self that is being searched for is already evident and present as one inquiring. Thus, this true self, this real I, is already here. Your true self, your real being, is no where else but right now and right here. It’s not inside, nor is it higher up. You are already it. You are already this being, and you could not be anything else.

Yet, until there is realization about this, we have to speak about the true self as like it were an object searched for. Moreover, if the real self is obscured by confused concepts and illusions about self, then there is pragmatic meaning in self discovery or a path to self realization. So the right language depends on where one is. If one is lost or cannot see clearly, then there is meaning and use in practices for clearing the mind. But if one is already clear in mind, then the self that was searched for is actually now present as the one who is conscious. And this consciousness is the real self one was searching for in the first place. It is as if the eyes were searching for the eyes. They go all over the place and ask others were their eyes are; then finally the eyes pass by a mirror and see their self. But this is still just a reflection, and final realization comes only when the eyes understand the paradox, or the irony, that the one searching IS the one that was being searched for.

Real being, true self is who you already are, and you always were this. And the essence of this self-being is consciousness. That’s who you truly are. At essence you are simply consciousness. Nothing really glamorous, and nothing all too complicated. You are conscious-being, or another description would be conscious life. In essence, at the very essence, we are each conscious life. This is who we each are. And in this very essence, there isn’t any difference between us. We are really the same essence of being. We are each conscious life, or life being conscious. That’s the simplest truth of who we are. But of course there is also more to each of us. There is mind, emotion, and body; and there is the world we live in as well. So we don’t want to reduce all the facets of our self-existence to just one essence. When considering the many components of ourselves, we each are unique, and may we appreciate such uniqueness. Yet, it is also profound to realize how we are virtually the same; for at essence we are each consciousness, conscious being, conscious life.

As already said, our essential self cannot be realized if one is trying to realize it as an object. It is possible to view one’s true being through a mirror of the mind, and this view can get very close to the essence, to consciousness itself. But the closest possible seeing is of light. This is when one sees only light, through the mirror of the mind. Yet there is a step further, which is to abandon the seeing, until there is only being conscious.

In the final steps into absolute experience, there is only surrender and awakening. The surrendering is voluntary, while the awakening is by the grace of the surrender.

Being, the very essence and truth of oneself, is already at peace in itself. It is not trying to be someone else, nor get anywhere else. It is not even bothered by the disturbances or arguments of others. We are disturbed either by other people or by something in our own mind. But we can come back to just being. Thus, being itself is the true refuge. Being is already satisfied in being itself, already and always at peace. Our being was already present, even present when our awareness was engrossed in emotions or thoughts, but it was obscured and we might say forgotten. So for peace and inner content, return to just being.

Yet a mistake commonly made by spiritual aspirants is to fall into a pattern of thinking that one’s true being is a distance to travel to, while in fact one’s true being is everpresent right here and never at a distance. It only seems to be a goal that one must journey to, which happens to be a stage necessary for breaking identification with ordinary engrossments. But our true essential being is realized only as being present. One realizes that the goal of one’s search is none other than who is searching. In fact, don’t search at all. Just awaken to who is conscious. If you are really clouded and lost, then you will need to search for your true being, but if you are always searching, then you are continually in that dualistic paradigm of searcher and searched for, and the final Truth will never be realized in that paradigm.

Authentic self-inquiry is not in a dualistic paradigm of you inquiring into yourself, as though there were any separation between you and yourself. Rather, genuine self-inquiry is awakening to who I am right here, right now; which is realizing oneself as the one who is experiencing, the consciousness central in the experience. This realization will usually require a surrender into just consciousness, surrendering into just being the experiencer.

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The greatest obstacles to authentic self-realization are engrossment and self-identification with the shifting phenomena of thoughts and emotions. The full range of our self includes many layers of mind and emotion, with many kinds of thoughts and emotions, all of which tend to be engrossed and reactive to the energies and behavior of those around us. Engrossment is like a spinning coin with two sides. One side is engrossment with outer phenomena, and the other side is engrossment with inner phenomena. This becomes like clouds obscuring our inner changeless being.

The other great obstacle is self-identification, when we identify with whatever temporary and changing state is going on in this moment. That is, our tendency is to self identify with whatever thoughts or emotions happen to be present in our atmosphere, or we sometimes identify simply with the physical body and whatever is happening with it. So whatever is going on inwardly, the inner phenomena, is believed to be oneself; like that’s who I am. Then combined with the glue of engrossment, this is samsara, the changing dream of who I am and what is real. But how real is it? And are any of these thoughts or emotions the true self? Return to just being, to know thyself.

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There seems to be a need for our mind to have some kind of self-identification. It’s like a security of having some orientation. This is probably why self-identification is so powerful. So we can make a shift, from self-identifying with our ever-changing thoughts and emotions, to identifying with the innermost essence of our self which is just being, or just consciousness.

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Take refuge in Brahman, God. so what is the difference between THIS and oneself ??

Search for oneself -- who am I

Or whom is God?

The more interesting self inquiry is to do with what is mostly on my mind or what am I mostly disturbed with.

Maybe I have to see .. realize. Is it by choice or by realization?

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Being itself, your own self-realness, needs no transformation, no changes, no redemption, no fixing. Yet the various levels or bodies of oneself still need transformation. There is still work to be done, to heal the various aspects of ourself and the world around us.

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When in nature, be with the place you are in. Be here in it. Be here with it. Be one with it. This is what is wonderful about places in nature. You are at the beach, or in the forest, or in the desert, or on a lake, or on a mountain, or in an underground cavern. Here you can fully be in the place, and also fully with the place; in oneness with it. Merge in it. Merge with it.

Then, once we are with the place, we can expand our consciousness of place, to include the whole Natural Earth. Be with Earth. Be one with Earth. Be one with all of nature. This is our Mother Spirit. This is our Goddess. Then, once we know this, all others are expressions of Her, the Goddess-Nature.

After becoming comfortable and experienced at being with nature, we can then extend this to being with other people, or with groups.

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Alignment with the Greater Truth,

but also the Truth within

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Ask: am I clear? Clear in mind and in intention? Clear in my Belief? Any contradictions looming??

It’s ok to not exist. Let go of this self. The Greater will then live through you.

True that we can receive into our heart the Infinite, the Infinite Love. But to sacrifice our self into this is even more profound.

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Being itself knows true peace and happiness. Because this is the natural state of being.

Being is the location of happiness, enjoyment, ananda.

Some of this copied in Balance

Detachment

The model for detachment is of course the aspiring ascetic who has left society/world to live in the quietude of an ashram, to practice contemplation undistracted by the energies and attractions of the normal social world. This does sound idyllically peaceful and pure; to retreat from the world and be purely and solely on a path towards God or Self-realization.

Yet it is a difficult balance to achieve between involve/ment in the world and detach/ment from the world. This is the 'middle way', the way of Jesus and Bodhisattva and the Sufi. This middle way is between an engrossed involvement in the world and a pure retreat from the world. This is to live fully in the world, involving our intellect, feelings and physical body, yet also living free from baser worldly energies and lower attachments. In this way, there is no actual retreat away from the world and society, nor away from ordinary work or responsibilities. Instead, our Ashram will be in life, not merely removed from life. We need to stay involved in life, with others and the whole world, for this is our field of service. This is the world to be helped and transformed. This is the world to be healed. This is the need at hand. And this need involves everyone we know and everyone we meet. This is the Work; not to retreat from.

But if let ourselves too easily get sucked into in the energies and dramas of others or the world, then we are not spiritually free. So we have to continually develop an ability to be involved in the world around, while simultaneously able to be detached/free enough remain spiritually centered – in an inner experience of undistorted and nonreactionary Love.

We can still have a retreat from the sometimes challenging or stressful energies of our social and practical life. We can create mental and emotional retreats, through detachment. We can detach, at times, from the mental and emotional energies of the world around us, and come back to our inner spiritual centre. In other words, we can occasionally surrender of all our social and world concerns, surrendering all of this in a realization that the more important purpose in life is spiritual experience, to be in the Light and Love of the Divine.

But, detachment from worldly and social energies does not have to entail a 'cutting off' from the world, from others, nor from our social responsibilities. Instead, detachment is a way of being in the world. It is to be in the world, but not caused by it (or automatically affected by it). It is to be free enough that the world and social energies do not distract or take us away from our spiritual focus and aim – which is Self-realization and loving service. The key is to keep a spiritual focus at all times, and a will-to-love and serve, yet be detached from any energies that might distract us from this focus and work.

The larger work of detachment is with oneself. Detachment is more to do with myself, than with 'out there'. Any of our spiritual distractions relating to the world, such as attachments, attractions and fears, are essentially in us. It's not so much about what the world around me is doing; more so, it's about what's going on in me and my way of being in the world. The spiritual problem is not the world or people around me; the problem is in how I am relating, and in my attachments, expectations, identifications, self-desires, and interactive patterns that just don't work, etc. So, the needed detachment and disengagement is a work involving these elements of myself, more so than with the world.

There are five kinds of self-attachments to look for – desire-patterns, ego-patterns, reaction-patterns, identifications, and false thoughts. But these are so automatic and subconscious in us, that it is difficult to see them. We walk around with these, and we are quite used to them as being normal to who we are, so it is a difficult step to first see one, and then be willing to detach from it and let it go.

Interesting though is that most of these patterns (either of our conditioned personality or of our incarnated skandhas) can only be seen and transformed when we are actually involved in the world; for they might not come to light if we were in a monastery, protected from social and worldly challenges. So everything in life is an opportunity.

So, detachment is part of any self-work – which requires one to see a particular self-attachment or dysfunctional pattern, then detach. And realignment is the other side of detachment – to re-align myself with the Divine. Alignment is related to a Compass. Ashrams can be a great magnetic centre for our compass to point towards; but still, we need to have a compass, so we need to find the compass inside us.

First needed is the seeing; then detachment is possible, if we are willing. Then also essential in this is re-alignment – to continually work at aligning with the Highest and with Divine Purpose. May we see a higher Purpose, and may Purpose guide our little will.

Remove yourself from this world

This could mean many things, with many levels. The most literal meaning would be to leave behind all worldly stuff, including all desires and attachments to do with the physical body and physical life, and the very most literal meaning would be to leave this whole physical existence. But a more subtle meaning of this remove all mental and emotional attachments, but without actually leaving the world literally. You see, it is possible to leave behind the attachment; but at the same time remain fully present in this physical world. One can be here fully, and even enjoy it all fully, but without attachment which is like a holding on. Don’t hold on. Just let it all go. But you see, this is kind of mental and emotional way of being in the world, rather than a fanatical exiting from the physical world.

This way of being has a lot to do with identification; as in, with what or who am I identified. One of the great significant and meaningful questions in life is: who am I? Superficially this might seem a stupid question since the answer might seem obvious. I am this person here with these interests and this circumstance, etc. But the question can get much more interesting and meaningful if one considers the possible depth to this; for example, who am I (most deeply, most truly and most really)? For in this depth-inquiry one is already leaving behind the usual physical and more obvious self-identification. The question/inquiry of who am I really, most truly and most deeply, is already taking one beyond the usual and normal assumption, and one is now looking beyond the physical and the usual. And this beyond is inward.

Retreats

Leave behind a little of the ordinary world. Let go a little of your attachments. Being able to let go of some attachment, even if just a little, helps a lot in the process of awakening and liberation. Teaching stories often talk of about those who let go of a whole lot, or who make some huge sacrifice, or who abandoned the world to live a completely ascetic life. This might be considered great feats, just as walking on water; but most people could never make these extravagant sacrifices. So rather than trying to follow in the footsteps those who make great sacrifices or who abandoned the world completely, it might be more realistic to set our goals smaller in scope. With attachment, become just a little less attached each day. In being wrapped up in worldly affairs, become just a little less wrapped up each day. Instead of abandoning the world completely, step back from identification a little bit each day. The true Way is not world abandonment. The true Way is to mentally and emotionally detach from being identified with ordinary world affairs. This is not a suggestion to retreat all together from the world or to refrain from participation in the world. We should be participating, for how else will Christ help humanity? The Work happens through us, and this Work involves the world. But one can participate in the world without becoming identified or attached – neither to the world or to our usual ways of participation. The key is to step back just a little at a time. But this is not a stepping back from participation; rather, it is a stepping back from identifications and attachments and also retreating just a bit each day from common attractions. And in this stepping back, we can move a bit further into a mode of meditation and coming closer to God. So the idea here is to retreat just a bit from the ordinary world, and advance just a bit towards God and the inner life. This is what is recommended by the great mystics. Yet remember that the essence of this wisdom is about retreating from attachment, identification and attraction; not a retreat from participation. So we each need to find our own way to participate in the world, but without getting wrapped up in it.

I am the Universal consciousness, love, and will.

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New Book Notes winter 08

Try writing about advaita

Non-Attachment And Equanimity

Eastern traditions tend to emphasize non-attachment and equanimity; whereas the western traditions have more emphasized various higher qualities of being. These become important distinctions, not just in theology but also practically. For as the western view emphasizes qualities such as generosity, concern for the world, and excellence in action; the eastern view tends to suggest an abandonment of all good/bad distinctions and all pursuits of self-development. These are of course huge generalizations, but there is quite a lot of truth in the above descriptions and contrasts. What we need to careful about here, whenever sides are taken, is to recognize that each view does have merit, so we need to find out what the respective merits are.

Non-attachment and equanimity are significant qualities in any real spiritual path, including the western paths. Yet unlike the eastern view, the western view is unwilling to take these qualities to a complete extreme. The extreme would be to walk around with no concerns at all, no hopes for a better world, no distinctions between good and bad, and no decisions or actions to create a better life for oneself and others. For example, the eastern image of enlightenment tends to be of a person without any cares or concerns, no opinions about what is better or worse, and no attempts to improve their own life nor anyone else’s.

Perhaps this is somewhat of an unfair image, based on extremes, but it is fair to make some critique of the eastern ideal, if it is primarily based on equanimity and dispassion in one’s response to life. An impartiality in our response to the world is good, and it is also good to not simply react emotionally to life’s circumstances. So the positive value of equanimity is its calmness and impartial observation of things, and not getting into a vicious cycle of personalized emotional reaction. Yet, equanimity turns into a negatively passive state of being, if one simply treats every occurrence and every person exactly the same, with no distinct emotion or passion at all. For we should not be responding to harmful or destructive people in the same equal way as we respond to helpful and loving people. Good people deserve a positive response, but bad people do not. Likewise, a fault with extreme equanimity is if it is part of a false view that everything has equal value. Every thing or every circumstance does not have equal value; rather, some things and circumstances are much better than others. There are real injustices in our world, there is real deceit, there is real harm made by the decisions and actions of others. These are not mere apparency of the perceiver, nor mere illusions of Maya; so if equanimity ignores or brushes all this under the rug, then we should find fault with it. However positive equanimity can be in terms of avoiding gross reactive patterns, it can also turn into a negatively passive attitude if it involves a false view that everything has equal value and should be treated the same, or if it involves an abandonment of value-discernment with an avoidance of making any distinctions between better and worse in life.

In contrast, the western view is usually centered around making value distinctions between good and bad, and also believing that positive-ideal human qualities are to be developed. These ideal qualities are usually based on the following three primary qualities. One main quality is love, which includes concern and generosity towards others and the world. It is an active, in-the-world kind of love, not merely a sit-back kind of passive love. And this love is not merely reducible to a dispassionate, impartial, equanimity towards everyone. So the western ideal of an enlightened person would be more like Jesus who walked all around helping and healing those in need, rather than someone sitting besides a river giving out an equanimity vibe. Another main quality is wisdom, which includes a complete range of philosophical and practical knowledge, rather than merely a wisdom about non-attachment or just be here now. The western image of a wise man is like a Plato, who has great intelligence and can teach others about the mysteries of life and also about how to make a good life. An eastern kind of wisdom might be that all human desires lead to eventual suffering and that a wise enlightened person makes no distinctions between better and worse, but instead practices non-desire and non-attachment to any particular outcome. Both kinds of wisdom are valuable; the distinction here being made is that eastern wisdom is generally more about removable from world concerns, while western wisdom is more concerned with the world and with human progress. A third main quality in the western view is power. This may not be an ideal in a Christian renunciation view, but it is an ideal in Hellenistic and western hermeticism. This quality of power is of course meant to be for the good of everyone, not merely for the selfish ego. There are, of course, many examples one could give of power being abused, but we should not simply abandon this potential for power just because of its fear of abuse or the bad examples from others. The western tradition values our use of creative power in the world and for the good of the world. So in the western view, creative power and action is an ideal, while in the eastern view it is often abandoned and renunciation of power is instead idealized. Remember again, these are generalizations of tendencies, and many exceptions could be made.

Nonetheless, non-attachment and equanimity are important qualities on the universal spiritual path. The positives of equanimity are in its impartiality vs. unfair bias, and in its calmness in the face of challenges vs. negative emotional reactions. Its possible negative side is if it turns into mere passivity in the face of injustices, false statements, and false values. The positive values of non-attachment are many. Our minds and emotions become attached to certain desires, expectations, beliefs, attitudes, and self-identifications. These become habitual patterns, and attachment is like a glue making these stick to us.

A good way to understand attachment is to imagine ourselves as little children who cry and have tantrums when certain things are taken away or when we don’t get what they want. The child says I want this, I need this, and there is a lot of energy in this desire, which is why a child sometimes releases this energy in a tantrum when the desire is denied. Crying can help release that energy built up in the desire or the expectation. Related to desire attachments are attachments to particular likes, and resistances to particular dislikes. I like this, but not that. Well it is natural to have likes and dislikes. But as we enter real psychological and spiritual maturity, these likes and dislikes should not remain as fixed attachments and limitations. We can treat ourselves to what we like, but be careful to not let our likes rule our whole lives. We also become attached to certain dislikes. I dislike this, I hate that, I fear this, and I worry about that. These then turn into fixed patterns of resistance and avoidance.

The human ego and attachment is very much like this child, and of course that little child is in us. It may seem cruel or sarcastic to say that many people are simply little kids in big bodies, but this is the truth. Yet this is the reality of every human ego, so we need compassion and patience with others and ourselves. At the same time, though, we should not simply let these attachment patterns rule our house, our minds and experience. This is why non-attachment is a step into maturity.

Also, non-attachment opens a door for new kinds of experience. So rather than being attached to certain desires or expectations, new kinds of experience can come about when we let go of those attachments, which provides new steps in spiritual growth. Remember that all attachments are like traps or prisons of the self. Consciousness and spirit become trapped and imprisoned by attachments, rather than allowed to be free. Non-attachment is the opening of such prisons and the release of our spirit to fly free.

Self-identifications are also forms of attachment. Our consciousness gets imprisoned by particular self-identifications, or attachments to certain self-identities. These are belief structures about who we are or what kind of person we are, which can become solidified limitations about oneself. Self beliefs, self-identifications, are like internal statements about oneself, such as ‘I’m …such and such, or I’m a ... such and such. Everytime we think the same kind of statement about our self and believe it, this becomes an evermore solidified self-affirmation. This is why one must be cautious about any system of truth that is convinces us about what kind of person we are. For example, astrology can be quite self-damaging, if one is not cautious about this¹. Positive self-beliefs are much better than negative self-beliefs, but even with the positive ones we are advised to practice non-attachment, for even the positives might eventually turn into limitations.

Another kind of attachment identification is upon particular ‘realities’. These are fixed beliefs about the world, or about how the world is, or about how others are, or how our own life is. They are beliefs about truth or reality. Of course it is natural to have beliefs about what is true or what is reality. It is probably also natural to have some self-identifications. But the key is for these to be fluid, rather than fixed or solidified. So it is probably unavoidable to have beliefs, and there really is nothing wrong with having beliefs, but these beliefs need to be open-ended or open to review. Otherwise, they can become concretized and limit our lives.

So, what is sought is freedom from these attachments and limitations of our spirit which can be free and is meant to be free. We seek freedom of mind, emotion, attitude, and spirit. So we need to practice non-attachment in order to break through some very encrusted layers of attachment and identification, and this is not an easy task. One primary key in this is the practice of self-observing, which is needed in order for our attachments to even be noticed. The normal ego-self does not want to notice or acknowledge its attachments, and it is quite difficult to notice our self-identifications.

What is needed is a meta-awareness of our mind and emotions. This means rising above our minds and emotions, or standing back, as it were. But we usually get so very involved and engrossed with whatever the mind is thinking and whatever is emotionally happening. People’s usual state is to be engrossed in their own thinking and emotions, so the exercise of meta-awareness (or self-observation) helps to remove mind-awareness from the usual engrossment, whereby awareness ‘stands back’ to observe the immediate thoughts and emotion. To be able to do this is a higher capacity of the mind.

In this higher state, we can observe what we normally cannot, because we are normally too wrapped up and engrossed in our usual thoughts and emotions. So we self-observe with impartiality and detachment. To do this we need to hold an emotional distance from ourselves, and not allow ourselves to once again get all wrapped up and caught in our usual habits or patterns of mind and emotion. If we emotionally react to what we self-observe, then we have dropped down into a lower level of awareness. If we get angry at our anger, or we get self -berating or scolding about our negative reactions, then we are merely falling back into the very patterns that we ought to be letting go of.

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Can we actually observe ourselves and the world with impartiality? It is possible to observe ourselves and also the world with impartial objectivity. It is possible, but highly unlikely, because this is very difficult to do in a pure sense, and also it is quite easy to deceive oneself about being impartial. If we asked hundreds of people whether or not they are impartial in their observations and discernments, how many of these people will say they are biased or not-impartial? The fact is, almost everyone thinks they are objective, impartial and unbiased in their observations and in their judgments about the world. Nearly everyone thinks they see the truth; they think they see everyone else and the world clearly and, of course, with complete objectivity and unbiased impartiality.

One clue to not being impartial is when desires or other emotions are attached to an observation or discernment. If there is any strong emotion or desire along side of an observational awareness, then it is likely that the observation and understanding is skewed or distorted by the emotion. This is one of the values in practices involving intentional non-attachment and non-emotion, because in these non-emotional states our observations are clearer and have more chance to be impartial.

Another problem with our presumed ‘objective’ observations is when judgment is immediate. For example, if in our self-observation we are quick to judge ourselves, then it is very likely that this judgment is simply another conditioned reaction or it is based on preconceived ideas about right and wrong. So beware of immediate quick judgments or any immediate shoulds or should-nots. At some point it will be useful to make a value-judgment or value-discernment about ourselves and our patterns, just as we have to do this in the world as well. But if this is quick as a blink, then chances are that it is a conditioned reaction rather than an intelligent discernment. If we are quick to judge, either ourselves or others, then this is a good time to stand back to self-observe how we are doing this and if it is really valid.

The most common kind of bias, or partiality, in observations is to do with generalized conclusions and expectations about either ourselves or others. If we make final conclusions about ourselves or about others, then related expectations follow, and our experiences will be then colored by these conclusions and expectations. People do this to themselves, to others, and to the world in general. We call these ‘final judgments’, the worst kind of judgments, because they tend to influence the future and are difficult to break free from. This occurs anytime I think I know you. It also occurs anytime I think I know myself. Now of course we do know about our friends and close relatives, and of course we do know about ourselves. But when this knowledge becomes fixed and carved into the stone of our mind, then it’s hard to get free of that.

This problem is exemplified by how we tend to put people into boxes, conceptual boxes. Or we label people as being this or that. We make certain conclusions about people, which is probably based on various instances or evidences, but our intellectual tendency is to make final conclusions based on just a few instances. Then, once we categorize the person into a certain conceptual box, we tend to ignore or not actually ‘see’ the many instances that contradict our final conclusions about this person.

The danger is whenever I think I know you, really well, really objectively, and I have figured you out, I got you pegged. You are this way, you are this kind of person. You are always like such and such. You are this way, and the presumption is that you will always be this way. I have you figured out. I know you. I know the kind of person you are. Astrology, for example, feeds this kind of conclusive and presumptive thinking. I know your sign, so I know you. And now that I already know you, I do not really need to listen well to you, nor learn about you anymore. The case is closed. The conclusion is final. The judgment is final. The cage is closed. And what is ironic is that our experiences of this other person will tend to reinforce our conclusions, because we will subconsciously focus on what we expect while ignoring anything that contradicts our conclusions and expectations.

Our thoughts about another soon and too often become conclusions, and then become expectations, and finally pre-conceptions are formed, so at this point objectivity has been severely contaminated. In pre-conception, the conception of truth is already formed, and it is already within the observation at the very moment of observation. In other words, pre-conceptions infiltrate and contaminate observations. Thus, observation is then not pure observation, and I see what I expect or what I believe about this person. Now, of course, this also applies to ourselves. How much have we concluded about ourselves? How much have I concluded that I am this or that kind of person? And so how much expectation and self pre-conception is influencing my life? How many final judgments have I made, about others or about myself? Isn’t it possible to just observe and learn about life, without preconceptions. ??

A helpful practice is to observe people we know as though we don’t know them, as if they are real strangers, and then we have a better chance to objectively observe them. The same can be applied to our self. Maybe we can observe our self, as though we are unknown, or as though we don’t know much about our self at all; and thus we need to observe who we are and learn from this, without any preconceptions, preconclusions, or expectations.

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What we can do is this. We can try as much as possible to observe our processes of thinking and emotional reaction. That is, it is possible to move into a meta-awareness, an awareness of our own mind and emotions at work; but in this state we have to refrain from judging ourselves or coming to any definite conclusions about what we observe. In other words, this should be a pure observation, much like a scientist observing for the sake of just learning. If we can observe with a sole purpose to just learn about our thinking and emotional patterns, then we have achieved a detached distance from our patterns and can also make new decisions about how we will think or act. But if we immediately judge or react to what we observe, then we return back into the spider’s web of our conditioned mind.

In this meta-awareness we observe ourselves impartially, yet we also can apply discernment of value. In this meta-awareness there is dispassionate, impartial, and non-reactive self-observation. Yet it could involve a certain amount of critique and discernment regarding the actual value of what we are thinking, believing, or emotionally feeling. Some amount of reasonable discernment can be applied in this meta-awareness, and in this higher state we might well have to make a reasonable judgment about the value of what we are thinking and feeling, or its lack of value. For it is in this higher, meta-awareness that we can learn about how we tend to think about things and how we emotional react, so it is here that we have a possibility to impartially evaluate these beliefs and emotions, then decide to abandon certain un-truths of mind and certain over-reactions of the emotions. So we need to still apply discernment, but we also should be suspicious of pre-conditioned models of critique, evaluation, and judgment.

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To add somewhere above:

The western view on passion can be described as: better to have passionately loved and felt love, and to have experienced the possible pain that can go along with such love and passion, rather than to never have loved at all. Better to have some goals and passionately work towards these goals, even if this might cause some suffering of disappointments; rather than never having any goals or passion at all.

Another add-in ?

The possible negative outcomes of these western ideals are as follows. Love can be distorted into a passion and attachment towards lower objects such as money, trivial pleasures, fame, or worship of oneself. Wisdom can be distorted into a mere accumulation of information, models of reality can be over-idealized, and certain value-distinctions can become fixed and fanatical. And finally, power can obviously be abused, and our living environment can be technologically molded without enough concern for the overall natural and human welfare.

Add-in ?

A positive in the equanimity and detached view is its fostering of impartial observation and understanding.

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More critique – of the eastern non-attachment.

Ethics of non-attachment and equanimity are often connected to an eastern philosophical view about the world. One eastern kind of view is that the world is fundamentally an illusion. That is, it doesn’t even really exist. A similar kind of view is that the world is fundamentally a dream. Based on this, many eastern teachings suggest that people be non-attached to this world, because it is really just an illusion or just a dream. Some modernized teachings suggest that people think of all world events and circumstances as being like a movie, so one should stay non-attached to this movie, rather than get fooled into believing it is something real. So these are very similar ideas about the world: as being an illusion, a dream, or like a non-real movie. The enlightened person, then, supposedly views the world in such a way and thus is non-attached to this non-real illusion, dream or movie. While in contrast, the unenlightened fool views the world as real and thus has a tendency to get attached and also react to things as though they were real or important.

Now there are positives to this view and this advice, but also negatives. Positively, this gives one a model in which to help one become non-attached to how events and circumstances turn out. Yet negatively, this gives one an impression that the world is not real and also not really important in how it turns out to be. The advice is basically to see the world as just a dream or a movie, and then question oneself: why react to this world, if it’s just like an unreal movie or just a passing dream? But with such a model of the world, one could just as easily question: why should I care much what happens in this unreal movie?

With is view, one might achieve an emotional non-attachment and non-reactive equanimity to everything in the world, but along with this is a belief in the unreality of this world and even its basic non-importance. I might become non-attached about any worldly circumstances; but why should I even care at all? Because if the world and circumstances are fundamentally an illusion, a dream or like a mere movie; why would I really care about how anything ever works out. So this non-attachment easily becomes a non-caring apathy and passivity as well. And it basically declares that the world is fundamentally unimportant.

Is the world really just an illusion or a dream or a movie? The answer to this would depend on semantics, on how we define such terms. But in considering this, we can see that there are some things about the world which make these descriptions apt in some sense. Yet, these descriptions fundamentally devalue the world. They are basically declaring the world to be unreal and so also unimportant to care about or be passionate about. The biggest issue here is about value vs. devalue, and about significance vs. insignificance. An illusion has no significance. A dream should not be believed as reality. A movie should not be treated with real seriousness. This is the problem with such an eastern view. It leads one to view the world as not having real significance, real value and real seriousness. This view lends well to producing non-attachment and equanimity, but it also lends well to producing a lack of world-importance, caring and seriousness about world problems.

This view devalues any seriousness about the world, because it is just a dream or movie or illusion. It also promotes non-involvement in world affairs². Passion and seriousness about the world are subdued, because basically it all doesn’t really matter anyway. True enlightenment is thought to be a non-attached, non-passionate distancing from the world; whereas only fools rush in to get involved in the world (the illusion, the dream, the movie). Yet, if the world is just something without real significance, then will we really appreciate the beauty as real beauty, or truth as real truth, or goodness as real good? Are these qualities not real? And if we view the world as mere illusion or dream or movie, then can we passionately involve ourselves in the world to make it a better place and promote justice and harmony?

This is the passion of caring, not the passion of self-interest. This is the passion of working together to make a better world, for ourselves and everyone. This is the passion of struggle, and the joys and pains that go along with struggle. Let us embrace involvement and passion, rather than devalue it or eliminate it. Get involved, rather than not. Be passionate, rather than not. See the world as real and significant, and so work to make it a better reality. See everything around you as incredibly real and important and worthy to be caring about. And see apathy and passivity as the ultimate problems in life.

So what really is non-attachment and equanimity? It is being non-attached to our little reactions and our little expectations about life and how others ought to be. It is realizing that all of life is moving from stupidity to intelligence, from fear and distrust to courage and trust, from separation barriers to open doors. It is non-attachment to our own self-ego and our reactions. It is being equal in our view of justice and equal in seeing everything as important. It is seeing an equal importance to things and to everyone, rather than seeing an equal non-importance or equal non-reality to everything. So get immersed in life, rather than seek to escape it. Nonetheless, we can all practice a non-attachment to the trivial and smaller matters of daily life. Do the best you can, and don’t expect perfection from others or the world or yourself.

** go into positives of the eastern view, like dream and movie showing how world is malleable; illusion how world is our perception.

Remember that our experience of the world, of life and others, can often be distorted and colored by our preconceptions, our expectations, and our set conclusions about how reality is. These conclusions, preconceptions, and expectations form our beliefs about the world and other people, and this is what we believe is reality. Then, what we believe is reality turns into our experience of reality. In other words, what we call reality is our experience of reality, and this is often distorted and colored by our beliefs, conclusions, preconceptions and expectations. This is the world of illusion. This is maya. And we break out of this illusion when we make conscious effort to see life and others without preconceptions, expectations, or distorted fixed beliefs.

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Vipasana, or Theravada Buddhism is the pure school.

It is to do with clearing the mind and emotions.

It is a rejection of all dogmas, self-concepts

The way, the practice, is R and R

– Recognize thoughts, desires and emotions

– Release thoughts, desires and emotions

Because all of this is illusional.

All fears and bad spirits, etc. are self-created, or mind-created; either in this lifetime or in past lifetimes.

The meditational objective of reaching a pure and relaxed state of peace in oneself.

Uncovering my true nature of pure aware being; yet without any self-concepts about this.

(this, by the way, is also discovering one’s soul, though the pure Buddhist do not see the soul as essentially real but only as another mind-construct. – yet there is still the soul, whether or not they think it is illusionary in essence) but in final evolution, the soul dissolves into Absolute Universal Spirit (so in this sense the soul is illusionary)

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