Verse 3
Putting a value on status
will create contentiousness.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.
By not displaying what is desirable, you will
cause the people's hearts to remain undisturbed.
The sage governs
by emptying minds and hearts,
by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.
Practice not doing...
When action is pure and selfless,
everything settles into its own perfect place.
My thoughts on the verse
A primary understanding in Buddhism is that desire is the cause of all suffering. And, so, by removing desire, we can eliminate our suffering and acheive peace.
Let's define desire as any feeling of want, need, or expectation. Suffering, I will define broadly as any sort of discomfort or negative feeling. In today's terms, we tend to think of "desire" and "suffering" in extremes, but in fact, when we apply more broad definitions, we can more clearly see how these really affect our everyday lives and interactions. (More on that in the next section.)
The key idea in the Tao is contentment. Contentment can be found in not placing an artificial value on things. The extent to which somehting is of value is equal to the degree to which is it practically useful. This sounds awfully dull and doesn't seem to leave any room for intrinsic or sentimental value, however, it is quite the opposite.
Some have interpreted this philosophy (prevalent in many religious traditions) to mean that we should shun all worldly possessions in order to be spiritual people. I don't believe this is the true intent behind this message. I believe that the real point is to understand the true value of a thing, appreciate it for it's true value, don't apply a false value to it, and most importantly, DON'T BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH IT. Don't give the thing so much value that you feel a part of yourself is lost if the thing is lost.
Empty your mind and heart of desire for things/ideas/concepts and apply your energy to strengthening your understanding of the true value of things.
The final stanza talks about "not doing". This is a key element of the Tao. I believe that what "not doing" means is to practice, as much as possible, to only act in the moment following our natural responses (see Verse 23). Most people act in response to their thoughts and the feelings generated by those thoughts, most of the time. This is acting from ego; that false voice inside our heads that we have come to believe is who we are. The process is: thought produces feeling, which produces action.
The key to practicing "not doing" is consciousness. If we are conscious of the thought/feeling/action process, we can consciously choose to not act on it. Thus, we can avoid feeding the ego and creating more suffering in our lives.
Practical application in our lives
The ego's sole purpose it to keep itself alive. In order to do this, it requires nourishment in the form of negative energy. It gets this negative energy by creating thoughts and feelings that are negative and we act on them (and actions from negative thoughts and feelings must only be negative themselves), thus creating negative energy around us that is fed back to us amplified. And when we are exposed to this amplified negative energy, we respond with more negative energy in kind.
For example, our ego might produce thoughts about our partner that say, "He's so lazy! He never helps me around the house or with the kids." This creates feelings of resentment and anger in us. When your partner arrives home from work, he is greeted with a dirty look and a cold shoulder. Your partner in turn thinks, "Geez, what the hell did I do to deserve this treatment! I just walked in the door after working hard all day." He feels rejected, hurt and angry and retreats to watch TV without even saying thank you for dinner or offering to help clean up or take care of the kids. You think, "Of course! There he goes, only thinking about himself again." You feel justified, self-righteous, as well as more resentment and anger...and the cycle continues...both egos being fed with enormous amounts of negative energy.
When the egos have had their fill, they settle down for a while. That is why this type of drama doesn't necessarily continue on a constant basis. (Though, for people with really strong egos, this pattern can seem to be constant...they are always finding or creating drama and suffering in their lives.) When the ego feels the need to feed again, however, it will come forward with more thoughts of a similar nature, but this time it could be negative thoughts about your job, kids, friends, finances...whatever is close at hand.
Conscious choosing is a process by which we are consciously aware of our ego, and therefore, can choose not to act on the negative thoughts and feelings it is feeding us. We may still have the thoughts and the feelings, but when we choose not to act, we don't put that negative energy outside ourselves and it can't get amplified and fed back to us. We are essentially cutting off the critical food supply of the ego and, thus, weakening it by degrees until we are able to live easily in our natural state of contentment and joy.
This is how we eliminate desire and suffering from our lives. It is all within our own power...the one true power we possess in this world; the power to choose.
WARNING:
When you first begin to practice this, things will seem to go very well and you will feel better than you have in a very long time. Then, suddenly, your ego will recognize it's diminished hold over you and will try to fight back. It will come out very strong and create very persistent thoughts and negative feelings in you. It may be very difficult for you to recognize your ego at this time, and even more difficult to not act on your feelings. DON'T DESPAIR! This is a good thing. It means that you are gaining ground and weakening your ego. It feels the need to fight for survival because it can sense it is losing control over you. This hit by your ego won't last forever, though, in the midst of it, you may feel you have lost all the ground you had gained. That is simply not the case. Try to be as conscious of your ego as you can be, take extra measures to take care of yourself, and try to talk to people who can remind you of this process (though it will be difficult for you to hear/believe them in the midst of this attack). When the attack is over, consciously look back on your thoughts, feelings and actions and identify your ego in all of them. This is a good and very productive exercise and will help you greatly in gaining back that ground and moving even further along the path of weakening your ego's hold on you.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tao Te Ching: Verse 2
Verse 2
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.
So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
he competes, but not for results.
When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever.
My thoughts on the verse
This verse is about the harmony of opposites. In the physical world, things exist in duality; light and dark, short and long, beauty and ugliness. One can not be defined without the other. In this we learn that we must accept the perceived "negative" aspect of all things in order to enjoy the "positive" aspect.
Khalil Gibran, in The Prophet writes about this duality in the chapter on Sorrow and Joy;
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Some of you say, 'Joy is greater than sorrow,' and others say, 'Nay, sorrow is the greater.' But I say unto you, they are inseperable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
I was reading this when my grandmother was dying and I found it to be a great comfort to me to be reminded that the reason my grief over her passing was so overwhelming was because the love and joy I found in her presence was equally as powerful. It made me feel grateful for her having been in my life as long as she was.
When we act with selflessness (without ego) we live can live in harmony with this duality. The ego uses this perceived separation of things to creat fear and suffering in our lives. We feel potently the "negative" aspects, and any experience of the "positive" aspects is tainted by fear of losing it or of how fleeting that experience will be.
With the wisdom of "paradoxical unity", we can accept all we experience in the moment for what it is, without ego judgement. This is truly selfless living. Everything we do is for the sake of the act itself, for no other purpose than to fulfill what is required in that moment.
"When the work is done, it is forgotten. That is why it lasts forever." An act is completed and not dwelt upon, so it is removed from time itself; only in this does the act have any permanence. Holding onto something from the past or anticipating the future, we hold that act within the realm of time and, therefore, it is necessarily temporary (which literally means 'of time'). Eternity (forever) is the absence of time.
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.
So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
he competes, but not for results.
When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever.
My thoughts on the verse
This verse is about the harmony of opposites. In the physical world, things exist in duality; light and dark, short and long, beauty and ugliness. One can not be defined without the other. In this we learn that we must accept the perceived "negative" aspect of all things in order to enjoy the "positive" aspect.
Khalil Gibran, in The Prophet writes about this duality in the chapter on Sorrow and Joy;
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Some of you say, 'Joy is greater than sorrow,' and others say, 'Nay, sorrow is the greater.' But I say unto you, they are inseperable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
I was reading this when my grandmother was dying and I found it to be a great comfort to me to be reminded that the reason my grief over her passing was so overwhelming was because the love and joy I found in her presence was equally as powerful. It made me feel grateful for her having been in my life as long as she was.
When we act with selflessness (without ego) we live can live in harmony with this duality. The ego uses this perceived separation of things to creat fear and suffering in our lives. We feel potently the "negative" aspects, and any experience of the "positive" aspects is tainted by fear of losing it or of how fleeting that experience will be.
With the wisdom of "paradoxical unity", we can accept all we experience in the moment for what it is, without ego judgement. This is truly selfless living. Everything we do is for the sake of the act itself, for no other purpose than to fulfill what is required in that moment.
"When the work is done, it is forgotten. That is why it lasts forever." An act is completed and not dwelt upon, so it is removed from time itself; only in this does the act have any permanence. Holding onto something from the past or anticipating the future, we hold that act within the realm of time and, therefore, it is necessarily temporary (which literally means 'of time'). Eternity (forever) is the absence of time.
Practical application in our lives
Bringing ourselves into unity with all that is as we work our way through our days can only have the result of easing our experience. Imagine how much less stress you will feel when encountering a "negative" experience when you can accept it as the necessary partner of it's "positive" opposite. What significance would the opposite have, what joy would it bring, if not for the opposite that provides the contrast?
If we can work with selflessness, not holding onto any task beyond its completion, we are now free! Free to do without concern for past or future, free to act in the truest way possible; free to enjoy the doing of any task, free to rejoice at its completion, and free to move on to the next task fresh with excitement and newness.
Only the ego needs to hold onto things. Our true selves do not need to do this to feel fulfilled, justified, validated, righteous, real. The ego, being a false being, needs to hold onto the things we do in order for it to continually feel renewed and as though it actually exists for a purpose. Our true selves know that we simply exist, and our purpose is exactly what we are doing in any given moment. That is all.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tao Te Ching: Verse 1
As I have read and reread the Tao Te Ching, I have realized that I would like to record my observations, thoughts, insights on each verse. There is so much wisdom contained in the 81 verses of the Tao, and it is stated so simply, yet a great deal of meditation is required to fully grasp what the significance is to our lives. And, in my opinion, without practical application, spirituality is simply another concept we can use to feed our egos and create suffering in the world.
Tao Te Ching translates to "living and applying the Great Way".
I will begin each post with the verse itself, followed by my thoughts.
Verse 1
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Tao is both named and nameless.
As nameless it is the origin of all things;
As named it is the Mother of 10,000 things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery;
ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.
And the mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding.
My thoughts on the verse
The Tao is everything that you can experience with the senses. Everything in the universe for which there is a name is the Tao.
The Tao is also everything that can not be experienced with the senses. Everything that is beyond, behind, and within everything in the universe.
The Tao is everything in creation and that which created everything; the creator and the creation.
When we desire the things we can perceive with our senses (that is, when we feel we need them in order to make ourselves feel whole), all we can perceive are those things. We are unable to see anything more in this world than the matter that is in it.
When we are free of desire, we are able to see things as they truly are. We are then able to perceive the energy that is the Source of all things and is in all things. That is the Truth of any being or object in the universe, because that is the part of it that is eternal.
When we are able to perceive this energy in all of creation, we can see the mystery behind everything, behind life; that this energy created everything, is everything, including us...and that means we are all one.
All people, all life, all the universe in it's original and true state is one, eternal, infinite energy.
Practical implications for our lives
I read that true compassion is being able to see that which is true about yourself in others. Imagine how all our interactions with each other would change if we were able to constantly recognize in everything around us, and in ourselves, the creative Source energy that connects us all.
Would we be capable of feeling anything but love? Could you despise something so miraculous?
In our current state, it is impossible to imagine being able to walk around all day feeling like that. We are persistently confronted with challenging situations, egos (our own and others'), and the violence of current world affairs.
The challenge, then, is to as much as possible, connect with that energy. Whether we do that by meditating, being with nature, or taking time to be grateful, every moment of time we can spend strongly connect to and conscious of our Source energy, will bring us into alignment with Life and into a state of internal peace.
The result of this practice will be a greater sense of inner calm, an increased ability to express that calm outwardly, improved interactions with those around you (they can not help but respond to your positive energy with either positive energy of their own, or a decrease in their negative energy), and a greater enjoyment of life.
As with everything, the consistent application of this is necessary for it's continued effect in your life. To quote another part of the Tao, "People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care at the end as at the beginning, then there will be no failure."
Tao Te Ching translates to "living and applying the Great Way".
I will begin each post with the verse itself, followed by my thoughts.
Verse 1
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Tao is both named and nameless.
As nameless it is the origin of all things;
As named it is the Mother of 10,000 things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery;
ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.
And the mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding.
My thoughts on the verse
The Tao is everything that you can experience with the senses. Everything in the universe for which there is a name is the Tao.
The Tao is also everything that can not be experienced with the senses. Everything that is beyond, behind, and within everything in the universe.
The Tao is everything in creation and that which created everything; the creator and the creation.
When we desire the things we can perceive with our senses (that is, when we feel we need them in order to make ourselves feel whole), all we can perceive are those things. We are unable to see anything more in this world than the matter that is in it.
When we are free of desire, we are able to see things as they truly are. We are then able to perceive the energy that is the Source of all things and is in all things. That is the Truth of any being or object in the universe, because that is the part of it that is eternal.
When we are able to perceive this energy in all of creation, we can see the mystery behind everything, behind life; that this energy created everything, is everything, including us...and that means we are all one.
All people, all life, all the universe in it's original and true state is one, eternal, infinite energy.
Practical implications for our lives
I read that true compassion is being able to see that which is true about yourself in others. Imagine how all our interactions with each other would change if we were able to constantly recognize in everything around us, and in ourselves, the creative Source energy that connects us all.
Would we be capable of feeling anything but love? Could you despise something so miraculous?
In our current state, it is impossible to imagine being able to walk around all day feeling like that. We are persistently confronted with challenging situations, egos (our own and others'), and the violence of current world affairs.
The challenge, then, is to as much as possible, connect with that energy. Whether we do that by meditating, being with nature, or taking time to be grateful, every moment of time we can spend strongly connect to and conscious of our Source energy, will bring us into alignment with Life and into a state of internal peace.
The result of this practice will be a greater sense of inner calm, an increased ability to express that calm outwardly, improved interactions with those around you (they can not help but respond to your positive energy with either positive energy of their own, or a decrease in their negative energy), and a greater enjoyment of life.
As with everything, the consistent application of this is necessary for it's continued effect in your life. To quote another part of the Tao, "People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care at the end as at the beginning, then there will be no failure."
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
So just who are you anyway?
As a note, I think I am going to stop anticipating what I will write about at the end of each post. I'm finding it a bit restrictive...and I don't like restrictions (especially self-imposed!)
So what is our true nature? In fact, this is a question that can't be answered with words. Words can only point towards the answer to that question.
Let's remember who we are not first; we are not our thoughts, we are not our feelings, we are not our body, we are not our house, car, children, partner, job, name, nationality, race, religion or any other label we could possibly apply. All of these things, if we identify with them, are food for the ego- that's all.
So, if we are nothing that we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, think of feel...what on earth is left?
The answer to that question is the answer to our question. That which is left when you take everything away is what we truly are. We are no-thing...not nothing...but no-thing.
It is no-thing that created the universe and sustains the universe. It is no-thing that is beneath all of life and is life itself. It can't be named or labeled because it is no-thing.
This no-thing is what we truly are...what every thing truly is. If everything ceased to exist, it would not cease to exist, because it simply returned to no-thingness.
Is the paradox giving you a headache yet? Yeah, me too:)
There is a place deep within us where we are connected to our true nature. It is impossible for us to not be connected to it....it is us, we are it.
The ego created this idea of separation, which is ultimately the cause of all fear, suffering and misery in the world. As the ego emerged, and as we came to believe the ego is who we are, we believed that all the things in the world are searate from each other.
There is "me" and there is "you" and "they". There is a "tree", a "bird", a "river". All of a sudden there was no connection between anything anymore. With this belief came great fear. If there is what I identify as me (my body and my thoughts and feelings), and I am not connected to anything else, everything else becomes a threat to "me". How can it be otherwise? We lost our sense of "knowing" that we are simply a part of the whole. Everything is the same as us...is us.
As a result of the fear, we developed a need to possess. We believed that by possessing, we were gathering security to us. The idea of ownership emerged. The idea that something can belong to you can only come when you think that something is separate from you. If you and it are one, how can it belong to you? It is you!
From the need to possess came desire. We began to desire things we believed would bring us what we craved (security, happiness, peace, etc). The ego makes us believe we want these things because it doesn't know we already are these things! It thinks we are lacking these things and that they can only be gotten from things "out there". So we desire more and more things due to the mistaken belief that they will bring us what we truly want- wholeness.
The desire then creates a great deal of suffering. This is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism. In our desire lies the root of all our suffering. If we are desiring things we believe are separate from us, there is always the fear that we will not be able to aquire those things; or when we have aqcuired them, we are afraid of losing them. The feeling of desire itself is suffering. You can only desire what you believe you don't already have- what you feel is lacking.
When we can "know" (and by this I don't mean an intellectual or conceptual understanding, I mean the deeper knowing that is who we truly are) who we truly are, we see that all the things our ego believes we are lacking and searches for ourside ourselves, is not only within us, but is who we truly are. We are whole- as we are right now- one with everything that is and with no-thing.
It is only to become aware of it.
So what is our true nature? In fact, this is a question that can't be answered with words. Words can only point towards the answer to that question.
Let's remember who we are not first; we are not our thoughts, we are not our feelings, we are not our body, we are not our house, car, children, partner, job, name, nationality, race, religion or any other label we could possibly apply. All of these things, if we identify with them, are food for the ego- that's all.
So, if we are nothing that we can see, hear, feel, touch, taste, think of feel...what on earth is left?
The answer to that question is the answer to our question. That which is left when you take everything away is what we truly are. We are no-thing...not nothing...but no-thing.
It is no-thing that created the universe and sustains the universe. It is no-thing that is beneath all of life and is life itself. It can't be named or labeled because it is no-thing.
This no-thing is what we truly are...what every thing truly is. If everything ceased to exist, it would not cease to exist, because it simply returned to no-thingness.
Is the paradox giving you a headache yet? Yeah, me too:)
There is a place deep within us where we are connected to our true nature. It is impossible for us to not be connected to it....it is us, we are it.
The ego created this idea of separation, which is ultimately the cause of all fear, suffering and misery in the world. As the ego emerged, and as we came to believe the ego is who we are, we believed that all the things in the world are searate from each other.
There is "me" and there is "you" and "they". There is a "tree", a "bird", a "river". All of a sudden there was no connection between anything anymore. With this belief came great fear. If there is what I identify as me (my body and my thoughts and feelings), and I am not connected to anything else, everything else becomes a threat to "me". How can it be otherwise? We lost our sense of "knowing" that we are simply a part of the whole. Everything is the same as us...is us.
As a result of the fear, we developed a need to possess. We believed that by possessing, we were gathering security to us. The idea of ownership emerged. The idea that something can belong to you can only come when you think that something is separate from you. If you and it are one, how can it belong to you? It is you!
From the need to possess came desire. We began to desire things we believed would bring us what we craved (security, happiness, peace, etc). The ego makes us believe we want these things because it doesn't know we already are these things! It thinks we are lacking these things and that they can only be gotten from things "out there". So we desire more and more things due to the mistaken belief that they will bring us what we truly want- wholeness.
The desire then creates a great deal of suffering. This is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism. In our desire lies the root of all our suffering. If we are desiring things we believe are separate from us, there is always the fear that we will not be able to aquire those things; or when we have aqcuired them, we are afraid of losing them. The feeling of desire itself is suffering. You can only desire what you believe you don't already have- what you feel is lacking.
When we can "know" (and by this I don't mean an intellectual or conceptual understanding, I mean the deeper knowing that is who we truly are) who we truly are, we see that all the things our ego believes we are lacking and searches for ourside ourselves, is not only within us, but is who we truly are. We are whole- as we are right now- one with everything that is and with no-thing.
It is only to become aware of it.
Friday, April 25, 2008
What prevents consciousness
Simply put, the ego is what prevents you from being conscious.
The ego (or false self, as some call it), is what you hear as the thoughts in your head. These thoughts also have the remarkable ability to "make" you feel certain things, which in turn influences your behaviour.
So, in essence, your ego is living your life, not you. It's in the driver's seat.
As small children, you learned to identify with certain things, whether they were objects or concepts. For example, you learned that you were a "boy" or a "girl", you learned you were "Joe" or "Grace", you learned the concept of "my"..."my toys", "my food", etc.
As soon as you started to identify with things the ego took over.
Identification with things means that a part of your identity (who you define yourself to be) is tied up in that thing. This is also the beginning of fear. If a part of yourself is in something that is outside of you (again, this can be an object or a concept), there must be fear that that part of you can be taken away, damaged, or lost in some way.
This fear leads to the need to control and possess. Can you see the beginning of the incidious cycle that causes a great deal of suffering in life?
My son, who is three years old, is a living example of the emergent ego. He attacks the dog violently whenever the dog wanders near to him while he's eating something. When I show up at daycare and the other kids are there and come over to say hi to me, he starts, "My mommy!" And heaven forbid you forget his blanket anywhere. To him, it would be the equivalent of losing a limb.
The ego survives on the energy produced by your thoughts and emotions, particularly the negative ones. That is why (if you pay attention ot your thoughts, you will notice this) your thoughts are almost always focused on the past or the future. Neither of which are real, nor do they have much to do with where you are in the present moment.
Have you ever NOT been in the present moment? Were you ever in the past? Will you ever be in the future?
No. You have always been, will always be, and are in the present- the Now. Your ego doesn't want you to know this. If you always live in the present, the ego would dissolve into nothingness.
I'm really just scratching the surface here. I will go deeper into this discussion as I write more. If you are interested in reading a book about this right now, there are three I would recommend, The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, and The Secret of Letting Go by Guy Finley.
In the next installment of this blog, I'll talk about who you truly are, if you are not all the things you have learned to identify with.
The ego (or false self, as some call it), is what you hear as the thoughts in your head. These thoughts also have the remarkable ability to "make" you feel certain things, which in turn influences your behaviour.
So, in essence, your ego is living your life, not you. It's in the driver's seat.
As small children, you learned to identify with certain things, whether they were objects or concepts. For example, you learned that you were a "boy" or a "girl", you learned you were "Joe" or "Grace", you learned the concept of "my"..."my toys", "my food", etc.
As soon as you started to identify with things the ego took over.
Identification with things means that a part of your identity (who you define yourself to be) is tied up in that thing. This is also the beginning of fear. If a part of yourself is in something that is outside of you (again, this can be an object or a concept), there must be fear that that part of you can be taken away, damaged, or lost in some way.
This fear leads to the need to control and possess. Can you see the beginning of the incidious cycle that causes a great deal of suffering in life?
My son, who is three years old, is a living example of the emergent ego. He attacks the dog violently whenever the dog wanders near to him while he's eating something. When I show up at daycare and the other kids are there and come over to say hi to me, he starts, "My mommy!" And heaven forbid you forget his blanket anywhere. To him, it would be the equivalent of losing a limb.
The ego survives on the energy produced by your thoughts and emotions, particularly the negative ones. That is why (if you pay attention ot your thoughts, you will notice this) your thoughts are almost always focused on the past or the future. Neither of which are real, nor do they have much to do with where you are in the present moment.
Have you ever NOT been in the present moment? Were you ever in the past? Will you ever be in the future?
No. You have always been, will always be, and are in the present- the Now. Your ego doesn't want you to know this. If you always live in the present, the ego would dissolve into nothingness.
I'm really just scratching the surface here. I will go deeper into this discussion as I write more. If you are interested in reading a book about this right now, there are three I would recommend, The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, and The Secret of Letting Go by Guy Finley.
In the next installment of this blog, I'll talk about who you truly are, if you are not all the things you have learned to identify with.
Monday, April 21, 2008
How I got here, Part II
"Knowing".
I have a quote in my email signature that says, "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."
I love that quote. To me, you can't really acknowledge and believe the things you just know without deep trust in yourself.
That "knowing" comes from a place deep inside of you that is the very essence of who you truly are. The part of you that is connected to the energy that created the universe, the Source, God, Consciousness...whatever you want to call it. But you can't acknowledge, even now, that you know this is True if you don't fundamentally and implicitly trust yourself to know it.
We live in a society that doesn't value intuition (or at least hasn't for a long time). Intuition isn't just a "wild guess"; it is a knowing that comes from your connection to all that is and all that has ever been. And because we are all connected to this-to each other-we all know the same elementary things.
It was when I started to trust myself and my ability to know certain Truths that things began to really open up for me. And then a friend of mine lent me the movie, The Secret.
Though it has gained worldwide recognition, the concepts presented in this movie are merely the tip of the iceberg. I will credit this film for prompting my very active search for more knowledge and understanding.
I believed the concept of the law of attraction immediately. I knew it was a universal Truth. But at the same time, I also knew that it was not the whole truth. There was something deeper here and I had to find out more. So I started reading. In the original version of The Secret, Esther Hicks was one of the primary contributors. She was edited out of the second version for some reasons surrounding recontracting for a global release of the film (it was her decision to be removed from the film). Anyway, I decided to read Ask and It is Given, by Jerry and Esther Hicks. The book is actually written by a non-physical entity named Abraham, channeled by Esther.
This again, was just a beginning. I read The Teachings of Buddha, Busting Loose from the Money Game (by Rob Schienfeld-don't let the title fool you, it's a very spiritual book), The Sedona Method (by Hale Dwoskin, also of The Secret), QBQ! The Question Behind the Question (by john Miller), The Celestine Vision (by James Redfield), The Secret of Letting Go (by Guy Finley), The Power of Now, Stillness Speaks, and A New Earth (all by Eckhart Tolle).
All of these books have had a significant influence on the awakening of my consciousness. I feel that the stage I am at now, is creating new habits. No change happens without consciousness. We all experience moments of consciousness, some of us more than others, and some moments we are able to sustain for longer than others. We have spent so long living unconsciously, that those ingrained habits, not to mention the strength of our egos, require that we be conscious of consciousness...at least until it becomes our normal state.
From the vantage point of this stage, I have to say that every small effort is absolutely worth it.
In my next post I will talk about some of the things that prevent people from approaching consciousness.
I have a quote in my email signature that says, "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."
I love that quote. To me, you can't really acknowledge and believe the things you just know without deep trust in yourself.
That "knowing" comes from a place deep inside of you that is the very essence of who you truly are. The part of you that is connected to the energy that created the universe, the Source, God, Consciousness...whatever you want to call it. But you can't acknowledge, even now, that you know this is True if you don't fundamentally and implicitly trust yourself to know it.
We live in a society that doesn't value intuition (or at least hasn't for a long time). Intuition isn't just a "wild guess"; it is a knowing that comes from your connection to all that is and all that has ever been. And because we are all connected to this-to each other-we all know the same elementary things.
It was when I started to trust myself and my ability to know certain Truths that things began to really open up for me. And then a friend of mine lent me the movie, The Secret.
Though it has gained worldwide recognition, the concepts presented in this movie are merely the tip of the iceberg. I will credit this film for prompting my very active search for more knowledge and understanding.
I believed the concept of the law of attraction immediately. I knew it was a universal Truth. But at the same time, I also knew that it was not the whole truth. There was something deeper here and I had to find out more. So I started reading. In the original version of The Secret, Esther Hicks was one of the primary contributors. She was edited out of the second version for some reasons surrounding recontracting for a global release of the film (it was her decision to be removed from the film). Anyway, I decided to read Ask and It is Given, by Jerry and Esther Hicks. The book is actually written by a non-physical entity named Abraham, channeled by Esther.
This again, was just a beginning. I read The Teachings of Buddha, Busting Loose from the Money Game (by Rob Schienfeld-don't let the title fool you, it's a very spiritual book), The Sedona Method (by Hale Dwoskin, also of The Secret), QBQ! The Question Behind the Question (by john Miller), The Celestine Vision (by James Redfield), The Secret of Letting Go (by Guy Finley), The Power of Now, Stillness Speaks, and A New Earth (all by Eckhart Tolle).
All of these books have had a significant influence on the awakening of my consciousness. I feel that the stage I am at now, is creating new habits. No change happens without consciousness. We all experience moments of consciousness, some of us more than others, and some moments we are able to sustain for longer than others. We have spent so long living unconsciously, that those ingrained habits, not to mention the strength of our egos, require that we be conscious of consciousness...at least until it becomes our normal state.
From the vantage point of this stage, I have to say that every small effort is absolutely worth it.
In my next post I will talk about some of the things that prevent people from approaching consciousness.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Welcome
I will start by sharing my journey. What I have learned and what I now understand.
I can look back on my life so far and see that I have always been aware of the need for the spiritual in my life. It was ever present, teaching me the truth.
I found some satisfaction in a Christian church as a child and youth. Though, even there I knew there was more to learn. The lessons weren't as complete as they would have me believe. (I know now that Jesus was enlightened, but his message was largely misunderstood and misappropriated for other purposes, creating separation where he would have had wholeness.)
As I moved away from attendance at the church, my heart was still spiritually focused. I am an avid reader, as is my mother, and I read several books at her suggestion, which fascinated and awed me. The first was Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Though I connected deeply with the message of that book, it was merely the planting of a seed.
While I was working for a small youth mental health organization, I began to learn about 'connectedness'. I heard of research showing that a sense of connectedness increased resiliency in youth. This idea struck a cord with me. I started to recognize that there are some things that, when you hear them, you simply know their Truth. But what is that "knowing" and where does it come from?
I can look back on my life so far and see that I have always been aware of the need for the spiritual in my life. It was ever present, teaching me the truth.
I found some satisfaction in a Christian church as a child and youth. Though, even there I knew there was more to learn. The lessons weren't as complete as they would have me believe. (I know now that Jesus was enlightened, but his message was largely misunderstood and misappropriated for other purposes, creating separation where he would have had wholeness.)
As I moved away from attendance at the church, my heart was still spiritually focused. I am an avid reader, as is my mother, and I read several books at her suggestion, which fascinated and awed me. The first was Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. Though I connected deeply with the message of that book, it was merely the planting of a seed.
While I was working for a small youth mental health organization, I began to learn about 'connectedness'. I heard of research showing that a sense of connectedness increased resiliency in youth. This idea struck a cord with me. I started to recognize that there are some things that, when you hear them, you simply know their Truth. But what is that "knowing" and where does it come from?
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