Frozen Emotions

Nothing from the outside truly controls you regardless of the injustice, either real or made up. It’s the frozen emotions attaching to what happens that cause certain behaviors to arise.

Staying with the flow of what arises in our daily life has immense value in the process of waking up from the sleep of unawareness. What happens if one’s awareness isn’t expanded upon, the arisen emotions become frozen and they control you; they become the master and you the slave. The frozen emotions is what causes one to react to life in the way that they do. Nothing from the outside truly controls you regardless of the injustice, either real or made up. It’s the frozen emotions attaching to what happens that causes one to behave in a certain manner. When one awakens, the attachment to emotions lessens and their control lessens. My mom is 84, when she dies to say I will feel no emotions is ludicrous, but I don’t have to freeze them and turn it into the suffering of grieving. Same thing if something is done that makes you mad, feel being mad, but let being mads energy to keep flowing, don’t attach to it and freeze it so anger arises, this way you remain in the flow of life.

This is how it is with all our emotions, fear becomes crippling when it becomes frozen and it takes you over. It’s doesn’t mean things won’t scare you, but it’s doesn’t have to be given the energy that turns it into fear. This applies to any emotion you become attached to, it freezes the associated emotion and there’s no telling what behavior will arise. I guarantee you, it’s not going to be a behavior that has love flowing as its base. Emotions will arise, it’s the way the brain seems to be wired, but our energy doesn’t have to give them more power than they are worth. We can cry our tears, or be fearful of the future. We can dislike that things aren’t going the way we think they should be, but the bottom line is, it’s only when the emotions get frozen that they are given the energy to stop the flow of truly living life and not cause not only our own suffering, but the suffering of all beings.

Taking the Hook

What the unawareness of an unconscious hook does is it keeps the exact energy that one is standing up against in place, and in the process it doesn’t really change a damn thing.

The hooks of life are in place to grab you and pull you deeper into an unconscious state. Not many break free once the hook is set, but if you know the hook (generated from your own mind) is there, it’s less likely that it will grab you; not being aware of the hooks is why one gets caught by it. Not many investigate where the hooks are so they are set unconsciously, and by the time it’s noticed, it’s usually to late and you become a prisoner to the hook. This has been going on since humanity began, today’s world is just as insane as thousands of years ago, there’s just more news coverage and social media to spread the insanity and make no mistake that’s what’s being done. This cause, that cause, I don’t like this or that, all the unconscious energy being put out, I have been unfriended by some because they have chosen not to look at this. The insanity in place cannot be seen by the one who is insane; strong language, but true.

Get hooked into the story of the injustices that appear to be going on, but understand this is nothing new, it has been and will continue to occur because of the energy being put out by all. This isn’t to say that the injustices aren’t there, but taking a stand against them feeds them with energy to allow them to continue. If you don’t think this is true, what has changed in the last two months or even the last two thousand years in the way humanity reacts to things? This article isn’t about the last two months because this energy has been in place for many many years. This is what the unawareness of an unconscious hook does, it keeps the exact energy that one is standing up against in place and in the process although this energy makes one think they have to stand up for what they believe, it doesn’t change a damn thing.

Entangled in Thought

When there’s a need to reach for something to provide peace, one is entangled in this thought, and until this is understood, one will remain entangled in the thought that peace is in the next thing reached for.

One will never find the peace they are seeking if they are entangled in the thoughts of finding peace. Peace is something that’s already within each one of us, but because of the way our minds are wired, we get entangled in our thoughts that it’s something to find. Unfortunately this entanglement makes the very thing we are seeking (peace) elusive. This entanglement is the reason one is constantly reaching for something from the outside and until this is understood, one will remain entangled to the thoughts that peace is in the next thing reached for. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, success, programs, therapy, self help books and on and on, this reaching is proof that one is entangled. Can you see this? I can’t stress this enough as this entanglement to your thoughts has to be seen if one is to truly experience peace in their life.

No one thinks their way to peace, but what does have to happen if one is to ever find peace, there has to be an understanding of why you’re not at peace. The proof that you are not at peace is in your inability to just be. When the need to reach for something arises, the entanglement begins. This entanglement is a vicious cycle that’s very difficult to break free from. Peace isn’t something attained or achieved so it’s in doing less that peace arises. To many people get lost (entangled) in trying to find peace, but since it’s something that’s already within you, the entangled thoughts about finding it need to be discarded so you can see. I don’t make light that this is easy to see, but I do offer my assistance in any way that I can. Understand though, this isn’t offered to help you find peace, it’s offered so you may possibly uncover the reason why you’re not at peace.

Disciplined Living

Ever so slowly the Conditioned Mind relinquishes control if discipline is developed and it’s this discipline that allows one to be with life as it’s actually happening.

It’s difficult to just do what’s in front of you because the mind constantly wants to do something else and this is the dilemma most people face. It has nothing to do with nothing, but it has everything to do with everything. Through developing certain disciplines this constant looking for something else can be tamed. Ever so slowly the Conditioned Mind will relinquish its control if discipline is developed. My writings may open some eyes, but it’s the developing of discipline that allows the mind to settle which will lead to lasting insights that are used to enhance one’s life.

Most people have tools in place that have nothing to do with developing discipline or enhancing life. The tools in place actually reinforce their conditioning which keeps them entrapped in a self created prison; with the prison being a mind that’s everywhere but the only place that truly exist, and that is what’s in front of you right now. If your not with what’s in front of you, then you cannot truly live life to the fullest. Of course there’s existence because one is alive, but being alive doesn’t equate to one living life to the fullest. Only being with life as it’s happening will ensure this and only with discipline will the mind settle enough for this to occur.

Conditioned Clinging

Whatever you cling to becomes your prison, if you don’t stop clinging and create some space to make room in your heart for love, you are the one who will suffer the most.

The choice to cling is the choice to suffer, the problem with this is there really isn’t a choice because of the way one’s Conditioned Mind is in control, so one’s suffering is inevitable because of the conditioned clinging in place. If this is to change you will have to make room in your heart so the clinging is replaced by first stillness and then love. There’s no way around this, cling to whatever the flavor of the day, week, month, or year is, just understand when that clinging passes something else will have to replace it. Today it’s our president, tomorrow it’s a co worker, or something else and the next day and the next and so on, ad infinitum. This will never change until there is space created in the heart that makes room for love and if you cling to one individual and bemoan them, then you don’t truly have the space for a loving heart. This is strong language, but it’s true.

True love can only be without one iota of conditioning. This is a truth the Conditioned Mind doesn’t allow to be seen. I can say I have love for all humanity, what I don’t love is humanity’s conditioning, but I understand it and my responsibility is to not be a part of it. To cling is to suffer regardless of who or what one clings to because it becomes your prison and until this is understood you become the very thing that you show disdain towards. This is part of the law of attraction, you cannot be separate from the energy that comes from you. Think about it, how can you? I implore you to stop clinging and make room in your heart for love because if you don’t, you are the one who will suffer the most.

No Shortcut to Awakening

Hold on to all the beliefs, march, protest, whine, judge and slander in the name of righteousness, just know this energy is unloving and it makes the road to waking up that much more difficult to access.

There are no shortcuts to waking up for the sleep of unconsciousness. You cannot think your way to consciousness or happiness, but for some reason you can think your way to misery and all one needs to do is look around and see this truth. It will take what it takes for ever how long that is to wake up, and that may be many lifetimes. My experience of the shift of my view that took place, was and is a happening not a doing, it’s the transformation of energy from an “I” view to one of quietness. I may do certain things now that I understand this that puts me in alignment with this quietness energy, but the transformation remains a happening not a doing. To me this goes for Buddha, Jesus, and anyone else who has ever awakened, it’s something that’s bestowed upon a person, it’s not something that is chosen.

Many get stuck because an awakening is thought to be a doing and because of this most people remain stuck in “I” which is form. Until it’s understood “form is emptiness, emptiness is form “l” remains in control as it keeps trying to do. This is not what I think, this is what’s going on right now in my life and has been for the last nine years; prior to that I was totally unconscious for forty nine years. Hold on to all the beliefs, march if that is what you think needs to be done, judge and slander in the name of righteousness, just know this energy is unloving and makes the road to waking up that much more difficult to access. Remember the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Is Suffering Necessary

In the present moment suffering doesn’t exist, this isn’t because unpleasant things don’t happen, suffering doesn’t exist because there just isn’t a need to label it as so.

Is Suffering Necessary? The answer to this question has nothing to do with what happens in your life, it has to do with attaching to what happens. There will be many unpleasant things that occur in life, but they’re considered unpleasant only because that’s how they’re labeled and this is where the suffering arises from. This labeling process is at our core, but without it the creation that there’s a you who doesn’t like what’s happening would never arise. Also without the unpleasant attached label, one wouldn’t need for things to be different so there wouldn’t be a need to try and make things pleasant; after all trying to make life pleasant is how life is mostly lived. Always wanting life pleasant is why so many are in a state of discontentment, it has nothing to do with what’s going on out there, it has everything to do what’s going on inside. Nothing can cause discontentment unless it’s allowed and it’s only allowed because it’s not known how not to allow it.

The question, is suffering necessary will be answered by most without investigating it. Because of the conditioning in place most people will just go with what society and the so called experts have to say. To much is taken on the whim without looking to see the underlying truth and this is why the world is in a state of confusion. The disdain you have for something or someone is the disdain you have for yourself, without a settled mind this will not be seen so the suffering energy will continue to be the controlling energy in place. Disdain breeds disdain, always and suffering leads to suffering, always. To me suffering isn’t necessary, and in the present moment I have found it doesn’t exist, not because unpleasant things don’t happen, but because they just aren’t labeled as so.

A River's Journey

Never miss an opportunity to see the beauty around you. Learn to enjoy the ride because one day as with any journey it will end and when it’s all said and done all you want to be able to say is, what a ride!

Life can be compared to taking a trip down a river, even though there’s one river there are different parts of the journey; the beginning, the middle, and the end. At the very beginning there’s getting a feel for the river, but even before beginning the trip one should know if there has been some previous rain or not and how much to understand what the conditions will be like and also the weather and where the end is. I equate this to getting to know your own mind, the more this is understood the less surprises there will be. When the journey begins, it’s usually very calm as one just floats along with the current, kind of like just being along for the ride. As the journey continues there are obstacle in place that will need to be avoided, if they’re not it can damage or even flip the raft (self sabotage).

There will be times when there’s not much paddling because it’s calm and there will be other times when there are rapids and one needs to row and steer or possibly get sucked up by the river, life also does this as there are times when life is seen as a burden. The other thing that needs to be done is to notice the beauty all around you, it’s a very big part of journey, you don’t want to get all caught up in the rowing and destination and not see what’s around you. Never miss an opportunity to see the beauty around you. Learn to enjoy the ride because one day as with any journey it will end and when it’s all said and done, all you want to be able to say is, what a ride!

Shifting Truth

The shift that occurs in an awakening is an opening of the heart which allows the truth within to surface. When this occurs where there was once blindness one will now see.

People think they change when they learn something new, but the essence of what is truly happening is there’s a discovery of what has always been there. It’s not really a change that occurs, it’s a shift from delusional thinking with the shift being an understanding of the true nature of life; starting with your own mind. You cannot know truth if you do not know yourself, and you cannot know yourself if you do not know your own mind. This reason why it’s so difficult for the heart to open so you can live differently is because the mind will not settle down without a struggle and it will tell you to do just enough to get by in life, as long as it’s pleasurable or it will tell you not to do anything because you are okay as you are.

Self investigation is not pleasurable especially when it’s first started and that’s why many are hesitant to do it. It’s much easier and pleasurable not to investigate and do what is familiar, but there are only benefits when an honest self appraisal is done. A step into the unfamiliar will need to be taken so you can get to know the truth of who you are.

The mind defaults naturally to what’s familiar because it’s what’s on the surface, but an honest self appraisal allows for truth to be revealed and rise to the surface, this way truth becomes what is familiar. When truth is what’s on the surface, what happens is the veil of ignorance is removed and where you were once blind you can now see. It’s not a change, it’s a shift that allows truth to be revealed because you are only seeing what has always been there.

Past Energy Consequences

Life itself is only a consequence of the energy that’s attached to, so stop attaching to past energy patterns and watch life naturally become different as its energy is transformed.

Regardless of what was done in the past it only affects you if you give it energy now. It’s not happening now so the past itself has no controlling energy, what does give it control is focusing on it. Nothing should ever be denied that was done, but nothing that was done should ever be held onto. This isn’t to absolve one of the responsibility of acting in an unloving manner, but the judgement of others can’t do you the harm that you do to yourself. The consequences of your actions are the result of your own energy. I need not judge you as being unloving for you to be ruled by the consequences of being unloving.

If there is discontent in your life it’s because of discontented energy. It’s impossible to be in a state of discontentment without discontent energy. If it’s truly investigated why this energy is in place, it will be seen 99.9999% of the time it will have to do with carrying a past energy pattern into the present. Once the past energy pattern is attached to and brought into the present, it’s very difficult for it to go away, it usually has to run its course, but it doesn’t have to ever be attached to if it can be noticed beforehand; this is key if there is to be change. Life itself is only a consequence of the energy that’s attached to, so stop attaching to past energy patterns and watch life naturally become different as its energy is transformed. One will never just change their life on their own, how it changes and how its consequences become different is by not attaching to past energy patterns and just focusing on what’s in front of you right now.

No Escaping From Yourself

You can’t escape from your own energy output because it comes from within you so there’s no where for you or it to go. Love and you will be love because that’s the energy within you.

Simply put, the energy you put out is the energy you will live by. This is a Universal Law that has to occur. It’s no different than pressing down on the gas pedal in your car, the car will go faster, it has to, there’s no way around it. Disperse the energy of hate and that’s the energy you’ll embrace, whether you want to or not. It will take you over, it’s the law of how energy works. Do you think you can show hate to someone and love another? That’s not happening, it can’t, as stated before, the more you press down on the gas pedal, the faster the car will go. If you truly want a loving heart, learning to love all beings is a necessity. This simple but profound law isn’t really understood by many people, how do I know this, all one needs to do is look around. The energy you put out is your own energy and it engulfs you. Nothing I do mean nothing, from the outside causes any emotion to arise, you may think it does, but that’s only because you don’t understand your own mind and how energy works.

It’s really unfortunate because it’s not understood how any energy except love causes your own suffering. Although unloving energy may effect all of humanity to a degree, the effect it has on you is where most of the harm is. You can’t escape from your own energy output because it comes from you so there’s no where for you or it to go. This is why acting in unloving ways constantly repeats itself because you can only be the energy that you are and until there is awareness of this, it will be the focal point of your actions. Love and you will be love or not and that’s the energy you will be because it’s the energy that’s within you.

Selfishly Attracted

Awareness is key in breaking free from the grip of the attractions of the Conditioned Mind, and the only reason the grip is even so is because of the selfish nature of what’s at the core of these attraction.

The mind would never become agitated if one didn’t want the present moment to be different and what is wanted different is decided by your own mind looking for something that’s going to provide a form of pleasure in this moment. This is where awareness to what one is attracted to helps. Without this awareness the agitation is never seen, and one succumbs to it because they have to. There’s no choice in this without awareness and even then the draw is is so powerful it most likely will not be overcome. Awareness of what one is attracted to is key in breaking free from the grip of the Conditioned Mind, the only reason the grip is even so is because of the selfish nature of what’s at the core of these attraction. It’s the reason why one wants something different and reaches for money, greed, porn, gambling, drugs, alcohol, programs, and even God to name a just a few of the things used to fulfill this mind agitation.

When using the body for present moment awareness the attractions aren’t as powerful and although they will still be there because you’re alive, they won’t have as much control over you as they do now. You may say the mind agitations aren’t in control of you, but just by saying that they are and this is because if the mind wasn’t agitated, there wouldn’t be any response. This is how you can tell if the mind is agitated, it will respond to things without much giving it much thought. When the mind isn’t agitated, there will be space between what arises and the response to it. The space is the result of developing discipline and fully being in the present moment. Without this discipline one will remain a slave to their mind agitations and be selfishly attracted to things that don’t allow for the space to be free.

Limiting Conditioning

Because of the way the mind becomes conditioned, your own mind keeps your view narrow and limited. If at some point the mind doesn’t settle, the narrow and limited view remains intact and nothing new arises.

If you only see through the view of the conditioning in place, a new view will not be allowed; this doesn’t allow the mind to expand beyond its own created conditioned limits. It will take much investigation to see beyond one’s conditioned view because the conditioning itself is what keeps your view narrow and limited. If this isn’t understood it won’t be seen and if it’s not seen, there’s no way to go beyond your own created limits. Faith, hope, and forgiveness are always topics that stir up the mind and a lot of controversy because their concepts have been so deeply embedded into the subconscious. One becomes conditioned by these concepts and until your own mind is understood, going beyond not only these conditioned concepts, but any concept for that matter will be virtually impossible.

There is so much being held onto without really looking into if it’s truly beneficial to your life. If you have a thought that is held onto, I guarantee you it’s not beneficial, you may say how can I say that I don’t know you, but I don’t have to know you directly because I know me and as long as I know me, I know you. I may not know what specific conditioning has you in its grip, but it doesn’t matter because the nature of the conditioning is all the same and that’s what needs to be understood.

You can only do what’s in front of you to the best of the conditioning that’s in place, but if you want to go beyond it, take a look and see if it unites or separates. Unity puts one in harmony with everything when whatever is in front of you is accepted. Separation puts you in conflict with everything when what’s in front of you is wanted to be different, this causes the mind to be agitated. These are two vastly different views, one binds and one frees. Although it may seem obvious which one does what, it will truly have to be investigated if one is to see how exactly each of these manifest in your life. Life can never be anything but what’s in front of you and although things may not always be they way that they’re wanted, until the old view is let go of, a new view will not be allowed.

Seeds of Humanity

There is way to much thought on the individual level for unity to be a reality. Most people have an agenda and it’s usually attached to satisfying themselves in some way and until this is seen, not much will change.

Humanity can be looked at as if we are all seeds which we are when we are in the womb, but I like to look at it as if humanity is the container and we are all in the container with the same potential. Moving from this container and being planted is how life becomes different for each of us. Even if you’re planted right next to another seed the results of how you grow will probably be different. Remember a name is only given to each seed for identification purposes, we don’t go around giving names to the animals or birds we see. There’s no individual who truly exist, we are all part of the collective container (humanity). There’s no real Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, no real you or me, no Muslims of Christians, no individual in the way that they’re seen. There’s conditioning which makes an individual seem real, but as far as humanity is concerned, we are all just seeds from the same container.

Just as with any seed, there are many factors that determine the results of how they grow, some will produce fruit (love) and some will not, but all seeds are from the same container of humanity. This needs to be realized if we are to grow as a species. We haven’t really progressed much since existence began. We may have advanced intellectually, but spiritually not so much. There is still way to much thought on the individual level for unity to be a reality. Most people have an agenda and it’s usually attached to satisfying themselves in some way, and until this is seen even though we are all from the same container, not much will change.

The Pull of the Past

The energy of the past has so much pull because of the way the Conditioned Mind uses past experiences to process life from and until this is realized the present moment will basically be out of reach.

Here’s the reason the present moment has so much value and why it’s so difficult to grasp. However old you may be, if you aren’t living in the present moment, you are pulling from all your past experiences or you are using the future where nothing truly exist. In my case as far the past is concerned, that’s fifty eight years of the past, it’s no wonder the mind has a difficult time settling, there’s just so much information for it to process and it’s added to every moment of every day. Then there’s the future and although this dynamic is different than the past, things are still used from the past to process the future, case in point is the way the mind uses its reaching mechanism. Most of why something is reached for is to change the way one wants to feel now and also how one wants to feel in the future. For me there are fifty eight years of Conditioned Mind Patterns in place to use, this is why when a person stops using one thing, another thing is substituted for it.

People only gain weight when they stop reaching for and using cigarettes because they turn their attention to reaching for and using food in response to a mind agitation. When the mind settles and more time is spent in the present moment, the reaching for whatever is being used is lessened and so are the substitutions, hence there’s less weight gain. The older a person is, the more engrained their conditioning is, its been proven those who start a sitting practice at an early age have much more stability in their life than someone who doesn’t; to me it makes sense because they don’t have all that past pulling at them. Don’t make this anymore complicated than it needs to be. Live in the present moment where life truly exist, or live in the past and future where the only thing that exist is past and future grasping, decided by a mind thats been conditioned to do so.

Shaping Your Heart

When you judge it’s unloving, it has to be as it’s the nature of judging. It matters little how it’s justified and for what reason the judging is done, all judgement separates as it arises from unloving energy.

What’s done is done and for the most part it can’t be undone, but the cause of what’s done can be changed so it’s not repeated, especially when what’s done is unloving. How this change takes place is by the shaping of one’s heart so what’s done comes from a place of love more often than not. If this shaping isn’t a constant in one’s life, a lot of what’s done will be from an unloving place of the Conditioned Mind. It may not be an intentional act that produces results that cause a glaring hurt, but a simple act of talking about someone behind their back is also unloving. Don’t judge another if you can’t cast the first stone and that’s all unloving behavior is; a judgement. Conditioned Mind judgements are formed unconsciously just because of all the energy one is exposed to, its why a shaping of the heart is needed. Although it has been my experience that the shaping of the heart is more of a not doing than it is a doing.

As I have become more aware of the self centered I that was in place for so many years of my life, this awareness has resulted in an ever so slowly transformation of energy from unloving (all about me) energy to loving energy. There’s really nothing to do to become more loving because it will then be the story of love instead of being genuine and natural. In the space of stillness where one’s thoughts aren’t in control, the shaping of the heart takes place as one’s innate goodness arises. There’s no judgement here. When you judge it’s unloving, it has to be, it’s the nature of judging. I don’t care how it’s justified and for what cause, any judgement arises from unloving energy. Judge not for you shall not be judged and if you are and your heart is shaped to love, it won’t really matter.

Here and Now Tools

We use tools we think will provide us with things that are beneficial to our life, but my experience has been if they don’t allow you to keep your head where your feet are, they’ll be tools that don’t really provide the benefits being sought.

Finding the tools that provide the most benefits in your life seems as though it can take a lifetime of searching and this is because one already possesses that which is being sought. Because this isn’t realized the search has to continue as the mind always makes up the excuse it needs closure. It doesn’t like loose ends and it has difficulty just letting things happen without making it into a story. Every story has an ending, this is why the mind uses the tool of stories, so it can always make sense of things. This is one of the reasons I Am is such a powerful tool because it’s incomplete; if one can be with I Am and not have the need to add anything to it, it would mean the mind is settling somewhat.

As long as you have a tool in place that makes you think something from the outside is needed, your inner peace will never be stable because it will always be directed by the ever changing world of what’s going on out there. No tool using out there will provide the inner peace that is searched for because of the constant change in what happens out there. Hold onto any religious figure, program, method, or anything for that matter and see how the hold is all the same. Granted the consequences will be different depending on what’s held onto, but the bondage of the hold is all the same. Only the tools that allow one to live in the Here and Now are truly beneficial, because the Here and Now is the only place that exist. You can use any tool you think will provide you with the benefits needed to live a bondage free life, but my experience has been if it doesn’t allow you to keep your head where your feet are, it will be a tool that doesn’t really provide the benefits that are being sought.

A Limited Perspective

No perspective is wrong, but if you only have one, it limits your view of life and in the process it doesn’t allow any other results except those from that one perspective.

Changing perspectives is what makes life different, but it doesn’t make what happens in life different, it only makes the view of what happens different. If you’re locked into a certain perspective, this only allows one view of the way things are and to me the more that perspective is based in the intellect, the harder it will be for there to be a shift in perspective to see things from another view. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with the intellect, it just doesn’t allow for much openness. When one sees things from a view of only one perspective, it limits their entire life to that one view. Most times this view isn’t even one’s own, it’s formed from someone else’s opinion, teaching, book, video, or discussion.

To be fixated on one perspective keeps you entrapped to the results of only that perspective, think about how limiting that is. No possibility of other views, always going down the same path, never allowing anything new, this is so limiting, but with only seeing things through one perspective how limiting this is will not be seen. Sitting and developing discipline so the minds grip lessens can assist in possibly altering a one perspective mind set, but there has to an inkling there’s another way to see things. It’s not that your way is wrong, it’s just that having only one perspective limits your view of life and in the process it doesn’t allow any other results except those from the one perspective.

The Stages of Life

The difference between learning from each stage of life and living it to its highest quality or being stuck in a stage where life is the same old same old, is breaking free from the lie of “I” or remaining its prisoner.

It seems as though life happens in stages, at least this has been my experience and one will have to go through these different stages if you’re not to get stuck in the one that’s in place. Not everyone goes beyond a stage that’s in place, some remain stuck for years, even a life time. Although to a point, the stages themselves happen naturally, learning and going to the next stage does not; the quality of one’s life will be determined by what is learned in a previous and current stage. Life is something that happens on its own, but there is a certain responsibility one has in making it of the highest quality. A simple example of this would be when you were at the stage of your life when it was time to read, if you didn’t take responsibility to learn this, to say that life would be difficult today would be an understatement, so at this stage of your life, you did what was necessary to make it of a higher quality.

As I’ve grown up over the years, I’ve noticed there were many stages in my life, but not all provided the highest quality of living because of the things I did which didn’t allow it. The stages of life will come, but what’s being learned is where maturity comes from. To me the biggest lesson was learning to expose the lie of “I” because that’s what I found was the biggest hurdle in living the highest quality of life possible. It’s not that I’m now all about helping others, but what I learned was, life is just not all about me and what I think and therein lies the difference between learning from each stage, moving forward, and being able to live life to its highest quality or being stuck in a stage where life is the same old same old.

A Background Perspective

If you can develop some awareness of inner stillness, the background perspective will have less control as your mind agitations subside and without these agitations, one will never have a need to reach for anything.

If you’re always seeing life from the perspective of what objects the eyes see, those objects will be judged accordingly and what’s going on in the background to form those judgments will not be noticed. Although with an object minded perspective life still goes on, it’s very limited almost to the point of being purely superficial; I say this because it’s how I lived for forty nine years and it caused my life to be a constant struggle. The constant struggle was self created and controlled by the background perspective, although this wasn’t understood at the time. An object perspective life is one where there is constant reaching and the reaching is caused by the background mind agitations which aren’t seen. This is why someone will reach for anything without giving it much thought regardless if it’s beneficial or not. In that moment the Conditioned Mind deems it beneficial, but this is a big fat lie.

The background perspective will only be noticed when the busy mind stops its incessant busyness. One will have to be able to just be for the busyness to subside; you will not see the essence of the forest from the trees if the mind is to busy being focused on the trees. This object perspective is strictly mind based, hence the reason it’s not conducive to one’s well being is it’s unstable, as there are so many objects to see, one right after another. This is why the big fat lie is in the forefront of most lives and stillness takes a back seat. If you can develop some awareness of inner stillness, less and less the background perspective will be in control because the mind agitations will subside. It will be at this point that the need to reach for something will be no more as it’s probably the first time in your life that this has happened.

Upside Down Thinking

Accepting everything as it is seems like a very tall order, but the alternative is to not accept it and look at things from an upside down view (wanting things different) and in the process cause your own suffering.

Nothing stays the same so it’s not the changes that occur in life that throws one for a loop, it’s the upside down thinking that things will always be a certain way, this is what makes changes much more difficult to deal with. If everything could be accepted as it is, one would never be thrown for a loop because the upside down thinking that tells you things should remain as they are wouldn’t occur. Accepting everything as it is seems like a very tall order, but the alternative is to not accept it and look at things from an upside down view and in the process cause your own suffering.

For one to get beyond their upside down thinking, it has to be understood that it’s your own mind that’s causing it. Life is what’s seen through the way it’s created and its created through how it’s viewed. Why a view is considered upside down is because of how rigid the mindset is when changes occur and it isn’t accepted. This rigidness keeps the mind closed to the conditioning that sees things as upside down; if this conditioning isn’t changed nor will the upside down thinking change. It’s not that right side up thinking needs to be implemented, all that’s needed is to be aware of the upside down thinking. Awareness is key in change because it allows for acceptance and when the world can be accepted as it is, good, bad, or indifferent, then just maybe one can think in a way that’s right side up.

The Initial Nudge

An awakening can be likened to a ball on a hill, nothing else is needed than the initial nudge to get it rolling, and it will just keep on building momentum until something gets in the way to stop it.

Once a ball is placed at the top of a hill and it’s nudged ever so slightly, it naturally begins rolling in the only direction it can go and its momentum builds without one ounce of doing. It does take some effort in the beginning to get it going, but not much more than a little nudge. It’s this way when one wakes up from the sleep of unconsciousness. There’s not much that needs to be done for one’s awakening to expand, as a matter of fact most people don’t wake up fully because of trying to hard. If you are awake the nudge has already occurred, so all effort is now futile. So many books, programs, videos, and whatnot and although they make one knowledgeable, none of it makes one anymore awake than the initial nudge.

This is one of the reasons I emphasis using the body as an anchor in the awakening process, because it doesn’t take effort, it only takes being with what is actually here, which is the present moment. All kinds of stories can be made up about what needs to be done, but it doesn’t expand the initial nudge one bit. Either you are awake in the quietness of the present moment or you are asleep in the noise of somewhere else, the initial nudge reveals this truth. And as with the ball, nothing else is needed than the initial nudge to get it rolling, and it will just keep on building momentum until something gets in the way to stop it.

On the Right Track

Many think they’re on a track that leads to where they want to go, but upon further investigation, if you’re always looking (reaching) for a different train, the fault lies in the chosen train not being on the right track.

A train uses tracks to get from one place to another. Let’s say you’re taking a train from New Jersey to New York, if you get on a train that is using tracks other than the ones that are leading to NY, you will not get to where you want to go. It’s not the trains fault, it can only go on the tracks that it’s placed on and it’s not the tracks fault because they can only take you in the direction that they’re designed to go. You cannot get to Maine on a train slated with tracks that go to Vermont. It’s imperative to get on a train that has its tracks going to where you want to go, this makes the most sense and is the most beneficial to you. But if this is compared to the path of most lives, why is it that so many get on a train that has tracks that lead to somewhere other than where one truly wants to go? If this wasn’t true one would never have a need to check to see if they were on the right train.

I have been to Grand Central Station in NY many times and it takes patience and understanding to get on the right train. If I just hop on a random train, I am leaving me getting to where I want to go to chance. If I’m lucky, I may get to my destination, but not without much wasted energy and fanfare. There are many books, seers, methods, and whatnot that can be described as the trains we get on (use), but the main thing to see is where their tracks lead. Many tracks don’t lead to what one is truly looking for. One gets on many so called wrong trains and they’re only wrong because of where their tracks lead, so if you want to get to where you truly want to be, don’t just get on any train, investigate and get on the train whose tracks lead you to the place where you are truly free and that is where you should want to be.

Pain and Fear

“I” likes to make mountains out of molehills through attachment and although pain and fear are things that may arises, they don’t have to be given the energy “I” wants to give them and the only reason “I” does this is so it exist.

Pain is nothing more than a message that arises to tell you something, it’s not something to fear, but it will be feared if it’s not understood and this is because of the conventional relation pain has to “I”. Pain itself has no fearing quality inherently, it’s just a word, but when “I” attaches to it, it’s given energy and thus it’s given life. This isn’t to say painful things will not occur in life without attachment, but only the relation to “I” causes issue because of the story ” I hurt” or “I fear” or whatever story one attaches to. Fear only exist as a story created by “I” and when one truly learns this, attachment is lessened and so is the associated pain and fear. Be with the pain, but but don’t the fear of it be in control.

When the mind settles, pain is seen as something that just arises. All pain whether physical or emotional is temporary, but the mind that fears it becomes entrapped to see it as lasting forever. When this occurs pain becomes one’s master puppeteer. Attachment to “I” may not seem to be the cause what is painful, but it cements it in place and gives it control, this is how “I” works. “I” makes mountains out of molehills through attachment and although the pain may be there, it doesn’t have to be given the energy that “I” wants to give it, and the only reason “I” does this is to exist. Without “I” there’s no one there to attach and without attachment there’s nothing to fear, but fear itself.

Present Moment Love

When the body is used as an anchor to remain present, you begin living your life in the only place it exist; where your feet are. In this space one finds true love, but this isn’t a story of love, it’s the love of the present moment where nothing else exist.

There is no reason whatsoever that a person has to suffer in any way today because there is enough info available to prevent it, but this is a truth that one must find for themselves. No book, video, guru, religion, self proclaimed enlightened teacher, program: 12 step or otherwise, or anything else can show you truth, they can only point the way and that’s it. I know today what I’ve always known and although I’ve been pointed in the same direction for years, it’s message did not click with me until I was ready to see it nine years ago. It may not always be understood why I do what I do or say what I say, but if you knew what I knew, you would do what I do.

I see much needless suffering in the world around me (and I say it’s needless) and that’s even with those who proclaim they’re awake. It doesn’t take much to know whether one is truly awake, all that needs to be seen is where one’s attachments are and suffering will not be far behind. If you want to stop suffering, stop using the mind and learn to use the body. The body is always in the present moment, it is why the breath is used in meditation, you can’t take a past or future breath, you can only breathe now. When the body is used as an anchor to remain present, the mind made suffering loses it control, and lo and behold you begin living your life in the only place it exist; where your feet are. In this space one finds true love, but this isn’t a story of love, it’s the love of the present moment where nothing else exist.

A Storied Version of Truth

In the present moment storied versions of truth cease to exist because there’s no need to create them and without a storied version of truth, there’s no deciphering what is actually true.

Your story isn’t necessarily true, it’s true in the sense that it’s your version of your story, but deciphering if the content of your story is true is difficult. This is so because you are the creator of your story and they’re believed wholeheartedly. This is what directs your energy and how one’s life is lived. The thing to also investigate is how many stories there are. There’s the parents story, the childhood one, the teen and young adult story. There’s the boy meets girl story, the get married story. The work story, family story, and on and on. There are so many stories and only one you, so which story are you? If you say all of them you should be able to sense why it’s so difficult to see the true version. There’s the true version in there somewhere, but that’s probably the only story not written yet. When that one is written all the others will fall away.

So how would a person know which one of their stories were true? My experience has been I know which one is true because there isn’t a need to create the others. You see, the true story arises, it’s not created, it basically is what’s there in the present moment. This is the value of using the body as an anchor for present moment living. The body doesn’t create stories, only the mind does, so when the body is used to be present no story is needed. This is beautiful in its simplicity. Grasp this and most stories will cease to exist because the need to create them won’t arise and without a storied version of truth there’s no deciphering what is actually true.

Understanding Your Own Mind

Being intelligent doesn’t make you wise. Wisdom is something that occurs naturally as one learns to understand their own mind. With this understanding, wisdom arises and goes beyond the intelligence of what one thinks.

Until you truly understand your own mind, not much will ever be different in your life. This won’t be because you don’t want it to be, it will be because in order for things to be different, it has to be understood why they are as they are. Waking up is not something that one makes happen, it’s something that occurs, and how you will know that it has occurred is by the awareness you have that your mind was based to self serve and now it’s based in stillness. Very simple to see this once it occurs, very difficult to see it if it doesn’t. The key to one’s continued expansion is to know the true nature of your own mind.

One day it was revealed to me that at the core of all my issues was my own mind and nothing was ever going to be different in my life if there wasn’t an understanding of this. I had to understand why I had to always be busy before I could be still; before stillness was experienced in my life I had to find out why there wasn’t any. Stillness doesn’t have to be attained for one to acquire it, all that’s needed is to be aware of why it’s not there. Once this occurs than a starting point can be established and the process of naturally expanding one’s mind begins, but for this to occur it needs to be understood.

When it’s said the world needs to different, it should be understood why it’s the way it is. If a problem arises find out why the problem arose in the first place and therein lies the answer. Things will always be the way that they are and the only way they’ll ever be different is when one understands why they are as they are. Once this is known than what needs to be different already is because of the understanding of one’s own mind.

Guided by Love

There’s no suffering in the space of love because true love has no attachment, so being aware of one’s “I” attachment and not holding onto it allows love to be the guiding force of one’s life.

The struggle one has with life is strictly mind based and it’s because there’s no structure to the mind. Life being mind based is equivalent to building a house on sand and we all know what happens when the first storm comes. Way to often mind based information is held onto which actually keeps one entrapped to the mind. I know how deeply engrained the conditioning is and I know sometimes I may come on strong, but it’s only because something is seen and it simply can’t be ignore it.

There are basically two primary forces that guide the direction of the mind. One is of suffering, the other is of non suffering and these forces manifest in many way. The core of suffering is attachment to “I” (selfishness), this force manifest as greed, envy, anger, pride, desire, doubt, restlessness, regret and so on. You can see how these will cause suffering, so if this is the direction of your mind, you will suffer. The other force is love, which manifest as kindness, generosity, compassion, empathy, understanding, stillness, and so on. I’m sure you can see how these will not cause suffering. Make no mistake though, one will still encounter the possibility of suffering even with the direction of love because of how engrained the conditioning is, but if attachment to “I” isn’t in place, the suffering force won’t be in place. That’s the key, being aware of one’s “I” attachment and not holding onto it, because without it the force that guides the direction of your life will be from love and there’s no suffering in this space because true love has no attachment.

A New Beginning-Happy 2017

Today there’s a change in the year, but this day is like every other day as each one should be treated as if it’s a new beginning. Life is precious and every moment alive is a gift, not because of what one has, but because one day life in this form will not be so.

Happy New Year to all my family and friends who supported me throughout the year and may 2017 be a reflection of the love that has been shown to me by others and the entire Universe. Whether people agree with me or not, I will stay the course for 2017 by continuing to send as much love into the world as possible and by doing my part in assisting others in the process of awakening so more souls turn to love in 2017. It will be in our unity of love that 2017 will be a prosperous year for our entire Universe.

Take control of life by learning to discipline an undisciplined mind and you won’t have to rely on wishing for 2017 to be a great year. It will be a great year if each day it’s decided that’s how it will be. If you want to rely on the chance of circumstances being a certain way to consider life as great that’s up to you, but life will always be what it is and what one does with it is the choice to be made, but choose wisely because this choice will determine your life. Happy 2017 and may your life be a blessing to all beings.