Remembering Who You Are

Anything from the outside needs a story to exist and this is regardless of what it is; the outside reaching just doesn't allow you to remember who you truly are.

The only reason there's ever a struggle with life is because of not remembering who you are. It's so very easy to get caught up in the outside realm of life which makes looking inward secondary. When this happens you lose any sense of who you are because your primary view is based outside yourself and it's delusional because everything outside is impermanent. Inward is eternity, not because of the story of eternity, but because there isn't any label attached to what is experienced inward. Anything from the outside needs a story to exist and this is regardless of what it is; the outside reaching just doesn't allow you to remember who you truly are. The Bible states to "Be still" this can only occur from the inside out. Why most people forget who they are is because they're trying to be still (outside) instead of just being still.

The main difference in what I see (who I am) as opposed to most is there's no story needed to be who I am. There's nothing to manifest, nor does anything need to be different so for the most part there's a steady stream of peace in my life. Imagine if you will that you live every moment of everyday as it is without needing it different, and imagining it is as far as you will get, that is until it is seen that in not wanting or needing anything different is the only true place of remembering who you are. You can make up any story you want of who you are, but that doesn't make it true, so stop trying to do and "Be still" and you just might remember who you truly are and it won't be because of the need to apply a label or story.

Tools Determine Life

Life doesn't determine life, the tools developed determine life and not a damn thing can be done to change the way you do things until the tools that drive your way of thinking change.

Life doesn't determine life, the tools one has developed to respond to each moment is what determines life. If you are seeking for life to be different, that may or may not necessarily happen. Nor does it have to happen, but how life is viewed can become different if the tools in place are changed. If you are reading this it's probably because the tools you have developed over the course of your life aren't giving you the expected (satisfying) results. The only way this will change is by developing new tools. The mind becomes unconsciously conditioned because of the influences it's exposed to and until this is realized, the unconscious conditioning remains in control. 

The tools in place are what drives a person to do what they do. Liberals are liberals as conservatives are conservatives and not a damn thing can be done to change this until the tools that drive the attachment to this way of thinking is changed. Most people are not conscious enough to even see this. One of the main tools that needs to be changed is thinking your way is the right way. The willingness to let the attachment go of thinking your way is the right way allows for a minuscule of openness which makes the way life is viewed different. Once life is viewed from this openness, it allows for many other non beneficial tools to be replaced with ones that are more beneficial. We all use tools that are developed over a course of time. The question is are you using tools that allow you to get the most out of life?

Mind Struggle

If you say life is difficult then it is. If you’re just with life as it is without a label, then the mind struggle ceases and it’s because you’re not doing the thing that allows it to occur.

If you’re wondering why life seems to be a struggle with only fleeting moments of happiness and peace, you may want to check out what you are using to snuff out the struggle. If you’re trying to use the mind that’s creating the struggle to stop it, the struggle won’t cease because you can’t use the same mind to stop it. This is the trap most people get stuck in and very very few ever get out of it. This is one of the reasons I don’t advocate positive thinking as a way to happiness and peace, it takes as much energy to be positive as it does to be negative and although the results are different outwardly, the inner bondage is the same; if one is in bondage there’s very little space for peace or happiness. The reason a broken mind can’t fix itself is because there’s nothing there. Where is this thing labeled as mind? It can’t be seen, smelt, tasted, or felt, but yet one makes the mind the base of their entire existence. It’s no wonder there’s a constant struggle, how can there not be!

The mind is never present because it can’t exist there, it’s why there is a constant thought stream of using the past and future. If a practice of using the body isn’t developed (because it’s the only place that exist) happiness and peace will be a commodity that remains fleeting at best. If you hold onto all the lies of the past and future, the struggle with life will remain and it will be because you are holding onto the things that allow it. Your life is your hands, no one else can make you live in the present. If you say life is difficult then it is. If you’re just with life as it is without labeling it as anything, then and only then will the mind struggle cease and it will be because you’re not doing the thing that allows it to occur.

Evaluating the Moment

As long as you are alive the next moment will happen, and how that moment is evaluated determines the direction and type of energy for that moment and thus for your life.

If someone is telling a story that’s suppose to be funny, there will be an evaluation on your part and you will laugh if it’s evaluated as funny. If you go to the doctor for a check up and you get a call from the office the doctor wants to see you, that moment will be evaluated and depending on the energy it’s given determines what happens next. This goes on for every moment of everyday and although this isn’t consciously done, it is done nonetheless. Becoming aware of this evaluation process will allow you to create a sliver of space between the moment and the evaluation which can possibly alleviate jumping to conclusions so quickly. Mostly that’s what we do, we instantly evaluate the moment and just go with the conditioning that’s in place without considering what we are about to do. We very seldom have all of the facts about what’s happening, we mostly deal with each moment with a knee jerk reaction.

There’s not much space between our thoughts so there’s not much truth to our evaluations as each moment arises. Knee jerk reactions were how my life was lived all the time and it’s why there was a lack of harmony and peace in my life. This has lessened to a degree, but even when it does happen, it’s let go of a lot quicker because of the awareness it’s happening. To me life is simply about becoming more aware of the things in place that take me from my place of peace. After all when one is able to evaluate each moment for what it truly is, two things that would be at the forefront of each evaluation would be “How important is it” and “This too shall pass.”

Your Story Your Lie

To the level of understanding of how you alone create the stories you think are needed to live your life, to that extent is how your created stories become the lies you live by.

Whatever it is you reach for that’s outside yourself becomes your story, and unfortunately it also becomes the lie you live by. Life needs no such story or lie to exist, but you probably do because you have never been taught otherwise. Our lies are at the core of everything reached for and what’s reached for actually reinforces the lie. This is why dependency is dependency regardless of what it is. A program, therapy, another book, meditation, retreats, your favorite team, politics, are no different than reaching for alcohol, drugs, food or something else. They are all a form of the lie one’s Conditioned Mind uses to make you believe they’re needed to live your life, but it just isn’t true; there would be existence even if none of these things were reached for. If there isn’t some awareness of this which just may create some space, your entire life can be lived as a lie. Because of the lack of awareness of this, my life was lived as a lie for forty nine years.

Today because there’s some space between reaching for these lies, they’re not nearly as dominant as previously. They still arise because of the conditioning in place, but they have so much less control because there’s awareness of them. It’s imperative to understand how the reaching itself is the lie as what’s being used only matters in the respect to the harm it causes. It seems the less harm it causes the more the lie is accepted, but this is all just part of the lie because a lie is as lie no matter what. This isn’t as complicated as it may seem, know your lies and you will come to know truth, but understand if you don’t they will dominate your life which will than be lived as a lie you alone create.

Illuminating Light

The Conditioned Mind is marred in darkness and because of this the world is the way it is. Not enough people see the light and even though the light is always there, it needs to be noticed so one can turn towards it.

All light has illuminance properties, that’s why when one sees the light they’re illuminated from their bondage. Look at a plant, it begins as a seed, it has potential, but it’s still only a seed. You can put it in soil, water it and give it all the nutrients possible, but without the illumination of light, the transformation from seed to plant will not occur. This illuminating light is the source of life. There are exceptions to this rule as with deep sea creatures or those in caves, but for the most part it is light that illuminates. Go into a dark room and turn on the light, there’s an instant illumination of the room. The walls come alive with color, the furniture and design of the room are also intensified. Without the light the room still exist, but its vibrance is hidden.

When one wakes up to experience the illumination of light, it’s the lights energy that becomes one’s source just as it is with a plant or a room. You can be in the dark your entire life, but once there’s light the darkness is gone forever. It may return somewhat because of one’s conditioning, but it will never be as dark as it once was, it can’t because there will always be some light. This illuminating light is truth revealed, (one’s internal energy of love) and it’s impossible to consciously turn it off. As stated before it will turn off only because of one’s unconscious conditioning, but this light is always on because it’s the light (the source) of our existence and the true essence (love) of who we are. The Conditioned Mind is grounded in darkness and the world is the way it is because not enough people see the light. The light is always there, it just needs to be noticed so one can turn towards it.

Out With the Old

Mental bondage to our old thoughts is only real to the level of the unawareness of this and because the bondage is so subtle even when there is awareness, it’s still difficult to let the new in.

So much goes on between the ears in our daily life that truly living in the moment in almost impossible, almost. This old mental bondage can be broken free of, but only when it’s seen for what it truly is, old. You cannot break free from the mental bondage if the old patterns that cause it aren’t identified; you don’t know what you don’t know. For many years I did things unaware there was another way to view life. I was caught in my old Conditioned Mind Patterns and nothing short of a miracle was going to change this. The miracle that did happen wasn’t from some outside source who chose me, I was made ready by reaching a place where there was nowhere else to turn but inward. When this happened, the old veil of ignorance was removed along with all of its lies. You can hold onto whatever you think you need, for me it wasn’t until there was nowhere to turn but inward that space was created which allowed the new in as the old patterns fell away. Space had to be created, if not the new would have never been allowed in.

I’m the same person I always was when it comes to my human form, but energy wise all has changed. I no longer see things from the stand point of the past and future because I’ve found they are the old patterns that hold me captive. The new is constantly exposing itself in the present moment and although the Conditioned Mind loves the old, if I want to break free from the old mental patterns that tried like hell to destroy me, things have to be discovered that reveal the new. This is what discipline allows, I had none so I stayed marred in the old and it wasn’t until there was space that the new took hold.

The Hook of Self

The way one gets hooked to things all comes from the same inner attachment to self and the only way there will ever be freedom from these hooks is by simply not attaching to self.

When life is seen through the sense of self, everything that appears seems to have a hook attached to it. Whether the hook takes hold and if it does how deeply it locks you in, is dependent on how conscious you are of this. But understand the hook is not on what is being viewed, the hook is on the way the self sees what is viewed. Mostly we go through life unconscious, thinking everything is outside of us and although it is, the hook of the view that is seen as self is what causes you to become entrapped to whatever it is you see.

Simply put, the controlling energy of your life can’t be any different than where your self focus is, and your self determines what is focused on. Focus on pain and the pain will cause unnecessary suffering. Focus on lust and the ensuing action will follow. Until you can see how your own self hooks you and learn to not attach to it, you will have very little control over what holds you in captivity. Truly understanding this makes all the difference in the world as to what hooks you and the suffering that’s experienced because of it. This doesn’t mean you have to go around being perfect, just understand the hooks are there and when you get hooked it’s only because of the attachment to self. In this understanding lies your freedom because although you may get hooked, it won’t be your focus if you don’t attach to self.

Primary Emotions

A heart of love doesn’t suffer, it aches. Primary emotions are the main emotions that arise and they’re far different than when there’s attachment that allows secondary emotions to arise.

This is the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to emotions. Emotions will arise, that’s a given they are a part of being human, but what happens after the primary emotions arise determines the degree of the suffering one endures. At first the emotions are primary and this is what needs to be focused on if one is to ever experience liberation from the suffering emotions can cause. Secondary emotions arise when one attaches to the primary emotions and this is directly linked to the level of suffering that’s experienced. Emotions don’t cause suffering, attachment to them does. An example of attachment to emotions would be if someone accidentally cut you off on the highway, at first you are scared, but right after that you become angry and chase them. Another example is if you go to the doctor and they find something wrong, you can project having one foot in the box (dying) or you can wait and see what the test results are. Add your own example.

Attaching to emotions is how stories are made up, but they don’t add anything to life. They just create stories which feeds the energy that causes suffering. You can only be the energy that encompasses you and when there’s suffering it’s because of the energy that’s be projected. This is what determines the degree of one’s emotional suffering. A heart of love doesn’t suffer, it aches, losing a loved one doesn’t necessarily have to cause suffering. It will though if there’s attachment to the secondary emotion which always wants the situation different than what it is. Hence here is where suffering arises from because when there’s attachment to emotions, the energy that’s in place can only cause suffering because it’s what’s being held.

Emotions Ride

A thought is but a thought, it has no emotional tie until there’s attachment, but its not the thought that has control, it’s the attachment because without the attachment the thought would have no energy.

When something happens in life and an emotion is attached to it, the roller coaster ride begins. Up, down, round and round, loop the loop, fast, slow and when it finally runs its course, the ride stops, that is until the next emotion pushes the start button. Our thoughts aren’t in control until they are attached to and the start button is pushed. A thought is a thought is a thought, there’s no substance to it until it’s attached to, but its not really the thought that is given control, it’s the attachment because without the attachment the thought would be unable to attain energy. A thought does not start the roller coaster, you can have a thought all day long, but this doesn’t push the start button. It is strictly the attachment to the thought that starts the ride and puts the emotions in motions.

Our thoughts are like electricity and this is the energy that starts the roller coaster, it’s always there like a light that’s plugged in just waiting to be turned on. So depending on how you are conditioned, regardless of the nature of the thought, when there is attachment to the thought the on button is pushed and the roller coaster starts moving; it has been set in motion and it will now have to run its course. You pushed the start button so you will have to endure the consequences of this. Some roller coasters are larger, faster, and scarier than others, we may want to blame others for starting the ride, but no one is responsible for starting it but ourselves. If you don’t want to constantly be on a roller coaster ride for the rest of your life, you will need to understand you are not your thoughts or emotions and just maybe you will learn how to not push your roller coasters start button.

It's Only a Thought

Unless the mind settles enough to see itself, most of one’s thoughts will be a conditioned lie so you really shouldn’t believe everything you think because a thought is but a thought and it’s not necessarily true.

Nothing is a problem unless it’s made into one. Think of the context of this simple yet profound sentence. Here are some of the ways the mind becomes conditioned and if one gets quiet enough this conditioning can be seen. The car in front of me is going to slow, I have to go food shopping, I’m tired, my allergies are horrible, I’m bored, etc, etc, etc. All of these start out as a single thought, but that isn’t where the problem lies the thought just arises, something triggers the attachment to it and what happens next is where the problem arises from because we believe the thought. We actually think the car in front is going to slow, or going food shopping is something we don’t like. We believe our thoughts to be true and then we attach to them and become controlled by them. If the thought wasn’t labeled to be true, we would be able to see it simply for what it is . We would see what was really going on instead of what our conditioned mind was making up. It would be seen the car in front of us really isn’t going to slow, we are just being controlled by our undisciplined thoughts.

Learn to watch the nonsense that’s believed to be true, but there’s so much of it that it’s hard to grasp. I mentioned one time to a person about the way we poison ourselves with tobacco products and his response was, he enjoyed them. This is insanity to enjoy poisoning yourself, but that’s the lie of a Conditioned Mind. People enjoy all sorts of things that are harmful to themselves, this also includes associated behaviors that harm others, and one’s own mind justifies it all. All I am saying is watch the thoughts that you think and learn how so many are based in lies to keep you in captivity to the Conditioned Mind. By no means should you take my word for it, the next time a thought pops into your head, take a moment before you label and act on it, and really take notice if what you are thinking is true or if it’s just a lie of your Conditioned Mind.

The Learning Curve of Compassion

There’s a learning curve in life that allows one to let things go so compassion can arise. It matters little what our intentions are if what comes out of our mouth or if our actions aren’t from compassion.

This learning curve of life isn’t something to be held onto for strict adherence, it’s more so used to stay opened to the ever expanding view of compassion and not get caught up in self serving actions. Compassion and tolerance especially have to be at the forefront when others are involved. It’s not always easy to understand where others are coming from so it’s better not to judge and try to deal with each situation from a place of neutrality. This is much easier said than done, but by practicing quietness it gets easier to decipher what the most beneficial course of action is for all involved. We shouldn’t be to hard on ourselves especially because the Conditioned Mind process of awakening is slow and it has to be accepted as it is if one is to be at peace. On the other hand our conditioning is not to be ignored because we won’t learn from it and the same reactions will be repeated over and over again.

Although our journey may seem mundane at times, it’s only a self serving mind that makes it appear this way; life can never truly be mundane. Every moment of everyday is new unto itself, and when it’s lived in the present, it’ll be realized what a gift life truly is. It’ll be understood that what our learning curve affords us is not the mundane life of living in the past or future, but the ability to live in the present more and more and respond to life from a place of compassion instead of reacting from a self serving mind. The more this is done, the less mundane life will be and the more compassion one will have for themselves and hence for all beings.

Delusional Regret

The past is real to the extent that it happened, but it’s not real to the extent that it’s held onto. If regretting the past is in control of the present, the only reality is the stagnation of living in the regret of the past.

It’s very important to reflect on the past and learn from it, but if the arising energy is from regret, it will be counterintuitive to your well being. The past is the past and unless it’s allowed to remain there it will constantly be brought into the present along with its regretful energy. Any past action regardless of what it was is over as soon as it happens. If it’s held onto and relived, it transforms the free flowing energy of the present into energy that binds one to a self that doesn’t truly exist, which is also counterintuitive to one’s well being. The past is real to the extent that it happened, but it’s not real to the extent that it’s held onto. I don’t shut the door on the past, I just don’t live there because regrets energy makes the past delusional by taking one from the moment of the present.

There are choices in life only when there are options, but if regretting the past is in control of the present, there is no choice, there is only the stagnation of living in the regret of the past. The past is important to the degree that we use it to learn from, but that’s it, it causes more problems than it’s worth. All judgements come from the past which blocks the free flowing energy of the present moment. You can only do what you’re conditioned to do so there’s no reason to regret anything. Regrets are only in place because one thinks there was a choice, but once there’s awareness there wasn’t, all regrets can be let go of because it is seen you only did what you were conditioned to do and you really didn’t have a choice.

Finding The Lost City

Finding peace is like finding a lost city, there are many maps out there that just don’t lead to what you’re looking for. And if you think the map you’re using is the correct one, why are you still looking for the lost city?

Think of waking up as if you have be given a map to a lost city. Not everyone gets this map and even those who do, not all of them find the lost city. So the question to ask is even though you have the map, are you reading it correctly? I only say you have the map because you’re reading this, but are the directions clear or are you only using the directions that suit you. I’m not saying I have the only map, but I have been shown the way to the lost city. You don’t have to believe me, as a matter of fact I don’t want you to believe me, I want nothing more than for you to investigate and find the map to the lost city on your own, but I will tell you this, unless you are willing to use a proven map that allows the lost city to be found, you will be going in circles for a very long. And you will constantly be looking for another map because if you haven’t found the lost city by now, it’s because you have the wrong map. You may stumble upon the lost city by accident and if you want life to be like a game of chance that’s up to you, I have outlined the route to the lost city, but I cannot make anyone use the map given to me.

Now you can keep using the map that keeps you going in circles or you can keep looking for another map, but all I’m saying is I have been given the map, it’s not my map, I used mine and many others for years to no avail. It wasn’t until I knew I didn’t have the map that I was open enough for the real map and the Universe gave it to me. I’m not arrogant in saying this, I know there was a major shift in my view of life that had nothing to do with me. I share this constantly to possibly show others you too can find the lost city within. I share the map given to me, but I only have it because there was a willingness to receive it. It will take a willingness to forget about your own map and perseverance to keep going when the going gets tough, but the most important thing to realize is this, you may think you have the right map in your possession, but if you do why haven’t you found the lost city?

To Live or Not to Live

Now is not a magical place, but because it’s the only place that truly exist, it’s the only place where you can be liberated from your stories (yourself) and truly live your life.

Everyone is on a path to somewhere and where that somewhere ends up is all the same, but the road to our final resting place is much different for all. Shakespeare might have said “to be or not to be, that is the question, but I say “to live or not to live, that is the real question. I know the way someone views life is influenced by many things, but it’s heart breaking at times to see what is so adamantly held onto just because it has been in place for a long time. A story of a path regardless of how beautiful the story is made up to be, is still a story which comes from a thought so it’s not a path to true liberation. It may be better than a previous path you were on, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most beneficial one. In my writings the only thing I point to is the present moment and that’s because it’s the only place that truly exist. There’s no story needed here, it’s existence pure and simple.

If there is another path you are using, you may want to check how much of a story is needed to remain on it, and most importantly you may want to see if you’re using a path that truly liberates you from yourself. We will all end up in the same place at the end of our existence, but our differences will be the road travelled. It can be one where a story is used just like whistling in the dark to keep away the bogeyman, which happens to be you. Or you can truly live your life by living Now, not because Now is a magical place, but because it’s the only place that truly exist and it’s the only place where you can be liberated from stories (yourself) and truly live your life.

The Blame Game

When the blame game stops, it has nothing to do with the world or people changing, it’s because the enemy is found and it is you. Once this is seen there’s no more pointing a finger at someone because there’s no one to blame.

It’s very difficult to go beyond your own conditioning when the blame game is played. There’s only one way to break the chains of the Conditioned Mind and that’s by stopping the blame game of pointing your finger at others. No one can make you do or feel like anything, but if you give something or someone that power, they own you. There are no facts to the way that you feel, but if it’s always something or someone else’s fault as to why you think you feel a certain way, you are just giving your Conditioned Mind the energy to manifest blame, which just keeps you entrapped to your own misery. Many injustices are done, but so what, it’s the way many humans are. You can point all the fingers you want, but you just reinforce the conditioned energy by doing so.

There’s also the delusional blame game where you make up stories. This is an extremely heartbreaking place to be because the internal struggle manifest outwardly with almost everyone. There’s very little harmony with others when this blame game is played because there’s very little harmony with yourself. I blamed the world and the people in it for all my troubles and for many years this was reinforced on a daily bases, I had the inability to look at myself. It wasn’t until the blame game stopped that my life changed, not because the world or people changed, but because I had found the enemy and it was me. Once this was seen there was no one to point a finger at so there was no one to blame.

It's Not Your Fault

The mind only becomes agitated because of the conditioning in place and as long as there’s awareness of this, you don’t have to take on the burden of it being your fault which allows you to move on.

We will all do things from time to time that’s selfish in nature due to our conditioning and although this isn’t an excuse to condone when this is done, if you can realize it’s not your fault, this selfish energy won’t bind you up and you can move on. I know a lot of beautiful people who have hearts of gold and yet they fall short of anything like perfect adherence to the principle of always acting from a place of love and life is not really about that anyway. Understanding it’s not your fault when you act in a selfish manner actually lessens the control this energy has over you. It doesn’t lessen the responsibility incurred by the action, but by not holding on to a moment of selfishness and reliving it over and over, it’s power dissipates. For years I was selfish and it takes time to become unselfish, to me that this is even realized is the blessing; the behavior changes over time.

Most of my day is spent in a quiet place and although this is the place preferred, I know selfishness will arise, but it’s not my fault, it only arises because of the conditioning in place. The selfishness usually last seconds or minutes at the most, so why hold on to it as I know there will be hours spent in love. If I had the choice I would never be selfish, but that’s not realistic because of the conditioning in place. I do not condone nor ignore this, but my experience has been, by not giving the selfishness power to fester and grow, it arises less and less. The only reason the quietness is ever interrupted is because of the established conditioning and as long as there’s awareness of this, I don’t have to take on the burden of it being my fault which allows me to move on and return to a place of love.

Collective Unconsciousness

Understanding why things are as they are goes a long way in breaking free from the collective conditioning, when one gets this there’s a real chance that history won’t repeat itself.

You should not be surprised by anything a human being does because history just repeats itself over and over and what’s repeated always seems to be based in greed, hate, and delusion. The faces change, but the collective conditioning doesn’t and even though there are many more people who are awake today, the collective unconsciousness still rules as the tools that keeps the unconsciousness in place as much more plentiful. There are just too many distractions in place for humanity to break free from the collective unconscious energy as a whole and there’s too many of these tools which have been in place for eons. Each human existence begins with these tools establishing their hold almost immediately. This is the reason it usually takes something profound to happen for one’s view to shift. It’s very difficult to do what it takes to change one’s conditioning because it takes looking within and the tools of the collective are mostly geared towards looking outward. Breaking free from the collective conditioning is possible, but highly unlikely.

This isn’t written to be discouraging, but this reality has to be faced and understood if there’s to be any semblance of freedom from the collectives grip. It’s energy is powerful and so enticing that it keeps the unconsciousness looking more attractive than what conscious brings. History repeats itself because it’s what’s known and the Conditioned Mind loves to default to the familiar. No human being will ever change if this isn’t realized because the unconscious energy already established is too deeply engrained. Understanding why things are as they are goes a long way in breaking free from the collective conditioning, and when one gets this there’s a real chance at least for the individual that history won’t repeat itself.

No True Separation

Without the distractions of the conceptual mind, there’s no separation in what’s being observed so there is a natural peace that can only occur without labeling it as so.

I know we mostly think as things as separate from each other and to the conceptual mind it certainly seems that they are, but when and if the mind settles, there’s a place where not one word is needed to see this fabrication of separation conjured up by the Conditioned Mind. The Conditioned Mind is based in thought and although there’s nothing wrong with thought in and of itself, life doesn’t need thought to be. All that happens in life does so without any association to the thoughts that one’s conditioning puts in place, this is what separates everything and puts it in a category of a conditioned choice.

When something is observed through the senses and put into a certain category, it separates because it is seen as being out there. Once something is out there, unity, harmony, cohesiveness, oneness, and on and on is lost. This only happens through thought. I was at the beach yesterday observing all that was going on; there were many seagulls close by. I wasn’t making up a story of anything in particular, so by just observing without applying a particular label to anything, there wasn’t separation. It’s actually a pretty cool place to be as there’s no resistance in this place to what’s there so there is much freedom. For me I’m particularly at peace when I’m at the beach because there’s a focused mindfulness on the present moment and there aren’t many distractions. So without the distraction of the conceptual mind, there’s no separation in what’s being observed so there is a natural peace that can only occur without labeling it as so.

The Lies of Clinging

Clinging to anything is a prison, but the thing grabbed is only the sentence, the prison is the lie the Conditioned Mind creates that tells you what you cling to is needed to make life better.

The reality of our internal and external world is impermanence and because of this when there is clinging to anything, there has to be suffering. So suffering is directly related to what one clings to and how tight the hold is. This is a natural phenomenon of life and since this nature of impermanence can’t really be changed, the only way for the suffering not to occur is to learn how not to cling to things. You can still enjoy all that life has to offer, but if true liberation is to be experienced, clinging will have to fall away. I say fall away because many cling to not clinging and thus stay attached to the their suffering. Letting go isn’t really a doing, it’s why many remain entrapped to the bondage of self. If true liberation is to be experienced, there will have to be awareness of the conditioned ideas, concepts, and beliefs that are in control. Few have this willingness because of the conditioning in place to stop this clinging, hence the need to reach for something constantly rears its ugly head; because it causes suffering.

One clings because the conditioning in place is based in a lie. This lie is what one stops clinging to and that’s how truth is revealed. It’s not a truth that can be explained because the moment it is it gets clung to because it becomes an idea, concept, or belief. This is why in stillness truth is revealed. All that I know today and it’s not much, has been revealed to me. To truly stop clinging it has to be seen that all that one clings to is a lie. If this isn’t seen, the clinging continues along with its associated suffering. This moment needs no idea, concept, or belief to be, if you can see this than the clinging is naturally lessened because the Now exist free of any lie and without the lie there is simply nothing to cling to.

Love is Just Better

Learn to love, not because it’s your true essence, not because it’s for the betterment of humanity, not because of any other reason except that life is so much better when you come from a place of love.

I lived a very selfish existence for many years and although it wasn’t by choice, this didn’t alleviate the suffering it caused. There was much confusion for most of my life and I really didn’t understand why I did the things that I did. Most of my actions were self destructive in nature, with the nature always being based in selfishness. This is what happens when love is lacking in one’s life. It may not be the way one wants to be, but it will be the way one has to be because without love, there’s only room for selfishness. This manifest in the form of thoughts, then actions, and then the selfish results of those. This is where anger, fear, greed, hate, and delusion arise from. None of these are natural, they have to be learned and because their energy is selfish you can see why they cause nothing but problems in your life.

This is separating energy and although many look at it as causing separation with others, what really happens is you separate from your own innate love. This is what selfish energy does and there’s no way around when this is your energy. Seeing this and turning it around is the only way it will change, but the change isn’t to create a story to save the world, it’s simply to learn a better way to live. What turned my life around wasn’t learning the secrets of the Universe, it was simply learning how to love. Not because it’s our true essence or because it’s for the betterment of humanity, there’s really no reason except that life is so much better when you come from a place of love instead of selfishness.

More Than Enough

When what you have is more than enough, it’s because of the love of your own heart, but when you are given love from another, it opens up a beauty to life that can only be seen through the eyes of their love.

We can give endless amounts of love which is beautiful in itself, and I have found that no love is needed in return to experience this beauty, but when love is returned it actually puts you on another plane. Not a magical or mystical one, but one where there’s a sense of peace and contentment that nothing of the material plane can provide. About ten years ago I was shown love from the Universe that I still don’t fully understand, and if that was all I ever got that would be enough, but I’ve been given so much more and it’s because of the people who are a part of my social media network and the people who are physically in my life. I write because of what was revealed to me and the way it has opened my heart is not something I can take credit for. This doesn’t mean confrontation with people doesn’t happen, but I’ve learned to give it a try and rectify it. If there’s persistence in the confrontation, I will simply drop it and move on. I will always attempt to convey the message revealed to me in a loving way, but sometimes it’s just not received with love. I know it’s because not everyone is in the same place or sees things the same.

I don’t really concern myself too much with this mostly because I’m not here to convince anyone of anything. I know there just will not be a connection with everyone, but for those who there is a connection with, it is simply beautiful. Having relationships with people was never my forte, but it is now something I cherish. I have experienced so much love in my life and it’s a direct result of who is in my life. This starts with my wife, family, friends, work associates and goes all the way to the last person I talked to on FB messenger who I just met. My part is to love. Some people still annoy me as I’m not perfect, but the love I’ve been given as a result of the love the Universe has shown me has made every article, every phone call, even every confrontation worth it, and even though I don’t need anything different than what it is as what I have now is more than enough, because of all of you, I see a beauty of life that can only be seen through the eyes of your love that’s given to me.

Tangible Spirituality

Attachment to spiritual thoughts creates stories, the more tangible and practical one makes spirituality, the less there’s a need to create an airy fairy story of what isn’t instead of the tangible facts of what is.

Many see spirituality as something mystical or magical, but I have found it to be something tangible and practical. It’s not the path that I choose, it’s more so what arose when I began looking within instead of grasping for spiritual straws. Since I was a child I’ve always had to rely on a hands on approach to learning things. I was never one to just read something and grasp it, so when it was time to learn about me it was no different. I needed something tangible to use to get over the so called hump. It was in using my thoughts that gave me the opportunity to wake up. In my early days of reflection I was able to see that I was not my thoughts and the only reason they controlled me was because I alone (although unknowingly) gave them the power to do so, they said jump and I did as I was told. A thought in and of itself has no power, it has to be given it. This was a revelation to me because it meant I didn’t have to rely on an outside source. Imagine that, it meant my life was in my hands to a large degree.

Not attaching to the thoughts that arise is still the main focus of what I use today to remain anchored in the present. Everything that arises produces a thought which is a judgement and depending on what energy it’s given determines how much power it has over you. Nothing can control me unless it’s allowed and seeing my thoughts as something tangible allowed for an awareness to not have to attach to them. Any thought can be attached to which in turn creates the story’s we live by, but I have found the more tangible and practical I make spirituality, the less there’s a need to create an airy fairy story of what isn’t instead of the tangible facts of what is.

It's All Small Stuff

Everything should be considered small stuff in life because nobody gets out alive and regardless of how tight life is held onto, one day just like that it’s over along with everything that one attaches to.

When you can see that all things pass, everything is considered small stuff because it is. Even being diagnosed with a terminal illness is small stuff because it too will come to pass whether you accept it or not. I’m fifty nine years old and I can’t really pinpoint where that time has gone. It seems like only yesterday that I was in my twenty’s. Life is a phenomenon because of how everything passes. When one lives strictly from the mind, it’s difficult to experiences the beauty of life. Nobody gets out alive regardless of how tight life is held onto and one day just like that it’s over along with everything that one has attached to.

We make mountains out of molehills when there’s no awareness that all things pass. Looking at everything as though it is small stuff is invaluable as a tool because it allows you to not attach to things which makes even life itself become small. Everything is the small stuff and if it’s not seen in this way, instantly the mind comes into play and bondage follows, and where there’s bondage there’s suffering. This suffering is created because it’s not seen that everything passes including life itself so what’s the point in attaching to anything because one day and no one knows when that day will be, life will end. So regardless of how tight anything is held onto, it all becomes small stuff simply because it will all come to pass.

Spiritual Propaganda

Sit often and watch your thoughts come and go, eventually there will be more and more space between them. It’s in this space that one sees all the spiritual propaganda holding you in bondage.

With the emergence of the World Wide Web, there’s so much information available on spirituality that it really needs to be investigated before one considers using it to assist in their development. Here is the definition of Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular cause or point of view. To see if the information you are using to develop the direction or path you are on is authentic and truly beneficial, there can’t be anything associated with it that forms attachment. Methods, programs, guru’s, life coaches, teachers, or any other form of propaganda that is used to keep you attached, just keeps you entrapped to the very thing you are trying to break free of. Just as there’s a lot of “fake news” out there today, there’s also a lot of fake information on spirituality. Bondage is not something that’s truly understood by many people and so most of the information out there is propaganda to keep you in bondage in some way. Those telling you to buy their book, pay for retreats run by paid speakers, or follow (instant bondage) a program, are clever to a fault, with the fault being keeping you in bondage.

The only thing one needs to do is look within so one millisecond of space is created between your thoughts. Once this occurs and there’s awareness of it, more and more space will slowly be created. It takes nothing but awareness to create this space. The propaganda out there that someone’s program, book, method or whatever has your answer, will keep you in bondage to the very thing you trying to break from. I know people defend their so called guru or people they follow adamantly, but it’s only because there’s no awareness of the bondage they’re in. Sit often and just watch the thoughts come and go, eventually there will be more and more space between them. It’s in this space that one will see all the spiritual propaganda holding you in bondage.

New Possibilities

No one knows what the future holds unless the past is held onto. Holding onto the familiarity of the past keeps one not only entrapped to it, but it doesn’t allow for the door to new possibilities to open.

In order to go in a different direction in your life, seeing the need for new possibilities at least has to be acknowledged that the need exist. My change of direction was in discovering the new possibility of living a peaceful existence, but I first had to discover that there wasn’t peace and why this was. Most times we don’t want new doors to open because the Conditioned Mind just loves to stay entrapped to the familiar. What’s crazy about this is it’s done even if what’s being held onto isn’t in our best interest; the insanity of the Conditioned Mind. No one knows what the future holds unless the past is held onto. Remaining in the familiarity of the past keeps you not only entrapped to it, but it doesn’t allow for any new possibilities to arise. This is why even when people win the lottery, it doesn’t change them internally because the old conditioning remains.

This non change is exactly what happened to me, I had outer change, but my old conditioning remained in place. So although it seemed like I was taking advantage of new possibilities, no new possibilities truly arose. Things happened that made it seem like there was change, but everything that happened was manufactured by me in some way. That was until ten years ago when new possibilities arose, because there was internal change. Remember no one knows what the future holds unless the past is held onto and this is because holding onto the familiarity of the past not only keeps one entrapped to it, but it doesn’t allow for any new possibilities to arise.

Emotional Ties

Attaching to the things that ties one to their emotions makes life unstable. It is beautiful to truly experience love, it’s just not so beautiful when one is tied to something emotionally and it goes away.

When there is reliance on the outer as a source for one’s sense of well being, there will be much disappointment and unhappiness in life. This is because people don’t know themselves and this lack of understanding causes much harm, especially when there are ties to your emotions. When there is attachment to emotions there will be much suffering. I don’t think the person who coined the phrase “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all” understood that his statement entrapped one to their own suffering. When you get tied into your emotions there is a direct link to suffering. If you love and you get emotionally attached, if you’re not loved in return or when the loved one goes away, there is much suffering. I’m not saying don’t love, I’m saying don’t attach, that’s the key.

Understanding the conditioning that ties one to their emotions is the only way one will break the bondage to them. I am more loving today than ever and yet I’m less attached than ever before. It truly is a beautiful place to be because it takes the emotional swings out of the picture and without those swings, one’s life is on more stable ground. I’m not here to debate whether emotions are needed or not, I just know they can wreck havoc and make life as if it was a roller coaster. Without attaching to the things that ties one to their emotions there’s a stability that just isn’t there when there’s attachment. It is beautiful to truly experience love, it’s just not so beautiful when one is tied to something emotionally and it goes away.

Nothing is Missing

The next time the need arises for you to reach for something, ask yourself if it’s truly needed and if you can see that it’s not, you will be complete simply because nothing will be missing.

The only thing missing in your life is what you tell yourself is missing. This is what makes one have the unconscious urge to reach for something. This feeling that something is missing is so deeply engrained and because of this there’s not much awareness that it’s even there. What’s also not noticed, is that you are the one who creates the feeling that something’s missing. If you can understand this, it automatically takes away the feeling that something’s missing, as peace manifested as truth fills the space. There are many things used to try and fill this space, but only the truth that nothing is missing will truly fill it. The thing to try and understand is when the need to reach for something arises, it’s only because the mind has become agitated which has caused the feeling that something’s missing, but nothing is ever missing and how this is known is because when one has the feeling something is missing, nothing will fulfill it.

There is an underlying completeness to life that naturally occurs without the mind agitations being in control. You don’t stop them from arising, but if you just notice them and allow them to be without attaching to them, the feeling that something is missing will not arise. The sense of completeness is not a feeling, it’s a knowing. This is why completeness can never be attained by reading a book, attending a program, or using things, but this doesn’t stop the Conditioned Mind from keeping you entrapped to trying to become complete. So the next time you reach for something ask yourself if it’s truly needed and if you can see that it’s not, you will be complete because nothing will be missing.

A Different View

A different view of life will only occur if the current view is seen as not being beneficial. This doesn’t mean life will be as you think it should be, it means life will be exactly as it is without needing a story.

If there is to be change in one’s life, it has to be seen that change is needed to allow one’s behavior to be more beneficial than what’s in place now. Understand it’s not changing the things that occur that’s needed, it’s only the view of what’s occurring that requires change, and the change that occurs is just seeing things as they truly are. This isn’t about substituting positive for negative, right for wrong, or love for selfishness, if this is done it just becomes a story of change from the intellect not from the heart. True change is when one remains in a state of stillness regardless of what happens, of course this is easier said than done, but if it’s not done, true change will never occur, only surface change will.

As I’m writing this I’m in the dentist chair getting ready to have a major procedure done. The mind wants to makes this into a story, but there’s no need to attach to it. I’m in the moment as it arises and passes. The procedure will take about two hours and then it will be done. Years ago this would have consumed me, but not today. No pain medication needed, just being with what is. This view is the change that happened to me, I now live in the moment which is much more beneficial than living life as a conditioned story. Having a different view will only occur if the current view is seen as not being beneficial. This doesn’t mean life will be as you think it should be, it means life will be exactly as it is without needing a story. Oh and by the way, my mouth is sore, but this too shall pass.