Selfishly Self Concerned

When the selfish self is in charge, you may think you have real concerns, but the truth is the only thing there’s a concern for is the selfish self getting what it wants when it wants it.

There’s so much conflict in our world, and although it’s all pointed outward, the only time something causes a conflict is when one wants what is happening or has happened to not only be different, but to also want it to be in the way they think it should be. One cannot have a true conflict with anything but oneself, and this is regardless of what happens. On my flight home yesterday from Florida, I was just sitting in quiet on the plane when the thought arose, how would I react if this plane was going to crash? What benefit would yelling, screaming and fearing death have? Would it change what was happening? Here’s the kicker, the only reason this would be considered a problem is because I would want what was happening to be different and preferably the way I think it should be. I know this is pretty drastic, but isn’t this the way it is with everything in our life. Look no further than our recent presidential election, now a recount, really?

Someone made a remark to me that not being concerned about something means I don’t care, but the lack of concern is only for what the selfish self thinks and as stated before, this is where all conflict arises from. In the case with the plane, the cause of the conflict would be the selfish self dying, isn’t death going to happen anyway at some point, so the conflict is caused by not wanting it to happen now, but that will not stop it from occurring. The plane analogy can be substituted with anything, if one is honest with themselves this will be seen. When the truth of this is revealed, it can have a deep impact on letting go of the selfish self because it will be seen that it does nothing but cause conflict with yourself, and unfortunately because of ignorance, some will actually believe they need to be this way. Whether it’s facing death, needing election results to be different or just about anything else you can think of, when the selfish self is in charge, you may think you have real concerns, but the truth is the only thing there’s a concern for is the selfish self getting what it wants when it wants it.

A Traveling Mind

When you are mentally somewhere other than where your body is, most of your life will be missed. Until there’s a mind and feet connection, the haze of the Conditioned Mind will continue its onslaught of control.

I was vacationing in Ft Lauderdale, Florida with my wife for the last four days and now that it’s time to go home, is my head going to be where my feet are? To me this is a very important question to ask because the mind goes to places where only the mind can go. You can be sitting on a couch or taking a shower and your mind will be in every place except where your feet are. The mind is constantly going to a place that only exist in your head and although it may be a stored memory, it isn’t what’s occurring right now so one isn’t truly living their life. Yes there is the physical existence and everyone who is alive experiences this, but just physically existing without awareness means you have a traveling mind and are in the haze of your conditioning. Watch the traveling mind as it bounces from place to place except where you truly are; where your feet are.

The point of this is to show how you may always be physically where your feet are, but if you’re not aware of where the mind is, you will most likely be somewhere else. This isn’t a good or bad thing, but it doesn’t allow you to live life as it happens. When you’re mentally somewhere other than where your body is, most of your life will be missed. The breath is used to stop the traveling mind because it anchors you in the body and when this occurs, one is physically and mentally in harmony with life as it’s happening. In this place of harmony with the mind and feet connected, you’ll be more aware of what life is offering; the haze of your conditioning will fall away and probably for one of the few times in your life it will truly be lived.

Finding Your Beach

Look down at your feet, regardless of where they're planted this is your beach. If it isn't it's because the need to reach is in place and it's blocking you from finding the beach you're already on.

When all of a sudden you're not at peace, what is it that takes you from it? The Corona beer commercial that tells you to "find you beach" always reminds me if I'm not at peace it's because I left my beach. For years I was constantly searching for my beach and expect for brief moments, my beach eluded me for most of my life. Why this was so was because my beach was always contingent on something that was outside of myself and whatever its form, it was always a beach based in what I thought I needed to provide comfort. There's no need to list what these beaches are because there are so many, they are the things one reaches for. These beaches come in many many forms and unless one truly takes a step back to see this, the reaching will always be there, but finding your beach will never happen.

The lies of the Conditioned Mind will dictate what you will reach for as your beach and until the conditioning to reach is changed, one's beach will continue to be sought and never be found. The only way this will change is by going inward to discover why there's a need to reach and once this is revealed, therein lies your beach. Your beach isn't from the thought realm though, it comes from the still small voice within that tells you it doesn't matter where you are or what's happening, all you have to do is look down at your feet and regardless of where they're planted this is your beach. If you need another beach it's because the need to reach is still in place and it's blocking you from finding the beach that you're already on.

Perfection in Place

Until one embraces the energy of just being with what's occurring right now, one will continue to seek what is deemed perfect and miss out on the perfection already in place.

The perfect life is never perfect because it's the way one may want it, it's perfect when one can accept it in the way that it is. Everything that occurs in life is perfect because it's what's there and although it will be labeled pleasant or unpleasant, neither one of these labels ever changes what occurs. The Conditioned Mind constantly pushes away the unpleasant and constantly tries to pull in what it deems as pleasant, but what's not understood is that both the pushing and pulling is the same energy. It's like positive and negative energy, most people want to be in a positive state and on the surface these energies may seem like total opposites, but upon further investigation what's revealed is positive and negative are from the same energy as pushing and pulling. Granted on the surface these energies produce much different results, but therein lies the issue because most people are controlled by results (the pleasant ones) and they think they're needed so life can be the way that it's wanted. I'm also not one for positive affirmations because that also is the energy of wanting things different or pushing and pulling energy. So what does this leave you with? What it leaves is for one to be in the space of stillness with what's actually occurring without labeling it, this is where true peace abides.

This peace doesn't push or pull, there's no need to when there's peace. Pushing and pulling energy only arises when the mind is agitated and one doesn't realize this is occurring. This is why being with what occurs in the present moment is so valuable because there's no pushing or pulling energy. When one is present, one is free and at peace. The Conditioned Mind is a liar and makes you believe all kinds of nonsense which makes you succumb to the pushing (unpleasant) or pulling (pleasant) energy, and until one embraces the energy of just being with what's occurring right now, one will continue to seek what is deemed perfect and miss out on the perfection already in place.

Open Your Heart to Everyone

Opening your heart to everyone includes yourself, so love yourself exactly as you are and understand if you don't, it's only because of the conditioning that's in place.

Tis the season, Apple has a Christmas commercial out and at the end of it it says "Open your heart to everyone" I teared up. It's a decision one has to be conscious of if it's to be put into place. There's so much unloving energy around that if one isn't conscious of the energy to open your heart to everyone, the conditioning will sneak in and keep one's heart closed. Awareness is the key in allowing the heart to open to everyone. Mostly the unloving or closed energy in place is there without fully realizing it. One may have an inkling that it's there, but without having a good amount of discipline which allows the mind to settle, this energy will be in control, even if it's not wanted to be.

I know I do things that aren't necessarily conducive to what's best for me, but they're still done because of the conditioning in place. Granted since I've been sitting and developing discipline, many things don't control me any longer, and for the most I am aligned with behaviors that are not only for my betterment, but also for the betterment of humanity, but things still are done even though I know better. It's just a part of the conditioning in place so I don't fret over it. I've learned you can only do what you're conditioned to do, and this won't change until the conditioning changes. Opening your heart to everyone includes yourself, so love yourself exactly as you are and understand if you don't, it's only because of the conditioning that's in place.

The Circle of Love

To be inside the circle of love, the heart must be unlocked and although this may not change what’s around you, it does change one’s view from looking inward to “I” to looking outward from love.

I’m sure everyone has heard the expression “the circle of life” but here’s a little different spin on it as “the circle of love”. Think of it as though life is a circle, when you love you’re inside the circle and when you don’t it means you’re living mostly from “I” which automatically puts you outside the circle. Outside the circle was how the first forty nine years of my life were lived. Occasionally I was in the circle, but not very often and this was because my “I” conditioning kept my heart locked which didn’t allow me to enter the circle. It’s nearly impossible to enter the circle from “I” because “I” is the lock that keeps that heart closed. When you see this, it gives you something tangible to work with which allows the heart to be unlocked, and with an unlocked heart one can be inside the circle of love.

Life and love can be synonymous, but only when one is inside the circle of love and one can only be inside when the heart is unlocked and opened. The locks of the world that keeps one outside the circle are many, it’s as though one is on the outside of a house looking in through a window. Love unlocks the heart to see things that were previously unseen, and this is what opens one to see as if they were inside the house looking out. When one is on the inside looking out it’s because the heart is unlocked and with the heart unlocked, it may not change what’s around you, but it does change one’s view from looking inward to “I” to looking outward from love.

Grateful To Be Alive

Grateful to be alive, not only for today, but for each and everyday because life itself is our greatest gift.

Being grateful for life occurs naturally as does love when there’s an understanding of what’s needed to live from the heart. Although love is natural it’s not automatic, so cultivating love is when life results in gratitude.

Gratitude naturally arises from a loving heart. It isn’t produced by attaching to anything from the materiel realm. If gratitude was from the material realm it would coincide with one’s possessions and that would make a person of wealth more grateful than one who didn’t have many? The true measure of a wealthy life has nothing to do with possessions, true wealth arises from a loving heart, that’s what measures wealth. You can only be grateful when you are content with life as it is, not with the way you wish it was or how it’s wanted or expected.

Wanting is never from our true self, it’s from the small self that thinks what’s wanted is needed to be complete. The true self never needs because it’s complete as it is. Needing arises from “I” it creates lack which creates a made up need. When there’s completeness there no lack so there’s no need. This lack also creates wanting and is in direct relation to one’s so called problems in life.
Whenever you want, it means you think life needs to be in some other way, this creates suffering. Gratitude doesn’t mean everything will be as wanted, but life must be accepted as it is if one is to be at peace and invoke a grateful heart; investigate this for yourself. Gratitude will not shield you from problems, it will allow you to not create them. Be grateful for your given life and you will find your loving heart, and when life is lived from a loving heart there will be harmony with yourself and with all beings. When this occurs you can’t help but to have an attitude that’s full of gratitude for life as it is, not because of what you possess, but because of the natural love that arises from your heart.

Head or Heart Living

Head (intellect) living knows love only through a story, heart living knows love through the peace that passes all understanding. The head will never understand what the heart knows intuitively.

The contrast between head and heart living is simply because the head is from the intellect and the heart is from love. If you’re truly aware of this you will pick up on the difference from something as simple as a FB response from someone. The heart connects and the head separates and it’s because the heart only knows unconditional love and the head only knows how to put conditions on everything, hence this is where one’s struggles stem from. It doesn’t mean when you live from the heart you won’t be troubled by things, they just won’t have the same adhering effect that living from the head creates. I notice head living immediately from the way a person responds to one of my post, this isn’t to say my post can’t be debated, but since I write from my heart when someone responds from the head it’s immediately picked up on because it creates some conflict.

Head living knows love only through a story, heart living knows love through the peace that passes all understanding. There’s very little if any “I” attachment living from the heart, living from the head there’s nothing but “I” attachment. All conflict with oneself and others come from the head, it’s impossible to have conflict when living from the heart, you may not enjoy everything that happens living from the heart, but you will accept it because that’s how the heart works. The love of the heart is from the energy of the Universe, it connects one to all that is. We are the energy of all creation and cannot truly be separated from it, but it can seem like one is separated because that’s what the energy of “I” (the head) does. When a person states there’s a void in their life, it’s because the head is causing a story of separation from the heart, but since everyone who is alive has a heart there’s no true separation, there’s only the contrast between the head and heart because the intellect and not the heart is running the show.

Believe if You Must

Every belief is formed for one reason and that’s to make life seemingly better. If it was this easy one could just go around making up belief after belief whenever life wasn’t going the way one thought it should be.

What is a belief and why are they needed? There are very few hard line facts in a belief. So what makes a person think a belief is needed to make life better? The only reason beliefs are made up to begin with is because of the way our minds have been conditioned. They’re used to keep the mind in a state of agitation by making one believe things need to be different for life to be better. It’s what the ego uses to keep one in bondage to a self that doesn’t exist. This is why most wars are started, because of an ego that forms beliefs, and whatever the belief is in, whether it’s in a God that’s going to make things better, or a superior race or the annihilation of one that will make things better, or if it’s a belief that if I didn’t write my post on this site things would be better, it all stems from one’s own conditioning of believing if things were different, life would be better.

So, to believe or not to believe, that is the question. It really has nothing to do with the belief, but it does have everything to do with arranging life and thinking if things were different, it would be better. This is what needs to be discovered if the falseness of a belief is to be revealed. If attaching to a belief is found to make life better, by all means believe, but for me I would have to say life is better without forming beliefs, especially that they probably exist only in my mind. If beliefs are seen to be real and have some facts to back them up, believe them, attach to them, use them, but in truth don’t be surprised if when they are needed to fall back on to make life better, they don’t do what was believed they were going to do.

A Fictitious Self

We don’t give names to wild animals, they’re categorized by their form, but humans are given names for identification purposes and this is the beginning of one’s fictitious self as an individual.

There are so many stories that go into the making of who you think you are that your true self gets blocked and is seldom noticed. Think about it, from the time you’re a child you’ve been conditioned by parents, relatives, teachers, friends, religions, all media, and whatever is in your DNA. Can you truly say this isn’t so? So I ask where is the true you in this identity of self? Existence in this form begins as an egg inside a women labeled mother and with Universal conditions being right, this eggs energy is transformed into human form. This form is then named for identification purposes and the rest of one’s existence is spent shaping the identity of a fictitious self, there is a self that does exist, it’s just not in the way that it’s perceived. We don’t give names to wild animals, they’re categorized by their form, but humans are given names for identification purposes and this is the beginning of one’s fictitious self as an individual. We attach to the things we think will benefit this fictitious self identity and so much of this comes from someone else’s idea. Every book that’s read is someone else’s idea of how they think life should be and if we like what they have to say, it’s taken as gospel as we follow them and take what they say and apply it to make up our self.

So much nonsense goes into the making of fictitious self and it’s the reason why there are issues when one is self centered. If your focus is constantly on self and your self is a story of made up nonsense, how may I ask can there not be issues when your self is the focus? An apple tree can only produce apples, as the made up self can only produce self created nonsense. This is the self that’s mostly perceived by humanity, but there is another self that’s been with you your entire existence, there’s just not awareness of it because of the focus on the fictitious self. Some say the self doesn’t exist, but I say it does, it’s just doesn’t exist in the way that most people think it does.

Evaluating Yourself

Evaluating and learning from your practice allows for one who was once lost, to now be found and one who was blind, to now see, but only because of having a practice in place that allows this.

If there’s not some kind of an evaluation process in place for your practice, it will be difficult to proceed in a direction where there will be any expansion in your life. The first thing to evaluate is if you even have a practice in place that’s practical and beneficial. I don’t mean a practice of belonging to certain groups, although there’s nothing wrong with that, but if it’s in place to just keep you busy, it’s not really a beneficial practice. Although it is a practice, the evaluation of how it is working to quiet the mind or how it keeps the mind agitations in place is what one needs to be aware of to allow for the continuous expansion of life’s process. I’m sharing this because this is what has allowed me to be as I am today. There’s no magic to this, a beneficial practice has to be in place if one is to experience beneficial results, this is as simple as one plus one equals two.

Evaluate your behavior, reactions, attachments, annoyances, and whatnot and see what is the driving force behind them. This driving force is the block to expanding beyond the nonsense of the Conditioned Mind. Without a solid practice in place that allows this to be seen, you might as well not practice at all because it’s just a waste of time and energy. Either do it right (beneficial) or don’t do it at all. One can only be free by being free and only a practice that puts you in harmony with life allows harmony with life, makes sense right? I practiced wrongly for many years and it produced results that weren’t beneficial, but I’ve evaluated and learned from this and because of this evaluation, where I was once lost, I’m now found and where I was blind, I now see, but only because of having a practice in place that allows this.

Out With the Old

Although the old may be firmly in place and it may be true that you don’t know what you don’t know, if this isn’t investigated what you don’t know will be the only thing that you know.

When a snake sheds its skin it’s because the snake is growing. If the old skin doesn’t fall away, growth will not occur. It’s the same with us, just substitute the skin of the snake with our ideas. Life is a natural process of learning and growing, but the base of one’s growth is dependent on the what the new is that’s replacing the old. For years I drove an old car in constant need of repair just to keep it up and running, and isn’t this how many live their life, constantly making adjustments and repair just to keep it running; not many truly live. It wasn’t until I purchased a new car that it was realized just how broken down the old car was. This goes with the saying ” you don’t know what you don’t know.” This is also what happened to me when I finally let go of the old ideas I had in place, I started to realize just how out of sorts my old thinking was, I began the process of shredding my old skin per se.

Although learning is a natural process of life, learning to grow spiritually is not automatic. It does seem to take some effort even if it’s only the willingness to head in that direction. There are many intellects in the world who don’t have a clue as to what it means to live spiritually in the space of growth; they never seem to shed their skin. The mind loves the familiar and will always try to convince you it’s better to stay in that space then to go to the space of the unknown. So it may be true that you don’t know what you don’t know, but if this isn’t investigated, what you don’t know will be the only thing that you know. And because nothing new is being allowed in, the old skin will remain in place and new growth will not be allowed to occur.

Conditioned to Self Destruct

Looking at yourself takes more courage then most people will ever exhibit, but only because the conditioning in place doesn’t allow it, and until your life isn’t about you anymore, your conditioning prevails.

Everyday I’m more and more amazed at the things that people are ok holding onto with the emphasis totally on satisfying themselves. This is without much consideration for anyone else and it’s strictly from an “I gots to get mine” attitude. I know it’s because they know not what they do, but the suffering this causes and how it cements the conditioning in place can be truly disheartening. Notice I said can be disheartening because if one is truly awake, there’s the understanding that the way things are is the way things are and wanting them different also cements the conditioning in place. I’m writing about this because it’s heart breaking, when you have answers and not many are willing to hear, it’s like having a cure for cancer, but nobody will listen. Without going into specifics, the conditioned unconsciousness runs so deep that people will justify doing all kinds of self destructive behavior without blinking an eye; drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, rioting, protesting, total defiance for any authority, murder, rape, assault, and robbery and this is only the tip of the Conditioned Mind iceberg. Here is why this is, at least from my experience, it’s much easier because of the way one is conditioned to justify self destructive behavior than to look at yourself. Truly looking at yourself takes more courage then most people will ever exhibit, not because they can’t, but because the conditioning in place doesn’t allow it.

I offer to talk to people to possibly assist them because of something they may be going through and all kinds of excuses are made not to connect. I get it, but it doesn’t make it any easier to watch people suffering when there’s a way out. So this means people would rather remain in their suffering then to go beyond it, that’s the part that’s heart breaking. I don’t say this because I’m a know it all, but I have been released from the grip of my Conditioned Mind to a degree and was provided answers to strictly share my experience with others. How do I know that I’ve truly broken free from the Conditioned Mind, because my life isn’t about me anymore.

Conditioned Mind Antics

Peace is the natural process of awareness because when one is aware of their Conditioned Mind antics, the antics lose their hold as the need to do falls away and one is naturally at peace.

If you have to be doing something, this is because of the subtleness of how the Conditioned Mind is in control without you even realizing it and until this is realized so you can apply the brakes and stop doing, the antics of your conditioning will remain in place. These antics of the Conditioned Mind will not be seen by a mind that’s attached to the antics. I woke up this morning and my postings for the day were done because I did it at night, so my mind began to look for something to do. This is the value of awareness because instead of blindly following the antics of doing, I was able to look down at my feet and say shhhhhh, which immediately stopped the antics energy of having to do something. You cannot put a price on this awareness because life is so much different then when it’s full of the antics of the Conditioned Mind.

Do this, do that, look over there, if only, I should, I wish, I want, I need, why did I do that, these are just some of the antics of the Conditioned Mind and they literally wreck havoc on life. Without awareness, this havoc is the controlling energy of life and unfortunately this is the energy of most lives. What makes this so damaging is because most people are oblivious that the antics exist so it’s one antic after another. When there’s awareness of the antics one can say stop, this immediately transforms one’s energy from needing to do something to peace. Peace is the natural process of awareness because when one is aware of their Conditioned Mind antics, they lose their hold as the need to do falls away and one is naturally at peace.

A Surface Stranger

What’s seen on the surface of life is all a facade and until it’s seen that below the surface is what truly matters, one will be living as though you were a stranger unto yourself.

It’s very easy to live a surface life and get caught up in what society presents as the best way to live, and although this may benefit society as a whole, one will need to sit and contemplate if surface living is truly beneficial to them. There are many traps provided by society to keep surface living in place, from politics, religion, social and the regular media, and so many others, these are used to keep one attached to form and blind to the impermanent nature of all things. Surface living makes everything seem as though it’s in solid form, but upon further investigation the fallacy of this may be seen. When you look in the mirror you see what’s on the surface, but what’s not seen is your blood pumping, breathing, the heart beating, and whatever else is going on beneath the surface of the image in the mirror. It’s easy to attach to form because it’s what’s on your he surface, but one must go beneath the surface to see the true nature of the emptiness of form. Only the Conditioned Mind makes everything solid, thus one’s view sees everything that’s upon the surface.

To get to a place where the emptiness of form can be understood, the mind will have to settle enough to allow this. This isn’t understood, nor is it a desired state that most people want to go to because to the Conditioned Mind it’s a scary place. Going beneath the distractions of the surface, one encounters their true self not the made up character who lives on the surface. When this happens one comes face to face with a stranger. The Conditioned Mind will try to keep you distracted from this by using what’s familiar, but you can get beyond the familiar with awareness. What’s on the surface is a facade and until it’s seen that below the surface is what truly matters, one will be living as though you were a stranger unto yourself.