The Realm of Spirit

The realm of Spirit is where our true nature manifest. It’s where one connects to all of life and basks in the warmth and sunlight of the Spirit. It is our true home.

Although an awakening is a process of awareness of what blocks the heart from love, the heart will only open and expand each day by the daily mindfulness and sitting practice developed. No longer does the world revolve around my “I” it more so revolves around the “I” of others. Each day is begun with the vision of how I can be a benefit to others and I write and post a daily article to assist in making this a reality. This has been done everyday for roughly the past three years. I bring my awareness into my day to day existence and although some times it’s two steps forward and one step back because the conditioned mind is relentless, the process is a continuation into the expansion of the heart. And with the expansion of the heart comes the expansion of love into my day to day life and the life of others.

This expansion doesn’t take thought, it takes a settled mind. The subtitle of my book “You Are Not Your Thoughts” was chosen for this reason. All created stories are only our attached thoughts, so when I started understanding this “I” was understood and it was the beginning of the end of life as it was once known. This brought me to the realm of the unknown, and this realm is not something that can be manufactured by thought, thought will only block this. This is the realm of Spirit where our true nature manifest, it is where one connects to all of life and basks in the warmth and sunlight of the Spirit. It is our true home, our place of peace that passes all understanding, it is the truth of one’s existence, but it doesn’t need any of what is written here to be because it exist without one single thought.

Seeing From the Heart

When there’s awareness of seeing from the heart instead of the mind and one doesn’t engage in what comes from the mind, it makes for a view of life that is much different than what most people see.

Seeing from the mind is very different than seeing from the heart. The mind has a much different agenda than the heart. Every conflict known to mankind has been because of the mind. Even when Jesus trashed the market place, it was because it was from the mind. And the proof of this was that he didn’t like what was going on. One cannot have conflict from the heart. The heart aches at times and all compassion comes from the heart, but there’s an understanding from the heart that the mind just can’t grasp. Mind seeing is strictly from the way one is conditioned. Heart seeing arises from the space of stillness. I can tell right away when someone comes from their head because there’s attachment with what’s being said. Usually the sentences starts with my, I, me or it will be said, I see what you’re saying, but.

Seeing from the heart doesn’t make me smarter than anyone, all it means is I’ve been granted the ability to see from the heart. It’s difficult to see from the heart because of all the mind based distractions in place. These distractions keeps one entrapped to the reaching of seeing from the mind. Reach, reach, reach, the mind, the mind, the mind, the heart needs so such reaching, it realizes it’s completeness as it is. When one sees from the heart you become more of an observer than a reactor, at least this has been my experience. I have lived a mind based existence for many years, and even today the old conditioning tries to surface, but because of the awareness of understanding the difference, I do not engage in what comes from the mind and this naturally allows seeing from the heart to arise. And when one lives from the heart it makes for a view of life that is much different than what most people see.

Direction of Peace

It’s very easy to see if the direction of your energy is pointing you to behaviors that are truly beneficial to you and humanity by the amount of peace there is in your life.

Certain energy produces more beneficial results than others. This doesn’t mean everything goes your way or life is the way you think it should be, it’s more so just to see if you can remain in your place of peace regardless of what happens. My life is far from being without its trials or exactly the way I think it should be, but I’ve reached a point where I can remain at peace for the most part, regardless of what happens. I may get thrown off by some things for a bit, but there’s an understanding and foundation of where I need to be if there’s to be peace in my life. People can be very trying, circumstances are constantly arising and changing, and sometimes unfortunate things just happen for no rhyme of reason, the main thing is to learn from them and although they may not be handled in a way that’s most beneficial at that time, if you learn something from it, next time they may be.

Life isn’t about doing it perfectly, to me it is about learning from what is done and changing the direction of energy so the same behavior isn’t repeated over and over. When life isn’t the way you want it, learn to move on. Trying to change things to your liking is a waste of energy and this is so even if it is to your liking. It’s always about being at peace regardless of what’s going on so if you’re only at peace when things are the way that you want them, to say the least there will be many conflicts and difficulties in your life. Look deeply into this, not to get down on yourself for the so called unwanted behavior, but to see how it’s this unwanted behavior that takes you from your place of peace.

The Flame of "I"

One’s selfish flame of desire can become a destructive inferno if it’s not known what causes it to ignite. This is the fuel of “I” and it will have to be removed to prevent the selfish flame from igniting.

It can be said that “the world is in flames” and all one needs to do is look around to see how true this is. The cause of why there’s a flame needs to be examined if one isn’t to succumb to their selfish desires, but it’s not the world that needs to be examined, it’s what’s behind one’s own driving energy that needs to be examined. If one’s energy is focused on the flame of greed, hate, self satisfaction, envy, lust, and so on, the energy of a restless mind will be in place and this is what causes a selfish flame. Some flames are raging and some are barely lit, having awareness the flame is there is the key in not only extinguishing it, but removing the conditions that allows the flame to ignite in the first place.

This flame is mostly because of the restless mind (selfish desires) and since this is the fuel of “I” there’s nothing in place to prevent the flame from igniting. Any flame needs certain conditions to ignite and it’s the same way with a mind that’s restless. If these certain conditions aren’t met, the flame can’t ignite. A flame needs fuel (energy) so it’s important to be aware of when the flame ignites to see if it’s going to be given more fuel to grow, or if one has the necessary awareness to remove the conditions that ignite it. You can just extinguish it, but this may not prevent it from reigniting. It’s only when the fuel of “I” (selfish desires) are removed that it will be impossible for one’s flame to ignite.

Conditioned Labeling Process

Seeing what’s truly going on in your life will take an open mind so a past label isn’t instantly applied when something arises. No label is needed for life to be, matter of fact labels restrict life.

If there’s a label instantly applied when something arises in life, it comes from some past conditioning that has a lock on it, just waiting for the opportunity to apply the label. This goes for just about anything that a person is attracted to. Whether it’s something you read, another person, food, music, or whatever, the conditioned label is already there just waiting to be applied. It’s not easy to see this, actually there are very few people that will ever see this and hence it’s why there’s so much conflict in the world. No label is needed for life to be, matter of fact labels are life’s restriction.

Early on when I began using social media to post my articles, I would engage in discussions with people who didn’t agree with what I wrote. It would usually turn into a social media argument with me defending my writings, this was due to the label being applied by all engaged in the discussion. I’ve since learned to not apply a label when someone disagrees with what I write. A very important question I use to defuse my conditioning is, How important is it? This doesn’t usually sit well with the other person’s conditioned labeling process, and since I now know I can’t change how another person sees things, I find coming from a place where no label is applied is so much more conducive for me to remain in a place of peace. After all peace is all I ever wanted in my life, but because of applying a label to everything that arose, peace always eluded me. And just because I’m not agreed with, it doesn’t mean I have to apply a label to appease someone else’s conditioned labeling process. No label, know peace.

Attached Conditioning

Whatever you attach to becomes your bondage. If you don’t stop attaching and create some space to make room in your heart for stillness, you and the world will suffer, but you will suffer the most.

The choice to attach is unconsciously the choice to suffer and because one is unconscious there really isn’t a choice. This is because of the way one’s Conditioned Mind is in control so one’s suffering is inevitable because of the conditioned attachments that are in place. If this is to change you will have to make room in your heart so the attachments are replaced by stillness. There’s no way around this, attach to whatever the conditioning in place selects to use, just understand when that attachment is no more, something else will replace it. Today it’s our president, tomorrow it’s a co worker, or maybe the traffic, and the next day it’s something else, this goes on and on, ad infinitum. This will never change until there is space created in the heart that makes room for stillness and if you attach to one individual and bemoan them, then you don’t truly have the space for a still heart. This is strong language, but true.

One can only be still without the conditioning running the show. This is a truth the Conditioned Mind doesn’t allow to be seen. I can say I have stillness in my heart, but unless there is compassion for all beings this will not be true. I understand this and my responsibility is to not be a part of the attached conditioning. To attach is to suffer regardless of who or what one attaches to because it becomes your bondage and until this is understood you become the very thing that you attach to. This is just a part of the law of energy, you cannot be separate from the energy that is within you. Think about it, how can you? Please look within yourself and stop attaching. Make room in your heart for stillness because if you don’t, you and the world will suffer, but you will suffer the most.

Trouble With the Curve

The mind just loves to make a problem out of what happens in life and until this is seen, it will continue to do so even though nothing is inherently a problem until it’s made into one.

Problems are made by a mind that doesn’t accept what’s occurring right now. It wants what’s happening now to be different and it actually makes you believe if it were different, life would be better; this is the lie of the Conditioned Mind. All is well right now, but because of the conditioning in place, it’s not seen so the mind has to make a problem to have something to do. I always had a tendency to make everything that occurred in my life a problem and although I don’t do this as I once did, there are still times when the initial reaction of wanting to make a problem arises.

It’s like being a minor league baseball player who can’t hit a curve ball, until it’s learned, which may not happen, to hit a curve ball, they will remain in the minors. They will still be playing baseball, but there won’t be contentment because they’re only at the minor league level. Think of life in the same context, there are many curve balls thrown. If one doesn’t learn to deal with them, remaining in the Conditioned Mind minor leagues will be where you live from. You will still be in the game just because you are alive, but you will be stuck in the minors as the curve balls will be a problem because it’s not known how to hit them. And as with any scouting report if you have trouble with the curve, the curve is what you will constantly see. The fact of the matter is this, you will only be discontented that you can’t hit the curve if you want to hit it, when you realize you are in the game for the love of it, not hitting a curve won’t really matter because it isn’t be made into a problem.

Mindfully Complete

Attach to nothing and nothing will be needed. Imagine that, needing nothing and being happy, joyous, and free just because you’re mindful of being complete just as you are.

Without the inner silence, the mindfulness needed not to create the stories will not occur. Even this writing is a story of how not to create stories, but the mindfulness of writing helps to minimize the attachment and thus once it is written it is complete. It is the end of the story or not, depending on how I relate it to my identity. The more I need it for my identity, the more I attach to it and the more of a story is created. No attachment, no needed story, no needed story, no discontentment of what isn’t, so all you are left with is what is, not the story of what is, but the actual reality of what is occurring.

Story, after story, after story. The story of how I feel, or the story of my book, or my life’s story, this is an endless book of stories, until one becomes mindful of the story teller and the story being one in the same. Being with what is instead of a created story will be the most difficult, but it also be the most fulfilling lesson you will ever learn about life. Just be in the silence of what is. Attach nothing and nothing will be needed. Imagine that, needing nothing to be happy, joyous, and free, and understanding that you’re complete just as you are. It’s right there within your grasp, right in front of you, but you will never truly be mindful of it until you realize, it’s not a story that you’re grasping for, it’s what’s already there.

Life as it Is

There will only be peace when there’s acceptance of things being as perfect when they are in disarray as when they are exactly as one wants them; this sums up the path to liberation.

In order to experience liberation there has to be as much comfort in a diseased body and mind as there is in one that’s healthy. This actually goes for everything because it’s in wanting things a certain way and them not being accepted when they’re not, that causes one to have uneasiness. This is the epitome of the Conditioned Mind, it creates all the uneasiness in one’s life by making up the lie that things need to be different. By all means change what can be changed, but if it’s only an outer change, it still won’t bring the comfort that’s sought. This is where the value of going inward comes in. I write guidelines, but I don’t have answers for others, mostly because I don’t know really know what someone else has gone through. My writings are pointers, the most important thing to see is how life is always as it is and only wanting it different is where uneasiness arise from. Check this for yourself.

I find the good, the bad, and the ugly, all need to be accepted the same, this is a truth in my life so it’s why I share it. If one doesn’t see this, it doesn’t mean it’s not true, it just means you are not there yet. Even though everyone goes through life as it is, how it’s accepted is dependent on where one is in their life. There’s no right or wrong in how things are dealt with because it’s determined by one’s conditioning. I know people get frustrated because I don’t always give the answers that are wanted, but that’s because I can’t. One can only see what’s within them and it’s not always what someone wants to accept. Accepting life as it is goes a long way in becoming liberated from the bondage of self and this acceptance will take seeing a diseased mind and body just as perfect as a healthy one.

Surface Mind Activity

Beneath the surface mind activity there’s nothing but space. This is difficult to see because life isn’t about what you think it is. In fact life is everything you think it isn’t, but it’s not seen because of trying to figure it out on the surface.

Round and round it goes and where it stops nobody knows. This is a perfect example of the mind activity that’s in place for most people. One thought after another, no space, no quietness, just the noise of the world manifesting as thought. If you could just sit back in a space where the noise subsides, there’s a chance to truly see what Jesus and Buddha spoke of. If you think you have an idea of what life is about, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that’s just noise. There are no answers to what life is about, but the more solid one makes they’re existence, the more one will think they have life figured out. I’m not saying I know what life is about, but I do know what it isn’t about and that it has nothing to do with what is seen on the surface. The more one is controlled by the surface senses, the less life is experienced. Below the mind activity of the senses is the only place where life is truly experienced. You can travel all around the world and make up the story of all the beauty around you, but it’s only a story conjured up to provide surface pleasure and store it as a pleasurable memory. Beneath the surface no story is needed, no pleasure is needed, in fact nothing is needed because this is where true life exist.

Think about it, your entire life is a story until one day you no longer exist in your current form. Every storied experience is taken with you as if they never occurred. They were thought to be needed so you could make sense of your life, but really they mean absolutely nothing because they are all only created from the mind activity of the surface senses. Buddha talked about of delusion, Jesus spoke of not being of this world, what do you think they were talking about? If you remain entrapped to the surface mind activity, you will remain in your suffering. Even those who think they understand this don’t because it’s not something to understand. Beneath the surface mind activity where there’s nothing but space, there’s the possibility of truly seeing what life is about. Why there’s difficulty in seeing this is because life isn’t about anything that you think it is. In fact it’s about everything you think it isn’t and this is because of the trying to figure it out on the surface.

Not Caring For Energy

Life is as difficult as the not caring for something energy makes it and until one learns to be with what happens without applying a label, what happens will continue its onslaught of control.

If you don’t particular care for something that’s happening in your life, not caring for it comes from you and this is regardless of what it is. You may say there are exceptions to this, but feeding what’s happening with not caring for it energy, keeps you entrapped to what you don’t care for. Read this slowly, not caring for energy, keeps you entrapped to what you don’t care for. I’m not saying you go around and ignore some of the travesties that occur, but by understand the label of it being a travesty only comes from within you. Many people state their opinions on what I write and that’s okay, but what’s not understood is I only write what’s within me and one only responds what’s in them. Neither are right or wrong, to me though it’s important to find the truth beneath whatever it is that arises from within me. Regardless of how someone responds to me or what happens in life, to see what arises from within is all that matters.

Liking what’s occurring is the same energy as not caring for it energy. It seems different because of how the mind always wants what’s liked as opposed to what’s not cared for, but it’s the same storied energy, it’s just given a different title. Years ago a so called friend ended our relationship because he didn’t understand his not caring for me writing a book had nothing to do with me. This is how it is with all of life. Even though things will effect you, giving it not caring for energy magnifies its effect. Life is as difficult as the not caring for energy makes it and until one learns to be with what happens without applying a conditioned label, what happens will continue its onslaught of control as if you were a puppet on a string, with the stings being not caring for energy.

Entrapped to Thinking

When there’s a need to reach for something because of a mind agitation, one is entrapped to their thinking. Until this is seen, one will remain entrapped to thinking peace is in the next thing reached for.

One will never find the peace they’re seeking if they’re entrapped to thinking of finding peace. Peace is something that’s already within everyone, but because of the way our minds are conditioned, we get entrapped in our thinking that peace is something outside of us. Unfortunately this entrapment makes the very thing we are seeking (peace) impossible to grasp. This entrapment is the reason one is constantly reaching for something from the outside and until this is seen, one will remain entrapped to thinking that peace is in the next thing reached for. Alcohol, gambling, drugs, sex, social status, programs, therapy, self help books and on and on, this reaching is proof that one is entrapped. Is it not? I can’t stress this enough as this entrapment to your thinking has to be seen if one is to experience true peace in their life.

It’s impossible to think your way to peace, but what does have to happen if one is to experience peace, there has to be an understanding of why you’re not at peace; that there isn’t peace is only because of one’s inability to just be. When the need to reach for something arises, the entrapment to thinking begins. This entrapment 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 (entrapped) in trying to find peace, but since it’s something that’s already within you, the entrapped thinking about finding it needs to be discarded so you can see. This is not easy to see, but it’s why I write. Understand though, I don’t write to help anyone find peace, I write so the entrapped thinking can be seen for what it is; the cause of why there isn’t peace.

Not Automatically Right

Thinking because you have done something for a long period of time it automatically makes it the right way is so limiting that one can’t seem to get out of their own way.

Doing something for years doesn’t mean it’s being done in a way that truly benefits yourself and humanity. Something I find amusing is when someone says they’ve been doing something for a certain number of years and they equate that to mean what they are doing is the best and only way of seeing something. I know what I do today is much more beneficial to me and humanity than how I acted years ago, but this is only because my behavior isn’t based in thinking I have to please my self. That doesn’t mean I’m here to save the world, but by coming from a place of not thinking I have to please me, there’s freedom to be a true instrument of love, not a made up one. This is what arises when one is open to be with life as it happens instead of getting locked into a thinking pattern that because something has been done for a long period of time, it’s automatically the best and only way of seeing it.

I remember being on a seminar for work and someone said, but I have been doing it this way for twenty years, he was told, well you’ve been doing it wrong for twenty years. I don’t profess to have the one and only way to love. I share what has been revealed to me as do others, but I’m open enough to not think what I share is automatically the right way. As I’m constantly learning and changing, what I know or at least what I think I know is constantly changing. Hold onto your way and hold on to your limit. It’s rather simple because anything labeled becomes not only a limit to the label, but also one becomes entrapped by it. It’s in not constantly thinking about yourself that one experiences the freedom to love and what blocks this love from arising is thinking because one has done something for a long period of time, it automatically makes it the right way.

Love: The Stepping Stone to Liberation

In the space between our thoughts is where our innate love lies in wait, when one awakens from the thought realm of thinking to see this, the stepping stone to liberation won’t be far behind.

You cannot be free if you don’t love. Again: you cannot be free if you don’t love, so in essence, love is the stepping stone to liberation. To see this is the shift that occurs which allows one to get out of the way of all the preoccupied nonsense that goes on in between your ears, which blocks out love from manifesting in one’s life’s. There are many roads to love, but there is only one road to liberation, if you don’t love you will not experience liberation, it’s that simple. This is because the liberation that is mostly sought is from the selfishness of oneself. You may tell yourself you are free, but If you’re all caught up in your own thoughts, what’s truly going on will be missed, and what it is that’s missed is the true essence of one’s innate love within.

To use love as a stepping stone to liberation, the preoccupations of our thinking have to settle enough to allow this to transpire. Thinking, thinking, thinking, is just the way our conditioning holds us in captivity and keeps us preoccupied with ourselves. Basically we have to lose interest in the process of thinking enough to focus on the deeper process of love being the stepping stone to liberation. I’m not into positive thinking nor affirmations, to me they’re just distraction; one cannot see what’s truly going on if you’re trying to be the little engine who could. In the space between our thoughts is where our innate love lies in wait, and when one awakens from the thought realm of thinking to see this, the stepping stone to liberation won’t be far behind.

Justice is Never Served

Justice is never truly served by wanting to get even or wishing ill will on someone. This is because when this is done, the only justice served is against yourself.

The saying “Justice is served” makes one feel content as if someone has gotten what is deserved. Many people look at karma and use it in a way to provide themselves with some kind of comfort for the injustices done in the world. A popular belief is someone who is mean will eventually get theirs, whether in this life or the next, but looking deeper into this belief, it can be seen how it’s just a story of wanting to get justice to provide yourself with comfort; mean people get rich, prosper and die without any so called “getting their justice”. Suffering is caused by attachment, but many stay ignorant to this fact and thus don’t seem to suffer all that much, but this isn’t about what others do, it’s to see within oneself how the story is created of justices that need to be done to others; these so called justices keep one in bondage to “I”. “I” needs the story that others are no good so it can pat itself on the back for not being like them.

The wheels that you oil are what makes you roll as you does. These are the base of your intentions and they shape your life. Although many things are done out of selfishness, if the heart is in the process of awakening, one can’t be to hard on themselves because the Conditioned Mind Patterns run deep. Have the intentions to love and that will be your justice, whatever other intentions there are, it will just take time to over ride. Life isn’t about being a perfect robot, many will fall short of the intention to love because of the conditioning place, but justice is never served by wanting to get even or wishing ill will on someone because when this is done, the only justice served is against yourself.