Stick With the Facts

Made up stories that arise from one’s conditioning only take away from life, they don’t add to it. This makes the place where most live a world of make believe where there are no true facts to the stories that are made up.

One of the key things that is a must if one’s spiritual expansion is to be continuous, is for the stories in one’s head to remain at a minimum so one can stick with the facts, this will ensure that one’s life is based in truth. A story is very difficult to create if one uses only facts to live by. I have found factual living is second to none when it comes to the continuous process of understanding one’s own mind. Stories are noise in the head, they provide no benefit whatsoever to life. The stories I’m talking about are of the “he said, she said” variety, or the stories of the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve mind. These stories only take away from life, they don’t add to it, hence this makes one’s growth stagnant and not much good comes from anything that’s stagnant.

Without stories being created by sticking to the facts, life is seen as it is; nothing made up, just the facts. Being with what’s here, is being with the facts that life provides. When one is somewhere else it becomes the delusional story of the Conditioned Mind and it’s unfortunate because this is a fact that’s just not understood by many people. When one doesn’t live their life by what’s factual, one lives their life from their noisy delusional mind, this creates a world of make believe. Why this is unfortunate is because it means the place where you live is dictated by a made up story which doesn’t stick with the facts, thus one’s life is basically a delusion. Not because what happens isn’t real, but because there are just no facts to it.

Transforming Energy of Love

If one’s energy is established from a base of quietness, then love becomes the energy emitted to others. This energy emitted is what makes love the base for others and this is how the energy of love changes the world.

What is established as a base throughout the day determines the direction of one’s energy, and the direction of one’s energy determines their state of being. Except for the times when there’s something that keeps one based in the present moment, most of one’s energy will be spent chasing some past moment or hoping for some future one to bring the things they desire. If one is to be engulfed by love, a needed base of quietness has to be established so the noise in our head doesn’t block it out.

A base which produces quietness needs to be established if love is be our operating energy. There are many bases in the world, but there aren’t many that equate to love. Find one that does, and as quietness is cultivated one’s energy pattern will shift dramatically, but the shift will only occur if the mind is quiet. It’s when the mind is quiet that love arises and the noise stops. Without noise there is an opening to one’s heart of love. If love’s energy is established, this will be the energy emitted to others and love will very likely become their energy. This is just the way the transforming energy of love works.

Wisdom of Acceptance

When life is accepted as it is and you see the wisdom in this, you will react to the changes of life in alignment with Universal Love, not because you want to, but because it’s the only thing in place.

Wisdom isn’t something that’s just bestowed upon a person, it takes a quietness from within to become aware of what is the most beneficial way to react to life occurrences and then taking that knowledge and making it the way your life is lived. To me wisdom is knowledge being brought into alignment with Universal Love so love doesn’t become the way you want to live your life, it becomes the way you naturally live your life. This doesn’t mean everything becomes perfect, it just allows for a solid direction that puts one in harmony with whatever arises. When this occurs and life does its thing, which is constant change, one remains anchored and doesn’t get emotionally controlled by the changes that occur; this is because our wisdom base has been firmly established. Life may never be perfectly as it is wanted, but alas it always is as it is. How can it not be? Whatever it is that’s occurring is perfection because it what’s happening, you may not like it, but that is not life’s imperfection, it’s yours.

When you understand the wisdom of non attachment, you can naturally be with life and all its changes. If you let these changes control you, your reaction to them will not be conducive to your well-being and you will suffer. Acceptance of change is an acceptance of peace. Non acceptance of change is the cause of so many of our dysfunctional emotional reactions and it’s knowing the wisdom of these differences that allows harmony with oneself. When life as it arises is accepted as it is and you see the wisdom of this acceptance, you will react to the changes that occur in life aligned with Universal Love, this doesn’t happen because you want it to, it happens because it’s the only thing in place.

Most Thoughts Are Garbage

If you don’t see the thoughts that hold you in bondage, you won’t see them as garbage, and unfortunately because of the garbage being held onto and cultivated, it is the garbage that you will live by.

Most of, if not all your thoughts are garbage, what arises next should be used as a gauge to see if this is true or not. You may think this is insulting, but that’s only because you’ve probably never investigated if this is true. You may also say who do I think I am to say that, but that thought comes from you. If I said you were a cow, a second thought about being a cow wouldn’t arise, but that’s only because there isn’t attachment. If I said you were stupid and you took it personal, it would mean the association to “I” has kicked in and so will the triggered second thought. What happens with our thoughts that arise is we take ownership of them and we automatically take them to be true, but just because you think it that doesn’t make it true. I see this all the time within myself and with other people. Just because something has been done for fifty years doesn’t mean it’s the most beneficial thing to do. One look at the 12 Step recovery industry exposes this. It’s thought the 12 Step programs provide freedom, but if you just observe some of the thought processes in place, you will see how the thought of needing a program to live life is not freedom. Freedom can only be had without the thought of needing and attaching to something.

This is the reason the body is so important in establishing present moment awareness, it doesn’t take thought to be in this space. This is difficult because of the “I” association to our thoughts and how deeply engrained “I” is, but truly you are not your thoughts. When AA began if the person who started it simply asked the question, why did the thought arise to want to drink alcohol when all that happened was a business deal went sour, things would be much different in the recovery industry. Someone should expose this truth and start something to provide true freedom, oh ya I’m doing that. If you don’t see the thoughts that hold you in bondage, you won’t see they are garbage and unfortunately because of the garbage being held onto and cultivated, it is the garbage that you will live by.

Love Never Expects

The more your expectations are from a self serving base, the more you will be disappointed with the experiences of your life. Love never expects, so when you love, you’re never disappointed.

When something doesn’t happen the way you expect it to and disappointment follows, where does the disappointment come from? Why do we expect things to be certain way instead of being with what actually occurs? You can never truly be disappointed with what occurs if you understand life isn’t personal, it’s just what happens in each moment. You can make it personal, but the real question is why do you make life personal? Life happens regardless of any belief you have or how you think things should be. Sometimes it works out the way you want, but it is more luck than anything else. I mean this in the sense of expectations, not in the sense of being aligned with Universal Energy and having things work out for you. When this occurs it is really because you are cooperating and are in alignment with the Universe, so therefore things are really working out for the Universe, not for your individual expectations. This is the essence of love, not one iota of expectations for your own self serving desires.

For me expectations lead to disappointment because its usually based in some self serving desire, but when this is understood and my head and feet are in the same moment, aligned with Universal Energy, the love that’s in my heart overcomes the selfishness that’s in my head, and there’s less disappointment with things. Not because things work out the way they’re wanted, but because the expectations that they need to be a certain way aren’t there. Without expectation the heart stays connected with the love of the Universe. Life is so different in this realm as opposed to the realm of self serving expectations. Live anyway you choose, but if your life isn’t aligned with Universal Love and you aren’t living accordingly, you can expect to be disappointed more often than not, and that’s one expectation you can expect to occur, without exception.

Love Never Expects

The more your expectations are from a self serving base, the more you will be disappointed with the experiences of your life. Love never expects, so when you love, you’re never disappointed.

When something doesn’t happen the way you expect it to and disappointment follows, where does the disappointment come from? Why do we expect things to be certain way instead of being with what actually occurs? You can never truly be disappointed with what occurs if you understand life isn’t personal, it’s just what happens in each moment. You can make it personal, but the real question is why do you make life personal? Life happens regardless of any belief you have or how you think things should be. Sometimes it works out the way you want, but it is more luck than anything else. I mean this in the sense of expectations, not in the sense of being aligned with Universal Energy and having things work out for you. When this occurs it is really because you are cooperating and are in alignment with the Universe, so therefore things are really working out for the Universe, not for your individual expectations. This is the essence of love, not one iota of expectations for your own self serving desires.

For me expectations lead to disappointment because its usually based in some self serving desire, but when this is understood and my head and feet are in the same moment, aligned with Universal Energy, the love that’s in my heart overcomes the selfishness that’s in my head, and there’s less disappointment with things. Not because things work out the way they’re wanted, but because the expectations that they need to be a certain way aren’t there. Without expectation the heart stays connected with the love of the Universe. Life is so different in this realm as opposed to the realm of self serving expectations. Live anyway you choose, but if your life isn’t aligned with Universal Love and you aren’t living accordingly, you can expect to be disappointed more often than not, and that’s one expectation you can expect to occur, without exception.

The Suffering of Wanting

The attraction to what’s wanted arises from some deep mind pattern and it’s because this isn’t realized that the wanting winds up in control. To the extent of one’s wants is to the extent of one’s suffering.

The process of suffering is something that’s created by our own mind and it’s directly tied into the deep seeded roots of our wanting. To the extent that one wants is to the extent of one’s suffering. Again: To the extent of one’s wants is to the extent of one’s suffering. Sit with that and if you can grasp what that statement means, it can lead directly to liberation. This statement in itself is a doorway, but as a doorway is an opening, it will have to be stepped through to see what is on the other side. You will have to investigate this deeply to see the true implication of wanting. To the extent of one’s wants is to the extent of one’s suffering. This leads to one of my favorite sayings. Until you can accept the red lights in life as you do the green ones, there will be discontent, but understand the discontent is not actually in the red light, it’s in wanting it to be green. This goes with everything that occurs in life. Life is just life, it’s never the happening that causes one to be discontented, it’s always wanting what happens to be in some other way that causes the discontent. This is for everything, be it a person or an occurrence, nothing can harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.

If you can’t see how this wanting is at the core of your discontent, either sit more to allow the mind to settle or just go with the wanting and remain in your discontent. This wanting is very subtle and it begins as soon as you wake up to start your day. Life is continuous and if it’s looked at in this way instead of breaking it up into segments, there’s less wanting and less trying to arrange things to be a certain way. Holding on to wanting is bondage, and it’s only “I” that wants. It’s never the initial wanting that’s the issue, it’s giving it energy that allows the wanting to take control. Usually the attraction to what’s wanted arises from some deep mind pattern, and it’s because this isn’t realized that the wanting winds up in control. So remember to the extent of one’s wants is to the extent of one’s suffering and if not investigated it will be as if one wants to suffer.

Noise is Considered Normal

The epitome of a noisy mind is it constantly tries to keep you from noticing there’s another way to see things, and as long as the noise is in place, a quiet mind and another way will never be experienced.

If you’ve never purposely experienced the mind quieting down to the level where it’s noticed, the noise will be what you think is normal. It’s so difficult to go beyond the noise only because the noise isn’t seen as a problem. This is what keeps one entrapped to the conditioning in place which in turn doesn’t allow for any kind of awakening process to take hold. The most prevalent things I used growing up based in a noisy mind were alcohol, drugs, and gambling. At twenty eight years old using these things stopped, but the noise continued in the form of other things that were considered more positive by society. To me, although these things were less destructive in nature, they held me in the same captivity as the drugs, alcohol, and gambling, and it was all because I didn’t realize it was the noisy mind that was the dilemma. What most people don’t realize because a quiet mind is never purposely experienced is the noise isn’t normal, it just seems to be because it’s always been in place.

I’ve been fortunate to experience being ruled by a noisy mind and having a quiet one and to purposely choose the noisy one would be insane because the only thing that comes out of it is suffering. The suffering is not all glaring and destructive, and this is why it’s not readily accepted by most people as being a problem. It’s not until one experiences and notices the mind quieting that the noise can be seen for what it truly is. This is the dilemma of a Conditioned Mind, it keeps the noise in place and makes it out to be normal so one never considers the need to look into this. The epitome of unconsciousness is to not even consider there might be another way to see things. I have a FB friend who says she knows she’s onto something when she reads my articles and her head hurts. It hurts because the noisy mind is trying to keep her from noticing there’s another way to see things, and as long as the noise is in place and held onto, a quiet mind and another way will never be what’s considered normal.

Mind Settling Practice

What’s reinforced is what will remain in place. It’s pretty simple in that regard, but doing things that allows the mind to settle is probably the most difficult process one will undertake in this lifetime.

If you want the mind to settle, what allows this to occur has to be practiced. There are many daily opportunities to practice this, but why the mind is not settled has to be identified. This isn’t as easy as it sounds because of all the conditioning in place. The glaring mind activities that cause the unsettling are seen by some, but the subtle ones mostly go unnoticed. Even the glaring ones that are seen, they too are discounted and justified by most people, it’s why there are so many different religions, political views, spiritual views, and so on, it’s the reason unity on our planet is so scarce. The other day I wrote an article about the seduction of pleasure and how “I” is at the core of this and someone responded that basically to experience pleasure was the reason for existence.

This is a response of an unsettled mind and why this is an issue is because there’s no room for unity in this response because it’s the response of “I”. “I” is always selfish, that’s it’s nature. It’s like the nature of an acorn is be an oak tree, the true nature of something can’t be changed. Our true nature isn’t of “I” and if our true nature isn’t cultivated, it will remain in the background to the more prevalent conditioning of “I”. An acorn will remain in that state until something is done to change it, the true nature of being an oak tree will always be there, but it will remain dormant until conditions change to support its transformation. Reinforce “I” and that’s what will remain in place, cultivate quietness and that’s what will be in place. It’s pretty simple in that regard, but doing things that allows the mind to settle is probably the most difficult process one will undertake in this lifetime.

Projecting Out There

Our view of life is determined by our conditioning. An out there view is what most develop, but it’s a delusion that doesn’t allow what’s here to be seen and if one is living out there it’s impossible to be with what’s here.

Mostly life is seen as a struggle because of the projection that there is something going on out there. That’s how the mind tends to view things. I’ve been on vacation for two weeks and I have to work today, the mind wants to view work as being out there, but it’s not truly out there, that’s only a projection. When anger arises it’s not seen as the process that’s arisen, it’s seen as being out there and as long as it’s out there, it has control over one’s emotions, feelings, reactions, and of course how much suffering there is. It’s not that things don’t happen out there, but viewing it as out there is where it is given control. The kingdom of heaven is within, but most look at it as if it’s a place out there, another projection. As one looks out there, life happens right here and that’s the only view that allows life to be truly lived. Looking right here doesn’t prevent anything from happening, but it does allow for it to pass instead of giving it energy to grow.

All these projections do is keep us from being a part of our true self and it also keeps us locked into the out there energy. This out there energy makes you think you need to do something that will remedy what happens. This is a fallacy that entraps the unconscious mind into beliefs, concepts, ideas, and whatever else is used to that keeps you from what’s here right now. Being with what’s here allows one to be with life in a more direct way. There’s nothing magical here except that it allows one to live now instead of in the projection that life is out there. If out there works for you by all means remain attached to the out there view, but for me out there is a delusion that doesn’t allow what’s here to be seen and if one is living out there it’s impossible to be what’s here.

Seduction of Pleasure

The most important thing to understand about the seduction of pleasure is the less one is attached to “I” the less one will be seduced and it’s because without “I” there’s no one who needs the next pleasure.

The seduction of pleasure is so enticing because it actually feels good and this is why the draw is so powerful. There’s only issue with this because of the impermanent nature of pleasure. It simply will not last, it has no staying power so something else will be needed almost immediately following the attainment of each pleasure. Think about it, with all the pleasures that have been attained throughout your life regardless of what it was, it does not bring the pleasure now that it brought at that time, and most times even if the same exact pleasure is physically repeated, it’s usually not as pleasurable as the first experience. I used so many things as I was seduced by my pleasure seeking conditioning, but it was never lasting, the seduction of the next needed pleasure always arose. This went on all the time, attaining one pleasure after another and never being satisfied.

I’ve come to understand this seduction of pleasure as the main reason people start using and become addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, money, tobacco products and an array of other things. If pleasure wasn’t sought, nothing would be reached for so there would never be an addiction nor an issue, but unfortunately the seduction of pleasure has its way with people. It’s deeply engrained in the subconscious and has been in place since our existence began. I know this seduction of pleasure is what was controlling me for forty nine years and it was directly associated with “I”. Without “I” no one is there to be seduced. Even with this understanding the seduction of pleasure doesn’t just disappear, but it does subside somewhat. To me the most important thing to understand about this is, the less one is attached to “I” the less one will be seduced and it’s because without “I” there’s no one who needs the next pleasure.

Amuse Ourselves to Death

One who constantly needs to grasp for things to provide amusement is blocked out from what life truly has to offer, which is to be with what’s here right now instead of constantly needing to amuse ourselves to death.
What I mean by the title of this article is we become so fixated at amusing ourselves with outside activity that our death arises in the form of not truly living life. Probably 99% of our time is spent providing ourselves with some form of amusement; to me anything that is reached for gets the label amusement attached to it. From the morning cup of coffee, or giving up caffeine and not having coffee, both are used to provide the amusement that life being a certain way makes it better. If this was true everyone would be the same because it would be known what the best way is, but this isn’t true so we all amuse ourselves that our way is the best. If we didn’t amuse ourselves with this thought, we wouldn’t do what we do. We are our own worse enemy. There’s nothing outside of us that does the harm to us that we do to ourselves, the real issue with this is it’s done to where we amuse ourselves to the point where life isn’t truly lived. We are always seeking to be amused in one way or another.

In our leisure time we are constantly amusing ourselves with things that are considered pleasurable. Food is a main source that we use for our amusement, vacation is another. Watching or going to sporting events, watching tv or going to the movies are also used. Then there’s alcohol, drugs, gambling, porn, sex, using tobacco products, golfing obsessively, the spiritual path, and so on. These are just some of the mindless activities that are reached for to amuse ourselves to death. Look at the past and reflect upon all the things used that provided amusement, where are they? They only exist in the mind. One who constantly needs to grasp for things to provide amusement is blocked out from what life truly has to offer, which is to be with what’s here right now instead of constantly needing to amuse ourselves to death.

Habitual Thought of Self

When a thought arises and it becomes a repetitive activity (habit), it’s not because one is diseased in some way, it’s because one is attached to a false self that thinks it needs the thing being used.

All habits begin mentally as a thought and at their core is a self that takes it to the physical level. Basically nothing is done that isn’t entangled with one’s construct of self in some way and this is especially true when it comes to forming a habit. Without this construct of self, no habit would or could be formed, but very very few people have the insight to see this. Most think the habit is the physical activity of whatever is used, but nothing is further from the truth. The habit is to a false self that has lack at its core. This false self creates lack and this causes the habit to be formed. If the way self is perceived wasn’t attached to, no habit would be formed. There’s no such thing as an addicted personality, there’s only a lack of understanding of how the self is held onto as a concept to form repetitive attached behavior trying to satisfy one’s self.

Without the attachment to self, no habit would or could be formed. Sit with this and see when a thought arises what makes it become a repetitive activity. There has to be a cause that makes one do something over and over without much thought. It’s not the reason society dictates it is, and it’s definitely not because one is diseased in some way. I abused drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, and many other things and except for having a physical allergy to alcohol, the abuses were because of not understanding that all I was doing was trying to fill an inner lack that was created by attaching to a perceived sense of self that wasn’t true. I was living the lie of “I” which needs things constantly to fill its lack. One only thinks they need the things they use over and over, but if there wasn’t the perception of self, no habit would be formed because there would be nobody there to attach to the thought that something is needed that makes one the false self they think they are.

Habitually Controlled

Without recognition of the habits that are formed, one is blindly controlled by them. They say jump and the only thing you can do is jump, and if you are really attached, you will ask how high.

If you want to understand your mind you will need to sit down and observe it. Whatever you think and ponder upon, that is what becomes the inclination of the mind and hence this is what becomes your habitual actions. If there is no sitting, there’s very little chance for the mind to settle so it can be observed. As a habit is formed it becomes second nature, there’s very little observation in this mind activated action. These habitual actions are different for everyone, but they are common at their root. They all arise in some way from the habit to seek pleasure. It matters little what one uses to fulfill this pleasure seeking habit and because there’s very little awareness of this, it’s in control of you. There needs to be an understanding that our actions become habitual and are conditioned by how we think. This is what determines whether our actions are wholesome (loving) or unwholesome (selfish). Simply put, loving actions should be cultivated so they become habitual.

If there isn’t any sitting to allow the mind to settle, an understanding of it will be difficult and so observing the habitual conditioned patterns will not be recognized. Without recognition of these habits, one is blindly controlled by them. They say jump and the only thing you can do is jump, and depending how attached you are, you may even ask how high. This is why we do things that aren’t in our best interest without hesitation. Without the ability to observe the thoughts that arise, one is like a puppet on a string. Sitting allows the mind to settle so there can be an observation of this and one by one the strings can be cut. If nothing is in place to allow this settling, the Conditioned Mind puppeteer will continue to control and you will blindly and without hesitation do things that aren’t in your best interest or what’s best for others.

True Refuge

True refuge will never be found in outer things regardless of what the thing is one is using to take refuge in. What’s unfortunate about this is, most people use outer things for their refuge.

The dictionary definition of refuge is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble, so unless one finds a true place of refuge, the pursuit for it will never end. This means one will always be chasing it and in danger or trouble. I would have to say this is dead on accurate and if you look around or turn on the news, it would be hard to argue this. Many pursue a false refuge and aren’t truly at peace until the day life in this form ends. True refuge will never be found in things regardless of what one is using to take refuge in, unfortunately reaching out for things is where most people look for it. This is not to say there’s anything wrong in things, especially if they’re healthy for you, but just understand regardless of what it is, the thing won’t provide the refuge that it’s being used for.

One’s true place of refuge is in between the constant thought stream that’s in place. There’s a little sliver of space between each thought that isn’t noticed because the mind isn’t settled. It’s as if the mind is a pond and the mud on the bottom is constantly being kicked up. As long as the kicking occurs, the water will remain cloudy, but oh how clear the pond naturally becomes when the kicking stops. This space is the only true refuge. It’s awareness aware of awareness. It doesn’t take one single thought to be in this space, as a matter of fact, thought is the greatest hindrance to being in one’s true space of refuge. It’s unfortunate because as long as one thinks about it, the mind will remain cloudy and one will be unable to see clearly and take true refuge in the space between one’s thoughts.