The Tipping Point in Spirituality

 After Awakening we get a glimpse of what true freedom is all about. A friend described his satori moment while hiking in Texas in the following way—the backpack felt like carrying feathers; everything became effortless; there was a silence of being.

 

Awakening is a first glimpse of what is to come but there is a little work ahead. For some time it feels like we are being bumped around between different states of conditioned mind, “I Am” and our awareness of being conditioned which is an in-between state of sorts. Sure, we can consciously choose to meditate, hang out with a higher vibrating crowd or engage in activities that nourish our life-force, but at the end of the day we still have little say in when and how these “I Am” states manifest themselves. They seemingly appear by the Grace of God.

 

The tipping point is when the entire energy system shifts—mostly—towards the higher prevailing energies. The energy centers of the body are balanced, the mind is still and the heart is wide open, allowing life’s creative energies to flow through us without our self-induced interference. There is no telling when this switch occurs other than quoting Matthew 7:7-8 in the New Testament. “Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” 

 

 

Falling into the field of infinite possibilities

We cannot suppress a thought-feeling energy that rises into our awareness. I mean, we may be able to but then this energy will only materialize in a more distorted form later.

 

What we can do is to look at this energy with the same curiosity as we look at a rope on the dark ground that we mistook for a snake after jumping a few feet away from it first.

 

Spiritual living is straightforward in the end. On the outside we are part of the happening with a still mind and an open heart, with a “not my will but Thine” life philosophy.

 

On the inside, most thought forms have little staying power as we bathe in the sea of infinite possibilities. We cannot consciously reach for it, but we can always fall back into it.

 

Create in the stillness of being

 In the early 17th century, a German shoemaker had a conversation with God. Jakob Boehme claimed that “reality” is a divine drama unfolding within Consciousness. Light and darkness, good and evil, unity and division, all arise from within a Void. This universe and the soul are the means through which “God” knows Themselves. A limitless potential precedes all beings and manifestations and we activate it. God longs to reveal Themselves, and we long to return Home. Dualities are the instruments of awakening.

 

A little boredom, restlessness, disappointment, and annoyance will always accompany us until we have broken free. The experienced friction of being human is what keeps us going. The stream of illusions changes into the River of Consciousness which one day becomes the Ocean of Oneness. Is there something we can do to minimize the travel time? Yes, connect with that limitless potential of possibilities. Be still, open your heart and allow “life as is” create itself through this stillness of being here and now.

 

You are “That”!

 Question: “Please tell me the method of reaching the eternal Truth.”

 

Ramana Maharshi: “You are That. Can you ever remain apart from the Self? To be yourself requires no effort since you are always That.”

 

If you are Jewish, your spiritual belief tells you that you are a part of God’s chosen people. Yet, in your DNA you also carry centuries of persecution. If you are German like me, you are from a country that was once called the land of poets and philosophers. Yet, the German people also carry the cross of fascism and aggression in WWII. Likewise, every tribe has its calling and guilt.

 

Above the field of nationality, there is the belonging to a particular ancestry, just as beneath the field of nationality there is humanity. We are all part of a common heritage that spans eons, if not millions of years if we include our animalistic evolution. We may compare our life experience to the waves in the ocean, our family connection to the current, and our human roots to the deep sea.

 

From a human perspective it seems impossible to reach “That” without Grace. Yet, we are “That” and claiming our birthright is as easy as closing our eyes and diving into the Ocean of Infinite Possibilities which manifests life as is through us when our mind is still and our heart is open. Is there something “you” can do to swim in the Ocean of Bliss? Yes, bow to our ancestors and open your heart of compassion.

The First Step Toward Joy

 What truly determines our mood

is not what others do

or what happens around us,

but how we interpret and respond.

 

The First Step Toward Joy

In relationships,

we often project our own pain and inner obstacles

onto our expectations of others.

 

When someone behaves the way we hope,

we feel happy and loved.

But when they ignore us,

we quickly conclude, “They don’t love me anymore.”

Our attention then fixes on the feeling of not being loved.

 

After this repeats a few times,

the distance grows wider,

and loneliness quietly settles in.

 

This is how we create

our own cycle of suffering.

 

When we begin to see this clearly,

something changes.

For example,

if I ask my partner a question and receive no reply—

what am I really interpreting?

That “they don’t care about me”?

Or am I becoming aware

of my own interpretation?

 

Our reactions reveal our habitual ways of thinking.

They may not be negative,

but they are part of the pattern that leads to pain.

 

And in that moment of awareness,

the cycle begins to dissolve.

As awareness deepens,

suffering fades,

and joy quietly arises.

 

Suzhen Liu

If you enjoy Suzhen Liu’s writings, please check out her new book “Discover Love Within—Release Your Suffering” available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Love-Within-Release-Suffering-ebook/dp/B0G4L29MVN

Inner journey of a lifetime

 In a non-duality forum, the question was raised, “how can I relinquish this excruciating sense of self?” One response stood out for me, “find out what self is, then this ‘sense of self’ will be revealed for what it is— not an illusion but the true inner journey of a lifetime.”

 

I like this expression, “inner journey of a lifetime.” On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I was shown how little conscious control I have in relinquishing this sense of self. First, I passed by a stature of a fallen American WWII soldier and my thoughts went to my German grandfather who died on the last day of the war in the battle for Berlin. Later I saw the ad for a university when my thoughts went to our high school counselor. I am still angry at her for sending us there to check it out even though it was clearly not good enough for our son. A few moments later I saw a student with a Duke sweater where my thoughts went, “yes, that’s a nice school; I wouldn’t mind sending our boys there!” Later I realized that I was triggered into these memories and reactions just by idling at the train station. The choice I apparently had was to to be mindful of some of these self-referential thoughts and jumping off, such as “there you go beating up on the poor school counselor again. Can you please give that poor woman a break!”

 

All of us are being led on an inner journey of a lifetime. What distinguishes the devoted spiritual seeker from the ordinary folks is that the hard-core seeker desires to end this ‘sense of self,’ while most others still actively build it. The school my child goes to, my romantic partner, my work, my problems and opportunities, my wealth and health, etc. The point is that every memory of the past, every visualization of a future outcome, every attachment to something that is happening right now, accentuates an aspect of this notion of self. Can we really do something about it?

 

I recently shared put a video, “A traffic light approach to spirituality.” In it I distinguish three states that we constantly get exposed to, seemingly outside of our conscious control. The unconscious moments like the half an hour I spent on the Philadelphia train station when the self-referential thinking prevails (red light), the moments of mindfulness, when we are aware that we are unconscious (yellow light) such as, “hey, are you beating up on the poor counselor again—stop that, she also only does the best she can.” Lastly, we have these satori moments when this subconscious filter of self mysteriously loses its grip on us (green light). The spiritual community is after the holy grail of traveling with a green light streak, but for many of us this state of ‘no self’ is experienced as an act of Grace instead.

 

The filter of self is tricky as it prevails subconsciously. It’s easy to fall into the trap that reflecting on spirituality is a degree of freedom. What we can do though is to be mindful of the unconscious moments and see a train of ‘thought-feeling energy’ fade into nothingness. In neurological terms, we can break self referential synapses in our brain just as we can build them by focusing on something that is meaningful to us. We can practice meditation, address family energy, apply letting go exercises or even attend psychotherapy to get previously hidden energy links out in the open. After all, we can only be mindful of something that we are aware of. Otherwise, let’s just enjoy this magnificent journey of a lifetime to appreciate the here and now one moment at a time.

 

Wisdom, devotion and right action

 It’s hard to break free from the self imposed “body, mind, world matrix.” God, however, gives us three dimensions to tune into, wisdom, devotion and right action. On wisdom, the observation is that “the mind itself is the projector of illusion. Once recognized, there is none (Longchenpa).” On devotion, the realization is that a compassionate heart energy crowds out the limited mind energy in a heartbeat. On right action, well, there is a right one tailored for every moment that helps us to get the self out of the Way, even if that action is to do absolutely nothing.

 

Everything is energy. Wisdom is the activation of the crown chakra, devotion, the activation of the heart chakra and the right action can be perceived by the spiritual third eye. When the internal and external energy flow synchronizes, our long-held notion of self vanishes.