Either way, the Way has its way

 What is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

A Course in Miracles

I had a satori moment once when I was that screen that displayed life as is. There was no conscious and subconscious to speak of—no self identity other than the notion “I exist”—just viewing, manifesting and Oneness.

Many of us are on a conscious spiritual quest where we aim to inquire into the nature of being; methods differ—meditation, mindfulness, yoga, religion, self inquiry, work with a guru, non-dual reflections, etc. The quest is noble and even necessary since effortless being requires a little self restraint in order to get our arms around the conditioning we have been burdened with for ages. Still, those who aspire do not have, otherwise they wouldn’t aspire to be somewhere else but being here and now!

Every thought, feeling and occurrence that is not in alignment with “being, consciousness, bliss” is tainted, but identification is key here. In a second best world the thought-feeling energy that rises, lingers for a short moment and then fades can be compared to the passing cloud that never really interferes with the blue sky. Only the thought-feeling energy that we identify with—consciously or subconsciously—is the rain cloud that renders the blue sky scenario meaningless. It has to be faced, investigated, understood and let go of in order to allow the brilliant blue sky on the next morning. 

The All-Encompassing has been guiding us on the path for eons. In the famous yin and yang symbol we might consider the white area surrounding the black dot as the satori moment; the black dot in the white area as the passing interference we have outgrown; the white spot in the dark area as the interference we recognize as such but still the ongoing attachment or aversion invites us to inquire further, while the black area outside the white dot denotes the conditioned self engagement we are not even aware of.

We are this creative Force that sends us on this self-dissolution quest in time. In the words of the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 29 in the Steven Mitchell translation) it reads: “The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle". Let’s enjoy the mystery in the blue sky days as they present themselves and engage with and inquire into the manifestation that we are part of as best as possible on the rainy days. Either way, the Way has its way. The power of now has it that we can always enjoy the spectacle from the center of the circle.

#awakening #spirituality #taoteching #yinyang

Observe the wish for making right

 My wife and I were on our way to Heathrow airport. We had left plenty of time as due to the transport strike we knew that traffic would be slow. Still, getting out of the city was agonizingly slow. I felt irritation rising in my wife, and I started to get worried if we would make our flight in these traffic conditions. Suddenly I remembered a game I used to play in Paris in the early days of Awakening. I was fascinated with the Law of Attraction then and literally “vibed” my way through traffic when the schedule got tight. While I no longer practice the Law of Attraction as I have come to realize that it is not worth my while to consciously ask for anything, I still realized that I was tense and wasn’t helping the situation, so I managed to become aware of my inner tightness and dissolved it. The result was amazing. My wife fell asleep in the car. The Ueber driver cut more assertively through traffic and the lights started to favor us more often than before. We made it in time to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

There is an important spiritual message in that occurrence. The conscious act in the Awakening journey is the wish to stop the self inflicted dysfunction in the world. Observing is something we can do. We can inquire into the entity that wants to advance on the spiritual path. As we become more mindful of our self-induced interferences the Light is perceived more brightly in the outside world. By spotting our conditioning in action we start dissolving our interferences on the inside. Life is easier as we get the self out of the Way, and it’s more fun too.

The “I Am state”

 There are two circuits running. The one is pure energy flowing through us; only a content feeling of “I exist” is present, everything else is taken care of by itself. The second one is the thinking, feeling, reaching for, avoiding state. In the “I Am state” the here and now is as predominant as a ten-lane highway, while in the conditioned self state the present moment is as precarious as a razor’s edge. Everyone has glimpses of the “I Am state” for we are That. Spiritual living is the feat of looking at the conditioned self state as is, without wishing it to be any different; curious of its nature like watching a fascinating murder mystery. Ask, who is it who wants to return to the “I Am state”?

The story of the scorpion and the holy man with an alternative ending

 Whoever sees his nature is a Buddha.

Bodhidharma

You have probably heard the story of the scorpion and the holy man in which a passerby watches that strange encounter where a holy man keeps rescuing a scorpion from drowning and the scorpion keeps stinging him and falls back into the water as the holy man instinctively drops him as he is stung. When the passerby asks in bewilderment what is going on the holy man shrugs his shoulders and says, “it’s the nature of scorpions to sting and it’s the nature of a holy man to save creatures in distress.”

In the alternative ending of the story the holy man sees the bewilderment written on the passerby’s face and he suddenly understands that he wore that title “holy man” like a garment. Joyfully he drops it and faces life again and the scorpion drowns. The end!

# awakening #spirituality #bodhidharma

The here and now is an energy that can be felt, seen, sensed and known!

 The study, and the practice, or effort must continue relentlessly according to each one’s capacity, until it is understood or realized.

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

A friend is convinced that the spiritual quest is a knowing—the realization when psychological thinking is present or not.

Another friend highlights the power of feeling when something is off—the pinpointing of an interference, an existing pain-body, and emphasizes our ability to go within, to stay with this aberration, to get to the root of it, and let go of it.

I perceive the here and now as an energy. It’s an absence of thinking and a uniform feeling of contentment, but the energy flowing and acting is not “me.”

All of us are quite good at recognizing the harbinger of Oneness in the outside world, or the self-created symbols of divisiveness. When you see, you see. Knowing, sensing, feeling, seeing. In Oneness the here and now is a ten lane highway, whereas the self-induced interferences reduce it to a razor’s edge.

I no longer recommend anything to anyone. We all climb the illusionary mountain in our idiosyncratic way, but climbing we must because there is no alternative. When the river of life approaches the ocean of Oneness, all self-imposed interferences are ruthlessly swept away. Swimming upstream simply becomes too painful. 

We cannot say that along a spiritual quest it gets easier and easier to follow the Way. The interference is meant to show us the area where we are still stuck and getting our arms around it can be hard even for the seasoned spiritual traveler because psychological self knows the spot where we are most vulnerable and clings to it. That’s where persistence comes in. God has already mapped out the path that sets us free but we have to keep going on it. 

From my perspective and that of my friends I can assure you that the breakthrough comes sooner or later if we keep at it. Psychological self vanishes into the background and 

S (tillness),

E (nergy),

L (ove),

F (low) prevails.

#spirituality #awakening #SiddharameshwarMaharaj

Meditation is 24/7

 Someone asked the question whether we can drink alcohol along a spiritual path and I answered, “you” consume the wine, but don’t let the wine consume “you.” I don’t drink alcohol but I watch mystery murders as entertainment; someone else might drink alcohol but may consider tv entertainment as an interference. We are here to experience the world—the holy, the good, the bad and the ugly—but what a well-being it is to enjoy being while doing so; that is to say, enjoy a serene, loving and potent energy flowing through us no matter what the activity might be. To the extent that something internal or external throws us off, we have another opportunity to inquire into its self-inflicted root-cause. 

Adyashant gives a great definition of meditation, 

“Meditation, in this sense, is really a state of discovery. Sitting in quiet and stillness and just being in a state of openness gives you a clear opportunity to watch what happens internally when you stop judging your experience, when you stop judging your mind for being busy, or you stop judging yourself for having a particular feeling. You don’t try to get rid of the feeling. You don’t try to get rid of the mind. You just let go of your judgement. You let go of trying to control the moment. For a while, you surrender into what is.”

Meditation is 24/7: Meditation is being when we are connected to higher energies, and meditation is being mindful when something seems off. In the moments when our serene, loving and potent well-being seems illusive, “you” have another opportunity to get the self out of the Way. 

#spirituality #awakening #meditation #adyashanti #alcohol 

Read the book of life with an open mind and heart

 A spiritual seeker had a job in a fast-paced environment. When he went to a spiritual retreat and talked to the master he complained about one particular colleague who is arrogant, condescending and doesn’t seem to like him very much. “Master,” he said, “I like my job and enjoy working with most of my co-workers, but there is that one particular individual who bothers me so much that I consider quitting the job.” The master advised him to spend some time with that contentious colleague before making any decisions. A few weeks passed and the man returned  happy. “You were right,” he said, “after talking to him I realized that we have a common hobby, soccer, and since then he has completely transformed. “No,” the master replied, “you have transformed!”

“Read the book of life in the mirror of relationships,” J. Krishnamurti says. This world was created for “you” to discover the Oneness behind it. When we hit perceived obstacles we can go within and stay with the feeling that arises and look at it without fear, judgement, or with the attempt to wish it away. With attention, acceptance and letting go the feeling is bound to fade and transform into a completely different state. On the outside, we can see our projection, attachment and judgement and see it as it is. We can learn to read the book of life without any bias, and chances are we are going to like what we encounter.