That Which Is

Don't You Ever Forget

2010-01-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

You are not seeking the truth unless you are willing to see all of it, the bad and the good, and make the two one.

You have to be willing to accept your own mortality, look at your fears unashamed, and notice that your mind hides these fears under the guise of pleasure.

Spiritual seekers say things like "all is one" and "we are all equal". This is true, but it is deceiving because you cannot just stop at what makes you happy.

You have to dig deep down and really be honest with yourself. See how all of your ideas are just something you hold onto because you do not want to come face to face with truth.

The Truth is something that you can only understand when you are in touch with that frightened self in you, the one that stands in shivering awe of the universe.

And then when you are finally in touch with that child in you, you can see how your mind works to block the truth because you are afraid.

When the truth is blocked you are not in touch with life, it is your own delusion you are in touch with.

Truth before life, don't you ever forget.

Do Not Forget Your Purpose

2009-11-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

We ultimately have one purpose: to seek truth.

We are humanity; we are war, love, hatred, peace. We have had every joy, we have gone through every suffering together. Look at Jesus on the cross; you can see his humanity, it is the perfect image of humanity. You say he was not human, but divine? Well no one was more fully human. No one delved into the joy and the suffering more than him, and that is what he did for truth. Can't you see the bones under his skin, and the blood on his hands?

It if our purpose; to love truth so much that we would die for it. You have to love it to seek it, and then you will eventually know it. It is a wonderful thing to live and acknowledge all of existence, to never lie to yourself or anyone. It is harmony, it is the way it really is. If you forget your purpose you are in discord with the truth, you are dead to life.

Stress

2009-11-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

In times of stress, there is only one thing to remember: you are not your mind. It helps to remember that what your mind thinks matters, like all of the details of the day, are not really that important in the big picture. Silence is your true nature, and it is a place you can access if you remember this. There are a lot of things that may bother you; grades, money, work, people etc, but take a step back and realize how little that would even matter if you died at that moment. That puts it into context. There is nothing really to be stressed about. Dwelling on it creates a bigger problem. The more energy you put into worrying, the more your worrying will perpetuate itself. The energy is like the push to get the wheel spinning, and if you worry too much you lose control and the wheel runs away from you. It is ironic, because people worry because it feels like they are gaining control by doing so.

Silence, you are not your mind, be with that which is.

Growing Up

2009-11-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

When you are growing up, you have to go through a lot of crap that will make you into more of a neurotic being. School wants to mold you into a category and puts pressure on you to be a certain way, and if you are not they make you feel bad about it. You grow up competing with grades and assurance that you are doing well, and you don't really know how to think for yourself. The worst part is that they never teach you about anything important, like love. Love and having a family, are probably the most important thing you can learn, and it would probably save a lot of kids from problems down the road. You can't really teach anyone how to love, it is a natural thing, but you can teach them things like how you need to be rational at the same time as falling in love, or else you might do something impulsive. There are logistics in love, even though it is an irrational thing. You have to know the consequences of marriage, what it will be like, what having kids will be like etc.

Right now adolescence is the biggest tragedy. You start having a major identity crisis around age 13 and you feel like you have to be something. You really have no where to go but to conform or completely drop out of the game, or like I did, play the game on the outside and think about the universe on the inside. You are ripped out of the glorious childhood world of exploration and joy and curiosity, and you are told you have to be a productive member of society, and compete with all of your peers, because it is a dog eat dog world. That kills your joy fast, and you start dying to things slowly. You are dying slowly because you have to become a certain thing to succeed. Then we get older and get a job, and do a constant passionless circle of work, home sleep work home sleep work home sleep.

There has to be a model of society where you do not have grow up in certain areas, such as joy and wonder. You need to grow up and become wise about how the world works logistically, and about how you work, so you can have a balance between these two and be able to function. I suggest less work. I mean, if everyone on earth was given a job, we would all work less. We would take up creative activities during our free time. Work sucks, it is true.

Conceptualizations

2009-11-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Conceptualizations and other forms of mind categorization are like barriers against reality, or life. They are especially strong in spiritual or religious groups. It is quite obvious what happens with religious groups, they just box themselves in and shut out the daylight, but I think what happens with more new age or spiritual groups is more subtle. People acquire emotional associations to things, that formulate a picture in their heads about they way things are. Emotions create such strong impressions in people, that these impressions will keep being projected on reality over and over again. What happens with spiritual groups, is that they emotionally attach to an ideal, like the compassion of Buddha and the glorious pictures of him with light shining all around his head and lotuses blooming all around his feet. It is a powerful image of glory to the point where we perceive it as other worldly and feel it is some unattainable height that we mere humans cannot achieve. It is the same thing with westerners being so attracted to the east, especially India and all its gurus. The east is actually the most beguiling of all, especially because it has so much truth wrapped up in illusion. Westerners go there and experience a complete difference in environment; from living in a mundane and organized world almost like a scientific lab, to a random and colorful setting with a guru that is talking about otherworldly experiences. It is beautiful and intriguing, and people have strong emotional reactions to the ideas of inner peace, joy, ecstacy, understanding, heightened consciousness and enlightenment and these things become a magical picture that they get a mind-high off of imagining. Also, there is the idea that the East possesses ancient wisdom that is shrouded in mystery, but that we have to recover. This just gives power to the imagination, and another mind-high, when the truth is there all the time there is no reason to look to the past. The reality is, that the truth is almost boring. The mind and the imagination and all of its conceptualizations are powerful energy, that are barriers to life. The truth is cold and has no power. It just is the way it is, it is as cold and realistic as it can get. That is why the truth is so hard to find, because we only know energy, and we don't know that nothingness exists because we are constantly feeding our energy. Actually the less conceptualizations you have, the more boring the truth is, because passion and interest come from emotion and other ideas. But the truth is necessary, because the reality is that it is the only thing that can change the world for good. It is almost like the scientific homework you have to do for earth-school.

Our Past

2009-11-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

The quality of life that we enjoy today is very rare in history. The human race has been through a lot. In the past we couldn't even think about anything but survival. We progressed very slowly, and just hunted and gathered for thousands of years. When we finally began creating civilizations, most of us endured brutal domination by some greedy king or emperor, that would kill us if we did not do what they wanted. In fact the more civilized we supposedly became, the more we had reason for war and other violence. After thousands of years of this madness, we came to the 20th century that saw the fastest technological progress ever. At the same time it was the most violent century ever. We developed more powerful weapons such as machine guns and nuclear weapons, to kill on a more massive scale. It was also the first century that people began to live as well as we do today, with a bed, refrigerator, car, shower, etc. Imagine not being able to crawl into bed or take a shower, it was a reality for thousands of years.

If we act like we did in the past, there will be no future. Evolve or die.

If we do overcome our ego/minds, we will no longer have to put our money, time and resources into violence. Instead out creativity could run rampant and we could just focus on improving life in the areas of health, sustainability, food production, technology etc. Really, our imagination would no longer be bound. Right now, however, there are so many people unwilling to change that it hinders progress. Just look at how much trouble Obama is having in passing a healthcare bill that is no where near as progressive as healthcare in Europe. There are also many people who refuse to believe that global warming is an issue. People want to go on living in the past, even though it is the worst place, because they get comfortable in it.

Taking Care of Impermanent Things

2009-11-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

I am thinking about environmental sustainability tonight, and how we have to cope with a constantly changing physical world. It is true that the spirit never changes, but it is in an impermanent body that has to deal with environmental changes. Just because you are ultimately your immortal spirit, does not mean that you should not get up everyday, brush your teeth, take care of yourself and the earth. You should be grateful for the vessel that you are in, and the beautiful planet that is our home. Your soul cannot experience life without a body, and a body cannot experience life without the earth. Everything physical will pass, but we should interact with what IS in every moment. The earth is suffering right now, it is a reality. We have disrupted its balance, therefore, we need to work to restore the balance. Being in the present moment, means knowing everything in it thoroughly. Knowing what is happening fully conscious, and making the proper reaction to it. Many people on earth are currently ignoring the state of our planet; some for religious reasons, some think other things are more important, and many are just apathetic. If you do not act thoroughly in the present, there are consequences in the future. You cannot navigate through life blindfolded. We are currently creating an environmental disaster for our children in the future to clean up, because we are not fully aware of the present. We are wrapped up in dreams of the past and future, in selfish thoughts of how to gain the most we can. We are chasing after things that don't exist, and think they will give us permanent happiness. Experience the life you are experiencing right now. It is always passing phenomenon, but it is real. What is real is the people in China or India developing lung cancer from pollution, rising sea levels displacing people, droughts that cause starvation... and all because we weren't paying attention in the past. There is a passage from "the Little Prince", where the prince says we must uproot our baobabs before they grow too strong, tend to our garden. Baobabs are trees with really strong roots, and once they grow too big it is almost impossible to uproot them, and they are huge and would overtake the prince's tiny planet. The little prince uprooted the baobabs on his planet every morning, because he recognized the problem and the solution, and he was aware of the consequences.

Naivite

2009-11-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

I think that many of us are very naive about this world. I know I am far too trusting of people, and it has caused some trouble in my life. Children are completely naive, and have not formed judgments because of this yet. The more exposed to life you are, the less naive you become. Sometimes this makes people bitter, but it can also make you wise and cautious in a good way. You can know that there are bad things, but you also don't have to let them affect you, and in that way you can become like a child again.

Someone I know and trust very much told me the other day, that one may think a bear is really cute and want to hug it if they haven't developed judgment yet. If you are too naive, that bear will kill you, because you can't hug a bear simply because it is cute, you have to also know it is a part of nature and it is a hunter. It is like that for a lot of things in life. People are attracted to dangerous things for various reasons, and have to suffer the consequences if they haven't learned not to be compelled by them already. There is a certain beauty in dangerous things, that is somehow attractive to us. There is a certain freedom and wildness about them.

But you have to understand how life works, and how this world runs, and this world will run you down if you are too naive. Be wise about the world, and be wise about the truth of all of life, and you will know how to use judgment for your safety, and also live detached from it like a child.

Phony Niceness

2009-11-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Religious people seem to always want to suck you into their circle. Some days it is the Mormon coming by your house on a bicycle trying to convert you, or it is the preacher standing on the corner near your college trying to give you the new testament. They always act really nice toward you at the same time, so that it is hard to get annoyed. The unfortunate part is that it is a phony niceness, and just under their image there is an animal like all the rest of us. It is interesting how we can walk around acting nice, but I wonder what would happen if there was some kind of civil unrest or we ran out of food. We would just revert back to the jungle. There is an old Twilight Zone episode that takes place in the 1950's during the cold war, about a family that has the only bomb shelter on the block. One evening they invite a bunch of their friends over from the neighborhood, and they are having a jolly ol' time. And of course you know how the 1950's was the epitome of phony niceness. Well anyhow, suddenly the radio announces that there will likely be a nuclear attack. What happens is that the family moves into their bomb shelter, but everyone else goes into a panic and ends up acting like a bunch of maniacs and completely tear up the family's bomb shelter to get in themselves. Right after they have done that, the radio announcer suddenly comes on to say that it was a false alarm. Ofcourse everyone just stands there looking like complete idiots, and they will never view their neighbors the same way again. The point is, is that unless you change yourself with the truth, understand that you are not your mind, and that you are an immortal spirit in a mortal body, you cannot separate yourself from the beast within. We are bloodthirsty animals, right under the surface. We are just obedient to authority for the most part, and that is called civilization: when authority has successfully hid the truth about you under the guise of manners.

Oh and here is the Twilight Zone episode in case you want to watch it. It is really good. In fact many Twilight Zones have really great lessons in them (only the 1950s-60s series though, the 1980s one was crap).

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v15133435DHMr5sx9

The Fragility of Life

2009-11-04T18:44:00.000-08:00

Human beings live with the dilemma of knowing that they are going to die, and this makes them different from any other animal. It is what probably leads to the most delusions, and creates such denial/psychological coping mechanisms that we probably do not even realize that we fear it. That is, until it actually happens. And when it actually happens, we are probably shocked, since we somehow never think it will actually happen to us. It can happen to you anytime, in countless ways, no matter if you just got that job you wanted or if you are getting married. Death doesn't care. It is really a miracle every moment we are alive. Sometimes when I am in class I look around at the students and they look so dead bored. Then I imagine what would happen if some school shooter came in and try to kill them; obviously they would look much more lively. It is interesting we do not feel such enthusiasm for our lives all the time, and I think it should be that way. Not necessarily in an outward expression of enthusiasm, but a silent underlying appreciation.

I can only imagine what happens at the moment that you realize you are about to die, but I would think it would go something like this: you suddenly realize that nothing you did in life really mattered at all, because it is all going to be stripped away from you at death. If you haven't tried to seek truth in your life, you wonder what everything really means for the first time, and wish you had thought of it before. You die in utter oblivion and confusion, and that is happening to someone right now.

What you call "salvation" belongs to the time before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?-Kabir

Everyone is on Their Own Path

2009-11-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

In a way, no one in the world is bad, they are just learning what they have to learn to grow, no matter how bad their actions may appear. Ofcourse, it is not conducive to the greater good, but you cannot change anyone else's path. But all rivers lead to the ocean.

That being said, it is important to know when interacting with someone is not in your best interest. It is difficult to interact with most people, because there is always an underlying string of judgments, comparisons, jealousies no matter how subtle. The problem is that people do not know how to separate themselves from these thoughts, and realize they are just a part of their accumulated ego, so there is always a phonyness in interaction. Not to mention, their mind games are contagious, so if you are practicing spiritual detachment then it will make it difficult, and you will suddenly also find yourself judging. Our egos were born out of such interaction, so in order to undo them, do not dwell with people that nurture them. If anyone tries to incite bad behavior in you by arguing or taunting you, WALK AWAY. This behavior is stupid and meaningless, and what makes this world so sad. However, interacting with another person that is practicing spiritual life, there is an unwavering intimacy that goes deeper than any mind to mind relationship. There is intimacy based on the very thing that creates interdependence between all things of the world and the universe. Your relationship is based on the truth of your existence, and you coexist in complete peace. You let any problems that arise pass by like clouds in the sky, and recognize how unimportant they are. You are two beings in human form, and acknowledge each-other as that, nothing more. It is a silent understanding.

Therefore have respect for everyone and know that they are on their own path, but also walk your own path, and do not let anyone push you off it.

One Life of Many

2009-11-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

You have always been, and always will be. To think that this is the only life you have ever lived is ridiculous if you realize it. I am sure that statement might sound hair-brained to some, but it actually makes no sense that this has been your only body and your only life. Why would you think that YOU are the only one that will every possess this your consciousness, and if you are alive in a body right now, why would you think that was also not the reality before your life and will be after your death? I think it is because we are so identified with our flesh and blood that we can't see past it. This is a hard thing to express, but when you realize it makes complete sense, but sounds crazy to everyone else. It just makes no sense that your life would be limited to only this body. If you want to know what your life was like before you were born, look at your life now; it was also consciousness, in one form or another. If you are curious about the afterlife, do the same thing. You will just be conscious in another form, there really is no mystery. YOU or your "I" will not be able to experience what the afterlife is, but your consciousness will start out in another form with no memory, but you will be evolutionarily programmed with the level of consciousness you achieved in the last life.

What is happening now, is always happening. This life is not that important, it is just another life in the small blip of infinite time. It gives you a sense of ease to know this. Anyway, I have not completely grasped it yet, sometimes I get it more than other times. It is hard to understand because it is too simple. But if you are alive and conscious right now, you have always been and you always will be.

This is a poorly expressed post, but I realized this stuff better yesterday and I had to get something down.

Suffering

2009-11-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

We have to recognize human suffering in order to overcome it. Sometimes we do not notice it when complacently going about our daily lives, but suffering in all its forms is a daily reality for most of humanity. In the developed world we do not see it as potently as in impoverished areas of the earth, but the varieties of grief are so numerous no one escapes them. On the news we always hear about some gunman shooting innocent people, some greedy corporate scandal, pollution, hate crimes, not to mention the war and starvation going on in different parts of the world. Lets face it, the world is utter horror, as we cause suffering for ourselves and each other over, and over, and over again. Human brutality is endless, and we virtually still live in a jungle where we could be faced with violence at anytime, although we now have police and different forms of security to protect us. Even our happiest times, like when we fall in love, often end up falling apart down the road.

I am not trying to be depressing, I am just trying to point out that there are endless forms of suffering, but also a solution. As I have said before in my other blogs, life is infinite, and since suffering is a part of life, it is infinite also. But I have also said that one must step in the center of the circle of infinity, and watch it spin around them objectively. It is a difficult solution but it is the only way. You must understand that all things pass, the good and the bad, and realize it is just the nature of everything to constantly balance the good and the bad.

Once you realize the nature of suffering for yourself, you step out of the chain of suffering that you cause yourself and other people. You break the link in the chain.

How Strange it is To Be Anything At All

2009-10-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIsou0IRIQU

It is pretty incredible to be alive. It is pretty incredible that there is an earth in a solar system in a galaxy in a universe. Why is it there? This is a question that the mind asks to get itself oriented and to feel comfortable, but there is no reason. It is just in our mind's nature to try and make sense of everything and categorize everything. Also we want to know how big the universe is, or whether it ends. Ending is actually impossible, because if there is a border then there has to be something beyond a border, it is just impossible for there not to be. Actually everything takes on the shape of the nature of the universe; circles. Planets are round. You cannot say where they begin and where they end, you would just keep walking around them unless gravity somehow stopped and you drifted away. Many things in nature are circles; the center of a flower, hurricanes and other spirals, eyes, our circulatory system, nests, oranges, tomatoes, apples, galaxies, cycles of the season and the tides, the cycle of life. The circle is the representation of infinity. Emerson said, "our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens". You can never know why nature is the way it is, or comprehend infinity, life is a mystery to our minds. But to our soul it is eternal knowledge that it has always known, an always will know. So do not think about it but just live in it, life in the center of the circle and watch it all spin around you.

Evolving Moment to Moment

2009-10-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

Every moment is a constant process of evolution. Every day we receive new impressions of the world through our senses, and they change us. Some people are more resistant to change then others, especially if they holdfast to a strict worldview such as religious ideology. But even people that have strict world views will eventually encounter suffering in the world that will push them to seek a different way, and evolve spiritually. They are like trees that break if they are less flexible when the wind blows; the discord of their existence with actual reality eventually builds up and shocks them into having to face truth.

For those of us who have already started to seek the truth, it is important to know that every moment is an opportunity to practice seeing the truth. In every activity you do during the day, you can practice seeing when your mind gets in the way. If someone angers you, something makes you sad, or you get frustrated with your work etc, recognize it is just a condition of the mind that passes. It is material thought and not part of pure consciousness that does not contain such bias. You have to separate your mind from your spirit, energy from nothingness. Think of it as perfect objectivity. The more grounded you become in this objectivity, the more peace naturally arises within you.

Whenever you recognize your mind intruding on the present moment, you are taking steps in changing your mind into the mind of Truth. Your brain starts perceiving things differently and it evolves physically, because you can change the way it is wired. So you are taking conscious steps in your own evolution when you devote your self to spiritual seeking, and you can do it all the time. It is the most important thing for mankind to do right now. You must die to your mind and give birth to yourself, become reborn.

Something Simple

2009-10-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

I am rather tired tonight so I thought I would talk about something simple. Simplicity is the key to spiritual seeking. The less you have materially the less time your mind will spend occupied and distracted. Having a lot leads to worry over money or even more overindulgence. This triggers the ego's sense of self importance in having more than other people, and then you start playing a mind game that is difficult to break out of. Actually attachment to anything, such as emotional attachment to friends and lovers, knowledge, and thoughts threatens peace of mind. So the goal is to become more and more simple; with every material object you give away your house will become lighter and more spacious, and with every attachment or thought you clear out of your head the more open you become to all of life. In other words, your soul is nothingness that holds everything. You must become nothing to have everything.

If you are on a sinking raft, you will save your life by throwing heavy things overboard. Letting go of mental attachments is the same thing, it is the difference between true life and death. Jesus said, "let the dead bury the dead". The dead are buried under all of their dirt.

Freedom is having nothing left to lose.

All You Need is Love

2009-10-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdHdIN5tQJQ&feature=related
"Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be
done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how
to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time - It's easy."
These are the beginning lyrics to the
song "All You Need is Love"
by the beloved Beatles.Of course, most of
us have heard this some
at one point in our lives, and it was the subject of the first
international television broadcast. When
most people hear this song,
they just hear it as a nice idea but
completely impractical, because
after all you do need more than love to survive. However, people have
no idea what love really is. Love is really the law of the universe.
I am not saying that that planets and the stars are having emotional
encounters and falling in love with one
another, I am saying that
everything is constantly in the state and process of perfect creation.
Love is just the universe happening as it
is happening, being as it is
being, in control and in perfect
equilibrium. Every part of it is the
way it should be, the only way it could
be, and it is perfect creation
constantly unfolding. Love cannot really
be described, only its laws
can be described, and that is what the
song does. There is nothing you
can do that can't be done, nothing you
can see that isn't shown,because
only what is IS, the truth of the
universe is everything that exists.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time, means that
you do not really have control, and all
you have to do is realize it.
The song is about surrendering your
control to God/Truth/Love/Life,
realizing you are a part of everything.
Buddha once said you are already
enlightened but you just don't recognize
it yet. You can recognize it,
by recognizing that love is the universe, and you are subject to
the same laws as everything within it.
Therefore you can let go,
and love will take control. It is always
in control, it is just a
matter of recognizing it, and laying your mind to 
rest, laying your burden down.
Love is everything, so all you need is
love.
All together now, everybody!

Young and Old

2009-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

We are used to feeling like we have a center in ourselves. We depend on what we think of ourselves and the world in order to operate. If someone ever came to you and somehow stole all of your self-identity away, you would be alone and frightened like a motherless child. I remember losing my mother in the supermarket when I was little, and it was sheer terror. When you are a little kid you do not have an identity yet, but you do identify your mother as safety from the unknown. You have not really shaped a personal identity psychologically, which will take over as your protection from the unknown. Part of why you undergo so much stress when you are a teenager, is that suddenly you realize you must operate in this world in some coherent manner, and that means you have to define yourself for everyone else. Up until adolescence, you were free from any need to do this, mostly because you did not yet have any responsibilities. But as you get older you realize you become more aware of how society works and what it demands of you. This is why so many teenagers are rebellious and refuse to conform, because they see how identity limits people and closes their minds. Older people are frequently considered "stuck in their ways" or traditional. Just look at the '60s generation, what happened to them? Many of them are probably even conservative now.

The more you conform and limit your mind to a specific pattern that makes you comfortable, the more you die and the older you get. In that sense, you have been dying since the day you were born. In the womb you were physically limited by the small space of your mother's belly but not mentally, but as soon as you were born your mind started to limit itself to what it saw was safety in the wide world. Your mind will continue to age the more you limit yourself. The state of no mind, letting go of fear and self, is limitless and all-encompassing. So you can grow younger, by concentrating on spiritual life. By letting go of your mind's categories, your mind will let more life in and you will see things in a new way, the way you saw it as a child. Jesus said, you must see the world through the eyes of a child, to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Fear

2009-10-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Fear is probably the most powerful human emotion. When it overtakes you, it is in complete control of you. That is why fear has been used throughout history in order to control people. Leaders have used our biology to their advantage in this way. We are evolutionarily programmed for self preservation at all costs, and we can be led to brutal acts just because something is threatening our existence. It does not even have to be a physical threat; it can also be a threat to our psychological identity.

Fear is something very important to understand, because it is the mind's most powerful tool against love and truth. It wants to be a stable living thing that lasts forever, and the fact that mankind has the knowledge that it will eventually die, makes it want to become as strong as possible. That is why many people's minds are like stone, and where the term "closed minded" comes from. People subconsciously shut themselves out from the world and make their minds impenetrable because they are afraid of the abyss. If you stare to long into the abyss, the abyss will stare back into you, and you are afraid of the unknown inside that abyss so you would rather create your own reality. Out of fear people create religion. Out of fear people demonize "the other", people that are different in their society and there is hatred and prejudice. People do not want their mind created reality to be destroyed, because they are afraid of what lies beyond it.

In a way, fear is also a good thing because it pushes you to evolve. You do not want pain and suffering anymore, so you look for a way out. But actually, you usually look for the way out after all the suffering you have brought upon yourself from this fear.

We must not let our fears control us, or else we become brutal and animalistic.

All Things Must Pass

2009-10-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

When you notice your state of mind, you notice that no single state lasts forever. In fact, most states pass pretty quickly. The interesting thing is that whenever you are in the midst of a state, you feel like it is the most important thing in the world, like it has the most reality and that it will last forever. Many emotions have this kind of power, such as anger, sadness, frustration. Even positive emotions have this effect, like elation and the feeling of romantic love. Whenever they overtake you, it is very very difficult to realize that they are just passing phenomenon. But whenever they happen, if you practice realizing that they are just momentary creations and that they will wither away like the fall leaves, you begin to distance yourself from them and see the world in a more objective manner.

It is not just your thoughts and feelings that are of an impermanent nature, it is everything; literally every THING. This is because for everything physical, death is as necessary as life. We think of dead things as non responsive, or no longer responsive to the living environment. Because that is what life is, it is constant interaction with stimulus. This constant interaction with all of life is what creates the process of change. Nothing stays the same because life is always moving, always changing, always interacting. Every moment is new. There has never been a moment like this one in the history of the infinite universe! It is impossible for there to have ever been a moment like this one, because death and change are a part of life. Death and change make everything new all the time. The cells in your body are constantly dying to make room for new ones to keep your body healthy. The only reason death is sad to you is because your mind has made YOU into a reality, a constant, a death. You are dead, you do not interact with life but you separate yourself from it. In fact, you are dead because you do not allow yourself to die; you do not allow yourself to go with the flow of life, and change along with it. If you didn't hold on to your idea of self so tightly, death would be like a joy to you, like it is a joy that your cells die in order to renew your body. It is just a change in form. Forms will always change, but life is forever and infinite. Life is forever and always, in each moment.

Everything You Need

2009-10-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

You have everything you need at all times. Even when you die, it is what you need at that moment. Your body can no longer be the vessel for your consciousness, because it has become to sick or damaged. The amazing thing is, that you have everything you need while you are alive at all times. You are on a planet that gives you everything you need; air, water, food, etc. Some people do not have water or food, but that is because people do not recognize they need to share what they have. But the earth gives us what we need; the air never just turns of, does it? It is a beautiful thing, that we are beings on this earth that just gives itself to us. But we need to learn how to only take what we need, or else it will have to destroy us just like our immune system destroys bacteria to protect itself.

There are many people that hoard things and do not share. That is because evolution programmed us for survival, and people are still programmed to acquire enough material goods for survival. Now that we have enough, our programming still pushes us to acquire more and more and gives us a false sense of security. We do not take a moment to realize how perfectly secure we really are, just being given air at all times. Nature gave birth to us, made us the way we are. We are patterned after God/Life's design. Everything is the way it is or else it would fall apart and we are a part of everything, so we can know that we are part of the order of things. Knowing that is security, like the air that we breathe. Nothing can be created outside of what is, so we are a part of God. There is nothing to fear, God is with you all the time, everywhere.

Is the action of nature not unlike drawing a bow?
What is higher is pulled down, and what is lower is raised up;
What is taller is shortened, and what is thinner is broadened;
Nature's motion decreases those who have more than they need
And increases those who need more than they have.

It is not so with Man.
Man decreases those who need more than they have
And increases those who have more than they need.

To give away what you do not need is to follow the Way.
So the sage gives without expectation,
Accomplishes without claiming credit,And has no desire for ostentation.

-The Tao Te Ching

Perpetual Rest

2009-10-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, "I am the door; the person who enters by me will find Eternal bliss. I am the bed; the person who lies on me will enter perpetual rest. I am the Light; the person who sees by me will view all things."

Jesus christ was reborn into spirit, no longer a servant to the devil/mind. He was truth personified. The Truth is "the way", and there is no other way. People take that to mean that Jesus/christianity is the only way, but anyone who also knows the truth is "the way".

In the quote above Jesus says that he is the bed that will give us perpetual rest. That is a particularly beautiful quote. I do not think people realize to what extent they are not at rest. Everyday people are in a conscious or unconscious battle with themselves. The mind makes you feel like you are not good enough, ugly, stupid, etc. This creates negative emotions within you that are very powerful and very believable. The ego creates very strong illusions, and emotions are very convincing. We are only happy when thing work out the way that we want them to, in order to satisfy our desires. Therefore there is a constant internal struggle that only makes the knot stronger. Then there is anxiety about our futures, our pasts and of course death. There is so much anxiety and uncertainty in life. Just thinking about all the times you have worried is exhausting. A huge amount of our energy is spent on suffering.

Jesus was offering us the Truth, the bed of perpetual rest. But we have gotten so accustomed to carrying our burdens it is as if we are addicted to our suffering, and it feels like home. We do not know anything else, so we are afraid to step out of our suffering. The mind being in control is an incredible burden, and an endless one if you do not lay it down. It is such a burden that it makes you think that laying it down would create even more of a burden, but it is not so.

A good way to start laying your burden down, is by just witnessing all of your thoughts/emotions objectively. Just watch what happens and don't feed them.

Self-reliance

2009-10-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

You should never believe anything, especially what other people tell you. No one knows better than you, because no one is able to check what is true for you except yourself. That is why it is silly to follow a guru or a religion. In fact I think the test of a good spiritual teacher is if they tell you not to believe what they say, but discern if it is true for yourself. We are all just human beings, so you have the same capabilities as anyone else, no one is more special. You have eyes, ears, nose, and a mind to discern the truth as well as anyone else; there is no difference between you and Jesus Christ or Buddha, except that they have already used those tools to find the truth for themselves. Now it if your turn.

People are always looking for miracles in spirituality, thinking that one is holy when they are able to perform supernatural feats. But isn't it miraculous enough that we have a body that is sustained every second by the most complex, intricate systems? In which nerve impulses to and from the brain travel up to 170 miles an hour, in which our brains hold 5 times more information than the biggest encyclopedias, and in which there is constant renewal and rejuvenation. Our bodies are entire universes unto themselves, and they hold a consciousness that is conscious of consciousness itself, and how the universe works. It is incredible. Whenever we distract ourselves from the incredible reality that we live in, we are just dying a little more.

People ask "what would Jesus do?". Well what would you do, and why? Will you use your consciousness and your miraculous body to enlighten yourself to the truth? It is all up to you. No one can help.

Go Green

2009-10-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

We need to follow natures example and not waste what we are given. Nature never wastes anything; it naturally recycles and reuses everything. There is a balance to all functions of the earth, and the earth naturally regulates itself. We have to find ways to use modern technology in perfect harmony with the natural balance. I was reading the other day that new technology can channel the energy from our heartbeat and recharge small items such as cell phone batteries. new technology could just find ways to channel natural energy like veins channel the blood in our bodies. I wonder if someday the energy that we are putting into using a machine would actually power the machine itself.

Using more than you need means that you are out of balance. The greater your wants, the more you will feel like you need, and it will build on itself. If you want a new TV, you will feel you also want a DVD player, speakers, more channels etc. You will become more and more distracted and you will never be able to turn your mind off, or concentrate on spiritual life. We spend to much time and energy feeding our minds with different technological devices, because we are uninterested in the present moment. We want to escape the thoughts we are having by immersing ourselves into fantasies, which sadly is the opposite way of escaping thoughts. Set aside a time during the day when you are not using any technology. Light a few candles and just be. Be fulfilled by the present moment.

Before you go to sleep at night...

2009-10-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Before you go to sleep at night, take a moment to feel your whole body. I try to do this every night in bed, but it is so relaxing I usually fall asleep before I finish feeling my whole body. I start at my toes and I am passed out by the time I reach my torso. Another thing you can do is quietly lie there and listen to the sounds outside. There may be crickets chirping, cars going by, wind in the trees, dogs barking, people talking, airplanes in the sky etc, listen for anything and be aware of everything that you hear. Use every thought that passes through your mind as a cue to start trying to listen again. If it is warm feel the warm air on your skin, if it is cold feel that cold but cozy feeling you get under your covers. Feel every part of your body and the sensations that you feel; cold, warm, soft, hard, pulsating, and the up and down of your breath in your chest and stomach.

If you are likely to fall asleep during this process, say a prayer before. A prayer does not have to be to someone else or a god, it can help you by evoking your deepest intentions and remind yourself of your spiritual journey. Before I go to bed, I say the Lord's Prayer, but only to myself. Our father (life, that which is, Truth) who art in heaven (heaven is where the truth lives) hollowed be thy name (I revere the Truth) Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (when people wake up to the truth, there will be heaven on earth), give us this day our daily bread (i replace this with give us this night our restful sleep) and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us (let us be forgiven for things we do when we do not know the truth, and we will forgive those that know not what they do), and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil (and don't let our minds control us and tempt us, but let our spirits be in control of our minds and live) Amen (it means "i surrender" i surrender myself, i realize i have no control. i surrender my ego. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUzTZ5dgwQ

Solitude

2009-10-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Solitude is really important for spiritual life. The ego is created in reaction to how others perceive you, so you have to spend time alone to find out what you really are. Not to mention how pleasant it is; you can do anything you want without outside judgment. When you are alone you are left to hear the thoughts that are going on inside you, without outside distraction. You realize that your thoughts are all from reactions to external events from the past. You may worry about how someone perceived you during the day, if you got everything done that you needed to, whether or not you are a good person, why you are the way you are, why your friends/partners are acting the way they are etc, the list is endless. It is difficult to rid yourself of these thoughts, but you can only take the time to really deal with them and observe them when you are alone. You can follow them to their source, and figure out how to end them. And you need to remember the truth to do it (see "the present" at www.truthcontest.com).

The outside world is harsh and uncaring. It demands that you play mind games or it will shut you out. Play the mind games knowing full well what you are doing, but when you come home and you are alone (well maybe not if you have a family) you owe it to yourself to be yourself. Mind games suppress and deny who we really are, whether it is bad or good, so you owe it to yourself to see the ego/beast within you that is supressed by society. It needs to be made visible to be eliminated. You need to see the problem to make a solution. You cannot see the problem when you are playing the same phony game as everyone else. You need to look at yourself without makeup, to be able to see the flaws. Do not think of anything about yourself as bad or good though, that is also ego, just learn to see yourself objectively, and how to recognize your ego.

Change Yourself to Change the World

2009-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

The news reminds us everyday about the countless problems with the world. It seems like there are many charities set up to help world hunger and poverty, and much activism against war and human rights violations. As fast as people are trying to help, new problems are popping up. Seemingly, it is all just chaos without a root cause.

It is just like the problems you have as an individual. You may have problems such as depression, anxiety, and anger, and you try to just fix them with some emotional support, or you do not really think their is a way to fix them at all. The world is like an individual on a grand scale. Society is like a mass ego made for self preservation. But we need to recognize the shield and the weapons we raise against one another when we perceive an attack.

Our shield is made out of the loneliness and fear the mind perceives in this world. It is right to be afraid, because it is not real and deep down it knows it. But it also has a hard time realizing that it is creating the loneliness and fear, not the world. It has a hard time realizing it is the problem, and all it can see when imagining its non-existence, is a dark abyss. It creates everything and tricks you into keeping it in control, and it tricks everyone else around you in the process. Everyone is just tricking each other. But if you step outside of the problem, then you are no longer contributing to the problems in the world. You are the ultimate humanitarian, philanthropist or peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

There really is a way out of this hell we have created for ourselves and each other. It is a hard way out as I am finding out, but it must be taken.

Loneliness

2009-10-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

What is loneliness? Is it being afraid of being alone, or being afraid of being stuck with yourself? We must be born alone, and die alone. When you are alone, it kind of reminds you of the reality you must face. There is no comfort and nothing to hold onto, unless perhaps you are watching TV. You realize that even though your life may be intertwined with other beings, and you are part of the system of interconnectedness that makes up nature, you still have your own individual destiny to bear. No one can die with you, or suffer with you. They may be near you experiencing it, but you cannot be one with any one else's experience. No one experiences exactly what you experience. And when you die, you are going absolutely alone into the unknown. Sometimes at night, when you were a little kid, for comfort you went to your parents bedroom when you were afraid . Imagine what death will be like, everything you know is ripped away from you into oblivion, it no longer exists. There is no one to come with you, or tell you what it is like unless you are religious. You must discover everything for yourself.

You are a unique being in the universe. And you are absolutely alone in your uniqueness.

Friends

2009-10-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

Their is no pettyness or mindgames in true friendship. There is no expectation of loyalty or any other kind of expectation. There is no question. There is harmony because you live according to the order of things, so you love and are a part of love at all times. Mind games are so predominant in friendships, especially in romantic relationships. There are so many ideas and expectations, and we find so many ways to manipulate people to conform to what we want. There is never any reason to fight or be angry with someone you know beyond the mind, because your friendship is not based off of thoughts or ideas, but a bond beyond words. The same bond that unites everything and creates everything interdependent. Even if you do get angry, you both know it is a passing unimportant thing, even if you don't say you know. It is not really real. A good way to judge if emotion is really real, is put your friend in front of a moving bus next time you are having an argument, and see whether the anger or the bus coming at them is more real. Then you will realize how petty it is.

People get addicted to their emotions a lot and create drama just to feel more alive. They get so caught up in it that they don't realize it is just of their own creation. A dog does not create drama, it just loves for the sake of loving. But humans place conditions on their love, and play mind games with one another. We are deeply rooted in psychological issues, and it all stems from fear, but we have got to uproot it, lest we have shallow relationships. Right now their is no relating, only people creating what they want in other people.

There is no God higher than Truth

2009-10-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

God is not a separate entity controlling or creating everything. It is every part of everything. It is the simplicity and complexity of everything. It is the inherent knowledge in everything. Everything knowing that it is a part of everything else, working together in perfect balance and harmony. The universe is perfect the way it is, if it was not, it would not be what it is. That is the truth.

From the small atoms to the supernovas, their largeness and smallness only relative, there is perfect integrity. They know each other and recognize how to create themselves and everything else in the process. It is a knowing that is not separate from the present moment, it acts when it is supposed to according to the dictates of natural order.

And it is infinite, because it is impossible for it not to be. It is infinity every moment. Every moment is always. Every moment that ever existed is now. Time does not exist.

But infinity is incomprehensible. All we can know is that it is the way it is, because the finite cannot have perfect integrity, cannot be nothing to be everything all the time, for no reason at all. Does not have a reason for anything, so it has no reason to be finite. Every moment is made of infinity.

This is God; the incomprehensible but the obvious, love (infinite creation). Nothing and everything. The whole.

Balance

2009-10-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

In my last post when I talked about pleasure and pain, I forgot to mention the fact that pleasure and pain are just two sides of the same problem. Whenever you feel pleasure, you can be sure that you will also feel pain in the future. Things just naturally happen that way. You never continuously feel pleasure; a painful time always comes, just like the fact that it rains some days and is sunny other days. In a way pleasure is pain, and pain is pleasure, because they create each other; they are recognizable by each others' existence. We also see them as separate things because that is how our mind perceives them, but they are really one movement; they make up a whole together. If you put the two together, you see the whole circle. You step off the merry-go-round.

Buddha said to walk the middle path. Do not seek out extreme pleasure or pain, unless you want their opposites. Do everything knowing what you are doing, and knowing the other side of it. Intentionally seeking pleasure or pain, enslaves you to material conditions. Step back, take a look at how you are feeling, and know it is just a passing condition, like a cloud in a sky. Right now we always think we are the clouds in the sky. But we are actually the sky; infinite. So if you try to get extreme pleasure, you will keep identifying yourself with an impermanent condition, and it will be harder to walk the middle path, as Buddha said. I think he suggested the middle path because it is easier to reach spiritual understandings when you are not letting yourself be tossed around by extremes.

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

-From the Tao Te Ching

Pleasure and Pain

2009-10-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that the more interested in pleasure I am the more addicted I become to it, and i cannot get out of the habit. If I eat one ice-cream cone, I start craving more ice-cream. Wanting things only makes the hole of emptiness in you grow bigger. Your mind makes you feel empty and like you need more, and it is a hard thing to break the habit of. We seek pleasure constantly in our daily life. We grudgingly do our work and dream of the pleasure we will get when we are done. The free time we will spend watching TV, hanging out with friend, or eating something tasty. When we are not doing those things, our mind is dreaming of them, and when we are doing those things, our expectation of them takes away from the experience. So we are constantly dissatisfied. Restless and dissatisfied from day to day. The wheel turns.

Everytime I have a craving for something I wonder if I should really follow it. I know it is just an impermanent condition of my mind. But it is so convincing it is hard not to follow it. The only thing I can suggest to combat this problem is to feel your body, hear the noises around you, smell the air. Be fulfilled by your life in that moment. Do not be a slave to the conditions of your mind.

You Have No Control

2009-10-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

We are at the complete mercy of life itself. It knows how to create hunger within us so that we may sustain ourselves, how to create desire so that we may reproduce, how to create fear so that we may protect ourselves. Our environment is constantly changing. Today it was raining and it was cold, so I had to bring a long an umbrella. The coldness made me want to have a hot drink. So I stopped at a coffee shop and got a hot chocolate. Stopping for hot chocolate made me bump into a friend, and bumping into a friend determined that I would not go home for another hour. Things are always happening that determine how things will turn out. You know some days will be rainy, but not all days, because it is improbable. Everything physical is constantly changing, and the present moment is constantly being recreated. That means that the past is constantly dying to create the present. Everything material is constantly changing, and to let it change, something has to die. Dying is only the process by which life changes into something new. But we hold onto our forms and try to control them. Because we try to control them we do not realize they are uncontrollable, and become perpetually dead, holding on to the material past that has already died. We do not live with the stream of change. We are nothing more than constant change. An immortal spirit, a nothingness at one with the change and also witness to it. At least that is how we should live. Instead we deny that is how it is, which is silly because it is like denying we have an arm or a nose. But humans work in silly ways, while God works in mysterious ones that can never be known, just surrendered to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VxQuPBX1_U

Integrity

2009-10-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

True integrity exists everywhere in nature. Everything functions together as a whole. Also, in nature time is not linear, it is cyclical; a circle of life representing a whole. The seasons change every few months, and they give each other integrity, they give each other change. Right now it is fall, and the leaves can fall because of the spring, summer and winter. In the winter the leaves are gone, but in the spring new leaves can grow in the place of the fallen, and in the summer the new leaves live happily giving us oxygen until they must die in the fall to start the cycle all over again. They live so they can die, and die so that they can live. The leaves have integrity because they live when it is time to live and die when it is time to die. They know these times because of their relationship to everything else; their relationship to spring, summer, fall, winter and the mechanisms of the earth that produce the seasons, and the mechanisms of the universe that make the earth. As humans, we do not live when it is time to live because we do not live in relation to everything else, we live according to the dictates of our egos and steadily march towards death-time. We do not perceive time as a circle, a whole, held together by a web made by each other and each thing because we want to have our own separate integrity, defended by the creation of linear time. This separate integrity feels assured by the steady ticking of linear time, like a heartbeat its existence is affirmed every second. It ticks until the very end, our heartbeat stops and we are no longer conscious of the ticking. The clock we have created never stops ticking, even if we can no longer hear it. It only mattered to us while we were alive, when it gave us order and what we perceive as integrity. However, the beat of the heart does not conform to the ticking of the clock, it has its own time and the clock does not know it; it is a secret. Only time will tell it. We think that death is not a part of us; it is the anti-ego, when we die we lose "our" consciousness and control. It is something we dread at the end of that road of linear time we march on. We march boldly and proudly like soldiers on their way to war with an attacker, we can't let ourselves be seen as cowards. We cannot desert the army or our egos, we cannot show weakness, or the “Other” just might kill us. We use our time wisely, getting our work done so that we can become something, because we are not enough; we must be victorious and stand apart from the rest. Time is money; linear time is valuable, it can bring us success in the future. In circular time there is no future to bring success, nothing stands apart but stands together as a whole, and time is a tree that makes leaves instead of money. Our pride and bravery is now recognized as cowardliness, fear of relation, and we stand there looking stupid in our uniforms, holding our weapons up against an opponent that isn't there. Our opponent morphs into a friend that has been supporting us and keeping us alive the whole time. If death is not a part of us, then life is not a part of us. When life and death become one, they produce rebirth. In a way death does not really exist, only rebirth exists. Rebirth is a constant cycle of existence, but not a monotonous one because it can never produce sameness. Rebirth is really in the middle of the circle, it is not in the cycle anymore. Rebirth is the whole that life and death make. It is in the present moment, it is the merging of space and time. It is birth after birth after birth after birth. It is one whole life giving birth to itself. Where is there death in the universe? I do not see it when I look outside of myself. Everything just looks like reformation, rebirth, shifting in form, constantly in movement. Everything is always in the middle of the circle in an infinite universe. When I picture true integrity I picture a web in the shape of a sphere. But really I think it is impossible to imagine an image to represent true integrity. Since everything and everyone is every part of that sphere, there is no place to place things and therefore no form to be held, because everything is everywhere. It is almost like it is beyond form and therefore beyond our comprehension. Thinking is a very limited thing, being is not. Being in a web, interconnected, has infinite possibilities. These truths are no good unless we put them to practice, or rather, let them put us to practice. We will not take them and shape them to ourselves like we do with systems of government; we will let them govern us. They are much more alive and capable of leading us than our governments ever have been. They are not ideas, and they are definitely not my own; they are alive by themselves and you would not be alive without them. They belong to no one, but if you see them yourself they are yours to shout at the top of your lungs to anyone else who might hear, and you just might stop a war, poverty, hatred or all of the endless miseries humans inflict on each other because of their egos. Everyone on earth is a savior if they try to be. Are we capable of forming a web together, of being each other's brothers and sisters? If not then thinking about this is the true meaning of a waste of time.

What Is?

2009-10-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Finding what is true involves also discovering what is not true. In fact, it is easier to realize what is true when you have realized what is false.

Everything your mind creates is not real. Lower life forms do not impose their ideas on reality, they live in accordance with it. They live in the present moment, and react to stimulus when it is in the present with them. Plants photosynthesize when the sun is out, animals react to their predators etc. Plants and animals follow a pattern of reactions nature has programmed into them. Humans are different because we have evolved to have minds in order to better control our environment. Our minds are able to think about the past and our future and make decisions.

The problem is not that we have a mind that is able to react to things that are not immediately present, but that we do not recognize that the things are not immediately present. We do not recognize what the present moment is. We think we are our minds, we think we are what we think about our past and future. As living beings, we identify with our thoughts and become complicated. But our mind is just a tool that helps us to think abstractly about our environment, in order to gain better control of it. We have gained control of our environment and created civilization, not it is time to gain control over our inner environment. We have homes that give us shelter; now we must recognize our spirit is our true and infinite home, and the ultimate shelter. Jesus said "I am the bed; the person who lies on me will enter perpetual rest. I am the Light; the person who sees by me will view all things."

Ultimately, we are just a consciousness that has no control. It is just part of the mystery of life. Our bodies just support our consciousness and it helps our brains to make sense of life. Right now we are using it to create false identities for ourselves, but they are impermanent. Nonetheless people hold onto this falsehood, and this causes many problems in the world. The truth is that we are just pure consciousness, living in an impermanent body. We all share the body of the infinite universe.