suchness

9 posts

Flow with Life and Embrace the Way

Let’s start this article with a simple exercise. How does it feel to embrace something or someone? This experience is a helpful stepping stone as you awaken to consciousness. Is embracing something or someone strictly a physical experience? There is much more to this interaction. Everything transfers energy. Likewise, holding something or someone is the sensation of sharing at various levels. However, the essence of this unified energy is constant. Only the frequency alters, depending on an object’s acceptance or resistance to this flow. 

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Now gently embrace yourself. Consciously go beyond the physical stimulation. Thus, you equally allow awareness to expand. Visualize the drift and manifestation of energy. And, don’t guide or influence this energy. Simply acknowledge the flow and let it drift along. Likewise, recognize that you are a vibrating part of this universal movement. Embracing your physical body enhances aware presence. Accordingly, the mind loses influence over your state of presence as you flow with this universal life stream. Continue reading

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Allow Life to Flow and Just Let Go

Count the number of situations for one day that you don’t like. The total number might surprise you. Your boss gives you a task that you do not like. There is a traffic jam on the highway that angers you. You must wait in a line to pay for your groceries. It seems impossible to simply allow and accept. So, the list of things you don’t like goes on and on. Still, from time to time, there is a moment when everything is just right. Then, at least for this brief interval, you are happy. Or, at least this is what the mind tells you.

But, true happiness and satisfaction never really come. Thus, dissatisfaction comes again one minute later. Why? Mainly because you attach yourself to any, and everything. And, you expect and demand. Instead of accept and appreciate. The majority of people do this daily at some level. On the other hand, how would any experience change when you just allow and receive whatever the situation holds?

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Allow and acknowledge the isness of this moment. Trust me when I share with you that this is the simplest act of living life. All discomforts, barriers and suffering fade away. Hence, you discover a calm spaciousness during any thought, feeling or situation. Likewise, spaciousness and stillness are possible in any situation, regardless of the details. This is the feeling of coming home. This dimension is where the true self resides. Let’s reflect on this insight during the remainder of the article. Continue reading

Do You Live in the Suchness of Now?

Have we forgotten how to live? Sound ridicules? This question is not as crazy as you think. Why do we insist on avoiding the suchness of life? We overlook the simplicity that is at the foundation of life and love. Complexity is the name of the game in our world. So, we make the endeavors associated with interpreting and defining life and love our priorities. But, just living and loving have become secondary in our life experiences. We are usually busy doing something or asking questions about everything. Thus, we see the beauty and true significance of being here and now as trivial. This same pattern of misunderstanding is evident in matters of the heart, such as love. We insist on pursuing our love interpretations and expectations, instead of just pure and simple loving.

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The awakening of self-consciousness was wonderful and equally burdening. Mind development overshadowed this awakening. Thus, conditioned behavior became the foundation of our existence through the intervention of the mind. And, many of these patterns still contaminate a modern existence that is relatively simplistic. Consequently, and ultimately, the suchness of life is undeniable. And yet, we usually want life to be anything other than what it is now. Nevertheless, perhaps a conscious evolution is upon us. More and more people are consciously aware.  There is always the suchness (Tathātā, Buddhism) of now. Therefore, living within presence frees us from the concepts of the mind. Not by avoiding the mind. But, rather by accepting thoughts, emotions and situations as temporary. Continue reading

mortality

Mortality and the Mind Quest for Eternity

This one eternal moment appears to structure a framework of hours, days, months and years. This is, however, an illusion. We can only experience anything now. And, this moment is not to give or take.  Being is. Thus, presence is being the isness of now. And, how you experience presence is your choice. You decide. Nevertheless, mind-created concepts such as mortality invokes fear. Why? Because the mind bases everything on concepts of time, matter, and space. And, the mind attempts to entrap us within these thoughts, definitions, and labels.

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The mind conjures up many scenarios about our existence. Whereas, the mind depicts impermanence as bad. But, what if it were possible to go beyond mind-generated thoughts of mortality? Instead, let’s envision the eternity within this moment. Our conscious awareness of presence is the gateway to this vibrating realm of energy. 

Yes, of course, there are ailments of the body. And, any life-form is also susceptible to injury or death. Nevertheless, this is the unfolding of a nature occurrence. This is what it means to be an object of life. However, being is the simple act of being. Nothing more and nothing less. Being is not being happy, healthy, sad, or sick. But, the mind insists that to be means you have to be something. So, our practice is to focus on conscious presence. Instead of mind intervention. To be is enough. Everything else will fall into its nature order. Continue reading

Peace Is not a Place to Find

You can’t travel to a place called peace. Please, don’t even try. And, you won’t find it by looking, wishing or hoping. Peacefulness is, just like presence is presence. Likewise, enlightenment is enlightenment. These are one and the same. And, your state of being is not something you have, either you are it or you are not. (This last sentence is a useful stepping stone to conscious awakening.) So, what happens when you walk into a forest on a spring day? Strangely enough, 😊 you often relax and feel peaceful in the forest. But, why? Ask yourself these questions in such a moment. Am I being peaceful? Or, do I just think I am peaceful? There is a profound difference between thinking and being. Active awareness to the latter allows you to simply be peaceful and live in enlightenment.

 

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Additionally, ask yourself these questions. Do I always think/feel happy when I walk in the forest? Furthermore, and importantly, must I first walk into the forest before I can relax? Foremost, how you answer the second question will reveal your overall state of being. Furthermore, ask this question. Am I always thinking and dreaming about how to be peaceful? Continue reading

life

Life Is to Be Lived in Unity: Don’t Be Afraid

We often use the word unity in our daily activities; including spirituality. But what is beyond the word?  Stop before you start thinking about unity. This is not something to think about, define, or even assume. At least not if you wish to truly experience it.  The pure essence of the universe is unification. Living is much more than what we can think. Let’s attempt the Star Wars Jedi Knight approach. This suggests feeling the life energy in you and in everything that is around you. Moreover, please realize that you are within everything. What you experience is essentially a reflection of yourself.

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Aware presence will allow you to experience harmony. The body is already flowing harmoniously with life energy. Therefore, it does not need to interpret anything.  Nor does the body need to consider what it does. It simply is. The flow of energy is constant. Your body is a catalyst. Life awareness can and will nurture this flow. A conscious state of awareness opens a portal to the isness of life. You awaken. Thus, this gateway will remain open. Henceforth, we awaken more and more to the isness of life. Furthermore, the alliance between everything becomes very clear. Thoughts and feelings of separation will still appear. But they will have no manipulative power of you. Continue reading

Two Were Once One: What Is Beyond Dualism?

This is a discussion about the mind and consciousness. Were they one and the same?  Did something happen after we became self-conscious? Did one become two? This is, at least, what the mind has convinced us is true. Likewise, it is this conditioned believing and thinking that causes dualism. But, the apparent separation is strictly mind-made. Thus, it is ultimately not real, Hence, an illusion.

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Almost every person will have a different interpretation about this topic. We often use science or religion in an attempt to understanding mind and consciousness. But, your present level of awakened object consciousness is very beneficial.  Let’s consider both from a state of non-attachment to either. Still, many will insist that the one (universal consciousness) cannot be without the other (object consciousness). What is your response to this idea? Please notice that I asked about your response and not your reaction. A mind reaction will not benefit us. Furthermore, this type of duality thinking will actually impair our experience of universal intelligence within the flow of life. Whereas, responding to something is based on synchronicity with consciousness. Continue reading

The Path to Becoming Conscious

We use the word “path” to describe the way from here to there. A path indicates a beginning and usually an eventual ending. This could be called an arrival. It is obvious that we also choose this terminology in describing our experiences with the conscious awakening process. However, it is beneficial for us not to lose ourselves in the definition itself. A journey is a proper word to use here, but it is never about the “path”. Being conscious is very likely not even about the experiences on this path. The experiences are only useful as sign posts during this journey.

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Is there a necessity to travel down a path during the conscious awakening process? This question is ultimately unnecessary because it is a mind creation. A tree, a bird or even a rock does not practice becoming conscious. They do not spend each moment of existence in thoughts about being conscious or aware. These life-forms simply “are” life and consciousness. They are engulfed in the suchness of now. I have a deep appreciation for this expression of presence. Continue reading

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Concepts of the Mind: Life without Definitions

Life and love concepts evolved early in our existence. This was due to the development of intelligence, creativity and object consciousness. Moreover, these concepts began to impact our existence in various manners. Furthermore, there was suddenly a demanding need to interpret and define the changes in our evolution. However, do not confuse this with our species evolutionary physical and mental adaptation. Suddenly, it was not enough to simple live. We are expanding mentally and emotionally. The mind tells us we are experiencing something. It demands that we define and label these experiences as living and loving.

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Human creativity nurtures the minds necessity for labels and definitions. Our species needs to identify itself, the universe and life. The mind insists that we will find the answers “out there” somewhere. This was the start of our unquenchable need to explain what we are experiencing through thoughts and actions. This “demand to know” expands far beyond defining our immediate surrounding. Furthermore, it is difficult to extinguish object (self) consciousness curiosity once it is ignited; or can we? The mind asks questions and tells stories. This restricts us from acknowledging that we already have everything within. We don’t even need to search for it. Continue reading