Courage

Rangitoto, New Zealand

Thoughts cause emotions.  In fact, emotions are the physical manifestations of thought.  When we have a thought such as "I am not good enough," it causes feelings of fear, loathing, etc.  It attracts other similar thoughts, perhaps memories of when we were not good enough.  The feelings increase with the memories and we spiral into a pit of despair and unhappiness. Our thoughts are created from beliefs formed by past events.  It does not matter when or why they initially were formed.

Many of our thoughts create strong emotions.

"I am not good enough";
"I do not have enough money";
"I am not attractive";
"I might get fired and will never get another job";
"Nobody will ever love me";
"Why did I not act upon a past opportunity";
"The Universe is against me";
"Bad things always happen to me";
and so on.

These thoughts which cause strong emotions all come from the same root beliefs:  We are unloved and unloveable.  This is the greatest lie of our lives.  Yet, at our core, we believe it,

Obviously, these thoughts do not serve us.  In fact, they cause our unease and ill health.  They affect our relationships, our careers, and our well being.

We can break the grip that our thoughts have over us.  By bringing attention to our thoughts without judgment, we can learn non-attachment.  The more light we shine on our deepest thoughts, the more their hold over us lessens.  It takes courage to acknowledge our thoughts without reacting.

No thought can hurt us unless we allow it to.  We create the reaction to our thoughts.  We create the pain that our thoughts cause.  Thoughts are only fleeting images in our minds.  They could not be more ephemeral.  They only have the power that we give them.

Let's acknowledge and surrender our thoughts.

Desire

Papa Aroha, Coromandel, New Zealand

What percentage of our thoughts are made up of regret?  What percentage of our thoughts consist of wishing things will occur in the future?  What percentage of our thoughts consist of dreading a future event?  Thoughts such as these make up the majority of our thoughts.  Do any of these thoughts enhance our lives in any way?  Of course not.  In fact, the opposite is true.  Our thoughts are toxic and prevent us from living a healthful, happy, fulfilling life. Yet we continue to waste our time, energy, health and well being on thoughts which do not serve us.

The Buddha said that: Life is suffering.  Suffering is caused by desire.  In order to find peace, we must surrender our desire.

By bringing the light of awareness to our thoughts, they begin to lose their power over us.

Once we are aware of the thoughts which serve no positive purpose whatsoever, we can let them go.

Let's acknowledge and surrender our thoughts.

Love

Venice

Can we love someone who is trying to hurt us emotionally or physically?

If we are angry at someone who cuts us off in traffic, would we feel differently if we found out they were rushing an ill person to the emergency room?  If someone slaps us, would we still be angry if we found out that the person was developmentally disabled?  If someone is trying to hurt us, and there is no obvious reason for their cruelty, how can we feel love for that person?  Does our anger soften when we realize that the cruel person is acting out of a deep self hatred and feeling of hopelessness?

We can change how we react to cruelty.   The anger and hatred we feel to those who have harmed us does nothing to help our situation.  By not reacting, we can more effectively deal with it.  That does not mean that we have to allow people to hurt us or condone their behavior.  We can defend ourselves and others as necessary.  We can and should tell others in a loving way when they have crossed the line. We can even kill with love.

Let's love even those who try to harm us.

Power

Venice Beach This Morning

Studies show that placebos work as well or better than many drugs.  They work even if we know that we are taking a placebo.  More expensive placebos work better than cheaper ones.  We fool ourselves into getting healthy.

We are literally more powerful than we can possibly imagine. 

The only thing preventing us from accessing this power is that we get in our own way.  How do we get out of our way and access the infinite power that is available?  By surrendering our thoughts, which emanate from ancient belief structures which no longer serve us.  Like a snake shedding its skin, we can step away from our belief systems, awaken to who we really are, and experience harmony, peace, love, joy and freedom.

Our power is in the present moment, between our thoughts.  When we surrender our thoughts and allow things to be just as they are without the filter of our many belief systems, we are free.  We see the beauty and grace which lay hidden behind our unconscious beliefs.  We allow miracles to occur and laugh at our past foolish obsessions and pettiness.  Everything that occurs to us is a Divine gift specifically designed for us to enable our awakening.  Once we open our eyes without judgment, we understand what has been there all along, waiting for us to discover it.  

Let's surrender to the Miracle.

An Experiment

Hakone, Japan

Why should we believe that there is such a thing as enlightenment?  Why shouldn't we believe that material existence is all there is?  It certainly has much to offer.  The Earth has great beauty, and we have the opportunity to accomplish magnificent things, to love and be loved, to pursue happiness and attain beautiful objects.  We have so much to be grateful for on this Earth.  Why should we leave the comfort and safety of our belief systems?

And yet, we are often dysfunctional and unsatisfied.  Our relationships are strained, our health is deteriorating, our possessions do not give us satisfaction, we cover our feelings of inadequacy and insecurity with alcohol, sex, drugs and everything else which allows us not to feel our emotions.

Let's try an experiment.

Unlike religion, no faith or belief is necessary.  If there is a spiritual world, if enlightenment does exist, if there is an Infinite Energy Source which binds us and with which we can access wisdom, joy, peace, love and freedom, how can we prove it to be true?

If everything is going great in all aspects of our lives, there is no need to do anything.  If our relationships are loving, our career is satisfying and we are happy and grateful to be alive, no change is required.  Our lives are blessed.

If, on the other hand, we are unsatisfied, afraid, and feel something is missing from our lives, we can test the hypothesis that we can awaken to our "true" selves by trying it out and seeing what results.

How do we test it?  We test it by surrendering our thoughts and beliefs.  We "pretend" our thoughts and beliefs are untrue and we acknowledge and surrender them.  We do not avoid them.  We do not push them away.  We look them squarely in the face and let them go.  If they are untrue, they do not serve us.

When we surrender our thoughts, we live more and more in the present.  We are in harmony with the Infinite Energy Source, which will respond to us and help us in our experiment.

As we turn towards it, it turns towards us.  Our lives will begin to experience the peace, love, joy and grace which are our very essence.  We will know who we really are. Things will start to go our way.  Things that used to bother us will seem so unimportant.  We will be filled with gratitude because our lives are filled with peace and grace.

The more we surrender, the more we awaken, and the more evidence we will have that everything that the spiritual masters having been saying for thousands of years is true.

Let's try it.  We have nothing to lose but our misery.

Courage

Dylan

In any and every given moment, we have a choice.  We can choose love or fear, peace or frustration, joy or unhappiness, freedom or mental imprisonment.

Why would we ever choose fear over love?  Because we have been brainwashed by every person we have met since the day we were born.  We have been programmed by everyone in our lives and all of the groups that they belong to: gender groups, religious groups, academic groups, geographic groups, social groups, etc.  Our programming has created a dense belief system that we have tied our identity to.

These groups exact a very high price for non-conforming beliefs and actions:  criticism, anger and, ultimately, ostracism.  Is it worth the sacrifice?  That is up to us.

The belief structures are embedded deep inside our subconscious minds.  It takes great courage to make choices that are different than the ones made by the many groups we belong to.  Once we do, although certain people will begin to fall away from our lives, others, who are more similar to our vibration, will enter.

How do we choose love over fear.  By making a conscious choice to acknowledge and surrender our thoughts in every moment.  We surrender thought and choose presence.

Let's have the courage to choose peace.

Emotions

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Emotions are thoughts which manifest within the body.

Thoughts are ephemeral, non physical, imaginings.  They have no power until they take hold in the physical body. Anger, passion, fear, and frustration are caused by thoughts which arise from our conditioned belief systems.

Thoughts on their own have no power.  When thoughts combine with painful memories (thoughts of the past), they begin to gather strength.  In short order the body begins to react.  Adrenaline levels rise.  Blood rushes to our face and head.  No matter how hard we try to keep our composure, we are soon out of control.

We can break the hold that our thoughts and emotions have over us by bringing our awareness (i.e., our attention without judgment) to them.  When we bring awareness to our emotions without reacting to them, they begin to dissipate, like the air slowly going out of a balloon.  The more we bring our awareness to our emotions, the less of a hold they have over our lives.

If we try to stifle or ignore our emotions, they will often cause disease or gain in strength within our subconscious, ready to explode at the next opportunity.

Let's bring awareness to our thoughts and emotions.

Being

Roberton Island, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Our journey is over.  We can stop searching, striving, learning, struggling, and seeking.  There is nothing to find, nothing to learn.  It is the effort that is keeping us from our goals.

All that we have to do is surrender to the peace, love and joy that is already within us.  We do not have to follow a religion, a spiritual master, or a guru.  We do not need to read books.

The peace that we seek is already present.  It is what we are.  All the anxiety, desire, frustration, and anger that we feel has been layered on top of who we really are through a lifetime of conditioning.

Although there is nothing that we have to add to ourselves in order to feel peace, there are things we need to shed.  We need to surrender our conditioned beliefs, judgments, expectations, and desires.

When we shed our thoughts about the past and future, and other garbage that we are thinking, we are left with our true selves.  We will be at peace.  Our relationships will be effortless.  The answers to all our problems will be apparent.  Miracles will occur.

Let's acknowledge our thoughts and surrender them to the Void.

Perfection

Coromandel, New Zealand

Can we see the perfection in this moment, in every moment?  Everything is exactly as it should be.  Everything that occurs is specifically designed to enhance our awakening.

When we resent or resist what is happening in this moment, we are interfering with the Divine flow of nature.  Things seem to go against us. Our irritation and frustration increases.

When we allow things to be just as they are and accept them with gratitude, we are in harmony with All That Is.  Miracles begin to flow naturally into our lives.  We are blessed.

Let's relax into the Present Moment.

Simple

Central Park

Let's keep it simple.

1.  Let's bring our attention to the present.

2.  Let's keep our attention on the present.

Perfect.  We are now awake.

Being

Kereta, Coromandel, New Zealand

Peace.  Love.  Joy.  Freedom.  We have all had glimpses of these states of being.  Is it possible to perpetuate those states.  Of course.

They are our very essence.  All we have to do is switch from thinking to being.

When we turn our attention away from thought, our essence fills the vacuum.  We are in our natural state of peace, love, joy and freedom.

We do not have to learn anything, achieve anything, follow anybody, read anything.  There is nothing that we have to do.  All that we have to do is make a choice in this very moment to shift our attention from thought to being.  The Universe will do the rest.

Easy peasy.  Let's be free.

Insight

Venice Beach

Our thoughts are like a solid wall, not allowing insight to enter.  When we are perpetually thinking, there is no room for anything except our thoughts.  We need to make space for wisdom to appear.

If we create an empty vessel, by surrendering our thoughts, insight will flood in to fill the vacuum.

We spin our wheels, lost in thought, trying to figure out the solution to a dilemma we are experiencing.  It is the endless thoughts which are preventing the solution from entering our consciousness.

In an empty vessel, wisdom will flood in, health will flood in.  So will peace, love, joy and freedom. These things will enter when we are in a state of being, as opposed to doing or thinking.

Do we have a problem?  Instead of trying to figure it out, let's surrender our thoughts and allow the solution to present itself.

Let's allow wisdom and insight to enter our consciousness.

Embrace and Surrender

Central Park

Our emotions are the keys to awakening.

Are we worried?  Frustrated?  Irritated?  Angry?  Afraid?  Often over little things?  When we experience strong emotions do we lash out with rage?

Does our worry make us happy?  No.  Does our worry help us to further our goals?  No.  Does it serve any function whatsoever.  No.  Are we stuck in a relentless cycle of worry that we can't do anything about?  No.  Do we have a choice?  Absolutely.

We can rid ourselves of worry by bringing awareness to our thoughts and embracing the feelings within our body.  We embrace them, feel them fully, without acting on them, and surrender them.

Worry consists of unacknowledged thoughts which come from fear.  By bringing awareness without judgment to our thoughts and feelings, and surrendering them as useless relics from our conditioned past, we can free ourselves.

Our unacknowledged emotions cause us to say and act in ways that only bring us unhappiness and frustration.  We can use our emotions to awaken.  When we feel a strong emotion, we should not act on it for at least several moments.  We feel it fully.  We bring our awareness to it.  We do not judge it.  The emotion will subside in a brief period of time.  Then we can act on it if we are moved to do so.

The source of our emotion is not what we think it is.  We believe that some person or some event caused the emotion.  Actually, our emotions are caused by our conditioned belief systems.  The person or event which we believe caused the emotion was merely a trigger which caused us to access the unacknowledged thoughts and emotions within us.

Let's embrace our emotions and surrender them to the Void.

Meditation

Santa Monica, California 

In every given moment, we have a choice.  We can be agitated, frustrated, angry, lonely, anxious and afraid.  Or we can choose peace, love, joy and freedom.

Even though the choice is simple, it is not an easy one to make.  The pull of unconscious thinking is so strong that it is extremely difficult to see that we have any choice at all.  Our thoughts are strong, fast, and relentless.  They arise from a belief system that has been created and reinforced over our entire lives.  We cannot see our way out of our dilemma because we are unable to see another way.  We cannot see that we have a choice.

The most powerful tool at our disposal to help us see and make the choices we want to make is meditation.

Meditation slows down our thoughts and lessens our attachment to them.  It also lessens our attachment to our emotions.  We are not our emotions.  Emotions are feelings that happen to us.  Breaking our attachment to our thoughts and feelings creates a separation between ourselves and them.  When we realize that we are not our thoughts and feelings, we are united with Infinite Energy Source.  The glimpse of Freedom allows us to begin to make different choices in any given moment.

The more we choose freedom rather than fear, the more peaceful our lives become.  Miracles will start to occur.  Indeed, every moment we choose peace, a miracle occurs.  When we choose peace and see the result of that choice it reinforces our ability to choose the life that we want to live.

Meditation can never be unsuccessful.  We believe that if we are constantly thinking during our meditation, that we have failed.  We cannot fail.  The mere act of sitting still, intending to be present, will have major effects that will reverberate throughout every aspect of our lives.

Let's choose Freedom.

Miracles

1800 Coconut

What is a miracle?  It is a divinely inspired, unexpected, very positive experience.

When we allow things to be just as they are, without expectation or desire, Universal Intelligence turns in our direction.  The absence of expectation signals the Universe that we have everything we need.  When we have everything we need, the Universe reflects that back to us, causing miracles to occur.

How many miracles will we receive?  As many miracles as we allow to happen.  The more we allow, the more miracles we receive.  The miracles we receive surpass anything we desired or expected.

If we are obsessed with what we want or expect from life, we will often be frustrated.  If we allow the Universe to give us what it wants us to have, we will be surprised by how well things go.

Let's surrender to the Divine.

Surrender

Miles at the Bottom Line

Are we ready to give up everything that we believe is true?  Are we ready to give up our judgments, beliefs and desires to see life as it really is?  What do we gain when we give up everything that we think we are?  We gain freedom, peace, love and joy.

Of course, if we are living a life of fulfillment, satisfaction and purpose, we do not have to give up anything.  We can live our lives just as we have been living it, and continue to find comfort in the belief systems of the various groups we belong to: family beliefs, religious beliefs, socio-economic beliefs, political beliefs, regional beliefs, gender beliefs, etc.

However, if we are dissatisfied with the status quo and yearn for something more, freedom is just a moment away.  We can surrender all of our beliefs, judgments and desires in this very moment and surrender to the Great Mystery.  It is in not knowing that we experience knowingness.  

It is so simple, but it is not easy.  The pull of our belief systems is very strong.  The groups that we belong to have a vested interest in making sure that everyone shares the same beliefs.  Minor differences are permitted within the basic belief structures.  However, major shifts cause unacceptable disruption.

It takes courage to surrender.  Relationships may end, friendships may fade away.  We may be put under pressure to conform.

However, new friendships and relationships will appear as if by magic as we attract different people who vibrate on a similar energy level.  The weight of everyday life will lighten.  Things that we thought were so important lose their meaning for us.  Every day becomes a new adventure. We are moved to tears because we are touched by Grace.

Let's surrender to the Void.

The Inner Body

Stony Batter, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

In THE POWER OF NOW, Eckhart Tolle writes about being in touch with our inner body.

If we bring our attention inside our bodies, we feel an energy field within.  It is not something which can easily be described.  It needs to be experienced.  When we fully inhabit our bodies, we are in tune with our senses and we engage with the Universe harmoniously.

We may feel tightness or that we are unconsciously holding muscles within our bodies.  We can breathe into our tight areas and let them go.

Regardless of what we are doing, as we go about our day, we can keep our attention within.

Let's feel the energy within.

One

Te Kouma, Coromandel, New Zealand

We are searching for something.  We are not even sure what it is.  We think our salvation lies in material possessions, sex, money, alcohol, drugs, etc.  We are trying to fill a hole within ourselves which can never be filled.  It cannot be filled because there is no hole.  We believe we are utterly alone.

We are not alone.  We can never be alone.  We only feel like we are alone because we believe that we are.  We are a part of everyone and everything, including Universal Intelligence.  All that we have to do is stop believing in things, stop thinking, stop deciding, stop judging, and choose to be in stillness and peace, where we are connected to the Infinite.

The idea that we are separate is the greatest lie of our existence.  It causes, loneliness, anger, frustration, envy and depression.

We can overcome our loneliness caused by separation by embracing the biggest truth of our lives:

We are one.

Peace

Topanga

The agitation and turmoil that we feel when we encounter something unpleasant or hurtful does not help our situation.  We somehow believe that if we are not upset when something "bad" happens, that things will get worse.  The opposite is true.

If we surrender our anger, irritation and fear, we will see things more clearly and a solution will become apparent.  Our anger and frustration do not help.  Why do we hold on to our emotional reactions so strongly?  Because we believe they are necessary for our survival.  They are not.  We do not need them.  They make our situation worse.  Let's surrender them and choose to remain peaceful in the face of "adverse" circumstances.

We don't have enough information to know what is good or bad for us.  Sometimes the worst things turn out to be the best in retrospect.  Sometimes the best things turn out to be a disaster.

When the world is crumbling around us, let's surrender and relax, knowing that everything that is occurring is specifically designed to enhance our awakening.

Love

Central Park

Wouldn't it be great if there was something that would lift us out of our depression, heal our relationships, ease our fears, and solve all of our problems.  There is.  Love can do all this and more.

When we are confronted with a difficult situation, we have two choices.  We can react from fear, unconsciously thinking and acting from our established belief systems.  Our problems are rarely solved this way and are often exacerbated.  The same problems often confront us again and again because we repeat the same patterns and never try something new.

We can choose a different way to react.  We can bring love to the situation.  When we do, healing immediately begins.  The situation resolves itself without effort.  When we bring love, we are surrendering our old beliefs, thoughts and judgments.  We are in harmony with the Universe, which is much better at solving our problems than we are.

We should never forget to shine love on ourselves as well.  We can project love both outwardly and inwardly.

Love, love, love is our mantra.

Allowing

We try to force things to be as we would like them to be.  Our desires are strong and we believe that satisfying them is necessary for our happiness and well being.

We share the beliefs of the various groups that we belong to: our religious institutions; our socio-economic class; our family beliefs; the beliefs of our friends and other social groups.  Our desire to belong is strong.  We don't want our beliefs to differ from those of the groups we belong to because we believe we will be ostracized and alone.

Like robots, we unconsciously think, say and do things that we were programmed to do.  We live life in a fog, only occasionally experiencing something real and authentic.

We can live a life of passion, joy, peace and love.  To do so, we need to surrender all of our beliefs, thoughts, judgments, ideas, notions, and desires, and allow Life to be just as it is.

When we surrender to the Great Mystery, the wisdom of the Universe enters our lives and we begin to fulfill our life's purpose.  The petty things that used to concern us lose their significance as our neuroses fade away.  Peace, love and joy enter our lives.

We are alive with excitement about what is going to happen next.  Life ceases to be a drag.  Instead it becomes the greatest adventure.

Let's surrender our beliefs and allow Life to be just as it is.

Discipline

Santa Monica

Awakening first requires intention.  We start by having a desire for a different way of living, a different way of being.  We are dissatisfied with our life circumstances.  We believe there must be something more.  Perhaps we have experienced glimpses of a more peaceful and connected way of life.  We yearn for more.

Once we have the intention to awaken, we need to know how to do so.  There are infinite available tools to awaken:  books, websites, teachers, nature itself.  If we ask, all of the necessary tools will be presented to us.  Once we ask, the response will be instantaneous.  All we have to do is be open to the answers.  They may come in unexpected and surprising ways.  Best not to have any expectations.

Discipline does not seem like a necessary trait for awakening.  However, the pull of unconscious thinking and shared belief systems is extremely strong.  Without the discipline to use the available tools and shift our awareness in every moment from thought to presence, we are lost.

We also need courage.  It takes courage to examine deeply buried thoughts, and to surrender our beliefs.  We may become estranged from family members, lose friends, and be ostracized by the groups who we no longer share belief systems with.

Intention, tools, courage, discipline.  Awakening can happen in a flash of insight or take a lifetime.  It is, of course, up to us.  If we embrace the uncertainty and mystery of Life with an open heart, this very moment can be a new beginning.  We could live with passion and adventure, and fulfill our life's purpose.

Let's have the discipline to stay in Presence.

Mindfulness Part 2

Coromandel, New Zealand

Every moment we are presented with a choice.  We can act, think and believe as we have in the past.  No judgment.  If we are happy with our lives, we can proceed in the same manner.

However, if we are dissatisfied with how things are, or believe that life can offer us so much more, we can shift our attention away from unconscious thinking and bring it to the activity that we are currently engaged in.

We can feel the ground beneath our feet as we walk, listening to the sound of the wind in the trees.  We can truly listen to what our beloved is saying to us without judgment or agenda.  We can hear the sound of children playing and feel the cool breeze on our face.  We can go deep within and touch the hand of God.

Let's be mindful of everything we do.

Mindfulness

Alpacas, New Zealand

If our attention is on the past or future, we are obviously not paying attention to what we are doing in the present.  It is like we are zombies, spaced out and acting in accordance with our programming.  We are conditioned from birth and our conditioning continues in the present.  We are barely alive.

Life can be a beautiful unfolding, moving from one miracle to the next if only we allow it to.  All that we have to do is put our attention on what we are doing.  If we are walking, let's walk.  If we are talking, let's talk.  If we are listening, let's listen.  If we are being, let's be.

We can shift our attention away from our compulsive thinking and into the present by being aware of our senses.  When we wash our hands, are we feeling the cool water flow over our skin or are we thinking about things in the past or the future?  When we are listening to a friend, are we really hearing him or her or are we thinking about what we want to say?  When we look at a tree or a bird, do we even see it?

It is not meditating.  It is paying attention to what we are doing: walking, seeing, breathing, feeling.  It is not passive.  It is allowing life to be just as it is.  It will unfold for us in ways beyond what we can imagine.  Life becomes the greatest adventure we can contemplate.  All that we have to do is allow it to.

Let's live mindfully.

Peace

Kamakura, Japan

We desperately yearn for peace in our lives, but we will not take the simple steps necessary to obtain it.

It is as if we were lying in an orchard, yet were starving because we cannot see all the food around us.  We are often agitated, angry, panicked, lost, anxious, envious, and frustrated.  We are at peace rarely, and it is always short-lived.  We go through our lives like programmed zombies, not knowing that there is a better way to live.  It is unconscious thought which causes our agitated states of mind.

We can be peaceful in an instant.  This very instant, if we choose.  All it takes is our intention and a choice.  Right now we can turn our awareness (i.e., our attention without judgment) away from thought and toward the present moment.  In the state of being, our peace resides.  It only takes a moment.

Let's choose peace now.

Gratitude

Waiheke Island, New Zealand 

Gratitude is more than the key to abundance.  It is the key to a life of peace and harmony.

If we believe that life is a series of random events, it will appear as if we are the victims of random acts of good or bad fortune.  Worse, if we believe that life is out to get us and constantly puts obstacles in our way, we will experience a life of hardship and misery.

If we are grateful for everything that occurs, and treat everything as if it was a gift, designed specifically to enhance our fulfillment and awakening, we will experience grace and mystery, and miracles will begin to permeate our lives.  The more gratitude we feel, the more miracles we will experience.

Let's be grateful.

Faith

Hole in the Rock, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

It can be frightening to leave behind everything that we believe and who we think we are to bring our awareness to the Great Unknown.  What's the worst that could happen?  Our belief systems will still be waiting for us if we wish to return.

The worst thing is that we may be forced to face painful unacknowledged thoughts.  We pushed them down intentionally or unintentionally deep into our subconscious so we did not have to face them.  Despite our intentions, our unacknowledged thoughts wreak havoc on our lives and influence everything we think, do or say.

It takes courage to look at our thoughts as they arise in our consciousness.  When we start peeling back the layers of our thoughts and beliefs, we are often left with the most frightening core belief:  that we are unloved and unloveable.  This is the biggest lie of all.

Within us is a love beyond which we can imagine.  It takes faith and courage to know that when we jump off the cliff, we will not fall into the abyss, but into the waiting arms of pure Love, Joy and Peace.

Let's have the courage and faith to face the Great Mystery.  Let's turn our attention from thought to presence.

Freedom

Coromandel, New Zealand

It seems obvious.  If we have a choice between freedom and prison, of course we would choose freedom.  However, we seldom do.

The reason why we do not choose freedom is because we do not believe that we have a choice.  We believe that we are who we think we are.  We believe our thoughts are true.  We believe our thoughts define who we are.  We are not our thoughts and we can opt for freedom at any moment, even this one.

How can I be so sure that we have a choice?  Can I prove it?  Yes I can.  Let's bring our attention to the present moment for the next ten seconds.

Did we have a glimpse of freedom?

We can have peace and freedom always because it is our natural state of being.  All that we have to do is to turn our attention away from unconscious thinking and towards the present moment.  Every moment is a new opportunity to be free.

Turning away from thought can be frightening because it is all we know.  However, we are not alone.  The moment we turn our attention in the direction of Freedom, Freedom will turn in our direction.  When we stretch out our hand in innocence, a hand will be there to hold us.

Let's choose freedom.

Love

Waipoua Forest, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Whether we realize it or not, we are making a choice every moment of the day:  Love or fear; Freedom or judgment; Joy or pain; Peace or frustration.

As difficult and frustrating as we believe life can be sometimes, it is reassuring to know that every moment is a new opportunity for redemption.  We could find love and peace this very moment.  All that we have to do is allow it to be so.

It is our natural state, so we do not need to learn anything, go anywhere, have anything, or achieve anything to have it.  All that we have to do is turn our attention away from our thoughts and towards being in this present moment.  We don't have to reject or push away our thoughts.  We can just observe them, without judgment.

The pull of thought is very strong and pervasive.  We often need courage to pull our attention away from our thoughts and into the present moment.  It seems scary, but shouldn't be.  The only thing awaiting us in the present moment is peace, love, joy and freedom.  All we are giving up is our frustration, anger, neuroses, loneliness and unhappiness.  Seems like a good trade to me.

Let's choose love.

Who we are

Rangitoto, New Zealand

Are we prepared to obliterate our identity?  Are we ready to surrender our personality?  Our identity, i.e., who we believe we are, is a structure made up of our beliefs, thoughts and feelings.  The structure was created by our conditioning, which has been programmed into us since birth (or before).

Who would we be without our beliefs, neuroses, our shyness, anger, etc?  We would be more of who we really are.  We would not shrink.  We would actually be much larger versions of ourselves.  We would be ourselves, but more loving, peaceful and joyful.

Our egos fight for their existence.  Our identity and who we really are have fused into one entity.  We fiercely believe that our thoughts and ourselves are one.

We are afraid to surrender our thoughts and beliefs because we believe that there will be nothing left in the absence of thought.  This is the major lie of our existence.  When we create a separation between our thoughts and who we are, our lives deepen and we begin to fulfill our life's purpose.  As Michael Beckwith says, "It is simple, but it is not easy."  It requires strong intention and diligence, because the magnetic pull into unconscious thought is strong.

We will not lose our personality when we awaken.  We will become a larger, kinder version of ourselves.  Our neuroses and obsessions will fade away.  We will laugh more, cry more, love more.  We may laugh and cry at the same time.

Let's surrender to who we really are.

Awareness

Coromandel, New Zealand


It doesn't matter how anxious, irritated, angry or sad we feel. Everything could be different in the very next moment. 

Peace, love and joy are waiting for the slightest whisper of an invitation to enter our lives. They will not enter uninvited. How do we change the world in a single moment? All we have to do is bring awareness to our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and actions.  Awareness is watching without judgment or labels of any kind. 

In a mere moment, who we are will be completely transformed. More accurately, our identify, i.e, who we think we are, will be different. 

If all of our unhappiness and frustration can disappear in a moment, why do we find it so difficult to change? The reason is that we believe we are who we think we are. We believe that we are our thoughts. The mere separation between ourselves and our thoughts caused by watching them, changes ourselves and everything around us. 

Nothing will be the same. Don't believe me. Try it and see what happens. 

Let's bring awareness to our thoughts and feelings.

Anxiety

Qamea, Fiji

Anxiety is caused by unexamined thought.  If there is no thought, there is no anxiety.   If we do not look at our thoughts, they remain with us even though we are not conscious of them.  They affect us in everything that we do, think and say.

The only way to get rid of our anxiety is to allow our thoughts to come to the surface.  We can look at them without judgment.  Once we acknowledge them, we can allow them to float away like clouds crossing the sky.  No thought can hurt us.  Their only power is our belief that they can.

Acknowledge our thoughts and surrender them.  Acknowledge and surrender.  It is the space between thought where peace resides.  It is hard to be present and peaceful when there is a swirling pool of unexamined thoughts festering just below our consciousness.

Bringing the light of awareness to our thoughts will cause them to dissolve.  We don't have to figure out solutions to our problems.  We don't have to anticipate possible future outcomes or regret the past.  We don't have to do anything.  We just have to look at our thoughts.

Let's have the courage to allow our thoughts to enter our consciousness.  Let's acknowledge and surrender our thoughts.

Surrender

Wyuna Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand

We think we know what is best for us.  We think we know what we want.   We think we know what will make us happy.  We think we know what will make us feel fulfilled.   We firmly believe that our happiness depends on acquiring something outside of ourselves, a material possession, a job, a lover, what have you.  We are certain of it.  We are disappointed and frustrated when things do not go as we hoped.

The opposite is true.  We will never achieve lasting happiness by acquiring things.  The only way to achieve peace, love and joy and live a fulfilling life is to surrender all of our thoughts, beliefs and judgments.

We can call it the Infinite Energy Source.  We can call it the Great Mystery. We can call it Jahweh, Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Vishnu, or Jehovah. We can call it God.  We can call it Love.  No words are adequate to describe it.  It is too grand to be encompassed by words.  Words are related to thought and thought cannot contemplate it.

We do not have enough information to know what we want.  We do not have enough information to know what is good for us, what will make us happy, or what will make us feel fulfilled.  We cannot know what we need. When we surrender our will to Divine Intelligence, we will be led to the highest outcome for all concerned.

Only by surrendering, can we fulfill our life's purpose.  When we peel away the many layers of conditioned beliefs, we are left with our true nature, which is peace, love and joy.

Let's surrender to the Infinite.