Sunday, February 23, 2014

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.

Monday, February 17, 2014

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.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

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.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

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.