Intention

Stony Batter, Waiheke Island, New Zealand

The first step to awakening is for us to have the desire or intention to awaken. We may have had experiences of deep connection and wanted to continue that feeling. We may have hit the depths of depression and are finally willing to give up our conceptions about how we think things are.

Once we establish our intention, we can utilize the tools that are readily available to allow us to awaken. We choose the tools that resonate with who we are. We may bring our attention to our breath in meditation, practice loving kindness like the Dalai Lama, or simply consistently return our attention to the present moment. There are many tools available to us. Once we have our intention, the Universe will meet us halfway and present opportunities for us to awaken.

We usually have to be disciplined to constantly keep our attention in the present. The pull of our conditioned thinking is very strong. Our programming started at birth and continues today. We are conditioned from all sides, every time we interact with a person, watch television or play a video game. It takes discipline to remind ourselves to stop our compulsive thinking and bring our attention back to the present.

It takes courage to become aware of the pain and fear which we have repressed for years. It also takes courage to leave behind all our thoughts and beliefs, which establish our identity and connect us to our various tribes.

Let's be present.

Judgment

Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

We criticize others in order to feel superior. If we belittle the other person, it makes us believe that we are better than that person. We also label what we see to reinforce our belief systems. By putting what we experience in a box, we feel safe in knowing that everything is accounted for. This feeling of safety covers up our feeling that we are not in control. By labelling and criticizing, we are trying to assure ourselves that we are safe and in control.

We judge ourselves as well. When we criticize ourselves, we are reinforcing that feeling of insecurity. However, when we brag about one of our attributes, we are also reinforcing our insecurity. If we really believed that we had the attribute, we would feel no need to brag about it. We brag about it only because we want to believe that we have it. We want to believe that we have it because we know that actually we do not.

We can live in harmony with the flow of life by experiencing the world with Pure Awareness. Pure Awareness is bringing our attention to our interaction with the world, without judgment or labels.

Let's experience the world just as it is, without judgment or labels.

Presence

Asakusa Festival, Tokyo, Japan

By bringing our attention to the present moment, we break our connection to compulsive thinking. The pull of our thoughts and emotions is very strong. It will constantly pull us back into being lost in thought if we are not vigilant.

If we are disciplined, we can reverse the polarity and have our default setting be presence, rather than compulsive thinking. We can spend less time lost in thought and more time living in presence, where we are in harmony with Universal Intelligence. Our lives will immediately change. Our anger and frustration will disappear. We will become more peaceful. Our enemies will no longer be our enemies. We will no longer feel alone. We will be connected to a larger way of life.

Every moment presents a new opportunity to be present. We can be aware of our steps, what we are speaking about, what we are feeling. We can feel our chests rise and fall with each breath. We can see the world with new eyes, by suspending our labelling and judging and seeing things as they really are. It does not matter if we are in the city or in nature, although it is sometimes easier to stay present in nature. We can see beauty, even in the busiest and noisiest city.

Let's be present.

Union

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand

Although it may seem like it, we are not in this alone. If we surrender to the Unmanifested by surrendering our judgments and beliefs, we will be met on the other side.

Words are inadequate to describe the experience of Oneness. It requires a leap of faith. It is well worth it. By giving up the comfort of our belief systems, we will lose our neuroses, depression and frustration.

Let's have the courage to surrender our fears, frustrations, judgments and beliefs and become one with All That Is.

Surrender

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

One from 2008:

We will never solve our problems by trying to figure them out through thought. Our thoughts consist of a repeating cycle of social programming. We are afraid to give up our thoughts because our identity, who we believe that we are, is irrevocably tied to them. We firmly believe that if we give up our thoughts that we will die.

We will not die. On the contrary, if we give up our compulsive thinking and surrender to what is, our lives will be in harmony with the Infinite Energy Source. The solutions to our "problems" will become apparent and we will become aware that our problems actually do not exist.

Let's surrender our thoughts. Let's surrender our beliefs. Lets surrender.

Balance

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

The opposite of love is not hate. We hate because we care so deeply.

The opposite of love is indifference.

During a golf outing a few years ago, the players in front of us were mocking some Chinese golfers ahead of them, making fun of the way they spoke. I was angry at their apparent racism and judged them to be rednecks. I later realized that I was being the same as they were. I judged them without knowing the circumstances. They may have been racists or they may have only been joking amongst themselves. I was the bigot.

How do we stop being angry and judgmental? We observe our emotions and thoughts without judgment until the anger subsides. Perceiving a situation without judgment or anger does not mean that we do not take action when action is appropriate. However, action taken out of anger will usually be met with anger and the situation will not be improved. It likely will be much worse. Action taken from a place of peace and love will be far more effective in transforming the situation to the benefit of everyone concerned.

Let's be.

Love

Qamea, Fiji

Regret, envy, desire, frustration, anger. We live with these emotions because we are lost in compulsive thinking. We try to fill the hole that we feel by buying things, taking drugs or alcohol, through sex or by achieving money or power. None of these things can give us lasting satisfaction.

Only love can fill the emptiness inside us. If we transmute the criticisms of ourselves and others into love, our entire lives will change. We will receive what we give to others.

Let's be love.