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.