Attachment

Venice

There is nothing wrong with having nice things.  It's when we believe that these things will make us whole that we get into trouble.

The key to peace, love, joy and freedom in our lives is not about acquiring anything, it is about surrendering beliefs.  The more beliefs we shed, the more joyful our lives become.

We may believe that having a romantic partner, landing a new job, or having financial security is what we need for our happiness and well being.  Once we acquire those things, we may be happy or feel secure for awhile, but soon discomfort and unease return.  Then we move on to the next thing that will bring us peace, and so on.  It is a never ending cycle of desire and frustration.

We can enjoy things without being attached to them.  As long as we do not believe that any material object or person can bring us true satisfaction, we can take pleasure in all that this world has to offer.
Also, we do not have enough information to determine what is good for us or what is not.  We may think that having an expensive sports car will make us feel whole, but if we have a bad accident and end up paralyzed, perhaps not so much.  Miracles occur when we surrender our desires to the Infinite Energy Source.

The key to satisfaction is gratitude.  When we are grateful, we are satisfied with the things that we have.  As a bonus, gratitude triggers the Universe to give us more abundance.  Non-attachment and gratitude are the keys to happiness.

Let's be non-attached to all things and grateful for the things we have.

Transparency

Office Meeting in Venice Beach

It is stressful and takes so much energy to play various roles in front of different groups of people. We wear different masks in different situations.  We wear one mask for our parents, another mask for our children, another mask for our lover, another mask for our bosses, and so on.  We try to put forward the image that the person we are interacting with expects to see.  We are putting on a show instead of living an authentic life.  It is exhausting to put on these different personas

Intimacy is when we show who we are, regardless of whether we look silly or scared. Intimacy requires transparency.  When we live transparently, we flow with the rhythm of Life.

Being authentic is relaxing because we do not have to remember what story we told what person.  We relax into our Being.  We never have to think about or remember how we are supposed to act.  We are who we are and we do not care about the consequences.  We never alter who we are because we are worried about how the other person will react.  Their reaction is immaterial. Who we are is of prime importance.  We act authentically and let the chips fall as they may.

Let's be authentic and transparent.

Awareness

Venice Beach

Anxiety is caused by thought.  Our thoughts consist of frightening images which arise from our belief structure, which has been built through conditioning since birth.  We believe our thoughts because they represent the only reality that we know.

For example, the following thoughts may cause anxiety:

I am not good enough.
Nobody loves me.
I am alone.
I am afraid of cancer.
I am unattractive.
I do not fit in.
Everybody is looking at me.
Bad things always happen to me.
And so on.

Our conditioned belief system generates a negative thought.  That thought causes an emotional response, our body tightens up, we may start to sweat, our hearts beat faster.  We become scared and may become angry.  The negative thought attracts other thoughts, perhaps memories of similar experiences where we were not good enough.  The thoughts take on a life of their own.  Thought breeds emotion, which breeds more thought and so on in a never ending cycle.

We can ease our anxiety by stopping believing that our thoughts are true or valuable.

How do we move from a life based on thought to one based on presence, which puts us in harmony with the Infinite Energy Source?

We start by bringing our awareness to our thoughts.  Awareness is simply attention without judgment.  We bring our attention to our thoughts (i.e., watch them), without judgment of any kind.  We don't judge them as good or bad, helpful or destructive.  We merely observe them.  We observe without judgment every thought that we have.  The mere act of observance causes our thoughts to dissipate and moves us into presence.  In presence we experience the peace, love and joy which is our very essence.

Let's bring our attention to presence.

Miracles

Venice Beach, California

There are many approaches to life.  For example, we can look back and try to figure out how we ended up where we are.  Or, we can imagine the future and have hopes and dreams that things will turn out beautifully for us.  And so on.

What is the best approach to life?  What approach will enhance our lives, make us happy and fulfilled and bring us peace?  Of course, we have to decide that for ourselves.  But let's examine a possible approach.

We are right now exactly where we are.  For the moment, let's forget about where we have been and what got us to where we are right now.  We are here, reading this post.  What should we do right this moment?  The future stretches before us with infinite possibilities.  We do not have any idea what is going to happen to us in the future (including the very next moment).  Are we going to receive a phone call or a visitor?  Are we going to read an email with sensational news or tragic news?  Are we going to be bored, elated, loving, connected, depressed, hopeful, angry, afraid or ecstatic?

So from where we are this moment, what is the best approach for the next moment?  Through trial and error, the best approach that I have found for the next moment is to be completely open and present to what the Infinite Life Energy has in store for me.  It is best for me not to plan, hope, desire, remember or figure things out.

When I am open to the "next" moment, I receive exactly what I need to receive to enhance my awakening.  It always exceeds anything I could have planned or hoped for myself.

The more open I am to what is, the more miracles I receive, and the more I experience peace, love and joy.  There is no plan that we could devise which would be better than the plan that our Greater Self has for us.  We only know a fraction of the information that is available.  Why would we act or react on such limited information?  By having faith that God knows vastly more than we do, We are led to our highest fulfillment.

Let's surrender to the Infinite.

Death

Whangamumu Beach, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The fear of death is perhaps our greatest fear.  It affects everything we do and say.  It follows us like a shadow.

We may die in the next five minutes or sixty years from now.  We have no idea when our death will occur.

How can we overcome the fear of death?

If we focus intensely on the idea that we could die in this very moment and keep our attention on that idea without judging it, it will lose its power.  We do not judge whether dying is good or bad, or what happens to us when we die.  We allow the "isness" of it. and surrender to it.

Let's say, for example, that we do not have food and are starving to death.  Will the fear and anxiety we experience help us find something to eat?  If we have terminal cancer, will our anxiety and terror about dying help us find a cure?

Since we have a choice, isn't it better to die with equanimity?

None of us know what happens to us when we die.  However, it is certain that we will find peace.  Let's look death squarely in the face and find the peace that we know will be there when we pass over.

Let's become comfortable with death.

Safety

Coromandel, New Zealand

A Course in Miracles says "In my defenselessness, my safety lies."  This means that our safety and security lie not in defending ourselves by arguing or attacking the other person, but by being defenseless.  This seems counter-intuitive.  I am speaking about verbal attacks, although I am certain that the Course is referring to physical attacks as well.

When we are being attacked by someone and we become angry and defend ourselves or attack the other person, we are confirming that what they are saying is true.  We are giving energy to the attack. When we feel that there is no need to defend ourselves, we are confirming that there is no merit to the attack.  The energy of the attack dissipates because we give it no credence.

When we do not defend ourselves, we are confirming to ourselves and the Universe that there is nothing to defend.  Why would we be angry at someone who criticizes us if on some level we did not believe there was some truth to it?  Our ego pushes us to react.  It is almost as if our lives depended on it.  This is because we believe we are who we think we are.

Of course, we are really far, far greater than we think we are.  We are infinite beings with unlimited power.  Once we recognize that, why would we ever have to defend ourselves?

Let's be defenseless.

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.