Meditation

Meditation is a matter of life or death. It is the difference between happiness and unhappiness, neuroses and clear thinking, health and disease, being and sleepwalking through life. At least it is for me.

When we meditate, we realize that our thoughts are primarily a mixtore of repressed fears, irrelevant, mundane and unnecessary thoughts, and nonsensical gibberish. This realization helps us to stop identifying with our thoughts.

If we do not have the time to meditate, we do not have the time to live.

Let's sit down and let go of our thoughts and our stale beliefs, and surrender.

Who We Really Are

Waihihi Bay, Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Who we think we are

We believe that we are our physical bodies plus our beliefs about who we are that we have constructed through our lifetimes. These beliefs consist of our gender, our birthplace, where we were raised, the schools that we went to, the religious beliefs of our families and those around us, our socio-economic status, and so on. This complex system of beliefs is constantly reinforced by what we experience because what we experience is filtered by our belief systems.

Who we really are

Pay attention. This is important. Who we really are is pure awareness. What is pure awareness? It is our attention without the belief system of who we think we are. What is our "attention"? If someone who is behind us calls our name, our attention immediately goes to the sound. If someone touches our arm, our attention goes to the touch. That "attention" without any judgments or beliefs is what we are. If we think that the person who called our name is a jerk or someone we admire, or we think that the touch is hard or wonder why this person is touching us, the pure awareness is altered by our thoughts, our judgments or our labels. We are not our thoughts and beliefs. We are pure presence.

Let's be who we really are.

Courage

Bridge near Glenorchy, New Zealand

Do we have the courage to surrender?

Sometimes when we let go, painful memories arise. We would rather not face those thoughts than acknowledge them. We believe that we are safe keeping our fears locked away in our subconscious. However, by not acknowledging them, they affect our lives in subtle and obvious ways. By allowing these unacknowledged memories to enter our awareness, their power is diminished.

We also fear the unknown. We are afraid of letting go of our deepest beliefs. We are afraid that we will be nothing without the comfort of the belief structures which tie us to various social groups. The opposite is true. When we surrender our stale belief systems, we become who we truly are.

There is nothing to fear. Our fears hold power over us only if we refuse to acknowledge them. Once we look at them, without judgment, their grip on us is released.

Let's have the courage to see things as they are.

Discipline

Sunset near Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

There are three things necessary to become self-realized: desire, technique and discipline. If we do not have a very strong desire to become integrated, we will never overcome the present and historic pull of our compulsive thinking. The material world is designed to keep us from realizing who we really are. Our desire must be strong, sincere and consistent.

Once we have the desire, we need to utilize the simple tools to achieve oneness. When we become aware that our attention is lost in thought, we can bring our attention back to the present. Awareness is simply our attention without judgment. Actions such as meditation, yoga, being in nature can help us remain present.

Because the pull of compulsive thinking is so strong, we need discipline to continuously utilize the tools that we have every day.

Let's be present.

Peace

Sunset over Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand

It is easier to feel peaceful in nature. However, if we are lost in thought and not aware of the silence within us we will not experience peace. If our attention is on the present moment, we will feel peaceful in the middle of a crowded, noisy city.

Peace is not something to be sought in the outside world. We need to recognize it within ourselves.

Our addiction to compulsive thinking keeps us from being peaceful. By constantly drawing our attention away from our thoughts and towards being present, we will be one with our true nature.

Let's embody peace.

Freedom

Near Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Freedom does not come from being financially independent. Plenty of people who are wealthy do not feel free. Sometimes, people who have nothing or are in prison are free. Living in a democracy does not necessarily make us free.

Freedom does not depend on external circumstances. Freedom comes from within.

Donald Trump has all the material possessions a person could want. He lives in the United States, one of the freest countries in the world. However, he is not free. He puts his name on his properties and has a constant need to show off because he does not feel free inside. If he did not feel inadequate and unworthy, he would have no need to prove that he was better than everyone else because he has more things than they do. If you have something to prove, you are trying to prove to yourself that your life has value.

Mahatma Gandhi gave away his possessions and lived an extremely simple life. He was free. Jesus was imprisoned and ultimately tortured and killed. He was free.

The bars of our prison do not come from outside ourselves. The bars of our prison are made from compulsive thinking. We are stuck remembering the past and imagining the future. Our thoughts are the product of relentless programming from the moment we were born to the present moment. We are a prisoner of our thoughts.

We can dissolve the bars of compulsive thinking by bringing our attention to them. By bringing the light of awareness (i.e., attention without judgment) to the present, our thoughts fade into the background and eventually disappear.

Let's choose freedom.

Gratitude

Merino sheep, Glenorchy, New Zealand

Gratitude is the key to happiness, prosperity and peace. Gratitude does not mean that we cannot change a situation if it does not make us happy or is not in harmony with our inner selves.

Real change can only occur when we accept our current situation as it is and are grateful for the divine spark which is in us and binds us to everyone and everything around us. Then we can take steps to change the situation. If we attempt to change the situation without first accepting it, the same conditioned patterns will emerge and we will find ourselves in a similar situation.

When we feel that we are lacking things, such as money, a good job, good looks or anything else, we continue to attract that which we seek to avoid. We attract what we focus our attention on. If we feel inadequate, that is what we will continue to be. If we feel impoverished, we will never be prosperous.

If we are grateful for what we have now, the universe will respond by giving us abundance. Of course, we cannot pretend to be grateful in order to obtain things. We cannot trick ourselves. If we are pretending, we continue to have deep feelings of lack. Only by truly being grateful will life open itself up to us.

Let's be grateful, because we have so much to be grateful for.