An Upward Spiral

Kamakura, Japan

We cannot become enlightened in the future.  We can only become enlightened in the present.  If we are on the spiritual path, we will always be on the spiritual path.

When I had an awakening earlier this year and I occasionally told people about it, I became energized and animated.  Since then, every time I had a weak thought of doubt or fear, I remembered that I was awake and the thought immediately dissolved   Each time this occurred, it reinforced and deepened my awakening.  I would think to myself "Wow, I really am awake."  Knowing we are awakened causes us to overcome our fear and anger, which reinforces our awakening.  This creates an upward spiral.

According to Abraham Lincoln (at least in the movie!), the time is now, now, now!  The time to awaken is now, right this very moment, even as we are reading this post.  It is time to get off the spiritual path and be enlightened.

Let's embrace it and announce it, not out of ego, but from Truth.

Let's declare it: We are awakened.  We are enlightened.  We are Love.  We are Divine.  Let's create an upward spiral.

We are now awake.

Awakening

Waitete Bay, Coromandel, New Zealand

We all suffer from the same affliction.  It is the cause of our fears, depression, neuroses, bad habits, and psychoses.  The cause is our root belief that we are unloved and unlovable.  We try to avoid looking at our beliefs by dulling our consciousness with drugs and alcohol, sex, addiction to social media, video games, television, etc.  We avoid looking at our beliefs to protect ourselves from painful thoughts and memories.  Unfortunately, the unconscious beliefs wreak havoc on our lives as they bubble to the surface in different ways.

There is only one cure for our affliction:  spiritual awakening.

There are many roads to the cure.  For example, we can bring our awareness to our core beliefs without judgment.  We sit with it and allow it to be.  Once we fully acknowledge it, we surrender it to the Infinite Energy Source, or God.

Let's acknowledge and surrender our beliefs.

Awareness

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

What is awareness?  It is our attention without judgement, thought or belief.

If someone touches our arm, we put our attention there.  We also may think: "That hurts," "That feels good," "Why is this person touching me," "This person likes me," "Someone is trying to get my attention," and so on.

When someone touches our arm and we put our attention there, without any assumptions or judgment, that is pure awareness.  When we are in a state of pure awareness, we are in a state of grace.  Another way of saying it is that we are one with the mind of God.

We look at the world through a prism of our belief structures.  It is time to take off the blinders.  We can expand our awareness by being present and surrendering all of our judgments, thoughts and beliefs.

Let's surrender to the present moment.

Truth

Caterpillar, Sedona, Arizona

All religious and spiritual leaders throughout history teach basically the same truth:

When we bring our attention  (i.e., our awareness without judgment) to the present (i.e., in between or beyond our thought), we become one with our divine nature and fulfill our life's purpose.

Let's do that.  The more we do it, the better at it we become.

Surrender

Hole In The Rock, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

We are not alone.  We think we are alone because of our thoughts and beliefs that we are alone.  Literally, we think we are alone because we think we are alone.  Over generations, we have built a belief structure of separation and aloneness.  It is actually a flimsy house of cards without a foundation.  It can come tumbling down in the blink of an eye.

We are inextricably connected to everything.  We are also part of the Infinite Energy Source, that is often called God.  We are divine beings who have tricked ourselves into believing that we are separate.

We can transcend our aloneness and recognize our oneness, by bringing awareness to our beliefs.  We acknowledge our thoughts of loneliness and surrender them to the Great Unknown.

When we bring awareness to our thoughts, a separation is created between ourselves and our thoughts.  We realize that we are not our thoughts.  Once we realize that we are not our thoughts, we cease to identify with them.  We start to become something besides who we think we are.

Every time we have a thought of loneliness or separation is a new opportunity to acknowledge and surrender. This causes the thought to instantly dissolve. We are free and comforted in the safety of Spirit.

Let's surrender our beliefs and acknowledge our oneness with All That Is.

Discipline

Maggie and Penny, Buffalo Lodge, Coromandel, New Zealand

It is very easy to fall back into bad habits and get lost in the mostly ridiculous stories we tell ourselves and others.  How do we stay focused on the present moment and not lapse into thought, memories and daydreams?

Even when we have the desire to be spiritually oriented, fear and laziness often prevent us from being centered.  Merely having an intention is often not enough to counter the strong pull of the belief systems of the various groups we associate ourselves with.  The intention must be so strong, it is closer to devotion.  All it takes is a strong intention, discipline, and the skills we have learned to maintain our focus.  Presence is like a muscle that gets stronger when exercised.

Peace, love and joy is not even a millimeter away from our grasp.  All that we have to do is turn our attention   to the present moment, and be disciplined about keeping our focus there.  We may never go back.  Hallelujah.  We are awake!

Let's be disciplined about awakening to who we really are.

Love

Summer, Big Bear, California

The conventional wisdom is that we can't love others until we love ourselves.  I believe the opposite is true.  We cannot truly love ourselves until we love others, not just members of our family or our groups, but every stranger as well.

Love is the only thing that can fill the hole that we believe we have in our lives.  We try to fill it with material possessions, romantic relationships, drugs, alcohol, too much food, etc.  In truth, there is no hole.  We just feel that there is one because our separation has left us with a feeling of lack.  We are missing something and we have no idea how to find it.  We do not even know what we are looking for.  Yet we embark on every crazy idea our mind concocts about what is missing and how to find it.

How do we love those that hate us or that are trying to harm us?  We realize that there is no difference between them and us and that their anger comes from their thoughts about their own inadequacy.  They believe they are unlovable and unworthy.  That profound sadness leads to anger, which covers up the fear and loneliness that they feel.

There is no hole.  We do not need to look for love.  It is what we are.  All we have to do is surrender our thoughts, judgments and beliefs.  What is left is peace, love and joy.

Let's surrender to love.