Category: Happiness

Stopping The Inner Busyness Is Huge

3/20/2020

The other day I got an email from a friend who believes she may have the coronavirus.
She is fully at peace with what is happening and, with her permission,
here is part of what she wrote:

Last night, I listened to an interesting perspective on what's happening, spiritually.
That the world is being forced to stop. Stop all the busyness and looking outward.
Many schools and institutions are closing, businesses coming to a trickle or stopping altogether.
Countries quarantined. We are being forced to stay home and face ourselves.
This feels huge.
Who are we when we are not constantly in motion?

Time to turn within and go a little deeper.

The stopping of so much of the external busyness
is a kind of invitation to go deeper to the stopping of the internal busyness.
When we're not in constant motion 'up in our head'
who are we really?

There Are No Victims Here

1/26/2020

The belief in victim-hood creates such a powerless and wretched state.

We believe we're always at the mercy of something – the weather, the horoscope, our past, a family member, our health, a friend, life, God, certain thoughts or feelings.

We're then blown about and nothing seems reliable or trustworthy. Fear, restlessness and dissatisfaction then hound us.

But what if all of that is completely false?

What if we're not a victim of anything?

What if nothing real actually stands in the way of our discovering our sense of well being – now, in this moment?

This is the most wonderful discovery we can make!

This discovery changes everything.

The Amazing Power of Observation

12/13/2019

For decades I had a ‘monkey mind on steroids’ –
thoughts were constantly running, often repetitive
and largely negative and guilt producing.
It was not a very enjoyable way to live, to say the least.

And even after the initial glimpse of Wholeness
that monkey mind on steroids kept going.
The negative and repetitive nature of my thinking
did not slow down one bit for quite a while.

But even though all of that kept running – a few things did change.

I began to be aware of the running thoughts and
I began to be aware of my sense of Self when my attention was closed in on thoughts
and, most significantly, I began to be aware of my sense of Self
when my attention was open to simply observing the thoughts.

This was absolutely amazing!

Nothing had changed but everything had changed.

Awareness of thoughts running through rather than having attention hooked into them…
Awareness of the false sense of Self when attention is hooked into them …
And awareness of the true sense of Self when we are simply observing thoughts.

We are The Sky:
The Sky observes clouds without confusing itself to be what it is observing

Gratitude Now - Rather Than When

11/30/2019

In the midst of chores can there be gratitude – or only when chores are done?

Just the other morning while hanging up my pants
there was full Gratitude as I watched my hand placing the pants on a hook.

There was nothing else in that moment but that.

Although there was a lot scheduled for that day
without projection of what still 'needs' to be done
there was no missing what is Now.

Gratitude now
as we take a step,
wash a dish,
chop the onions …
nothing else but this.

During this busy season,
may each of us know this Gratitude
more and more deeply
as we are fully present to and enjoy whatever we are now doing.

A Grateful Heart Sees Beauty and Feels Joy Now

The Wine Bottle and Love's Possibility

11/3/2019

Although the following true story (included with permission) about the conflict created by the placement of a wine bottle may seem extreme it is a good illustration of how conditioning often plays out in relationships - and how there is another way.

Sue was married to Joe and he never seemed to put the wine bottle in the place she wanted. Every evening he had a glass of wine and every evening he put the bottle back in the wrong spot according to Sue. She told him this upset her and that she wanted it put back where she showed him.

He, as usual, agreed that he would do as she wanted. But then a couple of nights later she watched from another room as he poured his wine and moved to put the bottle back in the spot she wanted but then he paused and put it in the place she didn't want. She was furious but didn't say a word.

Joe often withdraws rather than face conflict with Sue.
He complies even though he is seething within.
He isn't being honest with himself or Sue.

Sue demands.
She feels she is right and he is wrong and there is one way to do things.
But she also sometimes withdraws and seethes,
as she did when she didn't say anything about what she saw.

When we know the wholeness of Presence
the conditioned reactions of withdrawing and demanding
gradually fall away and more freedom to respond
in love and wisdom comes to the forefront.

Rather than withdraw we can respond with authenticity and set boundaries with those who try to place demands on us and rather than demand others do things as we think they should we can lovingly allow them their freedom –which occasionally may include voicing our preferences but always with an honesty that it is truly only a preference and not a demand.

But – this freedom to respond rather than react often comes to the forefront when we first go through the discomfort of not reacting.

Reacting to whatever is happening by withdrawing or demanding (or earning – more on this in the next post) at a certain level feels comfortable. Withdrawing or demanding feels familiar and not as risky as not withdrawing or demanding.

The unconditioned response that comes with being present often initially feels very, very risky. The discomfort when we pause rather than react may be quite intense for a time. But when we allow the discomfort fully without acting on it those conditioned patterns gradually lose their intensity and wise, loving responses come to the forefront.

For Joe to stand before Sue’s demands fully present and not withdraw he may feel a lot of discomfort within. His heart may pound, his breathing may become labored and he may feel sick to his stomach even as he just considers being honest and loving in communicating how he wants his freedom to be honored. But if he allows and moves through that discomfort as he senses his true Presence, a new way of being and expressing love will begin to reveal itself to him.

For Sue, in full presence, to observe Joe’s actions as he does things the way he does them and not to voice a demand may feel very uncomfortable for her. She may feel extremely agitated within, it may feel intolerable not to tell him what she wants him to do. But if she allows and moves through the discomfort and senses her true Presence, a new way of being and expressing love will begin to reveal itself to her.

Freedom in relationships is honored when we know and honor our own freedom.

It's Not About Adding But Subtracting

10/10/2019

When we have glimpses of peace we often get the wrong impression about it all. We think peace is caused by something because it seems to appear as a result of us adding something.

There are so many things we believe we need to add to try and experience peace –substances such as alcohol, nicotine, drugs, food or activities such as cleaning the house, watching TV, playing video games, finding someone to love, listening to music, having sex, meditating, learning something …
the list is endless.

And the reason we believe adding something will bring us peace is because it seems to work – in part at least.

Adding something seems to give us a hit – a temporary fix of peace -
but it never lasts.

So … I want to invite you to consider looking at this all from a completely different perspective – and then to test out this new perspective in your own experience.

Rather than the view that peace is caused when we add something –
be open to the possibility that peace is revealed (not caused)
when we subtract something.

When we walk in nature, listen to music, meditate or do any enjoyable activity and sense peace – we are not resisting anything. We have ‘subtracted’ all resistance to now. We are open and as that openness we sense peace – peace which is actually ever present, uncaused by anything at all.

And to discover if this is in fact so,
I invite you to test it out within your daily life.

Let go of all resistance and trying to figure anything out -
and see if peace is here now ...

Not just when you are meditating but when you feel hurt by something someone did or said.

Not just when you are walking in nature but when you are walking into work.

Not just when you are reading spiritual material but when you are looking at the unwashed dishes or muddy floor.

Not just when you are eating something you enjoy but when you notice hunger and the desire to eat.

When we are open enough to subtract all resistance to Now
the peace and simplicity of Now reveals itself.

When our eyes and heart are free of debris we can see and sense clearly.

Photo by Radu Florin on Unsplash

How Can What Feels Natural Not Already Be The Case?

10/6/2019

When we consider what feels natural this gives us a clue about what is True –
True with a capital T.

After all, how can what feels natural – universally – not be innate to us all?

This is why everyone everywhere in every time seeks peace, happiness, love.

Regardless of when and where we are born –
Truth is not beholden to either time or space.

Sensing what is natural again and again and again and again
opens the way for us to trust it.

And trust opens the way for us to more fully live it.

Sensing leads to trusting and trusting leads to living

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It is all very simple. Instead of seeing things imagined, learn to see them as they are. When you can see everything as it is, you will also see yourself as you are. It is like cleansing a mirror. The same mirror that shows you the world as it is, will also show you your own face."
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Einstein said,
"No problem can be solved
from the same
   level of consciousness
       that created it."

To see new solutions
   we must see differently.

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