Category Archives: Truth

Ascension, Enlightenment, Realization, Spirit, Truth, Unlimited Mind

The Power of Acceleration ~ Part 1 ~ Expansion and Evolution of the Mind

Acceleration is moving the consciousness in the direction of our boundaries. It is acceleration that trains our mind and body to bridge the gap between the physical, mental and spiritual. It is acceleration that allows the consciousness to at first experience separation and then unity. Acceleration provides a means of intensity. It is a push for growth and a striving for movement and evolution.

It is always important to understand just where it is that we are accelerating to and for what purpose. Acceleration for the sake of acceleration will teach control and focus, but without wisdom it is basically useless. It is wisdom, understanding, reflection and observation that brings us our reason, and reason brings us meaning and purpose. For example discipline for the sake of discipline will only bear so many fruits before the entire practice becomes meaningless. On the other hand in the beginning discipline is needed to support the development of observation, reflection and wisdom. Acceleration is used to push the envelope of development. Instead of a mind that is complacent and lethargic we push it to understanding and becoming familiar with the feeling of alert awareness. At a deeper level what we are really developing is the ability for the mind to transcend both the illusions of complacency and alertness. This however only occurs by the ability to accelerate between the two, eventually joining the two experiences.

Unlocking weaves of wisdom and understanding also comes from accelerating consciousness. It is simply a matter of feeling out the boundaries, shapes and forms of what we perceive our wisdom and spheres of knowledge to be. Then we push out these boundaries. We must be observant and aware. If we push too much then we lose grip of the boundaries, it is almost like they slip off our consciousness. Of course if we do not push enough then our mind is pushed back to the most crystallized pattern of consciousness. The entire process is almost like trying to hold a ball under water, push too hard or not grip in the right way and it may slip up under our hands remaining on the surface. If we don’t push enough then we can’t break the surface pressure of the water.

An opening exists at the moment we reach our peak of acceleration. At this point we have the opportunity to see, listen or feel for a communication or energy that understands what exists at this peak. Just as importantly this communication understands how energy and consciousness can exist at this peak. The significance of this is that once we bridge and link to this communication then acceleration to this point becomes easy. It is going from dial-up internet to broadband. More information is available, the communication is easier and clearer. As movement from this point becomes familiar areas of consciousness that were once normal become slower and easier still. It is like seeing 3 moves ahead, then 6 moves ahead and so on.

Acceleration is all about knowledge. The more knowledge that is integrated and understood, the easier and clearer the synchronicities and manifestations become. On that note it is important to remember that acceleration occurs in many directions. As much as it is important to learn to accelerate to a higher and faster vibration, it is also important to learn how to accelerate to denser and slower states. Another way of explaining this is that the mind needs to realize the experience of moving instantaneously from dense energy to subtle energy and vice versa. The paths through which the mind must travel to and fro are the paths that provide the opportunity for experiencing unity between the two. With each separation that we bring together and bridge, consciousness is allowed to experience and understand the nature of universal unity.

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Ascension, Enlightenment, Mastery, Truth, Unlimited Mind

Practicing Realization ~ Part 3 ~ Awakening Enlightenment Consciousness Through Active Meditation

The experience of realization can be as simple as reading a newspaper and being aware that you are reading the newspaper. This can involve noticing your posture and the way your body turns the pages. It can extend to observing how your mind and emotions react to the news that you read. Moving deeper involves finding dual and contradictory emotions and learning to access them simultaneously, moving back and forth between them, or entering into one so deeply that the other is for the moment seemingly gone. When we are familiar with the flow of consciousness at this level we may seek a deeper or more elusive space and seek it out, entering in, through and expanding into it. All the while we are still fully in the experience of reading the newspaper. Rather than compartmentalizing experiences we are allowing the mind and body to experience multiple layers and levels of consciousness. This is realization.

As long as we compartmentalize various emotional states, feelings and experiences our consciousness sees these states as solid, individual and fairly permanent. By opening up several states within the one we break this illusion, showing ourselves that emotion, feeling and experience is actually occurring on a multiple level of dimensions. The aim of all this is to train consciousness to understand that it does not need to be trapped in any emotion, feeling or experience. It has real and tangible choices.

By choosing a simple exercise such as noticing body sensations, posture or breathing and being aware of them during routine daily life we need to understand their purpose. Without purpose we are simply performing rote exercises and the mind will totally miss the point. Without understanding the purpose and reason integration cannot occur. Without integration there is no empowerment and the experiences will gradually become hollow and meaningless.

Observing the breath is not done simply to observe the breath. This level of understanding will not bring much benefit because how many of us truly wish to live life observing our breath all the time? It’s like speaking but not understanding that speech is a method of communicating with other people! Similarly observing the breath trains the mind to focus and sensitize to a particular frequency and subtlety of energy. Again simply observing this energy may have some benefits such as calming the mind but there is also an opportunity to understand that a language of communication is being developed here. By understanding that this level of observation is a way of listening to the language we open ourselves to the opportunity for communication! There is a big difference between these levels of understanding. While one is simply aware that energy is present, the other is aware that a communication is occurring and because of this awareness is able to create an intention to learn the meaning behind that communication!

Context, understanding, purpose and reason give way to creating real meaning in our experiences. Start with just observing physical sensation. It could be awareness of the tip of your nose. Just be aware of it at times throughout the day and also spend some time really listening and observing its feeling. Notice the various degrees and types of sensations. Explore and move into anyone of these. See what happens when you keep part of your consciousness attuned to these threads during the day. Become familiar with changes and shifts. Listen to the language and find ways to make conversation. Remember the context in which you are practicing and training. Remember why you are practicing – why did you originally start this type of development? How do those reasons fit in with the practices that you are now doing? How can the practices that you are presently doing help teach you within the context of that which you seek?

All these questions lead to the development of solutions that are relevant for our life path.

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Ascension, Enlightenment, Realization, Spirit, Truth, Unlimited Mind

Practicing Realization ~ Part 1 ~ Awakening Enlightenment Consciousness Through Active Meditation

Realization is the experience of understanding. It exists in the moment that we shift from one perception of reality to another. In that instant, our consciousness is able to exist and open to these two realities and being here, seeing and feeling here, we are able to understand the multi dimensional nature of our mind and body. Through this nature we are given the opportunity to find our true self.

The practice of realization is essentially about controlling the mind, and through the mind being controlled the body is mastered also. As long as we retain a connection and communication with the body and the physical then we retain the opportunity to transcend and evolve these aspects and in the process we develop mastery of our consciousness. This is the reason why our training needs to be challenging. We need to at first get a grip of the basics, learning stillness, movement and control, then we face co-operative challenges in order to increase the depth and level of our mastery. Cooperation works by seeking challenges that stretch us a certain amount, but not so much that we lose ourselves completely or give up the journey. If we were guiding a baby to walk it would be counter productive to knock it down each time it almost gets to its feet. Similarly, we must look for challenges that are appropriate to our level of skill. For this sincere and honest self appraisal is required.

The experience of realization always comes back to the same principles. By practicing the art of moving through illusions we will always find that there is more to reality than what our mind and body would grasp and have us believe. The stability that we all seek can only be found in accepting the unstable and ever changing. With beautiful irony it is through this real experience of acceptance that we can find a peace and stability that is eternal and does not change.

We also need to understand and practice the art of moving through illusions. We need to study illusion and understand what it is that makes an illusion what it is. No illusion can exist without belief in it. The deeper and stronger the belief, the more powerful and effective the illusion. The reason that it is not enough to disbelieve at a purely intellectual or conceptual level is because this level simply stimulates the surface area of the mind and consciousness, it doesn’t even touch the subconscious let alone the unconscious. Working with the senses of feeling, imagery, sound, smell and taste move deeper into the subconscious but must be trained and practiced in order to get deeper still. The deeper we get the further we move through the illusion. We then begin to understand the real nature of illusions. It is not the illusion itself that holds us, it is our grasping and inability to move past it that keeps us attached to it. Deep sensory cleansing purifies the bonds that hold us to illusions. As we move in deeper the awareness and intention of seeing and feeling, recognizing and responding all become refined and sensitive to a more accurate and effective way of finding truth.

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Ascension, Enlightenment, Mastery, Realization, Spirit, Truth

A Journey of Circles – Unlocking the Mysteries of our Karma and Past Lives

Becoming masters of our own spiritual destiny requires just that – that we be masters. This means moving our consciousness more and more in the direction of listening to our own inner voice, developing our psychic senses, knowledge and wisdom – all the faculties that provide us with the ability to make our own choices. It’s about being responsible for our own choices, progress, knowledge and intuiting. It means being in control of seeking.

It’s important to differentiate between learning and acknowledging teachers and placing all our faith in teachers and outside knowledge. It needs to be remembered that all beings have their own path and even when this path is one of teaching and sharing knowledge, it is expressed in a particular way that is specific to that being’s own journey. Tools and techniques can be given and knowledge can be imparted on how to integrate information, however the feeling of it must be done and experienced ourselves. Furthermore it is the actual process of learning to trust our own power and wisdom that opens the way for communication and a relationship with our true self. During this process we develop the ability to listen and speak, mutual trust born from learning to give and take and understanding and respect.

For a “teacher” to transcend their own ego’s need for adoration from students they must recognize that a “student” is only passing through. In this the teacher gains the opportunity to confront their own ego at the juncture where it is most powerful and in moving through the illusion of this power they find real empowerment.

At the same time as the student learns that no teacher or being can bring them liberation if they do not take the steps themselves, the teacher is also learning that no student or being can bring them power if they do not realize this power themselves. This journey of learning is a weaving and twisting, shape shifting movement of mind, body and spirit that at its depths reveals the true teacher which is always within ourselves. In looking for the lessons in every moment and place we follow the leads, the flows and spaces and find this inner teacher. For a time consciousness makes sense. Then it is lost as a new expansion occurs and the grasping mind recognizes that the unknown has met what was for a time familiar. Stretching the mind once again we come to know the unknown intimately and once again there is integration. This weave of chaos becoming order then back again is a gift that allows us to understand the real essence of integration, unity and connectedness. The journey at times may seem infinite, but realization occurs to the one taking the journey, not the journey itself. As our consciousness learns to see itself, it begins to understand that each step has removed a thread of division that separates perception from truth. The journey has come full circle.

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Paths of Power, Truth, Unlimited Mind

The Way of the Crystal Pt 1

All things are able to communicate a certain frequency or energy. The power of the crystal is in it’s ability to absorb, contain and sustain a particular communication of energy for very long periods of time. While humans come and go within the span of 100 years or so, crystals have been found that have been dated back to 4.3 billion years. This may all seem pretty mundane until we understand how to communicate with the energy that a crystal holds.

The first step is always to learn the manner that a particular entity speaks. We do this by exploring the different ways of listening. Observing the physical texture, visually focusing, smelling or otherwise meditating on crystals are all effective ways to listen. It is important to remember that listening is simply being open, to feel and allow what comes to come. In the beginning there may be nothing, or at least the perception of nothing. As our awareness becomes sharper we will begin to feel, see, hear and perceive spaces and flows. There is in essence no difference between the movement in meditation and the communication that occurs with crystal work. The main hurdle is that we perceive one to be external and the other to be internal. Through practice and experience we bridge this gap and the communication becomes fluent.

The reason that listening is so important is because is teaches us how to in turn communicate in a way that we will be understood. If we simply jump into a new language without any understanding then it will be just like two people yammering away with no idea or concern as to what the other is saying. Listening also provides us with the opportunity to generate a tangible and real level of communication.

All the skills used within clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience and so on are used in the communicative interchange with crystals. By understanding and refining our ability to utilize the language, we are able to ask and explore the database of knowledge and information that a crystal holds. By finding the space within the communication and expressing our inquiry through this space and listening we find what we need.

Perhaps more important than gaining information is the experience of learning to communicate with different perceptions of energy. Crystals and all reagents provide the opportunity to understand the bridging of space, flow and energy. Eventually we learn to bypass the bridge and connect directly to the consciousness that we seek. This is the shift where external Alchemy becomes purely internal Alchemy. As we become more fluent in different languages we learn to understand the principles underlying all of them. The path becomes subtler but the destination remains the same.

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Enlightenment, Realization, Spirit, Truth, Unlimited Mind

Illuminating the Dark ~ Part 1 ~ The Essence of Meditation, Purification and Enlightenment

Real mastery of the self can only be realized through meeting all aspects of being with conscious equanimity. In the moment of connecting with these parts unflinchingly and with acceptance, we no longer struggle with the self and we experience unity.

The path of ‘the dark’ means a path where we are lacking awareness. Unconscious, subconscious and spiritual dimensions all have relevance here, but it is also valuable to note the various grey areas. It is possible and common to have an intellectual awareness of certain concepts and principles, but without integration at the level of the body these skills and experiences will not be fully realized. For example we may understand the principle of ‘living in the now,’ but as long as our body still reacts to pre-programmed responses we are still living in the past. The journey of moving from an intellectual idea to an experience that encompasses not only the mental but the physical is a far deeper and more “whole” level of integration.

Mental consciousness generally works at a far greater speed than the physical, but through training and practice we can guide the body to realizing it’s own potential for development and expansion. Keeping the connection between body and mind requires that we do not neglect one over the other. When working with the body we observe the nature of the mind and learn to direct it’s energies through the body. When working with the mind we observe how the body perceives and interprets this level of consciousness and we look for the spaces and areas where it can open to the experience with deeper understanding.

Patience is important when working with an intention for integration because until full integration occurs the mind will almost always be faster than the body. This is especially true for those that are developing their psychic senses as the ability to perceive subtle energies opens a literal floodgate of information. Without integration this information will lead to various levels of agitation, stress and confusion. What is actually happening is that the physical level of consciousness has no idea of what is happening and being realized at the subtler mental and spiritual levels. We could look at it as upper level management not communicating to the middle and lower levels. While it may not always seems as exciting to work at the physical level the revelations and realizations can be just as profound if not more because they can actually be used and implemented into our physical reality. Further more what we experience is solid, tangible and built on a base of emotional, physical and mental strength. On the contrary experiences that try to ignore the body are essentially leaving the foundation or base behind.

Illuminating the dark brings light to all the aspects that we would ignore or pass off as too mundane, boring or not worthy of note. In bringing the light of consciousness we are communicating and understanding. This reciprocal interchange of energies speaks and listens and within time we realize that we understand the meaning of this communication clearly. As our ability to listen increases, so too does our ability to inject meaning into the communication – and so the product of the communication becomes more refined and more meaningful. Many results can be gained from bringing consciousness into these dark parts and each morsel of knowledge and wisdom opens up new opportunities to seek out and explore. In the end however, all paths lead back to the one true path, the path of unity, the path of peace, the path of power.

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Enlightenment, Mastery, Realization, Spirit, Truth, Unlimited Mind

Finding Yourself, Finding your True Self

Finding your “self” is the experience of realizing what is important to you. This may be a many layered process which take us through questioning ourselves, our relationship with people and the world and can lead us to find what some call our “true self.”

Creating life that is based on our true principles, beliefs and values as opposed to carrying the values of other people, society or structures can be a complex thing. As soon as we come into contact physically, mentally or emotionally with anything, be it an ideal, a feeling, a sound, principle or concept our consciousness both physical and mental reacts. Whether our reaction is in the negative or positive we create a link to that experience. This forms part of our relationship with that experience from now on. Over the course of our life we are connecting with experiences at every moment, and so relationships are being formed, moved, transformed and shaped constantly. Each thought that we have elicits a sensory reaction and the first reaction that will arise is the one that has been programmed from similar thoughts we’ve had in the past. In essence while we may think that each thought is new, the reaction to them is actually old. This presents a deeper meaning to the statement “living in the past.” Like wise when we have feelings of emotion and react to them whether we choose to express or suppress we are still “dancing” within a relationship with that sensation. It is still the “past.” This is interesting because often we may believe that we have transcended an old pattern simply because we are choosing a different way to react. In truth the pattern still has influence and control over us, it’s just that we have chosen to react in a different way in order to deal or adapt in a manner that we believe is healthier or wiser.

Transcending a pattern of reaction whether to emotions, thoughts or feelings does actually mean going “higher” or leaving it behind. Transcendence is actually a state in which we have chosen to experience internal freedom in spite of being smack bang in the middle of our patterns. We are the eye of the hurricane but we are also the hurricane itself. The freedom we experience comes not from running away but from facing ourselves and using this opportunity to find true power. The first steps of facing ourselves brings us the experience or perception of being buffeted by the “hurricane” of our self. We get blown around because we are not used to being in the intensity of emotions, sensations and thought. We may feel fear but the truth is that this cannot kill us. We cannot die here – and so inevitably if we stay, remain conscious and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and sensitive, then we will learn to fly within the hurricane. We learn to make our minds and body flexible enough to move with the hurricane and eventually it becomes like walking on solid ground. Another remarkable thing happens at the point that we learn to be the hurricane – we realize that these gale force winds were caused in large part by our resistance to them. Our minds have been like magnetic fields reacting with other magnetic fields which cause chaos. By allowing our own field to become congruent and smooth with what already is two fields become one, and so we experience unity. When we become unified then we gain another opportunity – one of looking into the reflection and seeing our “true” self.

Any description of the “true” self is one that will never compare to the actual experience and in a sense it is almost futile to speak about truth because words being words can carry only so far into the realm of actual feeling. The actual experience of the “true” self is indisputable simply because when something feels so right we are so in the moment the thought to doubt never arrives. It is similar to what one of my first meditation teachers related to me. He said “People only come to meditation when their lives are in pain. Then they look for answers. When life is good they do not need to look for answers – they just live.” Experiencing the “true” self is similar to this. Purists often argue that the “true” self is representative of absolute truth because it is eternal, it never changes. My own experiences of the “true” self do not necessarily support this argument either way, however one thing that I have experienced is that just looking into the window of eternal or infinite is more than I believe I can truly comprehend at this point in my life. Even at it’s furthest reaches, there is more and when I reach that point there is still more. The infinite is an experience that offers literally infinite wisdom and knowledge however I feel humbled by it, not by any means master of it. Through humbling ourselves I believe that the infinite allows mastery to be realized through and inside of us. It’s not something that we develop, it’s something that we allow to be recognized by learning to look and listen.

In order to find we do need to seek, however in seeking we must make sure to observe the seeker, because it is the seeker that transforms and reveals the “true” self.

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Psychic Senses, Truth, Unlimited Mind

How to Develop the Psychic Senses Part 2

Psychic sense allows us to communicate with reality and understand how we are perceiving the universe and also how the universe is perceiving us. We can look once at a person and know their level of honesty, their level of denial, hope, dreams and despair. This sensory may develop as a feeling or as an ability to see these feelings in the physical structure of the body. As your skills develop you will be able to see the level of communication a person has with their own intuition, higher selves and the spiritual dimensions. You will be able to perceive where and how they allocated their conscious and subconscious energy, you will be able to see where and how they carry their parent’s and grandparent’s emotions and experiences.

Those of us interested in learning, growth and personal development will be able to perceive how a person is meditating simply by looking at their face. We will be able to see and hear the rate and frequency that a person’s brainwaves are moving and through this understand how to shift and move the mind state into different frequencies and shapes. Teaching meditation and esoteric alchemy at this level requires no guess work – methods are not simply the same system rehashed again and again but instead are developed explicitly and will suit and fit each person like a glove. Connecting to higher consciousness will work at a level that is tangible simply because we can see and hear the frequencies that are holding us back from perceiving – and we can see the exact frequency needed to “dissolve” and transcend this “barrier”. This is an important point for us at this time as the spiritual arena has been fed much disinformation and exploited by many for reasons of manipulation and ego. Learning to directly and tangibly connect to the higher self and intuition will banish any and all control that these systems have had. It is extremely difficult to buy into garbage when you can clearly smell and see with exquisite detail the pungent aroma! This may sound harsh, but the truth is that through the freedom we gain from seeing things for what they actually are, we develop the ability to not be affected by them. Further more because we are developing our own inner resources we gain the stability and strength and we move away from the fear and insecurity which usually asks us to seek external sources of power. As our own inner power is realized we understand that suffering comes through our own reaction to the world and we realize the choice that we have always in truth had – to be free. This freedom is not a mere concept, it is the reality of seeing and feeling what is and understanding the opportunity to choose. When we truly and deeply understand then regardless of our external or internal world we choose empowerment and love every time. This choice is available to us only because we choose to be powerful in spite of feeling fear, in spite of feeling inadequate, in spite of feeling insecure, ugly or doubtful.

In developing true sight we are able to see strength in a person regardless of whether they are currently shaking in their boots. We are able to see desperation in a person even if they are trying to appear happy and self-assured. This sight is not developed because we seek to see a person’s faults – we simply see, listen and feel. We observe and pay attention to our senses. We use the exact same methods on ourselves. We practice sensitivity to energy and meditations. We notice. We look beneath the surface. We listen to irregularities. When we are ready then the teachers will appear. Readiness simply means to see that knowledge and truth is being relayed to us constantly. In this instant we perceive teachings within everything. This is the beginning of psychic sense development.

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Enlightenment, Psychic Senses, Spirit, Truth, Unlimited Mind

How to Develop Psychic Senses Part 1

Intuition begins as a feeling, moves toward knowing and then certainty. As the five senses are allowed to experience the frequency of intuition we develop what is known as psychic senses.

The biggest cause of preventing realization of the subtle sense is the ego. By this I mean the self image that we have of ourselves. When we hold a perception of how we want to perceive the world and ourselves, we try and often succeed in preventing ourselves from seeing what is. For example just say that we want to be loving and compassionate people and our intuition tells us that someone is being dishonest, fake and manipulative, then because we want to sustain this image of being loving and compassionate, we just pretend that everything is hunky dory – we literally block our vision of what is going on. Sometimes we even make up explanations and justify why this person is acting this way. Intuition and psychic sense is a lot simpler than this. If we find ourselves justifying stuff chances are it’s the ego and intellectual side of things working to balance things out, to try to suit the perceptions that we want to promote. Nothing is wrong with this, but it’s a different ballgame from intuition and psychic senses.

There are many methods and exercises to sensitize ourselves to energy, but the actual interpretation of energy is about awareness and awareness requires sincerity and honesty. What good is it if we have developed the ability to see if we don’t use this sight? In the example of the person who wants to be loving and compassionate, what is it that is destroyed when they allow themselves to perceive a person being manipulative and dishonest? It is their own self-image which is being destroyed. In this moment we see our judgment and criticism and we perceive that we are not the loving and compassionate people we believed that we were. Well it’s about time! The truth is that we’re not seeing anything that wasn’t there before. The truth is that we’ve simply been trying to deny the reality of our ego. Further more we have been denying the existence of real unconditional love that is able to exist regardless of any perceived “flaws” in our selves. We are perpetuating a reality that it is only when we are card board cut-outs of what “loving” and “compassionate” people should be, that we are worthy of love – and we quite literally kick our “shadow” and hidden sides to the gutter. Not only is this slamming the door on our intuition and psychic senses, it is closing our eyes to the real meaning of unconditional love. What ends up being created is a self that is running so hard and trying so desperately to be something else, that we neglect to see who we actually are.

Seeing who we actually are is all that is required, but how hard is it to see when we build up the stakes? When so much is riding on us being this particular image?

So what’s the big deal about truth and all that anyway? Well without truth we never know where and who we are – and without knowing who we are we can’t get to where we want to go. We attempt to feel a certain way and we don’t know why it all feels so fake and unreal. The word “clairvoyance” simply means true sight, the word “clairaudience”, true hearing and the word “clairsentience”, true knowing. These skills essentially are derived through allowing our mind to perceive what is. Many psychics are able to read and interpret what is and through watching and communicating with the stream of cause and effect are able to interpret and predict what will be and what has been. Future predictions don’t always come true simply because a person can choose to move in a different direction and change the course of the current stream. A psychic simply has been born with or developed the skills to read energy that is at a more subtle level than the physical, but the truth is that all people are able to develop this skill to one extent or another. It just starts with being honest.

Observe what you see in other people. Interpret and understand by observing how your own body and mind reacts to them. Allow your judgments to surface, allow your own issues to surface and just observe. Learning to perceive and understand what you see in others will not only develop your intuition and psychic senses, it will give you the opportunity to see and reconcile your own truths. It can be ugly to see the judgments, issues and feelings that we have about others, but it is only in recognizing and being honest that we do in fact have these feelings, that we can heal our own fear and reconcile those perceptions about our own ugliness. The path of truth will take us through whatever lies in it’s way. Truth is not about seeing the light and avoiding the dark, it is about eventually recognizing light and love within all aspects of being – but first we need to let ourselves see all aspects of being.

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Enlightenment, Mastery, Truth

The Power of Mindfulness Pt2

The power of mindfulness is the opportunity it provides us to experience inner peace, but peace can only come from meeting with each aspect and part of ourselves. Often during seated mindfulness meditation we only face certain aspects. Daily life where we are busy, have stimuli that we react to with stress, interaction with people and so on brings up a different type of experience to be mindful to. Often practitioners may experience deep levels of transcendence and as a result peace during seated meditation and then totally lose it in every day life. This experience has been noted from some very experienced meditators, monks and ascetics as well as lay practitioners. What has occurred is that the mind has not yet been given the opportunity to move through the energetic frequencies of everyday life.

When it comes to meditation it is a huge trap to believe that there is nothing to gain from everyday, “mundane” and stressful experience. Our children may be crying and yelling, our boss may be antagonizing us, we may be concerned with finances, traffic and the general state of the world. Even more worrying we look at ourselves and we observe that we have these petty concerns, we are jealous about the neighbor’s new lawnmower, we are still fuming at that red Volkswagon that cut us off and we’re beating ourselves up for not getting all our “stuff” together. This sure doesn’t seem like the spiritual growth that we’ve heard about! The pain seems even larger because our silent, daily meditation seems to be going well. Our practice then feels futile. On the one hand we find peace when we find sanctuary and make time to meditate on the other hand this does not seem to carry out into our every day life.

In our deepest meditations when we experience a sensation we learn to observe it and so we gain the opportunity to move deeper into it. Without the sensation or “object” to observe we lose the opportunity to release our attachment and so the sensation still has power over us. We need to look ourselves square in the eye without flinching. The integration of this into daily life is exactly the same. When we feel petty, jealous, angry, sad or whatever physical sensation, we observe objectively. We feel the feeling of being repulsed with ourselves, we feel the feeling of being angry, or jealous, or sad. We observe the feeling of wanting these feelings to go away, we observe the feeling of being a “bad person.” Meeting ourselves in this way provides the same experience as any meditation experience does. The opportunity to make peace.

Peace allows the “other”, the aspects of ourselves to be as they are.

The basic method of integrating mindfulness into everyday life is to observe your obvious physical movement as you go about your day. Notice how your muscles tense and relax as you drive your car, walk, do the dishes, talk, shower, go to the toilet, watch television and so on. Watch how you feel when you meet friends, when you walk past a stranger on the street and when you are daydreaming. Be sure to include as much as possible all of your different states. There is no state that is not appropriate to apply mindfulness to. They are all after all expressions of you.

Being mindful does not need to be a rigid practice. Play around with it. It’s a tool for empowerment not to make life a chore. Practice being fully involved in a discussion and then just take a moment to observe yourself. Practice eating your food with mindfulness and observe the texture of the food, the taste and how your body is feeling. Allow yourself to be deeply involved in watching a movie and then afterwards observe how your body posture and internal sensations are feeling.

Surrounding your mindfulness practice, it is valuable to remember to come back to the frequency of nurturing, love and generally feeling good. The practice of mindfulness is essentially a method of guiding the mind to realize that our physical and mental states are more than what they appear to be – but let’s remember that in our quest for truth, enlightenment and empowerment we are essentially seeking happiness. So during the journey make sure to refresh the spirit, revive the body and nurture the mind. This will ensure that the journey is one that sustains.

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