Life beyond the mind

Notice that the moment arises when you no longer follow things in the mind but rather, shift to what you feel (consciously experience). This may shake "your" world up so much that you ask yourself how to move through "the world." You can no longer navigate based on what you think or believe. It dawns that any belief you could possibly have is simply "you" taking an opportunity to feel what its like. That moment, you get a very visceral idea of the "me": the judge, the commentator, that which assumes and attributes blame. The little "me" cannot fathom another way to be other than its thinking way. When you ask "how" to function in the world, the answer is: there is no answer. Nothing prepares "you" for this. One simply is and moves through worlds. Something else is guiding you, something the little self could never know even if it was told. Its no big deal. It simply is not anything related to "your" thoughts and expectations and reperatoire of conditioned . One no longer asks how to integrate new understanding or awakeness into life and dimensions. Asking has no place here. One simply lives, breathes and flows. Being awake is simple when we do not believe whatever thoughts we have about life. All sound is swimming in silence. That is the sound of reality. A thinking mind can never know how silence operates. That silence is what mind is seeking to know.

Go beyond mind-control

Notice what happens as it dawns that Being itself is guiding each action. Meditation in its true sense can be a way of spontaneously discovering our natural, undivided state. We cannot get to a natural state through divided means. We cannot create natural, effortless states. We can only create unnatural states. As we fall into the state where we cease to manipulate our experience in any way, this is true meditation. Anything else is mind-controlled. Through mind-control, we can create extra-ordinary and mystical states, but not the natural state. Let everything be as it is. This is simple and yet, how often do you attempt to stop the mind, seek be peaceful, or something other than what is? Anyway you manipulate experience, simply notice it and let it go. This gives mind very little to do. The mind is no longer leading the way. It falls into background. The natural, free state only reveals itself through non-doing. It takes some consciousness to notice when we manipulate inner experience. The natural state is ever-present. Its already quiet. There is no reason to get to peace. No search is needed. States we seek through meditation are here. Most meditation is manipulation. This points to distrust of original nature. No need to battle ego. It is a conditioned part of ourselves. Distrust of ego can escalate to distrusting the essence of Being. Its why we seek to control. Letting go of our conditioned urge to manipulate inner experience guides one to natural awareness.

Find out for yourself

Notice what it is to find out for ourselves that there is no-body behind awareness. No deeper return or realm exists to reach. It is like taking a backward step (rather than moving forward or seeking). From the point that flash of recognition dawns, like a spontaneous flash in an empty sky, pure radiance arises and polishes the mirror. The light and dark merge. All urges to compare and conquer, dissolve.

Choose to be vulnerable

For many of us, the idea of opening up takes us outside our comfort zone. It may trigger goosebumps or restlessness. Yet, by choosing to be more vulnerable, we also show ourselves we are worthy of love and acceptance. The quest for worthiness is widespread. We are taught to fear the judgement of others when we are actually our own most critical judge and jury. Transparency empowers us as we have nothing to hide and heavy emotions no longer exert power over us. In her TED Talk, Brené Brown explains, "There was only one variable that separated the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who really struggle for it. And that was, the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they're worthy of love and belonging. That's it." As we resist the urge to put up walls, we feel vulnerable. Trust you can deal with whatever arises. We may risk facing indifference, criticism or rejection, but being open is also very liberating. When you leave your comfort zone to open up to vulnerability, you make the conscious decision and show others you are worthy. That is a pretty empowering place to be. The world is a mirror. As you choose to be transparent, and love the world, this love is mirrored back.

Move beyond assumptions

Notice a widespread assumption is that Truth is a hidden thing to reach or acquire. It is assumed that the Truth is separate from us, somewhere other than where we are. One belief is enlightened people know something that "I/ you/we don't." What happens when things shift and it feels like everybody knows something I/you/we don't? Even this is a form of knowing. We tell ourselves we are seeking what we really want to know while secretly, we know a whole lot. We know we judge ourselves as worthy or unworthy, guilty or innocent or are attempting to be something we are not. We gimpse pockets of knowing. We are taught to spend our lives seeking. Even if at some stage we take the spiritual path, we tend to seek/acquire knowledge in books and through teachers because we are taught to assume "somebody knows." Even as teachers invite us to know who we are, then we assume the teacher knows. We think our own freedom or liberation is some missing piece of knowlege that is going to remove our insecurity. Yet, everything we think we know or not is simply a product of our own conditioning, nothing more or less. Where did we learn our concepts, morals, ethics, beliefs in anything to reach "enlightenment?" Many people simply adopt conditioning without seeing fully. What can we know with absolute certainty? Nothing. (We may know with greater or lesser certainty, but nothing with absolute certainty). When you know you do not know or cannot know anything, you come to know oneness (Truth) without effort. When we embark on spiritual inquiry looking for an answer, to write a book about it or tell everyone, it leads us to not knowing who we are. Ego cannot grasp this. Its impossible to know who or what you are. We can only be who we are knowingly, in silence. Be here Now.