At the threshold of the unknown

The moment you reach the threshold of the deeper unknown, nothing you are taught makes sense anymore. It is outgrown.  Intuition is the dependable compass in all areas of your physical life.  Awareness of the deeper journey arises when you begin to ask questions about the unknown and unknowable where no traditional answers exist.

Everything is felt as a bridge to love, to the recognition of the oneness of being. This is not the concepts mind would have you believe but is known through direct experience.  You may notice a guide during the journey, but such a guide cannot experience for you. Just like the presence of any mentor or inspiration, you come to sense each one is an extension of you.  Each one is reminding you that knowing complete acceptance and self-worth transforms your perceived life experience and what you sense beyond it.

The essence of being transcends any world you believe in or imagine.  The presence of being is in the world but not of it.  At the level of presence or awareness of real self, that which cannot be known, objectified or described, silence conveys timeless messages.  As you notice the stillness, this frees you from an illusions of ego that are never real to begin with. Fear of freedom is ultimately what keeps you focused on identifying with the person you think is you.  Be free and know what souls knows.

"The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind." -Kahlil Gibran

All fear brings a message of love

The mind cannot explain what its like to be emptiness, infinite joy or pure freedom. Rather than grapple with what it cannot understand, it orients you to focus on the future, to nurture fear of the unknown. It conditions you to interpret and judge as it does.

Notice what happens from the moment you grow aware all fear you feel silently invites you to see through it. A spontaneous shift of attention brings you to the present moment. The message of unconditional love and acceptance is unmistakable.

When you acknowledge that you do not know who or what you are, that is, when you cease to be concerned with the things the ego tells you to get worked up about, something divine takes over. Reasons for worry fall away. There is no thought of controlling anything and no fear of not doing so. Awareness flows freely. It knows any effort you make to obtain or be something implies you believe it is beyond you.  Notice your life reflects and reinforces how much fear is controlling or love is guiding you. 

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and let it come in."
-Morie Schwartz (from The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom)

5 Tips to notice nothing and everything

Many people know what its like to think a lot, to feel restless and even torn between perceived options. You can be sitting somewhere and feeling tension about doing or not doing.  You may ask how to make this stop, even wonder how to liberate the mind.  Consider these five tips to notice nothing and everything that matters;

1. Pay closer attention- rather than give in to ignoring the situation or listening to your desire to escape, notice this invitation to recognize something the body is telling you about yourself.  What is the underlying reason for your self-doubt, fear or contemplative behaviour? Consider imbalance or negativity invite shift of attention.

2. Notice what you say to yourself- your word choices reveal a lot about self-worth and self-acceptance.  Consider the mind does not know you as well as it leads you to believe. It distracts you from core instincts and inner knowing by creating beliefs that make you think you are less than you are.  See the ego agenda for what it is.

3. Feel the nature of the situation- the experience perceived by the mind with its attitudes and sense of history has nothing to do with feeling reality. You experience what you think about.  So, if you wish to change a situation, begin by shifting what you see in it.  Listen to your intuition. What does this feel like? How can it help you?

4. Let go of struggle- the more you struggle, the more limited your awarenes and heavier you feel.  As tenstion mounts, emotional reactions also tend to get out of control. Frustration and self-criticism distort what other parts of you discern with clarity.  As you let go of struggle, you discover nothing to struggle about.

5. Assume nothing is missing- the reference for what is real is in the mind and emotions until your sense of what's real arises from the ground of being. From this point, the reference for how you function shifts. Only the fear-based mind notices anything is missing. The soul only knows perfection, love and acceptance now. Consider what is conditioned and innate and how it feels to let go of what you outgrow.

"Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul, that you never knew was missing."
-Torquato Tasso

Let things be as they are

Feel what existence is like as you not only forgive without question, but you intuitively see beyond error.  There is no chaos, imbalance, nothing to undo or rectify.  You no longer act out of fear.  You perceive no problems, no need for solutions. Dissatisfaction and restlessness are gone.  You are not at war with the mind, or struggling to stop thinking.  You drop pretensions, drop hypocrisies, and willingly let go of conditioning.

Observe what happens as you let go of the attitude of control and manipulation.  Nothing anyone says or does fazes you.  What has no effect ceases to exist in your scope of awareness.    As you let go of agendas, let go of the desire to transform, to self- improve or better understand, related people and situations dissipate that are incompatible with your energy vibration.  The intention of realizing ambitions, becoming famous or accessing magical power do not cross the radar screen.  You no longer notice opportunities to actively bring these things into your experience. 

As you let things be, the desire for more ceases. History is irrelevant. A sense of the past fades.  This is the returning to innocence, seeing things as they are without the filters of mind. You allow the natural state of being to reveal itself. Just being natural, being yourself is nothing extraordinary.  This is about noticing what is, that is all.

Consider when Lin Chi was asked, ”What has happened to you? People say you have become enlightened,” he shrugged his shoulders and said, ”Happened? Nothing. I cut wood in the forest, and carry water to the ashram – carry water from the well, cut wood because the winter is approaching.”

 "Man is a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally or not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human." - Aristotle

Untrain the mind

Everything you think and feel is a clue to the cause and effect of what you perceive in the world.  Each thought invites a comparison and then, judgment arises.   According to the conditioned mind, no neutral thoughts exist.  Notice how focusing on thoughts creates beliefs and habits.  Even before something happens, you assume history is to repeat or the future is worriesome. You dwell on fear unless you untrain the mind. 

Consider how you train the mind.  If, at some stage, you injure yourself while doing something you enjoy, physical pain may trigger that memory and fear may now hold you back.  If you applied for a job in an area of interest and were unsuccessful, you may be discouraged from applying for a similar role, fearing failure or rejection.  If, you have broken or difficult relationships, you may fear getting involved with someone new. If you regret something you said and dwell on negativity or are angry about something someone else has said, harbour grudges, this prevents you from moving on.  You see the world you have made but do not always register you are the source of all you see.

Recognize no thought is neutral.  The world does not think a certain way. It simply reflects back what you are thinking though your experience. Perception is not the cause of reality but the lens through which you selectively filter and choose to see reality.  You raise awareness by noticing your life unfolds based on choices to love or fear.  Notice your focus is not so much on what you see as how you see it. 

"Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them." 
-Rabindranath Tagore