20th December

Down on numbers today just 7 in all. We first viewed a video about Deja Vu, Immortality & Guardian angel by Anthony Peake on Juicy Living. A lot of information to take in.
Afterwards we read and discussed the following.

It's probably too startling for many of you to understand that everyone except the very rare awakened person can be expected to be selfish and to seek his or her own self-interest whether in coarse or in refined ways. This leads you to see that there's nothing to be disappointed about, nothing to be disillusioned about. If you had been in touch with reality all along, you would never have been disappointed. But you chose to paint people in glowing colors; you chose not to see through human beings because you chose not to see through yourself. So you're paying the price now. 
Before we discuss this, let me tell you a story. Somebody once asked, "What is enlightenment like? What is awakening like?" It's like the tramp in London who was settling in for the night. He'd hardly been able to get a crust of bread to eat. Then he reaches this embankment on the river Thames. There was a slight drizzle, so he huddled in his old tattered cloak. He was about to go to sleep when suddenly a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce pulls up. Out of the car steps a beautiful young lady who says to him, "My poor man, are you planning on spending the night here on this embankment?" And the tramp says, "Yes." She says, "I won't have it. You're coming to my house and you're going to spend a comfortable night and you're going to get a good dinner." She insists on his getting into the car. Well, they ride out of London and get to a place where she has a sprawling mansion with large grounds. They are ushered in by the butler, to whom she says, "James, please make sure he's put in the servants' quarters and treated well." Which is what James does. The young lady had undressed and was about to go to bed when she suddenly remembers her guest for the night. So she slips something on and pads along the corridor to the servants' quarters. She sees a little chink of light from the room where the tramp was put up. She taps lightly at the door, opens it, and finds the man awake. She says, "What's the trouble, my good man, didn't you get a good meal?" He said, "Never had a better meal in my life, lady." "Are you warm enough?" He says, "Yes, lovely warm bed." Then she says, "Maybe you need a little company. Why don't you move over a bit." And she comes closer to him and he moves over and falls right into the Thames. 

What I'm about to say will sound a bit pompous, but it's true. What is coming could be the most important minutes in your lives. If you could grasp this, you'd hit upon the secret of awakening. You would be happy forever. You would never be unhappy again. Nothing would have the power to hurt you again. I mean that, nothing. It's like when you throw black paint in the air, the air remains uncontaminated. You never color the air black. No matter what happens to you, you remain uncontaminated. You remain at peace. There are human beings who have attained this, what I call being human. Not this nonsense of being a puppet, jerked about this way and that way, letting events or other people tell you how to feel. So you proceed to feel it and you call it being vulnerable. Ha! I call it being a puppet. So you want to be a puppet? Press a button and you're down; do you like that? But if you refuse to identify with any of those labels, most of your worries cease. 

Ordinarily you're worried about what's going to happen to your career. A small-time businessman, fifty-five years old, is sipping beer at a bar somewhere and he's saying, "Well, look at my classmates, they've really made it." The idiot! What does he mean, "They made it"? They've got their names in the newspaper. Do you call that making it? One is president of the corporation; the other has become the Chief Justice; somebody else has become this or that. Monkeys, all of them. 
Who determines what it means to be a success? This stupid society! The main preoccupation of society is to keep society sick! And the sooner you realize that, the better. Sick, every one of them. They are loony, they're crazy. You became president of the lunatic asylum and you're proud of it even though it means nothing. Being president of a corporation has nothing to do with being a success in life. Having a lot of money has nothing to do with being a success in life. You're a success in life when you wake up! Then you don't have to apologize to anyone, you don't have to explain anything to anyone, you don't give a damn what anybody thinks about you or what anybody says about you. You have no worries; you're happy. That's what I call being a success. Having a good job or being famous or having a great reputation has absolutely nothing to do with happiness or success. Nothing! It is totally irrelevant. All he's really worried about is what his children will think about him, what the neighbors will think about him, what his wife will think about him. He should have become famous. Our society and culture drill that into our heads day and night. People who made it! Made what?! Made asses of themselves. Because they drained all their energy getting something that was worthless. They're frightened and confused, they are puppets like the rest. Look at them strutting across the stage. Look how upset they get if they have a stain on their shirt. Do you call that a success? Look at how frightened they are at the prospect they might not be reelected. Do you call that a success? They are controlled, so manipulated. They are unhappy people, they are miserable people. They don't enjoy life. They are constantly tense and anxious. Do you call that human? And do you know why that happens? Only one reason: They identified with some label. They identified the "I" with their money or their job or their profession. That was their error. 
Did you hear about the lawyer who was presented with a plumber's bill? He said to the plumber, "Hey, you're charging me two hundred dollars an hour. I don't make that kind of money as a lawyer." The plumber said, "I didn't make that kind of money when I was a lawyer either!" You could be a plumber or a lawyer or a business man or a priest, but that does not affect the essential "I." It doesn't affect you. If I change my profession tomorrow, it's just

like changing my clothes. I am untouched. Are you your clothes? Are you your name? Are you your profession? Stop identifying with them. They come and go. 
When you really understand this, no criticism can affect you. No flattery or praise can affect you either. When someone says, "You're a great guy," what is he talking about? He's talking about "me," he's not talking about "I." "I" is neither great nor small. "I" is neither successful nor a failure. It is none of these labels. These things come and go. These things depend on the criteria society establishes. These things depend on your conditioning. These things depend on the mood of the person who happens to be talking to you right now. It has nothing to do with "I." "I" is none of these labels. "Me" is generally selfish, foolish, childish -- a great big ass. So when you say, "You're an ass," I've known it for years! The conditioned self -- what did you expect? I've known it for years. Why do you identify with him? Silly! That isn't "I," that's "me." 
Do you want to be happy? Uninterrupted happiness is uncaused. True happiness is uncaused. You cannot make me happy. You are not my happiness. You say to the awakened person, "Why are you happy?" and the awakened person replies, "Why not?" 
Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture. To acquire happiness you don't have to do anything, because happiness cannot be acquired. Does anybody know why? Because we have it already. How can you acquire what you already have? Then why don't you experience it? Because you've got to drop something. You've got to drop illusions. You don't have to add anything in order to be happy; you've got to drop something. Life is easy, life is delightful. It's only hard on your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, your cravings. Do you know where these things come from? From having identified with all kinds of labels!

November meeting

Just eight of us today, to start we watched a video of a man who has conversations with God and has written 14 books.

After wards we read the following - the first half proposing that depression is brought on by the absence of spirit in ones life. The second a way to see who we are and know MU.

A SPIRITUAL VIEW OF DEPRESSION

The hunger of the soul for light, especially when the language of spirituality has not been acquired fully, can be both painful and confusing.  A person can feel lost, misunderstood, out of place, with a sense of not belonging anywhere.  In fact, without the spiritual underpinnings anchored in awareness, it can feel like one doesn’t even belong to oneself.  This nameless thing that it is possible to long for involves hunger at the deepest level.  It is a hunger for spiritual light.

Although we generally experience symptoms of depression as primarily physical and emotional, their essential core may lie in something that cannot be seen that is of a spiritual nature, namely, the relative absence of the energy of light.  When missing, the absence of light can feel like the sun covered over for long periods of time by dark clouds, causing a sense of yearning for warmth and radiance and in some, a sense of depletion and fatigue. This yearning can be completely unknown to the one experiencing it who may only feel the result of what is missing, not the cause. 

Light of a higher vibration than physical light is a spiritual energy – part of the energy of Creation. This light has been with us since the beginning, referred to in the Book of Genesis as the primary utterance - “let there be light.”  When translated onto the physical level, it becomes a powerful force for healing and change, helping all beings to evolve and human beings to transcend the limitations of darkness that they may have carried for a very long time.  In many instances, thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms associated with depression are each influenced by the absence or presence of spiritual light which both supports and regulates a flow of energy to the brain and to other organs, enhancing and maintaining their many functions. 

Often, a soul may be hungry for light and not know what it is that they are hungry for.  Frequently, this hunger feels formless and nameless, occurring only in relation to the feeling that there is something missing - a place of emptiness that cannot be filled.  Those who are more behaviorally-focused may point to activities of a more meaningful kind that could help with this emptiness including work and relationships with others, and this is frequently true: such activities often help.  However, sometimes the soul that is hungry finds that nothing will do – that no activity, no work, and no relationship can make a difference in terms of what the inner self is actually seeking.  The emptiness feels beyond that.

The hunger of the soul for light, especially when the language of spirituality has not been acquired fully, can be both painful and confusing.  A person can feel lost, misunderstood, out of place, with a sense of not belonging anywhere.  In fact, without the spiritual underpinnings anchored in awareness, it can feel like one doesn’t even belong to oneself.  Then, there is a kind of gray pallor that is cast over existence as one goes through the motions of living, with the feeling that everything should be alright, but isn’t.  This nameless thing that it is possible to long for involves a hunger at the deepest level.  It is both a hunger for spiritual connection - for a relationship with the universe in which there is a sense of belonging and home.  It is also a hunger of the body to be filled with light and a recognition, usually beyond words, that we suffer from a sense of depletion.  This hunger of the body can occur more powerfully in those who have been exposed to great spiritual light previously, often in other lifetimes.  Where this exposure has created a living, embodied experience of connection with God and with the higher realms, one who has lost this connection often feels a mysterious and poignant sense of emptiness.

There is no instant remedy for this situation, for things of the spirit for the most part do not happen instantly.  But they can happen in a relatively short span of time, once it is recognized that it is light that is longed for, and once the search begins for an adequate way of providing it. 

Pointing at MU (Nothing)

Point at something nearby and look You are observing a 'thing'. In other words, at this range it has form, color, opacity ...
Now point at something else. The floor, for example. Observe that it too, at this range, is a 'thing'.
Point at your shoe. Another 'thing'.
Point at your torso -- yet another 'thing'. At this range it too has form, color, opacity ...
We now come to the most important part -- turning your attention round 180 degrees and looking back at the place you are looking out of. Point back at the place where others see your face. (Actually do this.) You are now pointing at the one place that is no distance from you.
What do you see?
Are you pointing at another thing now? Going by present evidence, not by memory or imagination, is there any color, shape, opacity or 'thingness' here? Do you see your face here? Do you see eyes or cheeks or chin here?
Put aside assumptions and expectations and look as if for the first time. Only you are in a position to see what you are at center, since you alone are your side of your pointing finger. Don't rely on what you think is there. Rely on looking.
Here is my experience. Where others see my face, I see nothing. There is my pointing finger with the room beyond it, but here where it's pointing is nothing -- no face, no eyes, no cheeks, no teeth. I am looking out of space, clearness, transparency, emptiness, MU. In fact, I am this space, this clearness.
In this spacious emptiness is now presented my finger, the scene beyond, various tickles and itches, passing thoughts and feelings.
Keep pointing at -- and looking at -- the place where others see your face. Be curious and attentive. What is the nature of this place you have assumed is solid, head-shaped, human? Rely directly on your present experience, not on thinking. Don't assume you know and therefore needn't look. Don't take other people's view of you from several metres as reliable evidence for what you are at center. Have an open mind and take a fresh look at yourself.
You are now seeing who you really are. 'But I see nothing!' you may object. Yes, I see nothing too. But this is a very special nothing. For a start it's awake -- awake to itself as no-thing. (It's not an unconscious nothing, unaware of itself, dead.)
It's also a no-thing that is awake to what it contains -- which is everything, from your pointing finger to the stars in the night sky. This empty space is room for the universe. You are that space and all it embraces. But you may find that seeing your no-thingness isn't 'wow' experience. That's alright. It doesn't have to be dramatic. We are simply paying attention to what is given. Or not given.
We are not trying to generate mystical feelings or get high. That may or may not happen. In fact, exciting mystical experiences can sometimes confuse the issue, diverting us from the simplicity and truth at center into those attractive states of body and mind.

“The artist's job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”
― Woody Allen

18th October 2013

Interesting morning at least those attending said it was. Major topics were that there is no external reality as the video on Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe. This agrees with all mystics through the ages.
Afterwards we examined the true meaning to some of Christian texts.

The idea that you must find and come to Know Thyself seems so antithetical to not only the message of the Gospel, but also most religious monastic mindsets -- with the added fact that few people would be able to even define what it is about the self that one is required to know.   And what this means is that the whole concept of Knowing Thyself, from the perspective of the modern dogmatic and politically correct world, is representative of an incomprehensible enigma.   And this great enigmatic void is not only true of the religious world, but is equally true of the educational and scientific institutions that serve as the bedrock foundation of our modern culture.    And yet, if the Gospel of Thomas saying of Jesus is correct -- and even representative of the "Q" source that Bible scholars look for -- then it should be disconcerting to the modern believer that Jesus portrays them as dwelling in a great poverty of mind and being -- i.e., "...But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty".   But perhaps even more confusing is when this statement to Know Thyself is seen in the context of whoever attempts to save his life will loose it (Matt. 16:26) -- to the degree that one must totally deny one's self: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).   Thus, the questions must be posed: How can one Know Thyself, and yet must lose one's self?   What is there to know, if whatever is of the self must be gotten rid of?   By all accounts, this enigma of paradoxical opposites appears to undermine all that most believers think they know about the Gospel message.   And if it is true that there is something to know about the self that, if one is ignorant of this reality of self, that one dwells in a state of abject poverty and knows nothing of any real value, then even what a believer thinks they know and believes, will remain in perpetual error.   Thus, confirming the long ignored warning: "There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov 14:12).   Which would confirm the validity of the warning in the Epistle of Peter and James that if this paradoxical enigmatic knowledge is not understood, that "...it will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error"!!!  Could such a thing be true?

What if you are not your real or true self?   How can this be, you ask?   What if you are what is often portrayed as the ego-self?   Or, what G.I.Gurdjieff, Philip K. Dick and other mystics portrayed as false-personalities?   When Jesus stated that you must lose yourself, what if he was making reference to the false-self that is in this world?    And when Jesus made reference to the "House Divided" that cannot stand, what if he was stating that so long as the person you are in this world remains divided from your true-self that is not manifest in the body -- primarily because of the limitations of the organic physical body -- that is it you in a divided state of mind and being that cannot stand?   What if your true self is locked deep beneath your being -- at a depth of mind and being that you cannot readily access because of the limitations of the physical body-vessel -- and the ancient adage that is proclaimed in the Gospel of Thomas is a statement of fact that unless the false or ego-self brings about in inner union or marriage with their true-self that is not manifest in the body-vessel, that you can have no real permanence -- dwelling in a state of profound mental and spiritual poverty, as seen in the words of the Gospel of Thomas: "...But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty".

The person you are at present is the product of the temporal culture and time-frame in which you are presently living -- and as such, few people have given any thought to the fact that, if you preserve and attempt to save that which is temporal and false, that you will have squandered your life away?   What if what is often portrayed as the ego-self, is the person you are in this world, while the true self exists at a deeper level of mind and being and cannot easily manifest in the person whose thinking, mindset and lifestyle is founded upon the temporal cultures and lifestyles of this world?   And what if when Jesus makes reference to the blind, deaf and those incapable of understanding with any depth of comprehension, it is in reference to those who are carnal and anchored to this world -- which condition of mind is that portrayed as dwelling in what Jesus said was the "outer darkness" of mind and being (see Outer Darkness)?    And what if beyond the barrier of the inner wall of consciousness where the true self dwells, all truths were seen and known in the Light of a naked reality?   Why, all of a sudden the enigmas of knowing one's self, losing the self in this world, and ones search for the Kingdom within, would suddenly be understood from a totally different perspective than it is today.   Even the Lord's Prayer where Jesus teaches his followers to beseech the Lord to bring about the manifestation of the Kingdom (within) -- and why Jesus commanded to seek the Kingdom first as seen in the words: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33) -- one would have to conclude that man's present-day dogmatic poverty is so great, that the modern Church has very little in common with the original teachings of Jesus and TheWay.    If one is supposed to seek the Kingdom by losing the false-self of one's carnal nature, in order to permit one's true inner self to manifest, then the whole dogmatic concept of waiting until you physically die to see if you will inherit the promise of going to Glory, would have to be radically re-evaluated in light of countless other original Gospel teachings and concepts that are largely ignored today.   And while on the surface this may sound radical, isn't this exactly what Paul stated when he commanded the congregation of Christians: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV).    But the problem is that modern man does not at all understand this biblical reality, because he lacks the knowledge of his own Cosmology of Mind and Being.   Therefore, he doesn't know that the "...earthly nature" which Paul commands to "Put to death...", is in fact the false-self that man is in this world.   And that the seeker/disciple must come to Know Thyself, by Manifesting their True-Self, while still alive in the physical body-vessel.   And if this is true, then what you are about to read could very well be the most important thing you have ever read in your entire life. 
  

Hegel's Geist is not like the transcendent (outside of our consciousness) God of traditional Christianity. For Hegel God is immanent and when we have understood that history is the process of Geist coming to know itself it appears that we are all part of Geist, or God.

20th September

Put on 2 videos today one asking when did you stop and did nothing for 10 minutes? Absolutely nothing and just watch your thoughts. The second one showed how best to do it which had a mixed reaction some liked it others were more critical. After a break we read a paper on paying attention.

Another important justification to master paying attention is to have effective communication. This skill requires the ability to stay present and listen as well as noticing how you are being affected by listening. When you respond, effective communication requires that you pay attention and be certain that your thoughts are clear and make sense. Lastly, effective communication happens when you pay attention and endeavor to notice how your information is being received, or not.

In summary paying attention consciously is essential for:

• Noticing all that is happening. Choosing the most resourceful options. Making intelligent and compassionate decisions. Having effective, clear and powerful communication. Trusting your non-rational inner resources of intuition, inspiration and inner guidance. Discerning what is true or false. Separating facts from fiction and knowing reality from fantasy. Knowing that falsehood, fantasy and hallucinations are produced by your mind. Knowing that observing reality and the apprehension of truth depend on being Self-Aware.
  
  

16 August 13

Interesting morning we first watched a business and health coach on how to love money and health by feeding the roots rather than studying the fruits. Made sense we do have a financial thermostat. We do copy our culture or parents unless we reject these and do the opposite. Most of us thought it was typical American the way it was put over but the message was good. After a stop for tea and biscuits we looked at the following.

Black hole: Human beings are currently filled with the mind; there is no room for life. When you turn it off, you empty yourself, and life naturally rushes in to fill the void. You become like a black hole, and life pours into you from every direction. A black hole does not let anything out; a spiritual being reflects it all back out.

Center of the universe: When you experience life equally from all directions, you experience natural life, true life.

You become the center of the universe, because that is what you truly are. The universe is infinite in all directions, so no matter where you move, you will always remain in the exact center.

You may be saying that this is a good way to look at it, but it is more than that, because it is the truth; it is the only true way to look at the big picture of life.

When I walk, I am not just walking on the street; I am walking through the center of my own personal universe.

Religions were right; we are at the center of the universe. Galileo, Kepler, and Copernicus were also right from the mind’s perspective, but from your own perspective, the only perspective that really matters to you, you are at the center of the universe, and that is the only place you can be in an infinite universe.

First step: When you realize that you are the center of the infinite universe and always will be, you realize how special you are. You are always at the exact center of life. All life that comes to your center is just for you and no one else. You are living in your own unique universe where everything is just for you.

Living with the awareness that you are the center of everything is the first step people take to becoming a spiritual being. This is because it is the easiest thing to do. You can do it with your mind the way it is, and with other people around.

Most people can do it right away. Try it right now, and you will see it is true. You will see you really are the center of the universe. You will see that life really is coming from every direction, and no matter what you do, that never changes.

You have to let it all out instantly, or there is no room for the new life to come in. The more life you allow in, the more you have to reflect back out to others. You become completely full of life; your cup runith over.

As John Lennon says in song, “you can radiate everything you are.” You can be everything and reflect everything to others.

You will become the present. You will have presence. Great actors have what is called stage presence. They become life itself, and the audience can see it. Movie stars need presence, at least while they are acting. If you want to see someone living in the present, watch a movie. Presence is created by living in the present and reflecting the present to other people.

The mind barrier: The very mind that has made seeing the truth possible is now the only thing preventing us from taking the last step, the final step in human evolution. People are living as their false, mortal mind-self, and they should be living as their true, immortal spiritual-self, or the exact opposite of the way they are living now.

Your mind is like a door or gate, and the truth is the key to that door. The truth causes the mind to begin to change its relationship with you; it turns the mind from your worst enemy to your best friend.

You have to turn the key. You have to open the door. No one else can.

The mind is no longer you; it is just a small part of you. It is no longer your master; it is your servant. It has to do the exact opposite of what it has evolved to do (control). That is why it takes the truth and some effort to get free of the mind.

It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil from the spirit of man. Albert Einstein

The way: You just have to do one thing; learn to recognize what is true (life) and what is not true (mind). Then give your life to just what is true. If you do this, the false illusions of the mind will no longer control your life, and you will be free. Think about it until you understand the truth completely, and then just do what the truth dictates.

True life really is that simple, but most people cannot see the truth now.

The mind is more powerful than the spirit in this world.

The mind is a dominate force: The mind will always infect a person living clear of the mind. A spiritual person cannot cause a person living in the mind to stop living in the mind, but a person living in the mind can cause a spiritual person to activate their mind. The mind is a form of energy; the spirit is like a void.

Great spirits are always opposed by mediocre minds.

Albert Einstein

The mind has the upper hand in this world. It is the way it is, so you have to be alone or with other people that know the truth to live without the mind. Thus, it will get easier to live clear of mind in this world as more people learn the truth. Your mind and other minds will do everything to keep you out of the present and knock you off the path. Your job is to just let the mind do it, watch it, and see it for what it is, and it will gradually get weaker. It will get easier to stay on path.

Living with less evolved people: Imagine you were the only modern man in a world filled with cavemen. That is how a spiritual being feels living with mankind.

The craziest people are running the asylum.

Minds beget minds: Schools, family, work, social groups, religions and political parties are all minds creating other minds in their own image. Other minds are like an infectious disease; the closer you are to them, the more they infect your mind. It starts with the closest, most influential people around you, such as friends, family, and superiors at work or school.

The truth stops violence: The truth makes people happy and secure. Only unhappy, insecure or fearful people fight. When the truth and life is revealed to everyone, everyone will be happy and secure, and this will stop all conflict.

Spiritual beings could not win in the past, but the times are changing, and thanks to worldwide communication, spiritual people can win now.

The collective unconscious: In the last few generations, we discovered two invisible forces: electricity and electromagnetic (radio) waves. No one believed they existed a few hundred years ago. In this generation, we are going to discover and confirm a new invisible force that I call the collective unconscious mind. It is the force of nature, or part of the force of nature, that gives us continuity from one life to another. Without it, there could be no evolution.

The collective unconscious is not alive. It is just a part of our minds, an extension of our minds, not a separate life form. The collective unconscious is something like gravity that connects all of us. Religions call it the Holy Spirit.

Every extension of knowledge arises from making the unconscious conscious. Friedrich Nietzsche

In other words, when you get your mind out of the way, you become conscious of what you were not conscious of before. You become conscious of something beyond the mind. You can make contact with the universal mind of life.

The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why. The truly valuable thing is the intuition.

Albert Einstein

Inspiration: The word means “breath of God.” It is where ideas, art, poetry, movies, philosophy, music, inventions, revelations and all new creative things come from. It manifests in many ways, such as talent, intuition and insight.

Intuition: Intuition and inspiration come from the same place. They are both manifestations of the collective unconscious. When asked where they got the idea for something, creative people will say they were inspired, they dreamed it, it just came to them in a flash, etc. All new, creative things come from outside our own minds. By definition, they have to come from outside your mind to be truly new. Paul McCartney was once asked where his songs come from. He answered: “I don't know; they seem to come out of the air.”

When real music comes to me - the music of the spheres, the music that surpasses understanding - that has nothing to do with me, cause I'm just the channel. The only joy for me is for it to be given to me, and to transcribe it like a medium... those moments are what I live for.

19th July 2013

Smaller group than usual but very enjoyable discussion and on watching a short film we all agreed that the message might be true the messenger was not sincere and was more interested in selling his book. A second video about the Bankers who rule the world was well received and popular feeling is that it may well be true.

1. The treasure house is within you. Look within for the answer to your heart’s desire.
2. The great secret possessed by the great men of all ages was their ability to contact and release the powers of their sub conscious mind. You can do the same.
3. Your subconscious has the answer to all problems. If you suggest to your subconscious prior to sleep, “I want to get up at 6 A.M.,” it will awaken you at that exact time.
4. Your subconscious mind is the builder of your body and can heal you. Lull yourself to sleep every night with the idea of perfect health, and your subconscious, being your faithful servant, will obey you.
5. Every thought is a cause, and every condition is an effect.
6. If you want to write a book, write a wonderful play, give a better talk to your audience, convey the idea lovingly and feelingly to your subconscious mind, and it will respond accordingly.
7. You are like a captain navigating a ship. He must give the right orders, and likewise, you must give the right orders (thoughts and images) to your subconscious mind, which controls and governs all your experiences.
8. Never use the terms, “I can’t afford it” or “I can’t do this.” Your subconscious mind takes you at your word and sees to it that you do not have the money or the ability to do what you want to do. Affirm, “I can do all things through the power of my subconscious mind.”
9. The law of life is the law of belief. A belief is a thought in your mind. Do not believe in things to harm or hurt you. Believe in the power of your subconscious to heal, inspire, strengthen, and prosper you. According to your belief is it done unto you.
10. Change your thoughts, and you change your destiny.
Review of highlights
1. Think good, and good follows. Think evil, and evil follows. You are what you think all day long.
2. Your subconscious mind does not argue with you. It accepts what your conscious mind decrees. If you say, “I can’t afford it,” it may be true, but do not say it. Select a better thought, decree, “I’ll buy it. I accept it in my mind.”
3. You have the power to choose. Choose health and happiness. You can choose to be friendly, or you can choose to be unfriendly. Choose to be cooperative, joyous, friendly, lovable, and the whole world will respond. This is the best way to develop a wonderful personality.
4. Your conscious mind is the “watchman at the gate.” Its chief function is to protect your subconscious mind from false impressions. Choose to believe that something good can happen and is happening now. Your greatest power is your capacity to choose. Choose happiness and abundance.
5. The suggestions and statements of others have no power to hurt you. The only power is the movement of your own thought. You can choose to reject the thoughts or statements of others and affirm the good. You have the power to choose how you will react.
6. Watch what you say. You have to account for every idle word. Never say, “I will fail; I will lose my job; I can’t pay the rent.” Your subconscious cannot take a joke. It brings all these things to pass.
7. Your mind is not evil. No force of nature is evil. It depends how you use the powers of nature. Use your mind to bless, heal, and inspire all people everywhere.
8. Never say, “I can’t.” Overcome that fear by substituting the following, “I can do all things through the power of my own subconscious mind.”
9. Begin to think from the standpoint of the eternal truths and principles of life and not
from the standpoint of fear, ignorance, and superstition. Do not let others do your

thinking for you. Choose your own thoughts and make your own decisions.

21st June 2013

Ten of us today, first of all we watched a video showing the unknowable external world and the mind dimension. This left everybody confused and unwilling to accept that reality. My feeling is that there is no external reality at all. This non dual experience is all there is.

Consciousness: The Bridge Between Science and Religion
Science and religion often seem poles apart–and in many ways they are. But I believe the two can, and will eventually, be united, and their meeting point will be human consciousness.
That we are conscious beings is the most obvious fact of our existence. Indeed, all we ever know are the thoughts, images, and feelings arising in our consciousness. Yet as far as Western science is concerned, there is nothing more difficult to explain. Why should the complex processing of information in the brain lead to an inner personal experience? Why doesn’t it all go on in the dark, without any awareness? Why do we have any inner life at all?
This paradox–the undeniable existence of human consciousness, set against the absence of any satisfactory scientific account for it–suggests that there may be something amiss with the current scientific worldview. Most scientists assume that consciousness emerges in some way or other from insentient matter. But if this assumption is getting us nowhere, perhaps we should consider an alternative worldview–one found in many metaphysical and spiritual traditions. There, consciousness is held to be an essential component of the cosmos, as fundamental as space, time and matter.
Interestingly, expanding the scientific model to include consciousness in this way does not threaten any of the conclusions of modern science. Mathematics remains the same, as do physics, biology, chemistry, and all our other discoveries about the material world. What changes is our understanding of ourselves. If consciousness is indeed fundamental, then the teachings of the great sages and mystics begin to make new sense.
Those who have penetrated to the core of their minds have frequently discovered a profound connection with the ground of all being. The sense of being an individual self–that feeling of I-ness that we all know so well but find so hard to define–turns out to be not so unique after all. The light of consciousness that shines in me, is the same light that shines in you–the same light shining through a myriad of minds.
Some have expressed this inner union in the statement “I am God.” To traditional religion, this rings of blasphemy. How can any lowly human being claim that he or she is God, the almighty, supreme being? To modern science, such statements are nothing more than self-delusion. Physicists have looked out into deep space to the edges of the universe, back into “deep time” to the beginning of creation, and down into “deep structure” to the fundamental constituents of matter. In each case they find no evidence for God; nor any need for God. The Universe seems to work perfectly well without any divine assistance.
But when mystics speak of the divine, they are not speaking of some supernatural, supreme being who rules the workings of the universe; they are talking of the world within. If we want to find God, we need to look into the realm of “deep mind”–a realm that science has yet to explore.
When it does, it may find it has embarked upon a course that will ultimately lead it to embrace spirit and–dare we say it–God. To the scientific establishment, rooted in a material worldview, this is anathema. But so was the notion of the solar system four centuries ago.
Nondual Psychotherapy and Working Through the Separate Self Contraction 
        Many therapists have awakened to similar insights as mine:  they have moved beyond the illusion of the separate self.  Hence, there has been a swelling growth of nondual therapists practicing nondual psychotherapy in which the illusion of the separate self existence is challenged as a pivotal part of therapy. Prendergast (2003) pointed to transpersonal psychologists who mapped out nondual awareness as a rarely experienced state at the pinnacle of self-realization.  However,  a new generation of clinicians and teachers are beginning to see how accessible nondual awareness is in psychotherapeutic work with clients.  Nondual awareness is at the heart of countless pathways to enlightenment through disciplines including Hindu Vedanta, most schools of Buddhism and Taoism, mystical Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It refers to the understanding and direct experience of fundamental consciousness that underlies the apparent distinction between perceiver and perceived. Transpersonal therapists embracing the nondual tradition can simply rest in presence as Prendergast (2003) made clear:
They realize, at least to some degree, that they are not limited to being a “therapist” (although they may function in that role), or even a “person.” Their locus of identity is either resting in or moving toward unconditioned awareness, or Presence. The result is the emergence of a natural simplicity, transparency, clarity, and warm acceptance of whatever arises within themselves and their clients. Since they increasingly do not take themselves as some “thing,” they also do not take their clients as objects separate from themselves. They understand that there is no separate mirror and someone mirrored; there is only mirroring. (p. 3)

Prendergast (2003) further observed that embracing nondual awareness adds a depth dimension to existing schools of psychology. Psychotherapy typically involves working within the horizontal dimension; the evolution of phenomenal life in time and space. Nondual awareness refers to what is formless and exists outside of time and space thereby adding a vertical dimension. In addition, Prendergast (2003) observed that it is not so much that nondual therapists integrate being but instead are absorbed by it, and thus presence is enhanced, the effects of which can be contagious, “When we are in the Presence of an individual who has awakened from the dream of “me”, we can sense an unpretentiousness, lucidity, transparency, joy, and ease of being”

17 May 2013

Eight of us today and we started with an old video made for the BBC of Arthur Schopenhauer (22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) a German philosopher best known for his book, The World as Will and Representation, in which he claimed that our world is driven by a continually dissatisfied will, continually seeking satisfaction. They all thought he was too sad burdened by his experience attending an English school. His philosophy too bleak to be helpful but he did hint that the nothing contained an inexpressible something. Being perhaps. After some delicious cakes baked by Janet we went on to read the following. This they all enjoyed   

What Are We Trying To Fill?

April 3, 2013 by Elina

If you are human, you probably know that we have been conditioned to want to “fill” all the time. Emptiness often scares us. When our life falls apart, a common reaction is to quickly want to fill it up again, or rely on waiting for the future to find fulfilment there. When our lives are stable, when we have what we so-called “wanted,” we still can feel a void after a short while. Or when there isn’t much content in our present moment; we often try to fill it up with thoughts like “I’m bored” and reach out for something to do. So what’s the issue?

If we recognize ourselves in this first paragraph, let’s admit it: part of us feels “unhappy”. By that I mean the part of us that needs filling is somewhat unfulfilled, or else it wouldn’t need filling! If you are completely at peace within yourself and nothing could bring you down, then this article isn’t for you! But I know I’m not 100% there, so in a way I’m writing this for myself and anyone else feeling that certain aspects of themselves need attention. It’s okay to acknowledge moments when we feel unhappiness or lack. It isn’t “bad”, it’s just an emotion that is shedding light on what we need to acknowledge and investigate only for the purpose of freeing ourselves more and more.

Have you noticed how this “unhappy” self prefers thinking about life’s content, rather than experiencing life itself? This is an important realization, because it brings to our awareness that instead of living life in a state of inner freedom, we often “invest” our well being and sense of security in external content, other beings or thoughts of what would finally make us feel complete. We sometimes mistake this for love or purpose, but the core of it is actually attachment: the fear of separation.

The fear of separation seems to be a core wound within humanity’s collective subconscious because of all the years we have believed we were everything but one with Love – everything but whole. We began to see ourselves as a separate, weak individual that needs to be filled by something to have substance or value. Great experience! But quite illusory. We have forgotten who we are: a spiritual being at one with all of existence, having a human experience.

Since we’ve forgotten all about our true nature for quite some time, fear arose in our minds. “We can die! We can be lost forever! We need stuff to feel alive, someone to feel connected.” So there you have it: our “unhappy” self feels disconnected from being and therefore must feel like it’s doing or at least gaining something. It wants to survive. It is programmed to avoid feeling emptiness because it felt threatened by it, it knows it cannot exist there.

So what does this “unhappy” self have to do maintain a life of its own? It creates stories – whether it be miserable stories or comforting stories – for YOU to identify with them. Without us identifying with these stories and choosing to believe them, they simply come and they go.

“We are identifying with what is passing so fear comes. We are trying to make steady and permanent what is by nature impermanent.” – Mooji

This is about getting back to LIFE, the very core is this moment, the aliveness of who you are. Forget about content for a second and breathe in life! 

We can tell the mind to relax now. We are safe. Why? Because we don’t need to be! Sure, our bodies and minds are impermanent, but we are the BEING within the body, the consciousness experiencing itself through a physical vessel. The mind is simply the awesome tool through which we explore and create within the playground. We can be pals with it, but we don’t need to completely identify with it until we forget about our own being!

“Remember how spacious, creative and free you felt as a child at play? That is the space of no-mind, the space of being.” – Your Soul

I’m writing this as a message to myself and all of you, to remind us that we don’t have to escape “the void” anymore. The void is beautiful, it is our own presence. We can relax in our presence and sit with whatever we are feeling whether it is comfortable or not. We often are afraid to go within because we might find old baggage along the way that we are reluctant to let go of. We might feel like we are “losing” ourselves. But in truth, we are simply letting go of what we are not. We can now stop trying to control everything by thinking it through. No matter where the flow takes us, it will lead us to the perfect environment for us to acknowledge and dissolve our own limitations and create space for this higher dimension of consciousness to shine through. It is time to get back in the driver’s seat, not by taking control, but by letting go of the one that is trying to control everything and “fill” what needs no filling in the first place! Once we do that, it literally feels like you will be taking your first real breath of fresh air in a long time.

19th April 2013

Only five of us today with most off on the group on walking holiday. But nevertheless there was  a lot of discussion about many things including politics. We looked at a video of a banned TED video on one man's interpretation of reality. Then we looked at this a compilation of views.

Are You Always Racing To The Next Moment?

April 4, 2013 by Elina

If you are like me, you may be faced with choices which represent an uncertain future. Big whoop, life is uncertain and that’s the whole point of the adventure! That’s what the heart says, but often times, the mind is used to want a guarantee of something that “makes sense” before taking a step, or try to overanalyze with “shoulds and shouldn’ts”. Am I too impulsive? Should I take my time? Is it going to work? I didn’t plan to take this move! Or maybe nothing is presenting in your life and you’re freaking out about being stuck here forever. The thinking mind may try to take charge, but whether or not you are in the process of making choices, remember this:

Step-by-step, moment by moment. You don’t need to know what the next step is going to look like before taking the first one, you don’t need to know anything about the future because it doesn’t exist. It is to be created moment by moment, and is always aligned with what you need for your evolution anyways. All you need to is be in the moment of whatever step you are taking NOW, and be fluid with whatever new options will present when the time comes. Stress and tension is nothing but the unconscious state of wanting to escape or rid ourselves of the moment we are currently in, or cling on to our comfort zones because of a scary movie we play out in our minds of how difficult the future may be. Anticipation is also a form of stress, but we instead attach a positive polarity to the end goal and therefore become so focused on the “grand prize” that we forget all about accepting and living fully in the present.

Forget about future thinking, past dwelling or obsessive anticipation; you’re making it all up. Here & Now is the only place you’ll ever be in, so why pretend you are not? Why live in an imaginary “there” when you are here?

Learning to Hope by Daisaku Ikeda

Optimists and pessimists inhabit different worlds, reacting to the same circumstances in completely different ways. Dr. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, identifies three characteristics of pessimistic thinking. He describes these in his fascinating book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.

The first is permanence. This means regarding temporary, passing events as lasting and unchanging states. For example, your boss berates you about something. You react by thinking, “I really hate her,” and you go on from there to think of all the things you don’t like about your boss. Your boss’ reprimand is a single, passing event, but you turn it into something permanent, by thinking, “She’s always like that. She’s not going to change.” On the other hand, the optimistic person thinks, “The boss is in a bad mood today. She must have something on her mind,” limiting the event to that day and not extending it any further.

The second characteristic is pervasiveness. When one thing goes wrong, a pessimist thinks that everything is bad. This is like thinking that you can’t handle any school subject just because math is hard for you. When someone points out a mistake to a person with this attitude, they think, “I’m no good. I can’t do anything,” and become dejected instead of simply thinking that here is something that has to be fixed. Individuals like this think that their very worth as a person has been denied. A single spot grows into a huge black cloud filling their mind. They lose confidence and make more mistakes, creating a downward spiral.

The third characteristic of pessimism is personalization. That is, thinking that anything bad that happens is your fault and anything good must be credited to other people or to chance. For example, when an optimistic athlete or team loses a game, they think, “You win some, you lose some” or “The other team was really on top of their game today.” They don’t simply blame the loss on themselves. But when a pessimistic athlete loses, they think, “I’ve lost my concentration, I let so many good ones go by,” or “With hitting like that, we’ll never win.” When two teams are of the same level in ability, explains Dr. Seligman, the optimistic team is more likely to win.

Of course, we can’t lose sight of reality and, in an extreme version of optimism, cheerfully blame everything bad that happens on others. However, pessimism causes us to criticize ourselves needlessly.

 When I met with Dr. Seligman during his visit to Japan in 1997, I expressed my thoughts on his views. The mind, I noted, is a wondrous thing. As Milton wrote inParadise Lost, “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.” Buddhism teaches that the quality of our lives ultimately depends upon our state of mind. Buddhism is a psychology of hope, and hope is my favorite word. Nodding in agreement, Dr. Seligman leaned his large frame toward me and said: “Optimism is hope. It is not the absence of suffering. It is not always being happy and fulfilled. It is the conviction that though one may fail or have a painful experience somewhere, sometime, one can take action to change things.”

According to Dr. Seligman, optimistic people are more likely to succeed at work and in personal relationships. They are healthier and live longer. He notes that the impact of our attitude on health becomes more pronounced from the mid-forties on.

Dr. Seligman’s theories are based on the idea that people can change. By changing our way of thinking, we can change our lives. During our discussion, Dr. Seligman commented that psychology after World War II was mostly concerned with those who had profound psychological problems. He explained, however, that he aspired for what he called a “positive psychology”—one that gives people courage, hope and strength.

Dr. Seligman confesses that he himself was a pessimist by nature; he had to learn to be optimistic. When he was only 13, his father suffered a series of debilitating strokes that left him paralyzed. His father lost all hope and plunged into a terrible sense of helplessness. He remained in that state until his death several years later. Seeing this, Dr. Seligman says he decided to investigate what it is that makes people feel powerless and whether there might be some way to overcome these feelings.

Perhaps because he was originally motivated by these sad events, Dr. Seligman’s scholarship is imbued with a warm humanity, the noble aim of helping others. His “psychological revolution,” based on a deep confidence in the positive potential of human beings, has been called by some the most important development in psychology since Freud.

Dr. Seligman emphasizes the need to become aware of the explanations we make for events, the unconscious dialogue we conduct within ourselves when we run up against some kind of problem. We tend not to notice the quirks in our own thinking because over the years they have become habitual.

One method Dr. Seligman suggests for people to become aware of these thought habits is to write down what we are thinking to ourselves when we encounter some minor frustrating situation. If we find that we tend to react to events pessimistically, we can practice “disputing” our own negative beliefs to overcome that tendency. For example, let’s say you rang and left a message for your friend to call you, but he doesn’t return your call. People with pessimistic thought habits will explain the situation to themselves by thinking, “He must be ignoring me.” When the conversation is just between us and ourselves, we seem to be ready to believe the worst. This is why learning to objectively dispute your own negative beliefs can be helpful: “As a matter of fact, he’s always been nice to me. He wouldn’t ignore me. He said he was having a busy week.”Or you could try saying to yourself: “Even if he is ignoring me, what about it? I can’t be perfect in everything and not everyone is going to like me all the time. Whatever others may think, I’m doing my best. I’m going to give myself credit for trying at least!”

Dr. Seligman says we should practice this kind of optimistic thinking, inscribing optimistic phrases in our minds. Prayer or meditation can also engrain positive habits of mind. Once we have acquired the skill of being optimistic, it’s a lot like learning to swim or ride a bicycle.

15th March

Low numbers today just six of us but we covered quite a few things starting with an image of a ballerina turning round and round first one way then the other but it depended on who was looking as our brains changed the direction without any clue as to why for we all saw the change at  different times.

I told the good news that beingness or being in the now reduces the cell's telomeres reduction giving us a longer life.

Telomeres have been compared with the plastic tips on shoelaces because they prevent chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other, which would scramble an organism's genetic information to cause cancer, other diseases or death.

Yet, each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell no longer can divide and becomes inactive or "senescent" or dies. This process is associated with aging, cancer and a higher risk of death. So telomeres also have been compared with a bomb fuse.

Afterwards we watched a video of a neuroscientist who died and flew away on a butterfly into the stars in a field of love. Sounds good to me - we then discussed the possibility that the universe is struggling to understand itself through us and maybe behind all of us the watcher is the same just the ego mind is different. No need for a creator, it just is, and is baffled as we are. Something to think about.

After our break for tea and biscuits we read the following a mixture from various web sites.

The Mirror

Two weeks ago, I noticed a small advertisement in the local newspaper. Someone called Gangaji was speaking in my town. I had never heard of Gangaji. I didn’t even know how to pronounce the word. Apart from the vaguely spiritual context of the ad, I had no idea what she represented, let alone what she would say.
Gangaji was radiant. I have rarely seen anyone with such love and compassion. Once, when a woman in front of her was fighting tears, she did not try to fill the silence with words, instead she just smiled at the woman. It was a huge smile, wider than a dawn, and it was the right smile.
Unlike the woman in tears and the other three who went forward, I did not volunteer. I had no desire to be a centre of attention and no burning question. I was there to listen. But Gangaji clearly thought otherwise; when there was no one else on the stage, she looked directly at me and beckoned.
“You have a question,” she said.
I was startled. I looked around at my neighbours, back to Gangaji, and said, “Who? Me?” (Okay, call me slow on the uptake.)
“Yes, you,” she smiled. “Would you like to join me up here.”
“Okay,” I said. I went up there, I sat on her right, I talked with her in front of the crowd.
I did think of a question to ask her, which she answered. But that’s not what stayed in my memory. It’s what followed. I was so captivated by her presence that I said, “I know what I want… I want the look in my eye to be like the look in your eye.”
To my astonishment and the crowd’s amusement, she chuckled, produced a mirror (!!!), and thrust it in front of my face, forcing me to look at myself.
“But you do have that already,” she said. “See for yourself.”
No, I’m not planning to parade as the next Gangaji. In fact, as I left the stage, I was puzzled. Her manner suggested more than stage playfulness… there was serious intent there. What was she really saying to me? What was the point? Well, now I have to laugh at myself. How could I have missed it? It took my friend Tom Newnam in Philadelphia, to take off my blindfold with an email. His words, summarised: What you saw in Gangaji is not only who she is, but also who you are.
Of course, of course. In admiring Gangaji, I was primed to see—in her—the best in myself. We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are. We don’t see people as they are; we see people as we are. She didn’t say that in words, but it’s what she was telling me. More to the point, she made me feel it.
Could there be a finer illustration of the second universal truth: that your life is your mirror. How extraordinary that she actually held up a mirror. How subtle, how playful, how mischievous. (And how startling… did she have that mirror ready?)
Had you or anyone else expressed the same desire as me, she could have made the same reply.



Turn it around. When 100 people look at you, they each see a different version of you: the version that best reflects them, their beliefs and aspirations. It’s not you that affects them, but their version of you. Not one of those 100 versions is the real you. So who is the real you? You’ll only find the answer by looking into the looking glass that is your life – yes, that life which seems to happen to you, but is really created by you. In this incarnation, your life, and everything and everyone in it, is you. Literally. The universe is not objective, it is subjective.
On the face of it, that stretches credibility. You could, for example, be in a coal mine one day and a cruise ship the next; so you might ask, How could I change so much overnight? But your physical surroundings are only the shallowest reflection of you. Instead, look to your relationships, the events you attract, and the attitudes you take with you from one place to another.
Here’s some Sufi wisdom,
Once upon a time, somewhere between the mountain peaks and the shores of the azure sea, there was a village in which there dwelt a Sufi master renowned for his wisdom. One day, a stranger entered the village, and immediately looked for the master to ask advice. He said, “I’m thinking of moving to live in this village. What can you tell me about the people who live here?”
And the Sufi master replied, “What can you tell me about the people who live where you come from?” “Ah,” said the visitor angrily. “They are terrible people. They are robbers, cheats and liars. They stab each other in the back.” “Well now,” said the Sufi master. “Isn’t that a coincidence? That’s exactly what they’re like here.” So the man departed the village and was never seen there again. Soon, another stranger entered the village, and he too sought the Sufi master for advice. He said, “I’m thinking of moving to live in this village. What can you tell me about the people who live here?” And the Sufi master replied, “What can you tell me about the people who live where you come from?” “Ah,” said the visitor in fond remembrance, “They are wonderful people. They’re kind, gentle and compassionate. They look after each other.” “Well now,” said the Sufi master, “Isn’t that a coincidence? That’s exactly what they’re like here.”
You do, most comprehensively, take your mirror with you wherever you go. You want to find yourself? You don’t have to go anywhere. You want happiness? You don’t have to wait. There’s joy to be had, even in the difficult times.
I have Gangaji to thank for the reminder. And also for the moment when she looked around at the audience during a silence, and said softly, “It’s all so very simple.”
“I have known good and evil,
Sin and virtue, right and wrong;
I have judged and been judged;
I have passed through birth and death,
Joy and sorrow, heaven and hell;
And in the end I realized
That I am in everything
And everything is in me.”
(Hazrat Inayat Khan) 

What are the oddes that you exist, as you, today?

It is the probability of 2 million people getting together (about eight times the population of Southampton) each to play a game of dice with a trillion-sided dice. They each roll the dice and all come up with the exact same number – for example 550,343,279,001

Answer Zero

Carl Jung said, there is no coming to consciousness without pain. We need, it seems, the experience of pain and suffering in order to go beyond it. Mindless creatures do not experience emotional suffering as we do… simply because they have no ego-mind with which to do so.  Many animals, of course, have a level of conscious awareness that allows them to experience a wide range of emotions – more than some (damaged) humans in fact.