18 th July Meeting

Holidays, working and funeral brought numbers down to six attending. Still an interesting morning where we first watched a video of images taken by the Hubble telescope .After studying a small patch in the sky for eleven days it revealed thousands of galaxies. The second video was about full enlightenment when realization that turning a full circle brings us back to ordinary reality which is what we seek. But it is now a unified rich phenomena.
As they intend to come to next month's meeting it can't be too way out to grasp I hope.

Then we read this tract from various articles found on the web pages.

In Buddhism one of the ‘Three Characteristics’ is No-Self (the other two are impermanence and suffering which are closely associated with this).
This refers to the illusion of reality having a permanent and separate self.

There is this notion that there is a permanent “I” or “me,” which is a separate entity that can be found. The obvious assumption of we are our body sounds good until we look at it and say “this is my body,” which implies at that moment that whatever owns the body wasn’t the body. The observer and the observed; duality denies our body being what we are. It is also in a state of impermanence, and at a sensate level it is made up of energy flickering at a similar rate to reality.

Perhaps thoughts are the “I.” They may seem more like the true “me” than the body does. But they come and go and are changing constantly too, as well as the majority of them not being under our control at all. They too aren’t something solid enough to assume they are the “I.” The ego is a process of identification with reality (physical and mental phenomena), not a thing in and of itself; it is like a bad habit. Not being a thing, it cannot be destroyed as some people say, but by understanding our bare experience, our mind, the process of identification can stop.

There is also something frequently called the “watcher” or “observer,” which is observing all of these phenomena. Strangely, the watcher can’t be found either, as it seems to sometimes be our eyes, sometimes not; sometimes it’s images in our head; sometimes it seems to be our body and sometimes it’s watching the body. It seems odd that this watcher to which all of this is being perceived by, which seems separate from reality and which seems in control of “us” is constantly changing and completely unfindable.

One of the biggest clues in solving this mystery is that if we are observing it, then by definition it isn’t us. Reality is made up entirely of sensations, and to begin to unravel this mystery is to begin to awaken. Reality with a sense of a separate watcher is a delusion. So who or what is it that awakens?

In short, it’s all of this transience that awakens! Here’s an explanation, keep in mind this is an attempt at summarising something quite complicated.

No-Self teachings directly counter the sense that there is a separate watcher, and that this watcher is “us” that is in control, observing reality or subject to the tribulations of the world. These teachings stop the process of mentally creating the illusion of a separate self from sensations that are inherently non-dual and utterly transient.

There are physical phenomena (everything we perceive with our senses) and mental phenomena (thoughts, feelings, emotions). These are just phenomena, and all phenomena aren’t a permanent, separate self as they are completely impermanent and are intimately interdependent. These phenomena arise and pass as we venture through reality, i.e. the sound of a bird singing comes into existence and then dissipates.

There is also awareness of these phenomena, but awareness is not a thing or localised in a particular place, so to even say “there is awareness” is already a large problem, as it implies separateness and existence of it where none can be found. Awareness is permanent and unchanging, and it is said that all things arise from it, and all things return to it. It could be called God, Nirvana, The Tao, Allah, the present moment, the Buddha nature or just awareness.

While phenomena are in flux from their arising to their passing, there is awareness of them. Thus, awareness is not these phenomena, as it is not a thing, nor is it separate from these objects, as there would be no experience if this were so.

You Can Transform Your Own Consciousness, It’s Your Choice

The weather seems like a poignant reminder of how if we change ourselves, then we change the world.

A lot of conversation I’ve been privy to recently has revolved around how bad or terrible this hot weather is. There seems to be an air of irritation and non-acceptance of it; wishing it to be different.

But do we have any control over the weather? Do we even have any control over how the body reacts to this temperature? The ‘hotness’ and ‘uncomfortableness’ of the body occurs all by itself. We don’t control a single thing. All we can ever do is change how we relate to ‘what is’.

The weather is hot, the body gets warm – it’s actually a really interesting sensation to experience. Delving into these experiences lets us explore the depths of our being. Why run from it? Do you notice that most of the uncomfortableness comes from wanting this feeling to go away, wanting it to change, rather than the experience itself?

This is the beauty of impermanence. This will all fall away, and nature will reveal to us contrast in all its cooling glory. The scorching sun subsides. Clouds emerge. Day turns to night. Temperatures drop. Then the body cools.

Pure acceptance is the end of this illusory separation between “me” and the weather. Subject and object. Without the narration or evaluation of this experience, there is just the experience; just the warmth. We can either use the mind to create that gap, or we can merge with the experience. We can be the mind commentating about it, judging it, or be the experience of the warmth in our body. One is dual, the other is non-dual. One gives us the feeling of identifying as the mind, the other gives us the feeling of being a universe of sensation. This is our choice, and it’s only through conditioning that we identify as the mind.

So, we can use this principle for everything. We can get annoyed at the dog barking at night, we can get frustrated with red traffic lights, we can be depressed over a pay cut, we can harbor non-acceptance of how our body looks or feels…. or, we can merge with it all. We can become it, and see it for what it is in this present moment. We can even completely accept feelings of deep emotion that arise, and let them run their course without resistance. Express, rather than suppress.

This is the transformation of consciousness; the alchemy.

June Meeting

Low on numbers just eight of us on a beautiful morning, not the weather for viewing videos or discussing mysticism but we did and it was entertaining. Gave rise to a lively discussion that often strayed into politics and football. Showed two videos one on quantum theory and the other Anthony Robbins' interview with Deepak Chopra. After a break we read this article on finding heaven here and now.

Finding Heaven Here A Psychologist’s Spiritual Journey

To become a clinical psychologist. I spent nine years in college and graduate school studying the nature, causes, and treatment of psychological disorders and three decades working in the profession in numerous settings and capacities. Although I learned a great deal about the psychological basis of human suffering, my understanding always felt incomplete. In my heart of hearts I knew there was something missing -- something fundamentally spiritual about our suffering and our joy, a dimension of reality as important and verifiable as anything psychology studied. Only recently did I realize that this spiritual dimension was the experience of Heaven on Earth. Let me explain how I arrived at this realization.
As a child, I sensed a pervasive, radiantly beautiful, living mystical reality shining all around me. Running in summer sunshine, bare feet on grass wet with morning dew, myself and all things bursting with the energy, consciousness, and joy of Creation, life felt too full to contain. Spirit filled the world with implicit love, its light illuminating natural beauty like a colorful stained-glass window, its presence a great invisible tide moving through everything. Though at the time I couldn’t express these sentiments in adult words, I remember the joy of this experience nearly lifting my feet off the ground.  Meandering through grassy fields like a mystical explorer, I touched rough-hewn bark, studied daffodils and smelled the subtle fragrances of earthy flowerbeds in the noonday heat. Birds’ songs virtually hypnotized me with their sweet melodies. Everything appeared precious and timeless, and I had no thought of yesterday or tomorrow. I adored -- almost worshiped -- my mother and father for their magnificent beauty, natural charisma and angelic presence. Everything seemed fascinating, perfect, spacious, and complete and I unquestionably assumed this wonderland would be mine forever. Then, gradually, insidiously, but insistently, beliefs and expectations from the World of Man descended upon my bright and colorful existence. Adults had little or no interest in the divine world. Busy with tasks, schedules and conversations, they rarely stopped to appreciate the inexhaustible beauty I witnessed everywhere. "Why is this happening?" I wondered, as I watched adult concepts about behavior and personal value infect siblings and friends like a contagious illness.  Over the ensuing years, I felt repeatedly saddened as those around me exchanged the divine world for these new worries about self worth. A protective numbness, however, soon moved over my soul and I shut down emotionally and spiritually. Looking back, of course, I realize that my experience represented the universal fall from grace -- the magic of Creation -- into the World of Man with its conceptual grid of beliefs, rules, and expectations.

The years I spent in middle school proved an especially hard period for me. As old friends tried on new identities, competing in games of popularity and discarding undesirables like trash, I felt alone and naked. I didn’t want to wear an identity but felt vulnerable without one. During the same period, I suffered the unexpected trauma of open-heart surgery to correct a birth defect. When I awoke from the anesthesia, I wondered, "Where was the joy of the bright world now?"  Years passed. Then, one evening in midlife, I read the following account of one man’s mystical experience in William Stace’s "Mysticism and Philosophy": "The room in which I was standing looked out onto the backyards of a tenement. The buildings were decrepit and ugly, the ground covered with boards, rags, and debris. Suddenly every object in my field of vision took on a curious and intense kind of existence of its own … And every object, seen under this aspect, appeared exceeding beautiful. There was a cat out there with its head lifted, effortlessly watching a wasp that moved without moving just above its head. Everything was urgent with life … which was the same in the cat, the wasp and the broken bottles, and merely manifested itself differently in these individuals … All things seemed to glow with a light that came from within them… I experienced a complete certainty that at that moment I saw things as they really were, and I was filled with grief at the realization of the real situation of human beings, living continuously in the midst of all this without being aware of it. This thought filled my mind, and I wept. But I also wept over the things, themselves, which we never saw and which we made ugly in our ignorance … My immediate reflections on the experience at the window were as follows: I saw how absurd had been my expectations of a vision of God … For I had no doubt that I had seen God … it turned out to be the world that I looked at everyday … As Blake put it, 'all life is holy' and that is enough; even the desire for more seems to me more spiritual greed. It is enough that things are, a man who is not content with what is simply does not know what is." I put the book down and stood by the bedroom window for a long time, stunned and speechless, as if the Earth had suddenly stopped spinning. Then I understood. In his mystical experience, this man had actually witnessed the divine world: radiantly beautiful, literally alive, and always present despite our failure to see it -- and the place he described was the place I had known as a child.  The search for Heaven on Earth now consumed me, but, as a result, gifts of guidance, insight and revelation began arriving daily. When you knock on Heaven's door, it opens. As if guided from above, I kept creating what I later called "experiments in consciousness," processes meant to sharpen our natural mystical sensitivity for God’s Presence. Since the mystics from across traditions consistently have said God lies beyond ideas and beliefs, I developed one experiment that involved examining reality with intentionally heightened and thoughtless awareness. Wide-eyed and wide awake, I would stare intensely at something -- a book, a lamp, a flower, my hand -- until its sensory qualities became hyper-real, exquisitely detailed and beautiful, exceptionally bright and colorful. I saw how the ever-present lens of thought had in the past filtered out the object’s captivating beauty and said to myself, "The world is completely different than what we think and far more amazing." This observation confirmed the man’s mystical account I had read in Staces’ book and suggested to me that anyone could learn to see the divine world intentionally.

 I could hardly believe my eyes. The beauty, perfection and wonder of my childhood divine world had returned. Once again I walked in a bright wonderland of extraordinary sights, colors, smells, and sounds. For me, such things as green leaves in speckled morning light shining through dusty windows now held all the hushed holiness of a magnificent stained glass window in a cathedral.  Astonished and enthralled, I practiced these experiments at home, in stores, at work, and outside. I understood that this omnipresent consciousness belonged to God and marveled at its power to transfigure reality before my eyes, peeling away the ugliness I normally saw in the world like old paint to reveal a radiant paradise beneath. Now Heaven on Earth appeared everywhere. Is Reality  All in the Mind? Real as it my seem, our sensory experience is but the brain's reconstruction of the physical world. Moreover, modern physics reveals the world "out there" is very different from our experience.

May meeting

Just nine of us today to learn about body language mainly the signals we giver when shaking hands and the indication of the power of a person when holding the hands palm down while calling instructions. Very useful knowledge. We then watched a Bruno Groening video.

Bruno Groening: Powerful healer with a simple message - his story reminiscent of a modern day Jesus?

Bruno Groening was born in Gdansk, Poland, on May 31, 1906. He moved to Western Germany as a refugee after World War II and became a sensation practically overnight in postwar Germany. It all began in 1949 when Bruno successfully healed a young boy, suffering from muscular dystrophy. Around 5,000 people gathered in front of the Huelsmann family home, and many thousands more gathered in various places after that to hear Groening speak and to receive the power of his spiritualhealing.

During his 53 years of life -- Bruno died in 1959 -- Groening healed many. People had spontaneous healings wherever he was present. Groening's healing powers brought a powerful light into the darkness: in a country where evidence of destruction was rampant, mass gatherings named “armies of the wretched” were said to be transformed. Sick individuals became well again, the suffering and depressed became happy, the lame could suddenly walk again, and the blind would gain their eyesight back. People who had lost all hope gathered around Groening for help, and “what had been unimaginable before was suddenly becoming a reality.”

There was much controversy over this healer, and public opinion varied greatly. Some called Groening a ‘miracle doctor;’ others called him a ‘charlatan.’ He was a humble man with no medical training nor theological education. He was a simple workman  Before the war he had various occupations: carpenter, factory and dock laborer, Post Office worker, and electrician. “”I am not to understand by mind, just by heart,” Groening stated. He helped anyone who asked and refused any kind of payment. He only asked for a written report of the healing.

Groening always insisted that “It is not me who heals; it is the Divine force that helps and heals. This Divine power is free of charge, costs nothing at all and can be used by anybody…. I am not telling you anything new.”

This remarkable healer taught that the human body is constantly embraced by healing waves which only need to be absorbed and that, like batteries, our bodies require this divine energy. When depleted, the body experiences fatigue, exhaustion, nervousness, anxieties and eventually, illness. He constantly talked about the "Divine force," "life force," and "healing stream" – or "Heilstrom," as he termed it -- that anyone can take in very readily. "According to him, no illness is incurable, and this has been confirmed."

(The follwoing is taken from this site.)

Absorbing the Heilstrom  

"In a quiet room, sit on a chair, free of the backrest if possible, both feet on the floor, and open hands palms-up on your thighs. Do not cross legs or arms. Open your heart and mind and ask for the energy to come. Think of something pleasant and positive (i.e. a beautiful landscape, a happy event…) Disengage all negative thoughts -- of illness and worries.

"The Heilstrom moves into the body via our antennas -- our hands, feet and head, and can completely fill it with new energy. Sit and absorb the energy daily, even if for just 15 minutes, for health maintenance and longer for healing.

"Heilstrom generates a “process of purification,” which Groening called Regelungen. A Regelung can last for weeks, months and sometimes years. It depends on how serious the illness is, how far a person can open up to the Divine energy and the influence of surroundings. It may be experienced as pain, tickling in parts of the body, warmth or cold areas, swollen limbs or by emotions. If you need to weep or laugh, then let it happen. These sensations are temporary.

Positive Thoughts Only

"According to reports, once you have absorbed the Heilstrom, it is very important to give up the illness in your mind, and don’t pay any attention to it any more. Most importantly, stop believing in the illness. Focus your complete attention on the healing. Believe that whatever you feel in your body belongs to the healing, not any more to the illness!

"Groening said, 'Thoughts are energies which will come true! If now you take up the firm intent in your mind to regain your health and the belief that this is possible with God’s help, you have built up the right mental attitude for healing to begin.'

"Groening always invited people to convince themselves of the truth, with their own bodies. 'Watch carefully if you feel the Heilstrom, if Regelungen occurs or if you just feel better after regularly taking up the energy.' It is claimed that improvement in all areas of life occur from regular absorption of this Divine energy."

Before his tragic and early death in 1959, Groening helped create groups of people to gather and absorb the healing stream of energy on their own. In 1979, the “Bruno Gröning’s Circle of Friends” was organized. This organization passes on Bruno's teachings; reports of miracle healings of just about any imaginable illness continue to take place. At least 1,200 "Circle of Friends" meet worldwide to absorb and heal from receiving the Heilstrom together.

We finished the session by trying his method of tapping into the divine. We know Eastern philosophy has always assumed the power was self evident calling it Prana or Chi. Mixed feed back some

tuned in and others didn't.

18th April

We first viewed a video of  the inspirational speaker Louise Hays then followed by a quick demonstration of Acupuncture, tapping points on the body without needles. Not too impressed but you never know it can't harm. We then watched a tribute to a man who is now no longer with us after a lifetime of seeking. Quite sad but uplifting to see the strength of the human spirit.
We then reviewed the following. 

Do you truly know who you are?

It seems the mind can comprehend everything except for the mind itself. Yet, in essence the mind is all that is, therefore without knowing your mind you know nothing. He who knows others is learned; He who knows himself is wise. -- Lao-tzu, Tao te Ching Life is simply the process, or journey, of knowing yourself. The ultimate reason for life is self-discovery. Yet, many people spend their entire lives getting farther and farther away from their own true, inner nature. Most people are constantly distorting their own idea of themselves, only because they do not know what they truly are.
They are not even aware that this identity they hold of themselves is false. The self that you must come to know is not an artificial creation of the mind. Rather it is the mind itself. We go through life projecting who we think we are. Even though you may have lived your entire life thinking of yourself as a false identity, you still have your inherent power to come to know yourself. In fact, we must all eventually come to know our own true inner nature. Most people spend their entire lives running away from their true selves, only to come crashing back to knowing themselves through the transition that we call death. As a side note, your false self is the only thing that dies in death. It is the reason we fear death, because our true selves are unknown. All we know is our false self and we know that one day we will lose this false sense of self. On the other hand, the true self cannot possibly die, nor could it ever be born. It has always been. The true self is the Infinite Being at the heart of your soul. It is your Essence. God has always been a symbol of the true self. Modern society is made up of distractions.

These distractions consume our lives. They ensure that we remain oblivious to our true inner nature. Almost every pastime or activity that you can name is a distraction! This even includes working and accomplishing goals (when the purpose of the accomplishment is not the process of accomplishing the goal, but the reason behind it is to get you somewhere you think you want to go). Even most spiritual growth or personal development information is a distraction. When you are holding a false sense of self, this information feeds it. Although, these distractions may help to give you clues as to your true nature, they cannot directly trigger self-realization. The only source of truth you have in your life is your own inner nature. Although these information products may guide you, the path to knowing yourself is a personal and intimate journey.

March 2014

Ho'oponopono - Ancient Method Changing Lives

As a practitioner, I am always looking for new ways to help people, help themselves. Learning and studying ancient methods of healing is especially interesting to me. From Oriental Medicine to Polynesian Medicine there are so many interesting and effective methods which is only now making it's way to the western world. Most of the techniques/methods used is directed towards others but when Ho'oponopono was introduced to me little did I know I had much work to do on myself before this technique would be effective.

I was in England studying and working upon my area of specialty when this woman first mentioned the Ho'oponopono method. I was joined by 24 other students within our program and one day we were instructed to speak on a topic we knew well. We had a 20 minute time slot and we were to fill in that time with important points and findings. It would be that day a woman introduced to us this incredible, yet simple, method I had to learn more about when I returned home. After that time, and upon researching this ancient method, I began to implement this ancient healing method with others. Result? I have to say it is without a doubt truly effective/affective.

It's a transformational technique that anyone can use. There are no needles, no touching, no music, no instruments of any kind and it can be done anytime and anywhere. Let me give you a bit more background before jumping into the this powerful self-transformational technique.

As was introduced, Ho'oponopono originated from Hawaii and was originally used by families to help correct their errors in thought, word and deed. To help 'make things right' amongst family members. Eventually this ancient and sacred opportunity for cleansing and clarification was introduced to other groups of people so that they too could benefit from this powerful method. It was Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a healer, who first began to widely instruct other doctors, colleges/universities and even to the United Nations personnel of this method in 1983. She founded "The Foundation of I" in order to promote and make widely available these principles of Ho'oponopono around the world, a method Hawaiian Natives understand all too well. Then came Dr. Hew Len (trained physician) who was an avid student of Morrnah Simeona and who not only incorporated the Ho'oponopono technique but received wide recognition on the effectiveness of such a method.

Dr. Hew Len eventually worked as a staff psychologist for Hawaii State Hospital (between 1984-1987) overseeing a maximum security unit housing male criminally insane patients. These men were not small time thieves, they were killers and rapists. Men would never be allowed release under no condition. Violence was common in the facility as aggressive and violent behavior toward other inmates and staff was a daily occurrence. Once Dr. Hew Len began using the method, within 3 years of his dedicated service at the Hospital, the inmates no longer needed restraint (wrist and ankles), staff took less 'sick days', staff turn-over rates began to drop and staff eventually began to enjoy working there. So, violence dropped considerably which was seemingly an impossibility: Almost non-existent amongst the inmates with the exception of new inmates just arriving. With great success, eventually other 'out reach' programs were introduced to these now non-violent men outside the ward which would have been impossible before this time. The whole unit eventually closed and these men where re-assigned to other minimum security programs where they continued to flourish.

As was witnessed by other staff members, Dr. Hew Len did not see any of the inmates (one-to-one sessions), no direct therapy or counseling with any of the men, he did not attend staff meetings, nothing to show he made direct contact with anyone in the ward during his time there. He wanted only an office and their charts/files. That's it. How did he do it? What's the Ho'oponopono Method all about?

Ho'oponopono method consists of a strong philosophical base and mediation. Without learning more about the philosophy, the intent/desire behind the treatment can be lost. Ho'oponopono starts with you. Here's a little insight into the philosophy, a way of seeing life, necessary if one is to understand this method...

In part, it is about clearing toxic energies within you, energies that block you from advancing, healing, living. All the negative emotions, hurts, experiences are lodged in you on all levels. We are not separate from one another and what affects you, affects me. So if others have blocks and energies that need release in order to flourish in life, so do you: The main concern is to unblock mental obstacles to allow a new flow of energy through words, deeds, actions within oneself so that others too will benefit from you healing YOU. So the idea, philosophy, begins with a need not to start with the idea of saving others but to practice working on oneself. We heal ourselves, the world around us heals. So we are responsible for people who enter our world with problems and a less than satisfactory life. By shifting our energies, other energies will also be effected. There is much more to the philosophy behind Ho'oponopono.

 The process of clearing and forgiving is about incorporating 4 statements which initiates the flow of healing, processing and clarification. This is what Dr. Hew Len used within his office as he focused healing upon himself, and indirectly, helped these men in the ward.

The magic 4 are as follows:

1. I'm sorry

2. Please forgive me

3. I love you

4. I thank you

It is to be repeated with full intent and feeling.

February meeting

Only seven of us today to view a video about two worlds the one where we are the creator and the one that is the creation. To live in one world is a recipe for disaster. Becoming and being is another way to express it.
Then we discussed the following a mixture of wisdom from the internet.

Few people realize it, but there really are great spiritual secrets. They exist. In fact, your whole life has been a journey to find them. Once you do find them, you'll hold the key to a life unimaginable

The first point is to know how to be here and now. Second point is that when I dream, I don’t have control over my dreams. You have no conscious control over your dreams, over that part of mind which dreams. You have no control over that part of mind which sleeps. The vast part of mind remains buried, remains unknown. Only a small part of mind is being cultivated by you and you are puffed up with pride that, “I have a Ph.D., a D.Litt., I have education, I have money, I have a car, I have all this.” What is my point of view? Human beings are members of a fools’ paradise. I go around the world and I see many, many intellectuals. But I find none of them practical and I cry. I don’t say that you should accept whatever I tell you. I’m just making you aware that a vast part of the mind remains unknown to you. Now there is a third point. That which you consider peace, happiness, and bliss, where does it live? Where does it exist? If it was anywhere in the world, Americans would have found it first. They have even gone to the moon. Where is it? If mind is within, peace should be in the mind, or known by the mind, or known by understanding the mind. What is mind? Now let me tell you something. All of the body is in the mind, but all of the mind is not in the body. How will you know that part of mind which is not in the body? Therefore, to know mind is very important, not to know God because He is already there. You don’t have to know Him. Body is already there, you don’t have to know much about it. But you have to know the mind. By understanding the mind you can be free from all bondage.

Freud likens the unconscious mind to a bag. You do not know, you are carrying a bag all the time. It is like your shadow. Wherever you go, your shadow follows and will not leave you. You are always carrying that huge bag with you. Anything that you think goes into that bag. You do not know that part of the mind. You are trying to understand your mind, only a small part of the mind. You don’t know the totality of your mind, both conscious and unconscious. If you know how to train the vast part of mind, the totality of the mind, you can do wonders on the earth. Anybody who has done wonders on this earth, anybody who was considered to be a great man, was great because he knew his mind. You do not have to know the soul because it’s already there. In all conditions, the soul is there. What you have to know is your mind, and that’s why you are called hu-man, your own mind. And the moment you know the mind, you can go beyond the mire of delusion created by your mind.

We have to find out the secret of polishing, taming, or learning to have perfect control over the mind which is the finest of all instruments. But only a small part of the mind can be grabbed. The totality of the mind doesn’t come under our control because a vast part of the mind remains unknown to us. Many Easterners, those who have not studied Western psychology and philosophy, say, “Oh! Western philosophy is nothing, Western psychology is nothing.” They are stupid. Freud says something very definite. Freud says that if the unknown part of mind is known, then you know all of the mind. Adler, James, all these psychologists tried to understand the mind. Whatever they understood, in a scientific way, is remarkable. What I learned from both, the interaction of East and West, is that the unconscious mind is like that iceberg which is hidden beneath the water, not known to us. The tip of the iceberg that is seen floating above the water is called the conscious mind, that which is hidden is called the unconscious mind. When we get closer we find that it is not actually the mind, it’s a vast reservoir.

You say the mind is roaming, let it roam. Why are you bothered? It will never go anywhere. It will come back to you. Let it go, don’t follow the mind. I once asked my Master, “How to practice?” He replied, “Mind tells you to go there, but you don’t go. Tell mind, ‘O mind, if you want to go, you’re free to go. What can I do? But I am not going there.’ ” Fighting with the mind is never considered to be control. Therefore learn to lead the mind, make a certain route for the mind to travel and that is called learning to have control over the mind and it’s modifications.

Now I’ll tell you something about the kinds of problems that arise when you try to know the mind. A friend of mine once told me, “On this trail there is a ghost.” It was at night but I did not believe him and I said, “I don’t care. I’ve not seen it and I’m not curious to see it.” We forgot all about this. After one or two months, I passed that way and it was a dark night. Suddenly I remembered that my friend had said that a ghost lived here. Even though I did not believe, why did I remember? Because anything that comes into my conscious mind finally filters down to the unconscious mind which is vast. The totality of mind should be understood, not only a small part of mind, the conscious mind, that we cultivate in our daily life.

The human body has potential to cure its own ailments provided you know about your body. I don’t discuss religion, No matter from which religious background you come from, I want to give you something which you need in your daily life. All the great bibles of the world say one and the same thing—be still, be still. For a few minutes in the morning and the evening, every human being should learn to be still. Why, because you will meet God? No, that’s not necessary. You will be healthy. For your mental health it’s important for you to understand quietness, stillness. During that time, those muscles which do not get rest even in sleep get rested. The voluntary system you can control. You can exercise and develop all of your gross muscles, but you don’t have control over your involuntary system, the subtle set of muscles.

Please remember, all of the body is in the mind, but all of the mind is not in the body. This is accepted fact. The Upanishads, the final and best part of the Vedas do talk about it, do discuss it, do explain this. Confucius, Buddhists, Zen, Zazen, they all explain it. Everyone found the same problem created by the mind. My mind does not create a problem for you. Your mind doesn’t create a problem for me. Your mind creates a problem for yourself.

The Secret Place of Peace

Within each of us, in our hearts and in our minds, there lives a special kind of light. In truth, it is everywhere. We can look at our thoughts as particles suspended in this silent, illuminated space. But, instead of seeing the beautiful stillness -- the source of that which reveals the movement of these passing thoughts and feelings -- we grab onto each thought that passes through it. Why would we do this?

17 January 2014

Only 2 away today and all those who attended enjoyed the readings from various sources on happiness and the 2 short videos.

In the field of mental health, there is a concept relating to tolerance for uncertainty, most specifically relating to treatment of anxiety disorders; People with high anxiety have a low tolerance for uncertainty, whereas people with low anxiety have a high tolerance for uncertainty.

What are the differences between happy people and unhappy people? Of course, it should be very obvious:happy people are happy while  unhappy people are unhappy, right? Well, that is correct. But, we want to know what happy people do differently, so I have put together a list of things that happy people do differently than unhappy people.

1. Love vs. Fear 

Those people who are really happy, fear less and love a lot more. They see each moment, each challenge, each person as an opportunity to discover more about themselves and the world around them.

2. Acceptance vs. Resistance

Happy people understand that you can’t really change a situation by resisting it, but you can definitely change it by accepting that it is there and by understanding that there might be a reason for its existence.

When something unpleasant happens to them, they don’t try to fight it (they know that this will make the situation even worse), but they ask themselves questions like: What can I learn from this? How can I make this better? And then they focus on the positive, rather than on the negative. They always seem to see the glass half full, no matter what happens to them.

3. Forgiveness vs. Unforgiveness

Really happy people know that it’s not healthy to hold on to anger. They choose to forgive and forget, understanding that forgiveness is  a gift they give to themselves first and foremost.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Buddha

4. Trust vs. Doubt

They trust themselves and they trust the people around them. Whether they are talking to the cleaning lady or the C.E.O. of a billion-dollar company, somehow they always seem make the person they are interacting with feel that there is something unique and special about them. They understand that beliefs are self-fulfilling prophecies.

Because of that, they make sure to treat everyone with love, dignity and respect, and make no distinction between age, sex, social status, color, religion or race. These are the great men that Mark Twain was talking about:

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

5. Meaning vs. Ambition

They do the things they do because of the meaning it brings into their lives and because it gives their lives a sense of purpose.  They understand that “Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life” as Wayne Dyer says.

And they care more about living a life full of meaningthan what, in our modern society we would call, living a successful life. The irony here is that most of the time they get both success and meaning because they choose to focus on doing the things they love the most and they always pursue their heart‘s desires. They are not motivated by money; they want to make a difference in the lives of those around them and in the world.

6. Praising vs. Criticizing

Happy people would probably agree with Carl Jung’s theory on resistance: “What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size.”  They don’t criticize the absence of the behavior they want to reinforce, rather, they know by praising the person and the behavior they wish to reinforce (even if it’s not often), they will actually encourage the positive behavior.

When a parent wants to make sure their 7 year old boy will learn to always put the toys back in the box after he’s done playing with them, they make sure not to focus on the many times the child didn’t do it, criticizing him and his behavior, but every time the little boy does put the toys back, the parent praises him and his behavior and that is exactly how they reinforce the positive behavior, and in the end get the wanted results.

7. Challenges vs. Problems

Happy people will see problems as challenges, as opportunities to explore new ways of doing things, expressing their gratitude for them, understanding that underneath them all lay many opportunities that will allow them to expand and to grow.

8. Selflessness vs. Selfishness

They do what they do not for themselves, but for the good of others, making sure that they bring meaning,empowerment and happiness to the lives of many. They look for ways to give and to share the best of themselves with the world and to make other people happy.

Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted. ~Buddha

9. Abundance vs. Lack/ Poverty

They have an abundant mindset, living a balanced life, achieving abundance in all areas of life.

10. Dreaming Big vs. Being Realistic

These people don’t really care about being realistic. They love and dare to dream big, they always listen to their heart and intuition and the greatness of their accomplishments scares many of us.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. ~Goethe

11. Kindness vs. Cruelty

They are kind to themselves and others and they understand the power of self-love, self-forgiveness and self-acceptance.

12. Gratitude vs. Ingratitude

No matter where they look, no matter where they are or who they are with, they have the capacity to see beauty where most of us would only see ugliness, opportunities where most of us would only see struggles, abundance where most of us would only see lack and they express their gratitude for all of it.

13. Presence/ Engagement vs. Disengagement

They know how to live in the present moment, appreciating what they have and where they are, while still dreaming big dreams about the future.

When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. The mind in itself is a wonderful tool. Dysfunction sets in when you seek yourself in it and mistake it for who you are. ~Eckhart Tolle

14. Positivity vs. Negativity

No matter what happens to them, they always keep a positive perspective on everything and by doing so, they tend irritate a lot of negative and “realistic” people.

15. Taking Responsibility vs. Blaming

They take full ownership over their lives and they rarely use excuses. Happy people understand that the moment you choose to blame some outside force for whatever is happening to you, you are in fact giving all your power away. They choose to keep their power and take responsibility for everything that happens to them.

1. You already are what you are seeking
2. We are in it for the journey – not the destination

The truth is, we are already getting everything that we need for our evolution. There is no need to try and control our path – the lessons we need will keep coming, our inner-compass will keep working. Our job is to simply notice, be in the moment and enjoy the ride. Oh and just one last reminder… you don’t need to try and do those things. It’s already happening. Just notice

Was Carl Jung was right when he said, “What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size?” My life experience tells me yes: how much ground can you gain if you ‘fight’ anxiety, for example. If energy-depleted or out of balance is what we are, we can accept what we are, forgive ourselves, love ourselves and decide to change. Healing involves a change of heart, which is intention; followed by dedication, effort, commitment, and belief. Belief: an essential element of any change is believing the change has already occurred. Trust yourself… the circumstances you imagine already exist!

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.