Be Natural...

We too can naturally bloom....

                                 We too can experience changes...naturally.


                 
       We can know ourselves as more expansive than a landscape...naturally!


  To be who we truly are is natural, to suffer is unnatural.

           

SKY...

Watching clouds pass by can not happen without the back drop of the sky. Here's a mind game; think of your thoughts just like clouds passing by, a movement, sometimes high, low, fast & slow and Self (that's you!) as the sky; still, changeless and expansive.  Relax, rest you are already Whole, no need to search, fix, nor mend yourself, in fact no need to do anything. If you doubt this, practice being sky!

TRUST...we do it daily.

 
We trust that the sun will rise & set each day. Can you trust that thought is not who you are? If you can watch the mind's thoughts, like light passing through the day, you will not be disturbed ... truth is right where it has always been.
Do not struggle; do not make it complicated or a future to get...it is here right now. Trust, just like the sun will rise and set another day!

Silence has never left you.

 

Come to silence not as a chosen activity, rather let It reveal itself, as silence has never left you. Don't label any moment or any thing as silence....wait, don't label at all!

"Who's On First?" Who's Calling The Shots?

When thought has my attention, really gripped me or I discover hours later that I have been asleep with thought, a question arises; who is in desire here? Who is asking these questions?  Who is worried here? Who is fearful?  Who wants to know? Just asking the question shifts/ changes who is in charge… from the personal I to a space that is beyond the personal. These questions can take you out of the navigating personal I and give you breadth to see who is calling the shots, or "Who's on first!"  If you can sense this than you will know that the personal I is not you.

Go Inward & Watch

If you truly want to know who you are, it is time to "about face" ...go inward and watch.

 
We are very good at watching. We watch; movies, sports, nature, performers, performances, nature, storms, sunrises, sunsets, moons, stars, our children, each other, our pets, traffic, fires, stocks, ceremonies, initiations, someone or something struggling with illness, pain, death etc...we watch a lot! We watch for pleasure, job/responsibilities, safety, accountability, to learn, because we have too, because we care, etc...We watch everything outside of ourselves and react, respond.

When we watch externally we generally experience a sensation, feeling an emotion and usually have a story to tell of the experience. Watching inward yields to just watching, with no sensation, feelings or emotions. As soon as there is a sensation, a reaction, you have given thought attention and watching ceases. This is a moment to ask, "Who is paying attention to this thought?"  "Who is reacting to this thought?"

Watching inward is a mind activity that allows you to rest from being caught up in thought, a rest from the personal “I” identity. With practice watching thought & not identifying with it, you begin to loosen the control, the grip of the “I” identity. In time, you pay attention to thought only when you honestly need to, refreshingly this doesn’t happen as often as one may think!

Heart of the matter...it dosen't matter!

This expression has been around..."The heart of the matter is that it doesn't matter!" but when your identified as a personal, separate being, it does matter!

Are you willing to drop all that matters; your hard earned work, your successes, ideas, pride & joys, stories, battle wounds & scars?? Are you willing just for an instant to drop the personal, separate "I?" If you’re truly willing there is space there for you, to let the melting away from the "I" happen...it is liberating!

Stillness...

Stillness is yet another experience. It is a wonderful experience to be repeated but don't be fooled by thought that stillness is it. Life is a continuum of experiences. If you can watch it all unfold without giving attention to the running commentary of the mind you will see how natural each moment becomes. Without a judgment/opinion experiences just are, when the mind says wonderful, picture perfect, or dysfunctional, sad, uncomfortable you are in a thought and living from a thought, which becomes the past....as soon as thought arrives you are in the past or future. Stillness arrives when you watch and thought is not happening.

The mind loves to be up front & center, after all we have given it this position for a long time. Be patient, remember you are already Self- realized, enlightened.... celebrate that there is nothing you can do to make this happen. No matter what is happening around you, even if there is chaos, remind yourself that you are always happy & in deep peace.

Lifting the veil....

 To "lift the veil" to see who you truly are, one has to face the personal I ... to I! You can't let go of the personal I identity, until you step aside and watch how personal I operates. One need to observe how  thoughts create patterns, suffering, expectations, outcomes, disappointments, plans, I’ m right,  attachments, the past & future etc.. When you watch your thoughts there is a space that allows you to rest. If you’re not feeling at rest you’re attached to a thought, just recognize this and return to watching thought.

Story: There once was a student who went to a spiritual teacher and wearily announced that they were unable to stop the mind thoughts no matter how committed to their meditative practice. The student was exhausted and agitated from trying and wanted an answer.The spiritual teacher directed the student to find the highest point, open your coat as wide as possible and try to catch the wind. The student left, climbed the highest point, opened the coat  as wide as possible to try to catch the wind only to discover that it was impossible to do.

It is impossible to stop the personal mind (like trying to catch the wind). Our personal mind plays an important role, we really don't want it to stop, it is needed to experience & express through the body. We are talking here about the attention we give to thoughts and believing these thoughts are our identity. This is where all trouble, fleeting happiness & suffering occur.

Watching yourself is a great step towards just how the personal I has an opinion, idea & judgment on everything & everyone. The problem does not arise with the I having all these thoughts, the problem arises when we give it our fullest attention and live from these thoughts.

Many spiritual practices bring rest when we are in the practice of them but without the vigilant effort to watch how the mind is at play, you will remain behind the veil to who you truly are.

Face off!  Go I to I and watch… only you can lift the veil.

                                            

Bloom Each Moment!

Would you like to bloom  each & every each moment? You can! Are you willing to let go of your individual identity and take nothing personal? If your willing, its possible to free fall into Love and bloom!

Watching

There is tremendous freedom in watching oneself. Try it out! Imagine, you watching you.

The Nature of Truth

If you love nature, you know that one can view nature through the lens of a binocular or telescope to see more intricately and deeper. If you love yourself, know that you can see yourself through a different lens as well, to know yourself more intricately & deeper!

Self-Inquiry Comes When Your Ready

If you have asked yourself questions such as these or the likes; Is this all there is? Who Am I, really? What's the purpose of being here? You’re ready for self-inquiry. It's quite simple, one comes to a point where knowledge from others & experiences are not enough of a foothold for you to believe in the consciousness of duality (aka: our world). In other words, these types of questions are the ground breakers that set you ready to discover & shift to a consciousness of peace. Self-inquiry is not dipping your toe into the waters to see if it's warm enough; it is a complete dunk into the waters!