Archives for May 2022

“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render to the world.”
~Ramana Maharshi

In some ways, it’s a dark time in the history of the world and humanity.

It seems easy to look around and find a lack of compassion for human suffering and our planet, war and conflict, and desperate, disenfranchised people just trying to survive.

The news is full of stories that highlight the violence, death, and despair that result from choices people make based on fear and delusion.

It’s not too difficult to get sucked into a feeling of helplessness, resisting the world as it is and wanting it to change for the better. Can’t people just come to their senses and be kind to each other?

Staying stuck in this story of resistance, if you’re like me, you’ll feel a knot of tension inside that sits there, unmoving, every time you read another report of struggle and misery somewhere in the world.

So what to do? Do we wait—and hope—for things to change?

Certainly, if you feel moved to take action for the betterment of humankind, then do that. Volunteer, join an organization you support, donate money, and use your vote wisely.

But there’s something more essential that is possible, and that is to realize that every single choice you make matters.

Can you control how those in power govern? Can you end a war or feed those who are starving? For the most part, no.

But what you absolutely can do is turn your attention inward, shine the light of awareness on your own conditioned patterns and confused thinking, and live in the world as a beacon of clarity and love. By doing so, you’re ending the inner war with your own experience.

This is what heals division and brings the objects of the world—including you—to be more in alignment with their natural state of peace and love.

You might feel helpless about the challenges in the world. But do what is available to you: be an activist for your own freedom.

Commit to waking up out of the dream that makes you believe you’re wounded and small. Bring open and loving presence to what’s happening in the world and your reactions to it. And reflect back acceptance, compassion, wholeness, and possibility.

This is what changes everything.

When you’re freed up from the trap of the conditioned mind, you naturally become open and generous. No longer caught behind self-imposed barriers, you see love everywhere, which informs your every action.

All things in form are an expression of the underlying fabric of universal consciousness. That’s why what you do matters to the whole—your actions and way of being bring about either more suffering and fear or more surrender into love.

This is the fierce choice that you’re actually making in every moment of your life.

Stuck in mental stories that take you away from the present moment, you’re self-focused and resistant, believing you lack what you need to be happy.

But as you see through this distorted fear-based thinking and move beyond it, you become an open vessel for the free flow of undivided consciousness. You’re available to welcome everything unconditionally in love.

The ills of the world are created by people, just like you, who make decision after decision from personal pride, need, lack, and fear. This is what glorifies the belief in the separate self.

Know that you are born of love, just like every other being in the universe. Live consciously as this love—as much as possible—and you are doing your part to change the world.

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“The discovery that peace, happiness and love are ever-present within our own Being, and completely available at every moment of experience, under all conditions, is the most important discovery that anyone can make.”
~Rupert Spira

Many of us long to awaken to our true nature, and we have ideas about what that will be like.

We think that if we’re awake, we’ll be in a state of bliss forever, life will always flow smoothly, or we’ll never again experience difficult feelings.

And here’s the truth: bliss doesn’t last, life presents challenges, and the range of human feelings arises.

But what’s absolutely amazing is this. In this moment and any moment, it’s possible to find our way out of suffering and into peace.

That’s why the magic is in the moment.

You don’t need to be concerned with changing who you are or figuring out how to solve all your problems. You can’t erase your painful past. These goals will keep your mind busy forever and won’t bring you the happiness you long for.

The way out of suffering is much simpler, and it boils down to the moment.

The only time you’re suffering—is now, and the only time you can let go of the turmoil of personal stories—is now.

Right now in this moment, you can relax away from the stressful mind and lean into the open, loving space of being aware that is completely at ease with things as they are.

Right now, without any thoughts, you’re not broken and there’s nothing wrong. You discover that you are present, whole, loving, and peaceful…

And this is what’s true in any moment.

Remembering that the magic is in the moment, when you wake up to realize that the conditioned mind has taken you over, it’s cause for celebration. Now you are aware of yourself again!

Here is your golden opportunity to stop and recognize what is present for you.

• Instead of feeding the story of lack and limitation for one more second, you become aware of the breath;
• Instead of embellishing the drama of your emotions, you expand your attention to be aware of physical sensations appearing in your body;
• Then letting go of the breath and physical sensations, you rest in presence, coming home to the peace of your true nature.

You may have this opportunity hundreds of times a day, and that’s perfectly okay. Just do it…in this moment…and the next…and the next…

This is how problems and habits change. There’s nothing to analyze, nothing to solve or figure out. And it takes no time at all.

Realize that you’re suffering, right now, because your attention has grabbed onto personal thoughts and feelings. Then, unhook your attention and let it rest here in presence, unattached to any personal concept.

Your mind will tell you that finding freedom in the moment isn’t enough. It will say that you should always be peaceful and that these mental habits shouldn’t recur. It will scold you for not practicing enough or doing it right.

The mind is running on the assumption that if you were truly free then painful and stressful thoughts would never again visit you. But none of this is true.

Conditioned programming recurs—that’s its nature. It pulls you into ruminating about the past and worrying about what might come.

But enter the timeless now, and you’re home. It’s eternally here, the all-encompassing, naturally welcoming field of presence that holds everything with love.

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