Jay Kshatri's Blog, page 9

Sound Healing…More than Just a Good Vibration

In an energetic based reality, sound vibration becomes an important source of manipulating our personal energy levels.  Music lovers of all ages instinctually know its healing properties and use it indirectly for that purpose on a regular basis.  But this is just the tip of ice-berg when it comes to what sound can do for our health.

In their book, Decoding the Human Biofield, Peter Fraser and Harry Massey, founders of NES Health, explain that their research shows that the heart is much more than a simple pump and that what it provides is a control mechanism for distributing energy and information to the body.  And, a key way that it accomplishes this is through sound energy:

How might the heart work as an imprinter of information? Every time your heart beats, it creates strong pressure waves and phonons (a quantum of vibrational energy in the acoustic vibrations of a crystal lattice) within its chambers. Your heart produces dozens, if not hundred, of different frequencies, each of which is capable of carrying a different type of information, although research into this area is still in its infancy, so not much is known about this encoding process. The phonons may imprint information onto the lipids in your blood, which then are carried throughout the body. Information imprinted into fats in the bloodstream may act as a kind of body-wide memory storage and retrieval system. In addition phonons stream through your blood plasma, carrying additional information from the central nervous system to the hemoglobin, which also carries oxygen throughout the body.

The heart can then be considered a musical instrument of sorts whose notes are providing critical information to the rest of the body.  In fact, the more notes it can play the better:

We know from recent conventional research that the pattern of your heartbeats can be a predictor of the overall state of your health. Whereas once it was thought that a healthy heart kept a regular, consistent beat pattern, medical professionals now understand that just the opposite is true: the more variable your heartbeat frequencies, the healthier you tend to be…each type of beat encodes particular types of information into the blood (or tissue such as connective tissue) for transmission to the trillions of cells throughout the body…The patterns of phonons generated by the body’s organs and physiological processes can be considered the quantum music of the body.

This sound based information transmission is critical to the health of the body through regulation of cellular activity.  So if the heart is performing this function internally, could external sounds that we absorb from our ears and in fact from all over our bodies (we are energetic beings and so can be affected by any type of energy vibration) affect our health as well?  Psychopharmacologist Candace Pert found the answer to be yes and has discovered that any structured sound can activate receptors on cells just as a biochemical marker does:

Music, which is patterned vibration, can bypass the ligand and directly resonate those cell receptors, interacting like a peptide or drug, or an emotion. The vibrational frequency of the notes turns on the receptors, setting in motion all kinds of cellular activities. That’s how music can heal, interacting directly with your molecules of emotion to charge you with energy, get your juices flowing, and make you feel good. These molecules are not only vibrating to cause bodywide changes, but they are ‘hearing’ each other through the psychosomatic (mind-body) network of cellular communication. You can see that we don’t just hear with our ears, but we ‘hear’ with every receptor on every cell in our body mind. We’re literally alive with the sound of music!

The implication is that sound energy is critical to every aspect of your cellular function.  And in a world full of sound (and noise), the type, quality, and quantity of sounds you are consuming has a strong impact on your overall health and well being. The type of music we listen to (and the associated sound quality level – no low-res mp3 files please), the ambient noise we are exposed to in our environment, the sound content of other media (violent video games, negative movies, and abrasive television programs), and the negative communication of people in our lives (as well as the sound quality and content of our own vocal communication) can all deliver sound frequencies into our body that lower our physical and mental health.

Conversely, feeding ourselves harmonious, soothing, and up-lifting sound frequencies can boost our cellular functioning, improve our health and heal core physical and mental functioning.  There is a reason people feel much better after taking quiet walks in the woods with only the natural sounds of the forrest to keep them company or spending time listening to beautiful and soothing music.

The Healing Power of Sound

But NES Health has also noted that you can also use sound vibration even more powerfully as ancient cultures have known for thousands of years.  The body’s various organs and cavities act as resonant structures that can produce, tune, and amplify sound (phonon) waves:

Almost all the major, and even the minor, organs of the body form cavities. That is they are roughly oval or tubular, hollowed or spongy structures. We know that cavities can attract energy and store it and that they can act as tuned resonators for that energy, setting up electrostatic fields and facilitating the information exchange that takes place in the Quantum Electrodynamic Field. Whereas the physical body and its metabolism are fueled via various processes such as the carbohydrate and sugar cycle, the citric acid cycle (Krebs), and so on, the bioenergetic body is fueled by various processes involving energy and information exchange within and around the cavities. For example, organs acting as resonant cavities can produce, tune, and amplify sound (phonon) waves. The yogis of Eastern traditions, from wandering Hindu ascetics to formally trained Tibetan monks, use sound and vibration to effect real physical changes. The yogic breathing practice pranayama and the Tibetan chanting and breathing practice of tummo both can produce heat (and energy) in the body.

By using mantras, chanting, and breath vibrations, these ancient traditions knew that creating energy flowing properly through the body is critical for proper health.

There is a powerful mystery within the repetition of sacred words and sounds, for as the repetition occurs, the intention behind the sound intensifies, thus increasing its potency. Sound crystallizes intention. This belief has been practiced for centuries by Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Catholic Mystics, and Zoroastrian Parsee, who have repeated within sacred sanctuaries chants, mantras, prayers, or single words about God’s powerful nature, often thousands of times a day. This intensity of action re-creates the purity of the thought at the center of the world; as the intention sounds, a powerful possibility is brought into creation. When the resonance of the intention occurs again and again it literally relives its original purpose, and thus the word or chant becomes alive with the voice of spirit. “In the beginning was the Word” has always been a phrase that awakens this promise; it is a Christian mantra for the power of sound. Just as light creates vision, which reveals what we perceive, sound moves that vision; it vibrates form or matter and changes its relationship with the seen and unseen energies of mind and body, so that sound allows us to see spirit. – from The Alchemy of Voice by Stewart Pearce

Sound Science

One sound healing researcher has attempted to quantify sound healing and systematically use it in a clinical setting.  Sharry Edwards is pioneering a field known as BioAcoustic Biology.  Through profiling someone’s voice, Ms. Edwards can assess their state of health:

Voice profiling proposes the idea that the body requires the presence of a full range of harmonious frequencies working cooperatively. Consider the body as a musical instrument. When even one note is out of tune, the result is often discordant. Tune the instrument and the sound again becomes harmonious. Thought the entrainment (synchronization) of the vagus nerve with the vocal chords, a direct message pathway from the vocal cords and the brain seems apparent. The sounds of the voice therefore, can be seen as representations of the parasympathetic nervous system. Together the sympathetic and parasympathetic service branches monitor and manage body functions.

Once Ms. Edwards measures a person’s voice frequency characteristics and analyzes the signature with proprietary algorithms that she has developed, she is then able to identify the deficient frequencies in the body and possible associated health issues.  A sound treatment plan to provide the missing frequencies to the individual is then created:

From the preliminary research it appears that sound presentation (to the body) can synchronize brain-wave frequencies. In turn, these frequencies act as a support to the body until the body can maintain the required frequencies independently. The sensory input of sound (via voice, music, noise, rhythms) has a demonstrated influence on the form and function of the body. Science dictates that the lowest common denominator of all structure, the atom, is energy – measured as frequency. Therefore, from our beliefs to our physical reality, frequency is the basis of our universe. When we learn the governing patterns of each person’s individual frequency signatures, we will be able to interpret and have dominion over all aspects of our mechanical and biochemical conditions and likely, our emotional issues.

Ms. Edward’s claims her work has shown that treating people with specific sound frequencies, which she determines the individual is lacking, allows her to achieve efficacy for the following specific illnesses: bone and muscle concerns such as stress, strain, strength, and trauma; ADD, Macular Degeneration, infertility and pregnancy issues; PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, Parkinson’s, toxin exposure; autism, gout; metabolic disorders; arrhythmia and pre-vaccination risk factors; Epstein-Barr and Chlamydia Pneumonia exposure and identification.

Read her excellent white paper – Breaking the Sound Barriers of Disease: BioAcoustic Biology as Viable Component of Integrative Medical Diagnostics and Treatment and learn more about her work at www.soundhealthoptions.com

In general, sound is a powerful energetic force that we can use to shape and heal our physical reality. At a minimum, pay attention to how different sounds and music affect your moods, emotions, and health.  Eliminate the negative ones and consume the positive ones more often. Happy Phonons make for a Happy Body…

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

Resources for Further Exploration:

Tuning the Human Biofield: Healing with Vibrational Sound Therapy by Eileen Day McKusick
The (re)-Discovery of the Human Energy Field
How Yogic Breathing Changes Mind and Body

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A Seven Level Model of Personal Consciousness

Stanford physics professor emeritus William Tiller in February 2015 wrote a paper titled – “What is Human Consciousness and How Do We Significantly Increase Its Magnitude in Our World?”. In the paper Professor Tiller outlines a mathematical model to represent consciousness, but a portion of the paper that is more easily accessible to a broader audience is his description of consciousness using Richard Barret’s model (which is based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs).  It’s a good model to visually understand the levels involved in increasing your own consciousness over time:

A Seven Level Model of Personal Consciousness

In Barrett’s model every human on the planet evolves and grows in consciousness in seven well- defined stages wherein each stage focuses on a particular existential need that is common to the human condition. These seven existential needs are the principal motivating forces in all human affairs. The level of growth and development of an individual depends on their ability to satisfy these seven needs.

The seven stages in the development and growth of personal consciousness are summarized in Table I and described in detail in the subsequent paragraphs. Table I should be read starting from the bottom and working up.

Table I, Focus and Motivations

Level

Focus

Motivation

7

Service

Devoting your life to selfless service in pursuit of your passion or purpose and your vision.

6

Making a Difference

Actualizing your sense of purpose by cooperating with others for mutual benefit and fulfillment.

5

Internal Cohesion

Finding meaning in your life by aligning with your passion or purpose and creating a vision for your future.

4

Transformation

Becoming more of who you really are by uncovering your authentic self and aligning your ego with your soul.

3

Self-esteem

Feeling a sense of personal self-worth

Underlying anxieties about not being respected and not being enough

2

Relationship

Feeling a sense of love and belonging

Underlying anxieties about not being accepted and not being loved

1

Survival

Feeling secure and safe in the world

Underlying anxieties about not being safe or secure and not having enough

Healthy Motivations

Unhealthy Motivations

The first three levels of consciousness focus on our personal self-interest in satisfying (a) our physiological need for security and safety, (b) our emotional need for love and belonging, (c) our need to feel good about ourselves through the development of a sense of pride in who we are and (d) a positive sense of self-esteem. Abraham Maslow referred to these as “deficiency” needs with no sense of lasting satisfaction to being able to meet these needs; however, we feel a sense of anxiety if these needs are not met. When these needs are paramount in our lives, we are conditioned by the expectations of those around us; by our social environment (the family and the culture we are brought up in). We are loyal to the groups with which we identify.

The focus of the fourth level of consciousness is on transformation – learning how to manage, master or release the subconscious, fear-based beliefs that keep us anchored in the lower levels of consciousness. During this state of our development, we establish a sense of our personal authority, and our own voice. We are able to let go of our need to identify with our social environment because we have learned how to manage our deficiency needs. We now choose to live by the values and beliefs that resonate deeply with who we are. We begin the process of self-actualization by focusing on our individuation!

The upper three levels of consciousness focus on the need to find meaning and purpose in our existence, actualizing the meaning by making a difference in the world, and leading a life of selfless service. Abraham Maslow referred to these as “growth” needs. When these needs are fulfilled, they do not go away. They engender deeper levels of motivation and commitment. During this stage of our development, we increasingly develop an ability to stand back and reflect on the strengths and limitations of our own ideology. We learn how to become our own self-witness, and develop an inner compass that intuitively guides us into life-affirming decisions.

Individuals that focus on the satisfaction of the lower needs tend to live self-centered, shallow lives. They are significantly influenced by the anxieties and fears they hold about satisfying their deficiency needs.

The most successful individuals are those who balanced both their “deficiency” needs and their “growth” needs. They operate from full spectrum consciousness; they are trusting of others, are able to manage complexity and can respond to and rapidly adapt to all situations. Table II defines the full spectrum of positive attributes manifested via the seven levels of personal consciousness.

Table II, Full Spectrum Consciousness

•

They master survival consciousness by developing the practical skills required to ensure their physical security and safety

•

They master relationship consciousness by developing interpersonal relationship skills required to engender a sense of belonging and being loved

•

They master self-esteem consciousness by developing a sense of self-worth and a personal sense of pride in who they are and how they perform

•

They master transformation consciousness by learning how to manage, master or release the subconscious and conscious, fear-based beliefs that keep them anxious about satisfying their deficiency needs

•

They master internal cohesion consciousness when they uncover their sense of purpose or personal transcendent meaning for existence

•

They master making a difference consciousness by actualizing their sense of meaning by collaborating with others to create a positive contribution in the world

•

They master service consciousness when making a difference becomes a way of life and they embrace the concept of selfless service.

The successful mastery of each level of consciousness or stage of development, involves two steps: (1) first, becoming aware of the emergent need and (2) next developing the skills that are necessary to satisfy the need.

When we first become aware of a need, we are generally unskilled at satisfying it – we are consciously incompetent. We know we don’t know how to successfully manage the need. As we gain an understanding on how to manage the need, and develop the skills that are necessary to satisfy it, we become consciously competent. We know how to manage the need but we have to concentrate on what we need to do to satisfy it. Eventually, when we have developed the understanding and skills that are necessary to satisfy the need, we become unconsciously competent. It becomes second nature to us, like driving a car.

Learning how to manage our needs is a life-long process. Even when we have learned how to become the author of our own lives – to become a self-actualized individual – we will find situations arising where we discover that we still have limiting beliefs that keep us anchored in the lower levels of consciousness – situations that frustrate us or cause us to feel anxious and bring up our fears. It is vitally important, therefore, to develop a deep understanding of yourself and to learn the skills and techniques that allow you to manage your own transformation if you wish to find personal fulfillment in life.

Here are some additional resources to aid in the elevation of your personal consciousness:

Mindfulness, Pathway to Divine Consciousness
The (re)-Discovery of the Human Energy Field
The Core Principles of the New Spiritualist
20/20 Consciousness
Seeing the Oneness of our Reality
Mindfulness – Experiencing Reality in HD
How Yogic Breathing Transforms the Mind and Body
What the Mind Needs to Tune into Cosmic Intelligence
Co-Creating with Source Energy – The New Paradigm of Success
Eckhart Tolle – Living with Meaning, Purpose, and Wisdom in the Digital Age (video)

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

 

 

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Catholic Theologian John F. Haught on the Importance of Evolution

As Pope Francis unveiled his very important plea to save the planet over the last few weeks, here is another Catholic who also has a positive message – that humanity is still evolving and that we all need to do our part.  Dr. John F. Haught, Distinguished professor of Theology at Georgetown University spoke about that imperative in What is Enlightenment magazine some ten years ago. His words are as relevant as ever:

Q:  French Priest and Mystic, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s suggested that evolution is ongoing as opposed to the idea that we have come to an endpoint in the evolution of human beings.

A:  Because there are fourteen billion years that preceded our emergence in this universe, we are too likely to say, “Okay, finally nature has reached its goal in producing us.” But there’s no reason for us to think that we’re anywhere near the end of the cosmic journey. I believe with Teilhard that the goal is not us – the goal is “more being”.

The universe has a tendency that is almost silly for us to overlook. Ever since the beginning, it has been in the process of more being or, as Teilhard puts it, of bringing things of a higher degree of value into existence. By anybody’s standards, there’s a real difference between the human brain and human culture, on the one hand, and the primordial radiation that the universe began with. Something is working itself out in this universe. What is that? At the very least, it is this process of becoming more and more complex in its mode of organization. But more than that, it has been in the business of producing higher degrees of awareness, of sentience, of feeling, of enjoyment, and especially of consciousness and freedom. But anybody who lives on this planet knows that we haven’t fully become conscious, that we still haven’t become fully free. We still get lost in our feelings and dull our senses; in other words, we live in an unfinished universe. And if the universe is unfinished, that that means it has a future. We don’t know exactly what that is, but it enjoins us to care for the natural world environmentally, for example, so that it does have the opportunity to have a future.

Right now what we’re doing is closing down life systems all over the planet, and that’s because we have assumed that we’re IT, that this is all, that this is the end of the journey. But if we consider that we are fellow travelers with nature and not the end of it all, then I think we would be more willing to take care of nature and to allow it to have the future that perhaps God has some vision of but we do not. We should leave ourselves open. We can’t describe or predict the evolutionary developments in the world’s future with any great accuracy, but maybe they would take the form of even deeper consciousness and deeper freedom, deeper capacity to love and feel, and so forth. At the very least, we should leave ourselves open to those possibilities.

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

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Ervin Laszlo and the Oneness Declaration of New Consciousness

Prof. Dr. Ervin Laszlo is generally recognized as the founder of systems philosophy and general evolution theory. His work in recent years has centered on the formulation and development of the “Akasha Paradigm”, the new conception of cosmos, life and consciousness emerging at the forefront of the contemporary sciences. He serves as Editor of World Futures: The Journal of New Paradigm Research.  He published nearly 70 books translated into as many as 18 languages.

I am part of the world. The world is not outside of me, and I am not outside of the world. The world is in me, and I am in the world.
I am part of nature, and nature is part of me. I am what I am in my communication and communion with all living things. I am an irreducible and coherent whole with the web of life on the planet.
 I am part of society, and society is part of me. I am what I am in my communication and communion with my fellow humans. I am an irreducible and coherent whole with the community of humans on the planet.  Gyorgyi Laslo: With the consciousness that arose in me, my life has taken on new meaning. I will never be lonely again, never feel alone. Because I am not alone and disconnected, I am an essential part of everybody and everything around me. I am one with the world, and have always been, even if with my earlier, and now discarded duality-consciousness I did not know it.
I am more than a skin-and-bone material organism: my body, and its cells and organs are manifestations of what is truly me: a self-sustaining, self-evolving dynamic system arising, persisting and evolving in interaction with everything around me.
I am one of the highest, most evolved manifestations of the drive toward coherence and wholeness in the universe. All systems drive toward coherence and wholeness in interaction with all other systems, and my essence is this cosmic drive. It is the same essence, the same spirit that is inherent in all the things that arise and evolve in nature, whether on this planet or elsewhere in the infinite reaches of space and time.  Gyorgyi: I evolve and I am master of my evolution. But this is not a separate, me-only evolution: it is a co-evolution with everyone and everything around me. How I evolve is part of how they evolve, and how they evolve is part of my evolution. I co-evolve with people and with all life on the planet. I co-evolve with the universe, and the universe co-evolves with me. In this wholeness I am a small but not insignificant part—I am a master of the co-evolution of the whole planet.
There are no absolute boundaries and divisions in this world, only transition points where one set of relations yields prevalence to another. In me, in this self-maintaining and self-evolving coherence- and wholeness-oriented system, the relations that integrate the cells and organs of my body are prevalent. Beyond my body other relations gain prevalence: those that drive toward coherence and wholeness in society and in nature.
The separate identity I attach to other humans and other things is but a convenient convention that facilitates my interaction with them. My family and my community are just as much “me” as the organs of my body. My body and mind, my family and my community, are interacting and interpenetrating, variously prevalent elements in the network of relations that encompasses all things in nature and the human world.
The whole gamut of concepts and ideas that separates my identity, or the identity of any person or community, from the identity of other persons and communities are manifestations of this convenient but arbitrary convention. There are only gradients distinguishing individuals from each other and from their environment and no real divisions and boundaries. There are no “others” in the world: we are all living systems and we are all part of each other.  Gyorgyi: With my wholeness-consciousness I realize that not only am I not separate from the world around me, I know that nobody is. The entire concept of separation is a false, illusory concept. When we act with that concept in mind we divide the unity of the world, segment its wholeness into bits and pieces. Our ego divides us, but our body does not follow suit – it acts in coherence with the whole Earth. I am part of the Earth, part of the larger whole that is the world in its totality—an almost invisible but real and inseparable part of it.
Attempting to maintain the system I know as “me” through ruthless competition with the system I know as “you” is a grave mistake: it could damage the integrity of the embracing whole that frames both your life and mine. I cannot preserve my own life and wholeness by damaging that whole, even if damaging a part of it seems to bring me short-term advantage. When I harm you, or anyone else around me, I harm myself.
Collaboration, not competition, is the royal road to the wholeness that hallmarks healthy systems in the world. Collaboration calls for empathy and solidarity, and ultimately for love. I do not and cannot love myself if I do not love you and others around me: we are part of the same whole and so are part of each other.
The idea of “self-defense” even of “national defense,” needs to be rethought. Patriotism if it aims to eliminate adversaries by force, and heroism even in the well-meaning execution of that aim, are mistaken aspirations. A patriot and a hero who brandishes a sword or a gun is an enemy also to himself. Every weapon intended to hurt or kill is a danger to all. Comprehension, conciliation and forgiveness are not signs of weakness; they are signs of courage. Gyorgyi: I am part of a community called humanity, and my country is the Earth. My immediate and real family is everybody in my community and in my country. Everything I do reflects not just on me, but on everybody in this community, whether they live next to me or far away. I reflect consciously on how I live and what I do, because everything I think and do affects all the others. Hurting anybody no matter for what reason hurts me, and healing and making anybody whole heals me and makes me whole.
“The good” for me and for every person in the world is not the possession and accumulation of personal wealth. Wealth, in money or in any material resource, is but a means for maintaining myself in my environment. As exclusively mine, it commandeers part of the resources that all things need to share if they are to live and to thrive. Exclusive wealth is a threat to all people in the human community. And because I am a part of this community, in the final count it is a threat also to me, and to all who hold it.
Beyond the sacred whole we recognize as the world in its totality, only life and its development have what philosophers call intrinsic value; all other things have merely instrumental value: value insofar as they add to or enhance intrinsic value. Material things in the world, and the energies and substances they harbor or generate, have value only if and insofar they contribute to life and wellbeing in the web of life on this Earth.  Gyorgyi: My life, and the life of everyone in my community and my country, is the highest value, far higher than any other kind of wealth counted in money and material possessions. My possessions do not bring me pleasure or benefit if they harm others, make them unhappy, or diminish their chance for wholeness and fulfillment. The value of all things depends on what they do to my life, and since my life is part of everybody else’s life, on what they do to all other people’s lives.
Every healthy person has pleasure in giving: it is a higher pleasure than having. I am healthy and whole when I value giving over having. The true measure of my accomplishment and excellence is my readiness to give. Not the amount of what I give is the measure of my accomplishment and excellence, but the relation between what I give, and what my family and I need to live and to thrive. A community that values giving over having is a community of healthy people, oriented toward thriving through empathy, solidarity, and love among its members. Sharing enhances the community of life, while possessing and accumulating creates demarcation, invites competition, and fuels envy. The share-society is the norm for all the communities of life on the planet; the have-society is typical only of modern-day humanity, and it is an aberration.
A life dedicated to hoarding and collecting what others or nature can give me is not a life worth living. The pleasure it gives is short-lived and paltry, compared to the satisfaction I feel when I can give to others something that comes genuinely from me. Only when I give do I feel myself happy and fulfilled, part of the wholeness I form in my community and my country.
I acknowledge my role and responsibility in evolving a planetary consciousness in me, and by example in others around me. I have been part of the aberration of human consciousness in the modern age, and now wish to become part of the evolution that overcomes the aberration and heals the wounds inflicted by it. This is my right as well as my duty, as a conscious member of a conscious species on a precious and now critically endangered planet.  I now realize that I am an integral part of the world, a member of the human and the Earth community. I live my life, but the life I live is not only my life: it is the life of the entire human and Earth community. I live it the best way I can. This is not a choice for me; it is a duty. Even more than a duty, it is simply the way I am, a human being endowed with a consciousness of oneness and belonging.

-Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

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Krishnamurti on Virtue, Truth, and Consciousness – Bombay Speech from 1950

Total Freedom

Third Talk in Bombay 1950

I would again like to lay emphasis on the importance of listening rightly. Most of us listen without understanding; we listen merely to words, but the word is not the thing – the word can never be the real. The word becomes real only when it has deep significance, but to catch the deep significance of the word, one must know how to listen. This evening I want to talk about the question of virtue, and perhaps it may be something which is not along the old traditional lines; it may be something new, so I hope you will kindly listen to it without any resistance, without denial. Listen to it with the intention of really grasping its significance, and then, perhaps, we shall be able to understand the extraordinary importance of virtue. The difficulty in grasping the significance of whatever is said will be, I am quite sure, to cross the barriers of our own prejudices and personal experiences.

Now, virtue is essential, and to understand it, we have to go beyond the struggle to be virtuous, beyond the conventional meaning or definition of that word. Because we have made virtue into something very tiresome and tedious, something very ugly, there is no joy in being virtuous. It is a constant effort; it is a strain, a travail. Virtue is a fact, and to understand the fact, one must be free to look at it as a fact. It is only the unhappy man who struggles to be virtuous, and the very struggle to be virtuous is the denial of virtue, but the man who is free from unhappiness, from strife, from struggle, such a person is virtuous without effort. The understanding of a fact is extraordinarily difficult because the fact is one thing, and the desire to change the fact is another. To understand the fact is to be virtuous. Anger is a fact, and to understand it without condemning it, without trying to defend it or find excuses for it, liberates one from the fact, and liberation from the fact is virtue. So, virtue is in the understanding of the fact, whatever it be, not in becoming something away from the fact.

With most of us, virtue is the ideal, which is a means of escape from the fact, and therefore we are never virtuous at any time. We are always becoming virtuous, and therefore we are not virtuous. Surely, one must see the fact of what one is, whatever it be, without denial, acceptance, or identification, because when one identifies oneself with a fact, accepts or denies it, one does not understand the fact. Mere denial or acceptance is obviously not understanding. So, virtue is not an end to be pursued. The understanding of the fact is virtue, and without virtue there can be no freedom. It is the unvirtuous who are not free, and it is only in freedom that truth can be discovered. Freedom is virtue, and virtue is understanding the fact of what you are, which is not an ultimate process. You can see the fact immediately, so virtue is immediate, not in the future. If you will think about this, you will see the significance of it. Naturally, we have not the time to go into all the details, but if you can see the fact of what you are as you would see any other fact, then you will discover there is a freedom from that fact, and it is only in that freedom that truth can be realized.

So, virtue is not a process, not an ultimate thing to be gained or to be practiced. What is practiced merely becomes habit, and habit can never be virtue. Habit is merely an automatic response. A fact is something that is constantly fresh, free; but a virtue that is practiced only leads to respectability, and a respectable man can never be happy. Happiness is not something that is gained by position, prestige; it is not arrived at through any means. We say we are happy because we have money, a position, or some means of sensation, but surely, that is not happiness. Happiness is a state of being in which there is no dependence, for where there is dependence, there is fear, and a man who is fearful can never be happy, however much he may cover up his fear. There is happiness only in freedom, and there must be virtue for freedom. An unvirtuous man can never be free because his mind is confused. So, the understanding of the fact is freedom from that fact, and freedom from the fact is virtue. It is only when there is freedom that there is discovery, and freedom is not at the end, but at the beginning. Truth is not something distant: it must be discovered in the immediate, in the very first step. To discover the truth in the immediate, there must be freedom, which means the understanding of the fact, which is virtue.

Now I shall answer some questions. It is always difficult to answer questions, and to be precise, because life is not a matter of yes and no. It is much too vast to be encompassed by a few words; it is too vital to be put in a frame. But if we can see the significance of the problem, then the answer is in the problem itself. It is open to anyone to discover the significance, the beauty, the truth of the problem, and that is possible only when you can see the fact and do not wander away from the fact.

Question: One watches the people near you for any visible sign of transformation. How do you explain that, while you walk in light, your nearest followers remain dull and ugly in their life and their behavior?

Krishnamurti: First of all, the follower destroys the leader. To follow anyone is not to find truth. If one would understand what truth is, there can be neither the follower nor the teacher. There is no guru who will lead you to truth, and to follow anyone is to deny that freedom which virtue brings. This is not a mere rhetorical response. Just see the truth of it – that to follow authority of any kind is to deny intelligence. We follow because we ourselves are in confusion, and out of that confusion we choose the leader; therefore, the leader also can only be confused. (Laughter) Sir, please do not laugh it off. You choose the guru to have your appetite for security satisfied, and what you follow is your own projection, your own gratification, not the truth. When you follow somebody, you are destroying that somebody, which is to destroy yourself. I have no followers, nor am I a teacher to anybody; if I were, you would destroy me, and I would destroy you. Then there would be no love between us; there would be mere following, for those who follow and those who lead have no love in their hearts.

Now, the questioner is very concerned with those who are about me. Why? Why is he concerned with whether others are beautiful or ugly? Surely, what is important is one’s own condition, not that of another. If my mind is petty, narrow, limited, then I will see the same in others. This desire to criticize others is really quite extraordinary. How can I know what another is when I do not know what I myself am? How can I judge another, when my own measurement is at fault? What is the instrument, the balance by which I weigh another, when I do not know the whole process of ‘myself? And when I do away with the ‘myself in its totality, there is no time to judge another, nor do I feel the inclination to judge another. It is the sluggish, agitated, worrying mind that judges; it is the restless mind that is forever criticizing others, and how can a restless mind that does not know itself ever look clearly at anything? It is only when you are capable of looking at things directly and clearly that you are free of those things.

The third point in this question is, is it not, How do you know that I “walk in light”? You assume that I do, but how can you know anything about it? This extraordinary desire to accept and to take things for granted is one of the indications of a dull mind. On the contrary, you should be skeptical. Skepticism is not cynicism or denial; it is the state of a mind that does not agree quickly, that does not accept or take things for granted. A mind that accepts is seeking, not enlightenment or wisdom, but refuge. The important thing is, surely, not whether I walk in light but whether you do. It is your life, not mine; it is your happiness, your strife, your misery. What is the good of thinking someone else walks in light? He may or may not, and of what value is it to you when you are yourself in misery? If you merely believe in the light of another, you become a follower, a copyist, an imitator, which means you are a gramophone record playing some tune over and over again without a song in your own heart.

In this question there is also another point: instead of criticizing, tackling me, you go for the so-called followers. It is like whipping a boy instead of the king; the king can do no wrong, so you go for the boy. Similarly, you go for those whom you regard as my followers. Fortunately, there are no followers as far as I am concerned. As I said, to follow anyone is destruction, and that is what is the matter with the world at the present time. We are mere copyists, imitators; we follow eagerly, both politically and religiously, and so we are led to destruction. This does not mean that we must become rampant individualists, which is the other extreme, but to be able to live happily, to see the truth for oneself, does not demand following another. A happy man does not follow. It is the miserable, the confused man who eagerly pursues another, hoping for refuge; and he will find a refuge, but that refuge is his darkness, it is his undoing. It is only the man who tries to find out the fact of what he is in himself that will know freedom and therefore happiness.

Question: The more one listens to you, the more one feels that you are preaching withdrawal from life. I am a clerk in the Secretariat; I have four children, and I get only Rs. 125 a month. Will you please explain how I can fight the gloomy struggle for existence in the new way you are proposing? Do you really think that your message can mean anything significant to the starving and to the stunted wage earner? Have you lived among such people?

Krishnamurti: First of all, let us dispose of the question as to whether I have lived among such people. It implies, does it not, that in order to understand life, you must go through every phase of life, every experience; you must live among the poor and the rich; you must starve and pass through every condition of existence. Now, to put the problem very briefly: must you go through drunkenness to know sobriety? Does not one experience – fully, completely understood – reveal the whole process of life? Must you go through all the phases of life to understand life? Please see that this is not an avoidance of the question – on the contrary. We think that to know wisdom, we must go through every phase of life and experience, from the rich man to the poor man, from the beggar to the king. Now, is that so? Is wisdom the accumulation of many experiences? Or is wisdom to be found in the complete understanding of one experience? Because we never completely and fully understand one experience, we wander from experience to experience, hoping for some salvation, for some refuge, for some happiness. So, we have made our life a process of continuous accumulation of experiences, and therefore it is an endless struggle, a ceaseless battle to attain, to acquire. Surely, that is a tedious, an utterly stupid approach to life, is it not?

Is it not possible to gather the full significance of an experience and so understand the whole width and depth of life? I say it is possible and that it is the only way to understand life. Whatever the experience, whatever the challenge and response to life, if one can understand it fully, then the pursuit of every experience has no meaning; it becomes merely a waste of time. Because we are incapable of doing that, we have invented the illusory idea that by accumulating experiences, we shall ultimately arrive, God knows where.

Now, the questioner wants to know if I am preaching withdrawal from life. What do we mean by life? I am thinking out this problem aloud, so let us follow it together. What do we mean by life? Living is possible only in relationship, is it not? If there is no relationship, there is no life. To be is to be related; life is a process of relationship, of being in communion with another, with two or ten, with society. Life is not a process of isolation, of withdrawal. But for most of us, living is a process of isolation, is it not? We are struggling to isolate ourselves in action, in relationship. All our activities are self-enclosing, narrowing down, isolating, and in that very process there is friction, sorrow, pain. Living is relationship, and nothing can exist in isolation; therefore, there can be no withdrawal from life. On the contrary, there must be the understanding of relationship – your relationship with your wife, your children, with society, with nature, with the beauty of this day, the sunlight on the waters, the flight of a bird, with the things that you possess and the ideals that control you. To understand all that, you do not withdraw from it. Truth is not found in withdrawal and isolation; on the contrary, in isolation, whether it is conscious or unconscious, there is only darkness and death.

So, I am not proposing a withdrawal from life, a suppression of life; on the contrary, we can understand life only in relationship. It is because we do not understand life that we are all the time making an effort to withdraw, to isolate, and having created a society based on violence, on corruption, God becomes the ultimate isolation.

Then the questioner wants to know how, earning so little, he is to live what we are talking about. Now, first of all, the earning of a livelihood is not only the problem of the man who earns little, but it is also yours and mine, is it not? You may have a little more money, you may be well off, have a better job, a better position, a bigger bank account, but it is also your problem and mine because this society is what all of us have created. Until we three – you, I, and another – really understand relationship, we cannot bring about revolution in society. The man who has no food in his stomach obviously cannot find reality; he must first be fed, but the man whose stomach is full, surely it is his immediate responsibility to see that there is a fundamental revolution in society, that things do not go on as they are. To think, to feel out all these problems is much more the responsibility of those who have time, who have leisure, than it is of the man who earns little and has such a struggle to make both ends meet, who has no time and is worn out by this rotten, exploiting society. So, it is you and I, those of us who have a little more time and leisure, who must go into these problems completely – which does not mean that we have to become professional talkers, offering one system as a substitute for another. It is for you and me, who have time, who have leisure for thought, to seek out the way of a new society, a new culture.

Now, what happens to the poor man who is earning Rs. 125, or whatever it is? He has to carry the family with him; he has to accept the superstitions of his grandmother, his aunts, nephews, and so on; he has to marry according to a certain pattern; he has to do puja, ceremonies, and fit in with all that superstitious nonsense. He is caught in it, and if he rebels, you, the respectable people, throttle him.

So, the question of right livelihood is your problem and mine, is it not? But most of us are not concerned with right livelihood at all; we are glad and thankful simply to have a job, and so we maintain a society, a culture, that renders right livelihood impossible. Sirs, do not treat it theoretically. If you find yourself in a wrong vocation and actually do something about it, do you not see what a revolution it will bring in your life and in the life of those around you? But if you listen casually and carry on as before because you have a good job and for you there is no problem, obviously you will continue to cause misery in the world. For the man with too little money there is a problem; but he, like the rest of us, is only concerned with having more, and when he gets more, the problem continues because he wants still more.

Now, what is a right means of livelihood? Obviously, there are certain occupations that are detrimental to society. The army is detrimental to society because it plans and encourages murder in the name of the country. Because you are a nationalist, holding to sovereign governments, you must have armed forces to protect your property, and property is much more important to you than life, the life of your son. That is why you have conscription, that is why your schools are being encouraged to have military training. So, in the name of your country, you are destroying your children. Your country is yourself identified, your own projection, and when you worship your country, you are sacrificing your children to the worship of yourself. That is why the army, which is the instrument of a separate and sovereign government, is a wrong means of livelihood. But it is made easy to enter the army, and it becomes a sure means of earning a little money. Just see this extraordinary fact in modern civilization. Surely, the army is a wrong way to earn one’s livelihood because it is based on planned and calculated destruction, and until you and I see the truth of this, we are not going to bring about any different kind of society.

Similarly, you can see that a job in a police force is a wrong means of livelihood. Do not smile and pass it off. The police become a means of investigating private lives. We are not talking of the police as a means of helping, guiding, but as an instrument of the state, the secret police, and all the rest of it. Then the individual becomes merely an instrument of society; the individual has no privacy, no freedom, no rights of his own; he is investigated, controlled, shaped by the government, which is society. Obviously, that is a wrong means of livelihood.

Then there is the profession of law. Is that not a wrong means of livelihood? I see some of you are smiling. Probably you are lawyers, and you know better than I do what that system is based on. Fundamentally, not superficially, it is based on maintaining things as they are, on disagreements, disputation, confusion, quarrels, encouraging disruption and disorder in the name of order.

There is also the wrong profession of the man who wants to become rich, the big business man, the man who is gathering, accumulating, storing up money through exploitation, through ruthlessness – though he may do it in the name of philanthropy or in the name of education.

Obviously, then, these are all wrong means of livelihood, and a complete change in the social structure, a revolution of the right kind, is possible only when it begins with you. Revolution cannot be based on an ideal or a system, but when you see all this as a fact, you are liberated from it, and therefore you are free to act. But, sirs, you do not want to act; you are afraid of being disturbed, and you say, “There is already sufficient confusion; please do not make any more.” If you do not make more confusion, others are there making it for you and utilizing that confusion as a means of gaining political power. Surely, it is your responsibility as an individual to see the confusion within and without and to do something about it – not merely accept it and wait for a miracle, a marvelous utopia created by others into which you can step without effort.

Sirs, this problem is your problem as well as the poor man’s problem. The poor man depends on you, and you depend on him; he is your clerk while you ride in a big car and get a fat salary, accumulating money at his expense. So, it is your problem as well as his, and until you and he alter radically in your relationship, there will be no real revolution; though there may be violence and bloodshed, you will maintain things essentially as they are. Therefore, our problem is the transformation of relationship, and that transformation is not on the intellectual or verbal level but it can take place only when you understand the fact of what you are. You cannot understand it if you theorize, verbalize, deny, or justify, and that is why it is important to understand the whole process of the mind. A revolution which is merely the outcome of the mind is no revolution at all, but revolution which is not of the mind, which is not of the word, of the system – that is the only revolution, the only solution to the problem. But unfortunately, we have cultivated our brains, our so-called intellects, to such an extent that we have lost all capacities except the merely intellectual and verbal capacity. It is only when we see life as a whole, in its entirety, in its totality, that there is a possibility of a revolution which will give both the poor man and the rich man his due.

Question: The conscious mind is ignorant and afraid of the unconscious mind You are addressing mainly the conscious mind, and is that enough? Will your method bring about release of the unconscious? Please explain in detail how one can tackle the unconscious mind fully.

Krishnamurti: This is quite a complex and difficult problem; it requires a great deal of penetration, and I hope you will pay attention, not merely verbally, but by really listening and by seeing the truth of it.

Now, we are aware that there is the conscious and the unconscious mind, but most of us function only on the conscious level, in the upper layer of the mind, and our whole life is practically limited to that. We live in the so-called conscious mind, and we never pay attention to the deeper unconscious mind, from which there is occasionally an intimation, a hint; but that hint is disregarded, perverted, or translated according to our particular conscious demands at the moment. Now, the questioner asks, “You are addressing mainly the conscious mind, and is that enough?” Let us see what we mean by the conscious mind. Is the conscious mind different from the unconscious mind? We have divided the conscious from the unconscious, and is this justified? Is this true? Is there such a division between the conscious and the unconscious? Is there a definite barrier, a line where the conscious ends and the unconscious begins? We are aware that the upper layer, the conscious mind, is active, but is that the only instrument that is active throughout the day? So, if I were addressing merely the upper layer of the mind, then surely what I am saying would be valueless; it would have no meaning. And yet, most of us cling to what the conscious mind has accepted because the conscious mind finds it convenient to adjust to certain obvious facts, but the unconscious may rebel, and often does, and so there is conflict between the so-called conscious and the unconscious.

So, our problem is this, is it not? – there is in fact only one state, not two states such as the conscious and the unconscious; there is only a state of being, which is consciousness, though you may divide it as the conscious and the unconscious. But that consciousness is always of the past, never of the present; you are conscious only of things that are over. You are conscious of hearing me the second it is over, are you not? – you understand it a moment later. You are never conscious or aware of the now. Watch your own hearts and minds, and you will see that consciousness is functioning between the past – and the future, and that the present is merely a passage of the past to the future. So, consciousness is a movement of the past to the future. Please follow this. It is a little too abstract to give examples, similes; and to think in similes is not to think at all, because similes are limited. You must think abstractly or negatively, which is the highest form of thinking. If you watch your own mind at work, you will see that the movement to the past and to the future is a process in which the present is not. Either the past is a means of escape from the present, which may be unpleasant, or the future is a hope away from the present. So, the mind is occupied with the past or with the future and sloughs off the present. That is, the mind is conditioned by the past – conditioned as an Indian, a Brahmin or a non-Brahmin, a Christian, a Buddhist, and so on – and that conditioned mind projects itself into the future; therefore, it is never capable of looking directly and impartially at any fact. It either condemns and rejects the fact or accepts and identifies itself with the fact. Such a mind is obviously not capable of seeing any fact as a fact. That is our state of consciousness, which is conditioned by the past, and our thought is the conditioned response to the challenge of a fact; and the more you respond according to the conditioning of belief, of the past, the more there is the strengthening of the past. That strengthening of the past is obviously the continuity of itself, which it calls the future. So, that is the state of our mind, of our consciousness – a pendulum swinging backwards and forwards between the past and the future. That is our consciousness, which is made up not only of the upper layers of the mind but of the deeper layers as well. Such consciousness obviously cannot function at a different level because it only knows those two movements of backwards and forwards.

Now, if you watch very carefully, you will see that it is not a constant movement, but that there is an interval between two thoughts; though it may be but an infinitesimal fraction of a second, there is an interval that has significance in the swinging backwards and forwards of the pendulum. So, we see the fact that our thinking is conditioned by the past, which is projected into the future, and the moment you admit the past, you must also admit the future because there are not two states as the past and the future but one state which includes both the conscious and the unconscious, both the collective past and the individual past. The collective and the individual past, in response to the present, give out certain responses which create the individual consciousness; therefore, consciousness is of the past, and that is the whole background of our existence. And the moment you have the past, you inevitably have the future because the future is merely the continuity of the modified past, but it is still the past. So, our problem is how to bring about a transformation in this process of the past without creating another conditioning, another past. I hope you are following all this. If it is not clear, perhaps we will discuss it on Tuesday or Thursday.

To put it differently, the problem is this: most of us reject one particular form of conditioning and find another form – a wider, more significant or more pleasant conditioning. You give up one religion and take on another, reject one form of belief and accept another. Such substitution is obviously not understanding life – life being relationship. So, our problem is how to be free from all conditioning. Either you say it is impossible, that no human mind can ever be free from conditioning, or you begin to experiment, to inquire, to discover. If you assert that it is impossible, obviously you are out of the running. Your assertion may be based on limited or wide experience, or on the mere acceptance of a belief, but such assertion is the denial of search, of research, of inquiry, of discovery. To find out if it is possible for the mind to be completely free from all conditioning, you must be free to inquire and to discover.

Now, I say it is definitely possible for the mind to be free from all conditioning – not that you should accept my authority. If you accept it on authority, you will never discover; it will be another substitution, and that will have no significance. When I say it is possible, I say it because for me it is a fact, and I will show it to you verbally, but if you are to find the truth of it for yourself, you must experiment with it and follow it swiftly.

The understanding of the whole process of conditioning does not come to you through analysis or introspection, because the moment you have the analyzer, that very analyzer himself is part of the background, and therefore his analysis is of no significance. That is a fact, and you must put it aside. The analyzer who examines, who analyzes the thing which he is looking at, is himself part of the conditioned state, and therefore whatever his interpretation, his understanding, his analysis may be, it is still part of the background. So that way there is no escape, and to break the background is essential because to meet the challenge of the new, the mind must be new; to discover God, truth, or what you will, the mind must be fresh, uncontaminated by the past. To analyze the past, to arrive at conclusions through a series of experimentations, to make assertions and denials, and all the rest of it, implies, in its very essence, the continuance of the background in different forms; and when you see the truth of that fact, then you will discover that the analyzer has come to an end. The background is still there, but the analyzer has come to an end. Then there is no entity apart from the background; there is only thought as the background – thought being the response of memory, both conscious and unconscious, individual and collective.

So, the mind is the result of the past, which is the process of conditioning, and how is it possible for the mind to be free? To be free, the mind must not only see and understand its pendulum-like swing between the past and the future but also be aware of the interval between thoughts. That interval is spontaneous; it is not brought about through any causation, through any wish, through any compulsion. Just experiment with me this evening and see your own mind in operation as I go slowly into the matter. Don’t worry, I am not mesmerizing you. (Laughter) I am not interested in mesmerizing or influencing you, because to be mesmerized, to be influenced, consciously or unconsciously, is to become a follower; and to become a follower is to destroy yourself and him whom you follow, and therefore there is no love between us. When there is love, there is no mesmerism; there is neither the follower nor the teacher, neither the man nor the woman; there is only that flame of love, and it is that love which brings communion between us.

Now, although it is difficult with a large audience, this evening I am going to try to show how the mind actually works, and you can experiment and see it for yourself. We know thinking is a response of the background. You think as a Hindu, as a Parsee, as a Buddhist, or as God knows what else, not only in your conscious thinking, but also in your unconscious thinking. You are the background, you are not separate, there is no thinker apart from the background, and the response of that background is what you call thinking. That background, whether it is cultured or uncultured, learned or ignorant, is constantly responding to any challenge, to any stimulant, and that response creates not only the so-called present, but also the future – and that is our process of thinking.

Now, if you watch very carefully, you will see that though the response, the movement of thought, seems so swift, there are gaps, there are intervals between thoughts. Between two thoughts there is a period of silence which is not related to the thought process. If you observe you will see that that period of silence, that interval, is not of time; and the discovery of that interval, the full experiencing of that interval, liberates you from conditioning – or rather, it does not liberate ‘you’, but there is liberation from conditioning. So, the understanding of the process of thinking is meditation – which we will discuss another time. We are now not only discussing the structure and the process of thought, which is the background of memory, of experience, of knowledge, but we are also trying to find out if the mind can liberate itself from the background. It is only when the mind is not giving continuity to thought, when it is still with a stillness that is not induced, that is without any causation – it is only then that there can be freedom from the background. I hope I have explained this question sufficiently.

Question: Why does the human mind cling so persistently to the idea of God in many different ways? Can you deny that belief in God has brought consolation and meaning to lonely and desolate people all over the world? Why are you depriving man of this consolation by preaching a new type of nihilism?

Krishnamurti: Sirs, this is as important a question as the previous one because all vital human questions are important. So, please, do not resist but try to understand what I am talking about, and you will see.

Now, belief is a denial of truth; belief hinders truth – to believe in God is not to find God. Neither the believer nor the nonbeliever will find God because reality is the unknown, and your belief or nonbelief in the unknown is merely a self-projection and therefore not real. So, if I may suggest, do not resist but let us go into it together. I know you believe, and I know it has very little meaning in your life. There are many people who believe; millions believe in God and take consolation. First of all, why do you believe? You believe because it gives you satisfaction, consolation, hope, and you say it gives significance to life. But actually, your belief has very little significance because you believe and exploit, you believe and kill, you believe in a universal God and murder each other. The rich man also believes in God; he exploits ruthlessly, accumulates money, and then builds a temple or becomes a philanthropist. Is that belief in God? And the man who drops an atomic bomb says that God is his copilot on the airplane. (Laughter) Do not laugh, sirs. Your turn is coming also. The man who plans murder on a vast scale calls on the Almighty; the man who is cruel to his wife, to his children, to his neighbor, he also sings, sits down, kneels, clasps his hands, and calls on the name of God.

So, you all believe in different ways, but your belief has no reality whatsoever. Reality is what you are, what you do, what you think; and your belief in God is merely an escape from your monotonous, stupid, and cruel life. Furthermore, belief invariably divides people: there is the Parsee, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Christian, the communist, the socialist, the capitalist, and so on. Belief, idea, divides; it never brings people together. You may bring a few people together in a group, but that group is opposed to another group. So, ideas and beliefs are never unifying; on the contrary, they are separative, disintegrating, and destructive. Therefore, your belief in God is really spreading misery in the world; though it may have brought you momentary consolation, in actuality it has brought you more misery and destruction in the form of wars, famines, class divisions, and the ruthless action of separate individuals. So, your belief has no validity at all. If you really believed in God, if it were a real experience to you, then your face would have a smile, then you would not be destroying human beings. I am not being rhetorical, but please look at the facts first.

You do not really believe in God, because if you did you would not be rich, you would have no temples, you would have no poor people, you would not be a philanthropist with a big title after exploiting people. So, your belief in God is worthless; and though it may give you temporary consolation, compensate for and hide you from your own misery, give you a respectable escape which mankind recognizes as making you a religious person, it is all without validity, it has no significance whatsoever. What is significant is your life, the way you live, the way you treat your servant, the way you look at another human being.

So, what I am preaching is not negation. I am saying that you spread misery by clinging to illusions, which help you to avoid looking at things as they are. To face a fact is freedom from the fact, and belief is a hindrance to the perception of what is. After all, your belief is the result of your conditioning. You can be conditioned to believe in God, and another can be conditioned not to believe, to deny that there is God. Obviously, then, belief impedes the realization of what is, and to see the truth of this fact is to be free from belief. Then only can the mind inquire and find out if there is that thing which is called God.

Now, what is reality, what is God? God is not the word, the word is not the thing. To know that which is immeasurable, which is not of time, the mind must be free of time, which means the mind must be free from all thought, from all ideas about God. Because, what do you know about God or truth? You do not really know anything about that reality. All that you know is words, the experiences of others, or some moments of rather vague experience of your own. Surely, that is not God, that is not reality, that is not beyond the field of time. So, to know that which is beyond time, the process of time must be understood – time being thought, the process of becoming, the accumulation of knowledge. That is the whole background of the mind; the mind itself is the background, both the conscious and the unconscious, the collective and the individual. So, the mind must be free of the known, which means the mind must be completely silent, not made silent. The mind that achieves silence as a result, as the outcome of determined action, of practice, of discipline, is not a silent mind. The mind that is forced, controlled, shaped, put into a frame and kept quiet, is not a still mind. You may succeed for a period of time in forcing the mind to be superficially silent, but such a mind is not a still mind. Stillness comes only when you understand the whole process of thought, because to understand the process is to end the process, and the ending of the process of thought is the beginning of silence. Only when the mind is completely silent, not only on the upper level, but fundamentally, right through, on both the superficial and the deeper levels of consciousness – only then can the unknown come into being. The unknown is not something to be experienced by the mind; silence alone can be experienced, nothing but silence. If the mind experiences anything but silence, it is merely projecting its own desires, and such a mind is not silent; and as long as the mind is not silent, as long as thought in any form, conscious or unconscious, is in movement, there can be no silence. Silence is freedom from the past, from knowledge, from both conscious and unconscious memory; and when the mind is completely silent, not in use, when there is the silence which is not a product of effort, then only does the timeless, the eternal come into being. That state is not a state of remembering – there is no entity that remembers, that experiences. So, God or truth, or what you will, is a thing that comes into being from moment to moment, and it happens only in a state of freedom and spontaneity, not when the mind is disciplined according to a pattern. God is not a thing of the mind, it does not come through selfprojection, it comes only when there is virtue, which is freedom. Virtue is facing the fact of what is, and the facing of the fact is a state of bliss. Only when the mind is blissful, quiet, without any movement of its own, without the projection of thought, conscious or unconscious – only then does the eternal come into being.

February 26, 1950

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The post Krishnamurti on Virtue, Truth, and Consciousness – Bombay Speech from 1950 appeared first on Think Smarter World.

Perhaps the Most Important Business Book Written in the Last Fifty Years

Adam Grant, Professor at the Wharton School of Business, has managed to create in his book – Give and Take – a modern day, evidence-based justification that  “The More You Give, the More You Receive” is actually how life works. And surprisingly, as a majority of Wharton’s graduates head to jobs in Finance, Consulting, and Banking, Grant has shown that even in those industries where “It is better to Take than to Receive” is often the preferred mantra, the Givers outshine the Takers in the long run.  But he doesn’t stop there, he includes real world examples from politics, teaching, venture capital, technology, and even comedy writing.

Grant’s thesis breaks the world into 3 types of people – Takers, Matchers, and Givers – and that “every time we interact with another person at work, we have a choice to make: do we try to claim as much value as we can, or contribute value without worrying about what we receive in return?”

Most of us operate in the Matcher category in our professional lives, dislike the Takers, and feel sorry for the Givers.

Givers and takers differ in their attitudes and actions toward other people.  If you’re a taker, you help others strategically when it benefits to you outweigh the personal costs. If you’re a giver, you might use a different cost-benefit analysis: you help whenever the benefits to others exceed the personal costs. Alternatively, you might not think about the personal costs at all, helping others without expecting anything in return. If you’re a giver at work, you simply strive to be generous in sharing your time, energy, knowledge, skills, ideas, and connections with other people who can benefit from them.

Grants points out that most of the time in personal relationships – marriages as an example – we act more like Givers.  But once we show up at work, we tend to migrate to the Matching style:

In the workplace, give and take becomes more complicated.  Professionally, few of us act purely like givers or takers, adopting a third style instead.  We become matchers, striving to preserve an equal balance of giving and getting.  Matchers operate on the principle of fairness: when they help others, they protect themselves by seeking reciprocity.  If you’re a matcher, you believe in tit for tat, and your relationships are governed by even exchanges of favors.  In general, you shift from one reciprocity style to another as you travel across different work roles and relationships.

Grant’s research showed that in the short run, the Takers in professional environments definitely come out ahead.  But in the medium to long term, the givers take the lead position.  Why?  Because the giver’s start receiving back from others over time and there is a natural delay involved with that cycle.  In addition, people who have been “taken advantage of” by a Taker start to catch on and become less cooperative.  We “learn our lesson” and it takes ever greater effort and resources for the Takers to stay at the same level of achievement.

Givers succeed in a way that creates a ripple effect, enhancing the success of people around them. You’ll see that the difference lies in how giver success creates value, instead of just claiming it. As the venture capitalist Randy Komisar remarks, ‘It’s easier to win if everybody wants you to win. If you don’t make enemies out there, it’s easier to succeed.

It’s the Environment

Most of us understand and value the benefits of being givers, but we can often be dismayed by our external environmental clues that indicate that there is not enough for everyone, that it’s a zero-sum game, and that it’s better to get ours before the serious Takers come and really mess things up:

People who prefer to give or match often feel pressured to lean in the taker direction when they perceive a workplace as zero-sum. Whether it’s a company with forced ranking systems, a group of firms vying to win the same clients, or a school with required grading curves and more demand than supply for desirable jobs, it’s only natural to assume that peers will lean more toward taking than giving….The fear of exploitation of takers is so pervasive, writes the Cornell economist Robert Frank, that by ‘encouraging us to expect the worst in others it brings out the worst in us: dreading the role of the chump, we are often loath to heed our nobler instincts.

This issue illustrates some of the key mistakes in human thinking that currently hamper global harmony.  We see each other as separate entities with no interconnection operating within a world with limited abundance. Our eyes get fooled by appearances rather than understanding the true nature of reality – that we are highly interconnected at subatomic levels and our actions, thoughts, and emotions are affecting each other constantly.  In addition, what we think, has great effect on what we materialize into our physical reality.

Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. – Christianity

Oneness

In this context, Grant’s book actually starts to prove out basic concepts of Quantum Physics – that the world is essentially a sea of energy waves with infinite possibilities.  And, wave energy does not become a material particle until we observe or choose it.  We thus have great power over our life by deciding what to experience by our thoughts and the choices we make. In this way, Givers make a choice to give and that choice is what is given back – giving equals giving in return.  Matchers do the same – they limit their generosity and the world responds exactly in kind by limiting its generosity in return (the wave function collapses into particle reality).  Takers encounter the same – they choose taking, and the universe takes back from them.  The giving and taking do not come from the same place – i.e., the person who you gave to is not necessarily the person who gives back.  Everything is interconnected so you give to one person and another person is the vehichle which gives back to you or you take from one person and someone takes from you in a different context. In this way, our physical reality essentially operates as a mirror – showing us the effects of our thoughts and actions as a learning tool for our spiritual and moral development.

Every man must decide if he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. – Samuel Johnson

People get stuck on the idea of there being limited abundance.  Only so many raises, promotions, etc.  But Grant shows that Givers have figured out that giving is actually the secret ingredient for success – giving generates more giving – much of which will come back to you – as well as going to others.  It’s a form of paying it forward and knowing that life is a virtuous circle.  Here he highlights the approach of master Silicon Valley Giver, Engineer, and Entrepreneur Adam Rifkin:

This is a new spin on reciprocity. In traditional old school reciprocity, people operated like matchers, trading value back and forth with one another. We helped the people who helped us, and we gave to the people who from whom we wanted something in return. But today, givers like Adam Rifkin are able to spark a more powerful form of reciprocity. Instead of trading value, Rifkin aims to add value…Rifkin doesn’t think about what any of the people he helps will give back to him. Whereas takers accumulate large networks to look important and gain access to powerful people, and matchers do it to get favors, Rifkin does it to get more opportunities for giving. In the words of Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, “I’ll do this for you without expecting anything specific back from you, in the confident expectation that someone else will do something for me down the road.” When people feel grateful for Rifkin’s help, they’re more likely to pay it forward.

But with so many benefits, why don’t more people adopt a Giving approach? I think it stems from a lack of belief that proactive giving will be reciprocated.  We are uncertain of the “hidden hand” of reciprocity that will reward us for our efforts.  What’s missing for most people is an understanding of the true nature of reality – that the people who will give back to us are not separate discrete entities that may or may not “get the message” or the urge to give back to us when we need it.  The underlying interconnectedness and one consciousness between all of us is the communication link that coordinates all events.  This Source Energy, Prana, or Chi has a mechanism (through Quantum Principles) that works automatically and seamlessly and knows all our thoughts and actions and gives us back exactly what we give.  We just need to have faith in it.  The more we give the more we get as many ancient traditions have stated:

If you would take, you first must give. – Taoism

What goes out from thee, comes back to thee again. – Confucianism

At it’s core Give and Take is a love story.  The book asks us to revisit our basic understanding of whether it’s better to lead a life which is focused on “Service to Others” or “Service to Self”. It shows in dramatic fashion how those who give unreservedly with no expectations, in a loving way, are rewarded with the most love in return. The world of work could use a lot more of that, yes?

In essence, Adam Grant has created a wonderful “gateway” book for the 21st century.  A gateway to achieving Unity in all forms and in every aspect of our lives – the professional and personal. It’s difficult to speak of spirituality in the work place of 2015 due to our many different spiritual and religious backgrounds, but until we are “all on the same page”, with Give and Take Grant has given us a tool to implement through modern day language, metaphors, and behavioral research the concepts that ancient sages, saints, and traditions have been telling us for thousands of years:  When we give to others, we give to ourselves. We are all One.  We can now start speaking openly about the pros and cons of being Takers, Matchers, and Givers and implement real change in a place where we spend most of our waking life – at work:

In the mind of a giver, the definition of success itself takes on a distinctive meaning. Whereas takers view success as attaining results that are superior to other’ and matchers see success in terms of balancing individual accomplishments with fairness to others, givers are inclined to characterizing success in terms of making significant and lasting contributions to a broad range of people. Taking this definition of success seriously might require dramatic changes in the way that organizations hire, evaluate, reward, and promote people. It would mean paying attention not only to the productivity of individual people but also to the ripple effects of this productivity on others. If success required benefiting others, it’s possible that takers and matchers would be more inclined to find ‘otherish’ ways to advance personal and collective interests simultaneously.

And thus, a roadmap for achieving a more sane, inclusive, and harmonious society is born…Get this book, read it, implement its core messages, and then give a copy to others.  The world is waiting for more giving…don’t wait a minute longer.

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

For Further Exploration:

The Benefit Corporation – A new business structure that gives depth to Conscious Capitalism
The 3 C’s of a Modern and Enlightened Society
Quantum Economics: Unleasing the Power of an Economics of Consciousness, by Amit Goswami

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

The post Perhaps the Most Important Business Book Written in the Last Fifty Years appeared first on Think Smarter World.

Co-Creating with Source Energy – The New Paradigm of Success

We’ve established in previous posts (Quieting the Mind, Tuning into the Present Moment, and Optimizing the Human Energy Field) that Prana / Qi or Source Energy is regulating the Human Energy Field and every aspect of our physical reality.  The ancient spiritual traditions of China and India knew this many thousands of years ago.  We now call this “New Age” thinking.  Which is funny isn’t it?  The truth that has existed since the dawn of time is considered “new” because we are just getting around in our life time to “re-discovering” it.  In this context then, what humans have been viewing as the nature of reality for the last few hundred years in terms of materialistic science is what really should be considered “New Age” thinking.

In today’s modern understanding of Quantum Reality, if everything is energy, then accessing the Source Frequency is like tuning into a radio station.  You tune into it with your mind and body, that’s why taking care of those two things is so important.  And, just like a radio, you have to tune into the right frequency if you want to get proper reception.   The fact that we now have many examples of people communicating telepathically; performing remote healing; test results of emotions affecting the physiology of plants;  real-time video of the human aura (which can be affected with our thoughts); the placebo effect and more; should be enough to make people think twice about dismissing the idea of something beyond the purely material realm.

Just as the principles of material physics “existed” before Newton “discovered” them, so it is true for everything in existence.  All information and knowledge already exists and humanity is on an evolutionary course of “discovery”.  Which leads to the question, if everything already exists (the holographic principle of the universe) then is there a way to access that information more effectively in order to accelerate our personal and societal evolution?

Some would call accessing higher level intelligence, intuition.  Others would call it synching up with “Big Mind”, “Universal Consciousness”, or “God”.  The fact is that over the course of time we have witnessed certain humans that appear to be tapping into higher levels of knowledge and using that information to accelerate their creative ability in their profession or the arts.

Fortunately, we can all access the same massive information data base in the “cloud” – we don’t need to be limited to our brain / body – based “local hard drive” with a limited amount of information gleaned through historical experiences and stored up memories.  This Source Energy or Source Information Field, is beaming at us every moment of every day.  We can either tune into it or we can ignore it in favor of the local hard drive in our bodies – the “Little Mind”.  That relatively small hard drive is limited to what we have managed to learn in our relatively brief life span versus the cumulative knowledge and wisdom that has ever existed at a level beyond what our conscious minds can fully comprehend.  Why would we limit ourselves?  [Yes, we can now access our own human based cloud via the internet, but the content of that repository it can be safely assumed is still far smaller by comparison to Big Mind and our ability to quickly and accurately access what we need to know is cumbersome.]

By-Passing the Religious Middle-Men

Speaking of Spirituality and connecting to the Divine has been shied away from in modern society because of the tarnished reputation of major organized religions.  But what the New Spiritualist achieves is the by-passing of the “religious middle men” and connects directly to the Source itself.  The religious middle men have been promising for thousands of years that only they had the “keys” and the “proper communication channels” to receive and transmit the wisdom and guidance of the Divine. Follow their directions and you’ll be assured a “piece of the action”.  By so doing, they of course amassed significant power, wealth, and control.  And when insiders within their own ranks tried to unmask the truth of being able to connect directly to the Source, they were shunned and put down.  These insiders were the Mystics of the major world religions – Christianity has a number of them (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is a good example) and even Jesus it has been argued was teaching principles of divine oneness based on the Gnostics and perhaps Eastern Traditions that were often being discussed in the Mediterranean Spice Route at the time of his living (see Jay Parini’s wonderful book – Jesus, The Human Face of God).  The muslims have had the mystical poet Rumi, the Chinese had Lao-tsu, the Jews have the Mystics of the Kabbalah tradition, and the case can be made that the Buddha was the Mystic who tried to reform Hinduism out of its insistence on a multitude of “middle man gods”.  Though, for sure, Hinduism has had no shortage of Yogi’s and Mystics in its ranks for its long existence and wonderful one’s in more recent times – Ramana Maharshi, Yogananda, Vivekenanda, and Aurobindo being just a few examples.

What the New Spiritualist achieves is “customized guidance” in all aspects of his or her life – the spiritual, the mental, the emotional, and the optimum regulation and health of his or her physical body.  Why would you want a one-size fits all approach from the middle man?  Ironically, the modern self help and psychology movements have been packaging up some of the elements of mystical spirituality for decades.  They are often labeled as “self-help” and “humanist” and referenced to scientific-like measurements of human progress and observed traits of “super-human” feats of strength, stamina, logical thinking, and professional and cultural creativity when humans manage to tap into something such as “Flow” or “Inner Guidance”.

These things point to the basic truths of human existence – since many of us wanted to dis-associate ourselves from the tarnished brand of most organized religions (Buddhism being an exception as it is not a dogmatic belief system but rather a tactical practice and philosophy of mastering the mind), the self-help and humanist movements were perfect vehicles to learn how to connect to higher levels of reality without explicitly acknowledging a divine link.

It all fit nicely with our rising technological capability and increases in standards of living in developed parts of the world.  Our narrative had become one of human supremacy with no need to recognize where the power source was coming from nor how it was interconnecting all of us.  Advances in our technology have also been leading us down a self-reinforcing loop of paying attention to only things we can “see” and ignoring other things that are beyond our immediate senses.  Our ever shinier objects convince us that only what we can touch and hold is of value.  But the frontiers of science have strongly shown that our reality is much beyond what we can actively sense and that our world is at its core a dynamic web of energy.  And if everything is energy, and our eyes and ears can only see and hear 1% of the energy frequency spectrum, then Seeing and Hearing are Definitely NOT Believing.  The giants of Quantum Physics inherently recognized this to be true. Most had mystical tendencies and their words in this context have been wonderfully captured by the philosopher and systems thinker Ken Wilber in his book – Quantum Questions, Mystical Writings of the World’s Greatest Physicists. 

Precisely because the word ‘soul’ refers to the central order, to the inner core of a being whose outer manifestations may be highly diverse and pass our understanding. If the magnetic force that has guided this particular compass – and what else was its source but the central order? — should ever become extinguished, terrible things may happen to mankind, far more terrible even than concentration camps and atom bombs.  But we did not set out to look into such dark recesses; let’s hope the central realm will light our way again, perhaps in quite unsuspected ways…if we may no longer speak or even think about the wider connections, we are without a compass and hence in danger of losing our way.  – Werner Heisenberg

But, contrary to the strict division of the activity of the human spirit into separate departments – a division prevailing since the nineteenth century- I consider the ambition of overcoming opposites, including also a synthesis embracing both rational understanding and the mystical experience of unity, to be the mythos, spoken or unspoken, of our present day and age. – Wolfgang Pauli

The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness.… The cosmic religious experience is the strongest and noblest mainspring of scientific research. – Albert Einstein

The problem is that if you don’t know where the power source is coming from and don’t explicitly recognize that one exists, then you are not going to cleanly connect to it, and in many cases, you are going to do things that highly distort the connection and limit yourself.  The implications of that on our physical and mental health should be widely apparent by now – our modern industrialized age with the most advanced technology we have ever seen continues to produce unprecedented levels of ill-health, mental trauma, unhappiness, violence, and drug-use.  One can argue that since the 1950’s, our lunge into the “human supremacy” movement has produced one highly sick and toxic being.  And, unfortunately, the answer that too many people keep coming up with is more technology, more pharmaceuticals, and more mind-less entertainment.  But there is hope…

Effective Tuning Into Source Energy Transmission

The Source is seeking to create through us.  Each of us is a unique individual who has the ability to create in material form.  Together, we and Source accomplish that.  Therefore, what Source seeks to create, you can implement in material form in a myriad of ways.  That’s the freedom you have.  Source is always transmitting its divine energy and will, so even if you don’t know it, you are picking things up.  But it’s like partially tuning into a weak radio station, you can hear somewhat, but not very clearly.  You yearn to hear the station clearly. You tune in more clearly by doing things we have discussed in previous posts – on Quieting the Mind, Tuning into the Present Moment, and Optimizing the Human Energy Field.  

Two key things that are necessary ingredients to tune in effectively and co-create with source are the surrendering of the ego’s desires to the will of the Source and removal of fear from your mental outlook.  The ego wants the human to have full control and believes the body is completely separate from all others.  It was originally intended to protect the soul while in bodily form so that it could experience material life and co-create with Source and not get injured in the process.  But over time, it has magnified itself to want to be in charge, to be the boss.  It’s as if one day you decided at work to tell your manager you had decided no longer to take his or her direction and would be managing yourself from now on.  Supposing you were allowed to do this, you could still be able to function, but you wouldn’t have the critical direction and coordination of your work from your manager.  You would also lack feedback on your work product.  You could still interact with others and get things done, but you would be out of “synch” with the overall organization in many ways.  That’s what its like to be dis-connected from Source Energy and Divine Will or Direction.

As we’ve seen in previous posts, this dis-connection has implications for the health of the human body in all forms – physically and mentally – and for our overall spiritual health, sense of purpose, and life direction.  We need only look around at every-day 21st century life to realize we have a lot of people running around “open-loop” causing much harm to themselves, each other, and the planet as a result.

The aspect of fear comes into play because of our inherent desire to be in control.  This is coupled with the fact that we are highly motivated to put our focus outside of ourselves and on things that our five senses can pick up.  If we can’t see it or hear it, then it’s not there.  That’s where Faith comes in.  But we don’t need to have blind faith.  By going inwards through meditation and mindfulness we can learn to slowly connect with our inner energetic states and start establishing emotional connections to Source Energy.  This is done through focusing on love via our heart energy center (the two-way communication link or carrier frequency to Source).  Fear is the opposite of love, so trying to connect to Source while in a fearful state is like hanging up the phone and then trying to talk.

Once we start moving to a more loving state of being, we can establish a connection that gives us feedback and signals that let us know the Source is there and that it’s more tangible than we realize.  As we strengthen the connection, clues start to appear in our physical reality – chance meetings, synchronicities, and small wins and “mini-miracles” come our way.  The Source will attempt to assure us that it’s there and ready for the creative partnership to begin in earnest.

Source Energy as your Personal GPS

Once we decide to “re-connect” with Source Energy and accept Divine Will as our guide, then we can start to receive divine guidance or the “What to Do” and then use all of mental and physical faculties at our disposal for the “How to Do” or implementation and creation of that desire.  In this sense, the left brain’s rational, linear processing and right brain’s holistic and and big picture thinking work together to create a balanced output in our physical reality.  If we sacrifice one side for the other, we produce non-optimized solutions.  Either way, there are usually a large range of possibilities on how to implement an idea or concept and in that way a person has great “creative control” in their lives though they are taking guidance from Divine Consciousness.  We needn’t fear being a slave to some cosmic master, rather it can be extremely empowering to feel that we have certainty on the right thing to do and can confidently go forward and implement in the manner most desirable to us.  We welcome the guidance of the “Great Conductor” and play our part in the “Universal Orchestra”.

But I also don’t think the “What to Do” is a solely one-way street.  Sometimes you can “improvise” the part your playing as someone would do playing in a jazz band.  Improvising around a unified theme is common. What allows for this is accessing Universal Consciousness (the big data base in the sky).  It has an infinite set of possibilities that can be accessed.  In this regard, you may have your “key objectives” that the Source has identified for you to achieve for your individual development and for contribution to the evolution of society, but there are also opportunities for exploration on other topics as well.  Anyone can tap into the big data base and pull down ideas.  People in fact do this simultaneously around the world.  That’s why in history, we have witnessed the same thing being invented in two or three different locations at the same time.  The key point is that everything is up there, good and bad, that humans can do. Therefore, it takes individual discernment and alignment with Source Energy and the will to know what is helpful to all of humanity and what is harmful.  Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should do it.

But you may be wondering, so how do I really “know” what Source wants me to do.  Is there going to be an email or text message?  Hmmm, no.  This is where the health of your human energy field is so important – the body (emotional, physical, and mental) is the receiver of the signal.  If that’s fine-tuned, then you’re more likely to receive clearly.  With that box checked off, the next key thing is to start asking questions. That’s how the free will system is set up – it’s up to you to ask for guidance and help.  Just as you would ask your boss at work, “hey, what should I be working on next?” – you can do the same with Source.  You won’t get an email or text, but you will get direction – either via some type of energetic feeling in your body, an “instinct” or “gut reaction”, or some people even start to hear a small or faint voice that provides the direction.

You will often hear people say, “I really should have followed my instincts on that one…”.  The Source is beaming information and guidance 24/7 and usually your fist instinct will come in clearly and be correct especially if you develop the ability to lower your mental noise, eliminate fear and silence the ego.  Here is one way to create a system to understand the divine Source Signal that author and psychotherapist Yvonne Oswald presents in her wonderful book, Every Word has Power:

The inner you, your unconscious mind, which where these answers come from, ‘knows’ much better than your conscious mind the state of the universe as it applies to your needs (not desires), because it has your best interests at heart.  It, along with every one of the fifty to one hundred trillion cells in your body, is eagerly listening to your instructions at this moment.  You can test the method  to find out how much you are in touch with the inner you by simply stating a true or untrue statement and asking yourself what number between one and ten comes up.  So, for me: ‘My name is Jim:  zero out of ten.  My name is Yvonne: ten of ten”.  Do the One-to-Ten decision making  with simple daily decisions at first , such as “How good it for me to have pasta tonight?”  The more quickly you can come with an answer, the more you can trust it.  The one thing to remember is this:  If the number you come up with is five or below, the answer is No.  ‘How good is it for me to…’? is a far better question to ask that “Do I want to …?” Yes, you may want to marry Jim (or Marry), but would it be good for you?  That might be an entirely different matter.  How you ask is extremely important for clear decision making.

My personal GPS signal is an energy surge that runs from my heart region up through my neck and into my head.  When I ask a question and get a positive answer the surge moves in that direction.  When the answer is no, then there is no surge and sometimes a muted feeling near the heart energy center.  The signals vary from person to person, so experiment with Yvonne’s approach and also see if you notice some type of energetic body signal also.  Give it some time, it takes a while to tune in. And, if you don’t get a clear signal, that may be an indication that you need to do work first on optimizing your energy field, lowering your mental noise, and lowering fear.

*Is there a way to know that you are actually connected to source and not something else? Yes. If what you are picking up as a signal and translating into action is based on love and doing things for others in a loving way that leads to unity and not separation, in all aspects of your life, then you’re locked into true Source Energy .  Othwerise, you are distorting the signal and the ego is actually in charge.  And in some cases it is posing as the Source (when religious extremists for example say their actions are based on god’s will).  Anything that is based on fear – hate, violence, anger, unkindness – and leads to separation between people versus unity and oneness, is the opposite of love and therefore the opposite of Source.  And, responding to distortions of Source with your own distortions – violence against violence, hate against hate, unkindness repaid with unkindness, and amplifying the separation or differences between people – is just amplifying the disconnection from Source Energy.  The non-violent efforts of Gandhi, King, and Mandella all showed us how to do it correctly.  Certainly, sometimes the threat is too dire and immediate and just as you need some times to take care of a serious illness with drugs or surgery before you can get to solving the underlying long-term cause, you may also need to take more serious actions on other fronts.  But it has too be the last resort, not the first or second resort…
Manifesting – the Power of Co-Creation with Source Energy

If Source Energy creates everything, and it’s the only “real” thing that exists, then the more you are tapping into it instead of something that is not real (your ego-driven thoughts that are orthogonal to Source) the more powerfully you will be able to create and manifest your physical reality.  This is what often is missing in most guidance on manifesting and the Law of Attraction – the need to optimize the physical and mental connection to divine Source Energy first and then intending with love and the best interests of everyone (not just yourself). This is why everyone who intends a Ferrari doesn’t end up getting one… [there is a group called the Intenders of the Highest Good who show how to do it correctly – their website and books by founder Tony Burroughs are very good.]

Manifesting with Source is about aligning with Divine Consciousness and not the ego.  I’ll leave with you with a beautiful statement on what that means in practice from UK based spiritual teacher Chris Bourne:

It is not just our thoughts that create our reality, it would be more accurate to say our entire consciousness creates it – the sum total of what we are being and expressing through ALL our bodily vehicles of expression. Herein lies the problem when we try to manifest a particular reality; all too often the ego or small “I” is trying to do it. In other words we are trying to make choices based on our conditioned behaviours, our hopes and desires or alternatively as a result of our worries and fears. For example, we feel insecure so we try to manifest a better paid job; we’re uncomfortable being alone so we try to manifest a partner; we’re not happy with our house so we effort to get a better one.

This are all hopes, wishes and desires of the ego, the personality – the small “I”. They are based on controlling thought forms prevalent in our society and conditoned behaviours – fixed neural pathways in the brain generated from our upbringing. However this is only a fraction of our consciousness. Our unique expression of divinity is the soul. We came here to connect with our soul, reintegrate it fully into our lives and allow it complete freedom of expression so that it may glorify our true beingness.  ….Authentic creation happens spontaneously in the moment flowing downwards as energy from our higher self – the highest aspect of the soul closest to the source. When we are truly aligned with this, our creative action happens as one with the natural flow of the Universe – the whole Universe is creating in harmony with us. We may call this “Right Action”. It feels like we are completely ‘in the groove’ so to speak – we align to a natural rhythm in life which is blissful and magical to behold. The act of creating is the act of allowing. In looking within, we see past the distortions of the ego to find what is meant to be. When we know what is meant to be, we become as one with the divine will… the inner most longing of our highest self; we become an open channel and infinite potential is manifested through us, and through us, the infinite cycle is complete.

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

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Co-Creating with Source Energy

We’ve established in previous posts (Quieting the Mind, Tuning into the Present Moment, and Optimizing the Human Energy Field) that Prana / Qi or Source Energy is regulating the Human Energy Field and every aspect of our physical reality.  The ancient spiritual traditions of China and India knew this many thousands of years ago.  We now call this “New Age” thinking.  Which is funny isn’t it?  The truth that has existed since the dawn of time is considered “new” because we are just getting around in our life time to “re-discovering” it.  In this context then, what humans have been viewing as the nature of reality for the last few hundred years in terms of materialistic science is what really should be considered “New Age” thinking.

In today’s modern understanding of Quantum Reality, if everything is energy, then accessing the Source Frequency is like tuning into a radio station.  You tune into it with your mind and body, that’s why taking care of those two things is so important.  And, just like a radio, you have to tune into the right frequency if you want to get proper reception.   The fact that we now have many examples of people communicating telepathically; performing remote healing; test results of emotions affecting the physiology of plants;  real-time video of the human aura (which can be affected with our thoughts); the placebo effect and more; should be enough to make people think twice about dismissing the idea of something beyond the purely material realm.

Just as the principles of material physics “existed” before Newton “discovered” them, so it is true for everything in existence.  All information and knowledge already exists and humanity is on an evolutionary course of “discovery”.  Which leads to the question, if everything already exists (the holographic principle of the universe) then is there a way to access that information more effectively in order to accelerate our personal and societal evolution?

Some would call accessing higher level intelligence, intuition.  Others would call it synching up with “Big Mind”, “Universal Consciousness”, or “God”.  The fact is that over the course of time we have witnessed certain humans that appear to be tapping into higher levels of knowledge and using that information to accelerate their creative ability in their profession or the arts.

Fortunately, we can all access the same massive information data base in the “cloud” – we don’t need to be limited to our brain / body – based “local hard drive” with a limited amount of information gleaned through historical experiences and stored up memories.  This Source Energy or Source Information Field, is beaming at us every moment of every day.  We can either tune into it or we can ignore it in favor of the local hard drive in our bodies – the “Little Mind”.  That relatively small hard drive is limited to what we have managed to learn in our relatively brief life span versus the cumulative knowledge and wisdom that has ever existed at a level beyond what our conscious minds can fully comprehend.  Why would we limit ourselves?  [Yes, we can now access our own human based cloud via the internet, but the content of that repository it can be safely assumed is still far smaller by comparison to Big Mind and our ability to quickly and accurately access what we need to know is cumbersome.]

By-Passing the Religious Middle-Men

Speaking of Spirituality and connecting to the Divine has been shied away from in modern society because of the tarnished reputation of major organized religions.  But what the New Spiritualist achieves is the by-passing of the “religious middle men” and connects directly to the Source itself.  The religious middle men have been promising for thousands of years that only they had the “keys” and the “proper communication channels” to receive and transmit the wisdom and guidance of the Divine. Follow their directions and you’ll be assured a “piece of the action”.  By so doing, they of course amassed significant power, wealth, and control.  And when insiders within their own ranks tried to unmask the truth of being able to connect directly to the Source, they were shunned and put down.  These insiders were the Mystics of the major world religions – Christianity has a number of them (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is a good example) and even Jesus it has been argued was teaching principles of divine oneness based on the Gnostics and perhaps Eastern Traditions that were often being discussed in the Mediterranean Spice Route at the time of his living (see Jay Parini’s wonderful book – Jesus, The Human Face of God).  The muslims have had the mystical poet Rumi, the Chinese had Lao-tsu, the Jews have the Mystics of the Kabbalah tradition, and the case can be made that the Buddha was the Mystic who tried to reform Hinduism out of its insistence on a multitude of “middle man gods”.  Though, for sure, Hinduism has had no shortage of Yogi’s and Mystics in its ranks for its long existence and wonderful one’s in more recent times – Ramana Maharshi, Yogananda, Vivekenanda, and Aurobindo being just a few examples.

What the New Spiritualist achieves is “customized guidance” in all aspects of his or her life – the spiritual, the mental, the emotional, and the optimum regulation and health of his or her physical body.  Why would you want a one-size fits all approach from the middle man?  Ironically, the modern self help and psychology movements have been packaging up some of the elements of mystical spirituality for decades.  They are often labeled as “self-help” and “humanist” and referenced to scientific-like measurements of human progress and observed traits of “super-human” feats of strength, stamina, logical thinking, and professional and cultural creativity when humans manage to tap into something such as “Flow” or “Inner Guidance”.

These things point to the basic truths of human existence – since many of us wanted to dis-associate ourselves from the tarnished brand of most organized religions (Buddhism being an exception as it is not a dogmatic belief system but rather a tactical practice and philosophy of mastering the mind), the self-help and humanist movements were perfect vehicles to learn how to connect to higher levels of reality without explicitly acknowledging a divine link.

It all fit nicely with our rising technological capability and increases in standards of living in developed parts of the world.  Our narrative had become one of human supremacy with no need to recognize where the power source was coming from nor how it was interconnecting all of us.  Advances in our technology have also been leading us down a self-reinforcing loop of paying attention to only things we can “see” and ignoring other things that are beyond our immediate senses.  Our ever shinier objects convince us that only what we can touch and hold is of value.  But the frontiers of science have strongly shown that our reality is much beyond what we can actively sense and that our world is at its core a dynamic web of energy.  And if everything is energy, and our eyes and ears can only see and hear 1% of the energy frequency spectrum, then Seeing and Hearing are Definitely NOT Believing.  The giants of Quantum Physics inherently recognized this to be true. Most had mystical tendencies and their words in this context have been wonderfully captured by the philosopher and systems thinker Ken Wilber in his book – Quantum Questions, Mystical Writings of the World’s Greatest Physicists. 

Precisely because the word ‘soul’ refers to the central order, to the inner core of a being whose outer manifestations may be highly diverse and pass our understanding. If the magnetic force that has guided this particular compass – and what else was its source but the central order? — should ever become extinguished, terrible things may happen to mankind, far more terrible even than concentration camps and atom bombs.  But we did not set out to look into such dark recesses; let’s hope the central realm will light our way again, perhaps in quite unsuspected ways…if we may no longer speak or even think about the wider connections, we are without a compass and hence in danger of losing our way.  – Werner Heisenberg

But, contrary to the strict division of the activity of the human spirit into separate departments – a division prevailing since the nineteenth century- I consider the ambition of overcoming opposites, including also a synthesis embracing both rational understanding and the mystical experience of unity, to be the mythos, spoken or unspoken, of our present day and age. – Wolfgang Pauli

The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness.… The cosmic religious experience is the strongest and noblest mainspring of scientific research. – Albert Einstein

The problem is that if you don’t know where the power source is coming from and don’t explicitly recognize that one exists, then you are not going to cleanly connect to it, and in many cases, you are going to do things that highly distort the connection and limit yourself.  The implications of that on our physical and mental health should be widely apparent by now – our modern industrialized age with the most advanced technology we have ever seen continues to produce unprecedented levels of ill-health, mental trauma, unhappiness, violence, and drug-use.  One can argue that since the 1950’s, our lunge into the “human supremacy” movement has produced one highly sick and toxic being.  And, unfortunately, the answer that too many people keep coming up with is more technology, more pharmaceuticals, and more mind-less entertainment.  But there is hope…

Effective Tuning Into Source Energy Transmission

The Source is seeking to create through us.  Each of us is a unique individual who has the ability to create in material form.  Together, we and Source accomplish that.  Therefore, what Source seeks to create, you can implement in material form in a myriad of ways.  That’s the freedom you have.  Source is always transmitting its divine energy and will, so even if you don’t know it, you are picking things up.  But it’s like partially tuning into a weak radio station, you can hear somewhat, but not very clearly.  You yearn to hear the station clearly. You tune in more clearly by doing things we have discussed in previous posts – on Quieting the Mind, Tuning into the Present Moment, and Optimizing the Human Energy Field.  

Two key things that are necessary ingredients to tune in effectively and co-create with source are the surrendering of the ego’s desires to the will of the Source and removal of fear from your mental outlook.  The ego wants the human to have full control and believes the body is completely separate from all others.  It was originally intended to protect the soul while in bodily form so that it could experience material life and co-create with Source and not get injured in the process.  But over time, it has magnified itself to want to be in charge, to be the boss.  It’s as if one day you decided at work to tell your manager you had decided no longer to take his or her direction and would be managing yourself from now on.  Supposing you were allowed to do this, you could still be able to function, but you wouldn’t have the critical direction and coordination of your work from your manager.  You would also lack feedback on your work product.  You could still interact with others and get things done, but you would be out of “synch” with the overall organization in many ways.  That’s what its like to be dis-connected from Source Energy and Divine Will or Direction.

As we’ve seen in previous posts, this dis-connection has implications for the health of the human body in all forms – physically and mentally – and for our overall spiritual health, sense of purpose, and life direction.  We need only look around at every-day 21st century life to realize we have a lot of people running around “open-loop” causing much harm to themselves, each other, and the planet as a result.

The aspect of fear comes into play because of our inherent desire to be in control.  This is coupled with the fact that we are highly motivated to put our focus outside of ourselves and on things that our five senses can pick up.  If we can’t see it or hear it, then it’s not there.  That’s where Faith comes in.  But we don’t need to have blind faith.  By going inwards through meditation and mindfulness we can learn to slowly connect with our inner energetic states and start establishing emotional connections to Source Energy.  This is done through focusing on love via our heart energy center (the two-way communication link or carrier frequency to Source).  Fear is the opposite of love, so trying to connect to Source while in a fearful state is like hanging up the phone and then trying to talk.

Once we start moving to a more loving state of being, we can establish a connection that gives us feedback and signals that let us know the Source is there and that it’s more tangible than we realize.  As we strengthen the connection, clues start to appear in our physical reality – chance meetings, synchronicities, and small wins and “mini-miracles” come our way.  The Source will attempt to assure us that it’s there and ready for the creative partnership to begin in earnest.

Source Energy as your Personal GPS

Once we decide to “re-connect” with Source Energy and accept Divine Will as our guide, then we can start to receive divine guidance or the “What to Do” and then use all of mental and physical faculties at our disposal for the “How to Do” or implementation and creation of that desire.  In this sense, the left brain’s rational, linear processing and right brain’s holistic and and big picture thinking work together to create a balanced output in our physical reality.  If we sacrifice one side for the other, we produce non-optimized solutions.  Either way, there are usually a large range of possibilities on how to implement an idea or concept and in that way a person has great “creative control” in their lives though they are taking guidance from Divine Consciousness.  We needn’t fear being a slave to some cosmic master, rather it can be extremely empowering to feel that we have certainty on the right thing to do and can confidently go forward and implement in the manner most desirable to us.  We welcome the guidance of the “Great Conductor” and play our part in the “Universal Orchestra”.

But I also don’t think the “What to Do” is a solely one-way street.  Sometimes you can “improvise” the part your playing as someone would do playing in a jazz band.  Improvising around a unified theme is common. What allows for this is accessing Universal Consciousness (the big data base in the sky).  It has an infinite set of possibilities that can be accessed.  In this regard, you may have your “key objectives” that the Source has identified for you to achieve for your individual development and for contribution to the evolution of society, but there are also opportunities for exploration on other topics as well.  Anyone can tap into the big data base and pull down ideas.  People in fact do this simultaneously around the world.  That’s why in history, we have witnessed the same thing being invented in two or three different locations at the same time.  The key point is that everything is up there, good and bad, that humans can do. Therefore, it takes individual discernment and alignment with Source Energy and the will to know what is helpful to all of humanity and what is harmful.  Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should do it.

But you may be wondering, so how do I really “know” what Source wants me to do.  Is there going to be an email or text message?  Hmmm, no.  This is where the health of your human energy field is so important – the body (emotional, physical, and mental) is the receiver of the signal.  If that’s fine-tuned, then you’re more likely to receive clearly.  With that box checked off, the next key thing is to start asking questions. That’s how the free will system is set up – it’s up to you to ask for guidance and help.  Just as you would ask your boss at work, “hey, what should I be working on next?” – you can do the same with Source.  You won’t get an email or text, but you will get direction – either via some type of energetic feeling in your body, an “instinct” or “gut reaction”, or some people even start to hear a small or faint voice that provides the direction.

You will often hear people say, “I really should have followed my instincts on that one…”.  The Source is beaming information and guidance 24/7 and usually your fist instinct will come in clearly and be correct especially if you develop the ability to lower your mental noise, eliminate fear and silence the ego.  Here is one way to create a system to understand the divine Source Signal that author and psychotherapist Yvonne Oswald presents in her wonderful book, Every Word has Power:

The inner you, your unconscious mind, which where these answers come from, ‘knows’ much better than your conscious mind the state of the universe as it applies to your needs (not desires), because it has your best interests at heart.  It, along with every one of the fifty to one hundred trillion cells in your body, is eagerly listening to your instructions at this moment.  You can test the method  to find out how much you are in touch with the inner you by simply stating a true or untrue statement and asking yourself what number between one and ten comes up.  So, for me: ‘My name is Jim:  zero out of ten.  My name is Yvonne: ten of ten”.  Do the One-to-Ten decision making  with simple daily decisions at first , such as “How good it for me to have pasta tonight?”  The more quickly you can come with an answer, the more you can trust it.  The one thing to remember is this:  If the number you come up with is five or below, the answer is No.  ‘How good is it for me to…’? is a far better question to ask that “Do I want to …?” Yes, you may want to marry Jim (or Marry), but would it be good for you?  That might be an entirely different matter.  How you ask is extremely important for clear decision making.

My personal GPS signal is an energy surge that runs from my heart region up through my neck and into my head.  When I ask a question and get a positive answer the surge moves in that direction.  When the answer is no, then there is no surge and sometimes a muted feeling near the heart energy center.  The signals vary from person to person, so experiment with Yvonne’s approach and also see if you notice some type of energetic body signal also.  Give it some time, it takes a while to tune in. And, if you don’t get a clear signal, that may be an indication that you need to do work first on optimizing your energy field, lowering your mental noise, and lowering fear.

*Is there a way to know that you are actually connected to source and not something else? Yes. If what you are picking up as a signal and translating into action is based on love and doing things for others in a loving way that leads to unity and not separation, in all aspects of your life, then you’re locked into true Source Energy .  Othwerise, you are distorting the signal and the ego is actually in charge.  And in some cases it is posing as the Source (when religious extremists for example say their actions are based on god’s will).  Anything that is based on fear – hate, violence, anger, unkindness – and leads to separation between people versus unity and oneness, is the opposite of love and therefore the opposite of Source.  And, responding to distortions of Source with your own distortions – violence against violence, hate against hate, unkindness repaid with unkindness, and amplifying the separation or differences between people – is just amplifying the disconnection from Source Energy.  The non-violent efforts of Gandhi, King, and Mandella all showed us how to do it correctly.  Certainly, sometimes the threat is too dire and immediate and just as you need some times to take care of a serious illness with drugs or surgery before you can get to solving the underlying long-term cause, you may also need to take more serious actions on other fronts.  But it has too be the last resort, not the first or second resort…
Manifesting – the Power of Co-Creation with Source Energy

If Source Energy creates everything, and it’s the only “real” thing that exists, then the more you are tapping into it instead of something that is not real (your ego-driven thoughts that are orthogonal to Source) the more powerfully you will be able to create and manifest your physical reality.  This is what often is missing in most guidance on manifesting and the Law of Attraction – the need to optimize the physical and mental connection to divine Source Energy first and then intending with love and the best interests of everyone (not just yourself). This is why everyone who intends a Ferrari doesn’t end up getting one… [there is a group called the Intenders of the Highest Good who show how to do it correctly – their website and books by founder Tony Burroughs are very good.]

Manifesting with Source is about aligning with Divine Consciousness and not the ego.  I’ll leave with you with a beautiful statement on what that means in practice from UK based spiritual teacher Chris Bourne:

It is not just our thoughts that create our reality, it would be more accurate to say our entire consciousness creates it – the sum total of what we are being and expressing through ALL our bodily vehicles of expression. Herein lies the problem when we try to manifest a particular reality; all too often the ego or small “I” is trying to do it. In other words we are trying to make choices based on our conditioned behaviours, our hopes and desires or alternatively as a result of our worries and fears. For example, we feel insecure so we try to manifest a better paid job; we’re uncomfortable being alone so we try to manifest a partner; we’re not happy with our house so we effort to get a better one.

This are all hopes, wishes and desires of the ego, the personality – the small “I”. They are based on controlling thought forms prevalent in our society and conditoned behaviours – fixed neural pathways in the brain generated from our upbringing. However this is only a fraction of our consciousness. Our unique expression of divinity is the soul. We came here to connect with our soul, reintegrate it fully into our lives and allow it complete freedom of expression so that it may glorify our true beingness.  ….Authentic creation happens spontaneously in the moment flowing downwards as energy from our higher self – the highest aspect of the soul closest to the source. When we are truly aligned with this, our creative action happens as one with the natural flow of the Universe – the whole Universe is creating in harmony with us. We may call this “Right Action”. It feels like we are completely ‘in the groove’ so to speak – we align to a natural rhythm in life which is blissful and magical to behold. The act of creating is the act of allowing. In looking within, we see past the distortions of the ego to find what is meant to be. When we know what is meant to be, we become as one with the divine will… the inner most longing of our highest self; we become an open channel and infinite potential is manifested through us, and through us, the infinite cycle is complete.

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

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Paulo Coelho and the One Question God Will Ask You

 

When I thought of what to say recently at my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration, and what that great milestone really means – what came to mind was an interview I heard a couple of years ago between Paulo Coelho and Oprah.  Coelho is the Brazilian author of the book – The Alchemist.  It has sold more than 75 Million copies and is about the spiritual quest and following your dreams.  So, Oprah asks Paulo, “What will God ask you when you meet him?”  Paulo says, Oprah, God is going to ask me, and everyone else, just one question –

“Did you Love Enough?”

I thought to myself, that’s it isn’t it.  That’s the core of this whole thing we call life.  Life-time after life-time of trying to master this one thing. And a marriage, especially one lasting fifty years, is a lot of time to practice.

But what is ‘Enough Love’?  

The image that appeared in my mind was that of a circle, and you standing in the middle.  Then around this circle are  ever expanding circles, like ripples of water on a lake when you drop a stone.  These circles represent ever expanding levels of love.  The smallest circle in the middle, with you standing in it, is love for your self.  One circle further out is your spouse and direct family.  Further out, your extended family.  Further still are co-workers, then neighbors, then your community, country, and so on till you reach the furthest circle which is unconditional love for all beings and the planet.  That’s the point where you see no difference between yourself and anything else – All is One.  That’s where God resides.

And so to me, that is what Paulo Coelho was saying – God is going to ask you how far out from yourself did you extend unconditional love?

Now, for me, my parents are great examples of traveling out on those circles.  Certainly the love they’ve given and give every day to themselves and their children is magnificent.  If there are two people on the planet I can count on without hesitation, it’s them.  And, I think many of us  are fortunate to be able to say the same about our parents. My parents also showed over the last fifty years, the ability to venture farther out and show great acts of kindness and compassion to others farther out from themselves.

And, as I thought deeper about the circles of love, I wondered are there some tools one uses to more effectively make that journey beyond ourselves?  What I remembered was a conversation I had last year while on a bike ride.  I started riding the initial stage with the event organizer.  It turned out he was a professor of psychology at a local university.  So we started talking and exchanging the usual information.  He asked if I was married – I told him yes, and had a couple of children.  He replied, he was divorced for the 2nd time just recently.

He then looked at me and said “I know what you’re thinking, a psychology professor should know better, right?”.  I replied – “well, I mean, yes, the thought had occurred.”  We laughed and rode some more. I then told him that I had been married for close to 2o years and I had learned that for marriage, and all relationships really, there are three things that allow us to achieve happiness – Acceptance, Forgiveness, and Gratitude.  

He replied that he had been coming to the same conclusion as he thought about how not to trip up on wife #3.  With that, I told him to go ride with this nice woman up ahead who was by herself.  He did…wife #3 was in sight…

When we accept our spouse or anyone for exactly who they are and their particular strengths and weaknesses they have and the individual things they are learning and experiencing as part of their path, then we remove the separation between us and acknowledge the underlying truth of who we are – highly interconnected spiritual beings.  When we forgive, we recognize that we’re not always going to get everything right, and that every moment is new, the past doesn’t exist and doesn’t matter.  And, gratitude, is the core recognition of what’s truly important and meaningful.  When you appreciate, by definition, you love.

My parents have shown me all three of these qualities countless times over the years and I’ve seen them show others on circles of love further out from themselves.  For sure, we sometimes get out to higher level circles, and then we fall back.  Achieving unconditional love in this material reality when things look so different on the surface is not easy.  It’s hard.  My parents and of course all of us face that on a daily basis.  But if we have the right dedication and an open heart, we pick ourselves up, and take our 3 tools of acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude and march outwards again towards Love and Higher Levels of Consciousness.

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

**Sign up for the Think Smarter World Newsletter here and download a Free Copy of my book – Think Smarter in a Digitally Enabled World**

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The Inner Beauty of Miranda Macpherson

Spiritual teacher Miranda Macpherson, born and raised in Australia, now lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay area.  Her work focuses on helping individuals awaken spiritually by moving beyond the dualistic / material world view into a state of understanding Oneness.  Here are some of her words in various topic areas:

Spiritual Awakening

Spiritual awakening is not about trying to be kinder, nicer, sweeter, better via repressing our darker urges.  Why try to become something that your natural being already abundantly is?  Authentic awakening is an invitation to look inside, open to whatever is present, with sincere interest to meet the truth of whatever that happens to be so that Grace can reveal more of Itself.

At certain junctures of evolution, death is required.  However, what dies off are merely self-images which we have taken to be of the self.  These images and identities run very deep and hold together our ego structure and known sense of reality, keeping us bound in experiences of fear, deficiency, and separation.  Even seemingly positive self-images at some point block the way as often we are using them to compensate for our sense of separation.  Most people go through life suppressing all of this, living on the surface of them-selves through keeping busy and distracted, yet this kind of suppression costs us contact with our soul.  To live a meaningful life where we continue unfolding, we must learn to befriend the empty spaces where we are not controlling the course.  This allows for shedding of old identities, structures and ways of being both internal and external that are no longer true.  Ultimately , we are invited to surrender everything — that’s how grace, of the hand of divine mystery can spring forth abundantly from within us...Love as spacious allowing, supports our capacity to inquire what obscures the truth of our being.  With real love, we can explore our attachments, defenses, and our habits of closure with truthfulness.

Moving Beyond Fear

Being the light of the world asks us to let the grace we open to and accept inwardly integrate though all the dimensions of our being, translating as deeper maturity, wisdom, and love in the way we walk through the world. This dimension of awakening requires deep dedication and persistence, so that our core centre of gravity – the consciousness from which we instinctively operate, shifts away from fear to a greater embodiment of love.

Actualizing the light asks us to be spiritual warriors.  This begins by being profoundly honest with ourselves about the places we get caught, and then learning how to be with ourselves with non-judgment.  From a ground of compassionate self-honesty, we are asked to courageously open through our fears, our sense of shame, our sense of lack, our pride, etc, whether we see that inside ourselves or projected onto another, and rest un-defended.  In defenseless meeting of what we usually deny and project, the unreality of our fears begins to expose itself, and therefore the defensive structures around those fears naturally release.  The result is more space within our psyche – less obstruction.  We become clearer and more transparent.  The light that is our true nature is freer to shine and radiate from the reality of God.

Trust and True Desire

Deep trust is the necessary foundation for the work of genuine spiritual awakening to occur.  Without a sense of truth that we are held, it is very difficult to dive inwards through and beyond who you think you are, and your known sense of reality.  Without trust that love is present, it is too terrifying to meet your fears and misidentifications and open into the void when all your instincts scream to run the other way.  Without trust in something deeper and more encompassing than your ego, getting out the way is virtually impossible.  Developing ever deeper trust is a major key in how to be the light.

In tandem with trust is true desire.  In order to genuinely wake up spiritually, we must really want truth, value truth and love truth above all else.  We must love and value it more than we value certain things, circumstances, or people.  Yet to be human is to be attached to particular outcomes, so most of us hover between wanting truth and wanting our ego desires to be gratified.  This just exposes how identified we are with our ego consciousness.  We need not berate ourselves for this fact, but just be honest about it.  From there we begin to explore what we truly want and value, and look closely toward what is capable of delivering on its promise.  Learning to love and value what is timeless, changeless and always present supports our capacity to trust opening into unknown territory.

A truly beautiful soul…  listen to her interview with Rick Archer on Buddha at the Gas Pump below:

~Jay Kshatri

www.ThinkSmarterWorld.com

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