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Once you have disidentified from your mind, whether you are right or wrong makes no difference to your sense of self at all, so the forcefully compulsive and deeply unconscious need to be right, which is a form of violence, will no longer be there.
Your sense of self is then derived from a deeper and truer place within yourself, not from the mind.
Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. True power is within,
Life is now.
Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.
In the Now, in the absence of time, all your problems dissolve. Suffering needs time; it cannot survive in the Now.
Through self-observation, more presence comes into your life
Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped in it.
Be present as the watcher of your mind — of your thoughts and emotions as well as your reactions in various situations.
The enlightened person’s main focus of attention is always the Now, but they are still peripherally aware of time.
Your life’s journey is no longer an adventure, just an obsessive need to arrive, to attain, to “make it.” You no longer see or smell the flowers by the wayside either, nor are you aware of the beauty and the miracle of life that unfolds all around you when you are present in the Now.
Be present.
Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.
Your life situation exists in time. Your life is now. Your life situation is mind-stuff. Your life is real.
Use your senses fully. Be where you are. Look around. Just look, don’t interpret. See the light, shapes, colors, textures. Be aware of the silent presence of each thing. Be aware of the space that allows everything to be. Listen to the sounds; don’t judge them. Listen to the silence underneath the sounds. Touch something — anything — and feel and acknowledge its Being. Observe the rhythm of your breathing; feel the air flowing in and out, feel the life energy inside your body. Allow everything to be, within and without.
To feel present, I go through all five senses.
As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease.
do not be concerned with the fruit of your action — just give attention to the action itself. The fruit will come of its own accord.
When your deeper sense of self is derived from Being, when you are free of “becoming” as a psychological need, neither your happiness nor your sense of self depends on the outcome, and so there is freedom from fear.
“nothing real can be threatened.”
To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for your fulfillment.
The best indicator of your level of consciousness is how you deal with life’s challenges when they come.
You can use a challenge to awaken you, or you can allow it to pull you into even deeper sleep.
darkness cannot survive in the presence of light.
Once you know how to dissolve ordinary unconsciousness, the light of your presence will shine brightly, and it will be much easier to deal with deep unconsciousness whenever you feel its gravitational pull.
“Am I at ease at this moment?” is a good question to ask yourself frequently.
“What’s going on inside me at this moment?”
Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary rea...
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Healing and redemption are available right now.
When you have been practicing acceptance for a while, as you have, there comes a point when you need to go on to the next stage, where those negative emotions are not created anymore. If you don’t, your “acceptance” just becomes a mental label that allows your ego to continue to indulge in unhappiness and so strengthen its sense of separation from other people, your surroundings, your here and now.
To complain is always nonacceptance of what is.
When you complain, you make yourself into a victim.
remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.
Keep your inner space clear.
Don’t let the fear rise up into your mind. Use the power of the Now. Fear cannot prevail against it.
accept your here and now totally by dropping all inner resistance. The false, unhappy self that loves feeling miserable, resentful, or sorry for itself can then no longer survive. This is called surrender.
Only a surrendered person has spiritual power.
Observe the mind. Smile at it.
With every kind of waiting, you unconsciously create inner conflict between your here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future, where you want to be.
You can improve your life situation, but you cannot improve your life. Life is primary. Life is your deepest inner Being. It is already whole, complete, perfect.
Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity.
next time somebody says, “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” you can reply, “That’s all right, I wasn’t waiting. I was just standing here enjoying myself — in joy in my self.”
Your life’s journey has an outer purpose and an inner purpose.
Outer = Horizontal
Inner = Vertical
Whatever you need to know about the unconscious past in you, the challenges of the present will bring it out.
Close your eyes and say to yourself: “I wonder what my next thought is going to be.” Then become very alert and wait for the next thought.
My mind went blank! An activity to try when overthinking!
As long as you are in a state of intense presence, you are free of thought. You are still, yet highly alert.
BEAUTY ARISES IN THE STILLNESS OF YOUR PRESENCE
the essence of everything that ever has been and ever will be is eternally present in an unmanifested state of oneness and perfection
Whenever you watch the mind, you withdraw consciousness from mind forms,
To listen to the silence, wherever you are, is an easy and direct way of becoming present.
If you are drawn to an enlightened teacher, it is because there is already enough presence in you to recognize presence in another.
Use the master’s presence to reflect your own identity beyond name and form back to you and to become more intensely present yourself.
