Maps & Traps
All maps are black & white;
mere pointings to the love & light.
As such, in truth, a trap is not;
yet here we are as you forgot.
Waking from this ever-nap;
here we go with
maps and
traps.
The Immutable Laws
Immutable: not capable of or susceptible to change.
The Immutable Laws are that which is already the case, prior to thought & belief,
and a joy to be discovered, seen and shared.
The Law of Divine Oneness
Everything is connected to, with, as - is - everything else. All seeming separation is in actuality one indivisible inseparable whole, and thus what is thought, said, done, believed & focused upon does indeed not only shape direct experience, but also cascades correspondingly for all. This is sometimes pointed to with the terms ‘butterfly effect’, Oneness, and Nonduality, or, ‘not two’.
“In reality, which means in our actual experience, all experience is one seamless substance. The duality between the inside self and the outside object, world or other is never actually experienced.
It is always imagined.”
Rupert Spira
Law of Vibration
The experiential universe which seemingly consists of physically separate people and things is in actuality vibrationally apparent. ‘You’ are a vibrational being. As the universe is vibration, there is no actuality of separation; there is apparent, seeming, assumed separation.
All seemingly fixed or separate things & objects, are in actuality vibrationally robust, ineffable, undefinable, unconditional “energy”. All ‘things’ are not only interconnected but ‘move’, unfold, in unseen yet discernible circular oscillational patterns. Each ‘thing’, including sounds, thoughts, emotions & desires is frequency.
Some terms which point to this Law - that experience, reality, creation is a vibration of Divine Oneness are The Circle of Life, The Golden Ration, Pie, Going Full Circle, Spiral Dynamics, The Fibonacci Sequence, DNA, Atomic & Quantum Mechanics, The Path and The Spiral Of Life, Aliveness, Wholeness and Completeness.
The Law of Vibration is the Law of Divine Oneness ‘hidden in plain sight’ and is the most fundamental key to conscious creator-ship. To acknowledge & recognize the truth of the universe being vibrational appearance, please visit The Emotional Scale.
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
Nikola Tesla
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.”
Albert Einstein
Law of inspired Action
The Law of Inspired Action points to apparent action indicative of a vibrationally apparent being seemingly in a vibrationally apparent universe. The Law of Action states that in aiming to manifesting one’s dream, one must allow alignment of thought with feeling, which is synonymous with inspired action.
Motivation is action with a motive, and is a facade of thoughts about a separate self - doing. The chief motive is along the lines of - so I’ll feel better, be happier, more whole, complete and fulfilled. The indirect underlying belief is that you are not already happiness, whole & complete beyond measure.
Alignment of thought with feeling is alignment of vibrational being with infinite being - that which is vibrationally appearing. Put another way, it is the alignment of a creator, with and as - The Creator, such that the implication of two is dispelled & obliterated. Inspiration means in-spirit-in-action.
Alignment is often pointed to with terms like equanimity of the mind, body & emotions, being ‘in spirit’ or ‘spirited’, flow or flow state, streaming or stream entry, authenticity, honesty, sincerity, humility or most simply - being.
“What a man can be, he must be. This need we call self realization”.
Abraham Maslow
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
Gospel of Thomas
“You can definitely vacuum without it being plugged in,
but you won’t really be getting much done.”
Esther Hicks
Law of Correspondence
The Law of Correspondence states, from the micro to the macro - the Whole of experience - that what’s experienced as around us is vibrationally synchronistic - a perfect match - to what’s going on within us. This is the case not only for direct experience, but collectively as well.
This law is sometimes referred to with the analogy of ‘rose colored glasses’; when one is wearing rose colored glasses, indeed, all seems rose colored and reality is not ‘seen as it is’.
The Law of Correspondence highlights alignment of thought with feeling (and no longer attempting to align feeling with thought). This law also highlights the right-now-only guidance of emotion, for right-now thought(s).
For example, when there is an experience of the thought(s) that someone is wrong, bad or evil… what’s felt is, judgement. The judgement is not felt by the judged; only by ‘the judge’.
As another example, when experience is ‘held’ to be someone’s fault - all the world, the whole of experience… is ‘colored’ with the tinted glasses of blame. When the guidance of emotion is acknowledged and respectfully (and often humbly) received, it is revealed the undesirable emotion of blame is how the thought feels. So too for anger and other discordant emotions. As The Buddha said, anger is like holding a hot coal while believing someone else is feeling the burn.
To recognize The Law of Correspondence is to recognize you are the creator of your reality; you truly hold the power. In recognition of Divine Oneness; ‘praise & blame are all the same’. Rather than go down the road of ‘toxic people’, or us and them thinking; employ self-respect in acknowledging the burn of and the guidance for; judgement, othering and separatism.
The ‘rose colored glasses’ effect of un-inspected judgements can play a role in undesirable discordant cycles and patterns repeating. What focus is lended to, more of is experienced - without exception. If someone or something doesn’t resonate - drop it. Rather than judge, blame or fault - no longer lend focus or attention to it.
What you allow around you shows up within you; what you allow within you shows up around you. Such is the poignant message of not eating from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good & evil’. To ‘eat from the tree’ is to mistake believing, for “knowing”, and to ‘put it in you’ - to adorn the rose colored glasses. If & when you do believe that you know good from evil, what is overlooked is the nondual nature of Goodness - that there is no such thing as evil. Tempting as it may be - judgement is not an exception to focus and that whatever focus is lent to, more of is experienced. It is in this way you are creating your reality effortlessly.
In thinking over what and where you lend your focus, consider what energizes & inspires you and what drains & depletes you. Keep in mind that what can be draining and depleting for one can very well be energizing & inspiring for another. Also bear in mind while experience can influence how you feel and how you react - how you feel is influencing what you experience. Rather than react, essentially ‘going with’ feeling reactively - take pause and… respond in alignment. As you do, watch your reality, relationships & endeavors quite astoundingly match the vibration you’re offering. Experience infectiousness and inherent attraction-ness of ‘getting out of your own way’ this first hand. Allow the universe as it were to reveal it’s magical playfulness.
One way to feel the Law of Correspondence at work is to recognize projection. As you’re experiencing thoughts and employing behaviors and actions - question first - is it discordant, or aligned?
To allow The Law of Correspondence in action is to allow introspection. Allow the situations, circumstances and experiences to reveal any inner ‘work’ to be done / limiting beliefs to be inspected & dispelled. This is liberation, and ‘seeing reality as it is’.
When the ‘inner world’ of thought, emotion and feeling are allowed to align - the ‘outer world’ miraculously begins to change in accordance with what you desire, envision and focus upon.
Law of Cause and Effect
Keeping The Law of Divine Oneness in mind, the Law of Cause & Effect points out there is in actuality no luck, chances, randomness, chaos or odds. There is an experience of the thoughts, but like the word unicorn, there isn’t an actuality which the thoughts point to. Experience, creation - the spheres, are One indivisible Whole.
This Law is sometimes referred to as “We Reap What We Sow”, or “The Golden Rule”, and it pertains to all thoughts, behaviors, actions, communications and all creations within & as, divine creation. It’s not about the giving of things such as money or objects, though there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s about giving yourself, the real unconditional you - to the ordinary - an infusion which impossibly transmutes the ordinary into the extraordinary.
The Law of Cause & Effect also points to the lessor known Law of Deservedness which states that you are inherently, indisputably deserving. This law truly highlights the importance of genuine expression as an ongoing exercise or practice as it is entirely possible, when just beginning to contemplate The Immutable Laws - to be saying one thing, and yet unknowingly & more deeply believing something else in regard to yourself.
To spot, or bring into the light any underlying yet-to-be-noticed discordant beliefs, one need only look to how one feels, and or the circumstances of one’s own life to begin to realize the correspondence therein. To transmute said underlying beliefs, is to bring the belief to it’s source, or to bring the source within you to the illuminating & transmuting of the belief.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world”
Mahatma Gandhi
“…I really came into being the day I no longer cared about what the world thought of me; only on my thoughts for changing the world.”
- Suzy Kassem
“Perception creates possibility, and possibility creates reality.”
- Abhijit Naskar
“Change your perspective and the world will change for you.”
- Shesh Nath Vernwal
Law of Compensation
The Law of Compensation is sometimes referred to as “You Get What You Give”, or “You Get Out What You Put In”. This Universal Law applies to the infinite abundance that is readily available & provided for us in accordance with our thoughts, intentions, actions, behaviors and words. The visible effects of our deeds are bestowed upon us as kindness, gifts, money, inheritances, opportunities, friendships & blessings. Yet, much, much more so - the giver of unconditional love, of selflessness, can not help but bask in the love that Is.
.
“To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work.”
Sister Mary Lauretta
“You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
Mark Twain
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.”
Buddha
Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction denotes how we create the experiential ‘things’, events, circumstances and situations of our lives. Our thoughts, emotions, words, and actions perpetually transmute “energy” into vibration which in turn attracts like, similar energies, or ‘things’, events & circumstances in kind. Focus upon wanted attracts desired circumstances, relationships & outcomes.
The Law of Attraction is the recognition of the right-now-synchronicity, and the appreciation resulting in coherence of the vibration of your desires, with the vibration of your thoughts, emotions and inspired actions.
The universe is fundamentally & eternally unconditional. Effortlessly & intrinsically, simply by experiencing, preferences are created and arise naturally within and manifest effortlessly. These preferences are made manifest ‘in the physical’ by the inexplicable magic of focus, which by The Law Of Divine Oneness, is always (quite literally) breathing life into creation. For a deeper & more intimate understanding of The Law of Attraction please visit The Emotional Scale.
If you experience dedicating your focus and energy to The Law of Attraction, only to find “it doesn’t work”, look to The Law of Correspondence, and of Transmutation, and give special care & attention to The Law of Deservedness.
“If something you want is slow to come to you, it can be for only one reason:
You are spending more time focused upon its absence than you are about its presence. If.”
Esther Hicks
Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy
All persons have within them the power to change the conditions of their lives. Higher vibrations transform lower vibrations; thus, each of us can change the energies in our lives by understanding the Universal Laws and applying the principles in such a way as to effect change in accordance & alignment with our desires.
Mastery of this Law can be initially elusive, as it is the ever-presence of consciously creating, or, the fundamental simplicity of focusing upon the better feeling thought, and the relinquishing of focusing upon that which does not resonate with what is preferred or wanted.
This Law is often referred to as “Turning Pain Into Beauty”, “Rising From The Ashes”, “Being The Phoenix”, and “Being Your Own Hero”.
That which you might one day believe to be a source of pain, guilt, or shame can - by the transmutative power within you - transform your mind & life, unleashing the lion within.
Law of Relativity
The Law of Relativity points to the ineffable actuality & acuity of there being no absolute truth of luck, randomness, chance or coincidence. This applies to everything from the current state of the planet and all of it’s ongoings, to a single text, phone call or email you receive.
The whole of experience is whole, and is relative to and inseparable of Divine Oneness, and as such the lessons & opportunities to align - to enrich, deepen and enlighten - are always presenting themselves.
The profound beauty of The Law of Relativity, is that it perpetually points to the intrinsic and ever-available guidance of that which is & is not.
The Law of Relativity is without exception and states that there is nothing within experience which is not apparent (relative), and awareness of this is being in accordance with awareness of The Law of Divine Oneness.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Max Planck
"How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress."
Neils Bohr
The Law of Polarity
The Law of Polarity points to the heart of the nature & actionable aspect of creation; focus & thought. This Law states that experience is whole, and is a continuum without an opposite. All apparent thoughts within the continuum have an apparent opposite, by which meaning, language, communication & togetherness in Divine Oneness can be.
Up essentially means not down, and down means not up. Left means not right, and right means not left. The thought that there is an exception to The Law of Polarity can rightfully be met with the thought that there is no exception to the Law of Polarity.
There is always the opportunity to focus upon the opposite of a discordant feeling thought. That is, when focused upon what you do not want, what you do want is never hidden from you or out of feeling-sight; you’re feeling the guidance of Divine Consciousness as a creator.
Focus upon discordant or undesirable thoughts creates undesirable interpretations, perspectives, expectations, relationships, experiences & outcomes. Focus upon aligned, or, resonating desirable thoughts, in accordance with the goodness of feeling, are infused by the true nature, and thus create desirable interpretations, perspectives, expectations, relationships, experiences & outcomes.
The Law of Polarity is often referred to as “The Law of Mental Vibration”, or most simple put, ‘your vibration’.
The expansion of the ‘finite mind’ equates to the deepening of the realization that all polarity is an impression of thoughts. Non-attachment to thought leads to, uncovers, the realization of the ineffable completeness and creativity of infinite mind, and the true wholeness of experience that is the divine true nature. That is, there is no greater wisdom or joy than that of the mind discovering, being & sharing, that which it is made of.
Law of Rhythm
Everything vibrates and moves with, to & in rhythm with everything else. These rhythms establish seasons, cycles, stages of development, births & deaths, and all patterns within the Universe, as well as within you. Each cycle reflects the divine regularity, equanimity, and fairness of infinite being & the truth of creator-creating-creation.
Mastery of The Law of Rhythm is the transcendence of the ‘finite self’ of thoughts, and the seeing of the ‘bigger picture’, and correspondingly abiding in, as and of the true nature in times of peace, as well as in times of great challenge & adversity.
A pointing to the dignity of The Law of Rhythm; ‘what must be created is created, what must be experienced is experienced, and what must be destroyed is destroyed’.
“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
love is knowing I am everything;
and between the two my life moves.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj
“Know yourself as nothing; feel yourself as everything.”
Rupert Spira
“From the day we arrive on the planet - and blinking, step into the sun… there's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done. There's far too much to take in here. More to find than can ever be found - but the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky keeps great and small on the endless round . It's the Circle of Life and it moves us all. Through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place on the path unwinding, in the circle - The Circle of Life.”
Tim Rice
“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”
Jesus
Law of Gender
The Law of Gender is manifest in all things as ‘masculine and feminine’, and all combinations & mixtures therein, originated by the primordial ‘swirl’ of Divine Oneness. It is this Law that manifests & governs what we know as The Law of Polarity, and the true wholeness of experience, or, that-there-is-creation.
This Law decrees everything in nature carries within itself both aspects of masculine and feminine, and that both are required not only for life to exist, but for one to self-realize.
This Law is seen clearly as the transcendental vantage point, to the apparent polarity of adaptation vs conscious creation. It is the ‘stirring’ that is all desires.
The Law of Gender is often said to be the gateway to the realization and actualization of profound compassion, empathy - the whole of experience and the true selflessness of infinite being, in accordance with The Divine Law of Oneness.
“When you make the two one, and when you make the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper as the lower, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male is not male and the female not female, and when you make eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then shall you enter [the kingdom].”
Jesus
The Ten Ox-herding Stages of Zen
From of The Maha Gopalaka Sutta, an interpretation.
Searching
In spite of the guidance…
One is experiencing discord & suffering and has not yet acknowledged one is denying this.
One is believing thoughts are true, and is unaware of this, due to believing thoughts are true. One has no direct experience, no reference point, of an emptied & quieted mind. Creation is objectified via conditioning; Self is subjectified.
One is favoring ‘being right’, over bringing an end to suffering. One cares more about what one thinks, than how one feels. One deflects and projects, dismissing the notion of adopting the practice, without noticing one is deflecting & projecting.
One begins to question the nature of oneself, the nature of suffering, of deflection & projection, and the origin & true nature of the universe and experience of reality therein.
The search is often brought about by loss, fear, suffering, feeling incomplete, unworthy, insecure, powerless, a sense something is lacking, something is wrong with oneself, or simply by intuition & curiosity.
The search might also arise from ‘having it all’, yet intuitively sensing there is much more to life and experience which remains veiled.
seeing the footprints
Seeking to rectify this, one begins the search for Truth / the end of suffering, and discovers the plethora of materials, teachers & teachings available; as if appearing ‘right out of the woodwork’. As if manifesting, inexplicably. One is initially overwhelmed by the vast amount of teachings, practices, methods, advice & suggestions available, because one is still believing thoughts.
Therein, one believes in right & wrong and good & bad, and searches for the ‘right teachers & teachings’, the ‘good teachers & good teachings’. One mistakenly frames the search as ‘trust’, (who to believe) and proceeds in an attempt to decipher ‘who to trust’ in one’s continued deflecting & projecting. Therein, one’s dismissal of the relevance of adopting the practice for oneself is yet to be noticed.
One continues to suffer, and thus soon adopts the practice of meditation, intuitively drawn to peace, stillness & silence; though there may be no understanding as to why one is adopting the practice.
In initially adopting the practice, one begins to see the root of suffering is not the world, but the conflicts and in-equanimity arising ‘in’, or, of one’s own mind.
One begins to witness deflection & projection in one’s own ‘inner’ experience.
The footprints of the ox are ‘seen’ as dots connect between discordant thoughts & beliefs, reactionary behaviors & actions (suffering)… and the opportunities, and the course, trajectory or orientation of one’s life.
In renewed & expanded open mindedness via undergoing the practice, the cessation of suffering is considered to be possible; yet remains unseen, un-grasped, unrealized, unrecognized & un-manifest.
One begins to question the collective & status quo, finding short term satisfaction in logic & reason and thinking for oneself, rather than continuing to ‘fall in with the herd’ or seek refuge in avoidance & aversion, by adhering to norms, dogmas, beliefs and conjecture.
One begins to glimpse that feeling good based on what others think or say, such as with seeking & receiving validation and approval, is an insecure facade riddled with difficult emotional ups & downs.
Glimpsing
Dots connect between the struggles, hostilities and plights of the outer world experienced, and the ‘inner’ conflicts experienced in & as the conflicting thoughts and asymmetries of one’s own mind.
With a calmer, practiced mind, direct experience is inspected. Validation of what the seeker has heard from teachers & learned from teachings begins to be seen, glimpsed ever so slightly, first hand.
As discord is discovered & aligned in the ‘inner world’, new perspectives & ways of being, living, and relating to the ‘outer world’ and others are refreshingly experienced.
The ever-increasing feeling of alignment is questioned to be the ‘substance’ in & of itself, of confirmation, as alignment is suspected to be, by how it feels - the ‘real’, the undeniable visceral & intrinsic validation of the practice, thus validating what the teachers can never speak, but are all pointing to.
This is a joyful and promising stage on the path, as the glimpse of this new way resonates intuitively with the very calling by which the seeking, practice and search originated.
Peaks of empowerment & inspiration begin to arise, as the reactionary and discordant thoughts, behaviors & actions begin to be illuminated, and more clearly seen, and thus, no longer fed attention in the same manor as they once were.
Reactionary actions & behavior begin to acquiesce as grace is glimpsed; as one learns to take pause; and then.
Dots connect between suffering, conditioning, limiting beliefs, reactionary living, collective paradigms, judgement, beliefs in lack, shortage, unworthiness, powerlessness, un-deservedness… and one’s actions which are in contradiction to one’s desire - the living of the life which is the dream within to be manifest & experienced ‘in the flesh’.
The significance of this with respect to the world, with creation at large, remains veiled by self referential and subject-object thoughts.
Desire is acknowledged, yet clarity as to the truth of desire remains obscured - by the very activity of thought.
Doubt is experienced & recognized as discordant, yet is not fully understood as to why that is. Whereas it seemed before there was persistent suffering, now it seems suffering is intermittent. Why this is experientially so remains a mystery.
Deflection & projection, yet to be fully expressed, inspected & dispelled persists, and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
The relevance of the inspection of self referential & subject-object thoughts is unappreciated & un-applied - and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
Catching
Now aware of the significance of direct experience, and the physiological benefits & feeling of alignment from the practice and inspection, a new glimpse is seen - that of the truly radical magnitude and apparent depth of conditioning.
One is becoming more acutely aware of patterns of craving, clinging & averting, and of reaction & suppression, which have thus far been unknowingly at the helm of one’s life - living as if only a gear within a greater clock that is the universe.
Countless questions arise as the mind is both brightened by, and confronted, confused, & confounded by these discoveries.
Here diligence to the practice, mindfulness, and ‘remaining’ present, are realized to be of greater & greater ineffable significance.
This can be a most difficult stage, as conditioning which had been unknowingly and innocently adopted & suppressed is more fully coming to light, arising analogous to a meal which didn’t taste good in the first place & never settled, which is now coming up & out to be released - it doesn’t taste any better coming up and emptying out than it did going down. Yet, this is the way.
… and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
Expression is discovered to be most key, as reactionary causal living & existence has begun to be seen as not really ‘awake’, or as any real quality of living at all. Much anger & rage can arise; an outlet of expression is key as logic and reason will no longer do.
Motive, that is, the projection of the very feeling sought, onto others, things & future outcomes, begins to be seen as surface level living, an unsatisfying inspirationally hollow facade. Old thought patterns & beliefs, still arising, are met with mindfulness as more of the shadow of old is brought into the newly allowed light of awareness.
Animalistic reactive aggressions are now felt with more intensity & sensitivity, as they inevitably come ‘up & out’. The trap of aversion from the practice itself is stronger than ever, as the deep and seemingly sophisticated belief in causation begins to empty; to come up, and out. The futility of resistance to expression & release is not yet seen with clarity.
‘Energy’, and ‘relaxation’, are seen to be mere concepts in the old paradigm, as the feeling-realization of the actuality to which these words point has begun.
Though every one can, very few make it this far on the path; far fewer continue.
… and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
Patience, deeper relaxation within, stillness of mind & equanimity of emotion become respectfully realized as the self-evident curative way of being, as much discord and bodily contraction empties.
True humility is glimpsed, felt, and understood to be ineffable & incommunicable. Only the direct of communion will do. One see’s one is in the passenger seat, and has deeply been believing one is in the driver’s seat.
Well being in general is brought into question, as the light of awareness shines on one’s choices in regard to diet, health, relationships, and discordant & aligned thoughts focused upon.
Taming
As the practiced mind calms & clears, the body undergoes an emptying of suppression, as it relates to emotion and dualistic misinterpretations.
Via the practice - stillness & the way of non is grasped, such as non-engagement, non-judgement, non-reaction, non-focus and non-violence.
The ‘cup’ continues to empty such that empathy, understanding, and true compassion & wisdom now have a space to arise within and fill. The tiniest of glimpses of the truth of the Fullness and Wholeness of emptiness are directly experienced, while the actuality of infinity still remains veiled.
This stage calls for continued diligence & patience, healing and forgiveness of self & others.
As expression continues, the mind empties of beliefs, dualistic thought habit, over-activity, and the rumination of self referential & subject-object thoughts; thus allowing patience & the spaciousness which is the actuality of self-soothing, self-acceptance, self-forgiveness, self-reliance and self-love.
Most tempting it is here to help others, to teach, to preach, to advise…
… and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
That one can not ‘do it all one’s self’ is realized. That is, sayings of surrender like ‘give it to God’, and the ‘power of letting go’ are more deeply resonating & appreciated and mindfully & swiftly employed.
Conscious-feeling-response, rather than unconscious-mental-reaction, intrinsically arises and is enjoyed as it is more & more naturally pronounced.
This is first true hint, of the Truth & True Nature.
While unthinkable, unbelievable, and ineffable; This is unmistakable, inherently by how This feels.
The practiced, emptied, opened & expanded mind, in conjunction with the ‘emptied’ body, are now more naturally - effortlessly - culminating as a new clarity and a more single pointed focus, aligned with & attentive to the mind’s ‘higher’ guidance, ‘it’s very ‘substance’, that to which ‘feeling’ points.
So wonderful and unbelievable it is, that the happening is claimed… as obtained & attained.
…and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
In this natural & intrinsic alignment arises renewal, depth, acuity and heightened perception & sensitivity of sensation.
The reality of ever-present guidance in far less intermittent, as is the suffering of focusing upon discord.
Real change occurs in regard to non-dwelling, non-complaining, non-venting, and non-judgement; as the taste & actuality of true freedom is now firmly glimpsed to be - much more than a series of fleeting glimpses.
Swiftness of ability to shift focus in accordance with feeling-guidance becomes the Way & the paramount order of every day.
Often, this is a time of introspection, reflection, deeper acceptance & forgiveness, and care for any lingering discord in matters of relationships with others, as the actuality of communion with source is soon to be realized as universe-wide; infinite.
The reality of universal harmony and correlations with presence, focus & creatorship become clearer. The Immutable Laws are examined and now begin to ring true. Much pain is transmutated as much beauty, unification and purification are underway, soon to be seen for what they really are, and aren’t.
Riding Home
Here the practice, introspection & inspection of direct experience, expression and allowing & receiving of emotional guidance coalesce as focus upon what is wanted.
All that is begins to coalesce; dualities collapse.
A relaxed body-mind becomes the norm.
Ease of being is more actual & more real.
The seeker still longs for explanation for this greatness; longs for understanding - yet to inspect self referential & subject-object thoughts to their completion…
…and the practice is adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned, adhered to, and abandoned.
Confirmation of the words of mystics is glimpsed first hand in direct experience. The fruits of dedication to the practice and the willingness of earnest expression now fully ripen and become the effortless norm.
Joy is manifest. Happiness is real.
Experience is no longer veiled by the facade of black & white thought activity; one is not moved by causation nor internal conflicts & polarities, and the notion of oneness, the mystery that is, begins to deeply & intuitively resound and resonate.
The actuality and nonduality of trust in the universe is realized with clarity, as all which does not serve is swiftly released & and all which does is received in non-attachment, natural joy & appreciation, and in effortless equanimity.
The mind, ever-expanding, tastes the true nature & creativity of its source, and has unmistakably ‘returned’ Home. Aligned & abiding in, of, and as nonlocalized-presence, the mind is naturally focused and free of resistance.
Childlike fun & lightheartedness has ‘returned’ to stay.
Glimpses become incredibly deep, and are no longer intermittent, but readily accessible and never so far as to be out of reach of the peaceful mind, filled each day with insights.
Awareness is realized to be non-local; ‘filling the room’.
Miraculous, delightful, unthinkable actuality.
Transcending Other
Home. The Great Relief, The Great Rest.
Dissipation, abidance of being, true embodiment of compassion.
Notions of harming, hurting, outsmarting, righteousness, manipulation, pride, arrogance, vanity of the body or mind, the need to understand or be understood, to validate or seek validation no longer arise; they came with forgetting the ox; they left with remembering the ox. Ineffable freedom never left. Emotion & intuition guides; far superior than did the activity of thought.
For all of the seeker’s diligence, inner battles & relinquishments, trials & tribulations; nothing was lost, nothing is gained, and nothing is realized.
Transcending Self-And-Other
Nothing remains; self, no self, other, no other, world, no world, body, no body, mind, no mind, negation, non-negation, phenomena, non-phenomena; nothing remains.
Wisdom, ignorance, seeking, finding, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, breathing, knowledge, understanding, awareness, consciousness, infinite, finite, formless, form, universe, non-universe, Truth, The True Nature; all notions are dispelled by direct experience; being.
Nothing is perfection; perfection is nothing.
Walking for the first time, seeing for the first time, hearing for the first time, feeling for the first time, breathing for the first time, speaking for the first time, knowing for the first time, understanding for the first time; never walking, never seeing, never hearing, never feeling, never breathing, never speaking, never knowing, never understanding.
Distinctions of conceptual vs direct experience, idea vs actuality, path vs not path; having gone full circle have all joyfully collapsed - never having truly occurred, as what is illusory is clearly seen from what is real.
The bottom of the bucket has fallen away; discord & suffering are short lived if at all, falling through the ‘bucket’ without resistance. Compassion ever-arises & fills, pouring out & through the emptied vessel, where conditioning once dwelt.
Presence is intrinsically spontaneous creativity. Life is an unthinkable impossible miraculous wonder to behold.
A Bodhisattva see’s the world for the first time; as the absence of Bodhisattva & world.
Source
Absolute. Unconditional.
The tongue can not taste the tongue, the eye can not see the eye, the ear can not hear the ear, the finger can not point to the finger.
A knower is unknown, the striver was the strife, understanding is misunderstanding. Ignorance, confusion & suffering seemed to happen.
Mystery dispelled; mystery revealed.
Returning
Unconditionally empty handed; ordinary, unexceptional wakefulness.
Creator-Creating-Creation; Ineffable Magic.
Home & Unorphaned.
Finally, the first step on the path has occurred.
Illustrations credit; Lionsroar.com
Aversion
What is meant by ‘aversion’?
When a hand is inadvertently placed on a hot stove, the guidance of pain is felt.
In accordance with feeling, intelligence & guidance; the hand is removed from the stove.
Feeling, intelligence & guidance aren’t conceptualized, philosophized, believed to be existential, complex, known, understood, debatable, definable, justifiable or labelled in any way. Feeling, intelligence & guidance are simply listened to as it were.
Just as pain is guidance, emotion is guidance.
To mentally avert away from the guidance of emotion is to conceptualize & label, emotion.
Aversion sounds like me, my, mine, I’m, I know, I understand, you, you don’t know, you don’t understand, you’re lacking this or that, etc.
Aversion is a game of shuffling three cups while there is no peanut. It’s believing arising justifications & rationalizations to believe emotions aren’t experienced, or that emotions have a cause or are caused.
If & when aversion occurs, it’s in spite of the discord or suffering felt, and the point is true liberation of suffering.
Aversion is the mental activity of labelling, conceptualizing, defending, arguing, justifying & rationalizing - in an attempt to feel better, while the mental activity is the aversion from feeling, and is what’s felt.
Perpetuation of aversion is ‘continuing to focus’ on discordant outlooks, thoughts, beliefs & interpretations, in spite of the fact discord, or, suffering - is felt.
Aversion can obscure the relief and clarity of expression, inspection, and self-discovery.
When focus shifts away from presently experienced habitual thinking, the body relaxes naturally, releasing the tension that often accompanies aversion.
By focusing on the sensation of breathing in the stomach, the mind begins to clear, and with that clarity, discord also fades. This is akin to ‘taking your hand off the stove’ - a metaphor for listening to natural, intrinsic guidance.
In the absence of aversion, the true nature arises effortlessly, ‘filling you up’ like helium to a balloon.
Free and unburdened, awareness naturally expands.
spiritual mis-leadership
What is meant by spiritual mis-leadership?
Spirituality, or, the path, is the inward oriented investigation of what is absolute, or, absolutely true, aka, The Truth. Simply put, the inspection of what I am which is unchanging under any & all circumstances, free of experience.
In this investigation, or, along the path if you will, much misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification is dispelled. These misunderstandings, misinterpretations & misidentifications are no more than thoughts. If you will, the activity of thought.
Discordant emotion is a term for how these thoughts feel. Each discordant thought points to why the thoughts is discordant, or, that the thought is of misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification.
Inspecting why some thoughts are discordant, on a thought by thought basis - is unveiling, unfettering or un-obscuring that which is absolute and unchanging under any and all circumstances. This discord empties from the apparent body, mind, or body-mind.
Spiritual mis-leadership arises as spiritual ego, which is ordinary emotional suppression, which is mental aversion from feeling… with the addition of a mental and apparently convincing narrative about there being - “spiritual teachers”.
That there are spiritual teachers is the very misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification being referred to. The “teacher” presents as if higher, knowing, or understanding… that which is absolute and unchanging under all circumstances. These are the very beliefs which perpetuate misidentification, which is what suffering is. Thus, the “teacher” can seemingly “teach you” many things, but can never teach liberation of suffering - because the teacher is the means of aversion from feeling in the first place. The belief that there are spiritual teachers is the fundamental mental aversion from feeling. One is not ‘being taught’ anything of any value; one is believably only joining in on an assumed ‘others’ aversion.
The pillars of manipulation & deception in regard to “spiritual teachers” which ‘hold themself’ as higher, knowing or understanding are meaning, purpose, value & worth. These aspects perpetuate misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misidentification.
What the “spiritual teacher” is overlooking is misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification. What you as it were are joining in, inherently therein, is a sharing of & reinforcing of; misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification.
Misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification are no more than - the believing of thoughts.
Thus the discord felt, is already felt by that which is appearing as - thoughts.
Thus, an addition of “teachings” only confuses & contributes to the already occurring overlooking of the discord felt. Aversion is from feeling, ‘into’ so to speak, the believing of thoughts. One therein seeks a solution to suffering overlooking the inherent infinite guidance already felt. The “solution” to suffering is that there already isn’t a problem. What’s felt in this regard is misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification. What there is, is aversion from feeling, and the belief the discord felt is “a problem”.
In truth, it is only that which is absolute and unchanging under any all circumstances which is what’s feeling - ALREADY. Thus, every believed thought about - is the very overlooking of - that which is absolute, nondual & unconditional.
The denial of the truth of suffering, is the denial of the discord felt with respect to thoughts (misunderstanding, misinterpretation & misidentification). Thus, being a spiritual teacher is in fact the very denial, ignorance and suffering - which “the student” is looking to “the teacher” to liberate of. The root of all separation is the belief in separate selves. The misidentification that you are a separate finite self. Thus the presentation of / as “a teacher” (a separate finite self) is the mis-leadership of - spiritual mis-leadership.
More simply put, it’s a ‘not doing the work’, while telling you what spirituality is, what the truth is, what they know, what they understand and therein - how to ‘do the work’… such that you too might bypass & delude yourself as they are, via overlooking, denial, ignorance, pride, suppression, vanity, arrogance, etc, etc. Again, the root of all suffering is the belief in separation; in separate selves. The ‘believing’ occurs only via thought attachment, or most simply put - believing thoughts, assuming truth is found in thought(s) and or concepts.
The difficulty in recognizing spiritual mis-leadership lies in the inherent nature of thought attachment. Spiritual insights & experiences are identified with via hindsight thoughts about a separate self. My understanding, my awakening(s), my insights. That is ‘the ego’, or ‘separate self’ of thoughts. The ‘separate self of thoughts’ is not a self, but is the believing of thoughts about there being, separate selves. This belief is only reinforced by the purporting of being a “spiritual teacher”, and therein so is the discord / suffering.
How the ‘ego’, ‘separate self of thoughts’, or ‘spiritual ego’ functions:
Waitress: Chicken, or steak?
Thought arises: Chicken.
Hindsight thought arises: I chose chicken.
It is the simplicity of the ‘separate self of thoughts’ which is elusive. There is nothing complex about the ‘matter’ whatsoever. Adding layers of concepts confuses, and does not clarify.
The ‘one who chose’ simply wasn’t present when the thought, ‘chicken’ arose. The ‘ego’ is the hindsight thought which is the claiming of a doing and or a choosing having happened at all.
The spiritual ego is exactly the same, in that the claiming of spiritual insights and experiences are hindsight thoughts, as ‘what I know’, ‘my understanding’, ‘my insights’.
‘Knower’ is the thought; ‘knower’. Like ‘unicorn’, there is the thought, but there isn’t the ‘thing’. Again, the belief in separation, in separate selves - is what suffering is.
The ‘knower’ is no more actual, real or present than a ‘chooser’, ‘doer’, or unicorn. The believing of these thoughts is the experience of - thought attachment. The very thoughts one on the path as it were, is aiming to dispel and liberate of.
Spiritual leadership, if there is such a thing, is assistance with the investigation, and the emptying body-mind, and ranges from sharing techniques & practices such as meditation, yoga, breath-work or mindfulness in assistance with the inspection of & dispelling of beliefs.
What is already the case or actuality can not be found, learned about or arrived at - because ‘it’ is what is already being overlooked.
When all beliefs are dispelled, only The Truth remains. Therein this is referred to as awakening, transcendence of mistaken identity, enlightenment, or ‘seeing reality as it is’ - as ‘it’ already is.
That there is a person or self which becomes awakened, enlightened, or has awakenings, is the ignorance of thought attachment - the ignore-ance of the discord already felt and the aversion from feeling which is already occuring, and is the purporting of the very misinformation that is, spiritual mis-leadership.
Assistance with spirituality as the inspection for what is absolutely true is non-aversion, non-suppression and non-conceptualization. An uncovering of the actuality - not an adding of complex concepts about.
Spiritual mis-leadership sounds like ‘ignore what you’re feeling and trust me & what I am saying’ as ‘the one who knows or understands’ - as the authority on spirituality.
Spiritual mis-leadership is complication, rather than simplification - adding vs dispelling. At it’s worst, spiritual mis-leadership / spiritual ego sounds like; ‘you need to know or understand what I know & understand to be as awake as me’ and or ‘reach levels I’ve reached’. These are personal beliefs based on the very misidentification awakening or enlightenment dispels.
Spirituality, as the investigation for what is absolute, is not mental and emotional manipulation & deception. That feels very off, because it is very off.
(Please visit the Meditation and Tools pages for more information.)
The ‘new identity’ or spiritual ego which is conceptualized via thought attachment, is a strengthened continuation or furthering of the emotional suppression and aversion from feeling overlooked or ignored in the first place. It is feeling good about a ‘self image’ or ‘separate self’ of thought as “the teacher”, and is not the actuality and unconditional nature of feeling (Being) Itself, if you will.
This results in defensive, protective, isolating behaviors which center around perpetuating the aggrandizing of the ‘separate self’, or, spiritual ego, as a spiritual leader. Most difficult perhaps, is that one ‘doing so’ is not aware one is doing so - because of the very nature of emotional suppression, aversion from feeling, and thought attachment.
This often sounds like ‘you need me and or my unique intellectual offering of knowledge’, and or ‘to know what I know’, ‘to understand what I understand’, ‘to comprehend what I comprehend’… so that you can awaken, be enlightened, or self realized - like me. Again, there is awakening, there is enlightenment - there is not anyone who is or becomes awakened or enlightened.
Due to the absolute innocence of Ourself, the manipulative nature of spiritual mis-leadship which is a projection of suppression & aversion, is often and most unfortunately internalized by listeners, resulting in doubt, fear and lack, via believing there is… ‘something I need to know or understand’, to be able to feel the Truth of the happiness, love, and peace - that I (already) am.
Truth is uncovered, not added.
The rhetoric of spiritual mis-leadership becomes seeds of self doubt, for ‘not knowing what they know’, and or ‘not being as intellectual or intelligent’ or as ‘conscious or awake’ as ‘they are’. The manipulation of the dualistic nature of language in this manor unfortunately reinforces, rather than dispels, beliefs like ‘I am not enough’, or ‘something is wrong with me’, as the comparative discordant concepts offered convincingly by ‘the teacher’, are internalized by the ‘follower’. Awakening is not perpetuating these cycles, but is the end of these cycles.
The suffering of aversion is quite literally the recognition of what is absolute & unchanging, which is not separate, and is what’s being referred to as emotional guidance. Aversion is not a problem to be solved. The fact that aversion can be felt, is the very evidence of the unconditional guidance; the unconditional Truth.
If you suspect that you are experiencing spiritual mis-leadership, and the facade of spiritual authority & the confusion therein, simply take time away and clarity will naturally arise. Be mindful not to underestimate or hold expectations as to how long it might take.
If you feel unable to take time away, research cults & brainwashing. This will allow dots to connect as to the ‘practices’ of manipulation & deception employed which are the purporting to be a “spiritual teacher” and sheds clarity on the situation. Honor, respect, ‘listen to’ & explore and dispel any discord felt, as that is already the very guidance & presence of the unconditional ‘feeling’ spoken of, and all to the contrary are - beliefs.
What is meant by ‘spiritual authority’?
Prior to watching the next spiritual video, reading the next spiritual book, or attending the next spiritual seminar… breathe deeply & relax, notice the silence, feel this moment, and note; ‘that’ is ‘it’. Then discern, to any extent you are being led, helped, or taught, if that is towards ‘what they know which you need to know & subscribe to or agree with’, or if that is towards non-aversion, self-understanding & self-discovery.
What is meant by ‘spiritual confusion’?
Fusion, is to fuse two things together. Con, is to be duped, tricked, or bamboozled. Confusion, is the belief there are separate things, which could be ‘fused’ or made one, while oneness (not two) is already the actuality. Duality, or, twoness, is never found in perception nor feeling. This & that; duality - is the activity of thought.
(See Going Prior)
On Teachers
I am finding teachers of nonduality are saying very conflicting things. Some are saying they are more awake than other nonduality teachers. How can I know which is right, or which is accurate and which is misleading?
Nonduality means ‘not two’, as in there are not “two separate selves” which can be compared. The notion that there is, is an experience of thought attachment.
Then why do some nonduality teachers say that they are more awake than others?
It’s believed via thought attachment being overlooked.
But some nonduality teachers are very convincing about how much more awake they are.
Thought attachment can be very convincing.
Why do some nonduality teachers say there are not separate selves?
Because that is what nonduality means; not two.
How can the truth of this matter be verified directly?
By inspecting the claim which is being asserted of “more and less awake selves” in direct experience, to see if it is anything more than the activity of thought, or, beliefs.
How would one go about that?
Direct experience, most simply, is that of awareness aware of; thought, perception, and sensation.
First, inspect sensation. Is there the presence of sensation, such as in the bottoms of the feet?
Notice, an ‘inward check’ occurs, and it is directly found that indeed there is, the presence of sensation, in the bottoms of the feet. Notice thought has nothing to do with this ‘inward check’ - notice the presence of sensation is, wether thought to be or thought not to be.
Is there the presence of sensation throughout the entire body, from the bottoms of the feet to the very crown of the head?
Notice, the same ‘inward check’ occurs, and it is found there is the presence of sensation throughout the entire body. Notice once more, thought has nothing to do with this. Thought arises afterwards, in hindsight, about this (sensation).
Now, in the exact same ‘inward checking’ manor… see if any separation is found directly in the presence of sensation. Feel for and try to find any actual separation, edge, or border, in the presence of sensation.
If it seems that any separation, edge, or border is found in the presence of sensation, notice, that is a thought which arose, and return attention directly ‘inward’, to the presence of sensation.
As it is noticed that there is no separation, edge, or border found in the presence of sensation… is it simultaneously noticed that any ‘edge’, ‘border’, or ‘separation’ is only found, in direct experience, as an arising thought… about there being… a separation, edge, or border.
So then Self & other is only thoughts believed?
Yes.
So when a nondual teacher is saying there is actual separation, such as a “me” and an “other”, which is “more or less” conscious or aware… they’re essentially BELIEVING the thoughts, about there being separate selves, and the thoughts about the comparison being made therein?
Yes.
So, why then would a nonduality teacher be so misleading?
This is the nature of thought attachment, or, believing thoughts.
But nonetheless it seems like something should be done about this. Don’t you agree?
Nothing is already being done about this.
What?
Nothing, or, no thing, not a thing, nothingness… that which is ‘the presence of sensation’… and is ineffably without any separation, edges, borders, properties or conditions… is unconditional love.
So how is nothing, no thing, unconditional love, “already doing something about this”?
The discord of the beliefs and of the misrepresentation & misleadership, is already felt, by unconditional love. There is very literally nothing which needs to be done, and nothing is already being done.
But, shouldn’t I say something, in regard to how DIVISIVE, deceptive & misleading this information is?
Draw not upon argument or righteousness, but upon empathy & compassion. One lets go of beliefs precisely as One is ready to. When misleading information is heard, and the discord therein is felt, ‘return’ again to the unconditional presence of sensation, feeling ‘it’ is only more pronounced. Allow these thoughts to come & go, feeling directly, that which is truly ineffable and never comes & never goes.
But honestly, it makes me angry. What can I do about the anger, how can I let it go?
When you are feeling anger, humbly acknowledge the truth of direct experience; that this is the experience of discord, of suffering. Recognize the wisdom in ‘hurt people, hurt people’, ‘the blind leading the blind;, and mindfully be the change you wish to see in your world.
Wish this discord, this suffering, this dis-ease upon another, in the same measure you would wish it upon yourself.
Lend compassion, the very best of you, in the same measure you would have it imbued upon yourself - and indeed it shall be.
As Rumi so perfectly said, ‘what you seek is seeking you’.
Love is allowed & received now or not now.
It’s not so much about the interpretations or concepts, the activity of thought or beliefs, what you’ve heard or seen, where you’ve been and what you’ve accomplished, nor identity therein, ‘ego death’, new spiritual egos, nor teachers or students. The Truth is simple. When we allow it to be so - love is the common sense.
“Know yourself as nothing; feel yourself as everything.”
“Love is the absence of people.”
Rupert Spira