Greetings Dear Reader, Please allow us to personally thank you for accessing this free material. It is our hope that what you’re about to read will facilitate ANY self-transformation desires you may have for yourself, and lead you to the Lasting Happiness that is your birthright. When we write “birthright” we are are simply saying that Lasting Happiness is waiting for you …waiting for you to lift away all the unhappy thoughts and feelings that are covering that state. You’ll be surprised at how easy this is to do and will wonder how it is that nobody has brought this to light until now. To help you navigate from beginning to end in this wonderful journey you’re about to undertake, let us briefly explain the order of this book. It’s very important that you approach this material from start to finish and not skip around, simply because every part of this book builds upon what was previously presented. Here’s the material in a quick outline format: Part 1: What are “Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment”? ( Will this be useful for YOU? ) Part 2: Our Natural Characteristics Which Prevent Illumination, Illumination, and the Origin (Root Cause) of Unhappiness (Why are we unhappy?) Part 3: Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination…for the result of Lasting Happiness, Peace of unhappiness.) Mind, Contentment, Overall Life-Fulfillment, and the End of Fears. ( The easy path to eliminating unhappiness. Part 4: Discovering and Tapping the Sacred Powers of the the Universe …scientific evidence you can personally observe, experience and USE to effect miraculous results. ( Finding sacred presence even if you are a healthy skeptic…we encourage skepticism.) Part 5: A Complete examination of wisdom found in Ancient/Lost Writings which can show you the essence of all religious and spiritual teachings. ( Ancient wisdom that you’ve probably never encountered…an eyeopener.) Part 6: Concise Summary of this Book’s Self-Transformation Methods Methods ( A very short list of the “how-to’s” contained within.) In case you have received this book and not seen our home page, we shall include here the description we use on our site to help you determine if this material is “right for you”: From www.entaoing.com and www.happyhappy.com : There is a terrible disease in this age we live, and as the years progress the the problem is only getting worse. We’re referring here to the cancer of “ Meaninglessness”. Why do we call this a “disease”? Why “cancer” ?? Consider the nature nature of cancer in the human body. It is something that starts out very small, and slowly…very slowly…eats away at our spirit (our core of essence) from the inside. It begins as an ever increasing state of dissatisfaction. We see it when we stop and notice that our thoughts and words tend to dwell on things things we “don’t like”. It’s a state of inner complaint that that is so slow and subtle that we often don’t even notice it. In fact, most people believe that their constant “hum” of inner mental stress, anxiety, and discomfort is their natural state because they’ve they’ve become so accustomed to it. It’s much like a toothache that you have for a very long time…eventually you don’t even notice notice anymore. And then one day you go to the dentist who removes the pain and all of the sudden your realize “Wow, I feel so wonderful”. But we’ve grown so accustomed to our naturally stressed emotional states that often it progresses over the years until, mysteriously, we come to the realization that our life no longer has any substantial meaning or purpose. This can often lead to a “withering of the spirit” (just like a plant suffering from lack of water) … a sort of “spiritual death” known as Hopelessness. And what is the end result of this? We approach the end of our lives and are suddenly horrified to discover all the time we’ve wasted. wasted. We look to the heavens and cry cry “Is this all there was for for me?” … “Was that it?” it ?” It suddenly dawns on us that instead of a journey with a beginning and an end, that life was really intended to be like music or dance, and that all along we were supposed to have been singing. That’s a very bleak picture we just painted…Meaninglessness, leading to Hopelessness, climaxing in the realization that your precious gift of life was squandered …a completely useless and insignificant existence. But as you may have already guessed, we offer the solution…the cure to perpetual discontent, discord, disharmony and unhappiness. -2-
Greetings Dear Reader, Please allow us to personally thank you for accessing this free material. It is our hope that what you’re about to read will facilitate ANY self-transformation desires you may have for yourself, and lead you to the Lasting Happiness that is your birthright. When we write “birthright” we are are simply saying that Lasting Happiness is waiting for you …waiting for you to lift away all the unhappy thoughts and feelings that are covering that state. You’ll be surprised at how easy this is to do and will wonder how it is that nobody has brought this to light until now. To help you navigate from beginning to end in this wonderful journey you’re about to undertake, let us briefly explain the order of this book. It’s very important that you approach this material from start to finish and not skip around, simply because every part of this book builds upon what was previously presented. Here’s the material in a quick outline format: Part 1: What are “Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment”? ( Will this be useful for YOU? ) Part 2: Our Natural Characteristics Which Prevent Illumination, Illumination, and the Origin (Root Cause) of Unhappiness (Why are we unhappy?) Part 3: Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination…for the result of Lasting Happiness, Peace of unhappiness.) Mind, Contentment, Overall Life-Fulfillment, and the End of Fears. ( The easy path to eliminating unhappiness. Part 4: Discovering and Tapping the Sacred Powers of the the Universe …scientific evidence you can personally observe, experience and USE to effect miraculous results. ( Finding sacred presence even if you are a healthy skeptic…we encourage skepticism.) Part 5: A Complete examination of wisdom found in Ancient/Lost Writings which can show you the essence of all religious and spiritual teachings. ( Ancient wisdom that you’ve probably never encountered…an eyeopener.) Part 6: Concise Summary of this Book’s Self-Transformation Methods Methods ( A very short list of the “how-to’s” contained within.) In case you have received this book and not seen our home page, we shall include here the description we use on our site to help you determine if this material is “right for you”: From www.entaoing.com and www.happyhappy.com : There is a terrible disease in this age we live, and as the years progress the the problem is only getting worse. We’re referring here to the cancer of “ Meaninglessness”. Why do we call this a “disease”? Why “cancer” ?? Consider the nature nature of cancer in the human body. It is something that starts out very small, and slowly…very slowly…eats away at our spirit (our core of essence) from the inside. It begins as an ever increasing state of dissatisfaction. We see it when we stop and notice that our thoughts and words tend to dwell on things things we “don’t like”. It’s a state of inner complaint that that is so slow and subtle that we often don’t even notice it. In fact, most people believe that their constant “hum” of inner mental stress, anxiety, and discomfort is their natural state because they’ve they’ve become so accustomed to it. It’s much like a toothache that you have for a very long time…eventually you don’t even notice notice anymore. And then one day you go to the dentist who removes the pain and all of the sudden your realize “Wow, I feel so wonderful”. But we’ve grown so accustomed to our naturally stressed emotional states that often it progresses over the years until, mysteriously, we come to the realization that our life no longer has any substantial meaning or purpose. This can often lead to a “withering of the spirit” (just like a plant suffering from lack of water) … a sort of “spiritual death” known as Hopelessness. And what is the end result of this? We approach the end of our lives and are suddenly horrified to discover all the time we’ve wasted. wasted. We look to the heavens and cry cry “Is this all there was for for me?” … “Was that it?” it ?” It suddenly dawns on us that instead of a journey with a beginning and an end, that life was really intended to be like music or dance, and that all along we were supposed to have been singing. That’s a very bleak picture we just painted…Meaninglessness, leading to Hopelessness, climaxing in the realization that your precious gift of life was squandered …a completely useless and insignificant existence. But as you may have already guessed, we offer the solution…the cure to perpetual discontent, discord, disharmony and unhappiness. -2-
It is here at the outset that we wish to be very clear in that we are giving away this solution. solution. You can download the entire explanation/solution (our primary book “Ancient Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment”) from the “Articles” page or by simply clicking
and supplying your email address to verify that your interested in downloading our freely offered material. We offer this simply because it’s our goal to help as many people as we possibly can…period. The answer to all your problems lies within, but if you’re not convinced that our discovery of ancient wisdom (and you’ll find it quite surprising that it’s been hidden for so long) can help you, consider the following whilst always remembering that the solution to all these miseries is yours simply for the asking. With that in mind, would you care to read a bit further to see if any of the following (curable) states of mental/spiritual misery apply to you in any way? Are you are happy most m ost of the time (joyful, grateful, content, fulfilled, spiri tually connected to the word and to others, zestful) instead of their opposites (sorrowful, regretful, discontented, complaining, purposeless, meaningless, spiritually bereft). bereft). Is your life mostly pleasant instead of painful? Do you ever think “It’s painful being me”? Are your thoughts that “naturally “naturally arise” comfortable and welcome instead of uncomfortable uncomfortable and unwanted? Are most of your relationships with others harmonious instead of conflicting and discordant? Do you often feel a sense of hopelessness and dread instead of thrilled and energetically driven? Here’s another way of examining your life…in terms of the Harmony that currently exists (or does not exist) for you…bearing in mind that we freely offer offer you the key to Harmony in all these these areas. Do any of the following apply? : 1. Lack of Harmony in the the Body - Sickness, addiction, awkward, weak, tired, insomnia, aches, limps, overeating, fat, thin, powerless, vulnerable…an overall feeling of physical discomfort. 2. Lack of Harmony in Relationships - Angry, resentful, suspicious, jealous, over-scrutiny, anxious, insecure, bored, trapped, limited, manipulated, dominated, misunderstood, unable to communicate honestly. honestly. My words to family and friends are felt by others as being “other than pleasant”. Others seem to not think I am a nice person because my topics of conversation are not “nice”. I feel that others avoid me. 3. Lack of Harmony in Career - Lack of overall life fulfillment…stress, tension, disappointment, problems, obnoxious people, impossible deadlines, nervous, n ervous, insecure, angry, closed in, held down, trapped, fearful, unhappy. A feeling that my true worth and talents are being wasted. 4. Lack of Harmony with Family (parents, siblings, in-laws, children) - Guilty, resentful, angry, bored, restless, exhausted, trapped, sabotaged, manipulated, overburdened with obligations, unable to be “myself”. 5. Lack of Harmony with Finances - Feeling poor, anxious, resentful, limited, overwhelmed by bills and obligations, never enough money to do what I want, fearful of not having enough or guilty for what I have, unquenchable desire for material things. 6. Lack of Harmony within Oneself - Frustrated, Frustrated, guilty, confused, filled with conflicts, I never do what I want, I’m afraid to try, I procrastinate, spend all my m y time pleasing others, I never accomplished anything, depressed, compulsive behavior such as over working/eating/shopping/drinking/drugs, feelings like I’m not good enough, I hate the thoughts that pop into my head and I’m sometimes ashamed about my thoughts. 7. Lack of Harmony with the World - Nervous, anxious, guilty, depressed when I think about the future, unduly afraid of criminals or government, nightmares about war, I’m afraid of tomorrow because we’re killing ourselves with pollution, there’s nothing I can do, I hide behind cynicism or numbness, I feel powerless to change the world around me. Whew !! So many negative things listed there. But if you’re ready to reclaim the harmony harmony that is your birthright, then please know that you can easily achieve the following with our freely offered teachings: Lasting Happiness with Limited Sorrow Peace of Mind and Contentment Total Harmony Overall Life-Fulfillment Making a Significant Life with Meaning and Purpose Reconnecting to the sense of Awe and Wonder at the Sacred Presence in all things Elimination of Fear (even the fear of death itself) Becoming the Nice Person you know exists inside you (but seems to be now hidden) All of these things will be freely placed within you grasp. It should also be noted here, at the outset, that it is not at all necessary to belong to any particular particular religious faith or spiritual path. In fact, belief in some form of God is faith. Belief or not required at all…it works for those who have faith in the existence of God AND for those with no faith. reliance upon Higher Powers is not required. If you are a Christian, you would simply become a “better and happier Christian”. If you are a Muslim, you would simply become a “better and happier Muslim”. You will not be required to change your current faith (or lack of faith) in any way whatsoever. It is interesting to note that the -3-
ancient secrets we’ve discovered, which produce the these amazing results listed above, also revealed the formula used by ALL religions and spiritual paths to accomplish the miracles described in their writings ! We were able to distill the “miracle process” such that it can be accessed and used by ANYONE. Lastly, there are no arduous practices of meditation required …all the methods are easy, quick, and best of all PLEASANT to do !! There is no need to create new time slots in your busy life. Our teachings are performed during your normal, daily course of events. Would you like to get started ? Simply read our free material to begin an amazing journey that will change your life forever… We recommend that you read this book from start to finish (without skipping around) in order to most fully understand the easiest way (for YOU personally) to remove unhappiness from your life. If, however, you’d prefer to “skip the philosophy” and jump straight to sections of this book that deal with the solutions to unhappiness, here’s a “quick path” you could consider: Part 1, Chapter 4, section “The Promised Reward of Illumination…its overall USEFULNESS…”Peace of Mind” This section of Chapter 4 explains what you can gain from the methods of this book. Part 3, “Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination” Start at the beginning of Part 3 to learn our primary solution to unhappiness. Parts 4 and 5 can be considered “optional/advanced” reading and you can get a feel for the information they contain from the Table of Contents. In Service We Remain, The Entaoing University Staff [email protected] As a unique offering, our staff includes an especially gifted outreach team…EMAIL us a question or situation that you would like to have addressed, and would like a personalized solution for. We will have our staff review it and give you a very concise answer. This personalized answer will be emailed directly to you. We won’t stop there… Should that leave further questions in your mind, we will assign one of our dedicated Solution Facilitators to set up a FREE hour consultation (we will even record and send you a copy of the session). EnTaoIng University is here to help you lead a Happy and Joyous life. Let us show you how we can facilitate that!
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Table of Contents Part 1, Chapter 4, section “The Promised Reward of Illumination…its overall USEFULNESS…”Peace of Mind” ______________________________________________________________________________________- 4 This section of Chapter 4 explains what you can gain from the methods of this book. _________________ - 4 Part 3, “Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination” ________________________________- 4 Start at the beginning of Part 3 to learn our primary solution to unhappiness. ________________________- 4 Parts 4 and 5 can be considered “optional/advanced” reading and you can get a feel for the information they contain from the Table of Contents. ____________________________________________________________- 4 -
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Illumination _______________________________________________ - 2 A Proposed Thought Experiment ____________________________________________________________- 2 The Promise of Illumination _________________________________________________________________- 2 Don’t Believe Anything You Read Here _______________________________________________________- 3 Is This Eastern Wisdom ? ___________________________________________________________________- 3 A Note on the Limitation of Language ________________________________________________________- 4 Illumination’s Degree of Usefulness _________________________________________________________- 4 -
Chapter 2 - The Origins of Enlightenment Traditions ____________________________________ - 4 The Concept of Illumination that We Offer to You _____________________________________________- 5 -
Chapter 3 – What Illumination is NOT __________________________________________________ - 5 Chapter 4 – What Exactly ARE the Promises of a Useful Illumination ? __________________ - 6 Illumination is a Concept, not a Certified Event _______________________________________________- 6 A Useful Definition _________________________________________________________________________- 7 The Promised Reward of Illumination…its overall USEFULNESS…”Peace of Mind” ______________ - 7 A Quick Overview of the 4 Stages of Useful Illumination _______________________________________- 9 -
PART 2 – Our Natural Characteristics that Prevent Illumination, and the Origin (Root Cause) of Unhappiness ________________________________________________________ - 10 Chapter 5 – Introduction to Unhappiness _____________________________________________ - 10 Axioms of Unhappiness ___________________________________________________________________- 10 Unhappiness as Thoughts and Feelings _____________________________________________________- 10 A Better Label for “Unhappiness” __________________________________________________________- 10 -
Chapter 6 – The Origin of “Uniquely Human” Thought _________________________________ - 11 The Ancient Origins of the Way we Think ____________________________________________________- 11 The Rise of the Spotlight Personality _______________________________________________________- 12 How the Spotlight Consciousness Changed over the Course of Millennia – “Imaginary Time” ___ - 13 -
Chapter 7 – The Working Mind and The Thinking Mind _________________________________ - 14 The Rise of the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind (for Survival – Happiness – Life Fulfillment) - 14 -
Chapter 8 – The “Story of Me” _______________________________________________________ - 15 The Splintering of the Thinking Mind ________________________________________________________- 15 The Personality Jewel - A Useful Fiction for Visualizing your Many Spotlight Personalities ______ - 16 The Real You is not the Spotlight ___________________________________________________________- 17 Who are YOU then ? What is the Real You ? ________________________________________________- 18 -
Chapter 9 – The Compulsive Nature of the The Ego ____________________________________ - 18 Our Commonly Shared Illusion Regarding the Ego ___________________________________________- 18 The Compulsion of the Ego…its Addictive Nature ____________________________________________- 19 Upadana and Tanha – The Underlying Nature of Everyone’s Ego ______________________________- 20 -
Chapter 10 – The Torture of Discontent – (The Result of Tanha and Upadana) ___________ - 20 Our “Thought Stream” is Constantly in Motion ______________________________________________- 20 The focus on the feeling of “I Don’t Like It” __________________________________________________- 21 The Heart of the Problem – Discontent and Imaginary Time ___________________________________- 21 Some Examples of the Exact Way the Ego Tortures Us _______________________________________- 22 The Path to Useful Illumination _____________________________________________________________- 23 Summary of Part 2_________________________________________________________________________- 24 -
Part 3 – Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination ______________ - 27 Chapter 11 – An Overview of the Path We’ll Travel ____________________________________ - 27 A Complicated Problem …Simplified for Convenience ________________________________________- 27 -5-
The Good News ___________________________________________________________________________- 28 -
Chapter 12 – The 1 st Illumination – Finding the Light __________________________________ - 28 The Primary Illusion _______________________________________________________________________- 28 The First Steps to Happiness via the Removal of the Primary Illusion __________________________- 29 Are all the “Voices” uncomfortable ? – Revisiting the Working Mind and Thinking Mind ________ - 29 The Myth of the “Ego as the Problem” ______________________________________________________- 31 Finding the Deeper You as Separate from Compulsive Thought _______________________________- 31 Innate Happiness - Finding the Deeper You as Separate from Compulsive Thought _____________ - 32 The Path to Innate Happiness – Reducing the Time Spent in “Compulsive” Thought ____________ - 33 -
Chapter 13 – The 2 nd Illumination – Learning to Use the Light __________________________ - 33 nd
Beginning on the Path to the 2 Illumination ________________________________________________- 33 How we can Reduce the amount of Compulsive Ego State thought ____________________________- 34 Activation Pathways and Gentle Restructuring ______________________________________________- 35 The Mutual Exclusion Principle …or… “Think the Good Thing” _______________________________- 36 -
Recognize – Step one of the 2 nd Illumination __________________________________________ - 36 It’s the Most Simple Thing to Do – And the Most Difficult _____________________________________- 36 How we can Remember to Wake Up _________________________________________________________- 37 -
Release – Step Two of the 2 nd Illumination ____________________________________________ - 38 Defense Mechanisms of our Compulsive Ego State __________________________________________- 38 A Healthier and more Effect Alternative to Defense Mechanisms – RELEASE __________________ - 39 -
Replace – Step Three of the 2 nd Illumination __________________________________________ - 41 What Kind of Thoughts Should “Replace” The Ones We’ve Released ? ________________________ - 41 Becoming Students of Love – “The Most Important Thing” ___________________________________- 42 The most Healthy Use of the Imagination Possible – Searching Love Categories _______________ - 42 -
Remain – Step Four of the 2 nd Illumination ____________________________________________ - 44 A Short List of Useful Tools for “Remaining” in Comfortable Thought – for “Thinking the Good Thing” ____________________________________________________________________________________- 44 rd Looking Ahead on the Road to Useful Illumination – The 3 Illumination _______________________ - 46 -
Chapter 14 – The 3 rd Illumination – Choosing a Path to Carry the Light _________________ - 46 Recent Tendencies Towards Healthy Skepticism ____________________________________________- 47 A Useful Answer to the Timeless Question __________________________________________________- 48 So How Should We View Good vs. Evil ? ____________________________________________________- 48 An Example of a Very Good Path ___________________________________________________________- 49 Hurtless, Helpful, and Kind – An Illuminated Way of Life ______________________________________- 49 The Need for Occasional “Strong Countermeasures” ________________________________________- 50 -
Chapter 15 – The 4 th Illumination – Traveling the Path _________________________________ - 51 The Quest for Meaning and Purpose ________________________________________________________- 51 The Initial Requirement for Finding Meaningfulness, Purpose and Usefulness – The Deeper You - 52 Finding What is Meaningful, Purposeful, and Fulfilling “to YOU” ______________________________- 52 Optimum Flow Experiences for Excellence of Life ___________________________________________- 54 -
Chapter 16 – Beyond All Illuminations – The “Great Illumination” _______________________ - 55 Epilogue to Part 3 ___________________________________________________________________ - 56 -
Part 4 – Discovering and Tapping the Sacred Powers of the Universe _____________ - 57 The Withering of Spirit in a Clockwork Universe _____________________________________________- 57 Characteristics of Spiritual Death ___________________________________________________________- 58 Awakening the Spirit by Communion with the Sacred ________________________________________- 59 A few initial Sacred examples – Ultimate Mystery ____________________________________________- 60 The truly sacred is not found in mere Vastness or Complexity ________________________________- 61 -
The 10 Powers of the Universe – Becoming the space for their manifestation ___________ - 62 st
The 1 Power – Centration _________________________________________________________________- 63 nd The 2 Power – Allurement ________________________________________________________________- 65 rd The 3 Power – Emergence ________________________________________________________________- 66 th The 4 Power – Homeostasis _______________________________________________________________- 68 th The 5 Power – Cataclysm _________________________________________________________________- 69 th The 6 Power – Synergy ___________________________________________________________________- 71 th The 7 Power – Transmutation _____________________________________________________________- 72 -6-
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The 8 Power – Transformation ____________________________________________________________- 73 th The 9 Power – Interrelatedness ____________________________________________________________- 74 th The 10 Power – Radiance _________________________________________________________________- 76 -
“The Miracle Formula” – Harnessing the Powers of the Universe _______________________ - 77 The Steps of “The Miracle Process” ________________________________________________________- 78 -
Growing in Strength and Communion with the Powers of the Universe _________________ - 81 -
Part 5 – Ancient Hidden Wisdom and the Four Harmonies ________________________ - 83 Harmony is my Religion ___________________________________________________________________- 83 How can this wisdom be considered “Ancient” or “Lost”? ____________________________________- 84 The Four Harmonies _______________________________________________________________________- 85 Introduction to a new Tao Te Ching – “Aligning with Harmony” _______________________________- 86 How to Read “Aligning with Harmony” ______________________________________________________- 87 -
“Aligning with Harmony” ____________________________________________________________ - 89 A New Interpretation of the Taoist Classic – Tao Te Ching _____________________________ - 89 1. Knowing the Great Harmony, Unifying with the Ultimate Mystery __________________________- 89 2. Mutual Arising – Dynamic Balance ______________________________________________________- 89 3. Peace of Mind versus Discontent________________________________________________________- 90 4. Wonder and Awe are Equally in all Things _______________________________________________- 90 5. Attaching to Preferences _______________________________________________________________- 90 6. All Pervading Love of the Great Harmony ________________________________________________- 91 7. Outwardly Loving brings the Deepest Harmony __________________________________________- 91 8. Living in Harmony without Contending __________________________________________________- 92 9. Harmonious Balance – Avoid Overdoing _________________________________________________- 92 10. Love Without Interference – Non-Coercive Benevolence (WuWei) _________________________- 93 11. Becoming the Space from which Love Flows Forth _______________________________________- 93 12. The Wisdom of Developing Stillness ____________________________________________________- 94 13. Embrace the World as You Would Celebrate the Gift of Your Own Life – Avoid Personal Extremes _________________________________________________________________________________- 94 14. The Value of Directly Perceiving without the Interference of the Ego _______________________ - 94 15. Stillness and Allowance (are mutually supportive of each other – The Effectiveness of the Middle Ground of Extremes ________________________________________________________________- 95 16. Stillness and Harmony – Mutually Enhancing States of Mind ______________________________- 96 17. The Value of Using Few Words – Cessation of Naming/Labeling___________________________- 96 18. Authentic Behavior Enhances Harmony _________________________________________________- 97 19. Simplicity Without Pretense - Harmony Without Striving __________________________________- 97 20. Non-Discriminating and Tolerance ______________________________________________________- 97 21. Inner Vision and Inner Strength lead to Willful Alignment with the Powers of the Great Harmony 98 -
22. Becoming Flexible via Allowing – The Strength Derived from Non-Contention – Resilience by Aligning with the nature of Opposites _______________________________________________________- 98 23. Patience is Required for Aligning with the Universal Energies_____________________________- 99 24. Wisdom of Humility ____________________________________________________________________- 99 25. Aligning with Interconnectedness – The Inseparability of all things _______________________ - 100 26. Tranquility instead of Restlessness ___________________________________________________- 100 27. The Common Sense Effectiveness of Hurtlessness, Kindness and Compassion ___________ - 101 28. The Harmony of Reducing Attachment to Preferences ___________________________________- 101 29. Non-Forcing (Wu-Wei) and the Wisdom of Allowing all Opposites and Polarities ___________ - 101 30. Hurtlessness and Humility ____________________________________________________________- 102 31. Avoid the Discord and Disharmony of Violence _________________________________________- 102 32. Distinctions - The Compulsive Naming of Things _______________________________________- 103 33. The Discipline of Contentment (Self-Knowing, Self-Discipline, Allowing vs. Complaining) __ - 103 34. Effortlessly Loving All Equally without Expectations is the “Harmony and Wisdom of Divine Love” ___________________________________________________________________________________- 104 35. The Wisdom of Contentment versus “Insatiable Thirst” _________________________________- 104 36. Harmony between Opposites – Avoidance of Extremes – The Wisdom of Equilibrium ______ - 105 37. The Harmony of Natural Rhythm – The Wisdom of Non-Contrived Simplicity ______________ - 105 38. Naturally Arising Kindness ____________________________________________________________- 106 39. True Humility without Contrivance is Essential when Aligning with the Great Harmony ____ - 106 40. Harmony via the Gentle Return to Stillness _____________________________________________- 106 41. Even in Seemingly Opposite Situations can Creativity be Found _________________________ - 107 42. Embrace Change – All Opposites Eventually Blend in the Great Harmony _________________ - 107 -7-
43. Allow Gentle Yielding – Stillness and Silence Illuminate the Path of the Great Harmony ____ - 108 44. Contentment via not Being Overly Attached to Things ___________________________________- 108 45. Aligning with the Endless Possibilities offered by the Great Harmony ____________________ - 109 46. Avarice – Insatiable Greed as the Root of Misery ________________________________________- 109 47. The Significance of your Existence can be Always be Found – The Promise of a Meaningful Life and Overall Fulfillment is Always Available _________________________________________________- 110 48. Aligning with the Powers of the Universe is the Master Path of the Great Harmony ________ - 110 49. Love and Benevolence Offered Freely to All ____________________________________________- 111 50. Releasing the Primary Fear of Death ___________________________________________________- 111 51. The All-Nourishing Available Wellspring of the Great Harmony (Underlying Unity of All Things) 112 -
52. Aligning with the Great Harmony Leads to One’s Personal Vibrance and Effectiveness ____ - 112 53. Extravagance, Extremes, Excess are Paths away from the Great Harmony ________________ - 113 54. The Observable Results of Aligning with the Great Harmony _____________________________- 113 55. Immense Vitality by Aligning with the Great Harmony ___________________________________- 114 56. Attaining the Profound Harmony _______________________________________________________- 115 57. Be Non-Interfering in the Accomplishment of your Activities _____________________________- 115 58. Allowing the Existence of Opposites Removes Disharmony and Discord _________________ - 116 59. Personal Vitality and Happiness by Allowing the Natural Rhythms of the Great Harmony ___ - 116 60. The Wisdom of Hurtlessness __________________________________________________________- 116 61. Stillness, Tranquility and Humility – The Strengths of the Great Harmony _________________ - 117 62. Flowing Together – A Place for All Things ______________________________________________- 117 63. Align with the Timings of the Great Harmony to Maximize the Effects of your Actions (Seize the Perfect Moment) _________________________________________________________________________- 118 64. Balancing Natural Tendencies - Choosing Non-Coercive and Non-Forcing Actions ________ - 118 65. The Sacred Wisdom of not Overly-Attaching to Thoughts, Concepts and Beliefs __________ - 119 66. The Natural Effectiveness of Humility and Non-Contentious Effort ________________________ - 119 67. The Three Treasures of the Sage - Being a Role Model of Compassion, Frugality and Humility __ 120 -
68. Living Aligned with the Great Harmony via the Practice of Non-Contention _______________ - 121 69. Overcoming the Hostility of Others via Effective Non-Contention _________________________ - 121 70. The Great Harmony is not Grasped with the Intellect but with “Pure Feelings” (unclouded by “Ego” and its Compulsive Naming of Things) _______________________________________________- 121 71. Aligning with the Great Harmony by Quieting the Stream of Thought _____________________ - 122 72. Self-Knowledge as the Primary Step Towards Oneness/Unity with the Great Harmony _____ - 122 73. Prudence and Patience (care, caution, and good judgment) ______________________________- 123 74. Coercion via Violence is not the Way of the Sage _______________________________________- 123 75. Greed and Coercion – The Path Away from the Great Harmony___________________________- 124 76. Softness and Suppleness in Thought/Word/Deed _______________________________________- 124 77. The Harmony of Balance in All Aspects of One’s Existence ______________________________- 125 78. The Ultimate Inseparability of Opposites – The Interconnectedness of the Great Harmony _ - 125 79. The Harmony Generated by Kindness, Even in Adversity ________________________________- 126 80. A Life Lived Most Fully Embraces Simplicity and Simple Pleasures_______________________ - 126 81. The Path of the Great Harmony is that which Benefits All and Harms No One (HHK/TWD) __ - 127 -
Part 6 – A Concise List of this Book’s Self-Transformational Practices ___________ - 128 -
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Part 1 – What is Illumination ? Chapter 1 – Introduction to Illumination In everyday life it often seems like there is a war inside our own minds. Thoughts battle each other for dominance and their time “in the spotlight”, usually to the detriment of our own levels of joy and happiness. As a species, it often seems that most people are to some degree “insane”. We first begin to sense these conflicts within ourselves (oftentimes at a very young age) and then we eventually begin to notice the same types of insanity in others. All we have to do is open a single day’s newspaper to read the latest report on parents who kill their children, or teens embarking on killing sprees before finally ending their own lives. Insanity is the only fitting word for the violent choices people seem somehow compelled to enact. On more personal levels, we somehow sense crazed behavior in our own minds. How many times have you felt as if you harbor multiple personalities, all “talking” to you and competing for attention and control? We’ve all witnessed such inner conflicts within ourselves when we set some sort of goal or objective. Take for instance the common goal of establishing a diet plan. How often does our “inner athlete” tell us that it’s time to exercise and eat healthy foods ? Sometime shortly thereafter, our “inner glutton” begins to whisper promises of the joy to be obtained from a bowl of ice cream or a bacon cheeseburger, all the while enticing us with reasons to indulge. Perhaps we give in and eat that cheeseburger. Immediately, the “inner critic” becomes dominant and brings to light our failure and lack of discipline. Does this type of inner personality turmoil seem like the state of a “sane” being ? Insanity is perhaps too strong a word choice here, but we are simply trying to make a point at the outset that we often find our own worst enemy is OURSELVES. We are our own primary cause of unhappiness which we will be explaining in a great degree of detail. These concepts are nothing new, and can be readily observed, experienced, tested, and verified by anyone. We all play these types of scenarios in our heads, on endless topics of mental discord. If the scenarios we play within our minds are not fundamentally beneficial to our long-term happiness and fulfillment does it not make sense that there must be something “wrong” ? Is there some kind of “Enlightenment” which might allow us to stop creating the pain and misery which is characteristic of our lives ? The answer, of course, is “ Yes ”. However, let us say at the beginning that we prefer to use the term “Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment” or simply “ Illumination ” to describe the teachings you’re about to discover. The reason is that this combination of wisdom teachings goes FAR beyond anything you could learn from a school or path or teacher that claims to be able to “Enlighten” you. These Illuminations you’re about to receive and internalize will give you FAR more benefits than any of the “enlightenment traditions”. This is why we’re not telling you that we’re teaching you how to becom Enlightened. We’re going to go FAR beyond such limits…we’re going to show you how you, yourself, can become a radiant source of Illumination beyond any mere form of enlightenment. A Proposed Thought Experiment
We submit to you here at the outset a “thought experiment”. Visualize now that the hands of time have sped up and you are now resting on your deathbed…you’ve lived a long and not terribly happy or fulfilled life, as is the case with most individuals. Look back in your mind’s eye now and see “THIS DAY” …the one you are currently living and in which you are reading this document. Can you visualize the path that you ultimately travelled to reach your imaginary death bed and see that you wasted SO MUCH time unhappy and unfulfilled ? Can you wonder if there was ever some form of Illumination you could have pursued such that things may have been different for your life ? Can you see that you often stopped yourself by personal fears … wanting to take the next big leap, but you hold yourself back? How much time have you wasted worrying about the future, and then followed your fears by making decisions that held yourself back, “wasting time” when you could have been pursuing a life dream? Did you live to your fullest potential in the blindingly fast space of your brief gift of life ? The Promise of Illumination
We propose to you that this Illumination is available to you if you are willing to dedicate a portion of your life embracing a few simple practices. Let us further promise you that if you embrace the path of Illumination you’re “hypothetical deathbed experience” might be more like this: I’ve never been able to fathom why people I have known through my existence tended to ease along their “road of life” in a relatively safe and immensely boring vehicle…cruising the streets and highways of experience looking for safe and secure routes. When the time of their death arrived, they simply wished to ease the straining and wheezing car they’ve used to travel through life gently up to the cemetery gate, slowly open the gate, park slowly next to their grave, get out of the car, smooth the front of their clothes, smooth down their hair, and lie down -2-
quietly…passing away without incident or fanfare…a mundane exit for a VERY mundane existence. It was an existence landmarked by sorry and grief and disappoint after disappointment with nothing to leave behind except lost hopes and broken dreams. For myself, I think I’ll barrel through the back roads of life and take risks…I’ll get out of my car when the mood strikes me and take off my shirt and dance and sing with the trees and animals of the forest for my audience. I’ll spoil my kids and eat plenty of desserts. As the time of my death nears I’ll rev the engine and crash through the cemetery gates going about 100 miles per hour, I’ll do a nice “Batman slide” into my gravestone and smash it into a million pieces. I’ll kick open the car door and get out and smell the air one last time, I’ll take a deep final breath and will triumphantly put both arms into the air and yell “Wow, What a Ride !!! “ and then I’ll just collapse sideways into my grave and land in a crumpled pile at the bottom of the hole…utterly spent…utterly used by LIFE, which enjoyed looking out through my eyes and which marveled at the amount of sheer joy that could be sucked into a single fragile body during one brief flicker of lightening we call “a normal human lifespan”.
This, dear reader, is what we promise an Illuminated Life can produce. We promise this and ever so much more…more than you will most likely believe without testing for yourself. In fact, this entire writing will be filled with promises (see especially Chapter 4 – “What Is Illumination ?” for a more detailed list) for you to test as “available to your common experience” and as “readily verifiable to your total satisfaction”. These are the key criteria of any truly useful concept. Don’t Believe Anything You Read Here
It would be appropriate here to strongly emphasize to you to NOT BLINDLY BELIEVE anything you are about to read. Nothing we’ve written should be believed unless you can prove it to yourself. We would even go further to say you should take the stance of a “strong skeptic” and believe nothing that you PERSONALLY can not test, verify, and prove to your own satisfaction. Fortunately, everything written here can be proven to anyone…no “blind faith” is required. We will never ask for anyone to believe in God or any form of Higher Power.. If you can’t prove for yourself anything you read here then you should discard it. Most concepts contained herein are readily observable in your own day-to-day existence. And all throughout your examination of these materials we would encourage you to follow this rule: Take what is useful, discard the rest. We should also mention at this point that there are no concepts or teachings here which would interfere with any religious path you might currently follow. There will be absolutely no need to change any religious belief you currently hold, and if you do currently have a religious path, the results of your efforts will only serve to bring you closer to your “object of worship”. If you are Christian, the peace and presence and loving-kindness you’ll be capable of generating will bring you closer than ever to feeling the presence of Christ. You’ll have fewer distractions and you’ll be able to devote your entire essence to worship whenever you wish to. If you are a follower of Krishna, you will find that you are able to spend increasing longer periods of time in Pure Worship and Pure Love of Krishna. These analogies apply to ANY religion, but if any of the words contained herein make you uncomfortable in regards to your current religious beliefs then simply discard what is not useful although we suspect precious little will be found which could make anyone feel uncomfortable. Is This Eastern Wisdom ?
Although Buddhism is referenced as a common beginning point for understanding a common form of Illumination, please don’t think that our concepts/methods are Buddhism or any form of Eastern wisdom tradition…they are not. Many of the concepts presented here are exceedingly old and predate all modern religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism etc. Since the wisdom contained herein could be considered timeless, many religions and spiritual paths have incorporated these concepts and thus you’ll probably recognize a great many of these ideas from whatever psychological/spiritual traditions that you may have already read about or studied. However, you’ll find that the path presented herein is completely unique in presentation and practice, and is completely geared towards helping ANYONE achieve Illumination in these modern times when “available time for self-transformation” is hard to find. Also, since much of the wisdom presented here is very ancient most people will label it as “eastern thought”. This is perfectly alright if you need to classify it in some way. You really don’t have to CALL it anything at all…just take what appeals to you or what “resonates with your current lifestyle” and go from there. Another reason we will reference Buddhist Psychology is because Buddhism concerns itself primarily with the concept of “suffering” and its solution. Buddhist writings on these topics often translate the word “suffering” as: Discontentedness Unsatisfactoriness Unhappiness -3-
…and the purpose of this writing is to focus on the exact Nature of Unhappiness in order to choose a path away from it. That allows your existence to become a primarily Happy Life filled with excellent and rewarding experiences. We are going to try and maximize to the greatest extent possible your ability to fill your life with joy, happiness, meaning, and fulfillment such that these states eventually come naturally and without effort . The writings herein were created for the express purpose generating a natural state lasting Inner Peace …a natural resting state of general happiness in one’s day-to-day existence and a cessation of chronic and habitual suffering/unhappiness/discontent. We are going to help you create a mind that processes typically “happy thoughts” (without effort or strain) and brings about a lasting state of happiness and contentment in which “unhappy moments” are predominantly replaced by “happy moments”. This is completely opposite to the condition we typically find ourselves experiencing the vast majority of the time…the state of unhappiness/suffering/discontent/depression/anxiety/angst…ruminating on past tragedies and heartaches or worrying and stressing about the future. This common mental state not only affects the quality our daily lives and those around us, it also aversely impacts our health, our ability to sleep, and our ability to find a life full of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. A Note on the Limitation of Language
At this juncture we should mention that we’re trying to explain with “words” that which most will claim is “beyond words”. You can point to the moon with your finger but this gesture it will never fully contain “the actual moon”. This is the same with Illumination…we can point to it with words, but it will eventually need to become an experience (which you CAN and WILL have if you follow these teachings) which is beyond words. It can, however, be described in great detail. Using the “moon” again, consider this example. We can say “I love looking at the moon”. This imparts a certain degree of information and gives you a certain degree of “feeling” for what we experience. However, language can be used to impart an increasing amount of detail. Instead, we might say to you “We have a deep, primal allurement to the celestial body orbiting our planet. It’s periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system which are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days seem to a ffect various aspects of our personality in predictable patterns which is why we believe we’re connected to it in some unexplainable fashion.” Thusly, using additional words has allowed us to convey more depth of meaning to you about the nature of our connection with the moon. Illumination’s Degree of Usefulness
We offer you now a brief description of what we’re going to try and achieve with our teachings of Illumination. We’re going to try and use enough specific words and concepts so as to give you something you can test/verify as REAL for your personal satisfaction. Above all, any concept of Illumination we will impart to you must serve the fundamental purpose of being Useful. In the case of Illumination, its usefulness will be measured by: 1. The amount that it enhances your personal long-term joy and happiness. 2. The amount that it reduces your personal sorrow and unhappiness. 3. The degree to which it can help you find your purpose and the meaning of your existence. 4. The degree to which it enhances the overall quality of your “Excellence of Life” during the full (yet short) span of years we are allotted before death comes to claim us.
Chapter 2 - The Origins of Enlightenment Traditions Two and a half thousand years ago, motivated by a profound need to understand the nature of grief, sorrow, anger and unhappiness, Prince Siddhartha Gautama set out from the foothills of the Himalayas in search of “truth”. After years of wandering he arrived in the lowlands of the Ganges River in northern India near the village of Bodh Gaya. He sat down in front of a tree and vowed never to arise until he had found this elusive truth. After 49 days of meditating, at the age of 35, he attained “enlightenment”. Gautama, from then on, was known as The Buddha - The Enlightened One. At this point, he is believed to have found complete “awakening” and “insight” into the nature and cause of human suffering (the word “suffering” here is the term “dukkha” which is loosely translated as suffering OR unhappiness/sorrow). According to legend, immediately after his enlightenment the Buddha felt that he should not teach his findings to his fellow human beings. He was concerned that his realization was too subtle, deep, and hard to understand for the average person… persons who often seemed blinded by their own greed and hatred. Legend goes on to say that the Hindu God Brahma begged Siddhartha to begin teaching his discoveries and assured the newly illuminated young man that he would find those who would understand his teachings. As the story continues to -4-
tell, in his compassion to all beings in the universe, Siddhartha relented and agreed to begin a search for students who might be ready to receive his newly found wisdom in the hopes that his students would pass to the rest of the world an understanding of the cause of suffering. Thus, his teachings were originally given to spiritually advanced practitioners who had “just a little Dust in their Eyes” and Siddhartha merely helped to wipe the dust away. Over the centuries, many similar teachings have developed to help people who have “more than a little” dust in their eyes. Alas, modern times have made it exceedingly difficult for people to live lives that are predominantly happy and fulfilled, and many feel that the ancient wisdom teachings are not accessible or applicable for helping the average person to eliminate the suffering associated with modern day unhappiness/sorrow. Enlightenment, and the attainment of lasting happiness and fulfillment, seem further from our grasp than ever yet we are often compelled to “keep searching”…thinking that a “truth” and “a final solution” is waiting for us to find it if we simply keep looking long and hard enough. The fact that you are reading this writing may be an indicator that YOU are seeking answers …seeking “some form of elusive truth” that will provide lasting happiness and fulfillment. The Concept of Illumination that We Offer to You
In the writing to follow, it’s important that we clearly “define” the word Illumination. If one were to go to www.wikipedia.org and examine all the research compiled for this very general term, you would see that there is no common definition that would be acceptable to all wisdom and intellectual traditions. For example, you would readily see that “Illumination/Enlightenment” may refer to religious, spiritual, psychological and/or intellectual areas, OR it may refer to a 2 nd category called “mysticism” in which one pursues communion with some form of ultimate reality (usually referred to as “God” in the English language). Our particular form of Illumination does NOT have any “mystical” component. We are offering a concept of Illumination specifically aimed towards the maximization of personal happiness and life satisfaction that would be applicable in ANY religious tradition and would simply supplement any religious pursuit if one is of a religious nature. In many ways, this Illumination is very similar to that associated with what the Buddha discovered in his quest to find the nature and cure for human “suffering” (unhappiness/sorrow). The Buddha’s core teachings do not involve a joining with some form of universal Godhead, although many forms of Buddhism eventually developed along those lines. The exact nature of our concept of Illumination will be fully explained in Chapter 4, but now would be a good time to examine what Illumination is NOT…
Chapter 3 – What Illumination is NOT In order to examine different forms of Illumination, one must understand that Illumination is simply a “concept” that has different meanings for different traditions and paths. Illumination is not a Certifiable Event such as birth and death. The meaning of Illumination is thus highly subjective…it means different things to different cultures and groups. It is our “concept” that Illumination must be a testable/verifiable theory which individuals can prove to their daily satisfaction and experience. Further, it is our concept that Illumination must be valid for all humans regardless of religious belief. Otherwise, it would be impossible to attain Illumination if one were Atheist, Agnostic, or nontheist. A truly Useful Illumination must be available to even the most hard-core atheist or skeptic. It is further our contention that Illumination must result is some form of long-term happiness, or some form of longterm benefit which would be applicable to any person regardless of religion or creed. In other words, it must be equally beneficial for Christians (as one example) as it would be for Atheists. With these guidelines in place, let’s take a quick look at various forms of belief systems claimi ng “Enlightenment” (something we’re explaining as being of lesser value than “true illumination”) as a primary goal, and the reason they are incompatible with the criteria above: 1. Western Religion – When you look at Christianity, Judaism, and Islam you will readily see that their focus is not based to a large extent upon personal transformation . Instead, you’ll see that the emphasis is upon the following of rules (dogma) in order for their highest goal to be achieved. This ultimate goal is ascension to heaven as an eternal reward…a resting place for the soul (and avoidance of Hell and eternal damnation …eternal -5-
punishment for disbelief and/or failure to abide by the rule-sets). Any benefit offered by western religions would therefore not be considered “useful” to anyone “outside the group of religious belief”. The Illumination taught in this writing provides benefits to all mankind regardless of their particular beliefs in the existence or non-existence of God. Our truly Useful Illumination will enable Christians to be “more successful at following the teachings of Christianity”, Jews to be “more successful at following the teachings of Judaism”, and Muslims to be “more successful at following the teachings of Islam”. 2. Eastern Religious Traditions - If one were to examine Hinduism, Jainism, Krishna Consciousness, and similar eastern religious movements you will readily see that their concept of Enlightenment involves a Unity with God. That is, of course, a very casual interpretation and each of these traditions have different forms of such Illumination, but they all involve a burning desire to become One or to Unify with God. Some refer to this as Moksha, or Jnana, or God-Realization. This in NOT the Illumination we teach. Our concept of Illumination is accessible to ANY religious tradition and involves the long-term benefit to the human whilst alive on this planet. As with Western Religious enlightenment described above, Illumination must be testable/verifiable to any individual regardless of spiritual belief. It must contain a long-term emotional/psychological benefit for Atheists, Agnostic, and non-theists and must equally benefit a follower of Eastern or Western religious traditions. It must NOT interfere with any existing religious belief or MANDATE a need for belief in any form of Higher Power or magic or superstition. 3. Immanuel Kant’s definition of Enlightenment (western non-religious) – Kant’s view on enlightenment (and that of many western philosophies) is the ability for an individual to make use of one’s own intelligence without being guided by another. This does not meet our definition of Illumination as it is not a practice designed to dramatically increase ones personal happiness and fulfillment. 4. Friedrich Nietzsche (western non-religious) - According to Nietzsche, enlightenment centered around the use of intellect and reason to obtain a firm understanding of Good and Evil. Like Kant, this does not meet the criteria of increasing one’s personal happiness and long-term life fulfillment. It merely serves as a way to “judge” what we observe and perceive as preferable / non-preferable. 5. Eastern Wisdom Traditions that insist that all existence is God’s Will / Cosmic Law. The very popular Indian wisdom tradition of A’dvaita (Vedanta) and various forms of Chinese/Japanese Zen have spawned a great number of similar paths which claim that all events we witness are simply “happenings” …many such groups believe all events to be simply “God’s Will”. The Buddha was greatly influenced by these early teachings which had their origins in the ancient (perhaps 3500 years old) Upanishads and Vedas. He even went so far at to agree with them in this quote: “Events happen, deeds are done, yet there is no individual doer thereof”. What the Buddha (and many eastern traditions) is telling us is that our independent existence is an illusion. There is really no “YOU” …your body-mind organism is simply something the universe is DOING “THAT” which we feel as the place we personally think of as our personal “Here and Now”. The end result of such an all-encompassing belief is a form of Total Acceptance of all that happens. Whilst exceedingly liberating to believe this, it is not a testable or verifiable experience in the day-to-day existence of the average human being. For the average person, it is QUITE REAL when a finger is chopped off, when a child is lost to illness, when we “fall in love at first sight”. Philosophies such as this usually have no practical application to the everyday person’s experience of existence and often result in no long-term dramatic increase in personal happiness or fulfillment. Now, armed with knowledge of what Illumination is NOT, we can more easily answer the fundamental question: What will I get from Illumination (one might say “True Illumination” or “Meaningful Illumination” or “Useful Illumination”) that I didn’t have before ? …or “What exactly IS Illumination?”
Chapter 4 – What Exactly ARE the Promises of a Useful Illumination ? Illumination is a Concept, not a Certified Event
As mentioned at the beginning of this writing, you should not accept any of these concepts at face value. The concepts presented here are only as valid as you can test/verify them as applicable to your own personal existence and experience. With that in mind, we’ll begin to dissect the meaning of Illumination and what it can provide. Armed with that knowledge, In Part 3 you’ll be introduced to the methodologies on how anyone (regardless of spiritual path) can go about obtainin g it. Also mentioned at the beginning of this writing, the word “Illumination” is merely a concept and not a “certified event”. We could even refer to it as a Conscious Fiction since we are treating an idea as a THING. This is similar to our methods of dividing a country into individual states. No such demarcations actually exist on the planet, but -6-
the division of the country into distinct states via imaginary borders is a very Useful Fiction. Our definition and path to Illumination will thus only have value as determined by the USEFULNESS as a result of the creation of the concept. In other words, the obtaining of Illumination will only be a worthwhile goal to strive towards if it has some form of dramatic benefit to the individual determined to achieve it. After one realizes that Illumination is a useful idea/concept and decides to pursue it, the seeker will then proceed AS IF Illumination were a real and tangible THING in order to solidify its meaning to incorporate this into their own existence for the promised rewards to manifest. Another way of stating this would be to say that once an understanding of Illumination is achieved, an internal “belief” is formed. Anything you believe in strongly enough will always manifest itself in your existence as seemingly Real, and above all …useful. A Useful Definition
Before we travel further, it would be appropriate to present an overall definition for the term “Illumination”. The challenge here is that the concept of “Illumination” has different meanings to different philosophical and spiritual traditions. Thus, the best solution would be to examine the linguistic root of the word. Before we attack the linguistic origins of Illumination it would be of immense benefit to look at the linguistic origin of the term “Buddha”. In the ancient Sanskrit and Pail languages, the term “Buddha” has two equally valid meanings: 1. The Enlightened (Illuminated) One 2. The Awakened One (in other words, Siddhartha “woke up” from a form of ‘mental hypnosis or sleep from which most of us suffer’ and realized the full nature of mind and thought) As is readily obvious, Illumination has as a core concept the idea of “Waking Up” from something. In the case of the Buddha, he “woke up” from the dream-like hypnotic stupor that most human commonly refer to as their normal “state of awareness”. We’ll discuss this in great length further on in this writing when we learn the origin and nature of unhappiness. For now, suffice it to say that Enlightenment/Illumination has a component of Waking Up from “something”, whether it be an illusion, dream, misconception, etc. Next, if we look at the words Enlightenment/Illumination it becomes apparent that they contain the key concept of “Light” …Illumination is in essence a “light” which dispels some form of mental darkness. It’s readily apparent that if you are lighting up an area of darkness you are dispelling “something” (dispelling some form of “darkness”) Using the example in the preceding paragraph, you would be dispelling a hypnotic stupor, misconceptions, etc. We’ve found that emphasizing the word “light” in any discussion of Illumination is extraordinarily appropriate, since it is a very descriptive word and is readily understandable to most as having the same type of meaning. This will become more apparent as you read further. The Promised Reward of Illumination…its overall USEFULNESS…”Peace of Mind”
By now it should be apparent that any form of Illumination can only be judged by its overall degree of Usefulness. In order to judge its usefulness one must ask the question “What will I get from Illumination that I didn’t have before ?” There is a classic story of seekers of wisdom asking their master this exact question. In the story, the master begins by telling them what they will NOT get from their quest for Enlightenment. The master explains: “It will NOT bring you unending bliss or pleasure.” “It will NOT bring you some form of Total Understanding of the nature of the Universe.” “You will still be an imperfect organism, subject to illness, aging and disease.” “You will NOT obtain special powers or magical abilities.” The story goes on and describes the students as becoming exceedingly disheartened as the master continues to tell them “not this, not this, not this …” At last the master says “Do you want to know what you WILL get from Enlightenment that you did not have before ?” …and the students all answer “Yes, yes, yes”. The master then informs them that what is promised by Enlightenment is simply Peace of Mind . This, of course, is a very rare state of mental existence (we rarely exist in Peace of Mind for long) and we will expand upon this concept here with a rather longer list of things you can expect as a result of this initial promise…the promise of lasting Peace of Mind. In addition to the primary benefit of Peace of Mind one can achieve via Illumination, the following summary list of conditions is what one can also expect to obtain from Illuminations learned within this teaching (which is a reason -7-
we say that the teaching is Illumination “beyond” Enlightenment). Each of these points within the list will be expanded in later chapters: * Lasting Happiness with Limited Sorrow. * Peace of Mind = Naturally Arising Comfortable Thought. * Finding One’s Purpose…one’s Great Interest…The Meaning of Life (i.e.- a Meaningful Life). * Long-Term Life Fulfillment for Maximum Excellence of Life. * The ability to practice Total Allowance of all events that may once have caused you mental suffering. * A dramatic reduction, if not elimination, of unhappiness and depression associated with reliving painful past events. * A dramatic reduction, if not elimination, of anxiety and worry over imagined future events. * Improved quality of sleep due to the naturally comfortable thought states you’ll be typically residing within. * The ability to, in many cases, reduce or eliminate the need for anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication. * Improved health and resistance to disease/illness due to dramatically decreased stress levels. * The ability to find joy and love throughout your day, everyday. * Improved quality of interpersonal relationships…finding true love…enhanced family bonding, enhancing meaningful friendships. * Increased awareness and increased intellect due to removal of negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions which typically cloud our perceptions and judgments. * Increased alertness and reduction of fatigue due to the fact that negative emotions tend to drain your overall available energy. Although it seems like an amazing amount to gain from Illumination solely from the acquisition of Peace of Mind (which is equivalent in definition to Naturally Arising Comfortable Thought ) it’s important to realize that one still experiences unhappiness/sorrow (uncomfortable thought) but sim ply to a dramatically reduced degree. When you do experience unhappiness, it will tend to be fleeting and you will not feel compelled to “hang on to it” …to “become attached to it”. Likewise, grief is still experienced as a natural part of human existence (for example, the death of a child/spouse/parent/friend/beloved pet). However, once firmly Illuminated you will have a stronger mental/emotional base with which to naturally recover from such traumatizing events. Although these events are the cause for the most severe forms of personal misery, they are still a natural part of our common human experience. We all experience grief because we naturally become attached to certain things …often to a very strong degree. This is the natural result of following our Natural Allurements which we will explain later in greater detail. It can be mentioned here that the Buddha warned of the pain associated with such attachments, but it has always been our contention that life would not be as “rich” if you did not develop the types of Strong Bonds available to us (like the bonding we experience with our offspring). With no offense intended towards Buddhism, we would also like to point out the little known fact that the Buddha abandoned his wife and biological child to embark upon his quest for “truth”. For ourselves, such an act would be inconceivable due to the strong emotional bonds we share with our spouses and children. We are simply too attached to them to abandon them for any reason, and we would not have it any other way. We fully realize that such attachment serves to create an increased sense of grief should one of them die, but that’s all part of the risk we take when we follow life’s greatest Allurements. Experiencing love bonds such as these truly serve to make us more fully human. (more will be given on the nature of Allurement later in this writing) In essence, we believe it’s imperative you understand that the experience of grief is a completely natural part of human existence and can not simply be “reasoned away by an illuminated mind”. A classic example of an Illuminated human living through the pain of grief is seen in the Haiku poem written by one of Japan’s most illuminated and famous poets. Kobayashi Issa’s (1763-1827) most famous haiku was written one month after the passing of his beloved daughter:
“ tsuyu no yo wa / tsuyu no yo nagara / sari nagara” Ah, this dewdrop world And it IS a world of dew . And yet ... and yet ....
Interpretation : -8-
Ah, this dewdrop world (Interpretation: I realize everything is fleeting and im permanent) And it IS a world of dew. (Interpretation: I fully realize this to the very marrow of my bones) And yet ... and yet .... (Interpretation: “Yet I still feel the utmost grief…even though I’m an illuminated scholar of Buddhist wisdom, I can not simply reason away the grief I feel for the loss of my child.”) A Quick Overview of the 4 Stages of Useful Illumination
Traveling now with the concept of Illumination as having as its core component one of “light”, we will present to you a very practical list of the various stages of Illumination that one must travel in order to receive the maximum benefit from its practice. Please bear in mind that this is simply an overview, and we’ll delve much deeper (in Part 3 of this writing) into each of these stages. For now, simply examine a quick overview of the 4-stage path that an individual can travel in order to reach their desired Illumination goals, and reach their life’s potential for development. As previously mentioned, the word Illumination has as a root meaning the finding of a “light” with which to dispel some form of “darkness”. With that said, our concept of Illumination could be said to encompass the “enlightening” of 4 primary darknesses. Stage #1 Illumination – Finding the initial Light. Here we begin the quest for Useful Illumination by stripping away all illusions of who we “think we are”. This involves recognition of our True Selves – our Real Selves - via a series of testable and verifiable selfobservations. Once we have a firm understanding on how to recognize the inner core of our True Selves, it becomes easier to understand how we’ve historically supported our own sense of unhappiness and how unhappy/uncomfortable “thought patterns” have tended to naturally arise. Stage #2 Illumination – Learning to use the Light. After learning to recognize the nature of our unhappiness from Stage #1, we can begin to learning the techniques that allow us to naturally (without strain or force) manifest happy/comfortable thoughts and feelings as our natural states. Eventually, the happy/comfortable thoughts simply Naturally Arise in response to our day-to-day life experiences (even during the difficult ones) and it will require no particular effort on our part. Stage #3 Illumination – Finding a path down which to carry the Light. This phase of Illumination consists of determining a life-path appropriate to the individual regardless of religious belief or non-belief. In other words, it answers the timeless question “How shall I decide to live my life ?” Stage #4 Illumination – Actually traveling the path with the Light you’ve embraced. Herein lies the secret to finding Fulfillment, Purpose, and a Meaningful Life. After we’ve embraced the concepts and practices of Useful Illumination we are finally ready to reap all the long-term and lasting promises that this system has to offer.
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PART 2 – Our Natural Characteristics that Prevent Illumination, and the Origin (Root Cause) of Unhappiness
Chapter 5 – Introduction to Unhappiness Axioms of Unhappiness
In order to find a USEFUL PATH of Illumination that works for YOU, it’s imperative that you first understand the nature of unhappiness. In this fashion, you’ll be able to readily recognize when you’ve made any significant degree of progress because your levels of unhappiness will markedly be replaced by levels of its opposite. In other words, you’ll know you’ve truly entered the path to a Useful Illumination when your happiness/unhappiness and joy/sorrow ratios begin movement in the preferable (more “comfortable”) direction. It is at the beginning of this section that we’d like to point out that we’ll be highlighting various statements in RED within this portion of the writing. This will serve to isolate axioms (self-evident truths that require no proof…universally accepted principles or rules common to all humans) of collected wisdom…facts that serve as a core understanding of what causes our unhappiness. As with the term “Illumination”, all the descriptions of unhappiness contained herein are merely “concepts” which you need to test and verify to your own satisfaction. It should not be difficult for you to “see” the truth of the axioms, however, since they are thought patterns commonly shared by all human beings. At the end of Part 2 we’ll list all the axioms together so that you can have a summarized overview of our natural tendencies which prevent illumination. Once you understand the nature of unhappiness you’ll be fully prepared for Part 3 which is the truly USEFUL part of our system. It contains the exact “how-to” methodologies for dramatically changing your life such that your happy thoughts begin to dramatically outnumber the unhappy ones. Unhappiness as Thoughts and Feelings
Most people spend the vast majority of their lives in “unhappy/discontented” states. They have mostly “unhappy” thoughts which generate “unhappy” feelings. After reading this material you should discover to your own satisfaction that unhappy/unpleasant feelings are ALWAYS accompanied by unhappy/unpleasant thoughts. Feelings are caused by thoughts that your mind generates. You can discover this for yourself by trying to intentionally be unhappy or depressed over some previous incident you have in your memory. If you prefer for this experiment, you might instead try to be anxious or worried about some imagined future unpleasant possibility (such as loss of health, loss of income). Once you’ve successfully entered this “forced unhappy” mental state (as a simple “thought experiment) simply try to have these unpleasant/unhappy/uncomfortable feelings WITHOUT any unpleasant/unhappy/uncomfortable thoughts. It simply can’t be done. We make ourselves miserable by the “thoughts we think”…via the Voice in the Head …the Thought Stream or Steam of Thought . Different branches of philosophy, psychology and religion will refer to the “Voice in the Head” by different terms, but it is always readily obvious when someone is describing this Internal Chatter that most people experience as a constant background to their everyday awareness. Most people are constantly “talking to themselves” as they go about their lives. Eastern wisdom traditions commonly refer to this as the Monkey Mind or the Mind Monkey. In most everyone’s experience, these concepts of “inner talk” are very obvious. We naturally sense that it’s normal to have a running (for most it’s non-stop) dialogue of self-converstation, but just being aware of that “inner voice” never seems to slow it down to any significant degree. Listening to ourselves continues to make us miserable with the overall content of our thinking regardless of how unhappy it makes us to process and perpetuate these painful emotional states. Thus, just “understanding” the problem is not enough to “solve” the problem , which is quite contrary to most of the emotional self-help books you’ll find on the shelf. Contrary to what you might read on the shelves of these self-help book collections, simply recognizing/identifying the problem is not sufficient to make the problem go away. But it DOES lead to an easier time in progressing down a path of Useful Illumination when you can rationally judge and examine your internal thoughts/feelings and label them as “currently happy” or “currently unhappy”. A Better Label for “Unhappiness”
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We’re going to ask you now to reconsider your definition of the words happy and unhappy. Since one of the primary goals of any form of Useful Illumination will be a dramatic increase in happiness along with a corresponding decrease of unhappiness we need to acquire a few better words to use. The reason we need new words for this is because happiness and unhappiness are very subjective terms (they can mean different things to different people) and are prone to various degrees of interpretation/definition . We’ve found that the word “comfort” is less prone to misinterpretation. Thus, to find some kind of description for happiness/unhappiness that is more suitable to finding resonance with the feelings of all humans, please consider observing your thoughts as either Comfortable Thoughts or Uncomfortable Thoughts. Since everyone views the content of their own mind “uniquely” (no two people think alike), there may be some who do not resonate well with the comfortable/uncomfortable description as a measure of their happiness and unhappiness. We were talking to a gentleman about this one night at a lecture and he told us that “life was not meant to be comfortable”. His personal upbringing made him feel that if he was “comfortable”, then it implied a degree of personal sloth or laziness. As an alternative, we suggested to him that he use the measuring device of harmonious/unharmonious or tranquil/discordant . As it turned out, this gentleman had a fondness for music and he “resonated” well with that description. He left our discussion satisfied, and with some interesting and new concepts to think about. As an aside, the concept of “Harmony” will be discussed in great detail in Part 5 of this book. Another equally valid measure of your thoughts could be in the context of whether they are wanted/unwanted or even welcome/unintended. For the rest of this writing we’ll be using the comfortable/uncomfortable measuring guideline, but you can substitute whatever descriptive words you resonate most strongly with, and which correspond closest with your perceptions of your own happiness and unhappiness. You should therefore observe your thoughts NOT as good/bad or positive/negative or happy/unhappy …but rather as “comfortable” or “uncomfortable” thoughts. After a small amount of practice you’ll see how easy this is to do. It’s obvious that if you are having uncomfortable thoughts, the most preferable goal to pursue would be to change that (which will be taught via the tools contained in Part 3 of this writing) to comfortable thoughts. If your Stream of Thought is processing thoughts/feelings which are “comfortable” it will be readily apparent that you are in a happy/positive/good state of mental health at that particular moment in time. Further, with the tools presented in Part 3, you’ll learn techniques that will allow you to remain for longer and longer periods of time within these comfortable thought states, and you’ll find a corresponding increase to the amount of time you can readily sense that your are “happy” and “content”.
Chapter 6 – The Origin of “Uniquely Human” Thought The Ancient Origins of the Way we Think
If most of us are living our lives most frequently in a state of unhappiness, it's only logical to question why this might be the case. In order to have a better understanding for why we typically allow ourselves to process predominantly unhappy thoughts it is extremely helpful to examine the way we think from a human evolutionary perspective. Humans are pattern-seeking (distinction, distinguishing, labeling, categorizing) animals. We search for meaning in a complex, quirky, and contingent world. We evolved to be the most highly-skilled, pattern-seeking, causal-finding (we always want to know what “caused” something to happen) creatures on the planet. Those who were best at finding patterns (standing upwind of game animals is bad for the hunt, cow manure is good for the crops) left behind the most offspring. In addition to being pattern-seeking animals, we are also storytelling animals, and for thousands of years our myths and religions have sustained us with stories of meaningful patterns. We have a fundamental need to "believe in things" and to "explain mysteries" (via the explaining of mysteries in terms of patterns observed). This led to the evolution of a general belief engine (a need to believe) common to all humans. It is, in fact, the core and basis of all learning. After all, everyone has a basic need to believe something about our environment and these beliefs are learned through our experiences. The belief engine is a useful mechanism for survival, not just for learning about dangerous and potentially lethal environments, but in reducing anxiety about our environment. There is psychological evidence that “ belief” reduces anxiety about our very uncertain environments. Given that humans evolved the ability to seek and find connections between things and events in the environment (snakes with rattles should be avoided), those who made the best pattern-connections left behind the most offspring . We are their descendents. - 11 -
The Rise of the Spotlight Personality
After considering the evolution of mankind on the planet which leads to our complete domination of every other species, it does not takes any large amount of effort to see all people as: Pattern Seeking Causal Finding Mystery Explaining Belief Forming The challenge of our ancestors was to develop a mind that could process the hundreds of millions of bits of information (all the information that is continually gathering during our waking state …via sound, sight, smell, taste, touch) that their senses collected throughout the day in order to be the BEST pattern-seeking species on the planet. The obvious evolutionary solution was to develop a mind in which the “attention” became a very narrowed “band of perception” of the world around us. We simply had to “filter out” the information that was not relevant to “survival maximization” and had to develop the ability to “focus the attention” upon only the most relevant bits of information. It is a way of looking at life bit by bit, using memory to string the bits together--as when examining a dark room with a flashlight having a very narrow beam. Perception thus narrowed has the advantage of being sharp and bright, but it has to focus on one area of the world after another, and one feature after another. We also speak of attention as noticing. To notice is to select, to regard some bits of perception, or some features of the world, as more noteworthy, more significant, than others. To these we attend, and the rest we ignore – for which reason conscious attention is at the same time Ignore-ance (i.e." ignorance) despite the fact that it gives us a vividly clear picture of whatever we choose to notice. Physically, we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch innumerable features that we never notice. You can drive thirty miles, talking all the time to a friend. What you noticed and remembered was the conversation, but somehow you responded to the road, the other cars, the traffic l ights, and heaven knows what else, without really noticing, or focusing your mental spotlight upon them. So too, you can talk to someone at a party without remembering, for immediate recall, what clothes he or she was wearing, because they were not noteworthy or significant to you. Yet certainly your eyes and nerves responded to those clothes. You saw, but did not really look. It seems that we notice through a double process in which the first factor is a choice of what is interesting or important. The second factor, working simultaneously with the first, is that we need a notation for almost anything that can be noticed. Notation is a system of symbols--words, numbers, signs, musical notes, letters, ideographs (as in Chinese), and scales for dividing and distinguishing variations of color or of tones. Such symbols enable us to classify our bits of perception. They are the labels or the pigeonholes into which memory sorts them, but it is most difficult to notice any bit for which there is no label. Thus, we can see the natural arising of the Spotlight Consciousness or Spotlight Personality . We use it to filter out the vast amounts of information flowing continually into our senses during the waking state in order to enable us to find the best “patterns” . Additionally, the Spotlight Consciousness has developed in such a way that it relies upon words-labels-symbols-numbers in order to most efficiently pursue this “patternseeking” goal. It is the nature of the Spotlight Personality to “thing-ify” that which we see…it takes the reality that our senses “sense” and turns them into “thought things” within our brains by the use of words and symbols. In the process of turning reality into individual “things” within our minds (we see a “dog” and we think “dog” …which really does not do justice to the actually complex body/mind organism that constitutes the “dog” we are observing) we create the illusion that reality can be broken down into “separate things”…thus beginning our natural tendency to view all “things” we encounter as “separate objects”…as “separate events”…as “particulars”…as “units separate from the rest of their environment”.
This can especially be seen with our own “self”. We have done such a thorough job of “thing-ifying” everything in our existence that we, ourselves, are even considered “separate things” in our own consciousness awareness. Many spiritual traditions teach that this “separateness” is the core of all our misery. They teach, correctly we should say, that we are body/mind organisms that are inseparable from this planet and the environment in which we move through daily. A tree in your yard seems like an inseparable part of “the yard”, yet if it were to develop the ability to amble about the yard would that make it separate from “the yard”. Such is the case with humans. The fact that we freely move about the surface of the planet gives us the illusion that we are “separate” from the environment. - 12 -
In fact, the illusion of separateness is so complete that it is now the common experience of humans that they are completely separate entities contained roughly within the boundaries of our flesh/skin, and that the center of our “separateness” is that “personality” which westerners locate roughly somewhere behind the eyes and between the ears. In actuality, when you sense this separateness it is merely your Spotlight Personality which is having this momentary awareness. It is merely your current filtering system turning reality into words and labels so that your waking conscious awareness can categorize and use all this available information for useful purposes. We will emphasize here that this function of the Spotlight Personality is EXCEEDINGLY USEFUL for our survival (and control) in what often seems like an uncaring and oftentimes harsh environment. In fact, the useful tool of the Spotlight Personality has been so successful that we’ve become the dominant species on the planet, and now control the destinies of all the other species. More importantly, as will soon be shown, the development and success of the Spotlight Personality has enabled us to proceed past our “need for survival” and has created the ability for us to pursue the uniquely human needs of Happiness and long-term LifeFulfillment. How the Spotlight Consciousness Changed over the Course of Millennia – “Imaginary Time”
It’s at this juncture that we’d like to describe to you how the Spotlight Consciousness changed from being a Very Useful Tool to something that can be beneficial if used correctly, but which typically is not used correctly by most humans, thus resulting in misery, sorrow and unhappiness. Let’s begin with the re-emphasis that humans have always been highly successful “pattern-seeking” organisms. Our minds, or intellects, developed over the course of thousands of years to be exceedingly successful determining the patterns of our environment, and this allowed us to do something that no other animal had done before. It allowed us to “rest” from the immediate “survival / fight-or-flight” responses and gave us time to REFLECT. This is a very important concept because via the development of our minds, our intellects, be began to do something that no creature on this planet had ever done before. We began to REFLECT on our existence and began acquiring some very unique and very useful abilities which dramatically enhanced our ability to survive, and thus pass on our genes to offspring. (more success in the environment of limited resources meant more matings and more offspring) Our ability to “pay close attention” to our environment (Spotlight Consciousness) led to increased “free time” to REFLECT upon what we’ll refer to in these writings as Imaginary Time . As a species, we began to appreciate the value of thinking about (REFLECTING on) past and future events. We call the past and future Imaginary Time because it’s obvious (and is embraced by most wisdom traditions) that the past is only a series of events that exist as memories within our brains…it is not REAL. When we are reflecting on a past event, we’re just passing electric signals within our brains to activate our memories of those events. We are not re-witnessing or re-living the actual past event itself.
To look at this in a different way, consider that the memory of any single event that was experienced by more than one person will always differ between the people who are “remembering”. In fact, the memories of any event will often be wildly different between those people who shared the same past experience. This is because we simply recorded an individual impression of the past event. When we think of that past event, we’re not seeing the actual event that happened, but our “recording” of it that we are simply “playing back” …often quite inaccurately and often missing a vast amount of the actual amount of detail that transpired. Likewise with the future…the future is simply something we imagine and is not REAL. We may imagine a future event manifesting a certain way and we’ll then worry and fret. We’ll often then change some of the variables in our imagination and add some additional “what if” thoughts, and then spin the mental movie forward to “watch” many possible outcomes. This is not real ! It’s just some “fiction” that we are personally creating, often to the detriment of our personal happiness and contentment. In fact, it’s often the exact opposite and serves to keep us in highly stressed states of uncomfortable emotional anxiety…all because of a “story” we are “making up” in our own minds about a potential future that has not happened yet. Thus, the past and future are simply words and symbols and memories in our minds which only SEEM real to us. They are what we referred to earlier as “Conscious Fictions”. But it’s important to emphasize that they are Exceedingly Useful Fiction !!! Consider these examples of how humans have used Imaginary Time (past/future) to benefit from these Conscious Fictions (since we acquired free time away from immediate survival needs, we developed the ability to reflect on our existence):
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1. We began to play out, simply within our minds, events of the past (results from past hunts, patterns of past fruit/nut/berry gatherings) and began to reflect on “how was it successful/unsuccessful”. We developed the ability to ruminate on past results and even “play movies within our mind’s eye” as to “how it MIGHT have been if we had acted differently”. By examining past results, a family/clan/village might begin to speculate that if they harvest nuts and berries in a new pattern they may obtain the results of a more successful overall yield. Likewise, they might consider that due to past results they might want to adjust their hunting and fishing patterns so as to allow animal populations to recover better from their hunting practices. 2. Likewise we began to play out, simply within our minds, events of the future. We developed the ability to plan and predict. We became the only species on the planet exquisitely sensitive to the concept of the “flow of time” (this single feature of our Spotlight Consciousness bestows immense survival benefits). We could guess that “if such and such actions are taken NOW, we’d be better able to fend off future attacks via rival clans”, or they might plan for future migrations of crops such that rotations of fields they’ve observed in the past will produce higher yields in future planting practices. We would plan the activities of clan/village members and could assign tasks to groups of people in order to better accomplish future tasks (…so and so is a superior hunter and should lead all future hunting missions). The better we could predict the future, the stronger would be the chances of the clan/village to become strong and grow. Those clans/villages that became stronger were naturally able to take more of the limited resources of their environment. Stronger clans/villages could dominate other clans/villages and would also be in a better position to defend themselves from intruders who might wish to take THEIR resources. 3. Those individuals (male or female) with a more strongly developed ability to use past/future Imaginary Time were better suited to be successful at their chosen/assigned tasks, and could therefore obtain more desirable mates. Consequently, successful males and females were better able to generate more offspring and were better enabled to protect their family. This survival/procreation drive is, of course, the most basic of human needs.
Chapter 7 – The Working Mind and The Thinking Mind The Rise of the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind (for Survival – Happiness – Life Fulfillment)
We’d like to present to you here an additional two (very useful) “conscious fictions”…the “ Working Mind” and the “Thinking Mind ”. Regarding these fictions, it’s obvious that the “Whole You” can never be broken down into individual components …you can never dissect or “remove” your subconscious mind, your conscious mind, or any aspect of your Ego. Likewise, you can never dissect or remove your “preferences for certain flowers over others, or preferences for certain tastes over others”. All these are inseparable components of your whole body/mind organism. It is, however, extremely useful to “categorize” certain aspects of your overall person-hood. We hope to show here that you can readily test/verify the two primary ways in which we commonly experience our own existence…via the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind. The Working Mind is that portion of our waking attention which is specifically designed to solve specific problems, tasks and challenges and uses the tools of REFLECTION and Imaginary Time. We might determine that we need to solve a specific problem regarding our spouse or children. There may be “something” about them that we wish to “correct” or “make better” and so we take our Spotlight Personality and CONCENTRATE on a solution. We’ll reflect on Past/Future Imaginary Time and play endless variations on possible actions to take, and then we’ll arrive at possible solutions and action plans. This would naturally be followed by conscious actions we begin to take towards the accomplishment of our desire outcome. Using your ability to reflect and to use Imaginary Time, and to IMAGINE different outcomes (or “imagine” various “what if’s” from the memories of the past) you become better able to solve a problem or challenge. We may put aside time for these “reflections” and have a willful problem-solving or brain-storming session, or we might choose the more passive form we think of as “daydreaming”. Either way, these reflections are especially useful for items related to survival of family/clan/village.
Let us now examine how mankind further evolved past the other creatures of the planet. Once mankind developed the ability to REFLECT and to consciously examine Imaginary Time scenarios, we discovered that this reflection could be used towards achieving two additional needs that are unique to our species: Happiness and Life-Fulfillment. We will not speculate here WHEN humans acquired Happiness and Life-Fulfillment as NEEDS. Suffice it to say that these needs exist and are unique to mankind. Much research has been done on mankind’s survival-happiness-fulfillment hierarchy, and these basic needs/drives have been endlessly categorized and dissected. For the sake of simplicity, we’re going to leave it labeled in this writing as the three basic needs (Survival, Happiness, Fulfillment), each of which being highly interconnected with the others. - 14 -
Moving from the assumption that mankind shares these three basic needs, we’d like you to consider how we tend to work towards the achievement of happiness and life-fulfillment. Once our basic survival needs are met, our conscious attention (our Spotlight Personality) is free to follow the pursuit of happiness and the manifestation of long-term life-fulfillment. Since overall happiness and fulfillment are often not “specific problems that require an immediate solution” we began to develop some additional characteristics within the “mental filter” our intellect (within our conscious attention.) The most obvious difference that can be noticed between humans and other life-forms on this planet is that via reflective thought used for the purpose of increased happiness and fulfillment, we have developed what we call the Thinking Mind. The Thinking Mind is not concerned with solving specific problems, but is concerned primarily with the concepts of happiness and fulfillment. In order to pursue the happiness and fulfillment needs, one’s Thinking Mind has created (starting at a very young age) the “conscious fiction” know as “My Story” …or “The Story of Me”. We don’t think that it requires any huge stretch of the imagination to realize that this is the most fascinating story that permeates each of our indivi dual existences and is the cornerstone to the majority of all our emotions and feelings.
Chapter 8 – The “Story of Me” We began at a very young age to develop the “Story of Me”. Our parents and caregivers began very early by “naming” us and emphasizing our separateness with concepts such as “my name, your name”, “my toy, your toy” and “my clothes, your clothes” …. your “possessions”…”Don’t touch, that’s MINE ! It belongs to ME !”. We soon became away that we were good boys/girls or bad boys/girls based upon our actions and that such good/bad labels were applied to us by all those with whom we had contact. Needless to say, it’s not hard to see your own personal creation of “Your Story”. We can all easily visualize this by remembering our early interactions with our fellow human beings. As “your story” began to take shape and to grow, you began to “nurture it” and visualize it within your mind as an actual “thing”. To this day, everyone’s “my story” is one of the items that seems “most real” to them…it is the most fascinating and compelling thing we have. You might visualize the creation of “your story” such that you have within your mind something like your own personal “treasure chest”. This “treasure chest” is the most valuable thing you posses because within it contains the “Story of You”. At a very young age you began to add things to the chest ..favorite toys, your closest friends, beloved books…all these things went into your chest and began to define “who you were”. And heaven forbid anyone try remove things from our chest (take away our toys or our friends or our favorite television shows) ! Everything that goes into this chest is precious and tends to be very protected. We rebel when we have something exceedingly defining within the chest, and then encounter somebody attempting to convince you that you should “get rid of that preference” or “should not play with that particular best friend any longer”, or “should not watch your favorite TV show any longer”. It should be obvious to anyone that the “Story of You” is simply an idea of yourself, a description of yourself, an image of yourself, a useful fiction. It is by no means the Real You or the Whole You (which will shortly be described in greater detail). Most of us have been raised to be completely identified with this image …this “idea of whom we are called”. It’s the most amount of information that our conscious attention can retain about ourselves, and contains almost no information about the rest of the Real You. The Splintering of the Thinking Mind
Also at a very young age, you begin to develop the concept of “Me” and “Not-Me” (as a baby, the fingers and toes are part of ME but the ball I’m holding is NOT part of me) thus you begin the process of creating Your Story. “Your Story” is generated by all the significant times of your life…the first time you rode a bike, the time you discovered fire is hot, the time you learned to make cereal for breakfast…each person has a million separate and distinct stories of their life that “when combined into a long string of events” consist of what the Voice in Your Head tells you is YOU. As we become an adult, this slow build up of “Your Story” becomes “the concept of YOU”…a fully formed possession that is your own personal “Story of Me”. During this slow build-up of connected stories, your Thinking Mind needed appropriate filters to pursue the goals of happiness and fulfillment (just like a certain aspect of the Spotlight Conscious is used for managing survival activities). Your Thinking Mind accomplishes this by the creation of additional Spotlight Personalities. Previously in this writing, we mentioned your Spotlight Consciousness can also be called your Spotlight Personality. Now we’d like you to consider the fact that within you resides MANY co-existing Spotlight Personalities, each of - 15 -
which manifests as the appropriate sensory filter for whatever happens to be your current situation (different types of specialized spotlights for different occasions) ! Although this may be hard to believe at first, a moment of reflection will show you that this is indeed the case.
You can begin your examination of your various Spotlight Personalities simply need to remember that after you are born you very soon begin to make “distinctions” in the world. Your parents train you what is “YOU” and “notYOU”. They saw you smile and frown and helped you to learn “YOU like this, and YOU don’t like that”…distinctions . You learn that YOU have particular attractions and aversions and you thus amass a huge body of “what YOU prefer” and “what YOU avoid”. This entire training process culminates in hundreds of “small tendencies and predispositions” inside “The Story of Me”. Your various Spotlight Personalities have their own particular mix of these accumulated tendencies and predispositions and we’ll attempt to demonstrate this to the satisfaction of your own testing and verification. Consider as initial examples of multiple Spotlight Personalities the following: 1. Children begin at an early age to have “school personalities” and “home personalities” that are quite different from each other. Later they develop an entirely new personality that we could label the “being with friends” personality which manifests when they are playing with their friends. Likewise, children will develop a unique personality (filters through which a unique mixes of personal characteristics can be seen) for when they are with “friends they’ve not known for long”, and will have an entirely different personality for when they are with “friends they’ve known for years”. 2. Our various personalities splinter even further as adults. We’ve all noticed that we often seem like completely different individuals depending upon the particular environment we’re in at any given moment. We are decidedly different people when we’re out on a date, when we’re at work, when we’re shopping, when we get pulled over by the police, the list goes on and on. At any point of the day your current Spotlight Personality is going to have what might seem like a “Temporary Person in Charge”…YOU the Teacher, YOU the Critic, YOU the Politician, YOU the Cat Lover, YOU the judge…YOU the righteous citizen….hundred’s of variations on your Spotlight Personality residing inside you. And these different “personalities” swap positions all throughout the day ! One second you’re “YOU the Worker” and then an attractive person walks by and “YOU the worker” instantly disappears for a time and is replaced with “YOU the Person who Craves Intimacy” …that moment lasts for a short time, disappears quickly, and “YOU the Worker” comes right back. You swap personalities hundreds, if not thousands, of times every day. And here’s some information that should not surprise you in the slightest. Many of these co-existing Spotlight Personalities are NOT YOUR FRIENDS…they are not concentrating on “keeping YOU happy” which is why the “inner chatter” that runs in a continuous stream throughout the day can be so unpleasant . Doesn’t that seem odd ? …your own inner voice is often NOT your friend ! You can prove this quite easily to yourself. How many times does that inner voice tempt you …it tells you that it’s OK to have an alcoholic drink, or a cigarette, or a rich dessert? They promise happiness with temporary pleasures and “little joys” but such things never seem to result in lasting happiness, just fleeting satisfactions. And then after you consume the item your “inner voice” tempted you with, the same inner voice immediately proceeds to describe to you in excruciating detail how worthless and weak and pathetic you are. Does this sound at all familiar ? It should…it’s the common experience of all mankind. The Personality Jewel - A Useful Fiction for Visualizing your Many Spotlight Personalities
We realize that the notion of having “multiple personalities” might be a bit too “strong” description when writing about the nature of our “normal conscious awareness”, so allow us to present to you here another useful fiction…something we call the Personality Jewel. Let’s begin by looking at the word “personality”, which is your person-ness or your person-hood. The word “person”, from the Latin “persona”, was originally the megaphone-mouthed mask used by actors in the open-air theaters of ancient Greece and Rome. It was the mask through which the sound of the actors’ voices came forth. When one attended such an ancient play, the paper program handed out has at it’s beginning the “Dramatis Personae” …the list of characters, which will really be the list of masks that will be presented in the play. Thus, the various MASKS or ROLES we present to the rest of the world are the underlying meaning to the PERSON-ALITY which the rest of the world sees when they interact with us. It is not too far a stretch of the imagination to see that we have many masks or roles that we wear as we go about the business of day-to-day living . So imagine further that inside our mind resides a very complex jewel. For ourselves, we prefer to think of it as a red ruby that has many sides…perhaps a hundred or more. Each of the smooth and polished facets (sides) of this jewel is covered by a particular mask …a particular role we - 16 -
play…a unique Spotlight Personality which contains it’s own particular mix of likes, dislikes, preferences, tendencies, predispositions, attractions, aversions, attitudes and opinions. Further, for most people, the sound of the “inner chatter” …the “voice in the head” …changes it’s particular tone and style depending on which particular “masked facet” of the Personality Jewel is being presented to the rest of the world as “ME as of this exact moment in time”. When it’s necessary for a particular Spotlight Personality to come forth as the “temporary person in charge”, the jewel simply rotates so that it’s particular facet and mask is now the one facing the outside world. Some of the facets of the Personality Jewel are rarely needed and remain dormant for the vast portion of our lives. Other facets of the Personality Jewel are frequently used on most days and spend much of their time as part of “The Story of Me”. And there are also “hidden facets” that we never new existed that only manifest later in our lives as various aspects of ourselves are “unlocked”. These mysterious facets will be discussed further in this writing in the section of Long-Term Life Fulfillment. Suffice it to say for now that we all have “hidden personalities” that we don’t even know exist. They lie dormant waiting for the right stimulus…the necessary key that’s required to unlock them. The easiest example of this to remember is when we fell in love for the first time. Before that moment you never would have guessed that you harbored a facet of your personality that “felt life so intently”. There’s no way to anticipate the depth of these hidden facets...and often nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming magic that sweeps over you when they are finally released. The Real You is not the Spotlight
It should be obvious at this point that your Spotlight Personalities are simply Very Useful Tools and and not the Real You (they are only a small fractions of YOU) …they are not your True Self…your Whole Self …your Greater Self …call it what you wish. If you need further convincing, consider these other aspects of your Whole Self which have nothing to do with the Spotlight Personality: 1. At any given moment your body is processing an enormous amount of signals arriving from your senses. Even in the deepest coma, patients report hearing and remembering the words of occupants of their room. Even while sleeping your mind is scanning for sounds and changes in temperature and such, and when your pet dog barks in a strange way you are often alerted (by your subconscious self) back to a waking state, to determine if there might be a danger present. That’s when you “turn your spotlight personality ON” and scan your environment in a quick assessment. 2. At any given moment, a very large part of YOU is regulating your body chemistry, growing your hair, digesting your food, beating your heart, organizing the activi ty of trillions of cells, and secreting the essences of your glands. Your Spotlight Personality only becomes aware of these things when part of YOU announces that there is something of interest to “notice” (a pain in the chest, a cramping in your intestines, a loss of balance in the inner ear, the pain of disruption …the list is practically endless). 3. Your current “conscious attention” is only a small fraction (perhaps less than 1%) of all the components of your wonderfully complicated nervous system. The vast majority (perhaps greater than 99%) of your total consciousness is what is called the “sub-conscious” or “other than conscious mind”. It is continually feeding your Spotlight Personality information from memory, and is only really “noticed” when some thought “arises out of nowhere” and you have one of those famous “Aha ! “ moments in which a sudden burst of genius/insight/inspiration is suddenly thrown into the spotlight of current awareness. The huge portion of you which is “other than conscious mind” or “other than current awareness / Spotlight” performs for you an incredibly HUGE number of tasks and requires NO attention from what most people think of as ME. You don’t need to involve you conscious attention when you scratch your nose…your subconscious remembers where all your body parts are. YOU simply think “I need to scratch my nose” and “automatically” you hand/arm/shoulder activates a vast, interconnected linking of muscle and nerve and “somehow” the fingertips reach the EXACT POINT required for scratching the nose. The same goes true for catching a ball. We “will ourselves” to catch a ball, and we then CATCH it. But what really transpired ? We don’t think about the amazing interplay of balance, physics, and anatomy that all just “somehow happened” via the huge processing plant of the “other than conscious YOU”. When you become highly skilled at any task you don’t even need the use of the “conscious awareness / Spotlight Personality” (which again is just a small fraction of YOU) at all …you just relax and “let it somehow happen”. Professional athletes refer to this as “being in the flow” or “being in the groove”. Another easy to observe example is when we trip while walking. Perhaps we were not looking carefully enough at the sidewalk and our “Spotlight Personality” was fully engaged in a conversation on our cell phone. You did not see the uneven paving stones in your path and your shoe catches for a moment …you begin to pitch forward. A split second later…somehow…you fell “just right” and caught yourself in time. What might have been a serious injury was luckily only an embarrassing stumble. What just happened? Did your “conscious attention” save you from falling heavily to the sidewalk? No, your “Spotlight Personality” was engrossed in your phone conversation. So what “saved you” by performing the hundreds of calculations of balance, gravity, body awareness and limb - 17 -
placement? What moved your legs and feet in the blink of an eye such that you did not injure yourself? It was your “other than conscious” mind that without thought or conscious attention performed all the thousands of necessary calculations and muscle movements. Who are YOU then ? What is the Real You ?
Here’s a very useful realization…discovering who YOU really are. You are not any one particular combination of frequently displayed aspects of your personality (frequently used facets of the mask-covered Personality Jewel). The REAL and WHOLE you is : 1. The sum total of all the aspects of your personality (even the ones that have not yet manifested)…the sum total of all the various Spotlight Personalities. It is the lifetime’s use of all the aspects of your personality that has led to the creation of “The Story of Me”. The various Spotlight Personalities (Working Mind and Thinking Mind) combined with their shared “Story of Me” forms what is commonly called The Ego. 2. Your subconscious mind with all it stored memories, and it’s complete set of physiological mechanisms for maintaining your immensely complex body/mind organism. 3. The physical body/mind organism itself, most of which you have no voluntary control over whatsoever. 4. Those aspects of your Conscious Mind that do not require the use of Spotlight Personalities and which can interact with the world without the need for labels, words, symbols, and numbers. This is the part of YOU which has the potential for existing in a complete “Peace of Mind” and is the portion of your conscious awareness which you eventually discover and learn to use once you find a Useful Illumination. The Deeper You is the Awareness behind the "Voice in the Head" ….the "watcher" of the thoughts…it is that portion of your conscious attention that does not require labels/words/symbols/numbers (this will be more fully explained in Part 3 and you’ll be shown how to test/verify this for yourself) For some people who are so far asleep that they can't even conceive of the possibility that they are not the "voice in their head", this Deeper You is more adequately described as the "Watcher of the Watcher" since their first attempts at "watching" their own thoughts is merely done by a "less asleep" portion of the "voice in the head" ! It's only when you can really separate Awareness from Thought that you can identify this Deeper You. The Deeper You does not chatter in an unending stream of words. It does not spend time during walks in the park and label a tree as "oak" or "maple". When you're walking in the park, and a dog is barking, the Deeper You does not say "dog". This is the first MAJOR hurdle in the quest for peace of mind…learning to find "the watcher" or "the watcher of the watcher" which is in actuality the (often dormant) Deeper Self. Unfortunately, It is the part of YOU which remains hidden for most people for majority of their lives, and only surfaces to a dominant level of conscious attention during rare and magical moments. In Part 3 of this writing you’ll discover how to recognize these moments and will be taught how to access this “comfortable” and “Illuminated” aspect of YOU. (Remember that “Illumination” is a form of “Waking Up” from some sort of sleep/dream/illusion/hypnosis) Another very valuable distinction is that the Deeper You is what many people call the Spirit . “Spirit” can be used synonymously with “Deeper You”, yet is not to be confused with the idea of “Soul”. A “soul” is the concept of an indestructible essence that survives the death experience, and is a key topic of many of the world’s religions. Since our teaching is designed to help anyone, regardless of religious belief or disbelief, we will not be discussing the validity or falseness of the concept of “soul”. Since the truth of “continuance after death” can not be proven one way versus the other, we will not be discussing that topic. Our teachings ALL revolve around those things that can be proven beyond any doubt to your own personal satisfaction. Understanding the complex nature of YOU (the Deeper You, or Spirit) is a particularly useful realization in order to fully grasp why we tend to suffer from unhappiness/sorrow/misery. We suffer emotional pain due to the fundamental nature and characteristics of the Ego. The Ego typically remains in dominant control of your conscious attention for the vast majority of your entire life. We’ll next explore the exact processes by which the Ego causes emotional suffering.
Chapter 9 – The Compulsive Nature of the The Ego Our Commonly Shared Illusion Regarding the Ego
In the previous chapter you saw how the Ego (the Spotlight Personalities of the Working Mind and Thinking mind, combined with their shared “Story of Me”) is only a small portion of the Whole You. It is the portion of you which is responsible for causing emotional suffering and unhappiness and we’re going to see this very clearly by the end of Part 2. - 18 -
Since people have been taught their entire lives to “pay attention” to what is going on around them (even in school, the teacher commands the class to “Pay attention to the chalkboard now” and all the children’s eyes become riveted to the lesson unfolding at the front of the class. These children are simultaneously immersed in the teacher’s “pattern training” ( in classes such as grammar or math or chemistry, etc.) and it has become the experience of most individuals now to be completely identified with their “Ego”... the combination of the various Spotlight Personalities of the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind combined with “The Story of Me”.
Although it’s clear to see that the Ego is only a fraction of YOU (as said before, perhaps less than1% of your brain is devoted to the needs of the Spotlight Personality, and the remaining 99% or more is devoted to the rest of YOU…including the vast resource of your subconscious mind), it is the common delusion of most individuals that they actually ARE the Ego. Here's some encouraging news for you…95% of everyone you’ll ever encounter experiences the same thing you do regarding the Spotlight Personalities problem…the "voice in the head" problem. You're most definitely in the same situation as most everybody else you’ll ever meet. What began as a Useful Tool for filtering out the content of the world around us to increase our survival chances by more efficiently recognizing important and necessary patterns, has naturally transmuted to a sort of “waking hypnosis”. It’s as if we had a machine inside our minds that serves some useful purpose, and we attend to the machine so often that we begin to believe that we actually ARE the machine…that we ARE the “Stream of Thought”. In some wisdom traditions this is described as “being asleep within a dream”. Most everyone is “extremely asleep" such that we completely identify ourselves as BEING the "voice in the head" (we are on complete autopilot and our conscious attention is directed solely by the whirling maelstrom of thought over which we seem to have no perceptible control). This is quite tragic because these commonly shared characteristics often have us living very unhappy and unfulfilled lives as a direct result of this mis-identification with the Stream of Thought. Most everyone simply can’t escape their inner chatter. It’s a ceaseless barrage and it seems to never stop. The more we “think about thought”, the more thoughts we think …it’s a very vicious cycle. The Compulsion of the Ego…its Addictive Nature
We’ve already learned that the origin of the Thinking Mind (not concerned with solving specific problems, but is concerned primarily with the concepts of happiness and fulfillment) was necessary in order to pursue our happiness and fulfillment needs (a uniquely human pair of needs). In order to do this, your Thinking Mind had to create (starting at a very young age) the “conscious fiction” know as “My Story” …or “The Story of Me”…the most fascinating story that permeates each of our individual existences. The “Story of Me” is SO fascinating that it easily becomes a compulsive/addictive fixation. Most people simply can not stop thinking of their personal story. This is easily tested and verified if you’ll simply make a conscious effort throughout the course of day to periodically analyze the content of your thoughts. They are almost entirely concerned with what is happening to YOU ...those aspects of “Your Story” that are concerned with work, family, friends, happiness, fear …it’s all about how the universe centers on YOU. This consumes almost the entire amount of our waking moments throughout the every day of our lives. In fact, most people are 100% completely and irrevocably bonded with the "voice in the head". They are not aware of the truth of a Deeper You which can allow them to reside in states of long-lasting happiness. The “voice in the head”, as has been previously explained, is simply a superbly designed survival enhancement tool…yet most people have completely mis-identified themselves with the tool. We’re willing to bet that you likely have the same problem as almost every other person you'll ever meet. You are tormented by the thoughts that flow constantly through your mind…the "inner chatter"…the "unceasing voice" …that incessant yammering/yapping that is difficult to quiet and impossible to ignore. Most people torture themselves with the "voice in the head" and don't even realize that the "voice in the head" is not merely a small fraction of YOU…they are unaware of the Deeper You. They are only aware of that portion of themselves that is merely that “current view of reality as interpreted by your current Spotlight Personality filter”. And we’ve already seen that there are many sides to the Spotlight Personality (the Personality Jewel example) …a veritable tumbling ground for whimsies. It’s at this juncture that we’d like to show you a few characteristics (mechanisms) shared by the Egos of all human beings so that you can see that the identification with the Ego…the identification with the “Stream of Thought”…is a species-wide characteristic. It is an illusion common to almost all humans. There are actually 2 mechanisms at work by the Ego at all times, and these have been heavily analyzed by Eastern philosophers and scholars for thousands of years. In our opinion, the description of these two mechanism constitute what we consider the most valuable principles discovered by Siddhartha Gautama in his - 19 -
moment of Illumination…of his Waking Up to the truth of man’s “Stream of Thought” problem. These 2 mechanisms are what the Buddha and his initial disciples named (in the Pali language) Upadana and Tanha and are responsible for the addictive nature of the Ego. Upadana and Tanha – The Underlying Nature of Everyone’s Ego
Over the past several thousand years a vast amount of written works have been composed by devout Buddhist monks on the fundamental concepts of Upadana and Tanha…they are the reason for the addictive/compulsive nature of the Ego. Over the course of our studies we’ve found that they can easily be understood with some very simple summary explanations. Upadana can be best translated into English as “ grasping, clinging ”. It is often translated as “attachment” but we feel that this does not do justice to the overall intention of the term. Perhaps we can say that it is the grasping and clinging nature of the Ego that causes us to want to attach/add happy/comfortable things to “The Story of Me”, and conversely causes us to want to avoid (detach) those things which are unhappy/uncomfortable to “The Story of Me”. Tanha can be best translated as “ unquenchable thirst (craving and wishing and wanting) ”. These cravings are usually thought of as craving physical pleasure, as well as wishing to have/obtain “things”, and also encompasses wishing to “not have”. We can crave for comfortable things/feelings to be present and for uncomfortable things/feelings to not be present. Our cravings always seem to offer the notion that if one’s “thirsts” are somehow fulfilled this will, of itself, lead to lasting happiness, well-being, and eventually long-term life fulfillment (the basic human needs being survival, happiness, and fulfillment). It can readily be seen that problems will always arise from our “unquenchable thirsts/cravings/wishing/wanting” from the fact that nothing is permanent and we can never be fully satisfied or satiated for any lasting amount of time.
It is the combination of Upadana and Tanha that many writers have (inaccurately in our opinion) combined into the single term “ Desire”. Thus, you’ll often see books which claim that “suffering is due to desire, so you simply need to not desire…to give up desire”. And, of course, you can see the fallacy that creates simply because one then begins the futile quest of “Desiring to give up Desire” (and then the desiring to give up desiring to give up desire !), which is why people eventually conclude that you can’t “try” to obtain Illumination. We will show you in Part 3 of this writing how you CAN obtain a Useful Illumination by choosing practices based on your understanding of the results of Tanha and Upadana. Let’s next examine this most crucial of topics …the unhappiness caused by Tanha and Upadana. It answers the fundamental question: “Why EXACTLY are we unhappy and unfulfilled ? “
Chapter 10 – The Torture of Discontent – (The Result of Tanha and Upadana) Our “Thought Stream” is Constantly in Motion
By this point you should clearly see that our Egos are constantly in motion in the process of adding to “The Story of Me” via the mechanisms of Tanha (unquenchable thirst… craving/wishing/wanting) and Upadana (grasping/clinging/attaching and their opposites of aversion/avoiding). This constant/conditioned/habitual motion has led us to completely identify ourselves as being “The Stream of Thought”…we’ve completely mis-identified ourselves with the “Voice in the Head”. This has led to many self-help methodologies which suggest you “stop thought” or “drop thought” or “drop the Ego”, but you’l l see in Part 3 how this is never possible to accomplish for any useful length of time…at least not long enough to significantly improve your ratio of comfortable/uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. Now we are prepared to actually examine why this leads to unhappiness and lack of fulfillment. You must understand that the Ego is constantly searching for things to add to (or remove from) the “treasure chest” which contains “The Story of Me”. We are always searching for the “next thing” that we know will make us happy. We are under the delusion that the acquisition of “that next thing” is going to be a key piece that will get us closer to fulfillment, but it’s never enough to satisfy us. We believe that if we just keep accumulating enough components to “My Story” that somehow/someday it will be enough. Conversely, we often focus on removing enough painful items from “our story” such that you begin to believe that “if I can only fix this problem…then I can be happy”. - 20 -
You might think: “If only I can have that new model of car, then THAT’S what I really need to be happy”. So, you buy the car…and it’s great ! But after a few weeks the satisfaction fades, and we begin to look for that “next thing” that will make us happy. Our cravings for things result in only temporary amounts of satisfaction, and then we are off again searching for that “Next Big Thing” to make us happy (new clothes, new job, new spouse, new friends, new religion)…it never ends. And we find in the end of each thing we acquire, that there always manifests some form of “unsatisfactoriness”…the “bloom wears off the rose”. We are never fully satisfied (at least never for very long). The focus on the feeling of “I Don’t Like It”
Also consider the primary nature of our Spotlight Awareness…it’s a filtering mechanism. It functions to take in the vast amount of information from our senses to present to us an understandable (and highly filtered and condensed) view of our “personal reality”. It is constantly removing information in order to only keep that which is currently useful. In fact, it discards the vast majority of every piece of information that you’re receiving at any given moment from all your senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound). It’s nature is “not this, not this, not this” so that it can ignore what is not useful and only retain the small fraction required to create some form of coherent vision. It’s “not this” screening function naturally leads to our habitual labeling of things as not useful, not important, unsatisfactory, and unnecessary. Thus, it’s easy to see how it’s quite natural for us to process within the Stream of Thought a running personal commentary that can be viewed as : “ I Don’t Like It “ It is the nature of the Spotlight Personality (due to it’s function as a “not this – not that” filter. It’s mission to reject the vast amount of your sensory experience of life and only leave what’s important)… to find that which it does not like. So here we have arrived at the crux of the problem. Our unhappiness/sorrow/unfulfillment is a result of the content of our “Stream of Thought”. And most people find that they are continually processing uncomfortable thoughts and are thus unhappy. It is entirely due to the “I Don’t Like It” nature of the Thought Stream . Can you see that If you were typically producing thoughts that don’t have the “I Don’t Like It” component, then you would be typically manifesting comfortable thoughts and would probably consider yourself a HAPPY PERSON ? Perhaps you are one of those rare few that we’ve met who typically DO process more comfortable thoughts than uncomfortable ones. They are truly blessed, but are definitely in the minority of the human race. It should be noted that the observation of the “I Don’t Like It” nature of the Ego has been studied and verified by countless researchers, philosophers and scholars and is often described thoughout all cultures (it is a shared human experience) as: Basic Unsatisfactoriness or Dissatisfaction Discord / Dissonance Dissent / Dissention Disharmonious Strife / Struggle Contention Frustration The personal habit of Unpleasant Verbal Commentary (one’s words are typically “not nice”) The Heart of the Problem – Discontent and Imaginary Time Here is what we’ve found to be the best description for our unhappiness and lack of fulfillment caused by the nature of the Ego. It is simply this: Unhappiness and Unfulfillment originates from the uncomfortable emotional reactivity caused by DISCONTENT. It should be obvious that DISCONTENT is the key word in that commonly shared human “truth”.
It’s also important to realize that your Ego/Thought-Stream is exceedingly quick to search and identify items for which you should be “discontented”, and then the Ego/Thought-Stream follows up these constant identifications with reason after reason to justify the discontent. It would even be safe to say that it goes out of its way to find things to make you unhappy (discontent), and then does an intentional job of justifying the discontent. All you need to do is to realize the truth of “habitual/compulsive discontented thinking” is to periodically examine your own thoughts when you’re in a “bad mood”…that’s the easiest time to observe what we call: “The Habitual Spontaneous Arising of Thoughts of Discontent”. Just take a look for yourself at your own thoughts …they probably seem like this a great deal of the time: - 21 -
I don’t like this/that/it … I can’t stand/tolerate it when… I don’t approve of… I wish they’d approve of my… I wish they’d appreciate my… I think this/that should change …it should be other than what it is… I can’t/won’t accept this/that/it “What if” this/that happens ? (the Thought Stream loves to process uncomfortable “what if” scenarios) I need/want… I have to, must, should, would, could I can’t… I want to hold on to (or avoid)… I want them to realize that I’m right about … I blame … I don’t have enough of … I’m afraid of losing something…being less of…being diminished by… I’m always the victim of… I can’t let him/her/they/it do that… I can’t allow/permit … I want to control him/her/they/it … …basic unpleasant observations…conversation that appears “not nice” to others… …the list of “ types of discontent ” is endless and they all revolve around some permutation of the feeling: “I Don’t Like It“ These spontaneously arising thoughts of discontent all keep our focus of attention in the Imaginary Time of past and future. If you look carefully at the typical thoughts of discontent that we just listed, you’ll easily see that when you’re thinking of such things you are examining/reliving events of the past or you are focusing/anticipating events of the future. Most people exist almost solely (as if hypnotized) within this imaginary realm of past/future thought (Imaginary Time) ! The vast majority of everyone you meet are ruminating on the past, or planning/worrying for the future via the constant “inner chatter” of their Thinking Mind (their masked Spotlight Personality of the moment). They are ignoring most of things that are around them NOW (missing out on “Life”) and simply amble about while constantly immersed in the past/future …resulting in anxiety, depression, unhappiness and a legion of other mental afflictions. Some Examples of the Exact Way the Ego Tortures Us
To some, the word “torture” might be too extreme a word when they mentally review their own particular varieties of “I Don’t Like It” (Discontented) thinking. Granted, most of the thoughts we process throughout the day are merely “a bit uncomfortable”. You might even wish to use another “useful conscious fiction” to measure them which we call “the thought’s Misery Content”. The exact strength of any particular thought’s Misery Content is measured by the amount of misery the particular thought causes you. Most of the thoughts your Ego processes in the continuous Stream of Thought have a very low Misery Content. Examples of this would be low-end “discontented” thoughts such as: “My food is not as tasty as the last time.” “The label on my new shirt itches the back of my neck.” “The children’s arguing is annoying.” These types of thoughts are definitely not “torture”…they are merely “a little uncomfortable”. Of course, for most people it seems that the Ego’s sole purpose is to sca n their immediate environment and search out items for which to be discontented about. Then it processes endless reasons in the habitual/compulsive/addictive Stream of Thought as to why we SHOULD be discontented about it. It almost seems as if the Ego were some for of self-created “Complaint Engine”. There are many other forms of discontent that truly DO seem tortuous…their Misery Content is almost immeasurable. For the sake of simplicity let’s list what tends to be the most agonizing three categories…those categories with the highest Misery Content: Grief, Hate, and Shame. Our Egos (remember that the Ego is the combined sum of all your Spotlight Personalities and their shared, selfcreated, fictional construct that we call “The Story of Me”… and ”The Story of Me” is indeed fictional but seems to be the most real thing about our own personal existence) will spend extraordinary amounts of time analyzing events of Grief, Hate, and Shame …endlessly turning events over and tumbling them - 22 -
around like rocks in a fast moving river. We play endless movies inside our minds as if reflecting on these events is actually BENEFICIAL in some way, but it’s obvious that it’s really just a form of severe self-torture. Would you say that the Ego is looking out for your best interests when it takes these “rocks of woe” and endlessly looks at them…polishes them…examines them in the most minute detail…all the time generating for us excessively painful, uncomfortable, and unhappy emotional content ?
Here now are examples of Grief, Hate and Shame …and how the Ego can process exceedingly unhappy thoughts in a never-ending stream of personal misery. It is these three categories of addictive thought that will often cause people to suffer so completely that they believe the only logical course of action to be murder, suicide, and other equally destructive forms of self-behavior: 1. Example of Grief: A mother loses her only child to a terminal illness. After the child’s death, her Ego presents for her inspection an endless list of past moments she’s lost forever. Her Ego even creates a huge list of regrets she’s had regarding the care and upbringing of the child and plays for her a never-ending procession of “movie clips in the mind” of how she wishes she actually HAD acted in the past. Concurrently with the past reflections and “ruminations of misery and woe”, she’ll be presented within her Stream of Thought a million things that she’ll now NEVER HAVE in the future as a result of the child’s absence. As you can see, the Ego’s primary medium through which it travels is the Imaginary Time of past/future. It rarely takes a break from Imaginary Time to simply “be still” and appreciate all the wondrous beauty readily available in the Present Moment…the Here and Now. Many unfortunate people spend years in such states of extreme emotional discontent and discomfort (emotional self-torture and self-sabotage) and they miss all the potential good things that life still has to offer. 2. Example of Hate: A man discovers that his wife has been having an affair for over a year…she’s now demanding a divorce so that she can start her life over with her other lover. Like the example of “Grief” above, the man’s Ego proceeds to torture him with an endless procession of actual and imaginary events contained within the Imaginary Time of past/future. He’ll begin to compulsively/addictively visualize (complete fictions of tortuous mental movie clips) what his wife has been doing with her other lover over the past year, and all the times he was completely oblivious to what now might seem readily obvious. He then tortures himself of thoughts of the future and reflects on all the years he’ll now be forced to spend alone…all the things he’s losing …he’s losing his spouse, perhaps even his children, perhaps half his savings and retirement funds. He may have to sell the house and family business…an endless list containing thoughts and feelings with extraordinarily high Misery Content. Often we see that some form of insane violence somehow now seems (in this person’s hate-filled mind) to be the only logical recourse ! 3. Example of Shame: A teenage girl breaks up with her boyfriend and the break is not “pretty”. The boy is outraged and posts some exceedingly shameful pictures or videos he’s collected of her…he posts them on the internet. The girl is understandably horrified and experiences immense amounts of humiliation and shame. She does not decide to immediately commit suicide…rarely is suicide a spontaneous event. No, suicide generally requires careful reflection and attention on the part of the Ego as it plays thousands of “mind movies” of the past (the mistakes of allowing embarrassing pictures or videos to be shot) and especially reflects upon the future ramifications. The Ego will now present, in immense detail, the list of people who will eventually see the horrifying pictures/videos, their reactions, what they will begin to think of her, the reputation she’ll now have for perhaps the rest of her life. The Ego will create a non-stop stream of examples of the “humiliation to come”. It’s times like these when the anticipated (illusory) future pain/misery seems “too much” to bear … and it may be decided that life is now no longer worth living and that death is preferable. The Path to Useful Illumination
Now that you’ve seen the exact mechanisms behind the nature of personal unhappiness (varying degrees of misery …sometimes tortuous) as well as a resulting lack of fulfillment, it’s naturally follows that you would then wish to proceed to a hopeful “solution”. In Part 3 of this writing you’ll find the answers to these problems described, answers that people have been seeking for thousands of years. Take a look at the following and decide if the answers to these questions (all of these questions are answered in Part 3) would be of benefit to you. Do you think such Enlightenments would be “useful”? : How do we change our mis-identification with the Stream of Thought ? How to we change/quiet our incessant “inner chatter” ? Can we learn to live in the quiet and comfortable nature of the Deeper You ? How do we change the “I Don’t Like It” complaining nature of the Ego ? How do we change our uncomfortable emotional reactivity (unhappiness) due to DISCONTENT, and stop the automatic “complaint engine” ? How do we curb the Ego’s tendencies towards Tanha (the unquenchable thirst of craving/wishing/wanting) ? How do we curb the Ego’s tendencies towards Upadana (grasping, clinging and their opposites) ? How do we begin to have naturally arising comfortable thoughts for happiness and fulfillment ? - 23 -
Is there a way to live my life such that I’ll minimize personal discontent and at the same time find some sort of fulfillment such that I’d also be a benefit to mankind ? Is it possible to live primarily in the more peaceful Present Moment instead of past/future Imaginary Time ? Is it possible to really experience the promise of “Peace of Mind without Discontent” for the vast majority of the time for a truly LASTING happiness? Is it possible to adjust my Thought Stream such that those thoughts which “Naturally Arise with No Effort” are comfortable/happy thoughts ? I can see that all my fears are simply items in the continuous Thought Stream. Can I somehow get rid of my discontent as well as my fears ? Can I learn to access my Deeper Self - that portion of me that does not require the constant/incessant “naming of all that we see”, and somehow learn to exist in prolonged states of “Peace of Mind” …without being plagued by the “inner chatter of discontent” ? Can I somehow learn a method to live in prolonged states of Love and Contentment, instead of my habitual states of Fear and Discontent ? …some method to allow me to control my thoughts and build a natural state in which thoughts that Naturally Arise tend to be comfortable/happy/content? How can I use such methods to work towards the final goal of Long-Term Life Fulfillment …to find a my “purpose for being here” and find a truly Meaningful Life? Summary of Part 2
As promised, here’s a condensed list of the various “self-evident truths” presented in Part 2 of this writing. Seeing them all together might help in order to view all the material as a more “coherent whole”. Before you read this summary it would be wise to always keep in the background of your attention the most important axiom of this section of the writing…that which all the rest of Part 2 supports. Unhappiness and Unfulfillment originates from the uncomfortable emotional reactivity caused by DISCONTENT Contents of Part 2 that were highlighted in RED : *** Unhappy/Unpleasant feelings are ALWAYS accompanied by unhappy/unpleasant thoughts. Feelings are caused by thoughts that your mind generates. *** We make ourselves miserable by the “thoughts we think”…via the Voice in the Head …the Thought Stream. *** Just “understanding” the problem is not enough to “solve” the problem. *** To find some kind of description for happiness/unhappiness that is more suitable to finding resonance with the feelings of all humans, please consider observing your thoughts as either Comfortable Thoughts or Uncomfortable Thoughts. *** Given that humans evolved the ability to seek and find connections between things and events in the environment (snakes with rattles should be avoided), those who made the best pattern-connections left behind the most offspring. *** Thus, we can see the natural arising of the Spotlight Consciousness or Spotlight Personality. We use it to filter out the vast amounts of information flowing continually into our senses during the waking state in order to enable us to find the best “patterns”. *** The illusion of separateness is so complete that it is now the common experience of humans that they are completely separate entities contained roughly within the boundaries of our flesh/skin, and that the center of our “separateness” is that “personality” which westerners locate roughly somewh ere behind the eyes and between the ears. *** Our minds, or intellects, developed over the course of thousands of years to be exceedingly successful determining the patterns of our environment, and this allowed us to do something that no other animal had done before. It allowed us to “rest” from the immediate “survival / fight-or-flight” responses and gave us time to REFLECT. *** Our ability to “pay close attention” to our environment (Spotlight Consciousness) led to increased “free time” to REFLECT upon what we’ll refer to in these writings as Imaginary Time . *** The Working Mind is that portion of our waking attention which is specifically designed to solve specific problems, tasks and challenges and uses the tools of REFLECTION and Imaginary Time.
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*** Once our basic survival needs are met, our conscious attention (our Spotlight Personality) is free to follow the pursuit of happiness and the manifestation of long-term life-fulfillment. *** In order to pursue the happiness and fulfillment needs, one’s Thinking Mind has created (starting at a very young age) the “conscious fiction” know as “My Story” …or “The Story of Me”. *** Everyone’s “my story” is one of the items that seems “most real” to them…it is the most fascinating and compelling thing we have. *** It should be obvious to anyone that the “Story of You” is simply an idea of yourself, a description of yourself, an image of yourself, a useful fiction. It is by no means the Real You or the Whole You (which will shortly be described in greater detail). Most of us have been raised to be completely identified with this image …this “idea of whom we are called”. It’s the most amount of information that our conscious attention can retain about ourselves, and contains almost no information about the rest of the Real You. *** Within you resides MANY co-existing Spotlight Personalities, each of which manifests as the appropriate sensory filter for whatever happens to be your current situation (different types of specialized spotlights for different occasions). *** Many of these co-existing Spotlight Personalities are NOT YOUR FRIENDS…they are not concentrating on “keeping YOU happy” which is why the “inner chatter” that runs in a continuous stream throughout the day can be so unpleasant. *** It is not too far a stretch of the imagination to see that we have many masks or roles that we wear as we go about the business of day-to-day living. *** Your Spotlight Personalities are simply Very Useful Tools and and not the Real You (they are only a small fractions of YOU) …they are not your True Self…your Whole Self …your Greater Self. *** The various Spotlight Personalities (Working Mind and Thinking Mind) combined with their shared “Story of Me” forms what is commonly called The Ego . *** The Deeper You is the Awareness behind the "voice in the head" ….the "watcher" of the thoughts…it is that portion of your conscious attention that does not require labels/words/symbols/numbers. *** It's only when you can really separate Awareness from Thought that you can identify this Deeper You. The Deeper You does not chatter in an unending stream of words. *** The Deeper You is what many people call their Spirit. *** Since people have been taught their entire lives to “pay attention” to what is going on around them. *** It has become the experience of most individuals now to be completely identified with their “Ego”... the combination of the various Spotlight Personalities of the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind combined with “The Story of Me”. *** Most people simply can’t escape their inner chatter. For them, it’s a ceaseless barrage and it seems to never stop. The more they “think about thought”, the more thoughts they think …it’s a very vicious cycle. *** The “voice in the head”, as has been previously explained, is simply a superbly designed survival enhancement tool…yet most people have completely mis-identified themselves with the tool. *** You likely have the same problem as almost every other person you'll ever meet. You are tormented by the thoughts that flow constantly through your mind…the "i nner chatter"…the "unceasing voice" …that incessant yammering/yapping that is difficult to quiet and impossible to ignore. *** It is the grasping and clinging nature of the Ego that causes us to want to attach/add happy/comfortable things to “The Story of Me”, and conversely causes us to want to avoid (detach) those things which are unhappy/uncomfortable to “The Story of Me”. *** Problems will always arise from our “unquenchable thirsts/cravings/wishing/wanting” from the fact that nothing is permanent and we can never be fully satisfied or satiated for any lasting amount of time. - 25 -
*** Our Egos are constantly in motion in the process of adding to “The Story of Me” via the mechanisms of Tanha (unquenchable thirst… craving/wishing/wanting) and Upadana (grasping/clinging/attaching and thei r opposites of aversion/avoiding). This constant/conditioned/habitual motion has led us to completely identify ourselves as being “The Stream of Thought”…we’ve completely mis-identified ourselves with the “Voice in the Head”. *** You must understand that the Ego is constantly searching for things to add to (or remove from) the “treasure chest” which contains “The Story of Me”. *** After a few weeks the satisfaction fades, and we begin to look for that “next thing” that will make us happy. Our cravings for things result in only temporary amounts of satisfaction, and then we are off again searching for that “Next Big Thing” to make us happy (new clothes, new job, new spouse, new friends, new religion)…it never ends. And we find in the end of each thing we acquire that there always manifest some form of “unsatisfactoriness”…the “bloom wears off the rose”. We are never fully satisfied (at least never for very long). *** It’s easy to see how it’s quite natural for us to process within the Stream of Thought a running personal commentary that can be viewed as : “ I Don’t Like It “ It is the nature of the Spotlight Personality (due to it’s function as a “not this – not that” filter. It’s mission to reject the vast amount of your sensory experience of life and only leave what’s important)… to find that which it does not like. *** Most people find that they are continually processing uncomfortable thoughts and are thus unhappy. It is entirely due to the “I Don’t Like It” nature of the Thought Stream. *** Here is what we’ve found to be the best description for our unhappiness and lack of fulfillment caused by the nature of the Ego. It is simply this: Unhappiness and Unfulfillment originates from the uncomfortable emotional reactivity caused by DISCONTENT. *** Your Ego/Thought-Stream is exceedingly quick to search and identify items for which you should be “discontented”, and then the Ego/Thought-Stream follows up these constant identifications with reason after reason to justify the discontent. It would even be safe to say that it goes out of its way to find things to make you unhappy (discontent), and then does an intentional job of justifying the discontent. *** Most people exist almost solely (as if hypnotized) within this imaginary realm of past/future thought (Imaginary Time) ! The vast majority of everyone you meet are ruminating on the past, or planning/worrying for the future via the constant “inner chatter” of their Thinking Mind (their masked Spotlight Personality of the moment). They are ignoring most of things that are around them NOW (missing out on “Life”) and simply amble about while constantly immersed in the past/future … resulting in anxiety, depression, unhappiness and a legion of other mental afflictions. *** The exact strength of any particular thought’s M isery Content is measured by the amount of misery the particular thought causes you. Most of the thoughts your Ego processes in the continuous Stream of Thought have a very low Misery Content. Examples of this would be low-end “discontented” thoughts such as: “My food is not as tasty as the last time.” “The label on my new shirt itches the back of my neck.” “The children’s arguing is annoying.” *** Or most people it seems that the Ego’s sole purpose is to scan their immediate environment and search out items for which to be discontented about. Then it processes endless reasons in the habitual/compulsive/addictive Stream of Thought as to why we SHOULD be discontented about it. It almost seems as if the Ego were some for of self-created “Complaint Engine”. *** There are many other forms of discontent that truly DO seem tortuous…their Misery Content is almost immeasurable. For the sake of simplicity let’s list what tends to be the most agonizing three categories…those categories with the highest Misery Content: Grief, Hate, and Shame. Our Egos (remember that the Ego is the combined sum of all your Spotlight Personalities and their shared, self-created, fictional construct that we call “The Story of Me”… and ”The Story of Me” is indeed fictional but seems to be the most real thing about our own personal existence) will spend extraordinary amounts of time analyzing events of Grief, Hate, and Shame …endlessly turning events over and tumbling them around like rocks in a fast moving river. We play endless movies inside our minds as if reflecting on these events is actually BENEFICIAL in some way, but it’s obvious that it’s really just a form of severe self-torture. *** The Ego can process exceedingly unhappy thoughts in a never-ending stream of personal misery. It is these three categories of addictive thought that will often cause people to suffer so completely that they believe the only logical course of action to be murder, suicide, and other equally destructive forms of self-behavior. - 26 -
Part 3 – Setting Out on Your Personal Quest for Useful Illumination Chapter 11 – An Overview of the Path We’ll Travel A Complicated Problem …Simplified for Convenience
As is now probably obvious, the complexity of our deeply rooted tendencies towards “thoughts of discontent” (the basis of unhappiness) is rather far reaching and deeply ingrained into the experiences of our existence. Our addictive bonding with the Voice in the Head has led us down uncomfortable paths while we sit as passengers, so to speak, in the vehicle of our travels through life. By allowing our Thought Stream to determine the roles we play, and the method by which we play them, we develop tendencies to AUTOMATICALLY react to our external environment. The simplified description of our problem is this: We find that the Naturally Arising Thoughts of our daily existence do not serve to make us happy, peaceful or content … and we wonder why we are continually immersed in uncomfortable feelings like these:
*** We find ourselves spontaneously generating uncomfortable (unhappy) thoughts which seem to arise from “nowhere in particular”. During the course of our day, our minds wander and produce endless unpleasant thought topics to think about. We don’t like our appearance, we wish our spouses would be more helpful and understanding, we wish our children would not argue with us, we wish we had a job that was satisfying instead of emotionally draining, we wish we had chosen different paths to travel in the past that might have resulted in more desirable current realities, we wish we made better decisions and choices. The list of discontented thoughts that automatically arise throughout the day is endless is its variety and depth of misery. *** We will periodically “come awake” for brief moments and wonder why we’re so tired, so depressed, so moody, so anxious. We can’t seem to figure out how to get out of the ruts we’ve created for ourselves, and this makes us even more frustrated with our lives. These brief moments of clarity are soon replaced with our normal, everyday thoughts …we go back on autopilot…and continue on the miserable train of compulsive, unpleasant thought wanderings. Our thoughts just seem to travel on their own accord, and rarely serve to make us feel happy for any lasting or appreciable amount of time. *** We can’t seem to understand why we’ve become the way we are. Why are we always complaining inside our minds about the things we see ? Why do we (silently) label others who displease us with criticisms such as “stupid”, and “worthless”, and a thousand other unflattering terms ? We tend to automatically generate thoughts that are angry, hurtful, mean, critical and judgmental…and we KNOW that we are “not really a bad person.” Yet these ugly thoughts just rise up out of seemingly nowhere. We know that we’re capable of being a “better person” yet can’t seem to break free from automatically generated negative thought. *** We constantly sense a sort of futility in our lives and can’t seem to understand why we don’t make choices that lead to more fulfillment. Instead, we seem to tread down paths of endless drudgery and boredom. *** We know that there must be “more to life”. We hear promises on television and magazines for the “new thing” that can make us happy. We seek and seek and seek …and find nothing of lasting value, yet we somehow sense deep within that the solution exists if we just keep looking long and hard enough. *** We sometimes find ourselves asking “What’s wrong with me ?” We do not wish to “stay the way we are” when we know that we can be better than what we’re currently manifesting in our daily behaviors. We know that deep inside we’re a “good person” and would dearly like to remove those natural tendencies and habits that make us ashamed of our actions and ourselves…those tendencies that seem to sabotage our relationships will all the people who give meaning to our lives. We’d like to point out that many teachers claim that you can “eliminate these darknesses by lighting the lamp of Awareness” …that somehow “monitoring” the problem of your negative thoughts is enough to stop them. This simply does NOT work for any lasting amount of time. You may have even tried various methods that promise happiness or Illumination, and may have even had short periods of success. But eventually you slip back into your old habits of thinking (and then acting) and all of your gains are lost. You seem to naturally fall back into your natural resting states of unhappiness and unfulfillment.
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No, simply “being aware” of the problem is not enough. You need a “method” or “tool” that you can use to permanently change your naturally arising thoughts, and it needs to be something that’s pleasant, not time consuming, and can be effortless used . Some self-help gurus will offer tools of meditation to accomplish these goals, but most people find it to be an “unpleasant” effort to perform meditation on any regular basis. Another problem with paths that require meditation is that most people simply can’t find the time in their busy lives to put aside 30 minutes or 60 minutes each day for meditation-based transformational methods. The Good News
We’re happy to tell you now that all your thought-related problems can be changed for the better. It will require a certain degree of dedication on your part. In fact, we would go so far as to say that there’s really only one single requirement: You must be WILLING to do whatever it takes … This requirement is really just a “mind-set” of sorts. You simply need to say to yourself that you’re prepared to do “whatever it takes” and solidify that as a solid commitment to yourself. You need to promise yourself that you’re going to put forth a continued effort towards your self-transformational goals. We’re going to make this relatively easy for you because we’re going to give you a method that’s pleasant, not time consuming, requires no dependence upon a Higher Power, requires no meditation, and is very easy to use. When we finally compiled this method (the end result of three decades of searching and experimentation) we were so amazed at its transformational power and ease of application that we were reminded of the quote by Soren Kierkegaard: “When I was young, I was blind and forgot to laugh. Later when I open my eyes and saw reality I began to laugh and haven’t stopped since.” So join us now as we show you a truly Useful Illumination…a path that will take you down the 4 stages of Illumination that you saw described briefly at the end of Part 1, and allows you to obtain a life you’ve always known was waiting for you…a life of happiness, peace of mind, purpose, meaning, contentment and ultimate fulfillment.
Chapter 12 – The 1st Illumination – Finding the Light Of the four stages of Illumination, the 1 st Illumination is by far the easiest to obtain. The reason for this is because, in essence, “Finding the Light” is mostly an intellectual understanding. It is not a practice that must be put into place. Initiating new practices and changing one’s personal habits after a lifetime of conditioning can be quite a challenge for most people, but luckily the 1 st Illumination is simply a “new view” one obtains (and can deeply feel) regarding the nature of happiness and sorrow. Once this fresh understanding is keenly felt and fully grasped (by simply observing the condition of your current existence), the remaining Enlightenments can readily become incorporated into your life using a few new practices. You’ll find these new practices and habits pleasant to implement and easy to perform. For now, the 1 st Illumination is simply a matter of “seeing the truth for yourself”. The Primary Illusion
As mentioned earlier, any form of Illumination is actually a dispelling of a darkness via the light of a sort of deep knowing or far-reaching realization. In the case of the 1 st Illumination, one simply learns to recognize the nature of the Primary Illusion …mankind’s primary falsehood. Due to the nature of our Ego (The sum total of the various Spotlight Personalities which tend to revolve around “The Story of Me”) almost everyone has mis-identified themselves with their “Voice in the Head” …their “Stream of Thought” or “Thought Stream”. The Voice in the Head is simply our various Spotlight Personalities “speaking” inside our mind, also called “inner chatter” or “Monkey Mind”. The various Spotlight Personalities may share the same “sounding” voice inside your mind, or they may have different sounding voices. That varies from individual to individual and neither case can be considered normal or abnormal. In this chapter, we’re going to begin by presenting some explanations of the “characteristics” of your Voice in the Head. You’ll find this useful when you try to identify the “better” parts of you that are deeper and often hidden. This Deeper You contains the parts of YOU that will be of aid in your quest for lasting happiness and Peace of Mind. We’ll then finish the chapter with examples of how to locate the Deeper You, which can be readily tested and observed to your own satisfaction. - 28 -
The First Steps to Happiness via the Removal of the Primary Illusion
When setting out upon the path to Illumination, one may naturally ask why we must remove the Primary Illusion. The answer is quite simple. It is our mis-identification with the compulsive/addictive Voice in the Head (the Primary Illusion) which keeps us on “auto-pilot” such that we find ourselves naturally in a states of unhappiness due to the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings (emotional reactivity) caused by the naturally arising DISCONTENT. You many want to read that last sentence a few times to really see the equation: Compulsive Voice in the Head + “The Story of Me” = Naturally manifesting discontent = Cause of unhappiness Are all the “Voices” uncomfortable ? – Revisiting the Working Mind and Thinking Mind
We’d like to present to you again the “conscious fictions” of the Working Mind and the Thinking Mind. These two ways of looking at the way we think are not discrete portions of our brain, and then can’t in reality (by surgery or by drugs for example) be separated from the overall body/mind organism which is the Whole YOU. You can’t perform a brain scan and then point out sections of the brain which are one or the other. Thus, the concepts of the Working Mind and Thinking Mind are simply “useful fictions” that can be used for the convenience of selfobservation. If you need any more examples of how we create mutually agreed upon “useful fictions” in our lives, simply consider the following: *** We all observe sunrises and sunsets and view them as something the sun is “doing” …it’s either rising up from the horizon during sunrise, or going down into the horizon during sunset. Of course, it’s really doing no such thing. The sun is relatively stationary and our planet Earth simply “rolls” in such a fashion the it’s rolling into a view of the sun (sunrise) or rolling away from a view of the sun (sunset). Thus, our perception of sunrise/sunset is a mutually agreed upon globally-shared fiction. *** We readily believe in the “reality” of the most fundamental truths of mathematical science, the general concepts of philosophy and logic, and often even the dogmas of religion. In truth, we are simply treating ideas as “things”. Such “things” do not actually exist except as concepts and fictions. In fact, such fictions are not only preferable but can be considered indispensible, for without them we’d be unable to function in even the most elementary fashion. Imagine our society today if we did not employ the practical utility of mathematics ! Without this “useful fiction” we never would have begun the industrial revolution and might still be living in feudal societies. Thus, “useful fictions” have as a proper end some kind of “practical action”, and also serve “making such action possible”. In this respect, let’s examine again the “fictions” of the Working Mind and Thinking Mind in order for us to take the useful action of pursuing the truth of the 1 st Illumination. To begin with, not all the Voices in the Head are uncomfortable. When we are completely immersed in some important task, we will probably still keep up some form of running, internal dialogue. However, when completely immersed in a complicated task the “inner chatter” often has a different quality. It tends to be task-oriented and focused…not concerned with happy/unhappy states but more geared towards “mission accomplishment”. The way you can approach this concept is to think of your Ego as operating in one of three broad categories of “thought” ( Intentional, Reactionary, Compulsive ): 1. The Working Mind Intentional State - This category would be the state of your thoughts when you are deeply immersed in a complex task. Perhaps you might be filling our your income tax statement, or you’ve climbed a tree with a saw and are precariously stretched to saw a branch. In both cases, even if you’re completely immersed in the task, you will still have some internal chatter manifesting. But, it will be entirely related to the accomplishment of the task. In the case of filling out the income tax statement, you may be talking to yourself about all the different items you’re mentally juggling, and you may be weighing the various choices you have regarding the completion of the form. When completely immersed in this, your thoughts will have very little (but there is usually some) content of “Involvement” with “The Story of Me”. We can call this “Involvement”, for short. When completely immersed in such a task all your thoughts are directed towards the successful completion OF the task and not its relation to “The Story of Me”…there is no “Involvement”. Likewise with the tree pruning example, when you’re completely immersed in that task you’ll most likely have some “inner talk” manifesting as to the best way to cut the branches. You’ll be reminding yourself of the importance of not over-extending your balance. But when you’re completely immersed in the task you won’t be talking to yourself about “The Story of Me”. There will be no “Involvement” of Imaginary Time as related to “The Story of Me”. You’ll tend to be completely present, and completely in the NOW.
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2. The Working Mind Reactionary State – This category would be the state of your thoughts when you naturally react to anything in your environment. It can either be verbal (a lawyer presenting an objection to the judge) or physical (you automatically swerve to avoid a collision with another driver who is changing lanes, and did not see you in his/her blind spot). We’ll examine first the attorney presenting an objection to the court judge. Let’s assume that the attorney is completely immersed in listening to the opposing side’s oration, and has been doing this job for many years. The attorney then hears the opposing side say something inappropriate and blurts out “I object your honor”. In this case, the verbal outburst simply flowed naturally with no amount of forcing. It was an automatic verbal incident that has no previous thought. It was entirely unplanned. It’s almost as if the attorney were dancing or singing…a completely natural outpouring of verbal thoughts made manifest through the mouth. The attorney is completely in the present moment, is not involved in past/future Imaginary Time, and is only thinking to a very small degree about “The Story of Me”. Yet the attorney is most definitely using a certain small amount of “inner chatter” to manifest the legal objection as spoken words. Likewise with the case of avoiding a car collision. Your body goes on complete automatic and you may have some verbal thoughts in your head – they may even be curses you shout right in the midst of the emergency ! But if you’re completely immersed in what you’re doing, you’re going to have minimal Involvement of “The Story of Me” and there will be no consideration of past/future Imaginary Time. 3. The Thinking Mind Compulsive State - This category of thought is that which we find ourselves in the vast majority of our lives, and contains most of our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. It’s during this time that we are almost entirely “Involved” thinking thoughts revolving around “The Story of Me”. During these times we are mostly visualizing past/future Imaginary Time, but there will be some Present Moment / NOW time being considered as well. You may even be “working” on solving some kind of problem but this is not “The Working Mind” in action here. The Working Mind is always focused completely on some kind of task and is not Involving itself with “The Story of Me”. When you are trying to solve a problem with The Thinking Mind your focus is almost entirely centered around how the problem affects YOU , worrying and fretting about the problem. In a nutshell, all three of these Ego states (Intentional, Reactionary, Compulsive) involve one or more of your many specialized Spotlight Personalities which all use (to varying amounts) “inner talk” …the Voice in the Head. You will also have varying degrees of Involvement with “The Story of Me”. When completely immersed in Intentional and Reactive thought there will be little Involvement with “The Story of Me”. However, we often go about our daily actions NOT COMPLETELY involved. Sometimes we’re “somewhat focused” on a task or reaction but we also have about half our awareness focused upon how the particular event is impacting YOU. As you can readily see, these 3 states can have a wide mix regarding the exact amount of Involvement with “The Story of Me” but it is usually present in all three categories. In other words, it’s important to remember that each of these states can not be dissected and compartmentalized. Our Ego slides in and out of Intentional, Reactive, Compulsive thoughts thousands if not millions of times a day. The “fictional” use of these categories is simply useful for identifying our frequently over-indulgenced Compulsive State of thought and the associated lengthy forays into Imaginary Time. Here’s another way of visualizing the 3 Ego States: Intentional Ego State – Mostly Working Mind, little Imaginary Time, little Involvement with “The Story of Me” Reactive Ego State – Mostly Working Mind, little Imaginary Time, little Involvement with “The Story of Me” Compulsive Ego State – Mostly Thinking Mind, mostly Imaginary Time, almost complete involvement with “The Story of Me”.
As you can probably now see clearly, not ALL of the states of your Ego are uncomfortable. The Ego is important for the smooth interaction for you and your interaction with your environment. You NEED the Ego and the Voice in the Head for many actions required …solving problems and reacting to the events that come at you throughout the day (for example, your phone rings and you have some quick “inner talk” before deciding whether or not to answer). It’s mostly in the Compulsive Ego State that our problems of unhappiness begin to manifest. And unfortunately we’ve tended to become addicted to this thought state such that we return to it whenever life’s events give us the opportunity ! Perhaps our work is done and the environment is calm…our mind tends to then naturally gravitate towards the addictive Compulsive Ego State and we find ourselves once again fully immersed in “The Story of Me”. - 30 -
The Myth of the “Ego as the Problem”
It should be abundantly clear that you can’t “Drop the Ego” or “Dissolve the Ego” as so many gurus and self-help experts would have you believe. This is exceedingly important, and perhaps a revolutionary idea !!! How many times do you see “experts” on television tell you “Just let go of the Ego”…”The Ego is your problem”... “Just stop thinking…” You can see that this is a terrible over-simplification, and that’s why the vast majority of selfhelp programs available are completely ineffective for producing long-term changes in overall happiness and fulfillment . Another myth about the Ego is the claim that you can’t do something about fixing any problem regarding your Ego, because you can’t USE the Ego to do anything ABOUT the Ego. This simply is not the case once you learn from this writing how to identify (and then solve) the problem. Once you realize that it is only the Compulsive state of the Ego which is causing your problem, you can begin to focus on using the other aspects of the Ego to solve “the problem aspect”. In other words, you can use the Working Mind to fix the problem of Thinking Mind ! Finding the Deeper You as Separate from Compulsive Thought
By now you may be wondering “What would exist if you dramatically reduce compulsive thought? Since Intentional (problem solving) and Reactive (quick response) Ego-modes aren’t constantly required…what would we do with the leftover thought-time that we would typically use to torture ourselves via Compulsive thought?” “What would be left, in the absence of the Compulsive ‘Voice in the Head’ ?” The answer is simple …what’s left is the natural resting state of “Peace of Mind” and a resulting feeling of contentment and happiness. But what then really is the happiness that lies “resting” beneath compulsive/habitual thinking? We seem to know deep down that it’s possible to have lasting happiness (we can seem to catch it for brief periods of time). This is why we continually SEEK it. Part of us realizes that happiness is our birthright and IS AVAILABLE. We just can’t seem to FIND it as often as we’d like. The answer is very simple. Happiness is not something that needs to be ADDED into “you”. It’s not something that you need to GET. Put at it’s most basic level, “happiness” is what you have when you’ve REMOVED the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings that were generated by the mis-use/over-use of the Thinking Mind. Happiness is what you have when you’ve REMOVED the habitual/addictive tendencies (of various Spotlight Personalities) which reside for extended periods of time focused on “The Story of Me”. It is your birthright because it was ALWAYS THERE. It’s just typically inaccessible because it had the “overlay” of unhappy/uncomfortable thought. This is referred to as “innate happiness”. It is there waiting for you (it exists “innately”, it was always there as part of your nature) to experience it but you did not know that it was there because it was covered…it’s been hidden … it’s waiting for you RIGHT NOW to dispel the darkness which covers it. Again, there is nothing you need to GET or ADD. We’ll even go so far at this point to give you examples that you can use to PROVE this to be true for yourself. These will be experiences that everyone has had in some form or another, you’ve just not made the exact connection as to the nature of this most fundamental of truths. So before we give you the sample list, here are some helpful summary statements that may help you to see the truth of the “innate happiness” examples: *** Our mis-identification with the compulsive/addictive Voice in the Head (the Primary Illusion) keep us on “auto-pilot” such that we find ourselves naturally in a states of unhappiness due to the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings (emotional reactivity) caused by the naturally arising DISCONTENT. *** The last statement simplified is: Compulsive Voice in the Head + “The Story of Me” + Imaginary Time Focus (past/future focus) = Compulsive Ego State thought = Naturally manifesting discontent = Cause of unhappiness *** A decreased use of Compulsive Ego State thought, results in a corresponding reduction of unhappiness (discontent) *** A decreased amount of unhappy (discontented) thought uncovers the natural resting state of happy/comfortable thought (Peace of Mind). *** These natural resting states free of Compulsive thought, are also the natural resting state of the Deeper You and are hidden most of the time by the typical overlay of Compulsive/Addictive/Habitual “Story of Me in Imaginary Time” thinking. - 31 -
Innate Happiness - Finding the Deeper You as Separate from Compulsive Thought
Now is the time to take a look at some examples from your own life that will allow you to view the Deeper You…that aspect of yourself that is “naturally happy” …it experiences Innate Happiness simply because that is its nature. Later in this writing we’ll examine much more closely the aspects and characteristics of the Deeper You, but as an introduction, all you need to know is that the Deeper You can manifest in 2 basic ways throughout your entire life: 1. The first and most readily available form of the Deeper You is when you are outwardly liking, loving, or appreciating something. Initially this is achieved via “Intentional Comfortable Thought” (taught in the 2 nd Illumination). Through repeated practice this can become the type of thoughts which “naturally arise”. This aspect of the Deeper You is seen when positive/comfortable Spotlight Personalities are used. There is also a significant decrease in the amount of thought spent in Imaginary Time. 2. The second and least readily available form of the Deeper You is when your mind is completely still and is not busy processing ANY “inner chatter”. This is not “stopping thought”, but is the use of “silent” Spotlight Personalities that don’t require words-labels-symbols (you are not performing the compulsive “naming of things”). Since there is almost no “involvement” by the Voice in the Head there is little or no use of past/future Imaginary Time. This is the most restful state you can experience and is the ultimate in Peace of Mind. But this requires much more practice to attain than does the first form of the Deeper You. Some spiritual paths call this aspect of the Deeper You “Stillness” or “Presence” or “Complete Now-ness” or “Living Completely in the Now”…also “Awareness Without Thought”, “Awareness Behind Thought”, “The Watcher of Thought”. It is also called Direct Perception in the study of Zen Buddhism, and could be considered the Zen’s fundamental goal. Personally, we think Stillness is the best word to use because it captures the characteristic that the Compulsive Ego State is “still” and is not generating Voice in the Head “inner chatter”. Since the first form of the Deeper You is seen when you are outwardly liking, loving or deeply appreciating something, you can begin by intentionally “looking” for such instances throughout your day. The best way to do this is to pick a day to really pay attention to your thoughts and then try to manifest something from the following list. Be sure to focus keenly on one of these items and try to hold the thought for as long as possible. Make sure you are performing an “outpouring” of thought ...you are loving “something”, you are liking “something”, you are deeply appreciating “something” (you are not “being” loved, liked or appreciated). These active outpourings of Like/Love/Appreciative thought will be extensively covered in the next chapter: *** Examine closely some form of meaningful artwork and really try to appreciate the depth of the artist’s genius, then feel an immense joy pour forth in appreciation of the artist’s handiwork. *** Focus intently on some convention or concept to which you are deeply dedicated…perhaps a charity or political movement, and imagine giving that group all of your devotion. *** Reflect carefully on some “thing” that you deeply like/love or feel affection for such as a sport, or significant other, or cherished pet… and pour out your feelings towards that thing in a visualized wave of loving-kindness. *** Think for a few minutes on things for which you are profoundly grateful, and then consciously pour out thoughts of gratitude. These are just a few examples that will be greatly expanded in the next chapter. For now you’re just trying to see how a deep outpouring of positive thoughts and feelings “towards” something will serve to “replace, or crowd out” the Compulsive Voice in the Head. You’ll sense a momentary lapse of “Involvement” with “The Story of Me”. You’ll find that such positive outpourings of feelings are very pleasant, peaceful and restful. The second form of the Deeper You typically shows itself less frequently than the first form, and will be discussed in more detail later in this writing. For now, just understand that “Stillness” is typically found when you are completely absorbed and engaged in some form of activity that requires your complete attention. Such an engaging activity will involve some form of “effort” and will not be “passive” (watching television is passive). You will be so engaged in your activity that there will be almost no Involvement on the part of the Ego with the “Story of Me”. You’ll often find that you have a loss of the sense of time passing. You’ll be so immersed in this activity that oftentimes minor aches and pains to not register in your awareness. You will be so focused on the activity that your self-consciousness almost disappears. You’ll most often find this Deeper You when you are playing some kind of challenging sport, or you’re completely immersed in some form of art creation (drawing, painting, pottery).
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When these types of activities are performed well, you’ll find that the Compulsive Ego State is completely absent. Take for instance making love, mountain climbing, or auto racing. When done well, you’re current Spotlight Personality has absolutely NO INVOLVEMENT with “The Story of Me” and you’re are completely immersed in the Present Moment …Imaginary Time ceases to be necessary. This is why we find such activities immensely pleasurable…a complete absence of the Compulsive Voice in the Head and an almost complete “disengagement” with “The Story of Me”. We’ll discuss in much greater detail these kinds of activities when you learn of the 4 th Illumination. For now, it’s simply convenient to briefly list such activities in order to more readily see the difference between the Deeper You and the Primary Illusion (our mis-identification with the compulsive/addictive Voice in the Head which tends to be deeply involved with “The Story of Me”). Other (less powerful) moments of “Stillness” can be found during serene walks through the park, in the woods, or along the beach. Unfortunately, these types of activities are not very “challenging” and don’t require full use of your various skills (key characteristics of activities that allow you to access the second form of the Deeper You). Thus, during these types of activities you’ll find that “Stillness” does not last long, and the Compulsive Voice in the Head will readily begin to make its “inner chatter” commentary known and heard. You’ll begin labeling things as you walk (the compulsive “naming of things”). You’ll notice that you’ll begin having a constant inner dialogue about the activity, a dialogue that will be centering on the Involvement with “The Story of Me”. Again, we’ll discuss this much further in the Chapter on the 4 th Illumination, which concerns itself with finding increasingly more opportunities to allow your Deeper You to shine forth. The Path to Innate Happiness – Reducing the Time Spent in “Compulsive” Thought
By reading this material you’ve taken a huge step towards the 1 st Illumination. Until you can fully observe and test this as true for your own existence, you’ll only comprehend it in a sort of “informed bewilderment”. Hopefully, you’ll have some time to actively search and identify the actual blocks of time throughout your day that you (unawaredly prior to this point) spend in Compulsive thought. Again, this primarily consists of an over-indulgence of self-talk completely “Involved” with “The S tory of Me”, and tends to focus primarily in past/future Imaginary Time. In essence, it is simply the compulsive aspect of your Ego. As explained, the Intentional and Reactionary aspects of your Ego are exceedingly useful…it is only the overindulgence of the compulsive form of the Ego which keeps us from claiming our birthright to Innate Happiness. In the next step down the path to Useful Illumination you’ll find that you can use the Intentional Ego State (the Working Mind) to willfully get into the habit of generating comfortable thought. Once you intentionally remove the time spent in Compulsive thought, you’ll effortlessly tend to live more often as “The Deeper You”. This intentional practice to create naturally arising comfortable thought is the goal of the 2 nd Illumination.
Chapter 13 – The 2nd Illumination – Learning to Use the Light Beginning on the Path to the 2
nd
Illumination
To begin to effectively see the correct course towards the increase in comfortable/happy thought, here again for your review is what we know so far about the way in which we hide our underlying happiness potential (Innate Happiness): *** Our mis-identification with the compulsive/addictive Voice in the Head (the Primary Illusion) keep us on “auto-pilot” such that we find ourselves naturally in a states of unhappiness due to the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings (emotional reactivity), caused by the naturally arising DISCONTENT (the naturally arising “I Don’t Like It” type of thought). *** The last statement simplified is: Compulsive Voice in the Head + “The Story of Me” + Imaginary Time Focus (past/future focus) = Compulsive Ego State thought = Naturally manifesting discontent = Cause of unhappiness *** A decreased use of Compulsive Ego State thought, results in a corresponding reduction of unhappiness (discontent). *** A decreased amount of unhappy (discontented) thought uncovers the natural resting state of happy/comfortable thought (Peace of Mind).
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*** These natural resting states free of Compulsive thought, are the resting states of the Deeper You, and are hidden most of the time by the typical overlay of Compulsive/Addictive/Habitual “Story of Me in Imaginary Time” thinking. *** To begin to reduce the time spent in Compulsive “Story of Me in Imaginary Time” thought (the problem of The Thinking Mind), we can use the Intentional Ego State (the Working Mind) so that you can willfully begin to get into the habit of generating comfortable thought. Once you intentionally reduce/remove the time spent in Compulsive thought, you’ll effortlessly (the awaiting Innate Happiness) tend to live more often as “The Deeper You” (the happy YOU that is primarily concerned with joy and Peace of Mind).
That last point is critical. We decide to do something about the problem . We are going to willfully DO something about the problem. The challenge of the past few thousand years has been to develop a methodology that allows EVERYONE to “do something” about the problem…something that does not require “relying upon the magical intervention of a Higher Power to help fix the problem for us”, and does not rely upon endless hours of meditation to get the Compulsive Ego State to “slow down” or “calm down” (to reduce the time spent in the Compulsive Ego State). We’ll discuss later in greater detail (in the chapter on the 3 rd Illumination) about choosing of a path that does not necessitate belief in any kind of a higher power (although it is certainly optional). It concerns the answer to the age-old question “How shall I live my life ?” and provides a path you can choose that does not REQUIRE belief or faith in magical/divine entities. For the 2 nd Illumination, you’ll now find the nuts and bolts on “how to” change your naturally arising thought patterns without the need for time-consuming meditative techniques. How we can Reduce the amount of Compulsive Ego State thought
If we accept that our happiness, contentment, and Peace of Mind can be achieved by a reduction in the discontent caused by Compulsive Ego State thought, it logically follows that we pursue a course that achieves that necessary reduction. The ideal course to follow would be that which is available to anyone regardless of culture, creed, belief or lifestyle. Luckily, everyone has access to their own personal “Intentional Ego State” as was defined and described in the last chapter. Herein lies the key to a successful beginning …a course of action which uses the Working Mind to fix the problem with the Thinking mind…using the “Intentional Ego State” to fix the problem with the “Compulsive Ego State”. Here is a great truth: “A Mind Without Intent Will Walk in Dark Places ” Thus, we’ll reduce the amount of time spent in the Compulsive Ego State with an initial intent , a serious and dedicated commitment to removing the habitual thought processes that have kept us from our birthright of Innate Happiness…the happiness that is simply waiting to be uncovered. Once we’ve made the committed decision to rectify the problem of the Compulsive Ego State, we can begin to familiarize ourselves with a structured plan of action. In essence, our minds have for so many years become accustomed to automatically residing in the Compulsive Ego State, that it’s necessary for us to willfully generate thoughts/feelings that are NOT in the Compulsive Ego State. We will begin a path in which we make repetitive and sustained efforts of doing this day after day. Eventually, this new “practiced” state of mind becomes your “habitual” state of mind. If you decide to walk with better posture, you have to willfully practice walking correctly until you know longer have to think about it …walking with good posture becomes second nature after repeated practice. The same holds true for any skill we’ve acquired throughout out lives. Think of any skill you’ve willfully decided to obtain. Perhaps it’s some kind of sport or dance or hobby. When we decided to acquire the new skill we simply had to practice it repetitively until that skill no longer had to be actively THOUGHT about. After playing tennis for a year, do you have to THINK about hitting the ball each time? No, you simply allow your naturally arising motions to “hit the ball”…you don’t have to THINK about it…you just DO it naturally and without effort of thought. So how do we begin to NOT have thoughts that would be categorized as “Compulsive Ego State thought” ? In all our studies, we found that the best term for the natural arising of Uncomfortable/unhappy thoughts (usually via the Compulsive Ego State) is this: Unintentional Thought or Unintended Thought . That makes sense, does it not ? We don’t INTEND to make ourselves unhappy. We don’t INTEND for the vast bulk of our thoughts to be uncomfortable. After more than 30 years of research in the fields of psychology, spirituality, religion, and personal transformation, we were able to determine that all these branches reached the same conclusion for the appropriate method of dealing with Unintentional Thought, and we still chuckle at the simplicity of the answer every time we consider this topic. The only way to get rid of Unintentional Thought is to think of something else . This may initially seem - 34 -
trite and over-simplified, but actually contains the most valuable seed for our personal growth in this very challenging area of endeavor (that of adjusting how we think). For example, if instead of having a negative thought, what would happen if we instead “thought of something else” that was NOT negative ? And what would happen if we INTENTIONALLY practiced producing these “other than unhappy” (“something else”) thoughts ? It would become habitual of course. And how do we typically perform any kind intellectual work INTENTIONALLY ? The answer is that we always use the Intentional Ego State to do this. This is exactly related to what we already know… you can use the Intentional Ego State (the Working Mind) so that you can willfully begin to get into the habit of generating comfortable thought. Once you intentionally reduce/remove the time spent in Compulsive thought, you’ll effortlessly (accessing the awaiting Innate Happiness) tend to live more often as “The Deeper You” (the happy YOU that is primarily concerned with joy and Peace of Mind). Willful, practiced, and repetitive use of the Intentional Ego State is the key to overcoming Unintentional Thought (unhappy thoughts of discontent caused by the Compulsive Ego State). We have decided to begin to willfully practice the “think of something else” rule. So what “something else” do we practice thinking? We’ll get to that in just a moment. First, we’d like to present a few more concepts from the field of Psychology that will shed even more light upon the amazing effectiveness of the system of Useful Illumination. Activation Pathways and Gentle Restructuring
With the increased use of sophisticated “neural imaging techniques” (the scanning of the brain and recording maps of its activity) over the last decades by researchers in the various fields of psychology, it has been determined that our minds have “pathways of activation”…paths within the brain itself, through which thoughts flow. Without digressing into this technical area too far, let’s simply imagine that the brain has “channels” down which thoughts tend to naturally flow. This is similar in analogy to a river running down a series of twisted canyons. Over the course of years, the river “carves” channels and ravines down which the water tends to naturally flow. The course of the river down these channels is not static, but changes with time. So, too, with the Activation Pathways of the mind. We have “carved” channels down which thought naturally flows. If your Stream of Thoughts has been habitually negative/uncomfortable/unhappy then your have most likely carved some very deep channels through which the Stream of Thoughts flow, and you may find that it’s very difficult to “adjust the stream” into a more desirable and happy flow. In psychological terms, repetitive attention to negative thoughts continually reactivates and reinforces the negative neural pathways . In other words, habitual negative thoughts have made the negative channels deeper and more common...more “available” so to speak. You may be able to accomplish a happy flow for short periods of time, but the flow of the Stream of Thoughts will tend to follow the more “deeply carved” course of uncomfortable/unhappy channels …it’s stronger Activation Pathways. Worse still, all manners of uncomfortable Activation Pathways are interconnected like a spider’s web. When you are in a sad mood, your brain has a greater access to related sad-type thoughts and sad memories of other Activation Pathways, and you’ll begin to feel sad about more and more things as the mood worsens. Likewise, when you are anxious or worried you will see threats to your happiness EVERYWHERE, including threats that most like only exist in your now overly-active imagination. Your Compulsive Ego State will escalate the process by taking your awareness into frequent forays of past/future Imaginary Tim e and PROVE to you that the uncomfortable thoughts are justified. These extended travels into Imaginary Time only serve to carve the channels of your “unpleasant” Activation Pathways even deeper. But like a river running through a ravine, the naturally flowing course of the water can be altered. To give repetitive attention to comfortable thoughts, you begin to activate/carve new and fresh comfortable (happy) neural pathways. This intentional redirecting of the flow of the Stream of Thoughts is what we call Gentle Restructuring. Gentle Restructuring is a repetitive disengaging of the Compulsive Ego State… resulting in more desirable, and naturally arising, comfortable thought. You will learn to restructure (re-carve) the channels down which your thoughts naturally arise by repeatedly disengaging the Compulsive Ego State. And unlike strenuous systems of meditation which similarly attempt to repetitively disengage the Compulsive Ego State (although most meditative schools are unaware of the scientific background which now explains WHY our thoughts tend to self-adjust with repetition via Activation Pathways) the - 35 -
process of Gentle Restructuring uses the Intentional Ego State to consistently generate pleasant thoughts, and is thus ….pleasurable to perform. In essence, process of the 2 nd Illumination is pleasing to the mind in it’s practice, and does not require you take time out of your busy day to meditate. In this way, our system would not be classified as “Mind Training”. Mind Training typically has components of struggle, strain, and excessive effort. The pleasant practice of the Useful Illumination system simply changes the habits of your naturally arising thought without unpleasant struggling. This is truly a blessing for our frenetically scheduled lives in which we find little or no free time for the mental exercises and “mind training” as required by many meditation paths. The Mutual Exclusion Principle …or… “Think the Good Thing”
We know that in order to carve fresh channels of thought for Naturally Arising happiness, we need to learn to “think of something else”…something “other than” that which would be considered unhappy/uncomfortable. One of the reasons this actually works so well is because our minds are incapable of simultaneously sustaining both a happy thought/feeling and an unhappy thought/feeling. In other words, you can’t be focusing on some worry about the future at the same time that you’re having a happy thought about some positive feature in your life. This is what we’ve termed The Mutual Exclusion Principle. The focused maintenance of an unhappy thought and a happy thought are Mutually Exclusive…in other words, they can’t be done at the same time…it’s either one or the other. So, we need to begin a practice in which we Intentionally Disengage the Compulsive Ego State . As said earlier, we’ll use the Intentional Ego State to accomplish this, and we will willfully, and with dedicated intention, generate happy/comfortable thoughts and try to sustain these for increasingly lengthy periods of time. Instead of always referring to this approach as the Mutual Exclusion Principle, we prefer a less technical description, and call it : Thinking the Good Thing . We are going to begin practicing and sustaining “Good Thoughts” (happy/comfortable thoughts) such that by repetitively disengaging the Compulsive Ego State, long enough and frequently enough, we create Activation Pathways that allow our Stream of Thought to naturally arise in happy/comfortable ways. In other words, we are going to develop “new habits of thought” via constant practice throughout our day…every day. There are actually two separate kinds of times in which we’d actively and intently manifest this practice: 1. When we sense we are having an uncomfortable thought or we feel we’re in an uncomfortable mood. 2. Any other time throughout our day when we can remind ourselves to “do ourselves the favor” of generating a happy/comfortable thought…and ANY time is the RIGHT time for this. You’ll most likely find that initially you’re hands will be full simply dealing with the thousands of uncomfortable thoughts which typically arise during the normal course of anyone’s day. Always remember that you’ve committed yourself to doing “whatever it takes”, and this means that you should practice these methods ALL throughout your day… as often as you can possibly manage. Luckily, as mentioned earlier, the procedure is pleasant and easy to perform. The key to being able to do this effectively, is to start by being able to RECOGNIZE when these undesired thought states are occurring so that you can implement the 4-fold “Think the Good Thing” method. This 4-fold process is most easily remembered as: RRRR = Recognize, Release, Replace, Remain
Recognize – Step one of the 2 nd Illumination It’s the Most Simple Thing to Do – And the Most Difficult
At first glance, it may seem that to simply recognize your current state of thoughts would be the most simple of things to do. Once you get accustomed to this practice, and it becomes something you are “always doing”, it truly is simple and natural. But at first this will be the most extraordinarily difficult thing you’ll try to do for yourself than any other task you’ve attempted for personal transformation. Why would that be? The process of “Recognizing your current thoughts” i s initially the most difficult thing to do because we are so accustomed to being on complete auto-pilot…always in a sort of waking dream, or hypnosis. We are rarely “paying attention” to the content of our thoughts. We have so thoroughly “become” our thoughts that we are completely bonded with the “Voice in the Head”. Thus, to disengage the Compulsive Ego State in order to analyze our current thought state (by willfully using the Intentional Ego State), is at first entirely unnatural for us.
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You’ve already taken the first step by making a conscious commitment to stop your mis-identification with the Compulsive Ego State’s “Voice in the Head”. This intent is what is required to activate the Intentional Ego State. It’s simply a matter of remembering your intent . At first you’ll have to “wake up” a hundred times a day. You’ll have to continually CATCH YOURSELF to discover when you’ve, once again, become fully involved with “The Story of Me” … and then you’ll break out of that waking dream by intentionally disengaging . Once disengaged, you’ll perform all of the steps of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” process. In the beginning, it will simply be your challenge to see how often each day you can “wake up” from the “ Primary Illusion” (you’re mis-identification with the Compulsive Ego State’s “Voice in the Head”). How we can Remember to Wake Up
As you read now about becoming aware of the content of your thoughts, it will become obvious that there are many techniques that can be used to become proficient at “waking up” throughout the day. At first it will be something you have to consistently REMEMBER to do, but eventually the “awakened” state will be your natural and normal mind-set. This will simply take time and dedicated practice. Each time your remember to WAKE UP, you will immediately move on to the remainder of the RRRR steps. It’s important that all four steps be completed, and that you don’t skip any portion (after a small amount of practice, the 4-fold process is done in just a few seconds). A student of Illumination can select only those tools that are personally useful for the RRRR task, and these may include: 1. The absolute easiest way for beginners to “see” that they need to wake up is when you suddenly realize you’re in a bad mood (any form of mental discomfort). The existence of a bad mood is an instant indicator…a “warning bell”… that you have once again become engaged with “The Story of Me”. Simply will yourself to intentionally disengage, then perform the remainder of the RRRR process so that you are once again “Thinking the Good Thing”. 2. You can leave little written reminders for yourself, perhaps around your house and workspace, which ask “What, in this situation, do I want to be different?” Anything that you desire to be “other than what is” is an indicator that you’ve begun to generate thoughts that basically mean “I Don’t Like It” …thoughts of DISCONTENT . 3. Keep reminding yourself throughout your day of your Illumination/Happiness/Fulfillment goals, and remember your commitment to “Do whatever it takes…”. This will help you to remember to “Wake Up”. You can leave oneword reminders for yourself anywhere that’s convenient w ith words such as: Recognize , Diligence, Vigilance, Wake-Up, Dedicate, Alertness, Attention, Constant, Heed, Mindfulness, “Captain at the Wheel”, Observe, AutoPilot ?, Asleep ?, Waking Dream ?, Look, See, Purpose, Commitment, Watchfulness…anything that will remind you to examine and recognize your current state of thought. Are you in the Intentional Ego State (you’re working on a task), or the Reactive Ego State (are you rapidly fixing or reacting to some immediate and urgent situation), or is it the Compulsive Ego State (has the most involvement with “The Story of Me”)? It is the typically habitual and addictive Compulsive Ego State that most people dwell in, and we spend the vast majority of our day in this auto-pilot/asleep “train” of thought. Most people simply can’t “stop the train” and wake-up . 4. Learn to look out for “the complaining voice”. This varies from person to person, but many people find themselves in an almost non-stop torrent of complaint (which is really just “I don’t like it” thinking …or “I don’t approve of it” thinking). In fact, you can select from the examples of “types of discontent” that we listed in Part 2 of this writing: I don’t like this/that/it … I can’t stand/tolerate it when… I don’t approve of… I wish they’d approve of my… I wish they’d appreciate my… I think this/that should change …it should be other than what it is… I can’t/won’t accept this/that/it “What if” this/that happens ? (the Thought Stream loves to process uncomfortable “what if” scenarios) I need/want… I have to, must, should, would, could I can’t… I want to hold on to (or avoid)… I want them to realize that I’m right about … I blame … I don’t have enough of … I’m afraid of losing something…being less of…being diminished by… I’m always the victim of… I can’t let him/her/they/it do that… - 37 -
I can’t allow/permit … I want to control him/her/they/it … 5. Look throughout your day for thoughts that particularly focus on “Wanting to change ” something. You’ll find that if you’re thinking about wanting to change something, or somebody, that you are primarily involved with “The Story of Me”. This might even be considered as “I don’t accept it” thinking. You’ll find in the writing on the 3 rd “R” in the RRRR process a more detailed analysis of the concept of “Acceptance” and “Non-Acceptance”. 6. Leave a note for yourself, on your desk or workspace or somewhere you will see throughout the day, with the question: “What is happening now ?” This will immediately enable you to disengage, and to determine if you have fallen into your Compulsive Ego State again. 7. Put a note on your alarm clock, or bathroom mirror, to remind yourself in the morning that you are going to focus on a “Recognition” tool of your choosing. Any early reminder will prevent you from “spinning in your mental hamster exercise-wheel” as you start the tasks of your day. Early reminders will allow you to avoid early forays into the past/future Imaginary Time comprising the “The Story of Me”. This is typically experienced when we drive to work in the morning, as just one example. Often in the morning, we are less vigilant when it comes to watching our thoughts. Lastly, remember that whenever you disengage from the Compulsive Ego State via the initial step of Recognition, you will ALWAYS move immediately to the next step in the RRRR (“Think the Good Thing”) process – Release.
Release – Step Two of the 2 nd Illumination Because of the anxiety provoking demands of our everyday existence, the various states of the Ego have developed a number of defense mechanisms to cope with uncomfortable thought. Although we may knowingly use these mechanisms, in many cases these defenses occur unconsciously, and work to distort reality and create even more severe naturally arising uncomfortable thoughts. The greatest problems occur when the defense mechanisms are overused in order to avoid dealing with our existing problems. When overused, we will often build up stockpile of negative energies, until finally something triggers an “explosion” of negative thought and negative actions. Such negative outbursts are almost always detrimental to our happiness, and the happiness of those we care about. Additionally, these defensive mechanisms rarely serve to remove our negative thoughts and feelings, they simply become hidden until they “bubble up” once again from the subconscious, during the Natural Arising of Thought. The only way to permanently deal with the stresses and anxiety of day-to-day living is to RELEASE them. Before we learn how to do that, it will be helpful to see the less healthy practices we all tend use to deal with the unpleasantries of life. Defense Mechanisms of our Compulsive Ego State Denial is probably one of the best known defense mechanisms, often used to describe those who seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth (i.e. "He's in denial."). Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred. Denials function to protect the ego from things that the individual cannot cope with. While this may save us from anxiety or pain, denial also requires a substantial investment of energy. Because of this, other defenses can simultaneously be used to help in the effort to keep these unacceptable feelings from consciousness. Repression is another well-known defense mechanism. Repression acts to keep information out of conscious awareness. However, these memories don't just disappear; they continue to influence our behavior. For example, a person who has repressed memories of abuse suffered as a child may later have difficulty forming relationships. Sometimes we do this consciously by forcing the unwanted information out of our awareness, which is known as Suppression, but it is usually believed to occur unconsciously. Displacement - If you have ever had a bad day at work, then gone home and taken out your frustration on family and friends, you have experienced the ego defense mechanism of Displacement. Displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. Displaced “aggression” is a common example of this defense mechanism. Rather than express our anger in ways that could lead to negative consequences (like arguing with our boss), we instead express our anger towards a person or object that poses no threat (such as our strangers, friends, spouses, children, or even pets). - 38 -
Sublimation is a defense mechanism that allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form. For example, a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kick boxing as a means of venting frustration. Many psychologists believe that sublimation is a sign of maturity that allows people to function normally in socially acceptable ways, but you are not actually solving the problem of the “Natural Arising” of these negative thoughts or emotions. Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you. Projection functions to allow the expression of the desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognize, therefore reducing anxiety. Intellectualization works to reduce anxiety by thinking about events in a cold, clinical way. This defense mechanism allows us to avoid thinking about the stressful, emotional aspect of the situation and focuses only on the intellectual component. For example, a person who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness might focus on learning everything about the disease in order to avoid distress, and to remain distant from the reality of the situation. Rationalization is a defense mechanism that involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling in a rational or logical manner, avoiding the true explanation for the behavior. For example, a person who is turned down for a date might rationalize the situation by saying they weren't attracted to the other person anyway, or a student who blames a poor exam score on the instructor rather than his or her lack of preparation. Rationalization not only prevents anxiety, it may also protect self-esteem and self-concept. When confronted by success or failure, peopl e tend to attribute achievement to their own qualities and skills, while failures are blamed on other people or outside forces. Eventually, the extremely intelligent aspects of the subconscious will serve to rectify such false rationalizations, and you’ll be presented (often very unexpectedly) with extremely unpleasant thoughts and feeling that seem to “appear out of nowhere”. Regression - When confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in their development. This defense mechanism is called Regression, suggesting that people act out behaviors from the earlier stages of their life. For example, an individual fixated at an earlier developmental stage might cry or sulk upon hearing unpleasant news. They might begin eating or smoking excessively, or might become very verbally aggressive. It can also result in excessive tidiness or messiness. Reaction formation reduces anxiety by taking up the opposite feeling, impulse, or behavior. An example of reaction formation would be treating someone you strongly dislike in an excessively friendly manner in order to hide your true feelings. Why do people behave this way? Many psychologists believe they are using reaction formation as a defense mechanism to hide their true feelings by behaving in the exact opposite manner. Eventually, these tricks we play with our own minds only serve to create excessively unpleasant feeling which arise naturally (in unexpected and surprisingly unpleasant ways) from the subconscious. A Healthier and more Effect Alternative to Defense Mechanisms – RELEASE
Let’s assume at this point that you now understand the basic origin of your unhappiness (basically, the “discontent” of “I Don’t Like It” thoughts). Many wisdom traditions, especially of the East (Hinduism, Non-Dualism, etc.), will point out that this is simply a “non-acceptance of What Is” and they point out the futility of such nonacceptance. Their logical alternative is to replace that state with its opposite…Total Acceptance. In fact, many of these philosophies have stated that this would be the best two-word description of their form of Illumination, that of Total Acceptance or Complete Acceptance. Most people soon discover the primary problem with this type of discipline. In trying to accept (or “be content with”) everything in life that causes you discontent, one discovers an “inner self-tension” of “ trying to accept”. One discovers an inner resistance to being forced away from discontent. As we learned earlier, the Compulsive Ego State is a master of showing you endless reasons why your discontent is “justified”, and it will not simply “stop justifying your discontent” simply because of some “Acceptance Self-Affirmation” you may try to implement. In “trying to accept”, you find a continual resistance…a non-acceptance of the desire to force acceptance . You may have to say that to yourself a few times to see how your Compulsive Ego State resists attempts at “forced acceptance” and how any momentary victories to “accept”, will frequently be cancelled by the endless attempts of the Compulsive Ego State to justify discontent. It can be an exceedingly difficult and insidious “vicious circle”. So how to we “accept what is” as Eastern gurus propose? They suggest that even though you may not “like” it, you might be able to “accept” it. They further suggest you act without “attempting to accept”. This simply cues the Compulsive Ego State to show you why you should NOT accept “what is” . - 39 -
This is a paradox which has confounded mankind for thousands of years. Some wisdom paths propose you spend thousands of hours in meditation to “quiet” the Compulsive Ego State…or dissolve it, destroy it, eliminate it. We think by now it’s obvious how impossible that task is…it’s truly an exercise of futility. Besides, who nowadays has those thousands of hours to try to acquire such a skill ? We propose you consider an alternate method that you can readily test for yourself, which does NOT require endless hours spent in meditation to “quiet the mind”. This skill, which anyone can learn, is called “Releasing” and requires no esoteric knowledge or guru. In order to understand how Releasing works, it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with the ancient Chinese Taoist concept of Wu-Wei. Literally translated it means Non-Action (Wu = Non, or Not … Wei = Action). This concept has been misunderstood by easterners and westerners alike because people will typically interpret it to mean you should “take no action” or “Do Nothing” or “simply accept ‘that which is’ “. But to understand the concept correctly, read the following Taoist parable: “A monk was watching an elderly man approach a raging river filled with rocks. The elderly man suddenly jumped into the dangerous waters and was immediately sucked into the torrent of crashing waves and foam. Racing to the river’s edge, the monk desperately searched the water for some sign of the elderly man so that he might attempt to rescue him from a certain death. After a minute, the monk saw the elderly man emerge downstream…completely calm and unharmed, whistling a merry tune as if nothing untoward had happened. In a state of complete shock, the monk watched this scenario repeated again and again as the elderly man was now obviously playing with the river…cheating death again and again. Finally, the monk could no longer contain his curiosity and approached the elderly man and asked ‘How is it that you avoid being killed by the river ?’ The elderly man simply smiled and said ‘That’s easy. I just go in with a swirl and come out with a whirl’ “. This example of this parable can be seen in our own life experiences when we think of all the times we simply “went with the flow” and somehow avoided disaster. Perhaps you’re driving down the highway and almost collide with another vehicle that did not see you in its blind spot. You “somehow” avoided the collision by some automatic reaction by the Deeper You. You did not “think” about how to avoid the collision…you simply AVOIDED without thinking. This is like the elderly man and the river …you took action (Wei) but it was automatic action. You did not “try” to take the action…the action simply manifested, or somehow happened. This leads us to what we consider a better interpretation of the Chinese Taoist concept of Wu-Wei. Instead of thinking of it as Non-Action, consider thinking of it as “Non-Forcing ”. The elderly man survived the river by not “forcing” his actions …he simply “went in with a swirl and came out with a whirl.” You may now be having a glimmer of what we’re about to say regarding “Releasing” as an alternative to “Total Acceptance”. Instead of trying (“forcing”) acceptance in your mind, you can instead implement a viable nonforcing alternative. You can simply “Allow without complaint just for now ”, and then mentally “ Release” the uncomfortable thought that is bothering you. Releasing can be accomplished in any number of different ways. You can visualize holding the uncomfortable thought in your hand, and then opening your hand and letting (allowing) the thought fly away on its own. You will not FORCE the uncomfortable thought to leave…you will allow it to go on its own accord. One of the key components of the “allowing / releasing” process is the fact that you don’t have to ACCEPT it. Accepting often has a certain degree of connotation to AGREEING with the uncomfortable thought’s “acceptability”. You can see here that to “Accept” something implies (to most people) a certain amount of “Acceptability” ! When you are experiencing grief in your life from the loss of a loved one, it is practically impossible to generate any self-honest feelings of “acceptability”. Instead, it’s MUCH easier to learn to “allow it without complaint just for now”. Notice the important ending of that phrase: “..just for now”. You are not committing to allow something to go on and on and on. But it is causing you uncomfortable/unhappy thoughts NOW, and you can alleviate your “Present Moment” pain and suffering by allowing it to exist without complaint “just for now”. You’re not committing to anything long-term. You’re not making some ridiculous promise to yourself to just “forget from now on (or ignore) the grief you’ve been experiencing”. Not only might that tend to dishonor the memory of your departed loved one by desiring such a thing, it would also be impossible to perform. You’d simply be lying to yourself if you think you’d be able to never suffer from your grief again by “allowing it to leave” at this particular moment. But you CAN give yourself a respite from the pain of your grief “..just for now”. You can practice “allowing” your suffering to leave (without complaint) “just for now”, and we must emphasize the word practice. This is not a skill that you can just immediately manifest… it requires practice and patience. At first, the practice of “Allowing and - 40 -
Releasing” might even seem like you’re “trying” to do it, or “forcing” yourself to do it. That is perfectly natural because it’s something you’ve never done before. Surprisingly, after a very short time, you’ll find that you’ll be able to Allow and Release effortlessly and without forcing…truly in the original and authentic spirit of Wu-Wei.
Replace – Step Three of the 2 nd Illumination Once you’ve become accustomed to the practice of “Releasing” uncomfortable/unhappy thoughts and feelings, it’s important to immediately move to the third step of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” technique. One of the key points to remember here is that, like nature itself, your mind abhors a vacuum. If you release your uncomfortable thoughts, and then do nothing further, your mi nd has the natural tendency to fill that void with more uncomfortable “Story of Me” related thinking. As mentioned earlier in Part 3 regarding the Mutual Exclusion Principle , we pointed out that all the research in the field of Psychology up to this point agrees that the only permanent way to remove an unwanted thought is “to think of something else”. This “something else” would, by necessity, need to not fall into the category of “unwanted or unintended or unpleasant thought”. Thus, we need to use our innate power of Intent to keep away (or “crowd out”) the previously “Released” unwanted/unintentional thoughts that caused us discontent in the first place. The big question in our researches eventually became “What is the best kind of thought to use when you need to think of something else ?” What’s the best kind of “something else” ??? What Kind of Thoughts Should “Replace” The Ones We’ve Released ?
As a small amount of background, we began much of our research many years ago in the field of “religion”. We wanted to see if we could find one particular religion that seemed to provide the most happiness for it’s followers…the most “bang for the buck”. It was our intent to determine which religion created the most intensely joyful states in its followers, and then dissect the underlying root cause for this intentionally manifested happiness. Having no preconceived notions or opinions, we examined the predominant religions all over the world, and our eventual conclusion was quite astonishing. Out of all the world’s religions, the most consistent and persisting states of true happiness and joy was found in the worshipers of the deity named Krishna. Most people nowadays are familiar with this religion and most have seen their members chanting/singing/dancing ecstatically in worship of their God. After careful research into the worship of Krishna, we discovered that the primary focus of this religion is to teach the follower to spend as much time as humanly possible (throughout the entirety of their daily life) devoted to the “Love of Krishna”. In other words, the worshippers of Krishna try to spend as much time as possible in their day “thinking about how much they LOVE Krishna”. They’re not focusing so much on the “rules” of their religion, although their rules are very important to them and can be quite extensive. The important item is the amount of time spent in an “ outpouring ” state of love for their God…ideally, all day – every day, not simply when attending worship services at their local temple. We then found the concept of “counter-acting” negative emotions with “emotional cures” in the writings of Tibetan Buddhism. These “cures” are often referenced by the Dalai Lama when he talks to large audiences on the topics of Loving-Kindness and Compassion. When we looked closely at these ancient “emotional cures” (counteringagents, or countering emotions) for negative emotional states, we discovered that they all consisted of the need to focus upon some variation of … Love. From that discovery, we were reminded of one of our most favorite speakers on the topic of personal transformation, Leo Buscaglia, who travelled world talking to huge audiences solely on the topics of “Love” and “Joy”. To many, he was known as the world’s greatest “cheerleader of life”. Leo worked actively for many years to help others overcome social and mental barriers that inhibited the expression of love between people… from family, to acquaintances, to the disabled, institutionalized, and elderly, to complete strangers… often making his own forwardness on the subject a topic of self-deprecating humor. The profundity of his subject almost invariably struck a positively responsive chord in an area many regarded as deficient in their lives. By 1998 (when, tragically, he died in his home of a heart attack) his printed books had reached eighteen million copies, in seventeen languages. On of Leo’s primary teachings revolved around the concept that we are not happiest when people love us…we are happiest when we are actively “loving something”…when we are in an “outpouring” state of love…when we are directing out to someone or something. He used to say “When you’re happy, your loving something and when you’re unhappy you’re NOT loving something…it’s as easy as THAT”. We emphasize the word “THAT” in the previous sentence because Leo used to often shout the last word of his sentences when he wanted to make a strong emphasis. He was very passionate on the topic of Love. - 41 -
Becoming Students of Love – “The Most Important Thing”
An additional and very important teaching of Leo Buscaglia, was that we become “Students of Love” if we’re to reach our fullest potential for happiness in this lifetime. If we were forced to select one single aspect of the Useful Illumination teaching, this concept would be the one we’d choose. Everything hinges are your ability to study what love means to you, and then move forward with what you discover. You’ll see more on the importance of Love in the entire remainder of this particular writing. The concept of studying love should be considered ultimately the most fundamental requirement for obtaining most any form of Useful Illumination. You might even say “ It’s the study of Love that is the one single most important thing for the unlocking of your personal Illumination ”. So what would be the most logical step to begin such as study? The best place would be to define the characteristics of love, especially since the concept of love often means different things to different people. In this teaching of Useful Illumination, the definition for love is based on the following key aspects (but is not limited to this list): ***** Loving thoughts will always mesh well with the previously described concepts of “Intentional Comfortable Thought”, which is pleasant, and leads to a Gentle Restructuring of ones Activation Pathways. ***** Thoughts of love never intentionally hurtful, and never contain any aspect of malice. ***** There is no thought of the “fruits of actions”. It is a selfless (or unselfish) outpouring, and no thought of return is expected. ***** You feel deeply committed towards that person, thing, or concept towards which your love thoughts are flowing. ***** You have, to some extent, invested a part of yourself in bonding with this person, thing, or concept. You value it very greatly. ***** You somehow “identify” with that towards which you are directly loving thoughts, such that your overall quality of life would be significantly diminished if it were removed from your existence permanently. ***** The personal bonding is not imagined as possibly being fleeting, ephemeral, short-lived, or not “lasting” in some way. ***** The amount of love you could pour out can be considered “immeasurable” in that you can never reach a peak, nor can you envision plumbing the deepest depths. There is no imagined “limit” to how long you can remain loving towards that person, thing, or concept. The most Healthy Use of the Imagination Possible – Searching Love Categories
With an understanding of the previous characteristics of love-type thoughts, it’s now time for you to plunge into the deepest parts of your being to find those things which you can actively pour love towards. This could be considered one of the healthiest things you could possibly do with your unlimited Powers of Imagination. You’ll have to thoroughly search your memories and your feelings, then actively generate a list of as many things as possible that you can Lovingly focus upon after the “Release” stage of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” process. Further, you need to be able to reflect on those things which you love, for as long as possible, so that you can “Remain” in these outwardly-loving and joyously-kind states of mood. We offer here a simple list of “love categories” for your initial reflection into those items towards which you can generate an outpouring of love. This list should by no means be considered all inclusive, and hopefully you’ll find a few new categories of your own as you search for those things you find resonant and hold most dear: Divine Love – This form of love is one of the most powerful and all-consuming (or all-pervasive). It is characterized by the ability to feel an exceedingly strong outward flow of love for some form of God, Deity, Saint, Savior, Master or Higher Power. As mentioned in the review of the worship of Krishna, it is common for many religious paths to focus on increasing the amount of time spent in a “love contemplation” of their Higher Power, as well as on increasing the overall intensity of such emotional states. Equitable Love or Equanimity – This form of love is characterized by deep contemplations and reflections on the equality of all sentient beings, and how you personally are no better than anyone else. It involves constantly - 42 -
monitoring one’s thoughts for times when you “look down” upon another, and rectifying those instances with a mental outpouring of benign love to the person whom you misjudged or maligned internally. It focuses on trying to understand and appreciate others “just the way they are” and can be characterized by a humble demeanor of “patient forbearance”. Practicing this form of love is almost a constant contemplation of self-humbling, and a corresponding offering of loving thoughts to everyone you meet throughout your day for the sole purpose of reminding you of the “inner equality” and “inner potential” of all sentient beings. Additionally, this practice would focus on the elimination of any “Judgmental” or “Critical” Spotlight Personality. You would treat all others as “noble guests” that you lovingly allowing to share in this particular shared moment of NOW-ness (the Present Moment). Conventional or Conceptual Love – A person can be said to love a country, or political party, or principal, or goal if they value these concepts or conventions to a great degree, and are deeply committed to them. In these types of the outward pouring of loving thought, one would spend a great deal of time in loving reflection (or contemplation) on the topics for which they feel most deeply. Examples of these might include such topics as animal rights, domestic violence, child labor abuse, hate group reform, or even conservation and rescue of the environment. Impersonal Love – People can deeply love material objects, nature, or activities if they heavily invest themselves in bonding or otherwise indentifying with them. Examples of this would include hobbies, sports, games (love of chess or bridge), literature (books, magazines, newspapers), Television, Radio, Internet, Pure Intellectual pursuits (cosmology, astrology, science), motor vehicles (love of one’s car or motorcycle or boat), or any form of “love of nature” / “love of the outdoors”. Grateful Love or Loving Gratitude – This state is manifested when a person concentrates on staying, for extended periods of time, in states of deep and sincere gratitude. Needless to say, there are an infinitely large number of things for which one can contemplate a “loving gratefulness”, and such subcategories of thankfulness and appreciation would be entirely unique to any single person. Some people spend exceedingly long periods of time contemplating their gratitude for the various living things that surround them, to the extent that even the plants and animals and earth take on a divine and utterly sacred quality. Such contemplations and outpourings of love often lead to a feeling of Unity with all things, a feeling of deep non-separateness, interconnectedness, or Oneness. Physicists have even confirmed that on a quantum level, all reality that we “see” and “experience” is simply a complex and interconnected web of pulsating energy fields. To see everything this way, glowing with threads of energy that dance and sing with everything else, can make even the most inanimate object “come alive” in your personal sense of connection. One then feels grateful for being permitted to join the dance, even through their most routine of daily chores. They strive to gratefully hear the music that every object in existence is emanating, and is trying to make heard. Love of One’s Body-Mind Organism – Practitioners of this form of love develop a deep bond for their own bodies and their own minds, and strive to keep these healthy and happy. These types of people often join exercise or meditative groups such as Yoga or Chi Kung to focus on personal happiness, health and especially longevity. Much of the content of their thoughts throughout the day will be directed inside their bodies, in a sincere effort to increase the positive functioning of their internal environment. Compassionate Love – People who focus on compassion remain in extended states of thought, in which they have a deep empathy, and a sincere wish, for alleviating the suffering of others. They allow themselves to be fully present with everyone they meet, and do not shy away from people who are in any way suffering (or even dying). People who have a deep affinity for compassionate mind-sets are often those who choose careers in health care professions, or who spend much of their spare time doing various forms of volunteer work to help others in need. Sensual Love – People who bond deeply with some aspect related to the 5 senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing) are those who tend to spend much of their time lovingly reflecting on the things they love most which positively impact these senses. Such people will have some deep connection with things such as art, food, and music. They will often select careers in these fields so as to spend most of their waking hours working in the sensual areas they love the most. They will often be seen joyously preparing meals, or dancing and singing to music, or creating beautiful works of painting and sculpture. Benevolent Love or Radiant Love – People who spend a time in states and actions of Benevolent Love, will be focusing on expressing goodwill and kindly feelings to others. For some philosophies and religions, benevolence is considered a primary (or cardinal) virtue. They radiate powerful thoughts and actions coupled with a sincere wish that all sentient beings, without exception, be happy. Thus, they tend to radiate a warmth to others that is completely independent of their own personal likes and dislikes. This radiance of loving-kindness was reportedly the Buddha’s favorite form of personal meditation, and he taught the practice of radiating this loving kindness out to the farthest reaches of your personal imagination. Manifesting benevolent and radiant love also implies an intent (and will) to grant forgiveness to others. It is considered a supreme act when forgiveness is expressed in - 43 -
the full realization that the offender’s activities may not merit such benevolence. The classic example of this is when the Dalai Lama interviewed a Tibetan priest who had been imprisoned, and routinely tortured, by his captors for over a decade. The priest miraculously escaped one day, and immediately began the arduous trek over the Himalayan mountains to reach the Tibetan refugee city of Dharamsala, India. Upon his arrival at Dharamsala (the home to the Dalai Lama and his government in exile) the Dalai Lama asked the priest if he was often afraid and fearful during his captivity. The priest immediately responded that he was sometimes deeply afraid that he might one day lose his compassion and forgiveness for his captors. Appreciative Joy or Rejoicing Love or Nurturing Love – People who focus on this category of love try to maintain the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of others; nurturing their joys and hopes. This requires a deep skill in empathy in order to effectively visualize (or actively feel) other peoples’ fears, frustrations, hopes and dreams. Such people would be actively engaged in monitoring the feelings of the people around them, and will always be offering sincere praise and helpful support. They will celebrate the others’ victories, and commiserate with them on their losses, always offering loving thoughts and actions of kindness and encouragement. It has been scientifically proven that people who have pets or plants to nurture tend to live longer, and they recover more quickly and thoroughly from disease and injury. Human Love – This category is perhaps the strongest and broadest of all the previously described types of love. It includes an outward pouring of loving thoughts and actions for all manner of bonded loves towards other humans…spouse, child, friend, master, mentor, and can even include cherished pets.
Bear in mind that there is no need to limit yourself to the previous 11 categories of “love thought”. Try to be creative, and find additional categories that have some special sort of resonance with your own personal concept of Love. Simply try to remember the “definitions of key aspects” that we listed earlier in this section, which define love’s basic nature. Once you’ve replaced your uncomfortable/unhappy thoughts wi th those belonging to one of the Love categories, you need to try and remain in that “state of thought” for increasingly longer periods of time. This requires practice nd and dedication, and this is focus of the next step of the 2 Illumination … “Remain”.
Remain – Step Four of the 2 nd Illumination The final portion of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” method is another disciplined, focused and creative use of the Power of the Imagination. Once you’ve used your imagination to select a “love category stream of thought”, to replace any kind of uncomfortable thought, you need a set of tools to select from to assist you in “Remaining” there. Again, in a comfortable state of thought you will always be “loving something” to a greater or lesser degree. Thus, the objective of the “ Remain” portion of RRRR is to develop the habit (with the use of various tools and methods) of INTENTIONALLY remaining in “comfortable thoughts states” by willful practicing throughout the course of your entire day. If we were to be asked “How often should I do this practice of Remaining?” we would answer “All the time ! “ ..especially when you first start off learning. Simply select the tools that best suit your tendencies and predispositions, and practice them as often as you feel comfortable doing so. A Short List of Useful Tools for “Remaining” in Comfortable Thought – for “Thinking the Good Thing”
Presented here is a short bullet-list of cognitive tools that can assist a person in remaining in comfortable thought states for the concluding step of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” process. Each of them could be viewed as just another “variation” on the “outward push of loving thought” concept, although we’d emphasize that this would be in the very broad context of defining “love” as was exemplified in the “Replace” section of RRRR. In essence, one can consider that almost any intentionally manifested comfortable/happy thought has an aspect of “love” contained within. ***** The first item in this list is a practice that has particular meaning and significance for us, and could be made into a subject encompassed by an entire book or seminar. In short, we call it the Smile Propagation Theory which teaches that when we intentionally manifest a smile on our face, that it naturally travels inwardly. It moves towards our center of awareness, and begins to then create comfortable thought. In other words, instead of comfortable thought “making” us smile, we intentionally generate a small smile on our face to “make” ourselves feel comfortable. Many scholars and monks have discovered the same process of intentionally manifesting a smile in order to generate comfortable thought. The Zen monk Thich Nhat Hahn has a famous saying: "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." Also stemming from the word “propagation” (in Smile Propagation) is the concept that when you intentionally - 44 -
manifest a sincere smile while interacting with others, you work to bring them joy. They can sense you honestly care about the encounter. A sincere smile tells the other person that they have worth and value in your eyes, and that you honor and respect their presence. Most people will naturally respond favorably to this treatment, and will smile back at you, thus increasing your joy of that moment’s interaction. They will tend to walk away from their time with you in a lighter spirit, and will tend to smile more at others and treat them kindly based upon their natural reaction to YOUR smiling actions. Thus, they are propagating the love and kindness you initiated. ***** One can practice intentional disengaging of the Compulsive Ego State by “remaining” in gratefully loving attitudes supported by the repetition of mantras, or short quotes, or even songs (played internally… inside one’s mind). A mantra that we’ve given to many others in the past is, and with exceptionally good results: “I am happy, I am content, I am happy, I am relaxed ” This particular mantra is also effective when used in conjunction with “Releasing”. When repeated inside one’s mind, this phrase tends to create a very comfortable thought state which is not “Ego based”. By “telling yourself” that you are happy, comfortable states will naturally tend to manifest (with practice and “sincerity in attitude”). Hundreds of thousands of mantras are available for anyone to choose from. The most popular mantras can be found at www.youtube.com and one can search there for something that has personal resonance and meaning. Alternately, one can play favorite songs inside one’s mind. One song we particularly favor is “Kind and Generous” by Natalie Merchant which has the chorus “…Thank you, thank you …” repeated over and over. ***** You can mentally practice “outward thought pushes”, sincerely wishing happiness and peace to those around you. This could be considered one of the very best uses of one’s imagination, as you will visualize a positive wave of joyous energy flooding from you, with the sincere wish that it be received by everyone in your current vicinity. This can also be practiced while driving in your car as you outwardly attempt to manifest happiness and peace to the other drivers with whom you’re sharing the road. Needless to say, this serves to dramatically reduce one’s self-tendency towards any form of road rage! This type of practice is a most valuable a form of “love practice”, since you will be “sending love via thought”, as well as coupling these thoughts with words and actions if you happen to be closely interacting with others. ***** If you are of a persuasion to want to try and “accept” all that is happening around you (a very liberating experience if you can manage it sincerely) you can try to intentionally manifest the thought/feeling of: “ Just what I wanted.” We realize that this might seem forced, or might seem like you’re deliberately “pretending”, but it can be very useful when you are sitting in a movie theater and you hear a baby crying in the audience. Instead of becoming frustrated, try to manifest “Just what I wanted” thoughts and you’ll be surprised at the results. Bear in mind that such thought strategies assist in the desired “Gentle Restructuring” of the “Activation Pathways” whi ch eventually (with practice) leads to “ naturally arising comfortable thought”. ***** Try to listen to spiritually relaxing music that tends to calm/derail/disengage your Thinking Mind. These selections would definitely be different for each person. One of our personal favorites is “Ani Choying Drolma”, a popular Nepalese Buddhist nun who specializes in chanting while being accompanied by relaxing guitar and percussion (http://www.choying.com ), and Lama Tashi, a Tibetan Buddhist priest specializing in “deep singing”. You can read of him at http://www.chantmaster.org/about_Lama_tashi.htm. His classic CD “Tibetan Master Chants” can be found at www.amazon.com and other online music merchants. ***** As you walk about your daily life, select blocks of time (or even entire days) in which you make a conscious effort to find beauty in as many things as possible. Pick a morning to go outside and deliberately find the beauty in the plants outside your home that you might typically overlook…even something as simple as looking closely at a blade of grass, or a leaf from a typically ignored tree. If you can’t find anything beautiful to look at, then you’re simply not looking hard enough. Beauty, wonder and awe can be found almost anywhere if you practice trying to look. Needless to say, this concept and practice can be expanded to a very great degree. ***** Consciously try (at random times throughout the day) to honestly “have fun” at what you are doing, and remind yourself that it’s entirely possible to “Fall in Love with the World”. You can dramatically increase the overall excellence of your life by learning to more actively engage your whole mind i n willfully trying to “ find the fun” in all your daily activities. ***** As will be discussed at the end of Part 3, you can try and take the opportunity to dance and sing as often as possible throughout the day. Many times can be found when you can do such things without embarrassment, and the release of natural joy and happiness by these simple actions should not be discounted until you try it for yourself. ***** Practice hearing in your “mind’s ear” the voice and words of your favorite inspirational speaker. If you encounter any difficult moments throughout the day, ask yourself “What would he/she be saying to me about this right now?” This is closely related to self-improvement studies that show “modeling” as a very successful tool for personal transformation. You “model” your behavior based on a person you deeply respect. An example of this - 45 -
concept, in a once highly popularized practice, was seen via the soft, corded bracelets that many people used wear bearing the letters WWJD. It was to remind Christian youths of the question “What would Jesus Do ?” ***** Pick a day to intentionally say (inwardly) the simple word “Yes” as many times as possible. Likewise, select times to intentionally say inwardly “I love this…” and “This is beautiful…” and “I am grateful for this…”. Select just a single phrase to focus on for the entire day for maximum effectiveness. ***** Imagine that every time your allow yourself to sink into a bad mood, you are simply “making scary faces at yourself in the mirror”. Make it a point to “Recognize” your low moods and uncomfortable thoughts, and then say to yourself “There I go making scary faces in the mirror again”… this is then the cue to “Release” and then “Remain”. When finished, imagine smiling at yourself in the mirror (via the power of your imagination). ***** Select a day to repeat to yourself the simple phrase “I Believe”. Although at first glance it may to seem to not contain much true meaning, if you can think this while manifesting ANY form of outwardly loving feeling, you’ll be satisfying your deep inner need for “belief” (as described earlier in this writing on the concept of mankind’s inner “Belief Engine”). It is a very calming and “comfortable thought generating” phrase to inwardly say to yourself. ***** On the internet go to www.youtube.com or any “internet video collection” and search for videos on “peaceful topics” so that you can build up a reservoir of “ peaceful things to think about ”. You can think of this as collecting a “video library in your mind” to play over and over to help you “Replace” or “Remain”. Here are some of our personal favorites …you would find your own (you can memorize these videos to some extent, so that you can play them back in your mind when needed or desired): Funny Kittens and puppies Fish, Dolphins, Whales Flowers and fields and forests and waterfalls Many kites flying on top of a hill with laughing families Flamingos floating on the water Flocks of parrots flying through the rain forest Laughing babies Laughter Yoga (…yes, there’s even a Yoga for laughing!)
***** In case it did not stand out enough, the concept of “ Allowing ” what is happening to you at any given moment is a VERY powerful mental tool. This was discussed in the “Release” section of RRRR. In fact, it is so powerful that we often think of the 2 nd “R” as “Allow and Release”. We personally use the concept of “Allow” as a mantra that we repeat inside our minds, and we will sometimes continually repeat that word to ourselves over and over during the course of an entire week. If you find yourself slipping into “compulsive” and “useless” thinking, simply look around you and ALLOW everything you see…it’s an exceedingly refreshing practice. Variations of this wonderful technique are: 1. Repeat to yourself over and over “Allow, just for now, without complaint ….Celebrate”. As you can see, this is “allowing” everything you see and witness, then finding a reason to “celebrate” its existence. By adding the “without complaint” portion, you are assuring that your “allowance” is not tinged by the slightest trace of “discontent”. The importance of the concept of “discontent” can not be emphasized enough. 2. Another exceedingly power mental practice is what we call “ AA”, which stands for Allow/Align . The “AA” practice can actually be used as a shortened version of the primary technique of this book …that primary technique being, of course, RRRR. The “AA” technique consists of a regular practice of Allowing everything you see, followed by Aligning yourself with the Powers of the Universe. The “Aligning” step is discussed in great detail in Part 4 of this book, and what is called “the miracle formula” is given at the end of Part 4 which is the ultimate result of “carefully considered aligning” …the ability to perform miracles! In fact, “the miracle formula” is one of the most unique offerings of our teaching. Looking Ahead on the Road to Useful Illumination – The 3
rd
Illumination
If you’re truly committed to improving your overall quality of life, you’ll definitely be keeping yourself VERY busy with the RRRR process. While you practice this throughout your day, every day, you can begin to think about the 3rd Illumination. It is entirely concerned with deciding what path will be best for you to travel throughout the rest of your life, in order to pursue your goals of Lasting Happiness, and eventually Ultimate Fulfillment.
Chapter 14 – The 3rd Illumination – Choosing a Path to Carry the Light - 46 -
After you’ve begun to practice the “Think the Good Thing” strategies via RRRR, you’ll notice a significant leap in your feelings of overall happiness and contentment. Via the Gentle Restructuring of your habitual patterns of thought, your Activation Pathways will be constantly reinforced and strengthened such that your naturally arising thoughts will tend to be much more comfortable and pleasant (and thus “happy”). Since you’ll be trying to spend MUCH less time generating thoughts of discontent, it naturally follows that you “may” need to adjust your overall views on life and your relationships. You no longer want to be clouded with various “negative” states, so you may find that you want a “life strategy” or “path” that wou ld compliment your new patterns of comfortable thinking. It is the intent of the 3 rd Illumination to provide you with this optional path, and is specifically designed to compliment your practice of the RRRR practice, and also be flexible enough to compliment any religious or spiritual path you current follow. This path is equally applicable even if you follow “no religious path” and have no need for religion. The 3 rd Illumination is truly “useful”, in that it works for the religious and non-religious alike. Recent Tendencies Towards Healthy Skepticism
It is a “sign of the times” that more and more people are becoming “healthy skeptics”. Our system of education tends to emphasize the need to verify factual data about virtually all aspects of our lives. Such healthy skepticism is practically a requirement to live in a modern society. Simply turn on the television and you’ll witness the marketing attempts that try to convince you that the purchase of their products will somehow make you healthier, or even more attractive to the opposite sex. You may have seen sales pitches which try to convince you that you can quit your current job, and make a fortune, if you’ll simply send in 3 payments of $39.95 for their exclusive video course material. Or consider all the exercise equipment “guaranteed” to give you 6-pack abs is less than 8 weeks…the list is endless. You have to be able to screen out the hoaxes from authentic material. You have to have a “healthy skepticism” such that you feel confident when making purchases that you’re not wasting your money on useless consumer goods. This same healthy skepticism is now applied to almost all areas of one’s life, from grocery shopping to buying a new car. A natural tendency has developed in the last 50 years to apply such healthy skepticism towards the topics of spirituality and religion. More and more people believe that “faith” is not enough to justify spiritual belief. They believe that a certain amount of proof is required in order for them to commit their energies towards “a belief in the existence God”. It’s becoming increasingly prevalent for people to simply have no belief whatsoever in a higher power, due to a personal lack of satisfaction that any proof can be found for the existence of such entities when using the healthy skeptic’s requirement that any belief be adequately defined, measured, and tested. Modern skeptics are becoming increasing dissatisfied with the advice of religious doctrines on how to deal with basic unhappiness. Such advice often takes the form of the following: “Thy Will Be Done.” “Let Go and Let God.” “Surrender to the Higher Power.” “Trust in God’s Plan for You.” “Everything is Perfect and as it Should be.” “God knows what is best for you.” “Do not presume to know the mind of God.” An increasingly large percentage of the population now thinks that advice of this nature is just another way of saying “Forget about It”. For those that can indeed “turn it over to God”, it’s a HUGE load off their minds and they can quite literally “Forget about it.” They believe God cares about them, and cares about their personal well-being. By turning things over to God, they can simply put it out of their minds , and if they can achieve such a mind-set, their problems will thus cause them dramatically decreased levels of mental suffering and unhappiness. On a related note, mankind’s global characteristic of having an internal “belief engine” (which searches for patterns best suited for explaining the mysteries that surround us) has naturally led to a NEED to believe “something” about the ultimate mystery …that of death. But the modern, healthy skeptic is now in the awkward position of having slain the psychologically satisfying doctrines of the various religious institutions. These institutions have always tended to provide us with the comfort of believing in a loving God and that we lie in the everlasting arms of a being who promises the survival of your “essence” after death, and whose demands are not terribly exacting. One simply follows the rules of his or her particular religion, and the fear of death is alleviated. - 47 -
One need not fret over the possible obliteration of “The Story of Me” because we can simply give our love to God, and that Master will take care of the rest. If you’re a satisfied member of such a religious or spiritual path, these concepts are exceedingly liberating and will help to alleviate some of your deepest of fears. But what if you are a member of the increasingly large number of people who no longer can TRULY believe is such things? Even if healthy skeptics follow the path of the 2 nd Illumination and begin to generate increasing happy states of existence, they still don’t have a “solid” set of rules that will help them answer the timeless question: “How shall I live my life?” A Useful Answer to the Timeless Question
As we’ve mentioned already, any truly useful Illumination should apply to almost anyone, and in this case we’re referring to the human category of religious preference. Could there be some form of guidance that would help devout religious members achieve their desire to follow the tenets of their church or group, which would at the same time be equally applicable to atheists (refutes the existence of God…believes that God does not exist), agnostics (questions the existence of God…believes that the claim “God exists” is uncertain) and non-theists (commonly described as “having no religion”, no disputing or defending the existence of God…and especially having no need for organized religion, doctrine, dogma, or dictates) ? We propose that an useful answer to the question “How shall I live my life?” does, in fact, exist… and that it can apply to anyone regardless of religious belief or non-belief. This is the essence of the 3 rd Illumination. It’s a way to live your life happily with others that can be used by anyone. And if you are a member of a religious organization or spiritual group, this Illumination will simply help you to achieve the religious/spiritual goals for which you strive. The only groups for which this Illumination would NOT work for, would be extremist belief systems which condone the infliction of harm upon others. Luckily, those types of paths are a very small minority. As an introduction to the offered life path of the 3 rd Illumination (that of finding an Illuminated life-path to travel) we’d like to relate a children’s parable: “Once, long ago, a famous scholar wanted to study the wisdom of a hidden spiritual temple residing high in the cloud filled mountains. He had traveled a long distance to see the legendary Master of the monastery. He was granted a personal audience with the Master and asked “What is the most important and deepest aspect of your teaching?” With no hesitation, the Master said “Don’t harm anyone, and only do good.” “This is just too stupid !” exclaimed the scholar. “You are supposed to be a great teacher, so I traveled miles and miles to see you. And now that is all you can come up with? Even a three-year-old could say that !” “Maybe a three-year-old could say it, but it is very hard to put into practice, even for an old man like myself,” said the teacher. This parable is instructive for demonstrating that even the most basic of tenets can be difficult to truly follow because of the typical nature of human thinking. Without correct thinking, our thoughts and actions will often “stray” from the path of “Good”. So How Should We View Good vs. Evil ?
As a quick aside, it is not terribly important to get caught up here in the concepts of Good versus Evil. Suffice it to say that Evil can be thought of as “Knowing the difference between right and wrong, and choosing to do wrong anyway”. If we wanted to get an even firmer grip on the concept of Good vs. Evil, we’d simply incorporate the scientific concepts of “fuzzy logic” in which you’d rate the degrees of evil on a scale of 1-50, where 50 is the worst kind of evil possible. In that respect, a child that steals a cookie from the cookie jar knows that it’s wrong, but takes the cookie anyway hoping to not get caught…that would be a 1 on the scale. A person who kidnaps and kills a child would be a 45. We don’t even want to think of things above 45. It is heartening to hear some results of the latest analyses of human behavior. The conclusions indicate that most people, in most circumstances, are good “most of the time”. But we should never forget the influences of our Compulsive Ego State, and the horrible things we sometimes say and do as a direct result of the thoughts we think (when we allow our minds to wander dark paths). It’s been said that under the correct set of circumstances, anybody is capable of doing just about ANYTHING (especially when they are completely bonded with the Voice in the Head, and allow the dominance of their more “unpleasant” Spotlight Personalities). - 48 -
An Example of a Very Good Path
Getting back to the study of following a “good” path for living our lives, we might begin by examining the simple teachings of the Dalai Lama. We personally love the way he spreads the teachings of his religion to people all around the world. He’s particularly effective because he keeps his message clear and easily understood. One of his most famous quotes is: “Kindness is my religion”. He is also fond of saying “Loving-Kindness is my religion” based upon the ancient concept of “Loving-Kindness”… one of Buddhism’s “Four Immeasurables”. An “immeasurable” concept is one in which the follower can practice endlessly, and never reach the end of its usefulness . Thus, the Dalai Lama teaches that Love and Kindness are two virtues which have no limits as to the amount of good they can help manifest in the world. It is in this spirit, that we offer a very concise “life path” for you to consider. Hurtless, Helpful, and Kind – An Illuminated Way of Life
As you begin to read here about the Hurtless, Helpful, Kind ( HHK) life path, it’s important to always keep in mind it’s applicability to any religion you might currently practice. Likewise, it’s equally useful if you have no religion nor any desire to become a part of one. It should be evident that the daily practice of HHK would need to supplement the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” practice as taught in the 2 nd Illumination. This is, of course, the case… especially in the steps of “ Replacing” with love category thoughts, and in “ Remaining” where you practice maintaining a loving attitude towards life for increasingly longer periods of time. The more you focus on HHK, the more Gentle Restructuring you are performing in the physical aspect of your brain. You’re “engraving” more of the Activation Pathways that are essential for the “ natural arising of comfortable thought ”. Additionally, you’ll find that by adhering to the HHK lifestyle, you’ll naturally be dropping tendencies and predispositions in those aspects of your Spotlight Personalities that you feel are no longer appropriate or desired. As a quick example, if you have a tendency to curse and swear and rant and rave after somebody cuts in front of you on the highway, the practice of HHK will tend to reduce (and often eliminate) these undesirable behaviors and attitudes. The most important of the three components of HHK is “Hurtlessness”, and this concept can be found as a key belief in many of the world’s ancient spiritual paths. In the Polynesian Huna philosophy, to be Hurtful to another was considered the primary definition of a sinful act. According to Huna belief, all of one’s possible choices for action arise from the primary teaching of Hurtlessness. One begins the HHK “life practice” by being Hurtless, Helpful, Kind first via one’s actions. When you begin to get comfortable with that aspect of the practice, you then expand Hurtless, Helpful, Kind to the words you speak . Lastly comes the most difficult part…you expand Hurtless, Helpful, Kind to the thoughts you think. So, the expanded version of this life path is: “Hurtless, Helpful, Kind in Thought, Word, and Deed ” (or just HHK for short) As you begin to carefully reflect on the deeper implications of HHK, we hope that you can eventually see that when your Compulsive Ego State is generating thoughts of discontent, all centered around “The Story of Me”, you are creating unhappiness in your own mind… and doing this is Unkind to Yourself ! So, when you practice HHK be sure to include yourself in the list of those towards whom you must be Hurtless, Helpful and Kind. It will be of benefit now if we more clearly define the Hurtless, Helpful, Kind concepts even though most people tend to have a firm and relatively common understanding of them: Hurtless - Causing no hurt, harm, injury ...This can also mean to not (via thought, word or deed) directly cause another’s increase in unhappiness or decrease in happiness. You might want to refer to our discussions on the definition of happiness elsewhere in this writing (the absence of negative/uncomfortable thought/feeling). Thus, being hurtless is "a willful effort made to NOT do something" and is thus directly related to the concept of "forbearance" (patient endurance, refraining from something, tolerance, control of temper, and restraint in the face of provocation). You must avoid at all cost to never fall into the dark traps of intolerance. The mottos of the intolerant: ”He who allows the enemy to live freely, shares in the crime of their existence.” & ”Suffer not the enemy to live.” Needless to say, these “mottos of the intolerant” have resulted in some of the most horrific crimes against humanity. These kinds of ideas serve to reduce “the enemy” to the status of “a thing” and not “an actual - 49 -
person”. It is also this kind of thinking thinking that facilitates the justification of such crimes as slavery and enforced child labor. Helpful - Giving or rendering aid or assistance, or to be of service in a useful function. Helpful is "a willful effort to DO something...and the ‘something’ is in the form of aid or assistance to accomplish a task". task". You can see the primary difference from being Hurtless in which Hurtlessness Hurtlessness is a process of NOT doing something. something. To be Helpful involves some form of reaching out to another to offer your aid or assistance. This can be as easy as being on the lookout for somebody who is struggling with a task and being that "smiling person" who tends to say "Here, let me help...". Kind - A desire to be good towards others...a disposition to do good, especially as trying to make others feel good about life or about themselves. So, unlike Helpful which relates to "accomplishing a task", Kindness focuses on making others "feel good" and does not usually involve task accomplishment. Kindness is often concerned with causing in others an increase in happiness or a decrease in unhappiness, whereas "Helpful" does not necessarily impact the other person's "measure of happiness" to any significant degree. We’ve found that the easiest and quickest way to be kind, is to be alert to things a person is most likely proud of, and then offering sincere flattery or praise of some kind. It must be SINCERE kindness or you ruin your entire effort, effort, and risk the appearance of being an insincere person. In a related side of kindness, you can always be alert for instances in which a person person seems unhappy and then do your best to raise their spirits, often by just smiling and saying "What's the matter?". You can then listen in a kind way without trying to FIX the other person's problems. Oftentimes, people are not looking for a solution, but just a "sympathetic ear". Of course, if they ask you for for an opinion on possible solutions then you have the opportunity to be KIND as well as HELPFUL at the same time !
You can probably see that a person living a Hurtless, Helpful, Kind lifestyle will try to avoid violence to the greatest possible extent, but one will always encounter exceptions to this life-rule. Even the Dalai Lama teaches that certain confrontations call for “ strong countermeasures”. We think of the Dalai Lama as one of the most peaceful individuals on the planet, but in one interview he was speaking of “strong countermeasure” and considered a scenario in which an attacker was about to kill an innocent child. The scenario continued as as he described “looking down to find a loaded firearm firearm at my feet” and then he considered considered what he’d then do. His answer …. “I don’t know, I just don’t know…” The Need for Occasional “Strong Countermeasures”
We often use the rule that we first heard in the old TV series “Kung Fu” (1972-1975) starring David Carradine, in which the Shaolin Master advises: “Avoid rather than Check, Check rather than Hurt, Hurt rather than Maim, Maim rather than Kill…for all life is sacred and none can be replaced”. Using this rule for possible events which might require “Strong Countermeasures”, we believe you’ll have a useful guide that will serve you in almost any circumstance. circumstance. Many examples could be given regarding the use of the the teaching of Forbearance, but eventually it’s up to the individual to decide upon the appropriate countermeasures they feel are justified for any particular confrontation. We think it is important to point out that sometimes a Strong Countermeasure calls for an acts of varying degrees of violence, and is entirely dependent upon the circumstances and a person’s tendencies and predispositions (your Personality Aspects). For example, let’s say you’re walking though the park with your children, and you’re attacked by a drug-crazed lunatic. The obvious response will be to protect the children by whatever means available. We could generate thousands of these kinds of scenarios, but the most important point is to simply follow the guidelines in this writing and select the best countermeasure…preferably the one that accomplishes your goal with the least amount of harm inflicted upon another. Each person’s interpretations of “when to to put aside Hurtless, Helpful, Kind” will be different. different. Some people believe that you should put these concepts aside for “Self-Defense of friends/family/country”. friends/family/country”. Other people believe that “country” should not be included as an exception. We’ve witnessed some fairly heated arguments over the “country” issue: What about China now storing nuclear waste in the holy mountains of Tibet? What about the decimation of South S outh American rainforests? What about the removal of lands and freedoms of native peoples around the world? …the list goes on and on. - 50 -
Suffice it to say that it’s up to each of us to determine the types of circumstances that warrant w arrant a temporary exit from the Hurtless, Helpful, Kind guidelines, and it will be entirely up to the individual as to how strong a countermeasure is warranted. Luckily, in all our years of practicing HHK we’ve only very rarely been forced put aside our personal tendency to “Forebear”. And one should never forget, that by actively manifesting thoughts, words and deeds of HHK, you serve yourself via the 2 nd Illumination of creating personal states of comfortable, happy and peaceful feelings.
Chapter 15 – The 4th Illumination – Traveling the Path As a summary of what we’ve learned so far, let’s briefly touch on the first 3 Enlightenments. In the 1 st Illumination, we learned to clearly see the nature of our mis-identification with the Compulsive Ego State’s “Voice in the Head”. The result of this mis-identification leads to a complete immersion into the “Story of Me”, and keeps us living our lives in typically unhappy/uncomfortable states due to the generalized feelings of “I don’t like it” or “discontented” feelings. One of the primary ways the Compulsive Ego State State keeps us firmly locked into these lasting fugues of discontent, is to cause us to dwell primarily in the thought illusions of past/future Imaginary Time. In the 2 nd Illumination, we learned how to actively recognize (via the intentional and willful use of the Working Mind) those times when we’ve allowed ourselves to slip back into Compulsive Ego State thinking. We learned the pleasant, corrective process of RRRR (“Think the Good Thing”), which allows us to gently restructure the mind so that the naturally arising thoughts thoughts of our everyday awareness tend to be comfortable and happy. We learned that we can initiate the RRRR process any time we sense an uncomfortable mood, thought, or feeling. In the 3 rd Illumination, we learned a “way of life” (or life-path) which naturally supports the first two Enlightenments, and which works equally well for religious and non-religious individuals. It has no requirement for meditation, nor does it require belief in a higher power to enable its smooth functioning. functioning. It serves us in whatever our belief system happens to be. The Hurtless, Helpful, Kind (in Thought, Word and Deed) lifestyle is applicable to everyone, and serves to dramatically increase our abilities to pursue lasting happiness. Now, in the 4 th Illumination, we’ll learn how to take our newly found lights of wisdom to enhance our ability to travel down whatever road of life we eventually choose. If we travel our chosen path well, we have the potential to discover meaning, purpose, and ultimately life-long fulfillment such that we can look back from our deathbeds and reflect gratefully on the wonderful life with which we were gifted. The Quest for Meaning and Purpose
In order to travel the path of your life to it’s fullest, most people will eventually ask the question “What is the Meaning of Life?” or “What is the Meaning of My Life ?” We’re going to propose to you here that these two questions, although common enough to pose, do not really serve you well in finding what you’re really searching for. The reason for this resides in the essential essential definition of the commonly used word “meaning”. When you ask for the meaning of your life, you are asking for a “symbol” that “represents” your life. In other words, you are asking for some sort of “pointer” to which you can reach out and touch or see, and which equates to your life…it’s “definition”…”What does my life ‘ mean’?”. When you ask the question that way, many of the world’s deepest thinkers concluded that there is no “meaning of” life (or YOUR life). They tend to agree that there there is nothing “outside of life” which can be pointed to such that you can conclude “OK, this thing or concept I am pointing to is the meaning…”. Instead, many conclude that “life itself” IS the “meaning of life”, and similarly that “life” IS the “meaning of your life”. Thus, life itself is the “meaning”, if you absolutely MUST insist upon having a “meaning” or “symbol” or “concept” to point to. Unfortunately, this philosophical conundrum does not really help to satisfy us in any useful way, shape, or form. Instead, let us suggest that you do as many people have done in this situation and ask a different question. The alternate (and better) better) question to ask would be: “How can I have a Meaningful Life ?” …a life with meaning. This is a much more practical question to ask because you are implying that you are searching for some degree of “significance” (meaning ful). In other words, you are asking how to make your life “significant”, or “be worthwhile”, or ”have some sort of impact”. You may even go so far as desiring to have a life whose significance is to leave behind something lasting…a legacy for others to use as your gift to humanity. - 51 -
However you decide to interpret the phrase “meaningful life”, you are always looking for something “of significance” and often “purpose” (a “reason” why you were useful). Thus, by asking for a meaningful life, the the answer can include your “purpose” as part part of the answer. As you can see, the quest for Illumination began with the concept of Usefulness when defining an adequate way to view “Illumination itself”. You began a path the path of Useful Illumination with usefulness in mind, and finish the study of the 4 th Illumination to discover that the concept of Usefulness can apply to your life as well. It is a fundamental fundamental characteristic of most wisdom traditions that their deepest truths have such complex interconnections. The Initial Requirement for Finding Meaningfulness, Meaningfulness, Purpose and Usefulness – The Deeper You
Why do so many people lament that they’ve squandered their lives, and only discover at the end that they missed their chance to find meaningfulness, purpose, and fulfillment ? The answer should now be very easy for you to understand. Since most people live out most of their existence under the Primary Illusion (our mis-identification with the Stream of Thought) they experience lives that primarily consist of the result of the Primary Illusion …DISCONTENT. If your life consists of a great amount of discontented thinking, thinking, how can if be happy, meaningful, purposeful, or fulfilling ? The answer, of course, is that it can’t…or at least it will be FAR below the the positive qualities that your life could have had, were you to have instead lived an Illuminated life. In order to maximize your own personal meaningfulness, and to find purpose and fulfillment, it’s now important to be able to understand a bit more fully fully the concept of “Living as the Deeper You”. When we’ve learned to live more often as the Deeper You, we can start taking the steps towards finding meaningful lives with purpose and fulfillment. So first let’s talk a bit more about the concept of the Deeper You. We learned earlier that there are typically two primary aspects of the Deeper You which we can readily access. You may find it helpful to review the beginning of Part 3, which described the Deeper You in more detail: 1. The first and most readily available form of the Deeper You is when you are outwardly liking, loving, or appreciating something. Initially this is achieved via “Intentional Comfortable Thought” (taught in the 2 nd Illumination) which then (with practice) becomes the type of thoughts which “naturally arise”. 2. The second and least readily available form of the Deeper You is when your mind is completely still and is not busy processing ANY “inner chatter”. It is also called Direct Perception or Stillness and is characterized by simply being fully present in the NOW (no past/future past/future Imaginary Time). Most importantly, there is no “naming “naming of things”. If you are walking in a garden enjoying the the flowers, you would not be naming the flowers within your mind. The first aspect of the Deeper You is MUCH more accessible on a moment to moment basis, and is the direct result of the RRRR “Think the Good Thing” practice. practice. Thus, with the methods of the 2 nd Illumination, you will eventually find yourself spending increasingly longer periods of time in “outwardly loving” states. The second aspect of the Deeper You is usually just “glimpsed”. These glimpses often happen during the times when you’re in the “outward loving” aspect of the Deeper You. When you’re in this “outwardly loving” state, you can intentionally practice the total cessation of the compulsive “naming of things” in order to access a “Stillness” of thought. As with the 2nd Illumination, this will become easier with experience, but is typically not a state in which anyone can reside for any significant length of time. If you’ll recall the discussions of your Spotlight Personalities, the second aspect of the Deeper You can actually be viewed as your Floodlight Personality . It is during the moments of Direct Perception (unclouded by the “inner chatter” of the Thinking Mind) that you can scan and witness your entire environment, much like a professional basketball play can sense the location of all the players on the court. Your attention is not trying to only pick out the important details (like the function of the Spotlight Awareness / Spotlight Personalities) but is taking in ALL the details of the data flooding into your senses. Needless to say, it takes a significant amount of practice to become proficient in performing activities with the Floodlight Consciousness (the “Stillness” aspect of the Deeper You) but it is very rewarding when you acquire the skill to do so. Once you become proficient at spending increasingly longer periods of time as the first (and easier to reach) aspect of the Deeper You, you’re ready to begin walking the path of the 4 th Illumination. With the comfortable/happy thought states of the Deeper You fillin g the vast majority of your waking “Stream of Thought”, you’ll be more capable of accurately discovering what is meaningful, purposeful, and fulfilling to YOU. Finding What is Meaningful, Purposeful, and Fulfilling “to YOU”
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This is the point in which you need to make full use of your human gift of REFLECTION. You need to intentionally set aside some time in your life (don’t try to accomplish this in one sitting) to access the Deeper You and reflect, or contemplate (a quiet inner “review”), those activities that bring you the most joy. In order to search for these activities, you need to understand the basic concept of Allurement . Throughout your life, you were “drawn” to certain things over others…almost as if certain activities “called” to you. The same type of sensation is seen in ANY aspect of our lives in which we are “magically attracted” to something. It began with your primary caregiver, typically one’s mother. Your were born and had a Primal Allurement to reach to “mother” for sustenance, security, and ultimately the mother/child bonding that is inherent in our human species. Certain toys then “drew” you … you might have reached for trucks while your friend reached for a ball. Everyone’s Allurements are different and are often unexplainable. Why do you like your favorite entertainments? …is it genetics ? ..your environment ? …your soul ? We propose that it serves no useful purpose to try to determine the origins of one’s Allurements, since it’s something that’s never been satisfactorily answered by any science or philosophy. Instead, it’s simply important to realize that some things “draw” you to them on their own accord . Perhaps you like ballet, or soccer, or painting, or nature. The variety of individual Allurements is endless. You are going to actively search for activities that have the highest content of joy, and give you the most satisfaction when partaking of them. We gave you an introduction to these types of activities in the earlier writings of Part 3 on “Stillness”, and how such “high joy content” activities naturally bring you effortlessly into “Stillness states” due to tendencies towards total immersion in the activities we love most. These “total immersion” states are described most thoroughly in the relatively recent field of Positive Psychology, which studies those things which make our lives rich and rewarding. In Positive Psychology, an individual’s most Alluring activities are referred to as Flow Experiences. Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. We’ve compiled a list here of the characteristics of Flow Experiences. Ideally, you will try to find activities in your life that have as many of the following characteristics as possible: ***** You can become so engaged in the activity that there is almost no involvement of the Thinking Mind. You have little “inner chatter”, and you can even reach the point of mental “Stillness” in which you suddenly stop the “Voice in the Head” and you cease the compulsive “naming of things”. ***** You often find that you have a loss of the sense of time passing, due to your complete engagement with the activity. ***** Aches and pains do not register loudly, if at all, in your conscious awareness. You will often only discover after you disengaged from the activity, that you have some kind of scratch or minor injury. ***** You are so focused on what you’re doing that you completely lose a “sense of self”…you have ceased involvement with “The Story of Me” because you’re so engrossed with your joyful activity. Without the processing of “The Story of Me”, you’ll cease thinking in past/future Imaginary Time and will be solely in the Present Moment ….the NOW. You will often slip into the experience of the 2 nd aspect of the Deeper You (Direct Perception / Stillness). ***** When performed well, Flow Experiences give one a rewarding sense of personal success and accomplishment. ***** When fully focused, you are not really processing much inner chatter, even when you are trying to accomplish a difficult task within the Flow activity. The skills and actions seem to naturally arise from the deepest part of you. This is much like catching a very fast ball. You don’t really think about catching the ball. You simply run, leap, catch, land… automatically. The Deeper You is handling all the activity. Your actions don’t even seem very “intentional” since the Deeper You is handling the performance of the activity without conscious effort . This characteristic is enhanced as you become more highly skilled in the Flow/Allurement activity via practice. ***** The very best Flow activities give you experiences similar to those of auto racing and mountain climbing. You are so completely immersed in the activity that you don’t even have time to think “I am happy” …that type of thought comes “later” when you examine the activity in retrospect after the Flow activity is complete, or when you have a moment to rest. There is no space for distracting thoughts and irrelevant feelings. ***** When you are creating or doing something in a Flow activity, there often seems to be no personal sense of Do-ership…there is no “Doer”. When creating art, YOU are not creating art…the creation simply flows through you and “there is simply art being done”. This is the classic state of the “Stillness” aspect of the Deeper You. When you are engaged in this way, everything simply becomes “ a happening”. There is no “Doer of Deeds”, - 53 -
there is simply doing. There is no “Knower of thoughts”, thoughts are simply known. There is no “Hearing of sounds”, there is simply the happening of hearing. The compulsive “naming of things” suddenly ceases to be required. This is the kind of Direct Perception and “complete attention” sought after by the arduous study of Zen (the path of Zen typically requires an exceedingly large amount of meditation). ***** The activity is typically complicated to some extent, and has a high challenge to one or more of your existing skill sets. There is generally some form of immediate feedback so that you can determine if you are performing the activity successfully. **** The activity is very active and requires your full concentration. Passive entertainments (watching TV, listening to the radio) do not provide Flow experiences even though they can be very relaxing. Passive entertainments often serve to disengage the Thinking Mind, but do not provide much in the way of Flow activity emotional rewards. ***** With the minimal involvement of the Thinking Mind, your actions become more natural and spontaneous. This is related to the “not forcing – effortless action” state of Wu-Wei as discussed earlier in the Allow and Release portion of the 2 nd Illumination’s RRRR (“Think the Good Thing”) teaching. After you’ve been searching for your particular Allurements as they relate to Flow experience, you’re going to want to be especially watchful for those activities that have most of the characteristics just listed. Activities that contain almost the complete set of these traits would be what we call your Optimum Flow Experiences, and are the key to finding a life that’s meaningful, purposeful, and fulfilling. Optimum Flow Experiences for Excellence of Life
So, you’ve looked at the list of characteristics of Flow experiences. Have you found those Allurements which makes you truly happiest in life? For some of us, it’s having our spouse and children laughing hysterically all at the same time…it’s flying kites with them on a windy day …it’s kayaking with one of them and seeing a glacier and a sea otter following the kayak…it’s paddling a canoe as hard as you can and looking up in awe to see five Balde Eagles circling above you. Those Allurements with the highest joy content and have the most number of characteristics of Flow experience are your Optimum Flow Experiences. So many people nowadays are trying to “find themselves”. They think that if they only wait, the answer will come. This “wait and see” attitude is not conducive to finding Excellence in Life . The time to find the most rewarding aspects of the Deeper You is now, and to identify your preferred Optimum Flow Experiences it to find your “great life interests”. Finding your Optimum Flow Experiences is to discover that which gives you optimum joy. It is those experiences which give you a meaningful and purposeful life! Your purpose is to obtain life-fulfillment by maximizing the number of Optimum Flow Experiences which you gift yourself with throughout your existence. It is the maximizing of those numbers of experiences that brings Overall Life-Fulfillment. You might think of in the following way. You would pretend to give yourself 5 points for every Optimum Flow Experience you have. You’ll then give yourself 10 points for a “peak” Optimum Flow Experience in which you totally dropped all “sense of self” for a decent amount of time. Lastly, you’d count up the points on your deathbed and that’s how good or worthwhile your life was. You’re primary goal for a meaningful existence, purpose, and fulfillment will the maximization of your total Optimum Flow Experiences. Your Optimum Flow Experiences are a measure of Total Life Excellence. We can’t emphasize that enough! The more Optimum Flow Experiences you provide for yourself (and you have to provide them for yourself… you need to find those things that really put you in “flow” and then do them more ) the more excellent your life will be. And you’ll be using the skills of the first three Enlightenments to assist you in the full maximization of giving yourself the most excellent life possible. When you are “fully on the course” of the 4 th Illumination, you’ll begin to discover the true musical nature of life. Your eyes and ears will no longer be blinded and deafened by the overbearing nature of the Thinking Mind. With a fresh mind to appreciate the wonders around you, and the intention to experience joy and wonder to the fullest via the maximization of your Flow Experiences, you’ll reach the end of your days on this earth profoundly grateful for finding a Useful Illumination that made such a worthwhile lifespan possible. Following meaningful pursuits, finding purpose in your deepest Allurements, living a life ultimately fulfilling via the large number of Optimum Flow Experiences you will gift ourselves with, working under the life-path guidelines of HHK and thus being a positive influence on anyone we touch with our smiling presence…We’ve never been able to come up with a more “worthwhile ” life-visualization.
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You may eventually reach the point in which you discover that your path of Allurement is completely “in sync” with what the entire Universe is “doing”. You may eventually see that the fundamental principles underlying all activity in the universe is a form of Allurement, from the deepest attractions of mutually orbiting galaxies, to the way we fall in love. You may eventually begin to witness the magical dance and song of “Allurement in action” all around you. Try your hardest (with your newly Illuminated senses) to see the dance and hear the songs that surround you. Too many people plod through life and treat it like a slow and painful struggle…like a battle to be won. They reach the end of their lives, only to discover that it was never a battle. It was song and dance. And only at the last do they tragically realize that all along they were supposed to have been singing.
Chapter 16 – Beyond All Illuminations – The “Great Illumination” Your own personal Illumination does not have to be the end of the path. Let us examine a vision that progresses beyond your Illumination. We’ll share with you our concept of how you can grow from self-Illumination, to the assisting of the rest of mankind for living lives of lasting happiness and limited sorrow. Everyone has some form of fundamental belief…a belief which “defines” them. Ours relates to our personal Allurements towards Science, Religion, and Spirituality. One of our own fundamental and most deeply held beliefs is in the curvature of space-time and how it impacts everything in the universe. At its most basic level, we can say that “gravity exists because of the curvature of space-time”. Thus, you might say that one of our most deeply held belief relates to the existence of the “root cause of gravity”. Think of the cosmos, all one hundred billion galaxies rushing though space (the Milky Way being just one of those galaxies...it contains our sun...just one of the Milky Way's one hundred billion stars). At this cosmic scale, the basic dynamism of the universe is the attraction each galaxy has for every other galaxy. Via gravity, many galaxies actually rotate in complex orbits in a complex dance with other galaxies. In each galaxy, all the stars rotate about each other because of gravity. In solar systems, planets rotate around one or more stars because of gravity. Our moon rotates around the earth due to gravity. We exist on this planet because of gravity. Life could only evolve because of gravity. Suffice it to say that gravity permeates the entire cosmos and is the underlying substrate of all existence in any solar system. It has nothing to do with science...it simply "exists" . It impacts any planet in any remote galaxy the same way it impacts an earthworm in Mongolia...gravity does not “care” about science...gravity simply IS. It does not matter what planet, what culture, what form of science...it permeates every particle in every galaxy in any part of the vast cosmos. We’ve known of gravity for over 400 years but still don't know the "underlying cause". All we can say is “gravity is real”, or “gravity is simply gravity”. Albert Einstein published his famous relativistic theory of gravity and postulated that there must be a "curvature of the space-time manifold". That is, an point of space occupied by matter "bends/curves" that space like a ball sitting on a thin/flat piece of rubber...the heavier the ball, the more it bends the rubber sheet (and the "bend/curve" manifests as gravity). In the 20th century it was proven that space/time in fact is curved ...you can see those experiments described anywhere on the internet by searching for something like ...proof curvature space time. Thus, in "plain English", gravity is the result of the curvature of space/time…a proven fact…a law of existence anywhere in the universe. It is one of our deepest held beliefs that the curvature of space/time (gravity) is the primary mystery of the universe ...we don't know "why" it's that way or "what" is the underlying "cause". You can just as easily call it "gravity" or "the body of God" ...both would express the same primal mystery. Gravity is simply "a word" used by people in the modern era to point to this "primary attraction" or " Primary Allurement". Gravity is simply an underlying "allurement activity", and is the fundamental mystery permeating every creature on every planet in any galaxy...truly a primary and fundamental "truth". Let’s move on with this concept of "Primal Allurement" and have you think of your favorite flavor, your favorite music, your favorite type of movie. Your attraction to those things is “primal”. You have awakened into existence and discovered this attraction. Your interests and enjoyments are the same type of ultimate mystery . This "alluring activity" permeates the cosmos on all levels of being. This mysterious attraction that we call "interest" or "fascination" is as mysterious as the basic allurement we call “gravity”. The greatest mystery is that we are interested in anything whatsoever. Each person discovers a field of allurements, the totality of which bears the unique stamp of that person's complete personality…the sum total that represents their total being. Your destiny unfolds in the pursuit of individual fascinations and interests. You do - 55 -
not know the limits of what you can do, or who you can be in your fullest significance… or what powers are hiding within you. All this exists in the emptiness of your potentiality. Take for instance the idea of a father about to witness the birth of his first child. He “knows somehow” that he will love the child. He’s read all the books and taken all the free classes at the hospital. He knows “in theory” how he’ll most likely bond with his soon-to-be born offspring. You’ll find in talking to most fathers that they were totally unprepared for the kind of love that was hidden within them, and only “unlocked” via the catalyst (or trigger) of the child’s birth. It’s something that can only be briefly hinted at…there are no words available for the feeling you get when you first lay eyes on your child. Likewise, there’s no adequate description for what “unlocks” within you when you REALLY fall in love for the first time. The same holds true when you discover your favorite hobby, or when you find deeply hidden skills that seemed to wait for just the right trigger in order to spring forth into a raging blossom of newly found ability. How will you bring your hidden allurements and powers forth? How will you awaken your creativity? By responding to the allurements that beckon to you… by following your passions and interests and thus finding the triggers or stimulus to unlock the magical doorways that are still laying dormant within you… by accessing the allurement activity which drew YOU into being, just in the same way a new star is drawn into being... the underlying "allurement activity" that is the primary and fundamental mystery of the universe. And by unlocking the hidden powers of Allurement that reside within you, please realize that there is no limit to the number of lives you can positively touch merely by your presence… by your “stillness” or “peacefulness of mind”. When you combine the practices of the Useful Enlightenments you’ve now learned, with a will and intent to outwardly manifest your loving nature to others, you are in effect acting as a Beacon of Allurement . Actively applying the concept of Smile Propagation with a sincere outpouring of loving-kindness, you become more than a beacon. You become a radiant torch lighting the way for others to see the possibility of joy within their own lives. Simply by being in the presence of others, you teach them by example to sing the song of life, and you show them the rhythms of magnificent potential that await the brave souls willing to join in the dance of the cosmos. In essence, you have BECOME Allurement Itself… truly your fullest destiny, shining the radiance of your Illumination for the benefit of others. You’ve become an instrument of the Ultimate Mystery – a Willing Vessel bearing an “Ultimately Useful” gift for others. You have become the light of “ The Great Illumination”.
Epilogue to Part 3 Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous. Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of the Ultimate Mystery. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing illuminated about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of The Ultimate Mystery that is within us. It's not just in some of us -- it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne Williamson
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Part 4 – Discovering and Tapping the Sacred Powers of the Universe The Withering of Spirit in a Clockwork Universe
It is a tragic truth of the modern age that increasingly larger numbers of people are beginning to view the universe in which they live as “mechanical”. They see it as just a clockwork mechanism in which life is merely some sort of fluke. Such people view the workings of the universe as a “purely mechanical structure” that operates according to its various laws of physics. They see it existing as something “outside of themselves”, and that we are merely flukes of self-consciousness existing inside barriers of skin. We are born, lumber about the planet in often meaningless pursuits, and then die…end of story. Such a view of the universe usually results in a feeling of isolation, and facilitates the practice of viewing everything in our environment as a “resource to be used and exploited”. This way of thinking discounts any possibility of a Sacred Presence around us. Instead of seeing an example of “the Sacred” when viewing a Salmon run, we see a group of fish to be harvested. To lose the sense of the Sacred in the world around us is to willfully create a world in which our deepest spirit begins to wither. To lose touch with the many Powers of the Universe that permeate us at every moment of our existence, is to live a life of low-scale vibrance and zest. It is to abandon the possibility of connecting to the world on the deepest and most rewarding of levels. It is to willfully ignore the joys and ecstasies freely offered to us which are accessed only when we learn to commune with these powers in conscious self-awareness. One might initially wonder what is meant by the term “spirit”. We are simply referring to that deepest part of oneself that is your “core essence”. It is that part of you that most deeply experiences the many aspects of “love” that were described in Part 3 of this book. It is that deepest part of “you” that falls in love at first sight…an experience that is completely beyond words. In fact, those deepest forms of love are most keenly felt when words and symbols momentarily leave our conscious mind and we are existing in pure Stillness of thought…pure feeling. We could give many examples of experiencing your “spirit”, but let’s examine just a few more. Consider the times you are in some beautiful scenic spot and completely lose yourself while enjoying the beauty of your surroundings. Your compulsive thought stream has slowed to a trickle and you are immersed in the awe and wonder of communing with a sunset, a huge flock of birds, an unspoiled misty mountain landscape, a pod of dolphins that has surfaced and can be seen playing, a whale that has just breached and blows a plume of water and creates sound from its blow hole…the list is endless. Your mind has stopped its continual labeling and simply views the scene with a sense of awe and deep mystery. Another classic example is when a newborn child is placed in its father’s arms for the very first time. The father is struck momentarily silent inside his mind as he gazes at the miracle of life he is holding. Something inside of him has been “unlocked”, his thoughts have stopped churning, and he simply communes with the small life that he has been gifted with. These are examples of our spontaneous experiences of the sacred . It is beyond words, and actually exists in its fullness when words and symbols have ceased to register in our conscious self-awareness. These moments are the exact opposite of the concept called “the withering of the spirit”. These are the times when our spirits have a chance to soar and truly blossom. By using the term sacred, we are trying to impart a sensation of a magical aspect of the universe that is “primal”, which means that nothing exists underneath of it. There is no “explanation” for it because it simply “exists beyond the ability of words to describe”…there is no “why” and there is no “how” that can explain it. It is simply a purely magical state of being. You can attribute such things as belonging to a “God” or “Gods” depending upon your own particular religious convictions, but we would rather offer the explanation of this as being something we can commune with and even tap into, in order to facilitate our personal growth of spirit. Since these kinds of “primal” experiences and “primal” powers (the actual “powers” themselves will be described completely in this section of the book) are beyond explanation, we simply refer to them as sacred, or divine, or magical…there is no available explanation. We can, however, tap into these experience and powers for personal growth in an infinite number of ways…and that is our point of discussing them in this section. They can be tapped and “made useful” for our growth…intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. And, of course, the Usefulness of any particular belief or practice has been the core concept throughout this writing. In this section we’ll give examples of the sacred Powers of the Universe with the specific aim of making them Useful for our own particular intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth. We should make it clear that when we use the terms “spirituality” and “spiritual” we am referring to our practice of establishing contact with our “spirit” …our deepest core of being. We are not trying to equate this with the - 57 -
concept of “soul” which most people equate with an inner and eternal aspect of our person that survives the death experience. The debate of the existence of the soul is argued equally well “for” as well as “against” and we will not presume to claim to have the answer as to the nature of its existence or non-existence. Even the Buddha refused to answer questions regarding the eternal existence or non-existence of the soul due to the fact that it could not be empirically proven one way or the other. However, the inner “spirit” of a person is experienced quite clearly by anyone who takes the time to “look” for it, as exemplified in the “moments of deep communion” we just described …those moments in which we have “spontaneous experiences of the sacred”. Characteristics of Spiritual Death
But how often do we have spiritually fulfilling moments in our life? How often do we allow our thoughts to still, and allow our spirit to fully absorb itself in the awe and wonder of these sacred communions with our immediate surroundings? If you’re like most people these experiences are quite rare, and don’t happen frequently enough to offset our mundane lives in which the spirit withers and dries up in a slow and painful “spiritual death”. How can we sense this “withering of the spirit”? Is it even possible to objectively sense the onset and progression of “spiritual death”? The answer is “ Yes”…and here are some of the ways you can witness it for yourself. As our spirit withers we can observe the following in our lives: We become less inclined towards kindness. We become less generous and less hospitable. We become less forgiving and offer fewer chances for the redemption of others (a leading cause of failed marriages…we are less likely to offer second chances to those who have somehow offended us). We become less compassionate and less empathetic…becoming increasingly cynical in our view of others. We become less willing to be vulnerable. We become less inclined to show humility…and show a daily increase in personal arrogance and selfassuredness. We become more materialistic, more bitter, and more resentful. We become greedier and more intolerant. Our inner voice is heard more often in complaint and in observation of the flaws of other. That last point is especially important. This is the KEY to discovering your downward spiral into spiritual sterility. Listen to yourself…not simply what comes out of your mouth, but your constant inner-commentary. This refers to the practice of thought “Recognition” as explained earlier in this book, but we would like for you to think about it again as we discuss the withering of the spirit. Are you spending more and more time listening to and supporting your inner “complaint engine”? Are you spending increasing amounts of time wandering down paths focusing on the topic about how difficult and unpleasant your life is? And most importantly, what is the nature of your inner commentary as you see other people you encounter everyday? Is your inner commentary such that you “observe flaws”, or are you “observing beauty”? Don’t feel bad if you discover that you are spending too much time observing flaws…you’ve simply joined the bandwagon of human nature and can rank yourself amongst the majority of humanity. But RECOGNIZE NOW that you are doing this, and tell yourself that it’s time to make a change. At the end of this section we’re going to discuss each of the various Powers of the Universe and how you can actively align with them such that you will find yourself naturally back onto the path of spiritual growth, rather than the spiritual withering…the spiritual death…that we just described. If you can catch yourself in time, you can avoid the spiritual sterility that is so commonly seen in others. You can stop focusing primarily on yourself and stop focusing on the flaws and lack of value in others. You can stop feeling “spiritually bereft”, like a hollow robot marching to the painful beat of a “spiritual death march”. For what awaits you at the end of such a march? We’ll tell you what you’ll find. You’ll discover that the spiritually bereft path leads to the end of your life in which you feel cheated. You’ll feel that there was something more and that your “missed out”. Why is it that so many people die and feel cheated? How is it that they approach the final darkness of their lives thinking that there was more… and that their time here on Earth was wasted? The answer is simple! It’s because there WAS more, but their thoughts and actions caused them to be cheated out a spiritually joyous existence. Their spirits KNEW that there was more to be had out of life, but their habitual thought streams prevented them from aligning with the sacred nature of the world in which they lived (if you can call such wasted lives “living”…perhaps “existing” is a better word since it reflects the sterile and wasted nature of their brief gift of life). Instead of living a zestful and joyous life filled with MANY moments of deep spiritual communion with the sacred presence available to all of us, they spent it plodding down the path of the “withering of the spirit” Let’s now see how we can avoid such a cruel fate… - 58 -
Awakening the Spirit by Communion with the Sacred
As describe above, when we lose our ability to sense the sacred nature of the world in which we live, a spiritual withering is the natural result. But how can we willfully decide to “sense the sacred nature” of things? To most people this would sound like a suggestion that you “must believe in God” in order to be happy. It’s simply not possible to “force belief”. However, if you remain open to the possibility of the actual existence of “the sacred nature of the universe” then you can travel down the road of observation that we will now describe in detail. You simply need to have an open mind and realize that “blind faith” will not be required. The reason you don’t need “blind faith” is because we wish to show you only those things that are readily observable in your own personal experience. You see, we live in a MOST amazing era because the advances of science and technology over the past 100 years has permitted us to see the entire cosmos in a way that was never available before in the entire history of the human race! In fact, one of the most amazing discoveries of all only took place in the 1950’s. This discovery is not something that we would consider a sacred aspect of the universe, but it is merely a launching point for you to use as you open up to the various aspects of the universe which create in people a sense of awe and wonder…a “launching board to the sacred”. This initial launching board to the sacred is by becoming aware of the true vastness of the cosmos in which we live. Most people are well aware that the universe is “huge”, but they really don’t know just how vast and complex it truly is. We’d like you to image that we are living in the 1940’s …this is a time in which technology has allowed us to see (using various forms of telescopes) that we live in a galaxy containing 200-400 billion stars which we call The Milky Way Galaxy. We’d also been able to determine that a few other galaxies exist relatively close to ours and that they appear to be “somehow connected” to ours in terms of “attraction” (gravity), but in the 1940’s we were not certain of just “how connected” the few galaxies in the universe were. Remember, in 1940’s we were only aware of a few galaxies, and that past this limit we saw some “blurs” that were beyond our ability to define. So now we move into the 1950’s and technology had advanced. We discovered to our incredible amazement that all those “blurs” beyond the few galaxies we could observe were actually more galaxies! To give you a feel for just how vast we discovered our universe to be, please follow us on this “journey of visualization”. We now know that our Milky Way Galaxy (which contains 200-400 billion stars…let’s just average it to 300 billion for the sake of convenience) rotates in a sort of giant pinwheel with the Andromeda Galaxy on one end (it’s about as big as the Milky Way Galaxy) and the Milky Way on the other end…with about two dozen other large galaxies included on the “pinwheel”. This is called (somewhat ungrandly) the “Local Group”. The Local Group can be viewed as a “very small cluster” of two dozen galaxies, which travels (orbits) in an exceedingly complex (yet very precise) dance with about a thousand other galaxies in a giant “connected family” called the Virgo Supercluster. Now, the Virgo Supercluster, with it’s thousand separate galaxies (ours included), is just a small fraction of the entire cosmos. In the entire cosmos, there exists about 100 billion other galaxies !!! One might think of this huge collection as just “unconnected things” that “somehow” came into existence. We discovered that this is also not correct. Our sun is just one of 300 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, but it is connected in a complex and bonded relationship with each other star in the Milky Way. And the Milky Way remains continually bonded to all the other 100 billion galaxies of the cosmos…instant by instant all the galaxies are constantly connected…bonded …interrelated. One thing that we found difficult to fathom was the “concept of 100 billion ”. Most people have a challenge visualizing in their mind’s eye the view of 1 million “individual things”, much less “100 billion”. Let us help you visualize “100 billion things”. Consider the largest sports stadium you’ve ever seen, packed with excited spectators like ants in an anthill. The largest of the stadiums in the world can hold about 100 thousand spectators. OK…so visualize such a packed stadium from a low flying aircraft or from “a blimp”… you are looking down into that packed mass of humanity and you say to yourself “Wow, that’s what 100 thousand people look like. Now, image taking a photo of that from high in the air. You come home and print out your photo…100 thousand people packed together taken from high in the air. Now image making some copies of that photo. You’re going to paste five of those photos onto one page and five of those photos onto a second page. Now look at page 1 in your imagination and then look at page two…flip back and forth between page one and page two…back and forth. You are quickly scanning 1 million people. There, you now have a picture in your mind of “1 million things”…1 million people…10 stadiums filled with people. Since we can now visualize 1 million things (1 million people in 10 stadiums) let’s try to get a feel for 1 billion things…that is a step that can be very difficult to successfully visualize. Let’s image that we have 10 pages of stadium pictures in a small pile (5 pictures to a page)…we’re holding a stack of photos containing 5 million - 59 -
people. Imagine now that we’re flicking those pages back and forth looking at that huge mass of humanity. We’re going to compress all those individual people down to small grains of sand. Now consider this fact. There’s about 5 million grains of sand in a sand hour timer. Turn the timer upside down, and it takes one hour for the 5 million grains to sift through the timer’s neck and reach the bottom. So, all of those people from the collection of 10 pages of stadium photos have been condensed down to grains of sand (one grain per person) and now reside inside a single hour glass timer. Here’s the next challenging part of the visualization. We need to “visualize” all of the people on planet earth. In order to “see” all 6.6 billion humans on the planet you’re going to need just over 1300 hour timers. So picture all of those hourglass shapes and stack them 10 high…that stack will be about 130 feet long…about the width of your local indoor public swimming pool…one end to another…10 hourglasses high. That’s a lot of people represented by all the grains of sand in all of those hourglasses, but that corresponds to how many people currently live on the planet Earth. Now, here’s the first really amazing thing to consider. With about 100 billion galaxies in the universe, if you were to equally “give” galaxies amongst all the people on the earth, you would “give” each person on the planet about 15 galaxies. We hope that you’re starting to be able to actually “see” the vastness of this. Picture in your mind the indoor swimming pool lined up end to end with hourglasses stacked 10 high. For each grain of sand in each hour timer (each grain of sand is a single person on earth) you would “give” 15 galaxies. “Amazing” is a word that does not do the concept justice, especially considering that each of these galaxies will have, on average, about 100 billion stars (remember that our Milky Way has about 300 billion). 15 galaxies for every person on the planet…each of the galaxies having about 100 billion stars.
Here’s another visualization to help you “see” the vastness of which we are part. Let’s say we can “see” that each person on the earth has been “given” 15 galaxies, and that the average number of starts for each galaxy has about 100 billion stars. How many stars are “100 billion” … which, of course, is the number of stars in each of everyone’s collection of 15 galaxies? How can we imagine that? Try looking at it the following way. 1 billion seconds is just over 31 years …let’s call it 30 years just to make a nice and even number. Let’s say that we have our own personal collection of 15 galaxies miniaturized so that they fit like 15 marbles in the palm of our hand. Let’s now pick out one of those marbles and look at it. It contains about 100 billion stars. Let’s say that it was within our power to “extinguish” one of those 100 billion stars every second …just “blip”, “blip”, “blip” …one star disappears every second. If, from birth, we had 100 people helping us extinguish a single star in our single marble every second (all 100 people get to extinguish a single star every second of their lives) it would take 30 years for all 100 people to extinguish every star in that single marble. And we have 15 marbles in our possession! And every human on earth has 15 marbles in their possession !!! That is the launching point we’d like to begin at. We are not trying to get a sense of the sacred from simply the vastness of the universe. We simply wanted to use that as a launching point to unlock a bit of awe and wonder. Hopefully, with a bit of awe and humility, we’re going to take a journey into sensing the sacred nature of our universe. We’re going to use only those tools available to us via science. Again, we will point out that the previous thought experiment of visualizing “how amazingly vast our universe is” would not count towards defining a “sacred” aspect. We simply wanted to use that example to “open your mind” with some initial “wonder” and “awe”. Sacred feelings and interpretations would only come about as we see the more “magical” and “unexplainable” aspects of our universe, and that will be shown as we examine the Powers of the Universe. A few initial Sacred examples – Ultimate Mystery
Hopefully, your mind is opening up to a sense of wonder, deep respect, and awe for the amazingly vast nature of the universe in which we live. Let’s now take a look at some examples that we would classify as “sacred” aspects…aspects that defy explanation simply because we don’t HAVE any explanation. These examples encompass the “primal” features of the universe…those aspects that have no “how” or “why” possibl e. OK, since we still have the concept in our minds of the vastness of the universe, let’s revisit that smallest fraction of the cosmos that we’ve called the Virgo Supercluster. Remember that this “supercluster” is just a small fraction of the millions upon millions of other superclusters in the universe, and the Virgo Supercluster is just a nondescript collection of about one thousand galaxies…one of which is our Milky Way Galaxy (the Milky Way contains our sun and about 300 billion other suns). For reasons unknown, it has been scientifically proven that our Virgo Supercluster is the exact center of the universe! …every other supercluster is racing away from us. The superclusters that are furthest away are racing away the fastest and the ones closest to us are racing away the slowest, but they’re all racing away. We are the center! But it gets stranger than that. Every other - 60 -
supercluster is ALSO the center of the universe. If we were within a different supercluster we would see that WE were also the center of the universe!!! There is no explanation as to “why” this is …it simply IS. It’s a “primal” feature of the cosmos…a sacred aspect that is beyond explanation. We’ve heard many people refer to these “primal” features of the cosmos as the “Body of God”. We will simply say that they are “ beyond knowing the reason for”…they are “primal”… there is no way to know the “why” or the “underlying cause”. We will refer to such sacred aspects of the universe by the term Ultimate Mystery. When we discus the various Powers of the Universe comprising the parts of the Ultimate Mystery, we’ll discuss how we can begin to align with (or tap into) these powers so that we can take the sacred aspects of the universe and harness them for our own person Usefulness…otherwise, this would all be “useless theory”. Here’s another really interesting way to begin to sense the sacred aspect of the cosmos in which we live. Where do you think the atoms of your body were created? The carbon, and oxygen and countless other atoms in your body were NOT created here on this planet. Every single atom in your body was created inside a star, and not our star …not the “sun”. Every single atom in your body was created inside the furnace of some distant star that reached the end of its existence and exploded in a cataclysmic fireball. We call such massive explosions Supernovae. The atoms of this long-ago explosion eventually coalesced and became our planet. Thus, YOU are “stardust” …every atom in your body started as the stardust from an exploding star. So, consider this ancient exploding star that threw off the stardust which then became our world. Consider this dust thrown off into space. By some unexplained and primal process, the universe takes stardust and creates grass and elephants and beetles…and you. This is the beginning visualization into the sacred aspect of the universe. This particular example still does not qualify as something “useful” (something that we can “tap into”), but simple serves to ignite the sense of awe, wonder, and reverence for the Ultimate Mystery. At this point, we’d like to credit the originator of the explanations for these various Powers of the Universe, Dr. Brian Swimme. He is a mathematician/cosmologist who has written some wonderful books on this subject. He travels around the world lecturing on these topics with the aim of reigniting the sense of the sacred nature of the universe in order to show people the folly of our destructive influence on the world’s ecology. Although we fully agree with Dr Swimme’s explanations for our need to stop destroying the planet, we would rather focus on other possible aspects of his explained Powers of the Universe in the sense of making them spiritually useful and available to our everyday experience of life. If you find the description of the Powers of the Universe in this book interesting, and would like to know more, you can find examples of Dr. Swimme’s work at www.youtube.com (for free videos) and on his own website at www.brianswimme.org . We attended one of Dr. Swimme’s lectures one year after reading all of his material on the Powers of the Universe and was amazed at one of his examples for “ reawakening the sense of sacred presence”. He had given his classic discussion of our origins as “stardust”, and then had us visualize in our mind’s eye the initial formation of our earth from the “collected cloud of stardust from an exploded star”. He showed us a picture on the overhead projector of a large lava flow, and had us picture the entire earth at its birth as a big ball of flowing lava and chaos. Then he changed to the next slide and showed us a picture of a crazy-looking red haired monkey from some tropical rainforest. He looked at us and said “Here is just one example of the sacred nature of the universe. Somehow, the universe went from lava to red monkey”. He then proceeded to laughingly describe “the process” in case we “missed it”. He flipped back and forth, and back and forth, between the slides and kept saying with a laugh in his voice “Lava, Red Monkey, Lava, Red Monkey, Lava Red Monkey”. We’ll never forget how we felt when he did that. Even though we had read all of his material, we were still enraptured in a state of awe, mystery, deep wonder, and reverence to think of the universe as having taken an exploding star and then somehow creating the Red Monkey. It made us think of the many philosophers who have criticized the “clockwork theory” of the universe. Their argument… How can something lifeless, some “machine”, some “clockwork”, manifest the emergence of something as utterly amazing as the Red Monkey? To us, that was a perfectly valid example of the sacred presence of the universe. You don’t have to “call” the emergence of the Red Monkey a miracle, but that’s how we like to think of it. We personally don’t think that an event has to imply “the hand of God” to be called a miracle. Any parent that witnesses the birth of their child does not have to have “the concept of God proven to them” to call the event a “miracle”. The astronomical odds of having so specific a form distilled out of what once was a collection of stardust floating in the vacuum of space is sufficient for us to call it “miraculous”. At the very least, it’s enough to ignite in anyone the sense of wonder and awe of the unexplained Ultimate Mystery, and to enable one to see and feel the sacred presence of the event. We promise that the truly “useful” aspects of these powers will be shown shortly. The truly sacred is not found in mere Vastness or Complexity
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It is at this juncture that we should clarify the “sense of the sacred”. We’re not asking you to “see the sacred” in such concepts such as “vastness” or “complexity”. Some very valid arguments have been put forth explaining that simply because something is “vast” or “complex” does not indicate a sacred event. We gave some initial examples of vastness and complexity simply to stimulate your sense of wonder and awe. The actual “size” of the universe is not an indication of the “sacred”. It is the manifestation of Ultimate Mystery that qualifies for such a term, and we’re going to demonstrate how you can align with and use the manifestations of Ultimate Mystery. Additionally, our goal is to awaken not only a deep wonder and awe at the universe in which we live, but also a deep respect…a deep REVERENCE…a deep feeling of being able to align ourselves with powers that are beyond our explanation because they are “primal” and defy scientific analysis. The explanations of vastness and complexity are simply the gateways through which we enter, when coming into a communion with the Ultimate Mystery. This Ultimate Mystery surrounds us and permeates every aspect of our existence. We’ll even go so far as to suggest that it’s possible to “venerate” the Powers of the Universe. To “venerate” something is to have a deep feeling of communion, awe, respect, and sense of deep wonder. However, we want to say that this is not a suggestion that you should begin to “worship” any aspect of the powers we’re going to show you. It depends entirely upon one’s religious convictions as to what aspects of “all that exists” that anyone chooses to “pay homage” to, like the offerings of prayers to a “God”. When one offers “worship” to a Higher Power one is typically doing so in order for the Higher Power to “take notice” and intervene in one’s life in some fashion, often with the final goal being a reuniting of some inner aspect of their essence (a soul) upon death of the physical body with the God/Gods to which they worship and pray. This is not what we’re suggesting in this book. We are simply trying to show that personal transformation is entirely possible by aligning oneself with the Powers of the Universe that exist Here and Now. These powers are available for your use, right now...for you to actively tap into. They do not have the requirement of worship. That practice is entirely up to the individual’s personal beliefs, convictions, and religious faith (although religious faith is by no means required to USE the Powers of the Universe). With that said, let’s look at the Powers of the Universe which you can actively align with and use… The 10 Powers of the Universe – Becoming the space for their manifestation
As mentioned earlier, the Powers of the Universe are “primal”…there are no underlying explanations for the existence of the powers. They can be seen as simply the sacred nature of the “underlying ground of being”. They are the deepest manifestations of “that which is”…call it The Divine, call it God, call it “All that Is”. You don’t have to “call it” anything since one name is the same as another. Those names are merely labels to conveniently categorize that which is Ultimate Mystery. In this section, we’ll attempt to summarize the 10 Powers of the Universe with the underlying assumption that these 10 powers are not “separate things” inside the universe. In other words, the universe (or “all that is” or “all that exists”) has a wide range of “primal” forces (powers) which are really just aspects of the single, entire system. Another way to say this is that the primal forces of the universe (those forces that simply “exist” without any form of underlying “why” or underlying reason/explanation) are simply some of the various “faces or sides” of Ultimate Mystery, and are no means separate from each other. It is only for the ease of our understanding that the forces are listed as “10 separate powers” in order to more clearly see them. Thus, so that we may decide which aspect(s) of the universe we most closely resonate with, and thus can “align with” by “creating a space for…”, it is simpler to examine them as imaginary parts. The key to this writing is developing an awareness of these sacred powers in order to “create a space” for their manifestation. By revealing the ways in which these qualities of the universe are present in galaxies, in all of our planet’s manifestations, and expressed in our psyches, emotions, achievements, and losses, we can begin to explore how we can become a space where the powers can operate through our conscious self-awareness. We can explore methods by which we consciously amplify and use these processes that are already taking place. We can even look at ourselves as the way in which the universe proceeds to witness itself in conscious selfawareness since we are an integral part, and not separate, from the universe itself. At our deepest level, we can see that the windows of our eyes are the portals through which the universe witnesses itself in each person’s conscious self-awareness. By developing such a communion, we allow those powers to flow through us in ways many people never dreamed were possible. To become aware of, and intimate with these powers, is to touch the source of life itself. It is the gateway through which consciously directed miracles can be performed. The following is a very brief and concise description of the 10 powers of the universe, the types of people who typically align with each, and each power’s individual usefulness. This list is intended as a summary of getting started using these powers, which you can personally harness to accomplish what oftentimes appears to be “miraculous events”. This summary will hopefully serve as an encouragement for devoted students of the - 62 -
Ultimate Mystery to continue to grow, explore, and expand their personal awareness of the powers’ sacred presence (and personal “usefulness” of the powers). After the summary of the powers, we’ll present you with a specific formula that you can use to willfully align and use these forces. This formula is actually the distillation of the miracle process used by all the world’s religious and spiritual traditions, and has never before been offered to the public in this way. This “miracle distillation” will enable you to accomplish miracles in your own life using a concise methodology historically kept secret by many elite spiritual organizations. In order to introduce the first Power of the Universe (Centration) it will help to remind you that all of these powers are constantly emerging incessantly everywhere. They are all interconnected in hundreds of ways via a common network that Dr. Swimme refers to as “Seamlessness”. This is not necessary a “power” of the universe, but can be better viewed as its primary characteristic. All things are deeply interconnected and unable to be “separated out” from the universe. Each of us is continually bombarded with an endless range of energies that we are only dimly aware of with our limited five senses. However, we all know that at the most basic levels we are walking around every day immersed in a sea of manmade energies…radio signals, television transmissions, microwave radiation, cell phone signals….the list goes on and on. And this is just the man-made energies! The universe itself is passing an enormous amount of energy through us every second of our lives. The easiest forces to notice are light, heat, and gravity…we are constantly awash in energies. If you can think of your existence that way, you can realize how deeply connected you are to everything. There is no way for you to lock yourself away from the Powers of the Universe even if you wanted to. And that is the concept of Seamlessness, or as the Buddhists call it – Inseparability…nothing is “separate”…everything is “connected” to everything else and we all exist in the field of the Ultimate Mystery. Some people choose to align themselves with this fundamental nature of the universe, and derive their strength from their deep feeling of “connectedness”. One of the ways you can identify a person who moves strongly within Seamlessness is a person who lives a life filled with dreams and hopes. They see the endless realm of possibilities in the world. They are filled with visions and ideas...this is their natural state of restful connection. One of the reasons such people are filled with hope is because they see the limitless possibilities inherent in aligning oneself in such a vast sea of energies. They see that the universe consists of massive generativity…things are generated constantly, even out of nothing! Science has shown (on the quantum level) that particles actually appear out of nowhere…it’s called the quantum foaming of the universe. Isn’t that amazing? The universe is foaming and foaming and spewing forth matter and energy out of absolutely nowhere…an amazing example of universal generativity. We have no idea where such quantum foam comes from, it is simply a primal example of the underlying power of the Ultimate Mystery. Pure Generativity is simply the “nature” of the universe. So, as a person aligns with and “dissolves their psyche into” Seamlessness, they immediately feel vibrantly alive with the fresh possibilities of that particular moment. They derive refreshment and regeneration by allowing themselves to be the space for the Pure Generativity of the Ultimate Mystery. In doing so, they find that they can become a “birthplace” for miracles. Again, at the end of the powers’ summary we’ll show you the process by which such miracles can be most easily manifested. st
The 1 Power – Centration
Centration is a way of discussing how the universe “centers upon itself”. Consider that our universe could have come into being in which it does not center upon itself, and could have been organized so that it would be static and unchanging. But, of course, that’s not how our universe was created. To visualize this, imagine that we at the beginning of our universe (science has clearly shown that this is about 13.7 billion years ago) and it’s very, very hot. There are energies simply billowing out in all directions. It could have simply done that and nothing else, but instabilities developed. Instead of remaining like a vast expanding cloud, the universe “shuddered” after about a billion years and fractured itself into the galaxies we mentioned earlier. So there’s the first major moment that the universe centered upon itself, the initial “shudder” that created the galaxies. Now, you may have been taught that everything about the universe exists in “cycles”…things repeating over and over and over again. Cycles can definitely be witnessed, but there are aspects of the universe that only happen once, and the creation of galaxies is such an event. All the galaxies were created at once, and then Never Again! No more galaxies were ever created after the initial universal Centration, and no more ever will be created. - 63 -
So after the galaxies were created (just gigantic “clouds” of matter at that point) a huge number of extremely complex dynamics developed…infinitely more complicated than the organization and function of our human bodies. Compared to the birth of galaxies and the dynamics that followed, the complexity of the human form could be thought of as “just a collection of simple tubes and fluids”. We’re simply trying to give you a feeling for the fact that after the galaxies were formed, some very complex events were set into motion. All sorts of things were happening. After a few billion years of intricate activity, the universe “shuddered” and centered upon itself again. The galactic clouds broke themselves apart into a multiplicity of centers…the first stars…each of the new centers became a star. So can you feel the universe wanting to get to a new center and galaxies are created? Can you feel it inside each of the 100 billion galaxies, desiring to get to a new center, and a star is born? At this point we should mention that many people are going to have a problem with the phrases above: “wanting” and “desiring”. They’re going to say “Whoa!!! You can’t use human descriptions for the universe. That’s the flaw of anthropomorphism, the projecting of inner human feelings onto something “other than human”. Here is how we explain this. We can make sense of the statement of “wanting” by saying that the universe has its own “intrinsic ends”. In other words, the universe has tendencies and internal forces that naturally produce certain ends. So, the Centration of the universe into galaxies and stars is “a wanting” on the level of the cosmos , and a human’s desire for something is “wanting” on the level of the human . We’ll describe this concept of “levels…and not anthropomorphism” again in the next section on “Allurement” as well as throughout the remainder of the Powers of the Universe. For now, simply realize that we’ll be using some “human-seeming” terms simply to avoid have to always refer to such scientific (and dry/barren) terminology such as “intrinsic force manifestation”. Another example of our avoidance of excessive scientific jargon would be the description of the initial Centration of galaxy formation. In this writing we describe it as something the universe “wanted” to do, instead of describing it properly as “a universal density wave traveling through the space-time manifold” (which would be more technically accurate). Given the “nature” of the universe, and it’s inherent/primal force of gravity, it was inevitable (an intrinsic and predicted result) that the universe would end up as galaxies. That is what we mean when we say the universe “wants to” center upon itself. It is “a wanting” on the level of the entire cosmos. Similarly, in creating a star, the universe is “wanting” to center upon itself on the level of a single galaxy. Thus we see that the “whole” of the Ultimate Mystery has its own intrinsic direction. It’s sometimes difficult for people to visualize that not only humans have their own “inner direction” that compels them, but that such “wantings” exist on the species level, the planetary level, the solar system level, and the galactic levels of the cosmos as well. So we hope that you’re starting to get a feel for the way in which the universe continually aiming towards “centers”. We started with galaxies, and then stars, and then planets…down, down, down …until the universe centered within itself on at least one planet, and reached a sophisticated level of “life” that we can see as the “cell”. These are the cells that comprise life on planet Earth. All of the universal centers became more and more intense until finally life was created. These cells then began to group together until many more “centration/centering” events manifested, which finally resulted in “animal consciousness”. These early creatures were fruitful and began the population of animal life on Earth. Eventually, a most amazing “centering” took place as the universe created (via centration) the human consciousness which had the radically new feature of “ reflective self-awareness”. We humans became the first creatures able to center upon ourselves and “reflect” upon our existence. You can even think of this as the Ultimate Mystery of the universe being able for the first time to look out and center individual conscious beings so that it can reflect UPON ITSELF through the eyes of individual humans. This is a truly miraculous occurrence in the opinion of many. There is no underlying “why” for this, or “how”…it simply came into existence. We are now able to reflect upon the beauty of the universe in reflective conscious self-awareness, and we (and the other plants and animals) are centered upon ourselves for the process of obtaining nourishment and continuation of our the species…centration is constantly in action on the species and individual levels. In other words, the universe centered upon itself and created individual life organisms which each has the inborn drive to “center”….to survive and to procreate. One might look upon this process as the universe organizing itself with in interest in the beings of the universe. There is interest and concern in the universe in that it “wants” to center upon itself “as us”.
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The process becomes even more amazing when you think about the universe changing/altering reality just because we are observing it, which is one of the discoveries of quantum physics. The nature of the space in which we exist is totally dependent upon an observer of the universe. This is Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The nature of the universe changes and is different for every particular creature…it’s different for every center (life-form) that is observing it. The universe, in a certain sense, rises up and presents itself uniquely with respect to each life-form’s individual orientation or perspective. How amazingly strange! The universe has this way of uniquely forming around every creature’s perspective. In the analysis of psychologist Carl Jung, it becomes apparent that the universe creates moments of “synchronicity” in which unrelated events can be witnessed as obviously having meaning for a particular observer. Carl Jung’s “synchronicity” is his way of saying that the universe organizes itself so that our experiences in the universe are filled with personal meaning. The universe is organizing itself so that we as individuals can find deeper meanings and significance in our particular lives. Can you see how elegant and harmonious these things are woven together, all for the purpose (or benefit) of the universe’s particular centers (indivi dual life-forms)? Many people look upon this ongoing process and become convinced that the universe must have “known” life was coming, and that it was “aiming for life” all along. That’s the amazing power of Centration in action. So what types of people tend to most easily align themselves with the power of Centration? How do we identify the qualities in a person that surface when they choose to consciously participate in this? As you have probably guessed, each of the 10 Powers of the Universe has a unique set of qualities and characteristics of people who naturally tend to align with that particular power. The first quality in a person who tends to align with the power of Centration is confidence. They have the feeling that they are actually drawing into their selves energies that go back to the beginning of the universe. It’s not a confidence in an arrogant or smug sense, but a deep inner conviction due to the partnership and participation that they naturally feel coming from the universe surrounding them. Another personal quality would be freedom…a sense of freedom away from the social forces of conformity. They are contacting a deep, shaping energy which demands that conformity be avoided for the sake of the freedom to find necessary areas to center upon. In order to do this, such a person must have great courage to be “who they are” and not overly-concern themselves with the conformed standards that permeate every society. Another quality would be a feeling of joy at being a cause. Every significant thing that happens is due centers of activity, and this can lead such a person to developing a tendency towards great focus. The joy at being a cause creates in them the ultimate exhilaration because they are feeling the results of a power of the universe which has always existed…since the beginning of time. You can probably see that such people can be deeply creative and deeply loving, because to be creative and loving depends upon one’s depth of focus…the depth of their ability to “center”. The 2
nd
Power – Allurement
You may recall that at the end of Part 3 we mentioned the power of Allurement . It is the primal power of “attraction” which is seen (as are all the 10 powers) in all levels of the universe. We are especially fond of this power because it demonstrates how we must be careful not to succumb to anthropomorphism when we describe examples of “universal intent”. Let us give you an example of how we avoid anthropomorphism by describing Allurement first on the universal level. Allurement can be seen on the largest scale when we look at the gravitational interaction that holds the entire universe together. Gravity is something that is experienced by the largest galaxy and the smallest of Earth’s creatures…it connects every single thing together in the entire cosmos. In a sense, gravity (universal Allurement) is the most primal, the most primordial, of all the powers. There is absolutely nothing “beneath” it. There is nothing deeper that you can use to describe gravity. It is “revelatory”, in that it is “revealing” the nature of the universe “just as it is”. We can describe the effects of gravity, we can predict the paths of stars and planets with our measurements of gravity, but we have no real idea what is “behind” it, or “underneath” it to cause it to exist. It is one of the most fundamental aspects of the Ultimate Mystery, and is one in which we can feel every moment of our lives. You can witness the Allurement of the Ultimate Mystery when you see galaxies rotating about each other. You can see it in the interaction between our sun and planet. You can see Allurement when the plants of this Earth discovered the sun and created a deep, bonded relationship with it via the process of photosynthesis in which they delicately capture the pieces of the sun that hit them, and turn it into nourishment. You can see it in human coupling as we fall in love with things and people. You can see it on the atomic level in which all the particles of atoms are held and bound together.
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Thus, you can see that Allurement at the level of the universe is gravity. Allurement at the level of the planet can be seen in photosynthesis. Allurement can be seen on the atomic level via the electromagnetic forces that enable atoms to exist. And Allurement at the level of the human is love. We can especially see this fundamental, deep attraction in the human when we’re completed captivated by something. We are totally captivated and then we pursue it. In the pursuit, things awaken within us that we often did not ever know were there…just waiting to be unlocked. We become so immersed and captivated that we begin to draw others into our pursuit and they in turn are captivated. Our pursuit of some kind of beauty has aligned so fully with the Allurement of the universe that we become part of the whole field of Allurement itself. This is what we described in Part 3 as “becoming Allurement itself” …this being our fullest destiny as humans…our highest purpose. Our task is to enable Allurement to unfurl in conscious self-awareness. The universe houses these energies within us due to a 13.7 billion year developmental process. We have the unbelievable gift of being a place where Allurement can be focused inside the human body. We simply have to begin to understand that we are not in charge of Allurement, but Allurement is in charge of us, and its energies will flow through us if we allow it and align ourselves with it. We need to recognize that the same power that drew together the galaxies and stars is the same power that is at work within us. It’s bursting forth from so many people, and it will naturally burst forth of its own accord from our personal conscious self-awareness, if we simply permit it to do so. The first step is to remove the obstacles that prevent it from manifesting in our personal existence. You need to remove your personal negativities, as was the focus of the first three parts of this book. When you can become a loving person, you can begin to use the process of allowing and aligning with any of the 10 powers. Again, that specific method of aligning with the powers is given at the end of this part of the book. For now, just realize that the first step is to remove the obstacles to being an agent of any or all of the 10 universal powers. Next, realize that whatever you’re deeply attracted to when you’re acting out of the deepest part of your personal psyche (the Deeper You as described earlier in this book) is what you can more readily work with to become an active channel for the energies of Allurement. The trick is to remove the top layers of mental noise and confusion, so that you can examine (in Stillness) those things that hold for you the deepest Allurement. At that point, you can develop a deep adoration that enables the very essence (spirit) of who you are to become intimately molded by that which you love. This is called the task of adoration and mutual evocation…that which you adore, and that which you bond with, will serve to evoke miracles both in yourself and in the object of your adoration. This is most easily seen in the deepest of human bonded relationships …especially in the relationship between parent and child. What types of people tend to most easily align themselves with the power of Allurement? The first quality would be a sort of deep sensitivity. Love can be a very wounding experience, and such traumas can cause people to put up shields and barriers. A person who aligns closely with Allurement makes a conscious effort to reduce the “thickness” of such shields so as not to prevent the power from continuing to flow through them. If our shields are too strong, if our guard is too high, we close down that aspect of ourselves and exist in a reduced mode of being. An Allurement-type person bounces back from emotionally wounds and leaves themselves open to experience love again and again and again. Another quality of this type of person would be an intense desire to merge and commune with others. They simply love to become absorbed in the lives of other people. They have a deep desire to be a presence of good, and a presence of joy. There is a deep desire to evoke depths of feeling and well-being within others. Such a person has a passionate absorption in the world, and in others. They absorb themselves in the moods of others as well. Because of this deep absorption, they can often have a very wide spectrum of feelings, and a capacity to become overwhelmed in situations that may seem trivial to others…they are deeply emotional people. These kinds of people are sensitive to beauty in all its forms. Then tend to be drawn in and immersed in things…simply swept away at times into the beauty and energies of the universe. People that are especially skilled moving within Allurement will often have very stormy and passionate relationships, and they have a huge capacity to see the magnificence in every situation the find themselves in. Such people allow themselves, by releasing themselves into the field of their own Allurement, to move towards those things that draw them most deeply. They move in pursuit of beauties that ignite beauties within themselves, and thus serve to ignite the beauties in others via a mutually evoked communion. rd
The 3 Power – Emergence
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One of the truly fantastic discoveries of science in the last 100 years is that the universe assembles itself. It evolves with what science has termed self-organization. What had once been commonly considered a dead and static universe, is now seen as incredibly vibrant and creative. Self-organization is now witnessed in the largest of galaxies all the way down to the atomic level. These moments of self-organization are the results of direct influence by the Ultimate Mystery, and are categorized as Emergence. Another way to classify this power is by using the term “creative emergence”, or simply “creativity”. Let’s examine some of the great birth moments (Emergence moments) of the Ultimate Mystery. The first would be the creation of the universe itself 13.7 billion years ago in a great “flaring forth”… or “primeval fireball”. This is followed closely by the first formation of atoms. First there were no atoms, just a superheated plasma racing through the universe. Think of it, atoms had never existed and all of the suddenly there were atoms! Billions of years later the universe created the galaxies and then the stars. It’s so radically creative…such incredible Emergence. There were no galaxies in the universe and then a wave of power swept threw the cosmos and gave birth to galaxies out of the atoms which formed shortly after the primeval fireball (the birth of the universe itself). In the stars of these galaxies, billions of years were spent burning helium until the stars got hotter and hotter and denser and denser. Then, helium simply started fusing together. The stars themselves began at this point giving birth, creating the first instances of the carbon atom from the fused helium. Carbon is one of the most crucial atoms to the creation of life on our planet. That is why life on Earth is referred to as “carbon-based life forms”. These carbon-birthing stars then proceeded to give birth to other kinds of atoms (Oxygen, Nitrogen, etc.) within their centers and eventually exploded in giant supernovae, spewing the carbon (and all the rest of the elements) throughout their galaxies so that solar systems with carbon-containing planets could now form. The fascinating thing to recognize, is how the universe arrives at these epochal moments of Emergence. Until the moments just described, there was no way in the universe for carbon to appear…it simply was not possible. You can see that the universe is constantly in the process of Emerging, it is always moving towards new domains of Emergence. It is actively working towards (seeking) new ways in which to express its need for creative emergence. This is Emergence or creativity on the level of the universe. We point this distinction out (“on the level of”) to show that we are not falling into the trap of anthropomorphism. Thus, within the galaxies themselves certain stars gave rise to planets, at least one of which was conducive for the support of organic life. Imagine that, one of the planets simply “came alive” out of what started as a primordial ball of swirling lava (the early form of our planet). This is Emergence, or dynamic creativity, on the level of the solar system. So, on planet Earth the initial cells of life needed hydrogen to survive. They accomplished this by pulling it from water and releasing oxygen into the air. Now, oxygen in high concentrations was fatal to these initial cells and eventually after too much oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere it started to dive into those cells and destroy them. It was a crisis on our planet of epic proportions. This crisis required the Emergence of a new kind of life, one that could live in the newly formed oxygen-rich atmosphere surrounding the planet. Thus, on the planetary level, new waves of birth were required…a new form of creative Emergence was called into being, and out of this primal creativity emerged Eukaryotic cells (cells with a nucleus). It was an amazing moment! The cells found a way to engage with, and use, the oxygen that threatened the existence of the first types of life. So, in the “oxygen crisis” certain cells that could deal effectively with the oxygen merged with other cells to form the cell-within-a-cell creature called the Eukaryotic Cell. All this creativity and intelligence was involved and the planet had not even developed hands, or eyes, or brains yet…incredible! So, imagine the millions of years of the first cells struggling to exist in a world of their own making, and then discovering that something new needed to be born. There was nobody around to engineer such a model…it simply emerged in a form of sacred creativity. The list of Emergences after that are too numerous to discuss here in any great amount detail. The Eukaryotes gave rise to collections of cells, to small plants and animals, and then worms and fish…all the way up to humans. We’re talking about births of Emergence almost too amazingly numerous and complex for a single person to fully grasp. So what kind of person would tend to align themselves with such a powerful and rich maelstrom of creative energy? Think of the emergence of the first cells…struggling to “make life work”. These first forms of life existed in a very long epoch filled with darkness and deep ignorance. The cells had no way to “think” about their plight, yet with groping and wandering and experimenting out comes the new form of life that could thrive in an oxygenrich atmosphere. The kind of person who can align with such forces is the person who can thrive in deep ambiguity…a person with the ability to embrace confusing situations and keep moving ever forward with no clear - 67 -
destination available. They are the kind of person with many creative ideas and are willing to try and try and try and try until the correct combination of factors produces miracles of Emergence. As we mentioned, the universal creativity did not have hands or brains to manifest solutions. It had something remarkably more effective… a deep and primal creativity to work with. So, a quality of a person who can align with this would be the ability to access this creative energy beyond words. Such a person allows the Ultimate Mystery to work through them (and use them) as the space for a creative birth that does not always require the mental additions of words, names, symbols and numbers. Looking back again to the Emergence of the Eukaryote, we try to feel the deep tension on the planet as the atmosphere was filling up with the “poison” of oxygen. The Eukaryote arose as a result of an incredible situation of tension. A person who can align with such energies has a natural inclination for the resolution of tension with new ideas, new forms, and new insights. They have a natural tendency to fixate on their creative path and to never stray from it for long. They naturally allow themselves to be drawn into the creative maelstrom of universal Emergence, and then merge into it with every fiber of their being such that they find themselves serving the creative impulse of the Ultimate Mystery. They can sense the rhythm and timings and orders that are often hidden from the rest of humanity. Creative people often have to forget about pleasing everyone. If they operate as the space for the Ultimate Mystery’s creative Emergence they are going against the status quo, against the state of equilibrium, in order to give birth to something new. They are bound to ruffle feathers of those who resist change. It is only in the “other than equilibrium” chaos that things can really HAPPEN…that new forms and structures and ideas can be truly given the opportunity to emerge. Thus, they tend to disturb the power centers since many structures have to be removed or destroyed in order for new and more beneficial forms to emerge. The universe is never satisfied with where it’s gotten to…new levels are always sought. The established orders will resist many creative ideas and will often tempt the creative individual to “sell out” and become part of the established fame and wealth of the existing system…by bribery or by threat. But the creative person who is fully committed to aligning with the power of Emergence resists the easy temptation of conformity. The Emergent individual senses what science has now confirmed, that the universe has been AIMING at vibrant life from the very beginning of the primeval fireball…it’s what the Ultimate Mystery is all about. We can now scientifically say (and verify) that the universe was somehow constructed, and is constructing itself, for life! And that energy manifests in the creative person (who has aligned fully with the power of Emergence) as a deeply rooted feeling of restlessness. The universe has SHAPED them to BE restless. To them it is OBVIOUS that their restlessness is their personal invitation from the Ultimate Mystery to become directly aligned with creative Emergence. These Emergent individuals find themselves right in the middle of all the universal events, this continuous selfassembling event, this single energy that began 13.7 billion years ago and has swept through the whole of time. They’re directly witnessing a single energy, one single process, that operates on many levels and in infinite complexities. It is up to these creatively inclined individuals to align with this “dynamic Emergence of the Ultimate Mystery” so that they might be the vehicle through which new forms of useful magic can be born. th
The 4 Power – Homeostasis
In order to enter into the fourth Power of the Universe we must ask ourselves the question “What does the universe itself value?” The universe can be seen to “value” that in which it puts forth a great deal of energy into preserving, maintaining or protecting. Homeostasis is the way in which the universe maintains the achievements that it values. As we’ve seen already, the universe requires the sacrifice of stars so that the giant Supernovas can eject valuable atoms (such as carbon, and oxygen to name a small few) into their respective galaxies. We once thought that such a distribution of atoms was unique to our solar system, and unique to the Milky Way. But in the last 100 years we’ve been able to determine that the ratios of the various atoms are the same in any of the galaxies in the universe (all 100 billion galaxies). The universe values that particular ratio of elements, and in our particular solar system this magical mix was found to be very conducive to the creation and maintenance of life. It makes one wonder that if all the galaxies in the universe have the same ratio of “ingredients” for life, what are the chances that our star is the only one which combined the ingredients to give creative emergence to life-forms? We’ll most likely not soon know the answer to that question, but it’s very informative to note that the necessary supernovae explosions required for the distribution of life-giving materials are an ongoing process throughout ALL the galaxies. - 68 -
The universe “values” the continual spread spread of life-giving atoms. In the Milky Way alone, about 10,000 10,000 supernovas spread their immense payloads throughout our galaxy every 1 million years. Sometimes it’s 8000 explosions in a “million year time block”…sometimes it’s 12,000…but the Milky Way values a balance of these explosions and hovers the average at around 10,000 per million years. This exact balance allows for the creation of new stars and new solar systems and spreads the building blocks of life throughout. This number of explosions also serves to maintain our galaxy’s overall spiral structure! The universe has an inherent “want” to maintain the ratio of explosions so that a stable Homeostasis is supported. Too few explosions and life would never have formed on Earth. Too many and life would never have formed on our planet. It almost seems like a “slow motion” process with only 10,000 Supernovas exploding every 1 million years. But consider that this is happening in all the other galaxies! Think of it, 100 billion galaxies ….there are Supernovas exploding and providing the building blocks of new stars and new life every moment of our existence…the universe is practically SEETHING with this activity of Homeostasis…keeping the entire cosmos balanced. One a smaller level, consider the Homeostasis exerted on our planet Earth as a whole. For 4 billion years our sun has been getting hotter and hotter, it is 25% hotter hotter than it was 4 billion years ago. Yet the Earth’s temperature remains approximately the same, in a zone where life can flourish. It becomes apparent that the Homeostasis manifested upon the Earth itself indicates that the Ultimate Mystery considers the balance “valuable”…it was built-in implicitly at the very beginning of creation to eventually manifest this way. If we look closer at the planet Earth, we can see Homeostasis at work in its many ecosystems. In kelp forests (in the ocean) there is a balance of sea otters and sea urchins and kelp. If there are too few sea otters, the sea urchins will proliferate and the system will move out of balance…too much kelp will be used up, only to selfcorrect itself in later years when the sea urchins begin to dwindle from lack of enough food. Likewise, Homeostasis (or balance) is seen in almost all the the life-forms on our planet. In particular, we can see this this in one measure of a living mammalian body, the “Ph” balance, which is a measure of the proton balance in the living body’s system. If the flux of protons goes above a certain point, all the cells of the body start to disintegrate. Likewise, if the flux of protons goes too low all the cells likewise start to disintegrate. The entire health of the body is dependent upon maintaining the Ph within certain predefined parameters…it’s pretty much the same number for humans, and bears, and elephants, and fish …throughout the vast majority of life on our planet the Ph remains within a very particular and very narrow narrow band. Each creature develops elaborate systems for maintaining this balance. We can say that the power of Homeostasis is at work in each creature, and each creature creature maintains a plethora of minute balances for the continuation of life. So, we see that the Ultimate Mystery supports a balance…via the power of Homeostasis…in order to maintain that which it values. What kind of people people tend to align themselves with this dynamic power? The human form of self-consciously aligned Homeostasis tends to manifest itself in a person as a sense of seriousness or vigilance. They have an inner desire to see that that which is “good” maintained. It’s a keen awareness of the fragility of the many systems on our planet, and the desire to see that which we value… continue . Such people are like the “repair molecules” in our bodies…they search and search and search, and when they find something that needs repaired they jump in and get the job done. done. They are keenly aware of threats from the outside and are on constant guard to prevent corruption from taking down the vitality of the whole. Needless to say, they would look with great suspicion upon those persons who chose to align with the power of Emergence, for they would see emerging structures and forms as possible threats to the currently currently stable environment. Thus, we often see such Homeostatic persons as having a deep drive for for justice. That would be considered the power of Homeostasis on the level of the human. A person fully aligned with Homeostasis would have a deep commitment to maintaining the great achievements of their lives. They also try to maintain the great great achievements of society. Often, this striving striving for maintenance of what they consider valuable leads to a zest zest for life. In fact, you could say that people who strive to maintain zest in their lives are aligning with Homeostasis simply by that particular maintenance. And when one strives to maintain zest, we see that this deeply interconnects with the other Powers of the Universe…especially that of Allurement. In their deep drive (an Allurement activity) activity) to maintain their vitality and joy, they they search for lasting, loving relationships (Allurement) and strive to add to the beauty of their environment (creative and artistic Emergence). So, this is an example of how all the the powers are interconnected. interconnected. In fact, as mentioned at the beginning of this discussion, the 10 Powers are really just a single energy…a single pouring forth of power and force…which is the underlying “ground of being” being ” of the universal Ultimate Mystery. M ystery. th
The 5 Power – Cataclysm
The power of Cataclysm is one of the most misunderstood of the universal powers. It is only in the last 100 years that have been able to verify on a universal scale that all things “break down”…all things eventually “fall apart”…that is the second law of thermodynamics. It is the same law that enables the the universe to continue to - 69 -
operate…things break down so that other things may emerge. Stars explode in order to form more complex stars, which then create more complex atoms necessary for the “seeding” explosion of the Supernovae. One the planetary scale, mass extinctions occur and make room for the Emergence and dominance of other species. If the dinosaurs had not suffered suffered a mass extinction, it’s likely that right right now the dominant species on the planet would have scales and reptilian eyes! In fact, the concept of mass extinction is very, very new. Confucius never talked about mass extinctions on the planet, nor did the Buddha. The Holy Bible and Koran do not mention any time in our planet’s history that may have witnessed a mass extinction of species. It’s only the 19 th century in which humans learned of mass extinctions on the planet, one of the largest of which happened about 250 million years ago. It’s hard to even visualize. About 96% of the the entire ocean’s creatures creatures were killed, and about 70% of th the land species. Up until the 19 century we had simply found a lot of bones of dead animals in the ground but we never really connected that with any kind of mass extinction. In fact, Thomas Jefferson was very interested in fossils, and one of the reasons he authorized the Louisiana Purchase and authorized the Lewis and Clarke expedition was because he had hoped that some explorer would find some of the actual dinosaurs! dinosaurs! That’s how new this idea of extinction is…our new realization realization of Cataclysm on planetary and cosmic dimensions. Our realization of such things came a bit late in the opinion of many, as we witness the destruction we began to wreak upon our fragile ecosystem starting with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Differing from (yet related to) these large-scale Cataclysms, it is the natural breakdown of molecules within the human body that provide the energy we need. Our energy is a breaking down of complex molecules into simpler molecules. The movement from the complex to the simple simple is called in science, catabolism. catabolism. This is the power of Cataclysm on the level of the human, whereas the exploding star is the power of Cataclysm on the level of the cosmos. Moment after moment in the universe these enormous enormous explosions are taking place…Cataclysm on the hugest scale imaginable. But out of such Cataclysm, emerges emerges the possibility of new forms and new structures. structures. The Cataclysmic process is built into the very nature of the stars, as well as into the chemical reactions living things. How does a person align with Cataclysm? How to we consider identifying with the power that that might one day destroy our planet if human industry is left unchecked? Such a person realizes that Cataclysm “happens”, “happens”, and is going to keep happening. The choice before them is how they will participate with that destructive process in conscious self-awareness in such a way that would be considered ultimately “useful”. It’s easy to simply say you “wish to align yourself with destruction” and then justify being “an instrument” of Cataclysm. But to do so is not useful to humans or life on the planet…and we should always remember that “survival” is the imperative of life. We have a deeply ingrained instinct and desire to “continue”, to “go on”, to “keep the grand show show running”. So how do we pursue a seemingly contradictory path of Cataclysm and tie it to “life survival” instead of “Cataclysmic destruction”? Unless one has a burning desire to become the agent of destruction and Cataclysm, perhaps a self-declared instrument of the Hindu God named Shiva the Destroyer (not useful for the continuance of life, harmony, love, and happiness), then another course is available. You see, some people simply enjoy “the breakdown” breakdown” of things. They truly enjoy witnessing destruction and cataclysm, and often such people will (sometimes out of sheer boredom) travel down some very dark paths. There is, however, a different road one can take. For those who have an affinity for Cataclysm, a unique task is available. They can concentrate on those aspects aspects of themselves (and possibly others) and focus on the destruction of “maladaptive thought and behavior” . You can probably see where this idea lead us…such a person can focus on “destroying” that which is non-conducive to the survival of life on the planet. Such a person can become actively involved with ecological groups groups dedicated to stopping the pollution of our planet. They can help to target those corporations responsible for the unfair treatment of indigenous peoples. The list goes on and on. Alternately, the person wishing to align with the power of Cataclysm can begin a campaign of destruction upon their own thoughts and feelings that have have historically created disharmony and discord in their their lives. We’re, of course, referring to the teachings of the first three parts of this book. Those sections dealt with the removal (or destruction) of unhappiness, sorrow, sorrow, disharmony, and discord. It can actually be a very rewarding experience to dedicate oneself to the destruction of maladaptive behavior, thoughts, and feelings…the “tearing down” of that which is not “Useful”. In fact, that’s the driving force force of many Buddhist monks…the destruction destruction of their maladaptive thought, and the destruction of unhappiness in others (the destruction of the suffering of self and others). We can sometimes see this alignment occur early in children (in its positive form) when a child expresses an interest in becoming a doctor or scientist that could one day eradicate some prevalent disease or human physical affliction. We should always be on the lookout for for these tendencies in our children so as as to steer these energies in positive and rewarding directions. It is quite possible to steer the destructive aspects of any child, teen, or adult into more “adaptive behaviors” using their natural alignment with Cataclysm. We simply need to do so in a loving - 70 -
and supportive way. By doing this, we are tapping our affinity affinity for Allurement and Emergence in order to to help steer others away from potential misuse of the universal power of Cataclysm. th
The 6 Power – Synergy
The 6th Power of the Universe is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Cataclysm. It is the power that involves “working together” and is called Synergy. Synergy focuses on the concept of “mutually enhancing relationships”…those relationships that serve to enhance survival, or even merely enhance endurance. If we were talking strictly on the level of life, then “survival” would be the most appropriately descriptive term. But like all the 10 Powers, Synergy is “primal” and impacts everything in the universe, not just “living things”. Let’s begin by looking at Synergy in action on the the Universal scale. Shortly after the primordial fireball fireball that gave birth to the entire universe as we know it, all that existed was a super-heated and strange form of energy called “plasma”. No actually particles or atoms existed of any kind. But the universe “shuddered” “shuddered” and gave birth to a huge sea of particles, one type type of which was the neutron. Now, neutrons on their own will decay after a very short period of time, but the universe also gave gave birth to a complimentary form of particle called protons. Consider that the universe could have manifested itself as “neutrons only”…but thankfully it did not. The way neutrons and protons survive without decay is by combining with each other for a mutually enhancing and enduring relationships. That is one of the first truly magical moments of our universe. That is Ultimate Mystery in action. The universe could have created “stand-alone” particles that required nothing else for endurance, but the Ultimate Mystery demands relationships. Again, when we say that it “demands” “demands” or “wants” or “insists upon”, that is simply those terms “on the level of the universal”…thus do we avoid falling into anthropomorphism. So, the universe created a dynamic of one proton to one neutron, but that only forms one kind of atom. The universe experimented with all possible combinations of numbers of neutrons to numbers of protons. protons. One of the Emergence combinations leads to Plutonium but that does not endure for long. But when it came across the combination for Carbon it discovered an exceedingly strong strong and enduring relationship. In fact, out of the literally millions of combination possibilities for combining protons and neutrons, fewer than 90 are actually enduring. Each of these represents the power of Synergy on the universal scale…the creation of the elements. Let’s take a look at a different level…the planetary level as seen on our planet Earth. The various atoms were combined over and over, and out of the power of Emergence the Earth produced minerals, a few thousand of which are stable. These minerals are combinations of atoms…molecules…another example Synergy in action. During the Emergence of the planet Earth Earth another amazing birth took place. It was the combination of hydrogen and oxygen to form the very stable stable substance …water. As already mentioned, the universe “demands” relationships (moves towards them intrinsically…moves towards them due to its “inner nature”). nature”). Out of the relationship between minerals and water we have the Emergence of the Synergy we call “Life on this planet”. It is in Synergy that life endures. That is such an amazing concept … Life Endures…and it’s entirely due to Synergy working together seamlessly with the other Powers of the Universe (Seamlessness in action). This is all part of the sacred and profound nature of the Powers of the Universe. In order for life to endure, endure, there are two primary things that must manifest. Energy must be found for nourishment, and offspring must be produced produced to replace the life-forms which all eventually age and die. That’s the challenge…work together in Synergy with the rest of life on the planet, yet eat other life forms for endurance. It’s an amazing balance…a very delicate and wonderful example of equilibrium in action in which the Ultimate Mystery demands the “great drama” of life – live, eat, create offspring, and die. It is in this drama that Synergies blossom forth. Life creates the stage in which Synergy can work and show itself. As the Earth developed, amazing Synergies manifested …all of them without human involvement, without the intervention of reflective, conscious self-awareness. The Power of Synergy naturally flowed forth forth out of the Ultimate Mystery and created the most amazing synergistic relationships. Some of the most amazing were when the plants learned to work in Synergy with the sun, and developed the ability to “catch” the particles of light that hit them and convert that into food. Life discovered that cooperative interaction between its various forms, in a creative context, enabled increased survival and endurance. For instance, plants need to consume nitrogen and so many formed synergistic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria which live as nodules on their roots. Pollinating insects work synergistically with the flowers. Bacteria in the stomachs of animals help the animals digest plant material, and enable the bacteria themselves to endure. The list of the interactions of Synergy on Earth seems almost endless…we are even today discovering new forms of Synergy on our planet. What kind of person would tend to be most able to align themselves and work with the Power of Synergy? A person embodying the quality of Synergy would have incredible, eternal optimism. They would have the feeling - 71 -
that we’re so close to new breakthroughs of endurance (and even consciousness) and they would work to facilitate such breakthroughs of progress. In order to invent new forms of Synergy, or to “become the vessel” which the Power of Synergy works through, a synergistic person is visionary, and even mystic. They can truly FEEL the wealth of possibilities that are waiting to manifest. They simply KNOW that there is an ocean of abundance that is searching for “vessels of consciousness” to move through (we learn how to willfully become these vessels at the end of the list of powers). The mystic learns to disassociate their deepest essence from their compulsive stream of thought…they learn to disassociate their inner spirit from “The Story of Me” as discussed in Part 3 of this book. They do this so that their inner essence can work with the Powers of the Universe to allow miracles to manifest, and to facilitate the Ultimate Mystery’s movement towards new ways of enhancing human consciousness. We see that such visionaries have dreams of Synergy, and work to make them manifest into reality . The classic example of this would be Martin Luther King Jr. He gave his beautiful “I have a dream…” speech because he KNEW how close we were to a social breakthrough and he was RIGHT !!! He could feel the abundance of love and brotherhood that Synergy promised in his visions. He could sense the vast reservoirs of possibilities that were waiting to manifest. There is, of course, much more work to do to fully manifest his dream…but Synergy has already begun its unstoppable movement forward in the birth of a society where the fundamental relationships are mutually enhancing, and not filled with the horrors of hate and prejudice. th
The 7 Power – Transmutation
When one decides that some form of personal change in their life is necessary, they are experiencing the pull of the power of Transmutation. Transmutation is how change manifests on the level of the individual, or group of individuals. It is NOT the changes that manifest in “whole systems” (change in whole systems will be the subject of the next power…Transformation). One of the most obvious reasons for determining that you need to change something about yourself (this is what is meant by the “level of the individual”) is when the effects of your actions are not producing results you prefer. If you are receiving the opposite of what you want or need, then it becomes apparent that you need to make some form of personal change…an individual Transmutation. On the level of the universal, Transmutation can be seen most easily in its greatest moments of “personal” change. The first is the primordial fireball, the Big Bang, in which the universe suddenly “flared forth”. First, there was no universe, and then suddenly, after an event of explosive birth beyond our power to image, a universe came into existence. Next, after its initial stage as plasma…just a vast sea of radiant energy…the first elementary particles came in being. Another shuddering of the universe and the entire ocean of particles suddenly broke apart into vast “collections” which began to condense down into galaxies…then to stars. These are epic moments in the history of the universe…never to be repeated…epic moments of Transmutation on the part of our single (individual) universe. We already discussed many of these moments of change …galactic change, planetary change…change is what the universe is all about! In fact, the nature of change is one of the key components in Buddhism, which teaches the Law of Impermanence – In which it is taught that becoming overly-attached to changing things is the root of human misery. We typically try to resist change, and it causes us to suffer, because ALL things change…nothing is permanent. The power of Transmutation can be thought of as a constraining or limiting effect. Take, for instance, the early Earth that was just huge planet of roiling lava. Certain constraints and limits suddenly came to bear, and the lava became the first continent. In scientific terms it “froze into the first proto-continent”. It was simply the Transmutation power using limitation and constraint that implemented this deep change. The same type of thing took place when the first continent became multiple continents. Another form of Transmutation occurs when “forms of resistance” come into being. In the world of life on Earth, this power can be seen in the predator-prey relationship. Each puts limits on the other. A bird acts as a constraint (or limit) on a grasshopper, and the number of grasshoppers puts a restraint on the bird. Throughout the entire planet there are constraints and demands…the “judgments” imposed by the power of Transmutation. Those grasshoppers that are not able to move fast enough are quickly removed from the gene pool of grasshoppers by the hungry birds, and the birds that can not fly fast enough to catch the grasshoppers are also removed by the gene pool, usually before they’ve had the chance to produce offspring. You might think of Natural Selection as the manifesting energy constantly brought to bear upon any individual life form through the overall power of Transmutation. It’s a harsh energy, but a necessary one. It is an amazing power, a process of constraint and judgment that leads to excellence of form…to beauty. Individuals are often forced to make deep changes if they are to survive. On the level of the human, individuals are forced into a “deep reflection” upon their actions and values if they wish to manifest lives with meaning and significance. - 72 -
It is this imposed deep reflection that exemplifies a way in which the universe (through its 10 Powers) reflects upon itself. This is one of the deepest and most sacred aspects that we can personally witness and experience…when we allow ourselves to align with the powers and “create a space for them” such that the universal energies can flow through us and manifest. To become deeply attuned to this process is to actually FEEL and deeply sense the universe centering itself upon YOU, and flowing forth. You begin to see that the universe is studying itself …its processes…through the eyes of a particular human…through you. You can feel “the process studying the process”. You can feel the powers that shaped the human, reflect upon itself THROUGH you. This is the deep communion that is available when you learn to fully align with (and make a space for) the Powers of the Universe, and is the specific topic of the last section of Part 4…learning the full method and witnessing miracles manifest in your own experience…to see it for your own satisfaction…no faith required! So what kind of person tends to naturally align with the power of Transmutation? One quality would be an intense concern with results. It’s a mind that is highly critical and judgmental such that “results” are constantly being analyzed for possible constraints needing to be imposed or newly created. The transmutative person is very sensitive to the dynamics of opposition. In other words, this person can sense when something is trying to oppose or limit them in some way, and uses this information to determine if they need to make some kind of personal change in their own actions in order to gain the results they desire. So you can see that this is a person that is deeply attuned to laws, traditions, and customs, but is primarily concerned with these things’ impact upon results. This person is deeply reflective upon the impact upon their own person by any of these forces, and then reflects on any personal actions they may need to change in order to produce effective results. This person has a very pragmatic and practical mind. This tends to be a highly disciplined person who enjoys structure, much different from the person who relates closest to the power of Emergence. The transmutative person is always evaluating their personal behavior and looking for new ways of self-discipline to improve their personal situation. This kind of person can often have the feeling of not fitting in, and feels out of place. This is a result of the sense that they are not getting the results they want, or that they have not surrounded themselves with persons who are conducive to their personal growth. Feeling like one does not fit in can also indicate that the individual has not found the appropriate environment in which to live that best meshes with their particular energies or life-style. Such a person tends to move around until they find the exact niche that is right for them. This is akin to helium in the center of stars. It is ONLY in the center of stars that carbon can be created…nowhere else. If the transmutative person can not find their (often very unique) niche, they can never transmutate into the beauty that is awaiting inside of them. If such a search is not consummated, they tend to lead very unfulfilled lives and wind up on their death beds KNOWING that they “missed out” on that “something that was waiting” but was simply never found. This kind of person would find the last section of Part 3 of this book especially helpful regarding the pursuit of overall life-fulfillment. Additionally, this type of person would benefit immensely from the end of Part 4 which discusses developing the skill of aligning with (and listening to) the Powers of the Universe. By developing skills of communion with these powers, miraculous life changes can be allowed to manifest in such a way that we can witness it readily for ourselves. th
The 8 Power – Transformation Transformation is a power that relates very closely to all the other Powers of the Universe. It is particularly close to the previous power we discussed, Transmutation. Whereas the previously discussed power of Transmu tation dealt with change upon the individual, Transformation is how the influence of individuals (or individual components) manifests a change upon the whole.
Let’s start by seeing how individual components can work together to change the whole. Perhaps the best example is reflected by how the universe got to life so quickly, which is one of the great surprises to science after examining the building blocks of life. Science in the last 100 years has come to the realization that you could not come ANYWHERE NEAR life with typically random combinations of the molecules that exist. Look at it this way. The universe has been around for about 13.7 billion years and life has only been around (on our planet) for about 4 billion years. So, it took the universe about 9 billion years, from the very start, to achieve life on planet Earth. When science analyzes the components of the universe, it becomes obvious that a random shuffling of material should not have even produced even the rudimentary components of life after only 10 billion years. Thus, one of the great shocks is that the universe got to life so quickly. It’s one of the unfathomable, yet observable, facts that are pure Ultimate Mystery. The universe had to transform its entire “whole” again and again to get to life. Scientists are beginning to imagine that the universe in some sense was “ going for life ” …was aiming for it from the very beginning. In order to do this it had to produce great moments of total transformation that remained stable. Each of these great moments - 73 -
in the history of the universe, which we’ve already discussed, required that all prior transformations be “folded together” to produce ever more complex structures. This “folding in” of existing structures to create even more complex structures is like folding the steel of a very sharp Japanese sword. You have to keep folding and folding until a new and even better structure is brought into being. After each “folding” of the structures of the universe, the fresh and highly complex structures become filled with new possibilities. The universe harvested all of its prior and fantastic moments of transformation to bring all the strengths of the previous structures to bear into this one particular place and time for life to emerge upon the planet Earth. In other words, the universe transforms “the whole” …it “becomes involved” in folding structures in upon themselves, in order to create life-forms capable of reflecting upon the accomplishment. It does this in order to create the conscious self-awareness of the human. It’s truly amazing to think about! It is due to a colossal interweaving that enabled this moment to exist. We can no longer just say “it was a fluke, an accident, the result of a random combination of factors”. We can’t say that anymore because it happened so quickly! It becomes easy to recognize that the Powers of the Universe were aiming to get to the current form of life structures, at least here on the planet Earth. If we want to look at Transformation on the level of a species on our planet, think of a community of birds that are living in a valley for thousands of years. Their DNA has the information programmed into all new offspring for them to exist in that particular valley environment. If you have some form of rapid and drastic climate change the entire species usually dies off. But lets imagine that certain small things change in their environment (over a long period of time) that cause them to search farther and farther for enough food to eat. Let’s also imagine that they have to search higher and higher up the mountains to find food. As the birds migrate to higher and higher altitudes the stress of the lower levels of oxygen puts stress upon the entire population of the birds. As the birds experience more and more stress the most amazing thing happens. The population “ responds ” on a deep and inner level, and enters a process called “genetic mutation”. The population of birds unknowingly enters the power of Transformation and the genetic code of future offspring begins to change, allowing more and more of the baby birds to survive in this new and stressful environment. By entering the Transformation power, the birds go from a state of stress back to a state of creative productivity…they continue to produce more offspring that are now genetically altered to live in that environment. This type of thing is seen all over the planet. Animals are not using speech, or logic, to determine how to best deal with new environmental stresses. The individuals of the population naturally and “magically” enter into communion with the power of Transformation and “transform themselves as a whole”, until we are left with an entirely new species! That’s the incredible power and availability of this particular aspect of the Ultimate Mystery. It’s simply THERE and WAITING to be tapped and used …to be made “Useful”. How does this tend to manifest on the level of the human? What types of humans most rapidly respond to, and USE, this freely available and amazingly abundant power? The first characteristic of such a person is one who can deeply sense that a change by the whole is required . This type of person tends to campaign for “awareness of the need for change” and dedicates themselves to becoming an instrument of Transformation. How successful they are is entirely dependent upon their ability to align with and tap that particular power. Again, the technique for tapping such power is discussed at the end of Part 4. These types of people tend to easily manifest some form of creative vision that involves a change of the entire population. To some, these visions seem to “come out of nowhere” because they somehow just “have the knack” of tapping those energies. They somehow “simply know” what they must do to become a beneficial channel for advancing the will of the powers…for advancing the will of the Ultimate Mystery. The most successful of these individuals start off as the “visionary seer”, and then (if they somehow tap the power correctly) become the “doer” …the instrument for “useful” change. th
The 9 Power – Interrelatedness
The power of Interrelatedness is manifested by the “relationships” we see all around us. At the beginning of this discussion on the Powers of the Universe we talked about its fundamental Seamlessness (its interconnectedness, where nothing is separate from the whole), but the power of Interrelatedness involves a further aspect… “nurturance ”. It is not like Homeostasis, where the universe acts to “maintain” connections that it values. It differs from Homeostasis in that the power of Interrelatedness is the force that seeks to establish and “ care for” relationships. It’s a power of devotion and service …a seeking to strengthen the bonds of relationships. A very strong example of this in which the power (on the level of galaxies) is clearly seen amongst the other powers, is in the case of one of the galaxies closest to us…the Large Magellanic Cloud. At one point in its history, this galaxy had reached the end of its ability to create new stars. Then, the universe caused it to pass through our Milky Way galaxy. Enough energies were transferred and the Large Magellanic Cloud started making - 74 -
stars again! …and it is still creating new stars! You can thus easily see how the universe “cares” for relationships, even on the largest scale imaginable. Another good example would be in considering our sun. It and the Earth are bonded into a very deep relationship. The mass of the sun interacts constantly with the mass of the Earth via the gravitational force. But consider this…the sun burns four million tons of hydrogen every second to send its necessary forces to our planet. Think about it…it gives up four million tons of itself every second of every year, and that enables the nurturance of life of our blue marble of a planet. This would be considered a deep “caring” or “nurturance” on the level of a star. You can see this power of “care” manifested on Earth in all the relationships on the planet. It’s the way in which various animals protect their young to varying degrees. Some animals will eat their young if the babies stray to close to the parent’s mouth, and other animals (fish especially) actually collect their children within their mouths to protect them. These fish did not develop their own code of ethics. They did not get together and discuss the practice amongst themselves. The Ultimate Mystery of the universe simply used them as vehicles for its desire to show increasing amounts of “care” and “nurturance” upon the higher life-forms of Earth. On our planet, it’s easier to see the level of “care” and “nurturance” increase as we move up the chain of complexity, especially when you come to the level of the mammals. The universe SHOWS that it values parental care because it is enabling them to expand into larger territories and grow in population. This growth and expansion of life would not be possible without the “devotion” and “nurturance” we see in mammalian mothers (and oftentimes in the mammalian fathers as well). Many female mammals have a beautiful dynamic in that they actually demonstrate to the younger mammals of the population how to “attend to” situations involving the offspring. Without language they demonstrate and pass on to future generations the value of “tenderness”. This value of “tenderness” eventually becomes folded into and incorporated deep into the genetic pattern of the later generations. This power of “care” can often be seen as a dynamic that needs to be “evoked” via some situation or stimulus. Before giving birth to a child, a female sea lion is not very nurturing to the babies of other female sea lions. But once she gives birth, something very deep and primal is “ evoked” and she immediately discovers that all these new behaviors are available that were once locked deep within her. She begins cleaning and stroking and nuzzling the baby, all without being taught. This behavior is simply “evoked” via the energies of Interrelatedness that await to flow through anything which becomes a space for it (…it awaits YOU). This same phenomenon is seen most strongly in the psyche of the human upon the birth of their first child. A human “knows theoretically” that they are going to feel a strong bond for their baby when it arrives. The person may have seen this happen in others, read about it in book and such. But it’s a common story that the depth of feeling that actually manifests when we hold our children for the first time becomes the single most potent sacred event of their lives. Something simply “unlocks” inside the mind of a father when his baby is placed in his arms for the very first time. For those who are very sensitive to such things, a kind of primal energy is felt through their entire being that never existed inside them before. This is the classic example of the unlocking of barriers which once might have prevented a full sense of “caring” …it’s the almost magical “first flow” and direct experience of the power of Interrelatedness. The kind of human that most easily aligns with “caring”, “nurturance”, the power of Interrelatedness, is the person who finds it easy to absorb the experiences of others into their own understanding . We call this, of course, empathy. When you think carefully, you’ll find that “empathy” is the root of all great works of art. The artist wishes to invoke a deep interest on the part of the viewer, and the viewer feels pulled deep within the art itself. The viewer can actually absorb feelings and experiences that were the deepest communications by the artist. A truly empathetic person can do something that only the human is capable of…extending “care” beyond one’s local group. A powerfully empathetic person wants to extend the “care” of deep Interrelatedness to as many fellow living beings as possible. We find this kind of goal most vibrantly elaborated upon in Buddhist writings on compassion. A person aligned with Interrelatedness has a deep understanding and feeling for Compassion – the sincere wish to empathize with, and alleviate the suffering of others. Such a person finds a personal capacity to identify the obvious as well as hidden worth of others . They can reach out and “nurture” this worth in others and help it to flower. In a related fashion, a person aligned with Interrelatedness finds that they are very sensitive to the needs of others and can just sort of naturally pick up on these things. It is for that reason that we often tend to gravitate to such people when we are in times of emotional stress and need. These are the people who enfold us in our times of pain, and help us to see past temporary sorrows. They are the blessed individuals who say “Come to me” when you most need it, and offer you a shoulder to cry on and a smile to brighten the spirit. They help us to remember the famous and exceedingly valuable advice … “This too shall pass.” - 75 -
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The 10 Power – Radiance
The final Power of the Universe that we’ll discuss is one of the most magical of all…that of Radiance. Radiance can be considered the way in which the universe communicates amongst all of its parts. To begin to understand this power, you need to think of the common meaning for the “word” radiant… it is the action of something that radiates. The sun radiates light and heat…easy to understand. The fact of the matter is that everything in the universe “radiates”, and they do so in a startling number of ways. Let’s consider an initial example on the level of the universal. In the last 100 years science has been able to ascertain that everything in the universe “communicates” or exchanges information with every other si ngle thing via the process of gravity. In other words, to a small degree, the most remote star touches you every second of your existence in a gravitational interaction that moves instantaneous between you and the star. In order for the universe to do this, science hypothesizes the existence of “gravitons”, which are messenger pa rticles that travel instantaneously between all matter to exchange “gravity information”. They are messengers that keep everything in constant communication. We don’t “feel” any of this, anymore than we feel cell phone, radio, or television signals passing through us, but we are constantly awash in a field of “gravity communication”. This is most keenly felt by the way we are embraced by the Earth, and almost everyone knows that it the gravity between our bodies and the Earth that hold us upon the Earth’s surface. Another little known fact is that every living body radiates not only heat, but also light! Each of our bodies, by virtue of all its chemical reactions, is constantly firing millions of light photons out of our bodies every single second. These are too faint to register upon our eyes, even in the darkest room…but it exists nonetheless. Every living thing is radiating light, and bathing those things around them in their emissions. Here’s another amazing fact we’ve discovered in the last 100 years. Think of viewing the moon at night. We get this vision that the moon is “reflecting” the light of the sun to us. We think of this as a bunch of particles that hit the moon and simply bounce over to our eyes here on Earth…a ricochet of light. We’ve discovered that this simply is not the case at all! The moon absorbs the photon particles from the sun (the sun’s light) and then the moon generates (out of itself) new light particles that are fired down to our waiting eyes. That’s amazing! At night time we’re not receiving light from the sun when we look at the moon, but we’re experiencing a communication of the moon as it sends its own light directly to us. It is communicating directly with us via the power of Radiance. And we know that communication requires a sender and a receiver. In the case of the light from the moon, the moon is sending us the communication of its emitted light and we are perceiving it…we’re receiving it in our own eyes and minds. So the power of Radiance has a component of “perception” on the part of something receiving the communication. This is a deep “primal” form of communication, and we’re only aware of the smallest fraction of communications that are hitting our bodies at every moment of our lives. Here’s a wonderful way of describing some of the deeper features of these types of communication. One of the ways in which we enter a relationship with radiant communication is “resonance”. We enter into a “resonance” with something as we become aware of being radiated with the communication of some other “thing”. If our resonance is deep enough, it fills our spirit until we move into a state of “ reverberation”. The resonance penetrates us so deeply that we begin to radiate in response to it via reverberation. When we reverberate to something, we have entered the deepest of bonds with that “thing”, and have become interconnected to it on the deepest level such that we can feel “non-separated” from it…the core of our spirit feels the deep “Unity” or “Oneness” of this connection. When we resonate, and then reverberate with something, we’ve allowed ourselves to become spiritually in-tune with that “other” so that it no longer feels “other than us”. It’s actually a process of finding our core identity, our spirit, immersed in the connected voices of the Ultimate Mystery. It wakes your spirit so powerfully that you actually BECOME it, and that’s how we truly discover who we are on the deepest level of our being. This is the kind of feeling that is explained in Part 3 of this writing on “maximizing your number of Optimum Flow Experiences”…you are trying to maximize the amount of deep resonance/reverberation moments in one single lifetime. So, when you consider that the resonance and reverberation process are the essences o f the power of Radiance, you can see that by aligning with such forces you can maximize your overall life-fulfillment via the increase in your experiences of Optimum Flow moments. What would be the characteristics or traits of a person who has learned to fully align themselves in this way? First of all, you need to develop a gentle spirit, or a subtle spirit that can deeply respond to the depth of spirit of other people and events. Only by becoming receptive to these things can you hope to awaken a sense of resonance deep within yourself. We have to develop ourselves as a kind of “container” that is capable of holding the beauty being emitted via the power of Radiance. The amazing thing is how well-shaped our minds are for transmuting our psyches to the point of becoming the space via which reverberation can manifest. It is something intrinsically available in the nature of every human. When you learn to deeply sense resonances, you become - 76 -
aware that you are surrounded by people and places and things that are packed with radiant energies. It is up to you to develop your sensitivities, to the extent that you feel the power of Radiance being emitted (and these naturally emissions of Radiance are, by most people, typically ignored or screened out of the conscious selfawareness). If you reflect upon the possibilities of using this power, you can see that something gloriously sacred is streaming into us every second, but we’ve simply learned to “reduce our reception” in order to “pay attention” to the things our teachers have told us are important. Growing up we learn to ignore the sacred radiances in order to pay attention to the words and numbers and figures that society has determined to be more “important”. But if you learn to see again the magic that permeated you before you were clouded by the continual Stream of Thoughts in your mind (as discussed in Parts 2 and 3 of this book), you’ll find that the world is a much more magical place than you could ever have imagined. Most of us, of course, are blind to the vast sea of Radiance that is trying to establish resonance within us. We are blinded by the continual stream of words that pass through our minds. That’s one of the benefits of developing “Stillness” as taught in Part 3. We need to still our thoughts so that we can resonate and then hopefully reverberate the magical Radiance that is offered freely, but which is typically ignored. Another trait of a person who has an affinity for Radiance is that person who seems to get easily distracted, yet in actuality they are simply adept at getting drawn into the depths of things. Unfortunately, in our society, this is typically not a highly valued quality. This kind of person tends to do only the minimum amount of work that needs to be done, because that person requires more time than most in contemplation. Again, this is not considered a highly desirable trait by most, but it is most frequently observed in those who enjoy the Radiance of things. Many people who are like this are totally unaware as to “why they are different”. They can often have very difficult lives if they are not surrounded by supportive and loving relationships. People like this will often become artists and musicians, and will usually never be satisfied by working in front of a computer inside a cubicle. When a person who aligns with Radiance has truly found their niche to fill, they attract others with a smile that seems to reside constantly on their faces. This relates to the “Smile Propagation Theory” discussed in Part 3 of this book. It’s actually possible to develop this “smiling skill” such that you create smiles on the faces of others as they enter into resonance with you. Through the example of such a radiant person, others begin to realize that everything is a source of Radiance…everything becomes a display of brilliant and divine beauty…everything can become a sacred event when such resonances and reverberations manifest. When you can open yourself to sensing the Radiance that surrounds you, you begin to realize that you are participating in an amazingly sacred event…you find yourself in a place of magnificence that offers you the opportunity to accomplish miraculous things. You become drawn into the Ultimate Mystery as you begin to sense that the universe is trying to tell you something, if you can only quiet your mind long enough to hear it. It is trying to establish a deep, meaningful, and useful bond with you so that eventually you become a radiant source that causes immense reverberations in others. Just like the discussion of “Becoming Allurement Itself” you can “Become Radiance” …you can change the lives of countless living things. But it all begins by learning how to “get in touch with the magic”. Sometimes it begins by holding a sleeping baby in your arms and seeing the small smile on the baby’s face as it’s comfortably asleep. Sometimes it is felt most keenly when you fall in love with something or somebody for the very first time, often with something as simple as a glace…a glance, and you’re hooked…a glance, and something unlocks inside you that you never new existed, until suddenly you find yourself filled with a magic that is truly beyond words. You find yourself drawn in to something that was obviously just waiting for you to connect to it…to unlock yourself FOR it. In some mysterious way, that resonance and reverberation feels as if it’s somehow completing a form a beauty that is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s when you have truly unified your spirit with the ever-present and ever-available powers of the Ultimate Mystery. “The Miracle Formula” – Harnessing the Powers of the Universe
As mentioned throughout the prior discussion of the 10 Powers of the Universe, there exist very ancient methodologies for properly aligning oneself with the powers themselves. These methods can be analyzed, and can be seen as being fairly consistent throughout the discussions of “miracles” in the major religious and spiritual texts of the world. The most recent resurgence of producing “miracles” can be found in the many works in the 20 th and 21st centuries on the Law of Attraction. No matter what area of religious or spiritual practice is analyzed, it is clear that each of these works contain only bits and pieces of the full miracle formula… We’ve never found any material that contains the entire methodology. The method you’re about to read consists of a compilation and distillation of “the miracle process” that has been used for millennium, and is for the very first time being made available for your use. - 77 -
We would simply like to make a note of initial caution, in that “the miracle process” does not judge the “worth” or “usefulness” of the miracle you wish to manifest. If used to manifest realities that are not in line with the Hurtless, Helpful, Kind lifestyle (recommended in Part 3 of this book), the consequences can be very… “unpleasant”. So, if you ever consider using this formula for the purposes of “other than good”, be aware that you may have enormous success, or you may experience a direction of cataclysmic energies upon yourself or those around you. History is filled with examples of those who attempted to harness the Powers of the Universe in order to willfully manifest harmful results, and the harm simply passed through themselves first. If the miracles you wish to accomplish are based upon a core intent of “love”, then when those energies pass through you to manifest in your reality, you will only be strengthened and nurtured. So what are we talking about when we discuss aligning with and using the Powers of the Universe to manifest themselves through us and make themselves manifest as miracles? First of all, the prior sections discussed in detail the Powers of the Universe themselves. It was mentioned many times that you can align yourself with the powers in order to assist them in manifesting realities you can witness and experience. But what exactly are miracles? We prefer to use one of the most common definitions of the word “miracle”: “An effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.” In that definition, “surpasses all known human or natural powers” is referring to the Powers of the Universe. It is an arbitrary use of semantics to label the Powers of the Universe as “natural” or “supernatural”. We prefer to think of the Powers of the Universe as “supernatural” since they are “primal” features of the Ultimate Mystery (as described earlier in Part 4). We do not know where the powers truly come from such that they can be scientifically verified, or such that they woul d constitute a “truth” of such magnitude that it would be considered “undisputable” by a majority of objective witnesses. As an example of something that is “obviously true” let’s consider the light that strikes our planet each day of the year, and goes away to varying degrees at night. It’s obviously true that this light comes from the sun…that’s undisputable. If a majority of objective witnesses were to analyze the problem, it would be found to be “undisputably true”. Thus, the sunlight is a “natural” phenomenon and we know all of the underlying causes…primarily the burning hydrogen (converting hydrogen into helium via fusion…the fusing together of hydrogen atoms). We know the underlying cause of the light and heat that provides nurturance to the Earth…it is not “primal”. However, the Powers of the Universe are “primal” forces in that we do not truly know their underlying causes…we do not know what is “beneath” or “behind” them. Some call it God, some call it The Divine…we prefer to think of it as the sacred Ultimate Mystery. Thus, we categorize the Powers of the Universe as “supernatural”, especially in discussing the definition of the word “miracle”. In the discussion of “miracles”, we should mention that those who attribute the Powers of the Universe to one of the many Gods worshipped on our planet, generally believe that such a God has several distinct characteristics. First, they typically believe that their God takes an active interest in manifesting transformations that are for the greater good of the individual to which God is “looking upon” …in this case, we are referring to the person who wishes to manifest a miracle and hopes to appeal to their God’s “favor” or “blessing”. Second, such people typically believe that their God is going to do something (hopefully positive) with their im mortal soul upon the death of their physical body. In this book, you’ll clearly see that the methodologies for performing miracles is very similar to the first characteristic of “God worship” as described in the preceding paragraph. We are not suggesting that you believe a God is taking an active interest in manifesting your desired “miracles”. We are simply suggesting that you can align yourself with the Powers of the Universe in such a way that you “create the space” for those powers to effortlessly flow through you. What we teach here is more like a creative redirection of the flow of a river, rather than asking a God to redirect the flow for you. You are going to learn how to be the instrument through which the powers can effortless flow in the manifestation of the miracle you wish to bring about. You’ll probably notice that these methods have recognizable aspects from many religions and spiritual paths you may have studied or been a member of. These concepts are not the “property” of any religion or path…these concepts are eternally available regardless of your religious beliefs. The unique feature of what we are teaching is that we present the complete method, which only exists in other writings as partial fragments. The Steps of “The Miracle Process”
As a preliminary note on the miracle process, it is important to remember that this is not a “perform once and forget” method. When you wish to manifest something into your reality using the Powers of the Universe you need to perform the method as many times as possible throughout your day. If you ask us “How often?” our best advice would be “As often as is feasible, up to constantly.” We tell you that, of course, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion…nobody can do this method “constantly”. We are merely suggesting that its quite possible to become so - 78 -
in tune with this method that you can almost set you mind on “auto-pilot” to perform in subconsciously, but that will take a great deal of practice to reach such a level. Suffice it to say that you should perform this process as often as you possibly can until it becomes a sort of “natural mantra” that your mind performs “on its own accord”. At the beginning here we would also like to note that when we talk of “the miracle process” for “performing miracles” we are also referring to those other scenarios in which you simply want to align yourself with the Powers of the Universe for whatever purpose you have in mind (for purposes of personal growth). We’re speaking here of the typical pursuits of Self-Transformation, Peace of M ind, Health and Longevity, Lasting Happiness, Harmony, and Overall Life-Fulfillment as discussed in the first three sections of this book. Step 1 – Stilling the Mind as much as Possible
This is a step that you will find omitted from many “miracle-claiming” books. Religions naturally accomplish this step when they tell you that you must clear your mind of mundane thoughts, and focus on your worship of God. The focus upon the Love for the Divine is a fantastic way to disengage and derail the compulsive stream of thought that typically manifests as our moment-to-moment conscious experience. This is the primary focus of the first two parts of this book…the nature of one’s thought. Part 3 of this book discusses the most powerful method ever developed for stopping the habitual stream of thought, and approaching Stillness, so we won’t repeat those practices here. We will simply mention that if you don’t typically practice Stillness via “focus on the Divine”, that’s perfectly alright. There are many other ways for you to become Still, and remain still for longer and longer periods of time, if you simply practice the methods taught in Part 3. Remember that all magic and “truly willed miracles” always start from a disciplined place of mental Stillness…the mental quietness that is emphasized most heavily in writings on Taoism. However, it is often not possible for “beginning students” to reach complete mental Stillness. That’s perfectly alright, as long as you follow the crucial RRRR method as taught in Part 3, and reach a harmonious level of “love-type” thoughts, your mind will be “Still enough” to proceed to Step 2. The key is to begin from a point of Stillness, or at the very least a level of harmonious, tranquil, comfortable thought. Step 2 – Inwardly focus your Intent / Will
Once you’ve managed to become as Still as possible in your thoughts, you need to focus a very clear picture of the miracle you wish to perform, or the nature in which you wish to “use” (one or more of) the Powers of the Universe. It is best to use as few words/labels/symbols/numbers as possible and focus instead on visualizing a clear picture of the end result you wish to achieve. Again, remember that these steps should be performed (in order) throughout your day, every day, until you can do it “without thinking of the steps”. At first it will seem “forced” but eventually you can train your mind to “spin and spin” in a sort of “mental autopilot” whilst another portion of your waking consciousness takes care of routine jobs and chores. We will also mention at this point, that endless books are available at your local bookstore and at your local library on “visualization”, which involves the various ways you can “inwardly focus your Intent and Will” into a “ very clear picture”. These books are all pretty much the same, because there are not very many different ways to visualize (visualize being defined as “generating a clear picture in your mind”). However, bear in mind that “visualization” is only one step of the miracle process and you should read such books as simply tools for this particular step instead of “processes themselves” although they will often try to convince you otherwise. Such books will often teach that “visualizing” is all you need to really do…but they are wrong. Simply use those books as stepping stones for this particular step and then move on to the remaining steps. If you wish to also manifest a feeling of gratitude for the “focused picture” having already occurred that is even more powerful, but not required. Many traditions teach that you have to “know” that what you are “intending” or “willing” to happen…has ALREADY happened…and they tell you to simply manifest extreme gratitude and love of that miracle having already manifested. This practice can add power to your Intent/Will, and is closely related to the final step of this method, but is not required. The problem with suggesting to people that they “know” that the miracle has already manifested , is that many times miracles do NOT manifest no matter how well you perform “the miracle process”. It is not a foolproof or infallible system. There is no explanation as to why some miracles can be manifested and why some miracles can not. Religious paths with tell their followers explanations such as “their faith in God was not strong enough” or “God’s will was contrary to the miracle you wished to manifest”. Those are two perfect “outs” for why their God did not allow the miracle or event to happen, but we submit that there is no way to actually prove that this is ever the case. There is no way to actually prove those excuses, and so we classify them as convenient “outs”. - 79 -
Millions of examples exist of unexplained failures of “the miracle process”. This type of thing is most commonly witnessed when many strongly religious people pray for the cure of a terminally ill child, and the child succumbs to the illness anyway… even though large numbers of people prayed over the ill child 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Miracles do not always manifest, no matter how hard you try to manifest them. If you continually “give gratitude” for events that do not manifest, eventually your confidence in the process will disappear. Instead, simply realize that when you perform the miracle process, you will come as close as possible (the Powers of the Universe can never be “coerced” or “forced”, only “guided”) to achieving your desired result. It’s much like trying to put out a large fire with a garden hose. You probably won’t be able to put out a big fire until the fire trucks arrive with their larger hoses…these “large hoses” correspond to the steps of “the miracle process” offered to you in this book (a smaller “garden hose” corresponds to “visualization only” methods, and other incomplete and fragmentary teachings). But even the large hoses of the fire truck will sometimes not be enough to stop a burning building from finally being razed to the ground. We’ll end this step with a very important guideline that we learned many years ago from a little booklet titled “The Ultimate Secret for Getting Everything you Want” and it is imperative that you practice this diligently. That little book, in essence, states that in order to get everything you want (as if by magic) that you have to assert to yourself (dedicate yourself) that you will do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal. The book claims that this “sets powers into motion that will work towards bringing you that which is necessary to accomplish your stated goal”. Of course, this is simply another way of saying that the miracle process enables you to align yourself with the Powers of the Universe so that they can flow through you in the process of goal manifestation (which is true, as you will see by the end of this section). But the important thing is that you remain focused on your willingness and dedication to do whatever it takes. Here is a classic example of this process in action for Jeffrey Ferris (one of the Master Instructors at Entaoing University). His personal experience with this single aspect of the miracle process manifested for him the most amazing result. Several decades ago he decided that he wanted to marry (and have children with) a wonderful woman that he had dated many years prior when he lived in Hawai’i. She was everything a man could ever want in a woman: intelligent, witty, caring, compassionate, empathetic, hurtless, kind, helpful, beautiful. He had only met her in his early 20’s and at that time he had no idea how amazingly rare it was to find all of those qualities in a single woman. So, he used that little book (“The Ultimate Secret for Getting Everything you Want”) and dedicated himself to “doing whatever it takes” to somehow convince her to leave the beautiful beach cottage she was living in, and move to rainy Seattle where he is living. For days he tried to think of every possible thing he might be able to do to convince her to move to Seattle to be with him, and thus began his dedicated campaign. To make a very long (and personal) story short, they have been happily married for over 10 years and have 2 beautiful and wonderful daughters. This example serves as an introduction to just a single aspect of the power of “the miracle process” (the dedication to do whatever it takes), and we’ve been researching, studying, and refining it ever since. Step 3 – Align and Allow
The third step of “the miracle process” is the actual aligning with the Powers of the Universe. You can think of this process as something you inwardly declare. Put simply, you need to declare to yourself, and to the “universe itself”, that you are going to align with one or more of the various powers. This is a more active form than found in many religions which practice “turning it over to God”. When you “turn something over” you are basically saying that you’re going to temporarily “forget about it” and allow God or a Higher Power to handle it for you. That is not what we are suggesting. To actively align yourself with the Powers of the Universe you are going to declare yourself as willing and available for the Powers of the Universe to actively flow through you. You can do this in a number of ways. In each of these methods, you must make a firm declaration/dedication to yourself, and then you need to mentally “push” this declaration out to the ends of the universe. You simply push the thought out like sound waves, and then “will” the declaration go out infinitely far and in an infinite number of directions: --- You can inwardly declare that you are now willing to align with the Powers of the Universe and that you are willingly going to make a space for them to flow through. --- You can do the same as above, but declare yourself as a vessel for the powers to work with and fill . --- As above, you can declare that you are now a willing channel that the powers can freely use to flow through. --- As above, you can declare that you are now a willing instrument, or tool, that the powers can freely work with. In essence, you are declaring/announcing to yourself, and to the Ultimate Mystery, something to the effect of “Here I am, I am Ready for You”. It does not really matter the exact wording that you use. It is simply important - 80 -
that you verbally (internal words…words spoken inside your mind) and visually (clear pictures formed in the mind) make it perfectly understandable to any of the powers of the Ultimate Mystery, that a willing and allowing instrument awaits. You are actively “pushing out” the notice that you have a deep desire and aspiration to advance the blossoming of the powers of the Ultimate Mystery…the Powers of the Universe. Step 4 – Truly Believe …the Deep Inner Conviction
The final step of “the miracle process” is the easiest to explain, but oftentimes the most difficult to actually perform. In order to allow the Powers of the Universe to fully flow through you, you must fully believe that such a thing is possible . The amount that the energies will flow through your spirit is directly proportional to the amount you BELIEVE they will. Thus, if you “somewhat” believe that such a thing is possible, then the powers will only flow through you “somewhat”. Another way to think of this, is that if you have a small amount of belief, then the powers that manifest through you will be small. If you have a moderate amount of belief, then the powers that manifest through you will be moderate. If you have a great amount of belief, then the powers that manifest through you will be great. The trick is that you can not simply “pretend to believe” … you must truly believe . This can not be adequately taught in a book, and is very difficult to teach to another even in person. How do you force yourself to believe? Well, you can’t. Trying to force yourself to believe is like trying to lie to yourself...difficult to do for any extended period of time. It’s like telling children to love God and trust in God’s plan, immediately after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Belief needs to come from within, and the use and development of one’s “belief engine ” inside your mind depends entirely upon one’s natural ability to do it, combined with the conscious effort of “trying to believe”. Like any skill, at first you may need to force your conscious beliefs to various extents until you begin to see the results of your actions. The first result you are likely to witness is the feeling of a deep energy awakening inside you that begins to fill you with confidence and emotional strength. When you truly wish to believe that the Powers of the Universe are available for your use, and you’ve performed the first of the three steps of the miracle process, you’ll begin to feel like you have access to deeper pools of emotional fortitude. It will not take long for you to see evidence of your efforts. The Ultimate Mystery is not a “silent partner”, but will seek to communicate with you and confirm that your beliefs are valid. You will begin to see messages all around you, guiding you towards places you need to go and things you need to do. These communications are witnessed in the forms of synchronicities and serendipities that you will begin to notice with increasing frequency. Synchronicities are coincidences of events that seem to be meaningfully related. Perhaps you’re wondering if a certain person might be able to assist you in some way, and then minutes after thinking this they call you. Perhaps you’re considering a certain action, and minutes afterwards you see an article in the newspaper that serves to confirm your initial thoughts. Coincidental events will start to become clearer and clearer (these are “communications” from the Powers of the Universe) once you decide to take an active role in becoming aware of them. In a related way, serendipities are also communications from the Ultimate Mystery. A serendipitous event is one in which good fortune (a lucky event) comes your way for no apparent reason. It can also be in the form of a useful, yet accidental, discovery. Your local library, or a search on the internet, can show you examples of the many ways people have used Synchronicity and Serendipity as messages or portents of some deep energy that is trying to communicate and provide guidance. They are outward manifestations of that “inner intuition” that people can access to varying degrees. And your intuition is simply another way the Ultimate Mystery uses to nudge you in the right direction…learn to listen to it. As you can probably now see, synchronicities and serendipities will serve to strengthen your beliefs even further when you learn to recognize them, and then see the positive results by acting UPON them. And once your beliefs strengthen, the Powers of the Universe will begin to flow more freely and regularly through you. Sure, you’ll experience setbacks and obstacles, but you should never pay too much attention to these. Simply keep performing the four steps of “the miracle process” with confidence and determination, and you’ll see for yourself that what once “seemed like” obstacles, were actually necessary steps towards the goals you wish to manifest. Growing in Strength and Communion with the Powers of the Universe
As your beliefs and inner convictions of the sacred presence of the Ultimate Mystery increase, you’ll often feel like a “gateway” through with miraculous events blossom forth. The world’s greatest writers and artists often feel this way. They feel as if “they” were not the ones who created their great works, but that they were simply vessels through which a much greater energy moved. That is why great artists finish their masterpieces in attitudes of - 81 -
awe, wonder, and extreme gratitude …gratitude towards the “something” that they knew passed through them, and enabled their masterpiece to be born. When you become fully attuned to these powers, you can learn to enhance them even further by consciously bringing in elements that amplify your desired direction (positive people, good diet, exercise, good study habits, etc.), and consciously keeping out those elements that degrade you (excessive watching of television, drugs, alcohol, etc.). This practice enhances the enabling of the powers to flare forth AS you. Always remember that “the miracle process” is a way of contacting primordial energies of the Ultimate Mystery…of contacting “nature itself”. The practices described allow us to drop below the level of language/words/symbols/numbers and allows nature itself to draw us into contact with what we need. We can feel it as a “longing to commune”, a longing to communicate at the level of our deepest feelings…at the level of the sacred energy of the Ultimate Mystery. We begin to actively participate in the shaping/creating of desired results so that everyday we act to permit a flow of energies. We guide and shape …we NOTICE and AMPLIFY, being especially vigilant for times of great synchronicity and serendipity. We begin to use great moments of beauty in the universe as our guides, and those moments become the criteria for judging our own activities. At that stage we are practicing the Deep Listening required for True Alignment with the Ultimate Mystery. We have learned to become those luminous individuals that facilitate the beauty of the Ultimate Mystery to continue to unfold… we’ve become its sacred agent.
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Part 5 – Ancient Hidden Wisdom and the Four Harmonies Harmony is my Religion
Throughout the decades of our research on the world’s religious and spiritual traditions, we’ve always been exceedingly impressed with the work of the Dalai Lama. His tireless mission to spread the Buddhist message of Love and Compassion has always been something that we felt deeply aligned with. We especially find meaningful the Dalai Lama’s most common quotes…”Loving-Kindness is my religion” or simply “Kindness is my religion”. In fact, when we have been asked about our own religious affiliations, we’ve often used the second/shortened version ourselves …”Kindness is my religion”. That invariably brings on another question…”So, what religion is THAT from?” We usually explain that it’s the answer that the Dalai Lama gives to the “religion” question, and we explain why “kindness” is such a central aspect to our personal beliefs. Many people then often asked us “Does that mean that you’re a Buddhist?” and we oftentimes had difficulty explaining to their satisfaction that we were not Buddhist since we are not aligned with some of their core beliefs. Invariably, that led to confusion on the part of our questioners, since most of the people we encounter are not familiar with the core beliefs of Buddhism. Many of our personal core beliefs originate from our long-standing fascination with Taoism and the fact that the writings always center upon some variation of the concept of “ Harmony”. All our lives we were wishing for some definitive “how to” instruction for these writings. That has been a common criticism of the Taoist teachings, in that the texts do not contain specific instructions on how one can actually attain the harmonious states described. After decades of research, we were able to develop the solution to that dilemma by extracting the essence of the world’s religious and spiritual paths into a very easy system that anyone can learn to use. One of our goals was to create a method of maximizing harmony in one’s life without the need to spend endless hours meditating, and without the need to worship or believe in any particular deity. That method is the core of this book’s writing and is contained in Part 1 through Part 3. Part 4 of this book is what we consider an “advanced” section for people who also seek to reawaken their inner spirit, and wish to align themselves with the Powers of the Universe that science has been able to scientifically verify in the last 100 years. This process of aligning with the sacred presence of the universe enables one to harness vast energies that one can incorporate into their particular goals. It also happens to be the process by with most of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions use (most only use “parts” of the method) to work miracles…and every religion contains, to varying degrees, examples of the miracles that are performed in the service of their particular deity or deities. After creating this system, which we call “Ancient Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment”, we discovered a book by Roger Ames and David Hall which discusses in exquisite detail a 1993 archeological find in Guodian, China. This find uncovered in a tomb the oldest copy (from about 300 B.C.) of the primary Taoist text (the “Tao Te Ching”, also commonly spelled “Dao De Jing”). Also included in this tomb were ancient copies of the Confucian philosophical teachings which were popular at that time, as well as something truly amazing…a lost section of the Tao Te Ching itself! Since this was the oldest existing copy of the Tao Te Ching (it was dated to about 300 B.C.), it is believed to be the most accurate version available…it the closest to the actual writing style (of ancient Chinese) as originally penned approximately 200-300 years prior (The Tao Te Ching is estimated to have been written by Lao Tsu between 500-600 B.C.). An examination of the style of Chinese writing used, as well the addition of the lost portion of this wisdom classic, enables one to create an even deeper and more meaningful interpretation. The deeper meanings we discovered confirmed our old impressions that the text is concerned primarily with Harmony, but we could see (with the 1993 discovery) an even deeper interpretation on the concept of Harmony itself. We were amazed that the new interpretation that was available, showed that the essence of the Tao Te Ching contained every significant piece of wisdom contained in almost every religion and spiritual path existing in the world today (and there are now many religions and paths). At the end of this section will be our new interpretation of the classic work, along with helpful commentary. We found that this new possible interpretation supported and confirmed the “validity” and “usefulness” of our “Ancient Illuminations Beyond Enlightenment” teaching which you’ll see exemplified throughout the interpretation, so it would behoove the reader to have read the prior parts of this book. This new interpretation of the Tao Te Ching has caused us to change our answer to the question “What is your religion?” When now asked, we simply say “Harmony is my religion”. For some reason, that generates fewer follow up questions than our prior answer. We can only guess that “Harmony” strikes a deeper chord in people, and tends to often be “an answer unto itself”. - 83 -
Best of all, we discovered that our writings of Parts 1-4 of this book were the “how to” that has historically been missing from prior interpretations of the Tao Te Ching and subsequent Taoist texts. It is for this reason that we’ve included our interpretation of the Tao Te Ching at the end of this section so that you can see how the prior parts of the book serve as its “missing method” for achieving incredible amounts of harmony in your own life experience. In essence, the sum total of this book answers the question that is typically unanswerable via the Tao Te Ching (on its own) and other “pure wisdom” teachings …the question of ”How shall I live my life?” How can this wisdom be considered “Ancient” or “Lost”?
One of the things that people (who have never read this book) most commonly ask us regarding this teaching is the way in which it is “ancient” and “once lost”. We always try to answer that question as succinctly as possible without dwelling overlong on histories and dates of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. Following that approach, so that you can get to the heart of the Tao Te Ching’s interpretation contained at the end of this introduction, let us begin with the original writing of the Tao Te Ching itself. As mentioned earlier, the original text was written sometime in the 6 th century B.C….approximately 2500 years ago. Now, that’s quite old …but ancient? …maybe not. However, consider that the Tao Te Ching and subsequent writings repeatedly point out that the origin of its wisdom lies with the Chinese “Yellow Emperor”. Without delving into the complicated realm of ancient Chinese history, suffice it to say that it is estimated that this fabled originator of the wisdom contained in the Tao Te Ching lived approximately 2500 B.C. That places the origin of Taoist wisdom at around 4500 years ago. For most people, that length of time qualifies as “ancient”. Likewise, much (but not all) of the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, can be found sprinkled throughout the wisdom texts of the Vedas and Upanishads of ancient India, many of which date back to 1500 BC (although some Indian scholars indicate that the knowledge actually originated much further back…perhaps to 5000 B.C. or even earlier). Lastly, the ancient nature of this wisdom can be recognized due to its emphasis on “Harmony”. Even with the most cursory of research, anyone can see that one of the core aspects of any of the world’s religions or spiritual paths will contain (often not “specifically” mentioned, yet still contain) the concept of harmony. But how was the wisdom of this book “lost”. The answer lies with the 1993 Guodian find, most specifically with the lost section of the Tao Te Ching which consists of 14 strips of miraculously preserved bamboo. This section, which was titled “The Great One Gives Birth to the Waters”, consists of a new and profound discussion of Taoist cosmology (the origin and structure of the universe…its parts and interrelationships). Additionally, it incorporates a vocabulary and writing style that enables us to understand the Tao Te Ching itself in a way that has not yet been possible. One reason for this is the nature of the characters of ancient Chinese. These characters were not meant to be interpreted literally, but were intended to present “conceptual views” based upon a common understanding of terms during that age. Thus, many of the characters of ancient Chinese can evoke a vast amount of information…all within a single character! Likewise, many translations of ancient Chinese depend upon the “surrounding” characters, and the lost section provides MAN Y more contextual characters to drawn upon. Without delving into the intricacies and challenges involved with the interpretation of ancient Chinese “conceptual” calligraphy, the most important contribution to the “possibilities for fresh interpretation” in the 1993 find is the clarification of the character/concept “ tian”. Historically, this has been translated into English as “Heaven”, which has led to the vast majority of interpretations of the Tao Te Ching to rely upon a concept of “Heaven”…an interpretation of heaven that is decidedly “western”. The “western” concept of “Heaven” is invariably something that is “other than here” …Heaven exists “out there” and one typically requests favors from “the God in Heaven” by praying TO the “other than here Heaven”. So, many translations you encounter have the distinct impression that the “Heaven” being referred to is the classic “western heaven”. From the 1993 find, it is now obvious that “tian” is better interpreted as something like “the bottomless, emergent order of the universe”… It is the force that shapes “what” our world is and “how” our world is. “Tian” is the force behind “all things that are happening”. One might even think of it as “The naturing of nature”. As you can readily see, this is not something that corresponds to the western view of “Heaven”, but encompasses the “powers underneath…the powers behind All That Is”. You may have noticed that this description can easily be witnessed in what we’ve discovered in the last 100 years, and what consisted of the entirety of Part 4 of this book. What was once interpreted as “Heaven” (Tian = Heaven) can now be clearly seen to be something entirely different. “Tian” is what we now know as “The Powers of the Universe” as discussed in Part 4! Thus, you’ll see the Powers of the Universe mentioned extensively throughout our interpretation of the Tao Te Ching at the end of this section. No longer do we have to understand the Tao Te Ching’s reference to “tian” as a “Heaven that is somewhere out there”, but we can actively draw upon the powers of “tian” by aligning with the Powers of the Universe. Best of all, the actual method for that “alignment” was given at the end of Part 4. - 84 -
The new, and more accurate, understanding of “tian” makes possible a dramatically new interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. It completely changes the nature by which the concepts can be brought forth. Once we were able to consider the implications over the course of several months of research, it became obvious that the original manuscript was entirely aimed at one key concept …Harmony. It is interesting to note that the ancient Chinese character for “Harmony” draws heavily upon the visual of a person combining the various ingredients of a meal into a pleasing result. This still resonates strongly in our day and time when we look at some of the standard definitions for “harmony”: A consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts …A pleasing combination of elements in a whole…Agreement in feeling (as in “living in harmony with”). Not only was it clear that Harmony was the primary core concept, considering the all pervasive and primal aspects of the Powers of the Universe (as described in Part 4 of this book), we were able to determine that the original Tao Te Ching was aimed at producing harmony on four levels of one’s existence: Universal – Harmonizing with the Powers of the Universe by aligning with one’s chosen aspects of those powers. Societal – Creating harmony throughout society… between various groups and their in terrelationships, via the necessary mechanisms of politics and government. Many of the chapters of the Tao Te Ching have been interpreted entirely on this level. It can seem as if fully half of the chapters are “guidelines for rulers” on how to most effectively govern society, and can be viewed as an ancient critique of the existing philosophical beliefs of that period (the philosophy of Confucianism). But each of those chapters, with the insights of the 1993 find, present interpretations that are more clearly aimed at maximizing the harmony of “the individual person within the context of the society in which they live”. Interpersonal – Maximizing harmony between friends, family and those you encounter frequently in your day-today activities. Internal – Developing a harmonious mind and spirit in order to obtain Lasting Happiness, as well as Peace of Mind. In fact, each of the 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching can be understood using each of these four levels of harmony, which is why we developed the concept of “The Four Harmonies”. This is the “once hidden” aspect of these teachings. Until now, these deeper inner meanings were simply never able to be drawn forth. The Four Harmonies
As it became obvious that the Tao Te Ching offered an incredible wealth of information far beyond previous translations (“hidden” meanings), we began to compile notes on how each of the Four Harmonies are touched upon in each of the 81 chapters. It became clear that the original intent of the writing was to provide the wisdom for the self-cultivation of an individual (we refer to the Illuminated individual who encompasses the practice of the Four Harmonies as a “ sage” throughout our interpretation) who has maximized their potential for personal harmony by incorporating each of the “Four Harmonies” into their life . Thus, to goal is to maximize your personal Harmony on each of the four levels. One might ask “What if one of the Harmonies are omitted…how does that diminish the quality of one’s existence?” Here’s what a lack in one of the Four Harmonies might look like: 1. If an individual is lacking in harmony on the Universal level, they might manifest themselves as somebody who is content/happy/harmonious in their thoughts and relationships, but who is at their innermost level of being “spiritually bereft” and not in a feeling of accord or connectedness to the sacred aspects of the universe (this is very common in the modern age in which we live). 2. If an individual is lacking in harmony on the Societal level, they might manifest themselves as somebody who is content/happy/harmonious in most aspects of life, and is spiritually connected to the divine aspect of the cosmos, but who struggles to fit in with the rest of the society. That kind of person might be considered an “outcast” and may be shunned for never being able to quite “fit in”. 3. If an individual is lacking in harmony on the Interpersonal level, they might manifest themselves as somebody who is content/happy/harmonious within themselves and with groups of people, and are spiritually connected, but who tend to alienate the people who are closest to them (family and friends). They may find it difficult to establish permanent bonding relationships. 4. If an individual is lacking in harmony on the Internal level, they may be successful in groups and in relationships, and may be spiritually connected, but they have not learned the discipline of stilling the inner voice of the mind and are often plagued by the anxieties of their own internal thoughts. Such people are often deeply unhappy due to their own unwanted and unintended “naturally arising thoughts”, but this is often a very “private pain”. Those who are closest to such a person are frequently unaware of that person’s inner turmoil. Such a person is often seen as “very moody” and can be stable for long periods of time, punctuated with intermittent episodes of unpleasant emotional outbursts. - 85 -
Introduction to a new Tao Te Ching – “Aligning with Harmony”
The most common translation for the title of the Tao Te Ching is as follows: Tao – “Way” Te – “Power” or “Virtue” Ching – “Classic”
You can translate that into understandable use as “The Classic Work on the Power of the Way”, or “The Classic of The Virtue of The Way” or “The Way of Power”. All of those translations are equally valid within the context of commonly used dictionaries of ancient Chinese. An alternate translation is offered by Roger Ames and David Hall in their book regarding the 1993 Guodian find, which shed additional light upon possible alternate and equally valid definitions of the words. They suggest that other translations of the title are equally valid if you were to interpret the meaning behind the words, based upon the newly available context of the additional (once lost) sections. For example, Ames and Hall suggest that an equally valid translation of the word “Tao” could be “field”, as in “the field of all things” or “the field in which everything exists” since a field implies something which has “force” and “influence” (as in a “force field” or as in one’s “field of influence”). Another way of viewing the “field” is with the extended meaning “The Field in Which Everything Exists”. They also suggest that the word “Te”, which has historically been interpreted as “Virtue” or “Power”, can have the equally valid translation of “Focus” as in describing something’s “focus of potency” or “focus of effectiveness”. When translating from ancient Chinese, the term “Te” has connotations of both the “focus of potency” as well and the “achieved result”. Thus, you have a “focus with the end result of something being achieved”. Those definitions, based on a laborious scrutiny of the deepest philosophical meanings of Tao and Te in ancient Chinese, resulted in a new translation of the title by Rogers Ames and David Hall: “The Classic of This Focus (Te) and Its Field (Tao)”. Ames and Hall argue that the defining purpose (and the title) of the Tao Te Ching is to “bring into focus, and sustain in an effective manner, situations that allow for the fullest appreciation of things and events which constitute one’s full field of experience.” (you may need to read that a couple of times). They further argued that if you were to simplify the intent of that rather “philosophically complex” title, you could translate the title of the Tao Te Ching as “Feeling at Home in the World” or “Making this Life Significant”. They settled on “Making This Life Significant” since it has the feeling/intent of much of the classic Taoist writing of taking the “ingredients of life” and using them to produce the best kind of life possible (a significant/meaningful life). When we examined all the arguments of Ames and Hall, it became apparent to us that an equally valid translation of “Te” is “Usefulness” or “Non-Contentious Efficacy / Effectiveness” since we are describing “achieved excellence as a result of…” which also happens to be a common translation of the “Te”. If you have read the various sections of our book in order, you’ll recognize the term “Usefulness” as the cornerstone of how we measure the validity of Illumination and Enlightenment teachings. Once again, the beauty of the word “ Usefulness” can be seen. Another useful distinction here (which you should keep in mind when you read our interpretation of the Tao Te Ching) is that a longer interpretation of “Te” could be “The usefulness of aligning with the Powers of the Universe” since those powers are the active force which flows through “All that Is”…the active force which flows through the Universe…that active force BEHIND all that is. So, “ Te” would be related to the powers BEHIND or BENEATH “All That Is” whilst “ Tao” would actually BE “All That Is”. As for the word “Tao”, we shudder when we contemplate trying to translate that vast concept into something as dry and spiritually barren as “Field”. At the same time, it was our belief that it was necessary to take the abstract word “Tao” and give it an alternate label that reflects the fact that it stands for a “sacred presence” in “All That Is”. The Tao is meant to encompass all of creation, the entire universe. It is the “underlying ground of being” …there is nothing that is NOT “Tao” so there are no words available that can point TO it. With that distinction made, we chose two equally valid words for Tao, which we use throughout our interpretation of the Tao Te Ching (both can be used interchangeably): Ultimate Mystery – You will find this throughout the writing in Part 4 on the Powers of the Universe. It is the underlying “ground of being”, which could also be written as “All That Is”.
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The Great Harmony – This is a more poetic rendition that attempts to capture the “spirit” of Tao, since all Taoist writings have as their core essence the maximizing of harmony. Thus, the Tao could be thought of as “The Harmony behind all harmonies”. So, we have Tao (the Great Harmony) Te (the Usefulness of Aligning with…) Ching (Classic), and we’ve summed those terms to “Aligning with Harmony”. This title has the dual connotation of “aligning with the Great Harmony” as well as “aligning in order to produce harmony”. Both of these are implied and intended in our shortened title. How to Read “Aligning with Harmony”
The chapters of “Aligning with Harmony” are in the standard order of chapters found in most translations of the Tao Te Ching (there have always been 81 chapters). It is STRONGLY recommended that you read this book from beginning to end in order to fully understand what the interpretations of the “once hidden” meanings are revealing. Many of the interpretations contain concepts that are fully described earlier in this book and may have limited meaning for somebody who simply opens the book to this section. Each of the chapters is numbered and has a summary title followed by the chapter itself. After each chapter is an “Essential Meaning” which summarizes the core concepts of that chapter. After the “Essential Meaning” we list a summary of how the chapter applies to each of the Four Harmonies, which were explained earlier in this section. The hidden wisdom of the Tao Te Ching reveals that when you enable harmony on all four levels, you serve to maximize your “total harmony”…you are maximizing your overall state of personal happiness. Although it’s strongly recommended that your read this book from start to finish and not start with this section, we realize that there will be some who wish to begin here to examine this new (and spiritually illuminating) interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. It is for that reason that we’re going to include here a brief definition of terms with which a reader may not be familiar (if they’ve not yet read the earlier sections of this book). These terms are listed in the order by which they appear in the interpretation: 1. Tao and Te – These two terms are explained in quite a bit of detail in the preceding paragraphs and so we won’t include that explanation here. These exact words (Tao,Te) are not used frequently within the interpretation. Instead, you will see “Great Harmony” and “Ultimate Mystery”…the two terms can be used interchangeably. As explained in the paragraphs above, those two terms correspond to “Tao”. Also explained immediately above, instead of “Te” you will see it referred to as the “Powers of the Universe ”. It is strongly recommended that you read Part 4 of this book that fully explains the various Powers of the Universe and their many unique characteristics. 2. Stillness – This is one of the three core concepts of the original Tao Te Ching (Stillness, Effortlessness, and Harmony). Stillness is discussed in great detail earlier in this book, but a quick definition would be “quietness of mind” or “the slowing down of the raging stream of thought”. It is the quieting of the constant verbal chatter that most people experience as “the narration inside their head” or simply “The Voice in the Head”. This is typically a continuous stream of words and labels inside your mind that begins from the moment you wake up in the morning until the moment you go to sleep. 3. Direct Perception and Suchness – These concepts are difficult to describe in a summary, and are described fully earlier in this book. They both describe an illuminated state of mind in which you perceive that which comes through your senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) without any use of words/labels/symbols/concepts/numbers inside your mind. Thus, when you see a dog, your mind does not produce the word “dog” …you simply perceive the animal “as it is” without resorting to the use of words/labels/symbols/concepts/numbers. For those familiar with Chinese philosophy, Direct Perception (Buddhism) and Suchness (Hinduism) are the same as the Chinese concept of “ziran” (difficult to pronounce, but sound something like “zooh-rahn”) whi ch translates as “Spontaneously so”, or “self-soing”, or “self-deriving”, or “things as they are naturally so”. 4. Wuzhi – The concept of Direct Perception is also seen in the ancient Chinese concept of “wuzhi” which is the illuminated state of “Knowing a thing’s Suchness”. This is also translated from ancient Chinese as Unprincipled Knowing. 5. Compulsive Naming of Things – This is the habitual and addictive nature of human thought in which everything we perceive via our 5 senses results in our mind automatically naming or labeling or evaluating it with words/labels/symbols/concepts/numbers. This is the constant state of most everyone you meet, and is the “habitual thought” which prevents Stillness and prevents us from Directly Perceiving the Suchness of things. It is the habitual mental practice of humans to break down everything they observe into “separate things”…this is also called (non-scientifically) …“thing-ifying”. 6. Overly-Attached – The state of attachment that we develop to people, things and concepts such that if they are removed from our lives they cause us excessive amounts of emotional duress. 7. All That Is – Everything in the universe that has existence…”everything that exists”. - 87 -
8. Mutual Arising and Dynamic Balance – Both of these terms are synonymous and refer to the fact that pairs of opposites manifest simultaneously and are not “separate things” …they are both “sides of the same coin”. You can not have the concept of “good” without the concept of “evil”. You can not have “up” without a corresponding “down”. You can not have “black” without implying the existence of “white”. 9. Ego, Thinking Mind, Involvement with The Story of Me, Voice in the Head – All of these concepts are related and are discussed in immense detail in the first three parts of this book. For a quick definition, think of all these things as the continuous narration that takes place in your mind. It is that which names/labels/symbolizes/conceptualizes/numbers …it is that part of you that uses “words” in the continuous Stream of Thought. 10. Allow / Align – This is the shorted version of RRRR as described earli er in this book and is the process in which we “Allow” that which is happening instead of mentally wishing it were “other than what it is”, and then Aligning with our preferred Power of the Universe. This serves to disengage uncomfortable/unharmonious/discordant thinking and replaces it with comfortable/harmonious thought. 11. WuWei – This is a core concept of Chinese philosophy, especially in Taoism, and used to be translated as “non-action”, but that is an exceedingly inaccurate description. In actuality, WuWei describes the “Effortlessness” that is a core of Taoism, and is best translated as “non-forcing”. Other definitions would be “non-interfering”, “non-contending”, and “non-coercing”…but the best definition is “non-forcing”. 12. Self-Fulfillment via Optimum Flow Experiences – This is described in great detail towards the end of Part 3, and describes the concept of dramatically increasing the significance and meaning of one’s life by discovering those types of experiences in your individual existence that provide the greatest amount of personal happiness. One then sets about maximizing the number of times you get to experience those types of events. Optimum Flow Experiences are your moments of greatest joy, rapture, and exaltation. 13. Separate Realities – This is the concept explaining that each person lives in their own separate reality. When watching a sunset, the perception of the person next to you will be vastly different from you own. Everybody perceives “things” that impact their 5 senses and evaluates them in often radically different ways. For one person, a “country music” concert can be a blissful experience, whilst another person might consider it an exquisitely painful form of mental torture. 14. Past/Future Imaginary Time – This is the concept which explains that the only thing that has “true reality” is the Present Moment. The past and future are simply concepts inside our mind (they are products of our imagination). The past and future only exist as concepts inside a person’s mind and blinds them from experiencing the joy available Here and Now in the Present Moment. Most people spend the majority of their day stressing over past events and worrying in a continuous state of anxiety over possible futures, and miss out on all the potential of the Present Moment. 15. HHK lifestyle – Living one’s life Hurtless, Helpful, and Kind 16. HHK/TWD – Hurtless, Helpful, Kind / in Thought, Word, and Deed. 17. RRRR – Recognize, Release, Replace, Remain …the primary mental technique taught in Part 3 for Lasting Happiness and Peace of Mind. This should be the initial emphasis of your efforts as you dedicate yourself to self-transformation such that you develop Naturally Arisi ng Comfortable Thought. 18. AA – Allow/Align …this is the shortened version of RRRR in which one “Allows” what is happening (“Allow, just for now…without complaint”) and then Aligns with the Powers of the Universe as described in Part 4 of this book.
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“Aligning with Harmony” A New Interpretation of the Taoist Classic – Tao Te Ching 1. Knowing the Great Harmony, Unifying with the Ultimate Mystery
Words can never capture the fullness of the Great Harmony, but can only illuminate its parts. To call it “the Great Harmony” allows one to feel connected to it, but does not capture its fullness. To unify with the Great Harmony without the use of words is to embrace its essence…all parts unified with the whole…no separate items. To think “the Great Harmony” is to reduce it to all its separate parts, and fragment it to the classic ten thousand things. Put aside naming and concepts, distinctions of differences and similarities, all preconceived notions. When the individual can experience existence thus, it is called “Entering Complete Harmony”. It is unifying with the Ultimate Mystery. This is the essence of “All That Is”. Essential Meaning: The Ultimate Mystery …the Great Harmony… is beyond words, symbols, concepts, ideas and must be understood from the position of mental Stillness. Understanding via Stillness is called “Direct Perception”…perceiving and knowing without the use of words and concepts…free of the Compulsive Naming of Things. The universe is always changing and evolving, thus it is folly to become overly-attached to “things and ideas” The fundamental ground of being can be loosely though of as “All that is” The Ultimate Mystery can’t be named or “pointed to” since there is no location outside of it. To call Ultimate Mystery by “a name” is like thinking a restaurant’s menu is the dinner itself and then eating the paper. Words are just “ways of convenience” for framing it so that we can attempt to understand. The use of words simply allow us to “feel to various degrees” the Great Harmony To Allow and Align without words is “Entering Complete Harmony”…unifying with the Ultimate Mystery. Universal: Look to the harmonious structure of the cosmos, and try to emulate it. Draw towards yourself that which increases harmony, and remove those things that are disharmonious and discordant. Societal: It is the innate desire for most of humanity to bind/unify into harmonious communities. It is considered desirable to become a useful part of a “whole”. Interpersonal: The Ultimate Mystery manifests the power of Allurement on the level of the human as “Love”. It is natural to people to search for personally bonding and harmonious relationships. Internal: We can begin to see the Ultimate Mystery when the compulsive naming of things ceases… when words cease we enter the realm of Complete Harmony where Lasting Happiness and Overall Life Fulfillment are possible. 2. Mutual Arising – Dynamic Balance
Beauty and Ugliness, Good and Evil… arise simultaneously. Each only exists with the presence of the other…the illusion of “opposite things” are simply sides of the Great Harmony. Distinctions automatically create their opposites. To unify with the Great Harmony is to not distinguish…perceive without naming. Not forcing labels, categories, and classifications onto things allows one to clearly see the true nature of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: All of our most basic words and concepts consist of a Mutual Arising of opposites. You can’t have one without the other. When the concept of “good” arises, simultaneously you imply the existence of “evil”. To name something as “long” automatically implies that such a thing as “short” exists. Opposites are simply different sides of a unified event. To strive to eliminate one of the opposites will always be impossible. Instead, search for a dynamic and/or harmonious balance. Never allow yourself to get into the trap of “evil must be destroyed” and “good must win”. To facilitate the inner nature of things, we - 89 -
should seek to reduce the “Compulsive Naming of Things”. To name everything is to distinguish…to make distinctions between things. The way of the Great Harmony is to see the inner nature of things via Direct Perception. Universal: The cosmos as a functioning whole always manifests things in opposites via dynamically balanced Mutually Arising (light vs. dark for example). Societal: Focus on being a member of a nation as a functioning whole, without racial/gender/religious distinction. Encourage this in our groups. Interpersonal: Be non-judgmental of those we meet, not labeling, no “out group / in group” mentality. Internal: Enhance one’s Direct Perception without the interference of Ego, Thinking Mind, Compulsive Naming of Things, or Involvement with The Story of Me. 3. Peace of Mind versus Discontent
Treating one group with more praise than another will always result in discontent. Equally treating others creates Peace of Mind Distributing wealth unfairly creates discontent. Peace of Mind results in sharing wealth evenly. Willfully avoid a forcing of values. This avoids dislike and disgruntlement in others. Complete Harmony and Peace of Mind will naturally arise in the absence of discontent. Essential Meaning: Discontent is the root of all emotional suffering. When harmony is pursued, contentment is the result. Praise is preferential treatment in any fashion. Wealth can be food, health care, anything considered “necessary for harmonious survival”. “Forcing of Values” is placing valuation/worth upon one group of things over another. Universal: An exploding star does not choose where the resulting nourishment travels… our sun shines light equally in all directions. Societal: Treat all groups equally regardless of race, gender, religion. Interpersonal: Treat with fairness, and without labeling, all family and friends Internal: Work to remove the instances of “I don’t like it”, “It should be other than what it is”, inner complaining instead of allowing, observing and finding flaws. 4. Wonder and Awe are Equally in all Things
The Powers of the Great Harmony flow equally in all things, from the most distant galaxies, to the smallest aspects of life. With wonder and awe is the way to perceive it, as the cosmos dances in its intricate rhythms or the atoms of our cells create the harmony of Conscious Self-Awareness. When you have filled the cup of your imagination by witnessing the extent of the Great Harmony’s miracles, it empties to be filled with even more. Its touch is felt in your lover’s arms, and upon the most distant star. Never ending, never stopping its gift of life. We can only say that “it persists”. Essential Meaning: The Powers of the Universe and the Great Harmony flow equally in all things. It is up to us to experience this sacred presence with a sense of wonder, awe, and reverence. Universal: The Powers of the Universe flow equally through all parts of the cosmos, macrocosmically (largescale) and microcosmically (small scale). Societal: A successful society distributes the results of i ts efforts equally amongst the citizenry. Interpersonal: The greatest level of personal harmony is achieved when you see the wonder and awe in all those you encounter, and value/respect their individual spirit Internal: Complete Harmony is finally achieved within oneself when you feel the Powers of the Universe… Universal Energy…permeating your spirit and unifying you with the Great Harmony [the Tao, God, Higher Power]. To feel the wonder and awe within oneself, and to “Remain” in the state of Allowing and Aligning oneself with “all that is” (Allow/Align is short for RRRR), and to discontinue thoughts of discontent, leads to natural arising comfortable thoughts. That is the path to Lasting Happiness. 5. Attaching to Preferences
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The Great Harmony bestows love and care to all living creatures equally, none are raised higher than the other in the view of the Ultimate Mystery. A person may have a preference of one thing over another, but like the gifts of the Great Harmony we should not overly attach to any particular thing or person. Choicelessness can be the human equivalent to the Great Harmony’s equanimity, but used in a way in which the Four Harmonies are maintained. Your material things are treated like alter incense, offered in worship yet swept away as ash…no attachment to the original, burned with love. Remaining calm and being kind to all those you meet, allows Lasting Happiness to flow from your center out to the limits of creation. You become the actual Radiance of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: We can have preferences and aversions, likes and dislikes…but should not become overly-attached anything in either of those categories. By remaining peaceful and harmonious in the absence of overly-attached thoughts, we can more easily radiate love and goodwill to all. Universal: The Powers of the Universe are described as the “all nourishing abyss”…the powers are offered freely without attachment, without preference. Societal: A society’s “rules for living” should never over-shadow your “genuine moral feeling”. Do not teach others to attach to the “institutionalized preferences” but instead rely upon your community’s “communal deep knowing” of what is morally genuine. Interpersonal: Offer equal kindness and compassion to all those you encounter, especially being alert to slacking in this area with friends and family. Sometimes it can be easier to be patient and loving to strangers because “familiarity breeds contempt”. Internal: Do not overly-attach to preferences, but Allow and Align oneself with Universal Energy via an equal experience of wonder and awe in all things. 6. All Pervading Love of the Great Harmony
The love of the Great Harmony pervades the cosmos equally, given freely and never diminishing, ever replenished. The galaxies circle each other in a perpetual dance of stars, lovers embrace, the moth circles the flame. Aligning oneself with the actions of the Great Harmony results in the ability to nourish all you encounter with the same inexhaustible love. Caring and compassion are offered equally to the high and low. The more you give of the Universal Energies, the more you are replenished. Essential Meaning: The Powers of the Universe are offered freely to all, which we should try to emulate. When we learn to align with these powers we discover that no matter how much love we give, w e are always quickly replenished. Universal: Aligning with the Powers of the Universe is a process of tapping and harnessing that which is offered freely, eternally, and inexhaustibly. Societal: Equal caring and kindness for all components of society result in the maximization of Societal Harmony. There should be no depth or limit reached in our attempts to show all groups of society the compassion we all naturally crave. Interpersonal: Like “Societal”, strive to treat all you encounter with the love you are supplied…limitless giving results in limitless amounts received. Be especially focused upon this with your friends and family. Internal: Discarding the Story of Me, and perceiving all things with eyes unclouded by Ego, you strive to Allow/Align and to manifest HHK/TWD to all in equal measure. The more you can perceive without being clouded by the Thinking Mind, the more you are able to offer love and kindness freely. 7. Outwardly Loving brings the Deepest Harmony
The powers of the Great Harmony are see shining forth and nourishing all things equally…a constant outpouring of all that which supports life. - 91 -
The sage follows the same example by aligning with the nature of the Great Harmony and offers loving kindness freely to all. Receiving the love of others is joyful, but giving love from oneself is exponentially more rewarding. The sage realizes that to radiate love is the greatest and fullest destiny of Conscious Self-Awareness. Essential Meaning: We receive the greatest joy, and the most Lasting Happiness, when we focus on the “outpouring” of love…not upon receiving the love of others. Universal: The Powers of the Universe are given freely to all corners of the cosmos. Many feel their strongest affinity to the power of Allurement, which corresponds to the human condition of “Love”. Societal: The greatest benefit to society is to nourish and value all groups equally. Interpersonal: Leo Buscaglia always taught that outward pouring of love brings the greatest joy. We should strive to remember that with friends and family. Internal: Allowing/Aligning and RRRR result in the greatest levels of Lasting Happiness, and it’s especially important to include “oneself” in the HHK/TWD practice. To be self-less is saintly, but one must not neglect the “inner” and must replenish one’s store of available love but allowing the Universal Energy to become absorbed into our spirit…our spiritual core of Conscious Self-Awareness. 8. Living in Harmony without Contending
The sage lives a life of love and Non-Contention. Like water, a wise person allows love to flow to even the lowest places. In this way, love reaches those trapped in darkness. Like water, loving kindness acts to cleanse the spirits of those who receive it. The sage “Allows” in place of contending. Contention requires energies more beneficially used in the salvation of the spirits of others. In non-contending, the sage moves whilst harmoniously engaged in the Present Moment…always knowing the right thing to do without conscious debate. In this way, all spirits are lovingly nourished. Essential Meaning: Non-Contention is the ideal way to pursue the path of the Great Harmony. Non-contention is part of the Taoist concept of WuWei…non-forcing, non-contending, non-interfering. Universal: The cosmos does not contend within itself, all parts are nourished by its powers. Societal: All groups should be equally nourished without contention. In this way, harmonious interplay of groups is maintained. Interpersonal: Allow instead of Contend with those you encounter, freely offering Love and Compassion. You must especially focus upon friends and family because their resides ones greatest test of patience, compassion and understanding. Internal: Recognition of thought is the key to maintaining an attitude of “Allowing”. Since Allowing requires little energy, and contention requires much energy, residing in the state of Allowing permits the greatest possible “outpouring of love” and thus results in the greatest benefit…the greatest harmony. 9. Harmonious Balance – Avoid Overdoing
To fill one’s cup so as to comfortably drink is wiser than filling all the way to the rim. Likewise, the blade is lost if constantly put to the sharpening stone. Finding harmonious balance in all things involves recognition of the point of overindulgence…doing to excess. To love another is to know that person’s boundaries and limits. To bond in harmony with another is to nourish their spirit, as well as to fortify the strength and safety of their wall. Love the other, and then know to step back when appropriate. This is the way of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: To find a harmonious balance in all things, avoid overdoing. When you align with the Powers of the Universe, and are radiating its benefits, always remember that you still need to respect the boundaries of others. This is a delicate balance that can only be learned by experience, always remembering to remain Hurtless. - 92 -
Universal: A supernovae explodes showering the cosmos with the nutrients of life…but the cosmos does not micro-manage the task…the cosmos steps back after the star has given its gift and demands nothing, expects nothing, needs nothing more. Societal: Groups should be equally nourished, yet treated with respect towards their particular boundaries and beliefs. Interpersonal: Evoke love to the greatest extent possible, but respect boundaries to avoid adverse consequences (“smothering” is just a single example). Internal: Find balance in your efforts to nurture others, as well as yourself. Too much self-sacrifice can result in your inability to pursue Self-Fulfillment via Optimum Flow Experiences. 10. Love Without Interference – Non-Coercive Benevolence (WuWei)
Outwardly manifest your powers of Love, and be a benefit the spirits of others. Yet, strive to remain flexible in opinion and be slow to form judgments. Yet, strive to perceive others directly without the interference of words, labels and distinctions. Yet, avoid trickery …strive for truth…eliminate self-interest. Yet, always give preference to feelings over facts. Yet, view all things with the fresh innocence of the child. Yet, give love and create balance without forcing your own thoughts and concepts upon the other. Yet, hold out your hand to lift up the spirit of others and kept your own position low… humble, like the dust. These are the deepest virtues of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: The way of the Great Harmony is to love others and benefit their spirit. You must do this without interfering. This is the WuWei concept of Non-coercive Benevolence. Universal: It is the nature of the Powers of the Universe to permeate all parts of the cosmos equally without “forcing”, asking for nothing in return… Pure Benevolence. Societal: Groups, communities, cities and states can be managed with balance and non-interference…action without forcing…true WuWei. Interpersonal: This would represent the literal phrases and instructions as written in the chapter. Internal: Non-coercive love and benevolence for Internal Harmony can only be achieved when you are in complete control of your thought processes, and when your thoughts that naturally arise are predominantly HHK, Allowing/Aligning. Thus, Recognition of one’s thoughts is always the first, and most difficult stage of personal self-realization and Self-Fulfillment. 11. Becoming the Space from which Love Flows Forth
A wheel consists of spokes and rim, but mostly emptiness. It is the emptiness from which its usefulness flows forth. A cup is molded by the potter to be a thing of exquisite beauty, yet the functionality arises from the empty space which holds the water. Walls are erected to create the home, but it is the space inside from which the joy of living emanates. Likewise, the sages create their own Inner Stillness in order to best originate the ideal vessel for radiating loving kindness and compassion. The more the sage empties this space, the faster it is replenished. This is the ever replenishing nature of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: It is necessary to practice Stillness so that you can most actively, and most successfully, align with the Powers of the Universe. Universal: There is never a deficit of energies from which we can draw. The more we become Vessels for the Great Harmony, the more we naturally draw from the ever replenishing “source of all things”. Societal: A wise system of government will become a vessel for change and improvement, striving to empty itself of outdated and limiting policies and practices. We should strive to be vigilant for this in the groups to which we belong. Interpersonal: If we wish to align with the Powers of the Universe for the benefit of our friends and family, we much be especially vigilant for the times we thoughtlessly leave Stillness and manifest actions and words that draw us away from our goals. It is when we are not vigilant that we tend to say and do hurtful things to those closest to us. - 93 -
Internal: Cultivating the Inner Space within ourselves via Stillness allows us to manifest Harmony and Balance…it is one of the most useful skills we can develop within ourselves. This Stillness is the practice by which we dis-identify ourselves with The Story Of Me, and cease the Compulsive Naming of Thi ngs. 12. The Wisdom of Developing Stillness
Vital Energy is consumed in the excessive pursuit of visual thrill. Vital Energy is consumed in the pursuit of auditory thrill. Vital Energy is consumed in the pursuit of cuisine to delight the palate. Vital Energy is consumed in the pursuit of personal treasures. The wise person pays less attention to sensory gratification, And focuses one’s guiding of harmonious thoughts and feelings towards Lasting Happiness. Essential Meaning: Harmony on all levels begins with Stillness. A still mind conserves the energies of the spirit. The result is Lasting Happiness with Limited Sorrow. Universal: Energy is never wasted on “frivolous” activity…that is the folly of the human. Societal: Do not support activities which promote the focus of energies on frivolous activity, and do not inspire a feeling of “lack” as advertisers are keen to do. It is the ploy of marketers to create feelings of disharmony and discord. Interpersonal: Gather about you friends and loved ones, and focus on what is truly important in life…pursue Optimum Flow experiences with those you care about instead of frivolous leisure activities. This will maximize the significance, meaning and worth of your life. Internal: Adjust your natural arising thoughts so that they are mostly comfortable and harmonious. Do that instead of pursuing thrills and distractions. 13. Embrace the World as You Would Celebrate the Gift of Your Own Life – Avoid Personal Extremes
Fame and Disgrace, Hope and Fear …both are examples of “extremes of feeling”. One elates and exalts, the other brings even the mightiest down low. Becoming overly-attached to one or the other of any extreme, the mutually arising pairs of opposites, will always invite sorrow. Try not to filter the world through your Thinking Mind, and don’t rely heavily upon the opinion of others. Each other person you encounter lives in their own Separate Reality and will often counsel through their own clouded vision. Instead, the wise person embraces the world, and celebrates the experience of “both sides of every coin”. The sage perceives the world without the influence of “The Compulsive Naming of Things”, and detaches from “The Story of Me”. Essential Meaning: Avoid becoming overly-attached to any of the “mutually arising pairs of opposites”. Keep an open and still mind. Try to avoid judging the actions of others because they live in their own personal reality, and often their perceptions are clouded by their “Voice in the Head”…their own “Story of Me”…their own particular “Compulsive Naming of Things”. Most of the people you will ever encounter are tormented by their own naturally arising thoughts. Universal: Aligning oneself with the Powers of the Universe, and by particularly selecting those powers with which you resonate/reverberate most strongly enhances both the quality of your existence, but the quality of the cosmos as well. Societal: Celebrate the unique culture and heritage of groups so as to distract them form focusing on extremes of Uncomfortable Emotion. Interpersonal: Most of the people you meet are “trapped” in their own reality…their Personal Reality / Separate Reality…and usually it revolves almost completely around The Story of Me. A huge kindness can always be bestowed by celebrating the aspects of others and making them feel valued and significant. Internal: Extremes of feelings are filtered first through the Ego for most people. Try to develop the habit of not attaching circumstances in your life to “The Story of Me”. 14. The Value of Directly Perceiving without the Interference of the Ego - 94 -
I look for the secret wisdom for attaining Lasting Happiness, but can not see it. Thus does it always seem “elusive”. I listen to others who offer the key for attaining Lasting Happiness, but I don’t hear anything with true meaning. Thus does it always seem “inaudible”. I try to grasp onto truths, but can never hold on to Happiness for long…it is always fleeting…fleeting…fleeting. Thus does it seem “intangible”. In this way do we learn the wisdom of Directly Perceiving without “The Compulsive Naming of Things”. In this way also do we learn the wisdom of disassociating with “The Story of Me”. When the ego does not influence that which we perceive, the true “Suchness” of the world is experienced. What was once “elusive” becomes readily seen. What was once “inaudible” is now clearly heard. What was once “intangible” becomes the easiest thing in the world to hold. Becoming unified with the Great Harmony in the Present Moment, And releasing our addiction to the past and future… This is the way of the sage. Essential Meaning: Direct Perception can only be achieved when we give up the Compulsive Naming of Things. The “Suchness” of the world can be fully experienced when we learn to disassociate our conception of “self” with The Story of Me. Learn to engage yourself constantly in the Present Moment instead of the illusion of past/future Imaginary Time. Universal: To align with the Powers of the Universe is to emulate its mechanisms of influence. These can only be truly embraced when the “human addiction” to the Naming of Things is released…the universe has no need for “clouding of Suchness” Societal: It is most wise to treat “societal groups” without the preconceived notions of stereotypes and labels. Interpersonal: See those around you without preconceived notions based on past experience or anticipated future possibilities and guesses. Internal: “Perception of Suchness” is the true nature of all you perceive, and can only be attained when you release the habitual and addictive Compulsive Naming of Things, and release the Involvement of The Story of Me. In this way we see “The World as it Truly Is” (Suchness / Direct Perception) 15. Stillness and Allowance (are mutually supportive of each other – The Effectiveness of the Middle Ground of Extremes
To describe the way of the sage is difficult since we are limited to concepts, words, names, symbols and labels. If I were forced to describe the sage in words: In Stillness does Allowance of events become facilitated, In Allowance does the Stillness in the Present Moment naturally tend to arise. Confident and beaming with the power of love, the sage blesses each person encountered…regardless of their social status. Both the high and low are celebrated with reverence and respect. Selfless and yielding with the power of compassion, the sage attempts to alleviate the suffering of all. Both the high and low are equally deserving care and consideration. Acting selflessly, the Great Harmony uses, - then depletes - then replenishes. Thus is the love from the sage ever full, always renewed and ceaselessly made complete. Thus is the vitality of the sage ever full, always recharged and ceaselessly blessed with life. These actions are the Illuminations of Unity and Alignment…within the boundless energies of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: Realize that Stillness and Allowance are closely related. Focusing one always makes the other easier to arise. Do not show preferences to either extremes of any thing or concept. Your vitality and love will always be replenished when you align with the Great Harmony. - 95 -
Universal: Stillness and Allowance facilitate the actions of Aligning with the Powers of the Universe, especially when one “declares oneself a vessel” for such energies. Note: all great acts of creativity and compassion were facilitated by the person “channeling” some form of energy that wanted to use them as a vessel Societal: Reverence and Respect are two of the key qualities which facilitate the harmonious interrelationships of societal groups Interpersonal: Selflessness and the outward pouring of Love are two of the keys for enhancing all your relationships Internal: Inner Vitality and Inner Love are constantly refilled when one develops a selfless attitude via the disassociation with “The Story of Me” . 16. Stillness and Harmony – Mutually Enhancing States of Mind
When the never ceasing Stream of Thought is slowed towards Stillness, everything you witness is observed in True Suchness. All things you witness in True Suchness can be seen to always arise and then return to their source, Such is the cyclic and Impermanent nature of all things in the Great Harmony. By observing Suchness in the state of Stillness, we negate the habitual over-attachment to things and see the Harmony in their natural disappearance. By seeing the Harmony in Impermanence, it becomes easier to still the mind. By stilling the mind, it becomes easier to see the Harmony of Impermanence. This is what is meant by the sage’s Mutually Enhancing States of Mind. Thus do we learn gratitude towards the Great Harmony, for brief flashes of incredible Vibrance, Followed by the tranquility and harmony of Stillness. In this way, we begin to understand death and learn there is nothing to fear. Essential Meaning: Suchness can be observed only when the mind is quieted. Observing things in their Suchness shows the cyclic nature of the universe…things arise and disappear…nothing is permanent. Stillness is the key to achieving tranquility within the Four Harmonies. Universal: To see the cyclic and Impermanent nature of things we must understand the nature of the Powers of the Universe. Societal: When groups can learn to appreciate the many gifts of life, strife between “the other” is lessened…Gratitude replaces Envy and Jealousy. Interpersonal: To see others in their Suchness is to appreciate their true and innermost beauty. Internal: Learning Stillness and Perception of Suchness requires a commitment to the process of disassociating from The Story of Me and to learn the processes of the HHK lifestyle, facilitated by the mental habituations of RRRR and AA. 17. The Value of Using Few Words – Cessation of Naming/Labeling
To align your actions with the Great Harmony without a trace of self-centeredness, Naturally results in the manifestation of Harmony, Love and Compassion…and creates little for other to find offensive. The great sages spoke little, and their words were considered treasures. The great sages touched all things lightly, yet great deeds were performed. Without the involvement of the personal “self”, miracles happen on their own accord. Essential Meaning: It is wise to use a few words as possible to avoid the addictive “Compulsive Naming of Things”. To align oneself with the Powers of the Universe and disassociate from “The Story of Me” is to allow the universe to operate freely through you. Universal: We would be best served if we model and align ourselves with the workings of the Cosmos…the “Boundless Field of Experience” unfolds according to it’s own harmonies and natural equilibriums, being uninfluenced by anything “outside of it”. Societal: Groups should pay especial attention to the messages of its own internal rhythms, and not overly-rely upon words, policies, outside agencies, or government. Interpersonal: We should strive to avoid stereotypes, labels, preconceived notions, etc when we deal with those - 96 -
we encounter day-to-day. A personal policy of Allowance and Compassion should always be considered and freely offered first. Internal: Once again, we see the key to harmonious action in the world when we remind ourselves to “still” the Compulsive Naming of Things within the (often vast) context of “The Story of Me”. 18. Authentic Behavior Enhances Harmony
When we align our Deepest Selves with the powers of the Great Harmony, Authentic behavior will naturally manifest. When not aligned, rules for proper conduct and appropriateness appear. When not aligned, proper learning and proper speech are emphasized. When we align our Deepest Selves with the powers of the Great Harmony, Harmonious feelings and actions spontaneously appear. When not aligned, a family’s voice is heard in complaint. When not aligned, charismatic leaders appear and explain why harmony has abandoned us. Essential Meaning: When aligned with the Powers of the Universe in Stillness, our authentic selves shine through to others. When we are authentic and show our deepest spirit, complete harmony is possible. Universal: It is a simple matter to align ourselves with the non-contrived (uncontrived) behaviors of the Universe. Societal: When the harmonious and natural way of being human is naturally active, natural morality and goodness guides the groups of society. Interpersonal: As with the Societal example, when Interpersonal Harmonies are naturally active, moral behavior and goodness pervade the family and set the example for the children without the need for a concrete list of rules…”Doing the Right Thing” becomes natural and common sense. Internal: When we disassociate our deepest selves from “The Story of Me”, our most authentic nature will naturally manifest harmony within our minds, and will radiate the harmony outwards. Authentic behavior is “genuine”…the opposite of “forcibly contrived”. 19. Simplicity Without Pretense - Harmony Without Striving
Complicated modes of Personal Display… of Holiness and Cleverness…of Codified Conduct and Appropriateness…of Plotting and Scheming, Will only lead to striving and movement away from the peace and serenity of the Great Harmony. Instead, the sage displays the genuineness of raw silk, the simplicity and intrinsic beauty of polished wood. Natural morality and intrinsic kindness naturally manifest when concern for the “self” is reduced. Essential Meaning: Peace and serenity when we manifest our authentic spirit (which lies hidden by “The Story of Me”), and avoid contrived behavior…this is the state of “genuineness” and “simplicity”. Universal: The Chinese character for simplicity is directly related to the character for “raw silk”…it reminds us that simplistic harmony is like the workings of the cosmos…natural, unrefined, unadorned. Societal: Concepts of ethical behavior should be replaced with ideas expressing the “human sentiments” …those behaviors which naturally arise when the harmony of all are taken into consideration. Interpersonal: Like “Societal”, simple and natural harmonies can always be found, especially if we treat all we encounter with the guidance of a HHK lifestyle. Internal: The HHK lifestyle can only be practiced naturally and spontaneously when we decrease the Involvement of The Story of Me, lose the propensity for Labeling all that we See, and vigilantly Recognize if we’ve fallen into the morass of “inner complaint”. 20. Non-Discriminating and Tolerance
Breaking free of conventional distinctions is one of the most challenging steps towards the Lasting Happiness found in alignment with the Great Harmony. As children we are taught the value of conventional distinctions: Accept this, Reject that …fearing and inspiring force respect…this is beautiful, that is ugl y…worry about the future, dwell on the pain of past.
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The sage knows that the key to lasting happiness lies in the return to a child-like state of perception…no distinctions or discriminations…no excessive attachment to preferences. All opposites of experience are tolerated in a state of pristine awareness, floating on the sea of experience…the only sound being the laughter of the traveler. Essential Meaning: One of the most difficult things to “unlearn” is our excessive attachment to things and concepts. Excessive attachment always begins with the “making of distinctions” which leads to being overlyattached to preferences. To cultivate the opposite state of “being overly-attached to preferences” one needs to practice Allowance and Tolerance. Universal: When aligning with the Powers of the Universe, observe how the cosmos does not discriminate or make distinctions…it emits a cosmic form of “natural tolerance”. Societal: When groups reject socially imposed norms of preference, they open themselves to being tolerant of other groups. Interpersonal: Treat all those you meet without your ingrained and “learned” preconceived notions/distinctions. Internal: Removal of distinctions and discriminations really means “overcoming one’s over-attachment” to them. This is very difficult to accomplish when we are firmly rooted in The Story of Me, because this story is constructed of learned distinctions. This process begins in childhood with the initial distinction of me/not-me. 21. Inner Vision and Inner Strength lead to Willful Alignment with the Powers of the Great Harmony
The ways of the Great Harmony are hidden to most. They call it vague, nebulous, wispy and elusive. Only those of clear vision, unclouded by the ever-distracting Naming of things, will possess the ability to see. Only those of strong will, unclouded by the ever-distracting Naming of things, will have the strength to tap its infinite bounty. Clear Vision leads to Inner Strength, allowing the sage to join with the transformative powers of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: It is the Compulsive Naming of Things which prevents us from perceiving the true nature of things. Only by Stilling the mind can we fully align with the Powers of the Universe. Universal: We can experience the boundless gift of transformative powers offered by the Great Harmony when we are in alignment with it. It is a simple experiment to witness, to free the mind of Compulsive Thought and sense the never-ending bounty of the Great Harmony. Societal: When groups become willing to passively consider their mutual connectedness to other groups, without the influence of distracting uncomfortable emotion, positive and transformative paths are found with their collective inner vision and inner will/strength. Interpersonal: To willfully clear one’s vision and allow oneself to be a vessel of the Great Harmony, one (without effort) shall positively influence the mental and emotional states of all those we encounter. Internal: When we clear our mind of the distractions of the Compulsive Naming of Things, we see clearly and have surplus energy [Compulsive Ego State is draining]. This allows us to willfully and fully align with the Powers of the Universe. 22. Becoming Flexible via Allowing – The Strength Derived from Non-Contention – Resilience by Aligning with the nature of Opposites
To Yield – Bend – Allow …this is the strength of the sage. That which yields, survives the storm…supple and pliant, yet difficult to break…ultimate resilience. That which comes to power, must eventually begin its decline. That which is brought low, will naturally begin to ascend. Thus is the wisdom of seeing the potential in all things for the natural manifestation of its Opposite. In non-contention do we find the strength to see this, and develop the resiliency to act when the timing is correct. Essential Meaning: Strength and resilience are obtained by becoming flexible…yielding, bending, allowing. - 98 -
All things eventually manifest their opposite, so do not become overly-attached to things and concepts. To develop resiliency and the ability for detecting ideal timing for actions, we must practice noncontention. Universal: We can take our example of allowance and resilience from the powers of the universe. There is no conflict amongst the stars. The powers of the universe generate new stars when the timing is correct. As one star dies, it gives birth to new stars…we can emulate this “patient timing”. In this way, star dust become a rose. Societal: Resilience via non-contention is the peaceful way to weather the storms of injustice, and to await the correct moment when things can be set aright. A group must remain flexible and resilient in order to weather these storms, and have the ability to concentrate on peaceful solutions via mutual consensus of the entire group…thus allowing the strength of numbers to manifest power simultaneously when the timing is optimal Interpersonal: By resting the Ego and practicing non-contention, we develop the ability to see the “inner timings” available in all our relationships. Sometimes we act and then effortless manifest, other times we bend and allow the storms of the emotions of others to pass. Internal: When we limit the Compulsive Naming of Things and disassociate from The Story of Me, we have surplus energy available for a kind of “inner resiliency”, knowing that the storm of the moment will pass and give rise to its opposite. The saying “this too shall pass” is the ultimate in non-contending wisdom. 23. Patience is Required for Aligning with the Universal Energies
A sage of the Great Harmony is quiet and non-blustering. Storms of wind and rain do not last, and likewise the sage does not brag. A sage of the Great Harmony is like a gentle wind that does not force, but patiently aligns with the Universal Energies. When others are spent and exhausted, the sage is seen to be refilled and replenished. A gentle breeze can last forever, but the hurricane is fleeting. Sages of the gentle breeze make their benevolence felt forever, Followers of the hurricane are but brief sparks of force. Essential Meaning: Do not brag of your accomplishments…try to always remain humble. Do not force things, but remain patient, and in this patience you can align with the Powers of the Universe. By not forcing, we do not waste mental and physical energy. In this way, it is easier to maintain a state of benevolence. Universal: It is readily observable that all storms in the Universe…cosmic and planetary…are brief and nonsustaining. Those events that are truly lasting are steady and patient. When we align our styles of behavior after this example, we are constantly replenished and renewed. Societal: All major social changes are facilitated by patiently working towards a specific goal, never expending all the energies of the group in a flurry of extreme action. Interpersonal: In our relationships there will always be storms. The wise person weathers out the storms with patience instead of choosing the unwise course of over-reacting. Internal: The sage that focuses on the nature of the Powers of the Universe will learn to align and use these universal energies…as you patiently study the powers and align with them, your patience is rewarded a hundred fold. 24. Wisdom of Humility
Braggarts incur the disgust of their audience. When we think to aim a spotlight upon our achievements, the glare reduces our true light to be seen. When we are viewed with contempt due to our unseemliness, we delude ourselves by seeing jealousy in others. Thus do we see that self-indulgence and arrogance lead to discord. Essential Meaning: Most people dislike braggarts and find them offensive and annoying. When we engage in bragging and showboating, the disgust in others is misperceived as jealousy. Universal: No aspect of the cosmos “lords” it over another. In aligning with the example of humility, we quickly see the harmony that results. Societal: When attempting to establish harmony between groups, there is no place for arrogance. When a group focuses on its own self-importance, it is unable to see the valuable contributions of the other groups…thus - 99 -
does arrogance create discord and disharmony. Interpersonal: When we try to shine the spotlight of others’ attentions upon ourselves, we merely create loathing in the eyes of the viewers. Instead of impressing others, we unintentionally create the exact opposite condition. Internal: To attain a personal state of humility, avoiding arrogance, the critical step is always the disassociation of ourselves from The Story of Me…thus does the road to personal power and humility always begin. 25. Aligning with Interconnectedness – The Inseparability of all things
Vast beyond comprehension, the powers of the Great Harmony encompass all things. Although vast, its influence penetrates and connects “All That Exists”. To begin to lose the vision of Separateness, the sage increasingly senses the connection of all things…the cosmic interpenetration. When separate, we can not align with and draw strength from the Powers of the Universe. When connected, we are filled and replenished. In this way does the sage obtain that which is needed to radiate harmony into the world. In this way does the sage see the Suchness of all things. Essential Meaning: No thing in the universe is “separate from the universe”…all things are interconnected in a vast network of intertwining energies. When we align with the Powers of the Universe feeling deeply connected, we can draw strength and energy. Seeing the inseparability of all things is a step toward being about to perceive “Suchness”. Universal: By beginning to recognize the inseparability and seamlessness of all things, we see the door through which all the powers of the universe can be tapped. Societal: Harmony is established between groups when they begin to see that their self-imposed separateness is simply a mental construct. Interpersonal: Here we have the classic “put yourself in their shoes” wisdom…when we begin to lose the sense of “separation from others” we begin to connect to their feelings/psyche/spirit in ways we all secretly long for. Internal: We are born and raised feeling like egos enclosed in a bag of skin. To begin to feel the connection and interpenetration of our environment…heat, air, microbes…we see that we are connected to our environment the amazingly complex dance of life on earth. When being in communal flow with the Great Harmony, we learn to see and model ourselves after “things as they are naturally so” [ziran]. 26. Tranquility instead of Restlessness
Tranquility is the opposing mental state from Restlessness. Tranquility conserves energy, whilst Restlessness consumes. Great focus and steady accomplishment are possible from the tranquil state. Restlessness may appear powerful, but is all too quickly burned out and consumed. It is from the agitated state of mind, that offenses are noted, and grudges stored for future reconcile. It is from the tranquil state of mind, that offenses are allowed, and tolerance harmonizes perturbed minds. Restlessness naturally leads to discordant relationships. Tranquility naturally leads to harmonious relationships. Essential Meaning: Tranquility should always be pursued instead of allowing oneself to reside in Restlessness. Tranquility naturally leads to harmony. Universal: To align oneself with the Great Harmony is to see the steady and unhurried nature of the cosmos. Societal: To incite restlessness and discord amongst members of a group is to sow long term grudges and debts of disharmony. Interpersonal: It is from a tranquil state that relationships can be harmonized, and long-term benefit accrued by all. Internal: It is the nature of the Monkey Mind to find a restless thought, and then jump aboard the “runaway train” as supporting thoughts lend weight to the direction of discord. RRRR begins with Recognizing this natural tendency of the untrained and undisciplined mind. - 100 -
27. The Common Sense Effectiveness of Hurtlessness, Kindness and Compassion
The sage of the Great Harmony enjoys encountering others on their path, and takes care to not spoil the path itself. Thus the unspoiled path remains a joy for those to follow. The sage of the Great Harmony enjoys talking to others along the way, but is careful not to cause hurt. Thus those we encounter move on in a greater state of personal harmony…spreading their comfort in an ever expanding wave. The sage of the Great Harmony gives selflessly to those they meet who are in immediate need, and does not record any form of debt. Thus do those who are aided, pass the assistance on to others …radiating a continuing example of thoughtfulness and consideration. It is obvious to the sage that such acts of Kindness and Compassion are the common sense way to spread and propagate the Powers of the Universe throughout the world. Essential Meaning: The Hurtless, Helpful, Kind (HHK) lifestyle implies that you apply the practice towards others, the environment, and even oneself. By treating others with the love and compassion of the HHK lifestyle, you tacitly encourage them to do the same, which results in “ripple effect” as each person passes love and kindness to the next. Universal: The cosmos can be seen to accomplish all that is necessary, without blundering about and being “heavy handed” in the process. A slow and steady energy accomplishes all things, and nurtures all things equally without preference. This is the common sense of uniformly distributed compassion Societal: A society benefits when it teaches its members to recognize as well as perform acts of goodness. We must also encourage people to pass good acts “down the line”. Interpersonal: The “flippant” version of this is “one good turn deserves another”, but the deeper meaning is that good deeds tend to be propagated outward in an infinite wave, as do to acts of harm. Internal: When one begins to act from compassion and love instead of a selfish focus on The Story of Me, acts of Hurtlessness, Kindness, and Compassion become those acts which “naturally arise” within oneself. 28. The Harmony of Reducing Attachment to Preferences
Acknowledge both your masculine and feminine side…a time to push and a time to yield. See the wisdom in which one day you need to act quickly, and those times where the steady approach saves the day. One day you must be the mountain, the next day you must be the valley…one day the leader and the next day the follower. In being first, you can set the positive example. In being last, you support others in reaching their potential. You may prefer one side over the other. Simply practice not becoming overly-attached to either. In this way, the follower of the Great Harmony is aligned with the strength inherent in the efficient use of opposites. One side of a polarity may be useful one day, and its opposite useful the next. In cultivating order in your world, all options are equally included. Essential Meaning: To efficiently use the concept of “opposites” you must learn to not be overly-attached to either polarity. You can have preferences…you simply learn to become not overly-attached. Universal: A star is destroyed, and new stars are born. Some systems are stabilized, while others systems are destroyed. Out of Cataclysm comes new life. Thus is the cyclic nature of the Great Harmony. Societal: Members of groups should strive to understand the value of opposites. Though diversity comes endless beauty and endless opportunity to create harmony. Interpersonal: All relationships should be seen as “sometimes giving, sometimes taking”…do not become locked into one versus the other if harmony is your goal with those you love. Internal: When you begin to disassociate the Deepest You with the illusion of The Story of Me, you will naturally begin reducing your attachment to preferences. 29. Non-Forcing (Wu-Wei) and the Wisdom of Allowing all Opposites and Polarities - 101 -
Harmonious coexistence is achieved when mankind works in an attitude of benevolence towards the full spectrum of life. To force the preference of the human, we disrupt the sacred balance of the Great Harmony. The spirit we find throughout the varied and complex life forms of Earth is not guided by an external hand. The spirit of the cosmos arises and is generated by the members of the sacred dynamic. The sacred dynamic includes the animal as well as the neighbor. Celebrate the fish and the bird, the worm and the elephant, the man and the woman, all races and species. For all life, however different, grows forth from the kindness of the Great Harmony . Essential Meaning: WuWei supports the harmonious coexistence of all things in you existence, and enables you to act from a core of benevolence and loving kindness. Universal: Humankind should follow the example of the Great Harmony and the way it nurtures life on this planet. Without the influence of humans, life on this planet would live in greater harmony. It is a sad testament to human ignorance, unkindness, and lack of respect for the other life forms on our planet that so much permanent destruction is being wreaked every year. The situation has deteriorated so dramatically that we are now at a point where we are actually altering the DNA of other life-forms with our polluting waste. By destroying other life, we bring the death of our own species closer to occurring, all because of avarice and the focus on the greeds and over-attachments of the typical human condition Societal: Groups should mirror the wisdom of allowing the opposites in nature to co-exist, and should not force their ideals and beliefs upon the other groups of society. To force a group’s beliefs upon others is the way to persecution and violence. Interpersonal: We must understand in our encounters with others, that each person lives in their own Separate Reality. We must therefore honor the differences in others and not try to force the acceptance of our own opinions and beliefs. Internal: Personal harmony can only be achieved when we learn tolerance, and allowance. To do so requires a vigilant watch over the manifestations of The Story of Me. 30. Hurtlessness and Humility
To impose acts of aggression, only serves to create resistance. To destroy the harmony of others, is to lessen the harmony of the cosmos. Results can be harmoniously achieved, with the absence of arrogance and self-aggrandizing. This is the correct way of achieving harmonious ends without forcing… results that don’t create resistance or resentment. Thus do harmoniously created gains tend to flourish and endure. Essential Meaning: Hurtlessness should be the focus of all our action to promote a maximum amount of harmony. Desired results of efforts should be free of arrogance, conceit, and self-aggrandizing…such results tend to endure. Universal: When we align ourselves with the Powers of the Universe, see that there is no point in “forcing”. We should practice WuWei in all things. Always have the “big picture” in mind even in the smallest of things…creating harmony in the small, enhances the harmony of the large. Societal: Lasting results are best achieved politically instead of militarily. Interpersonal: To create harmonious change is best accomplished without forcing…thus do relationships tend to endure and weather hard times. Internal: Surrendering the “little self” of the Ego facilitates the avoidance of personal arrogance and selfaggrandizing. Emotional discipline is the key. 31. Avoid the Discord and Disharmony of Violence
Weapons are inauspicious creations, and lend themselves to disharmony, discord and evil… Although sometimes they are necessary to protect the peaceful followers of the Great Harmony. Physical force should only be applied when unavoidable…used coolly, with intelligence and restraint. Do not celebrate victory via violence, nor should you delight in the death of your enemy. To achieve a greater harmony via violence should be treated with sadness and great remorse. When the greater evil is defeated, weep for the losses of mothers and fathers, - 102 -
Children now parentless…siblings now alone. Essential Meaning: We should always temper our decisions in the spirit of Hurtlessness, but there will always be times which call for “strong countermeasures”. The necessary and justified “strong countermeasures” are extremely subjective and must be uniquely chosen for each particular situation. To take the life of an enemy should be done with great remorse and regret. Universal: When we align ourselves with the Powers of the Universe, a follower of the Great Harmony has very little use for violence. As in cataclysmic events within nature, violence should only be used when absolutely necessary to facilitate the continued and natural flow of harmonious function Societal: Nothing halts the flourishing of peace and love more so than human war. War is to be avoided if at all possible, and treated with the utmost grief and regret. Interpersonal: A follower of the Great Harmony will rarely resort to violence in Interpersonal relationships, and will strive to only use violence in the protection of oneself and one’s loved ones from immediate threat of danger. Internal: Anger and Hatred are the killers of personal harmony, happiness, and contentment. You will find that these emotions always begin deep within “The Story of Me” and should be avoided at all costs with the mental techniques of RRRR and AA. 32. Distinctions - The Compulsive Naming of Things
Words, Labels, distinctions, concepts, symbols, numbers – Useful fictions embraced in the flourishing of humankind. Always remember that money is not wealth, nor is a menu the sustaining food. When we travel down the path of separation, our over-conceptualizing is called the “Compulsive Naming of Things”. Most people live completely identified within the illusions of naming, and do not see the “Suchness” in their world. They live in a completely Separate Reality, measured by names and numbers…for them it is an inescapable illusion. This is not the way of unity or oneness. This is not the Seamlessness of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: The Compulsive Naming of Things is one of the primary causes of unhappiness, because it perpetuates the illusory nature of “The Story of Me”…it hides our spirit and prevents us from seeing the Suchness of things. Universal: We must always strive to harmonize with the ultimate Seamlessness of nature, so that we do not lose track of our way along the path of the Great Harmony. Societal: The “naming and classifying of things” is what has enabled our species to grow and flourish to the extent that it has. The trick is to see when we’ve gone too far in our distinctions, such as us/them racial intolerances. Interpersonal: To lose the separation between “me and you” in our relationships allows us to “see things from the other’s point of view”, thus creating more harmony in our relationships. Internal: This chapter discusses the classic “naming of things” and the danger of “thing-ifying” the world such that we lose our ability to Directly Perceive the “Suchness of things”…we become trapped in the illusion and pain of separateness. . 33. The Discipline of Contentment (Self-Knowing, Self-Discipline, Allowing vs. Complaining)
To understand the way most others think, allows the sage to sail the daily seas of experience with harmony. But the true challenge in the enlightenment of the most wise is to understand and control the working of one’s own mind. It is easy to sway the thoughts and opinions of others, But to be in complete control of one’s own thoughts is the greatest challenge of all. Self-Discipline and Self-Knowledge brings the wealth of contentment and fulfillment to the sage, …the priceless riches of Lasting Happiness, Immense Harmony, Meaning, Significance, and Physical Longevity. Essential Meaning: - 103 -
The most important practice is Allowing “all that is” instead of Complaining (both inwardly and outwardly). To Allow things instead of Complain is to achieve contentment of thought, and facilitates the move towards Stillness. Universal: Only be aligning with the Powers of the Universe can people reach their fullest potential, and their highest possible degree of happiness Societal: When we learn the practice of self-discipline and self-knowledge we have a better chance of harmonizing with all the rest of society. Interpersonal: To allow instead of complain is one of the most important ingredients in developing the deepest of relationships. Internal: To be constantly vigilant against inner complaint is the mental practice of the wisest of sages. 34. Effortlessly Loving All Equally without Expectations is the “Harmony and Wisdom of Divine Love”
The Love of the Great Harmony is like a gently flowing stream, It flows equally to the left and to the right with equal, but lords it over none. Loving all equally and with no ambition it is sometimes called “small”. Loving all equally and asking for nothing it is sometimes called “great”. This is the Divine Love of the sage. Kindness is freely given to strangers and the beasts. Thus does the sage perform great acts of Love and Compassion, But does not have to “try”. Thus does the sage perform great acts of Kindness and Benevolence, But expects nothing in return. Essential Meaning: One must manifest love and compassion equally to all, with no ambition and no expectation of reciprocity…this is “Divine Love”. Universal: To align oneself with the Allurement of the Universe is to Love all Equally…this is “Divine Love” but does not require belief in a deity. I use the word “Divine” because that is how a deity “would” manifest its love. Societal: It’s important to set the example for others by doing good deeds, doing the right thing, generally being a good citizen. This example of love and tolerance is import to demonstrate as you go about your daily activities…adults and children are always observing you. Interpersonal: It’s important not to show favoritism amongst the people with whom you have a relationship…treat all with equal kindness and respect. Internal: Instead of hiding behind the ego constructs of pretense, posing, and general artifice, remove your Involvement with The Story of Me and allow yourself to give love equally to all living things…expecting no rewards or acclaims…humble always…acting this way simply because it’s “the right thing to do”. 35. The Wisdom of Contentment versus “Insatiable Thirst”
Seeing the true nature of things without labels and namings is to see its “Suchness”. When labels and namings are removed, you insatiable thirst is replaced with easily satisfied contentment. Music, fine foods, beautiful sights …these are merely passing satisfactions leaving nothing behind but craving for more. If looking for fulfillment from sensory pleasures, we end our lives finding that such longings were never exhausted. Only fully aligned in the Great Harmony do we find Contentment, Peace of Mind, Fulfillment and Lasting Happiness. Essential Meaning: One of the root causes of suffering is the state of “Insatiable Thirst” in which our desires are never fully satisfied. Universal: The Powers of the Universe have no equivalent to craving, desire, or longing. By fully aligning oneself with any of these powers we take a valuable step towards true contentment in the Great Harmony. Societal: When viewing and participating in the desires and cravings common to our society, it is wisest to see beneath such longings, and to work instead towards satisfying the underlying causes of human behavior. - 104 -
Interpersonal: Relationships are often damaged by our insatiable thirst for new experience and sensation. We grow bored and discontent with what we have, only to discover (often too late) the nature of the wonderful gifts which we were originally offered freely. Internal: The addictive pursuit of sensory pleasure is truly like a pet rodent on an exercise wheel…no end in sight, fulfillment seems to be promised, longings and cravings never exhausted. One’s life ends with us bemoaning “Is that all there was?” 36. Harmony between Opposites – Avoidance of Extremes – The Wisdom of Equilibrium
Contentment and Peace are found between the extremes of opposites, for any extreme can never last. That which is stretched too far must contract or break. Pursuit of ultimate strength will always call to be weakened. Anything raised too high must surely topple. Possession of too many material things will always lead to loss and the pain of being separated. To cling to a loved one is to invite disharmony. The flexible person will always find contentment …but not those set in their ways. To brandish one’s strength is to invite attack. The gentle person will find love everywhere…hardened hearts die lonely. In all pairs of opposites, the Great Harmony awaits in the middle. Essential Meaning: It is wise to avoid extremes, and to seek the contentment available in Equilibrium…in balance. Likewise, when residing in the middle of opposites strive to maintain healthy levels of attachment. Universal: All cosmic systems eventually find balance…extremes are always torn down and are not as lasting as those systems which find Equilibrium Societal: Equilibrium between groups produces the greatest harmony and the least friction. Thus we find equilibrium is always sought after in political solutions…war is rarely in accord with a search for balance. Interpersonal: Balanced relationships are the longest lasting. To leave a friend or loved one because the “fire has cooled” is the worst kind of mistake. Burning passion never lasts, but should be savored and then replaced with a deeper love and a deeper friendship…a lasting partnership of kindred spirits. Internal: Excessive involvement with “The Story of Me” is often characterized by the pursuit of extremes …extremes of experience…always thinking that the next big thrill will satisfy one’s inexhaustible longing. Balance and Equilibrium between sets of Opposites is the resting place of the contented sage. 37. The Harmony of Natural Rhythm – The Wisdom of Non-Contrived Simplicity
Interference with Natural Rhythms invites discord. Allowance, Tolerance and Stillness are the sage’s tools of harmony. Non-Interference and Non-Complaint are the marks of Illuminated beings. Manipulation and guile are the marks of those completely submerged in the disharmony of the ego. Harmonious thought and action lead to Peace of Mind. When one develops a keenness for the simple, contentment is never difficult to maintain. This is the Great Harmony’s “Wisdom of Non-Contrived Simplicity”. Essential Meaning: One should always seek the natural rhythms of things, and seek to not disturb them from balance. Valuable tools in this guideline are Allowance, Tolerance, Stillness, Non-Complain and Harmonious Thought. Universal: When one selects one or more of the Powers of the Universe to align with, a bonding with natural rhythms will manifest on their own accord. This is the path to Peace of Mind and Contentment. Societal: We should always try to blend our rhythms with those of our communities in order to avoid suspicion, and to be accepted and seen as one of those who should be trusted…seen as “a naturally nice person”…simple and uncontrived. Interpersonal: When you can match the rhythms of your friends, family, and loved ones, harmony is the natural result. A direct correspondence exists in relationship harmony and one’s personal happiness and contentment. Internal: In order to match natural rhythms, we must develop minds that are simply and still, free from - 105 -
uncomfortable thought. Allowance and Tolerance are necessary, but the key is to learn vigilance in the recognition of our current states of thought and feeling, and avoid the perils of dwelling in the past or the future. This is the Harmony of finding Natural Rhythm via Stillness and Simplicity. 38. Naturally Arising Kindness
The desire to appear powerful and strong is called “Being Bound with Chains of Lead”. The inexhaustible longing to own material things is called “Being Bound with Chains of Steel”. And the wish to appear holy and virtuous is called “Being Bound with Chains of Gold”. The three paths are prisons created by the ego…prisons from which true kindness and true love rarely emerge. Without these chains of ignorance, the sage’s kindness and benevolence naturally arises for all, Uncontrived…no expectation of reward…ignorant of etiquette and ritual…honestly arising love without veneer. Rejecting the stereotypes of society, the sage ignores what is superficially beautiful and nourishes all. Rejecting the flower, the sage offers the fruit of kindness and love naturally and freely. This is the Divine Love of the Great Harmony Essential Meaning: Divine Love should be given freely to all. To accomplish this we must beware the over-attachments generated by the Ego. Universal: The gifts of the Powers of the Universe are uncontrived and offered freely to all. This is simply another reason why aligning with these powers is beneficial…we can model the Great Harmony’s unbiased gifts. Societal: We must strive to not perpetuate the belief of “happiness via material acquisition”…this is not what is to be valued. The classic example is the typical television commercial…marketers don’t even try to hide their motivation to create dissatisfaction in the mind of the viewer. This is one of the greatest perils of society…being caught up in a constant stream of discontent which is supported by the media. Interpersonal: Natural and uncontrived relations are the most healthy, and generate mutually beneficial harmony, love, respect, commitment, and loyalty. Internal: Our insatiable desires, cravings, graspings, over-attachments, and longings are traps of the ego, and never lead to Lasting Happiness or Overall Life Fulfillment. When we realize that they are merely chains and prisons created by and sustained by the Involvement with The Story of Me, we can begin to let go of contrivance and veneer, and seek that which is truly useful…the cultivation and transformation of a spirit with has naturally arising comfortable/loving/allowing/tolerant/non-complaining thoughts and feelings. This naturally radiates out and spreads to others…lifting up their spirits in the process as we radiate our Divine Love. 39. True Humility without Contrivance is Essential when Aligning with the Great Harmony
The sage exists in True Humility, unconcerned with appearance and reputation. Sages tend to think of themselves as small and undeserving…grateful for being selected as vessels of the Great Harmony. Whether one is a majestic snow-capped mountain, or a hillock on the frosty moors, Allow your life to blend with others. Allow your love to touch your neighbor. Peace, Tranquility, and Contentment will be yours. Thus is the humble way of the sage, on the luminous path of the Ultimate Mystery. Essential Meaning: Humility without contrivance results in the strongest alignment with the Great Harmony. Universal: When modeling one’s outpouring of love after the Powers of the Universe, humility and noncontrivance come naturally…thoughts of guile and deceit don’t ever arise. Societal: We should not concern ourselves for how we are viewed by the rest of society. The sage is not concerned about appearances, but how much love and harmony can be passed on to others. Interpersonal: True Humility is a key factor in lasting relationships of all kinds. Contrivance and deceit are not concepts used by a loving person. Internal: Disassociation with The Story of Me and the HHK lifestyle naturally lead to acts and thoughts of naturally arising love. These are offered in True Humility and with consideration to of the feelings as well as boundaries of others. 40. Harmony via the Gentle Return to Stillness - 106 -
Returning gently to Stillness time and time again, marks the living rhythm of those on the path of the Great Harmony. When thoughts drift to past and future, returning gently to the Present Moment marks them as well. Straying to turmoil, returning gently to Stillness. Straying to jealousy, returning gently to Stillness. Straying to Anger, returning gently to Stillness. Thus marks the rhythm of the follower aligned with the Great Harmony. The advanced sage resides in Stillness, rarely needing to gently return. Essential Meaning: When people begin traveling the path of the Great Harmony, it seems that again and again and again they are finding the need to “return to Stillness”. With practice and dedication we begin to live for increasingly longer periods of time in Stillness until eventually we rarely need to “return” because we rarely stray to states of uncomfortable thought. Universal: The rhythms of the cosmos are cyclic and natural…always gently returning to equilibrium and rest. Societal: We must enhance those groups to which we belong, and counsel gentle returns to states of equilibrium and mutual harmony. Turmoil, jealously and anger lead to misery and discord. Interpersonal: We all tend to forget that relationships are about balance and compromise…focusing on harmony alleviates this type of relationship strain. Internal: The ultimate lesson here is that the practice of the 4 Harmonies is at first a seemingly never-ending cycle of forgetting and remembering, straying and returning. With diligent practice, our naturally arising thoughts adjust themselves and we remain in Stillness/Happiness for increasingly longer periods of time. 41. Even in Seemingly Opposite Situations can Creativity be Found
To package and define the Great Harmony is an impossible task…always encompassing every opposite. If there is nothing outside of the Great Harmony, with what could be used to point? Does this mean that following the path is not useful? …far from it. Since the Great Harmony is the font of creativity, and exists in all opposites, We discover that even in opposed situations can creativity be found. Even in the most radically opposed opposites, true novelty, the unique and the unexplained, seem to simply “emerge”. In the brilliance of the sun, we use its energy to create marvels for the world. In the darkness of the night, we joyously develop illuminations for the mind. The sage is creative spontaneously in all situations that arise. This is the power of Creativity within Opposites. Essential Meaning: Creative emergence is one of the most useful of the Powers of the Universe, and can even be accessed when we are looking at apparently opposing circumstances. Universal: In all opposing aspects of the universe, equilibrium and creativity still emerge. No system is static, even in its most extreme state…all is subject at one moment to entropy, and then next to stability. Societal: In all the groups to which we belong, we should always pursue harmoniously creative solutions no matter if we currently reside in one extreme or another. Interpersonal: Even in the darkest moments of our relationships, we can still find a spark of harmonious creativity to rectify our relationship woes if we truly focus on this as being the most beneficial outcome. Internal: Only by calming the mind in Stillness, and removing our Involvement with “The Story of Me”, can we hope to reach the most harmonious outcome possible in adverse conditions. It is in times of trouble that Stillness will serve us most effectively instead of a flaring forth of emotional discord. 42. Embrace Change – All Opposites Eventually Blend in the Great Harmony
One can simultaneously feel the Oneness of the Great Harmony, As well as the distinctions and particulars of everything our senses encounter. Although opposite, these states of spirit blend together. Each is real, and neither is illusion. - 107 -
In this way, sense the separations and unities around you and embrace them equally, By allowing the harmonies of each to become a part of your experience. By embracing opposites, we find Lasting Harmony and are able to celebrate death as well as life without regrets. Life blends into death…death blends into new life. Light blends to dark, and returns with the rising sun. Crops are harvested, and seed are sown. Thus does the sage not leave words of love and devotion unspoken. Thus does the sage not leave deeds undone. Friends and loved ones are kissed good-bye without regret. Essential Meaning: Oneness and multitude are not truly separate…they are both simply aspects of the Great Harmony. These apparent opposites blend together, neither are illusion, and we can maximize harmonies by embracing both. Universal: Cosmic creation and Cosmic destruction are both aspects of the Powers of the Universe and should be equally embraced. Societal: Disasters within groups should be viewed as opportunities for change and growth once the members can reduce their reactive turmoil. Interpersonal: Celebrate fully the lives that you touch so that when those people are gone you can celebrate the times you spent together without regret for actions undone or words unspoken. Internal: Learn to see the “Suchness” of things without the “Compulsive Naming”…this will help you find harmony in life as well as harmony in death . 43. Allow Gentle Yielding – Stillness and Silence Illuminate the Path of the Great Harmony
To respond to the anger of others with Divine Love and Compassion is the most benevolent and effective response. To softly accomplish your actions, gaining the willing support of others, yields better results than coercive forcing. When thoughts of anger arise, recognize that you stray from the Great Harmony…then become Still. When words of frustration pour forth from your li ps, recognize that you stray from the Great Harmony…then become quiet. Thus does the sage of the Great Harmony see that Stillness in mind creates the highest benefit. Thus does the sage of the Great Harmony see that Stillness in action reaps the greatest rewards for all. Essential Meaning: Offering Divine Love and Compassion from the mental base of Stillness is the ideal condition. Be diligent in monitoring your thoughts, and when they stray from Stillness, gently return to the quiet state. Universal: Several of the powers of the Universe clearly show that the slow/steady way is the most effective. Like water, the Powers of the Universe flow around temporary manifestations of opposition. We can align with these powers and emulate the simplicity and overwhelming strength of water. Societal: To effect positive societal change, never give the impression that you are trying to coerce or force opinions upon a group. Instead, show the benefits and beauty of your position and let the group make its own decision. Interpersonal: Non-coercive, Non-forcing is the essence of WuWei and will usually achieve the desired results in your relationships. Those you care about will always respond more positively when they do not feel coerced or forced…to coerce or force is the opposite of WuWei. Internal: Understand that anger and hostility from others are due to the fact that they live in their own Separate Realities and that their anger comes from a root base of basic unhappiness within their life. Removing your involvement with The Story of Me will allow you to more readily see this, and it facilitates your “Allowing/Yielding without Complaint” and your expression of Compassion and Divine Love. Doing this makes others happy and increases your own level of personal happiness at the same time. . 44. Contentment via not Being Overly Attached to Things
What is most valuable in this world? Is it the fame of recognition? Is it money and possessions? - 108 -
Is it winning where others fail? Each of these comes with the price of loss. What is gained will fade with time. Long term contentment results from not being overly attached to these mundane things. Treat possessions as temporary gifts and do not hold on or cling to them. Allow yourself to be natural and uncontrived…and your true beauty will shine forth. By Contentment without Attachment we escape the woes of the world. By offering Divine Love, Compassion and Gratitude do we receive that which is truly useful. In this way does the sage find Vibrant Health and Lasting Happiness in the blessings of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: Discontent is often the result of clinging/grasping and the over-attachment to things and concepts. Universal: For those willing to align with the power of universal Allurement, and who are also willing to align with the Caring of Interrelationships also shown by the Powers of the Universe, endless joy awaits. Societal: When you manifest Divine Love, Gratitude, and Compassion to all those you meet, you set the example for others, and tacitly show them the way to make their spirit shine brighter. The Hurtless, Helpful, Kind lifestyle is the perfect path for accomplishing this easily and without excessive effort. Interpersonal: Treat all those you are close to as temporary gifts from the Great Harmony. No person is immortal, and the greatest grief comes from the loss of a loved one. Over-attachment to loved ones can result in life-ending sorrow and misery. Honor loved ones when they depart, but do not allow your existence to be permanently degraded, for this is not what they would wish you to do. Internal: The key component of our teachings is the fact that Lasting Happiness is found in the “outpouring” of love, and not the receipt of love. In giving love, generosity, and compassion we reap the endless blessing of Lasting Happiness, Peace of Mind, Life Fulfillment, and endless joy. The greatest sadness in the world is caused by becoming overly-attached to “things” and suffering when they are eventually lost. Lastly, it is a scientific fact that a healthy emotional state is conducive to longevity and healing. This has recently been described as “brain health” by noted Neurologist Dr. Amen and his research on the tens of thousands of brain scans he’s collected and analyzed. . 45. Aligning with the Endless Possibilities offered by the Great Harmony
In the midst of apparent chaos, the sage finds useful possibilities. Stilling the mind, we perceive the “things as they actually are” without our use of The Naming of Things. When the mind is still and aligned with the Great Harmony, Great truths are found amidst chaotic speech. Great skill can be found where others stumble. Great prosperity can be found where others find nothing. Just as staying active in the cold keeps one warm, and becoming still in the heat keeps one comfortable, When the sage aligns with the Great Harmony, endless possibilities manifest. Essential Meaning: Although life can seem chaotic, remaining in Stillness allows you to chart the correct course and facilitates our alignment with the Great Harmony. Universal: When we choose to align with the Powers of the Universe that match our individual temperaments, we easily begin to see opportunities that we were once blind to. Societal: As we examine our position within the community, we can find opportunities to implement useful actions when we cultivate and transform ourselves correctly…when we cultivate personal Stillness. Interpersonal: When we still our thoughts and cease the Compulsive Naming of Things, our alignment with the Great Harmony allows us to enhance our relationships to amazing degrees. Internal: The inner cultivation required to find the endless possibilities described in this book is of two steps…the cessation of the Compulsive Naming of Things, and the disassociation with The Story of Me. Stillness then begets effortless action. 46. Avarice – Insatiable Greed as the Root of Misery
When people follow the path of the Great Harmony, horses are bred for farms and not war. When people align with the Powers of the Universe, steel is used for ploughshares and not for swords. - 109 -
The greatest sins of the mind are those of greed. The greatest sins towards others are acts of avarice. To control one’s greed and avarice is the sage’s path to Lasting Contentment. Essential Meaning: Avarice is one of the greatest sins of mankind. When Stillness is achieved and things are perceived in their Suchness, generosity will always result. The removal of Avarice is the path to Lasting Contentment. Universal: The Powers of the Universe to not conserve and hoard energies. Look instead to align with the universal examples of generosity. Societal: To discourage avarice and encourage generosity should be a goal you try to instill in the groups to which you belong. Interpersonal: When you refuse to give in to the temptation of your insatiable desires for acquiring “more things”, one’s relationships will always benefit due to your naturally generous attitude. Internal: The root of misery is one’s “unquenchable thirst” for more “things”, combined with overly-attaching to things and concepts. 47. The Significance of your Existence can be Always be Found – The Promise of a Meaningful Life and Overall Fulfillment is Always Available
You do not have to search the world for a secret truth, The meaning of your life can be discovered where you now stand. The further you look away from your Deeper Self, The more the truth recedes, and yet seems to beckon. This is the illusion of “apparent truth”, versus the full Truth of your personal significance. It is simply deep inside yourself…bonded with your spirit..as it has always been. The sage does not travel in search of Truth, but finds it within. Once the Truth is found, Contentment and Effortless Action manifest. Essential Meaning: The meaning and significance of your life is found when you embrace your deepest spirit, which is only found when your embrace Stillness and disassociate from “The Story of Me”. This is called “finding the full Truth within” and refusing to be fooled by the illusions of “apparent truth”. Universal: Aligning yourself and becoming a willing vessel for the Powers of the Universe will assist you in Stilling the mind, and will show you the model for Non-Forced action …WuWei. Societal: When you’ve found Truth and cease fruitless striving, you will naturally become an inspiration for all those you encounter, and you’ll set the example for others to model. Interpersonal: Once you’ve found Truth, your resulting Stillness and Non-Forced/Non-Contrived actions will serve to dramatically increase the quality of your relationships. Internal: A meaningful life with significance and no regret manifests when the search for Truth outside of oneself is ended…that search is one of the great illusions…it seems to beckon, but any truth outside yourself is “apparent truth”. The full Truth is found when you lose “The Story of Me” and practice Stillness by ceasing the Compulsive Naming of Things. 48. Aligning with the Powers of the Universe is the Master Path of the Great Harmony
In studying to increase knowledge, one increases that which the mind contains. In learning the master path of the Great Harmony, one reduces that which the mind contains. The sage reduces the contents of the mind, until harmonious and non-forced action Manifests of its own accord. It is like drawing a bowstring, yet not being the instrument of its release, Allowing the string to release of its own harmonious timing. In walking the master path of the Great Harmony, be naturally non-interfering. Be mindful always of never over-attaching to any thing or concept. - 110 -
In this way does the sage accomplish miracles, yet claims to be “nothing special”. Essential Meaning: “Reducing the content of the mind” refers to the practice of ceasing to label and categorize everything. Once you become proficient in this, harmonious thought and action (non-forced action) will naturally manifest. People will see you accomplish great things and will marvel at your humility. Universal: Again we see that aligning with the Powers of the Universe is an essential key towards manifesting miraculous, yet non-forced action…WuWei. Societal: When we manifest non-interfering action, we benefit all of society, but we must be mindful to do this with every person we encounter and every group we are part of. Interpersonal: Natural and non-interfering behavior will always increase the strength of our relationships. Internal: It is the internal portion of your existence that is of the utmost importance to cultivate if you are to manifest non-forced action. Losing “The Story of Me” is one of the first steps, but in this chapter we see the importance of always reducing our typical dependence upon Internal Chatter, the Voice in the Head, the Compulsive Naming of Things. A daily resulting increase in mental/emotional Stillness is the natural result, and the path of wisdom is found….the Master Path of the Great Harmony. 49. Love and Benevolence Offered Freely to All
The sage of the Great Harmony has no coercive or selfish ambitions. The sacred and divine presence is seen in the person, the rock, the bird, the star. Love and benevolence are offered freely to those who show kindness. Love and benevolence are likewise shown to those who show unkindness. The very nature of the sage is Love and Tolerance…there is no concept of “deserving”. The sacred and divine presence is seen behind the eyes of even the most unkind person, And tears are shed for their suffering. For the unkind person exists in their own separate hell, And will die alone and with remorse. Thus does the sage freely show Love and Compassion to those imprisoned by their tortured thoughts. The good and the evil are drawn to Love equally, like summer moths to the lamp, And the sage radiates love in equal measure, without judging or censure. Essential Meaning: Divine Love is offered freely to all, even to those who might be considered “undeserving”. This is the compassion of Tolerance, because we realize that unkind people live in their own Separate Reality, and their reality, and inner turmoil, is most likely extraordinarily painful. Universal: By aligning with the Allurement of the Universe, the follower of the Great Harmony is replenished and able to show Love, Benevolence, and Compassion equally to all. Societal: When love and compassion are shown to all you encounter, you naturally shine the light of wisdom into the darkest depths of others, tacitly allowing them to follow your example. Interpersonal: To see the sacred and divine in all those with whom you have a relationship, manifesting Love and Kindness will never require “effort”. Internal: To see the sacred and divine in all things, it is essential to study the Powers of the Universe and its manifestations. When this is done AND we drop our over-attachment to The Story of Me, we effortlessly manifest Love and Benevolence…The HHK lifestyle will tend to exist “of its own accord”. The sage would say “Why would I choose to be otherwise?”. 50. Releasing the Primary Fear of Death
In a natural cycle, life arises from lifelessness, and then returns to its origin. Those who fear death are completely identified with “The Story of Me” and only focus on its natural return to lifelessness. The sage is not attached to “The Story of Me”, For the sacred and deeper identity was found. Thus is the primal fear of death destroyed, And life is enjoyed with rapture and delicious savor. - 111 -
The sage approaches death without fear, Grateful for the brief spark of Conscious Self-Awareness. Essential Meaning: To identify oneself with “The Story of Me” is to fear its obliteration upon death. To identify oneself with the Deeper You (your spirit) which exists when “The Story of Me” is dropped, is to fearlessly see that death is only the natural return to what you were before you were born. Universal: The universe can be seen to transform energies from one form to another in manifestations streaming over the course of billions of years. When we look at existence/non-existence as simply another of the Universe’s many transformations we can begin to live our lives in greater states of Love instead of a never-ending stream of Fear Societal: It is difficult to show society the fruitlessness of living a life of fear and discontent, but if we manifest fearlessness in our activities we naturally pass on the benefits of our positive attitude to all those we encounter. Interpersonal: The basic understanding of the natural cycle of life and death should be used to enhance our relationships instead of its opposite, which is excessive clinging and anxiety. When we harmonize with this natural cycle we see the uselessness of wasted time, and strive to increase the quality time spent with friends and family…celebrating them NOW instead of later. Internal: A key point of many wisdom writings is to ultimately show that "after death" is Ultimate Mystery...it is that which you were "before life", and no living thing escapes it. When one begins to disassociate from “The Story of Me” and Aligns with their chosen Powers of the Universe, approaching death is not feared, but gratitude is felt for life a life that was well-Savored. To identify oneself with the "illusion that the ego is the Real You" is to fear its eventual obliteration. See the ego as the tool of the human manifestation, and not the Real You. Thus is the fear of death eliminated. As an interesting aside, if there IS some form of "judgment" after death, you naturally took care of that by leading the HHK/TWD lifestyle...that lifestyle which also serves to maximize happiness for all, and provides Overall Life-Fulfillment. . 51. The All-Nourishing Available Wellspring of the Great Harmony (Underlying Unity of All Things)
The Great Harmony manifests wonders throughout the cosmos, Shaping all things with a sacred Unity…nothing is separate or outside its wellspring of powers. The Great Harmony cares for and nourishes all things, Constantly balancing “all that exists” with a natural rhythm of timing. To follow the path of the Great Harmony is to discover its sacred influence in all things. We never strive to possess or coerce, we merely guide and serve as its willing vessels. This is the highest wisdom. The sage is rewarded with Longevity and Lasting Happiness. Essential Meaning: Instead of focusing on the possession of things, declare oneself a sacred vessel of the Great Harmony. By becoming aligned with the underlying unity of all things, we naturally manifest health and happiness. Universal: By studying the universal powers of Seamlessness and Interrelatedness we learn to FEEL the underlying Unity of all things. Societal: When we align ourselves with the underlying unity in all things, our non-coercive and non-interfering behavior can manifest societal change that can often seem like miracles. To “truly align” is to “truly believe”, and it’s said that those people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are usually to ones who wind up doing so. Interpersonal: By losing one’s sense of “deep separateness”, our relationships naturally become bonded in a deeper and more rewarding/significant way. Internal: Only in Stillness can we FEEL the available energies of the wellspring that is the Great Harmony. 52. Aligning with the Great Harmony Leads to One’s Personal Vibrance and Effectiveness
The Great Harmony is the origin and nurturer of all things. Its most magnificent works are seen in the smallest creations. In both large and small, to both galaxy and flower, it creates without possessing. Giving without expecting, manifesting without coercing…all things are achieved. - 112 -
Have faith in the sacred and ever-available wellspring of energy. Follow that which draws your deepest self. Recognize your inner thoughts. In this way, the sage withdraws from that which is self-destructive, …and finds serenity. In this way, the sage withdraws over-attachments to things and concepts, …and finds contentment. In this way, the sage ceases the Naming of Things, …and finds harmony with others. Following the light of sacred Illumination, The sage becomes the illumination itself…allowing others to do the same. Essential Meaning: Aligning your deepest spirit with the Powers of the Universe, you benefit by obtaining endlessly replenished energy, serenity, contentment, and harmony. Universal: Acknowledging that all things are interconnected in the Ultimate Ground of Being, we learn to cease separating things into discreet categories and “boxes of description”…thus allowing all things to manifest and grow of their own accord. Societal: When we show others that we are not tied to our selfish Ego, people will naturally follow our example and will pass on to others this spontaneously generated kindness and compassion. Interpersonal: When we cease all our self-destructive behavior, our personal vibrance will serve to support the depth of bonding in all our personal relationships. Internal: It is only by attention to our habitual thoughts that we can hope to find serenity, contentment, and personal harmony with all things. 53. Extravagance, Extremes, Excess are Paths away from the Great Harmony
The sage wisely chooses the master path of the Great Harmony, …the straight road to Lasting Happiness and Contentment. Others will always choose the thrill route of the grasping Ego, …which promises extreme thrills, extravagance and luxury…yet never satisfies and always causes pain. Observe those in life who choose to flaunt their wealth and fame, …they have extravagant clothes and expensive cars. …they indulge their senses to excess, choosing unhealthy and unwholesome pleasures. In the shadow of their bright existence others suffer, and they rarely find lasting happiness. When their riches and fame dwindle, sorrow is their lot, instead of the Peace of Mind offered by the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: Extreme Thrill, extravagance, luxury, and excess are not conducive to the Peace of Mind and Lasting Happiness offered to those who follow the path of the Great Harmony. Universal: Like water, the Powers of the Universe always find the path of least resistance, eventually wearing away at objects which obstruct. It does so without the need for extreme or radical action. Societal: We should strive to never emulate those in society who live in luxury, yet acquire it from the toil and struggles of others. Instead of emulating those who only care about money, we should emulate those who care about other people and the environment. Interpersonal: We should avoid extravagance and gaudy displays in our close relationships, they only serve to show the ones we care about that we are shallow and immodest, which are not admirable traits. Internal: Once we’ve learned to Still the constant torrent of thoughts connected with “The Story of Me”, we find the Peace of Mind and Contentment of Stillness, Effortlessness and Simplicity. Over-attachments should released, and we should focus instead on Love and Kindness towards others instead of following the demands of our insatiable avarice. The road to lasting happiness is supported by the HHK lifestyle, and the avoidance of extremes, extravagance, and excess of all kinds. 54. The Observable Results of Aligning with the Great Harmony
- 113 -
In seeking wisdom, modern travelers along the path of wisdom increasingly avoid an over-reliance upon pure faith. Healthy skeptics are now the rule rather than the exception. Cultivate alignment with the Great Harmony within your Deepest Self, …and you will show yourself to be naturally kind and non-contrived. Cultivate alignment with the Great Harmony in your family, …and others will see the naturally arising goodness that manifests in the members. Cultivate alignment with the Great Harmony in your village, …and the renown of its harmonious virtues will be shown throughout the land. Cultivate alignment with the Great Harmony in the world, …and you’ll see kindness and generosity become universal. How can you know this to be true? Strive to do good without harming others and you see the results. Essential Meaning: Faith is not required when aligning yourself with the Powers of the Universe. The results will quickly manifest which you can observe in your experience, and to your own satisfaction. Universal: Once you’ve declared yourself a willing vessel for those Powers of the Universe you feel most closely attuned to, the results are always amazing in the most positive ways, and will be readily observable in your everyday experiences. Societal: To cultivate harmony in all the groups to which you belong, the positive benefits will be easy to observe, especially if you are a declared vessel of the sacred energies of the Great Harmony…that is, you have proceeded to tap into the sacred energies of The Powers of the Universe which are the manifesting and visible aspects of the Great Harmony. Interpersonal: By insisting upon the HHK lifestyle within your own family, others will eventually comment on these harmonious behaviors. This should not engender a sense of pride, but should merely satisfy you that the results are manifesting as you envisioned. Internal: When your thoughts are still, and action is non-coercive and non-interfering, you have begun to travel the path as your Deeper Self…your true spirit. This mutually supports the HHK/TWD style of life, and the results of such a path can be readily observed…no faith is required…you can prove it for yourself. 55. Immense Vitality by Aligning with the Great Harmony
The sages of the Great Harmony are vibrant in character, Yet the source of their energies are not readily apparent. Their vitality springs from the child-like aspects they have learned to cultivate. …like a newborn baby, their muscles are not tensed yet their grip remains strong. …like a child, they emulate the viewing of the world without concepts. …when needed, the sage springs to action…when all is calm the sage is relaxed. This is the “Height of Harmony” known by the sage. For someone to be old and tired whilst still young in age, Is a departure from the master path of the Great Harmony. The reward for walking the path… Lasting Happiness with limited sorrow. Life Fulfillment with meaning and significance. Vibrant health and energy. Essential Meaning: The path of the Great Harmony offers immense vitality because you are tapping into the vast network of The Powers of the Universe. Universal: When we learn to harness the freely offered Powers of the Universe for our own use, vitality and longevity are the natural result. The culmination of these practices is seen in such energy Yogas such as Chi Kung, in which vibrancy and longevity are 2 of the key goals of the practitioner. The same kinds of results are available to all, but without the need for dedicated yoga practice or dedicated meditation. Societal: It behooves a person to try and steer groups away from negative opinions and negative actions…away from any sort of inflexibility. Negativity is a “vitality draining” activity. - 114 -
Interpersonal: To remain flexible in one’s relationships, and to drop limiting concepts, serves to enhance the vitality and longevity of personal relationships. this chapter is the most common one. Practice the reduction of the use of Internal: The internal interpretation of this concepts and labels…the Compulsive Naming of Things…and this creates stillness and flexibility of thought. These naturally give rise to greater levels of energy, since you are not depleted via negative thinking. Negative thinking also has an adverse impact on one’s physical health…thus, the path of the Great Harmony leads to vitality, vibrancy and increased longevity. Of course, one’s longevity is further increased by cessation of activities that are also detrimental to health, such as regular consumption of alcohol and tobacco to name just 2 of the most common things. Others would include carbonated beverages, vegetable vegetable oil with trans-fat, and fried food…the “landmines” of dietary practice according to longevity expert Joel Wallach. Lastly, one’s vitality and longevity are dramatically enhanced by your willful declaration to be a channel for the vast wellspring of energies within the Powers of the Universe. 56. Attaining the Profound Harmony
The person who claims to know a truth which is beyond all other truths, is deluded by their limited concepts. The person who shows a path for discovering one’s unique and individual truth, has seen the Illumination of the Great Harmony. To lose one’s anger and frustration is called by the ancients “becoming one with the dust of the world”. …seeing through the manipulation by others …being beyond bribe or coercion …uninterested in monetary hoarding or loss …desireless for fame and glory …not being overly-attached or overly-averse to things and concepts This is the Illumination beyond Enlightenment of the wisest of the sages. It is the “Profound Harmony”. Essential Meaning: Meaning: The “Profound Harmony” is that Illuminated state one achieves when excellence is achieved on all levels of the Four Harmonies. Harmonies. When the full Truth has been discovered, discovered, it will be naturally demonstrated demonstrated to any people with whom you come into contact. Universal: To align oneself with the Powers of the Universe is to see that the Universe does not seek to expound any form of “final truth”. The universe only seeks a sacred reflection reflection upon itself…in our case, a conceptless and reverent reflection from the viewpoint of the individual…thus, all Truth can be seen as relative. to allow all truths in the groups we encounter. encounter. We may find some of them Societal: It is essential that we learn to repellant, but we should strive to not be overly-averse to them. Being overly-averse is the same type of thing as being overly-attached. Interpersonal: When we manifest actions in accordance with the guidelines of the above described Profound Harmony, our relationships will naturally become increasingly harmonious. Internal: When you’ve learned to drop limiting concepts and emotions, it is said you have attained the “profoundest wisdom” and that you have learned the process of effecting the most productive p roductive actions for increasing the significance and meaning of your existence. 57. Be Non-Interfering Non-Interfering in the Accomplishment Accomplishment of your Activities
As restrictions and rules increase, so to do you witness the rise of the rebellious. As threats and coercions increase, so do you witness over-reactions of fear. As guile and cleverness increase, so do you witness suspicion and resentment. Thus, the ancient ones say: …act with a loving heart without ever coercing, and others will be positively transformed. …act with equilibrium and balance, and others will find their own harmonious order. …be non-interfering in the accomplishment of your activities, and others will also prosper. …avoid grasping and clinging to things and concepts, to show the world the path to Lasting Happiness. Essential Meaning: Non-Interference Non-Interf erence is one of the core practices to achieving success on all levels of the Four Harmonies. Universal: We can take the example from the actions of the cosmos, in that it accomplishes its many tasks without imposing any form of “coercive force” …things simply happen in “harmonious accord with natural forces”. Societal: Do not seek to impose coercive will upon any groups to which you belong. Instead, find harmonious methods that facilitate group consensus. - 115 -
Interpersonal: When you are non-coercive in your relationships with family and friends, love and kindness will more readily manifest. It will more readily be the “naturally arising” state state of affairs. Internal: The key to the description of being non-interfering is one’s personal cultivation away from the typical “grasping and clinging” to things. Avoiding that trap is similar to avoiding the negative negative actions of allowing “The Story of Me” to develop “excessive attachments” and “excessive aversions”. 58. Allowing the Existence Existence of Opposites Removes Removes Disharmony and Discord
When you practice the allowance of opposites, those you encounter will not contend. To interfere with opposing views, dissent and discord will always manifest. Misfortune is often the prerequisite to blessings. blessin gs. Blessings are sometimes the harbinger of misfortune. Without perfect knowledge of the future, no event can be judged as inherently inh erently good or bad. Thus does the sage “allow” as much as possible, and does not become overly-attached to events. In this way does the sage naturally remove Disharmony and Discord. Essential Meaning: Since no human has perfect knowledge of the future, there is no way to judge whether any event is inherently good good or bad. Thus, we practice Allowing Allowing all events, even the extremes of opposites. opposites. Universal: One of the fundamental principles of the universe is the mutually arising, and mutually supportive, existence of opposites. Societal: In the groups to which you belong, strive to propagate the tolerance of opposing views. Interpersonal: Within your relationships, there will always develop opinions which are opposing. Strive to “allow” the opposite view of the other and to use that as a basis for developing mutually beneficial solutions and compromises Internal: This chapter is especially aimed towards the internal practice of “allow and release” as the second step (the second “R”) of the RRRR self-transformation method taught in Part Part 3 of this book. A mantra you can use is ”Allow, just for now, without complaint >> celebrate” celebrate” or ”Allow and Align”. You’ll see in this book that Allowing is the key component to our primary technique of self-transformation, a process which naturally leads to personal happiness. 59. Personal Vitality and Happiness Happiness by Allowing the the Natural Rhythms of the Great Harmony Harmony
To align with the energies of the universe, you become a channel for their natural rhythms. When every thought becomes a vessel for the sacred, your effectiveness is multiplied. As the reverence for the sacred powers increases, the sage can overcome any challenge. chall enge. Your limitless nature is finally discovered. Acting thus, the sage is like a solid tree with deep roots, Absorbing the light of the sun, and the minerals of the earth. Essential Meaning: Meaning: To align with the Powers of the Universe provides limitless vitality since you have become a declared vessel for their natural rhythms. rhythms. The effectiveness of your actions actions is naturally increased and miraculous miraculous results…limitless results…limitl ess results… can easily be seen to your own satisfaction.
Uni verse, personal vitality, effectiveness, Universal: When one declares oneself a vessel for the Powers of the Universe, and happiness are the natural result. Societal: When you have increased your effectiveness in a harmonious fashion, the groups to which you belong will naturally benefit from your radiant presence. Interpersonal: To recognize the sacred nature of those whom you deeply care about, and to allow natural rhythms to manifest, relationships will easily become deeper and more meaningful. Internal: To fully align with the Powers of the Universe and “declare oneself a vessel for the sacred”, one must focus on the removal of the interfering nature of The “Story of Me”. 60. The Wisdom of Hurtlessness Hurtlessnes s
Treat all situations in which you’re involved like you would in frying a small fish. To excessively poke and prod and flip the fish, is to ruin the desired result. Softly, gently, guide others along the desired course. Never seek to coerce or overly-control. - 116 -
Above all, the sage seeks to accomplish desired results without harm to anyone. A person that allows opposing views and is understanding of each, Becomes beloved and trusted by all…uniting groups in harmonious acceptance within their natural rhythms. Essential Meaning: Hurtlessness is the fundamental rule of the Great Harmony. Excessive coercion and control are also to be avoided…allow results to flow by guiding the natural rhythms of any situations… situations…this this produces harmony and avoids a voids discord. Universal: You can align yourself with the Powers of the Universe by reminding yourself of the non-coercive nature of the cosmos. When you are in accord with its natural rhythms, you will be able to more effectively channel its boundless energies. Societal: When you strive for Hurtlessness, non-coercive and non-controlling sol utions, all groups in any situation will mutually benefit. Interpersonal: When you concentrate on HHK in your relationships, they will always prosper and thrive in a vibrant exchange of mutual love and respect. Internal: Harmlessness/Hurtlessness is the beginning of a path to lasting happiness and harmony. The Hurtless, Helpful, Kind lifestyle is the way of the illuminated sage, and must be practiced towards even oneself, in Thought/Word/Deed …it’s much easier said than done! 61. Stillness, Tranquility Tranquility and Humility – The Strengths Strengths of the Great Harmony
A timeless wisdom is to emulate a river basin, towards which all mountain streams flow. It is the lowest of waters, w aters, yet receives and nurtures all the tributaries that feed it. The streams race about in their journey down to the river, and the river calmly awaits…not rushing…tranquil and still. So too are the actions of the sage, welcoming the arrival of all as sacred manifestations of the divine. The sage bows to the guest, and the guest bows to the sage. When their heads are then raised, both see the sacred dimension of the other. Essential Meaning: Meaning: To fully engage with the powers of the Great Harmony, Stillness of mind must be cultivated. In addition to Stillness, we must develop a state of natural humility such that we also see w ithin others, within the high and the low, a sacred spark of the Ultimate Mystery…thus Mystery…thus do we bow to all we meet since we are privy to the nature of their innermost selves, even if they have not embraced their own sacred nature. Universal: It is the nature of the cosmos to value stillness and tranquility…to value the rhythms leading to higher complexity and consciousness. We should strive to emulate this “caring” “caring” state [the power of Interrelatedness] as it harmoniously strives for “Emergence” of complexities. This, of course, refers refers to the universal power of Emergence. Societal: As we participate as a member of groups, we should strive to harmoniously welcome all the various views in our quest to facilitate mutually agreeable outcomes. Interpersonal: When we value stillness and tranquility, our relationships naturally become tranquil and harmonious…this is facilitated by a deep reverence for the other, whilst maintaining a personal attitude of selfless humility. Internal: Again we see the value of Stillness in all things …and on the internal topic this refers to the Stillness of the Stream of Thought…a task that can only be accomplished by adhering to a well thought out plan such as the techniques taught in the first three parts of this book. 62. Flowing Together – A Place for All Things
The Great Harmony is the source and sustenance of all things. Treasured by the sage for its usefulness, it supports even those who know it i t not. Its energies nourish all equally, never judging the worth of any single creature. For each takes sustenance from Ultimate Mystery, making all things possible. There is a place for the high and a place for the low. Although some may seem hurtful, do not reject them. It is in the practice of “allowance” that the sage finds the interconnectedness of all things. - 117 -
In this way, seekers of truth obtain that which sustains their spirit, And seekers of redemption find the waters to cleanse their soul. Essential Meaning: To align oneself with The Powers of the Universe is to tap the most truly Useful forces in existence. When we are conduits for these energies, we must offer them equally to all we meet. To offer this Divine Love to all we encounter, we must look upon most things with a view of “Allowance” so that we can more readily see the interconnectedness of all “things”. Universal: When we see the Great Harmony as the “ultimate ground of being” and the “source of all that exists” we begin to glimpse the powers available to those who align with the Interconnectedness of all things. Societal: The wise person seeks to find a place for all the members of the group. Even the lowest member can make invaluable contributions…we can never predict the ultimate value of any particular person. Interpersonal: We must learn tolerance and forgiveness for those in our relationships. They belong as sacred members of the cosmos in equal value to ourselves, and even the person who strays the farthest from the path can eventually be cleansed in spirit…redemption is always available to one who truly seeks it from a personal state of humbleness. Internal: Again we see the theme that the practice of “allowance” and “tolerance” are essential in the “nonjudgmental” way of the illuminated sage. 63. Align with the Timings of the Great Harmony to Maximize the Effects of your Actions (Seize the Perfect Moment)
Act in harmony with existing rhythms. Be generous when the timing maximizes benefits. Enjoy physical pleasures at the perfect moment. To see the harmonious timing of events, The sage sees the potential greatness in the small, their strength waiting to manifest. Respond to the hostility in others with carefully chosen timings of kindness and compassion. Plan for the difficult when it is still easy, for procrastination in an absence of harmonious timing. Great things are usually achieved by attacking small beginnings. In seizing the perfect moment, the sage begins with the inconsequential, and then manifests the incredible. The sages do not strive for greatness, but their perfections in timing can accomplish the impossible. Essential Meaning: By aligning oneself with the rhythms of the Great Harmony, one can seize the correct moment whereby seemingly impossible tasks are performed. To seize the correct moment requires the complete removal of a person’s naturally tendencies towards procrastination. Universal: The most miraculous accomplishments of the universe are always accomplished by a deeply underpinned manifestation of “perfect timing”. Societal: When working amongst groups, we must always be sensitive for seizing the most opportune moments, and we must remain sensitive to the potential contributions of even the most soft-spoken members. Interpersonal: We should always strive to sense the rhythms of our relationships in order to be able to maximize the happiness of our friends and family. Internal: Stillness is essential in finding “perfect timings”. Our preoccupation with the past, and our anxiety over the future, often blinds us when the perfect timings present themselves. Dwelling in the Imaginary Time of Past/Future disables our natural ability to find opportune moments in existing rhythms. 64. Balancing Natural Tendencies - Choosing Non-Coercive and Non-Forcing Actions
As in riding a bicycle, once balance is found it is easy to maintain with minimal effort. When problems are addressed in a state of balance, a mild yet steady effort is all that is required. It is the natural tendency for fragile objects to break, and small objects to scatter. Likewise, it is the natural tendency for stubborn people to balk, and quarrelsome people to nitpick. Each has its natural tendencies with an inherent point of balance. The wisdom of the Great Harmony finds balance in natural tendencies, and creates miraculous complexities out of chaos. - 118 -
The sage emulates this by allowing the natural tendencies in the actions of others, And guides them non-coercively back to the harmonies of the master path. With the absence of fanfare, the sage helps everyone come to know truths they have merely forgotten. Essential Meaning: When we are fully aligned with the Powers of the Universe, and are fully balanced in each of the Four Harmonies, it becomes easy for us to see the “balance point” in the natural tendencies of others. The sage finds these balance points, and gently helps others steer a course through the storms of life. Universal: The creations of the universe are all possible due to its non-coercive tendencies towards selforganization and self-complexification. There is an inherent compulsion in all matter to arrange itself into more complex groupings. Timing and balance make it possible to take this tendency of the Universe, and create roses and giraffes out of the dust from exploding stars. Societal: We can best serve the groups to which we belong by remaining vigilant to the balances that are naturally waiting to manifest. By looking at natural tendencies, we can help to implement balances with the least amount of force/coercion. Interpersonal: All relationships involve “give and take”…and finding these balances requires a dedication born of love. Internal: In order to remain sensitive to the balances and natural tendencies inherent in all things, we must remove the self-serving activities found in “The Story of Me”, with its compulsive preoccupation with Past/Future Imaginary Time. 65. The Sacred Wisdom of not Overly-Attaching to Thoughts, Concepts and Beliefs
The ancient sages knew the value of mental Stillness…and were kind hearted to all they encountered. They taught the people to emulate nature, and to cease over-attachment to Thoughts, Concepts, Preferences, and Beliefs. Thus, was stillness attained in accordance with nature. If the mind was not at peace, they knew that they had strayed from the master path. If people are seen using scheming and guile? Have compassion for them for they have completely bonded with the Incessant Thought Stream. They chase Peace of Mind and Contentment, but it seems forever denied. To be mentally Still and to align oneself with the powers of the Great Harmony, Is to reconnect with the sacred… the most beneficial use of Conscious Self-Awareness. To be connected to the Great Harmony without attachment to one’s self, Is to find the deep and profound connection with the Divine. Thus does the Thought Stream of the sage cease to rage, And Lasting Happiness is found in a loving communion with the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: The cultivation of Stillness is the most important practice of the sage. Stillness requires the cessation of overly-attaching to Thoughts, Concepts, Preferences, and Beliefs. Have compassion for those who prefer scheming and guile, for they have become personal identity has become completely bonded with the “Stream of Thought”…with the “Voice in the Head”. Universal: It is very difficult to align with the Powers of the Universe when we are distracted from the Present Moment by the addictive nature of the Thought Stream. Only when the mind is quiet can we truly sense these energies. Societal: In dealing with the groups to which we belong, we should gently try to discourage the practice of scheming and guile. Interpersonal: When we quiet the mind we no longer react in ways that hurt the feelings of others. Thus, our relationships with friends and family flourish. Internal: The references to “attachment to self” is specifical ly aimed at the over-attachment to Thoughts, Concepts, preferences, and beliefs…the Compulsive Naming of Things which takes place when we are completely bonded to the Thought Stream, and when we still identify our existence with “The Story of Me”. 66. The Natural Effectiveness of Humility and Non-Contentious Effort
How is it that the thousands of great rivers naturally flow towards the sea? The sea is below them, allowing waters to arrive on their own accord. - 119 -
Thus it is when one wishes to effect a positive change in the world. Put your personal needs and concerns below others. Place your efforts behind those of society without pulling from the front. In this way, we set the example without feeling like a heavy burden to others. In this way, others delight in promoting harmonious ideals, and never become tired of doing so. Thus is witnessed the Humility and Non-Contentious Effort of the sage of the Great Harmony. How would others wish to contend with this? Essential Meaning: The sage strives to effectively guide others from a core of Humility and Non-Contentious effort (WuWei). Universal: To align with the naturally flowing energies of the universe, we become vessels of the sacred/divine and are able to effect beneficial change. Our non-contentious efforts are then best able to promote a maximum degree of harmony. Societal: The non-contentious leadership of the sage is best used in promoting the harmony and well-being of one’s fellow man, and also the harmony and well-being of our living planet. Interpersonal: To lead one’s friends and family in a non-contentious fashion accomplishes your desired goals, and promotes harmonious relationships. Internal: In order to manifest humility and non-contentious behavior you must put aside your attachment to “The Story of Me”. This will naturally eliminate excessive personal attachments, and the excessive clinging/grasping to your own personal ambitions. This will serve to ensure that you are never motivated by pitfall of avarice [insatiable greed to acquire more “things”]. 67. The Three Treasures of the Sage - Being a Role Model of Compassion, Frugality and Humility
The world is seen as a marketplace selling paths to the Divine…what Wickedness! …what Madness ! Reconnection to the sacred is not gained by purchasing secret wisdom. Neither is it gained by forgetting what we have learned by experience. To illuminate the sacred path of the Great Harmony, the sage holds three treasures dear. The first of the treasures is compassion. The second treasure is frugality. And the last is humility. With compassion, the sage can help others with a deep inner courage. With frugality, the sage can manifest immense generosity. With humility, others naturally align with us in harmony. To be fearless, but not feel Divine Love and Compassion for others … To be generous, but not personally wise in moderation… To gain the alignment of others, but not be humble… These are not the ways of the Great Harmony, and always lead to grief and sorrow. Compassion will always gain victory over anger. The motto of the sage of the Great Harmony should always be…”Love Wins”. When nature creates any form, it is always supported by the wellspring of “Caring”. Essential Meaning: The classic “Three Treasures of the Sage” are Compassion, Frugality, and Humility. The motto of the sage should be…”Love Wins”. Universal: When we speak of compassion, we can think of aligning with the Universal Power of “Interrelatedness” which manifests as “caring” in the human. In its highest form [in the human] we see this as “Compassion”. Societal: To emphasize the Three Treasures of the sage in any of the groups to which we belong is to effect “positive and harmonious change”. Interpersonal: Divine Love is “unconditional love” freely offered to all, with no expectation of reciprocity. Internal: The Three Treasures are more easily manifested when we’ve lost our selfishness…our addiction to “The Story of Me”. Additionally, frugality is achieved when we recognize that “insatiable thirst” and the grasping/clinging to things, concepts, and beliefs is one of the root causes of misery and discontent. - 120 -
68. Living Aligned with the Great Harmony via the Practice of Non-Contention
Those who are most effective at implementing useful change are not militant. Those who can successfully overcome the anger and prejudices of others are not rageful. Those who most effectively cure the evils of the worlds do so without confrontation or contention. Those who most easily inspire loyalty and excellence in others do so with humility. In this way, the universe accomplishes its manifestation of all that exists. It is making significant use, without harm or contention. This is called the Non-Contentious Efficacy (The “Te” of the Great Harmony). Essential Meaning: The benefit of the following the path of the Great Harmony can be easily judged by its “Te”…its Usefulness…its Non-Contentious Efficacy (Effectiveness). Universal: The Non-Contentious Efficacy (or “Te” which is at the heart of these teachings) of aligning with the Powers of the Universe allows one to be at maximum effectiveness (usefulness) once Non-Contention is full integrated into your deepest nature. Societal: We see examples in history of the accomplishment of harmonious goals via non-contention and nonviolence (Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., and His Holiness the Dalai Lama). Interpersonal: Harmonious relationships are best created and maintained when anger has been reduced, and forceful contention comes to an end. Internal: Non-Contention begins within oneself…no conflicting feelings. This can only be accomplished via Stillness and the cessation of addiction to the Stream of Thought. 69. Overcoming the Hostility of Others via Effective Non-Contention
The sages of the Great Harmony have a saying: I do not presume to start a conflict, and when hostility is encountered I begin on the defensive. I do not presume to acquire the possessions of the enemy, but seek to diffuse their anger. This is called, conquering hostility via the Non-Contentious Efficacy (Te of the Great Harmony. There is no greater misfortune than to discover the anger of an enemy. To have an enemy implies the absence of the Three Treasures: Compassion, Frugality, Humility The sage realizes that when two opponents meet, the one without an enemy will have the support of the Divine. Essential Meaning: It is best to avoid conflict, but if conflict is unavoidable, strive to reach conclusion via the philosophy of Non-Contentious Efficacy. Try to resolve conflicts with an absence of anger, and never seek to acquire the possessions of the opposing force. To cultivate “The Three Treasures” (Compassion, Frugality, Humility) tends to avoid the creation of enemies. Universal: The universe accomplishes all things in a state of non-contention. We can emulate this by remaining focused on the Three Treasures during any opposition. Societal: We will be in harmonious alignment with the Great Harmony when (within the groups to which we belong) we convince others of the wisdom of non-violent contention. Interpersonal: It is especially in relationships with family and friends that we should strive for non-hostile solutions to situations in which we find opposing viewpoints. Internal: To overcome the hostility of others via peaceful non-contention we must remain in Stillness, and we must not succumb to the emotions of hate, anger, and frustration. We must release those emotions if they arise, and replace them with compassion and Divine Love. 70. The Great Harmony is not Grasped with the Intellect but with “Pure Feelings” (unclouded by “Ego” and its Compulsive Naming of Things)
The teachings of the Great Harmony can seem easy to understand and practice, But when people attempt it, they discover their greatest challenge. - 121 -
The essence of the challenge is this: Perceive everything “directly” without the interference of names, labels, concepts or words. This is called by the ancients as “Knowing its Suchness” (“wuzhi” in ancient Chinese). This is the seeming mystery of knowing something that is “beyond explanation”. Essential Meaning: The reason many wisdom traditions describe their deepest enlightenments as “beyond words” is because these truths can only be understood when “perceived directly”. That is, they must be Directly Perceived by the mind without the interference of words/names/labels/symbols/concepts/numbers. This is one of the greatest challenges for our minds, because our minds tend to be completely bonded to the Steam of Thought …the incessant flow of words that comprises the waking state of most humans. Universal: The universe accomplishes all its marvels in a natural state of “Suchness” …it does not require the use of the “human fictions” of names/labels/concepts/words/symbols/numbers. Societal: We can better harmonize with and serve society when we cease trying to label things with arbitrary categories and stereotypes. Interpersonal: To see directly to the heart of friends and family is to do so with Direct Perception…knowing the “Suchness” of their spirit that exists behind names/labels/concepts/words. Internal: The Great Harmony can only be truly known when we achieve Stillness, and are able to see the actual “Suchness” of things…that which a thing is without the use of names/labels/concepts/words/symbols/numbers. 71. Aligning with the Great Harmony by Quieting the Stream of Thought
Knowing without words and preconceptions is True Knowledge. Knowing with words and preconceptions is to be afflicted with mental suffering. Only when it is recognized that the Stream of Thought is the source of misery and sorrow, Can a person enter into alignment with the Great Harmony. Thus, in Stillness of Thought, does the sage rest without the affliction of discord. Essential Meaning: The fundamental reason for unhappiness is due to the content of one’s Stream of Thought. Only by quieting the Steam of Thought can we enter into effective alignment with the Great Harmony. When the Stream of Thought approaches Stillness, we begin to witness harmony and Peace of Mind…that is the path to Lasting Happiness. Universal: We can fully become aligned with the Powers of the Universe when we quiet the Stream of Thought and learn to “Directly Perceive” these universal energies... without the requirement of naming and labeling. Societal: We can more efficiently and effectively implement positive changes in the groups to which we belong when we quiet the mind…when we lessen the addiction to [and identification with] the “Voice in the Head”. Interpersonal: “True knowing” of friends and family will always lead to more harmonious relationships. This can only be accomplished when we no longer view them with words/labels/stereotypes. Internal: The cessation of the Stream of Thought is of primary importance on the path to “Unprincipled Knowing” [wuzhi], “Suchness”, and “Direct Perception”. 72. Self-Knowledge as the Primary Step Towards Oneness/Unity with the Great Harmony
If a student on the path does not have mastery over their thoughts, Thoughts will always dominate the spirit. You are not your body…you are not your thoughts…you are sacred spirit hidden under your incessant mental noise. It is knowing this underlying truth that the sages know themselves, and do not arrogantly seek fame or recognition. They love themselves, because they recognize the sacred spark of the Divine within. Their sacred spark within calls to the sacred spark without. Thus does the sage honor the divine spark in all things, and cares for others without discrimination. Essential Meaning: Our core essence is not the Thought Stream or that part of us bonded to “The Story of Me”, but is the spirit that lies hidden at your deepest level. The spirit is that part of you that “loves” and does not require - 122 -
the use of words and labels. By discovering your inner spirit (your sacred spark) you learn to recognize it in others even if they don’t recognize it themselves. Universal: To learn to see the sacred dimension in all things, is to begin to fully align with the Powers of the Universe. Eventually, when the person fully realizes this, then we begin to “care” for others on a deeper level. This is the universal power of “Interrelatedness” (the power of “care”). Societal: When we fully recognize the sacred/divine nature in others, we begin to fully manifest our usefulness within the groups to which we belong. Interpersonal: Honoring the sacred spark in friends and family serves to create more deeply bonded relationships. Internal: The key to following the path of the Great Harmony is to cease identifying yourself with “The Story of Me”, and to identify yourself as a sacred part of the Divine Whole. You are the sacred spark through which the Universe admires and reflects upon itself in Conscious Self-Awareness. 73. Prudence and Patience (care, caution, and good judgment)
To risk death in the pursuit of daring is imprudent and dangerous. Courage tempered by prudence preserves life and still accomplishes great deeds. In both of these cases, courage leads either to needless death or useful endeavor. Sages who are aligned with the Great Harmony overcome obstacles without struggle or strife, Patiently answering without argument, and with economy of words. They arrive when needed without being summoned, Calmly planning for large projects without tension or stress. Thus do the sages of the Great Harmony cast their nets, And not the slightest thing escapes. Essential Meaning: Prudence and Patience are the nature of the sage. By using care, caution, and good judgment, the sage accomplishes the task at hand with an economy of action and an economy of words. Universal: The energies of the universe accomplish amazing things, with no intent other than the manifestation of that particular “thing” for which it is currently focused. Likewise, a person aligned with the Great Harmony should never imprudently court danger, and should use prudence and common sense in all things, exerting just the right amount and type of effort to manifest the desired result. Societal: We should always try to guide groups in the most prudent and patient methods for exacting social change. Interpersonal: Prudence is especially important in relationships so that we do not inadvertently cause harm or emotional upset. We must strive to be sensitive to the fact that our friends and family members live in their own Separate Realities and experience all things and events differently. Internal: Prudence and Patience are always most easily accomplished by quieting the mind so as to observe the “Suchness” of things and events. In this way, we are best prepared to spontaneously act in the most harmonious and effective fashion. 74. Coercion via Violence is not the Way of the Sage
All that exists will one day cease to exist, all that lives shall one day die. Thus the sage knows, without fear, the Law of Impermanence. If all must die, what is there to fear? We simply return to that which we were before we were gifted with this brief and fleeting life. To use irrational fear of death to coerce the behaviors of others is not the way of the sage. Those who threaten others rarely die a peaceful death. Essential Meaning: Understanding the Law of Impermanence is to begin the path in which one loses the fear of death. Coercion via violence is not in accord with the Great Harmony. Universal: When we think of the “fear of death” we should remember that on the cosmic scale, even our sun shall one day perish. Societal: We should never strive to implement social change with any threat of violence…violence should always remain a tool of self-defense, and even then, only as a method of last resort. As for using violence as a tool of last resort we should consider the words of the Dalai Lama when he explains that sometimes we will find - 123 -
ourselves in situations that require “extreme countermeasures”. It is up to the nature of each individual to determine their own interpretation of what circumstances will justify “extreme countermeasures”, and the extent to which they should be used. It is a VERY subjective and deeply personal decision. Interpersonal: Needless to say, the deepest bonding relationships have no place for inter-personal violence…physical or verbal. We should remain focused on the HHK/TWD lifestyle. Internal: We will hardly ever need to consider physical or verbal violence when we are properly dedicated to the HHK/TWD lifestyle, and to do this fully we must cultivate Stillness and lose our identification with “The Story of Me”. 75. Greed and Coercion – The Path Away from the Great Harmony
To overly-concern oneself with the acquisition of possessions, Is to take food from the mouths of others. To overly-concern oneself with control of others’ actions, Is to invite rebellion and resentment. When avarice and coercion reach heights of evil, The oppressed do not fear death, but welcome a promised respite from their misery. In the same way, when we create anxiety within ourselves towards extreme extents, We approach the welcoming of the peace of eternal sleep. For this reason, the sage sees the danger of anxiety, And treasures the Illuminated path of the Great Harmony. Essential Meaning: Greed and Coercion are paths away from the great harmony and only serve to create anxiety in ourselves and in others. The practice of Stillness leads to the cessation of anxiety as w ell as all forms of unharmonious and discordant thought. Universal: To be aligned with the Powers of the Universe we must focus on “caring” (which is the power of Interrelatedness) for our fellow man and our environment. To do otherwise is to risk an “unlived” and insignificant life. Societal: In the groups to which we belong, we should always encourage fairness and the equal distribution of resources in order to assure the maximum amount of happiness for the maximum number of people. Interpersonal: We should never forsake the needs of friends and family by our compulsion to acquire “things”. We should also avoid the tendency to control or micromanage those things that impact our lives. The “wanting to acquire” and “wanting to control” feelings are fundamental pitfalls on the road to Lasting Happiness, and are paths away from the Great Harmony. Internal: The “wanting to acquire” and “wanting to control” tendencies arise naturally when we identify ourselves with “The Story of Me”…when we are completely bonded with the Voice in the Head. 76. Softness and Suppleness in Thought/Word/Deed
When we enter the world we are soft and supple, And at death we are rigid and hard. All living things of this world are pliant, Yet in death they are withered and dry. Therefore it is said: “The rigid and unyielding are the companions of death”, The supple and soft are the companions of life. If our thoughts are rigid, they will not prevail. The unyielding mind will break in the face of extreme adversity. It is the nature of the Great Harmony that the hard is broken and the strong made weak, While the soft and gentle eventually prevail. Essential Meaning: To be hard and rigid is to emulate the nature of withering and death…to be soft and supple is to emulate the vibrancies of life. We should adhere to this example in our thoughts, words, and deeds. - 124 -
Universal: As throughout the cosmos, that which is rigid and resists change will always be worn away…but systems that are flexible can develop and emerge into new structures. This is seen in both the macrocosmic (large-scale) and microcosmic (small-scale) aspects of the universe. Societal: For groups in society, it is imperative that they bend and remain flexible in order to create those beneficial situations towards which they can maximize the effectiveness their efforts. Interpersonal: In order to respect the Separate Realities of others, it is essential that we treat our friends and family with a flexible attitude in our Thoughts, Words and Deeds. Internal: In order to remain flexible, we can best accomplish this with the HHK/TWD life path. 77. The Harmony of Balance in All Aspects of One’s Existence
The way of the Great Harmony is like an archer drawing a bowstring. To hit something high, the bow tilts up and the bowstring is pulled downward. To hit something below, the bow tilts down and the bowstring is pulled upward. When the archer draws the string too far, the tension must be eased. When the archer has not drawn the string far enough, the string must be pulled harder. The way of the Great Harmony is also to ease tension when too much is created, Or to add force when there is not enough. Alas, the way of mankind is not like this. It is the nature of the human to take away from others, even when they do not have enough. It is the nature of the human to add to the wealth of those who already have too much. Only a follower of the Great Harmony can draw upon excess, and make an offering to those truly in need. Such a sage makes no demands upon those who are helped, and seeks no reward. Such a sage illuminates without the need to leave the shadows. Essential Meaning: The way of the Great Harmony is to add tension when more tension is required, and to remove tension when less tension is required. In this way, equilibrium and balance are achieved. Universal: The forces of the universe always aim at a sustained equilibrium. It is easy to see what the universe values (when we examine the power of Homeostasis), and the amazing systems that are created to sustain these dynamic balances. Societal: As a member of groups, we should aim to distribute wealth to those in need, and should be generous with our accumulated resources. Interpersonal: A delicate balance is required to sustain the happiness and satisfaction of our family and friends. Internal: Avarice is again seen as a common feature of human nature. In order to avoid the pitfalls associated with this, we must look to the innate tendency towards “unquenchable thirst” and the “over-attachment, grasping, and clinging to things and concepts”. 78. The Ultimate Inseparability of Opposites – The Interconnectedness of the Great Harmony
Everyone can readily see that water is soft and weak, But the mountains are carved to valleys by the rivers, even though rock is hard. We see that the hardness implies a return to softness. This shows that all conditions imply the existence of their opposite, To which they will eventually manifest in the fullness of time. Thus does the sage honor the low and love the unfortunate, And treats the crooked as having the natural tendency to eventually return to straightness. Essential Meaning: In the dual poles of opposites, the existence of one pole implies that it will eventually manifest its opposite in the fullness of time. Thus to we see the ultimate inseparability of opposites and the interconnectedness of all things. Universal: The deep-rooted nature of “mutually arising opposites” is seen throughout the cosmos. This chapter is not just about the common example of “water”, but expresses the fact that when one thing manifests, it’s inherent opposite will naturally manifest given enough time. Thus are all phenomenon interconnected in their tendency to manifest their opposite. Societal: In being a member of groups we must always bear in mind that opposites of anything are always - 125 -
waiting to manifest. We should never look down upon people, because even the most irredeemable of persons have the potential for redemption. Interpersonal: We must not become locked into apparent stabilities of situations, because all things change and tend to eventually manifest their opposite. Internal: In order to fully prepare for the naturally “changing” aspect of the universe, we must remain as flexible as possible. The only way to do this is to ensure that our naturally arising thoughts are harmonious and comfortable. 79. The Harmony Generated by Kindness, Even in Adversity
When situations have degraded into extreme animosity, Kindness is required for an extended period of time. Kind words and actions will not cure hatred, but it is a step down the path of Harmony. To prevent situations from deteriorating to dramatic levels, The sage does not look to place blame, and becomes instead a solution facilitator. The way of the Great Harmony is to not show partiality, Yet favors the sage who walks the path of Hurtlessness. Essential Meaning: If we permit hostile situations to escalate, it takes longer periods of time to e ventually cool the tempers of those who oppose each other. It is better to see such progressions and “nip them in the bud”. Instead of placing blame, focus on facilitating a solution. Universal: It is best to follow the universal principles of Love (Allurement) and Caring (Interrelatedness) if we wish to avoid unpleasant situations. Societal: As members of groups we should strive to rectify problems when they are small, so that they don’t escalate into major conflicts between opposing sides. Violence is often avoided by early diplomatic efforts, especially before tempers have flared into deep-seated hatreds. Interpersonal: Healthy relationships are those that rectify problems quickly and do not permit extended arguments. To permit situations in which tempers simmer, is to risk an eventual flaring forth of hostility. Internal: If we focus on kindness and love, always avoiding the emotions of anger and hatred, we will most definitely have happier “naturally arising thoughts”. 80. A Life Lived Most Fully Embraces Simplicity and Simple Pleasures
A return to simplicity and simple pleasures brings untold benefits: …tightly-knit and caring communities. …joys to be found helping friends, family, clan and village. …safe neighborhoods where people look out for each other. …agreements based on “a person’s word” instead of the reliance upon contracts. …relishing simple food and simple clothes. …appreciation of one’s ancestors and cultural heritage. Although the bright lights of neighboring towns beckon, the people are content to remain with friends and loved ones. Essential Meaning: It is wise to embrace simplicity and simple pleasures…there are many benefits to a simple lifestyle. Universal: It is seen that the universe tends to support and maintain those systems which are simple and stable. When we disrupt these systems even slightly, ecological disaster is readily seen. The best example is the pollution of our environment by the ever increasing industrialization of our planet. Societal: When society becomes increasing dissatisfied with the simple pleasures, turmoil is always the result. The worst offender of this arena is the advertising we see on television, which tries to incite discontent in the viewers’ current perception of life. Interpersonal: This chapter is not trying to dampen one’s appreciation for travel and the other marvels of the world, but tries to focus our appreciation on the nearby joys that we often take for granted…that of friends and family. Internal: When we reduce our “unquenchable thirsts” and our over-attachments, clingings and graspings, we can begin to enjoy (and be content with) the simpler things of life…especially the joys of friendship and deeply bonded family relationships. - 126 -
81. The Path of the Great Harmony is that which Benefits All and Harms No One (HHK/TWD)
Those who walk the path of the Great Harmony strive always to be truthful, but to do so without harming. This also means to develop the skill of “deep listening” and to beware of empty rhetoric. For the truth is not told by the use of sparkling words. Kindness does not search for faults, And those who focus on fault are not truly kind. The kindness of the Great Harmony is not found in the studying of books, And those who only focus on the teachings from books will never learn the nature of true kindness. The sage does not seek love or acclaim, But discovers the innate happiness generated within when we outwardly manifest love and compassion. Thus, the way of the Great Harmony is to benefit all creatures and cause no harm. The sages accomplish this with kindness and compassion – they do not contend or coerce. Essential Meaning: The essence of the path of the Great Harmony is to benefit all (without contending or coercion) and to do no harm. Strive to pursue truth, but never use truth such that another becomes hurt. The most common unkindness is the tendency to “observe and find flaw”…we find this offered as “humor”, especially on television in which it becomes “funny” to observe and ridicule to flaws of others. This is also found in the human pastime of “gossip” and should be avoided. True kindness can never be learned from books…only from experience. Our greatest joys come from the outward pouring of love, not from its receipt. Universal: Again, we see the value in seeking to align ourselves with the nurturing and supportive nature of the universe. Societal: We should always seek to diffuse situations in the groups to which we belong that manifest any kind of hurtfulness, whether it be towards others or towards the environment. Interpersonal: The HHK/TWD lifestyle will always enhance our interpersonal relationships. Internal: The way to benefit all (without harming) is to adopt the HHK/TWD lifestyle. This assures that we cause no harm or hurtfulness, even unto ourselves.
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