Overcoming the Fear of Death

To help ease the minds of the countless people who worry about death and dying, or the death of a loved one, a few things need to be explained.

First off, death is not the tragedy that everybody thinks it is. It's simply another part of life. It's just a transition from one place to another; from this physical world, to a non-physical world. Physical death is meaningless, it's arbitrary, it's a joke, it's irrelevant. The physical body is nothing but a temporary vehicle or tool that Consciousness/Awareness/Spirit uses to temporarily experience this physical world. The key word there is "temporarily". Billions and billions of physical bodies have died in the past, and billions more will die in the future. One way, or another, sooner, or later, everybody and everything dies. It's not a big deal. That's just the way this physical world is. It is a world of change and evolution. Nobody can avoid physical death. Nobody. When it's time to leave this physical world, it's time to leave. Do you know of anybody that hasn't died, or that won't die? Then what's the point of getting all upset about it?

We see our mother, father, or some other loved one dying, but the physical body you are worried about dying isn't even your "mother" unless you have the limited perception that the physical body is what she is. You are not the body, and neither is she. You are IN the body, but you are not the body. If you can watch the mind and its thinkingness, then you aren't the mind and its thinkingness. You aren't the experiencer, you are the silent observer. Spirit/Consciousness/Awareness doesn't have a sex; it's not male or female. It doesn't even have a shape. It's non-physical, it's formless, it's timeless, it's eternal, it's infinite. The soul is eternal. In other words, it is never born, and it never dies. It is a timeless foreverness. It cannot be harmed or threatened in any way whatsoever, so worrying about death is a complete waste of time and energy.

"You speak sincerely, but your sorrow has no cause. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead." - Bhagavad Gita 2:11

So yes, sometimes the body suffers, but it really doesn't matter because that's not what we are. We only think and believe the body is "me" because we're unaware of the truth, and we're unaware of the truth because we continue to identify the body and mind as being "me" instead of simply observing and being aware of them. But now that you are aware of the truth, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. The body you see suffering is just that; a body. That's all, nothing more. That body is not your "mother" or "father" because you are not your body either. The real you was never born and it can never die. Never.

"You were never born; you will never die. You have never changed; you can never change. Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, you do not die when the body dies." - Bhagavad Gita 2:20

"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists." - A Course in Miracles

"The real does not die, the unreal never existed." - Nisargadatta Maharaj

The End is Not an End

At the moment of Enlightenment the individual "you" (ego/mind) dissapears completely and literally dies. The me, myself, and I ceases to be. At that final moment there is a feeling of "I'm going to die", and this doesn't mean bodily death, it means the very essence of what you individually think you are (thoughts and thinking). The ego/mind fears it's own death, but all fear is an illusion because fear is an emotion, and all emotions (physical chemical reactions) are the result of being identified with the ego/mind and body (physicality). When the mind goes silent it's replaced by void, by nothingness, but that "nothingness" is only "nothing" because it's formless, non-physical, and unmanifested. In actuality, that "nothingness" is an all-encompassing Infinitely Everything, which is a profound ineffable Peace/Love/Wholeness/Completion way beyond description, which just simply IS. It's No-Thing, yet Infinitely Everything, yet beyond both because both are mere concepts. All words and concepts are meaningless because they are born from the ego/mind.

"The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are Illusions." - Bodhidharma, founder of Zen

Nobody Becomes Enlightened

There is no conflict. You are ALREADY the Awareness that is aware of the mind and it's thinkingness, you always have been, and you always will be, even when you're identified with thoughts and thinking. Just like the sun is ALWAYS there even when clouds are covering it. If you are ALREADY formless unmanifested all-encompassing all-knowing Awareness beyond words and concepts, then there is absolutely NOTHING to get, grasp, gain, or obtain. You are ALREADY utterly whole, complete, and perfect, and there is nothing to search for, not even Enlightenment. You are already That. There is only Self-Awareness, the awareness of oneself as Infinitely Everything beyond physicality. But don't try to imagine this with the mind because it can't be done. Just get out of the way and lose "yourself". Get out of the way. Let go. Give up. Surrender.

In fact, this whole writing process is the consequence of silence, surrendering, allowing, waiting, listening, "receiving", intuition, epiphanies, being, and knowing. It has nothing to do with the intellect/ego/mind, and if on occasion it does, then something has gone wrong.

Enlightenment by Love/Truth

How does Enlightenment Happen? First off, you (the mind) doesn't ever make it happen. It happens by ITSELF when all concepts of the mind are let go of, when the very energy behind thinking is let go of, when all wantingness and neediness is let go of, and when not even Enlightenment is sought after.

1. This can be done by the completely unconditional and radical forgiveness and acceptance of absolutely EVERYTHING, as it is right now in this very moment, always. This is the path of nonjudgemental acceptance, forgiveness, Love, compassion, and selflessness. If there's full blown acceptance of absolutely everything as it is, then there's nothing to judge, nothing to describe, nothing to define, nothing to talk about, nothing to express an opinion about, no thing to make into something, nothing to express a belief about, nothing to search for, nothing to manipulate, nothing to change, nothing to force, and there's nothing to think about at all. Everything just IS, nothing more, and one sees the absolute perfection and beauty in everything because everything and everyone is currently operating at it's own level of awareness and/or evolution. Everyone and everything is what it is right now because that's what it needs to learn, or un-learn. They REALLY DON"T know otherwise, or they don't want to know otherwise. If they REALLY knew otherwise, they would be otherwise.

2. Enlightenment can also happen by way of wisdom/Truth/mindfulness/Awareness, which involves non-effort, loss of interest in all thinking and thoughts, and letting go constantly and continuously. Watching the mind does not mean concentration or effort because concentrating is something that the ego/mind does. Nothing can be forced to happen, as force is the nature of the ego/mind. As soon as you watch thoughts, they dissapear. If you try to fight thoughts, you give them more strength because focus and energy is being put into fighting and conflict, which is again, a thing of the mind.

Awareness is the Only Reality

Essentially, you are not the mind and body of change (relative truth). You are the still, silent, unchanging Absolute; the Awareness that is aware of the mind and it's comings and goings, when a deliberate point of being aware of it is made. Watch the mind. That Awareness is changeless, timeless, shapeless, formless, and infinitely eternal. It has no beginning or end.

If you're able to watch the mind, then you are not the mind. How many minds do you have? Are you the mind, or are you the observer watching the mind? Only one of them is real. Just like the heart or lungs, the ego/mind is going and going all by itself. In other words, you are not the thinker of thoughts. Take 5 minutes to watch the mind and see for yourself. You can't control it. You can't stop it by controlling it, but you can stop it by watching it and losing interest in it. You are not the body and it's senses. You are not the mind and it's thoughts. You are the infintely silent Awareness that is aware of them. One is not subject to the countless faulty workings of the ego/mind when one stops identifying the automatic random repetitive thoughts of the mind as being "me". The very nature of the ego/mind can be summed up in one word... DRAMA. And what is drama? It's the absence of peace (of mind).

"Every phenomena that exists is a creation of thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void." - Huang Po, Zen Master

Enlightenment is Not...

Enlightenment is NOT the development of psychic abilities, is not astral travelling, is not channeling entities, is not a temporary trance state, is not an artificially induced altered state of consciousness, it has nothing to do with "new age" anything, it doesn't involve the past or the future, it doesn't belong to any one specific religion, it doesn't involve conspiracy theories, it has nothing to do with UFO's or aliens, it doesn't involve so-called "ascended masters", it doesn't involve playing with the law of attraction (karma), it doesn't involve visualization, it has nothing to do with vibrations or energy, it has nothing to do with science, it doesn't involve sex (tantra), it has nothing to do with crystals, colors, or vortexes, and it certainly doesn't involve codes, mysteries, or "secrets" of ANY kind. The surreal is not real. There's a reason that Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Plotinus, Lao Tzu, Muhammad, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargardatta Maharaj, Meister Eckhart, and many Zen Masters never taught any of these things. Some of these things are outright false and harmful, others are just simply irrelevant to personal growth, and some of these are quite beneficial to the average person, but when it comes down to Enlightenment, every last bit of everything needs to be un-learned and let go of.

Reality (Awareness) with a captial "R" has no shape or form whatsoever, and is beyond ALL intellectual concepts. The real Truth is eternal and changeless. It has always been relevant, and it always will be. Real spirituality involves bettering ONSESELF by ways of selflessness/Love and higher levels of awareness/truth that help us LET GO of concepts and thoughts because it's concepts and thoughts that obstruct peace (of mind). Spirituality is not the introduction of even more concepts, unless those concepts help us let go of concepts. Peace of mind is silence of mind. Which means that thoughts, thinking, perceptions, views, attitudes, emotions, concepts, opinions, beliefs, and attachments are the source of suffering. Many people say "I wouldn't want to live life without my emotions or thinking" (and that's okay if it's okay with them), but they don't realize that's the ego/mind talking, and if one were even for a brief moment to personally experience exquisite, ineffable, and profound Peace/Silence, one would certainly no longer hold that point of view.

"The less one thinks the more delightful life becomes." - David Hawkins

Enlightenment Is...

To clear matters up, we're just going to spell it out in a very simple, clear, and lucid manner. Enlightenment is.. the PERMANENT dissolvement/cessation of ALL thoughts, thinking, concepts, and emotions of the ego/mind. In case you missed it, the key words there are "permanent" and "all". :) Enlightenment is the ceasing of all concepts, all notions, all ideas, all symbols, all words, all intellectualizing, all emotions, all thoughts, and all thinking. In order to let all of them go, one must be fully aware of them, and one must be watching them rather than being identified with them. When you watch them non-judgementally and without words or emotions, they dissipate into nothingness. When you watch them, you are Awareness, not the mind, and when you are wholly and completely Awareness, the very energy behind thinking is let go of.

No Secrets

In actuality, there are no secrets. The truth reveals ITSELF when we stop thinking we already know it (humility & surrender). Absolute Truth reveals itself when we stop thinking and conceptualizing altogether. No matter what level of truth we currently live/are, it's a complete illusion that it's the highest one. Because Awareness is Infinity, the evolution of becoming Self-Aware is also infinite. "Throughout history, mankind has been impressed with the state of enlightenment, but from the viewpoint of the ultimate possibility of God, it is only a beginning." - David Hawkins

"The part always has a tendency to reunite with its whole in order to escape from its imperfection." - Leonardo DaVinci

How Enlightenment Happens

Just how does Enlightenment, Self-Realization, No-Mind, Liberation happen?

Lao Tzu's famous poetic Tao Te Ching starts with the words "A way that can be walked is not The Way."
Realize that it has nothing to do with the intellect or scientific proof, but that of firsthand experiential verification.
Realize that to truly know, rather than knowing ABOUT, involves BEING that which is to be known.
Realize that the truth doesn't need the approval of the human ego in order to be truth. Absolute Truth already is what it is. It can't be created by the mind.
Realize that because of karma and Free Will, EVERYTHING is perfect as it is, despite all the prevalent negativities in the world.
Realize that everyone is simply being the level of "truth" that they are currently aware of, and that the truth is only for those who want it.
Realize that people can't help being that which they are. "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."
In The Words of Gandhi, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world", and "..lose yourself in the service of others".
Realize that because everybody and everything is One, we change the world in far greater unseen ways as a result of what we ARE, compared to what we do.
Realize that separation, duality, polarity and opposites do not actually exist. All is One, which is Self, which just Is.
Realize that there is no duality of "love" and "evil". There are only varying degrees of the absence of Love/Truth.
Realize that space, distance, form, and time are ILLUSIONS created by LIMITED physical senses and ways of thinking.
Realize that the physical body, and the AUTOMATIC random repetitive thoughts of the mind, are not the real "me" at all.
Realize that you are the Awareness that is aware of the mind and its comings and goings. The more it's watched, the more it disappears.
Realize that everything and everyone is One. The observer and the observed are One. The knower and the known are One.
A Course in Miracles says "...you both HAVE everything and ARE everything."
Realize that there is no duality, no opposites, and no polarity. Nothing can exist outside of Existence, otherwise it wouldn't exist.
Realize that even what the mind conceives and conceptualizes as being "nothing", Void, Unmanifest, or Formlessness, is still within Existence.
In the highly evolved The Zen Teaching of Huang Po on the
Transmission of Mind, it says "It is an existence which is no existence, a non-existence which is nevertheless existence. So this true Void does in some marvelous way 'exist'."
Realize that there can only be varying degrees of things within Existence, like degrees on a thermometer.
Realize that there is no individuality; no "you", "me", "this", "that", "here", "there", "inner", "outer", etc.
Realize that there is no individual "me", "myself", "mine", or "I".
Realize that there is no "doer" doing anything, because that would imply there is an "individual" to do something.
Realize that since All is One, there can be no "other", which means All is Self, or All is I.
Realize that Enlightenment happens by ITSELF when the little self is left to fall away like a disrobed peice of clothing.
Realize that there is absolutely NOTHING to be gotten, grasped, gained, obtained, or attained because The Absolute/Self/Buddha/God already Is.
Realize that Awareness, Consciousness, and Knowing don't require words, concepts, thoughts or thinking.
Realize that EVERYTHING is an irrelevant concept. All thought and thinking is essentially worthless.
It's really just as "simple" as losing interest in all thought and thinking, right now, and not identifying thoughts as "me", right now.
Realize that without the ego/mind interfering, everything just IS. Nothing more, nothing less. All perceptions, views, opinions, beliefs, likes, and dislikes are irrelevant.
Realize that The Absolute is not subject to change, and even "Is" is an irrelevant concept.
Realize all of this... but not with words and concepts. Just let go.

Ramana Maharshi says that "There will come a time when one will have to forget all that has been learned." and Nisargadatta Maharaj explains that "When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing, then the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected."

What is Enlightenment?

What EXACTLY is Enlightenment, Self-Realization, No-Mind, Liberation, and why do we want it?

It's the complete and permanent dissolvement/cessation of all concepts, thoughts, and thinking of the ego/mind.
It's the letting go of the very energy behind thoughts and thinking.
It's the actual death of the thinking process of the mind. The individual's self/ego/I literally dies. What you currently consider to be "me", dies, and is no more.
The ego/mind fears that life/existence will end when IT comes to an end, but this isn't true.
It's the realization of what one already is, always was, and always will be, which is changeless and unlimited.
It's the realization of Self as All of Existence, which is Pure Awareness, which is beyond all form, shape, dimension, time, concepts, and the physicality of this world.
It's simply the letting go of the emotions, thoughts, and thinking that mask and stand in the way of the Infinite Intuitive Knowingness and Awareness of Absolute Truth.
It's for those who seek absolute and permanent completion, wholeness, perfection, freedom, peace, happiness, joy, bliss, etc.
It's a profound ineffable love, peace, stillness, and silence beyond bliss and ecstasy, which is well beyond words and description.
It's an innate knowingness of the truths of the universe, because if "one" is Everything, then naturally, "one" knows everything.
It precludes individual will, intentions, desires, wants, "needs", emotions, personality, thoughts, ideas, concepts, and thinking.
It's not the denial of will. It's for those who wish to serve the world/universe in the highest possible way, whatever that may happen to be, in this very moment, right now.
It's for those who want to let go of the little self; the me, myself & I, which is the source of all problems and suffering.

Purposefully creating worldly "success" with thought (the law of attraction) is one goal, while moving beyond thought totally is a different goal altogether. One helps us cope with this physical world, while the other takes us beyond it forever (no more reincarnation). One perpetuates individual karma (positive & negative), while the other frees us of it permanently. "The truth shall set you free."

Some people believe various psychic abilities, siddhis, and occult powers are "spiritual", but the truly Enlightened, such as Ramana Maharshi, warn otherwise and say "Forget about siddhis. They are all manifestations of the duality, therefore illusory. Do not seek them. It's immaterial to spiritual realization. Find out who you are."

Beyond The Secret

The major underlying points to grasp in The Secret are that, first, unconditional happiness, gratitude, peace, acceptance and forgiveness must be chosen FIRST, and then the rest of one's life will reflect that perfectly. In fact, a person's circumstances and situations are already, and always, an absolutely perfect reflection of the attitudes, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and choices of that individual. Second, a point which wasn't really even talked about, is that everything and everybody is interconnected. All is One. The law of attraction would not work if this wasn't true. Third, that the law of attraction, what goes around comes around, you reap what you sow, everything comes full circle, the ebb and flow, balance in the universe, or karma, is in effect 100% of the time. There can be no "cause" of anything. There are only effects and automatic consequences of what one is (choices, thought processes, feelings, actions). Picture yourself as a tiny magnet among countless others. Likes attract likes. Which means that there is no such thing as a co-incidence, accident, random event, miracle, fluke, luck, or chaos. The entire universe is basically an infinite electromagnetic field where everything is happening exactly as it needs to according to what we make ourselves to be. To put it simply, EVERYTHING is karma, and everything is happening spontaneously on its own as an automatic consequence. What you make yourself to be is a choice. What happens to you as a result of what you are, is not.

Next, if there's no "cause" of anything, then reincarnation explains perfectly why "bad" things happen to "good" people, with the science of cellular biology also coming to this realization in The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. This book is solid science but it's written in a way that's perfectly accessible to the layman as well.

If we take Oneness to the next level, we come to understand that if you are connected to everything else, then you ARE Everything else. There is no "you", "me", "here", "there", "this" or "that" when All is One. There can be no "other". In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna refers to this as the "Self", as do many other advanced teachings. Others have called it God, Universal Mind, Universe, All That Is, Life, Existence, Collective Consciousness, Creative Intelligence, Source, Pure Awareness, Presence, Spirit, Nature, Tao, Buddha, Christ, Self, Love, Energy, Divinity, Reality, Truth, The Absolute, The Infinite, Intuition, etc. It's all one and the same thing, and it's only the limited concepts of the mind, and the identification of those automatic thoughts as being "truth" and/or "me", that makes us think otherwise. Words are limiting concepts that can't possibly fully describe that which is Absolute and beyond the limitations of words, conceptual thinking, and form, so it really doesn't matter what we call It.

"The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are Illusions." - Bodhidharma, founder of Zen

Searching for Happiness

The movie The Secret, and what's taught in it (the law of attraction), is beginning to take the world by storm, and while this may be extremely beneficial to the masses, for those seeking Enlightenment it's just more relative truth, another obstacle to be relinquished, surrendered and let go of. There's creating specific things intentionally with thought, and then there's having COMPLETE TRUST and FAITH that the universe will, and is, supplying EVERYTHING that one "needs". However, some people might require the first step in order to eventually reach the second. Sooner or later one comes to realize that neediness and craving are never ending and cannot be filled by depending upon external phenomena. Happiness is experienced from within which means the source of it is within, when it's chosen. The more it's chosen, the larger it grows, and the larger it grows, the more we realize it's within. Happiness is a choice, and freedom comes from having no specific "needs" (addictions, cravings) outside oneself. Choosing to be happy at all times brings inner wholeness, completion, and peace. If one is already utterly whole and complete, NOTHING else is needed.

It needs to be made clear that negatives are not the opposite of positives, but rather the ABSENCE of positives (think temperature on a thermometer). It's not possible to be needy and complete/happy at the same time because neediness is the absence of happiness/completion. We can't focus on negatives and somehow expect the "opposite" to happen. Whatever we put our focus on, we receive. Focusing on the negatives will bring more of the negatives. Focusing on the positives will bring more of the positives. This is where we take a REALLY close look at our current life circumstances, and then we REALLY look at the thoughts, concepts, perceptions, attitudes, limitations, emotions, opinions, and beliefs that go on inside our own head, and we realize there's a HUGE connection. One's mindset is creating one's so-called "outside" reality.

The Real "You"

This blog is not for the spiritualy timid. It's for those who are willing to start looking inwards at the workings of the ego/mind rather than focusing on external phenomena. One is not subject to negative mentalities and stress when the mind doesn't react (fight or flight) to outside phenomenon. One is not subject to the faulty workings of the ego/mind at all when one stops identifying the automatic random repetitive thoughts of the mind as being "me". The very nature of the ego/mind can be summed up in one word... DRAMA. And what is drama? It's the absence of peace (of mind).

Just like the heart or lungs, the mind is going and going all by itself. Take 5 minutes to watch the mind and see for yourself. You can't control it. You can't stop it by controlling it, but you can (eventually) stop it by simply non-judgementally watching it and taking notice of it. You are not the body and its senses. You are not the mind and its thoughts. You are the still, silent Awareness that is aware of them. Now the big question is... Do you want to wholely and completely BE that Awareness of profound peace, silence, and happiness, which is the real You? Or do you prefer and enjoy the drama and suffering created by the ego/mind? (Many people do, but that's because of the ego/mind.) Knowingly or unknowingly, this is why people practice meditation. That which you are knowingly or unknowingly seeking, is causing you to seek. It's calling you to Itself. It's calling you back Home from whence you came. Do you want to "remember" who/what you actually are?

You are ALREADY That, but it's being covered and masked by concepts, notions, thoughts, thinking, and emotions. All one needs to do is lose interest in ALL thought and thinking as it arises, and before it arises.

World Peace

The truth is the answer to every problem that ever has and ever will exist, and if we look at the state of the world today, it's pretty obvious that we are quite unaware of what the truth actually is. Why is it that we're so unaware of the truth? Because we don't want it, we think we already know it, or as Dr. David Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. says in Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, that "The design of the human mind renders it intrinsically incapable of being able to tell truth from falsehood."

What we think and believe in our minds determines our actions, and so, the state of the world, and it's problems, are a perfect reflection of the thought processes of the people that inhabit it. The world's problems cannot be solved by trying to fix the outcomes and EFFECTS of our thought processes. It's the THOUGHT PROCESSES that must be changed. In other words, every individual has to change oneself in order to change the world. Rather than thinking that others need to change themselves to suit your opinions, you must change yourself, and those opinions. World peace cannot be forced upon anyone because force creates more conflict. It will happen when every individual is at peace within their own mind. Conflict in the mind creates conflict in the world. Peace of mind creates peace in the world, and it all starts with you. If you're not at complete peace in this very moment, and every other moment, it's because of the thought processes and emotions that are standing in the way, in this very moment, and every other moment. If you want complete peace for yourself, or for the rest of the world, simply let go of those thoughts and emotions, in this very moment, and every other moment. It's no more complicated than that, even if the ego/mind would like to think otherwise.

"There is no path to peace. Peace is the path." - Mahatma Ghandi

The Nature of Truth

relative
1. Not absolute or complete
2. Properly related in size or degree or other measurable characteristics

absolute
1. Perfect or complete or pure
2. Complete and without restriction or qualification
3. Not limited by law
4. Expressing finality with no implication of possible change
5. Without conditions or limitations
6. Not capable of being violated or infringed

The words of truth are always paradoxical because there are different levels of truth (relative). What is "truth" at one level is not necessarily "truth" at other levels. Quite often, higher levels of truth render lower ones irrelevant and obsolete. For something to be truth at all, it must be relevant and beneficial to oneself, and all others, without exception. Truth is universal and impersonal. It applies to all and excludes no one. The truth is still the truth even if it's rejected or not currently understood. Everything you believe, is the truth, but only to you, and only because you believe it's the truth. The real truth already is what it is despite our opinions and beliefs about it. Truth never creates or perpetuates problems. It only solves, dissolves, and removes problems. In order for something to be Absolute Truth, it must be unlimited, whole, complete and perfect beyond description. For this to be possible, it must be INFINITELY EVERYTHING beyond change, words, mental concepts, form, and physicality. In other words, it is No-Thing, yet Infinitely Everything, yet beyond both because both are mere concepts.