Rise and Shine!

     The vast majority of us would like to be far happier. Most of us gradually realize that how we pursue greater happiness - chasing after more & better possessions, experiences, friends, lovers, physical health, longevity, etc - is frustratingly useless.
    Our default mind (ego, small separate self, personality) has evolved to quickly find advantage (Albert Szent-Györgyi) - to optimize our chances for survival, not to penetrate deeply meaningful Truth. What takes most of us a lifetime to realize, is that the bigger & louder our ego, the shallower, more meaningless our life becomes. Even under fairly low-levels of stress, the noise of our ego hides from us our deepest, most peaceful, contented, joy-filled human level of consciousness.

    “The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not 'the thinker.' The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence.” Eckhart Tolle

    “Pain is inevitable as long as you are identified with your mind.” Eckhart Tolle

    We are called “to serve not our limitations but what’s whole & unbreakable, our true Self. It’s easy to identify with all the places we’ve been hurt & abandoned, but can we identify with the timeless wholeness that weathers every condition? If we can’t, we may spend this life protecting ourselves and never risk really living.” Bonnie Myotai Treace

“The challenge awaiting us is to go much deeper as human beings,
to abandon superficial prejudices & preferences,
to expand understanding to a global scale,
integrating the totality of living, and
to become aware of the wholeness of which we are a manifestation."
Vimala Thakar

     We are extremely fortunate to have numerous wise, evolved teachers & their guidance instantly available on the web. Most recently I've deeply re-connected with Helen Hamilton's guidance. She gently helps us see how we're far more than the stories we keep telling ourselves (self-talk) about ourselves. When we learn to take our self-talk very lightly, we let go of the idea of being a small, isolated, insignificant accident of nature, struggling to survive in a hostile, meaningless universe (atheist dogma). When not lost in this dark cloud, we can directly experience our Oneness (Unitive Consciousness) which is radically more life-affirming.
     Most mystics & saints of all different traditions & times; serious meditators & contemplatives around the world; near-death experiencers (NDE); those who've journeyed with plant medicines (entheogens); astronauts who've experienced the "Overview Effect"; and many who've had spontaneous awakenings eg Eckhart Tolle; all seem to share some version of pantheism - the direct mystical experience & understanding that "reality, the universe, and nature are identical to divinity or a supreme entity. The physical universe is thus understood as an immanent deity, still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time."

 

     “We are one, but we will only feel that when we love everything.” Ram Dass

    "Treat everyone you meet as if they were God dressed in drag." Ram Dass

    "To be enlightened is to be intimate with all things." Zen Master Dogen

    “The only real purpose of being here on this earth is to learn or to re-remember our original natural state of no limitations.” Lester Levenson 

    “The only service you can do for anyone (including yourself) is to remind them of their true nature.” Stephen Levine

     IF you devote quality time, deeply listen, & integrate Helen Hamilton's positive suggestions into your days, your quality of life will progressively improve.
    Here are 3 of her many excellent free YouTube videos. To read along, just click the CC button for text: 

 

‘The Silence and The Fear’ interview by Iain McNay :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYTJDL7l15A&list=PLF004A8F551CE8FB9
(59min)

Helen and Walter chatting non-duality - amazing interview! :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0aRSPDoj28
(78min)

 

“You are the Sought and not the seeker” :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CATgxM71gwc
(71min)

 

    "... the truths discovered by the Buddha are already in your heart. There is a One Who Knows within you who already understands & is free. If you can turn towards this natural awareness and rest in it, then everything will become simple." Ajahn Chah https://jackkornfield.com/learning-the-middle-path/?mc_cid=84d6b00a6f&mc_eid=cd718e6a49 

 

    Helen Hamilton guides listeners to discover & rest in this natural awareness within all of us. We CAN experience it directly. Other descriptors: Silence, Stillness, Awareness, Equanimity, Love, Joy, Freedom, Presence, Ultimate Reality, Vastness, Emptiness.

 

"Earthrise" - photo by Apollo 8 astronaut, the late William Anders