One of the greatest obstacles humanity has in freeing itself from its shackles of slavery and finally realizing its full potential is its flawed perceptions about other living beings and Life itself.

We live in a world that is divided on every level, in a world of separation. But what we fail to see is that the cause and culprit of this separation can be found in the minds of every individual that is a part of this planet.

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Humanity’s Prison of Mental Labels and Its Inability to See the Life Beyond ThemRead More »

“If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”
– the Dalai Lama

One of the greatest ills of our society is the inability for people to handle their thoughts and emotions. Because this is never taught in school, people go their whole lives without ever knowing what they should do when they are faced with fear, grief, anger…or any other emotions, sensation or indeed intrusive thoughts. The rampant use of drugs and alcohol, the numbing of ourselves on pointless entertainment and reality TV shows, the inability to have happy and fulfilling relationships, innumerable amount of mental and physical health problems…have as one of their root causes the total helplessness of humanity in facing, handling or even acknowledging their inner pain.

For men this is often even worse, as it is so often silently agreed upon that feeling or showing emotions is somehow not masculine. This is of course total nonsense. Thankfully throughout recent years this notion has slowly been changing, at least somewhat, with the rapid onset of abnormally large amounts of mental illness in our society (making it impossible for people to hide their true feelings any longer), as well as potential solutions surfacing, like meditative practices, journaling and various forms of introspection.

So many people nowadays, I would argue the majority, are completely cut off from their feelings. They live their lives entirely in their heads, unable and unwilling (since nobody has told them it has any value) to feel their body and any emotions, sensations…present in it. They distract themselves endlessly and live their lives as if their inner world was not real – without knowing the truth that their subconscious is controlling them and influencing their actions far more than they realize. …

Do Not Resist or Repress Your FeelingsRead More »

We all live in a hectic world where constant activity is cherished beyond everything else. You are often even seen as more successful and productive if you constantly and consistently are (or at least appear to be) very busy.

But it is often that our busyness (or shall we say “business”?) can lead us astray. We may be constantly doing something, but is the path we are carving forward really in tune with our deepest desires and indeed our deepest selves? You may run as fast as you can, yet when you are running in the wrong (or at least sub-optimal) direction, you may end up lost and confused, while simply a casual stroll on the right path could have led you home.

How do we come to our core and allow ourselves to realign with our optimal path? The key lies in allowing ourselves to be. This to me, is the most wondrous practice, that I indulge in regularly. But really, even calling it a practice is missing the mark. If you allow yourself to be as you are, you are not really doing something – rather, you are actively doing nothing, which in Taoism is called the art of Wu Wei.

Indeed this, as you may have noticed, is the essence of meditation. But as much as a regular meditation habit can be very helpful, it is imperative to connect this to the rest of your life. Not only to connect it, but to understand its importance and implication, see it as something far beyond a practice, but as a new way of living life – understanding that what you are missing is right in front of you and noticing that as you allow yourself to touch what is, you will be renewed and your life rejuvenated.

So for a moment, right now, allow yourself to simply be. Allow yourself to relax, yet remain at full alertness. If you intend and allow your awareness to be swallowed by thought, you will move into unconsciousness, and ultimately into the sleep state. This is not what we are attempting here. We are attempting an open relaxed alertness, one that embraces all that comes onto its path.

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Allow Your Life to Be Interspersed with Moments of BeingRead More »

A few days ago I met at the park with one of my best friends. We hung out and talked for a few hours about a number of topics, until we eventually said our goodbyes as he hopped on his bike and left for home. It was quite late and night had already fallen, but I wanted to chill out and contemplate something I was thinking about earlier before returning home.

As I sat down on a park bench and meditated, I was, in the space of about 15 minutes, approached by a middle aged man pushing a bicycle beside him. He went past me and as our eyes met, he asked what I was doing. I replied that I was contemplating some topics that have been weighing on my mind recently.

I quickly saw that he was looking for someone to talk to – and my intuition turned out correct. He engaged me in a conversation, well not really a conversation, more a monologue, as I listened to what he had to say.

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Hopelessness, Desperation and the Man at the Park. Are We Doomed or Is There a Light at the End of the Tunnel?Read More »

Often we get lost in the various complexities of life, whether personal, societal, scientific, philosophical or spiritual. We seek answers, we seek ourselves, the seeking can be constant. And with the seeking, with the questions, come more and more questions, often accompanied by confusion and a feeling that we’ll never figure it all out. I know this because I’m often like this – I’m obsessed with figuring things out, with trying to find the answers, with wanting to have everything happen and align perfectly – wanting to know what to do and how to move forward in order to achieve and master perfection, alignment.

But with all of this, all of us, me included, often forget that the answers can often be found in the absolute simplicity of being. If you allow yourself to let go of the questions and the confusion, the seeking of understanding and the desire to know – you will paradoxically find the answers as well as the path forward. And the path can often and will often be very simple. Not only for a personal and worldly betterment of your life, but for your growth as a spiritual being, for the seeking of freedom and Divinity inherent within us all.

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Do Not Forget the Inherent Simplicity of Spirit and LifeRead More »

How do we change this planet, how do we make a better future for those that will come after us, if we do not know where we are headed?

We have seen what’s wrong with the world and we see more evidence of it every day. What we need right now is a vision, a clear vision for what we all want this planet to be, as well as the final iteration of what we want to create.

If we do not know where we are going, we are doomed to miss the path that leads us there. Thus the most important thing to know is our destination. We need to have a vision of what we want to manifest into this world, for both us and our children.

What I’m asking of you is not to necessarily know the plan, or a clear path of action. If you can, that is absolutely wonderful, but the most important thing is to know the final destination, the final shape of what we want to create, the vision of a new society, of a New Earth. The mind works in mysterious ways and many times it will provide you with a plan of action as well as plenty of ideas and intuitions of what needs to and can be done, if you clearly state your end goal, visualize it and write it down if possible.

The vision does not need to be exact and not all contingencies need to be planned for preemptively in your mind. You do not need to see and understand the exact sociopolitical complexities of this desired Utopia. What matters most is the energy, the energy from which you create this vision. From this energy all the ideas, the plans, the details will spring forth. Will you create this from an energy of love, peace, compassion, unity, joy, or from fear, grief, anger?

You do not have to know exactly how it’s going to work or how we are going to get there, even a rough draft is a wonderful start. But I urge you to do this and to do this now. I urge you to think about , visualize and write down if possible what a New Earth could genuinely look like, how we can come together and make a society that we have all dreamed of a reality.

If you wish to create this, it is always best to clear your mind and come to inner peace as best you can. Let go of any bothersome thoughts or emotions. Drop them as the unnecessary burden onto your being that they are. Realize that fundamentally YOU ARE, realize your precious beingness and create from it, create from a space unburdened by any limits of who you are and how you should be.

Take a few deep breaths, relax and let go. Then allow it to come forth. Your vision for what this planet and all on it has the potential to be.

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Creating a Vision for a New Earth, for the Utopia This Planet Has the Potential to BeRead More »

How do we save the world?

As within so without, as above so below
– Hermes Trismegistus

Most of us see the world is a mess. From wars, to total poverty, from people that are thrown into prison for crimes they didn’t commit, to people that do not have access to basic sanitation and clean drinking water. The fact is, if you were born in an at least somewhat wealthy country and have your basic needs provided, while you can also freely browse an uncensored Internet, you can count yourself as very blessed. But even in first world countries, where abundance seems commonplace (and even such countries are rare, the majority of first world countries still have a sharp divide between classes and enormous problems with poverty) and crime scarce (again, quite rare) you find yourself in the midst of a population that is unhappy, depressed, fearful and anxious, wanting to escape their reality and constantly seeking the next dopamine stimulating experience.

Where have we gone wrong and how do we fix it?

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The Inner Revolution – Saving the World by Dissolving Our Pain and Finding Freedom Beyond the KnownRead More »

Whenever we are presented with pain in our life, whether it is emotional, mental or physical, we push back, resisting it. We want it to go away, wish for it to disappear, desire to change it, control it, make it different than the way it is. We want to escape.

But if you look closely, you’ll see that doing so only makes the pain, the suffering worse. In fact the suffering itself is actually created by the resistance to the pain. As the saying goes – “In life, pain is inevitable, yet suffering is optional”.

So whenever you feel any form of pain, instead of resisting it, embrace it.

As the wonderful Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh says – treat your fear, your anger, your grief….your pain, like a mother treats her child. Embrace it, hold it in the loving attention of your awareness.

The Process

Firstly, become present to what you are feeling now. Allow yourself to notice every aspect of your experience, from the emotional sensation, to the pictures, to the thoughts.

Then notice the silent peace, the stillness, the spaciousness in the background. It may be slight at first, but simply allow yourself to notice it, become aware of it, in order to help it grow and to see how the pain is only a superimposition onto this stillness.

As you then embrace your pain, as you engulf it in a loving, open awareness, in a welcoming presence, it will slowly start to dissipate.

If you find it helpful, you can breathe through it and breathe into it. Use your breath to help hold you conscious attention on the pain and to help you in embracing it. Breathing is magical and the breath can serve both as an anchor for awareness as well as means to help dissolve the pain that you are experiencing. If you choose to have the breath as your aid, remember to breathe correctly – allow your breathing to be slow and gradual, breathe through your nose and not your mouth. A very helpful practice is to breathe into the pain, helping it dissolve.

As you do so place your awareness on your body and allow yourself to feel whatever you are feeling fully. If there are any pictures in your awareness or indeed thoughts, allow yourself to notice them.

The most important thing is to be completely aware (in a welcoming manner) of what you are feeling (including any pictures in awareness), while dropping the identification with thoughts that accompany the feelings (or indeed seeing the stories for the illusions they are). Feeling the feelings fully, becoming aware of them fully while not thinking about them is often enough for the mental identification to drop away or become seen as illusory. However in many cases this does not happen, in which case it is (as explained below) a good idea to notice and become aware of the stories and beliefs that keep you hooked into the story, that you identify with and see as true for you.

So now look for the thoughts and beliefs that accompany the emotional energy. Notice them in your mind, notice how you are identified with them and the stories they weave. Bring them to the light of consciousness – if you find it helpful write them down. It is often that simply by noticing them in combination with feeling the emotion, they will dissipate on their own or begin to feel like the illusions and lies that they are.

It is crucial to notice and acknowledge the (limiting and based on distorted perceptions) thoughts and beliefs that accompany your feelings and become aware of them – it is the holding on to those thoughts and beliefs that keep you hooked in your problems and suffering. It is the identification with them that keeps you locked in. So it is important to see the stories for what they are – stories in your mind, not who you ultimately are. Painful stories and beliefs are usually based on limited and distorted perceptions of situations, people, ideas…so it is helpful to question the assumptions behind them (Byron Katie’s Work can be very helpful here). As you become aware of, feel and dissolve your emotions, the stories will be seen through more easily as well.

At this point, if you wish, you can go deeper. Inquiring into the mind what the deeper cause of the pain and distress is. Allow yourself to ask the questions, stay open to the answers and acknowledge them. Any further emotions, thoughts and beliefs that come up can be dealt in a similar way. Such inquiry will deepen your freedom and give your more insights into your mind.

Questions are powerful tools for self-discovery. You can think up of questions for deeper inquiry on your own, but some examples could be: “What is really bothering me?”, “What is the source of this pain, emotions…?”, “What is the cause (or deeper cause) of this?”, “How am I creating this?”, “What are you trying to tell me (to the subconscious mind)?”.

Now, allow yourself to notice that which is beyond your pain, your emotions, or any thoughts that may have arisen. Allow yourself to embrace the silence, without which no sound can exist, the space all around you, without which no matter could be placed, as well as the space between thoughts and the feeling of space and stillness in your own body. By looking beyond what is manifested, you will encounter a faint stillness at first, a sense of peace and calm. Slowly, as you give it attention, this will grow into a far deeper peace, that includes joy, love and even bliss.

This stillness and freedom is behind all your thoughts, emotions and all of manifested reality. Thus as you let go of everything, you will experience this more and more. You will also see that who you are can bear all pain and remain free – that no matter what happens in the world, what happens to you, what your life situation is, there is always a peace and stillness of your true presence, of your deepest nature and the nature of the Absolute, the Divine, in the background.

Embracing this stillness, peace and freedom that is always present can be done to facilitate the process of integration and dissolution in the beginning of this process, during it and in the end. It is always good to be aware of it, since it is the ground of all experience and the deepest part of who you are.

If action is needed, take it. Use your intuition to see what kind of action needs to be taken, but do not take action from a point of confusion and emotional turmoil. Bring yourself to peace first, as best you can, then if the cause of your misery can be abated by some form of productive action, by doing something proactive, then do it. Try to connect reason and logic with your intuition when taking action – do what makes sense, but also what feels good – what feels good from a deep level, not from a surface level perception. Whatever you feel leads you to deeper peace, freedom, well-being, compassion, love….deeper into the present.
It is prudent to note that sometimes what you will need to do will seemingly defy logic. If your intuitive sense of joy, love and freedom to do this thing is strong enough, it is more important than the sense of logic. The truth is that there is likely a logical reasoning and connection there, it is just that with a limited perspective that most of us have it can be difficult to see.

What you will notice is that simply by becoming aware of the causes of your turmoil, you will already be dissolving it. Awareness is the great healer. You will see that very often, your suffering is arising from wrong perception. You will let go of deep seated fears, forgive yourself and others unconditionally, drop anger, grief as well as unchecked egotistic pride. All of these things contribute to your suffering. Simply by becoming aware of them and noticing that they are causing you suffering, you will be letting them go – simply by bringing them to the light of your awareness you will heal and drop what is no longer necessary. Heavy baggage that you no longer need, that no longer serves you.

Letting Go Directly

Another means of releasing your pain is to simply decide and let it go. You may be surprised, but ultimately holding on to your pain is simply an internal decision that is there by habit. Once you become aware of the pain you can simply decide it no longer serves you and drop it, like dropping an unneeded heavy item from your hand.

You can also ask yourself a simple question to help facilitate the release – “Could I allow myself to let this feeling go?”, you can follow it up with “Would I? and “When?” – these questions will help you identify your resistance to the act of letting go. By noticing your response to these questions (which may in the beginning or in some cases be negative “No”, “I can’t”, “Later”….) and choosing a positive affirmative answer (in order “Yes”, “Yes”, “Now”) you will be able to let whatever you are holding on to, go.

Decision based letting go can be tricky, because people not versed in this practice may push pain away, resist it and thus do the exact opposite of letting go. Letting go is none of those things, it is simply deciding to drop something and choosing peace, freedom instead.

Another question that can facilitate in letting go in this manner is to simply (after you become aware of what you are feeling, what is bothering you) ask yourself the following discriminating question: “Would I prefer to have this (or indeed hold on to this) feeling/thought/belief…or would I rather be free?”. Look within and notice the answer that arises. Allow yourself to choose freedom.

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What I’ve described are straightforward ways in dealing with inner suffering, in whatever form it may arise.

Use them to heal yourself whenever necessary. Make it a continued practice to dissolve and resolve your inner pain, to look within – but also to be aware of the peace, presence, stillness, love and even joy that is present here now. Remain in the peace of Now and deal with the pain whenever it arises. Slowly, there will be less pain and more peace. Less unpleasantness and more happiness.

You can alter the main process in any way you intuitively feel improves its usefulness to you, as well as change the succession of the steps provided. We are all unique individuals and each of us experiences themselves and life differently, so what I’ve provided is more of a blueprint than an exact plan. Nobody can give you that. You must discover it yourself based on your own intuition, which you can only gain through experience, through facing your inner demons again and again, until they are integrated and dissolved by and into the light of your awareness.

Much love and good luck 🙂

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Some other relevant links to help you on your path of dissolving your pain:

-Awareness – The Key to Mental, Emotional and Physical Freedom
-Finding, Experiencing and Following Your Intuition
–Deciding, Choosing and Creating with Awareness
-Unconditional Self-Acceptance
-Forgiving Yourself for Your Past Mistakes Unconditionally
-Breathing – A Portal into the Present Moment
-Triple Welcoming Process – The Sedona Method (a wonderful process for dissolving inner pain and suffering)

External links:

The Work, By Byron Katie (a wonderful process for questioning your thoughts and resolving inner pain – one can get the process from the book ‘Loving What Is’, but it’s also available free on her website)

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The letting go of the seeking for answers, for understanding, as well as admitting that you do not know the answer to the questions that appear in your mind can be one of the most liberating things there is – as well as a true portal to deep insight.

DROPPING THE SEEKING OF UNDERSTANDING AS THE PORTAL TO INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING

It is so often that we obsess about certain questions, whether it is about us, about our past or quite frequently about our future (“What will happen tomorrow?”), about what others think (“How does that person see me?”, “Does he/she love me?”), or perhaps deep philosophical and/or metaphysical questions about reality.

I know that in my life this is a common occurrence. I get obsessed about various questions, very often philosophical in their nature, that will often drive me to the edge of insanity.

One of the main keys to resolving such issues is to simply ask yourself an iteration of this simple question, that can work as a facilitator for a release:
“Could I let of wanting to figure this out?” “Could I let go of wanting to know the answer?”

Look within and see whether you can let go of the desire to know, to understand. See the resistance within you and ultimately choose to simply let go. Letting go is simply a choice and by answering yes to the above question, that is the exact choice you are making.

Why would you want to let go of the desire to understand? Simply because the very want, the desire to understand the question is the very thing that is one of the greatest impediments between you and the answer.

By letting go of wanting to know, you move into the realm of knowing. You move into peace and the realm of stillness, where no questions arise. From this place it is far more likely that you will find an answer to your question, either through your own internal intuition or by intuitively knowing where to look for the answer (perhaps in a book, perhaps by asking someone that might have the answer…). Though it is not guaranteed that you will always receive a total and complete answer and be given omniscient clarity on the subject of your confusion, it is still far more likely for this to happen after you drop the desire, the burning want to know, then if you keep holding on to it.

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Portals to Insight, Knowledge, Understanding and the Dissolving of ConfusionRead More »

Achievements. Our society is absolutely obsessed by them. Achievements mean success and success means you are worth something, you’ve done something useful, you’ve contributed to society (or at least, to your own ego), you’ve finally “made it”.

The context I’m going to be talking about achievements in is the one where you are constantly striving to enhance yourself, your self-image, your self-worth, through some kind of accomplishment that you deem makes you better, greater and more important, as well as (and perhaps especially) happier and more fulfilled.

Achievements are our society’s way of dangling a carrot in front of your face in order to make you endlessly run towards it, never catching it. The carrot is always just out of reach. Even when you accomplish something the victory seems to be only temporary as the next thing that’s missing is always presented to you again by the world and ultimately your own mind, keeping you eternally stuck in the chase. 

Freedom, happiness, fulfillment thus always remain out of reach.

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Redefining Achievements – Is There Really Anything to Achieve?Read More »