Conscious.TV did an interview with Catherine Noyce about what it’s like when the identity of the separate self is lost.

I absolutely LOVE this ~40 min. interview because Catherine is such an ordinary person describing the ordinary experience of the awakened state of being everything and nothing, the state that so many people desire to experience. What Catherine has to share is so authentic and so on the mark, again pointing out that it’s not about the fireworks and the spiritual experiences. It’s about THIS aliveness that’s right here right now. She’s not a spiritual teacher. She’s just another regular person who’s woken up and realized who she is.

A few of the topics discussed in this interview include:

• What changes upon awakening
• How life is experienced once there’s no longer a separate self present
• The loss of the seeker
• If the negative emotions are still experienced or if there’s just permanent joy
• If one liberated person can tell if another person is liberated
• The supposedly enlightened people who have problems with sex, money, and power
• If fleeting glimpses into one’s true nature even matter
• If she still has dreams and goals in life that she projects out into the future
• Connecting to universal wisdom
• What (if anything) someone can do to wake up

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbM2EiOc49U

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXzkVUh3DJA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZOcZ8MfTfU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8J5d2FHVxI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Re_X3Mvnk

If this interview resonates with you, the book mentioned at the end is Everyday Enlightenment: Seven Stories of Awakening, of which Catherine’s story is one of the the seven shared, I presume. Also included in the book is Jeff Foster, an awakened author and spiritual teacher who has also been featured here before.

Recently we took a look at the excellent book You’re Not Going Crazy… You’re Just Waking Up! – The Five Stages of the Soul Transformation Process by Michael Mirdad, a book geared towards, well, basically any human living being on earth really.

Today we have an audio interview with Michael to share with you. I recently had the opportunity to ask him a series of questions about his book and boy did he ever share a wealth of information! He has worked as a healer and a counselor for nearly 30 years now and it really shows when he speaks about this soul transformation process.

In this 53 minute interview, Michael shares with us an in-depth look into the nature of the soul transformation process including such topics as:

• How when your life seems to be falling apart, that’s a sign that a dysfunctional (less than fully conscious) part of your life is actually falling away as it should.
• The experience of depression and loss that is often experienced when we lose something we had.
• The trying to figure out “what now” after we lose something and how to figure it out in a positive way.
• The difference between reconstructing a new dysfunctional life (ie. repeating the same old problems in relationships) and learning to rebuild a new life for yourself in a more conscious way, as if refilled by spirit now that you’ve emptied yourself of the old energies.
• How dark nights of the soul are your soul’s way of taking down multiple old parts of your life simultaneously.
• Learning to make the transition between being dragged through this process as a victim, to learning to experience it as a spiritual student, to finally initiating this process yourself as a master.

To listen to this interview in its entirety simply click on the link (MP3 download) below and enjoy!

YouAreTrulyLoved.com – Michael Mirdad interview

(As a fun little treat, rather than cutting the interview off once we finished the official interview questions, I left the last little bit on and you can tell how much he blew my mind will all that info.)

Today I’ve got two special treats in store for you.

Interview with Adyashanti

The first is an excellent interview with Adyashanti entitled Who Hears This Sound? on the topic of Waking Up From The Dream of “Me”. In this article you’ll hear Adya share about his actual awakenings (something he doesn’t often talk about), about sustaining an awakening into full-fledged enlightenment, how life is lived from a place of undivided wholeness, about if he still experiences emotions such as anger now that he’s enlightened, the abuse of power that is possible as a spiritual teacher, differentiating between awakening itself and the by-products of awakening such as a sense of well-being, and more.

It’s an fantastic interview and I highly recommend checking it out. Thank you to Tom Stine for recently featuring this article on his blog and bringing it to my attention. =)

Lester Levenson’s Story

Next is Lester Levenson’s Spiritual Journey (originally found here) from intense suffering to a full awakening and how he did it. This story details Lester’s personal journey from being in the verge of practically being a vegetable after a heart attack to the search for true happiness, how to create it, how to let go of all of his suffering, and the eventual realization into the Oneness of Beingness.

You’ll hear step-by-step exactly what he does (and man is it powerful!) as well as hear some of his examples of how he intuitively mastered the Law of Attraction, seeing that the ability to have what you desire (such as a million dollars) doesn’t have to conflict with experiencing lasting happiness. It’s the attachment to our desires that is the problem, not the actual desires or having of our desires themselves.

Lester’s understandings were later developed into more formal processes called The Sedona Method as well as The Release Technique, both of which I’ve found to be excellent transformational tools and are among my absolute favorites when it comes to releasing myself from suffering, allowing in more abundance and joy, and just relaxing into a state of peace and joy.

Enjoy!

The other day I interviewed Clara Llum about her spiritual journey and realizations, and today we will be sharing the next part of the discussion where she interviews me.

The topics discussed include, but are not limited to:

• Ariel’s Initial Entrance into spirituality
• Ariel’s First Teachers
• The Effectiveness of Religion upon Awakening
• The Awakening of Mass Consciousness
• The Necessity of Teachers to Confirm your Enlightenment
• The Interplay of the Physical and the Spiritual: Awakening, Sports, and Sex

From this point on, Clara’s questions and comments will be in normal font while mine will be italicized.

hello

hi Ariel!!

It’s a joy to have this second conversation, this time around and about YOU :-)

absolutely!

OK, do you have any predilection for the questions, or I just “shoot”?

anything goes, so let’s go for it and see what unfolds

OK, I read your website “about” section… and there you already answer some possible questions. But anyway, your readers may enjoy to explore a bit more about Ariel “the person” and his thoughts. I know this is very conventional question, but there it goes… Let’s talk about your background.

Ariel Begins His Spiritual Journey

Describe if you will the course of your spiritual research and the present stage that your are going through.

Sure. My parents at first wanted to raise us Jewish and so we went to Sunday school for a few years at most when we were young, but quickly left that. Just wasn’t for me. Tried doing the church thing, but that didn’t work for us either.

So you were once Jewish and also later Christian?

Oh, synagogue rather. Never Christian.

After seeing my mom meditating now and then, I was asking her what she was doing, which naturally got us into a discussion about God, spirituality, and so on. I was very curious, and also pretty adamant about “How do you know FOR SURE that God exists and that what you’ve been told is true” and so on.

You mentioned you moved away from being Jewish, with someone else… Who is “us”?

my brother and I

I see. He’s younger?

yeah, about 2 years younger or so

Did your parents remain Jewish?

Not really. My dad was never into religion at all. In fact, he’s been having the same dream his whole life about being stuck in some sort of prison with really high brick walls where he was tortured for his religious beliefs. He was born shortly after WW2 and has had lung problems his whole life… so it almost seems like memories and effects from his past life. In any event, he’s not too keen on being religious this time around.

My mom’s father’s wanted us to be raised Jewish and so she made a little more of a go at it, but when she saw it wasn’t for us, she let that slowly fade away.

And your mother, she meditated… how?

She meditated basically by just sitting still and being quiet from what I understand.

Very nice of her.

Yeah, so I’ve been quite fortunate in that my both parents have been very open and supportive in allowing me to do my own searching without having lots of doctrine imposed upon me.

Is your mother’s meditation practice related to your development and path?

In a sense. Her practices ignited our conversations which lead to me starting to read books by various spiritual authors on religion-less spirituality.

This takes us to the following series of questions… The Teachings.

Spiritual Teachings and Religion

What authors opened your understanding, impacted you at first?

Some of the first authors would include people like Stuart Wilde, who explored Taoism and ego transcendence, and Neale Donald Walsch, whose conversations opened up a whole world of God beyond religion.

I have one question in regards of that…

What’s your take on institutional religions? How they are connected with the need for answers and to a spiritual journey that is so in demand these days?

They can be a great start, so long as it is recognized that they themselves are not the answer, nor what is actually important, but merely to be used as pointers to point beyond themselves.

When old and dead doctrine supersedes living truth, the greater gift is missed.

Do you discard that people can get enlightened or something alike by following traditional religious paths? Is that occlusion a defect of the religion or of the priests?

There are a whole variety of reasons of why religion has lost its purity and deeper meaning. Even putting aside any deliberate changes that were made for one reason or another, no matter how hard we try or how good a job we do, it’s simply not possible to put into words that which is beyond words, to describe the indescribable. And so there is an inherent loss of fullness when we try to box the infinite into a finite set of words and writings.

I understand that idea, but this would apply to all of us teaching using words…

It most certainly would.

I wonder if religions are still alive somehow. If they still carry enlightening power…

Religion may certainly lead to awakening, as may eating a bowl of soup, and if that path resonates with someone, by all means explore it. Yet it can be helpful to recognize that there are many misunderstandings and deviations from the original Truth (some religions more than others…) and so it would be wise to understand that one must eventually let go of ALL understandings in order to find Truth.

I agree with that. Some religions seem more alive and functioning than other ones. It’s like they keep old codes of symbols that few people know how to use or to interpret anymore… would you agree?

Absolutely.

Too much emphasis on the rites, words, but little understanding maybe. Have you explored from inside some other religions? Hindu? Buddhist?

Only superficially. I really enjoy connecting to my own inner guru, and from this place of connection, looking back and seeing the beautiful truths within many religions, and the way that the teachings have been misunderstood and misinterpreted over time.

I understand what you’re saying very well. When some degree of awakening happens, then the many scriptures appear more clear in meaning…

It’s really amazing to see this happen.

But before of that, the language seems cryptic, very obscure.

lol yes, Zen koans especially

And I think that is one big problem for religions: they don’t communicate to the common person because of that archaic language.

There seems to be some sort of belief that God is old school and would only appear using words like “Thou and thine.” God can’t be alive here and now, speaking like modern normal people. Somehow “Thou shalt not kill” is more God-like than “Don’t whack people upside the head.”

Yes, it’s a relief, and a revolution: mysticism is becoming mainstream.

About this, I have some questions…

Modern Spirituality and Awakenings

What do you think of the last decade’s explosion of nondual teachings being offered and the profusion of teachers?

Quite beautiful to see changes coming about, and a sort of integration and blending happening between the east and the west. Recognizing that it’s all one, why not?

You have a point. We are the latest generation of now 200 years of the West studying the East, starting with Emerson and others.

The blend has been happening for a long time now, but do you think people are really becoming awakened in mass?

I see the same blending happening in so many ways. Science and religion, the mind and the heart, the east and the west, black people and white people, etc.

EVERYWHERE I LOOK people are awakening!

Yes, I agree, it’s a time of many convergences.

There’s so many people that are having some sort of glimpse of something more than the limited self. They may or may not necessarily know what it is, but there’s a recognition of something deeper. It’s like this inner being bubbling back up and ready to resurface into consciousness.

Maybe it’s true this is the Age of Aquarius! :-) It may be so!

That nonduality, “God is all”, is becoming a mainstream concept, is something amazing.

It really is.

I also have faith that this is “something,” that we are seeing changes that will improve our life together.

Even things like the proliferation of self-improvement books and the prominence of the Law of Attraction are offering something more. They’re a step in a positive direction. Even if people don’t agree with some of this stuff, the fact that it’s even arising within their consciousness is already quite cool.

Yes, I agree, even if there’s many cheaters doing business.

Certainly, but that seems to happen in almost every arena.

In regards to nondual teachings… There’s been a criticism also from teachers of Vedanta trained under traditional gurus in India about the little efficacy of what they call neo-Advaita. What’s your position?

Live YOUR Truth and don’t cling too tightly to what others have taught. If what others have taught is indeed the Truth, your own discoveries will point you right back to what the more traditional teachers have taught. Nothing in this world is static. Demanding that anything in Maya remain constant is a problem waiting to happen.

Yes, what I bring is their concern about the lack of efficacy of the so called neo-Advaita movement.

How so?

Because they suggest some methodology and many neo-nondualist teachers refuse any method.

Ah, so there’s a problem with other people not doing it right?

Yes, they argue that neo-advaitins contribute with much confusion… I mention this because I have a friend who is very prominent in that debate. Anyways, we can say what we said before: what works for someone, works for them. Even the confusing teachers point to clarity.

Certainly.

And this without even mentioning the Buddhist skepticism… meaning the lack of support from most Buddhist schools toward this movement. Are you aware of this controversy?

Nope.

You do very well! Let’s talk of something related to tradition…

Sure.

You Wanna Teach? Who Says You’re Enlightened?

Lineages. What’s the role of “confirmation” of enlightenment? Have you received such kind of sanction from another teacher? Is that important? How?

I’ve been wondering about that lately.

I just mention this because it is something that some neo-advaitist teachers seem to have adopted. Well, most of them claim some kind of lineage. It’s like a love/hate relationship with tradition.

love/hate?

Meaning: “I want to play outside of traditions, but I claim my authority from it”.

oh interesting…

It’s very common.

kinda sounds like a child’s pseudo-dependency upon a parent

Even some big names are affected with this. What’s your take on the whole thing? -i.e. confirmation?

It can be very helpful to have a teacher available to point you beyond where you are now, but what is confirmation necessary for?

People use confirmation to start teaching others. To justify it.

Truth stands on its own. It needs no justification beyond itself.

I agree. That’s a courageous stand.

So long as the teacher is within their integrity, open and honest about who they are and where they are along their spiritual journey, it’s okay if you’re enlightened or not. It can be dangerous to teach something that you haven’t yet fully realized, and so it’s important to not try to pretend to be something you’re not.

I totally agree. So called non-enlightened people can teach very well too. It happens all the time.

Yet one of the great things about teaching is that if you’re full of shit, people will call you out on it and it will become clear. You can fake it to others for a little while, but you can’t fake Truth to itself.

Buddha said teaching is the greatest form of giving.

It really is a blessing to be able to teach.

Sometimes people abuse large groups for years.

They do. Things happen. Is it really up to us to make sure other people do something or not do something based on whatever rules we make up though?

I agree, people are just following their path with the lights they have, and it’s just fine.

You are very much on top of your blog, website, and forum, providing a lot of content for your online visitors. How do you feel about that?

It’s simply a way for me to express the inner whatever-this-is that I am. It’s like my way to paint or sculpt. It’s my creative outlet. And what I find is that when you’re true to yourself, you automatically offer the greatest good to others as well. How wonderful!

So my own selfishness in wanting to be me turns out to being the most Selfish thing (with a capital S) I could possibly do.

I see you connect very well with many people, and I congratulate you on that. You are doing very good. I see your honesty and care.

Thank you.

Ariel’s Heroes and Helpers

Who would you like to meet if you could? – alive or gone.

hm… Whoever/whatever has a complete and total perspective of All That Is. That’d be pretty awesome. Probably not a human being, but still.

Names?

If I were to pick a person though, maybe Jesus and Buddha. Not so much to ask them questions, but to just feel the energy, presence, love, and light. I have connected to them in meditation, and their energy can be overwhelming, so it’s nice to gradually go beyond where I am now little by little.

That would be great. Do you have favorite authors or books that you go back to for inspiration? In the present stage, I mean.

I do.

Who?

Probably Neale Donald Walsch or Marie Levit.

Interesting.

Their conversations take spirituality and make it very practical and directly applicable to real-life. Same with David Deida.

Physical Spirituality

What’s been the role of the body on your peak aha insights?

A place to ground and experience that which I know within. It seems like insights take on a whole new level of depth and understanding when they are applied rather than just realized. There is value in manifesting the truths you have come to know.

I see. That’s from the mind to the body direction. How about the opposite direction? Does your body enlighten you once in a while?

It helps show me where I have yet to open fully to Love. The body reflects my emotions which reflect my thoughts which reflect my beliefs which reflect many of my subconscious resistances to Love. It’s like a feedback mechanism allowing me to deepen my own exploration into myself.

You are big into sports. Has this provided you peak moments of bliss or ecstasy?

It allows me to experience Life’s expansive aliveness in a very new way, to unite the internal aspect of the spiritual game with the external aspect of actually living your life. It allows Creation to flow and manifest in a variety of new ways.

My last question, or so….related to the previous. Have you found that sex is a gate to experience oneness?

The energetic aspects of it more so than the physical. The limited physical act itself I have little interest in at this point, especially when it is primarily based in lust and disconnected from the heart. What I enjoy about it is how sex can be integrated with the deeper aspects of ourselves and used as a vehicle to experience oneness in yet another powerful way. Combined with the deeper energies, the physical becomes Divine.

I agree, the heart is of primordial importance. When energy, love, and awareness unite, great insights and bliss manifest.

Yes indeed!

And they are just the envelope that contains the message: we are all and beyond.

Closing Thank You’s, Appreciation’slposion

It’s lovely to talk with you, and also I recommend everyone to follow your blog posts, forum inputs, and tweets @arielbravy.

Thank you very much Clara. I really enjoyed where you took this conversation, and I would recommend people to check out your website and tweets at @lux1008.

(Everyone is also welcome to subscribe to updates to this blog via RSS or have these posts automatically delivered directly to your inbox via email!)

You are a refreshing hub to all things nondual.

Gracias, gratzie, merci, danke, cpacibo, and thank you.

People can feel your love and enthusiasm.

Also your innocence and playfulness, and this is very inviting.

You do a great job.

Just bein’ myself! God is my homeboy. He makes me look good.

A pleasure to meet you.

and you as well!

Greetings to the common friend through whom we connected, another nondual teacher and artist, Ashley Ruiz, Ash.

Ash! What an amazing beacon of love and light in living expression!

I hope to keep meeting you around. LOVE!!

Love and synchronicity make the world go around. I hope so too!

Clara Llum is a spiritual teacher who found herself going through a process of spontaneous enquiry very early in her life, revealing the Self as the Unlimited One back in the 1970′s. Since then she has explored most eastern traditions, become familiar with many approaches to awakening to Truth, and begun delivering Satsang in 1986.

Today we will be sharing this interview where I asked her a whole bunch of questions about awakening.

Interview Topic Highlights

· What is Enlightenment?
· Misunderstandings about Enlightenment
· The value of Beliefs on the way to Realization
· Brief visits to the Self vs. Full Realization (non-abiding vs. abiding awakenings)
· The Law of Attraction and choosing better feeling thoughts
· Quieting vs. Silencing the mind
· The role of the mind
· Not knowing vs. doubting
· The most important thing to know to reach Enlightenment

For the sake of clarity, my questions will be italicized while Clara’s responses will be in bold.

Our conversation begins with us noticing how animated and alive we often are when we express ourselves.

——————————————————————————————–

Interview with Clara

The stereotypical image of an “enlightened person” often includes a person sitting still, being quiet and unmoved.
And yet that doesn’t seem to be the whole picture. It seems that not only is there a sense of stillness, there is also a flow of Life and Love that wants to flow through us.

What are some of the deepest misunderstandings or ideas about “what enlightenment is like” that you’ve had to let go of thus far on your path?

OK, before the reply, let me say 2 things:

One is thanks for joining this initiative to have this pair of mutual interviews.

The other thing is just to send an aspiration to the universe that this meeting may be
for the benefit of many beings.

What Enlightenment Is Not

Yes, there are many misunderstandings about enlightenment.

The first one is that it is an event or an experience, an idea which comes from the premise that “I am not complete and I need something I don’t have.”

The second is more subtle. It’s equating enlightenment with deep insight, which is a byproduct but not it.

So, in order to remove those misunderstandings, sometimes I have said in the past: “enlightenment” is not enlightenment, non-enlightenment is enlightenment. But this is also too paradoxical for most people.

haha, yes

What it means is that the experience is not it, the non-experience is.

Enlightenment is a word that does not work much.

I would say is more like “enlighten-ing” in the sense that is about what is already happen-ing, in the present.

Enlighten-ment emphasizes it as a thing, a some-thing, an item, and enlightenment is far from any thing. It is more an ongoing recognition that is happenING.

What Enlightenment Is

So what IS enlightenment?

Good question!

There’s several “stations” of enlightening (or enlightenment), but all of them are organically one.

They all stem from the basic understanding of our true being-ness: the self-present awareness of being, which is nonconceptual, and the understanding that we are that – that’s the foundation and the first instance of awaken-ing or enlighten-ing, which then, by itself, just blossoms. It blossoms further and further into grander stations of allness.

So, enlightenment is recognizing our ground of being and knowing that we are that. Both conditions are necessary.

Concepts

How is this different from the belief that “I am self-present awareness of being. I am All That Is. I am everything and nothing.” or whatever other concept can be chosen?

Someone can repeat these words without having recognized their actual intrinsic awareness.

Can repeating the words lead to the realization?

If there is faith to them, yes, they can direct awareness towards itself and so recognize what the words meant. But more than repeating the words I would say meditate on them, take them to one’s heart – That was the method by which Nisargadatta realized.

How does one take words to their own heart?

Faith. That cannot be forced. Faith is there because of the special connection with the teacher, or otherwise the occasion is not there.

What do you mean “or the occasion is not there”?

I mean, if the connection with a particular teacher does not exist so inspiration and faith happens, then one needs to encounter another chance.

Ah, I see.

Temporary Peak Spiritual Experiences

You mentioned earlier that enlightenment is not an event or an experience. To what value are various spiritual experiences, aha moments, realizations, satoris, glimpses into your true nature, and so on?

These experiences are opportunities to gain understanding. They are introductions to our true nature, but then one needs to recognize it regardless of circumstances because it’s ever present, and then make “his home” there (in their true ever present nature of being). Then true enlightenment just starts.

In Zen for instance, it is distinguished between those experiences or insights and true complete realization.

Realization is permanence in one’s Self, not a brief visit or brief aha.

And the Self is always here-now, available. It only needs to be realized, recognized, beyond or prior to ideas or concepts, as it is.

Is the experience of a brief visit the same as full realization, but just for a shorter period of time?

It may be, essentially, the same way the taste of one drop of sea water is the same than the taste of the whole sea, but most of time people just overlook the constant element: the ever present beingness, and instead get focused on the ornaments of the peak experience such as samadhi, satori, bliss, peace, etc. which are not it. So the recognition is missed and they still call it awakening or enlightenment, mistaking the envelope for the letter, and as I said, the funniest part is that the letter was always here in our heart. They just need to read it, see it, and recognize it for what simply is. Instead many focus on the package of the particular experience.

Yeah. It seems like you can have the most wonderful spiritual experiences, yet even they come and go. We remain here regardless.

Yes, who has the experience is what needs to be recognized and then true enlightenment starts to unfold, but no samadhi is necessary for that recognition. We can investigate the who of this ordinary moment.

So, it’s not about lights, powers, peace, bliss, not even about amazing insights. It’s about the ground of being that makes all that possible and about establishing oneself on that ground which is us.

The Natural State

Why is it that we so often overlook being and focus on the flashy stuff?

People don’t know better, have not been pointed out their true nature, and also because the true nature is so plain that people can’t believe it is the seed of the infinite universes.

Yeah, that’s a big one. It doesn’t seem like awareness or being really do anything special. They just sit here. They just are.

Yes, but it happens to be the shapeless, formless, boundless container of all that arises, appears, flows and dissolves. In Tibetan Dzogchen this “natural mind” is said to have three aspects: emptiness (impolute) , clarity (cognitive) and all-productive (creative).

It’s interesting that emptiness is also creative.

It is because it’s empty, precisely, otherwise all is finished, static. It’s because all is illusory that all these infinite number of realities keep flowing.

Thoughts, Reality, and the Law of Attraction

I remember you mentioning on Twitter that if you’re seeing reality, it’s because thought is arising, or something to that effect.

I don’t remember what I said… maybe “if you deal with reality, you deal with your mind”

Ah yes, I think that was it.

Yes, this all is just thoughts, all around, just thoughts, imagination, feverish dreaming.

And I said, “if you deal with your mind, you deal with reality”, meaning that your mind is the key: your awareness of being.

Here we could use uppercase, Mind and Reality, same.

First the world around invites you to examine your mind, then examining your mind you find the power that creates all.

Is this power the Law of Attraction?

No need to attract anything, thinking is seeing.

When you dream and think of a car, do you attract the car, or it’s just there?

There’s no laws of any kind in a dream. Thought is sovereign and the substance of all that is. There’s no matter separated from thought, not two substances, so there isn’t a force of attraction needed to mediate.

It’s all the realm of Maya, I-Maya-nation, imagination, only this.

haha, I-Maya-nation, i like that

The I is the key

How so?

The I, your Self, is the only reality, the power itself, only that by not recognizing it, by mistaking our Self for a limited entity, we delegate the power on Maya, the fabric of imagination, run by our fears, hopes, ideals, concepts, and so on.

We become the unconscious victims of our own imagination running wild and bewildered by believing the world is real and we suffer as if we were that individual, so the I has to realize itSelf. Regain our freedom.

Improving, Quieting, and Silencing the Mind

With respect to realizing the Self, is there value to choosing better feeling thoughts instead of letting our imagination run wild?

These practices are just preliminary. You can get a peace and auspicious circumstances that propitiate then the real work, which is approaching our own awareness of being, meditating and establishing on it.

The conventional paths of spiritual traditions and religions help to pacify the mind so that it’s conducive to self-investigation.

yes, that makes sense

These yogas lead to jnana-yoga: self-investigation, self-abidance. Jnana yoga as a synonym of Vedanta or other nondual teachings and approaches.

Pacifying the mind can certainly help. Is it necessary to full out stop the mind?

No, that’s artificial.

Thoughts flow and it’s part of the creative aspect of our mind.

But pacifying is essential. It’s called sattva, the quality of purity according to Hindu psychology.

Only a peaceful mind can look clearly and investigate reality and systems like Ayurveda support that gain of clarity and peacefulness.

The Role of the Mind

What relationship do you have with your mind?

She’s my friend and very obliging.

yeah, I know what you mean

What does she do for you?

In other words, she is a mind that lost her pride or ego long ago and now is just my friend.

One of the functions is that she’s like a printer. She knows that it is not her duty to find out truth, but to put it into words when she listens it from buddhi, my intelligence, which is nonconceptual. That’s how I said she is a loyal servant, with no pride or initiative.

Some teachers call this the death of the mind, which is a valid metaphor: there’s no ego running it.

Yes, exactly. There’s a difference between the ego and the mind.

The function of the intellect or verbal mind is to serve buddhi, the innate intelligence of being.

But first buddhi needs to be awakened, which is the natural outcome of resting on one’s awareness of being.

Another definition of enlightenment is this: when buddhi is awakened on a continuous basis, beyond exceptional aha instances.

This continuous availability of buddhi is just the sign that the Self is abiding also continuously, which is a true stage of enlightenment.

Glimpses Into Your True Nature

Again, enlightenment is ongoing, an organic process, not peak experiences here and there.

Yes, definitely. Is it common for people to have exceptional aha instances before full enlightenment?

Yes, aha moments happen to many people, which shows that of course they have innate intelligence!! just awaiting to be awakened and activated on a more permanent basis, which will happen when they really abide in nonconceptual self-awareness.

So paradoxically, intelligence becomes available at all moments precisely when the intellect or thinking mind surrenders to the not-knowingness of just being, which is again what we called the quality of peacefulness or sattva.

Most people have a very proud thinking mind which is precisely what prevents them from realizing their simple Self or beingness and therefore to awaken their intuitive direct intelligence, buddhi.

That’s so true…

Attachment to Thinking

Not-knowing is a different energy than doubting, yes?

Not-knowing means the surrendered attitude of the thinking mind that is a condition of Self-abidance or resting on self-awareness.

Doubting is an activity of the intellect, and ultimately can only be resolved by resting on beingness and allowing intelligence to take over. Doubting is not ultimately pacified by getting intellectual answers from outside, this is only provisional.

haha, yeahhhh

The main obstacle for most people is too much attachment to their thinking minds, not realizing its helplessness or incapacity to find out or realize truth. Only the Self’s intrinsic intelligence realizes truth, realizes it-Self.

yes yes

And that intelligence (buddhi) is free from concepts, is the light of the spirit or Self.

How to Get Enlightened

So for someone who wants to wake up, if you were to offer them the single most important golden nugget of advice, what would you suggest?

Be aware that you are. Be aware that you are aware, right now. At any given moment, rest in that simplicity of being yourself, free from labels or concepts of “myself.” The very beingness, the very awareness is the constant “you”, the true you, faceless, formless, empty, cognizant, all containing, all inclusive.

Be aware of being… Aware of being aware.

Meditate, stay with this awareness that you are and that is you.

Worship it, dive in it, make of it your home, and all will unfold.

Self-present awareness – awareness that is present in itself. Watch your watchfulness, be conscious of being conscious right now…

Aware-ing is happening, see it, know it, be with it, that’s all.

The mirror looks in the mirror, infinite space and light.

All enlightenment comes naturally from this. All wisdom, all peace, all realization.

That is wonderful.

Thanks

Thank you so much Clara!

Thanks to you Ariel!

Wrapping Up

You have such a beautiful way of sharing and I really enjoyed this conversation with you.

I enjoyed your invitation to express very much too, I know is for the good of many beings that may see a door to reality.

Everyone is invited to listen to more satsangs online, free, tinyurl.com/satsang or visit clarallum.com.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow Clara at @lux1008.

Yes, little tweets here and there.

Gracias, Clara

Much love to you Ariel and your audience.

Namaste <3

Namaste!

The other day Scott Kiloby and I sat down together and had a conversation about enlightenment.

The full 45 minute conversation is available in MP3 hotness here.

I was gonna relisten to it to give you guys a bulleted list of topics that we discuss and be all cliff notesy, but I’m growing somewhat fond of doing nothing.

Try meditation: it’s better then sitting around doing nothing.

- Nicholas Powiull

Anyways, check out the interview! –> Click here to listen <–

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Like me, Scott also does YouTube videos talking about awakening. One cool project he’s putting together is a compilation of audio talks with various teachers, writers, and friends who are also into non-duality. You can check ‘em out by going to www.kiloby.com and clicking on “The KiloLogues.”

Hey guys, today I would like to share with you a discussion on intuition, what it is, and how to better use it to benefit our lives. Sharing her wisdom with us today is Akemi Gaines, the spiritual coach at Yes to Me – Spiritual Healing and Growth for Greater Success.

She has the cool ability to read people’s soul records (often called Akashic Records) and clear the energetic blocks and restrictions that limit her clients’ abilities to live life fully.  Bringing together her insights on how the intuition works, she just launched her new program on intuition development.

I had a number of questions about intuition itself, so she and I came together to share and bring forth these understandings.

I am very excited to dive into the topic of intuition because it’s such a great way of learning to act in the moment and operate from a place of knowingness beyond the mind, deeper than anything the limited intellect could possibly know. It’s like a higher level of being in this world, part of the next stage in human evolution.

And so with no further ado, let’s jump right into it!

Ariel:

Hey Akemi, thank you for doing this interview. I’m so glad you’re here and am looking forward to learn from you as you share your gifts with us.

Akemi:

I am honored to be here at your beautiful website.  And developing intuition is such a helpful skill that I feel passionate about.  As you just said, we can make better informed decisions by developing intuition.  It can improve your life so much in so many ways.

Intuition vs. Imagination

Ariel:

Absolutely! So diving right in, one of my biggest questions about intuition that I want to address right from the start is how to differentiate between a genuine intuitive “hit” and just some random thought or feeling that arises. How can we tell what’s real and what we’re just making up?

Akemi:

Gee, you get right to the point, don’t you, Ariel ^_^  That is an excellent question and is the core of my new program of intuition development.  Intuition and imagination can seem very similar because intuitive hit comes through the same channel with imagination.

However, there are differences.  For one, if you get an idea or understanding that just doesn’t seem to belong to you, that is beyond your regular level of comprehension, that is intuition.  Also intuition comes straightforward and usually lightly (with the exception when your or someone’s life is in danger).  Your own ego’s thinking, on the other hand, comes with the weight of agenda.  It feels manipulative and it often raises negative feeling.

Having said this, you need to learn the difference through your own experiences.  It’s not like you memorize the checklist of how to identify intuition and be done with it.  You want to learn experientially how intuition feels within you.  This is why developing intuition in everyday life is critical.  Also this is why my new program takes six sessions of one-on-one coaching.

How To Detect Intuition

Ariel:

For me, intuition typically feels like a feeling or a nonverbal knowingness, neither of which are very concrete. Are these the forms it always comes in or are there other ways too I’m not paying attention to?

Akemi:

There are four main channels we receive intuitions.  They are:

• claircognizance (immediate knowing)
• clairsentience (physical sensations, “gut feelings”)
• clairaudience (non-physical sounds)
• clairvoyance (non-physical images)

Each person has different skill level in each communication path.  Many people are good at claircognizance or clairsentience, like yourself.  There is nothing wrong about that.

I think there are six steps in intuition development:

1. Opening up to intuition and asking for intuitive messages
2. Receiving intuition
3. Recognizing intuition as intuition
4. Trusting your recognition of intuition
5. Taking action based on your intuition
6. Reviewing the results of your action to fine tune this process

Each step is essential and by practicing all the steps, you can learn how to use intuition in your life with confidence.

Where Intuitive Insights Come From

Ariel:

I love your point about reviewing the results of your actions. It sounds like that will also help you build confidence and learn to trust the information that arrives intuitively.

When we do receive an intuitive insight, where does that information come from? Who knows the information in the first place and how do they know?

Akemi:

My definition of intuition is intuition is the messages we receive from our Higher Self and Spirit Guides.  Our Higher Self and Spirit Guides are in the spiritual plane, that is a higher dimension than this three dimensional physical plane we live in.  So they have better perspectives than we do.  They can see beyond the limitations of time and space.

Moreover, our Spirit Guides are more evolved than us, so they know better.

So I’m calling my new program “Spirit Guides Coaching“.  It’s not me who coaches, however – it’s the client’s own Spirit Guides, and I mediate the communication.

How Intuition Works

Ariel:

If you could break down how the whole system works, to the best of your knowledge, of how information is communicated between our Higher Self, our Spirit Guides, our mind, and so on, how would you describe the process?

Akemi:

Your Spirit Guides pass their messages to your Higher Self, which is your spiritual consciousness.  Some people are pretty aware of the presence of their Spirit Guides, while others may think their Higher Self just got the messages out of nowhere.  In any case, the message can go from there to either to your subconscious mind or conscious mind, or both.

If your conscious mind is closed to the intuitive messages, you may receive the message only in subconscious mind.  In that case, the first attempt in developing intuition is to become aware what the subconscious is getting, and also to open up your conscious mind.

Synchronicity

Ariel:

Ah, that’s cool to hear that information can still come in subconsciously, and that we don’t miss out completely on all the intuitive goodies if we’re not paying attention consciously.

How does intuition relate to synchronicity?

Akemi:

Interesting question! I think synchronicity is just another play our Spirit Guides participate to help us around.

Think about it from their perspective.  The Spirit Guides on your inner circle work exclusively for you.  They care for you, and their own further evolution depends on how effectively they work for you. So they send out their messages as intuition.  “Come this way! You’ll learn your chosen life lesson faster in this path.”  “Uh-oh. Don’t write off that idea.”

Further, they work so hard to cause synchronicity as a way to get your attention.  They don’t like ignored just because they are invisible (to most people).

When my client start taking my Spirit Guides Coaching, they often see more synchronicities in their life.  Their Spirit Guides are so happy and excited that you are finally paying attention to them that they get a bit showy.  Just another benefit of taking my program.

Trusting Intuition

Ariel:

Let’s say our intuition is telling us to move in a certain direction, but our mind is simultaneously feeling fearful or hesitant to move in that direction and so we begin doubting whether or not that intuitive insight was actually our intuition at all. As an outside observer, following our intuition may seem like the obvious logical choice, but in the moment the emotion may feel overpowering and dominant. How can we best deal with conflicting emotion “in the heat of the battle” so that we can best listen to our intuition when we need it most?

Akemi:

You just described the common scenario your ego plays so that you keep listening to him, not your Spirit Guides, or your intuition.  Second guessing intuition is basically about killing your intuition. Many people do this, and consequently stay stuck in their life for a long time.

One way to handle this situation is to start small.  Don’t wait until you need to make the big life-altering decision to develop your intuition.  Start now and use your intuition on small things in your daily life.  Preferably with a skilled and experienced coach – like me ^_^   Then, as I described earlier, review how taking action based on your intuition is working for you.  This builds confidence, and you can start using intuition on bigger issues.

Intuition is Subtle

Ariel:

Wouldn’t it be helpful if our intuition was more obvious? I mean, if we were going to come to earth and bring guidance with us, wouldn’t it make sense to make the signals clear? It’s not like our free will would be completely compromised if our intuition was a little louder and more obvious.

Akemi:

Oh, it’s not clear and obvious to you?  Just joking.

You just made a great point about the potential of our free will being compromised by “clear, obvious” intuition.  If your intuition came as a loud voice of God with a movie like glorious white light, would you act on your intuition?  Of course!  You’d be stupid not to.  So your free will is indeed compromised in this case.  Which is no good – we are here to create our life with our free will and power.

At the same time, we are not born all alone without spiritual helpers (Spirit Guides) and the way to communicate with them.  God is not that cruel.  We are supposed to have good intuition so that we can navigate through this life well.

My intention for the new intuition development program is to help people recognize their natural ability to communicate with their Spirit Guides so that they can make better decisions fast and be comfortable acting on those decisions based on intuition.  Life will be so much easier with this skill.

How Akemi Uses Her Intuition

Ariel:

When you are looking for answers as far as what to do in your own life, Akemi, what do you do and how do you do it?

Akemi:

In addition to my as-needed continuous communication with my Spirit Guides, I do weekly check in with them.  I bring my own agenda and requests for my life, hold a meeting with my Spirit Guides, listen to what they have to say, jot down their suggested action plans.

If that sounds too “psychic” or professional . . . okay, in a more layperson’s term, I listen to my inner voice.  I do this as I take a walk, or relax at Starbucks, or when I relax on the couch.  I also meditate daily to keep my mind clean and calm.

Following Your Intuition

Ariel:

Speaking of meditation, are there any other important points you’d like to bring up that we haven’t discussed yet, but you feel would be very helpful to address?

Akemi:

I know opening up to intuition can be scary.  It’s not something you learn at school nor something recommended by the public healthcare system. You might feel “weird.”  You might feel nobody would understand you.  And the intuitive messages you get might surprise you.

But it’s okay.  Actually, it’s so much better than being stuck in your life, caught up between the fear your ego is fielding to you and your soul’s desire to grow further.

There are people who spend years saying something like, “Well, I want to do this . . . I feel intuitively attracted to this path . . . oh, but it’s different from what I’ve been doing . . . I’m scared.”  Get this – being stuck for years!  If they can just learn what intuition is and step by step master how to trust their intuition, that kind of waste can be saved.

Intuition can help you.  Tremendously.  You just need to open up and trust your intuition.

Thank you, Ariel, for having me here.  If someone has any questions, please ask in the comment.  I will be checking back to answer them.

Ariel:

Thank you! It’s such a treat to hear from you and thank you for taking the time to extend to us a helping of your wisdom and experience. I appreciate you for being yourself and staying true to your inner calling.

Namaste.

About Akemi Gaines:

If you enjoyed this interview, why not learn more about her intuition development program and spiritual development in general at Akemi’s blog, Yes to Me?  You can subscribe (free) here.  Also, check out her Akashic Record Reading.