There’s a new documentary out titled Who’s Driving The Dream Bus featuring some of my favorite spiritual teachers including Gangaji, Jeff Foster, and Tony Parsons. In the film they discuss the age-old question, “Who Am I?”

Now I haven’t seen the movie and it’s very rare that I post HERE about something before checking it out myself, but knowing the people in the film and seeing the trailer, it looks to be a fantastic piece of work and it’s my joy to share it with you guys. The trailer is posted below and the film is available for purchase directly from their website, www.whosdrivingthedreambus.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AVQFWkfSls

Wayne Dyer has recently come out with a film called The Shift which is centered around the topic of recognizing how the ego operates in us, living a life beyond what the ego wants, and being lived by this higher power.

He discusses a number of excellent topics and there are a number of other characters who go through a shift from selfish egoic consciousness to a more loving life of service. It’s really well done.

He brings up many things discussed by Lao Tzu, quotes Byron Katie and A Course in Miracles, and really demonstrates what it’s like to live a life of service, appreciation, respect, and gentleness. I’ve never really looked into his stuff very much, but I really respect and enjoy what he did with this film.

One of the things that was really cool was that he discusses how this transformation of going beyond pure ego shifts in both men and women. For example, men are very success and achievement oriented in our society and the shift has them being more interested in spirituality and honesty than in trying to get respect and all. Women, on the other hand, are often taught by society to look pretty and devote themselves to others. After their shift, women often learn to appreciate and live for themselves instead of trying to please others. It’s discused in a bit more detail of course, but it was fascinating to see how drastically these shifts occur between the two sexes.

Another thing which was awesome was that it discussed spirituality in a very practical way. How parents can relate to their children, how to respond in relationships from an egoic point of view versus from something deeper, how to follow your passions and find your purpose in life, the importance of giving and how that plays out with respect to being lived by this higher power instead of trying to control life, and so on.

Really, very well done.

Great job to Wayne and the crew involved in the creation of the film!

The trailer I’ve posted below and the actual movie can be found online at Amazon.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEM0SF04Rw4

Alright so first off, if you haven’t seen Avatar yet, you gotta go watch it!! Whether you choose to watch the movie in 2D or 3D, both offer an amazing experience.

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, the movie takes place on a distant planet named Pandora that is home to these blue humanoid aliens called the Na’vi. They are very much like the Native Americans with bows and arrows and a deep appreciation and respect for life and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all life. The US military comes in to basically drive them out so they can mine for this mineral called unobtainium, killing off many of the natives in the process.

There are some beautiful spiritual messages in the movie and the way it’s all illustrated is absolutely amazing. Just… wow…

The forest and plantlife on the planet is phosphorescent and iridescent in a very heavenly way and even glows for a moment every time you step on the grass. The sky is full of gorgeous planets and moons. Standing on that planet and looking up into the heavens strangely feels like home…

Their diety is a benevolent goddess named Eywa who is basically the living energy that runs through all things. One particularly great passage from the movie took place when one of characters prays to Eywa to take their side and help during the invasion of the military. Another character responded that Eywa doesn’t take sides. She only helps preserve the balance of life.

Heck, even the credits of the movie were amazing. Make sure you stay past the end and watch them to see how many people were involved in the creation of this film. My jaw literally hung open watching them scroll by. It was so nice to see that many (thousands of) people join together in the name of creating such a conscious movie, helping reinforce the understanding that all this “oneness stuff” isn’t so alternative and out there, but is rapidly becoming integrated as a part of mainstream life.

So yeah, if you haven’t seen this movie, I highly highly recommend checking it out!

For those of you who have seen the movie, what was your experience? What did you like about it? How did the movie impact you?

Recently we looked at what it would be like if spirituality came with warning labels, and many of these symptoms are a result of our egoic sense of self crumbling and falling apart. This can lead to some very rocky times for us, but there are things we can ease the process and lessen our suffering in the process.

Sometimes it’s fun to talk about spirituality,  non-duality, consciousness, awareness, and all that other fun stuff. There’s certainly value in that. On the other hand, spirituality, like many other things in life, is very experiential and so there are certainly times when we will experience first-hand the destruction of our egoic conditioning, attachments, and illusions.

In those times, you may find yourself feeling like you’re going crazy(!) to say the least… You may find that what you had held as valuable is being ripped away and you can feel yourself feeling like you’ve been gutted. You have no idea what’s going on, who you are, or what to do from here. Resist? Surrender? Take action? Fix? Allow? Change? Assist? Let go? Visualize? Pray? Think positively? Do nothing? Be with it? Feel gratitude?

You know how they talk about “losing yourself to find yourself” or “dying before you die only to find that there is no death?” It is when we are actually in the midst of this so-called death that some sort of guide is of most real-life benefit. One book that serves as just such a guide is You’re Not Going Crazy… You’re Just Waking Up!: The Five Stages of the Soul Transformation Process by Michael Mirdad. It’s like an owners manual to spiritual awakening.

Signs of the Soul Transformation Process Beginning

In the preface of the book, the author shares some common things that people say that are often a sign of this soul transformation process in action. Examples from the book include:

• “I’m so lost.”
• “My life is falling apart.”
• “I’m married, but I’m in love with someone else.”
• “I’m losing my house (job, mind, etc.).”
• “I’m so confused; I don’t know which end is up anymore.”
• “I feel guided to make some changes; but I  have it so good, I must be crazy.”

As is described in the book, “It’s as though your psyche is a chalice, or cup, that needs to be emptied of old toxic materials so that it can be re-filled with the fresh waters of life, or new opportunities to live life with more love, peace, and purpose. In other words, it’s letting your “old” self die so that your “new” self can be born.” (Page 4)

There is a gap that we must cross between our old life and our new life which involves surrendering our old energies and way of being in this world. If we don’t take the “leap of faith” and surrender to this process, we’ll more than likely just recreate our old life by attempting to force the broken pieces back together which actually just delays the inevitable change that you really need to make and you’ll force yourself to repeat the process. On the other hand, if you learn how to move through the deconstruction stages of the journey properly, you’ll open yourself up to making it through to the other side and rebuilding a new life in a much better place.

What This Book Covers

• The Five Stages of the Soul Transformation Process: Dismantling, Emptiness, Disorientation, Re-building, & A New Life
• The hallmark symptoms, feelings, and experiences present at each stage of the process
• How these stages fit into a greater context of spiritual awakening
• What to do or not do during each stage of the journey
• Explain the traps that we either get caught by or finally go beyond
• Various prayers or practices that can be done at each stage of the transformation
• The process of rebuilding your life from Spirit after your egoic way of living has died
• The key elements to going beyond the cycle of repeating your old familiar energies and breakdowns and finally going beyond

It’s not a long book at all at only 90 pages, but that’s one of the beautiful things about it. It’s not meant to be read and added to your mental collection of spiritual knowledge and then tossed onto your shelf. Instead, it’s designed to be a hands-on guide that you slowly work through over and over as more and more of your ego and your life crumbles right before your very eyes.

My Personal Experience With This Book

To be honest, I’ve been resisting a great deal of this process, focusing on the crazy stuff that’s been happening, and in many ways trying to control my own life/awakening. You know… basic ego stuff.

One of the most eye-opening things that I’ve been getting from this book is how and WHY I’ve been repeating the same sorts of breakdown experiences without fully getting to the “other side” and fully healing that issue.

Another thing is seeing how that no, I’m not really going crazy. This is all a process being initiated by my soul and no matter how scary and crazy this experience is for me (aka the more I resist it), it’s all very much okay. Not only is it okay, but what I find myself losing what isn’t actually all that valuable and I wind up discovering what’s REALLY important. It’s like I’m letting go of my tendency to go kicking and screaming to the freedom and joy that my soul is actually leading me directly towards…

Although this process can’t actually be avoided, the degree of suffering we create for ourselves can be minimized. Becoming more conscious is kinda like going into labor: When the process begins, there’s really no stopping it. It’s simply a matter of how well you have developed your ability to surrender and go with the flow.

Who Is This Book For?

Regardless of how long you’ve been on any spiritual path or not, if you find yourself feeling like your life is totally falling apart or going to pieces as if your life is being dismantled, if you find yourself feeling empty and lost, in shock or depressed at the tremendous loss of something that felt really important to you, or if you find yourself feeling completely and utterly disoriented now that you have no idea what to do next or where to go from here, this is a phenomenally useful book.

These issues don’t even have to be the result of any sort of spiritual crisis. They can even result from something as ordinary as the loss of a job, the breakup with a loved one, or just somehow hitting rock bottom in any avenue of life, and this book helps is an excellent support along the way.

The rebuilding process doesn’t necessarily imply the rebuilding into our fully awakened or enlightened state. This isn’t just about getting to a final state called “the enlightened life.” How many times has it felt like much of your life has come tumbling down? This process is something that we experience over and over in our lives. It’s just part of life.

Even if you’re not currently in any sort of breakdown, there’s a good chance that someday you will. In the meantime, there are some really helpful things you can do to prepare in advance for what is to come,  learn what to do when the transformation strikes, and even things like what to tell your friends so that they can best support you in the process.

If this book sounds like it’d be helpful to you, I’d definitely recommend buying this book. It’s one of the few books I’ve found that are geared to those times when we’re IN IT, when it feels like our life is going to hell in a handbasket and we’ve got no interest in abstract theory or any that jazz.

What NOW?

Get This Book.

I used to think Enlightenment was one single event, like winning a billion dollars where once you “get there,” you’re set for life. For some people there is a single awakening that totally changes everything, sure, but that spark is part of a much deeper and eternal journey. In my experience, ascension is very much a continuous process filled with countless changes. You never get to the end of infinity.

There’s SO much more to this process than just recognizing we’re all one, that you are God, that separation doesn’t really exist, and so on. That stuff is bang on, but it’s just the foundation. Enlightenment 101, if you will.

About two months ago I was intuitively guided to the bookstore, walked right up to a particular book, plucked it right off the shelf, sat down and began reading. I bought it that evening. Ever since then the book has been sitting on my nightstand next to my bed and I read it whenever I feel inspired to. It’s literally as if this book was written by a wiser and more experienced version of me, narrating my ascension process, and explaining to me what is going on with respect to all these internal shifts. It’s almost like I wrote this book several years in the future and brought it back in time with me to explain to myself what’s going on.

It fills in soooo many of the gaps for me about what’s going on here beyond simply resting as awareness.

This book is called Oneness, a dialogue received and transcribed by the author, Rasha.

For example, here’s some of the things that have been arising recently that I’ve also found guidance with in the book:

• Noticing that some unhealed energy was here even before I was born in this lifetime.
• Spontaneously remembering past lives and recognizing that that previously mentioned energy originated in those lives.
• Allowing myself to heal my energy now and noticing that I’m actually working on past life energy.
• Feeling like being in two worlds at once, a sort of transitional place. Neither fully grounded on earth, nor rooted in the eternal. Like one foot in each world. There is a duality, yes, that has not fully merged and resolved itself, hence the recognition of a transition.
• The impact of music upon your chakras and how it influences your energy. How sound can impact you and point awareness deep into its own core.
• How to respond to/learn from/support/teach children whose intuitive understandings of the universe and psychic abilities are already quite well-developed.
• The enhancement of your physical senses. Sound now feels so rich, where I can simply sit and listen to the depth of the sound and appreciate it in its entirety, like an acoustic orgasm almost.
• Feeling like someone turned the juiciness knob up on your sense of taste, where everything tastes like heaven. Imagine if everything you ate tasted ridiculously delicious…
• The incredibly fulfilling experience of simply being alive, more fulfilling than any worldly accomplishment ever could be. It’s not a sense of success so much, but rather a sense of deep wholeness and connection.
• Synchronicity and flow to the point where I don’t have to think about what to do and everything in my life falls into place perfectly. People, situations, circumstances, events, timing… it’s as if I can simply do what I love and at just the right time, a whole bunch of things *just so happen* to fall into place where I can keep going and enjoying the flow.
• The undeniably powerful presence of Love and its force as it pushes through the remaining resistances put in place by the dam we sometimes call the human ego.
• The speeding up and/or non-existence of the experience of time such that manifestations begin to happen quicker and quicker, down to minutes, then seconds, and then instantaneously.

What’s been valuable to me is not just it being another “this is what to do” book, although that is definitely covered from many directions. In my experience, once you get to a certain point, everything literally boils down to deeper and deeper levels of surrender. It’s quite simple, actually. Spirit basically takes over and what needs to happen happens.

This book is like a roadmap or a guide to the process, pointing out many of the events and transformations that you may go through in your journey, offering confirmation that you’re on the right path and suggestions on how to make the transitions more smoothly and naturally, without getting stuck. I’m only a third of the way through it thus far and only read it when it feels right to, yet it’s already helping me deal with fears such as, “Ah, what’s going on?? I’ve never experienced anything like this before and am totally confused. Am I completely off track here? Am I doing something wrong?”

If you are also walking your path and this book sounds like it would be a helpful companion, you can pick up your own copy from Amazon.

Enjoy the journey!

One of the coolest things about Quantum Physics is that it’s coming to explain scientifically many of the things that the world’s great mystics have been explaining for millenia.

The thing about science though is that it can get all nerdy, to a point where most people can’t really wrap their heads around all the math and theoretical mumbo jumbo. Simplicity is a wonderful thing.

Science and spirituality often seem to be at odds. We’ve seen this in the arguments of creation vs. evolution, physicality vs. the non-physical, and so on. Yet when we investigate more deeply, we find that all these seeming contradictions actually point to the same larger truths.

A great book on this subject is Dr. Quantum’s Little Book of Big Ideas: Where Science Meets Spirit by Fred Alan Wolf, that bearded quantum physicist guy who appeared in both The Secret and What The Bleep Do We Know?

As is explained in the book’s introduction, the material is not really designed to “teach” you anything new. Rather, it’s designed to help you let go of any tight bonds to what you think is the only reality, creating a space in which you may realize that you are far greater than you think.

In this book, the author covers a number of different topics including:

• Enlightenment
• Being in the mystery instead of having all the answers
• The timelessness of time
• Parallel universes
• How your “past” is literally being created in the present and can be changed
• How the past doesn’t determine the present or future
• How the past doesn’t even exist
• How thoughts create reality
• How Oneness is expressed through multiplicity
• How cause and effect really don’t exist
• How we all literally have One Mind
• The illusion of the separate self
• The reality of the “I” that is beyond birth and death
• The relationship between the world “out there” and the world “in here”
• The importance of observation in reality
• How things pop into reality from the unmanifest
• Separateness and sin
• How every thing is simply a thought
• How Darwin’s theory of natural selection was chosen as a corporate tool
• Suffering
• The freedom to choose how to be in the universe
• That we can not predict the exact outcome of events
• This physical reality being nothing more than a dream
• Consciousness and awakening
• Why light is love
• Being in this world and enjoying the illusion for what it is
• Not trying to leave the world and arrive in the mystical realm, for you’re already there

and more!

There’s so much cool stuff covered in this book, presented as a collection of thought bites rather than a drudgingly long text of information.

The presented material helps unite many things we may have heard from both the spiritual and scientific domains, realizing that they’re both pointing towards the same larger understanding.

If you’re looking to understand many of the things that enlightened sages have been telling us for years, but to do so from a more scientific and intellectually graspable angle, definitely check out Dr. Quantum’s Little Book of Big Ideas.

I just finished listening to an audio program by Adyashanti entitled The End of Your World. It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

If you have experienced a temporary awakening to your True nature and had an actual glimpse of Oneness as the ultimate reality, this is a very helpful program to listen to.

What I found for myself through this program was that it cleared up many confusing experiences I’ve been having, answered many questions, and showed me that everything that is being experienced is going perfectly according to plan. There’s nothing wrong with anything happening in my life.

One of the main things I realized from his explanations was that despite the fact that we tend to think there is this magical experience called “Enlightenment” where we finally hit it and we’re set for life, just coasting in this stage of awesomeness.

I’ve had one or two glimpses up to this point, before listening to the program, of experiencing the Divine as the One and the All. The “problem” was first that it feels like something wrong happened causing me to reidentify with the ego and almost “falling out” of enlightenment.

Second, there’s this certain level of confusion because on one level you know, you KNOW, that everything the mind is telling you is completely bogus. It’s literally 0% True. Nevertheless, you buy into the thoughts anyways. It’s somewhat of a disconcerting feeling.

He describes awakening as a maturation process and gives a metaphor of a rocket ship. When someone first experiences awakening, very often there’s a sense of lifting off the ground, so to speak, rocketing up into the heavens, and almost running out of fuel and crashing back to the ground.

The temporary awakening may be for just a moment, a few days, or even a matter of months. The rocket has not yet gone beyond the earth’s gravitational pull to where it can simply coast on to freedom.

What this product discusses:

• The experience of awakening and then losing the experience
• The experiences beyond awakening
• The maturation process of awakening itself
• How thoughts can ‘velcro’ a sense of identification onto you and pull you back
• What awakening reveals
• What enlightenment is, and what it isn’t, beyond all the glamour and hype
• Traps that one can get caught in even after awakening  (This information is VERY valuable)
• What is necessary to fully awaken
• Abiding in an undivided state of consciousness
• Inhabiting the world of form without identification
• The proper way to perform spiritual inquiry
• Much much more!

This program is geared towards people who have already experienced a temporary awakening, yet it would be valuable for anyone looking for enlightenment.

Why? This program will help you understand more accurately what you’re getting into, realize certain expectations you may have about enlightenment that are distortions from it’s actually about, and prepare you for what is to come without getting unconsciously ensnared by some of the ego’s most subtle tricks.

For more information, or to purchase this audio program, head over to Amazon and/or Sounds True Audio.

Namaste.