Been rockin’ out some talks on video lately as I travel around. 
Here’s one on the nature of awareness, affectionate awareness.
So some teachers would suggest that you should get rid of all your desires altogether for that is the ideal state, to be happy with what is and to desire nothing more than what is here and now. Then you’ve got other teachers who would suggest that it’s not really about the desires themselves, but rather the attachment to (and therefore resistance to) the desires themselves. When we get into the discussion about desire, it can be helpful to get clear about our definition of the word desire.
Isha Judd has a hilarious video where she addresses the difference between renouncing the objects of your desire in the name of enlightenment versus letting go of the attachment to desires, as well as the difference between clingy attachment which many people confuse with love and what love actually is.
There’s also a passage I’d like to share with you that’s just past the 6 minute mark in the following Abraham-Hicks video. The passage has to do with the idea of “releasing desires.”
In the moment you stop pushing against [your monsters and fears], you catch a current that takes you to where you wanna go. That’s why some say “let go let God” or “relax.” “Release desire” is what many teach and we know that’s their way of tricking you into not having any more resistance because it is not possible for you to release desires. You are here FULL of desire, but sometimes by releasing desire, or feeling like you are, you release resistance and when you release resistance, your cork floats back to the surface or you catch the current of your stream, you see.”
-Abraham-Hicks
Allowing, surrender, non-resistance, being, going with the flow, saying yes to what is… call it what you will but it’s pretty fundamental stuff.
Trying to understand someone is not the same as loving them, though we might think that’s a path to love. What that is is an attempt to access the heart by first going through the mind, as if the mind is a gatekeeper for the heart. (It’s not, but we can act this way.) When we live this way, when we feel a lack of love, we may seek to recreate it by seeking to create a sense of mutual understanding, but that’s actually placing a condition upon love and thinking that external things need to be a certain way for us to have a particular internal state of being.
Love can flow during both understanding and misunderstanding.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t value in seeking clarity with another person when there is misunderstanding present. Of course that can be a very helpful and beneficial thing to do. What I am saying is that we don’t have to require the prerequisite of understanding another person’s point of view mentally and making sure they see your point of view before we allow ourselves to open up to the flow of love. Mutual understanding can certainly help us open and take down our walls, yes, but it doesn’t have to be a requirement for us to love what is, for that makes love conditional. The following quote is taking on deeper meaning for me tonight:
“Spiritual practice is the capacity to offer your love even when you feel hurt, closed down, tense, angry, misunderstood, or hated.”
-David Deida
By love I don’t mean affection towards another, approving of them, having them be a part of your life, or even liking their behavior and choices. Not that.
It’s more about accepting others the way they are, accepting yourself the way you are, being a YES to life, and being open to allowing what is to be without closing down and attempting to separate yourself from the moment. Love is what we feel when we surrender our resistance to what is.
Surrender means to love without limits. It means to relax your guard so your lover can feel your core–authentic, unhidden, and undefended. Your muscles relax. Your breath becomes full. Your body and heart willingly open to your lover. If you are hurt, then you are hurt, but in any case you practice to remain open and full, like the ocean.
-David Deida
Ahh, life…
Sparkling Shore by Marc AdamusThere is nothing to fear. NOTHING. All fear is an illusion. It exists solely in the mind and is a product of an innocent mind that has been disconnected, a word used very lightly, from its Source.
When there is a conscious reconnection to Source, or perhaps more accurately put, an expansion of awareness so that Source is seen to be an aspect of the full YOU that you are, fear then begins to dissolve. It is seen to be just a product of a limited mind. The thoughts of fear are completely overwhelmed by the conscious awareness of Source unmanifest. Our rock of safety is our connection to Source within, the very silence that exists everywhere at all times. Our home is Nirvana, the Kingdom of God, the Presence of the Infinite Self, the I Am that I Am. It is this home that we have never left except for within the dreams of our minds, a dream arising within the very Kingdom that we seek.
Fear, hate, judgment… none of these energies exist within the essence of what you are. They are distortions of pure essence, unhealed energies that are nevertheless inseparable from the totality of what you are. The Love in you, the Love in me, the Love in all… One Love. The Love that I am, the Love that you are, the Love that All That Is is… One Love.
It’s One. It’s all One. It always has been. Always will be. This can never change for this Truth abides in timeless eternity.
All experiences are part of the whole. Whether we say life is this way or life is that way, neither of those statements are actually absolutely inherently true. They are relative truths, all very much experiencable within the worlds created within our consciousness, very much like an endless spectrum of video games. You can play any game you want. Abundance, limitation, success, enthusiasm, joy, clarity, confusion, lots of friends, solitude… mix and match! It’s all up to you! Whatever you believe life to be, be open to the fact that Life isn’t actually that way. Life is the way it is, but we simply project our own perceptions onto it and call that “reality.”
When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.
-Buddha
“You’re not here to teach what you’ve learned, but to be who you are.”
-Matt Kahn
When Matt told me this in our discussion the other day, we could both tell he struck a major chord within me.
As I began exploring this statement more deeply, I found myself having no idea who I would be without doing the whole spiritual teaching thang… Whoa! How quickly we fall into our roles…
So a part of me wants to “make the world a better place” and all that jazz. Something that’s common amongst us guys is that we like fixing things. If someone has a problem, offer them a solution so we can solve the problem. If someone’s suffering and feeling limited, help them know the truth for the truth shall set them free.
With respect to teaching, this tendency may become so intense that it can develop into wanting to practically beat people over the head with spiritual concepts and becoming somewhat preachy, particularly when we first invalidate the other. I’m not saying that this energy is the driving force behind my sharings by any means, but it can occasionally creep in nonetheless. It’s helpful to bring awareness to this and to recognize when the ego is doing its egoey thing.
For a while now it felt like the best way I could be in service to the world and give to others was to help spread spiritual messages and share spiritual teachings, just like many of the great spiritual leaders of yesterday and today. Hence this blog. This teaching/sharing thing has been an integral part of my path for many years now. I am now recognizing a shift in energy and the progressive diminishment of interest in talking about all this spiritual stuff so much…
I am the wisdom of your own heart. I am all that you could ever want, every single thing your heart desires. I am that. Nothing else could truly fulfill you. I am Infinite Love. Open your heart and you will find me there. My home is your heart.
As these words flowed through, it struck me how similar this message is with that of Jesus Christ. It was also recognized how easily these words can be misinterpreted and misunderstood, so let’s provide a bit of clarification for what both of us were talking about.
I am the Infinite, consciously aware of myself, expressing that which I am through this vehicle we call Ariel. I can express myself in a myriad of ways: through music, a street sign, a chance utterance by a stranger passing you by… all these are tools available to me. The clearest and most direct way I have of speaking to you is through the direct channel of your own heart. Your heart is smart. Your heart is wise. Your heart is all-knowing. You may trust it.
I am All That Is. I am all the Love in existence, and even more, for I am constantly expanding. I am everything you could ever dream of, and even those things of which you have yet to dream.
I am you. There is only one of us. Look within. The gateway to all that you seek is within you.
Appreciate yourself. Love yourself. For you are the Infinite. You are the living Divine.
Everything is this living Divine.
It can awaken in any person, including you. There is no question.
If you really want the Truth, look within. Even if it seems others have found it, what you perceive them to be is literally nothing more than a figment of your imagination. You alone are real. Be yourself.
When I say to open your heart and let me in, I mean this Infinite Love that I Am and I share, not just this Ariel dude as opposed to someone else. This Ariel dude is just a vehicle, a meat suit, that is at one with oneness, being used like a telephone to deliver a message, but do not confuse the messenger with the message. Think of Ariel more as a channel than literally someone who can make you happy. He is reflecting back to you what your heart already knows. That is all.
The “I” that I refer to here is way beyond just Ariel, yet is inclusive of that. It is beyond the “you” character that seems to be arising here, yet it is inclusive of that. It is the infinite Love that is always available within, right here right now deep in your own heart.
Look within.
I love you.
Being. It’s one of those spiritual words that’s tossed around like presence, meditation, nirvana, and so on. Not exactly one of the words that’s commonly used in day-to-day life, but is still vitally important in the whole spiritual game that can be played.
So, being. What is it anyways?
Let’s start this post off with Adyashanti going up to bat first. Batter up!
(Can’t embed this video, so you gotta clicka the linka.)
He describes being as the You you’ve always been. The You that you really really are, regardless of how old you are, if you’re enlightened or not, if even you’re doing the whole spiritual shebang or not.
One critical thing he points out is that “being” is “form without a particular attribute.”
This is so key.
Typically when we think of being, we think of a being. For example, a person is a type of being. Cats are beings. Dogs are beings. There are lots of living beings and maybe even some non-physical beings running around this place like ghosts or guardian angels and whatnot.
So the word “being” is thought of as a pointer to a particular creature of some sort. An individual.
But this is not what the word “being” is pointing to when we talk about what you really are. It’s not about this being or that being. In fact, it’s not about any particular being at all!
It’s just about being. Not individualized or part of any particular living thing.
It’s not so much a thing, like a human being, but more a presence. It’s existence. It’s just here, whatever the heck it is. It’s just here.
Look to your own experience. This is easily confirmed and verified if you look within and see for yourself instead of trying to wrap your mind around some words and theory.
Look within.
Being is here within.
Does it have any attributes that make it human? Do you own a human being as opposed to a cat being? Where does being end? Does it have any boundaries that you can locate? Does it have an age? Does it have a size? A color? A shape?
The living beingness that is here is formless. It is nameless. It’s just a presence that is here. and it’s always here.
It’s so obviously here that it’s totally overlooked as we make our way through life.
It is what is seen when you gaze into the eyes of any other living being. Again, being not as in an object with any particular attributes, history, personality, or any of that superficial stuff… but just living beingness. Aliveness. It is Life itself peering through the eyes of another.
Looking into the eyes of another, when you do this without labeling, categorizing, or in any way adding additional mental processing, you’re seeing Life itself. It is Life connecting with Life. Awareness seeing Awareness. Being being with Being.
No identity is necessary. No person. No man. No woman. No story superimposed upon what arises. None of that. Just Being.
There is no separation when Being connects with Being.
There’s no “me” in the way of being. There is nothing to cloud the unification.
There is simply Being with Being.
This unity we call Love.
It is One without a second.
It seems like one can reach a point where this Love no longer really disappears. Instead of fear replacing Love, it merely attempts to cloud over it at best with things such as painbody attacks or whatever else, yet this fear can never fully override love, despite the fact that it may look like it on the surface. Just like on a cloudy day, you can still notice the way the sun makes the clouds glow from behind. The sun doesn’t fully disappear anymore.
Have you ever noticed how the ego really likes to juice negative situations? It’s like it derives a certain sense of satisfaction out of stewing in anger about a situation, regretting the past, worrying about the future, wallowing in sadness or self-pity, exacting revenge on another, and so on. You know.. typical ego “stuff.” It’s almost like a “guilty pleasure,” in a sense. If we’re honest with ourselves, even though we know it’s bad, on another level it can still feel oh so good…
Yet even though this “bad” stuff is happening, Unconditional Love is always here. This Presence, whatever it is, is undeniable.
Because it becomes so obvious and everpresent, it may begin to feel like a burden to the ego, like a thorn that just won’t go away. No longer can you sit in your own self-created pile of poo, ignoring Love. Logically we wouldn’t want to do that of course, but it can feel comforting to rest in our ego. There’s a sense of familiarity in it if it’s what we’re used to.
With sincere devotion to Truth/God/Love, it’s like its presence can no longer be suppressed and will continue to power its way through your crap, as if it is here burn through your junk. No longer do you have the luxury of ignoring it and pretending it doesn’t exist. And this is so fortunate, as uncomfortable as it may be to surrender away yet another layer of crud.
This Unconditional Love that arises is not really a choice. It’s not a decision. It’s neither logical nor illogical. It simply Loves because that’s what Unconditional Love does. It is its nature. There is no other option. This Love just powers its way through what you think you are, transmuting everything into itself. In shines from within, transforming everything it touches as it radiates both through your body and out into the world. This Love is not always soft and quiet. No no. It can also be quite intense and powerful as well.
Unconditional Love itself, its very presence, is very upending to one’s ego. It’s like it’s shaking the ego from its comfortable position on its throne. Who’s gonna get to sit in the throne? Love or fear?
If you surrender and let this game of fear vs. love happen, well, let’s just say that love is a big girl and she can take care of herself.
Yet another experiential thingy that can be experienced in this singular timeless moment.
