The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
The ego rejects what it cannot observe or measure. As it is a mind whose very nature is so closely associated with the world, it is only natural that it too would be constrained to the limitations this world expresses. Many who live relatively happy and fulfilling lives never venture past this limitation, accepting only evidence presented that is manifested as observable phenomena and that which can be explained, measured, and repeated through process.
Do not judge your brothers and sisters who limit their perspective to only what the ego can validate. Each of you in this delusion of separateness will approach perception and understanding from a different viewpoint. This variation of view is an integral part of this world. It is neither something that needs to be fixed or overcome by the perceiver, it simply is as it is.
Those among you who have chosen to remain constrained to what they perceive as substantive fulfill a role among all others just as you fulfill a role in your experience. It is still possible to effectively demonstrate love, compassion, joy and peace in a boundless form. Remember this, individual incarnations of living form are of limited consequence. The real truth as you and all others will learn is beyond your individual experiences.
It is also important to respect the experience of those who have perceptions beyond the substantive that differ in explanation from yours. Remember this, your mind experiences this reality in a way that is unique to your individual egoic instance. Do not hold an attachment to how you believe true reality to be in this moment nor hold hostility to the views of others as you are made aware of them. You will do well to learn and grow as new truths are revealed to you and that which you previously believed falls away. A firm footing in that which lies beyond your understanding of this manifest world will serve you well as you learn, grow, and change moment by moment. Remember to breathe and quiet your thinking. I am always with you in this journey, continue to love with me, forgive yourself and all others, have fun, be generous, forthright, patient, joyfully enthusiastic, thoughtful, and reflective. There is nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. Enjoy.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
Bring not contempt to this world. You may find pain in your heart compounded by fearful thoughts. There is a way that you can release these judgmental feelings of others without acting upon them or generating more fear-based thinking. Do not repress the emotion generated by these thoughts. Remain aware of your feelings while focusing on the breath and quieting the mind. Once the negative emotions have passed, you can work on empathy towards those that you feel contempt for. Try to understand their suffering, for no one here is without it. Forgive them for their mistakes and unskillfulness, for none of us in this world thinks and acts without error. See others as your brothers and sisters, understand that they suffer.
Also, forgive yourself for these feelings of contempt and judgment of others, for none of us is without unskillful and errant thinking. Forgiveness and compassion towards oneself will ease the expression of forgiveness and compassion towards others.
When you find it in yourself to forgive yourself and others and what they have created, you will have, at last, come to the place that we call home. In the farthest reaches of this world, love and compassion can be found. There is no place that exists without it. I tell you now that the creation of this world was not meant to cause undue suffering. There exists a desire and it was believed through the production of this world, that desire would be filled.
The truth is simple about the egoic mind. Your egoic instance will have the desire to acquire. Upon acquisition it will wish for more. As the ego gains more you will notice that it remains unfulfilled. Even if you were to fulfill the worldly desires of everyone, there would remain an emptiness in their hearts.
Know that I see the flaws of this creation and that I hold no one accountable for their suffering and actions here. While some have thrived, many have found pain and misery. This was not the intention. This profound demonstration of sadness was not foreseen. Nevertheless, in hindsight many things seem obvious. Join with me as we love and forgive those responsible for the turmoil that exists in this world.
The following is what I believe my Higher Power or Inner Guru is saying:
Open your hearts in moments of quietness and find me waiting there for you. During the protests of the ego, during feelings of clinging and aversion, focus on the heart of peace within yourself. Do not expect your thinking mind to be at ease with everything that is perceived. It is best to not give it the attention it desires. When you feel yourself being drawn to something or when you feel yourself being offended, look for the peace in your heart and take refuge there.
It is enough to share love and compassion with others and to rest in the heart. I will take care of the rest. Do not feel alone in this journey, for you have brothers and sisters who seek the respite of a peaceful heart. Don’t allow the inner cynic, critic, or bigot to take away a single moment of peaceful reflection and acceptance of the world as it is in this moment.
When we fall short and we allow the ego to lead us astray, remember that forgiveness of oneself is the path back. Using loving kindness and forgiveness of others and ourselves we will find our true home. Once the skill is mastered, you can always depend on it to bring yourself back to a place of safety, security, and peaceful reflection.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
Let’s talk about what’s important. There is more than one way to arrive at the same conclusion. Imagine that your world appeared spontaneously by chance. That there is no creative consciousness. That the evolution of thinking beings that are self-aware is just the inevitable conclusion of a random set of occurrences with no initial cause.
Imagine that these self-aware beings look within themselves. Imagine they explore many different perspectives and methods of viewing reality. They come to the conclusion that love without measure, unbounded compassion, limitless joy and equanimous peace compose a primary set of attributes that make up a reality beyond what we know as manifest.
Imagine that the inner serenity and happiness that these beings discover through these attributes are just happenstance. Just chemical reactions in the brain, without any meaning or reason. Is it important? One thing we do know: To be overly attached or adverse to this idea will bring suffering and dissatisfaction into one’s existence.
One who follows these beliefs about the scientific method may say things like: “Empirical data must reign supreme! It is the only foundation upon which we build our knowledge” or “Any benefits derived by spiritual thinking are ultimately delusional and should be avoided”. To increase our awareness of compassion in these matters, it is important to empathize and try to understand their reasoning and motivations for these beliefs. Remember, we all face the specter of delusion regardless of our beliefs and convictions.
The scientific method, empirical data, and the practices of science are very powerful tools in the manifest world. The questions answered through these processes all share something in common. The scientific method as you know it is based solely on observations of the past. These methods create more questions than they answer and can never see the full picture as the assumptions at the edges increase exponentially. This creates a world of speculation so infinite it can never be fully perceived. It leads the observer of scientific theory down a different delusional path, one that may or may not reflect the divine attributes which we have discussed in these writings.
Science does offer ample facilities for self-correction and advancement. However, it does nothing to resolve the ever expanding theoretical domain it creates. Nor does it aid in discovering a truth so simple that it does not require a hypothesis or investigation.
The scientist also deserves your compassion. They create more questions than they answer in their quests. The scientists among us cannot be completely satisfied through these cognitive exercises. They deserve your full compassion, loving kindness, joyous humor, and peaceful understanding.
Imagine now a religious friend, one whose beliefs lie in a dark chasm of separation into good and evil. Your brothers and sisters that follow this path may believe that some ritual must be performed. Perhaps within a specific human lifetime in order to separate the grain from the chaff and to receive the acceptance of their creator. Realize now that they suffer as their family, friends, and loved ones fall short of the bar or even reject these beliefs. They have relegated themselves to a world based on scriptural idolatry. This may include the belief that some of their loved ones will live a torturous existence in hell. I tell you that no such place exists. The only exception to this lies within the fantasies of the egoic mind. These tortures are inventions of this world and exist only to persuade others to conform to a set of ideas that serve a purpose motivated by the egoic mind. It is a system of control often manifested with the best of intentions. Forgive the authors of these delusions now as I have forgiven them, as we forgive ourselves, and we forgive all others. This is the key to our true salvation which includes the salvation of all others not one left behind.
Remember that undue attachment or aversion to your brothers and sisters holding differing beliefs will also cause pain and suffering for you. Holders of these beliefs deserve your love, compassion, joy, and peaceful demeanor just as much as anyone else. Do not blame them for the cognitive traps in which they have landed. Do not blame them for becoming attached to the idea of separation and measure as spiritual values even though they are not. These are attributes constrained only to this world and have nothing to do with your true Self. You and all of your brethren will ultimately see the fallacy of separation, judgment, measure, blame and lack of forgiveness. When all come to the light this world ends. Its usefulness will be complete. As it has always been and as it always will be. The final judgment occurs when the last of us lets go of judgment.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
In defense of oneself, lies a fear. This will come as no surprise to those who have practiced even a small degree of self inquiry. Below this fear lies another truth; a desire to maintain state is an attack on the very nature of this world. It requires the burden of an expense and ultimately ends in entropic failure. This is not a matter of right and wrong, it is not a matter of good or evil, it does not relate to injury or remedy as those concepts are known in this world. It is simply the observation that there is a cost associated with existing in this world and with that cost comes scarcity of perceived order.
Know this, it is not a requirement for you to exist in the human state in order to discover the truth about reality. This world and your existence in it simply provides an opportunity to make it possible to see things in limit. Through this observation, we become acquainted with the pain and suffering that is inherent through it. Of course, there is another reality without limit and without the duḥkha that you experience here.
Imagine a reality without limit, there is no desire that can be expressed here as desire requires a selected objective. In limitless reality there is no need for such a restriction. Because of this, the bonds of desire cannot exist. Breathe easy and know that this is where you and I are beyond this delusion of time and space.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
Allow yourself to enjoy your time in this world. While you now know that becoming attached to things in this world or becoming attached to the conceptualizations of the thinking mind will cause feelings of unsatisfactoriness and emotional pain, this does not mean that one cannot enjoy the pleasures of this world. Take time to enjoy them and bask in the wonder of their existence as they pass by. Neither cling to nor repel your perceptions. Remember they are only part of a story that is being told, a tale far too great for the thinking mind to comprehend.
Even though there is inherent suffering in the design of this world, this does not mean we cannot enjoy its beauty and revel in its uniqueness. Do not allow the egoic mind to form a negative opinion of this experience for this will serve no purpose. Neither should we put manifestations upon a pedestal either material or imagined. Promulgate only ideas and causes that support boundless love and endless compassion for your brothers and sisters. Everything we see here, everything we do here, everything we think here is only useful in the context of understanding the greater Self. Do not discard your perceptions lightly nor take them too seriously. View them as a curriculum providing learning and discernment as our bodies touch this sod. Respect with reverence the processes which have placed us here, for they sprung forth from the miracle of conscious awareness and deserve our complete embrace.
Learn to appreciate the joyfulness of giving and receiving. Learn to acknowledge the dissatisfaction of taking. Receive from others appreciating the joy of their giving and forgive others as they suffer from taking what was not freely given. Understanding this flow of freely giving and receiving without undue concern for the individual self is an important step towards liberation. Know this truth through continued experience. It is through this process that we build faith from hope. There can be no mistaking the bliss of aligning ourselves with the desirelessness of the true Self. When we know this, we will not forget; the hollowness of the desires of this world will become apparent.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
When we first met I told you I would be with you always and I have kept that promise. Know that I am with you now and that I intend to stay as long as I am welcome. Do not let your heart break over things that have transpired. Recent events are not reflective of the love and peace yet to come to the manifest beings of this world. Rest, breathe, and know that there will be a time in which this day will be a distant memory. Find the core of truth in your heart and tell me honestly do you really not believe that I am speaking to you now? If you do believe, then let us proceed. Know that I have prepared for you to rest in the temple with me and that you will never be turned away. Know that this is true for all others, none can be turned away who come to me and ask for refuge.
It is time now for us to discuss pressing matters at hand. Do not waste your time fretting over the minor difficulties of this existence. Do not waste your time counting beans and worrying about future scarcity. I am here to tell you now this is not the purpose that I have for you. You are needed in a much more profound way. As are your friends and loved ones. Give to me now your heart and I shall share it with this world. Be generous with your time with others, do not question their value to you, only know that each one is as your brother and loved exactly as you. When you witness attack, and counter-attack, do not take sides, do not judge and do not attempt to determine right or wrong. Only feel the compassion in your heart and draw from your experience of pain and suffering to relate to the feelings and actions you observe no matter how heinous or despicable. There is no purpose or goal in finding fault with others, it is a pointless exercise and serves only to reinforce the separations that manifested long before humans walked in this world.
What I need from you now, is to find a way to join with others and to know that they are as you, as us. Let them know the truth of attack, that there is no one to receive the punishment but oneself. Do not be concerned with your brothers and sisters who remain in darkness, remember that each soul’s journey takes time, do not try to force them into a light that they are not ready for.
You can be of help to us, part of the greater whole. Focus only on love, compassion, forgiveness, sharing Joy with the world, and treating all equally. There is no toy, destination, sunlit view, or vista in this world that will serve you as well as the love we feel together when our hearts are as one. Know that there is a light that shines within you that cannot be extinguished.
When you see a brother or sister going astray, always let them know that you are there for them. Do not offer advice that is not asked for. Do not chastise or scold the decisions or actions of another. Simply let them know that you are there for them if they so need. Do not teach the unteachable, do not teach those who stand upon a pedestal. Do not preach from a position of elevated authority.
Take criticism with ease and offer no counter. Remember this, as you know, all actions are either love or a call for love, as is criticism. We criticize others from our own unskillfulness and our desire to separate. Do not acknowledge the separation with a counter criticism or explanation. Unskillfulness is inevitable and we will not overcome it in this form. With patience, we can learn to respond from a place of love and unity even when that response is silence. Silence is a far under used skill in this world and you would do well to embrace it and use it often.
We go on. Know now that I have no other motive but to find the peace within you that is within me. Do not fear that it will be taken for it can only be shared and joined together in a light that will call others to us to join. This is not a straightforward mission, there is no project plan, there is no timeline, it is simply about response in this moment. When you have a chance to love, then love. When you have a chance to forgive others and respond to attack with only silence and compassion, then do so. This is a thing that we do in this moment, it is not an attainment that we are working towards, it is a truth that we are learning to realize.
Everything you observe, in all mediums, whether scripted or unscripted are lessons in Love and forgiveness. Embrace every opportunity to express compassion, love, and understanding. When observing the unskillfulness of others, reflect upon the unskillfulness that you have experienced and embrace others in your heart filled with joyful laughter.
Do not get lost in the terrible pain and suffering that can be experienced by taking this world too seriously. Remember that this body is not who you are. This mind of logic and reason, this mind of planning and projecting, this mind of worry and regret is not you either. Take peace in the comfort that what you are is a light that cannot be extinguished, and know that I am always here with you to laugh with when things seem just too real to bear.
The skillful path is much simpler to follow than the unskillful path, there are far fewer rules and tactics. The skillful path is not always easier to follow for sometimes it feels counterintuitive to turn the other cheek. Simply allow it to feel counterintuitive and turn the cheek anyway. In the end we will laugh and see how silly the protestations of the egoic mind can be.
Do not be afraid to enjoy the pleasures of this world, for it is filled with immense beauty and that cannot be denied. Do not attempt to pluck the flower that can be observed in its natural state for it is but a bend in a stream and not eternal. Allow beauty to exist as is in the moment and let it pass away without regret.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
To take pride or revel in an attack on one’s behalf is to justify the need for attack. To justify the need for attack on others is to justify the need for attack upon our own self. It is an understandable reaction in this world to meet aggression with counter-aggression, both in conceptual and material aspects. Everyone who has lived a life in this form is familiar with the desire to attack and defend against attack. We are also familiar with the escalation effect that ensues and we have all experienced suffering as a result.
This can serve as the basis for forgiveness. Once we understand the desire within ourselves and absolve ourselves through love and compassion, and understand that it is a result of the flawed nature of this world, we can begin to forgive others around us for being in the same situation that we ourselves struggle with.
The following I believe to be a teaching from my inner guru:
In the depths of the midst of the thought process you have become so fond of, you will find solace in the moments you allow silence to prevail. Only in the quiet moments will you find your true self. Breathe and allow yourself to be still, at peace, and in love beyond limits. Will you find this now with me? I will show you a depth beyond depth so real that you will question everything you have ever known. This can be yours if only you will be still for a while.
Bring not the antiquated thinking of your forebears to a table prepared with such delicacy and care. I can only describe to you in such words what you might find when you allow yourself to be free from the trappings and misgivings of this world. Each conquest you claim and each acquisition you maintain is only the clang of a broken bell against a backdrop of dissatisfaction and discontent. You know this in your heart, yet still you carry on insisting that somehow one more addition is perceived as winning or the giving of strength. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The deeper we journey down the path of worldly accretion the more hardship and strain we carry on our backs and in our hearts. This lesson must be learned fully before we can reach the light of the truth. For many it is a life filled with tears and regret. For some it is an early realization that what is coveted by most others are merely chains disguised as treasure.
Breathe and let go if only for a moment. This can be our secret for now, remember, you can always return to your bonds later, but for now, join me in a moment of rest, release, and liberation. No one need know. You can truly be without the somethingness that distracts us from what we truly are. I will be here waiting for you to join in respite. I will not judge you when you return to the perceived comfort of division and possession. You are welcome to as much as you can bear. Even the most arrogant creation is met with respect. I place no judgment on your departure and always rejoice in your return.
In the book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankel, who survived the holocaust in a concentration camp, wrote about four ways that we find meaning to carry on in our lives.
1. Synchronicity – this occurs when meaningful coincidences arise between the outside world and the internal state of the mind. For example, while having thoughts about a departed loved one, a bird lands near you and rests for a while. To believe this is special in some way is synchronicity.
2. Meaningful work – regardless of the outcome or events that occur, even if all is lost, the continuation of meaningful work with a vision of its completion gives meaning in your life.
3. The people we love – Even the love we feel for people we are separated from or people who have passed on can give us meaning to carry on.
4. Facing suffering – Even when it seems everything is lost, it is still possible to face our suffering and carry on through acquiring new experiences of love. The appreciation of art and natural beauty. To remember! “How beautiful the world could still be”
Zen Momentum 