Three Jewels of Taoist Wisdom

 In just the same way as you can't bite your own teeth, you can't look into your own eyes without a mirror...you cannot define Self

Alan Watts

I listened to Alan Watts speak of something I heard him speak about many times but it was a wonderful reminder and it came at a relevant time. He spoke of the three major points in Taoism I am so interested in this idea of "Chi', just as I am interested in this idea of "shakti"...they are actually, I beleive , the same thing spoken about in different cultures. 

To understand "shakti" one attempts to understand yoga. To understand chi, one attempts to undersatnd the Tao.

The Tao

Really though, this understanding of yoga and the Tao  is an oxymoron in itself because the Tao especially cannot be defined or explained.

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao

That which is absolutely basic...the basic energy of the universe, according to Alan Watts...what you are. cannot be defined. As in the quote above, the hand cannot get a hold of itself. He tells us that what we say we are is not what we  are. This role, this description of self, this character we call "me" is something we are playing with...What we are is consciousness.

What is the nature of consciousness?  No one can say because it is common to all experience.

I like this explanation of consciousness as fundamental. Often, when things are so fundamental we do not notice them. The Tao is the basis of everything, to all that is going on and we don't notice it.

We don't notice anything from which we cannot see a limit...

It can't be named or explained. It can, however, be experienced.  The Tao can be experienced; Yoga can be experienced.  Chi can be felt and experienced; Shakti and Sat Chit Ananda can be experienced.  Once we experience it...we see everything so clearly.  We see that what we thought was real was never real.

Once you experience it, you are no longer taken in by the game that you are playing. You see through that game [of the ego] 

Unity and Opposites

You cannot have one without the other

We see duality everywhere and we fear because of it.  We see that there in "being" and non-being" and we are terrified of the "non-being" [death].  We close our eyes to that reality and cling to life with all our might. In reality, there is so much more "non-being" than there is "being"...so much more "space" and "emptiness" than there is solid matter. This terrifies us because we feel non-being, space, emptiness is the end of everything. We forget to see that being and non-being are sides of the same coin...cannot have one without the other. We need to be able to hear and apprecaite  the intervals between the notes of music.

"Space is real" ...but...reality is identified with the solid 

He suggests we need to better understand that key line from Shakespeare's Hamlet:  "To be or not to be" is not the question we need to be asking. 

We make these distinctions with the vibrations we pick up with our senses. But he explains

All your senses are really one type of sense...a type of touching...we touch light with the eyes...all sensation is a vibration...that goes on and off...

To see wisdom is to see the secret conspiracy between the opposites 

Wisdom comes from understanding the unity of everything...Only those with an innate intelligence will believe in the unity of everything.

Death is the most life giving thing there is...if you die before you die...you come alive

Wu Wei

He then speaks to one of the greatest concepts Taoism tecahes: Wu Wei, Effortless acton.

He tells us

Life is something that is always falling apart...but if you get with it...you flow with it you become alive

Wu Wei is about going with the flow, with the Toa and not fighting it. It is about not acting against the grain of nature. He offers an example by explaining that sailing is  much more aligned with the Tao than rowing is.  One requires effort, the other requires a simple going with nature. 

When you sail you cannot sail directly against the wind.

Anyway, worth a listen.

All is well.

Alan Watts/ Be Here Now (2025) Philsophy of the Tao. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmeipXO7O_E

Misuse of the Mind

 Suffering is created by misuse of the mind.

Eckhart Tolle

Do you embody the most important thing we can embody in this incarnation: awakening consciousness of the universe? 

Or are you still consumed by the limitations of identity? Are you constantly hearing this question of ego: What can I identify with now? 

When ego cannot find enough to identify with, it asks the above question. We, then,  create thought forms from this...that distract us from the discomfort of being in the present moment.

We, then, go about  looking for some "superiority" to validate ego's existence in life. Do you see this tendency in yourself?

Are you transforming a trauma, and an idea of  "I have been unfairly treated by life"  into an identity...into a thought form?

If you answer yes to these questions, indicating an active ego...you are not alone.  May of us humans, including this one, grapple with this tendency. Many people create a victim identity when they cannot find more favorable things to identify with that will allow us to feel superior to others. Ego needs to identify with something!  Identification with victim status is still a superiority complex...Ego tries to convince us we are morally superior because of what we went through. It keeps us stuck in this pattern. 

I often feel stuck in this pattern.  

And as Exkhart Tolle explains,

There is something not right about the human mind...

The thing is recognizing  and accepting this tendency in ourselves can be the first necessary steps in healing from it.

All is well

Eckhart Tolle ( February, 2026) Give Me 13 Minutes- This Will Chnage How You See Yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1dlEocp_Yo&t=786s

A Similar Wave-Length

Thoughts are just vibrations that manifest in the thinking mind...[we are not the thoughts or the thinking mind]

Michael A. Singer (paraphrased )

I have this very strange pull to Michael Singer that I cannot explain.  Obviously, I see why I am attracted to his teachings.  He is a modern day yogi and he teaches the things I like to think and talk about in a very contemporary way. His thinking is so similar  to my way of thinking as a a wanna-be yogi, but it is more than just having similar ideas that makes this unseen connection.  I seem to be so in sync with his teachings...with his mind... it is almost uncanny.  I seem to be travelling the same wave length...the same vibrational frequency (how is that for hippy woo-woo?lol). I am thinking about something or studying it elsewhere. I write about it. I then tap into his podcasts...and there it is....sometimes in the exact same words I jotted down, or he will bereferring to another being or teaching that I was just referencing. I am like "wow!" First of all, I cannot get over the synchronicity, and then there is the validation. I hear him and it feels like a sweet validation from the universe of the truth of what I am learning....of what I am teaching ( if I dare say what I do is teaching...lets say "sharing" :)). 

Unbeknownst to him, he is one of the reasons I keep coming here. He ....without intending to...keeps me in my practice. Well, not so much him...though I am sure he is a great person....it is this synchronicity...this strange "parallel thinking" if you want to call it that. 

"Parallel thinking" crazy lady? Are you sure you are not just 'following' or 'copycatting' him?

I am not much of a "follower" or a "copy cat". It may be hard to believe that someone as obscure and as unknown as this human  I call "me" could be on the same wave length of someone who is so well known...whose teachings are already so public and well received.  Am I grandiose in my saying that? 

I have been practicing and studying yoga long before I ever heard of Michael A. Singer. There have been other public speakers who I resonated with before I knew he existed: Eckhart Tolle (he was the first to validate my way of thinking), Wayne Dyer, ACIM, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Alan Watts etc....and of course, Yoganada, Patanjali, Vivekananda etc.  I have been contemplating the things he wrote and spoke about decades before I read the untethered soul...but something sweet happened when I read that book. It was like a "Yes...I get it! I am on the right path."

 And I suddenly knew...without doubt...that samskara release and purification was truly the only way to healing.  I already knew it on a psychological level to some degree-I have studied psychology and have read almost every self-help book out there, I am sure lol...but in his description of the thorn within...I was blown away. Ever since I have been encountering these synchronicities. Will such a synchronicity lead us to actually meet some day? Who knows?

His teachings together with these cool little happenings have set me on my purification path. Our mutual fascination with samskaras and purification is the biggest connection for me I think....I have revamped my own personal yoga practice...my already evolving sadhanna..to a samskara release priority...because of something he said years ago. It was like "Yes!  This is the way! I see now! This is going to work!" And here I am. Whenever I hear him speaking I am not really hearing something I don't know...I am being reaffirmed for what I do. It is so cool. 

Anyway, I appreciate him. I do but I appreciate this mind connection more. I can't understand it. It definitely feels more than a little woo-woo. This man will likely never know of my existence (even though it would be so cool to sit and talk to him)...Unlike him, I will likely remain unseen, unheard, and unknown to the world in my "sharing" and that's okay.  If that is my karma or my dharma, that's perfectly okay. I still feel a connection with him regardless. I feel something that goes beyond me being a "Michael Singer groupie" or "wanna-be"  lol. I feel a same wave-length connection I cannot understand. Some form of quantum non-locality or entanglement maybe. Anyway, just blows me away. 

So, I will just keep doing "my" stuff that few will see or hear, referencing him often, and I will continue to observe  this strange parallel mind wave thing as it unfolds in front of me. It is just so cool. 

All is well.  

Magic, Sahaja Samadhi, and the Balance Between Matter and Matrix

All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. 

Max Planck (Father of Quantum Mechanics)

Eckhart Tolle in the below linked video describes what I believe to be magic. That is the ability to see...instead of through the veil that distorts reality for so many of us... through the simple uncluttered pure awareness, to everything that is happening in the foreground. (Ultimately everything happens in your mind).  It is being able to see clearly the distinction between foreground and background. The foreground is all the phenomena, including thought and feeling, that is unfolding in front of us humans, but the background is the pure awareness, the stillness. In the foreground there is gain and loss, success and failure, birth and death, happiness and unhappiness, calm breezes and torrential storms, sunshine and cloud, joy and sorrow. The background is untouched by any of it but is experiencing it all through this separate self we believe ourselves to be.  Magic happens when we realize we are so much more than this human body with a tiny slice of mind we can call our "personal mind" and definitely more than this idea of "me" we erroneously identify as.

There is something deeper than happiness and unhappiness and that is the stillness behind it all. 

You are essentially not that entity calling what you see "my life" you are the essence....and magic happens when we realize that. Eckhart Tolle

In yogic understanding there are something called "siddhis", marking a certain state of accomplishment of samadhi...true realization.  These siddhis would be seen as "magic" by even the most hard-core Harry Potter fans.  Now "magic" is just a word that has many different connotations for everyone, right? It really doesn't matter what we call it, does it?  You might call it "woo-woo nonsense", I might call it a siddhi, and dedicated researchers in the field, like Dan Radin, would call it psi phenomena. 

The attainment of these powers due to samadhi is believed by yogis to be the ultimate of accomplishments.  I am, however, not seeking these strange powers or what others would refer to as magic as my goal for Self-realization. I am seeking the ability to be balanced between both worlds...between the human one and the being one, between the foreground and the background. Hmm! Thanks to Eckhart Tolle I have discovered that this is a special type of samadhi known as Sahaja Samadhi.

Sahaja Samadhi is the state of samadhi where a person is said to be in both worlds simultaneously- fully anchored in the inner, non-dual divine consciousness while active in the outer, phenomenal world....considered the highest state of realization, where the distinction between the inner Self and outer world disappears, allowing the yogi to act in the world without losing awareness of their divinity. (google search: AI overview)

That is the magic I seek. What "magic" means to me is simply a piercing of the veil that keeps who we think we are from experiencing who we truly are.  It is that which pierces the veil between reality and what we are conditioned to believe is real. When that veil is down...anything is possible because the relativity of time and space becomes obvious. That to me is magic. It is not woo-woo nonsense. It is not "unrealistic horsesh&%". It is spooky science at a distance.(Einstein). It is seeing the matrix behind all matter.

I believe this type of "magic", is the true and lasting way to get untangled from our "unnecessary and unreal" sense of suffering. When we know who we are...an essence in the background observing all the ups and downs of Life in the foreground including our thoughts and feelings...we are not lost  to what is in front of us.  We are aware of it but not harmed by it. 

...the unhappiness may still be there, but it doesn't touch the deepest realm of your being anymore ...

Magic, to me,  is realizing we are awareness and not that which we are aware of...

Awareness means consciousness becomes conscious of itself...you are consciousness and you have become conscious of your Self.

Hmm! What do I know lol? Anyway, I recently answered a question, "Do you believe in Magic?" It may apply to what I have written here.

All is well.

Eckhart Tolle (February, 2026) Nothing in this World Can Touch the Real You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We8PLL5WSH0&t=991s

New to English or Know Someone Who Is?

If you are new to English (as my stats page shows many of you might be...if the stats page is reliable that is and if you are actually a human coming to this site) or if you know someone struggling to get through an English language barrier...please check out the site below.  I want to offer you access to an imperfect but beneficial channel very few people know about. I just want the work and effort I put into this to be worthwhile... to reach people it might help in some way.  

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGn3fCLSuqcAuXl8yxgrO8A

Escaping?

 

I made a promise to myself, to live a life I don't have to escape from.

unknown

I find it very hard to escape this escapist tendency I have lol...I try but there it is so often coming into my awareness, bubbling to the surface in my body with a tightness in my gut and an urgency in my movement.  I observe it in the thoughts that spring to mind , "What do I got to do now so I don't feel this?  Where do I got to go? What changes do I gotta make?  I have got to fill my moment with some distracting activity just so I am not absorbed in that internal restlessness. I have to do something 'productive'." I see it in my "seeking" for some way to "fix" the moment where this escape tendency emerges  by partaking in something that will "fix" me and this Life I am living. I so easily slip back into the "I will be free of this feeling when,,, peaceful when..." mantra of the unevolved existence. 

This escape tendency is much less intense than it was...because I am much more "aware" than I was but it is still there. One example, is the feeling and thought stream centered around, "I must find some paying work" or "I have to try writing for publication again." Those thoughts are there to help me escape this feeling of "unproductivity" I have and this belief that my'discontent with the moment'is partially a result of not having enough money.  I have to sternly remind my "self" ( but I am trying to be more gentle in my approach) that there is no escaping this moment...that this moment is all there is...that some time up there in a future that never comes is not the answer or the solution for finding samtusta...This, that is going on right here and right now, that may or may not be triggering that escaping samskara, is the solution.  It is a tool I can use for purification.  My noticing it is a doorway to my observing it. Observing it is a doorway to allowing and accepting it rather than running from it...Allowing will lead to a looking deeply at it and the moment , despite the squirming away tendency, and that will lead to this human making peace with it, honoring it, and embracing it... before slowly allowing it to be released. (We do not have to consciously release these things ...we just have to move out of the way.) 

So, I notice the escape tendency in me. I think the Buddha may have grouped this tendency under the fourth hindrance to awakening: restlessness and worry. It is a hindrance only when we resist the esperience of it...but when we allow it, observe it, look deeply into it and move out of the way of it...it can be a doorway that takes us higher. 

I don't know ...something to think about. 

Seeing Through the Quilt

 

Nothing that ever happened to you is meaningful [to anything but the "me"].

You don't matter...

Michael A. Singer (February 2026) Mind is Not the Enemy. What is Stored Within It Is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In3np-epMMI&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1

Listening to Michael A. Singer this morning...lead to this...

Removing the Quilt

The indwelling awareness of being....

peeks shyly from behind the intricately patterned quilt

hanging from the line of an insignificant "me".

As the breeze blows,

the way the breeze is meant to blow,

carrying droplets of perfect morning dew,

the sweetness of blossom, the seeds of new life, 

and the ashes of dying form,

the quilt hangs solidly,

stubbornly resisting the movement requested of it. 

Unlike the thinning sheets,

 now almost transparent from their many healing washes, 

and that now flap so noisily and freely beside it, 

the quilt, in its heavy weight, resists blowing with the wind.

The pure awareness of being hidden behind it,

a growing child with curious intentions,

chokes on the dust that has settled in a protective layer

over the many squares and colours of this quilt. 

Behind the unmoving barrier, the child of awareness feels so little 

of the refreshing touch this gentle cleansing wind offers.

It sees so little beyond the fraying threads and the many colorful patches 

that were added to this quilt... one joy at a time, one sorrow at a time

until 10,000 of each were sewn into the fabric of its memory.

As beautiful, or as unsightly, as this creation may appear to the perceiver,

it has become an obstructive barrier for the growing child trapped beneath it. 

Sigh!

As attached as I may be to the fruit of my action, I must think of the child.

I must not-so-gently shake the dust from this covering,

use a broom and beat it off if I must, so the child can breathe. 

Better still, I could undo the rusty pins the "me" clings to the fabric with 

and allow this obstruction to tumble to the ground in a beautiful pile of colours.

Or maybe, if I dare even further, I could remove the wire I call "me"

from which this veil is suspended.

I must let go and set free that which is longing to be free. 

Despite the long hours spent stooped over the rack

in devoted stitching and effort as I added carefully selected patches

I understand now that this quilt serves no one.

I clearly see  what I have created in my mind...

something that stifles the growth of awareness.

I must let awareness see and feel what it is here to experience. 

I must let it run freely in the wind on perfect bare feet that kiss the grass

 in reckless abandonment.

I must let it extend its innocent face up towards the sun

as it giggles with a joy every child is meant to echo.

I must also let it fall and skin its knees,

feel the pain of defeat,  and the agony of loss.

Despite my lingering attachment to the creation 

I have sewn and hung so carefully on this line of "me"...

I must let go.

I must set this awareness free so it can embrace this Life 

the way it is meant to do.

Dale-Lyn; February 17, 2025

All is well

Freedom Beyond the Ripple

 If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience Yoga.

Patanjali

Patanjali  taught that we are born with this "beautiful empty, still  mind", this peaceful clear lake but along the way we rough up the water. We collect vibrations on top of this lake, creating so much rippling we cannot see the reflection of who we are when we look in.  We cannot see Self. 

Yoga is about dealing with the ripples so we can get back to the clear lake, so we can once again see Self. We will see our true unlimited nature beyond the prison ego locks consciousness in when it convinces it we are simply bodies with personalities in an external world that is full of suffering. Yoga helps us to remember we are the lake.

So, if you can have control over the thought forms and change them as you want, you are not bound by the outside world. You can make it a heaven or a hell according to your approach. That is why the entire Yoga is based on citta vritti nirodhah. page 6

Control?

Satchidananda uses the word "control" and  we need to be cautious with the use of that word.  The control he refers to is not about stopping the mind from doing what it does: "Think". It is more about what we do with this natural inclination of the mind to think, in terms of collecting thoughts and building "thought forms" or as Patanjali referred to it, "mental modifications" out of these thoughts, instead of just letting them pass through our awareness. Preventing the aggravation of ripples that take us away from understanding Self requires being aware of those thought vibrations, seeing how we have the tendency to get distracted by them. Instead of clinging and following them into never ending craving, clinging, suppressing, repressing, pushing away the realiity of Life, with " the I, me, my, mine" they create...we need to go deeper beneath the rippling surface to prevent the rippling. 

Say what crazy lady?

We need to understand, once again, that everything is energy vibrating (rippling) at different rates. Beneath what we see as a dense material world are several types of energies...some of it vibrating so quickly and so loosely that we cannot see it (scientific instruments have yet to be created to measure much of it). Other types vibrating so slowly we experience dense matter. When that vibration slows down, and the waves become more densely packed together, we begin to see matter.  Ice has a lower vibration rate than steam, for example, but both are just water.

 Matter is energy and energy is matter and the difference is just a temporary state...Einstein (paraphrased).

So what does this have to do with the mind?

The mind, consciousness, is the source of most vibrations. It has the highest vibration rate of all things we know. 

Is there a highest vibration whereverthing slows down from? Yes...tag...You are It. 

You are the Consciousness that is the highest vibration rate.  It all comes down to you.

So, the mind is the highest vibration making machine. We need, then, to take care of the vibrations it is capable of making.  Our thinking, though perfectly natural, can create distracting ripples that take us away from seeing who we are- that consciousness. The ripples we use the mind to make are usually related to this idea of us as separate little entities with problems, desires and aversions.  The ripples are so distracting we begin to see ourselves as those things. We get lost in them.

The vast majority of our thoughts are about "me" I, my, me, and mine"

Most people don't notice their thoughts, they believe they are those thoughts, 

Huh?

We are infinite consciousness experiencing Life through these bodies and personal minds. The senses pick up the vibrations of everything we encounter ...these vibrations travel up the nervous system tract to the brain, which is the filter for consciousness, for interpretation by the mind.  Meant to be empty and still like a clear lake, the mind experiences the ripple but quickly lets them go. It returns to its natural state of stillness. These sensory perceptions and mental interpretations may cause some vibrations...some ripples...but they are temporary as long as we do not cling to them. 

But...

This is where the problem comes in. We, as the operators of these minds, may grasp, cling, store, suppress, repress, avoid, and resist etc. these vibrations and when we do that we make big ripples or waves out of teh small ripples on this clear lake.  The ripples do not return to stillness. The water becomes so turbulent the reflection of who we really are can no longer be seen on the surface. All we see staring back at us are the ripples and waves of turbulent water. We identify with that.

The defense mechanisms are the means by which we do this...[creating a psyche we identify with]...

The stronger we interpret the sensory vibration coming in, as in trauma for example,...the bigger the wave, and the bigger the distraction. Infinite consciousness is drawn down into the citta vrttis or "mind stuff."[samskara]. We are pulled from our natural state into the chaos of a probelmatic "me". Chitti vrttis...mental modifications and vibrations in the mind...lead to very constricted view points and problematic life's of "I, me. my, and mine. "  Instead of peace, we have suffering. 

So, normally you are in a peaceful state.That is the natural condition of the mind. But the citta vrttis, or the modifications of the mind-stuff, disturb the peace. page 4

So what do we do?

We purify.

The purified mind is no different than the  Self...Yogananda

We stop grasping, clinging, stuffing, storing, resisting, and avoiding the vibrations of life as they come into the mind. We notice, allow, relax into and experience. Then we let them go. We let it all go.

Really, it isn't the mind that is causing the problem.  It is we, as operators of the mind, that are responsible for these ripples. So if we disturbed the mind, we can undisturb it.

There is not a single thing in your mind that you cannot get rid of. There is nothing in the mind that clings...you cling to the mind [personal mind as opposed to universal mind].

We have the power to be free through conscious purification.  Even if we are in a literal prison we can find liberation.

It is the mental attitude. If, instead of imprisonment, you think of this as a place for your reformation where an opportunity has been given you to change your attitude in life, to reform and purify yourself, you will love to be here until you feel purified.pg 5

Maybe our present states of consciousness in this Earth school, states where we feel trapped in this idea of "me," are prisons we can use to purify in. Maybe, we can learn to love this life of challenging learning for the freedom it can ultimately give us.

If you control your mind, you have controlled everything. Then there is nothing in the world to bind you. pg 6

Hmm! Something to think about.

All is well. 

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( February, 2026) Mind as Vibration: The Root of Suffering and the Path to Freedom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmzjso9T92M&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1

Swami Satchidananda (2011) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga Publications

 

In But Not Of

 

Our normal waking consciousness...is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the flimsiest of screens, their lies potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We might go through life without expecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus and at a touch they are all there in all there completeness...No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded. 

William James

James was a philosopher and a psychologist (we do not see that combination  much anymore...do we? One field leads to science ...the other to something else). He was the first educator in America to offer a psychology course. I would have loved being in one of his classes. 

He was a thinker that explored the non-physical, quanta, consciousness, as well as the human mind. 

Ram Dass, in the below linked podcast, brough this human and his words back to me in his discussion of the interplay between who we are in separate physical and psychological forms and who we are in universal consciousness.  Reminding us that we need to find peace and harmony in the reality that we are in this world but not of it.

The objective is not to deny your uniqueness or your separateness, [but to also honor your unity.]

[Karma yoga is all about] honoring what is...do your dharma...play your part...do your best

See any situation on more than one plane simultaneously

We can partake in the route of karma yoga by saying, "Whatever the givings of my life, may they  become the route of my liberation." 

We need to not only accept the situations in our lives, the what-is-ness of it, but to honor it for its ability to take us to the dimension we often do not see or acknowledge behind the "flimsiest of veils" 

It is all grist for the mill. You use it all...

Then he reminds us of the fact that we are souls here to evolve in this Earth school ...using the situations we have been given or find ourselves in as part of the lesson plan.

The life experiences of your incarnation are your curriculum

Imagine getting free by living life

And what does being free mean?

Being free means not having aversion or attraction [to what is.]

Karma yoga, he explains, will help us to honor this incarnation...and allow us into who we are as physical, psychological beings as well as spiritual.

If you have a perspective that you are not just this physical, psychological enitity...[you will] want to simultaneously live in your unitive nature and in your separateness. 

We can be fully present with "the heart breaking"  and at the same time hear the wisdom part saying, "Ah...so" ....which allows for change and metamorphosis

We need to allow the human heart to feel its pain while we cultivate the part that is not caught up in the human drama.

Sigh! I want that.  What about you?

Ram Dass/ Be Here Now Network(February, 2026) Ram Dass on Cultivating a Spiritual Perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emps9sT1FI

Beyond Words

 God in form is God deformed; God defined is God confined.

Ram Dass

I seen this in some of my other writing and felt compelled to put it here.  What is meant by this statement?  When we try to place this "what -is-ness" of God into a form, be it an image, a concept, a dogma, a name...we deform what God is.  When we try ton define or explain what God is we confine this infinite everything into a finite dogma. (Here I am using the word God to make a point lol) God is nameless, formless, description less. God is beyond words.

Hmm!

All is well.

Passion and Samskaras

 Human Life is full of the play of samskaras-tendencies developed by repeated actions.

Vinoba Bhave

Passion is that energy -the Divine  energy that underneath [the samskaras]- is pure love, pure beauty, pure Spirit, pure God.

Michael A. Singer

You really seem to feel "up" when you teach or write. These things fill you with passion, I suppose.

No, not really.  They just help me to open to the passion that is already inside. 

What do you mean? They are not your purpose or Life's work? 

No. They  just help me to fulfill my Life's work. 

What is your life's work, then? 

Releasing the blockages within me that hold the Shakti down

Huh?  What the heck is Shakti, crazy woo-woo lady?

Shakti is the divine energy within all of us.  It is that love, peace, joy, bliss, enthusiasm we feel at certain times and erroneously attribute to the person beside us, the thing we just baught, the goal we just met, or this experience we are having where everything just seems to be perfect. We often mistakenly assume that feeling came from something we did or have....or that it is coming from outside.

Isn't it?

No...Passion is that energy -the Divine  energy that underneath [the samskaras]- is pure love, pure beauty, pure Spirit, pure God .

So, if it is inside us, why do we not feel passion all the time?  Why are so many of us miserable and always striving for a bit of peace and comfort, let alone even dreaming about that joy and bliss stuff, passion entails?

Everything is about the energy flow...

And  most of us have blocked that flow so we seldom feel it lifting us up. We have created these blockages over the flow by clinging to the emotional energy of expereinces we want to repeat and closing up to and resisting the emotional energy we decided we do not want to repeat.  Instead of just letting the energy of Life as it unfolds pass through us...we grab and cling to that which we desire, and close up and push away that which we don't.  When we push away we push down below conscious awareness.  We stuff down on top of this energy flow...blocking it. 

How does that impact our ability to live passionate lives?

Well ...first of all we are going to be very, very senstive to Life based on what we stored inside.  If it was painful, as most samskara origins are, we are going to do what we can to avoid that trigger. And that  will constantly get triggered. It will take so much of our life energy and focus to avoid the resurfacing of the pain that our attention will be dragged down to the samskara level and away from what "could be if we were free" level.   Life will become a struggle. We will suffer

Not everyone suffers. When things work out for us we are happy. What do you have to say about that?

That is a conditional form of happiness and there is so much more of this energy to experience. Since the energy originates inside not outside...as long as you look outward for your fulfillment and passion, you will not find it, or, at the very least, you will not experience it for long. Shakti...needs to be expressed in one way or another.

Sometimes, you will partake in an activity (like writing or teaching does for this human I call "me") that opens the flow up enough to come through in trickles and that feels amazing...We may call that passion and attribute it to whatever we are doing or what is happening "out there". We may seek more and more of that activity or experience...but the feeling we get from our outward  achievments won't last.

Why?

As long as the chunk of blockage is still there ...inside...we will close up again.  Besides what we are experiencing in those moments is just a fraction of what we could be feeling when that samskara is no longer there to block Shakti's full expression.

So what happens if we just leave the blockages there?

Well it will diminish the quality of our Life expereince, stifle what the Divine is here to experience through,  and it is also dangerous.

Dangerous? How?

Blocked energy is dangerous.  The energy always wants to let go. 

The energy is powerful and craves expression. It needs to flow but when it cannot get through our blockages, it circles and builds up a turbulent force on the other side. Sometimes that turbulent energy can push through taking some of the contamination and debris of the painful samskara with it. We, then, may have a nasty emotional reaction that may be followed by a physical one. We may hurt others or ourselves. We see its destructive, held back force, in rage and violence or self-harm.

So what do we do to  prevent these explosive reactions and to experience the joyful side of passion? 

Simple. Shakti needs to be released....to be free to express Itself.  The passion is within you...it is unconditional...free it (somewhat paraphrased)

You have to deal with the energy or else the energy will deal with you.

We need to be willing to let the energy come up without resisting it and pushing it back down. We then need to transmute it...let it go...offer it up to God. We need to make our  Life purpose about freeing this energy,  removing blockages so this passion can flow. We do that not only for these humans we are, but for each other, for Life, and for God. 

All is well.

Michael Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( January, 2026) Spirituality Beyond Rules: Transmuting Passion into Divine Flow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RszOb0bH9g8&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=11&t=1237s

Breaking the Gate of Mystery

 Nature must be enlightened, life must be preserved.

Don't rush, let the fire burn slowly.

Close your eyes and look at your heart of life,..

Let the mind be still, and life be strong.

Let tranquility and spontaneity be the source.

In a hundred days you will see a result:

....

The beauty is boundless and inexplicable, 

All over thebody, vital energy rises.

Who can know such a marvellous experience? 

It's like a dumb person having a beautiful dream.

The spirit radiates throughout 3000 worlds...

In neboulous mixture everything is empty,

The infinite phenomena are all here. 

Marveloous in its mystery, mysterious in its marvel.

All phenomena are born in the union of heaven and earth.

When ultimate reality reveals dualism disappears. 

Now I realize all religions are the same!

Eat when hungry, sleep when tired,

Offer a joss stick [incense]and practice meditation.

The great Tao is just before your eyes.

If you are deluded, you will miss the chance.

....

Breaking the gate of mystery to reach the marvellous.

From the "Song of Silent Sitting" in The Secret of Training the Internal Elixer in the Tai Chi Art by 13th century Taoist priest Master Zhang San Feng (Chan San Fong). He is said to be the father of Tai Chi, changing his hard Shaolin practice of Kung Fu into the softer style later called Tai Chi.

Hmm! This is what I believe I seek from Tai Chi and from yoga. Sure the physical benefits of  these practices are great. By combining Hatha with  24 Yang Style and Tai Chi walking, I feel like I am toning up muscles I never knew I had...and one doesn't feel the "exertion", one might feel, say, at the gym. What I really want from both practices, however, goes beyond the physical. It is the ability to relax into what Life offers, observe it clearly, learn what I need to learn, and then flow with it.  I also want to experience, at least to a small extent: 

The beauty is boundless and inexplicable, All over thebody, vital energy rises. Who can know such a marvellous experience? It's like a dumb person having a beautiful dream.

I want to feel that energy rising in me.

I think the "dumb" here might have two meanings. Well, at least it does for me. Firstly, it refers to the "non-speaking" nature of the experience.  It cannot be conceptualized or verbalized within the framework of human language.  Secondly ...it is like being dumb in the form of "not knowing anything" and suddenly knowing so much at the experiential level. The experience is open for those who can put away their "dogma, doctrine, preconceived ideas of reality" etc. 

Exerpts for the beautiful song provide both the philosophy behind it, and the method required to attain the highest goal in Tai Chi.

The highest goal is the same as the one in Yoga...as the one in most spiritual practices...as the one in all religions.

Now I realize all religions are the same!

Now, though I do not seek samadhi, it would be cool to even for a second break through the gate of mystery for the marvellous! Don't you think? 

How do we do that?

The author encourages meditation. If we do not take the chance to look inward instead of outward as our delusions lead us to do...we might miss the great mystery of the Tao.

All is well 

Wong Kiew Kit (2016) Chapter Three/The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chaun ( Revised Edition) Cosmos/ Kindle Edition.

Consciousness Locked Inside a Glass?

 So, do Thou my Lord

So, do Thou my Lord

Thou and I never apart

Thou and I never apart

Wave of the sea dissolve in the sea

Wave of the sea dissolve in the sea

I am the bubble, make me the sea

I am the bubble, make me the sea....

Yogananda chant

Michael Singer in the below podcast explains  (paraphrased)

Your artificial glass[your ego] that the Ocean filled, is the barrier between you and the Ocean. There really is no seperation....but once you begin to see yourself as the glass and that which is within it...you feel seperate and full of fear as you look out at everything, through the glass, as being "outside" of you and therefore unsafe and uncomfortable. Your focus becomes all about what is inside this glass and how that outside world can either threaten it or help it feel safe. You become very distracted...you cannot see that you are the Ocean.

That made me think of this posible conversation between a liberated being (Mukta) and one yet to realize.

A Glass of Ocean

"Me": I am stuck in this forking glass and it sucks in here. 

Mukta: Really? I don't see a glass.

"Me": Oh stop playing with my head.  I am stuck in this glass and it sucks,. All those creatures out there are trying to get in to hurt me and I am constantly trying to find ways to stop them.  And everytime something nice comes in through the opening on top that makes this glass-living a tad bitter better...I have to cling so hard to keep it in...but it is so bloody exhausting. What can I do to end this struggle?

Mukta: Well, get out of the glass.

"Me": What?  Get out of the glass? I am stuck in here. 

Mukta: Well..if you feel you are stuck... you will be stuck. You can let Life break this glass or knock it over. That works for many.

"Me": No! Definitely not. That is too harsh.That will hurt me. I couldn't handle that.

Mukta: Okay....You can try looking up, instead of looking down like you tend to do, into and through the glass.  If you look up you will see Ocean and only Ocean. You will see that there is no seperation between you and the ocean because Ocean is all there is.

"Me": Oh,  you are so confusing and ridiculous. Be serious. Ocean is out there and I am in here and there all those things out there waiting to attack.  There is no getting out of this glass. It is all there is! How do I make Life better in here??

Mukta: Well...as long as you see yourself stuck in that glass you are not going to be okay. You need to see that the glass isn't there and that who you think you are, is not who you are.

"Me": Huh??

Mukta: Maybe...begin by testing the reality of this glass you think you are in.  Explore it. Examine it...you will see that it really isn't protecting you...that you cannot use it to stop the Life out there from doing what it does. You may eventually see that there really is no glass there...that the Ocean is constantly flowing in and out. You cannot see Truth now because you are so focused on being stuck in a glass that doesn't even exist, you are distracted from the Ocean that you are. 

"Me": OMG...you are so confusing! I know what I feel and think and I just want to know what I have to do to feel good inside. Will you just answer my bloody question. How do I make it better in here? How do I get what I need and stop what is out there from coming in so Life is better in here?

Mukta: I am trying to tell you that you are asking the wrong question. Life isn't meant to be better "in there" because there is no "in there".  There is just Ocean. You can't control the Ocean. Life will be Life.  This Ocean is meant to flow through.  Your problem isn't what is "out there"...it is what is in the glass...it is the fact that you believe yourself to be in this glass in the first place.  There is no glass. Your question should be, "How do I free myself from this illusion of a glass so I can merge back into what I am." 

"Me": What the fork? You are crazy...I won't be getting any help from you, will I? I guess, I have to go on suffering.

Mukta: Sigh! I guess you are not ready yet but no...you do not have to go on suffering. There is a way out but you have to be ready for it. 

All is well.

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True (February 9, 2026) You Are the Ocean: Escaping the Limits of the Ego Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sVFyVkcC7M

Dancing to Experience, Express, and Evolve

 The entire purpose of life is the merger back into the union, the Universe.

Michael A. Singer

What is my dharma? Is a question I often ask myself. Or in other words: "What is my purpose?" 

Of course, the question would be better served if I removed the "my" from it lol...but...I want to know what I am to do with this Life I have been given. I can depersonalize that question a bit by stepping back and asking "What is the purpose, each of us 'humans,' are meant to serve?"

Michael A. Singer tells us our purpose is to simply experience, express, and evolve. We do not do that for the sake of the "little me", the psyche - that self concept we created and over-identified with...we do it for the Source that created us.  We are here to allow consciousness experience the Life we are picking up with our senses on this little spot of Earth we are standing/sitting/lying on. We are a conduit for It to experience and express Life through. We, like all species, keep evolving so this Consciousness can expand...so it can experience and express more and more. 

You are not here for you...you are an instrument of divine will...

Consciousness is constantly reaching out so it can experience life better...this is evolution...the divine force is reaching out through form, and form is constantly changing...the physical body becomes a better house for God to express HimSelf [somewhat paraphrased]

...a plant can reach out to the sun...that is consciousness reaching out to express itself through form...creating a dance.

So, we are dancing. Cool!

We are not the choreographers or main dancers in this dance but we do get to dance. Each step we take on our bloody old point shoes should be made with consciousness in mind.  "How do we make  this next step one that makes this dance a beautiful experience and expression of Life, for Life?" Every step we take should take us back into the union the dance creates. 

I get that. I do.  And I try to consciously do what I can to experience and express in a way that serves the moment in front of me. My motivations are less and less about this "me". (Don't get me wrong...that "me" is still around.) Yet, I still don't know if I...as a body-and-mind-conduit for the consciousness to experience through... am dancing in a way that honors the dance or if I am just tripping over everyones feet lol. I am not hearing clear directions and instructions, any constructive feedback from the choreographer.  So,  I don't really know where on stage to be. I move in the shadows...expressing and experiencing back here...assuming this is where I am supposed to be. 

 "Is this where I am supposed to be? Does consciousness want to experience these shadow areas through this human I call me? Is this my dharma- to experience and express from back here where this expression is seen and heard by  so few, and things are a little more challenging? Tell me this is my dharma and I will embrace it! "

 I put that question out there but I don't hear anything back. 

At the same time I recognize the heliotropic instinct in me. The same natural inclination, I see in my little plant as it stretches its branches out toward the sun. I feel a pull toward the light. So, sometimes I step up into the lime light to expereince and express... but...instantly question if I should be there.  I ask, timidly, "Am I suppose to be dancing up here? Am I good enough?"  

I get no answer. I get no external validation for being seen, there is no obvious rewards or changes in life circumstances for the proverbial "better" to indicate that the universe is approving of my move forward...my expressive movements...so I, as this body and mind, assume I need more practice. My dancing isn't pure enough.  I go back to the shadows. the shadows that I am okay with because they are familiar.  

At the same time, it is heavy back here, overcrowded with stumbling dancers who are suffering from so many injuries being human causes.  I cannot help but see them...feel for them. And because  there is less light and pay for shadow dancers... we are all just  "struggling dancers" back here, trying to make a living and get by. One, then, begins to associate with the darkness and the difficulty. I get a wee bit too focused on the challenges and the negative things in life. Though I still love to dance...I often forget why I am dancing. Do I experience and express Life in a way that serves consciousness, when I do that? Definitely not.

Hmm! Does that make sense? Does anyone else feel like they are loving the dance but would like a little more direction and feedback about their role in the dance? 

Thus, the question, often added on to the question, "What is my dharma?", is,  "How will I know if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing; if I am expressing and experiencing in a way that honors Life?" 

Michael Singer reminds us,

If it isn't your job, Life will let you know.

Hmm! So, I guess I will keep stepping up dancing my heart out....and wait to actually hear, "Okay...you in the first row...go back....you are not quite evolved enough.  You have more inner work to do." 

If I hear that feedback, I will just smile, thank the choreographer, and go back to the work of becoming a better dancer. If I don't hear it, maybe I should just keep dancing in the light so consciousness can experience the bliss it is meant to experience. Afterall, it is not about "me" or "you" as individual dancers, is it? It is about the dance.

All is well

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( February, 2026) Evolution: The Divine Dance of Consciousness and Form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttlf_maZT9g&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1

Observe...Relax...Allow...Respond

 Life should be touched , not strangled. You've got to relax, let it happen at times and at others move forward with it.

Ray Bradbury

Observe...Relax...Allow...and Respond

Me

I laai in bed when I awoke this morning.  I just happened to see snow falling outside my window and my first thought was, "Observe". More precisely, "Observe without story or commentary, without judgement of whether or not it is nice or not so nice. Don't determine if it is something to feel good about or something to worry about...just observe quietly. Observe it.  Observe your bodily response to it. Observe your breath. Observe what is in this moment as the snow falls outside your window.  Observe." 

The second thought was "Relax. As you observe the body sensation...allow what ever is felt to simply be...but if you notice tension...gently encourage it (do not insist or demand) just encourage a release and relaxation in that area.  If it releases...notice.  If it doesn't...notice. It is all perfectly okay as it is. Just relax into that." 

The third thought was "Observe the breath...Observe the breath and the body response to breath...not controlling or forcing the breath in anyway...just observing....quietly without commentary. Oberve the breath."

The fourth thought came to mind. "Allow"...Allow whatever is in your experience right now to simply be.  A relaxed body makes allowing easier. Relax into what is.  Quieltly (no mental commentary is necessary), softly...allow."

"Breath and body are softening." 

The final thought was " Respond when needed". I felt safe knowing that though there was nothing in that moment I had to do, if something suddenly did happen that needed my attention...in this relaxed, allowing state the body would respond in the the most natural of ways. The body would move automatically through its natural reflexes if necessary. When there is no resistance, when controlling mind  is out of the way, the body's natural rhythmic movements will respond gracefully when necessary. "The only response needed in this moment is to relax more deeply.  Respond." 

So, I lay there for quite some time: Observing, Relaxing into breath,  Allowing and Responding. 

Later, I thought of that in reference to Tai Chi.

In my limited understanding of Tai Chi and other gentle martial arts, I could see why masters teach their students these four things to prepare them for battle; why following this protocol would make them better warriors.   

I know "warrior" and "combat" do not seem to fit into this discussion on relaxation and calm lol...butbear with me. Imagine someone wanting to attack you, coming at you. Remember these four things: Observe quietly...relax...allow...and respond...When we observe the happenings of the world inside and outside of us, we create a certain distance and non-attachment. We do not need to judge it as good or bad, right or wrong, should be or shouldn't be.  It just is. We automatically relax when there is an objective distance between who we are and the drama we are observing. Body and mind will relax. That doesn't mean we stand there paralyzed and do nothing when the person comes at us. We respond. With no tension and mental noise in the way, body is able to respond by naturally reflexing accordingly, using the flow of non-resistance. When the body is not all tensed up at the direction of the mind, it can do what it knows to do without interference.  One necessary move (be it a block or a strike) flows into the next. The body becomes a graceful dancer responding to the partner in front of it. And this dance requires no wasting of energy.  The draining of mental and physical energy is not required, because without "striving mind" in the way the energy of "Chi" can continue to cycle through again and again, while mind remains calm, empty, observing. Peace, no matter what is the outcome.

The person attacking may be taking the more conditioned approach to life. He/she/they likely spend their time looking anxiously about for danger as most of us do. Mind is anything but quiet in its hyper vigilence. They, as the " would be opponent"  are tensing up for what might happen out there. They see you in the corner of the room and it triggers something in them for whatever reason. They resist the trigger-the reality that you are there-with "This is bad, wrong, shouldn't be!" Body and mind tense up even more. They feel they must "do something" to stop this feeling experience they are having, erroneously believing your presence in the room is the cause of it. They react! They run at you in order to remove your presence from the room, their mind, and their version of reality. They strike to fight. Every move they make, to attack you,  is directed by the mind. The tensed up body reacts to the directions of the mind, using force and resistance. Movements, though they may at first have the force of tension behind them, become awkward, draining, and unnaturally forced. Mind remains active, dominating, controlling creating more noise, more tension, more reactivity. "Exhaustion" and "stress" will be the outcome regardless of winning or losing.

This is how most of us approach Life. We spend our time looking around for potential danger while the noisy mind chirps on. We tense up in preparation for what might happen as mind gets noisier and more demanding, promising that if we listen, it will  take care of us. We listen. Something or someone...triggers something we have stored within (on mind's directions) and we feel even more uncomfortable. We say "This is bad, wrong, shouldn't be!" We resist the reality that is unfolding in front of us. This increases the tension making mind and body even more uncomfortable.  We resist that. Mind then screams "Do something!" We listen...We react. In this case, we attack. And in this mode, we, as the twisted psyche, are in the way, we are working against  the natural flow of energy in the body...that energy that moves the body and recycles itself.  Regardless, if we win or lose the fight...we exhaust ourselves and stress ourselves out. We suffer! Sigh!

So, we have a choice.  We can approach Life like we are doing Tai Chi or we can approach Life like we need to attack it.  Hmm!  I would suggest we put away our conditioned ways of reacting: the looking for danger---the tensing up---the resisting reality---and the reactivity that exhausts us and leads to suffering. I suggest that we take on the Tai Chi approach to life: Observe Objectively and quietly---relax...allow...and respond. I suggest we, as psyches and striving minds, get out of Chi's way.

Hmm! But what do I know?

All is well.

Are We Giving if there is no Receiving?

 

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

Pablo Picasso

I woke up with these profound questions on my mind and a desire to come here to contemplate them. The questions were, "If particles are nothing but invisible vibrations until they are observed; if a sound is not a sound until it is heard; if phenomena only become reality once it is perceived by someone ...can we give without having someone to receive? Are our giving actions actually 'gifts" if there is no one outside self to receive them? Are we actually giving of Self with our purest, most loving and generous offerings, if no one notices, or accepts what we 'put out there to be taken'? "

I love to give...I do.  I love to give. It is inherent in me...to offer what I have material wise, to give what I have skill wise, or meager-talent-wise; time-wise, or energy-wise to others. Many times, I have no specific receiver in mind when I give (if it is giving that I do...thus my questioning). It is like "This is for any being out there that might need this that I have." 

It just seems to be the most natural thing in the world to do - give what we have.

 In the same way I gather food from my kitchen and place it out for the crows (that I assume are hungry) to pick from, I tend to gather what I can from this being and I put it "out there" for whomever to pick and choose from.  If the crows don't like what I put out ...it is no big deal. There is no need to feel insulted. I tell myself the same thing when I share "my gifts" with the world. For the most part...I am not attached to outcome. I am no longer looking for someone to think more of me or to love what I offer (Well, not so much anyway :)). My goal is to do what comes natural to me....to create...to learn...to teach...and to give.  As soon as the offering is released from my hands...I let it go.  I may peek out the proverbial window to see if others are being fed in some way by what I offer. I may feel warmed and validated that "I am doing good...I am on the right path" when I see that they are picking away at it, but I no longer get deflated when I see they are looking down at the pile and deciding to fly past. (Most beings fly past.) I leave that decision with the potential receiver or rejector. 

If most do not notice the pile, I realize that is on me for not making it more visible. Truth is, I often do not care to make it more visible for all kinds of reasons. I tell myself that those that are really hungry for what I offer, will find it. Besides the effort of creating, as wonderful as it is, drains me of the energy needed to make fancier and more visible offerings. I leave the visibility of the pile up to to the natural flow of Life.   

So, over the years I have put a lot out there in the form of writings, teaching materials, books, articles, poetry, speeches, or my presence when needed... Though they are not "eye-catching" enough to draw in the flocks lol, I have made many, many piles of offerings. More importantly, I have spent a lot of time, and energy collecting and creating and getting stuff ready to be put in those piles. I am not monetizing, making money, or gaining notoriety from any of it. Don't get me wrong...I would love to be paid as a human for doing what I love to do. So, I do put some effort and time into seeking ways for that to happen, but it is not my motivation for doing what I do. I do, for example, seek paying teaching jobs that allow me to receive for what I give, before pursuing unpaid teaching activities. But if there are no paid gigs in front of this human...I don't say, "Oh, I can't teach!'.  Of course, I can teach. I use the time I have to teach, to create and offer teaching materials to others. I think about my somewhat delusional and grandiose motivation to help newcomers to this country learn English...I am no longer getting paid doing that, but I still spend my time doing it. I wrote books and spent hours creating tutorials to offer on-line. Why? It seems like the most natural thing for this human to do. I learned something that may be helpful to others ...so I feel the need to share it, offer it, teach it etc. There is very little external reward for my offerings. 

In fact, my offerings are seldom even "noticed or accepted" by others...they are just left out in the sun and rain to rot and decay like unwanted left-overs even the crows turn their heads away from.  That sounds a little dramatic, I know...but that is what happens to offerings that are not received, isn't it? They fade away, feeding no one. And that is where the question comes from. "Are they still gifts even though no one wants them?" 

They are gifts to the person creating because there is no greater feeling in the world than that which comes when we are creating in a medium, we are passionate about.  I love to write and I love to teach. I feel joy when I use these mediums to create, even when there are no socially approved outcomes. The process is amazing. So, using the skills, talents, and know-how we have within, we create! Though we may enjoy the process, it still requires earthly time, effort, and energy to create. Once something is created one has to ask, "Now what do I do with this?" It only makes sense, doesn't it, to give it away. That is the purest and most wholesome motivation, isn't it? We are here to give. That is where the dilemma comes in. You created something and attempt to give it away...but what if no one out there wants it therefore, what if no other receives it? It is like it it is hanging in the air between you as the sender and a potential receiver. No one has their hands on it anymore. Is it still a gift? 

If  we work hard at pursuing an inherent trait (however meager), of making  what we assume to be the most altruistic use of our skills, talents, experience-earned knowledge and know-how, of sharing what we truly believe to be beautiful or beneficial ...but no other being accepts it as such...is it still a "gift"? "If a singer with an amazing voice and a passion for singing is completely alone in the world with no other being around, will the song she is singing be a gift? To whom? Does it have to be received by a listener for it to be a gift?  Despite her passion and joy when singing...is she wasting this energy she is meant to use "giving back to Life"... on pursuing a selfish passion? Is it just a misdirected use of energy and time to pursue this gifting? 

I don't know how much time I have left on this planet.  I want to make every moment about giving back to Life while I am here.  I want to "give" but I am not sure if I am giving. I tell myself that I will write because it is like leaving a record behind.  This blog, for example, may be read by lots of bots but very few people now so it isn't much of a gift...but, maybe decades after I am gone more people will come across it and say, "I get it!!" They will pick from this pile and get fed from it.  The same with the teaching I do in other areas....maybe no one wants it now but in the future maybe someone will get what they need from it. 

And if the criteria for something being a gift is that one other receives it...I got that here.  I know the numbers are not what they seem lol but I know I have a couple of readers, at least, that keep coming back.  That is enough. I have 78 subscribers to the YouTube channel I attempt to answer challenging Life questions on, and that's a lecture hall. On the All About Sound tutorials I have 4 subscribers and one faithful student who always gives me the thumbs up (Thanks Laura). That is enough to give me a reason to keep creating in this area.  That makes this giving I do real even if the above question remains unanswered. 

I will keep giving. :)

All is well in my world.

Live and Learn

 Live as if you are going to die tomorrow; learn as if you are going to live forever.

Mahatma Gandhi

Make every moment of life precious; and learn deeply for  that which will go on beyond this incarnation.

All is well

Growing Inside

 The meaning of your life is to go back up with less than you lived with

I observed myself this morning as a long stored samskara was activated in me when I woke up.  I could feel it in the spot in my gut where it is stored. I had the same visceral reactivation, I always get that causes the amygdala to scream, "run"...though its voice today was more at a whisper than a scream, it was there.  I watched as this human I call "me" pulled the pillow over her head and began to tense and tighten up.  I watched the old familiar thought train rolling in to the station...with a puff of "You should be ashamed of yourself" in some form or another with every "choo-choo"it made. I felt the feeling in my gut get tighter and heavier. There was definitely disturbance within!

This human really, really wanted to run from that feeling; to do something distracting to take the mind off of it; to do what it was feeling guilty about not doing just to stop the feeling; to fill the mind with other thoughts; or to rationalize with self and the world about why she was making the choice that led to the shame experience.  

Yeah, I felt shame and guilt. I was, therefore, judging this human I call "me" very harshly....

If you are judging yourself ...you will feel guilt and shame

Who was judging?  At the time it was hard to see who was judging but now, on reflection, I can see that the ego was judging this "human I call me" for not meeting social expectations. Ego was both feeling and creating the shame.  This shame felt "awful" in its familiarity to the body and the mind.  The "me" wanted the feeling gone...so it encouraged Shamer ego to stick up its clammy hand to be tagged by Redeemer's. It wanted to find something to be "proud of" that would reduce this feeling of shame. Redeemer, however, was nowhere to be found this morning. The deeply held core belief of "unworthiness" was too prominent. 

I almost fell back into old ways of reacting. I almost got lost once again in this experience  I almost got lost in that desire to "run" from this activation in any of the ways I have a habit of running in. I wanted to put my mental hands up and scream "No!" and to roughly shove it all back down.

...but ...

Something in this being softened and I felt this inner call to simply "Sit back and watch."...so I did. It didn't feel pleasant as I watched, and I acknowledged that, reminding myself it just is...it is.  I reminded myself that this was simply an activation of a samskara that needs to come up. Instead of turning from it, I consciously turned towards it. 

I looked deeply at it. I could see that though it was still "painful", it was weaker than it was in the past. It was holding less disturbed energy. It already diminished so much. What remained of it, was enough to cause discomfort. 

I also watched the old core belief associated with it pull up with the thought train. I recognized that messaging, knew where it came from, and I understood it. More than anything, I could see it was just a "thought"...it wasn't reality.    

I then did the opposite of what body and mind were encouraging me to do...I relaxed into the experience and I just watched. I, amid settling into the "what isness" of a samskara trying to make itself known, used my watch to do an EDA scan. The results showed that I was indeed more relaxed than normal. In the midst of a painful samskara activation, body and mind were relaxed! Imagine.  Oh, I still felt the shame in my body and in my emotional experience; I could still feel the belief of unworthiness tugging at me; I still had this feeling of fear of some sort of impending social punishment coming to me for not meeting expectations....but I was able to relax. 

We can relax into disturbance! 

How?

I did not resist it knowing that it is resistance that causes most of our suffering. (Desire is simply a means of resisting what is). I redirected consciousness. I asked the Self in this human I call "me" to take the reins from ego. It did. The Objective Observer gently wrapped the experience in awareness. Mind you, it was a little like trying to wrap a blanket around a toddler having a temper tantrum lol...but the experience was gradually  held by the Observer. That awareness created space between the Observer and what was being observed. In this space, I could see that the samskara reactivation was simply something I was observing.  Though the sensations in the body and the experience of pain and discomfort were real, it wasn't who I was.  And the stored stuff that was coming through in the experience, in the form of old messaging and memory trapped within that samskara, was not reality. It was all something that happened long ago...that was over...that was done. It was not happening at the time I was observing, therefore it wasn't the  present reality. I didn't have to follow it back into a time that is no longer real.  My willingness to feel and explore what was going on within me softened and loosened that already shrinking samskara even more. I imagine the next time it gets activated, it will be even less powerful than it was this morning. 

Samskara release does not have to be like coughing up a fur ball. It does not have to be that dramatic.  It can occur slowly and somewhat gently as it seems to be happening with this particular samskara I experienced this morning. I could see that this one "knot" is shrinking, albeit slowly. Purification doesn't have to be a struggle. We can purify from this blocked disturbed energy known as samskara simply through a willingness to relax, allow, and observe.

Resistance to pain we stored inside or the triggers that Life throws our way is never the answer. When we resist that we resist reality. We resist Life. We will never win when we do that. Reality is reality and it always wins.

Remember, that this is all learning platform. Learning to relax into the suchness of Life even when it is challenging or painful is a game we must practice to get better at.  We need to show up for practice and every experience in Life is an opportunity to practice.

Practice what? Practice getting clean and clear. Practice tapping into unconditional well-being and love. Practice getting beyond that which is holding us back. Practice letting go of that which does not serve Life.

This is purification...and our goal in purification is...to go back up with less garbage than we are living with now. 

I came across this video that I put up a few months ago...was perfectly appropriate in its appropriate imperfection. lol

All is well.

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( February, 2026) Living Untethered: The New Year as a Doorway to Freedom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuxVi8Yre2E&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=2

"Karmanology" Instead of Psychology

 Did you let it pass through?

Michael A. Singer

Now that is a question a "karmanologist" would ask a client on their couch.  (Not sure if there is such a thing called karamanology lol...it was a term I heard Michael Singer using and it stuck). A psychologist might ask about what happened in your past and might get stuck there by saying, "Oh you are repressing a challenging memory in your psyche." The psychologist focuses on the "psyche" but doesn't go beyond.  

Instead of calling it "a repressed or suppressed memory or emotion" as a psychologist might, the karmanologist would say..."Oh you have some samskaras blocking your energy flow and that is why you are suffering. You need to let them pass through?"

Psychology and Psychologists

 A psychologist might agree to some extent. They would then spend all your sessions tying to help you, as a psyche, to "cope" with the challenges of life and this so called trauma stuck within you. He or she will empathize with your resistance , condoning it, because that is the "normal thing" to do. They will respond to each life challenge you share with, "Oh that would be so difficult.  I see why you feel the way you do; why you did what you did. I see your pain and I validate it."  

They will help you to improve your life in a way that soothes the psyche, protects it, makes it stronger. They will help you to learn and focus on what you want from life.They will help you find ways to manipulate, fix, and control the life outside yourself that will do just that by working on you attaining your "smart goals."  

Then they will help you to change or avoid those things that you don't like. They will help you to create mental safe- spaces to go where you can hide from life when it does something you don't like but can't control.  You will hear alot of "This is healthy" in other words, "This is good, right, and should be." and "This is unhealthy" in other words "This is bad, wrong, shouldn't be." And if you ask, "Healthy or unhealthy for what?" you will discover , in one way or another, for "The psyche." 

The thing about this type of therapy is that it is a treatment that you never really leave.  You will need to go back again and again. Why? Because a psyche can never be healed and whole. Hmm!

Karmanology and karmanologists

A karmanologist, on the other hand,  would not spend any time soothing a psyche or empathizing with your resistance.  They would say, instead, to every life challenge you present with, "Oh wonderful!!! Great!! I am so glad life is so challenging for you! I mean I know you are feeling all these human emotions and they are aren't comfortable but man...this is great. This can get you to a higher place. Let's hope you get more. For now... get over this thing you are bothered about! It's done! Over! Let it go! Let that stuff that it triggered come up, though, even if it hurts. And it is going to hurt!  Deal with that. We want it up and out! " 

A karmanologist will not spend a second soothing the psyche...instead they will rejoice at its attack.  They do not want to help you build it up, strengthen it or soothe it.  They want to see it disamantled by all these challenges you are complaining about. They want it gone! They will not encourage you to set "smart goals" or find ways to get what the psyche wants.  

They will not tell you to resist Life's hardship either...they will tell you to relax into it. They know that the source of all your problems has nothing to do with Life not catering to your likes or dislikes. Your so called suffering has nothing to do with whether or not Life is obliging...it has to do with the fact that you have the audacity to like or dislike. 

Karmanology, if it were to be a real thing, uses spirtual anlaysis rather than psychoanalysis...Self-reflection rather than self-reflection. It uses Consciousness-Being-Therapy rather than Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy. These fall under the title: Purification and Realization. 

Purification and Realization?

Purification  is all about releasing those samskaras you trapped inside you. Therapy will be built around you, first of all, examing how your likes and dilikes get you into trouble. Then you will work on giving up your likes and dislikes and experiencing what is as it is.  Therapists trained in these methodologies know that the outside has nothing to do with your suffering...other than triggering  what is inside. They will remind you, maybe not so gently, that you are responsible for what is inside you...no one or nothing else.  But "Response-able" means you have the power and ability to change how you see and respond to Life. Instead of how to avoid or cope with those samskara triggers, he/she/they will tell you to embrace them. 

The realization part of this approach is aimed at helping the client to see that they are not the problematic entity they call "me" but that which is watching this human do what it does. The psyche will be explored as it thinks, does, and suffers the way it does. You will slowly be helped to see that you are not your psyche...that it is just a protective shell you created and wear. Who you are...beneath that shell... is not suffering. Only this thing the mind created is.  You are the One that is observing this human suffer. Then, when you are ready, the Karma therapist will encourage you to trace back the Observer to its Source...and man oh man...healing will be complete! 

Wow! That is what I believe the difference is between a psychological therapy healing and a yogic one. Karmanology would be a very healing therapy in the world,  don't you think?   Which method would you choose to end the suffering in your life?

All is well.

Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe/ Sounds True ( February, 2026) The Art of Spirituality: From Practice to Liberation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rl3glOzxtI&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=1

Living Simply

 Einstein said, "I didn't arrive at the understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe through my rational mind." He got there through intuition [attunement with the space]. 

Ram Dass

Ram Dass shares in the below linked podcast ,

As long as I kept looking for things in time, I kept suffering. 

He reminds us that freedom from suffering is as simple as changing one's mind. We have to see that who we thought we were and our understanding of the world we live is often just a result of our socialization and conditioning.  It isn't reality. We were taught what absolute reality was...but now we need to look at what we were taught about this so called "absolute reality", and see the relativity of it. We need to 

 ....stop moving from one space to another with a set of definitions of who we are 

Who we are isn't who we think we are...We need to start examining what we are is this space that has nothing to do with body or what roles we have taken on; nothing to do with what we have or what we do.  If we look at the wisest and most peaceful people in the world, we will see that they live simply: have little, do litle, say little etc.

the source of their satisfaction lies in the nature of their being rather than in the nature of their having or their doing.

The quality of wise people seems to be the simplicity of their life. Instead of the "man over nature" mentally most of us in the west have been conditioned to believe is the way to go...the wise and peaceful go the "man in nature" route. It is all about attuning to what is rather than intellectualizing.  They see themselves not as the "doing" or the "having" but as the "being."

Contemplating this, I need to remind myself that I am not what I sense, have, do, or how I am indentified by self or others. "I am"...simply that. I am that "I am" that may do something or that may take on a role. "I am"... and then I teach; "I am;"... and then I write; "I am'... and then I parent; "I am"... and then I grandparent; "I am"... and  then I practice yoga. "I am"... first and foremost. So, it really doesn't matter what I do, what I have, who I am with, where I am living. "I am" first. That doesn't mean, I cannot do, or own, or make choices...but by knowing that "I am" first and foremost, the choices I make will be based on what is better for the "I am", rather than what will serve this identification  or idea I was taught to have of myself and the world. It will mean less struggling and striving. With that realization, we can experience  the peace in living simply.

Living simply, however, is not easy for us humans, is it?  We don't yet understand the beauty and  perfection of simplicity. We do not yet understand that we are not the roles we have been conditioned to take on. We do not understand that we simply are...

an entity that has taken birth and is passing through a series of experiences, all of which are useful to help one awaken to the reality of Self.

Instead, most of us continue to live stressful lives of striving, struggle, pain and suffering because we identify with these "little mes" and continue to buy in to society's view of absolute reality:" Have more! Do more!" This creates problem after problem, dissatisfaction after disatisfaction, craving for relief after craving, and crsisis after crisis. We turn away from the beauty simplicity offers to solve this problematic living when all we have to do with each and every "crisis" is bring it down to the simplicity of breath.  To focus on breath rather than it.  That seems too simple, doesn't it?  

Yet, in that breath focus, we can create distance and find the empty space that surrounds us, that will free us from the suffering we are identifying with.

It is the space around experiences that gives one leverage from the pain...that space is just pure awareness. Who we are, is that awareness...a being who is identified with the space [rather than the problematic 'me']. Such a person, doesn't lose their ability to think and act...in fact [it becomes] more optimal...One goes beyond concepts of this or that....beyond polarities...This doesn't mean that one is unable to live with polartities...one gets beyond them.

The above is somewhat paraphrased.

It would benefit us all to live quietly, empty, openly, and spaciously...to break this identification with intelliect, senses, social roles, and bodies. Suffering, Dass tells us,  comes from attachment, or identification or clinging  to our senses, to our thoughts, and to our models of self, The more we do, the more we suffer. I want to stop doing it. I want to live simply. What about you?

All is well

Ram Dass/ Be Here Now Network ( January 2026) The Delight of Simplicity feat. Daniel Goldman. Episode 296.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaRIim72uQ8&t=1s