In the infinite consciousness of every atom infinite universes come and go like particles of dust on a beam of light that shines through a hole in the roof. These come and go like ripples on the vast ocean of consciousness ....
The Vasisthas ( as recited by Deepak Chopra in The Secret of Healing,Spotify )
When we are truly conscious, centered in this ocean of consciousness, simply observing the dance of Life around us and in us... we see the coming and going of all the things our unconscious states are so attached to.
I still get pulled away from this state of consciousness I have been working hard to attain and maintain for longer periods of time. It is my major Life goal now to do what Michael Singer tells us we must learn to do if we really want peace of mind : eliminate the gaps in our consciousness. If I "strive" to do anything, I strive to do that.
Becoming more conscious, I am learning, is not about meditating twenty-four seven or making sure we don't ever think; it is not about having complete control over our minds so much that we figure we have to beat ourselves up every time we slip into human tendencies of thinking, negativity, fear, anger and dissatisfaction with our present moment; and it is definitely not about fixing, controlling, changing and determining what Life has to do or not do to make us happy as we push away the unpleasant and grasp and cling to the pleasant. It is simply about trying to prolong those periods when we are grounded in presence, aware and accepting of what is without all that judgement, narration and story telling...and it is about shortening the amount of time it takes for us to realize that we slipped off the track so that we bring ourselves back to the here and now. We just need to keep coming back!
Yes, we are going to think...and some thoughts will continue to have the power to pull us away from the natural "peace-filled and centered" state that lies beneath all this "stress, anxiety, dissatisfaction" the mind creates. We will tend to follow these thought streams, get lost in them and forget about or fail to see what is truly happening here and now as life unfolds in front of of in this moment. We will get lost in the story about the "out there" and what is right about it and what is wrong about it. We will credit the "out there" for our satisfaction with Life...and blame it for our dissatisfaction with Life. But...but...every time we realize that we got lost in thought or story , blaming others or things for our present state of inner dissatisfaction etc...then we've come back. We are conscious again. The more we come back, the more we learn that "out there", is never the problem or the "issue", "in here" is. All the outside world has the power to do is "trigger" some reactive emotional tendency already in us if we are not aware or conscious enough. And we often fail to be aware enough, committed enough or skilled enough to stop ourselves from following that thought stream or emotional energy. We allow it to take us off center. Our goal, then, is to learn to stay centered enough, we are not pulled away.
So we don't have to "fix" Life. We don't have to control it , nor do we have to stand on alert all our days ready to grab what we think will bring life satisfaction and push away what we believe won't based on how it triggers our insides. ...We just need to observe, understand and"fix" the way we react to it. We need to step back and let Life be Life realizing this very, very important point: All things she offers us are wonderful opportunities to help us broaden our ability to stay conscious. And everything, absolutely every experience, will come and it will go into our consciousness if we let it.It has no permanence,no substance and no value.
What is of value is our peace of mind, is our conscious awareness...is being in that state where we are not swayed by this phenomenon, where we do not feel the need to run after it or to push it away. It doesn't move us.
Hmm! Not that easy to do. I am getting so much better at noticing when I leave my center and I come back quite quickly...but I still leave, a lot. I am still a work in progress. What about you?
All is well!
Deepak Chopra & Adam Plack (2011) The Secret of Healing ; Meditations For Transformation. Spotify
Michael Singer Podcast ( April, 2022) The Commitment to Stay Conscious. Spotify
All is well.
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