Peace is Quiet

It wouldn’t make sense for me to assume the posture of a great spiritual teacher who knows the secret to finding inner peace. I don’t.

I frequently experience states of sadness, depression, anger, impatience, and the like. However, this emotional spectrum that is seemingly negative has yielded me some great gifts of wisdom. I’d like to share what I’ve learned.

When I started reading spiritual books and learned about concepts like enlightenment, I had an image of my head of it being some great event. I pictured myself giving lectures to crowds of thousands, or being interviewed about my great secret that so few had attained. I imagined myself at tables with Buddha, Jesus, and Eckhart Tolle, all of us nodding our heads in agreement.

This was no more than fantasy appearing under the guise of spirituality. I think it’s probably quite common among spiritual seekers. There is a  mind structure that says “This isn’t good enough,” “I’m not good enough,” and “She really could be doing much better. She shouldn’t be acting this way.” Most of us are conditioned to perpetually find something wrong with right now. Can we change this conditioning? Can we start to see everything as right, just the way it is?

A lot of people will argue this and say that all progress is dependent on wanting things to be different than they are. That’s where the motivation to act comes from. On one hand, I suppose that’s true. Anger, desire, fear; these intense emotional states do indeed force people into action. But what is the quality of that action? Is there a better way to bring about change?

The better path is the path of contentment or surrender. I don’t accept life exactly the way it is because it’s some supposedly elevated spiritual truth, but because I recognize that this moment takes the form that it does because it could not be any other way. All of life, from time immemorial, has been in a state of constant evolution that now appears as this moment, the way that it is. You could not be different than you are or have a different way with which you navigate life. You are evolution, the evolution of consciousness of this planet. From page 117 in the book Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle,

“…the totality of life has brought this event about. It is part of the interconnectedness that is the cosmos. This means: whatever is could not be otherwise.In most cases, we can not begin to understand what role a seemingly senseless event may have within the totality of the cosmos, but recognizing its inevitability within the vastness of the whole can be the beginning of an inner acceptance of what is thus a realignment with the wholeness of life”

It is such a common notion to believe that one has complete sovereignty over an objectified sense of “my life.” But you only think, believe, and act as you do based on your level of consciousness that has been evolving and expanding since the day you were born. As spiritual teachers will often point out: You do not live your life, but life lives you.

This is very uncomfortable for most people to accept because of what it entails. It means that the little I, the ego, is not the one in control. It means surrender.

The recognition that we are all doing the best we can based on the consciousness we are simultaneously ends the constant war with reality that most people are constantly engaged in. Simply look out onto this moment and what you are doing now, and accept what life is doing with you. Say, “I am at sitting at a computer screen reading. I am in this room. Things can be no other way and so I accept them.” This is what surrender means

Let life use you as it wants. It’s going to anyways! Your acceptance of this fact brings an entirely new dimension into your life, and that dimension is peace. It’s not some great exciting loud peace. It’s the quiet peace of knowing things must be this way, and letting them be as they are. Simple contentment with what is.

You will not do nothing under this paradigm. However, the things you are drawn to doing will change. This may come as a small change, such as wanting to read a good book over watching television. Or being drawn to healthier foods. This time can be very exciting as you witness how acceptance changes the actions you take in your daily life.

If you feel like you don’t get it, or you aren’t conscious enough yet, surrender that too. Remind yourself that you are as conscious as you can be. You are as enlightened as you can be. Make peace with the present moment.

Walkout

I can’t sleep. I’ve become possessed by a vision so crystal clear. And I feel more certain than ever that it will happen.

I walk out my front door with my backpack. Inside the backpack is a cell phone, a pair of underwear, a pair of socks, a journal, and a 1 liter water bottle. That’s it.

I have no savings. I have no credit. If someone like my parents offer me some cash, I’ll take it. I won’t be too proud to accept any help that comes my way.

I live in Markham, Ontario; a suburb 30 minutes northeast of Toronto. I suppose my general direction will be south from Canada into the USA and beyond. I’m 22 years old and I live with my parents.

Why am I doing this? I want to live. I want to learn about life. I want to show up at life’s doorstep and say “Here I am, use me till I’m all used up,” as Oprah says.

I’m having doubts, of course. Is this some strange incarnation of a defeatist attitude. Why bother? Life is too difficult, so I’ll just intentionally make my circumstances so difficult that I can pretend like I meant to fail. I don’t know. I’ve done it before.

I believe that life can use each and every one of us. But most people hinder life’s range of motion by saying “I must have a regular paycheck and know where I’ll be living and who my friends are.” The need for security is the greatest barrier to life being able to move in and through you, and thereby transform you.

I’ve been saying no for so long. There have been times when I have become so depressed. Perhaps it’s been a divine depression, something leading me to the path I know I must take.

I want to inspire others. I want to get out there and be an example to the world that there is nothing to fear. Chris McCandless did it. Jack Kerouac did it. They did it in their own way. Now I will do it my way. Or rather, life will try something different through me. Through Ed, this temporary form.

I’m going to talk to everyone about it. I’m going to tell my parents. I’m going to tell my therapist. I’m going to tell Bhante the buddhist monk. I’m going to tell my friend Chris. I want as much feedback as possible. I even want the doubt. I want to be tested by my peers. I want this vision to be refined in the fires of doubt, criticism, and fear.

I truly believe this will happen. I feel some nervousness arise as I type that line, because each affirmative statement brings me a little closer to making this a reality. And that is scary. Not to me, the real me. But to the part inside each and every one of us that constantly needs security but makes us miserable in the long run. The pseudo self. This journey is a manifestation of the impending death of that false self. I hope and pray that my example will facilitate the liberation of others from their false identities into freedom.

Stay tuned…

 

Maybe

Maybe I’ll be rich
Give it all away
Maybe I’ll see the world
Or maybe I will stay

Maybe I’ll be famous
No moments of privacy
Or maybe I’ll be silent
Steeped in anonymity

Maybe I’ll be a lover
Casanova would have to blush
Or a hermit in the mountains
And not make such a fuss

Would Solomon be jealous?
Where my palace place resides
Or maybe the streets will love me
And together we will hide

Will I love the people?
Treat them as my own
Or will I leave them hungry
With food spoiling in my home

I don’t know where I’m going
So surely I won’t arrive
And far from being bothered
I can see I’m more alive

I am here for the reason
And this all beings share
I surrender all that happens
So I live without a care

 

 

Your Purpose

Goal setting is extremely popular. Especially in the personal development field

It’s no surprise why. Goals are tools we use to envision a better future for ourselves. We use them to imagine how we may creatively expand our contribution. We use them in an effort to add some content to our lives, like a new car or a beautiful new home.

There’s nothing wrong with setting goals. In fact, it’s wonderful to have goals to strive for. For many people, this brings meaning to their lives and focuses their efforts in what they do.

It’s how we set goals that is problematic. And it’s how we set goals that drastically reduces the power available to us.

I’d like to suggest you try a different approach. And that is seeing yourself as a microcosm of the universe, and inextricably linked to its purposes.

So ask yourself, “What is the purpose of the Universe? As part of the universe, would it not be intelligent to align my goals with its goals?”

Reflect on this for a minute.

The purpose of the Universe is to awaken to its true nature as formless consciousness. And therefore it is your purpose to awaken to your nature as formless consciousness. If you have found this post, there’s a great chance that the awakening process has already begun and is perhaps well underway in you.

What does it mean to awaken to your nature as this consciousness? It means to no longer believe that you are the content of your mind. It means that you recognize nothing in the past reduced who you are in your essence, and similarly nothing in the future can make you more fully yourself. It is the realization that you already are complete and whole, just as you are. It is the recognition of presence as the underlying constant factor that has been with you throughout your entire life.

A true and worthwhile goal expands upon this concept and is aligned with the impulse of the universe.

The universe doesn’t care about a Ferrari, a million dollars, or a mansion. Beautiful things are not inherently evil, but let’s face it: They’re just not that important!

The universe cares about its ultimate purpose to awaken in and through humanity. Money and things may come to you as you make your journey about life as they are needed for your purpose. Or perhaps you are living fully in alignment with the Universe and these things are no longer a hindrance for you. No longer a distraction, and so you may have them.

Make your primary goal the awakening of others through you. This goal makes the entire and infinite power of life available to you because your goals is aligned with the universe’s goal. Use this power!

There’s a reason why you’ve had trouble manifesting more money and nicer things and a hotter partner. It’s because these things don’t matter. You already have exactly what you need to begin to contribute to the overall purpose of the Universe.

Recently I was intending to contribute in some form to humanity. I didn’t have a specific idea of how this should take shape. I just wanted to give in some way. Literally 10 minutes later I got a call from a local charity asking if I had any old clothes that I could donate to those in need. I was ecstatically grateful for this experience. This may sound small or insignificant to some, but it affirmed to me how much easier it is to manifest when we seek to do so for the greater good.

When we operate out of the heartset that the greater good is the most important thing, we then have the power of the greater good available to us. We don’t create enemies or opposing forces with these intentions, because the majority wants us to succeed. That’s not to say that some people may think this talk is silly, but we’re not directly opposing them, and so there can be no conflict. Even people who don’t have a greater good mentality, which is the majority of humans, will easily step aside because actions aimed for the greater good don’t catch their attention. There is no ego in such actions, and so it becomes like an invisible force. But a force of untold power nonetheless!

The way in which this focus manifests is secondary. By keeping your intention on the greater good, which is always awakening and staying awake, divine intelligence will pervade and inspire your thoughts so that you will know definitely what to do. The best part is, you won’t be missing anything in your current life situation to begin to contribute now. You could be homeless with absolutely nothing on the material level, and if this was your mindset, your life would transform so unbelievably fast that it would look supernatural to those around you.

You may emit an overwhelming sense of peace as you work at a grocery store. You may begin to write for others. Or you may come clean about past wrongs you have committed, and thus detach yourself from unconscious patterns present in your life.

You may stay in the same job, although it is highly likely life will move you to a new place or situation in which you may make a greater contribution aligned with your new focus. It is worth repeating again : Don’t worry what your outer purpose will be or how you will accomplish any goal. For no goal is too great when it is backed by universal intelligence. And the reason it will be backed by great intelligence is because your goals will be aligned with the purpose of the universe.

This is a process of joining forces with the power that created the cosmos, the infinite complexity of the human body, and the beauty of the ocean at sunset. You will no longer be a separate entity with separate ideas about what’s good for you and what you “need.”

The truth is, you already have what you need. As the Tao Te Ching says “When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” What does it mean for the whole world to belong to you? It means that you are one with all life. And so you live harmoniously and peacefully with the whole.

Begin to set goals that are aimed with everyone in mind. Everyone benefits from you working to awaken others, because when any of us awaken to our true nature, the balance is changed in favor of greater consciousness on this planet. Not everyone benefits from you striving and stressing to get rich in the erroneous attempt to make yourself free in the future.

Living this way is the path to great peace, joy, and happiness. It is the redemption of our planet. I recommend taking some time today to write out some new goals for yourself. If you don’t know what specific outer action you want to take yet, that is completely fine. Simply write out the intention, “I want my life to be used in service of the greater good. I understand that the Universe wants to awaken to its formless nature, so I intend that I may experience awakening and help facilitate the awakening in others along my journey.”

The concept of awakening and knowing yourself as consciousness itself is impossible to understand, because it is not something that can be understood on the level of thought. It can only be felt and known on the level of non conceptual awareness. This does not mean, however, that you can not begin to contribute to the awakening process in yourself and others.

When you show kindness to a stranger, you both feel good. Why is that? It’s because for a moment you remove the barrier of otherness between you and them and you recognize a deeper connection with them. You may not know it, but it’s the shared recognition of oneness that makes you feel good.

You can stop trying to be better than others. And you can also stop believing you are inferior to anyone. No one is better than you because they have a nicer body or a bigger bank account. They simply have a life situation perceived to be better but is just the differentiation of form that is needed for our planet to awaken. We need each and every one of us to do exactly what we’re doing now so that we may come to the realization of who we really are.

Also, do not be tempted to think that you are somehow better than an alcoholic, a drug addict, or even a murderer. These people do things highly destructive to themselves and to others, but that’s only because they’re highly confused. And if you were born into their life situation, you too would be carrying out the acts that you now condemn as horrific.

We are all equal. It is the function of those who have crossed the line to greater awareness to share their experience with those who have not yet awakened. Just as it is true duty of the rich to give to the poor. This does not mean that having more money or greater awareness makes one inherently better, for it is only by the grace of God that any of us find ourselves in a situation where we even can share the wealth we have.

Let your heart be filled with gratitude, and let that feeling spill over into your life so that you may align your intentions, goals, and actions with the good of all.

Alarms

The process of consciousness awakening from its identification with form can be likened to an alarm clock going off in the morning. Perhaps you can sleep straight through the first 2 or 3 minutes of the buzzing, and the noise even incorporates itself into your dream. After 5 minutes or so you wake up but are still in such a drowsy state that you try to ignore the sound or even delay getting up by hitting the snooze. However, another 5 minutes will undoubtedly pass and you will be forced to wake up again, this time with accumulated stress, feeling like you are greatly resisting the process, the process you instituted in the first place.

Some human beings are exceptionally deep sleepers, so when the alarms of tsunamis, global financial debacle, wretched health, and senseless wars start going off, they don’t wake up immediately. Their compulsion to sleep is so strong within them that the insanity of such circumstances is not visible at all.

Other human beings recognize an alarm when it goes off, and promptly realize they were dreaming and are now in the wakeful state. But many do not want to get up and out of bed yet. It’s as though sleep is all they have ever known, and so they hit the snooze and fall back asleep. Or they may simply lie there becoming increasingly agitated by the buzzing sound infiltrating their attempts to fall back asleep.

However one can only tolerate so much annoyance and agitation and dread until they recognize that they can not be comfortable until they get up and out of bed.

This is what is happening now on our planet, in the consciousness of human beings. The alarm is getting so bloody loud that many people no longer feel greater comfort in sleep than in the idea of simply getting out of bed, shutting off the alarms, and ending all this madness. Consciousness is now coming to a mass tipping point where it is willing to risk mostly all it has ever know in favour of an unknown world. Something deep inside us sees the current challenges we face and know that there must be a better, healthier way of existence. This is the movement. And you are part of it.

Interestingly enough, those who are more prone to wake up or have already awakened are no different than those still sleeping in their essence. Every person on our planet represents an aspect of consciousness, with a split opinion to stay comfortably asleep or arise from the nightmare. These two movements exist in varying degrees in most individuals, and for millennia the call to sleep has remained thoroughly dominant. However in this time we find ourselves, that balance is being greatly shifted and is reaching critical mass in favour of a free consciousness uprising.

This process can not be stopped. It is in every way the desire of the universe, a power so great that all else is rendered subservient to it. Yes, there are dark aspects to this consciousness that are strongly identified with an illusion of separation within the world of forms, however these aspects grow increasingly weaker by the day, as they have fewer and fewer people to rally in service of their cause. This is the reason why things must get worse. Things necessarily must get so bad in order for the mind made sense of self to continue its life. Running a mildly exploitative business with several hundred employees is no longer satisfying the unconscious requisite of sleepy people. They now need violent bloodshed and complete abuse over nature and her inhabitants. These kinds of activities become the only ones that satisfy, like a drug addict reaching for a greater high. And so things will continue to get worse until more people who were previously participating in the perpetuation of unconscious activities become so entrenched and aware of their suffering that they will spontaneously come out of their dream state. By undergoing this shift the planet recruits new members to be used in service of its higher evolutionary purpose.

Of course there is nothing to be afraid of in this process. Its acceleration is as undeniable as the laws of gravity. This new direction is vitally alive and intelligent and thus has the full capability to transform challenges into catalysts in service of its mission through the vehicle of the human being. That’s why we are here, to allow ourselves to consciously be used by the movements of life itself. The one life that underlies everything, every form and inextricably connects you to every other being on the planet is calling to you. And its song is becoming more and more irresistibly sweet to the burdened unconscious mind.

Snowflakes

When I first saw this it was if the colour of the room changed

I watched the giant snowflakes dance down the grey sky they were born in

Travelling for miles to fall in their perfect place

I kissed the window

Woman

You were my greatest love before I knew your name

Or had seen lines of your face

The fullness of your lips

Before I had searched the endless well of our love

Trying to find how much I love you

And never seeing the end

My love for you rests in infinity with the heart of life

Before I had witnessed my legs tremble under the weight of your smile

Or this square in my chest fly like a falcon racing home

To where it belongs

Before I called you baby

Watching fate intertwine to place your soft hands in mine

Like love has been waiting for us for all of existence

Like we place the strings on the harp of life’s soul and the most beautiful music is played

We are that song

And we dance to it like lovers blissfully lost in themselves and all of eternity

And we’ve forgotten our names and our shapes

And dissolved together into the same

All barriers broken

My love unrestrained like wild horses

I sing for you when I walk with the trees

Knowing that you hear me from across the pond

And the ripples and waves carry my heart for you to drink

Oh Woman, all that you are

Do you even know?

Does the summer rose know the perfection of its petals?

Does the sun know it sustains all of life?

Or the swan ever catch a reflection of its wondrous being in the silver lake?

I could write about you for days and not say anything about who you really are

Because you are that vast

And my love for you vaster

Your form like God fashioned himself a lover

And spared no detail

And put off everything until you were done saying “No, it can wait”

No matter how much I have, I always want more of you

The insatiable desire that pervades all things

But this love can’t be bought or bullied with shame or envy or fear

Perfect Love

With no use for anyone else’s opinion

Existing and sufficient unto itself