Why do you feel uncomfortable with yourself?

If you find that sort of relationship within, isn't this a good question to find your own thorough and genuine first hand answer to?

Don't settle for adopted cliché answers. Be genuinely interested and curious in answering the question fully, from your own authentic enquiry allowing the sense of uncomfortableness to speak to you.

After all, you're never going to be able to get away from yourself, not really.
Can you handle the truth?

Peace for now

It's really quite simple. We are habituated to seek meaning and contentment in outcomes and circumstance. This keeps our mind very busy and we miss the opportunity to turn inward and be quiet and still.

Meaning and contentment on a lasting basis simply can't and won't be found in outcomes and circumstance - in fact, the seeking 'out there' delivers the very opposite to meaningful.

And yet, we keep seeking outcomes because we deeply believe that's where the treasure lies - we simply don't have experiential evidence of where lasting contentment is found and so in the absence of anything better we keep seeking pleasure through outcomes and the habit persists. 

If you've understood this intellectually for yourself and you are trying to break this unhelpful habit and yet you don't unplug from news sources, social media, advertising and some circles you hang out in, you are akin to an alcoholic intending to break his addiction yet still wheeling round an alcoholic drip connected straight into his vein.

These sources just re-enforce our false belief, you need to unplug. 

A very simple phrase at the right time can kick start a profound contemplation that days before may have seemed hardly relevant. 

The insights which filter out invariably become the basis for the next piece of the puzzle.

Additionally, life has a talent for unfolding events and circumstances which mystically conspire to reveal, highlight and confirm whatever the ruminating of the week happens to be.

I've been known to say that my experience of this process was like a magic carpet ride, a divinely orchestrated symphony, not unlike a million number combination lock being systematically opened one precise movement at a time, no hesitation, no faltering, no errors. 

"If it were up to me to direct that show, I would have messed it up on day one, I really was Being Lived."

The topic of impermanence and change is crucial for us to deepen into if a healthy relationship to the flow of life is to set in.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice."- Heraclitus

Peace for now

There is a self fulfilling potentiality - a human quality or trait - which we all possess and in general this gift remains unactualised throughout adult life.

It is simply a matter of having this quality activated and from there life takes on a completely different meaning.

This is the evolution that is happening now and will continue to happen until this trait is so well known and standard for humanity that its activation becomes a natural process in the course of an individual's development from infant to child, from child to adolescent, from adolescent to adult and from adult to death. 

The world as we know it will change radically with this trait activated.

This is our potentiality.

Peace for now

... designed to bring about useful changes.

Teachings are all only a methodology designed to bring about useful changes.
A teaching directly affects the brain. 

The brain is far more powerful and mysterious than we tend to grasp or appreciate. 

If a person is told repeatedly that they are useless, a failure, unwanted and a waste of space, and if this notion gets entertained and ingrained by the person/brain then in time the brain will automatically manifest feelings so real and directly proportionate to the input, that people are driven as far as to kill themselves based on the life experience that the brain is capable of creating.

If a person is exposed repeatedly to information that says they don't exist, that the experience of the body is an illusion, that they are not a person and all is one and so on (as is the case when we find ourselves resonating with and sticking to esoteric mystical teachings) the brain will eventually oblige and generate what it has been told reality is. 

This is the phenomena which is currently being exhibited by an unprecedented number of people who are being exposed to a proliferation of top-down Advaita teachings as they are nowadays being delivered (and this phenomenon is being made visible thanks to these relatively new social media platforms which reveal so much).

This experiential shift whereby there is the sense that the person is illusory, that the world is unreal etc, is a normal progression within this particular spiritual path, and, although it has its significant drawbacks, from a bigger picture point of view it can very much be considered positive. It needs to be managed, but overall it's positive. 

This doesn't change the fact that this change - what we can refer to as a Awakening, is not actually the revelation of some Supreme Reality or Self independent of the human being, it is still a relative life experience, and to the extent the person believes they are not the person, it is a life experience that in time will prove to be what we could say was an experience of life which included delusional beliefs. 

It is quite possible for a teacher who understands the process and who has been ushered past this phase to be able to effectively put forward these pointers without themselves being stuck in the delusion. However, having said this, quite frankly, I feel that many teachers have by some mysterious game plan been held in this state to be able to deliver these teachings in the most effective fashion (this phenomenon could be what the notion of a Bodhisattva refers to as it's used in a specific context in some schools of Buddhism). There are a lot of reasons why it could be challenging even unpalatable to keep putting forward that version of "Reality" if you are no longer standing firmly on that ground. And yet, as I said earlier, it is also very possible for someone who has well and truly moved past this perspective to exclusively deliver that teaching with little interest in discussing beyond a certain point on the basis that it may dilute the impact.

If you find yourself in the position of someone who has been positively impacted by teachings that focus on the non-existence of a person, and are currently convinced that you are formless awareness and that the body is just an arising within what you are, that you are not a person and so on, I would not expect you to have any frame of reference to apprehend that what I'm saying is accurate, in fact I would expect quite the opposite. 

That is because until the brain starts to open up to new information such as this, the new reality is exactly that - it's new reality, and anything that says differently will very likely be deemed to "just not get it yet". This is what the brain has been programmed to create, hence experience and hence interpret and believe, so that response makes complete sense.

I speak from personal experience here. My journey included the shifts we are speaking of and the accompanying beliefs. It was only thanks to meeting Ramesh in 2005 that this standpoint was obliterated and a deeper peace and flow set in.

And what is ironic is that, because this change is intrinsically linked to revered wisdom teachings that put forward pointers to Truth or Reality, and what is unreal and illusory, and so on, when the change happens, (and the dynamic at play is not seen for what it is) the conviction that "Reality" beyond or prior to the pesky illusory person has finally been revealed as foretold in the independent teachings, is compounded. This is an understandable compounding of the delusion based on a feedback loop to the brain. 

There are many warnings and rescue mechanisms in these very teachings to deal with just this phenomenon I am speaking of. However, because the core of the teaching has been so heavily emphasised and focussed on, and because personal contact with a teacher is not as common nowadays proportionate to exposure to the teachings, these more subtle remedies can go unapplied and unnoticed for a long time. 

Let me finish by saying that when the brain produces its version of reality (which in one form or another will always be what our life experience is, until the body dies), the experience always correlates with a very particular neural network structure.

This means that when the experience changes radically then the neural network has also changed.

This particular shift in the brain that I've been speaking of, is fundamentally different to many other re-wirings which are constantly happening in the brain. This particular re-wiring is such that the experience no longer includes a strong sense of identification with objects including thoughts and the body. This change is monumentally significant as the groundwork for what potentiality lies ahead.

What I have written has only scratched the surface of this topic. What is equally important to just describing the phenomena is providing useful new descriptions that start to demonstrate that this is a phenomena addressed in many non-dual teachings themselves. And, also to provide explanations which help bridge certain gaps but still allow the beneficial aspects of the insights to remain in place and to be built on.

After all, this is a movement towards peace of mind (end of suffering) and not about something else. Without this information we can remain obsessed with the change and miss what in practice is really important. 

It is also very possible to get to the point beyond this awakening stage I've been speaking of by traversing a different path. Another path can bring about the shift without certain accompanying beliefs and if this is the case the sense of not being the person won't necessarily occur. After all, at some point this perspective of no person needs to be refined. 

What is actually often really being pointed at in the esoteric non-dual teachings is that the person is not the "doer" and not "independent" or separate from the rest of life. It is this crumbling tower of beliefs which is more the basis on which peace sets in rather than the dissolution of the person per se. However, having said this, some paths undo these beliefs by first deconstructing the sense that there is a person as a whole, and only then reintroducing the existence of form and the person but now minus the doership and attachment dynamics. 

I sometimes feel that revealing these secrets about teachings and how they work may result in a well aimed bolt of lightening striking me down. That's just a comical flash that happens sometimes, I really feel the time has come to build on what has come before, and move forward.

The human brain and the mystery of mind is, I suspect, far greater than we can imagine, the brain and mind is extremely constricted when configured in what we can call the current human condition. Critical thought is rendered unavailable. The capacity to use intellect for critical thinking is what will change life on earth. Critical thinking is not just logic based, it is tapping into the vast intelligence where answers and solutions come from outside. 

If there is sufficient interest in this post, I will continue it in the coming days. I feel that given awakening is becoming more and more prevalent this topic needs to be addressed seriously in such a way that the commentary becomes a valuable part of the ongoing movement forward. 

It is a fine line that needs to be balanced, the esoteric mystical teachings themselves that deliver these particular shifts are not necessarily the problem, in fact they should be respected and valued for the radical contributions they make. 

This is not about criticism, this is about process. 

Peace for now.
Roger

As the belief in personal doership dissolves the psychological separation it creates subsides and quite naturally life becomes witnessed as a 'happening', and our underlying sense of Self shines through.

From this vantage point it's self evident that thoughts arise in a body mind organism, it becomes equally evident that emotions, feelings and actions all arise in and through a body mind organism. 

A great spaciousness and quiet sets in, and an undeniable sense of existence permeates the experience of life - a sense of existence that is known to be the core of what we are and is relaxation and peace. It's a home where uncomfortableness with oneself simply doesn't make sense.

This shift doesn't happen through effort or thought but rather through a STOP, a dropping backwards out of the head into the heart.

Peace for now

According to this teaching, the definition of enlightenment is as follows:

Enlightenment is the end of suffering, or in other words, unwavering peace of mind in daily living regardless of the circumstance we find ourself in, and this peace of mind comes with the stabilised recognition of our unbroken connection to Source. 

Peace for now
Roger

Keep it real, in all truth you aren't really looking for bliss, oneness or supreme reality. We are all intuitively driven towards a life with less suffering, that is what is really being sought - the end of suffering.

Be clear on this point, try not to get lost and lose sight of this. 

Remain open in your questioning of where and how this can be delivered, seek guidance from wherever you find it comes most truly. 

You will see that once this realisation sinks in based on your own admission, based on your own experience, this piece of information will become a great acquisition in the movement towards what is really, whether you realise it or not, being sought.

Peace for now
Roger

The changes which happen in this journey towards inner freedom, all happen on the level of the body&brain.

My grandmother, Elina Castillo, died last night, she was 94.

The last time I saw her was in her nursing home room, she had dementia and didn't remember who I was. We sat together, she would intermittently recite rhymes she'd make up, much like an innocent little girl entertaining herself. Every now and then we would say something brief to each other, and then she would go back to choosing which sweet or biscuit to have next, place a jigsaw piece in place, or just carry on rhyming.

I had brought an overfilled bread roll with me as I hadn't eaten lunch, my aunt was also in the room and while she was arranging a few things I started to eat the roll. As I took a bite I caught a glimpse of my grandmother looking at me, puzzled, wondering who this man was, eating in her room. In that moment I realised I was a complete stranger to her and yet I didn't sense anything from her other than an innocent curiosity. 

When the time came, I said I was leaving and that it was very nice to have spent time with her (it really had been, she was a very sweet and kind hearted lady, and although we hadn't talked much I could very much feel her heart). 

Ever since I was a young child I knew her as kind hearted. Both toward me as a grandmother and she spent many years routinely walking around the capital city of Malta visiting shops and collecting donations for the underprivileged. She received an official national recognition for her work and dedication to helping others who were less fortunate. 

Anyhow, as I said goodbye (remember, I was essentially a stranger to her) she looked me in the eyes and with a soft conviction that I had never felt from anyone before said "may God bless you".

She meant it from the bottom of her heart - may God bless you - in that moment I felt first hand that she really, truly wanted the very best for Roger, even if it were going to be at her expense, and even though she didn't know me. 

In a life where we tend to develop such that we relate to the other as a competitor, rival or even an enemy it is difficult to genuinely feel this attitude of wanting the very best for someone else.

This final interaction struck me because what I felt was not a mere intellectual wish, but rather a true facet of our human potential which so often gets obscured by our attitude to life, and yet in this kind hearted old lady was natural and free flowing, AND palpable. 

It was clear that this natural essence wasn't only a gift to me but was also a gift that in giving, she was receiving herself.

Thank you for looking after me when I was young and thank you for leaving me with this parting gift. 

My heart and thoughts go out to my father Adrian and my aunt Christine - she's gone home and is in peace.