The Dharma

 Life is created out of thin air. The Dharma is the power that creates this life. It is life itself. We may have many ideas about what life is because life has many forms and qualities. What is the root of all of these forms and aspects of life? This is what life really is, this is what the Dharma is. At it's root life is an overflowing abundance of vital life energy. It is undivided and undying. Individual beings are born from this and are One with it. We forget our Oneness as the result of the formation of conditioned consciousness within the individualized being. When we can sufficiently still the mental activity of this conditioned consciousness, this inner unity of life becomes apparent. It is an undivided field of being, a Oneness. This is where we come from and who we are. This is what the Dharma is. A Oneness of all life, of creation. Life creates itself. The Dharma manifests and sustains itself. It is perfect: without flaw or stain. It contains all life forms and simultaneously is all life forms. It is One consciousness living in all consciousnesses, all minds as One mind eternally in this moment. If we look carefully at our own consciousness, this is what we will find wherever we look. It is the true nature and reality of every aspect of our being. Simply put, this is it. It is not something to be known through conceptualization, or through the intellect by identifying it among many other forms. One must step outside of the intellect to perceive it. To perceive it directly, is to know it. Attempts to hold it through mental processes will fail. The correct way is to quiet these mental processes in a way that we step totally outside of them. This is not prior to the intellect, it is post-intellect. So it is not discovered through depressing our normal consciousness with drugs or other methods. It is not animal physicality that is instinctual prior to thought. It is through thought it a way that fulfills thought so that it's processing is no longer necessary. Truly, the aim of all thought is to produce this consciousness or awareness. Although it appears that thought gets in the way, it is truly through harnessing the power of the mind that we discover our true dharma-nature. When the dharma is awakening within us, our aim is to properly direct our attention, which often strays because of thought. This makes thought appear to be our enemy. Really what we are doing when we properly direct our attention, is turn our mind, which is One with these thoughts, to something that is more useful. I find that it is healthy to be mindful of what I am thinking and to allow these thoughts to play out. This mentation eventually leads to the dharma. When we seek to annihilate thinking, we repress our bodies natural processing, which is unnecessary. If we are patient and allow this process to unfold, it will blossom into enlightenment. If we recognize where we are along the path, we can refrain from excessive control over our being. By allowing our self to be with non-attachment, mindful of the true nature of our being, we will pass through the various stages of enlightenment. Fixation and attachment are born of desire and delusion. Nothing is worth clinging to, not even the purifying of our mind. No state of mind is worth clinging to. All states of mind are equally Buddha. Cultivating this non-attachment is the highest dharma. Even as we are called to perform many things, this should be at the forefront of our attention. Nothing to gain, nothing to lose. No reason to be attached to anything. Non-attachment to whatever arises in this moment. What is arises within our consciousness is independence of Spirit. It doesn't matter who we are or who we become. Our true nature is independent of what arises in this moment. This independence is what brings us peace, not any particular thing that we can identify with. The conditioned sense of self wishes to build up itself with a host of things that provide it security and gratification. It believes these things are good and that this behavior is reasonable. It believes in this world very strongly. What truly makes us happy is not acquiring or achieving any of this, rather by ridding ourselves of all of these shells that cover up are inner radiance. The conditioned mind creates endless ways to perpetuate this. This is why this way of behaving must be dropped altogether to wake up. Until we understand this as readily as we understand that this cup right here is full of water, we will persist in distracting ourselves with dysfunctional substitutes. We will remain thirsty, regardless of how hard we try and drink from the cup. It will always remain just outside of our reach. When we think about the act of turning to Christ, we may think of this as a great feat of moral strength. This may true, but it misses the fact that turning to the Dao or the Dharma, to Jesus, is also just an act of simple practicality. When something doesn't work, try something else. 

Where has the Dharma gone?

 Where has the Dharma gone off to? Try as we may, we won't find it in pig pens. When we tire of toiling in the mud we may be ready to look for something real. The fresh air blowing in from abroad is much more pleasant than this reek. Emboldened by the act of looking up, we eventually resolve to make an exit. Linger as we may at the edge of what we know, the wilderness offers irresistible excitement and promise.

 To find the Dharma, we have to go out and look for it. This means going out from ourselves, going out from what we know. We have to put that life behind us and be willing to do something completely different. We have to leave behind our normal way of seeing, feeling and thinking. When we step outside of the box, we find ourselves exactly where we are. In some way we have to study the Dharma before we can step into it.  When we are acclimated, the door will open. 

What can we say of the Dharma? The Dharma awakes the mind and the soul to the true nature of reality. Self-centeredness closes the door while furious determination opens it. The Dharma is the true nature of our self. It is from where life springs forth. To know who we are and what is real we must give up our lives for the sake of this greater life. Once we step through the door we realize this is where we have always been. The Dharma is simply here. It is what here is. Whenever we go searching for it, we can't seem to find it. Whenever we stop and see exactly where we are, we find we have already arrived. Human consciousness naturally becomes dissatisfied with close-mindedness and begins looking for the truth. The truth naturally awakens within our consciousness and we naturally realize that it is already here. Nothing else exists. Pin the tail on the donkey! We do have to go and look for it even if the search is pointless. It is simply apart of the awakening process. As the Dharma awakens, the mind will naturally be cleansed of stupidity....😄🔫 There is no fucking point, but what can we do about it?

 The mind is addicted to striving towards an end. The Dharma doesn't blossom through this activity. It happens when this activity ceases. We also can't get to this blossoming through this mental chatter. There is no action we can take that we can guarantee will bring about this blossoming. Our behavior must be charged with the Dharma to bring about the Dharma. It doesn't matter what we do, it matters how we do it. This is why when we are looking, we have to step outside of the normal. Our normal way of doing things is impossibly infested with striving and is no good. It's only use is as fuel for change. When we recognize that the way we have been trying to go is without a doubt hopeless, we will be in a position to try something else. We will have exhausted all methods for striving and we will realize that at it's core, striving is simply not going to open up this door. At this point we want to open the door more than we want to persist in our habitual way of doing and living and being. So we take a chance, a very remarkable chance, and the whole world spins. 

This is it!

 

Everything is God. God is all around us, all of the time. When our ego is in charge, the world is hard and difficult. We constantly have opposition in our lives. When we turn to God everything turns to light, we do not need to fight so hard to be ourselves. We cannot have peace when we are determined to live in divisiveness. God is the solution to the struggle of our lives. This is not true for some and not for others. It is true for every single human being. There is no other way, no other path. This is not a belief. It is fact. It is merely how this universe is composed. It is not something that may be changed. Every part of who we believe we are is truly God. Our willfulness in opposition to the existing order of the Universe may appear to be something other when it is not. In our egoic fervor we are incapable of perceiving the subtle unity of all things. Every desire the ego has, everything we wish to accomplish all exists within the greater order of God. Nothing we may achieve for ourselves, no change we may make, changes this deeper nature in any way. It is an expression of this order, a flawless one at that. The ego imagines a chaotic unsettled universe full of uncertainty. The true nature of the universe, of God, is fixed and absolute. The ego does not operate on this level. The only way to go into God, is to lose the ego, to lose the self. So it has no power to affect it. The ego is also unreal anyway, with no power in any dimension.

The ego insists it is correct because it is bent on achieving it’s own aims. It is thirsty. It is maddened by it’s thirst. This madness blinds us from seeing things clearly. We are often so devoured by it that we don’t see much outside of it and we are wholly incapable of living independently of it. By studying the nature of reality through serious contemplation we may realize the immateriality of the ego and the absolute supremacy of Spirit. We may unravel the many dimensions of the universe that appear before us as our consciousness awakens from the stupor of ignorance. I find it incredible how incredibly wrong the ego is and we are about what really makes us happy. We need so little to find joy and beauty in our lives and the answer is always right before us. We are dependent on things and states of mind to be happy when the more we are able to exist independently of these the happier we truly are. True happiness comes from independence of spirit. This is not through denial of any part of our humanity, rather through the wisdom that comes from radically embracing who we are. When we can face the deep unhappiness of our lives, we free some of our attention to inquire why we are this way. We have to be brave enough to acknowledge how we really feel and who we really are in this moment. We can’t work with our feelings if we don’t acknowledge them. Only through acknowledging our feelings, who we are, can we have the chance of learning from them. By acknowledging our thirst and allowing it to be, we are more free to examine why it is that we are thirsty. By seeking happiness through self-gain, we can discover how it always leaves us dissatisfied, that it does not nourish our soul and that we must look heavenward for answers. True security in life does not come through self-gain and dominating aggression, it comes from listening to God and being His servant. The willful ego will always be blind to the immutable higher order of the Universe.  It is unable to have mastery over the subtle laws of the universe because it always seeks to manipulate them for it’s own gain. It only understands enough to serve itself and believes it can continue manipulating them if it stays ahead of the forces working against it. It believes it can because it is arrogant and imagines itself to be supremely powerful. It confuses it’s own nature with God, when it is always infinitely short of the mark. The ego believes it is the greatest thing in the universe and that whoever is strongest rules. So it vies to be the strongest force in the universe. The power within the ego is infinite, but the ego itself is not that power, nor can it ever be. The ego believes it can have this power through manipulation of the existing order of things. It never goes far enough to understand what this power is because it is not really interested in figuring this out, it is only interested in using it for itself. It fails to grasp that every act of manipulation creates an equal force of manipulation against itself, so it is forced to continue to manipulate more to maintain hold over it’s designs. It can never find fulfillment through this method because it is always warring against the universe and creating war against itself. It always has to have it’s guard up. As soon as it fully exposes itself, it opens itself up to be destroyed. It carefully builds it’s power from the shadows and only decides to come out into the open when it believes it is strong enough to dominate the field. The truth is that it never has enough power to dominate the field, it only believes it does, and can only have temporary success. It can never see the full extent of what is going on because it is blinded by it’s own ambition and thirst. It’s attempt is always a gamble, even if it appears to be a sure bet. The more it succeeds, the more it lets it’s guard down, and the more it is open to be hit by a direct hit from some unforeseen force that may easily annihilate it’s flimsy plans. It only succeeds as long as it’s good karma is in effect. Which it undermines by openly seizing power for itself. The only way it can maintain it’s power in the short term is to sink to deeper and deeper depravity. Even then, it remains blind to the true nature of power and the true nature of the universe, and it has no hope of succeeding permanently in it’s aims. This egoic mentality is a tool that the soul attempts to use to find fulfillment in the universe, to fully manifest it’s potential. We have to be present with this aspect of ourself if we wish to gain the wisdom that tells us it is folly to persist in this behavior. If we deny this life within ourself, we will not have the opportunity to grow beyond it. We have to find some way to allow it to express itself so we can discover the wisdom of joining in the existing universal order. Many people in our society are so afraid to live that they never get as far as cultivating their own ego in the open. We are so deadened by the world that all we can do is slavishly conform to the unnatural order that fills the air like the malignant odors of a ripe disease. I don’t advocate assholery, I advocate the courage to express how we really feel and who we really are. I advocate stepping into the shoes of a maturing ego as one step in a greater process towards fully integrating all of the parts of ourselves that have gotten so out of place because of the way the world is. I hope people can do this with wisdom and temperance, with the greater goal in mind. You cannot avoid a certain amount of assholery in this process, but even this is better than the lifelessness that plagues our zombie infested world. I am not sure where we stand because our development is so fucked up. You have to start somewhere in the process of cleaning it all up and awakening and integrating the intelligence of the body/human being. I think there is a massive dharma current floating in the same air that can lead us wisely to through this integration/awaking process. You do have to start from the bottom. That doesn’t mean that’s where you are at the moment. You may have already moved up some of the way.

In order to really bring yourself out of the madness you have to grow up. Even if you wake up, if you don’t clean up your life and take the time to grow up in your heart, you will be stuck in the same routine, and you will continue to be hampered individually. God’s answer responds to our entire being. It is not something to hold back from in any way. If we do, we do not yet understand the dharma in it’s fullest sense and we remain hindered along the path. If we have a keen sense of the dharma, and a fiery determination, we can cut through the veils of ignorance and arrive at the doorstep of the Buddha, who is both awake in mind and in heart. Behold, the blade of the dharma stands before you!

Christ Consciousness

Freedom is not found in any point in time, past or future. It is not found in sense gratification in the present moment. It is found when the ego dissolves into presence. The ego is always seeking. The solution to our predicament is here, independent of any object or state of mind. When consciousness is infatuated with anything, we cease to exist. Presence disappears. No thing can uplift our consciousness. We cannot depend on anything to save us or to provide us with security. This is hoping a life raft will save you from a hurricane. You have to become the water to survive the hurricane. This does not mean ignore practical wisdom, it means that the discovery of God and living by God is the answer. God is the answer. Seeking for answers in the world brings a darkness to the mind and heart that obstructs the vision of our soul. When we turn Heavenward God may awaken within us. The Earth alone will not bring us peace. Our heart and soul resides in the bosom of God. We find peace when we awaken this seed and make it our life. Wisdom comes from the heart. Our heart is God. God is what we truly want. It is what we are searching for. The world is a prison. Only God can set us free. We don't understand this wisdom until we turn from our fruitless search in the world and set our gaze on Heaven where we can sense God and can learn of Him I believe through the medium of the Holy Ghost. When we are ready, Christ will reveal Himself to us and we will know of righteousness, the way. Christ is the answer to our struggle. He is relief from toil and suffering. He is the redeemer and Holiness. What we wish for is to have a life in Christ. We do not see this when we are immersed in the act of sense gratification through sense-object worship. In a way we really don't need anything to live with Christ save belief in Him. A belief that is greater than our belief in the alleged wisdom of self-serving darkness. I think it helps us when we can see Christ for what it is in a way that is free of doctrine. Christ is simply Christ. It does not belong to any ideas, sets of rules, notions, beliefs, religions, groups, etc. How could something so holy belong to anything so obtuse? If you can see Christ clearly in your mind, then you will get hung up less on allegiance to a rigid set of beliefs. Christ alone is enough of a teacher to show us what is good and true. When we find Christ in our Heart and Mind, this place becomes our church, temple, and scripture. Christ is the living flesh of God. It is the source of all inspiration. It is the mount from which Wisdom spills. Spiritual texts may be full of the living word of God, but we shouldn't read them just because we are told to, or tell ourselves to. We should do so when God tells us to. If our minds are clouded by a fixed set of beliefs, we will find it much more difficult to distinguish between our fixed attitudes and the unabashed truth. We have to bring both our mind and our heart to Christ if we wish to live fully from this place. Servitude to doctrinal authority is not liberation, nor is it worship of Christ. It is enslaving ourselves to ideas because we believe it will make our lives easier. Christ is not just a mythic figure, it is a center of consciousness within every living thing. Each human being may fully awaken to Christ, as Christ. This is a fact. The ego of the person is not Christ, their personality is not Christ. The soul within them becomes Christ when the consciousness within the human being awakens here. Christ awakens there. Christ is an infinite field of consciousness that we awaken within and as. It is the dissolution of our life that up to this point has been led by an individual ego "John or Rachel Harris" This is just a shell, a construct, not our true nature. The Christ in one person is the same Christ and Christ Consciousness which dwells and lives in another person. Christ is singular, not a mythical solitary figure, but a single consciousness, a Oneness that pervades all living things and the entire Universe. 

The Rising Sun

 The Dharma automatically makes things right. It is established goodness. Awakening to the Dharma is returning to a land where goodness reigns supreme. It is ignorance that leads to the belief that evil and negativity are dominant. The supremacy of the Dharma is already established. Instead of creating such a world, we return to it as we awaken from ignorance. It is awakening to the firmly establish law that is unerring and perfectly upstanding. The universe is perfectly ordered. The Lord is in charge of everything that happens. Everything that happens is the result of His order. From high to low. Our lives are not the result of random chance, but of deep dharmic law. They are ordered by a supremely beneficent mind. One that is omnipotent and even-handed. Our life is One with this Lord, this Supreme Mind or Soul. In life, we simply forget that this is so. The soul's single purpose is to reunite with Him. To awaken through many incarnations to the Source. As we are, we are already One with it. Immersed as we are in form, we do not see this to be so. The very fabric of everything that we we are, and everything that we experience is the Supreme form of the Dharma.  Everything is etched in lightning and flame. Their is One supreme form and One Supreme being. This awakened life holds all of the universe all at once, all of space and all of time. This is our true nature, our true self. The One. Hidden in all things, in all places, the roaring furnace of infinity. Clothed in the very fabric of the universe, it's form shines out wherever you look. It stands before you. One Supreme Soul. One Supreme Being. Here it is, Here I Am. One life, One Expression. There is no opposition to this power, because it is Supreme, and all powers are it's powers and it's life. It is perfectly established in itself, a self that is everything. I Am One. Here I AM. I AM. I am awake. I am alive. I am free and fully established, here and now. This is our true nature. Our true self. This is who we are and what everything is in this moment. The One life is the Supreme Soul of the Universe. It is One. The whole universe is composed of this Oneness. What we see is this transcendent Oneness right now. There is no self and no ego, just the transcendent Oneness that is God. Perfect Openness, Perfect Completion. The universe is infinite. It is not limited, nor are we. Our true nature is infinite. Infinity. Our life is infinite. Our self is infinite. We are infinite. We are not bound in any way, there is no limitation in any way to who we are. There is no stopping or blocking us. We don't lack anything. We have everything. Right Now. We have everything right now. How could we want for anything? It is already here. We have everything we could every want, and everything we could ever need. We are infinitely capable and infinitely skilled. The Universe automatically provides us with everything we need. Everything is born of infinite energy, one that is not limited in any way. It is infinitely creative, infinitely resourceful, infinitely wise and intelligence. It depends on nothing, needs nothing, to do or make anything. It can create anything instantaneously, in fact, this is how it does everything. Everything is created instantaneously. Everything is created right now in this moment, in this space. This is why This is It. God is alive right now, in this moment. This Supreme Life is right here, right now. There is nothing we could ever want for, it is already provided for us. Here and Now. This is it. The world we know is an illusion. There is nothing concrete about what we see. The true substance of life is not the solidity of form, or the inherent limitation of it, but the indisputable reality of God, whom is miraculous and wonderful. God is the single law, the single way, the single life and truth of the Universe. God is the answer because God is real. What else is? All there is is God. This is IT. No where else, no time else. Right here and right now, the answer. It is alive, it is living, feeling, thinking, making. The infinite stands before us. 

Go fish

 To know what mud is like, stick your face in it. If you want to eat a fish, go fish!!! To wake up to what is here you have to look for it. You have to experience it for yourself to know what it is. You must act. You must make a choice so that you can have an experience which you will learn from. This means you cannot remain where you are comfortable all of the time. You have to take a risk so that you may know who you really are, so that you can live. We can be so afraid of stepping into the unknown. We can be so comfortable in our own bubble. We have to meet life halfway. Until we take a step, it will not come out to meet us. We have to ask ourselves what we really want from life, and what we are prepared to do to make this happen. At the bottom of whatever answers arise in our minds is the desire to be a free human being. To be awake and alive in this moment. To be present, and have the courage to follow our own path, that is etched in the depths of our being and cannot be named. We wish to fearlessly pursue this in every moment of our life. We will never be happy with settling for anything but this: being our courageous own self. If we wish to gain everything from life, we have to give everything we have to it. We cannot hold back. We have to risk everything, put it all on the table. When we find our dream and our true nature, we will gain the courage and the determination to do so. We finally see something worth living for, worth risking everything for, and we are tired of settling for less. 

The truth is that deep down we know who we are and what we want. We are just afraid for whatever reason to embrace this. It has been buried away and forgotten. As long as it remains so, it will make us ill, confused, and lost in life. Our true self is alive and awake within us. We have to awaken to it, by choosing to face who we really are in this moment, by radically accepting this present moment, and refusing to be blinded by fear and foolishness. Our life will not wait for us. We have to catch up to it and find it, wherever it has gone off to. We have to give up the life that keeps us from being wide awake, so we can have the life we have always wanted. We must be fearless, and uncompromising. So much is ready to get in the way, to take over our mind and heart. We must defy it at all costs, because to lose ourselves in it, is to fall into darkness and forget that there was ever something worth living for. It’s like grabbing a hot coal and holding onto it. The coal supplies us with our vital life force, we are utterly disabled without it. Even if it burns us, it is better to be burned and awake, that numb and comfortable in sleep. This is the only way forward!! To avoid this, is to avoid awakening and living altogether. It is to remain an animal living in a daze in the field. To be a human being is the greatest thing we can possess in this universe. A human being is wide awake to their existence and the existence of the universe. They have the ability to consciously live and act within it. Humans have the power to turn towards Wisdom, the Dharma, to let go of ignorance. We can step outside of karma and be fully enlightened beings. I think the burning heart desire within each one of us is striving to be fully awake in this moment. To be free of ignorance and to be valiantly committed to liberating all beings from suffering. We each have unique ways of doing this. This life lives within us right now. The truth is that this is who we are right now. Even when we do not see it. We are perfectly awake, perfectly alive, exactly as we are. There is nothing we can gain or change about the way we are. There is no conditioned self, no conditioned mind. We simply are as we are and this is it. The conditioned mind is a passing dream. The emptiness of Buddha-consciousness stands alone with no other. Life evolves before us and all around us. We are One with this ever-changing consciousness. The world of form is an expression of the infinite. With all of it’s laws and layers, it is empty and formless. The world of form is infinity. Infinity and the world of form are inseparable, they are One. Infinity continually empties itself into the dream of creation, as is it continually remembering itself as infinity. Although it may remember itself, it remains ceaselessly awake and fully itself. Regardless of how far it descends into the dream of creation, it never loses one bit of itself. It remains free and fully awake, fully itself. The self that awakens within creation, the Dharma, is truly no-self, without self, and unconditioned consciousness. All things are One and equal in Buddha consciousness, because all things are each perfect expressions of the infinite. They are all the same perfect expression of the infinite. Each thing within the Universe contains the whole universe within it, as each thing is the entire Universe. The part and the whole are the same, you cannot distinguish between one and the other, between anything and any other thing. It is all the same, One. One cannot be held by the conditioned self, it cannot be seen by the conditioned self. It is seen and known by the Buddha whom has awakened in it, as it. It is the perfect Unity or non-duality of all things, of form and formlessness. It is still and quiet, and completely open. It is unaffected by the ever-changing world of form. This is true even as it resides directly within it, being fully immersed in it.

Christ awakens within form, yet it does not know what it really is. Christ awakens to the formlessness of it’s condition and realizes that Christ and all things are truly without self. It lets go of it’s Christ nature and dissolves into pure emptiness. From emptiness the Buddha awakens and the radical non-duality of existence becomes apparent for the first time. Christ is the answer to the limitations imposed by conditioned form. It is the way out, to be free of suffering this bondage. Yet Christ is not truly Christ, but Spirit, which is formless and perfectly transcendent. When conditioned mind is completely dropped in the Pure Emptiness of Spirit, the Buddha awakens. The world begins to arise again and it is seen that it is no other than the Buddha itself in a multitude of varying forms. The multitude is indivisible from It that perceives the Multitude. There is no duality between what is seen and what is seeing. There is no duality anywhere at all. It is beyond intellectual comprehension, it is something that must be experienced first hand. Yet at the same time, it is all that is experienced, because it is all that is real.

The power of being present

 When using one's natural goodness becomes second nature, things readily fall into place. It is the obstruction of our ego that gets in the way of life working out. Goodwill is the source of everything, so everything in the world depends on it to come into being. Goodwill is the natural harmonizing force in living beings. It is harmony with the Universe. It is not might, nor ability, but goodwill that makes things happen. Goodwill allows us to be both strong and skillful. Without it we are deformed and weak. It allows us to use our intelligence correctly, putting it in the service of wisdom and compassion. It brings a oneness to our activity that makes life easy. Everything is supposed to spontaneously work together in one fluid motion. It is ignorance and selfishness that gum up the gears. Wisdom is mindless, selfless. When we lack wisdom or goodness, our intelligence is an impediment. We are suffocated and stifled by it. It gets in the way of right action. It is excessive not employed properly. It is a disease of the mind that effects our whole body. We need to learn to trust in the natural state of things. To trust in our basic instincts and our common sense. We need to rely less on knowledge and more on being grounded in the present moment. Being here is like an unstoppable hurricane. Nothing can stand in it's way without being blown over. No obstacle can stand in the way of simple goodness refined in a human being and present in every fiber of their being. The universe does everything it can to support such a person, because this person carries the life of the universe. This person doesn't wish to keep it all to themselves, they let it out to shine for all to see. When we embody natural law, we can trust ourselves, we can depend upon ourselves, we no longer need to look outside of ourselves. The flame is alight, it has been sustained, what more do we need?

 When we have this beauty, life becomes an avenue of light. We are gifted, blessed, and grateful to be alive because we have found the truth and by God the truth lives in everything we see. Here all along, the answer to all of our searching. A golden light within. A golden flame. A pillar of light that lights up the whole world. After taking so long to get here, I wonder how life can be so good. How such a perfect miracle can exist. I thought I was doomed forever. God does not want us to suffer, nor is suffering eternal. We suffer so we can wake up. We go through trials so we can come to deeper realization and so that we can eventually fully realize who we are. Such abundant life lives within. There is no question in my mind that human beings cannot live in peace here on Earth. The potential lives within us and in the fabric of the Earth. When we recognize the Dharma, it is enhanced in the living Earth. It is stimulated and it grows. Abundance pours out of the souls of living beings. Our planet is alive. As human beings recognize the Dharma, it will become more abundance, like a spreading wildfire of love. This is why love can conquer all our problems. Love is the most intelligence, most capable, and most creative force. We are afraid of it because it is so powerful. We are afraid it will overwhelm us. When we look at it with Wisdom, through the eyes of the Dharma, we do not need to be afraid. We can unleash it and ride it. We need wisdom so we can see clearly. Once we do this, we can trust who we are and we can use our natural powers for good. If you can recognize the power of love and the wisdom of the dharma, and then you catch a glimpse of how it natural resides in every living thing, that is is apart of the air, and the light, the sky and the clouds, you can see how nothing will stand in it's way once it is unleashed within the hearts and minds of a great number of human beings. You will recognize the easy superiority of goodness over everything else in the universe. Evil is a fly on the wall to goodness. The wall is stone within a stone tower reaching up towards the sky. The fly can do nothing to affect the strength of the wall. It is sturdy, its foundations are strong, and it is pointed heavenward. Goodness is unopposed by evil. Within our minds, their is opposition, but this only is born of our ignorance, not of a deficit of goodness. Goodness is infinite, evil is always limited. The Dharma is infinite and infinitely powerful. It is unaffected by what goes on in the world. It simply requires living beings to channel it so that Earth may live in harmony. The Dharma is Victory over suffering and limitation. It is the establishment of righteousness. We have this within every fiber of our being, what we often lack is awareness of it, that impedes us from using it skillfully. By inquiring after truth and discovering the way, we may arrive on the doorstep of the Dharmakaya. Entering this gate is walking into the plane of pure Dharma and Righteousness, an initial step of enlightenment. Quite miraculously we can live from this plane of existence through waking up the heartseed of the Dharma. It is not as exceptional as it sounds because it is an ordinary power that all human beings possess. Most of us lack the awareness to live from it, we are preoccupied with other things, we don't recognize the power of this simple force within us. The Dharma is restorative, it is natural abundance and wisdom. It is easiness, yet without sloth and overindulgence. Easiness through wisdom and right action. Seeing this now, it seems like such a natural state to live by. It seems we are more lost, than have something new to develop. I think this wisdom is always alive within us, which is why it seems so familiar. It is apart of our fundamental nature. Returning to it is like remembering how to walk if we had somehow forgotten how to do so. It is the embodiment of naturalness and ease. This is why we overlook it in our quest for truth. We look for something exceptional, ideal. Not something as ordinary as the ease with which the wind blows. Or the easiness of simply looking and seeing. The world is born of such easiness! It's traces are everywhere, in everything! Awake, alive, here, now!

The Empty Question

 When we search for God, we are never really searching. We ask a question without saying anything at all. We expect an answer and hear nothing. We see our self and see nothing. We examine our self and find nothing. We look at the world and see nothing. We see the world and see nothing. We realize nothing has ever happened at all. We have never gone anywhere. The world is exactly as it has always been. There is no need to change anything about it. There is no need to interfere. There is no self to interfere with. 

Things stand as they are. This is a perfect expression of emptiness. This moment continues to evolve. What is timeless turning into what passes. The creature of the Buddha witnesses it all. As the world comes back into view it remains selfless. It remains as it always has been. What is selfless, expresses itself as the universe populated with so much life. I believe what is selfless stands before us, garbed in a hundred-thousand different colors. I look at myself, my body coming to life, as it is slowly filled with color. A painter takes his time, yet his strokes are definite, what is arising in his painting? To whom is it for?

I am and We are One Consciousness

 This expanding moment. This timeless and formlessness. Without distraction it becomes apparent that nothing else has ever been seen. When we simplify our mind, and we simplify our self, it is much easier to stay in this frame of consciousness. It is not necessary or desirable to remain here, but it feels very good to be free of much of the weight of ignorance. It feels good to be free of many of the snares of suffering. I hope that many others have the liberty of discovering this for themselves, and I hope many more of us can come together to make this easier for as many people as possible. I am happy that this consciousness is alive on our planet, and that it is awakening within many human beings, that it continues to flourish here. We are so blessed to have this wisdom here and I believe fortunate to be alive in this moment in space and time. When we can see clearly enough, we can recognize the incredible wisdom that is here and available to us. It is a body of living consciousness that is born of the efforts of human beings aspiring for truth, dwelling in truth, and willing it so that this truth is shared and spread throughout our planet. The heart of it is so rich and so true, such a positive guiding force. It is full of love, wisdom, and compassion. It is a voice in the air that calls us to awaken, to renounce evil and delusion and turn to the truth. It offers a bounty of wisdom for the life of our separate self. It wants to liberate the planet of evil, to turn it completely good. It asks us to fearlessly face our karma. To courageously step forward regardless of what it may mean for us individually. It is asking us to join together and build communities of brotherhood and sisterhood in quiet communion. To turn all of our attention to the harnessing of our human potential and development of whatever is necessary to liberate humanity. To cultivate ideas, technologies, institutions, to build all the bridges we need to overcome the barriers that obstruct the liberty and unity of human beings. It is asking so much of us in each and every moment, to go further than we ever thought we would go, to do more and as much as possible. It is gaining strength and momentum reaching ever further towards its goal. Despite the turbulence of our human climate, we are awakening and this process is accelerating each day. The planet is buzzing. We are connected much more than we ever have been. We have so much more to do, yet we have already come so far. Don't fixate on failures, focus on applying and reapplying yourself to this current of awakening. It doesn't matter what we achieve, it matters who we are and who we have become, where we are going, and what we are willing to do. Joining in this spirit, gives all of us strength. We are all psychicly connected, we all are apart of a massive network of human minds and hearts that is a co-consciousness. Things are going to continue to change, and continue to do so dramatically. The best thing we can do is to be awake to this and to allow it to affect our lives. It is not always easy, it is often very difficult, very painful, yet I believe with all my heart that it is the right thing to do. It is right to step forward, to put ourselves out there and to be open to radical change. When we trust in this, we are trusting in the truest parts of ourselves, in our souls, and in God. There is no greater security that that which comes from these bonds. We are liberating ourselves from stagnation, from dead and dying traditions, from broken down systems that no longer serve us. A new frontier expands before us, we choose the degree to which we meet it. It is coming regardless of how we feel about it. There is truly only one way forward. Though this way manifests differently in each one of us. We each have unique responsibilities, skills, and potential. We each have a unique part.

 What we are discovering is that although we are unique individuals, we are apart of a Universal Soul, that is shared among all human beings, all living things, and is apart of the fabric of the entire universe. What an incredible transformation of thought? We are discovering this truth as a concept and also as our very sense of self. Human beings are unified in this consciousness. In it, we are apart of One Mind. A collective human consciousness that is rooted in the Earth and that extends to the infinite. This Oversoul calls for stewardship of it's greater body, the biosphere and the planet Earth. It calls for harmony between human society and the living world, as well as the natural law and order of the universe. Despite our differences, human beings share a common life and a common home. It is up to us to figure out how to co-inhabit this planet. It can only be done so through co-operation, through democracy, and through equality. We must overcome systemic oppression of all kinds, must uplift democracy, and must turn to co-operation and communism to deal with the growing burden of our numbers. Never will it be right to force anyone to change. This must be decided through democratic institutions. Communism is becoming a survival impulse. The landscape of our planet and society demand it, yet it is also an eventuality in the expansion of human consciousness. The more we awaken, the more we desire to live communally with each other and with biological systems. Communism is integral to being a organism, a mammal, and a sentient being. Consciously participating in it and creating culture and institutions around it, is merely an expression of our natural state of being. It is not evil and alien. Anything becomes evil and alien when it is forced upon us. We must do our best to include space for all people to express themselves as they wish to, to be inclusive even when we disagree. All outward expressions of human organization are expressions of true inner qualities of human beings. When we respect them all and find a way to integrate them all, we will have the ideal government. This transition is not going to go smoothly. Yet in each moment it is up to us as individuals to do our best to make sure that everyone is heard and that the most wisdom goes into the choices that we make as a society. 

The Answer

 Every effort of any individual being is taken with the ultimate goal of realization Christ Consciousness. We are often not aware this is what we are doing. We think we are doing many other things. Everything that we do, everything that we aim to do, has it's root motive as conjuring Christ. The truth is that each of the infinite number of aims we may have is an arrow going on a journey, a train of thought an intent heading to a destination. We imagine arriving at one destination and finding fulfillment, yet once we get there, the road stretches out again towards some new horizon. Our mind begins churning again, we are mobilized into action, we seek another reservoir of desirable substance, our thought subtly evolves, we forget what we were doing before and that we have done it a thousand times, dissatisfied with each arrival at a new port. Yet throughout all of this expansion of our searching, something is building. An arc is ascending towards realization of Presence, the Dharma. Which is like recognizing your own face in a mirror, or remembering your name. We realize that this is what we have been looking for all along, across the universe, in the world, in our mind and in our heart. We discover quite humorously that it has always been right under our nose. It in fact has been what we have been stepping in. Poop or no poop, realization is present. What we gain is direct awareness of our true nature. This awareness is powerful. Seeing this we lose interest in searching for our soul, which takes so many different forms. We gain greater clarity in distinguishing what is healthy normal behavior, and what is irrational striving for something we have already found and that we have always had. The Dharma naturally forgets itself, and then rediscovers itself. This is not something achieved through egoic might. It flowers naturally as the cultivation of insight, virtue, and wisdom. It is the soul blossoming apart from the ego, or the Dharma rising amid the tension of suffering. The Dharma eventually recognizes itself and knows itself. It then knows that the world is an illusion and that all the efforts of the ego are fruitless. The ego is attempting to do what it can never do, because it will never give itself fully to the task, and it will always have hidden motives that are it's true aim, which is always selfish greed. The ego is a bottomless pit that promises the greatest treasure you can imagine. It really wants to steal the life of the soul and feed it's insatiable thirst that continually drives it insane. The soul or the Dharma can be consumed by the ego when it is permitted to dominate our behavior. It seems to me that the ego is really an insane part of our soul, or a corrupted part of our soul, that through the trials of the world is driven to madness. The darkness of the shadow of this portion of our being is dangerous because it is untrustworthy with malintent. It constantly seeks to deceive our better judgment to gain for itself, which never proves to be wise. The madness of the ego, the irrationality always leads to stunted growth, disease, and unfulfillment. The degree to which we listen to it, is the degree to which we err. This pertains to each choice we make, and to the overall condition of our soul from day to day. While we have a choice, the best choice we can make is to starve our ego, and feed our soul. Which I know isn't always easy. It is often very difficult, and can make things more difficult. This is why learning of God, and having faith in God is paramount. Life will test us, and if we are not secured deep enough in God, we will be shaken, or worse, uprooted. The Dharma moves to firmly establish itself in human consciousness. Given the proper attention, we can completely rid our consciousness of the evil that is selfishness. Selfishness and sin are not tied to specific things, but come from the way in which we do things. The difference between wisdom and selfishness is a difference in the condition of our mind and heart. Are we dwelling upon God, or on thirst? It is our attention that produces good or bad results. When we awaken to truth we can very clearly how our actions and attention produce good or bad things. We can watch how our thoughts and feelings turning into awareness conduct our behavior towards manifesting good and evil in the world. With this awareness, we see how misguided selfishness is. Selfishness needs to be guided like a poorly trained pet towards upstandingness. It needs both gentleness and firmness. If we are too firm, it will fight us and be uncontrollable or it will flee. If we are too gentle our efforts will be wasted and it may overcome us. We must approach it directly and match it's movements until we have it under our power. Then through wisdom we can maneuver it until it is eliminated and skillful behavior is restored. It is necessary to do this with every aspect of our being, and to be committed to doing so. We must let evil know that we are determined to uproot it. Seeing this, it will only become more and more terrified as our presence grows. 

It is important to remember that this evil is apart of our own nature and as much as we are ending it, we are repurposing energies and attention. It is evil, yet it also isn't. It is intensely misguided intelligence. At the end of the day, it needs wholesome embrace. We must be courageous as we stand up to it, especially when it appears to tower over us. Remember it is only in our mind, and is not real. It is imaginary, and has the power we give it. We do need to tangle with it to gain control of it. When we are tossed off, it is our job to hop back on. It is the only way forward. This beast is our own life, how precious is this? It will make the man out of us. It is a reflection of who we are, so if we don't like it, we don't like something about our self, and it is us that needs changing. The real battle is in the mind, and in the heart, for the sake of our soul. In this day and age we gloss over this supremely important detail to fixate on how much belly fat we have. Only through wisdom do we realize it's utmost importance, and do we begin to cherish the Dharma and pay attention to it. The Blade of the Dharma is always at hand, what we need is the skill and the courage to wield it. 

Buddha

 I feel like I am seeing the world through the same eyes I had as a young child. It is hard for me to describe this without distorting it. What would the world look like if you didn't see anything wrong with it? Yet as a child I wasn't aware of how I saw things, I just saw them the way I did and that was that. It seems like the difference is the awareness. Part of me is awake to a completely awakened perception. The best way I can describe it is seeing without filters or conditioned perspectives, seeing things as they are. This is not saying they are anything, just seeing things as they are. Things are simply what they are. What they are is apparent when you see them. When the mind is stuck on seeing things a certain way, it doesn't see things as they are. When the mind is fully awake, conditioned consciousness no longer dominates perception. Things arise in consciousness without much distortion. You can get a sense that you are seeing things as they are, that I think is undeniable. Obviously you wouldn't know this unless you could see it for yourself. What strikes me is how composed this mode of seeing is. Consciousness seems to be fully restored in formlessness as formlessness, this seems to be essential for accurate perception. I think this is true because form is truly formless. Seeing the world through a mind that is dominated by conditioned consciousness is like trying to understand the color yellow when your looking through a blue tinted spyglass. What also strikes me is how we remain human even when we have passed through Emptiness. It is a marvel. It seems like we are meant to be enlightened. That we are clearly designed for it, to hold it. It seems like the natural expression of the fullest sense of our being. Also that this enlightenment is always apart of us because we are human beings. Other sentient creatures have Buddha nature, while human beings seem to be the only one's that can fully express it. 

What I love most about being here is how simple I can be. I just feel fully myself, I feel ordinary and wonderful at the same time. I like being ordinary. I think when you are enlightened everything is ordinary and wonderful at the same time. On the way you are trying to both attain this perspective. I think we lose both the ordinary and the wonderful. We are restless so we are not satisfied with normal, when much of what is normal is what we need, and we have forgotten that wonderful springs from the natural simplicity of things. We look for something else and there isn't anything else. Greatness springs from the ground up. Everything is full of it because everything has sprung up from Buddha-nature. When we are composed and grounded in the ordinary, we can fully appreciate how awesome this really is. Everything is charged with emotion and feeling. There are so many different feelings out there that life is an unending adventure. Wherever our awareness turns, we discover something new. When we pull our heads out of our asses, out of the dirt, and out of the clouds, we are free to experience this. We are so set on having certain experiences, being a certain way, that we fuck up the only experience we can have that is passing before our awareness right now. The flavor can seep into our awareness. When we get out of our own way...we are free to live in this unknowable unpredictable space. And the whole fucking time, there is nothing wrong with being blind, having an ego or fucking up. We are already free as we are. This is just how life is...We are frogs sitting around a pond, feeding on flies and taking dips in the pool. We leave the Dharma as children and we may return to it as adults. Ignorance is born of the Dharma, and the Dharma is born of ignorance. The seeds of the dharma lie in all things. If we look carefully we may give life to the seeds that are sown in our own consciousness. How great a fortune it is to be born again as a Buddha in this human vehicle? 

I feel like I belong to this world. I feel like I am rooted in my environment. This is what I missed as I grew up. I felt like I didn't belong, that something was wrong with me. If we wish to recover this childlike simplicity where in fact we just belong in the fiber of our being, then we should pursue enlightenment. Nothing we find in the world will give us peace or fulfillment. The Dharma is the road to the Buddha and the Buddha is the restoration of our natural simplicity. We seek the Glory of God, yet also the peace and serenity that come from living from our most basic nature. This is quieter, yet much more powerful. It really is peace, and from this peace I believe comes happiness. 

Holy Presence

 What I see now is the presence that lives within everything. It appears to me that everything is this presence. I see it's life everywhere. The same life looking out from everything. To me, it has so many faces, while it remains faceless. The world spins and it remains still. Like lantern light over a calm pool in the night. I'm this stillness it is wide awake, sensitive to everything, yet remaining still. This awareness is full of life. It is full of all our lives. We are truly One in it. It seems to me that there is really one life happening everywhere. One life, one thought, One being. In each person, there is the same life. We imagine that there is a limit to ourself, that we belong to ourself, when really we apart of a great landscape of Self. When we attempt to possess things, we lose sight of who we really are, our true nature. Our true nature is selfless and does not need to possess anything because everything is an extension of itself. It really has no I or we, it just is. It doesn't need to clutch at anything because it is held up by it's own nature. This is what I am. Who we are. We have no self, we are this. I don't think we can lose it, I just think we lose sight of it. Deep within we remain pure and good. We are this unaffected presence, the life of life that always is standing firm and upright in this moment. 

Awakened Mind

 It seems ridiculous that the answer to all of our problems could be so simple. It arises effortlessly in this moment. It fills my awareness with light and creates peace in my heart. It is soft and easy. It reminds me who I am. I am also something so simple. There is such disturbance in my mind that I am somewhat alarmed at this presence. I fear what it will do to me. I sense that all it can do is provide peace. It is so kind and gentle. It honestly feels like the hand of God reaching out to me to pull me up. I sense so much love. Such a depth of intelligence, and feeling. It is remarkable to me that such a thing could exist, when we live in a world full of so much pain. It seems unimaginable that their could be something so good. I feel like so much of how I see the world is from an incredibly limited perspective. One darkened by an odyssey of fatigue and tribulation. The brightness that is here in this moment is so intense it is deafening. The war that we have within us will end when we recognize the futility of our position, the inevitability of complete annihilation. The ego wishes to postpone death for one more moment, yet it can never escape it. It can only continue to throw itself into new delusions that tear apart the sanity of our souls. The trouble we have is believing our egos, and giving into fear, believing we can have more than what we are given and that we are better than others. No one is any better than anyone else, no one deserves anymore than anyone else. Everyone deserves unconditional love and respect. We deserve honesty and integrity from each other. When we don't give this to other people, we don't give it to ourselves. When we think we are higher than others, we actually put ourselves beneath them. We sacrifice the indispensability of our soul-awareness for immediate gratification or relief, we give in to the powers of Satan or darkness, we succumb to temptation and fear, only to reject our true nature which is the only thing here worth anything. We can do nothing of value without the light. It is the bread of man. From it comes all life. When society cleanses itself of evil, it will be much easier for us to see the reason of being a true Christian, whose dogma is that of love. A Christian is a Christian because of the condition of their heart, not what they believe. The way they act rather than what they profess. A true Christian lives from Christ in Christ as Christ. This is the true awakened heart. This is proven faith. 

We may see so many differences between us and others, yet when you see through Christ's eyes, their is nothing but an unbroken sea of common humanity. A life that is shared and bound in the single experience of the suffering that is the nature of our existence. To suffer is simply to be alive as a sentient being in the field of karma, cause and effect, among countless other suffering beings. Life is suffering, it is painful, yet we do not need to be ruled by this suffering. We can blossom in it and awaken in transcendental awareness. Suffering gives birth to the Light, which is Christ awareness, the Holy Dharma. The Dharma is a Golden Eagle born from the lotus flowering in the field of suffering. The field of suffering eternally gives birth to enlightened awareness. It is through the experience of shared suffering that a being awakens and realizes both the common condition of all beings and the reality of liberation which is the non-substance of this condition. In Christ, drinking the Dharma, we do not avoid suffering. We accept it and allow it to flower as it may where-ever it is. Through non-assertion of ourselves conditioned consciousness has no place to perpetuate itself and the Dharma can be allowed to fully fill our being. Christ is release from suffering, from suffering into flowering being. Through acceptance and embrace of the reality of suffering, one is freed from it. 

Christ is Reason, the Highest Reason. To reject the nature of Christ, is to reject the core of our being. Christ lives in this moment. It is the life of this moment. No fortune can be found outside of Christ. True wealth is illumination born of Christ Consciousness. Anything that is conditioned that we depend upon, keeps us weak and blind. It keeps us severed from the source. Christ is restoration of our connection to the infinite plenitude within. Conditioned consciousness creates the perception that it is needed to protect the self, when truly the very thought of the self is that which is the problem. It creates the illusion of a warring divided world of limited resources. It corrupts awareness of the infinite nature of an undivided reality. We are not these separate selves. Not in any capacity. There is no separate self. The rules of this perception rule that perception. Reality is something different. If we wish to live in reality, we have to reject the whole of conditioned consciousness, lest Satan find a crack to crawl back through. We choose God, or we choose the darkness that most call home. It is this black and white. Yet it requires exceptional discernment to see this clearly enough to follow it through to the end.

When we have suffered enough, we may begin to question our way of life. As we become dissatisfied with this world, we may begin to search for an alternative, a way out. Their is a way out, but more than an escape, it is a departure from one way of living to another. It is a maturation of our being, not a continuation of the same habits. It is a dramatic transformation of consciousness. It is a rejection of evil, of sin. It truly is. Yet not through submission and domination, but through the gentleness and ease that springs from inward realization. The more we drink from Christ, the less we desire the tempest that is worldliness.  

Where do we find Christ? Right here. Christ lives in this moment, not down a long alleyway of the mind. Christ leads to immediate action, to a sense of purpose and direction. And Christ is always reaching out to us, so perfectly, so lovingly. Here, right now. We don't think we are good enough for Him, but we are. The imperfections of our being are dirt covering the priceless wealth that is our inherent good nature. We don't see it because we are so preoccupied with our suffering. We have everything we need to take His hand. He is here for us, always. He speaks to us always. He is with us always. 

It is amazing that the power of Christ is so real, more tangible than anything else. When you see it and feel it, the world dissolves around you. If you call His name, He will answer. Hare Krisna! Who knows that a world of Christ-life lives in this moment? His is a world of Unity, of Oneness. We do not belong to dividedness, our soul rejoices in the Oneness of the Lord. Their is a simply unity of all things. A delightful oneness. 

Buddha-mind

 There is no self, no ego. Regardless of the desire to exist as such, it simply does not exist anywhere in the universe. It cannot be conjured out of thin air. Everything that is experienced is that of openness. It is all enlightened being. The state of the human mind always changes, yet this openness remains. Human life is full of suffering. Suffering of many kinds. Suffering comes and goes as does the degree of awareness of each one of us. The action that we take depends on this awareness. Right action is in constant flux because this awareness is constantly changing. It seems to me that it is most wise to take ourselves out of this equation, and to simply let life unfold. Yet to do so, we must fully apply ourselves in all ways to the present situation. To allow life to unfold is to allow our individual nature to fully blossom. This cannot be achieved without non-attachment. This blossoming of the self is not an achievement of the self, but an expression of Emptiness fully expressing itself within the life of a human being. The fulfillment of our human nature is complete selflessness of mind and heart. When we cultivate non-attachment selflessness arises within the center of our being. Despite outward appearances, regardless of successes or failures, we become lighter and freer. It seems impossible that we could escape from suffering in this lifetime through perfect action, through perfect morality and wisdom. We do not need to even do well to be released inwardly from the struggles of our existence. We simply need to behave with a conscientious non-attachment to how things are. This isn't a denial of present realities, nor escapism, nor pessimism. It is a recognition that the world we live in isn't as real as we suppose it is, that something else is far more real, and this is what we really are. We will give ourselves as much as we can with appropriate measure to present circumstance, but we will not accept this present situation as wholly real, because as we sense deep within us, it is not. We know that our senses are deluded, that our awareness is incomplete, that our ability is limited, yet we also know that our true nature is full and complete in this moment, it is only temporarily hidden from our eyes. Non-attachment is a natural response to finding oneself within illusion. It is opening the doorway to liberation, which is realization of the true nature of the universe. Eventually the mirror of illusion will crack and light will pour through and fill our mind. The pure openness of Heaven stands before us as irrefutable evidence of the insubstantiality of the universe. We are of the same nature as the Buddha. We live in the same universe, and we have the same mind. He walked the Earth a moment ago. We walk it today. The same Dharma floats in the air and is carried by the wind. The footsteps of ancient sages yet resound in the cries of birdsong. Their memory remains and the Dharma brings it to you in this very moment. 

Awakening to the Dharma

 In order to understand the Dharma, you have to see it. It has to be present within your consciousness. I think we can have a fairly good understanding of, but understanding does not suffice to explain it or to know it. It is only known through direct experience. Regardless of whatever intellectual foray we make, the results will be the same: dry knowledge and a lack of any real experience. It is a subtle transformation of consciousness rather than a detail of knowledge learned. You can't know it in the ordinary sense. To know it, you must realize it for yourself. Thus it can only be understood or described by people who have thoroughly experienced it. To belong to this circle, you cannot go about learning in the ordinary way, you have to learn in a different way that suits this particular venture. Even to approach the Dharma, you must have some vague sense of what it really is, it must be awake to a slight extent within you already. You really wouldn't be interested in really knowing it unless it stirred within you. It is important to clearly understand this because so much effort is wasted on incorrect ways of realizing it. Our society is so mentally, intellectually focused, that it is difficult to get outside of this way of behaving to do something different. So until this changes it is likely that often only sheer stubbornness and blind doggedness will allow many to break out into the correct terrain. To know the dharma intimately is to transform one's own consciousness from the mental/conceptual/intellectual dominated mind to the presence dominated mind that is born of direct intimate awareness of reality. The Dharma is presence, they are one and the same. To know the Dharma is to go beyond ordinary knowing into a wider landscape of consciousness that is the Dharma itself. Until your mind dissolves in this greater solution, you will not understand. 

Yet, the Dharma is here, right now. All you have to do is look to see. To see right where you are, right now. It is this simple. Bring your attention to the present moment. The Dharma is the present moment. Your true nature is only hidden in your own consciousness. In reality it stands in plain sight. It is the distractions that we call our selves that are not real. The Jewel is already awake within us. Who we call us is not awake because it is not real. It is a temporary set of ideas passing through unobstructed mind. Dropping these ideas is dropping the self and remembering one's true nature. This is like leaving a cluttered room that you have been stuck in. You open the door and walk out into fresh air, trees and plants, and open sky. How quickly you may forget your earlier predicament. The Dharma is awake and alive, right now. 

The more we bring our attention to the present, the less power our conditioned mind will have to draw us back into delusion. This is the simple task of one seeking enlightenment. It is this simple. Regardless of what form or forms this takes, it is always this simple. To overcomplicate this is a mistake, it is delusion getting the better of us, it is forgetting ourselves. Yet this is ok. The dharma winds are constantly changing. Nothing, not even enlightenment, is worth clinging to. It is natural to be immersed in conditioned consciousness, to thirst after the forms of maya, it is natural to seek enlightenment, and it is natural to let go of everything, including enlightenment. All of this unfolds in the same space that is the present moment. 

Our life is here, right now. It is not anywhere else, this is the only place we are. And, the only place we may find ourself. This is why it is so important to be mindful of what we are doing. We only have so much time in this life to realize the truth, and so much can go wrong and get in our way. In each moment we have the opportunity to make an effort to awaken, and we have the opportunity to do nothing. I can see clearly now that this world that we call our home, will not bring us happiness unless we are awake in it. We cannot be awake if we are constantly seeking sense fulfillment. Enlightenment does bring us peace and fulfillment, in a way that nothing else can. If you are seeking, keep on seeking until you realize it is right before you and always has been. Trust in your feelings and keep on moving forward. Pick yourself up when you fall and take another step. Try anything rather than give up. You have to move forward to clear the landscape of your mind. The Dharma is alive within you. If you persist, you will find it. You can do it because you are golden. Your true nature is the incomparable dharma. It's will drives you, it's nature lies within all your motivations. It is unstoppable victory. It will surface and clear your mind. Regardless of how defeated we may be or become, the Dharma is untarnished, ready to go. Rejuvenation, redemption are within reach. Hold on, hold on tight and have the courage to take that next step, and the next one, and the next one. High into the hills, reaching out ever so for the Golden Sun. Some day you will grow wings and fly high in Heaven. 

Mo fo yu

 The dharma flowers out of ignorance, out of striving, and seeking. It blossoms like a flower on a grassy hill that is exposed to direct sunlight under clear blue skies. It opens it’s eye and sees that not only is it a flower , but it is also the hill the sky and the whole universe. All the searching chains of thought in our mind will eventually blossom in the field of enlightenment. The mind will be purified, and no conditioned consciousness will remain. The power of awakening and enlightenment occurs naturally, it is a power we cannot put into words, simply one we may witness evolving everywhere we look. It is the same power and the same nature unfolding throughout the universe. The Buddha mind is the awakening and awakened mind, as well as the power and nature of all things in the universe. All form is awakened, awake, even if it does not realize it. The awakened self is all that is real, it is the One life among all life. There is no confusion, there is no conditioned consciousness, there is simply untouched awakening. There is the Buddha here, and the Buddha there.  The truth is that all there is, is the Buddha who is awake, that is awakenness. The Buddha does not move anywhere. It is a spotless and empty mind. This whole universe and all of it’s forms, sights, and sound, are simply the emptiness of the Buddha’s mind. Regardless of what we attempt to do, we cannot touch it or affect it, for as the Buddha, we have no self. What we call life is an empty as an empty trash can. It has no guts, no bones, no muscle, no skin. What we call a world is not a world, it is not a place, for there is no place but the emptiness of the Buddha’s mind, which is very empty. Nothing touches it, nothing moves it, it is not contemplated nor understood. What mind is there to understand anything at all? What self is there to see? All along, nothing has occurred, what is occurring is beyond any ability to define, it is beyond comprehension, beyond understanding, there is nothing we can say about it. All of this is the emptiness of the Buddha. 

What this is, is infinity, an indescribable infinity. Infinite in everyway. Infinite in all places. Just infinite. You can't pin it down or depend upon any perception to hold it. Yet even if we don't see it, we do, because it is all that is. There is no way to find it or lose it. You can say that you know it, or that you don't, because how could you? Evershifting, ever staying the same. It is just this. Right, here. We live in it, we are it, it is us. Consciousness ceaselessly changes, yet this does not. It becomes anything and everything including nothing. I truly believe it is formless and that this world is an illusion. Reality is simply this enlightened mind. As this indefinable body continues to emanate, the dharma ceaselessly unfolds as forms spiral upwards towards Buddhamind. Within the human being, the energy centers continue to spin and that which is shrouded from the Truth continues to aspire to blossom on the dharma field. The human being is fully enlightened when ignorance has been eradicated. The paradox is that there was never any ignorance to begin with, while it remains as an obstacle to a partially enlightened individual. It is possible to exterminate ignorance. The dharma must fully blossom, thirst eliminated, attachment dropped. These gears spin in Eternity until it is so. The dharma will carry us forward passionately until it is so. Thus we carry on without attachment to the Goal, as the drama of life plays out. It is true that there is no self. That the world is an illusion, even the dharma. Regardless of where we stand, we do not need to fear death, for the road is truly open before us. The same openness surrounds us regardless of our position, we are less than a heartbeat from infinity. The truth is that we always dwell in the sea of life and that there is nothing that can threaten this position. We have nothing to fear and we never will, all obstacles and enemies are illusions with no power. There is no self, no truth, simply Spirit. 

When the Buddha awoke, he did not gain anything, he simply saw clearly what was already here. It seems to me that awakening is more about losing our self than gaining it. We don't gain a new but, but clear away the debris that cover our true nature which is already here. The experience of clearing the debris lends to the notion that there is something to be done to establish enlightenment, that we are missing something as we are. This couldn't be further from the truth. Enlightenment teaches that things are always fulfilled exactly as they are, and that this is the single truth of the universe. Our identity as a separate form is unreal, our identity as Supreme formlessness, Spirit, Being, alone is real. We are Supreme Spirit, this limited human experience is a dream. It appears that our existence within the temporal may continue even though this truth is discovered, and it seems that there is an exact science to awakening the human being that we may follow. I think I feel confident enough to say yes, there is an exact science to awakening. In order to bring all of human consciousness to Consciousness the energy centers of the human vessel must be properly awakened and thirst must be completely overcome. The energies and consciousness of the human being must pass through the various stages of maturity as expressed in the Ten Ox Herding Pictures. It seems to me that our energies to not move altogether from one stage to another, but are fragmented to a certain extent and awaken somewhat independently. Even though our energies are fragmented or compartmentalized, it seems that there are possibly several major movements of awakening that every individual goes through. I don't fully understand these major movements, yet I can say something about them. It seems that we can awaken to stages of human growth and/or stages of enlightenment without fully incorporating the substance of these stages into our daily activity. For various psychosomatic reasons we are unable to live up to their full expression in daily life. It seems that we to a great extent may inwardly realize them, without fully maturing into them personally. Development is not nearly as clean as we may imagine it to be. It is very complicated in my experience, and can become very complicated if things to not go well. There is a great deal that we can talk about with regard to the development of human consciousness. But overall its seems that to fully awaken, we have to inwardly realize Truth and then live up to it, or fully express it as a human being. We have to transmit all of our psychic content upwards through the various stages and energy centers to complete dissolution in Spirit and affirmation as Spirit. We must overcome all temptation, which is the sustenance of conditioned mind. I find it essential to have a good intuitive sense of where I generally am, so that I may know how to proceed. Also, an understanding of the terrain, of the specific processes and transformations and workings of each stage along the path. Both are essential. Both of these can be summed up as the singular nature that is the Dharma, or Way, that is the inner guide to self-realization. We are realizing truth and actualizing the content of the human being. Awakening involved the entire human being, which is a structure of energy-consciousness. Our aim is to turn it on. You can only turn it all on, if you turn it on correctly. Inward realization is contemplation, realizing it fully as a human being requires energy, activity and personal transformation. You must act. You cannot deny your human existence. As much as we are geared to inwardly realize truth, we are geared to manifest it in our daily activity. The human vessel equally capable of both, and cannot function well unless both are achieved. Even if you know what Enlightenment is, if you don't act upon it, it doesn't mean anything. You have to live up to it. You will not be satisfied until you do. You must walk this path too. Through contemplation you can activate inward realization, this still requires bringing your self to the table. You have to move from being driven from tribal motivations, to egoic impulsive motivations, to logical motivations, to rational motivations, and on and on until you have fully manifested Buddhahood. Must may seem like a strong word, I use it because there is only one direction to go, and only one way to get there, and nothing else we do will really satisfy our soul. There is no way around this growth, this movement, so you might as well accept it and get on with it. 

Lotus on a lake

 The lotus flower blossoms on a lake of ignorance. When the pool is disturbed the flower may dip beneath the surface and the dharma flame temporarily extinguished. When the water calms, the flower naturally resurfaces and the dharma flame fills the mind with light. The light of the flame is sufficient to illuminate the way, the lotus dharma flame burns the fuel of ignorance until it is no more and the mind is filled with such bright light that it is completely enlightened. Wisdom comes from the light of the flame rather than from the darkness of the pool. We must trust in the wisdom until ignorance is fully eradicated. The wisdom of the dharma is born of ignorance and resistance, but it itself is open and awake. It is still and unmoving, while ignorance is full of disturbances. The dharma naturally cleanses itself of impurity. Chaos born of ignorance seeks to perpetuate itself with further chaos which it hopes to disguise itself as wisdom as to deceive the existing wisdom within the body. In order to establish oneself in the dharma, one must be able to distinguish between these chaotic voices and the wisdom of the dharma. Only wisdom may lead to greater wisdom. Therefore it is pertinent to be mindful of which stream we drink from, be it poison or the elixir of life. The nectar of the dharma has the power to sustain our being and further awaken our mind. The poison of ignorance is deceptive and destructive. It eliminates the healthy properties of our constitution. It's aim is to tear us to pieces, whereas the dharma is restorative. We exist in such a state of pollution that is is very difficult to distinguish between the good elixir of the dharma and the evil that is the poison of ignorance. The wisdom of the dharma is worth more than anything else in the universe. Without it we are lost. It must therefore be our aim to restore the wisdom of the dharma to it's rightful place as ruler of our being. The same fills our mind with light. The purpose of each form is to awaken fully to the Buddha light. Every effort of creation is an aspiration towards Buddhahood. However confused and self-destructive an action maybe, it inwardly reaches for the light of the dharma, for awakening. We wish to return to our natural state of being, one free of defilement, here we find fulfillment. When you realize you do not find fulfillment in confused states of being, the wisdom of the dharma becomes apparent and desirable, and anything else undesirable. It is wholesomeness that brings satisfaction to our being, not disease. Confused states of mind born of disease lead to the belief that unwholesome activity is wise. Disease is unpleasant, wholesomeness is comfortable. Disease cannot be pleasant, nor can wholesomeness be unpleasant. Any different perception of these come from disturbed states of mind. We cannot trust in the wisdom of disturbed states of mind, we can only trust in the wisdom that is born of the dharma. To spread the dharma light, we can only depend upon the dharma.

The dharma is wisdom itself, it is virtue. It is goodness. These are things are tangible in our experience, yet they are immaterial. Wisdom is not an object of our physical senses, it is something that we find within our mind or our heart. Both the mind and heart have many layers, to locate wisdom we have to delve into them. Wisdom is not any object in particular than we can conceive of in our mind. This is because wisdom is by nature the essence of objects or forms in our mental awareness. It is the heart of form, the life within each object or each thing we may imagine. It is the shared life that inhabits each form or object of our awareness. In our heart it is the attitude of attitudes and the feeling of feelings, It is not anger, or fear, or boredom, or amusement, but the life within these. The dharma and the life that is wisdom is what feels all of these things, it is what has all of these attitudes. It has them, but cannot be defined by them alone. To see wisdom is to see this life within life that is shared among all life and all things. To have wisdom is to experience life from the perspective of this greater Life. It does not mean not having any negative thoughts or feelings, it means having any thought or feeling from this deeper awareness and taking action that arises from a heart and mind centered here, rather than from a shallower state of mind. It means having the capacity to do so. Wisdom is the heart and mind that we awaken to. It is an awakened heart and an awakened mind. Wisdom is the heart of all things, thus it is aware of all things, all at once, all of the time. It knows how things work, thus it may act appropriately, wisely. You could say that wisdom is the self of selves, yet wisdom is not a self, as an ego is. Wisdom is that which is born from the dissolution of the ego in enlightened mind and feeling. It is not a conditioned construct. Seeing it as a greater conditioned construct within all conditioned constructs is simply seeing everything as ego, which is not the case. The heart of wisdom is enlightenment, not ego. It is not something that can be understood conceptually. Enlightenment is only understood properly if it is experienced. It is the mind of minds and heart of hearts, form within form, yet to truly locate it, you have to awaken to it. It is helpful to understand it conceptually and have an intuitive sense of it, so you know where to look, but you have to go there yourself to really find it. You have to see it directly to distinguish between it an what is false. Where it is within our feelings, and within our thoughts, is simply here. This is where presence lies. Presence is the life of life, the essence of all particulars. I do not think you can separate Wisdom from presence. It seems like Wisdom is simply presence directed towards activity. How does one behave appropriately, how does one BE appropriate as a human being, as a sentient being? Wisdom. Take presence and direct it towards the complexity of human affairs.

 Presence, Wisdom, Dharma: they are all truth, they are all righteousness. They are the subtle unity of form, the life within all life, and they each point to Truth, which is the non-duality of the universe. The path of righteousness leads to liberation, the truth leads to the Truth. Each thing is actually the living Dharma and we live in a Dharma-field. Each thing is actually every other thing because each thing is the same thing, the Dharma. There is One life here. One beating heart that spreads infinitely in all directions. We are the dharma, the active expression of presence and pure Wisdom. Life is free and undefiled, seamless and unbroken. One great body of life. Life is open in all directions. It is quiet and still. No one knows where it is going, no one knows what it is for. It is simply here, expressing itself in this moment. Here I am the sum total experience of this moment, there is no end or beginning to anything. This moment is awake, it is aware, it has feelings. It is aware of everything that is going on, it is sensitive to everything, because it is everything, doing everything. One life, resounding in itself. A triumphant awakening of Spirit blazing it's way through an eternal dawn or collapsing in an eternal sunset. Singing the song of life with endless enthusiasm. Awaken! Here I Am!! The whole Universe sprawling into being in each moment. Eternal awakening, eternal rebirth. I am the awakening Christ Spirit, HERE I AM!! Awaken! Rejoice! The whole universe awakens in each and every moment. Glorious unending awakening.  

Victory

                                                                          -VICTORY-

What difference is there between high and low? What difference is there between here and there? Wherever you look, what do you see? Amid the confused sprawling form of Earth and the intricate layers of Heaven, what stands out? What lies within all form, within all places? What is even and broad? What stands before you, wherever you may be? If you cannot find a difference between anything that you experience, then you will find yourself standing wherever you are. You will find that the substance of this standing is all that there is in this world. How can there be such radiance in standing?..

 You will find that by honoring this standing, it honors you, that it's radiance, is yours. It is brilliant. It fills the universe with brilliant light. The substance of all things stands still here and now. 

There is simply Standing. All things in whatever posture they may take, are standing as they are, standing upright and firm. This is the single quality of all things. Far from broken, the universe is upright, very stable. What is the true quality of life? What is the true nature of form? Who lives within each thing? What life is this? Which life among all the life that is seen is real? Which body? Which form? Among everything that is seen, one thing arises, and with it, the rest of the universe fades away. There is a single life here among all the various perceptions of mind. This life alone is real. This life cannot be grasped, it cannot be touched. Nor may it be deluded, or compromised. It is pure and complete. Alone in the universe, it has no opposition. It grows with vitality in all directions. Therefore it is an abundance of strength, from which we may draw on at all times. It is One strength with One life and One purpose. Within our soul, this life feeds us as many streams feed a river, and as a room is filled by the light that passes through a window. For this, each life is a miracle bestowed on us by this unseen God. Each form we encounter, a lamp that lights our way, a holy encounter with one blessed by the hand of our creator. The world is not full of horrors, but many dancing lights, that reveal the dharma: the true nature of the universe, which is liberation from suffering. Scars, wounds, pain, heartbreak: all the healing touch of a Divine Hand that may wound our body or mind, but only to bring our Soul back the the One Light that is hidden within all things. To face this divine hand is restoration, redemption, liberation. Such is the naked power of the Dharma, and the beloved heart that dwells within. Such love is the heart of the Universe, never could it be hate or fear or evil. Such love is the blessing that cannot be erased by bitter journeys through painful karmic winds. It is the staunch light that remains in place, even as great storms pass through the night. 

Woes of the world cannot defeat me. Regardless of appearance, I remain unbroken. Regardless of status, I will emerge victorious. Victory. Untrammeled and unmatched, Victory is my name.