Hardcover: 232 pages; Publisher: Amber-Allen Publishing
(July 31, 2006); Language: English; ISBN-10: 1878424815; ISBN-13:
978-1878424815
5
star must reading.
[The following is what I highlighted during my
read of this excellent book -- I recommend it on my Top-ten List of Peace
resources. My purpose in providing them is to interest you, the reader,
and hope that you will obtain and read the complete work. To properly
understand the highlights, you need to read the book to put them in the proper
context.]
Part I
The Problem: Not knowing who we are
1 - What do I want?
·
…the ultimate answer: “Because
I want to be happy.”
·
…make happiness our primary goal?
·
The internal source of joy –our connection to our Creator, our source,
our inner self – is the cause, while happiness is its effect.
·
Vedanta, one of the world’s most ancient philosophies, tell us that
happiness for a reason is just another form of misery because the reason can be
taken away from us at any time.
·
To be happy for no reason is the happiness we want to experience.
·
The more we live in the state of happiness, the more we experience the
spontaneous fulfilment of desire in the form of synchronicity and meaningful
coincidence.
·
…called the state of grace.
·
…what we really want, …is to understand the mystery of our
existence.
·
According to Vendanta, there
are five reasons why humans suffer: The
first is not knowing who we are.
·
The second is identifying with our ego or self-image.
·
The third is clinging to that which is transient
and unreal.
·
The fourth is recoiling in fear of that which is transient and unreal.
·
And the fifth is the fear of death.
·
Vedanta also says that the five causes of suffering are all contained
in the first cause – not knowing who we are.
·
The superstition of materialism relies on sensory experience as the
crucial test of reality.
·
…we are infinite consciousness with a localized point of view.
·
…the intellect’s mistake.
·
It mistakes the image of reality for reality itself.
3 - Why do I forget who I am?
·
The essential point is that our real nature is a nonmaterial field of
intelligence.
·
…who you are is the same field of intelligence that creates the body,
the mind and the entire cosmos.
·
Once you know that your body-mind is a field of pure consciousness, you
no longer cling to the transient and unreal.
You no longer recoil in fear of it either.
4 - How do I participate in creating my reality?
·
Our body, our mind, our emotions – everything in our physiology is
changing moment to moment, depending on the time of the day, the cycles of the
moon, the seasons, and even the tides.
·
Spending time near the ocean, or anywhere
in nature, can help us to synchronize our rhythms with nature’s
rhythms.
·
What could be a more dramatic example of omniscience, omnipresence, and
omnipotence? The mind knows everything all at once, it is everywhere all at
once, and it is all – powerful.
·
..the mind is nonlocal.
·
All that is experienced in present – moment awareness…
·
The movement of planet Earth spinning on its axis and hurtling around
the sun at thousands of miles per hour creates our experience of time.
·
..time is the way consciousness measures the space or gap between one
experience and another.
·
…people whose perception, internal dialogue, and interpretation of
time is “I have all the time in the world.”
·
…they live longer.
·
When time stands still, thought comes to a standstill.
·
..aging, also stops.
·
…how we metabolize or interpret time.
·
…the concept of time didn’t exist for them, and time is a concept to
begin with.
·
..if you can stay in the present, if you can be with the present, then
even the physical changes that normally occur with the passage of the time will
not occur in your body.
·
To realize the power of interpretation
is to acquire a new definition of the body-mind.
·
We can evoke the healing response.
·
We can restructure our perception of time.
·
…the body-mind is exchanging energy and information with the nonlocal
expression that we call the universe.
·
If you find the part of you that doesn’t change, then you’ll be able
to cause transformation in the part of you that does change.
Part II
The Prescription: Remembering who we are
5 - Where do I go when I die?
·
Who am I? And the answer is: I
am pure consciousness, pure potentiality, a field of all possibilities.
·
Where did I come from?….I
did not come from anywhere, because I was always here.
·
…what is my purpose in life? To
be happy, to joyfully participate in the creativity and evolution of
the universe.
·
And what happens to me when I die? The answer:
Nothing happens, because I do not die.
·
The soul projects itself as the body and the mind.
·
Where is the soul?
·
The soul is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
·
Everything is vibrating, and vibration implies an on/off signal.
·
The soul vibrates, and it creates the whole universe.
·
..creation is a vibration.
·
With every death we store the wisdom of our experiences since the
beginning of time and take quantum leaps
of creativity so that we can look at
ourselves again as if for the first time.
·
At this very moment, you are surrounded by an infinity of planes; all of
those vibratory realms exist right next to you.
·
If you could shift your
perception right now into a different vibratory frequency, you could experience
another reality.
·
We also have an astral body.
6 - What is the key to lasting happiness?
·
The ego is not your real self; it
is image of yourself that you have slowly built over time.
·
You break free by choosing to identify with your inner self, the real
you.
·
You break free… when you feel neither beneath anyone nor superior to
anyone, when you shed the need to control other people…create space.
·
A prayer in the spiritual guidebook. A course in Miracles says
that every decision we make is a choice between a grievance and a miracle.
·
The world of spirit is the source of all power.
·
Real power is the power to create, the power to transform, the power to
love, the power to heal, and the power
to be free.
·
The first sign of object-referral is fatigue.
·
Object-referral is the basic cause of unhappiness…..happiness is the
most important factor in health.
·
…a roller-coaster ride.
·
When we are self-referred, we identify with our inner self,
the unchanging essence of our soul.
·
…why do we feel wonderful all the time? Because we don’t identify
with the situation; we are the detached, silent
witness of the situation.
·
Self-referral is an internal state of joy, and this is different from
happiness for a reason.
·
When you experience inner joy, you are happy for no reason.
·
Everything in life is transient..
·
…when you are self-referred, you enjoy the change instead of resisting
it.
·
To be natural is the best state to be.
·
It’s better to be natural, and to let the universe play itself out
through us.
·
….become a silent, nonjudgmental, nonanalytical, noninterpretive mind.
·
..the key to lasting happiness is to stop looking for it, and to know
that you already have it.
·
You have to go beyond the world of duality to the field of pure
potentiality and live from the source.
·
…it’s the tension between the two that makes life meaningful.
·
If your experience of yourself is object-referred, it is fear-based and
resistant to what is. If your experience of yourself is self-referred, it is
love-based and accepting of what is.
·
Self-referred people are natural and unaffected by the opinions of the
others. They are innocent, simple,
and childlike. Thank you, God, for making
me just like I am. I have good
things, and I have bad things, I have all things in me.
I am complete.
·
Self- acceptance, total self-acceptance, means self-forgiveness.
·
When you forgive yourself and stop judging yourself, then you won’t
judge others, and there will be less conflict in the world.
·
…detached involvement.
·
The key to lasting happiness
is to identify with the unchanging essence of your inner self, your source.
·
Then you no longer look for happiness because you know that you already
have it.
·
More important than a positive mind is a silent mind. A silent mind is a
nonjudgmental, nonanalytical, noninterpretive mind.
·
When you can accept all the contradictions that life offers, when you
can comfortably flow between the banks of pleasure and pain, experiencing both
while getting stuck in neither, you have achieved freedom.
7 - How can I live with effortless ease?
·
…you interfere when you start worrying….
·
Your inner self is your innate intelligence
·
…stress.
·
The basic principle is this: Whatever
you put your attention on grows stronger in your life.
·
We are really being humans instead of human beings.
·
The universe expresses itself through effortless Being.
It is pure potentiality seeking manifestation by having the desire and
just letting go.
·
…the words just come to them.
·
…magical thinking.
·
When gardeners plant seeds, …they don’t doubt that the seeds will
grow into plants.
·
And gardeners don’t get lost in their attachment to the result; they
know the result is there.
·
..this principle in nature is do less, accomplish more.
·
..the law of least effort.
·
Trust in nature’s infinite
organizing power is an important component of the state of grace.
·
…gardeners plant seeds and then let go.
·
It’s the same thing for you. Have
a goal in your awareness, give it your attention, and have no doubt.
Be effortless about it, and
the desire will manifest.
8 - When will I be fully awake?
·
Every day we normally experience three states of
consciousness: waking, dreaming, and sleeping.
·
But only by spending time in silence, stillness, or meditation do we
experience a fourth state of consciousness where we start to glimpse our soul.
·
When we glimpse our soul, we
become a little more intuitive.
·
We start to feel …..there is something more behind the scenes.
·
This leads to a fifth state of consciousness, or cosmic consciousness,
when our soul fully wakes up in waking, dreaming and sleeping.
·
…start to watch our internal dialogue, and we say, I know that how I
speak to myself actually causes things to change in my physiology, in my world.
·
In cosmic consciousness, we find that relationship is the most important
thing in life: everything in life is a confluence of relationships.
·
Right now, we need to reawaken the feminine because the dominance of the
masculine has led to belligerence, arrogance, and aggression, the very problem
we see in the world right now.
·
If we don’t interfere with nature’s intelligence, then we start to
awaken into the sixth state of consciousness, or divine consciousness.
·
..now the spirit begins to awaken in that which is observed.
·
In divine consciousness, we see and feel the presence of spirit in
everything.
·
In divine consciousness, ….commune with other souls.
·
..equal.
·
..empathy.
·
..intimacy.
·
..we can perform miracles.
·
Next, we awaken to the seventh state of consciousness, which is unity
consciousness.
·
When you are fully awake, you open your eyes and really see.
·
You see the whole in every part.
·
…perceiving that which is whole, your vision is holy.
·
When your vision is holy, you are healed.
·
To heal is to return to the memory of wholeness or holiness.
·
There is an ancient saying from
Part III
The Practice: Experiencing who we are?
9 - What is power and how do I obtain it?
·
Real power comes from the essence of infinity, which is your source; it
comes from the source of all power, the one Being.
·
…it is yours.
·
Everything in your life is constantly transforming, but it’s
transforming in a presence that’s always there.
·
If you get in touch with this presence, if you really become intimate
with it because it’s your own inner self, then you will know experientially,
without anybody telling you, that this presence was there before you were born,
and it will be there after you die.
·
How do you experience the domain of your soul?
·
By spending time in silence, and
tuning in to the timeless, peaceful quiet of your soul.
·
..you begin to experience more expansive states of consciousness.
·
..you can monitor your spiritual progress by paying attention to these
signs.
·
The first sign that you are living from the source is a lack of worry.
·
So you feel lighthearted, happy. You
don’t get offended.
·
..don’t feel obsessive.
·
..don’t experience resistance.
·
..experience effortless ease..
·
The second sign,…synchronicity and
meaningful coincidence.
·
..infinite correlation…
·
When a coincidence happens, ask yourself, What does this mean? What is
the significance of this coincidence?
·
…messages from your soul..
·
..your life begins to transform. You
see the connection between your inner world and your outer world.
·
…gratitude.
·
…more miracles.
·
…your life becomes magical.
·
..the third sign…you know yourself as a creator, not a victim.
You realize that the world is a mirror of
your thoughts.
·
Why wait for the world to change when, in fact, you are creating the
world?
·
No problem on Earth can be solved by addressing it at the level of the
problem, but every problem can be solved at the level of the spirit.
·
…the only way to really experience pure consciousness is to transcend
thought and enter into silent communion with your soul.
·
..the most important experience of my life, …is the experience of
transcending to a place of stillness and silence – twice a day, every day.
·
Through meditation.
·
...the first thing you learn through silent meditation is that the “I
am” is witnessing your thoughts.
·
..sometimes the thoughts and the mantra totally cancel each other out.
·
This is when you slip into the silent gap between thoughts.
·
In the gap between thoughts, you become the witness, you observe without
labels..
·
Keep observing, keep observing, until you enter the soul’s domain.
·
..you have a heightened
sense of knowingness, and you can eavesdrop on the cosmic mind.
·
This is when questions answer themselves...
·
..you gain knowledge of the
Self.
·
In this knowledge, you are empowered, you are free, and you live in
grace.
·
Studies have shown that when people meditate their physical and
emotional health is measurably improved, including lower blood pressure, greater
resistance to disease, less stressful response to challenging situations, better
work performance, greater self esteem, and more nourishing relationships.
·
People who have practiced regular meditation for five years have a
biological age that is twelve years younger than their chronological age.
·
But the most important reason to meditate is to connect with your soul.
·
...invite your favorite archetypes..
·
..to come and express themselves through you.
·
...a connectedness..
·
...is the key to power.
·
Pay
attention to the Qualities of Pure Consciousness.
·
Some of the qualities of
pure consciousness are pure potentiality, infinite possibilities, infinite
silence, pure knowledge, freedom, flexibility, unboundedness, self-sufficiency,
self-referring, fully awake within itself, infinite dynamism, infinite
creativity, infinite correlation, infinite organizing power, perfect balance,
evolutionary, nourishing, harmonizing, simple, blissful,
and invincible.
·
..hold freedom in your awareness?
·
Never
Stop Asking Questions
10 - What is freedom and how do I experience it?
·
The bondage is always to our own boundaries, to our own beliefs and
conditioned responses.
·
If you are aware and beyond
conditioning, then you have free will and you live in freedom.
But if you unaware and conditioned, then you do not have free will and
your world is deterministic.
·
The present is the moment of choice and interpretation.
·
Practice
Life-Centered, Present -Moment Awareness
·
One technique that will help you to live in each moment with awareness,
with lightness, with ease, is observing your breath.
·
Observe Your Additive Behaviors Without Judgment
·
“I use memories, but I do not allow memories to use me.”
·
...physical addictions, ...work,
to sex, to television, to shopping, to appearing young, to control, to
suffering, to anxiety, to melodrama, to perfection.
·
The only cure for addiction is spiritual.
·
Ecstasy, or ektasis, literally means stepping out.
·
True ecstasy is stepping out of the bondage of the time-bound,
space-bound world of materialism.
·
Transcend
Your Fear of the Unknown
11 - What is grace and how do I live it?
·
It’s that good-luck factor.
·
..treat your body with reverence and take care of it.
·
Don’t contaminate your body with dead food and drink, toxic chemicals,
toxic relationships, or toxic emotions in...
·
Listen
to Your Body’s Wisdom
·
This intelligence is contextual, relational, nurturing, holistic, and
wise.
·
...when you listen to the inner intelligence of your body, which is the
ultimate and supreme genius, you are eavesdropping on the universe and accessing
information that most people don’t normally access.
·
The more flexibility and variability in your heart ... the more you
create a coherent electromagnetic field.
·
..the aura.
·
..if you have a “heart’s desire”
·
Put your attention on your heart, even momentarily, and if you feel
love, compassion, peace, harmony, or laughter, this will create a coherent
electromagnetic field.
·
Maintain
inner-Body Awareness at All Times
·
Pay
Attention to the Rhythms and Cycles of Your Body-Mind
·
My
body is the dance of the universe.
·
This matching, or falling into a rhythmic relationship with, is called
entrainment.
·
As a result of this vibration, the cells begin to entrain with one
another.
·
…listen to music you enjoy,…
·
…looking at a natural scene..
·
..smell of …aromatherapy..
·
Theoretically, if you were totally aligned with the cosmos, if you were
in total harmony with its rhythms, and if you had zero stress, then there would
be very little entropy in your body.
·
Between six and ten in the morning and between six and ten in the
evening is when your body is hypometabolic, or at its lowest phase of
metabolism.
·
Ideally speaking, it’s best to meditate in the early part of this
phase, and to exercise in the middle of this phase..
·
Between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon is when metabolic
fire is at its highest.
·
Between two and six in the afternoon is a good time to be active, to
learn new mental skills, or to engage in physical activities.
·
Between two and six in the morning is a good time to dream.
·
…get to bed by ten or ten-thirty at night….
12 - The Infinite
·
…get out of the way.
·
It’s just a shift in attitude, that’s all.