Recommended books this month

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Bridging Science and Spirit - Norman Friedman

·       There is just something missing ·       I just feel disconnected ·       My life is so out of balance ·       I get one part of my life going and then another falls apart ·       There’s got to be more about life than this ·       I don’t have enough hours in the day ·       Life is just one big “stress” ·       Everybody wants more of my time and me ·       I have everything but I just don’t feel good

·       I feel so peaceful and connected most of the time ·       I have a sense of completeness in my life ·       The world is love; wherever I go I experience love ·       My life is busy with so many challenges, yet I feel relaxed and have a deep oneness within      me. In the past I would have been very stressed and had the feeling of being out of control. ·       I’m rich and I have love in my relationships. I have energy and vitality, I’m so happy, I love life. ·       I feel the connection with my inner self everyday, which is my state of being.

A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. ”Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old base­ball cap. “I have nothing to give you,” said the stranger.   Then he asked: “What's that you are sitting on?” Nothing, replied the beggar. “Just an old box.” I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.” “Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger. “No, said the beggar”. What's the point? There's nothing in there.   “Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.   I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself. “But I am not a beggar,” I can hear you say.

Those who have not found the answers to their questions, (who am I, what is my purpose, and so on) have not experienced the secret wisdom, which is the radiant joy of Being and connecting with their Inner-Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love. They have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

 

This secret wisdom tells us the connection with self leads us to enlightenment.  The “Self or Inner-Being” is the true identity of our human person which is different from the personality. Our self is a power center of unlimited magnificence, supreme intelligence that is not separate from our source or God. We are part of it all, we are it; and our purpose is to “know the self” by knowing the unknown.

 

The idea of enlightenment might suggest the idea of some super­human accomplishment, and our ego/personality likes to keep it that way, but it is simply our natural state of felt oneness with Self or Inner Being.  

It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially us and yet is much greater than us. It is finding our true nature beyond name and form. The inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from our Self and from the world around us. We then perceive our Self, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Fear arises, and conflict within and without becomes the norm.

To regain awareness of the Inner-Being and to abide in that state of "feeling-realization" is enlightenment.

 

I love the Buddha's simple definition of enlightenment as "the end of suffering." The Buddha is saying that you'll have to find out for yourself. He uses a negative definition so that the mind cannot make it into something to believe in or into a superhuman accomplishment, a goal that is impossible for you to attain.

 

He is also suggesting that this inner connection is accessible to us now as it is our deepest self, our true nature. But don't seek to grasp it with your mind. Don't try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally.

 

As you connect and become aware of your inner self and that it is a power center of unlimited magnificence, supreme intelligence that is not separate from source energy, the universe or God; your life will be changed forever.

 

You will know you are not your body, your mind, your personality, your anger, fear, or worry; that they are illusions which you have created. You then have a knowing of your own capacity to create your days, your weeks, your life just the way you want. You will live in an everlasting now, moving out of living in the past or future, for the “now” is the creation of everything you want. Your thoughts in the now are the creative power to anything you want to do, be, have or give.