Consciousness is Like a Sphere
Consciousness is like a sphere
With impressions of movement on the surface
But deep within
It is complete stillness
Personal and Impersonal Mind
In the unconditioned (human) state, there is a functional mind, a practical mind that processes information from a place that is beyond identification.
This mind is not personal. One could say that such a mind is universal since it functions according to universal principles. One of the most basic principles is the preservation and survival of the species.
On the other hand, when there is identification, there is a superimposition of an imagined personal aspect upon an impersonal event. This is the veil that triggers the karmic realm of cause and effect (for an imagined person).
Death of the body does not end the spinning of the karmic wheel.
A sage is liberated from the personal impression and is no longer identified in any manner. This end of identification is the result of awakening and dissolving (post-awakening) the remaining vasanas.
For a sage, no further karma is generated, and no transmigration occurs.
Identification: You and the Universe
In the mind, your form and the form of the universe appear different
What if you don't identify?
Consciousness and Sentient Beings
What Blocks Presence?
In not too many words, nothing blocks presence.
I know that such a statement may not appear to be helpful, so let's say some more.
What is presence?
It is not something that one does. It is not something that is achieved.
Presence is.
In Sanskrit, it is the term Sat in Sat-Chit-Ananda
Presence/Sat refers to reality. That which is and cannot not be.
What does presence have to do with you?
The question is, what 'you' are we speaking about? Which I are we speaking about?
Is I the body mind or is I that which is and knows that it is?
The scriptures say that there is only one Self, one I, and it is that which is and cannot not be. In other words, presence.
I is Presence.
What can block I? What can block presence?
Only the misunderstanding that I is something that can be blocked. Only the misunderstanding that I is an object, a form that exists in time and space , which can somehow be blocked.
What blocks presence is the misunderstanding about the Self, the misunderstanding about yourself.
Creator-Creation are One
It is important to understand the relationship between the perceiving aspect and that which is perceived. In other words, the relationship between the perceiver and the perceived.
We never perceive a world out there. We always perceive our perception, which is not out there.
Awareness, or I perceive our perception at zero distance.
In other words, there is no distance between the perceiving aspect and its perception. The perceiving aspect is yourself, the only self there is.
Contemplate the zero distance, and you will come to the understanding that you are creating that which you perceive each instant, each moment.
In other words, you are the creator and the perceiver as one.
You conceive, create, and perceive as well as destroy simultaneously. There is no reality to the world or to the mind outside your creation.
Contemplate these words carefully.
Our Experience: manifest and unmanifest
Our experience is both manifest and unmanifest.
There are ongoing gaps, so to speak, between every bit of manifestation.
The gaps are unmanifest.
While that which appears is interrupted by its ending, gaps are uninterrupted and continuous.
It is only from the manifest perspective, via thought that the unmanifest is imagined to be discontinuous.
The reality of the manifest, the reality of that which is perceived is the perceiving element, which is unmanifest.
Across the board, it is unmanifest awareness which is manifesting without ever leaving itself and becoming anything else but what it always is.
Experientially, it is the unmanifest awarness which we refer to as 'I' . It refres to itself as 'I'.
'I', infinite, universal and uninterrupted... manifesting as a personal I which seems to be limited and interrupted by time, space, and death
~~
What Is It In Your Experience That Neither Comes Nor Goes?
When you take a close look at yourself, you find the world body mind, but you do not find a personal entity/doer/chooser. You also find formless and everpresent impersonal awareness.
Check it out.
You believe that you exist in your thoughts.
They appear to you but you do not appear in them except as a belief.
~~~
What is it in your experience that neither comes nor goes?
We Journey Alone
We journey alone
But never truly alone
True aloneness is oneness
Alone as all-one
Can we invite ourselves to the appreciation of our totality?
Do not Bypass Your Experience
As you are abiding in Presence, the world body mind, phenomena do not disturb you.
BUT, you need to be careful not to bypass your actual experience.
You need to look at your direct experience: How you are meeting the challenges in your life?
There are old separation patterns which you need to align with your understanding about your True Nature.
This work is essential.
The Thorn of Mortality
As long as I continue to believe (and feel) myself as a separate entity, as long as I still believe and feel that I am a human being, a man or woman, I continue to experience myself as separate from divinity, as separate from God. I continue to experience myself as a mortal entity and I experience the thorn of mortality.
It is the belief and the feeling of separation which triggers reactivity, resistance and seeking. Our entire past trauma reinforces our sense of separation and leads us to identifcation.
It is this formless awareness which is playing the egoic entity game.
Understanding about the reality of conscuisness and its universal nature helps us to let go of our egoic tendencies. It helps us engage with others out of a place of compassion and openness. All of us are this formless awareness playing various egoic games until we choose to let it go.
Sooner or later, we turn our attention to the source and take a deeper look at the tendency to engage in activities aimed at benefiting and improving the sense of personal self.
Can we invite the question: In this moment, what am I assuming myself to be?
Is it possible to meet our experience without any assumptions about what we are?
Clean slate.
Without referring to the egoic structure, without referring to the past.
Is there identification with a separate body mind entity? Are we protecting and defending the egoic self?
Or are we open and not-knowing? Is our mind loaded with past knowledge and conditioning?
The moment we invite ourselves to be open and not knowing, there is a shift in perception, more clarity and receptivity. A certain degree of freedom.
Rather than engaging from a place of reactivity and negative emotions, we can choose to engage from a place of freedom and understanding. It is a fascinating exploration.
This brief journey is a journey from multiplicity to awakening to unity. From the sense of separation to the holy reunion.
We are here in order to heal the illusion of separation.
Our Conditioned Reaction Veils Our Innate Freedom
Are we fully present internally with both our mind and body?
In the World But Not of the World.
you take them seriously while knowing that they are not serious
and thus awakening and liberating us from being identified in the dream.
Although Ultimately It Does Not Matter
there is something very beautiful about Living this waking dream sweetly
gently
lovingly
refining our skills
Learning how to live
out of love
out of wisdom and compassion
What a Wonder!
What a wonder!
I am nobody
I am everybody
Playing the game of being somebody
I am nothing
I am everything
Playing the game of being something
~~
Quote in photo by Samy Badawy
You are the Knowingness
The world body mind appears to you
You do not appear in it
You are the knowingness of It All
Untouched by your creation
You Are Not in the Dream Which you Perceive
When you contemplate the negative emotions which appear to you
You may realize
That you are mistaking yourself to be someone in the dream.
You are not in the dream which you perceive.
The Changeless Reality of Awareness
Once it is clear that there is one reality, then it is relatively easy to realize that it is changeless and thus not phenomenal.
This reality is aware and knows that it is.
It is this formless awareness which takes on the form of world body mind.
There is no world body mind outside reality, outside consciousness.
What is the Self?
What is the 'I' that you believe yourself to be?
Are you defined by the body mind which you perceive?
You believe that you are a limited personal self.
What is it that limits you besides your belief that you are limited?
Are you not aware that you are aware? This formless awareness is overlooked by your mind.
And yet, it is undeniable.
Formless awareness is and knows it is. There is nothing personal about it.
Contemplate that everything appears at zero distance from awareness. The perceived is not separate from the perceiver.
They are one.
Thus, when we speak of creation, we are simultaneously speaking of the creator.
Advaita. Not two.
Meeting our Shadow
Rest as Presence
Resting as presence
Not in time
No stories
No personal narrative
Touched by the universal whisper
No distance
One reality
The love 
that we are
Not being somebody
Not being somebody
Is it possible to allow being to manifest whichever way it does?
Without interference
Without identification
Without the tendency to add-on a personal entity
To allow being to simply be
It already is
Perfection and Imperfection
From a certain perspective, the body mind seems imperfect.
But when the mind is still
Soaking in the tranquility of the Self
There is no imperfection anywhere.
My Sweet Tara
I love you, my sweetheart
My lovely Tara
Thank you for all the joy
Thank you for the love
Thank you for the celebration
Thank you for your love of truth
Thank you for waking me up so many times at night to explore together
Your sweet smile
Your lovely disposition
Deeply, deeply grateful 
Being together as One
Habitually, we look for something outside our being, something to fulfill us. We look for something to do, to fill the emptiness that haunts us and that we are mostly unaware of.
Seeking external comfort does not work until we are comfortable with being, pure being. Until we are comfortable with the Self, our very Self, we will continue to experience a sort of inner dissonance.
There is a silence which is pregnant with presence.
It is this uncovering of this silence which heals.
Not being somebody. Not looking outside of being, not looking for fulfillment in some phenomenal activity or state of mind.
Being comfortable with ordinary awareness, presence, opens the way for the celebration.
The celebration of being and its infinite manifestations.
Being one, being together as one.
Consciousness is Complete Freedom and Creativity
Consciousness, Reality is complete freedom and infinite creativity.
The humanoid bio-computer is but one tiny creation, one tiny window in the infinite fabric of reality.
Consciousness peeks at its creation via infinite modalities, and not merely via the human body mind instrument.
Consciousness is complete freedom and creativity.
Photo by Sasa Gyoker
Meet Your Experience with Interest
Can we meet our experience with interest, without the old narratives?
Both our inner and our outer experience can be met freshly.
To be still, listening without knowing, without maintaining the old me-stories.
From a distance, it may seem scary to do so.
But as we get closer, being attentive, listening... What is revealed can be magnificently mysterious and liberating.
Invite your Mind to Rest
Maintaining 'I am somebody' requires effort
Recognizing Being/Awareness is effortless
Invite your mind to rest in effortless presence
Trust this restfulness
Photo by Sasa Gyoker
Removal of the Vasanas
The understanding about the eternity of reality and consciousness does not remove the vasanas from the body mind.
The body is deeply conditioned from ancestral vasanas as well as vasanas accumulated during this lifetime.
Further inquiry and investigation is required.
We need to scan our feeling and our emotional states. The exploration of our somatic realm is a crucial part of the awakening.
Life situations may trigger inner feelings, negative emotions and old patterns of avoidance.
This requires sincerity, truthfulness and a deep inner dive.
Can we meet our inner somatic state with silent presence, awareness and interest?
Being completely not-knowing?
This is not about seeking to heal old wounds.
It is about tending tenderly and lovingly to whatever is arising inwardly, no matter how painful it may seem to be.
The Path of Integration
When you are exploring, teaching, sharing and awakening, do not overlook the path of integration.
The alignment of your life and emotional state with the divine principle should not be overlooked by bypassing your emotional and nervous experience.
The inner dissonance which is often triggered by events in your life requires your attention and should not be bypassed by holding on to awakening principles such as: All is one or suffering belongs to the illusory self.
You need to dive into the darkness, into the pain, into the shadow and explore healing the inner child, the inner trauma.
Do not fool yourself by burying your unhappiness beneath non-dual jargon.
Remain available, truthful.
Be watchful not to bypass, or else you remain incomplete, and the inner spin goes on and on.
Healing is an integral aspect of awakening.
Rumi: This We Have Now
"This we have now
is not imagination.
This is not grief,
or joy, not a judging state,
or an elation, or a sadness.
Those come and go.
This is the presence
that doesn't.
It's dawn, Husam,
here is the splendor of coral,
inside the Friend, in the simple truth
of what Hallaj said.
What else could human beings want?
When grapes turn to wine,
they're wanting this.
When the night sky pours by,
it's really a crowd of beggars,
and they all want some of this.
This we are now
created the body, cell by cell,
like bees building a honeycomb.
The human body and the universe
grew from this, not this
from the universe and the human body."
*translated by Coleman Barks
Desire and Love
Desires, that arise out of separation consciousness, bind us.
They reside as images in the mind, reflections in the mind, and they are connected to emotions which reside and manifest painfully in the body.
When both the mind and the body are connected in desires and neediness, the situation becomes a painful emotional web.
One of the solutions presented by divinity and grace is to be completely still at the heart of the pain. To feel it.
Remain there as long as needed, without resistance, inviting yourself to be completely consumed.
In time, there will be a shift as you will go deeper into meditation. A Samadhi state will arise which will shift the somatic state and turn it into Samadhi.
This will also affect the wandering mind and will bring it solidity and strength to remain in presence, in mindfulness.
The mind will wander less and less and will reflect less and less as an inner guidance and strength develops. Single mindedness will follow, with the mind resting in its source.
It's a wonderful thing.
The path of fire and love.
A great exercise
What if NOTHING of what you expected was ever going to take place.
Can you live with that in peace?
I mean, not a thing that you expect and hope for is ever going to be realized. Nada.
Are you going to freak out?
~~
I think that is a great exercise.
Imagine this is the case and explore accepting it and living it.
We are often hiding.
We are often hiding.
Hiding from others and also from ourselves. What are we doing with our secrets? Taking them to the grave?
Maybe we are here to explore, expose, get help from friends, get hurt and seek solace and healing.
Life is happening, providing us with various opportunities and situations to grow, to explore, to feel.
Relationships, projections, blame, avoidance, bypassing... You name it. It's happening.
And it is rich stuff.
Very rich. So, let's get with it and step out of our hiding place.
It's a waste of time to stay in hiding.
Let's dance.
When we leave, we leave eveything behind
When we leave, we leave everything behind. There is absolutely nothing we take with us.
One may wonder what this experiment is all about.
~~
As far as I can tell, there is an evolution from darkness into the light.
Of course, the light is not pleasure, not money or honey, It is an evolution towards divinity. Meaning towards love and kindness.
Somehow, recognizing the other in spite of their apparent differences to be, in a much deeper manner and from the perspective of the heart, to be your very self.
In our life, we are gifted particular and specific relationships and situations.
~~
The invitation is to perceive and act from the heart. To connect from a deeper place of wholeness and groundedness.
Rather than relying on the senses, we rely on our intuition, on our heart, which we need to cultivate. We explore living in inquiry, in an investigative way.
Exploring our belief structures and bringing awareness onto our thoughts and feelings.
This investigation is not only done with the mind, but with the body. The breath, the voice and movement.
Chanting, humming, shaking, dancing, loosening the structure of the body.
Touching each other is a non-threatening way, gently, lovingly.
We are fortunate that there are many people who have explored these modalities, making them available to us.
It seems that this life is about awakening and integration of the awakening.
Integration in our life, in our body, in our mind, in our behavior and in our thinking
Unnecessary Resistance
When we are resisting, we are being protective, and it makes sense. There is no need to enter in combat with yourself.
Allow the resistance and feel your way into it.
What is also fascinating is to inquire if it is absolutely necessary.
Most often it is not.
We may be protecting an image of ourselves. And that is an endless, futile process.
Embrace and inquire.
Being met by the Divine
It is very special when we experience a moment of unity, being met by the divine.
A collapse of separation consciousness.
Can we live from that revelation?
Regularly revisiting this divine revelation.
Honoring this divine gift without creating an object out of it.
~~~
~~~
What a gift!
The Narratives we Fabricate
We fabricate our own narratives by interpreting our experience and feelings.
The stories we create, we maintain, and we get trapped in them.
We repeat them, and we form unhappy structures of separation and isolation.
When we bring awareness to our experience, the structures of separation weaken, and we can breathe more freely.
Freedom is our divine right.
The Essence
When you deeply explore the wave
you will come upon its essence, which is water.
The exploration of your emotions will lead you to their source
which is formless and non-dual.
The manifest and unmanifest
Our experience is both manifest and unmanifest. There are ongoing gaps, so to speak, between every bit of manifestation.
The gaps are unmanifest.
The unmanifest is uninterrupted, it is continuous.
It is only from the manifest that the unmanifest is imagined to be discontinuous.
Sooner or later, you realize that the reality of the manifest is the unmanifest. The unmanifest manifesting without ever leaving itself.
The unmanifest is what 'I' truly is, infinite, universal, uninterrupted... manifesting as a personal I which seems to be limited and interrupted by time and death