I notice that what’s here – this physical pain, this emotion, this fatigue, this resistance, this fearful image – is already allowed. By intentionally welcome it, I join with what’s already here. I intentionally join with reality.

You are welcome here.

I notice that what’s here – the pain, the emotion, the resistance, the fatigue, the fearful image – is here to protect me.

Thank you for protecting me.

I see it’s devoted to me. It comes from love.

Thank you for your devotion to me. Thank you for your love.

In this, there is a noticing of what’s already here. There is wisdom in recognizing the nature of illusion, at least to some extent. And there is love. It loves me, I find love for it.

It’s all very quiet. A very quiet noticing. A wordless inquiry. A silent draw to and interest in what’s real.

tagged: inquiry, love, reality, welcome, wisdom   » leave a reply   -  

Some folks in spiritual circles like to use words such as reality, imaginary, illusion and so on.

What do these words mean? What do they refer to?

Changes. It’s subjective, in a sense, since what appears to use as real/illusion is different for each of us, and changes over time for each of us. To a friend of mine, it may appear very real that she needs more money. To me, it may appear a little differently. Also, what appears as real for me a few years ago, doesn’t in the same way now.

Real. What’s real? (a) In one sense, what’s real is God – Spirit, Big Mind/Heart, Brahman. It’s this awakeness that everything happens within and as. (b) In another sense, if something is real to me, if it appears real because I believe my thoughts and images, then it is real in my world. It’s real to me. I perceive and live as if it’s real.

Imagined. I like this word because it’s meant quite literally. There is a sound, and then an image of a man with a leaf blower down the street. There is an image of a me and I. An image of a world. An image of beings. An image of time. An image of past, future, present. An image of space. Sometimes, these are overlaid on sensory experiences, and sometimes they function on their own. This world of images is my world, it’s the world I live in and from. I may take some of these images as real and true, or at least representing something real and true “out there” in the world. Or I may recognize them as images. And in any case, it’s all imaged. It’s all imaginary.

Illusion. Taking an image or thought as real, I see, feel, think and act as if it’s real. I live as if it’s true and real. Later, I may come to see that the image or thought wasn’t as true as I had thought anyway. And I may tell myself, it was an illusion. I believed in an illusion. I took it to be real, in my innocence.

Reality and the rest. One way to talk about this is that God is the only reality, and the rest are appearances within and as God. It’s the play of Spirit. It’s lila. When images and thoughts are taken as true, they may appear very true, and yet it’s still not really true.

Onion. It can be a bit like an onion. What at one time appears real and true for me, is later revealed as not so true. I thought the label suffering was real and true, and yet when I questioned it I found something else. I thought I was a Norwegian citizen, a man, a certain age, and when I look, I find something else. I thought there was a me here, and when I look, something else is revealed. I thought I was awareness aware of the world, and something else was revealed. And so on. Taking an image or thought as real, it appears real to me. Investigating a bit further, and something else may be revealed.

The usefulness of the imagined. What’s imagined can be very helpful. It helps me navigate and function in the world. And I also see that when I take what’s imagined to be real or to represent reality, it’s painful. And when I see it’s imagined, it’s a relief.

read on…

tagged: inquiry, reality   » leave a reply   -  

A quick note on the word reality:

When I use the word reality here, it’s meant in the simplest and most ordinary way. Reality, what’s real, is what’s here. A sense of discomfort. Joy. Pain. Resistance. Thoughts. Memories. Fear. A sense of contraction. That’s how Spirit shows up right now. That’s Spirit. That’s what may notice itself as Spirit, or not. That’s what’s aligned with when there is a closer conscious alignment with reality.

tagged: reality   » leave a reply   -  

Reality is what awakens to itself.

And reality already allows – and shows up as – what’s here, whatever it is: these emotions, these thoughts, this experience, this world.

So I can explore this a few different ways.

(a) To explore if reality already allows what’s here, I can ask myself:

It is true this – this emotion, thought, resistance, pain, experience – is not already allowed? 

Is it true it’s not already awareness?

(b) And I can identify resistant thoughts, write them down, and take them to inquiry.

What are my fears and thoughts about what’s here? 

What do I complain about? Wish was different? Hope for? 

The first is an exploration of God’s will, what’s already here. The second is an exploration of my will. And my will – thoughts taken as true – may then be revealed as God’s will along with everything else.

I may first notice that reality already allows what’s here, and then find myself as it – that which already allows what’s here, including images of me and I, identifying with these images or not, and anything else.

read on…

tagged: beliefs, god's will, identification, inquiry, reality   » leave a reply   -  

I came across a blog post called Holy Irreverence: A New Series Exploring the Dark Side of the Sacred by Vanessa Fischer.

It’s an interesting topic. What comes up for me around it?

Definitions of Sacred and light/dark

First, what do I think of as the Sacred? The Sacred for me is the same as life, reality, God.

And light and dark? Light and dark are not inherent in reality, they are only found in my thoughts about it. Since they are labels in my thoughts, what’s called light or dark is arbitrary and influenced by culture, tradition and personal experiences. (It’s arbitrary from a big picture, and yet often not experienced as arbitrary within a particular culture or tradition.)

Aspects of the Sacred

Then, when we talk about the “dark” side of the Sacred, what aspects of the Sacred may we refer to?

I find three: (a) The “dark” side of the Sacred (God, reality, life). (b) Approaches that address the “dark” sides of the Sacred (life, reality). (c) The “dark” sides of a Sacred process (awakening, maturing).

The dark sides of the Sacred as inquiry

A simple way of defining the dark side of the Sacred is to see it as the shadow of our typical images of the Sacred (reality, God) and a Sacred process (awakening, maturing, living from it). If I see God as good, can I also see the bad (what I label bad in my own mind) as part of the Sacred? If I see clarity as sacred and part of a sacred process, can I also include confusion? If what I see as desirable is included in my image of the Sacred, can I also include what I see as undesirable?

If I see something as sacred, can I see the rest as also sacred?

(a) The dark side of the Sacred. What’s my image of the Sacred or of God? What’s the reverse? If I make a list, can I find genuine and simple examples of how each one is equally part of the Sacred?

(b) Approaches addressing the dark side. Any approach to the Sacred worth it’s salt will have ways to address and work with the dark sides of life. Some may be of the first aid variety, making the process a bit easier in the moment. Others will go more to the core of the issue, and may even uproot any ideas of shadow or light, right or wrong, desirable and undesirable. Some of my favorites are tonglen and various forms of inquiry (the Big Mind process, sense field explorations, The Work).

(c) The dark side of the Sacred process. I am not even sure what to define as a sacred process. If it is a process of awakening and/or maturing, then it does have it’s “shadow” sides, which – when I examined it a little closer – turned out to be it’s bright sides! For me, these have included loss (of dreams especially), disillusionment, illness, and primal fears and beliefs surfacing so intensively that they cannot be ignored, pushed aside or sidestepped.

read on…

tagged: dark night, god, practice, reality, shadow   » leave a reply   -  

In inquiry, I find that simple, clear and genuine examples are enough. As I find and take these in, they create a context where there are no footholds for beliefs. And if there are, I can take these to inquiry.

Reality is enough.

Some related beliefs:

Reality is not enough. (For finding peace, happiness, contentment.)

I cannot trust reality. Reality is not to be trusted.

Reality is not good. Reality is not friendly. Reality is scary to me.

Reality needs to be enhanced. Reality needs my help.

read on…

tagged: god, inquiry, reality, statements for inquiry   » leave a reply   -  

I can be tamed by belief or reality.

When I am tamed by a belief, I live and perceive within the world created by the belief.

So I can invite taming by reality instead (inquiry, meditation, prayer, ho’o etc.) – being tamed by love, kindness, reality, God.

read on…

tagged: beliefs, god, reality   » leave a reply   -  

Just to keep noticing. Notice how you close yourself off from love, trust, gratitude and compassion. You are the one doing it. [....]

It’s really simple. The only reason it seems difficult is that your culture has told you otherwise. Keep noticing, and it will become second nature to you. First nature, actually, since this is who and what you are. You are love, only taking certain stories as true prevents that from being obvious to you. You already know this. You notice it each time you shift into Big Mind/Heart. You notice it each time you inquire into a thought you take as true, and find what’s on the other side.

I’ll tell you one secret: When you *try* to believe this, it doesn’t work. You already know. All that’s needed is to look at your own experience. Trying to believe it is trying to trick yourself, and that’s not going to work. You know when you try to trick yourself too. By trying to trick yourself, you start distrusting what’s already true for you.

Just notice that too. What happens when you try to believe? What happens if you instead look at experience? At simple, honest, clear examples?

read on…

tagged: beliefs, big mind dialog, inquiry, reality   » leave a reply   -  

I keep seeing this, and each time I do it is surprising and seems new.

When I am out of alignment with reality, there is stress and discomfort in any flavor.

When I come into alignment with reality, there is relief and a sense of coming home.

And this alignment with reality is as who I am in an ordinary human sense, and as what I am.

As who I am, I come into alignment with reality when I find what’s already true for me. I was the one who made that choice, I cannot blame circumstances or anyone else. I am exactly what I see in her. I do what I complain about them doing. My advice, which I thought was for him, is really for me.

As what I am, I also come into alignment with reality when I find what’s already true for me. Am I content of awareness? Or am I what it all happens within and as?

read on…

tagged: alignment, reality, truth, who and what we are   » leave a reply   -  

Reality is a dirty word in our post-modern world, and appropriately so since it’s often been used to refer to stories as identical with reality.

If reality is not found in stories, what’s reality then?

Reality is what allows whatever happens, and also what happens. It’s capacity for awareness and the play of awareness as form.

Reality is also what we really are.

read on…

tagged: reality, talking about   » leave a reply   -  

What is the relationship between God and reality?

It may seem a strange question, but whether we see ourselves as atheists, agnostics, believers, or perhaps mystics, it is important to clarify.

Do I see God as somehow separate from the reality we know? Separate but connected? Or identical?

If we see reality and God as identical, what does that mean?

read on…

tagged: god, reality   » leave a reply   -  

What is our fundamental view on ourselves and reality? That is one of the key questions in our lives, and a basic assumption that colors how we perceive and act in the world.

Our conscious view is certainly one aspect of the answer. But even more important is our very basic images and feelings about ourselves and the world.

Do we have a basic trust and faith in ourselves and the world, or is there instead a basic sense of distrust and fear?

If we feel that the world cannot be trusted at a fundamental level, we will naturally tend to get lost and caught up in escape, wishful thinking, sentimentality, and so on. We seek refuge in beliefs.

If we experience a deep trust in reality, we will equally naturally tend to allow experience as is, and seek to find what is more honest for us than any one viewpoint. We seek refuge in reality.

read on…

tagged: allowing, inquiry, reality   » leave a reply   -  

The process of growing and waking up is also a process of befriending reality. Of sincerely and honestly find what is more true for us than any story.

Reality is almost a dirty word in some circles, and rightly understandably so if it means to cling to stories as true, and it happens in the “I get it, you don’t” context.

But it can also be what is found through that sincere and honest exploration. What is more true for me than any particular story? How does it look for me to live from it?

I may find that when I find what is more true for me than any belief, there is a liberation. The story is liberated from being taken as true. Who I am is liberated from being limited by the identity created from that belief. What I am is liberated from being limited by that belief. As someone said, the truth will set you free.

And I may also find other things… and each of these stories are their own questions, and what they point to are their own beginnings of inquiry.

read on…

tagged: inquiry, reality, talking about   » leave a reply   -  

What does it mean to grow and/or wake up?

A simple answer is that it is an alignment with reality.

Growing up as who I am, as this human self in the world, has several aspects. And each of these has to do with aligning a little closer with reality.

I learn to find here what I see out there, in the wider world and in past and future. And this can be a gradual process. I find more and more here of what I see out there. I become more and more familiar with it. My human identity embraces and includes more and more of it. I become more comfortable with it.

I realize that I don’t know. I don’t know anything for certain. This too can be a gradual process. I can realize that I don’t know in more and more areas of life, and with more clarity.

read on…

tagged: growing and waking up, reality, talking about   » leave a reply   -