Friends of the Heart January 2008 - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

The new Friends of the Heart January 2008 Newsletter is now posted at www.KatieDavis.org/FriendsoftheHeart.html and we invite you to come visit. On this page, you may also sign up for a free monthly newsletter from Katie Davis.

This issue of Friends of the Heart includes "Adoration" by Katie Davis, "Only the Self is Love" by Sundance Burke, Presales Discount Info for Awake Joy by Katie Davis and Free Spirit by Sundance Burke, Sign Our Guest Books, Information about Satsang and Upcoming events, "Loss Grief, and Grace" by Meredith Young-Sowers, author of Spirit Heals and "A Way of Communicating Nonduality" by Jerry Katz, editor of One and narrator of the Nonduality Salon at www.nonduality.com.

Friends of the Heart has added a Contributor's Directory so that you may more conveniently enjoy the wisdom writings that has been submitted over the years by non-dual authors, singer/songwriters, artists and ecstatic poets.

Katie Davis Friends of the Heart: www.KatieDavis.org/FriendsoftheHeart.html

Dallas, Sedona, Flagstaff Satsang - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

Reminder for satsang and satsang intensives with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke. For Plano/Richardson/Dallas, Texas registration, go to www.CompassionWorks.com. Schedule individual appointments with either Sundance or Katie by contacting Jordan Shafer at jshafer@CompassionWorks.com.

Last day for Sedona Registration discounts is January 10. After that date, we welcome your donations at the door. Flagstaff satsang and satsang intensive registration is open at www.FlagstaffReligiousScience.org. Contact Richard Sink at resink@npgcable.com. More information about Richard's programs at www.VideoSatsang.com.

You may also donate at the door for all of these events. More information at www.KatieDavis.org/Schedule.html.

Registration discount for Boulder, Richmond Hill, Toronto and Chicago open until April 1, then at the door.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Falling Apart Part 3 of 4 - Awakening - The Shadow is the Illusion by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie

Part three in a series of 4 (note original question on December 28)



Katie Davis Continues Discussion with Questioner:

It is as though you are standing with your back to the sun and watching your shadow outside on the ground. And, you think the shadow is you! Then you look at everything in the dimness of your own projected shadow of misidentity and separation; then blame the contents within the shadow for the darkness and your suffering.

You would never confuse yourself with you shadow, isn’t this true? You are striving to get rid of the shadow, but don’t want to get rid of what is causing the shadow. This separate sense of self, this perceived false image of a separate individual as identity, is the cause of the shadow.

This conditioned belief in separation is the cause of human suffering. It begins with the first thought "I" and all the other separating thoughts follow. I know that this dreaming "I" seems to be a harmless one letter word “I.”


On the other hand, look how you have glorified a separate, objective word? Can you consider the possibility that the separation that you are suffering is inherent in your idea of being a separate individual, independent entity?

Your thoughts are projecting out into the world. The separate sense of self projects separating thoughts and is only capable of perceiving separation. Naturally ... it suffers. This projection of thought into the world is what I am analogizing as the shadow. As long as you are standing there (with you back to the sun), there is the illusion of a shadow. I am inviting you to turn your back on the shadow and see that the sun is radiantly shining. The sun has always been here, but you are focused on the shadow of suffering caused by the projection of the first thought “I.” Turn you mind inward and discover your radiance.

You have two opportunities. The first, you could turn you back on the shadow and investigate this assumption of me. The second, instead of trying to escape the suffering, walk right into it. Investigate it fully. What is the nature of this vast void of suffering, not just your suffering but the suffering of all humanity.

Is there a possibility to surrender this story of me in 100% willingness? Is it possible to 100% surrender this concept of “I?” 


Not because I say so, but because you are also willing to investigate this concept of "me" and directly experience that there is no one there? 


With 100% willingness to be free, there is ease in awakening. With only 90% willingness, there may be phenomenonally beautiful experiences of awakening. These glimpses may be truly profound. But the 10% that remains in holdback and continues to cause feelings of fragmentation, disorientation and continued senseless, pointless suffering. 


Are you willing to release that 10% to be what it truly already is? This release stops the suffering. Actually, it reveals the illusion of all psychological suffering. You are free. In fact, you are free right now. 


When will you look?

(This conversation with the questioner and Katie Davis is to be continued)

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Falling Apart by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy - Part 2 of 4 - Awakening - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie

Part Two of a Series of 4 (For questioner, see first entry on December 28)



Katie Davis:

Sometimes in moments of loss, we turn away from the world, away from everyone and everything, away from people, possessions, and general life circumstances. This turning to be alone is such a gift. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to change life circumstances, in the end, we still do not feel happy. In grief and loss, no matter how long we attempt to heal the pain, it seems to remain. The blessing is that attention is turned inward.

Self-observation begins and the basic dysfunctions of conditioned thought are exposed and made conscious. The "normal" functioning of conditioned thought is relatively the same for everyone, with of course individual circumstantial differences. 


Through the observation of thought, attachment and identification with them subsides. When we realize that we are not our thoughts, we begin noticing that we are really the pure attention that is observing the thoughts. This is our first step toward liberation, toward the Truth of being that we are right now. Once this primary dysfunction is made conscious, the thoughts may be released; the conditioning is freed.

We begin discerning what is true and what is false. You can observe the subconscious storylines that are driving the conditioning. You have the choice to stop following them. Maybe there are certain thoughts that just do not need to be thought any longer. In this release, there is more space. You notice that you are really the spaciousness within which the conditioned thought stream flows. There is an opening and a relaxation of the mind. With more tranquility, the thought stream starts slowing. In the slowing, there is less emotional reactivity, since we are no longer identified with the thought.

Questioner:



I tried years of therapy and my feelings did improve somewhat.



Katie Davis:

Yes, of course, everything has its place within time. I am sure a greater self-understanding emerged from those meetings and perhaps a new type of programming that supported a more balanced life. Certainly, a compassionate listener helps you to hear your thoughts and feelings.

Because of past conditioning, certain thoughts are linked to certain emotions and by releasing this programming, the linkage is broken or improves somewhat. Your relative happiness improves accordingly. We feel relatively happier. Better programming facilitates emotional balance, however it still is programming and it is still ego's programming. It is like changing the television channel to better programming, but it still is only a program on television. There is nothing real about it. Happiness still comes and goes, sometimes happy and sometimes very sad.

Therapy definitely has it’s place and provides a wonderful support for people in difficult times, allows us to watch our thoughts and how they interact with our emotions. It is just that if you are searching for that which is permanent, that is, a joy that can never leave you, you can not find it within the relative, within the impermanent. Impermanence cannot provide permanence.

Can you see that you are continuing to believe that you are somehow separate and this uninvestigated assumption of individuality as identity has never been directly examined yet. You said that you have been on this path for many years. Perhaps you have studied your thoughts, your feelings, and your form long enough. Improving limited objects does not make them unlimited. The invitation before you right now is to see who the star of this movie really is. In other words, whose thoughts, whose emotions, whose form. Who are you really?

(Part Three of Falling Apart, a Dialogue with a questioner and Katie Davis will continue tomorrow)

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Falling Apart by Katie Davis - Part 1 of 4 by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy - Katie Davis Blog: Awake by Katie

Part One of Four in a Dialogue Series with Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy:

Questioner:

I have been on the spiritual path for many years and yet there are circumstances in my life that still cause me to suffer. I feel like I just can't stand it any longer. Just when I think that everything is finally good and going well, another thing happens and I go right back into the suffering. Right now, my life is simply falling apart all around me. I can't believe that this is happening to me right now. My relationship is failing and sometimes I feel that if I were to let myself cry, I would never stop. You speak of joy, but I tell you, Katie, I don't see it. Just when is it going to happen to me? What more can I do?

Katie Davis:

You can realize that you, as you think that you are, can do nothing. I am asking you to stop trying, to stop effort and to be still. Stop trying to hold it all together. Stop trying to hold 'yourself' together. You said that you have tried everything. Have you ever tried nothing at all? I am calling you to a deeper surrender.

We have been living under the false assumption that we are separate individuals as our true identity. We accepted this assumption when we were children and attempted to build a stable life. How is it possible to create a happy life, when it is based on the pain and suffering of separation, based on a lie. Through Grace, and with a certain spiritual maturity, there is enough disillusionment with life circumstances and a weariness arises or perhaps a given life situation slaps us to our knees in tremendous grief and loss. I am asking you to use this loss as an opportunity to go deeper. I am asking you to investigate the reality of this individual that you are calling "you."

Most people in this world are focused on the objects of the world, on object consciousness. They define themselves according to life circumstances and the conditioning that surrounds those life situations, based on past experience. There is a magical belief that somehow some thing or someone outside will be able to finally bring us happiness. As long as one searches outside of oneself, happiness will continue to elude them. It is an impossibility. You are searching for happiness where it can not be found.


Awake by Katie Davis Blog Friends - The dialogue will continue tomorrow


Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org


Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

Awake Joy Book Website www.AwakeJoy.org

Can You Just Allow it to Be? by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Can you just allow it to be as it is? Right now, is it good enough? Truthfully, does anything need changing ... I mean only right now.

Listen to conditioned thought and watch it trying to control and manipulate the situation... constant struggle. Well, what happens if you just give up? Yes, stop. It is plain to see that this moment already is. Is it not true? How could struggling with what already is cause anything more than more suffering. Just allow it to be as it is.

Ok, so you have surrendered, right? Now watch the ego pick it immediately up in some type of victimhood. As soon as you let go to allow the circumstances, it begins telling an internal story of oppression. This is the past that only appears to be alive in you. Can you see that it is only conditioned thought? Well, what if you just allowed that to be as well?

Listen without involvement. Just watch without resistance. Yes, the mind is resisting, but you are not the mind. Can you see that these thoughts are a little crazy? I am not speaking of judging them. Just listen. This is all about the past, the little suffering me, or about the future and its ambition to get somewhere other than where it is. Stop and breathe.

You are not your thoughts. You are not the situation that seems to be causing some type of conflict. You are not these emotions. The emotions are being caused by the problematic thinking, so the body reacts and we call it emotion. Yes, feel it fully. Let the heart crack open and see that only love and peace remain. Welcome the emotions and watch how they perpetuate. Just watch. It is truly amazing, is it not?

The separate sense of self has the idea that it has some type of pseudo power over some other if it could only resist loud enough. Can you see that the dispute is only with yourself? Can you see that true power is to allow it all to be. I am not suggesting that you remain in a situation that is harmful, but in that second, can you see with clarity that it already is? In that clarity arises right action.

It is the quality of your conscious intelligence right now that is the next moment. Can you attend the clarity and attention to keep your inner space open, clear, unprotected and free?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie by Davis
www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

Awake Joy & Free Spirit Presales Open - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

Presales are open for Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment by Katie Davis and Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being by Sundance Burke. Both books are hardbound, each with 224 pages.

Until February 1, we are offering a 20% discount on each book. In addition, we are also offering a Togetherness Presale Discount for those who would like both books. The Togetherness Discount is 30%, plus two books ship for the price of one.

Awake Joy and Free Spirit will ship February 1. The presale discounts apply until February 1.

Click the following links to enjoy Awake Joy: Summary, Contents, Reviews, Katie Davis Biography, Purchase.

For Free Spirit, please click: Summary, Contents, Reviews, Sundance Burke Biography, Purchase.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Sundance Burke Website www.sundanceburke.org

Flagstaff Satsang, JOY Right NOW - Sedona Satsang - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

Registration for Katie Davis and Sundance Burke Flagstaff Satsang and Flagstaff Satsang Intensive is now open.

First, they will be speaking at the Flagstaff Religious Science Church at the Sunday morning services at 10:00 am on January 27 with music by Tom and Shondra and no registration is required. There is an optional love offering to the Church.

Then, on Friday, February 1, they begin a two day Flagstaff Satsang and Satsang Intensive entitled JOY Right NOW. Satsang will be Friday evening with a satsang intensive on Saturday, February 2. You may register for a single event or for a special two day pass or donate at the door.

Those attending the Sedona Satsang at the Sedona Creative Life Center on January 26 also have the option of registering for a two day pass that includes Satsang in Sedona as well as the Saturday JOY Right NOW Flagstaff Satsang Intensive at the Flagstaff Religious Science Church on Saturday, February 2.

Our sponsor for all of our events in Arizona is Richard Sink of Video Satsang, who regularly offers video satsang with Gangaji and Eckhart Tolle at the Spiritual Life Center in Flagstaff.

To register for Flagstaff Satsang and Satsang Intensive, please go to Flagstaff Religious Science Church.

To register for Satsang in Sedona, go to the Katie Davis Schedule and Registration. You may also donate for all of the satsang at the door.

For more information about the Arizona Satsang Schedule or to view Sundance and Katie's Schedule for 2008, go the Sundance and Katie Satsang Schedule.

Katie Davis Satsang Schedule: www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Sundance Burke Website www.sundanceburke.org

What is Satsang or Advaita Satsang? by Katie Davis

Satsang is more than a public meeting where a teacher sits before students and the intellectual topic of discussion is consciousness, presence, being now, Truth, Self-realization and enlightenment, while using concepts, ideas and beliefs. In Satsang, "sat" means "truth" and "sang" means "community." The term "satsang" means "in association with Truth."

In English, we do not really have an equivalent translation. In fact, the most popular translation, "in association with Truth," is slightly off point. While the difference may seem subtle to the mind, it is problematic for Self-discovery. If you are attending satsang and believe that you are "in association" with Truth, then you can be who you really are. The translation is dual in nature and Self-realization is Non-duality; there are not two. If your perception is that you are sitting with "the Awakened," you are looking at the teacher as something other than you are. This is a false idea. True satsang is a confirmation that you are indeed all that you are seeking.

In satsang, there is a palpable "new" frequency of being, a radiant being, and an inexplicable silent stillness that is alive. If words are spoken, which is not required, the words arise from the stillness as living words. The vibration of quietude is on top of, behind and through every word. The teacher is not "doing" or "transmitting" anything. Instead, the teacher is like an open window with a breeze blowing through, a breeze with no separation or movement. When the mind is quiet, it is called Presence and this Presence is very contagious by Itself. Everyone who comes in contact with it is affected, whether they are conscious of it or not.

There is no positionality whatsoever between you and the teacher. In fact, the teacher is recognized to be none other than one's true Self. It is directly experienced that you are not separate and that you are already aware and whole. There is absolutely no need to heal a perceived broken past, since in the Now, you are already radiant and complete. There is no need to fixate on any aspect of the future, in search for an obscure happiness through more becoming, since as Now, supreme happiness is. You are the Now and it is realized that this is the only eternal moment in which true life IS.

In satsang, Love burns everything into Itself. Like the alchemy of transforming base metal into gold, there is a natural transmutation of pain and suffering into Love. With 100% willingness, there is the destruction of everything false and enduring fulfillment outpours.

Papaji, one of the world's greatest sages, shared that there are certain requirements for the student who attends satsang. First, there must be an ability to discern what is real and what is unreal. Second, it must be recognized that Truth is beyond the senses. In addition, there must be a willingness to be timelessly present (as you truly are), releasing all concepts of the past and future. Finally, there must be intense yearning and the desire for freedom above all else.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Friends of the Heart December 2007 by Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

You are invited to my website to enjoy our latest issue of Friends of the Heart.

This month's issue includes an article, based on a conversation that with someone on this Awake by Katie Davis Blog, entitled "Over Thinking ~ The Primary Addiction" by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy.

This issue includes an article by Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlighened Being," entitled "Fearless Loving."

The Friends of the Heart December Issue includes information on our events offering Satsang and Satsang Intensives in Plano and Dallas, Texas, Sedona and Flagstaff, Arizona, Boulder, Colorado, Richmond Hill and Toronto, Ontario and Chicago, Illinois. Registration information is also available.

In addition, this issue of Friends of the Heart also includes information about our organizers in these cities and the programs that they are offering locally such as Jordan Shafer of CompassionWorks, Richard Sink of Video Satsang, Richard Lazarra of Shankar Gallery, Bharangi of The Rising Sun, Paul Evans of Toronto Non-duality and Charlie and Maggie Wilkins of One Heart Teachings.

Finally, you may enjoy information about my new e-book, "Heart of Life" that contains articles that have been published in magazines, newspapers and websites in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Friends of the Heart www.katiedavis.org/friendsoftheheart.html

Sundance Burke Website www.sundanceburke.org

Life's Movie is Past Drama by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis

When we begin awakening, we realize that we have spent a lifetime dreaming. The world of form appears similar to a movie and we begin realizing that the movie is being projected by the inner dialogue that we are maintaining.

The former tendency was to move into the story of me ... the movie ... and try to fix it within the dream. Upon awakening, we realize that the movie already is and it is virtually useless to try to fix it.

However, we can realize the source of the movie projection is beyond all the mental attitudes, beliefs, concepts and experiences that we have conditioned from the past. The inner tapes keep compulsively running and it goes on and on and on. These internal tapes seem to be creating what you perceive to be your personal reality.

In other words, if you want to become more aware of the unconscious beliefs that are obscuring your true freedom ... just watch the movie. It is constantly revealing to you what is requesting release.

At some time, we also awaken to the fact that the separate sense of self is also part of the daytime dream. Instead of being identified with the dreaming 'I' and its internal dialogue, we detach from that individual self.

In this detachment, dreaming "I" disappears along with all of its problems and conflicts that has been projecting as a personal reality.

There is something deeper here, something ineffable and sacred. Who is aware of this movie named the dream of ordinary life? Who is aware of all the inner tapes (our past conditioning) that keeps repeating in our heads? Who is aware of "Katie?" Who is aware of the body and its functioning?

It is the Pure Awareness that you are and it is the sacred dimension of the Still Heart that is silently waiting to energetically emerge into your life story and into the world.

So we leave the story alone for awhile and even leave "Katie" alone. We surrender "me and my story."

Since we are willing to surrender the idea of "Katie," the one carrying the conditionings, we become aware of awareness. We have watched the movie long enough.

Perhaps we have realized that "Katie" is also part of the movie. Maybe we have realized that the movie projector is the individual sense of self. However, are we aware of the screen upon which this movie is playing?

Self-realization is finally stopping all strategies of escape and all ideas of salvation. Through silent and still watching and resting as still being, we are able to be aware when the conditionings start appearing in the movie. We don't resist them, we simply rest and watch. We consciously realign with the sense of being within and a natural transmutation of all that is false is 'burned' into the unconditional love that you are right now.

We have learned to have one 'eye' outward for daily living and one 'eye' inward as the Still Heart. In this pure attention, we are then able to keep our inner space open, unprotected and free. We become aware when the movie has a negative impact on our inner space. When the energy of contraction (negativity) starts creeping in and invading our inner space, we become aware of it and just let go. We don't start telling ourselves, "there I go again, when will I ever get it, I can see that I am contracted and negative." No, you simply stop.

Be aware of your breathing and relax the body and we regain the peace that is always here whether we are conscious of it or not.We simply stop and then once again maintain the clarity of our inner space through attention.

Release the past. It is not here. When your conditioning appears in the present, this is the past that only appears to live on in you. The truth is that you are free and timelessly here right now. Virtually nothing can touch the joy that you are.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis
www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

What is Advaita Vedanta? by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In the East, non-dual teachings are referenced by the term Advaita Vedanta. In Sanskrit, "Advaita" means "not two" and "Vedanta" means "the end of knowledge." Non-dualism is beyond knowledge.

However, in non-duality, there is no experiencer and no experience. There is no perceiver or perception. The points of reference of the experiencer, the perceiver, as well as the witness, are limited and therefore, all objects of perception can only exist in limitedness.

Self-realization is the discovery of oneself as the infinite Peace, the eternal formless, the indescribable Love, the unfathomable Sacred that is transcendent of conditioned thought. It is transcendent of you, as you think that you are, as well as transcendent of the world and all objects. It is the Mystery beyond the mind. With integration and the full embodiment of enlightenment, all form is recognized as none other than the Real and is cleary the manifestation of the formless as Itself. There is no self-referencing whatsoever and no abidance anywhere.

Who you are is beyond the mind and cannot be intellectually understood. When the illusory veil of the ego is lifted, the perception of duality culminates, which removes the illusion of separation and the illusion of all opposites. The concept of individuality is released into the Ocean of Love. Like water pouring into water, without the possibility of return, it then manifests as waterfall, river, or ocean.

Sacred Love is the topic of enlightenment. Although we speak about it and use words to point to it, the Love remains untouched. Presence shines to Itself, by Itself and in Itself. The unconscious mind is freed and it realizes the incredible beauty of it's true nature, which is the eternal Silence. Then, in service, becomes the hand-maiden to Truth.

Consciousness recognizes Itself by being fiercely now, by intense investigation and, once the mind is tranquil, by making no effort. At this point, effort is seen to be a future endeavor and a moving away from the Truth of Being. Until that time, it is essential to observe the functioning of the unconscious mind and recognize that you are the spaciousness in which all comes and goes. You remain still, immovable, being vigilant, being Heart. It is the realization that Love is all there is, Love is all there ever was and that you are this Loving now and naturally free. The illusory pain and suffering were caused by the shadow cast by the unconscious mind and the uninvestigated assumption of "me."

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Resistance and Surrender by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Resistance seems unique to the human being. Nature provides many examples of yielding to life, rather than resisting. In a tropical storm, palm trees yield to the wind and then regain their graceful sway after the storm passes. A river yields to its gravitational force as it effortlessly descends the mountain to disperse into the Ocean. Winter yields to spring, just as the ocean yields to the tides. Eagles soar in the air and yield to the wind's change of direction. Daytime gracefully surrenders to the intimacy of the night. Thought free, nature meets life as it is and never slips into time. When we no longer oppose the flow of life, we feel the impact of relinquishing resistance. The feeling impact is an opening into the expansiveness of peace. We free Wisdom's work to run through us. This Current will carry us to the Joy of the Ocean, if we would just let go and surrender.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Let It Be - Unconditional Surrender by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Unequivocal surrender is a surface letting go of a life situation that previously would have annoyed us or hurt us. We begin standing free of our judgment, manipulation of others and control of life circumstances. In this, we remain emotionally balanced, free, and at peace.

Unequivocal surrender is a willingness to allow this precise moment, right now, to be exactly as it is. How could it be otherwise? Sensibly, we unconditionally accept the "nowness" of life ... since it is ... it already is. In the past, we fought with the moment and tried to change it, but no one can change the present moment that already is. This just makes sense, does it not?

Through this tolerance the ego begins losing its pseudo power and reactionary nature. The mind-made self begins losing its grip both on you and on others. We begin resting in the simplicity of timeless presence and find that we begin welcoming life circumstances no matter how they appear.

We rest in silent being with some strange knowing that the Heart is consuming "us." Let wisdom do its work and remain still. That is your only responsibility. Stop and be consciously aware of the open window within you through which unconditional love flows. Be quiet, be still, and that is all.

As the simplicity of being deepens, transcendental surrender draws near and matures into the wisdom of Self-realization. Just as the sun does not know darkness, Self does not know not-Self. Darkness cannot prevail in the light of consciousness. The radiant mind then mirrors the innocence and purity of our true nature. We call that world transformation. Let it be ... just let it all be.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

True Forgiveness by Katie Davis - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis

Love does not exist within the mind and its time. Trying to heal the past is a past fixation, so we are not present for the unconditional Love that we are. The mind-made self, the ego, has a lifetime of past experience. Those that are most troublesome seem to be the ones that we meet within our intimate relationships. All of the ego's rules, expectations, intentions, and lack of trust are based on past experience. The ego acquires knowledge from the past and applies the known to present experience.

With each encounter, when others fall short of expectations, it suffers and then closes down even more. After enough negative experiences, the ego may even generalize its experience with a few individuals to an entire class, such as "men." Now, it not only has a few individual enemies in the life experience, it also has an entire imaginary army, somewhere in the future that certainly will create more of the same.

While fixated on the ego and its time, we seem to recreate the very thing that we want to escape. The ego projects into the future, its experience of the past, as present moment experience. Playing by the ego's rules of the game involves a never-ending loss of innocence. Of course, Innocence can never really be touched, since it is absolutely indestructible and perfectly within you right now. We just are not yet conscious of this Field, since the ego is mentally involved in the every day push and pull of the mind and its conditions for living each moment.

True forgiveness has nothing to do with any other. One could say that you are the forgiveness for which the ego strives. When you of free of time, that is, free of the past, free of "me" and therefore free of some "other," truthfully when is forgiveness required? We are simply free in our refuge of timelessness.

Other than perceived events that appear solely as mental images in the head on a chronological dateline, are you free right now? Are you truly available to offer True Compassion for all that appears, regardless of the face that it seems to be wearing? Do we live in constant forgiveness for all that appears? Do people truly accept this moment just as it is?

Let your heart crack open, face fear, and see if it is as the mind thinks.

Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis
http://www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Seeds of Compassion with the Dalai Lama - Recommended by Katie Davis

This morning, I would like to draw your attention to an extraordinary program that is based in Washington State. In April, they are gathering 15,000 school children, educators statewide, parents, caregivers, and civic leaders at Qwest Field with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This program with be broadcast on the internet in 24 languages worldwide.

A second Children's Day at Seattle Center's Key Arena will gather thousands of children to dialogue on kindness, empathy, and compassion.

Another day follows, Science Day, when the Dalai Lama and leading researchers will be presenting the proven brain science showing that nurturing kindness and compassion throughout childhood can have a profound and positive impact on the lives of our children, families, schools, communities, and society at large and how it can be incorporated every day of our lives in simple ways.

Seeds of Compassion is based on an award winning, evidence based classroom program named Roots of Empathy that was launched in Canada in 1996 by Mary Gordon that scientically proved the dramatic impact that compassion has on reducing violence and agression while developing social/emotional competence. Roots of Empathy was launced this fall in 10 classrooms grades 1-6 in the Seattle and Kent School Districts, the first in the United States to offer the program.

True and lasting fulfillment is the only answer and it seems Seeds of Compassion is pointing the way.

In my book, Awake Joy, I offer two chapters on the conditioned child and conscious parenting and also point to compassion, gratitude, selfless service, and unconditional love as a powerful practice to turn the mind's life around to the open way of the Heart. A practice that can be offered through simple gestures every day.

I am thrilled to discover this program and the potential that it might have to surrender suffering for ourselves, our families, our schools, the workplace, the world's religions and even the living earth, its creatures and environment.

Please forward this message to anyone who may be interested and go to their website. I notice that are many ways to volunteer for this four day event. I stumbled upon the website by accident today on the internet. As a former secondary school educator, mother of four grown children and two grandchildren who will be soon entering the public school system, I am so grateful to hear of this program.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Thanks-Giving by Katie Davis

Tomorrow in the United States, it is Thanksgiving Day. To all our Friends of the Heart, no matter where you live ... I am simply grateful ... so much gratitude!

All Love ~ Katie

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awakening and Joy of Being by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

For spiritual awakening, I am suggesting that you leave your life story alone for awhile and focus your attention on the storyteller. Meanwhile, I will offer pointers toward the permanent surrender of this perceived individual identity, who is inseparable from who you are, but not who you are. In this manner, you have the opportunity to realize unfathomable fulfillment in the Truth of Being.

When you are identified with the story, you believe that outside circumstances cause your emotions to change. For example, someone does something that you either love or hate, so you feel either happy or angry. This translates that if you are happy, someone can also take it away or if you are angry, someone else should fix it. By surrendering your true power in this manner, you helplessly ride the waves of emotion as they endlessly rise and fall. You remain subject to the merciless push and pull of the emotional aspect of the mind.

At first glance, you begin realizing that your conditioned attitudes about past situations are conditionally linked to certain present emotions through your thinking. Based on past experience, this conditioned linkage is the actual cause of your emotional storms. This is self-inflicted suffering. You cannot learn the joy of being, but you can become aware of how you deny this Truth through self-observation. You can even become aware of the instant that you choose to do so. Meanwhile, deep within, constant joy is without cause or condition. My invitation is to look deeper than the storyteller and its storyline for joy’s discovery ... the pure joy of being.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

JOY Right NOW Event in Dallas - Advaita Satsang and Satsang Intensives with Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

You are invited to "JOY Right NOW" with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke in Dallas, Texas by sponsor Jordan Shafer of CompassionWorks. The events are during the MLK Holiday Weekend and at Katie Davis Satsang Schedule Registration, lodging information is available for your convenience.

Advaita Satsang in Plano is on Thursday evening, January 17, "JOY Right NOW" begins Friday evening, January 18 at the Spiritual Fitness Center in Richardson in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

A Saturday, January 19 Dallas Satsang Intensive with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke follows with another intensive on Sunday, January 20.

You may register for individual events or a two or three day pass.

In addition, individual sessions will be available with either Sundance or Katie on Monday, January 21 in Plano.

To register for this event, please go to Katie Davis Schedule. More information is available at Schedule or at CompassionWorks. If you would like more information about individual sessions or if you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact Jordan at jshafer@CompassionWorks.com.

Jordon Shafer offers EMDR, Non-dual wisdom, and body spin/body alignment as well as Presence Group CompassionWorks and satsang at Yoga Balance Studio in McKinney, Texas.

We are indeed grateful to the Dallas community as well as Jordan and Kay Shafer who have been committed to this beautiful weekend.

To enjoy articles that have been published locally, please visit Dallas Holistic Networker magazine.

We invite you to Dallas Satsang.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awake by Katie Davis Blog: Emotional Storms by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

When you are identified with the story, you believe that outside circumstances cause your emotions to change. For example, someone does something that you either love or hate, so you feel either happy or angry. This translates that if you are happy, someone can also take it away or if you are angry, someone else should fix it. By surrendering your true power in this manner, you helplessly ride the waves of emotion as they endlessly rise and fall. You remain subject to the merciless push and pull of the emotional aspect of the mind.

At first glance, you begin realizing that your conditioned attitudes about past situations are conditionally linked to certain present emotions through your thinking. Based on past experience, this conditioned linkage is the actual cause of your emotional storms. This is self-inflicted suffering. You cannot learn the joy of being, but you can become aware of how you deny this Truth through self-observation. You can even become aware of the instant that you choose to do so. Meanwhile, deep within, constant joy is without cause or condition. My invitation is to look deeper than the storyteller and its storyline for joy’s discovery.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awake Joy is the Radiance by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Awake Joy is the radiance that strings life's happy and unhappy moments together like the pearls of a necklace. In its discovery, the pearls dissolve into the freedom of conscious joy. This joy cannot be given to you, nor can it be taken away. If you are searching for joy, you are already here as the final answering. You are what you are seeking and in seeking it, you cannot realize who you really are. You essential Essence is steadfast, uncaused joy. It is constantly be experienced, although most are not yet consciously aware of it.

My book, Awake Joy, is not a therapeutic guide about how to change your life story. Rather, it is a pragmatic pointer toward the mature surrender of "me and my story." Through this transcendence, ever-present joy effortlessly emerges.

Of course, the conditioned mind does love repetition, so it is persistent. If you have ever read books to small children, you might have noticed that they love reading the same stories over and over. They thrive on the security of what is already known. This is not unlike adult storylines, as we anticipate more of the same. The ego loves the known, since it is based upon it.

For true discovery, I am suggesting that you simply leave the story alone for awhile and focus your attention on the storyteller. Meanwhile, I will offer pointers toward the permanent surrender of the mind-made, time based self. In this manner, you have the opportunity to realize unfathomable fulfillment in the Truth of Being.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

The Kena Upanishad - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis

This is so beautiful and I'd like to share it with you. It is from the Kena Upanishad (The Talavakara Upanishad). Normally, these teachings are free of eastern jargon, but this scripture I love and it is so clear.

Just relax a moment and rest. Sit back away from the computer screen. Are you aware of your breathing? Can feel how delicate the air feels as it moves in and out your nose? Now relax just a little bit more...just being. The eyes read just fine without the mental consternation. As the eyes move, notice that the one who is aware is absolutely still.

The Kena Upanishad

“Not that which speech illumines, but That whereby speech can illumine, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

“Not that which the mind thinks, but That by whereby the mind can think, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which the eye sees, but That whereby the eye can see, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which the ear hears, but That whereby the ear can hear, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which is indrawn by breath, but That whereby breath is indrawn, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.”

I am grateful that you are here today ... Katie

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Katie Davis Satsang Schedule - Sundance Burke Satsang Schedule

Thank you for your visit to the Katie Davis Blog today.

Although Texas may not be near, check out the Katie Davis Satsang Schedule at www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html.

Our 2008 Advaita Satsangs are listed there and besides Dallas Satsang in Texas, it includes Sedona Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Flagstaff Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Boulder Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Richmond Hill Ontario Satsang and Intensive, Toronto Ontario Satsang and Intensive, Chicago, Seattle Pacific Northwest Satsang and Maui Satsang and Satsang Intensives with more events soon.

If you ever come to satsang, please be sure to introduce yourself.

Blessings ~ Katie

Katie Davis Satsang Schedule: www.katiedavis.org

Satsang in Plano, Texas - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke - Advaita Satsang

You are invited to satsang with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" and her husband, Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" in Plano, Texas on Thursday, January 17 at 7:30 pm.

The evening is the beginning of a 5 day event over the MLK Holiday weekend that is sponsored by Jordan Shafer of CompassionWorks.

You may register for a single event, intensives, a two or three day pass at the Katie Davis Satsang Schedule www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html.

Individual appointments (Private Satsang) with either Katie Davis or Sundance Burke are being scheduled by Jordan at jshafer@compassionWorks.com.

Advaita Satsang is an opportunity to rest as the stillness of who you really are. It is a meditative evening with a talk on awakening, enlightenment and living in the now; questions or sharing.

Register for satsang or the entire "JOY Right NOW" weekend at Katie Davis Satsang Schedule.

Lodging information is available at registration.

For satsang, please arrive 15 minutes early and enter in silence at 1709 Savage Drive (near Custer and Legacy).

The other events will be at The Spiritual Fitness Center in Richardson in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Seeking Something - Void of the Unknown - Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

To the majority of the world’s population, only the consciously perceivable is classified as “real,” while the unperceivable is classified as “unreal.”

This viewpoint relegates everything that is unconscious, uninvestigated and unrealized as “unreal.”

We are dismissing the unmanifest potential of existent emptiness, since it is presently unperceived. In certain respects, the advancements in today’s scientific and technological communities are changing this limited viewpoint. For instance, scientists have discovered that within the atom, there is far more space than matter. Simplistically, I suppose that the amount of matter might be considered to be the equivalent to nothing more than a grain of sand within the empty space of an astrodome.

Scientists have shifted their attention from matter to investigate the unknown space. The problem seems to be that they are still looking for “something” and of course finer levels of matter are then appearing. As long as they continue to look for “something,” the true nature of nothingness remains unrealized; just as seekers of enlightenment, who remain non-finders, continue to look for “something,” instead of stopping to simply rest.

Most every night on Maui, we are blessed with beautiful starlit nights. Even the naked eye can see that there is far more space than place. Universal space is infinitely vast. We are dismissing the space in the assumption that it is nothing. The mind labels it as nothing, since there is no-thing there.

What is this “no-thingness” of the unknown? What does it reflect within you?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Beyond Causality by Katie Davis

Beyond Causality

By awakening to the delusion of time, you have the opportunity to recognize that who you really are is beyond causality. Within time, you are subject to this law of cause and effect. Every action that you take creates causation and you then receive its effect. Whether effect creates causation and therefore cause, or whether cause creates causation and therefore effect, is inconsequential, other than for the pursuit of the time-based mind. From that viewpoint, one could say that everything that happens is the cause of everything that happens. Causality is an endless cycle of “past-present” moments, which cause their effect within “past-future” time. Chronologically, the effects do not necessarily appear in a linear manner. Within time, this chained cycle is endless. Causality seems to exist due to the delusion of time. Causality is the result of the desires and fears of the illusive, time-based ego. Cause and effect are part and parcel of the imagined “me” and contained in the false impression of timely separation.

To the majority of the world’s population, only the consciously perceivable is classified as “real,” while the unperceivable is identified as “unreal.” This viewpoint relegates everything that is unconscious, uninvestigated and unrealized as “unreal.” We are dismissing the unmanifest potential of existent emptiness, since it is presently unperceived. In certain respects, the advancements in today’s scientific and technological communities are changing this limited viewpoint. For instance, scientists have discovered that within the atom, there is far more space than matter. Simplistically, I suppose that the amount of matter might be considered to be equivalent to nothing more than a grain of sand within the empty space of an astrodome. Scientists have shifted their attention from matter, to investigate the unknown space. The problem seems to be that they are still looking for “something” within the space and of course finer levels of matter are then appearing. As long as they continue to look for “something,” the true nature of “no-thingness” remains unrealized. Just as seekers of enlightenment, who remain “non-finders,” continue to look for “something,” instead of stopping to rest as stillness. On a beautiful starlit night, even the naked eye can see that there is really more space than place. Universal space is infinitely vast. We are dismissing the space in the assumption that it is nothing. The mind labels it nothing, since there is no-thing there. What is this no-thingness of the unknown? What does it reflect within you?

Scientists also recognize that beyond the matter-containing universe, there is an unknown void that is free of matter altogether, which is absolutely still. Of course, the scientific mind qualifies the void as darkness. Is this really true? Even while you are reading this book, while focusing on matter or content, you may be unconscious of space or silence and yet it is everywhere. We have merely been focusing on content, rather than that which surrounds it. The true answer to the nature of this unknown vastness of space, the silence of the universe and the unknown void which lies beyond cannot be discovered externally within manifestation. The answer is the potential of Self-discovery. This discovery does not require sophisticated scientific instruments to look for “something.” It requires that you stop searching and rest as stillness. Totality is infinity, space, “spacelessness,” matter, silence, frequency, vibration, time, timelessness, eternity, the void of emptiness, the void of fullness, the manifest and the unmanifest, whose womb is the absolute stillness of Pure Awareness. It is realized as Consciousness-Being-Bliss or Awake Living Joy. The discoveries within the scientific communities are significant, since it is opening more people to the potential reality of the unknown within manifestation. Their observations are truthfully reflecting the Unknown within. This book is pointing toward the Source of the infinite unmanifest within you.

All the same, it requires only a single instant outside of time to spur awakening. When this occurs, the world is virtually turned “outside in.” Within the time-based world, everything that was formerly viewed as “real” is suddenly recognized to be illusion, which of course it is. The benefit is that the dream-like nature of the world facilitates the deeper exploration of the inner world. This inner attention stimulates the realization of the Truth of Being. This Truth is then recognized as everywhere and the dual world is then realized as the non-dual Real. Beyond space, matter and time, only the Self is. Within space, matter and time, only the Self is. You are only the Self and you are beyond both duality and unity. After Self-discovery, there is nothing separate to support cause and effect. One is no longer identified or limited to the body and the individual consciousness is realized as delusion. To whom would cause or effect apply? Action and causation are delusions within your true immutability. You are the Self and you are free of action and yet originate it. You are free of the movement through space creating time, so therefore you are free of the progression of causality. Even now, Life is causeless and you are complete. You have only to realize it. However, as a time traveler, who is still identified with the ego as the doer, you are subject to the law of cause and effect.     

The Prophecy of the End of Time

A prophecy is something that we predict will happen in the future, such as the end of time prophecy in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. It is impossible for the end of time to happen within time. The end of time cannot be in the future. The end of time can only be right now. One wonders whether this biblical prophecy was misinterpreted, within the realm of the time-based, unawake mind. Perhaps the end of time is simply the end of the delusion of time. This makes sense, does it not? Perhaps, the end of the world is really the end of the dream world. Maybe, it is the end of attachment to the time-based ego and its identification with objectivity, as well as its concept of separation.

Whatever the case, the end of time does coincide with the culmination of the ignorant mind. You no longer need the past to prove separate identity in order to realize wholeness. You no longer need suffering to consciously inquire to discover Truth. You no longer need separation to recognize that you are Self-realized. You no longer need duality for experience. You no longer need the future to provide fulfillment. Instead, you have the opportunity for the “mind-shattering” shift, from the movement of mind within time, to the absolute stillness of the Truth of Being. The Truth offers wholeness instead of separation, Joy instead of suffering, non-duality instead of duality and total fulfillment right now. 

Every master of enlightenment throughout history has pointed to the simple Truth of Now. Present day spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, is author of the international bestseller The Power of Now. The book is written eloquently and pragmatically. As the “mainstream” loved and accepted this book worldwide, I could only sense the dramatic impact. In The Power of Now, Beloved Eckhart writes:

“Have you ever experienced, done, thought, or felt anything outside of Now? Do you think that you ever will? Is it possible for anything to  happen  or  be  outside  the  Now?  The  answer  is  no,  is it not? Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”

Awake Living Joy points to the realization of the Truth of Being. The Essence of enlightenment is beyond time, which is tantamount to beyond the mind. This is not an essence that you move toward. The opportunity is here now for everyone. It is a breathtaking shift from mind to the ever-present and ever-open Heart of All Being. It is a simple, yet wondrous shift, which coincidentally is the end of time as well as the end of the world as we have known it.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

"Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" by Katie Davis

Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment by Katie Davis is now available at the Katie Davis Website and the Awake Joy Book Website. You may enjoy the Awake Joy Summary, the Table of Contents, see what others are saying about Katie's new book in the Book Reviews and find out more about Katie Davis in the Author Biography. It will be available for purchase soon at the Awake Books link at http://www.katiedavis.org/.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Heart of Life E-book by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

"Heart of Life" e-book is now available on my website. It was just released. As a non-dual satsang teacher and author of the soon to be released hardcover book, "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," I wanted to let you know about "Heart of Life: The Katie Collection." It includes writings that have been published as stand alone articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, in addition to Friends of the Heart Newsletters, throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

The e-book includes 20 articles entitled, "Roses for Living," "The Secret Ocean," "The Sky of Now," "Awake Right Now," "Ego's Story-Time," "The Mystical Sky," "Inner Space," "Only This Love," "Awakening to the Invincible Summer," "Ego's Postponement Strategy," "Wisdom's Work," "Call of the Wild," "Be Still," "Pure Being," "I am Meditation," "Beyond Causality," "Duality and Conceptual Reality," plus an interview as a cover story for a Northwest newspaper in the United States.

The e-book also includes a description of my new book to publish soon, "Awake Joy: the Essence of Enlightenment," how to contract me directly and guidelines for permission to distribute or publish the articles for your newsletters or websites. "Heart of Life" is available at Awake Books.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

The Secret Ocean by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

In a way, life is like beachcombing, as we search for seashells to find happiness. Seeking love, we carefully gather the treasures that we cherish most and when happiness wanes, we move on to collect others. We seem to forget that their abundant source is the inner Ocean; the only spring of true happiness.

Love surrounds us and it originates from within you. We do not need to seek love for living, in the same manner that the spinner dolphin does not cry for water while swimming. The mind has its idea of perfection and what it needs to be happy. All the while, we are the very joy that we are seeking. The separate self is the time-based mind’s attempt to divide and it will prove to be futile, since separation is unattainable. Its sense of lack is its own demise. Whereas Self-realization is an ease, since it is already complete. Fulfillment means completion, not a fractional part, and love’s completion is the discovery of who you really are. After all, a drop of water does not separate to be a part of the ocean, but rather dissolves its partiality.

Desire inherently contains its opposite, which is fear. So while we are creating our personal desires, we are also creating poverty, greed, sexual obsession, power over others in the herd, and every form of lack. In other words, when we desire, we are also saying that we lack. Consequently, both seem to be created. If we are acquiring in order to be happier at a future time, ever-present joy will elude us, since it is not a future endeavor. It is here now, uncaused, and free of every-thing. The dual mind will prove to be ravenous for its desires, as it runs from its fears. Its bottom line will always be “more!” When it finally discovers that its treasures only provide a fleeting happiness, it discovers the root of its longing, which is the realization of the Heart.

Before awakening, I discovered what I thought was the mind’s ability to create in the seventies. I taught my students and later my children this miracle of creation and they attained their goals as well. Yet, the things and attainments simply came and went. In the end, something always seemed to be missing, so there was always something more to create. I did not realize that the something missing was innate in my uninvestigated assumption of being a fraction of Totality; a separate self wandering through life for meaning. Eventually, only "I" remained and its assumption of separation was its lack and longing. In the miracle of mind-creating, I thought that I was the finger pointing to the moon. In fact, I was neither finger, nor moon. In retrospect, observing was the power. It revealed thought’s mechanisms and its images for a deeper self-understanding. Ultimately, only the overwhelming fulfillment of joy sustained. The Heart is ceaselessly outpouring love. Are you looking from the Heart or from the mind?

The space around “I” is joy's way. You are welcome to continue collecting things to try to fill that space, as some sort of future compensation, but things and circumstances within time is not where joy resides. In the meantime, you needlessly suffer, while hoping for personal empowerment that at best can only be partial. Sooner or later, it will be recognized that the space around all of your accumulations is the direction and that it originates within. Essence is deeper than "you and your thoughts" and more profound than "your attention." It is the pure attention of the loving Heart; the only omnipotent power of the universe: Love. 

So now, or later, it does not really matter, as long as you do not mind suffering and world hostility. I understand that you may still choose to cruise in a yacht on the surface of the ocean and remain oblivious to the charm of an undersea world that is brilliantly colored with tropical fish. However, the silence of the ocean’s depth would be overlooked. You would not become acquainted with the beauty of the coral reefs and the underwater song of the humpback whales, whining in the distance. You also have the option of diving in to explore the unfathomable depth of the inner Ocean. Yachts are fun, but that fun fades and becomes no more than a past mental image. It pales in the joy of your ineffable beauty.

Wisdom's invitation is to dissolve like a sugar cube in a hot cup of tea. You may fear that "sugar" will no longer exist. Nonetheless, take your first sip, and see that sweetness remains. If you have realized that now is the only possible time in the universe, then as Rumi so poetically wrote, "Don't wait any longer. Dive in the Ocean. Leave and let the sea be you." The Ocean is the calling and it is your passionate magnificence!

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Joy's Way by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Have you noticed the space around "I"? That space is joy's way. You are welcome to continue creating things to try to fill that space, as some sort of future compensation, but things and circumstances within time is not where joy resides. In the meantime, you needlessly suffer, while hoping for personal empowerment that at best can only be partial. Sooner or later, it will be recognized that the space around all of your accumulations is the direction and it originates inside you. Essence is deeper than "you and your thoughts" and more profound than "your attention." It is the pure attention of the loving Heart; the only omnipotent power of the universe; LOVE.

So now, or later, it doesn't really matter, as long as you don't mind suffering and world hostility. I understand that you may still choose to cruise in a yacht on the surface of the ocean and remain oblivious to the charm of the undersea world that is brilliantly colored with tropical fish. However, you will not become acquainted with the beauty of the coral reefs and the underwater song of the humpback whales whining in the distance. You also have the option of diving in to explore the unfathomable depth of the inner Ocean. Yachts are fun, but that fun fades and becomes no more than a past mental image. It pales in the joy of your ineffable beauty.

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Spontaneous Awakening by Katie Davis

Now over 20 years ago, I spontaneously awakened, without previous knowledge of enlightenment or spiritual practices for Self-realization. Suddenly, out of the blue sky, I fell awake into non-experience . . . into a non-dual reality that I had no idea that it existed.

I had no intellectual reference whatsoever. My friends were not on this path and I was not even aware of the "inner" world. One moment, I was first and foremost a devoted mother with a business, the next, I was profoundly shocked into the Truth that virtually nothing is as it seems. I shifted beyond the mind-made sense of self, its body, and its time.

Before awakening, I discovered what I thought was the mind's ability to create in the 1970's and I was successful. I trained my students this miracle of creation and they attained their goals as well. Yet, the things and attainments simply came and went. In the end, something always seemed to be missing, so there was always "something more" to create. I did not realize that the "something missing" was innate in my uninvestigated assumption of being a fraction.

In the end, only "I" remained and its assumption of separation is its lack and longing. In the miracle of mind-creating, I thought that I was the finger pointing to the moon, the creation. In fact, I was neither finger, nor moon. In retrospect, the observing itself was the tremendous power. Through observing, a stunning detachment occurred from all thought, its mechanisms, and manifestation. This included the "I" thought (the separate self) and its body assumption. Ultimately, only the overwhelming fulfillment of joy remained.

The Heart is ceaselessly outpouring love. Are you looking from the Heart or from the mind?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Over Thinking, the Primary Addiction by Katie Davis

Question:

I am an alcoholic and I have been in AA and back to recovery a few times. My family doesn't know it, but I am hiding what I am doing now. I feel so much shame and guilt. By chance, I came upon you and I am wondering if there is anything that you might suggest. Nothing has worked. I just feel so guilty and my mind is driving me crazy.

Katie:

First, I am not a recovery specialist, nor a psychologist. It is perfectly appropriate for you to return to your specialist and if you have not tried therapy, that will indeed support you within the individual identity and its story.

People usually come upon this teaching, when they are suffering and most everything has failed. Either that or they have a deep longing for the Divine or been blessed with a single instant, when they have been shaken out of the mind and its time. Perhaps, for whatever reason, you are ready to inquire more deeply into the Truth of your being. This is why we meet. Yes, addiction is of the body-mind, but there is something deeper here, right now, within you. Its discovery is the resolution of all psychological suffering. I must point that the primary addiction is compulsive thought. That is, over-thinking.

Ultimately, you are the only true answer. The past is nothing but a graveyard, let it go. Of course, we have our very endearing moments of relative happiness and then they just disappear. We are left by ourselves … or with more people that we can hardly bear … and then suffer. This is the reality of the time-based mind, its problems and endless conflicts.

The problem seems to be that people search in a horizontal manner to find some sort of happiness. They try work and it works for a little while, since the desire for work has ceased. We look for happiness in relationships and then we get one. Desire stops and we seem happy for awhile then discontentment resurfaces. Try virtually anything within in the field of every day experience meaning every person, every circumstance, every situation or activity that we THINK is going to make us happy and we find it works for a time and then once again it was only fleeting.

It is never the object that has been attained, won, achieved or intended that causes happiness … let’s call it joy, since it is deeper, caused by nothing, in need of nothing, and virtually permanent. The truth of the matter is, desire ceases, since what we wanted was claimed. Discontentment remerges and we think, “not wrong again!” So it is the lack of desire and not the object that allows true peace.

So, we have searched that way for a lifetime. Think that you have finally got it together … and poof! Then guilt comes creeping in to add more of the same old discontentment, except each time it gets a little deeper and uglier. “What's wrong with those other people!” “What’s wrong with ME?!”

Well, the thing is, you can’t just take my word for it, but it calls for curiosity. You have been conditioned since birth that you are ME and that the ME means that you are a body. Your parents taught you, just like their parents, the whole premise was totally assumed. Is it really true? Well, I never questioned these matters either. I assumed like everyone else. Everything on the ‘outside’ appeared to be perfect. I didn’t even know that I had an ‘inner world’ and inner reality. Without cause, I suddenly awakened to an entire new dimension of reality. Through happenstance alone, I directly witnessed that I was not my body, nor its thoughts, nor the emotional eclipses. Since I became aware of them, I couldn’t be them. I had to be entirely beyond them. Who in the world was that, that was aware of everything?! All of a sudden I was tossed out of a daytime dream reality of the mind to the absolute love and joy of the Heart.

I am not going to suggest that you 'do' anything. Doing is more of the thinking that is the addiction. Any ‘doing’ is only more of the mind. I am going to ask you to stop and begin watching what is really true. If you are searching for joy, you can’t find it … because you ARE joy. It is just like you can’t see your own eyeball and yet it sees. You can’t see joy, the joy that you are.

So the immediate question is then, well, where is it?! How do I find it? Well, you stop all of the escape strategies and all of the salvation ideas. You cannot escape or become what you already are. There is an awareness that is here no matter where you go or what you do. You are aware while you are driving, aware while you are working, aware always. Even while you are nighttime dreaming, you are aware. Well awakening, is really pretty much like waking from a nighttime nightmare, except you wake up even further to the daytime dream of mind. There is nothing unique or for that matter peculiar to realizing that you have spent your entire life DREAMING!!!! The matter of the fact is, awakening is NORMAL! The mind’s idea of living in conflict, identification with the body, suffering … even pleasure … is not normal by any means. When we wake up to the mind and all of its suffering thoughts … we just move into maturing wisdom that is the real nature of the human being.

Mind is tantamount to time. Mind and its thoughts require time and time is equal to suffering. Mind = suffering. Time = suffering. “ME” = suffering.

You have this beautiful awareness within you and its nature is joy. I call it the Heart. The mind-made self (“me”) walks around in a dream and wonders why it is suffering. Well, if you ever said the word “rose” to someone who does not speak English … the word is utterly meaningless. So we have been taught “I” and that “I” is the body. If you are aware of the body … you cannot be the body. So, what is the meaning of this word? If you don’t know that the word "rose" is a lovely flower with a beautiful fragrance and lovely bloom, it just seems like nonsense. Who is “I?” You begin watching within to discover the Truth for yourself. You become curious and decide for yourself to take a look. Not by mental philosophy and concepts. Concepts are only more mind.

You say that your mind is driving you crazy. That is a level of maturing wisdom. Most people still are not even really aware that thought is going on and on and on compulsively. You are aware of your thoughts. Rather than getting up and moving into activity, shift your attention to the awareness of the thoughts. Who is that who is aware? The separate sense of self, the mind made sense of self is like the very bottom layer of a chocolate cake. The bottom layer is “me and my story,” time, I am my mind, I am the body, I am the ego and I AM THE SUFFER. This level of awareness has absolutely no idea that all of the levels above it even exist.

Most people identify with their thoughts. “I feel so guilty.” Those thoughts are like photographs and mental images. It is like looking at the same dull and boring photos over and over again. Through some grace, we finally get sick of them and begin observing who is that who is aware of them.

1. Shift your attention from thought and start observing the awareness. This begins an inward journey and ends in the discovery of an indestructible joy that you will realize that has always been here. (“not me, this is too weird, I can’t do this, surely there must be something else.”) This is the only way out that is truly lasting and the beauty is that it is already here. We just dust off the concepts of the mind and we see that it is simply already radiant.

2. Go buy Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now, http://www.eckharttolle.com/. The book is masterful at dissecting the concepts of mind, the ego and its idea of time. Can you show me the past? It isn’t here other than a thought. Thought includes mental images (photos of the mind). Events in your life are nothing more than notches on a chronological dateline. Yet, we maintain an emotional relationship with them. Simply, we cannot maintain our painful story and get rid of the pain. Makes sense doesn’t it? Retelling the painful story perpetuates pain.

3. Accept nothing unless you directly look and find it to be true. Even then, it is only true temporarily. Keep observing deeper within you and deeper yet. Each time letting go of old beliefs and assumptions.

And by all means, get the help that is presently required to help you live within the circumstances in a balanced manner. In the end however, you are the only answering.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Friends of the Heart Free Newsletters by Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

Today, I would like to invite you to visit my Katie Davis Website, since our new Friends of the Heart Newsletter for October is posted. Each month, the newsletter is sent to those who are interested in awakening, Self-inquiry, enlightenment, and Self-realization.

It includes a Katie Davis article and one by Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being."

In addition, we sometimes have articles by other non-dual or awakening teachers, as well as highlights on conscious singer/songwriters, artists and poets that we have enjoyed and perhaps they would interest you as well.

This month's Friends of the Heart Newsletter includes:

"Be Still" by Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment."

"The Nature of Awakened Being," by Sundance Burke

"Yoga Feels Good," by Meenakshi Angel Honig of Well Being International

A highlight on Kirtana's new Cd release, "Falling Awake."

There is interesting news about our satsang events that are open for registration in Dallas, Sedona, Flagstaff, Boulder, Richmond Hill and Toronto Ontario, and Chicago with Satsang and Satsang Intensives.

If you would like to receive the free newsletter each month, you may sign up at the Katie Davis Website to receive your copy. We only send messages once a month and your information is safe with SafeUnsubscribe.

Enjoy! If you have questions on the articles, please share them here for others too. I will answer in the next Awake by Katie Blog.

Go to Friends of the Heart at http://www.katiedavis.org/friendsoftheheart.html.

You are welcome to pass them along to your Friends of the Heart too.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Duality, Separation, Non-duality by Katie Davis

A drop of water does not separate to be a part of the ocean, but rather dissolves its partiality. Until it surrenders, it is relatively powerless in comparison to the sea. The separate self is the time-based mind's attempt to separate and it will prove to be futile. Only separation is unattainable. Self-realization is an ease, since it is already complete.

Desire inherently contains its opposite, which is fear. Dual in nature, they depend upon one another. So while we are creating our personal desire, we are also creating poverty, greed, sexual obsession, power over others in the herd, and every form of lack. In other words, when we desire, we are actually saying that we are lacking. Consequently, both seem to be created. That is the way of the dual mind and it points to madness, but at least "I have what I want." Do you? "Probably not, but I will in the future."

If you are acquiring in order to be happier at a future time, ever-present joy will elude you. It is not a future endeavor. It is here now, uncaused and free of every-thing. The dual mind will prove to be ravenous for its desires, as it runs from its fears. Its bottom line will always be "more!" When it finally discovers that its treasures only provide a fleeting happiness, it discovers the root of all its longing, which is the realization of the Heart.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org