Ordinary Enlightenment ~ Spiritual Awakening and Enlightenment Free Video with Katie Davis

"Several years ago, Eckhart Tolle sat on a park bench and very few knew him. Today he is well known and regarded as an enlightened person. How would it have been like to hang out with him in those early years?" ~ Ordinary Enlightenment

A new movie entitled Ordinary Enlightenment is in production by Video Dynamics and they have launched the Ordinary Enlightenment Website. The website will be offering monthly video clips and uplifting quotes of people who are living in that "state of enlightenment." Each clip will be about 3 to 5 minutes long and the purpose is to assist in dissolving the false beliefs in who we think we are. The first video segment is now posted and features:

Katie Davis, author of Awake Joy

Sundance Burke, author of Free Spirit

Ramesh Balsekar, author,The Ultimate Understanding

Jeddah Mali, mentor and advisor

James Stelzenmuller, teacher of consciousness

Isa, mother

David Hardgrove
(please note: Katie Davis is the author of Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment and not David Hardgrove as subtitled)

Nick Roach, author, Enlightenment

Andy Rymer, teacher, Self-inquiry workshops

We will be featuring the videos in our free issues of Friends of the Heart.

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To enjoy the first video, please click www.ordinaryenlightenment.com

Self-Inquiry is the Direct Approach to Enlightenment by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The Self-inquiry teachings that Katie Davis, author, Awake Joy offers are consistent with the Self-inquiry teachings of Adi Shankara and Ramana Maharshi, who is one of the most revered sages of modern day India. Most of Ramana's teachings were offered in silence, while simply being Heart; the still radiance. In addition, he shared that Self-inquiry is the most direct approach.

Silent "teachings" may be the most valuable for the aspirant. Without words, the ego is never engaged. Concepts and information are not really helpful for Self-realization. Yet, appropriate understanding of all that you are not is also recommended.

Katie Davis offers Silent Joy Satsang which is a full hour of silent sitting and other evenings offers regular satsang which includes meditation, Self-inquiry, a talk and an opportunity to ask questions on the teachings that were presented.

There are many other practices that are recommeded by teachers and some may be helpful, however practices require a "doer" who is the practitioner. For instance, chanting and kirtan can be so beautiful and when coupled with divine devotion, the mind shifts into harmony and peace, however the effect is usually only temporary. The one who is chanting is the ego "I" is the apparent obstruction between the pure consciousness that you are and the body. Chanting is exhilarating, divinely fun and pleasant indeed, however the misidentification with the "I" thought remains.

Likewise, while we are practicing meditation, the meditator is the ego "I." Meditation is excellent for bringing the restless mind into harmony and peace and it can be excellent for stress and our physical health. However, even after 20 years of practicing all of the profound levels and different techniques, the meditator remains ... the ego "I."

Plus which, the Heart is not a concept. It not an object upon which you meditate. That would mean that "you" are separate from formlessness. If you do practice meditation, please notice below in the article "Wisdom at Work" the form of meditation that I suggest. One can only BE the Heart.

It is true that as you become more and more conscious of the space within the world of form, you will also notice an ever increasing expansiveness within. We refer to that as space consciousness. The Heart is beyond both space and time, however when space consciousness begins arising, it is a sign that the altered state of consciousness is dissolving into the wisdom of the Heart.

Some recommend the practice of detachment from objects. This is nearly impossible for the ego "I" since its very purpose is to project out into the world of form to attach to other objects. Once again, the one who is practicing detachment is the ego "I." It must be seen that the false "I" thought is itself an object. This means it is merely an attachment itself. The ego "I" has no means of surrendering itself. In other words, the ego cannot surrender the ego. Detachment will profoundly, radically and spontaneously occur by itself, rather than something contrived and enforced by the ego.

In fact, as we have discussed, there is a purpose for holding onto to the "I" thought; the altered state of consciousness that we call the ego thought. This ego "I" thought projects from the Heart and as an analogy, I might say it leaves a "trail of bread crumbs" as it projects outward. If we will bring our attention directly to that "I," "I," "I," and then inquire, "who am I?" the ego disappears. It is like removing the "man" that never was in the first place. We seek the "I" and follow the "bread crumbs" home to the Heart. We are then able to rest as deep peace and as we are willing to continue inquiring, we will find ourselves able to rest for longer and longer periods of time as the Heart. This is the beginning level of Self-inquiry.

Eventually, all the forms of practice will finally arrive at the final question, "Who is 'I?" "Who am I?" So, the direct approach begins where all other paths stop. Why not let this be the first question and go directly?

In the beginning of the awakening, we do indeed use breathing and sensing so that we wake up out of time and get out of our heads and into the body. This is the pathway to the inner formlessness within. In the end however, it is a misperception when we refer to "within" the body and "outside" the body. That "inner" and "outer" is another mental construct that will be surrendered. It is the beginning, but it is not the deeper knowing.

Pure consciousness is indivisible and it has no parts. It has no form in order to call it inside the body or outside the body. All is appearing within the Heart and it includes everything. There is nothing separate from it. There is nothing that is not It. We could say that the body is a projection of the mind to which we are misidentified and the mind is a pale reflection of the pure consciousness or intelligence that it genuinely is.

We initially use witnessing to discriminate between that which is impermanent, coming and going or in modification. I am the only "thing" that is permanent and therefore, if I am still and permanent, I am able to discern finer and finer layers of the intellect that seem to be true and yet when modification is noticed, they too are released. Even the subject-witness itself will be surrendered and that is Self-realization.

Since you believe yourself to be your body, it seems like you are coming and going everywhere; another misperception. YOU never go anywhere ... as the body seems to move about in the world. You are not in the mirror of life; that is, the world of form. You are That which sustains all appearances; the Life that supports all living.

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Wisdom at Work ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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Wisdom at Work by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In the beginning of spiritual awakening, energetically we may feel totally stunned by this extraordinary "new" frequency of being. It is appropriate that attention turns naturally inward. This is quite a long "journey" for most and waking up to the present moment is only the beginning.

In present moment living, our senses become so alive and we feel genuinely vibrant and grateful. If we shift into time, we suddenly find ourselves once again misidentified with the ego "I" thought and all of its attachments. As soon as we become aware of the fact that we are compulsively thinking, we are back and conscious! Take just a moment for a conscious breath or two and you will be resting once again timelessly present.

It is also appropriate in the beginning to set aside a certain amount of time each day to just sit silently. We could call this meditation. There are many different types of meditation and some suggest that you use an object such as a candle to focus your attention or to focus attention on the formlessness within. Both are objects and this is not the type of meditation that I suggest. Simply rest as "I am." If a thought comes up and you identify with "I" just ask the Self-inquiry question, "Who am I?" Then simply rest as "I am" once again.

Soon, meditation will leave your silent meditation place in your home and you will be able to consciously BE all day long; a day long meditation while the body moves about:

Silent being ... driving ...

Silent being ... washing the dishes ...

The distractions in the world of form are many, so for awhile you will find yourself getting lost in the mind and its time, since the mind's habit is to turn outward. When this happens, you can no longer be conscious of simply being. Just as you did in your meditation place at home, once you notice it, ask this essential question, "Who am I?" and you will once again realize conscious being.

The initial awakening will continue to deepen and deepen. There are no "levels" in Pure Awareness. The sense of deepening is because all that is false is surrendered. There are so many layers that will be surrendered and there is this sense that, "you mean this can go too?!"

You do not need to "do" surrender. Through silent watching, the false will be noticed and the deeper surrender happens by itself. The tool of Self-inquiry will be the right tool throughout this deepening process.

The moment of enlightenment is beyond experience. I realize that the ego would like to add it to its long list ... this time being the nirvana experience. However, enlightenment is not an attainment of the ego "I" that has its idea of becoming. The false "I" is the only apparent obstruction. Instead, through Self-inquiry the divided mind dissolves into the pure bliss and consciousness of Pure Awareness.

Upon enlightenment, we are not really functional in the world or for that matter even aware of it. Once the world appears again, the illumined mind is a perfect reflection of pure consciousness.

The path still may not be over. So, I suggest never to have any sense of arrival. That one is the ego "I" calling you back to form and its suffering consequence with its sense, "I" have arrived. So, we still have our companion of Self-inquiry. Slowly, this altered consciousness will permanently settle in the Heart as Pure I alone.

No "doer" remains. I am frequently asked about this, "well, how does anything get done?!" My answer, "just as it does now." The ego likes to think that it is the doer of action. Remember, it possesses things and calls everything "mine," unless it does not like what is happening ... and then it calls it "yours." No "doer" of action simply means that everything is happening by itself and does not need "your" control, manipulation or guidance. Just wait and see ...

There are many misconceptions about Self-realization. In fact, some may still have an image of a monk sitting in a cave or at the top of a mountain. However, this just is not so. One could say, I am neither in this world, nor not of it.

Here is an example using a well known and often used expression:

In the old world of ego:

"I (ego) chop wood and carry water."

In the new world:

"Pure 'I' chop wood and carry water."

Wisdom is not in conflict with either work or play. There is simply this vast well of creativity flowing through, since pure perceiving is no longer clouded by the psychological sense of self. Spontaneity comes to the forefront and we realize pure efficiency. The psychological self is not there debating about what it should "do" next. We simply allow wisdom's work.

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Katie Davis Published In Star People in Tokyo, Japan ~ Author, Awake Joy

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Katie Davis, author, Awake Joy is just published in Star People Magazine in Autumn 2008 Volume 27. This beautiful 128 page publication is published by Natural Spirit, Inc in Tokyo Japan with a lovely quality, durable cover, full color and heavy glossy paper throughout. Every page includes interviews and spirituality articles from master guides and spirituality messengers from around the world and Hawaii.

The two page spread by Katie Davis includes a Japanese translation of her article "The Adoration of Enlightenment" plus an interview and biographical information.

Also included are others such as Amma, Alan Cohen, Brandon Bays, Drunvalo Melchizedek, Chris Griscom and a long list of others who offer the Essence of Spirituality with beautiful articles such as One Ocean, One People by Kanako Uchino.

Katie Davis has been invited to offer satsang in Tokyo, Japan in 2009. If you know people who speak Japanese, please let them know that Star People for Ascension 2012 is now available at:

Amazon Japan - Star People

Natural Spirit, Inc - Star People

Awake Joy by Katie Davis is now available at Amazon Japan:

Amazon Japan - Awake Joy

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Katie Davis Website: www.KatieDavis.org

"Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" by Katie Davis

Nature and experience ...

This morning, a spiritual friend on the East Coast wrote to joyfully express that a new blanket of snow covered her area and that the full moon was glistening across the fields.

Before dawn, this encouraged a walk to the beach ... and there was the lovely one ... suspended in quietude ... Lucy in the Sky surrounded by all her twinkling diamonds.

"Moonbeams" danced across the ocean, while the radiant, golden globe began to descend just off the island of Lana'i.

Deep peace ...

Then, the mind reflected for a moment how beautiful it is that as Heart Friends who are apparently sprinkled all over the world and yet we gaze at the same full moon.

Just as extraordinary is the fact that from all over the world, we come to share, express and point to the radiant Heart within us that is beating its rhythm of Love as the same pure consciousness.

We seem far away ... and yet we are so intimately near ...

I am fascinated this morning about your "ordinary" experience.

Do you have a moment to look out your window or better yet, step outside into nature?

Do you have just a moment and post what you are experiencing?

Can you see the full moon?

Is it slightly drawing out the wild child within you?

Is it pulling the tides making the waves more powerful? How does that power speak?

Is there snow on the trees of the forest? What does it sound like?

Is it raining on the streets of Paris? How does the body feel if you take a chance and stand there in it?

Has the cloud cover lifted so that Mount Rainier is out in all her glory? How is she speaking to you?

Are there morning birds singing in Spain and how do you feel when you truly listen?

Is the wind blowing your hair?

What does the creek or river sing to you this morning as it babbles through the day?

What is reflecting in the pond or the lake? Does that reflection quietly tell you a story?

How is the chill from the freeze make a difference to your breathing? What are you noticing?

Where are you? How is nature? How are you experiencing it?

I am truly fascinated to know ...

Only Love ~ Katie Davis

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Crimson Morning and Mystical Rainbow ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The stillness of dawn is upon us ...

The profound sacredness resonating ... OM ...

... as it mysteriously powers the appearance of THIS ...

Just now, the rays of the morning sun are starting to peek over the island's beloved mountain, Haleakala ...

The subtle light brilliantly dresses the entire sky in mystical crimson ...

No direct morning sun ... simply the secret proclamation that the New Dawn is imminent ...

... OM ...

Tears of joy and gratitude brim the wonderment of these human eyes ...

Hmm ... the sky too now weeps, while the splendor of a rainbow appears over the expanse of the Pacific ... free of purpose and ambition.

More splendidly vivid where the sky meets the sea, the rainbow arches over the clouds ... disappears half way ... already perfect completion ... just the way that it is ...

... OM ...

Effortlessly, a morning egret gleefully glides by, while its snow white wings timelessly ride the Kona winds ... and the sound of silence ... on its way to nowhere ...

Words are here now to share with you, Heart Friends ... still ... just pure perceiving ...

While these words may be a close relative ... nothing comes close to expressing it ... and yet it begs its expression ...

Quite so! ... a tremendous clap of thunder ... the sky opens and the clouds are outpouring ...

Even from a former Seattleite's drizzling viewpoint, I must say that once it finally begins, it really knows how to rain here!!

As the tears quench the island's year long thirst, they blanket the island in forever green ...

A symphony of birdsong expressing pure delight ...

... OM ...

Sacred Being ... Being OM ... Being Sky ... Being Living Earth ... Being you ...

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The Adoration of Enlightenment by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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The Adoration of Enlightenment by Katie Davis

Devotion is attending the sacred flame in our Heart, rather than mindfully wishing to change what already is. Upon awakening, one could say that we are in prayer all day long, during all that is appearing or being done. The still center point of our spirit is the permanent factor underneath all of our impermanent experiences. In this manner, life seems pristine and sanctified, regardless of how the mind and its time might judge it. Ultimately, the adoration of enlightenment is being the sacred flame and we are effortlessly faithful to being the glowing light.

In Self-realization, we realize that every life encounter is flowing from the fullness within and we profoundly appreciate the sacred Essence, within which all is appearing. We are very much present to life, but our attention is resting as the Heart, instead of projecting into the mind's life and its problematic situations and conflicts. We have directly realized that we are not separate from our divinity and therefore do not objectify this dimension as a separate power, such as in duality. What greater prayer is there than to humbly rest in sacred unity and simply allow wisdom to do its work?

This inner vigilance has a feeling of objectless worship and reverence. We sense our heart overflowing with gratitude and divine appreciation. Vigilance prevents the confusion of our outer, conditioned existence from invading our inner space. Attention "protects" our Heart's flame, much like we would protect a candle from the wind. Witnessing keeps our inner space open, free and clear. Through silent and still watching alone, we are then able to recognize the slightest nuance of emotional contraction, so that we are free of reaction, when things go wrong or other than expected.

We are able to be gentle, patient and compassionate with ourselves and others. When we are silently witnessing grief and suffering, this conscious allowing transmutes the negativity into the precious fuel for unconditional love, while the light glows brighter and thrives. By being consciously present, the sacred loving burns everything into itself and only the love prevails. Conscious suffering may not be comfortable, but it does have an end, so we are no longer afraid of suffering or trying to escape it. When we allow our heart to crack open, we transcend into the perfect peace that we truly are.

Forebearance is one of the last gatekeepers to enlightenment and perhaps best described through my father's words. When I was very tiny and crying, he would often repeat the well known saying that every cloud has a silver lining. Yes, we may presently be sorrowful, but our primary focus is on the shining that surrounds it. This attentive light dissolves our misery, just like the morning sunlight gently parts the clouds. Forbearance is the patient acceptance of how we presently feel, with the deeper knowing that we are safe and out of harm's way. We are able to maintain a sense of equanimity and innocence. This field of innocence is within you right now and it is the pathway to Self-realization; the only true answer to enduring fulfillment. Self-realization is love's conscious completion and is the end of psychological suffering. At last, the lion lies down with the lamb.

The invitation of these teachings is to devote to being love's light, instead of tending to the phenomenal display called life experience. If we deny this light, we will suddenly find ourselves in the world again and get lost in the struggle. When this occurs, we merely shift attention back to being the open flame and we regain our quietude and tranquility. In this manner, we might even be able to welcome the opposition of others as a rising teacher for the freedom of our inner space.

When we are able to consciously rest as the pure being within, we are an open window for the unconditional love to flow into our lives and into the world. We unconditionally accept life as it is, without getting lost in the mind's resistance. In the refuge of our timelessness, the past fades away and we respect life for the miracle that it genuinely is. This sacred dimension allows a sense of continuity and security in our lives. We are able to accept, welcome and honor the ever changing conditions and seasons of the life situation. Free of resistance, life is graceful and we experience an ease in living.

Resistance seems unique to the human being. Nature provides many examples of yielding to life, rather than resisting. In a tropical storm, a palm tree yields to the wind and then regains its graceful sway. A river yields to its gravitational force as it descends a mountain to enter the ocean. Winter yields to spring, just as the ocean yields to the tides. A bear surrenders to hibernation, rather than weathering the snows. An eagle soars in the sky and yields to the wind. Daytime gracefully surrenders to the intimacy of the night. Thought free, nature meets life as it is and never slips into time.

Surrender is a powerful transformer of negative energy, so that we become more present for genuine living. We surrender our anger, fears and desires to the Grace that knows the way. When we let go of these contracted burdens in this manner, we regain a gentle lightness of being and an outpouring of peace that is simply beyond the mind and its ideas. The mind-made self and its delusion of control and manipulation are finally finished. Since we have stopped feeding our thoughts, we are also free of the emotional body and its suffering. Instead of trying to make life conform to our ego's wants and need-based insecurities, we rest in "not knowing" and every life experience becomes a mysterious adventure. Uncaused joy surfaces and comes to the forefront and we discover that life, with all of its idiosyncrasies and what the mind might call its imperfections ... it is perfection.

I invite you to be as still as your meditation or church alter, while all of life's complexities, struggles and failures are passing by. They are begging for your forgiveness and in the light of your consciousness, darkness cannot prevail. Be present when they arrive, compassionately allow them while they are here, and notice that after their passing, only the love that you are remains. In this willingness, life's greatest nourishment is adoration.

KATIE DAVIS is author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" and her husband is Sundance Burke who is author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being." They awakened in 1982 and 1986 before they met one another. Their books just published this year.

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Friends of the Heart December Issue ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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Friends of the Heart December Issue
Katie publishes every month issues of "Friends of the Heart" with articles on being now, spiritual awakening, Self-Inquiry, enlightenment, Non-duality, Advaita and Self-Realization.

In This Issue:

"You Are The Goal of Self-Realization" by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

"Ramana Maharshi - Abide As The Self"
Free 1 hour video on the Self-Inquiry teachings of Ramana Maharshi with beautiful footage and a tribute to one of the most revered sages of modern day India.

"Gifts of Joy and Spirit"
Better Together 20% Discount
Awake Joy by Katie Davis and Free Spirit by Sundance Burke

"Bliss of Surrender" by Kip Mazuy, Founder, Bliss Music

"Only The Self Is Love" by Sundance Burke, Author, Free Spirit

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Analysis and Interpretation ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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Katie Davis is author of Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment and spontaneously awakened in 1986. She has been offering talks in spiritual gatherings since 1999. Awake Joy was directly encouraged by Eckhart Tolle.

Analysis and Interpretation by Katie Davis

Analysis and interpretation are excellent tools for balancing the checkbook, determining probabilities and all sorts of likelihoods. However, in any analysis, if the primary assumption is wrong in the first place, no amount of analyzing or interpreting will bring us, even mathematically, to the right answer.

The only essential question on the spiritual quest is, "Who am I?" We were taught and therefore assumed that the word "I" is pointing to the body. This is the primary delusion that casts us into apparent separation and is the cause of all misery and sorrow.

If we are misidentified with the dreaming "I" or what I call the ego, the mind-made self, or the "I am the body idea," no amount of analysis or interpretation will bring us to Self-discovery. They simply are the wrong tools, because the primary assumption is false. The "I" thought points to the body of course, but infinitely more.

Analysis and interpretation are very good tools for the mind. Tools of the mind just cannot remove the mind. Now, I am not suggesting that the mind is a bad thing. Hardly true! Thought is an extraordinary power. It is just that when we mistake thought for who we are, thought uses us and we suffer.

The opportunity of spiritual awakening, enlightenment and Self-realization is that what we call mind is stilled. Since we are no longer misidentified with thought as our true identity, thought (ego) can no longer use us. The ego and its push and pull strategies are finished. Instead, the altered state of consciousness that is ego, dissolves into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is. The mind then becomes the willing hand-maiden to Truth; the Heart of unconditional love and perfect peace.

Further, analysis and interpretation are always based on the known. What is known is always past. Since I am suggesting that we may not yet realize who we are as our essence, that is, beyond our given name and form, we must consider the unknown.

When we analyze and focus on our conditioning, such as why we feel the way that we do or what we are worried about in the future, we may indeed come to a clearer understanding of the conditioning and how it is functioning, but it cannot take us beyond that which is free of all conditioning.

Let's take two examples. First, you are feeling angry and you do not really know why. The analyzing mind will go to the past and reflect upon what has happened that made you feel angry. Perhaps you will remember the past incident, but it will not remove the fact that you feel angry. Another example, you are feeling anxious. In this case, the analyzing mind is likely to shift to the future. You may discover what you are worried about, but it will not change the anxiety.

In both of these examples, we are dealing with time fixations. Our first step is therefore to step out of time. We can become aware of our breathing or what the body is sensing and we will suddenly find ourselves aware of the present moment.

Once we are present and free of time, we have the tools of self-observation and witnessing. Whatever past conditioning we are holding will arise in the present moment as discontentment or unease. If we are observing, we become conscious of how the ego is functioning. We become conscious of its structure and how it operates within us. What was previously unconscious is transformed into consciousness. This surrender of the false happens by itself when you are willing to be the consistent watcher.

Wisdom's tool is Self-inquiry and it is the Direct Approach to enlightenment and Self-realization. Self-inquiry instantly removes the ego that resides as a thought in the head and brings us home to the Heart.

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The Now over the Sea ~ Part II Excerpt Awake Joy by Katie Davis

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The Now over the Sea by Katie Davis

In attention to the here and now, you enjoy the sky over the sea of emotion. That is to say, you are free of the negative impact of your thoughts and their automatic constellation into negative emotion. When you sense the aliveness of simply being now, joy transpires. In the now, the time required for thought’s progression does not exist. Therefore, there are no thoughts to cause emotional contractions within your body. Mind can only do one thing at a time. When it is in still attention, it can not think.

This is not to say that life is then listless or lackluster. In lieu of the never-ending emotional roller coaster, you experience a changeless joy, which is gleefully energizing. Free in the sky of now, you are free of your self-created emotional reactions.

By observing, you discover that virtually all psychological suffering is due to your continued relationship with the past and the storyteller. This view is based on your psychological memory, which is the story that you are maintaining about a past incident. You can not get rid of your pain and keep your painful story. The result of psychological memory is that you live your concept of the past in the present moment.

We misconstrue the now to be a fleeting instant that is insignificantly squeezed between the past that we are trying to get over and the future that we are trying to reach. If we would examine more carefully, we would realize that the continuous now is virtually all there is. The Now is outside of time and therefore, it is the refuge of timelessness. Timelessness is eternal. There is nothing fleeting in forever.

Through self-observation, the emotional aspect of the mind can not use you. Instead, you become aware of your conditioning. This conditioning is the past alive in you. It is always earmarked by some sort of unease that surfaces as an emotional reaction. This is why it is unnecessary to process the past in order to be free of the past. A past fixation can only create more pain. Contrarily, when you are free of your conditioning in the present, you realize freedom from the past.

Releasing your conditioned behavior is not an external action. You release it through silent and still inner watching. You become conscious of your repetitive thinking and how it is linked to your emotions. Because you are observing, you no longer tend to identify with your thoughts, which source your emotional reactions. Through self-observation, you are distanced or detached from the troublesome inner dialogue. It is when you are distracted from the here and now that you identify with complicated circumstances. You are then mechanically tossed about by the waves of your past.

Of course, Now always is, whether you attend to it or not. I am saying that it does not really matter. In truth, you are always free and always Now. However, to realize this emotional freedom, you watch your inner dialogue to be present with your emotions. Instead of resisting the push and pull, you welcome the emotions as you observe and feel them. You become conscious of your mind activity and its attempt to add intensity to emotional situations. In doing so, you become aware of the internal mechanisms of perpetuation.

During self-observation, I am not asking you to change anything. I am asking you to simply watch. In Presence, you will find that you are not your mind, nor the emotional aspect of mind, your emotions. This is not to deny your emotions. In fact, by fully experiencing them consciously, you realize true freedom. Through uninvolved attention, you are liberated from the unconscious tendency to judge, label and categorize outer circumstances and inner feelings. Initially, your emotions are reduced to mere waves of sensation through your physical form. Subsequently, you notice that you are here before, during and after every emotion. While the sensations are impermanent, you realize that the one watching is absolutely still, permanent and free. In this discovery, you are joyfully unbound in the Sky of Now.

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The Sky of Now ~ Excerpt from Awake Joy by Katie Davis

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The Sky of Now by Katie Davis

Awake Joy is the radiance that strings the happy and unhappy moments of the life situation together like the pearls of a necklace. In the direct realization of this radiance, the pearls dissolve into the precious freedom of conscious joy. Sensibly, inherent joy can not be given to you, nor can it be taken away. In essence, it is who you really are. If you are searching for joy, you are what you are seeking and in seeking, you can not realize your radiance.

I am not a therapeutic guide, who changes your life story, so that you can be more joyful. I am suggesting that you leave the story alone for awhile and turn your attention to the storyteller. In your willingness to surrender the teller of tales, joy naturally emerges. The life story then effortlessly transforms to reflect that joyful transcendence.

Of course, the conditioned mind does love repetition, so it is persistent. If you have ever read books to small children, perhaps you have noticed that they love reading the same stories over and over. They cherish the security of knowing the storyline and they adore the anticipation and expectation of what is already known. This is similar to repetitive adult storylines as we anticipate more of the same. The ego loves the known, because it is based upon it. Ego freedom is the end of psychological suffering and the conscious realization of ever-present joy.


Waves of Emotion

When you are identified with your 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, somebody can take it away and if you are angry, somebody else should fix it. By surrendering your true power in this manner, you helplessly ride the waves of emotion. You remain subject to their merciless push and pull. Your opportunity is to turn attention inward in self-observation to attend to what remains pristine and untouched by emotion.

At first glance, you begin realizing that your attitudes about past situations are linked to present emotional reactions through conditioned thought. Based on past experience, this conditioned linkage is the actual cause of your emotional storms. This is self-inflicted psychological suffering. You can not learn the Joy of Being, but you can observe how you deny this truth through self-observation.

You can observe how you drain your life force as you willingly perpetuate negative emotions through storytelling. You can even become aware of the instant, when you choose to do so. Meanwhile deep within, constant joy is, without the need of any condition or circumstance. My invitation is to look deeper than the storyteller for its discovery.

(continued in tomorrow's post)


In 1986, KATIE DAVIS radically and spontaneously awakened without practices or teachers. The spiritual realization integrated twelve years and she began sharing her message of conscious freedom and causeless joy in 1999. Her new book, Awake Joy, published in 2008.


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The Pain Body Does Have an End ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The pain body is collective suffering that only appears to be alive in you. It is an accumulation of emotional pain or what we refer to as unconsciousness. Through misidentifying with thinking and being unconscious of how the pain body is functioning and thriving through identifying with your thoughts, you have the opportunity to transmute the unconsciousness into consciousness.

The perfect tool is self-observation. Become conscious of the pain body's structure and how it requires both thought and time to operate. Most of all, it requires that you identify with thinking. Since you are observing thought, you no longer tend to identify with the thoughts and therefore the pain body can no longer use you.

When you are able to be in self-observation all day, you are nearing the end of the pain. This essentially means that you become free of the emotional pain caused by psychological thinking. This does not mean that you have to sit doing nothing all day long in self-observation or meditation. It merely means that you are not only present with everything that is happening during the day, but you are also conscious of what is happening within you.

Even after you have become conscious of the structure, the pain body will continue to arise within you for awhile. It is almost like a temptation that begs you to dance with it. It may arise as a sense of unease or mild sense of dread. However, you are now conscious of when it starts activating. Take a few conscious breaths if you find yourself slipping into unconsciousness. Follow your breathing for a moment. You will notice that you shift out of time into presence.

I am not suggesting that you try to stop it or escape from it. That is resistance and it will actually empower the pain body all the more. The pain body loves conflict and grows stronger through resistance. So, simply follow your breathing and allow it to be as it is while observing it.

That which is unconscious will dissolve into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is. Be willing to feel the pain body, even welcome it, but do not identify with it. This requires a consistent, conscious watcher to always be present.

The emotional pain may be uncomfortable, but it does have an end. Just as the darkness of night effortlessly disappears when the sun rises in the morning, the darkness of unconsciousness cannot prevail in the light of consciousness. Instead of energizing the pain body, you will find that your consciousness is growing brighter and stronger.

Only This Love ~ Katie

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Content and Curiosity About Structure ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Below this post, I suggested Self-inquiry, if you would like to reread that entry. This is suitable for even "beginners" and will successfully remove the ego "I"; the one who suffers the mind.

However unless the patterns and ego mechanisms that are operating within us are made conscious, they will resurface again and again. So while we are speaking about the false psychological self, I am primarily pointing to how it functions within us.

Others have spoken about content and structure in the awakening process. I do not know whether they are applying the same definitions in use of these terms. When I use the word "content," I am referring to the life story; the content of the present moment. An example might be:

"My children were playing in the living room and they became rowdy. My husband was trying to work and he came into the kitchen and got angry with me. I got angry with him in return and now I feel sad."

This is the content of the storyline. For awakening, I encourage people to become more curious about the structure than they are about the story content.

The example above is displaying the ego's reactivity. How that ego functions is the structure. The ego functions and interacts all day long and we are unconscious of how the mechanism of ego works.

A first step toward awakening is observing and therefore making the underlying structure conscious. What is the mechanism within which the ego triggers an emotion? How do we become so enmeshed with one another during our daily living?

How is it that the husband became angry? How did he transfer or project this anger onto his wife. Just because the husband got angry, how is it that the wife reacted in anger? How is it she became sad?

While I can explain what I have discovered through self-observation for you to realize the mechanisms, it requires your curiosity to observe it within yourself. Otherwise, what I am sharing is only a philosophical concept.

Children playing in the living room cannot make you angry. It is a simple fact in the moment. So living free of the ego, we accept what is. This does mean that we would not still go into the living room and ask them to play outside. It just means: acceptance is primary and action is secondary.

Instead, the husband was in ego reaction. Based on his past conditioning that formed his likes and dislikes, he could have simply been aware of the dislike and realized that the ego was functioning in resistance. Added to this are all the present thoughts in the head regarding the circumstance:

"They should be playing outside. I am working and don't deserve to have to deal with this. Where is my wife? Why isn't she taking care of them? This happens all the time. In fact, it just happened last week and we discussed the situation. How can she be do unaware of what I am trying to do? I don't deserve this!"

This type of thinking and the mind's willingness to spin the negativity finally surfaces with a reaction. Reaction is not action. Pure action is first acceptance and then free of negativity, the appropriate action. Whereas, reaction springs out of our own problematic thinking and the dislikes of the ego. The accumulated negativity in the head SPRINGS into reaction and we have a pain body on the loose that is ready for a fight.

In the above example, the wife in the kitchen could have been present; that is, in self-observation. You will find that self-observation can become natural all day long. When the pain body entered the kitchen, she would have then been open, almost transparent, to the projected anger. She could felt compassion that he had been taken over by the pain body and that it was only the ego in reaction. In this manner, she would not have taken that attack personally. If she was already watching her inner body, she might not have done the pain body dance. Thoughts cannot use you when you are watching them.

In the final example, what had to happen in order for her to become sad? Well, once again, observe it sometime within yourself. The mind begins telling a story:

"I should have been more aware. How can my husband blame me for the children? My husband hurt "my" feelings."

No one can hurt "your" feelings. Observe your own thoughts and discover the structure that is the manner in which the ego is constantly either pushing or pulling our emotional state. Sad thoughts = sadness.

Now, I have not suggested that you get involved and try to change anything. When you resist your thoughts and then try to change them, it is essentially more thinking.

The divided mind cannot be fixed at the level of the divided mind. The one who is trying to apply the change is the ego. What I am suggesting is for you to merely watch so that you stand free of the thinking. Becoming conscious is the resolution. The change will happen by itself as you become more and more conscious.

Clear, conscious seeing combined with Self-inquiry will lead to ego freedom.


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Untie the Knot by Self-Inquiry ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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Untie the Knot by Self-Inquiry by Katie Davis

The dreaming "I" is the ego and it is only a thought. Its only function is to tie a knot between pure consciousness and the physical body. When you peer out into the world of form from the reference point of the "I," the Self-illuminating Light of Consciousness is "behind" you and therefore, you cannot be conscious of it.

You are misidentified with the dreaming "I." You are the Pure I which is pure consciousness. There are not two. The only resolution is to turn the mind inward to the vast inner space within you. What lies beyond the thoughts? Become curious about the space that is the gap between your thoughts. Instead of interpreting or analyzing the thoughts, just notice the tiny gap between them. That gap is the opening to the formlessness within you.

The situation is that we have been living a lifetime in misidentification with this dreaming "I" as it attaches to worldly things. In other words, looking from that personal reference point, it then projects outward into the world of form and further attaches to its desires and fears. Follow that outward projecting thought back the way that it came. Trace the thought back home to the Pure "I."

If you will apply Self-inquiry by asking this most essential question, "Who am I?", you will notice that the mind turns inward toward the silence and inner body spaciousness that is perfect peace. The dreaming "I" is more like a phantom that disappears when you seek it.

This misidentification with the "I" thought and its outward projection is a very persistent habit; one that has been practiced throughout one's life. However all habits can be broken and the appropriate tool is Self-inquiry ... the question, "Who am I?" When you ask this question, listen with every cell in your body. Where is this dreaming "I" thought arising from?

The ego itself is an altered state of consciousness and has within it the essential pure consciousness. By asking the question through Self-inquiry, it draws the altered state back into the Heart, where the concept of "I" dissolves irreversibly into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is right now.

Self-inquiry unties the knot and the misidentification with the "I" thought and all of its projecting outward are finally finished.

When we are dealing with practices, it is the ego's false idea of becoming. Ego's idea of "becoming" is resistance to what is. Resistance will only tie the knot tighter. It must be seen that the one who is becoming is none other than the mind-made self and it is the mind that is practicing. The mind cannot removed itself, no matter how many years of practicing, the "I" thought will remain.

Isn't Self-inquiry a practice?

No, it is not. It removes the idea of the practitioner (the ego) that needs more time and experience to become what it already is as its essence. It cannot take more time to realize timelessness. It does not take more experience to realize that which is prior to experience.

Self-inquiry preceded the lovely teachings of Ramana Maharshi, one of the most cherished sages of modern day India. Ramana consistently suggested Self-inquiry as the Direct Approach to enlightenment for those who were unable to receive the teachings in radiant silence alone.

Some may overlook Self-inquiry due to its sheer simplicity. After all, the mind cherishes its complexity as it attempts to analyze and interpret enlightenment. The mind is an extraordinary, beautiful power, yet it is the wrong tool for Self-realization. If you will be persistent with Self-inquiry ... you will consciously realize the Pure Heart that is eternally being.

Self-inquiry is presented Katie's book, Awake Joy, in Appendix II at the end of the book in "Practices and Meditations."

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Dissolving the Collective Pain Body ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Our conditioning determines our likes and dislikes. For the mind-made self, someone does something that the ego does not like and it judges it from a past perspective. That judgment is based on past experience and the conditioning from that experience. The ego resists what already is and reacts. That resistance and reaction cause suffering for you and others.

Self-observation begins when we start watching our thoughts and how they relate to our emotional environment. Content has to do with what someone said and what we dislike. Structure deals with how the ego and its thoughts interrelate with our emotion, regardless of the content or story about what is happening.

Through self-observation, we can notice that when the ego attaches to negative thoughts, the body reacts in contraction as though those thoughts were true. That contraction is what we call negative emotion. Our emotions do not change because of what is happening in the life situation. They change because of our problematic thinking.

When we watch thought, this structure becomes evident and we see more clearly how the ego mechanism is functioning within us. That is, we become conscious of what was previously functioning unconsciously. In self-observation, we can also watch our emotions and become aware of how the mind is more than willing to perpetuate the negativity as it moves deeper into unconsciousness.

If we resist the negative emotion, it perpetuates it in the same manner that when we try to control our thinking, it actually becomes stronger. Once you are caught in a deep emotion, the only option is to consciously suffer. If you are consciously watching, you are transmuting not only your present pain but also the pain of the past. The pain of the past formed your dislike and it reactivates in the present as reaction.

Sometimes, we may be confused when all of a sudden we find ourselves totally angry or deeply saddened. If the depth of the negativity is out of proportion with what is happening on the surface in the life situation, you are beginning to sense and feel the collective pain body.

What is collective pain? Well, if you could accumulate all of humanity's suffering into one "body" of negativity (unconsciousness), that is the collective pain body.

When this pain arises within you, if you resist it, you are accumulating more pain. Instead of resisting, invite it in and experience it fully. I am not asking you to get involved, analyze or interpret it. I am only asking you to consciously be with it. If it goes deeply enough, it is as though you become the negative emotion. The emotion consumes you.

I realize that it is uncomfortable, but there is no other way out. Through your willingness to watch and allow that collective pain, it is transmuted into pure consciousness.

Always ask, is there anything deeper? Discover what is at its depth. The pain does have an end. You will directly realize that suffering is a delusion. It does not help to just mentally say, "Well, this suffering is a delusion" and go on suffering from time to time. It requires that you directly realize the delusion.

In the core of the pain, you will realize the pure consciousness that you genuinely are. When all of the unconsciousness is transmuted, what remains is perfect peace.

Mumbai India in the Light of Consciousness ~ Katie Davis, Awake Joy

If you are watching the events in Mumbai, India unfold, please stand fearlessly as the Light of Consciousness, without adding any more weight to the collective ego.

That weight will appear as negative mind activity. The human brain is must like a radio receiver. Those thoughts do not belong to "you" unless you identify with them. With attachment, the body will react to those thoughts and appear as "your" emotion.

Uneasiness ... sensitivity ... without mind activity? Consciously feel it fully as it is transmuted ... the only true answer.

That weight adds to the collective unconsciousness that is already hugely expressing itself.

Be still ...

True Compassion ... without wavering from unconditional Love ... and in open forgiveness for the divided mind that is unconscious.

Compassion to our Heart Friends in India and to those with friends or travelers there.

Only This Love ~ Katie

Presence is Natural ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Presence is natural and does not require anything more. In other words, Self-realization is not an attainment or something you strive for. This Being-Consciousness-Bliss that you are is ever-present. It is right now.

The situation seems to be that a the thought “I” arises. In the old world, out of habit alone, we misidentified with the concept of "me” that is the “I am the body” idea. When this misidentification takes place, the “dreaming” I has extraordinary pulling power and suddenly all the other thoughts appear. So the thoughts are really not problematic. It is our misidentification that is at issue.

“I” is just another word. Where is the word pointing? We were taught that it was pointing to the body. This is true on a relative level of course. But is it true that your identity is limited to the body? I say this is not so, but this will be for your direct investigation. It requires huge curiosity, because you want to know the ultimate Truth. Ideas and concepts remain philosophical … instead we need to notice directly through direct experience.

When this misidentification with the “I” thought occurs, a veil drops and we are unable to be conscious of the being-consciousness-bliss that we are. To remove the veil, it requires that you seek this “I.”

Sit quietly for a few moments right now. Just close your eyes and be aware of how exquisite the air feels as it moves in and out your nose.

Then ask this question, “Who am I?” and listen with every cell in the body. We are not looking for a thought in reply. If a thought arises, such as “I am my given name”, ask the question again, aware of your breath, “Who am I?”

That question alone with lift the veil to perfect peace. Where is this thought arising?

It is beautiful to practice being present. The best tool for this is attending the breath. Breathing is always occurring right now and the present moment is the portal to the perfect peace within.

The body’s sensing is another tool. What do you hear right now? Do you smell anything? The body is part of the content of the present moment and therefore the key to the inner body.

But let’s take this a step further. The “I” that is practicing is the ego, the separate sense of self that needs more time and experience to realize. This is actually a postponement strategy of the ego. The more appropriate question might be, who is practicing? Who am I?

You are aware when you are driving your car, aware when you are shopping, aware when falling asleep. Are you aware that you are always aware? You are this Pure Awareness that is closer and more intimate to you than the body. YOU are appearing within this Awareness. You ARE this Pure Awareness. Another word for Pure Awareness is Presence.

So we are naturally present all day long during everything that is being done. However, most often, we get carried aware by compulsive thinking and lost in the thought stream in the head, instead of consciously being in the body.

The resolution?

1. Bring the “I” thought home by asking “Who am I?“ and then truly listen.

2. Are you aware of breathing?

3. Are you aware of sensing.

It does not take much effort to become aware of breathing all day long. It is always happening in every day life.

This is a first step and perhaps even unwise to move forward from here. Eventually the outward going mind (on its own accord) will remain within the Heart.

Of course eyes are looking outward, the body is functioning and sensing as it does, we are just deeply at rest … being still … while the body does what it does.

Body movement and activity can become Zen-like. During the morning shower, be aware of every movement. If there is a set habitual routine, change it. How does the soap feel as you pick it up in your hands? How does the water feel? Are you breathing? You become consciously present without rushing to the future about anything. Even if you are rushing, we are consciously present with that.

You soon find that the real effort is the misidentification with thought, having to maintain all of the ego’s ideas; constant thinking is exhausting! Day in and day out, how tiring is it to maintain the story of "me?"

When we misidentify with “I”, we move into time and space and then are caught in the world of duality. Relative happiness will eventually cycle to the opposite duality of sadness. Sadness will once again within time cycle to happiness. Neither are stable … where the Bliss and unending Joy are permanent.

Now, don’t go looking for it. You ARE it! When you are seeking, it cannot be found, which is why I say be STILL and notice what truly already is.

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Resistance and Time ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Whenever we resist something, we suffer. Resistance is the ego judging the present moment. It always has its idea of what it would like life to be. When it is otherwise, it resists the form that the present moment is presently taking. Some may not realize that it is actually our own thinking that causes resistance and therefore causes our negative emotions. The ego believes that it is other people and circumstances that cause its emotions to change and it is not so. But don't take my word for it. Observe directly to see how the ego operates and generates or perpetuates negative emotion. When thinking is unobserved and we misidentify with its judgments, it is self-inflicted suffering.

When you are feeling unhappy, turn your attention to your thoughts and notice how they are using you. The intensity of your unhappiness will always depend upon the degree of resistance that you are having against what is. This just is not that wise. The present moment is already as it is. Can you accept it just as it is? Is it possible to actually love the mystery of the appearance and truly be free to welcome all that is appearing, free of judgment?

Since the ego needs time in order to function, it will always resist the now. The now is the space within which the present moment is appearing. The more you are able to be the Now rather than the personal reference point of the ego, the less you will suffer. You will suffer less since you have not misidentified the dreaming "I" and its wants and needs. Free of the misidentification, you are also free of all the ego's thinking that causes you to suffer.

Since the ego is always under some sense of threat, it will attempt to control and manipulate whatever is. Of course, that is impossible since it is. That control and manipulation only causes you and others to suffer. We create more pain which will soon become more pain of the past that will be stored in the body for release.

If you observe the ego, you will notice how it is constantly fixated on the past or future, which obscures the Now that is the source of all true happiness and peace. Whatever past pain that you perceive that you have, it will appear as present conditioning, which is why we do not need to heal the past. It will appear in the present moment as your reaction to the present moment. Likewise, the ego is always attempting to use the present moment to get something in the future. This creates anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. Those desires are also based on past conditioning.

If you are interested in creating no more pain for yourself and others, stand free of time and you will see that you do not accumulate more time and therefore more suffering. The present moment is virtually all that you have. Are you missing it? It is the only true representation of Life as it truly is and the only doorway to presence.

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Dreaming "I" and Its Attachments ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The dreaming "I" or "I" thought is like any other word. Words only represents things that they point to. We have assumed that this word has been pointing to our body and therefore believe that I = body. However, when we awaken, we realize that this first, primary assumption is actually false. There is something unfathomable here that we are overlooking. The word “I” is of course pointing to the body, but is it also pointing to something deeper within the inner body that is radically more?

When we accept this mental concept “I” that is limited to the body, our living experience is limited to a superficial, mental realm. We believe in this limitation and few have actually directly investigated this assumption to discover the truth. When we misidentify with a mental modification of what I call Pure I, our life is living in separation and it is the source of all sorrow. In addition, the misidentification drops a veil and prevents our discovery of who we really are in the deepest sense.

Those seeking enlightenment or Self-realization must first discover the falsehood of this most unfortunate misidentification. When we seek the “I” thought, it disappears. This lifts the veil that is blocking access to the divine dimension within.

We can define the word I that is the body in many ways, such as “I am a mother. I am a daughter. I am an author.” These descriptions are not saying who “I” is. If you investigate for yourself and find that since “you” are AWARE of the body, who you are must be beyond your form. Who is that who is aware? Who are you in the deepest sense? These questions signify the beginning steps toward enlightenment and Self-realization. Are you curious enough to want to realize the Truth?

Self-realization is the end of psychological suffering since it is the end of the psychological self. The old way to deal with misery was to try to manipulate or modify the emotion or thoughts. The new way eliminates the cause; the psychological self or “I” thought. In this, we discover that there is no thinker of thoughts, no performer of actions and we live free from the awareness of an individual self that is separate.

The body is still there with all of its beautiful inborn talents and traits, but the idea of “me” and all of its past and future fixations are finished. We are freed of the problematic psychology of the ego and free of its constant sense of threat.
Inside, there is the stillness and quietude that we genuinely are and in the world of form, our body is there accessing this ultimate creativity. A sense of giving all the love away and selfless service comes to the forefront.

When we give up this relationship with “myself,” we are at one as Life, whether with form or without. The Totality is the pure still awareness and its power, the appearance of the universe. After a lifetime of toil, it is amazing to discover that it is all happening by itself with such beauty, harmony and peace. We have only to get out of the way to consciously realize who we actually are.

When the “I” thought arises it does so to attach to things and objects it desires. “I want that new car. I believe that this is the right way. I need this to be happy.” These attachments take on a mental journey and we get lost in the mental world of form.

There will never be true and lasting fulfillment gained through attachments, no matter how many things, objects and people you attain or gather together. There will always be something more lacking.

That lack is inherent in the idea of being only a fraction of the Totality that is functioning independently from the whole. The lack truly has nothing to do with the lack of attachments that we hope to attain in order to feel whole and happy.

The lack is what is occurring prior to the arrival of the attachments; misidentification with the “I” thought and its individual desires. The entire search for happiness by the psychological self is actually a search for wholeness and fulfillment. Enlightenment is this ultimate fulfillment. In fact, a synonym for realization is fulfillment.

If you will silently watch and notice what is actually happening, you will be able to trace back every attachment to the original attachment to the “I” thought. Instead of trying to let go of attachments, let go the one who they all belong to … the dreaming “I” that is the ego-body. Self-inquiry removes this first person pronoun of suffering and all of the attachments fall like a wall of sand.

If you will hold onto “I am” and be free of “I am this” or “I am that,” the ego I will disappear and you will have a direct experience of the true Self. The “I” thought originates from the Heart that is within, so when it disappears … that is, go back where the thought came from … you will have a direct experience of peace. This will be a temporary, fleeting experience until one realizes that all objects are untrue as Self identity.

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The Power of Forever Now ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In Self-realization, we realize that we ARE the Now that we also refer to as Self, Pure I, Pure Awareness, Heart, Essence or Absolute Truth; among others.

This is not to be confused with the power of Now that is the appearance of the universe that we call experience. The power includes the forces of nature, the content of the present moment, our bodies, thoughts, emotions, energies, physical sensations such as shakti or others. No matter what form Pure I may take, it never loses the consciousness that is its essential nature.

Even if you perceive a certain power or vision as “other worldly,” since it is experienced, it is none other than the power of Self. The power of Now cannot be separated from the Now any more than “my” power could be separated from “me.” ”My” power is totally dependent on “me.” Without “me,” ”my” power would not be.

The Now is beyond experience and its power is the mind-body that is experience. The mind-body and its experience cannot stand alone. It is totally dependent on the Now, whereas the Now stands free of experience and the appearance of the world. For experience, the mind-body is required and that is also dependent upon the power of Now. The mind is an extraordinary power, but not the Now. “My” body is included within that power. I experience “my body” and therefore it is dependent and cannot stand alone. Everything within the field of experience is the power of Now and inseparable from the Now that I am.

This is not to say that the human being aspect of us should not be embraced. It just is not who we truly are. We ARE the Now within which the body is appearing. When we say “I” that word is pointing to the Now that is Essence. The problematic situation that causes the veil to drop is the misidentification with the body. The mind-body is the power. You are the Now.

For the Self-realized, people, things and circumstances do not appear to be separate and they are appearing from “within.” Although the mental constructs of “inside” and “outside” have been eliminated, the forever Now stands alone and beyond the world and its present moment, although not separate. The Forever Now is eternally permanent, while the impermanent forces of nature are in movement. I am the screen upon which they are appearing and also the consciousness or power that is appearing as form. I am the Totality.

With Self-realization, suffering has been realized as a delusion and therefore has been spontaneously surrendered. The pain gap between the dreaming "I" and the Heart has been extinguished.

When the subject-witness is eliminated, the void of collective suffering is also realized as a delusion and is therefore eliminated. Pure I is free of time, space and therefore separation and its suffering.

I am pure consciousness- being-bliss that is beyond the "I am" that is the foundation of all experience. Now is free of the body idea and the mind’s ever changing phenomena. The body is still sensing and functioning as it does, but it is no longer one's identity. I just can no longer separate the Now that I am from my power; the world.

Pure I is free of the doer of action. This does not mean that the body is not productive. Rather, the belief that there is a doer has been realized as false. I am Pure I during all that is being done. All that is appearing is my power and therefore is the Heart that I am. There just is no doer that is performing the action. One could say that there is pure activity that is intelligent and creative without any identification with the action or its fruits. I am free of imagining that "I am the doer" of anything. It is a false idea to consider the Heart as the doer. There simply is no doer.

Contrarily, the mind-made self that is the ego is time bound and experiences itself as the divided mind. Although an illusion, it experiences bondage. For the ego, it believes that it IS its thoughts and that it is the thinker. Lost in time, it is not conscious of the freedom that is always present.

Since it believes itself to be separate, it experiences only separation. As an illusory subject, it perceives separate objects such as other people, circumstances and things.

Because the ego believes it is separate, a personal reference point that is misidentified as the body, it also imagines that it is separate from the divine. For those who are drawn to enlightenment and curious about the Truth or longing for God, the ego begins an endless search for what is already within. It is an endless search, because the ego cannot realize the Truth. A temporary falsehood cannot meet the permanent Truth. It is itself the veil preventing Self-realization.

Through Self-inquiry and asking this question, "Who am I?" and noticing where the “I” thought arises from, the “dreaming I” is realized to be non-existent. The veil of illusion is removed and only the Self-illuminating Heart, the living Truth, remains.

While we are being Now, the conceptual “I” cannot take flight. That concept requires the mind and its time in order to separate and function. We are purely Now and its present power.

Suffering for the ego is always caused by other people and life circumstance. It therefore attempts to control and manipulate life circumstances in order to make itself relatively happy and avoid its pain. Even in this pseudo power, it is remains helpless as it is tossed about by others and life situations. It is constantly under the push and pull of its emotional state. As the ego, I AM my emotions and always under threat by some other.

Suffering for the self-observer is the body's reaction to what it believes to be its own thoughts. It eventually takes responsibility for its own emotional environment, when it realizes that it is suffering due to its own judgmental thinking. It begins experiencing emotional balance by becoming consciously present to its thoughts and emotions. By observing the thoughts and emotions, it is not as likely to be used by them.

After complete detachment from form, the witnessing consciousness emerges and being-consciousness-bliss comes to the forefront. Nonetheless, all that remains unconscious within the void of the collective continues to emerge as an overlay on the bedrock that is Truth; yet its perfume is plainly evident. This is not enlightenment, but some mistaken it as such.

The subject-witness is a study of formlessness and the witness frees ever more subtle layers of the intellect. Those are two reference points: (1) a formless witness, who objectively is witnessing (2) formlessness (awareness aware of itself). There are not two. Nonetheless, what lies unconscious within the collective surfaces and the collective pain body is freed. It transmutes into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is.

Because the ego state of consciousness is misidentified with the physical body and its limitations, it believes that it is the doer of action and is therefore responsible for the fruits of those actions. The ego believes that it is making individual, mental decisions independently and these decisions will always be based on past experience. Its divided and conditioned intelligence thereby experiences the consequences.

Pure I is beyond this law of cause and effect and thereby free of causality. The Heart is pure intelligence and potentiality that is divinely abundant, all powerful, unconditional love and perfect peace.


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