Practice: Breathing and Sensing Awareness by Katie Davis

Questioner:

Thank you for you answer. It gave me a deeper understanding of what you talk about. When you talk about direct investigation it is always to ask myself what is really happening in the moment, who is really asking this? How to make it practical and not be a question from the intellect? What is the way to make this more practical.

I read you awoke spontaneusly to this self realization. How can one live more often in that state of presence and not be absorbed into the mind. How can I come to this quiet place in my daily life? And really experience that joy of life at any moment including the dificult times and real suffering?

I know it may be too many questions and I would like sometime to come to your satsangs. Your words inspire me and yet this realization that I am not Monica; I know it just partially; sometimes I've have experienced that state of no separation, but it is like a flash light in the middle of the night.

Katie:

Thank you for writing back. The pathway to realizing who you are underneath all of this thinking requires that you notice what is true for yourself. I can point you where to look, but simply telling you answers is not the way. We have assumed throughout our lifetime many false ideas, so one by one we begin examining for ourselves the truth.

You are exactly right. First and foremost, we become conscious of this moment. I am not asking you to get mentally involved with what is happening ... such as right now. Instead, focus on your breathing and use the body's senses. Since the body is grounded in the present moment, it is a very effective tool to practice being present. Just take a moment here and now away from your computer screen. Close your eyes and just notice how wonderful the air feels as it moves in and out your nose. This may seem too simplistic, but this works. Go ahead for a moment, close your eyes and just breathe while concentrating on the air moving in and out your nose ...

This is a tool that you can use anytime and anywhere. Just really become conscious of breathing.

Let's try one more thing. Do you hear anything right now? Once again, I am not asking you to become mentally involved with what you are hearing. Just notice that while you are listening, you cannot think. Do you see something lovely in your room? How about carefully smelling for a moment. Do you notice that while you are sensing, there is no thought?

Thinking is like a giant hook that snags us away into suffering. We jump on a train a thought and get carried into the problematic past ... or rushed into the future in anxiety or worry. Are you aware of your thinking? It doesn't matter what you are thinking. I am not asking you to become involved with the subject matter. Are you able to watch your thoughts yet? I promise you that the suffering is caused by the thinking as well as identification with the idea of 'me' that is your body.

But first things first. I would like you to try this conscious breathing. It does not require that you sit away somewhere. While you are driving, are you aware of the air moving in and out your nose? While you are washing dishes ... or during anything that is being done, I would like to concentrate on the breath.

Secondly, I would like you to play with the body senses. When you are a the grocery, listen. While you are breathing and walking to your car, do you smell anything?

After you have practiced this for a few days or a week, please let me know how it goes. If you find yourself suffering. First, we just have to accept it. It is as it is. However, take a moment to go into the breathing or sensing and let me know how it goes.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

June on Maui: Satsang, Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy," and Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit"

Maui Heart Friends ~

You are invited to satsang on Sundays June 1, 8, 15 and 22 at 4:00 pm with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy" and Sundance Burke in Maui Meadows at 875 Kumulani.

Private Sessions will be offered on Saturdays in Wailea June 7, 14 and 21 with either Katie Davis or Sundance Burke. Contact at: awake(at)katie@katiedavis.org

Mind Body Spirit Radio interview on June 19 at noon (HST with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke on KAOI 1110 AM and streaming online worldwide at www.mindbodyspiritmaui.com. Show hostess: Liah Howard

On the radio show, Sundance and Katie will be sharing their new books and speaking on awakening, enlightenment, consciousness, meditation, nonduality and advaita. Call in and get your questions answered.

Click SCHEDULE for details.

Friends of the Heart June Newsletter, Awakening, Enlightenment

The Friends of the Heart free monthly newsletter from Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" just posted.

This issue includes:

What is Advaita, Enlightenment and Non-duality? by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

First Things First by Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit"

The June Event Information: Maui, Hawaii

A Chicago Television Interview with Katie Davis on the "Never Not Here" Show

"Spot of Grace" Highlight, New Book by Dawna Markova

"Handbook for the Spirit" Summary, New Book by Marianne Williamson, Richard Carlson and Benjamin Shield

Seattle, Washington Satsang and Intensive, September 12-13 at East West Bookshop
Washington Satsang, Eastside Satsang, Northwest Satsang, Pacific Northwest Satsang

Portland, Oregon Satsang and Intensive, September 19-20 at New Renaissance Books
Portland Satsang

On the Katie Davis website, you may signup for the free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters and enjoy free videos on awakening, television and radio interviews.

Go to www.KatieDavis.org

Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" Chicago Television Interview by Richard Miller, "Never Not Here"

Chicago television interview with Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" by host and producer, Richard Miller, of the "Never Not Here" Show. Enjoy more free videos and radio podcasts at: www.SundanceBurke.org/FreeAwakeningVideos.html



More videos, television and radio interviews at www.SundanceBurke.org and www.KatieDavis.org.

Chicago Television Interview with Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Television interview with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" by Richard Miller, host and producer of "Never Not Here." Interview is on awakening, enlightenment, spirituality and meditation.



Enjoy the entire free video library for television interviews, radio podcast and other free videos at www.katiedavis.org/freeawakeningvideos.html

Talk, Satsang and Intensive with Book Signing in Portland, Oregon with Authors Katie Davis and Sundance Burke

Friday, September 19-20, Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment", and Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" will be visiting Portland, Oregon at New Renaissance Books. Join us on Friday at 7:00 pm. A book signing will follow the talk and satsang. You are also invited on Saturday at 10:30 AM for a satsang intensive. Please contact New Renaissance Books for more information and registration. More information will also be posted at www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html and Pacific Northwest Satsang.

Book Signing, Talk, Satsang and Intensive in Seattle, Washington with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke

You are invited to a book signing at East West Bookshop in Seattle, Washington with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" and Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being." The book signing will follow a talk and satsang on Friday, September 12 at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, September 13 at 10:30 AM, you are invited to a satsang intensive that will also be at East West Bookshop. More information and registration details at www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html or at Pacific Northwest Satsang, Northwest Satsang or Seattle Satsang.

Mind Body Spirit Radio & Internet Interview by Liah Howard with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke, June 19 at Noon

You are invited to tune in to Mind Body Spirit Call in Talk Radio KAOI 1110 AM at 12:00 pm Hawaii Standard Time on Thursday, June 19 for an interview by Liah Howard with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enligtenment" and Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightenment." They will be discussing awakening, enlightenment and Non-duality as well as their new books.

The interview will also be available worldwide on the internet at www.liahhoward.com/radio or visit the Katie Davis Schedule www.katiedavis.org/schedule for more information. An MP3 of the interview will be available immediately following the show.

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Maui Satsang with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke

An invitation to satsang with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," and Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" on beautiful Maui: Sundays, 4 pm, June 1, 8, 15 and 22 at 875 Kumulani in Maui Meadows. Our hostess this month is Bonnie.

Private sessions with either Katie Davis or Sundance Burke in Wailea on Saturdays during the month of June: June 7, 14 and 21. For more information or to schedule an appointment please contact us by email at (awake (at) katiedavis.org) or go to www.katiedavis.org/contact_us.html for our email address.

All are welcome. Aloha!

www.katiedavis.org

Enlightenment, Nonduality, Personal Self by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Questioner: This is what I read on the book cover of "Awake Joy."

"KATIE DAVIS spontaneously awakened over twenty years ago, without spiritual practices or teachers. She had never heard of awakening and had never been a seeker of Truth. In fact, she had no intellectual reference whatsoever for what had occurred."

This statement is too illusive, as if it were too personal, or worse, that it seemed to you like a complete blunder or accident, like maybe you fell off your bike and hit your head: what i'm saying is, it is like you are not taking any personal responsibility for "what happened" to you. I can't help but to be a bit uncomfortable with such an evasion, if it is that, and so i am asking again.

The whole idea of Non-Duality is that it starts as a mere point and you are it. Your first task is to be it. Then, once you realize nothing-ness, then you must enlarge the point which you do by enlargement, which is achieved by rotation, like a whirling dervish; thus you grow both vertically and horizontally. I'm not sure that makes sense to you, but it is a perfectly natural state of affairs. I relate it to Non-duality because it regards time and space as a duality not to be taken as a stand alone reality. To see them together, you first must take them apart. If the only time is Eternity, then all time is Now!

I know this is a bit strange, but you probably are none the less familiar with it. The idea of taking responsibility for Enlightenment is fearless and in complete Joy, knowing in no uncertain terms, that no harm will come of such a venture. You know that you are in complete control over the experience you have inside and you are the exact same thing as the substance you are surrounded with, so you are at onement with bliss.

What I am trying to get you to say is something like "I always is!" If so, then you don't have to hide behind who or what you currently are presenting as, which is the Image of you , but you are so much more than that. You should know who or what you were presenting as at the moment you came into being or when this enlightening moment changed your perception of self. So what is consciousness? Katie, tell me, tell me, tell me, what do you remember?

Katie: First and foremost, I encourage you to follow your direct observations, which it seems from what you are saying that you would do just that. I mention this, since so many are looking for answers 'outside themselves' and the Truth is revealed through silent still watching. Before I begin sharing, I must also say that the world experience has only to do with the individual and its life story. Whereas, Self-realization is the final end to individuality as identity. This is no diminishment of course, but it is radically different than we have believed 'reality' to be.

Now over 20 years ago, the awakening did in fact happen to 'katie' quite by accident. I had never heard of awakening, enlightenment and indeed, did not even know that there was an 'inner' world. In retrospect, I see that all life experience was leading me to the Heart's way of living, rather than the mind's idea of life. You ask me to remember, but Self-realization is in fact, a non-experience ... a profound gap in experience that transformed 'my' life as I had previously known it to be.

There is absolutely no personal responsibility for 'what happened to me.' It is the end of the "me,' the mind-made sense of self ... the childhood toy that we attempted to carry with us into adulthood. Instead of being a fraction of Totality searching to complete itself, the fraction releases into a wholeness that already is and always has been. Our delusion has been that we call ourselves 'I' and equate it to the limitation of the body. It is for you to investigate to see if this is really so. Self-realization is the end of all psychological suffering and the conscious discovery of unending, uncaused joy. You are experiencing this transcendental peace right now ... you just may not yet be conscious of it.

All of the lovely ancient scriptures inform what you are not. So many helpful practices concentrate thought. Nonetheless, in the end, a concentrated mind and distracted mind are still merely mind. At some point, it is recognized that the practitioner itself is a delusion and another postponement strategy of the mind-made self and its desire for more time to be what it already is. Teachers can also help inform the mind, but the truest teacher is within. We simply dust off the dust of the mind, its time and all of its false concepts and what remains is Pure I ... not the 'dreaming' I that we equate to our body. We honor the body for it is the portal to the 'inner' body and of course its Essence is also consciousness. It is just that you are profoundly more than form and conscious experience.

"The whole idea of Non-duality" ... release it. It is an idea that brought you here and now. After the mind is informed, let it go. The mere point that you are speaking of is the limitation and primary obscuration. If you have discovered this point in consciousness that is quite beautiful. I now point to the spaciousness within which it appears. You are already the 'expansion' with no need to expand. So yes, if this is your reference point ... a point ... it will seem like expansion, but in the end you are the infinite Totality. Spinning is a practice and it can be helpful for some. The body spins. What is not spinning? Are you aware of spinning? Who is that?

Exactly ... the only true time in the universe is now. Could it possibly take more time to take you out of time? Does a mountain spin to become a mountain? No, the mountain IS. You are already that which you are seeking. So, spinning has worked well for you and we are grateful for that. You are aware of the duality of time and space. So now it is time to just stop all doing in the mind and see what already IS. Can you see the duality in 'me' vs. the Heart? Who is aware of duality?

Beautiful that you are aware of the formless no-thing-ness. Those are two reference points. Awareness aware of no-thing-ness ... duality. So, at this point we stop. Rest in 'I am' and when you become aware of the space around the dreaming I, just stop and be still as AM. If 'you' are in movement searching, you cannot be who you really are.

There is no control. There is no 'personal' self other than the primary idea that is the body. As an individual body, you are so unique. It just is not your identity, other than your given that you call your body. You have no limitation or boundary whatsoever. But don't take my word for it. Look for yourself.

Finally, yes, "I always is." It just is not the "I" that you think it is. Who is "I?" Ask "who am I?" This is the only essential question and sooner or later every intelligent person asks this question ...just like 'you.'

There is only the conscious intelligence of sacred unconditional love ... you are That ... just as everything that you see and everything that you cannot see is only That.

Yes! "I always IS" but it is not what you may think. Who is that? Who am I?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Surrender, Resistance and Conflict by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Questioner: I want to share something that happened the day after Friday's Satsang. I had quite the day on Saturday. i was in the coaching seminar and the discussion was around our "inner saboteurs" Various people were sharing and I decided to share my feelings. I mentioned quite simply that I found that having/being invested in an "I identity" importance of "my Story" was the major detriment in my life and that allowing the possibility of being "nobody" was liberating.

A woman on the otherside of the room declared that this made no sense and was off topic, the group leader said few people and only "enlightened" masters can "achieve" such a state and moved on before I could finish.

This didn't feel right and the woman next to me felt this and we were sharing notes about this. Another woman across the room said we were distracting her by writing notes to each other.

I thanked her for noticing and said that there was an issue unresolved and I confronted the leader about not honoring the gift I was sharing and that his view on being truly who we are wasn't based upon an impossibility.

At this point the room went wild with intense energy and a woman panicked and said things were out of control and picked up her belongs and left and then other women went to console her.

For an hour there was chaos and it was directed primarily towards me as an agent of provocation. I sat with this energy and spent the rest of the day with a huge feeling in my chest and witnessing the projections in the room and changes in people towards me.

I was exhausted last night and couldn't get out of bed to go to the last day of this "movie"; my body wouldn't let me.

Today I am spending the day in silence, alone, writing and being nobody.

Katie: By now, your day of silence, being alone, writing and being nobody has paid off! Sometimes when we are in deep satsang, the life situation provides the immediate, perfect circumstances to ‘practice’ being only the Heart. Papaji once said that when someone awakens, every “demon” in the universe shows up to call us back to ego.

Only you know for certain whether you were in temptation to energetically react to the situation or in acceptance of what was and then followed by action. Energetically, there is a huge difference between the two. Your opportunity was to accept the situation, first and foremost … free of resistance and judgment. You still may have followed with appropriate action, but the non-resistance is primary. When we judge and resist, we suffer and the situation generally will escalate into more suffering and reaction/resistance from the other. Obviously, your intention was to simply share something useful. Someone reacted and that reaction/resistance was their work. How you receive the reaction is your work and only you can have the clarity of the situation. I know that you are familiar with the principles of surrender … allowing what is. In addition, we need to surrender the ‘I’ since that is prior. When we are truly nobody, there is no one here for reactions to stick to. It is as though you are transparent and rude comments simply pass freely by … perhaps even with a sense of compassion for the ‘other person’ who is identified with ego and therefore living in separation and limitation. Being the power, that is, resting in being, we are impervious to the conditional existence. Our inner space remains open, unprotected and free, regardless of any life circumstance.

In the end, I would also like to point out that the life situation is always a mirror of what is occurring within you. It is a self-projection. When we recognize this, it is our inner work. Trying to fix the mirror is impossible. Like I said at satsang, it is like waking up in the morning and looking in our bathroom mirror and then trying to comb our hair in the mirror. That would be impossible and we just wouldn’t even try. The mirror of the life situation is only a reflection of what is. So we have a willingness to look within to discover if any resistance persists or if there is anything more to surrender.

Stop telling the stories and discover who the storyteller is. Blessings to your work and this amazing journey to the Heart … that you already are.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awake Living and Economics by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Questioner: Thank you so much for your presence. Your words and being touch the heart deeply and I want to be able to live this truth in my life. You talk about the present and the infinite joy that we are. How to embody this reality in the midst of the struggle for an economic survival. How to trust and accept what is there in the moment, when is difficult to fulfill the basic needs in the material world? If we are not separate, if we are the totality, how can it be translated to the practicality of life? It seems that is easy to feel that spirituality, when there is no problem about money, specially in a world that requires so much of money even to partake spiritual guidance. Perhaps your reflection can bring a new and different way to aproach to this matter.

Katie: The only answer to your question is to realize who you really are. Your given name is the name of the body and your sense of individuality, but it is not your identity. This is the core of awakening. When you say "I", it is only a mental concept and when you were very small, your parents taught you, innocently enough, that "I" is limited to the body. This is not so and it only requires your direct investigation to discover whether this is true. We bring our attention to the present moment and we pay attention to the body's sensing. This sensing allows us to be more present, which is the portal to the inner body ... the inner sanctum of the Heart; our sacredness that is joyfully abundant. It also encourages us to be more now, if we are aware of our breathing.

The sense of lack that is appearing in your life is not the result of economics. Please imagine for a moment that you actually are the Heart that is infinitely abundant, cosmically intelligent and absolutely inseparable from all that you see. Then through some massive diminishment, you think that you are a tiny fraction of the Totality and limited to your given name that is the body. This is not so, but you cannot take my word for it. It requires that you examine the truth of what I am saying. The only essential question is, "If I am not limited to my given name, then who am I? When you discover that the idea of "me" is false, your investigation shifts deeper. Who you actually are is closer and more intimate to you than the word "I" and closer to you than even your own body. It doesn't exclude "you and the body." It is just that you are just so much more! Upon realization of the Heart, who you really are, the perception of lack disappears. The idea of separation is realized as virtually unattainable. We then rest as our wholeness with a sense of simple receptivity (not knowing). We surrender to the Heart that we truly are and Life just seems to live us.

Once again, the center of attention much be directly right now. You may have had financial problems in the past, but that past no longer exists when we are present. You may have financial concerns in the future (based on the past), but the future is not here now. The focus is on being the now and the present moment awareness is crucial. The mind would like to carry you into many future concerns and anxieties. However, in the present moment, there is never a problem. Do you have a problem right now? Any thought that comes up, if you will notice is about the future and not precisely right now. Isn't this true? Focus your total attention in this precise moment and you will notice that your body's sensing becomes so much more alive. Be where the body is rather than riding any train of thought into suffering. You are then HERE and present to receive.

I might point out that the form in which life provides is never quite what the mind thinks. For instance, if you needed money for groceries in order to eat, perhaps a neighbor would arrive with vegetables from the garden. Our job is to be totally present, keenly now and discover who we really are. Awake living is realizing that the practicalities of life are handled by the greater Life, when we are in alignment with the now and resting as the Heart of all being.

When the worries about money come up, please recognize that you are traveling in time. Time = suffering. Instead of continuing to tell the painful story that causes the pain, stop and bring your attention to the present moment. Who is worrying? "I am." Who is suffering? "I am." Who is the storyteller? "I am." We cannot keep telling the painful story and get rid of the pain. Instead, discover who "I" is.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Television Interview 26 with Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," is interviewed by Chicago's Richard Miller on his show "Never Not Here." Katie discusses awakening, enlightenment, meditation, self-inquiry, self-realization, Advaita and nonduality. Enjoy more television interviews, radio podcasts and more free videos on her website at www.KatieDavis.org.



More videos at www.KatieDavis.org.

Katie's books, "Awake Joy," is available on her website at www.KatieDavis.org/AwakeBooksKatie.html.

Awake Joy in Chandler, Arizona at East West Exchange Bookstore and Yoga Studio, Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Friday-Sunday, May 16-18

Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," and Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being, will be offering Satsang and two Satsang Intensives in Chandler, Arizona at East West Exchange Bookstore and Yoga Studio at SW Dobson and Warner Roads Friday-Sunday, May 16-18.

To register, call East West Exchange at (480) 855-6010. You may also register in person at Changing Hands Bookstore in person at 6428 McClintock in Tempe. An introduction to "Awake Joy" and "Free Spirit" will be offered at Changing Hands on Monday, May 12, 7:00-8:30 pm and there will be a $10 credit for the three day satsang and satsang intensive for those attending the Changing Hands Introduction.

Satsang, Friday, May 16, 7-9 pm, East West Exchange, register $15, at the door $20.

Satsang Intensive, Saturday, May 17, 11:00-5:00 (lunch 1-3), East West Exchange, register $70, at the door $75.

Satsang Intensive, Sunday, May 18, 11:00-5:00 pm (lunch 1-3), East West Exchange, register $70, at the door $75.

Three Day Satsang and Satsang Intensive Pass, Friday, May 16-Sunday, May 18, East West Exchange, register $150. There is a $10 discount for those who attend Monday's Introduction at Changing Hands.

More information at www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html.

Awake Joy in Tempe, Arizona at Changing Hands Bookstore, Monday, May 12, 7:00-8:30 pm

Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," will be offering an introduction to "Awake Joy" with Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" at Changing Hands Books, 6438 McClintock, Tempe, AZ, 7:00-8:30 pm on Monday, May 12. A book signing will follow their talk. This is an introduction to a three day satsang and satsang intensive that will be held at East West Exchange, Bookstore and Yoga Studio at the SW corner of Dobson and Warner Rd in Chandler, AZ.

To register for the Changing Hands events, call Changing Hands (480) 730-0205. Registration is $15 and at the door is $20.

To register for the East West Exchange events, go to Changing Hands in person or call East West Exchange at (480) 855-6010. There is a $10 credit for those who attend the introduction at Changing Hands on Monday night.

More information at the www.KatieDavis.org/Schedule.html.