Enjoy Sundance and Katie, authors of "Free Spirit" and "Awake Joy" on Mind Body Spirit Maui Radio with a beautiful Hawaii slide show and conscious music by Kirtana and John Astin. They share the awakening, enlightenment, enlightened relationships, photos of traveling with Eckhart Tolle and more. They are interviewed by Maui's Liah Howard. Enjoy the entire free awakening video library that features programs with Sundance and Katie on awakening, enlightenment, meditation, satsang and spirituality by clicking Free Awakening Videos.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
New Never Not Here Show ~ Chicago Awakening Group ~ Sundance and Katie
Sundance Burke, author, Free Spirit: The Essence of Enlightenment and Katie Davis, author, Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment on the Never Not Here Show. Host and producer, Richard Miller, organized and produced an Awakening Group in Chicago as a televised Round Table. This is not a traditional satsang. It is wonderful in demonstration of all the states of consciousness that are available. Where are you looking from? What is your reference point? Are you willing to allow the Truth?
114 minutes. Enjoy the entire free video library with six Never Not Here Shows, free radio podcasts with beautiful slide shows with music and video interviews with Sundance and Katie by clicking Free Awakening Videos
114 minutes. Enjoy the entire free video library with six Never Not Here Shows, free radio podcasts with beautiful slide shows with music and video interviews with Sundance and Katie by clicking Free Awakening Videos
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Glimpses of Truth and Awakening by Katie Davis
Questioner:
I am twenty-five years old and a few years ago I started awakening. This powerful energy would rise within and the world around me would seem so new and different than before. But each time, I would go back and get emotionally stuck again. It is like I have a war going on inside my mind. One side is afraid that I don't know anything anymore and the other seems to know just about everything. I have been traveling recently and the new energy would just come up on its own and then fade away. I am wondering if there is a way to maintain this state. Right now, I haven't been feeling well and it seems to take up all my physical energy. Is it possible that this frequency could just go totally away and not come back? I am willing to do anything to get it back.
Katie Davis:
This is such a gift. For awhile, it seems as though there are glimpses of Truth and then the bliss seems to go away. However, bliss cannot disappear, since it is eternal. Eternal means that it must be here right now. The obscurations to Truth are the obstacles of conditioned thought. If you move slightly out of the present moment, it seems as though Truth has disappeared. It may seem that way, however it is not. It is like clouds on a sunny day blocking the sun for a moment. It doesn’t mean that the sun isn’t there. Soon the clouds move away and it is sunny again.
I would like you to take a moment to concentrate on being the inner body. Feel the cells of your body just dancing with life; perhaps in your hands first and then your feet ... now your entire body. Take a moment from the screen and close your eyes. Just observe breath breathing you. No effort required, just relaxed breathing. Observe the breath, right at your nostrils and experience how delicate the breath is. Go ahead, try this now.
Now look around the room that you are sitting in. Just be with it for a moment and look. Go ahead. Notice how the mind labels different objects. It is always attracted to objects. That is what the dual mind does. It separates the subject (the looker) from objects. Shift your attention to the space in the room. Please listen to the space with every cell in your body. Go ahead.
With attention remaining in the inner body, with your eyes closed again, I would like you to look intensely for the next thought. Just like a cat sitting outside of a mouse hole and waiting for the mouse to come out. Watch for the next thought. Go ahead, be alert. If a thought arises, just let it go and look intensely and fiercely for the next thought. Go ahead.
This is Presence. It is from here that I would like you to welcome these words on this page. They are arising from the silence. Listen to the space and the silence from which they arise, while being the inner silence within you.
While you are traveling, such as you have been doing, it is easier to be present. Every scene is rich and new. There is nothing habitual. Nothing is taken for granted. You are looking at things that you have never seen before. Is it possible to experience your present environment in the same manner? See everything and everyone, as though you have never seen them or met them before. It is living completely free of any past whatsoever. There is only here and now. Continue this attitude of not knowing anything, without any labels, looking out at the adventure and mystery of Life, as it appears before you. It is only the mind that pretends to know and what is known is past. To know is always some past concept, a past learning or conditioning.
I am asking you to look beyond the mind, beyond emotion and beyond form. What is beyond the mind cannot be conceptualized by the mind. Let go of all knowing. You have never seen any of these surroundings before. You know none of the people in your life. Even labels for people like “mother” and “dad” have storylines that go along with the label. Look at these people as though you have never seen them before. Nothing taken for granted. Nothing known.
The war that you are speaking of in your mind are two aspects of ego that are in opposition to one another. One is afraid to not know and the other who pretends to know. My question is what are they appearing in? You have perhaps listened to the resistance long enough. Can you attend the space deeper within you that is still. I am not asking you to try to stop the war. Just be the space within which it is occurring. Resist nothing whatsoever. The thinking is powerless unless you identify with the thoughts.Be the still observer as the thoughts travel downstream. If you identify, when you notice it, just release it and shift back to being the space within which they appear.
Turn your attention to the thinker, rather than the content of thought. Who is thinking? Who am you really? In the watching, mind begins to shift from the habitual projecting power of mind to the resting power of mind. This occurs naturally without doing anything. Who is the watcher? Can you watch the watcher?
“I” is a concept, only a word, and we assume that word is referring to the body. This is an assumption that has innocently enough been passed down to us by our parents. We accepted this first assumption without ever even investigating the truth of the matter. Are you really a separate “me,” as you have been conditioned? We have tried to build a life on something that has no foundation; no reality whatsoever.
However, you can’t take my word for it. This must be investigated by you. Go ahead. Close your eyes for a moment. Being the inner body, with your eyes closed, ask the question, “Who am I?” We are not looking for an intellectual reply. If a thought comes up, just let it go. Ask the question again, listening fiercely with every cell of your body, “Who am I?” Where does the “I” thought arise from? Go ahead. Listen and ask.
What did you find there? Is there anyone even there? What is there? Does it have any attributes? What does it feel like? Ask it again, “Who am I?”
This is the gift of direct Self-inquiry given to us by Ramana Maharshi. Every time one of his students had a thought, Ramana would have them ask the question again, “Who am I?” This brings attention back to Itself. The “I” dissolves into the Silence from which it has arisen. Seek the "I" and follow it back to the Heart that you are.
You said that you are willing to do anything that is required; to do whatever it takes. You really don’t have to do anything. It is more like an un-doing. I am asking you to release all concepts, everything that has been conditioned or learned, even the concept of “me.” Is it possible to sit in the uncertainty of not knowing who you are? If you are 100% willing to surrender this “me,” you will meet who you truly are. If you are only 90% willing to surrender that holdback will perpetuate the illusion and will continue to cause suffering. Are you willing to surrender and be nobody? It really isn’t that big of surrender, since when you look, the “I” is nowhere to be found. If not “I,” then, “Who am I?” What does this word "I" point toward?
You have been given the opportunity to realize the joy that you are. When the pain body comes up, just be the watcher. Detached and watching, observing how thought perpetuates the insanity. If the pain body comes up, show no resistance. Just surrender and be conscious with it. Welcome it and allow it to be as it is. Your resistance perpetuates it. Welcome it. It might be a little uncomfortable. It is OK. Don’t try to escape it. Turn inside and look at the fear. What is it? How deep is it? What is its nature? Do you really know fear? You have been running a lifetime from these negative emotions. Go find out what they really are. Walk into the emptiness.
When you identify with negative emotions, you will notice that your thinking begins to align with the negativity and starts telling stories about it. I am not asking you to act it out and I am not asking you to repress it. Just watch it. Make the suffering conscious. Love burns everything into Love. The light of your consciousness is Love.
You say that you are willing to do what it takes:
1. Stop and be still.
2. Resist nothing. Surrender to what is.
3. Welcome the present moment from a place of not knowing.
4. Be nobody.
5. Just by noticing, find out who is surrendering? Who is resisting? Who knows? Who is the one who glimpses Truth? Inquire, "Who am I?"
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
I am twenty-five years old and a few years ago I started awakening. This powerful energy would rise within and the world around me would seem so new and different than before. But each time, I would go back and get emotionally stuck again. It is like I have a war going on inside my mind. One side is afraid that I don't know anything anymore and the other seems to know just about everything. I have been traveling recently and the new energy would just come up on its own and then fade away. I am wondering if there is a way to maintain this state. Right now, I haven't been feeling well and it seems to take up all my physical energy. Is it possible that this frequency could just go totally away and not come back? I am willing to do anything to get it back.
Katie Davis:
This is such a gift. For awhile, it seems as though there are glimpses of Truth and then the bliss seems to go away. However, bliss cannot disappear, since it is eternal. Eternal means that it must be here right now. The obscurations to Truth are the obstacles of conditioned thought. If you move slightly out of the present moment, it seems as though Truth has disappeared. It may seem that way, however it is not. It is like clouds on a sunny day blocking the sun for a moment. It doesn’t mean that the sun isn’t there. Soon the clouds move away and it is sunny again.
I would like you to take a moment to concentrate on being the inner body. Feel the cells of your body just dancing with life; perhaps in your hands first and then your feet ... now your entire body. Take a moment from the screen and close your eyes. Just observe breath breathing you. No effort required, just relaxed breathing. Observe the breath, right at your nostrils and experience how delicate the breath is. Go ahead, try this now.
Now look around the room that you are sitting in. Just be with it for a moment and look. Go ahead. Notice how the mind labels different objects. It is always attracted to objects. That is what the dual mind does. It separates the subject (the looker) from objects. Shift your attention to the space in the room. Please listen to the space with every cell in your body. Go ahead.
With attention remaining in the inner body, with your eyes closed again, I would like you to look intensely for the next thought. Just like a cat sitting outside of a mouse hole and waiting for the mouse to come out. Watch for the next thought. Go ahead, be alert. If a thought arises, just let it go and look intensely and fiercely for the next thought. Go ahead.
This is Presence. It is from here that I would like you to welcome these words on this page. They are arising from the silence. Listen to the space and the silence from which they arise, while being the inner silence within you.
While you are traveling, such as you have been doing, it is easier to be present. Every scene is rich and new. There is nothing habitual. Nothing is taken for granted. You are looking at things that you have never seen before. Is it possible to experience your present environment in the same manner? See everything and everyone, as though you have never seen them or met them before. It is living completely free of any past whatsoever. There is only here and now. Continue this attitude of not knowing anything, without any labels, looking out at the adventure and mystery of Life, as it appears before you. It is only the mind that pretends to know and what is known is past. To know is always some past concept, a past learning or conditioning.
I am asking you to look beyond the mind, beyond emotion and beyond form. What is beyond the mind cannot be conceptualized by the mind. Let go of all knowing. You have never seen any of these surroundings before. You know none of the people in your life. Even labels for people like “mother” and “dad” have storylines that go along with the label. Look at these people as though you have never seen them before. Nothing taken for granted. Nothing known.
The war that you are speaking of in your mind are two aspects of ego that are in opposition to one another. One is afraid to not know and the other who pretends to know. My question is what are they appearing in? You have perhaps listened to the resistance long enough. Can you attend the space deeper within you that is still. I am not asking you to try to stop the war. Just be the space within which it is occurring. Resist nothing whatsoever. The thinking is powerless unless you identify with the thoughts.Be the still observer as the thoughts travel downstream. If you identify, when you notice it, just release it and shift back to being the space within which they appear.
Turn your attention to the thinker, rather than the content of thought. Who is thinking? Who am you really? In the watching, mind begins to shift from the habitual projecting power of mind to the resting power of mind. This occurs naturally without doing anything. Who is the watcher? Can you watch the watcher?
“I” is a concept, only a word, and we assume that word is referring to the body. This is an assumption that has innocently enough been passed down to us by our parents. We accepted this first assumption without ever even investigating the truth of the matter. Are you really a separate “me,” as you have been conditioned? We have tried to build a life on something that has no foundation; no reality whatsoever.
However, you can’t take my word for it. This must be investigated by you. Go ahead. Close your eyes for a moment. Being the inner body, with your eyes closed, ask the question, “Who am I?” We are not looking for an intellectual reply. If a thought comes up, just let it go. Ask the question again, listening fiercely with every cell of your body, “Who am I?” Where does the “I” thought arise from? Go ahead. Listen and ask.
What did you find there? Is there anyone even there? What is there? Does it have any attributes? What does it feel like? Ask it again, “Who am I?”
This is the gift of direct Self-inquiry given to us by Ramana Maharshi. Every time one of his students had a thought, Ramana would have them ask the question again, “Who am I?” This brings attention back to Itself. The “I” dissolves into the Silence from which it has arisen. Seek the "I" and follow it back to the Heart that you are.
You said that you are willing to do anything that is required; to do whatever it takes. You really don’t have to do anything. It is more like an un-doing. I am asking you to release all concepts, everything that has been conditioned or learned, even the concept of “me.” Is it possible to sit in the uncertainty of not knowing who you are? If you are 100% willing to surrender this “me,” you will meet who you truly are. If you are only 90% willing to surrender that holdback will perpetuate the illusion and will continue to cause suffering. Are you willing to surrender and be nobody? It really isn’t that big of surrender, since when you look, the “I” is nowhere to be found. If not “I,” then, “Who am I?” What does this word "I" point toward?
You have been given the opportunity to realize the joy that you are. When the pain body comes up, just be the watcher. Detached and watching, observing how thought perpetuates the insanity. If the pain body comes up, show no resistance. Just surrender and be conscious with it. Welcome it and allow it to be as it is. Your resistance perpetuates it. Welcome it. It might be a little uncomfortable. It is OK. Don’t try to escape it. Turn inside and look at the fear. What is it? How deep is it? What is its nature? Do you really know fear? You have been running a lifetime from these negative emotions. Go find out what they really are. Walk into the emptiness.
When you identify with negative emotions, you will notice that your thinking begins to align with the negativity and starts telling stories about it. I am not asking you to act it out and I am not asking you to repress it. Just watch it. Make the suffering conscious. Love burns everything into Love. The light of your consciousness is Love.
You say that you are willing to do what it takes:
1. Stop and be still.
2. Resist nothing. Surrender to what is.
3. Welcome the present moment from a place of not knowing.
4. Be nobody.
5. Just by noticing, find out who is surrendering? Who is resisting? Who knows? Who is the one who glimpses Truth? Inquire, "Who am I?"
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Friday, June 20, 2008
Freedom, Storytelling, Patience by Katie Davis
Question:
Thank you for the words of guidance. I am feeling there is some sort of divine grace that allows the "me" to dissolve into the real Self. I understand the practice of being still and observing. Lately,feelings of depression come up from a long time of self betrayal since first sensing the state that you live many years ago. I have to say I ran from this truth as I was not finished with the story. NOW that I am ready to let go of that story and surrender, it is like the body still has its own program with intense feelings. I feel moments of the crises and say now I must break this bondage to the false self. I must BE the LOVE I profess!! Still the self clinging self centeredness remains as a knot in the heart. I no longer want to blame this suffering on another, but accept full responsibility for what I would call the selfishness. I know it is simple, but is not Grace a factor? Looking at that ALL LOVING
Katie:
It is true that through some divine, profound grace, we are able to see beyond the personal self and ultimately that it never even existed in the first place, except as a collection of conditionings, concepts and beliefs; all of which belonged to the conceptual, ‘dreaming I.” The mind-body with its given name still appears with all of its beauty and individual talents … it just is not your identity, yet absolutely inseparable from Pure I that is the Heart of Being; the sacred, inner sanctum of the body that is the abode of unconditional love.
“My being” is the ego trying to possess the divine to make it personal and therefore separate, when in fact, it is the other way around. “I am” is the divine dimension that flows into our lives just like a breeze through an open window, when we are present (that is to say when we are living now) and therefore free of the problematic thinking.
The “dreaming I,” its identification with thought and then the impact of those thoughts on the body is what we call emotion. It all starts when we shift into time. We then misidentify with ego (the “I” thought and its thinking – concepts, judgments, interpretations) and the body senses those thoughts. Then we become sad, angry, depressed or relatively happy depending upon which thoughts we identify with.
The truth of the matter, these thoughts do not belong to us and we can just allow them to stream by without identification with them. In this, we are free of the corresponding emotion. The only shift that is required is to notice that when you are suffering, you are in time and then use the body’s sensing to bring you back to now. Do you hear a bird singing? Do you see something beautiful? Better yet, do you notice that the birdsong rises from the silence and returns to silence? Or, do you notice the space around the beautiful object that you are seeing?
The breath is also an excellent tool to shift from time to timelessness. Close your eyes and simply follow your breathing and how delicate it feels as it moves in and out your nose. Do you notice that at the end of each breath, there is a pausing silence that is still before the next breath?
We use the body to become present, since it is always appearing in the present moment. So, the portals are: sensing, the breath, silence and space to bring us back to timelessness where we are thought free and therefore realize emotional freedom.
You are seeing with great clarity that “me and my story” is the suffering. This is perfect and there is a willingness to surrender it. Yet, out of a lifetime of habit, it is persistent. It is also perfect that you are aware of the habit. What this means is that you are already beyond it. Please tell me, does that awareness ever have a problem?
When you are aware of it … it is like the tail of a comet that follows the comet after its passing. However, instead of just allowing it to be, being patient with the passing tail, the ego is coming through the back door and tricking you back to storytelling …. “I must be the love” (control, manipulation), “I am still clinging to self centeredness” (judgment), “there is a knot in my heart” (ego’s delusion to hold you in time and suffering). However the truth of the matter, tricking you is no longer ego’s option … since you are AWARE of it. The direction is always toward that which is aware. Instead of watching the thinking and the storytelling/depression … be AWARE … be present using the portals that I mentioned above.
Or, are you aware of being aware? Tend to THAT instead of watching the story. These stories have been going on for eons. I don’t know about you, but I just got plain bored with hearing the same old baseline stories over and over again ... unworthy, unloved … etc. All ego stories are about the same with very little variation. Instead, can you watch the watcher?
The truth of the matter is, you ARE this love … whether you are present or not … we just are not able to realize it when we are not present. So tender, loving self compassion is in order. That is what unconditional love is.
You already know your thoughts and your story, right? Well maybe enough is enough. Who is THAT which is aware?
Yes, grace is a factor, but it requires your deep curiosity and investigation into what lies within you; beyond and closer to you than me and my thoughts, me and my emotions and me and my body.
What is all this appearing within? Isn’t it appearing in space? That spatial awareness is the key.
If you have my book, “Awake Joy,” in the second appendix, there are helpful practices that will also support you.
All loving is not something we become, it is the unconditional love that we already are and we realize it when we are now. Is there ever a shortage of now in your life? Lost in time, we forgive the habit, offer ourselves compassion and patience … allowing it to be as it is, while knowing that the all loving is underneath it … no more than an eclipse of the moon.
I know it is not comfortable, but suffering does have an end. It is impermanent. Surrender to what is and know that it is only the tail of the comet, because you are NOW AWARE.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Thank you for the words of guidance. I am feeling there is some sort of divine grace that allows the "me" to dissolve into the real Self. I understand the practice of being still and observing. Lately,feelings of depression come up from a long time of self betrayal since first sensing the state that you live many years ago. I have to say I ran from this truth as I was not finished with the story. NOW that I am ready to let go of that story and surrender, it is like the body still has its own program with intense feelings. I feel moments of the crises and say now I must break this bondage to the false self. I must BE the LOVE I profess!! Still the self clinging self centeredness remains as a knot in the heart. I no longer want to blame this suffering on another, but accept full responsibility for what I would call the selfishness. I know it is simple, but is not Grace a factor? Looking at that ALL LOVING
Katie:
It is true that through some divine, profound grace, we are able to see beyond the personal self and ultimately that it never even existed in the first place, except as a collection of conditionings, concepts and beliefs; all of which belonged to the conceptual, ‘dreaming I.” The mind-body with its given name still appears with all of its beauty and individual talents … it just is not your identity, yet absolutely inseparable from Pure I that is the Heart of Being; the sacred, inner sanctum of the body that is the abode of unconditional love.
“My being” is the ego trying to possess the divine to make it personal and therefore separate, when in fact, it is the other way around. “I am” is the divine dimension that flows into our lives just like a breeze through an open window, when we are present (that is to say when we are living now) and therefore free of the problematic thinking.
The “dreaming I,” its identification with thought and then the impact of those thoughts on the body is what we call emotion. It all starts when we shift into time. We then misidentify with ego (the “I” thought and its thinking – concepts, judgments, interpretations) and the body senses those thoughts. Then we become sad, angry, depressed or relatively happy depending upon which thoughts we identify with.
The truth of the matter, these thoughts do not belong to us and we can just allow them to stream by without identification with them. In this, we are free of the corresponding emotion. The only shift that is required is to notice that when you are suffering, you are in time and then use the body’s sensing to bring you back to now. Do you hear a bird singing? Do you see something beautiful? Better yet, do you notice that the birdsong rises from the silence and returns to silence? Or, do you notice the space around the beautiful object that you are seeing?
The breath is also an excellent tool to shift from time to timelessness. Close your eyes and simply follow your breathing and how delicate it feels as it moves in and out your nose. Do you notice that at the end of each breath, there is a pausing silence that is still before the next breath?
We use the body to become present, since it is always appearing in the present moment. So, the portals are: sensing, the breath, silence and space to bring us back to timelessness where we are thought free and therefore realize emotional freedom.
You are seeing with great clarity that “me and my story” is the suffering. This is perfect and there is a willingness to surrender it. Yet, out of a lifetime of habit, it is persistent. It is also perfect that you are aware of the habit. What this means is that you are already beyond it. Please tell me, does that awareness ever have a problem?
When you are aware of it … it is like the tail of a comet that follows the comet after its passing. However, instead of just allowing it to be, being patient with the passing tail, the ego is coming through the back door and tricking you back to storytelling …. “I must be the love” (control, manipulation), “I am still clinging to self centeredness” (judgment), “there is a knot in my heart” (ego’s delusion to hold you in time and suffering). However the truth of the matter, tricking you is no longer ego’s option … since you are AWARE of it. The direction is always toward that which is aware. Instead of watching the thinking and the storytelling/depression … be AWARE … be present using the portals that I mentioned above.
Or, are you aware of being aware? Tend to THAT instead of watching the story. These stories have been going on for eons. I don’t know about you, but I just got plain bored with hearing the same old baseline stories over and over again ... unworthy, unloved … etc. All ego stories are about the same with very little variation. Instead, can you watch the watcher?
The truth of the matter is, you ARE this love … whether you are present or not … we just are not able to realize it when we are not present. So tender, loving self compassion is in order. That is what unconditional love is.
You already know your thoughts and your story, right? Well maybe enough is enough. Who is THAT which is aware?
Yes, grace is a factor, but it requires your deep curiosity and investigation into what lies within you; beyond and closer to you than me and my thoughts, me and my emotions and me and my body.
What is all this appearing within? Isn’t it appearing in space? That spatial awareness is the key.
If you have my book, “Awake Joy,” in the second appendix, there are helpful practices that will also support you.
All loving is not something we become, it is the unconditional love that we already are and we realize it when we are now. Is there ever a shortage of now in your life? Lost in time, we forgive the habit, offer ourselves compassion and patience … allowing it to be as it is, while knowing that the all loving is underneath it … no more than an eclipse of the moon.
I know it is not comfortable, but suffering does have an end. It is impermanent. Surrender to what is and know that it is only the tail of the comet, because you are NOW AWARE.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Loneliness and Feeling Empty by Katie Davis
Questioner:
Last night, I felt so desperately lonely. I hate how I feel when I get that way. I just felt out of control and I couldn't stop crying. I guess that I don't really have a question. I just wanted to report that once again I got completely stuck. I mean really stuck. I think that I am making some progress and then this happens all over again.
Katie:
How do you feel right now?
Questioner:
I feel fine right now, but last night was really horrible. I was just shaking all over.
Katie:
I understand that you are telling me the story that last night you felt horrible and now you tell me that you were also shaking all over. Compassionately, I embrace and forgive how you were feeling last night, however honestly,I am not concerned with this story about last night. How do you feel right now?
Questioner:
I feel fine.
Katie:
You answered rather quickly. Was that mind answering my question? I want to really know how you feel, please take a quiet moment and deeply sense. Will you go inside and check it out? Are you feeling an emotion right now? How does that emotion feel in the body?
Questioner:
OK. Well, actually right now I don't feel much of anything and I guess my body feels kind of tense, but other than that I am OK.
Katie:
You are not crying right now, so the fear that you could not stop crying didn't last, isn't this true? You are not shaking right now, are you? Your body feels tense, but you are no longer shaking. So the both the crying and the shaking were impermanent. Crying came and crying left. Are you open to releasing the body tension? Just take a deep breath and relax from the mind's time. The tension comes and goes as well.
Will you note that for next time ... and I am not suggesting that there will be a next time. If you get stuck by thought and you begin spiraling into suffering, is it possible to simply note that it is not permanent. I understand that it feels uncomfortable, but is it possible to simply accept for the time being that sometimes suffering still appears? Most of the suffering is from your resistance; from trying to push it away; from being afraid. Can you simply surrender to the temporary fact that you are experiencing emotional pain? Just allow it to be as it is.
The emotional drama all begins with thinking. If you can become conscious of the thoughts sooner, perhaps it will be easier to shift your attention to presence. Your body is reacting in sadness to your own thinking. We take full responsibility in this. It has virtually nothing to do with any other. Do you see this? The identification with negative thought is causing the sadness. Can you see that it is self-inflicted?
The reason you and I meet is to discover what is prior to me and my thought; me and my feelings. What is prior to the idea of me? What is prior to the "I" that is the body that is experiencing an emotional reaction because of your thinking? What is prior to virtually all experience ... both outer and inner? That which is prior is absolutely permanent, completely free of all coming and going; absolutely indestructible. That permanent freedom is who you are. In this realization, we realize the diamond of joy that is causeless.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Last night, I felt so desperately lonely. I hate how I feel when I get that way. I just felt out of control and I couldn't stop crying. I guess that I don't really have a question. I just wanted to report that once again I got completely stuck. I mean really stuck. I think that I am making some progress and then this happens all over again.
Katie:
How do you feel right now?
Questioner:
I feel fine right now, but last night was really horrible. I was just shaking all over.
Katie:
I understand that you are telling me the story that last night you felt horrible and now you tell me that you were also shaking all over. Compassionately, I embrace and forgive how you were feeling last night, however honestly,I am not concerned with this story about last night. How do you feel right now?
Questioner:
I feel fine.
Katie:
You answered rather quickly. Was that mind answering my question? I want to really know how you feel, please take a quiet moment and deeply sense. Will you go inside and check it out? Are you feeling an emotion right now? How does that emotion feel in the body?
Questioner:
OK. Well, actually right now I don't feel much of anything and I guess my body feels kind of tense, but other than that I am OK.
Katie:
You are not crying right now, so the fear that you could not stop crying didn't last, isn't this true? You are not shaking right now, are you? Your body feels tense, but you are no longer shaking. So the both the crying and the shaking were impermanent. Crying came and crying left. Are you open to releasing the body tension? Just take a deep breath and relax from the mind's time. The tension comes and goes as well.
Will you note that for next time ... and I am not suggesting that there will be a next time. If you get stuck by thought and you begin spiraling into suffering, is it possible to simply note that it is not permanent. I understand that it feels uncomfortable, but is it possible to simply accept for the time being that sometimes suffering still appears? Most of the suffering is from your resistance; from trying to push it away; from being afraid. Can you simply surrender to the temporary fact that you are experiencing emotional pain? Just allow it to be as it is.
The emotional drama all begins with thinking. If you can become conscious of the thoughts sooner, perhaps it will be easier to shift your attention to presence. Your body is reacting in sadness to your own thinking. We take full responsibility in this. It has virtually nothing to do with any other. Do you see this? The identification with negative thought is causing the sadness. Can you see that it is self-inflicted?
The reason you and I meet is to discover what is prior to me and my thought; me and my feelings. What is prior to the idea of me? What is prior to the "I" that is the body that is experiencing an emotional reaction because of your thinking? What is prior to virtually all experience ... both outer and inner? That which is prior is absolutely permanent, completely free of all coming and going; absolutely indestructible. That permanent freedom is who you are. In this realization, we realize the diamond of joy that is causeless.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Monday, June 9, 2008
Crisis and Illness: Questions and Answers by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"
Questioner:
I was in satsang for the first time with you last week and felt a deep resonance. I am quite ill and have been for a very long time. At satsang, I felt an uplifting energy, which lingered for a couple days. However, right now, I am once again in a pretty deep crisis concerning this illness and the related depression. Any help that you could give would be very appreciated.
Katie:
The resonation of satsang is very beautiful and an extraordinary power which is why regular attendance in satsang is important throughout the awakening process. The energy of true satsang stops conditioned thought and if this occurs even for an instant, the Truth of who you really are shines through. The inertia and momentum of thought may continue for awhile, but with regular attendancw and with your willingness to practice self-observation, detachment and Self-inquiry, compulsive thought slows, stops and it is over once and for all.
As soon as the “I” thought arises, we most often identify with the body. You are not this form. You are the Now, totally free of the content of the present moment, including the body. It is truly impossible to be anywhere but Here. The mind may be telling you that satsang was last week and now you have lost it, but it is impossible to lose. It is you. You are Now. Is it possible to detach and inquire who is aware of this crisis? Who is that? No identification=no thought=no space=no time. Only Now and only Here. Time and thought are synonymous.
When you bring attention alertly into the Now, this moment, no other moment, thought cannot use you. Stop and listen right now. Listen fiercely for the next thought. Go ahead. Stop right now and try to find one. The ego disappears when you seek it. Thought needs time. Negative emotion is the body’s reaction to judgmental thought.
Looking fiercely, attentively, alertly for the next thought is very good. When you are alert, you are only Here and Now and there is no thought. If a thought arises, attention has slipped out of the now. Detach from the thought, when you notice. Use it as a signpost to shift your attention to Now.
You can also use Direct Self-inquiry as we did in satsang. When a thought arises, ask to whom does this thought arise? Then ask, “Who am I?” Again, no thought. The question itself removes the thinker. The question is already the answer. Where does this image of I arise from?
When you are observing thought, the thoughts just stream by without identification with them. They are powerless and harmless without your identification. I am not asking you to study the content of thought. I am not asking you to resist thought. Simply be and witness. If the thoughts are too tedious and too annoying, which it definitely can be, turn your attention to the witness instead. Who is that?
Can you unconditionally surrender to this moment without denial, without resistance to what is? Is it possible to be in absolute acceptance of what is? How does it feel to simply surrender? This perceived crisis is your teacher right now. It can be used. You cannot run away from it. There is no escape. Isn’t this so? Even this deep depression can be used. Is there a Heart to this illness? Is there a Heart to this despair? Invite it in fully and see. Go into it, not away from it. You have been trying to get rid of it all these years. Nothing has worked. So stop. Go in. How deep is this despair? Is there a bottom to despair? Dig for the diamond of joy, the tiniest of diamonds, no larger than a pinpoint. Go deeper.
There are no true answers at the level of mind. However, gratitude is good food for the mind. Are you grateful for breathing? Are you grateful for the spaciousness within which breath is appearing?
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
I was in satsang for the first time with you last week and felt a deep resonance. I am quite ill and have been for a very long time. At satsang, I felt an uplifting energy, which lingered for a couple days. However, right now, I am once again in a pretty deep crisis concerning this illness and the related depression. Any help that you could give would be very appreciated.
Katie:
The resonation of satsang is very beautiful and an extraordinary power which is why regular attendance in satsang is important throughout the awakening process. The energy of true satsang stops conditioned thought and if this occurs even for an instant, the Truth of who you really are shines through. The inertia and momentum of thought may continue for awhile, but with regular attendancw and with your willingness to practice self-observation, detachment and Self-inquiry, compulsive thought slows, stops and it is over once and for all.
As soon as the “I” thought arises, we most often identify with the body. You are not this form. You are the Now, totally free of the content of the present moment, including the body. It is truly impossible to be anywhere but Here. The mind may be telling you that satsang was last week and now you have lost it, but it is impossible to lose. It is you. You are Now. Is it possible to detach and inquire who is aware of this crisis? Who is that? No identification=no thought=no space=no time. Only Now and only Here. Time and thought are synonymous.
When you bring attention alertly into the Now, this moment, no other moment, thought cannot use you. Stop and listen right now. Listen fiercely for the next thought. Go ahead. Stop right now and try to find one. The ego disappears when you seek it. Thought needs time. Negative emotion is the body’s reaction to judgmental thought.
Looking fiercely, attentively, alertly for the next thought is very good. When you are alert, you are only Here and Now and there is no thought. If a thought arises, attention has slipped out of the now. Detach from the thought, when you notice. Use it as a signpost to shift your attention to Now.
You can also use Direct Self-inquiry as we did in satsang. When a thought arises, ask to whom does this thought arise? Then ask, “Who am I?” Again, no thought. The question itself removes the thinker. The question is already the answer. Where does this image of I arise from?
When you are observing thought, the thoughts just stream by without identification with them. They are powerless and harmless without your identification. I am not asking you to study the content of thought. I am not asking you to resist thought. Simply be and witness. If the thoughts are too tedious and too annoying, which it definitely can be, turn your attention to the witness instead. Who is that?
Can you unconditionally surrender to this moment without denial, without resistance to what is? Is it possible to be in absolute acceptance of what is? How does it feel to simply surrender? This perceived crisis is your teacher right now. It can be used. You cannot run away from it. There is no escape. Isn’t this so? Even this deep depression can be used. Is there a Heart to this illness? Is there a Heart to this despair? Invite it in fully and see. Go into it, not away from it. You have been trying to get rid of it all these years. Nothing has worked. So stop. Go in. How deep is this despair? Is there a bottom to despair? Dig for the diamond of joy, the tiniest of diamonds, no larger than a pinpoint. Go deeper.
There are no true answers at the level of mind. However, gratitude is good food for the mind. Are you grateful for breathing? Are you grateful for the spaciousness within which breath is appearing?
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Co-Opting Truth: Questions and Answers by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"
Questioner:
You brought my attention to a quality of my mind that recognizes an idea and latches onto it. I don’t remember the term that you used. It had to do with taking an idea as my own, essentially. It is knowledge masking as being. You mentioned that it is subtle. You were wrong. It isn’t subtle! I will be vigilant. I have seen other people do this in groups. I left a group once because this was going on. It left a big hole in me too. I had been in that group many years. I intend to not run this time. Do I understand correctly what you explained?
Katie:
Co-opting is a masquerade. This is the ego dressed up in spiritual cloths and attempting to hide, out of the fear of being recognized. It is the thief dressed up in policeman’s clothes and pretending to guard the jewels. Truth cannot be used. It is not a concept. It cannot be learned and it cannot be studied. Spiritual books can be very helpful on this path, but when they are used to learn Truth, books are hindrances. It is knowledge masquerading as Truth.
When you have been on this path for a long time and had glimpses of Truth, it is not uncommon for the spiritual ego to arise. Yes, the “advanced student” can be a troublesome concept. The “I” has slipped through the back door unrecognized. It co-opts the concepts and it is a trap. Now, it is the “I am an advanced student.” You can hear the positionality in this statement, right? “Me” who knows and you “others,” who do not know. This is duality. We are here to transcend both the subject “me” and the “others.”
Truthfully, only you can recognize this, inquire, and see that there is no student. You are identifying with the “I know.” Until the “I” drowns and totally dissolves in this Ocean, never to emerge again, take the advanced student back to the Source. Take the projection of thought outward toward “some other,” back to the advanced student and then inquire “Who is this student? Who am I?”
Take the outgoing statement and follow it back the way that it came, back to Source. “I am an advanced student” becomes “Advanced student am I.” Same sentence backwards. Who knows? Who am I? The direction is “not knowing.” Truth cannot be known. Who is the knower of concepts? Not knowing anything. Being nobody and not knowing anything. Let object consciousness (the world) “be” for now. Go deeper, Beloved, to where You truly are.
This “hole” that you speak of is the most precious gift. Yes, a gift. There is no escape from this hole, this void. We run from it not even knowing what it is. We try to cover it up. We have been running a lifetime, maybe lifetimes. This is beyond the intellect, so there is fear. Fear of the Unknown. The Unknown is the answer. Why are you running? Stop and be caught.
Perhaps, there is a fear that you are nothing. So, go ahead, enter this void and investigate for yourself. See what naturally arises. If you meet anger, become anger. What would it feel like if you were the anger of the entire collective consciousness? I am not speaking of someone being angry. I am asking you to be anger. “Being anger.” Be it fully. Is there anything deeper? Whatever appears, be it. This is deeper than the personal story. It is not about you being angry. It is not, “I am so and so and I feel angry about this or that.” This is the personal story. Go deeper.
I recognize that the hole is not a comfortable place to be. Can you sink in total surrender and willingness, deeper into to this void? Being the void? I am not asking you to fabricate the void. If it comes up, it is your teacher. Be everywhere fully. Being nobody and not knowing anything.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
You brought my attention to a quality of my mind that recognizes an idea and latches onto it. I don’t remember the term that you used. It had to do with taking an idea as my own, essentially. It is knowledge masking as being. You mentioned that it is subtle. You were wrong. It isn’t subtle! I will be vigilant. I have seen other people do this in groups. I left a group once because this was going on. It left a big hole in me too. I had been in that group many years. I intend to not run this time. Do I understand correctly what you explained?
Katie:
Co-opting is a masquerade. This is the ego dressed up in spiritual cloths and attempting to hide, out of the fear of being recognized. It is the thief dressed up in policeman’s clothes and pretending to guard the jewels. Truth cannot be used. It is not a concept. It cannot be learned and it cannot be studied. Spiritual books can be very helpful on this path, but when they are used to learn Truth, books are hindrances. It is knowledge masquerading as Truth.
When you have been on this path for a long time and had glimpses of Truth, it is not uncommon for the spiritual ego to arise. Yes, the “advanced student” can be a troublesome concept. The “I” has slipped through the back door unrecognized. It co-opts the concepts and it is a trap. Now, it is the “I am an advanced student.” You can hear the positionality in this statement, right? “Me” who knows and you “others,” who do not know. This is duality. We are here to transcend both the subject “me” and the “others.”
Truthfully, only you can recognize this, inquire, and see that there is no student. You are identifying with the “I know.” Until the “I” drowns and totally dissolves in this Ocean, never to emerge again, take the advanced student back to the Source. Take the projection of thought outward toward “some other,” back to the advanced student and then inquire “Who is this student? Who am I?”
Take the outgoing statement and follow it back the way that it came, back to Source. “I am an advanced student” becomes “Advanced student am I.” Same sentence backwards. Who knows? Who am I? The direction is “not knowing.” Truth cannot be known. Who is the knower of concepts? Not knowing anything. Being nobody and not knowing anything. Let object consciousness (the world) “be” for now. Go deeper, Beloved, to where You truly are.
This “hole” that you speak of is the most precious gift. Yes, a gift. There is no escape from this hole, this void. We run from it not even knowing what it is. We try to cover it up. We have been running a lifetime, maybe lifetimes. This is beyond the intellect, so there is fear. Fear of the Unknown. The Unknown is the answer. Why are you running? Stop and be caught.
Perhaps, there is a fear that you are nothing. So, go ahead, enter this void and investigate for yourself. See what naturally arises. If you meet anger, become anger. What would it feel like if you were the anger of the entire collective consciousness? I am not speaking of someone being angry. I am asking you to be anger. “Being anger.” Be it fully. Is there anything deeper? Whatever appears, be it. This is deeper than the personal story. It is not about you being angry. It is not, “I am so and so and I feel angry about this or that.” This is the personal story. Go deeper.
I recognize that the hole is not a comfortable place to be. Can you sink in total surrender and willingness, deeper into to this void? Being the void? I am not asking you to fabricate the void. If it comes up, it is your teacher. Be everywhere fully. Being nobody and not knowing anything.
Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org
Friday, June 6, 2008
Katie Davis Heart Links and Blogroll Links
Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," has refreshed her Heart Links Page on her website and on her blog. The links pages are a rich resource for information on awakening, enlightenment, self-realization and awake living. The lists include links for teachers, meditation teachers, music, art, meditation and spiritual centers, new thought churches, cyber grapevines, conscious living magazines and publications, satsang connections, yoga and qigong, bookstores, charitable organizations, conscious talk radio and television stations, reciprocal links and blogs.
To visit the Heart Links Page on her website at www.KatieDavis.org, click Katie Davis
To visit the Blogroll links on Katie's blog at www.AwakebyKatie.blogspot.com, click Awake by Katie Blog
To visit the Heart Links Page on her website at www.KatieDavis.org, click Katie Davis
To visit the Blogroll links on Katie's blog at www.AwakebyKatie.blogspot.com, click Awake by Katie Blog
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy," Television Interview on Chicago's "Never Not Here" ~ Show 28
Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" is interviewed on the "Never Not Here" Show 28 by host and producer, Richard Miller. They share awakening, enlightenment, meditation, non-duality and advaita. Enjoy more free awakening videos by clicking www.KatieDavs.org/FreeAwakeningVideos.html.
www.KatieDavis.org
For Katie's new book, "Awake Joy," click Amazon
www.KatieDavis.org
For Katie's new book, "Awake Joy," click Amazon
Monday, June 2, 2008
New Release June 2, Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit" on the "Never Not Here" Television Show 30
Released Monday, June 2: Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" is interviewed by host and producer of the "Never Not Here" television show in Chicago. Sundance speaks on awakening to your true nature, the nature of consciousness and non-duality.
Enjoy the entire free awakening video library by clicking Sundance.
To purchase his new book, "Free Spirit," please click Amazon
Enjoy the entire free awakening video library by clicking Sundance.
To purchase his new book, "Free Spirit," please click Amazon
Amazon Sale Today: "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" by Katie Davis Special $15.61 (Hardcover)
The new hardcover book by Katie Davis, "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" is on sale today for $15.61. Visit Amazon.com to "Search Inside" this book to review the Table of Contents or enjoy excerpts from this book. You may also read customer comments about their experience with "Awake Joy" or if you have read the book, share your comments to encourage others to share her message of awakening to causeless joy and conscious freedom. You also have the option of taking advantage of Amazon's "Better Together" special by purchasing "Awake Joy" and "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" (hardcover) by Sundance Burke for $33.60.
To open to the "Awake Joy" buy page at Amazon, please click Amazon.
The Katie Davis Website is at www.KatieDavis.org.
To open to the "Awake Joy" buy page at Amazon, please click Amazon.
The Katie Davis Website is at www.KatieDavis.org.
Katie Davis, Author "Awake Joy" Television Interview 27 on the "Never Not Here" Show
Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," is interviewed by Richard Miller on Chicago's "Never Not Here" television show. She summarizes her new book and shares the book content; followed by a discussion on awakening, enlightenment, nonduality, Advaita, meditation and Self-realization. To enjoy the entire free video library, go to www.katiedavis.org/freeawakeningvideos.html.
Sign up for free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters with articles on awakening, nonduality, Advaita and enlightenment at www.KatieDavis.org. The newsletters are posted on the web at www.katiedavis.org/friendsoftheheart.html.
Katie's new book is available on her website at www.katiedavis.org/awakebookskatie.html, most bookstores or by clicking www.Amazon.com
Visit www.KatieDavis.org Website
Sign up for free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters with articles on awakening, nonduality, Advaita and enlightenment at www.KatieDavis.org. The newsletters are posted on the web at www.katiedavis.org/friendsoftheheart.html.
Katie's new book is available on her website at www.katiedavis.org/awakebookskatie.html, most bookstores or by clicking www.Amazon.com
Visit www.KatieDavis.org Website
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