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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.
To "Look Inside" Katie's book, Awake Joy, or to enjoy reviews or get this book, please click:
AWAKE JOY
2 comments:
Dear Katie,
You are pointing out a very important step to "Awake Joy" by highlighting the importance of directing our attention from perceiving the objective reality to the perceiver of it.This is the essence of self-enquiry.
Yes, that is the first step to inquiry. Thank you.
Gratefully ~ Katie
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