Sunday, May 25, 2008

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

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