Fear of the Void: Detachment, the Witness Only, Fear of Death, Consciousness, Visions and Psychic Powers, True Compassion, Self-inquiry, Enlightenment, Pure I, the Absolute, Self-realization by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Question:

I want to work through my fear of the void. I have gone through detachment but form wise, I can still be caught by the ego. Yet when I notice the attachment, I can just let go. I mostly experience that I am only the witness. Through the Self-inquiry that you have recommended, there then arises a vast emptiness that is nothing but darkness. Then I feel terrified. I am afraid I am going to die or something. I fear this stark darkness, resist it and avoid it by turning away. Maybe it is just the ego and it is going to psychologically die for good. It doesn't change the fact that I have this fear of death.

Otherwise, I have opened up to some new level of consciousness and sometimes have visions. I am never sure when they will come. I feel ecstatic because the visions are beautiful and suddenly, I become terrified of that. I think maybe it too is the fear of the loss of self. Again, a fear of death.

That is similar to how I feel now. There is the 'I am' which is the dissolving of being dependant on the mind, but at the same time an awful dread of living in the void and that brings up fear. My question is how to work with that fear and my attachment to it. On one hand, I am scared of dying and fear this nothingness. On the other hand, I am scared of losing self even when bliss arises.

Katie:

This is a beautiful report on the conscious recognition of the great void. Your report is filled with wisdom and I would like to simply confirm what is being recognized. Most are not yet aware of this void and yet this unknown void lurks. People give many reasons about why they feel fear; at least those who are sensitive enough to be aware of it. Yet, the root of all fear is not in the life circumstance. The root of all fear is the fear of the void.

Individually, the root points to the fear of death of the person. Collectively, it points to the fear of extinction of humanity.

The only way to know or to realize this void as it genuinely is ... is to 'walk into it' to investigate. Trying to escape only creates the runaway madness and imagination of the unawake mind.

Is the void as it seems? Is it more than a blank state of nothingness?

Who is perceiving the void? Is it not true that the void is perceived objectively? Who is the subject?

So first, I invite accepting and allowing. Resist nothing. Yes, noticing that terror is arising and allowing it to be as it is. Is the terror caused by a mental interpretation of how the void seems to be . . . dark, unknown?

All of this is spiritually ripe and shared with wisdom, courage and clarity. At this point, it is not like there is a choice ... the void is ... and it can remarkably point you deeper to conscious liberation and Self-realization. Now is the opportunity of transcending all states of consciousness.

I share with many people and some sense that they are going to physically die. You are recognizing that this is a psychological death ... of the ego.

I might add that it is also a fear of the collective psyche; the collective ego state of consciousness. No matter how it might seem, it is not a physical death or humanity's extinction. It is the 'death' of the psychologic ego state of consciousness and the 'death' of the psychological collective pain body. We will find that neither the ego state of consciousness, nor the collective egoic state of consciousnes, ever existed in the first place.

First and foremost, you can inquire, who is aware of fear or terror? Who is that? Who am I? After detachment, even as the witness only, who am I remains the essential question. There is a purer form of Self-inquiry that I share below in this article.

You have realized that you are not the ego state of consciousness. Then who is 'I'?

I understand that Self-inquiry turns attention directly 'toward' formlessness or the unmanifest and I understand that presently, a tremendous fear arises. This investigation is inescapable and unavoidable in order to live fearlessly.

What I am sharing is that fear and all of it variations such as sadness and anger or rage are delusions. Yet, this must be directly realized. The further inquiry is also essential for enlightenment. Then, the full integration of Self-realization gradually happens by itself. Being free of all suffering is a true possibility.

What is fear? Has the depth of fear been investigated ... both 'individually' and 'collectively'?

Right now, fear is your most valued teacher. Can you allow a great curiosity to arise to realize the true nature of fear and all darkness? Does fear have an end? What is deeper?

Can you allow fear to consume 'you' ... and consume the witness? Not 'someone' who is scared and not a witness of fear. That is duality and separation. Is it possible to be fear itself? How does the 'wave length' of fear feel? Can it be allowed to even deepen more to terror? Being terror ... the 'wave' length' of being terror? Is there anything deeper? Collectively, this void seems massive and infinitely deep. Is this really true?

There is no such thing as control. The residue of the intellect can consume us and may scare us. In those times, when the ego is really caught by the fear, can you simply be aware of the fear and allow it to be? After all, it is. Watch the mind as it attempts to add spin, which perpetuates it. This observing allows an understanding of ego's structure and how it perpetuates. By the way, there is no need to resist the egoic mind or "do" anything; simple watching is enough to transmute it.

The love that the pure witness is will transmute the fear into the radiant love that you truly are. The transforming power is in the observing.

Nonetheless, suppose that the fear is all too overwhelming and perhaps being present ... and welcoming the fear ... is simply not an option. At these times, courageously 'move into it' as I shared above. Take the light of the consciousness that you are into every dark corner. Just as darkness cannot survive the light of day, darkness cannot survive in the light of consciousness.

Will it drive you mad? Well, are you mad right now? Are you willing to investigate the deepest fears of the collective psychic state of consciousness ... the collective illusion? How else can you know the truth directly?

I cannot tell you a concept or philosophy that says ... losing the mind-created self is no diminishment. This must be looked upon directly within you. What are you seeing? You share and I can only confirm that what you are seeing is still the relative truth ... go deeper.

Is awareness afraid of visions or is it simply aware? Who is perceiving?

Some fixate on the fear (attachment) ... some fixate and get distracted by the meaning of a mystical vision. Others fixate on the power of mystical visions. All of these are distractions and ego calling you back to its time. Is it not true that mystical visions  and psychic powers ... no matter how beautiful or fantastic ... they come and they go? They are impermanent. Whereas, you are here before, during and after. Who is that?

When the ego is losing its grip and certainly after detachment, ecstatic visions may appear. Unsuccessful at negative attraction, the conditioned mind starts creating extraordinary phenomena. In this manner, the so called mind can be quite successful at luring us back to the fear; fear of the fact ... that by some notion alone, we suddenly sense that we are still separate from the still Heart.

The egoic mind either individually or collectively can never 'know' the still Heart. You are the Heart. Sooner or later, the mind gives up, "This is beyond 'me,' I give up!"

It is ironic that in this unconditional surrender of the mind/ego/body/collective consciousness ... that joy rushes in.

One more word on visions. They may in fact have a relative meaning at the moment when they appear, perhaps. Listen carefully to the mind, while you are experiencing them rather than attending the vision. Listen. Whatever the mind is saying is part of the deeper psychic matters that will be revealed when you are present with what is being said. At that instant, it is clear. The subconscious psychic matters are seen or we could say they are known and therefore are spontaneously surrendered. By subconscious psychic matters, I am pointing to the fear of death or whatever has been previously and subconsciously hidden. 

After the vision dissipates, it has no meaning whatsoever. People can spend years in the study of the meaning of some vision, what it means or where it is going is endless mental analyses that in the end, leads nowhere.

Listen, it is the vision that is coming and going... it is in movement ... it is impermanent.

Who is aware of it? THAT is never coming and going. It is the stillness that you are. In the end, mystical visions are essentially meaningless.

The appearance of the void leads to formlessness and the mind may be scared, since it is not known. Are you willing to make it known? Walk into it and see if it is as it seems. Can you measure it? How deep is it? This is the collective consciousness and it can lead to an unwavering true compassion and indestructible unconditional love. I repeat: curiously investigated.

What is the true nature of the void? Is there is a Heart to darkness? Is there a Heart to fear? When you walk into the void, listen. If you sense "hopelessness," become hopelessness and then ask, is there anything deeper? If despair comes up, become despair, and then ask, is there anything deeper?

There is a diamond there!

You mentioned that sometimes there is still attachment to the ego state of consciousness. As we have spoken before in our appointments, the "who am I?" question is still most appropriate. Yet, there are levels to Self-inquiry. Since detachment has now been realized, I would like to suggest the purest form of Self-inquiry. 

As the witness only, I would like to suggest simply being "I." That is, resting as that feeling sense of "I" alone; Pure I. 

Pure I is not the egoic-i which is only a thought form. What does the thought form represent? Attachment to the ego-I requires 'identification with' an object. You have realized that this is a mis-identification. Attachment requires an object to which consciousness identifies. 

Whereas, Pure I is the Absolute. Only Pure I stands alone. Pure I is Pure I now. It is Pure Identity free of all objective experience. Only realizing the Absolute is enlightenment ... realizing That which stands alone.

Gradually, this then integrates as the Totality as Pure Beingness; a fully integrated pure awareness. This alone is Self-realization.

In closing, when deep fear arises, it is a chance to be gentle, kind, loving and understanding ... self-compassion.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Pure Mind by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Questioner: What is "pure mind" and what is meant by "killing the mind"?


Katie: When you use the word "mind," where is that word pointing?


Questioner: Thoughts. Does it include feelings? Emotions? I don't know.


Contributor: It includes all, but the point is who's behind the mind? Killing the mind is simply to distance from it just as an observer.


Katie: When I use the word "mind" it points to thoughts and just as you say the mental-emotional aspect of the mind, mental images, physical energies and ever more subtle layers of the intellect. It includes both perception and cognition, understanding and the idea of selfhood, as well as the subject-witness.

Our primary concern is identification with thought and first and foremost, the "I" thought that is the body. This association is an illusion. Nothing wrong with the beautiful body of course, but when we limit ourselves to the body only as identity, we cannot be aware of the greater consciousness that we genuinely are.

The first step then is to observe thought which leads to "detachment" from thought. Instead of riding along on a train of thought, with detachment, thoughts float by like leaves in a river of consciousness, while we remain still. Thoughts are free and so is the one watching.

The mind is stilled, meaning there are not thoughts. Although, enlightenment is more than the blank mind state. We have shifted from the projecting power of mind to the resting power of mind successfully and that is beautiful ... yet not Self-realization.

When they speak of purifying the mind, they are speaking of tendencies or vasanas. The mind is a mirror that is covered with fog, much like the bathroom mirror after taking a shower. To clear the bathroom mirror, we merely open the door. To clear the mirror of the mind, we turn the mind within through Self-inquiry. Turned within, the mirror is cleared by the light of consciousness. It happens by itself.

When there are no more tendencies, we realize that there is no such thing as a separate mind. All is consciousness. So in fact, there is no 'mind' to kill. Anyway, the one that would try to kill the mind is the same mind. It just won't happen!

Even the separate sense of self, the ego-I, is merely an altered state of consciousness. So we hold onto it and focus all attention on the feeling of I-ness. This is the paradox. Even though it appears as a false I, we focus attention upon it.

Not awareness of I, which maintains duality, but rather Being I.

In attention, thought is stilled. It does not become the ego's story of "I am this" and "I am that." The altered states will burn away and the Pure I that you already are shines as the Heart.

Being I ... simply BE STILL ... as you are.

The effort in trying to still the 'mind' is only more agitation. It is the same divided 'mind' that it is trying to still itself. Mind cannot be 'fixed' at the level of the mind. Instead, we focus attention and realize the perfect peace that is beyond the mind ... that already is. In this, what never was dissolves.


Contributor: And purity is equanimity, equanimity to all that goes on mind. It's identification with likes and dislikes which causes the bondage and suffering.


Katie: Just as you say, when we observe thoughts, it does indeed 'distance' the observer, so that thoughts do not use us.

Thoughts are not really problematic. It is the identification where we 'lose' who we are.

I might point out that identification requires time.

So when we are solidly and consciously in the body (part of the content of the present moment), we are no longer lost in the head and less likely to attach to compulsive thinking.

That present moment is appearing within time. It is appearing within the formless NOW that is completely free of time, free of the content of the present moment and indeed already free of thought.

The body is a perfect tool for presence. Attend its breathing and the past and future fade away.

Time = mind = suffering. Remove time from the equation and the identification and suffering disappear.


Contributor: And it's so wonderful to be distanced from the thoughts and actions, a kind of kingly feeling. You know this very well, Katie!


Katie: Indeed, purity is equanimity and innocent stillness.

Free of identification with the ego-I, we are also free of all of its judgments that become likes and dislikes that separate us from the beauty of all experience and the stillness from which it arises ... all is whole and complete ... equanimity.

The tendency is to try to manipulate likes and dislikes. Or some will even work for years on judgment. Instead, what is prior to judgment? When the ego-I thought falls ... all judgments, concepts and beliefs fall along with it.

How could there ever be equanimity and peace with a separated I?

That one believes in separation and therefore only perceives separation.

"ME" against the world, for or against God; separate from everything.

How is it possible to be separate from something called the Totality?

No wonder that tiny thought feels alienated, lonely and fragmented. Separate from love, separate from happiness, separate from every person and thing. No wonder it is sad, fearful and angry!

Yet when we look for it ... it is nowhere to be found ... other than the thought of separation.

Instead of seeking enlightenment, seek the "I."

From whence does it arise?

You will find that it (YOU) are already shining as the Heart that is beyond all and All.

Nonetheless, don't toss that ego "I" out. Focus attention ... Being I.

All the altered states (tendencies/vasanas) burn away ... effortlessly so.

Such simplicity ... Be Still.

Being I.

People speak of how complex Self-realization is.

It is the MIND that is complex and the 'mind' is not.

Each time attention shifts to I am this or that ... and gets lost in the story, just stop.

No big deal. Be still, being I, during all that is being done.

False identification is false bondage and needless suffering.


Contributor: "It is the mind that is complex", "being I is so simple" This sums up your flowing explanation. Well, what you have written is so insightful and it is befitting to be posted on your blog for the benefit of all other friends. Thank you, K!


Katie: Being I is so simple ... So much love and thank you for the suggestion about the blog. There have been many fine and creative ideas offered today.

Some schools refer to the pure mind as nirvana blue or what I call the blue void. This is still an experience. 

Whereas enlightenment is no experience at all ... beyond the experience of no experience. You are prior to consciousness.

Nirvana is the realization of pure consciousness or full emptiness. It is the highest happiness that is transcendental bliss. 

Pure consciousness is the unconditioned 'mind' and its state is perfect lucidity and clarity. Ecstatic bliss is divine love ... deep, cool blue with extraordinary luminosity.

Whereas YOU, dear Heart Friend, are That which makes all possible. 

Not one word that I could say would be true. If you remember enlightenment, it is not enlightenment. No memory! I am beyond cognition, so I remain the Great Mystery. I only BE who I am.

Indeed, I am beyond all and All ... that is Self-realization; realizing who I am as the Totality.

Katie Davis Website: www.KatieDavis.org

(free videos, free downloads, join the mailing list for free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters with more free articles on spiritual awakening, Self-inquiry, advaita, nonduality and Self-realization) 

"Before the Awakening - Forgiveness and Allowing - The Relative Truth of People and Things" by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

In Hawaii, the pink rose is named the Lokelani and symbolizes compassion.

We enter the temple of the Heart as love. You already are the Abode of Radiant Love.

Yet, when we begin shifting attention out of the head and into the physical body to be present, we become aware of emotions that were previously unnoticed, perhaps for many years.

With the ego's idea of self-protection, these emotions will often prevent the deeper inquiry required to enter the inner body, which is the only gateway to stillness. This inner sanctum rests just underneath the painful emotions; ego's separation theory and therefore personal desire and fear.

If the ego tries to avoid the negative emotions by escaping, the ego succeeds and your opportunity to realize what is already free of the ego and its emotional states will vanish.

If the ego resists the negativity, it will persist. Either consciously or unconsciously, the negativity will continue to have an impact on the body and its life situation. In fact, resistance is likely to make the negativity even stronger.

The only option is to allow the emotion to be just the way that it is and feel it fully in the body. You will notice that the ego's thinking quickly aligns with the negativity, which makes the emotion stronger. With great curiosity and compassion, the invitation is to allow the deeper emotion in order to gain greater understanding about how thinking is directly related to your emotional states and see how the negativity perpetuates.

I am not suggesting that you try to change anything or manipulate the thinking. I am inviting you to merely look and allow it all to be as it is, so that it is directly observed, felt completely and understood. There is really no other choice, since it is as it is anyway! However, in conscious allowing, we may be able to arrive at acceptance. 

Acceptance is not resignation. In acceptance, one could say that there is a willingness to suffer and when it arises, it is welcomed. Uncomfortable, yes, but we are genuinely patient, compassionate and it is alright.

Attention and allowing are consciousness and this consciousness is deeply harmonic and unifying. When we watch and feel emotions fully, the consciousness begins transforming the negativity into the perfect love that it genuinely already is. No effort is required and the transformation happens by itself. It does require attention and allowing.

I understand that feeling the emotions may be quite painful or even what seems to be unbearable. However, most of the pain is in the resistance or in our imagination about how difficult these emotions might be. In this, we merely fear our imagination. Instead, become curious enough to find out if the deeper emotions are as they seem.

It is often said that the pathway to freedom takes a courageous heart. While this is true, allowing is also highly intelligent. You may quickly leap to the realization that you are the awareness within which the suffering is appearing. Yet, the suffering will continue to perpetuate, although "no one" suffers.

This is not the true freedom to which I am pointing. Suffering will not be fulfilled until it is known. That which is known is past. You have rightly heard the good news that Self-realization is the end of all suffering. May you equally hear that there is no escape? In fact, IN is the only way out!

Everyone has had painful past situations that they have had to endure. Although the ego would have you believe that yours is certainly unique and the worst!

We do not need to go into the past to process the story. In fact, we cannot keep telling a painful story and get rid of the pain.

Indeed, the hidden emotions will always arise as conditioned reactions to our present life situation. This is the past that still lives on within you. Some are so deeply embedded in the psyche that they do not even surface until we begin to go within.

You may have already tried to forgive the person or situation, yet the forgiveness might have remained only mental and somehow escaped the ultimate forgiveness of the heart. True forgiveness has no external requirement, which means that it is free of dependence. It has nothing to do with anyone else or even the storyline. Real forgiveness is the power of the timelessness within you that is already free of personal history.

One aspect of forgiveness is frequently overlooked. Have you equally forgiven yourself for the perception? While dual in nature, in Hawaii we have a healing practice called Ho'oponopono that is currently spreading worldwide. The practice assumes personal responsibility for all that is resisted, avoided, judged or negatively encountered. Ho'oponopono then addresses the deeper question, "who am I?"

Before the awakening, when we realize that the life story is a self-projection, self-forgiveness becomes primary. Just as a movie projector projects images onto a screen, so that we can enjoy the movie, what remains unconscious and unattended within you is being projected right now in front of you this very moment, so that it can be consciously seen. The world that you are presently experiencing is a projection of altered states of consciousness within you.

In other words, both the victim and the victimizer have their roots within you. While the ego may adamantly deny this and continue to blame so called others, through direct observation you may find that what I am sharing is true. When you have allowed, attended and understood what seems to be within, you are freed.

Of course, you then realize that you have indeed always been free and that you have been needlessly suffering.

Ho'oponopono is based on four beautiful expressions that are directed only within:

"Please forgive me. I am sorry. Thank you and I love you."

In short, please forgive my projection, I am sorry for perceiving in this manner, thank you for bringing what was unconscious into consciousness, I love you, Divine and self."

While dealing only with the ego state of consciousness and the Divine in a dual manner, the healing does take full responsibility for negativity until this responsibility is fulfilled and until you are free of the ego.

Before active meditation is possible, the most powerful tools that are readily accessible to everyone are silent sitting, a willingness to look within, allow the emotions, feel them completely and observe how they operate without changing anything, as well as Self-inquiry. You will discover that there is nothing wrong with you!

In this willingness, what was perceived as negativity dissolves and you are able to enter the temple of the Heart as love. You are freed for the deeper inquiry into the formlessness within, realize who is looking and ultimately, realize that which is making everything possible.

In closing, you are already the Ultimate Reality.

If you can already hear what is being shared in the pointer directly above, there is no one who is not ready here and now. Surrender the "I am forgiving" (being this) and "I am unforgiving" (being that) to rest only as "I am." "I am" is the bridge that crosses over to who you already are.

Who am I? is the only essential question, whether questioned now or later.

Katie Davis Website: www.KatieDavis.org

(Free videos, free downloads, free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters)

Pure I Alone, Prior to Consciousness, Self-realization by Katie Davis

Pure I stands alone; totally free of consciousness. I make the light of consciousness possible. 

I am beyond being and not being and yet as pure beingness, I am the pure bliss that pervades all so called things ... and still inseparable.

I am not an experience.

There are no objects. Not one object exists. 

The perception of "things" as "objects" is proof that separation and duality persist. This false perception endures as long as the subject-witness remains.  A subject that is the witness always has an "object" to witness. The subject-witness is not the Ultimate Reality ... and of course inseparable.

In the disappearance of all experience, Pure I stands alone as the Ultimate Reality.

Free of the subject, "all" is no longer appearing as objects. I am all ... and beyond all. 

One could say that I am you ... radiant, pure beingness ... and the Great Mystery.

I am free of all states; I am beyond the deep sleep state, the night dream state and the waking dream state of consciousness. In deep sleep, one is awake as pure consciousness and yet when one slips beyond the deep sleep state into the non-state of the Ultimate Reality, consciousness disappears.

Try this as an experiment. Before falling asleep tonight, note that you will follow every state that brings you to waking up to the daytime dream. From deep sleep, the pure bliss of pure being is the first to consciously appear as pure consciousness, though fleeting you then become conscious of the body and without notice, the body is suddenly in the world and the daytime dream of form then reappears. The fact that the dream is consistent is due to memory and expectation. One can be free of both and therefore the dream has infinite possibility.

Upon realizing Pure I alone, conscious experiencing reappears ... as Pure I. 

Therefore the world may be called neither real nor unreal. It is indescribable as Pure I. What you are calling the "objective" world, only I am.

I am beyond the unity of self "with" the supreme, the unity of "you and me" and the unity of all "objects." 

Though amazingly beautiful with being-consciousness-bliss at the forefront, even this separation is unattainable. The knower and the known dissolve into knowing and this knowing also dissolves as consciousness and yet inseparable. 

Even here, the root of consciousness itself persists. This root perpetuates the appearance of suffering; even when "no one" suffers.

This also offers the illusion of uncaused will or one could say desire (beyond personal desire) or an urge toward perfection or evolution. 

Whereas I am neither doing nor not doing. Nor am I affected. I AM perfection and simply indivisible in any manner. There is no one else and no other to become or evolve toward.

When the supreme witness (the sum of all perceivers) surrenders on its own accord, so does perception and cognition disappear. Is there at least openness to consider the possibility that free of perception and cognition, there may be no experience? 

Is it possible to experience what is potential?

One may correctly say that all is consciousness.It is incorrect to say that "nothing" is beyond consciousness. I am neither nothing nor all. I am beyond all and all.

I am neither experienced nothingness nor experienced unity that is everything. Only to the unclear do I appear as unity that is simultaneously diversity. Though mature, this is not yet seeing aright. I am free of all differentiation and non-differentiation.

Pure I alone.

As Pure I, all is Pure I; no subject and no object. I am not a "source" from which "all else" flows. I am neither creating nor manifesting.

Vedanta is the end of all knowledge; neither knowing nor not knowing. I am neither theoretical, analytical nor intuitive.

I am beyond the personal that is not. I am beyond the impersonal that is not. Yet I am all pervasive and virtually nothing is ultimately an obscuration.

As consciousness, that is knowing, experiencing and perceiving, I remain Pure I alone. I do not know, experience or perceive. Neither can I be known, experienced nor perceived.

It is only I that is appearing as the ultimate witness, the subject-witness and the personal self-observer. All are reflections and superimpositions. Even this I am and have never changed or differentiated. Yet, there is only Pure I.

I am not asking for believing, learning, understanding or philosophizing. I only invite direct noticing what is.

I have no interest in "your" things; neither home, nor possessions, beliefs or concepts. As all luminous consciousness, I invite only ye. Ye is Pure I already, is this noticed yet? 

In unequivocal surrender, all is infinite; free of all lack and gain and therefore, completely free of suffering. Rather ... free of the one who is lacking and gaining.

Suffering is still superimposition and is none other than pure love. One can be free of the superimposition through the harmonizing of pure consciousness. Indeed, one is already free. I am not pointing to a possibility that is forever throughout all time. Pure love is timelessly now.

Free of differentiation, I cannot say that there is a right way or a wrong way to be who you already are; whether that be advaita, non-duality, duality, "neo-advaita" (whatever that is), self-inquiry, satsang or for that matter, even white water rafting! What is ... is perfection.

May we follow the map perfectly or imperfectly perfect or have no map at all. In every case, I am beyond the pointing, the experiencing, the understanding and the perceiving. Virtually every 'pathway' leads to the realization of the Pure I that I am ... and that all is. Indeed, I am also the path.

Dual spirituality is extraordinary; so is the unquivocal surrender of deep devotion. It fuels the very fire that may or may not lead to spiritual awakening. Whether awakening seems to occur or not, I am already perfection. The misperception of separation also leads to unnecessary suffering. However, that suffering is ultimately pure love. It is just possible to consciously be the pure love that you genuinely are, free of all suffering states of consciousness.

Understanding, direct perceiving, devotion and vigilance are all essential tools. All tools will be surrendered before realizing who/what I am. Nonetheless, I am uncaused. I am beyond all and all.

At one point discrimination and discernment are all important. In the end, nothing ever happened.

The mind that is space and time dissolves as consciousness and then dissolves as timeless purity. 

Neither nothing nor everything has independent existence from Pure I.

It is more than I contain all; I am all ... and I stand alone. 

Never am I changing and as consciousness I shine as complete equanimity upon what some are calling all others; still only I am.

Though one might try for awhile, it is not possible to say that I am the meditator, nor the divine object of meditation, although this may exquisitely appear. Again, perfection cannot be divided. So called imperfection can only be superimposed, and even this I am.

I am beyond the distracted mind that is energetically active. I am beyond the dull mind that one may call "lazy." I am also beyond the mind that is in harmony. Yet, it is most likely that one will realize who I am with the harmony of the quiet mind. Yet, there is no causal relationship. I am uncaused. I am already.

I am beyond the concentrated mind. A distracting mind and a concentrated mind are both still 'mind.' Meditation is a very good tool for mind concentration and harmony. That said, I am uncaused.

I am not a state such as samadhi. There are many levels of samadhi. Suffice it to say that I am simply not a state that comes and goes.

The great disappearance of the universe is not what is called nirvakalpa samadhi. In this form of samadhi, the body and its sensing are not functional as the word of form. Pure I is beyond and stands alone. Whether with the dream of form or beyond the dream of form, there is only Pure I. I am not only functional in the world; I am the world ... and nonetheless, beyond all.

It may be interesting to note that in the East, they have eight different words that point to ever deeper levels of consciousness, whereas in English, we have only the word, "consciousness." I am not suggesting that you need to learn or translate those eight words. I am only suggesting that in an infinite field of possibility, there is always 'more' and no such thing as 'arrival.'

To be beyond reason is to be beyond 'higher' reason. Both are excellent tools for realizing all that I am not. Once all false ideas are removed, this is not likely to be the Ultimate Reality. I am uncaused and stand alone beyond cognition.

Free of attachment, what was once called mind sees neither duality nor unity.

Unconsciousness is a delusion; there is only inattention.

I am free of superimposition and supra-imposition and without contradiction, I am all. 

Only... Pure I ... AM.

I am not the empty void, the full void, the golden-light void or the blue void; yet, I am all. One might say that I am the potential.

I have never been born and therefore never die. 

I have no beginning nor end ... still I am the alpha and the omega.

Truly, I am the Heart that is the Totality and that, dear Heart Friends, is infinite.

Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

Emotional Takeovers ~ Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

When we shift attention from compulsive thinking into the physical body, we become more aware of how we are feeling emotionally. The emotion that we are currently feeling is always a perfect reflection of our thinking.

The mind is more than our superficial thoughts. It also includes unconscious patterns, mindsets and tendencies. They may never surface in the form of an observable thought, so it may seem difficult or even impossible to bring them into consciousness.

Yet, the body is the perfect tool. If you are willing to feel the body, it never lies. We bring the feeling or emotion into the light of consciousness and simply allow it to be. I am not suggesting that you try to change anything. That is resistance and just another form of violence that will perpetuate more negativity.

Neither do we need to analyze or interpret "why" the feeling is here or "what" the feeling means. The analyzing and interpreting mind is a good tool for many things, yet not the right tool for Self-realization.

When the emotion is allowed, we are no longer controlled by it, just like when we are watching our thoughts, they can no longer use us. We no longer have emotional takeovers. Instead, we are the witnessing presence that allows everything to be as it is.

This witnessing is a harmonizing and unifying factor. In the light of attention, the darkness of negativity cannot prevail.

I am not proposing that you act the emotion out. That is the emotional takeover that will more likely than not cause another emotional reaction; causing more suffering for you and others. Nor am I speaking of repression. Repression is a form of resistance that perpetuates suffering. I am only suggesting that you consciously feel the emotion in the body and allow it to be. Be the space within which it is appearing.

In your willingness to fully feel the body, all that remains unconscious within you will be revealed until all that remains is the simple joy of being ... and that is love.

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

Free advaita and non-duality videos, free downloads of articles, e-books and chapters, free Friends of the Heart monthly issues with articles on being now, presence, spiritual awakening, non-duality, advaita, enlightenment and Self-realization.

Chocolate Cake ~ An Excerpt of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" by Katie Davis

 Chocolate Cake ~ An Excerpt of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightment" by Katie Davis

Awake Joy is a guide to the Heart and is designed to be your companion throughout your journey to Self-discovery. Therefore, it emphasizes significant transitions to encourage the realization of a deeper consciousness, rather than residing in any sense of arrival. If you can decipher from this section your current reference point, you will have at hand the awareness that leads to a deeper surrender that will ultimately happen anyway! The awareness of your current reference point means that you are already beyond it, since you are aware of the point. The direction is always toward that which is aware. A point of reference is a general indicator to move beyond.

As an example of using a reference point, I might ask someone for directions to a certain address. If my search address is nearby, that person might first ask, if I know where the Post Office is. I am not looking for the Post Office, but the reference point is helpful in orienting. Likewise, I am not directing you to the reference points below. They are meant for general orientation. You might first review in more depth certain sections of this book and then proceed by investigating within that area.

The analogy that I am going to apply is a multi-layered chocolate cake. I further expand the nature of the bottom layers in Part I: The Dream and Part II: The Eyewitness. I develop the top layers in Part III: The Pure Being and Part IV: The Heart. Each dimension is parallel to the one above it and all exist simultaneously, while ultimately all being only Heart.

The body reference point is the bottom layer. I am the time based ego and I am identified with the dream of form. I am not aware that I am dreaming and that my world is the mental image that I am projecting. My attention is on you and I am not conscious that this focus is to primarily enhance or protect myself. My identity is my body and I am unconscious of being. This layer is the battlefield of conflict and I am the sufferer. I am also an illusion. As the ego-body, I believe that this is the only dimension and I am not conscious of
the layers above me.

The Eyewitness reference point is the next layer and I am the self-observer. The Eyewitness is a study of me, my form and my interactions with my world; the study of the false. I am still the ego, but I am progressing toward freedom of this state of consciousness. I continue to look out at you, but I am primarily interested in “me” for the broader purpose of self-understanding. I study my personal consciousness as the subject of my world. “I am the body” idea is at the forefront and I predominantly attend my inner objects of thought, physical sensation, mental images and emotions. I am becoming conscious of my personal
suffering and how it perpetuates.

The “I am” reference point is a layer that is beyond “you and me.” I am conscious of my being and I am attending the space around my objects in the world, as well as my inner space beyond my thoughts, mental images, emotions and body. My abode is the inner body, but I am not yet free of form. I enjoy a beautiful feeling of connectivity with all being and appreciate oneness within the world of experience. In unity consciousness, you and I are one and I am at one with all that I experience. I sometimes get lost in time fixation and therefore, I still identify with thoughts, but I can release them when I become aware of it.

Detachment is not a reference point, but it is a marker. It is a thin layer of icing that is applied before adding the next cake layer. Formlessness dynamically disconnects from the body and I am no longer identified with the idea of “me.” I am now consciously awake to the dream of form and the world is unreal. This shift is a universal transition and allows the bliss of Awake Joy to vibrantly emerge. The icing bestows the mystical phenomena that are commonly associated with awakening.

“I am the witness only” reference point is formlessness and I have no form. My being has transitioned to the pure being. I am the primal sense of being-consciousness-bliss and the substratum of form. I have surrendered conflict and I am now the playground of peace. I release subtle layers of the intellect and transmute the illusion of collective suffering. If thoughts are present, I have no sense that they speak in any real way and thus personal suffering is impossible. I am also conscious that the layers below me are unreal. I am not aware that duality persists. In other words, two subtle reference points endure. I am not conscious that I am still a reference point and that I will be eliminated.

“Pure I” has no reference point whatsoever and I am the final layer of our cake. “Pure I” is enlightenment and the fulfillment of non-duality. Not one word that I could say would be true.

The Heart is Self-realization and full embodiment and I am the Totality. The bad news is that we are not going to take this cake and eat it. The good news is that we are going to give it all away by serving it. The chocolate cake is not ready to selflessly serve without the fudge frosting! The frosting is the art of awake living.

The purpose of this chart of reference points is to assist your current perception. Once perceived, it is not calling for mental interpretation. Instead, we release the perception to open to the essential Essence to which they point. Interpretation will lead to analysis and theories, which will conceal and sabotage the purpose of the charting.

Throughout all of these transitions, the Pure Awareness that I am never changes. Whether I seem to take on form or not, in every case, I am the Eternal Now. I no longer differentiate between any of my dimensions and I am fully integrated as the Totality.

"Awake Joy" by Katie Davis is available at Katie's website at Awake Books

"Awake Joy" is also available at most bookstore and at Amazon

www.KatieDavis.org ~ Free Advaita Videos

Prior to Consciousness, Evolution, Wild Love ~ Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Prior to Consciousness, Evolution and Wild Love

By Katie Davis, Author

"Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment"

I am sharing a photo that I took at a Maui beach a couple evenings ago, so that you might appreciate its beauty and sacredness. This beauty does not need to be understood. In fact, if you bring the mind to a sunset or even to this photo, you are likely to miss its multi-dimensional depth altogether.

The photo may be more appreciated by those who have experienced these golden sunsets, when we can only softly murmur “beautiful …” or simply smile in knowing gratitude. Because a sunset is perceivable by the senses, we describe it as real and perhaps have some sort of mutual understanding.

For someone who is blind and without the gift of eyesight, the affinity is obviously less tenable. Similarly, to speak of the lovely fragrance of a rose would be essentially meaningless to someone who has never smelled one. Just as when I speak of the great silence within, if it has never been encountered, some still take little notice and therefore consensus is as yet  a latent possibility.

The Heart of pure beingness is not perceivable to the senses, so the mind and especially the ego would likely label who I am as unreal. Further, it has not been experienced and never will be. Nonetheless, I can be realized.

It seems very popular right now to speak of evolution, yet it seems a distraction to the  ultimate task at hand and nothing to do with either enlightenment or Self-realization. While I am not a scientist who could study these matters and this is not to be taken as a theory for or against evolution, I can only say that the ego would love this idea, since it could measure the evolved over the un-evolved.

Can we see that evolution is progression and a future fixation? Are you really going to wait for the evolution of the species that might take eons? “Yes,” replies the ego, “This is very good indeed.”

Are you still holding to the hundredth monkey theory that “everyone else” can do the work and you will simply fall in? The essential truth is already here and now.

Evolution appears and happens to form. Form is a dream, whether within DNA or otherwise. Are you waiting for the evolution of a dream? Do you wait for your nighttime dreams to evolve? No, you wake up.

If you are speaking of the evolution of consciousness, it does not need to be other than it is. Where you are looking from becomes the key to the dissolution of the apparent altered states of consciousness.

 Through spiritual awakening, many are discovering that the world perceived by the senses is unreal and no more than a dream. We are then awake to the dream of form. Fewer have realized that the body called “you” is also part of the dream and that “you” are not the dreamer!

Sundance and I are in a new research study group of scientists. Before our meeting them, one had conducted an experiment and accidentally discovered that the result of their experiment varied. Without watching, the result was one way and when watched, the result changed. In other words, the attention of the observer changes the observed. This has dynamically shifted their scientific research from the object observed to the inner science of the subject. Here, the scientist and the spiritualist begin meeting.

The very fact that the object observed is impermanent and changes with attention points to the unreality of the dream of form. It is hardly fixed and never free of change. In other words, the dream is malleable. One does not need to change anything within the dream. It is through attention alone that the objects within the dream change.

This is similar to what we share with those who are awakening. There is a harmonizing and unifying factor between the witness and what we previously defined as the person. That factor is the power of consciousness. Through attention, the person and the life situation effortlessly transform without “doing” anything within the dream. The transformation happens by itself according to who is looking.

The question remains who is the subject? Who is watching? Who are you? If the attention is still from a reference point within an altered state of consciousness, the dream appears accordingly with indications of limitation, separation, causality (time) and suffering.

However, if one is willing to be patient and continue the deeper inquiry with attention turned inward, the mirror of the mind is clarified and it becomes free of all apparent altered states of consciousness. A clear mirror is able to “receive” the “light” and becomes illuminated and therefore capable of reflecting pure consciousness; made possible by the perfection of the Heart.

The question is, is there a subject? In enlightenment, both subject and object disappear and we realize who we are prior to consciousness. So obviously, this is not a conscious experience, since it is beyond the field of attention, and is the realization of Non-duality. When consciousness reappears, it is wise love.

On the other hand, Self-realization is complete integration with form, free of all reference points altogether and still free of duality. As the Heart, I am not a Source from which all else flows. I am That which makes the immense field of pure consciousness possible, within which all limited reference points are contained or superimposed, whether presently perceived to be real or unreal. The Heart is beyond all and without contradiction is All. There is no "all else." Only I am.

Every day, I write all these words to point to the great silence and yet in this reality, words do not really matter much. They just flow through consciousness like a river, while we attend. Words are only symbols and always point to their essence. Still, they carry the scent of the great silence. Are you sensing it?

One could say that true compassion is writing and its prayer is to elevate all suffering. In case you have not heard the good news, perfect peace is available to every human being and not reserved for a fortunate few.

Simplicity, clarity, immeasurable love and utter fearlessness are available through direct Self-realization. Of course these too are only words and until their essence has been directly realized, the enormity of the impact cannot be understood.

Meanwhile, my only purpose is to point to what genuinely is and humbly suggest where to look. It then requires earnestness in noticing, so that the false is encountered, surrendered and the realization is direct.

There are no obstacles to realizing who you already are, just false ideas, and when you bring them into the powerful field of attention, they surrender on their own accord. In surrender, wise love consciously emerges with greater intensity and immensity, until it is realized that love is the only omnipotent power in the universe.

I am also here to help guide and support the art of stabilizing this spiritual realization in consciousness, so that there is no gap between that which has been realized and everyday living. We shift from reaction to compassionate response that honors life with kindness, patience, generosity, selfless service and understanding.

This wild love is active, integrated and functional and incidentally madly uncontrollable.


Free videos and downloads at the Katie Davis Website: www.KatieDavis.org

The book, "Awake Joy" at Katie's Awake Books

"Awake Joy" at Amazon

Consciousness, the Waking Dream, Multiple Universes and Self-Realization by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Consciousness, the Waking Dream, Multiple Universes and Self-Realization by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment"

That which is perceivable is born of pleasure or pain, whereas the Heart and the illumined mind’s pure consciousness display as a wise love and a certain charity for life, while transcending the dual opposites of the pleasure-pain cycle.

The altered state of consciousness (ego) changes along with its perceived conditions and only experiences its own judgment. That judgment is either based on past experience or an imagined future. The reaction varies according to the mind’s desire for pleasure or fear of pain based on its delusion of separation.

The egoic “I” and its body are time and therefore cannot be conscious of the formless and timeless now. Egoic “I” as identity is the obstruction.

Ego can become sort of present with the content of the present moment which is an important first step. Yet the body as identity cannot step out of space and time. You are not in space and time. They are within you.

What is independent of time is beyond the mind, its consciousness and remains uncreated and changeless; pure potentiality.

The consciousness of change points to the fact that you are already changeless; just as the consciousness of thought, emotion, the body, mental images, physical energies, memory, cognition, perception and evermore subtle layers of the intellect imply that you are beyond all of them.

Some say that when the mind dissolves that "nothing" remains and yet nothing also depends on “something.” It is another concept imposed by the divided mind before its dissolution. Nothing is dependent on the memory of something.

Are you losing your mind?

No, all that dies is its idea of separation as identity and therefore the end of suffering.

Pure Beingness is independent from that which is definable and altogether free of existence ...  yet identical and the same!

Consciousness also comes and goes, while Pure Awareness alone "shines."

However this word "awareness" is used by many and one can never be certain when it is used, where the word is truly pointing or where "you think" that it is pointing. It always depends upon who is looking. Are we speaking of the physical eye's attention that is the person, or the watcher that is the self-observer, or the field of attention of the witnessing consciousness, or is it beyond all?

I suppose we could speak of who I am as Pure I or the Heart, yet being indescribable, any word falls short.

Simply put, I am beyond all and without contradiction all of the above.

When one's identity is based solely on the person, there is consciousness, the "I am" that is existence and this existence is still witnessed. Witnessing is the subtle fabric of the mind and disappears with all its objects.

The witness is still within duality and hence we have this sense of being “between two worlds” that appears after complete and spontaneous detachment; formlessness that is separate from all form and still unity consciousness.

This separation ceases in Non-duality and the fully integrated life of Self-realization.

Being-consciousness-bliss depends upon “one another,” as well as upon the Supreme Reality.

In the Non-dual reality, all is real whether in movement or motionless, yet it is only the mind that moves creating the illusion.

For the "aspirant," it must be understood that virtually nothing that can be perceived or conceptualized can be who you are.

That which is witnessed is the mind's imagination and you will find that this is based on either the mind’s fear or desire.

The daytime dream is just that … a dream … it has continuity solely due to memory. Just like your nighttime dreams, you can wake up.

Within consciousness, there are infinite universes and when you realize that you are that which makes all possible (including the mind’s consciousness), you may experience any of these real/unreal dimensions, whenever they happen or appear.

They are just as real/unreal as your present daytime dream. Some are denser and others illuminated with more light, such as when only wise love prevails or when they are free of judgment and therefore negativity.

Each operates under different “universal” laws. Once again, by trial and error, these laws reveal themselves.

Could it be possible that we never step into the same river twice?

Are the laws that we have learned and been conditioned to believe for this “dimension” that we call “earth and universe” truly steadfast and “universal” or is it just that we believe in those limitations and mind structure?

Alas! First things first, before the adventures begin!

May I repeat and profoundly stress that as alluring as this might be for the mind and its consciousness, you are never anything that you can perceive!

This requires that you to step out of the tiny boat of personal identity that is the body limitation with its given name for an address. We lose nothing. We shift in identity only.

Nothing you perceive is your own.

First is the great disappearance of the universe. Then, when the consciousness of the illumined mind is pure and the world reappears, nothing is the same.

While extraordinary or dumbfounding, visions are essentially meaningless. You know who is calling you back!

Who are you really is the only essential question.

The invitation is to contemplate this and examine carefully so that this is realized directly.

 Nothing of true value can come from the impermanent “outside.”

You are only limited by the perception of yourself and the body is only another object seeming to appear in the ever changing field of consciousness.

I merely make all things possible, including nothing.

The only thing required is to be aware of being and all will be effortlessly revealed.

Apply the Self-inquiry question, “Who am I?” each time the compulsive, altered state of consciousness projects towards its sense objects and refuses to remain as the resting power that is the witness. This is not immediate! Persistence is required.

Self-inquiry is successful!

Where is “I” arising from?

Even here as the witness, you will disappear, so continue the Self-inquiry as the altered states of consciousness dissolve and the mirror of the mind gains perfect clarity and therefore a perfect reflection.

Finally, attend satsang with a “realized teacher.”

I believe the analogy used by many is that a wet log is nearly impossible to light with a single match, yet when you drop it into a roaring fire, it readily ignites. You will notice that for weeks after satsang the intensity seems to increase. One fine day, it will never again diminish. Yet, this too is a misperception.

The sun remains as brilliant on a cloudy day as when the sky is blue.

Satsang is not the entire answer. Awareness of being as an all day-long movement meditation, Self-inquiry and satsang, intensives or longer silent retreats are simple answers.

Further, once all of the wrong ideas are removed, what remains is Truth and the talks offered during satsang assist this right understanding, while silently burning tendencies.

While you cannot know who you are, since you are beyond the mind and its cognition, you can learn all that you are not and once directly encountered and spontaneously surrendered, what remains is who you really are.

However once again, if the one who is pointing is only half way up the mountain, detours and dead ends are likely. Nonetheless, when you are ready, the “appropriate teacher” finds you and conditions appear without seeking, evaluation and choice.

Everywhere you are is perfection.

It all happens by itself.

Deeply contemplate each of these paragraphs over time and when appropriate. The timeless has no issue with time.

I am not asking you to philosophize, agree, disagree or “do” anything. That would be counterproductive. Contemplation is meditation and deep noticing.

What seems to be true right now may in fact be false later. So we crystallize nothing and change nothing.

No one arrives anywhere.

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org