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)

You Are Pure Love ~ Katie Davis

~ You are Pure Love ~

From the moment that you were first cradled in your mother's arms, you have been love; open, innocent and free.

Even now in this moment, no matter what life circumstances you have had to endure, nothing can change the fact that:

~ You are Pure Love ~

You are life's very purpose.

It is not that you were created to be loved, as though you could possibly be separate from that which you organically are. This would imply that you would need to get love from someone else, or through some imaginary future circumstance, or maybe within other things.

What I am saying is that you can directly realize that you are far more than your form with its given name. This has always been so. As a baby, you had not yet learned that mental idea of separation. You experienced that
"I am love, all is love, I am you."

Within you now is the same unfathomable field of pure love and this realization is the crux of spiritual awakening. Consciously awake, we live as that very essence that has no form and yet is inseparable from the extraordinary experience of being human, as well as indivisible from the divine.

The greatest gift of the Heart is realizing that you are this ever-present, unwavering and unlimited love.

We do not need to believe that we are lovable or have someone else prove their love. Through deep inner exploration, you realize that you essentially are all that you have been looking for in every other.

After all, when that magical and mystical moment of 'falling in love' appears, is it not true that the love arises within you?

The great twentieth century sage Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon once said:

"I am the abode of love, stainless, the one without second, and ever peaceful."

This is an absolute truth and you are this truth.

This radical realization is the end of separation and therefore the end all suffering. It is also the conscious beginning of an overwhelming sense of fulfillment that never fades.

As the infant begins forming an ego, it learns separation; the idea of being a separated body only that is divided from all other things, circumstances and people. Most unfortunate, it is also through this imaginary division that the loving essence that you truly are seems to be lost.

True love can never be lost, you have only been attending other things.

With a sense of estrangement from love, you then begin yearning for love and its fulfillment. The problem is, you have been searching for love in all the wrong places.

You can imagine how dynamic this realization might be for you, if you had spent an entire lifetime seeking love ... and then realize that it IS you! The magnitude of that revelation!

~ You are perfect and divine universal love ~

Then, you are no longer looking for love. You are being love, an inexhaustible and infinite source, and watching for every opportunity to overflow the greatest gift of the Heart.

That original separation never happened, other than in the imagination of the dual mind. It simply is not true. Now, it is your turn to explore to see whether what I am sharing is true.

This false belief has been an alienating force in every one of your relationships. The burden of pain becomes heavier and heavier, until you feel like you can no longer bear the hurt, and just cannot carry the burden any longer. Through grace, one fine day, your attention just might turn within.

This is salvation and the beginning of spiritual awakening and healing. You realize an indestructible love that was never broken and the miracle is ... that it is you ... and absolutely inseparable from the divine.

Your mental idea of love is only relative and it contains all of your conditions that you have formed through past experience. When your partner does not comply with those conditions, that small love quickly cycles to hate or resentment. Since you believe that you are separate, you experience your partner as a separate object from whom you must get love or you fear that they might take love away.

Impossible!

Love knows no separation. Separation is unattainable.

~ You are Pure Love ~

Diversity is beautiful! Multiplicity and variety does not require separation. We are one wild and magnificent love appearing everywhere as everyone and virtually everything.

Relative love appears within time and after certain duration, it inevitably cycles to dislike and within a certain duration of time, it again cycles to relative love. Then ... we blame our partner for our unhappiness! Is that even vaguely logical? We think that love is dependent upon their every action or reaction.

As the 'inferior' ego, I believe that I am undesirable and unworthy. As the 'superior' ego, I believe that most everyone else is undesirable and unworthy. In fact, for any ego, if people cannot improve my sense of self or if I do not believe that they could be a threat or take love away, people are basically ignored and found to be rather uninteresting, boring or not important at all. 

For the ego, the keywords are time, separation and body as identity.

Whereas, wise love is free of time, sees through the mirage of separation and is no longer limited to the body.

Pure love is gigantic and in fact, the only omnipotent power in the universe.

As the sage Osho once proclaimed:

"Why should anyone else enjoy being with you, when you cannot even enjoy being alone?"

Being alone, you begin realizing who you genuinely are. In that revelation, life's truest passion for loving effortlessly emerges as patience, humility, forgiveness and emotional maturity. As love, you are naturally kind and in harmony with living, instead of throwing life around.

In the human mind, we have our differences and differing perspectives. However awake living is not attached to individual perspectives and we are open to the greater whole, so that human diversity is honored and naturally respected. This receptivity encourages a broader reality for the family, spirituality, society, workplace environment, science and the arts, so that we live in cooperation, appreciation and acceptance.

It all begins with you.

The invitation is to forget about "getting" what you think love is. Instead, behold the revelation of who you really are now!

The magnitude of this first conscious meeting shatters every illusion that you thought you were and destroys every idea of what "all else" is.

That is the invincible Power of Real Love.

~ You are Perfect Love ~

Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

www.KatieDavis.org

Emotion Is the Mind Seeking Time and Separation ~ Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

The human being is in constant search for stable happiness, whether one is conscious of the fact or not.

This search is often objective in that most still believe that their happiness depends on other people, life circumstances, professions, possessions or some other.

When the ego gets what it wants, it is relatively happier. For just one moment, it senses the illusion of completion and it finally rests free of desire. Yet, true fulfillment is not a possibility for a fraction. For the ego, completion is a delusion, since partiality can never be whole.

For the mind-made self, happiness soon wanes. Sooner or later, discontentment in the form of desire once again arises, since it still senses lack and the life situation within time is in constant change.

Further, the ego senses that it is separate from "those" people and its life circumstances. It is therefore under constant threat of loss or hoping for future gain. Most every moment is used as a means to some ego end.

When the ego does not get what it wants, it judges the situation and then blames someone else. The result is usually disappointment from false expectations or personal intention. My will vs. your will consistently ends in pain and suffering for all involved. Once again, we have the delusion of separation and its inherent opposition.

Of course, stable unhappiness is just as impossible as enduring relative happiness, since within time the life situation changes. When our happiness depends on other situations, our emotions fluctuate and follow our judgment.

Virtually everything within the world of form comes and goes. Everything is impermanent. When we seek permanence within impermanence, we suffer; whether we are seeking pleasure or trying to avoid pain.

Again, the life situation is in constant flux. Happiness will surely cycle to unhappiness and after certain duration, we will cycle to happiness. Furthermore, both polarities are dependent upon something or someone externally. In this manner, we are subject to the unending push and pull of ever changing emotions.

With certain maturity, we at last begin taking responsibility for our emotions. Our attention shifts to what is genuinely going on within us. When we watch carefully, we note that it is actually our judgment of people and situations that is causing our emotional changes.

That judgment is based on past experience and our conditioned likes and dislikes. In other words, the negativity is based on time and the suffering is actually self-inflicted. For the ego, everything would be alright, if only everyone else would just change.

This is an opportunity to be gentle and allow compassion, love and deeper understanding through watching our thoughts and how they are directly related to our emotions.

Unfortunately, the ego is more likely to cast its judgment and guilt upon itself. In resistance, it tries to change its thoughts into better ones in the hope that happiness will improve somewhat. For the ego "I," love and joy are always in the future, however never possible right now.

Even with positive thinking, within time everything changes. Nonetheless, this self-improvement project is actually quite important, since it is finally exhausted! Patience and tolerance emerge and we begin realizing that the emotional highs and lows are actually one continuum and only time separates them. In this, we begin waking up out of time.

Resistance transforms into surrender and acceptance as we begin allowing what is. The joy of being consciously emerges and spiritual awakening may be drawing near.

Every positive and negative emotion is based on the mind's idea of time and separation. By merely noticing, you will realize that all emotion is the result of memory, imagination and anticipation. All are factors of the time-based mind, that still believes that its identity is separate and exists within the mind's time.

It is not that we are attempting to avoid emotion or escape. That would be the mind's resistance and fear. In fact, by welcoming them, feeling them fully, observing how they operate in relationship to the mind that we are able to transcend psychological pain. You might in fact perceive that most of the suffering is within the resistance and in your imagination of how deep that emptiness might be. When we inquire into the depth of these emotions, it is the birthing of true compassion. It is also the realization of what lies beneath.

Of course, you are always welcome to continue surfing the waves of emotion, while the mind assists the spin or ... rest as the abode of wise love. 

The resolution is to realize the perfection that you are genuinely right now. You are completely beyond the mind and its emotional aspect; human emotion.

Unconditional love and pure joy are here right now and they are absolutely indestructible. They are dependent on nothing and caused by nothing. It is essentially who you timelessly are. The extraordinary opportunity is to realize what is already deep within, without trying to change a single thing.

You are the silence of the Heart that makes all things possible. This realization is complete fulfillment and effortlessly transforms the life situation. Rather, we are able to directly realize what truly is right now. You are inseparable from the Heart this very moment.

There is nothing wrong with you.

~ The question is who are who really right now? ~

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

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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

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The Self-observer and the Universal Witness by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In these teachings, I differentiate between the person (body), the self-observer (eyewitness) and the true witnessing consciousness that is the reference point "I am the witness only."

The self-observer is still identified with the body. Attention has shifted from projecting outward toward the world and has turned inward. The study is one of watching thoughts, emotions, body, physical energies and mental images. While it may seem that one is "inside," being inside the body is not yet inside. I guess we could say there is an inside to the inside! :-)

You see, the appearance of the body is also another worldly object. It is still a part of the dream of form. Self-observation is essential to the awakening process, yet this watching is not the witness.

At some point, a profound and radical detachment from both body and world will occur and this opens to the true witnessing consciousness. Some mistaken this with enlightenment since pure being-consciousness-bliss is so dynamically at the forefront.

The subject witness ... the true witness ... is totally free of the person. It is formless and has no identification with person and form. Its study is formlessness. It still has its object, but the object is the "dimension" of the Heart. While it is perfect for crossing over from the world of form into formlessness, it prevents Self-realization.

Once again, the profound surrender will happen by itself when the persistent duality is noticed. In the disappearance of the subject-witness, we have Self-realization.

Continued Self-inquiry will assist ... even when one is totally free of the ego and the body.

While the universal subject-witness is free of form, it is not yet free of the universal mind. In fact, it IS the universal mind. Nisargadatta calls the universal witness "God." In these teachings, I save that label for only the Supreme Absolute.

Since this is a "seasoned" group, I must quickly add of course that the Absolute (Self) is all there is ... everything "else" is only Self ... appearing as.

So why differentiate? Advaita is more than a philosophy, it is in fact a perfect road map. If there is not clarity at point A, point B will remain a mystery, etc. The outer layer of the onion is peeled to reveal the next layer. There cannot be clarity of what an onion truly is ... other than conceptually with mind ... unless each layer is realized.

Likewise, we shift from reference point to reference point until none remain.

Katie Davis Website:

www.KatieDavis.org

For Katie's book, "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," click:

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At Katie Davis Website at Awake Books

Awakening to the Invincible Summer by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

On Maui, the sweetness of spring seems to be awakening, as the sleepy winter transforms. One senses it mostly by the delicate fragrances, but there are other delightful whispers. The scents harmonize and breathe life into the early morning darkness. The breezes are warmer as they enliven our bodies and consciously ground us as Spirit.

The Monarch butterflies are migrating all the way to Mexico and we have the intuitive sense that our intelligent friends, the humpback whales and newborn calves, are beginning their departure to brave the San Juan Orcas and dine out in Alaska.

Even the “snow birds” are flying home, as Maui relaxes into its more genuine pace. One cannot help but notice the simplicity of living the cycles of Gaia. However, there is something deeper here; something ineffable and sacredly indefinable.

Each spring, I am tenderly reminded of the natural birth of my second daughter. As a focal point, I used a poster of the sun shining through snow covered pines in a silent forest. The Albert Camus byline read, “In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer.” Upon first glance and still ripe with pregnancy, I instinctively knew that my new daughter would be named named Summer. However, I had not yet consciously awakened to the unfathomable depth to which Camus was possibly pointing.

Just as the scarlet ‘I’iwi is perfectly adapted to sip the honey of tubular flowers; we are able to innately taste the sweet nectar of the Silence of the Heart. We are able to realize that we are this extraordinary and divine stillness.

With a quiet mind, we are especially graced with the magnificent beauty of its outpouring. If we would just stop for an instant, we would have the immediate opportunity to spontaneously awaken to a steadfast beauty that never fades. This rebirth is our true renewal and the awakening from a dream that never happened. We discover that which is permanently here and never changes, even as seasons change.

Traditionally, the plight of the pseudo self, the concept of “me,” camouflages this radiant stillness. The ego endlessly searches to attain what it already is. Its strategy is to maintain itself, through healing the past or becoming what it wants to be in the future. Other than a constant “work in progress,” my question is where is it and who is it right now? I suggest that the answer is nowhere and nobody, but this is for you to investigate.

Unfortunately, the desires and fears of the pseudo self are conditionally based on past experience, so we unknowingly recreate what we are trying to escape. Generally, we have many excuses as to why we cannot be happy and yet this false sense of self is the only thief. This con artist is a myth and only seems to exist in the imagination of the time-based, divided mind. Can you see that it is creating its own pain gap? The invitation to awaken is the realization that you are a mysterious Secret Garden and that the pain is a consequence of believing in the mind's separation.

Through awakening to life’s inner purpose, “we” are surrendered and the radiance animates as life. We no longer require this hopeless relationship with “ourselves” that always seems to separate us from every other.

After all, we are not two; neither “i” nor “me.” We are neither subject nor object; we are free. In the grand release of conscious freedom, we realize the fulfillment as bliss and live as the wise love that we truly are.

We have unsuccessfully attempted to live the constraint of an individual consciousness that attempts to divide itself by notion as a separate subject. Through this unexamined assumption, we experience the limitation of unconnected separate objects. A limited subject can only imagine limitation. Who are you beyond every belief? It just makes sense that unrestrained freedom cannot be found within restraint.

In difficult times, we may lament our distance from the Supreme. Who is distanced and from whom? First, we insist upon our independent existence as true identity and then fear the mind's imagination of that distance. We grieve solely for what is unknown, unexamined and assumed.

We are not a vulnerable, singular point in a chaotic universe. We are the open and still Awareness that sustains all life. We are That which shines invincibly and joy is our birthright.

During the rejuvenation this spring, we have the chance to realize the ultimate truth of “no rain, no rainbows,” as we say on Maui. Life need not be burdened with suffering to appreciate true compassion and mystical happiness.

After all, even our gardens effortlessly delight: healing green, dancing fuchsia, laughing yellow with trumpets of purple, smiling faces of cream, a circle of blue featuring eyes of lavender!

When the seasons change, what remains?

If you had a choice, and I am not saying that you do, would you choose the concept of “you” or unfathomable bliss, perfect peace, unconditional love and causeless joy?

Hele me kahau’oli ... Go with Joy.

Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

For the Katie Davis Website, Author, Awake Joy please click www.KatieDavis.org.

Resistance and Time ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Whenever we resist something, we suffer. Resistance is the ego judging the present moment. It always has its idea of what it would like life to be. When it is otherwise, it resists the form that the present moment is presently taking. Some may not realize that it is actually our own thinking that causes resistance and therefore causes our negative emotions. The ego believes that it is other people and circumstances that cause its emotions to change and it is not so. But don't take my word for it. Observe directly to see how the ego operates and generates or perpetuates negative emotion. When thinking is unobserved and we misidentify with its judgments, it is self-inflicted suffering.

When you are feeling unhappy, turn your attention to your thoughts and notice how they are using you. The intensity of your unhappiness will always depend upon the degree of resistance that you are having against what is. This just is not that wise. The present moment is already as it is. Can you accept it just as it is? Is it possible to actually love the mystery of the appearance and truly be free to welcome all that is appearing, free of judgment?

Since the ego needs time in order to function, it will always resist the now. The now is the space within which the present moment is appearing. The more you are able to be the Now rather than the personal reference point of the ego, the less you will suffer. You will suffer less since you have not misidentified the dreaming "I" and its wants and needs. Free of the misidentification, you are also free of all the ego's thinking that causes you to suffer.

Since the ego is always under some sense of threat, it will attempt to control and manipulate whatever is. Of course, that is impossible since it is. That control and manipulation only causes you and others to suffer. We create more pain which will soon become more pain of the past that will be stored in the body for release.

If you observe the ego, you will notice how it is constantly fixated on the past or future, which obscures the Now that is the source of all true happiness and peace. Whatever past pain that you perceive that you have, it will appear as present conditioning, which is why we do not need to heal the past. It will appear in the present moment as your reaction to the present moment. Likewise, the ego is always attempting to use the present moment to get something in the future. This creates anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. Those desires are also based on past conditioning.

If you are interested in creating no more pain for yourself and others, stand free of time and you will see that you do not accumulate more time and therefore more suffering. The present moment is virtually all that you have. Are you missing it? It is the only true representation of Life as it truly is and the only doorway to presence.

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The Power of Forever Now ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In Self-realization, we realize that we ARE the Now that we also refer to as Self, Pure I, Pure Awareness, Heart, Essence or Absolute Truth; among others.

This is not to be confused with the power of Now that is the appearance of the universe that we call experience. The power includes the forces of nature, the content of the present moment, our bodies, thoughts, emotions, energies, physical sensations such as shakti or others. No matter what form Pure I may take, it never loses the consciousness that is its essential nature.

Even if you perceive a certain power or vision as “other worldly,” since it is experienced, it is none other than the power of Self. The power of Now cannot be separated from the Now any more than “my” power could be separated from “me.” ”My” power is totally dependent on “me.” Without “me,” ”my” power would not be.

The Now is beyond experience and its power is the mind-body that is experience. The mind-body and its experience cannot stand alone. It is totally dependent on the Now, whereas the Now stands free of experience and the appearance of the world. For experience, the mind-body is required and that is also dependent upon the power of Now. The mind is an extraordinary power, but not the Now. “My” body is included within that power. I experience “my body” and therefore it is dependent and cannot stand alone. Everything within the field of experience is the power of Now and inseparable from the Now that I am.

This is not to say that the human being aspect of us should not be embraced. It just is not who we truly are. We ARE the Now within which the body is appearing. When we say “I” that word is pointing to the Now that is Essence. The problematic situation that causes the veil to drop is the misidentification with the body. The mind-body is the power. You are the Now.

For the Self-realized, people, things and circumstances do not appear to be separate and they are appearing from “within.” Although the mental constructs of “inside” and “outside” have been eliminated, the forever Now stands alone and beyond the world and its present moment, although not separate. The Forever Now is eternally permanent, while the impermanent forces of nature are in movement. I am the screen upon which they are appearing and also the consciousness or power that is appearing as form. I am the Totality.

With Self-realization, suffering has been realized as a delusion and therefore has been spontaneously surrendered. The pain gap between the dreaming "I" and the Heart has been extinguished.

When the subject-witness is eliminated, the void of collective suffering is also realized as a delusion and is therefore eliminated. Pure I is free of time, space and therefore separation and its suffering.

I am pure consciousness- being-bliss that is beyond the "I am" that is the foundation of all experience. Now is free of the body idea and the mind’s ever changing phenomena. The body is still sensing and functioning as it does, but it is no longer one's identity. I just can no longer separate the Now that I am from my power; the world.

Pure I is free of the doer of action. This does not mean that the body is not productive. Rather, the belief that there is a doer has been realized as false. I am Pure I during all that is being done. All that is appearing is my power and therefore is the Heart that I am. There just is no doer that is performing the action. One could say that there is pure activity that is intelligent and creative without any identification with the action or its fruits. I am free of imagining that "I am the doer" of anything. It is a false idea to consider the Heart as the doer. There simply is no doer.

Contrarily, the mind-made self that is the ego is time bound and experiences itself as the divided mind. Although an illusion, it experiences bondage. For the ego, it believes that it IS its thoughts and that it is the thinker. Lost in time, it is not conscious of the freedom that is always present.

Since it believes itself to be separate, it experiences only separation. As an illusory subject, it perceives separate objects such as other people, circumstances and things.

Because the ego believes it is separate, a personal reference point that is misidentified as the body, it also imagines that it is separate from the divine. For those who are drawn to enlightenment and curious about the Truth or longing for God, the ego begins an endless search for what is already within. It is an endless search, because the ego cannot realize the Truth. A temporary falsehood cannot meet the permanent Truth. It is itself the veil preventing Self-realization.

Through Self-inquiry and asking this question, "Who am I?" and noticing where the “I” thought arises from, the “dreaming I” is realized to be non-existent. The veil of illusion is removed and only the Self-illuminating Heart, the living Truth, remains.

While we are being Now, the conceptual “I” cannot take flight. That concept requires the mind and its time in order to separate and function. We are purely Now and its present power.

Suffering for the ego is always caused by other people and life circumstance. It therefore attempts to control and manipulate life circumstances in order to make itself relatively happy and avoid its pain. Even in this pseudo power, it is remains helpless as it is tossed about by others and life situations. It is constantly under the push and pull of its emotional state. As the ego, I AM my emotions and always under threat by some other.

Suffering for the self-observer is the body's reaction to what it believes to be its own thoughts. It eventually takes responsibility for its own emotional environment, when it realizes that it is suffering due to its own judgmental thinking. It begins experiencing emotional balance by becoming consciously present to its thoughts and emotions. By observing the thoughts and emotions, it is not as likely to be used by them.

After complete detachment from form, the witnessing consciousness emerges and being-consciousness-bliss comes to the forefront. Nonetheless, all that remains unconscious within the void of the collective continues to emerge as an overlay on the bedrock that is Truth; yet its perfume is plainly evident. This is not enlightenment, but some mistaken it as such.

The subject-witness is a study of formlessness and the witness frees ever more subtle layers of the intellect. Those are two reference points: (1) a formless witness, who objectively is witnessing (2) formlessness (awareness aware of itself). There are not two. Nonetheless, what lies unconscious within the collective surfaces and the collective pain body is freed. It transmutes into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is.

Because the ego state of consciousness is misidentified with the physical body and its limitations, it believes that it is the doer of action and is therefore responsible for the fruits of those actions. The ego believes that it is making individual, mental decisions independently and these decisions will always be based on past experience. Its divided and conditioned intelligence thereby experiences the consequences.

Pure I is beyond this law of cause and effect and thereby free of causality. The Heart is pure intelligence and potentiality that is divinely abundant, all powerful, unconditional love and perfect peace.


To ask Katie questions or share, please click the Comment button below. If you are viewing this blog from another site, you will need to advance to the original post at:

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The Joy of Being ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

All longing, seeking and discontent have their roots in the delusion that we are separate from the Heart of all being. When we are desiring and wanting things, people or circumstances at some future date, we cannot be conscious of our organic sense of being; the joy of being that is already within.

When we are identified with the ego state of consciousness, it is as though we BECOME the longing for what we "think" that we lack. We become the discontentment that we are trying to escape. We desire something other than the present moment. Even enlightenment can become something that we are seeking and we believe that it can only "happen" at some future date.

When we have a future fixation, we are not being present for the very joy that we have been seeking within every other. The joy of being can only be realized now and it is within you. Lost in an external search, it cannot be found. The only option is to look within.

Where is your attention right now?

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Reviews

Katie Davis, Compassion, Service, Suffering, Author, Awake Joy

Questioner ~

We are all ONE... The world is as it should be... Suffering is just due to the dualistic mind. Yes?

Then....
Is the grief of the mother who has lost her child due to her dualistic thinking?
Is the pain the dying child feel just due to the child's dualstic thinking?
Is the starvation in the world as it should be?
Are the suffering from the victims of war just coming from the their minds of dualistic thinking?
Is the pain a victim of violence (physical from a broken body and mentally from the experience) just due to the dualistic thinkng of the mind...?

And is the hope for a "better" world and my goal to do the best I can to ease the suffering just due to my dualistic mind?

Katie:

I am delighted that you asked this question. It is the very essence of the spiritual quest. This is life's purpose. Until this body's last breath, I will be pointing to the possibility, potentiality and Reality that is within.

Self-realization is the end of all suffering. For ourselves, our relationships, the world, the living earth. Can you imagine this? And yet, there are so many who cannot hear this call. This is not a trivial matter. The impact is as huge as the universe.

Our first responsibility is to wake up from daytime dream of dual mind, its suffering and its time. When we discover that virtually NOTHING is as it seems, the focus shifts inner. If I am not "me" ... then who is really here?

Between the Heart that you actually are and the misidentification with the false, separate sense of self (the mind-made self) is the pain gap. Within that gap is not only what appears to be our personal suffering, but also the COLLECTIVE suffering that you are noticing in the world. Through this misidentification, suffering appears not only in our lives ... but within the world of form. We blame the world and yet we are projecting it.

The only enduring resolution is to dive in and realize the unconditional love, perfect peace and overflowing abundance that we are. In Self-realization, the dual mind is destroyed and realized as the illumined mind that is at home as the Heart. When we then turn to look at the world without the pre-existing pain gap ... it is the "new earth." It is here now for everyone. The key is within you.

Someone shared a story of walking on the street in the city and she came upon a man who was laying on the sidewalk just left to die. Everyone on the crowded street was just walking by. They may not have even been conscious of the situation. The person called an aid car and perhaps saved the man from dying.

She had an apparent choice there. She could have been scared and upset about the situation, judgmental of the others that were walking by and then generalized it as an uncaring world. This negativity actually strengthens the negativity in the collective consciousness and the negative only gains more power.

So we are asked to stay still as the genuine love and compassion that we are. We remain free of judgment and in acceptance of what is. Stay true to the Heart. We are then spontaneously animated in right action.

Instead of interpretation (bad, awful, shouldn't be) ... yes, this man may be dying ... compassion moves us into action. True compassion never reduces to suffering. In the old world, when we saw people suffering, we would begin suffering as well. In the new world, True Compassion remains steadfast as authentic Love in action.

It is a mystery why so few hear this call. If we will investigate to discover the falsehood of the separate self, then dive into the collective ego, we realize the delusion of suffering ... you are free ... and collectively the world is free.

Meanwhile, the love that we are is in constant selfless service. Helping Love's child that has fallen on the playground. Opening the door for the elderly. Every day there are simply ways to give this love away; to be the instrument of true love.

We either strengthen the illusion ... or we realize the Truth.

If this can be true for "katie" it is true for everyone. We are free of all bondage right now. We have only to look with clearsight. THAT is a miracle.

Friends of the Heart November Issue by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The new November issue of Friends of the Heart is now posted on the Katie Davis Website. To enjoy, please visit Friends of the Heart.




In This Issue:

"Holiday Presence" by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

"Being Beyond Belief" by Sundance Burke, Author, Free Spirit

"Gratitude to Heart Friends" Sundance and Katie Travels

"Diamond of Joy" Free Video (5 min) by Katie Davis

Awake Joy and Free Spirit New Book Reviews

Heart of Life E-book by Katie Davis at Awake Books

Donations to the teachings at Friends of the Heart

Visit www.KatieDavis.org/FriendsoftheHeart.html

Passion for the Sacred ~ Sonjan

Beloved Sonjan ... Passion for the Sacred ... the Heart is singing this poetry ... soaring ... in its stillness. I am grateful for this poem, lovely music and imagery. Thank you for this lovely video!

Sonjan is author of Delicious Silence and other ecstatic poetry books. In-Joy!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8DjOMQ8E0c8

Katie Davis, www.KatieDavis.org

Dallas Satsang, Texas Satsang ~ Dallas and Plano Heart Family Photo Gallery from Sundance and Katie, Organizer Jordan Shafer, CompassionWorks

Dallas Satsang, Plano Satsang, Texas Satsang ~ Dallas and Plano Heart Family Photo Gallery from Katie Davis and Sundance Burke ~ Organizer, Jordan and Kay Shafer of CompassionWorks.

Turn your speakers on! This photo gallery is accompanied by beautiful conscious singer/songwriter and guitarist, Kirtanta, from her A Deeper Surrender Cd.

The Dallas Satsang Gallery chronicles a five day satsangs and satsang intensives with Katie Davis, author, Awake Joy and Sundance Burke, author, Free Spirit right before their books published.

Included in the gallery are photos their two month travel with Eckhart Tolle on his first Power of Now Tour. Sundance and Katie's 2008 tour to Chicago, Toronto, Flagstaff, Sedona, Tempe, Chandler and Vancouver BC are also recorded.

In-joy the gallery by clicking:

www.KatieDavis.org/PhotoGallery.html

More information at www.KatieDavis.org and www.SundanceBurke.org.

Free Awakening Videos by clicking:
www.KatieDavis.org/FreeAwakeningVideos.html

Viddler.com - Never Not Here Show 26 with Katie Davis

Never Not Here is a Chicago Suburbs Public Access TV show on Comcast, now on channel 19 at 4:30 - 5:30 pm on Thursday afternoon at www.nevernothere.com. Their Tag Line is "Cultivate a habit to question the obvious". The host and producer is Richard Miller of ClearSightTV and Clear Sight Productions. This Never Not Here Show 26 with Katie Davis, author of Awake Joy, talks about self realization, awakening and enlightenment. You can enjoy all the Never Not Here Shows at www.Viddler.com. Visit the Katie Davis free awakening videos library with free satsang videos, six of Never Not Here Shows with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke and free radio podcasts with slide shows and conscious music at www.KatieDavis.org and www.SundanceBurke.org based on the spiritual Heart, our true reality, and meditation. Never Not Here can be a radio show too. Just turn up the volume and go about your daily chores.
To view at Viddler.com the Never Not Here Show 26 with Katie Davis, please click:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/ClearSightTV/videos/31/

Friends of the Heart June Newsletter, Awakening, Enlightenment

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

This issue includes:

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

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

The June Event Information: Maui, Hawaii

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go to www.KatieDavis.org

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

Spontaneous Awakening by Katie Davis

Now over 20 years ago, I spontaneously awakened, without previous knowledge of enlightenment or spiritual practices for Self-realization. Suddenly, out of the blue sky, I fell awake into non-experience . . . into a non-dual reality that I had no idea that it existed.

I had no intellectual reference whatsoever. My friends were not on this path and I was not even aware of the "inner" world. One moment, I was first and foremost a devoted mother with a business, the next, I was profoundly shocked into the Truth that virtually nothing is as it seems. I shifted beyond the mind-made sense of self, its body, and its time.

Before awakening, I discovered what I thought was the mind's ability to create in the 1970's and I was successful. I trained my students this miracle of creation and they attained their goals as well. Yet, the things and attainments simply came and went. In the end, something always seemed to be missing, so there was always "something more" to create. I did not realize that the "something missing" was innate in my uninvestigated assumption of being a fraction.

In the end, only "I" remained and its assumption of separation is its lack and longing. In the miracle of mind-creating, I thought that I was the finger pointing to the moon, the creation. In fact, I was neither finger, nor moon. In retrospect, the observing itself was the tremendous power. Through observing, a stunning detachment occurred from all thought, its mechanisms, and manifestation. This included the "I" thought (the separate self) and its body assumption. Ultimately, only the overwhelming fulfillment of joy remained.

The Heart is ceaselessly outpouring love. Are you looking from the Heart or from the mind?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org