"Be Still and Know I AM God" ~ Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Devotion is attending the sacred flame in the Heart, rather than mindfully wishing to change what already is. Upon awakening, one could say that we are in prayer all day long, during all that is appearing or being done. The still center point of the spirit is the permanent factor underneath all of the impermanent experiences. In this manner, life seems pristine and sanctified, regardless of how the mind and its time might judge it. Ultimately, we are being the sacred flame and we are effortlessly faithful to being the glowing light.

We finally realize that every life encounter is flowing from the fullness within and we profoundly appreciate the sacred essence, within which all is appearing. We are very much present to life, but attention is resting as the Heart, instead of projecting into the mind's life and its problematic situations and conflicts. We have directly realized that we are not separate from the divine and therefore do not objectify this dimension as a separate power, such as in duality. What greater prayer is there than to humbly rest as sacred unity and simply allow wisdom to do its work?

This inner vigilance has a feeling of objectless worship and reverence. We sense overflowing gratitude and divine appreciation. Vigilance prevents the confusion of our outer, conditioned existence from invading our inner space. Attention "protects" the Heart's flame, much like we would protect a candle from the wind. Witnessing keeps the inner space open, free and clear. Through silent and still watching alone, we are then able to recognize the slightest nuance of emotional contraction, so that we are free of reaction, when things go wrong or other than expected.

We are able to be gentle, patient and compassionate with the ego and that of so called others. When we are silently witnessing grief and suffering, this conscious allowing transmutes the negativity into the precious fuel for unconditional love, while the light seems to glow brighter and thrives. By being consciously present, the sacred loving burns everything into itself and only the loving prevails. Conscious suffering may not be comfortable, but it does have an end. We are no longer afraid of suffering or trying to escape it. When we allow the heart to crack open, we transcend into the perfect peace that we truly are.

Forbearance is one of the last gatekeepers to enlightenment and perhaps best described through my father's words. When I was very tiny and crying, he would often repeat the well known saying that every cloud has a silver lining. Yes, we may presently be sorrowful, but the primary focus is on the shining that surrounds it. This attentive light dissolves the misery, just like the morning sunlight gently parts the clouds.

Forbearance is the patient acceptance of how we presently feel, with the deeper knowing that we are safe and out of harm's way. We are able to maintain a sense of equanimity and innocence. This field of innocence is within you right now and it is a pathway to Self-realization; the only true answer to enduring fulfillment. Self-realization is love's conscious completion and is the end of psychological suffering.

The invitation of these teachings is to devote to being love's light, instead of tending to the phenomenal display called life experience. If we deny this light, we will suddenly find ourselves in the world again and get lost in the struggle. When this occurs, we merely shift attention back to being the open flame and we regain quietude and tranquility. In this manner, we might even be able to welcome the opposition of others as a rising teacher for the freedom of our inner space.

When we are able to consciously rest as the pure beingness within, we are an open window for the unconditional love to flow into the life situation and into the world. We unconditionally accept life as it is, without getting lost in the mind's resistance. In the refuge of timelessness, the past fades away and we respect life for the miracle that it genuinely is. This sacred dimension allows a sense of continuity and security in our lives. We are able to accept, welcome and honor the ever changing conditions and seasons of the life situation. Free of resistance, life is graceful and we experience an ease in living.

Resistance seems unique to the human being. Nature provides many examples of yielding to life, rather than resisting. In a tropical storm, a palm tree yields to the wind and then regains its graceful sway. A river yields to its gravitational force as it descends a mountain to enter the ocean. Winter yields to spring, just as the ocean yields to the tides. A bear surrenders to hibernation, rather than weathering the snows. An eagle soars in the sky and simply glides with the changing winds. Daytime gracefully surrenders to the intimacy of the night. Thought free, nature meets life as it is and never slips into time.

Surrender is a powerful transformer of negative energy, so that we become more present for genuine living. We surrender our anger, fears and desires to the grace that knows the way. When we let go of these contracted burdens in this manner, we regain a gentle lightness of being and an outpouring of peace that is simply beyond the mind and its ideas. The mind-made self and its delusion of control and manipulation are finally finished.

Since we have stopped feeding our thoughts, we are also free of the emotional body and its suffering. Instead of trying to make life conform to the ego's wants and need-based insecurities, we rest in "not knowing" and every life experience becomes a mysterious adventure. Uncaused joy surfaces and comes to the forefront as we discover that life, with all of its idiosyncrasies and what the mind might call its imperfections ... it is perfection.

I invite you to be as still as your meditation or church’s alter, while life's complexities, struggles and failures are passing by. They are only begging for forgiveness and in the light of consciousness, darkness cannot prevail. Be present when they arrive, compassionately allow them while they are here, and notice that after their passing, only the love that you are remains. In this willingness, life's greatest nourishment is adoration.

Visit the Katie Davis Website at www.KatieDavis.org

Sadness and True Compassion by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy," - My Sweet, Crushed Angel by Hafiz

 

Sadness and True Compassion by Katie Davis

 

Just let the dream fall apart. 

It is disappearing anyway. 

The pain is in the holding on and in the resistance. 

It is breaking down this very moment ... 

Perhaps to reveal another. 

Can you just allow this moment to be as it is? 

When the body falls to sleep every night, 

The daytime dream falls away anyway. 

Yet, you love it! 

Just let go. 

If you would just surrender; 

There is great beauty in the breakdown. 

Perhaps in the surrender of what appeared to be person, 

A profound detachment from all form may appear. 

Detachment should not be understood by the mind as separation. 

Instead, the magnificence of the witness comes to the forefront. 

Detachment happens spontaneously by itself, 

Rather than one contrived by the idea of spiritual practice, 

And then enforced by the ego. 

Detachment allows the fullness of being-consciousness-bliss, 

That is free of all form and as an experience is one of complete connection. 

This is still only a reflection of course, 

Since a reference point of subject persists. 

The pure attention that the witness is, 

Naturally turns to its formlessness, 

Still in search of its perfection. 

Its fascination is the empty void of all experience. 

Maintaining its subject reference point, 

The void appears objectively. 

It is the Heart dimension appearing as separate and still subtle experience. 

The witness always has an object and this objectivity disappears with the witness. 

When the void appears, sometimes a deep fear and sadness arise. 

The witness is completely free of the appearance of the world of form, 

It is free of the ego-I and its personal dream that is apparently falling apart. 

Free of the delusion of the personal suffering, 

We are invited into the deeper well of the collective. 

One of the most beautiful gurus on the inner way appears. 

Her name is Sri Sadness. 

Brave Heart that she genuinely is, 

She is willing to suffer the story of all mankind throughout all time. 

O, humanity's sweet sadness, 

How utterly deep and empty you are! 

So completely alone, 

The darkness seems endless. 

Yes, I see you appearing there helplessness and despair. 

It takes utter misery to allow you ... 

Or perhaps the most courageous, curious and welcoming heart. 

Even hope has scurried away to some other divine dimension 

That has always seemed just out of reach in some future time or space. 

Is hopelessness what you imagined it to be? 

To truly know you, I become you. 

 Such magnitude! 

Beauty arises as emptiness births true compassion. 

Never has there been such an infinite silence! 

Realize directly once and for all, 

That there is a heart to darkness. 

No one seeks, no one escapes and no one knows. 

The radiant love that the universal witness is, 

Merges with sadness and the darkness cannot survive the love of the merger. 

This is not the ultimate reality, 

Yet it offers greater understanding, 

For what still may appear as some other. 

You are more able to offer gentle kindness, 

And a genuine and true helping hand. 

Having known the deepest collective pain, 

You are consciously set free. 

Unless you cry, you will never discover, 

That tears gently dry in the Morning's sunlight. 

By the way, Sri Sadness is not fulfilled until you know her completely. 

One could say, she is one of the last gatekeepers. 

Tears may still flow ... tears of pure joy.

My Sweet, Crushed Angel by Hafiz

You have not danced so badly, my dear,

Trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One.

You have waltzed with great style,

My sweet, crushed angel,

To have ever neared God's Heart at all.

Our Partner is notoriously difficult to follow,

And even His best musicians are not always easy

To hear.

So what if the music has stopped for a while.

So what

If the price of admission to the Divine

Is out of reach tonight.

So what, my dear,

If you do not have the ante to gamble for Real Love.

The mind and body are famous

For holding the heart ransom,

But Hafiz knows the Beloved's eternal habits.

Have patience,

For He will not be able to resist your longing

For long.

 You have not danced so badly, my dear,

Trying to kiss the Beautiful One.

You have actually waltzed with tremendous style,

O my sweet,

Oh my sweet, crushed angel.

~ Hafiz ~

I Heard God Laughing ~ Translated by Daniel Ladinsky  

You are invited to the Katie Davis Website at www.KatieDavis.org

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Nisargadatta on Ambition - AwakebyKatie Blog by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Causes and results are infinite in number and variety. Everything affects everything. In this universe, when one thing changes, everything changes. Hence the great power of man in changing the world by changing himself.

For this [seeking Reality], you need a well-ordered and quiet life, peace of mind and immense earnestness. At every moment whatever comes to you unasked, comes from God and will surely help you, if you make the fullest use of it. It is only what you strive for, out of your own imagination and desire, that gives you trouble.

Accept life as it comes and you will find it a blessing.

You are convinced of the reality of your circumstances, of the world in which you live. Trace the world to its source and you will find that before the world was, you were and when the world is no longer, you remain. Find your timeless being and your action will bear it testimony.

This is the most urgent task. You cannot see yourself as independent of everything unless you drop everything and remain unsupported and undefined. Once you know yourself, it is immaterial what you do, but to realize your independence, you must test it by letting go all you were dependent on. 

The realized man lives on the level of the absolutes; his wisdom, love and courage are complete, there is nothing relative about him. 

Keep quiet, undisturbed, and the wisdom and power will come on their own. You need not hanker. Wait in silence of heart and mind. It is very easy to be quiet, but willingness is rare.

You people want to become supermen overnight. Stay without ambition, without the least desire, exposed, vulnerable, unprotected, uncertain and alone, completely open to and welcoming life as it happens, without the selfish conviction that all must yield you pleasure or profit, material or so-called spiritual.

Abandon every attempt, just be; don't strive, don't struggle, let go every support, hold on to the blind sense of being, brushing off all else. This is enough.

Refuse attention [to what comes to the surface], let things come and go. Desires and thoughts are also things. Disregard them. Since time immemorial the dust of events was covering the clear mirror of your mind, so you could see only memories. Brush off the dust before it has time to settle; this will lay bare the old layers until the true nature of your mind is discovered. It is all very simple and comparatively easy; be earnest and patient, that is all.

Dispassion, detachment, awareness - free from memory and expectation - this is the state of mind to which discovery can happen. After all, liberation is but the freedom to discover.

Excerpted from Chapter 95 "Accept Life as it Comes," I Am That, Nisargadatta

Photo Credit: Timothy Conway, www.enlightened-spirituality.org

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Deep Being by Sundance Burke, Author of "Free Spirit"

~ Silence ~

It is not so much that one should be quiet, as opposed to noisy.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is silence.

~ Stillness ~

It is not so much that one should be still, 

as opposed to active and changing.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is unmoving awareness.

~ Spaciousness ~

And, it is not so much that one should pay more attention 

to space than objects.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is pervading light.

~ Free Spirit ~

It is not so much that one should seek to be free and oppose being bound.

Rather, the depth of one's Being is unfathomable.

~ Transcendence ~

The trouble seems to be that the human mind sees 

two options in every position; either for or against.

However, one's Spirited Being 

simply does not have one place, let alone two.

Sundance Burke Website www.SundanceBurke.org

Author, Free Spirit

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org
Author, Awake Joy

Bathed in Love's Light, All Is Beautiful by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

 In one instant of quietude and self-surrender, the great stillness consciously emerges.

Previously unnoticed, the light shines through somehow.

This profound stillness is here right now, yet if you are reading with the mind, you are probably overlooking it. Instead, listen as within and join us.

The first glimpse of the sublime is so divinely quiet and radiant that every thought in the universe is humbled. The sense of awe and wonderment silences the mind. Since the divided mind has never experienced anything more powerful than itself, it falls to its knees in gratitude, devotion and adoration. When it then dissolves as the illumination, the bliss of pure being is all that remains. Bathed in love's light, all is beautiful!

This emerging is the end of "your" life as you had previously known it. It is also the conscious beginning of being the unchangeable mystery within which all is appearing. 

For many, when the radiance then fades, the ego begins a compulsive search for what it thinks that it attained. When in fact, it is in the absence of the mind-made self that the timeless love that we genuinely are bursts into full bloom. What has never been attained or lost cannot be reclaimed. The resolution is to be still combined with Self-inquiry.

Heart is the abode of pure love that burns the appearance of all opposites into itself. Whenever one thing changes, everything changes. Indeed, the power of changing the world lies only in our willingness to surrender and realize who we truly are.

Self-realization is our true Individuality. Pure "I" stands alone beyond all and is dependent on none. What we previously thought of as a person is in fact non-existent as far as identity and therefore no "individual" at all. That one is totally dependent, vulnerable and therefore fearful in maintaining the delusion of its separation.

This is not to say that the body, its magnificent sensing and its life situation fade away. To the contrary, free of our past conditioning and compulsive thinking, the body's intelligence is truly free of the ego's limited ideas. The senses are no longer paled by the dust of the mind and become intensely alive. The love that we authentically are flows into the life situation and everyone and everything upon which you consciously shine are likewise illuminated in love's light. After all, there is only you ... appearing as all.

In spiritual circles, the idea of detachment is widely misunderstood. The ego that is already alienated in its idea of separation hears about the concept of detachment and then dutifully tries to further separate from the body, its beautiful sensing and all so called others. This is not the detachment of which I speak. Self-realization is not about becoming an isolated nothing!

True detachment is not something that is contrived by the mind and then enforced by the ego. It occurs spontaneously and effortlessly and is in fact the end of alienation and separation.

Real detachment allows a magnificent connection, since only the ego "I" has been eliminated; the one that never existed in the first place. This glorious connection is far more than the unity of all people and things. It is so divinely intimate that even the word connection is too much separation. The spiritual realization is that there is only the divine appearing as all.

So instead of detaching from all things and people that gift this beautiful life with form, detach from the one who hopelessly is trying to separate; the ego "I" that is also attempting to own everything. Within that tiny concept of self is what appears to be "your" suffering and is reflecting as all of the lack and conflict in the world. To hold on to that separating concept is sheer selfishness and then you "own" your own limitation that is perceived as all, while blaming so called others.

Even this direction could be misunderstood. Forget about seeking enlightenment. Hold on to the "I" thought and through Self-inquiry, follow the golden thread of consciousness back home to the Heart. All departure was a delusion.

In true Individuality, our uniqueness and distinctions as human beings thrive, since we are no longer limited to that tiny image of self that at best can only be a reflection and no more than a fraction. As a fraction, we lack; as the totality, we are already whole.

Truly, we are infinitely creative and while divinely diverse, there are no differences. We are a symphony of one love in action and each has their instrument to play. It is recognized that competition and exclusion were the ego's way of living. That way can only lead to more suffering. Ego's mantra is that if you lose, I win. Instead, we can applaud the trumpets, celebrate the flutes, harmonize with the violins and truly love the global beat of the drums as they keep us in cadence with the Heart's way of living.

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org 

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

The Mystical Sky by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Can you sense the Changless as the white clouds drift across the pale blue sky?

This morning, do you hear the inaudible Silence of the red-breasted cardinal, while its song is outpouring?

Are you aware of the unfathomable Perfection of the radiant colors of the rainbow?

Is not the Infinity of space truly awe-inspiring as the stars twinkle in the midnight sky?

Do you feel the Harmony within as the sun sets over the Pacific or the Mystery of the full moon over the island of Lanai?

Are you distinguishing the Stillness, when a blue-tipped butterfly suspends in imperceptible space?

Well, close your eyes for a moment. Yes, there are many thoughts and corresponding feelings. Do you notice that they are all either about or in relationship with "you?"

Have you discovered yet the blissful joy beneath happy and sad, when you stop talking story?

Now, just rest as "I am" and stop at that ... nothing more.

Still with eyes closed, back away a little. Are you missing the space around "I," the sublime sky of being?

Are you able to discern that this sky is still within the field of experience? Are you any less, if you resonate solely as "am," this beautiful feeling of connectivity?

Ever more subtle, perhaps still unnoticed, does any reference point whatsoever remain? Not a personal reference point of course, but any?

Is there anything deeper than even the slightest movement ... or stillness ... of inner experience?

Upon Self-discovery, open your eyes! Let it all settle in, so to speak.

Can you be fully in this world, while not being of it?

Is there any difference between That which is within and That which appears to be manifesting everywhere?

Are you fully integrated and embodied as the non-dual Heart of Pure Beingness?

As True Sky, are you experiencing the sky, the cardinal, the starlit night, the rainbow, the sunset and moonrise as the purest joy of True You?

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

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

Gratitude to Friends of the Heart ~ Saints Bowing in Mountains - Katie Davis Blog - AwakebyKatie

 (New Google Translator in blog right hand column)

As this year drifts by in clock time, I would like to take a moment to express this gratitude.

You have shared so much beauty!

I am grateful for the visionary art, the photos that have reflected not only this love, but also stirred compassion for the seeming reality. You have creatively written poems, notes and blogs and even vigorously debated.

The shared videos have generated love and laughter with such beautiful music that sometimes it seems like the Heart is singing. It is fun getting to know you, through your event invitations, groups and pages.

There is such wonderment in that we have somehow 'connected the dots';  these relative points in consciousness that I call Heart Friends, family and friends. I look at "My Friends' Map" and you are everywhere!  :)

Though most I have never physically met directly, I greet you as love during every Maui sunset.

I see you at midnight sparkling as moonbeams over the ocean as the full moon sets over the island of Lanai.

I sense the power of love in the breech of the whales, as they are now arriving to mate and calve their young.

Even the Monarch butterflies are joyfully dancing and whispering the language of love.

May we leave no footprints ~ All Love ~ Katie Davis

Saints Bowing in Mountains by Hafiz

From the Book I Heard God Laughing, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Do you know how beautiful you are?

I think not, my dear

For as you talk of God,

I see great parades with wildly colorful bands

Streaming from your mind and heart,

Carrying wonderful and secret messages

To every corner of the world.

I see Saints Bowing in the Mountains

Hundreds of miles away

To the wonder of sounds

That break into light

From your most common words.

Speak to me of your mother, your cousins and your friends.

Tell me of squirrels and birds you know.

Awaken your legion of nightingales ~

Let them soar wild and free in the sky.

And begin to sing to God.

Let us all begin to sing to God!

Do you know how beautiful you are?

I think not, my dear.

Yet Hafiz

Can set you upon a Stage

And worship you forever!


Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Katie Davis Blog - AwakebyKatie www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com 

Why The Sufis Whirl ~ By Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Let the body-mind dance the rhythm of the Heart! Spiritual awakening need not arise only through the depth of misery, years of meditation, inquiry or scriptural study. All valuable of course, but why must it always be such a serious affair? After all, who is the enforcer?

Free of attachment, why not allow the body's passion for movement such as whirling, ecstatic dancing or ecstatic anything? As presence, you will notice a subtle shift of attention to inner quiescence that is whole, complete and still, even as the body moves.

In this, divided thinking dissolves into the unity of the body-mind. While the body responds to the music and the pull of forces, conscious breathing naturally and effortlessly draws attention to the "inner" body. Suddenly, we become aware of the core stillness that is both the silence of the universe and the open window to the divine.

In 1986, I was an operator of aerobics studios in the Northwest. My life seemed as “normal” as any other human being. While I was teaching the class, thinking was not an option, when in concentration on breath and rhythm. Often in class, everything would slip into slow motion and an uncommon serenity and ecstasy would come to the forefront. Just beyond that thin veil-like trance, the divine is courting "you" from within.

One extraordinary day during aerobics, I became aware of a sacred synergy that was far greater than the dancing community that I loved so dearly. It seemed like I was sensing some ethereal, new dimension. I became intensely alert and without cause, I was radically whisked from time and space altogether.

I disappeared so deeply within the body that earthly experience vanished into the divine mystery. When I became conscious, the body was somehow far above and still enthralled in the joy of dancing. I was no longer sourced in the body and the idea of “Katie” had shattered. I realized that I am the pure awareness that is purely being-consciousness-bliss. Neither thought, nor emotion, nor body is the Essence that I am and yet they are absolutely inseparable.

It took twelve years to fully integrate as the Totality. Pure being burned every trace of illusion as it arose. In fact, the aerobics studio literally burned down in the great fire of Truth! Today, I am neither in this world, nor not of it.

While the divided mind could wonder how this could possibly be appealing, we realize the undeniable truth that we are divine. The natural world is perceived within the intelligence of the Awake Heart. This extraordinary beauty is permeating all that you see and all that you cannot see. Whether with form or without, there is only the Essence that I am. We appreciate an overwhelming fulfillment, while perfect peace and wise love prevail.

However, there can be no pathway to what you already are. One could say that the time-space activity, or no activity, within the dream-mirror is almost inconsequential. Who are you prior to all experience?

Be present with what is consistently everywhere that you are and the miracle emerges on its own accord.

The Sufis who whirl, like planets around the sun, turn dance into a form of mystical prayer or movement meditation to realize the blissful stillness that they genuinely are. In this, what can Hafiz do but Forever Dance?

Katie Davis Website, Author, Awake Joy www.katiedavis.org

Friends of the Heart March Newsletter ~ Katie Davis and Sundance Burke

FRIENDS OF THE HEART MARCH ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE TO ENJOY ~

IN THIS ISSUE:

"Ego's Lack Is Self-Projection"
By Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

"The Big Easy"
By Sundance Burke, Author, Free Spirit

"Free Downloads: Chapters and E-books"

"Sometimes, It Rains Roses"
From the Awake by Katie Davis Blog

"Better Together"
20% Discount on Awake Joy and Free Spirit

Click Katie Davis Website Friends of the Heart March Issue

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Katie Davis Website: www.KatieDavis.org

"Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" by Katie Davis

Nature and experience ...

This morning, a spiritual friend on the East Coast wrote to joyfully express that a new blanket of snow covered her area and that the full moon was glistening across the fields.

Before dawn, this encouraged a walk to the beach ... and there was the lovely one ... suspended in quietude ... Lucy in the Sky surrounded by all her twinkling diamonds.

"Moonbeams" danced across the ocean, while the radiant, golden globe began to descend just off the island of Lana'i.

Deep peace ...

Then, the mind reflected for a moment how beautiful it is that as Heart Friends who are apparently sprinkled all over the world and yet we gaze at the same full moon.

Just as extraordinary is the fact that from all over the world, we come to share, express and point to the radiant Heart within us that is beating its rhythm of Love as the same pure consciousness.

We seem far away ... and yet we are so intimately near ...

I am fascinated this morning about your "ordinary" experience.

Do you have a moment to look out your window or better yet, step outside into nature?

Do you have just a moment and post what you are experiencing?

Can you see the full moon?

Is it slightly drawing out the wild child within you?

Is it pulling the tides making the waves more powerful? How does that power speak?

Is there snow on the trees of the forest? What does it sound like?

Is it raining on the streets of Paris? How does the body feel if you take a chance and stand there in it?

Has the cloud cover lifted so that Mount Rainier is out in all her glory? How is she speaking to you?

Are there morning birds singing in Spain and how do you feel when you truly listen?

Is the wind blowing your hair?

What does the creek or river sing to you this morning as it babbles through the day?

What is reflecting in the pond or the lake? Does that reflection quietly tell you a story?

How is the chill from the freeze make a difference to your breathing? What are you noticing?

Where are you? How is nature? How are you experiencing it?

I am truly fascinated to know ...

Only Love ~ Katie Davis

Katie Davis Blog Archives are at Awake by Katie

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Crimson Morning and Mystical Rainbow ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The stillness of dawn is upon us ...

The profound sacredness resonating ... OM ...

... as it mysteriously powers the appearance of THIS ...

Just now, the rays of the morning sun are starting to peek over the island's beloved mountain, Haleakala ...

The subtle light brilliantly dresses the entire sky in mystical crimson ...

No direct morning sun ... simply the secret proclamation that the New Dawn is imminent ...

... OM ...

Tears of joy and gratitude brim the wonderment of these human eyes ...

Hmm ... the sky too now weeps, while the splendor of a rainbow appears over the expanse of the Pacific ... free of purpose and ambition.

More splendidly vivid where the sky meets the sea, the rainbow arches over the clouds ... disappears half way ... already perfect completion ... just the way that it is ...

... OM ...

Effortlessly, a morning egret gleefully glides by, while its snow white wings timelessly ride the Kona winds ... and the sound of silence ... on its way to nowhere ...

Words are here now to share with you, Heart Friends ... still ... just pure perceiving ...

While these words may be a close relative ... nothing comes close to expressing it ... and yet it begs its expression ...

Quite so! ... a tremendous clap of thunder ... the sky opens and the clouds are outpouring ...

Even from a former Seattleite's drizzling viewpoint, I must say that once it finally begins, it really knows how to rain here!!

As the tears quench the island's year long thirst, they blanket the island in forever green ...

A symphony of birdsong expressing pure delight ...

... OM ...

Sacred Being ... Being OM ... Being Sky ... Being Living Earth ... Being you ...

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Katie Davis Blog: AwakebyKatie www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

The Adoration of Enlightenment by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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The Adoration of Enlightenment by Katie Davis

Devotion is attending the sacred flame in our Heart, rather than mindfully wishing to change what already is. Upon awakening, one could say that we are in prayer all day long, during all that is appearing or being done. The still center point of our spirit is the permanent factor underneath all of our impermanent experiences. In this manner, life seems pristine and sanctified, regardless of how the mind and its time might judge it. Ultimately, the adoration of enlightenment is being the sacred flame and we are effortlessly faithful to being the glowing light.

In Self-realization, we realize that every life encounter is flowing from the fullness within and we profoundly appreciate the sacred Essence, within which all is appearing. We are very much present to life, but our attention is resting as the Heart, instead of projecting into the mind's life and its problematic situations and conflicts. We have directly realized that we are not separate from our divinity and therefore do not objectify this dimension as a separate power, such as in duality. What greater prayer is there than to humbly rest in sacred unity and simply allow wisdom to do its work?

This inner vigilance has a feeling of objectless worship and reverence. We sense our heart overflowing with gratitude and divine appreciation. Vigilance prevents the confusion of our outer, conditioned existence from invading our inner space. Attention "protects" our Heart's flame, much like we would protect a candle from the wind. Witnessing keeps our inner space open, free and clear. Through silent and still watching alone, we are then able to recognize the slightest nuance of emotional contraction, so that we are free of reaction, when things go wrong or other than expected.

We are able to be gentle, patient and compassionate with ourselves and others. When we are silently witnessing grief and suffering, this conscious allowing transmutes the negativity into the precious fuel for unconditional love, while the light glows brighter and thrives. By being consciously present, the sacred loving burns everything into itself and only the love prevails. Conscious suffering may not be comfortable, but it does have an end, so we are no longer afraid of suffering or trying to escape it. When we allow our heart to crack open, we transcend into the perfect peace that we truly are.

Forebearance is one of the last gatekeepers to enlightenment and perhaps best described through my father's words. When I was very tiny and crying, he would often repeat the well known saying that every cloud has a silver lining. Yes, we may presently be sorrowful, but our primary focus is on the shining that surrounds it. This attentive light dissolves our misery, just like the morning sunlight gently parts the clouds. Forbearance is the patient acceptance of how we presently feel, with the deeper knowing that we are safe and out of harm's way. We are able to maintain a sense of equanimity and innocence. This field of innocence is within you right now and it is the pathway to Self-realization; the only true answer to enduring fulfillment. Self-realization is love's conscious completion and is the end of psychological suffering. At last, the lion lies down with the lamb.

The invitation of these teachings is to devote to being love's light, instead of tending to the phenomenal display called life experience. If we deny this light, we will suddenly find ourselves in the world again and get lost in the struggle. When this occurs, we merely shift attention back to being the open flame and we regain our quietude and tranquility. In this manner, we might even be able to welcome the opposition of others as a rising teacher for the freedom of our inner space.

When we are able to consciously rest as the pure being within, we are an open window for the unconditional love to flow into our lives and into the world. We unconditionally accept life as it is, without getting lost in the mind's resistance. In the refuge of our timelessness, the past fades away and we respect life for the miracle that it genuinely is. This sacred dimension allows a sense of continuity and security in our lives. We are able to accept, welcome and honor the ever changing conditions and seasons of the life situation. Free of resistance, life is graceful and we experience an ease in living.

Resistance seems unique to the human being. Nature provides many examples of yielding to life, rather than resisting. In a tropical storm, a palm tree yields to the wind and then regains its graceful sway. A river yields to its gravitational force as it descends a mountain to enter the ocean. Winter yields to spring, just as the ocean yields to the tides. A bear surrenders to hibernation, rather than weathering the snows. An eagle soars in the sky and yields to the wind. Daytime gracefully surrenders to the intimacy of the night. Thought free, nature meets life as it is and never slips into time.

Surrender is a powerful transformer of negative energy, so that we become more present for genuine living. We surrender our anger, fears and desires to the Grace that knows the way. When we let go of these contracted burdens in this manner, we regain a gentle lightness of being and an outpouring of peace that is simply beyond the mind and its ideas. The mind-made self and its delusion of control and manipulation are finally finished. Since we have stopped feeding our thoughts, we are also free of the emotional body and its suffering. Instead of trying to make life conform to our ego's wants and need-based insecurities, we rest in "not knowing" and every life experience becomes a mysterious adventure. Uncaused joy surfaces and comes to the forefront and we discover that life, with all of its idiosyncrasies and what the mind might call its imperfections ... it is perfection.

I invite you to be as still as your meditation or church alter, while all of life's complexities, struggles and failures are passing by. They are begging for your forgiveness and in the light of your consciousness, darkness cannot prevail. Be present when they arrive, compassionately allow them while they are here, and notice that after their passing, only the love that you are remains. In this willingness, life's greatest nourishment is adoration.

KATIE DAVIS is author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" and her husband is Sundance Burke who is author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being." They awakened in 1982 and 1986 before they met one another. Their books just published this year.

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The Pain Body Does Have an End ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

The pain body is collective suffering that only appears to be alive in you. It is an accumulation of emotional pain or what we refer to as unconsciousness. Through misidentifying with thinking and being unconscious of how the pain body is functioning and thriving through identifying with your thoughts, you have the opportunity to transmute the unconsciousness into consciousness.

The perfect tool is self-observation. Become conscious of the pain body's structure and how it requires both thought and time to operate. Most of all, it requires that you identify with thinking. Since you are observing thought, you no longer tend to identify with the thoughts and therefore the pain body can no longer use you.

When you are able to be in self-observation all day, you are nearing the end of the pain. This essentially means that you become free of the emotional pain caused by psychological thinking. This does not mean that you have to sit doing nothing all day long in self-observation or meditation. It merely means that you are not only present with everything that is happening during the day, but you are also conscious of what is happening within you.

Even after you have become conscious of the structure, the pain body will continue to arise within you for awhile. It is almost like a temptation that begs you to dance with it. It may arise as a sense of unease or mild sense of dread. However, you are now conscious of when it starts activating. Take a few conscious breaths if you find yourself slipping into unconsciousness. Follow your breathing for a moment. You will notice that you shift out of time into presence.

I am not suggesting that you try to stop it or escape from it. That is resistance and it will actually empower the pain body all the more. The pain body loves conflict and grows stronger through resistance. So, simply follow your breathing and allow it to be as it is while observing it.

That which is unconscious will dissolve into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is. Be willing to feel the pain body, even welcome it, but do not identify with it. This requires a consistent, conscious watcher to always be present.

The emotional pain may be uncomfortable, but it does have an end. Just as the darkness of night effortlessly disappears when the sun rises in the morning, the darkness of unconsciousness cannot prevail in the light of consciousness. Instead of energizing the pain body, you will find that your consciousness is growing brighter and stronger.

Only This Love ~ Katie

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Untie the Knot by Self-Inquiry ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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Untie the Knot by Self-Inquiry by Katie Davis

The dreaming "I" is the ego and it is only a thought. Its only function is to tie a knot between pure consciousness and the physical body. When you peer out into the world of form from the reference point of the "I," the Self-illuminating Light of Consciousness is "behind" you and therefore, you cannot be conscious of it.

You are misidentified with the dreaming "I." You are the Pure I which is pure consciousness. There are not two. The only resolution is to turn the mind inward to the vast inner space within you. What lies beyond the thoughts? Become curious about the space that is the gap between your thoughts. Instead of interpreting or analyzing the thoughts, just notice the tiny gap between them. That gap is the opening to the formlessness within you.

The situation is that we have been living a lifetime in misidentification with this dreaming "I" as it attaches to worldly things. In other words, looking from that personal reference point, it then projects outward into the world of form and further attaches to its desires and fears. Follow that outward projecting thought back the way that it came. Trace the thought back home to the Pure "I."

If you will apply Self-inquiry by asking this most essential question, "Who am I?", you will notice that the mind turns inward toward the silence and inner body spaciousness that is perfect peace. The dreaming "I" is more like a phantom that disappears when you seek it.

This misidentification with the "I" thought and its outward projection is a very persistent habit; one that has been practiced throughout one's life. However all habits can be broken and the appropriate tool is Self-inquiry ... the question, "Who am I?" When you ask this question, listen with every cell in your body. Where is this dreaming "I" thought arising from?

The ego itself is an altered state of consciousness and has within it the essential pure consciousness. By asking the question through Self-inquiry, it draws the altered state back into the Heart, where the concept of "I" dissolves irreversibly into the pure consciousness that it genuinely is right now.

Self-inquiry unties the knot and the misidentification with the "I" thought and all of its projecting outward are finally finished.

When we are dealing with practices, it is the ego's false idea of becoming. Ego's idea of "becoming" is resistance to what is. Resistance will only tie the knot tighter. It must be seen that the one who is becoming is none other than the mind-made self and it is the mind that is practicing. The mind cannot removed itself, no matter how many years of practicing, the "I" thought will remain.

Isn't Self-inquiry a practice?

No, it is not. It removes the idea of the practitioner (the ego) that needs more time and experience to become what it already is as its essence. It cannot take more time to realize timelessness. It does not take more experience to realize that which is prior to experience.

Self-inquiry preceded the lovely teachings of Ramana Maharshi, one of the most cherished sages of modern day India. Ramana consistently suggested Self-inquiry as the Direct Approach to enlightenment for those who were unable to receive the teachings in radiant silence alone.

Some may overlook Self-inquiry due to its sheer simplicity. After all, the mind cherishes its complexity as it attempts to analyze and interpret enlightenment. The mind is an extraordinary, beautiful power, yet it is the wrong tool for Self-realization. If you will be persistent with Self-inquiry ... you will consciously realize the Pure Heart that is eternally being.

Self-inquiry is presented Katie's book, Awake Joy, in Appendix II at the end of the book in "Practices and Meditations."

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Presence is Natural ~ Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Presence is natural and does not require anything more. In other words, Self-realization is not an attainment or something you strive for. This Being-Consciousness-Bliss that you are is ever-present. It is right now.

The situation seems to be that a the thought “I” arises. In the old world, out of habit alone, we misidentified with the concept of "me” that is the “I am the body” idea. When this misidentification takes place, the “dreaming” I has extraordinary pulling power and suddenly all the other thoughts appear. So the thoughts are really not problematic. It is our misidentification that is at issue.

“I” is just another word. Where is the word pointing? We were taught that it was pointing to the body. This is true on a relative level of course. But is it true that your identity is limited to the body? I say this is not so, but this will be for your direct investigation. It requires huge curiosity, because you want to know the ultimate Truth. Ideas and concepts remain philosophical … instead we need to notice directly through direct experience.

When this misidentification with the “I” thought occurs, a veil drops and we are unable to be conscious of the being-consciousness-bliss that we are. To remove the veil, it requires that you seek this “I.”

Sit quietly for a few moments right now. Just close your eyes and be aware of how exquisite the air feels as it moves in and out your nose.

Then ask this question, “Who am I?” and listen with every cell in the body. We are not looking for a thought in reply. If a thought arises, such as “I am my given name”, ask the question again, aware of your breath, “Who am I?”

That question alone with lift the veil to perfect peace. Where is this thought arising?

It is beautiful to practice being present. The best tool for this is attending the breath. Breathing is always occurring right now and the present moment is the portal to the perfect peace within.

The body’s sensing is another tool. What do you hear right now? Do you smell anything? The body is part of the content of the present moment and therefore the key to the inner body.

But let’s take this a step further. The “I” that is practicing is the ego, the separate sense of self that needs more time and experience to realize. This is actually a postponement strategy of the ego. The more appropriate question might be, who is practicing? Who am I?

You are aware when you are driving your car, aware when you are shopping, aware when falling asleep. Are you aware that you are always aware? You are this Pure Awareness that is closer and more intimate to you than the body. YOU are appearing within this Awareness. You ARE this Pure Awareness. Another word for Pure Awareness is Presence.

So we are naturally present all day long during everything that is being done. However, most often, we get carried aware by compulsive thinking and lost in the thought stream in the head, instead of consciously being in the body.

The resolution?

1. Bring the “I” thought home by asking “Who am I?“ and then truly listen.

2. Are you aware of breathing?

3. Are you aware of sensing.

It does not take much effort to become aware of breathing all day long. It is always happening in every day life.

This is a first step and perhaps even unwise to move forward from here. Eventually the outward going mind (on its own accord) will remain within the Heart.

Of course eyes are looking outward, the body is functioning and sensing as it does, we are just deeply at rest … being still … while the body does what it does.

Body movement and activity can become Zen-like. During the morning shower, be aware of every movement. If there is a set habitual routine, change it. How does the soap feel as you pick it up in your hands? How does the water feel? Are you breathing? You become consciously present without rushing to the future about anything. Even if you are rushing, we are consciously present with that.

You soon find that the real effort is the misidentification with thought, having to maintain all of the ego’s ideas; constant thinking is exhausting! Day in and day out, how tiring is it to maintain the story of "me?"

When we misidentify with “I”, we move into time and space and then are caught in the world of duality. Relative happiness will eventually cycle to the opposite duality of sadness. Sadness will once again within time cycle to happiness. Neither are stable … where the Bliss and unending Joy are permanent.

Now, don’t go looking for it. You ARE it! When you are seeking, it cannot be found, which is why I say be STILL and notice what truly already is.

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