Katie Davis is a Satsang Spiritual Teacher of Advaita, Non-duality, Self-inquiry, enlightenment, spiritual awakening, the power of being now and presence. Since 1999, she has been traveling to offer satsang in communities worldwide. The Awake by Katie Blog is moderated by Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment." http://www.AwakebyKatie.blogspot.com
Who are you really at the core of being beyond thought, emotion and form? Who or what is here now and is ever present? In this compelling inquiry and radical realization, how is the life situation transformed?
Satsang begins in meditation, followed by pointers by Katie Davis and Sundance Burke and finally questions, sharing and music.
Please arrive 15 minutes early, enter in silence to begin silent sitting. Doors open at 7:15 pm. Latecomers after 7:30 will be seated whenever the meditation is completed.
Weekends with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke offer a rare opportunity to retreat from our work, our families, our friends, our concepts and judgments, our personal sense of self with its history and anxious future to allow the mind to open to the most profound truth of who we really are here and now. Over the period of two days, we will commit to the deepest inquiry supported by the potent environment of satsang.
Each day offers two sessions. Each session begins in meditation, followed by pointers from Katie Davis and Sundance Burke that are spontaneously interspersed with the radiant stillness that is constantly available. Each session will also include questions, sharing and some music.
Donation at the door or register for the Weekend Satsang Pass (Includes Friday-Sunday)
In order to encourage the entire Silver Spring Satsang and OneCircle community to commit to the entire weekend of satsang and inquiry (highly recommended), we are offering a Weekend Satsang Pass that is affordable for everyone.
Includes Friday Satsang, June 8, Saturday-Sunday, June 9-10 and a discount for a Private Satsang Appointment on Monday, June 11, if you choose to schedule one.
Who are you really at the core of being beyond thought, emotion and form? Who or what is here now and is ever present? In this compelling inquiry and radical realization, how is the life situation transformed?
Satsang begins in meditation, followed by pointers by Katie Davis and Sundance Burke and finally questions, sharing and music.
Please arrive 15 minutes early, enter in silence to begin silent sitting. Doors open at 6:45 pm. Latecomers will be seated whenever the meditation is completed.
Saturday-Sunday, June 2-3, 2012, 10:00 am-4:00 pm Host: Asheville Sangha
A Weekend of Self-Inquiry - Potluck Lunch Each Day
Weekends with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke offer a rare opportunity to retreat from our work, our families, our friends, our concepts and judgments, our personal sense of self with its history and anxious future to allow the mind to open to the most profound truth of who we really are here and now. Over the period of two days, we will commit to the deepest inquiry supported by the potent environment of satsang.
Each day offers two sessions. Each session begins in meditation, followed by pointers from Katie Davis and Sundance Burke that are spontaneously interspersed with the radiant stillness that is constantly available. Each session will also include questions, sharing and some music.
In order to encourage the entire Asheville Sangha community to commit to the entire weekend of satsang and inquiry (highly recommended), we are offering a Weekend Satsang Pass that is affordable for everyone.
Includes Friday Satsang, June 1, Saturday-Sunday, June 2-3 and a discount for a Private Satsang Appointment on Monday, June 4, if you choose to schedule one.
Private Satsang - Individual Appointments Katie Davis or Sundance Burke October 25 - December 28
(except Sundays and Thursdays)
In person in Bellevue, Washington or Worldwide by phone or Skype
Seattle Satsang - Eastside begins this Sunday, October 2, 2011
Every Sunday Satsang, 4:00-6:00 pm
October 2 - December 18
(except November 13)
Satsang with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke
Every Thursday Satsang, 7:00-9:00 pm
October 6-December 29 (except Thanksgiving)
Satsang with Sundance Burke OR Katie Davis
October 6, Simply Being Free with Sundance Burke
October 13, Satsang with Katie Davis
They will then alternate every Thursday until December 29
Private Satsang Appointments
In Bellevue, Washington and Worldwide by phone or Skype
October 1 - December 28
Seattle Satsang Eastside Location:
(satsangs and appointments)
Friends Philosophy & Tea
13850 Bel-Red Rd in Bellevue
Self-realization is complete and utter fulfillment. It is the end of all suffering and the perception of separation. It is also the conscious beginning of deep, sacred peace and realizing the radiant love that you already are. However, this is far more . . . Click Here to Continue
"Seattle Eastside Satsang" October 2-December 29
Every Sunday, 4:00-6:00 pm, Sundance and Katie
Every Thursday, 7:00-9:00 pm with Katie or Sundance
Private Satsang Appointments Worldwide by phone or Skype or in Bellevue, WA
"NOW" New Music Video by Songwriter, Jim Angus
"Humanity's Last Superstition" by Sundance Burke
Just now, a sliver of yellowish light appears from under a bank of night clouds just above the horizon. It is moonset time. I feel the lovely approaching. As though suspended on a string, the sun's pretty sister . . . Click Here to Continue
"Rumi Lover's Delight"
What is the Heart? It is not human and it is not imaginary. I call it You. This is how I would die into the Love that I have for You . . . Click Here to Continue
"What Is Simply Being" by Sundance Burke
Simply points to that which is timeless and thus beyond effort or practice. Being is your presence; the Isnss of consciousness . . . Click Here to Continue
Free articles on spiritual awakening, radiant love, Non-duality, Self-inquiry and Self-realization
This Issue Includes:
"Before the Awakening: Forgiveness and Allowing"
Article by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"
We enter the temple of the Heart as love and you are already 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 . . . Continue reading by clicking HERE
"Simply Being Free"
Article by Sundance Burke, Author, "Free Spirit"
The great Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, once said, "Our duty is to BE and to not be this or that. Of course, he said that in the Now, as that's the only reality of Being. Accordingly, the impact of the expression is to be realized now. So what is the distinction between . . . Continue reading by clicking HERE
"Today: Better Together Discount at Amazon for All Three Books"
"Awake Joy," "Free Spirit" and "Conversations on Non-duality: Twenty-six Awakening"
Kris Caldwell is a certified Qigong Instructor, Turtle Longevity Lineage Holder and the Founder and Director of Seattle's Tiantian School of Qigong.
In the above photo, Kris is performing 1000 Hands Buddha Meditation that she instructed at our 2004 Mount Rainier Silent Retreat, as a movement meditation to practice presence.
Kris has recently returned to the Northwest after a sabbatical in China. This article was published to her Qigong community in 2009.
Eckhart Tolle's Definition of Qi by Kris Caldwell
My first exposure to what are also the teachings of Eckhart Tolle came in the form of being invited to teach 1000 Hands Buddha (a form of qigong meditation) at a Satsang retreat held by Katie Davis and Sundance Burke at Mt. Rainier in 2004. I learned of Sri Ramana Maharshi's lineage, extending through Papaji and Gangaji, and how those teachings were being disseminated by people like Katie and Sundance, Kirtana, and Eckhart Tolle.
My experience that weekend was profound to me, and shortly thereafter I read the introduction to Sri Ramana Maharshi's book. However, I did not continue as I was already entrenched in studying Daoist and Buddhist philosophies, and in daily extensive qigong practice. While I have studied/practiced many paths since the age of 17, when exposed to a new practice in the midst of another, I have always waited to begin the new one until I had come to a place in my current practice spacious enough to do so. While occasionally there has been some overlap between the conclusion of one practice and the beginning of another, historically I have come to a place of completion before going on.
So here I am again. I have come to a place of spaciousness in my qigong practice. And I am reading Eckhart Tolle, and finding it to be deeply connected to my Daoist/Buddhist/qigong studies. Here is an example of why: his definition of qi, found on p. 131 of the paperback edition of "The Power of Now." You will notice he has chosen to use the Wade-Giles spelling "chi."
"The Unmanifested is the source of chi. Chi is the inner energy field of your body. It is the bridge between the outer you and the Source. It lies halfway between the manifested, the world of form, and the Unmanifested. Chi can be likened to a river or an energy stream. If you take the focus of your consciousness deeply into the inner body, you are tracing the course of this river back to its Source. Chi is movement; the Unmanifested is stillness. When you reach a point of absolute stillness, which is nevertheless vibrant with life, you have gone beyond the inner body and beyond chi to the Source itself: the Unmanifested. Chi is the link between the Unmanifested and the physical universe."
I think those of you who have practiced some form of qigong are likely to recognize his meaning in your experience of your practice. I certainly do, and am grateful for the opportunity, after more than ten years of practicing qigong, to understand the connection between what I have been practicing and the practice of Presence.
Three Zen monks went to a mountain cave to contemplate the Ultimate Reality.
Three years later, a mountain goat walked by the entrance to the cave.
The first monk said, "Did you see that?"
Three years later, the second monk said, "What?"
Three years later, the third monk said, "If you guys don't shut up, I'm outta here!"
♥
The meditator usually has an object upon which to meditate. The appearance of an object is the reason that the ego-I arises from the Heart in order to grasp or identify with its object. Object meditation can therefore be counter productive for realizing the Pure I that rests as the Heart. It is more likely to perpetuate duality by encouraging objectivity.
Meditation offers the physical body many benefits and indeed helps the active mind to settle into harmony. It also may focus a highly distracted mind into deep concentration with a single pointed, yet objective focus.
However whether the object of meditation is "external" such as the flame of a candle or whether the object is "internal" such as one of the many extraordinary, altered states of consciousness that can be realized through deep meditation, the presence of the object itself may cause the ego-I to arise.
Ecstatic states are indicators of 'progress,' yet trying is also counter productive. Altered states appear on their own accord, when the 'mind' is being purified and as vasanas or tendencies dissolve. The one trying for the beauty of an altered state is ego's desire for attainment of an object and is an obstruction.
The false I arises from the Heart to attach to the most extraordinary object. Those are two reference points which is duality; the witness and the objective altered state. No matter how divine that altered state may seem, it is easily a distraction to Self-realization.
This arising is very subtle indeed. It will be recognized as movement as the dormant mind shifts into activity in order to possess or attach to the ecstatic state. Just be as you are, Being I. It is the mind that moves, not you. In other words, stay home as the Heart. You are there before, during and after every ecstatic state.
Only Self-inquiry deprives all objectivity, that is focusing all of the mind's attention on Being I alone. Again, not awareness of I (two reference points), but rather Being I.
In this, the tendencies of mind burn away and what we are referring to as 'mind' completely dissolves. Once the mind has dissolved, the false I never arises again.
Subsequently, objects are no longer perceived as objects. There is only the Pure I (Absolute) ... AM (the non-objective universe); Self-realization is realizing the Totality as none other than Self.
Meditation cannot remove the reference point of the meditator; the one who is practicing and who needs more time and experience to become in the future what it already is: Pure I shining as the Heart.
Just as in the example above of the three Zen monks, as soon as the meditation is disturbed, the dormant mind will once again become active and the temporary deep peace offered by the sky of mind will disappear. The false I will continue to arise and attach to all objects, rather than resting as the Heart. For three years, the Zen monks enjoyed the dormant mind. Yet the idea of the goat immediately reappeared as soon as there was a break in meditation. Dormant mind is not Self-realization.
The same is true for breath control and breath retention. With breath control, thought does indeed slow and offers the possibility to realize what is 'between' and beyond each thought; in this example, objective space.
With breath retention, we have cessation of thought. Even right now, if you would like to take a deep breath, hold it for awhile and listen within, you will quickly notice that there are no thoughts. The effect however is only temporary. Mind has simply fallen into a dormant state and will quickly become active again as soon as the breath is released.
Likewise, mantras and chanting, while being totally enjoyable and effective in mesmerizing the mind into a calm and blissful state, the effect will only be temporary. Though recommended, it is the same for silent prayer that is free of motivation or what I call adoration.
The point being is that Self-inquiry is direct and will prove to be successful.
The highest and purest 'teaching' of all is radiant silence and this is why satsang appears. Satsang is far more than sitting with a "teacher" conceptually discussing information about enlightenment. A scholar may offer helpful information from a dual perspective, but is not offering satsang.
True satsang is being 'associated' with Pure Beingness and the spiritual power. Whether one is conscious of the spiritual power or not, this radiance burns the tendencies of mind and without even really knowing why, the mind rests as deep peace.
In silent sitting, it is recommended to simply rest, free of all effort to "move deeper" and in complete surrender, allow the radiance. The 'burning' of tendencies happens on its own accord.
Even here, the most profound glimpse during silent satsang or what is referred to as darshan, may be only a temporary abeyance of mind into a dormant state. So persistent Self-inquiry during all that is being done during the day is required.
If you are graced with the opportunity for darshan, there is nothing more powerful and effective than radiant stillness.
Do not be confused however, the sage is not the form. The true guru or sadguru is the Pure Beingness that is already shining within. If a sage is required, one will appear in form; always pointing on the "outside" back to who you really are, with a tremendous attraction from "within."
If words are spoken by the sage during satsang, contrary to what has been said, nothing can truly obstruct the perennial flow of radiant stillness. Wise words dispel ignorance, but indeed might also engage the ego by trying to learn or understand what is being said. Nonetheless, deep within, the radiant stillness is burning. The waves on the surface of the ocean does not effect the ocean's depth.
The power of silent darshan is still the most effective.
So why all these words?
Well ...
If all you heard here were words and concepts ...
You consciously missed the greater silent teaching ...
RSVP is required by email at awake [at] katiedavis.org (due to the security gate). Please just email your name and you will be on the gate list. Space is limited, so please make your reservations early. You will be notified if space is no longer available. Therefore, if you RSVP and then decide not to come, please let us know.
Hosts: Nancy and Rex:
Wailea Elua Village
3600 Wailea Alanui Drive
Building #21, in #2102
Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
Please enter in silence.
You are invited to arrive 15 minutes early to begin sitting with Katie and Sundance at 6:15 pm.
PLEASE CAR POOL or park at the Shops of Wailea (10 minute walk). If you park at the Shops of Wailea, you will still need to be on the security gate list, so please RSVP.
Comfortable seating is provided, however please bring a cushion or backjack if you have them.
KATIE DAVIS awakened radically and spontaneously in 1986. Since 1999, she has been traveling to share the true possibility of awakening and Self-realization. She is author of Awake Joy.
SUNDANCE BURKE awakened in 1982 with his teachers Satoshi (Osho) and Shunyata, named the Rare Born Mystic by his friend Ramana Maharshi. Sundance and Katie met in 1988 and are frequent teaching partners. Sundance is author of Free Spirit.
AWAKE SPIRIT TEACHINGS are consistent with the teachings of Eckhart Tolle for spiritual awakening and for Self-realization, they are consistent with Advaita Vedanta and Non-duality, yet free of all Eastern jargon. They are pragmatic and point to the simplicity of Self-realization.
Through Self-inquiry and consciously resting as "I am," the teachings are also consistent with the great sages Ramana Maharsi and Nisargadatta.
Awake Spirit Teachings are not conceptually based. Rather, they are based on direct Self-realization. Satsang is therefore blessed with the true teacher; the radiant stillness that you genuinely are already.
Free Advaita and Satsang Videos, as well as Free Downloads at:
Hello Sundance, Thank you kindly for satsang yesterday. I am feeling decidedly dissembled. That's good news.
This is what is lingering:
This could be called a watching game: awareness watches consciousness, which watches the mind, which watches the world. Self, Awareness, is steady, immutable, mountain-like, as you say. Awareness doesn't care what arises. And, for Awareness, nothing is happening.
There is just That, Sat-Chit-Ananda, and That is who ‘we’ really are, our essence. But it's not really that “we” are “One.” That's what “Non-dual” is pointing at. It's not two, and yet it's not one, either.
The mysterious paradox is, there is not One, because Awareness isn't an object. Perhaps it could be said, “there is nothing and everything.” Awareness, as the ultimate subject and then all else that appears to arise; body, mind, world are objects.
So, it's about letting go of control and attachment to everything, total surrender to what arises as it does, allowing all to be as it is. No mind, no suffering, no agenda, no initiating. Yet, clearly mind can be picked up and used for practical purposes. When an impulse for self-interest arises, catch it by noticing and turn back. There-in lies freedom.
Can you clarify what you meant when you said, “when you're asked, How are you feeling, if you go inside, you get lost.”
Does this mean “you,” Awareness? When you asked me this question, there was nowhere to land, no sense of feelings, even though there was alertness and presence. Not a sense of an individual “I,” more a non-localized experience of aware being. Is it a trick question in the sense that it reveals where identity is arising from? And the challenge of using pronouns and who is being referred to, you not as the body/mind, but as Awareness?
Eternal gratitude and deepest pranams,
Sundance replies:
Beloved, Awareness is all consuming, as it is real Being and not imaginary minding. To Awaring-Self, the concept, sense or identification of "I" is meaningless, as non-existent. “To Be” does not require self-consciousness, any more than you need to look in a mirror to confirm your sense of body. What we are conscious to is always the false, the imaginary non-existent. Only Knowing Is, even when nothing appears to be sensed.
All that gets lost is the non-essential, the "I" self-interest, the non-existing. We simply cannot give our allegiance to the "I thing," while forgetting who we are and get away with it. Rather, this union of attachment will appear to get away with truth by giving Self a name, shape and time. We were never meant to elevate our believing over our Being.
Let me be clear, I was pointing to SOLITUDE, ALONENESS. There is nothing but YOU, SELF. You merely hang yourself on the branch you are holding in mind, for there is no branch or anyone to hold it.
There is no true answer to the question, "how are you feeling," except silence. After all, the question is speaking of YOU Beloved before feeling.
On another occasion, XO shares a quote with Sundance:
"Events in time and space - birth and death, cause and effect - these may be taken as one; but the body and the embodied are not of the same order of reality. The body exists in time and space, transient and limited, while the dweller is timeless and spaceless, eternal and all-pervading. To identify the two is a grievous mistake and the cause of endless suffering. You can speak of the mind and body as one, but the body-mind is not the underlying reality."
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sundance comments on this sharing:
Yes, all mind-bodies, all forms, all experiences of every order are sourced in the consciousness of Being …
and you are that consciousness, that ocean of ever-present awareness …
sometimes seen, sometimes not, life in calm waiting and potent expression, yet always awake, always being ...
the formless inspiration and the spiritual heart of our living dream.
Only the underlying reality of our nature as Awareness can set us free to be as we are...
fearless peace, loving expression without bounds or reason and so much more than words can convey.
You are the secret, the One you've been longing for.
You are within all time, all space; too close for discovery, too intimate to approach, too innocent to declare.
You are timeless. So, if you follow time, you move away.
You are nothing. So, if you seriously matter, you feel lost.
You are all presence, all power, all knowing,
In other words, All Loving.
Belief can never be the real You.
The impersonator is not the One.
You are an impossible act to follow, because you leave no trail at all.
Only the simple is truly profound,
so make no effort to be what you are...
Simply Be and Injoy
XO on the impact of Satsang:
Clearly, who I really am, is the awareness behind even consciousness. With residing there, comes a feeling of deep rest and peace. When you and I are in satsang though, this experience is so intense, a heightened sense of alertness, intimacy, great calm and detachment, almost disinterest in "things". What is that? Obviously an experience that comes and goes. Does this kind of experience emerge when two people are together and consciousness "recognizes" itself?
I notice I feel shy at first around you, uncertain about all of this, yet there's a fierce compelling quality to it. That dissolves once what seems like a shift occurs, maybe it's withdrawal from the perspective of a separate "me"? I so value your support and welcome any kind of guidance or suggestions of any kind.
Sundance replies:
Yes, I see and feel this in our Self-Presence. The blessings you speak of flow like a river, clear sailing unto Source. Surrendered as we are, we freely rest in the silence and stillness of our true depth. The miracle is that we know and the blessing of this knowing is our loving way.
Being true is intensely alive. This is satsang; fearless, desireless, All Loving presence. It is your true Being that is so compelling and beautiful.
The All Loving Heart is realized, once and for all in satsang. True living begins when dying ends and … even if the world could end … only the Awake would know.
The memory of body pain comes to satsang:
I'm noticing that when I allow it to be as it is, watching the pain come and go as the experience it is, there doesn't seem to be much suffering associated with it anymore.
Sundance on contemplating physical pain in the context of awakening:
It sounds as though your physical experience is serving to deepen your awareness of Self. This is not unusual in my experience. The path through this challenge is often easier for those who are already free of the belief that the Self is primarily a body. This I am certain you know. Nevertheless, we uniquely feel the impact of our hold and release from this human belief.
No one can really escape from the direct experience of our physical association. It seems the best option, when no other therapy is presently active and effective, is to continually abide in Self-Awareness, to be the witness beyond the symptoms.
All therapies hold potential for good, especially when acted upon from pure witnessing. If pain is present, what can one do but accept it, take action if it seems right and then allow everything to be as it happens.
Pain is clearly a call for attention, but attention to what and how to attend? I say, go to Self, pure consciousness and not just when we are hurting, but always. Let the message of pain become obsolete by its becoming unnecessary as a reminder. Easier said than done, but which of our lively efforts are truly worthy? This, we each answer by the quality of our presence regardless of circumstances; the body being one of these among many others.
It seems to me that each of us possess various forms of belief about healing and healers. Some of us strongly believe in medical doctors and science, others believe in holistic healers, shamans, energy healers, body workers, counselors, change of environment or behavior, etc. Still others intuitively combine the above. Our past human experience is a vast library in consciousness full of body ignorances and wisdoms.
A few of us question the entire experience of dis-ease. Is it real? Can I really be unhealthy? If I am the Self, can I really be suffering and subject to crippling and death? Does disease point to my true state of being or does pain appear for another purpose? What is pain if I am not opposing it? Can my being really be threatened? Is death to be feared, as a loss or diminishment of Self? Can I control my experience? Can I prevent what I do not want to experience from happening? If I act upon any belief in a fearful idea will it bring me freedom or dis-ease? If I am not in control, why worry? How will I know how I will act in any case, until it becomes my experience? What is my attitude of Self in all conditions? Do I have a permanently real attitude or am I searching for security and comfort, neither of which can endure in every condition?
There's no need for you to answer all of these questions, but they do seem to arise in consciousness in the midst of remembering or contemplating pain, aging, death, etc. My attitude is that only the Self determines my experience and the form of healing I choose is also Self-Will, no matter what it looks like. This is the only way I can be mySelf. I'll soon be in a dentist's chair contemplating Self as patient, dentist, assistant and all else in that moment of consciousness.
Surrender is the default attitude of witnessing, as the only condition worth your trust is... being aware.
While everyone appears to be dreaming, witnessing watches, unconcerned and fearlessly awake.
Sundance Burke is author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being"
