The Heart of the Matter by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

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 than a personal affair. As the consciousness transforms, that is, as the altered states of consciousness fall away, so does the life situation and the world transform. With Self-realization, an enduring world peace is a true possibility.

Everything conceived by the ego is separate and dual in nature. It experiences that it is split from the world and apart from the divine. The psychological self then suffers the alienation of the daytime dream of conceptual reality, its time and negativity. 

It creates the delusion of a pain gap between the body’s limitation and the magnificent Heart that we genuinely are. The illusion of division then unconsciously operates in daily living. This subject-object relationship (ego vs. everyone else) is the source of all loneliness, anger, lack, desire, greed, fear, exploitation, guilt, shame, manipulation, control, anxiety, worry and sorrow.

Without an ego-subject, there can be no divided objects and separation is plainly unattainable. This is not to say that we do not honor our diversity. In fact, when we are no longer inhibited by the ego, innate creativity, natural abilities and uniqueness thrive. 

We are a single symphony of wise love ... and beyond experience, infinitely more. This wondrous shift is one of identity only; from a suffering ego that is limited to a finite body ... to joyful pure being, whether with form or without. 

Even conceptually, we can understand that nothing could be separate from that which is called totality. Totality is simply whole. By analogy, when we cut a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert, we do not claim that it is other than pie. Likewise, who we are is diversified, yet whole.

You have the opportunity to investigate the truth for yourself. Have you been curious enough to look directly and deeply within? Who are you really at the core? There is a brilliance already shining within you that is profoundly deeper than the body and its surface reality. You have only to realize it by direct looking and inquiring within.  

This does not require the mind’s philosophical analysis. It only compels you to become conscious of what is within right now. When we cherish aloneness and quietude for this deeper contemplation, we realize that we are the love that we have been seeking in every other.

Suffering is not in the world. It is in the pain gap of separation within you and then projected by the divided mind as the painful world. One could say that it is superimposed much like a movie on a cinema screen. Whereas, free of the pain gap, we have a far more enjoyable movie! Just wait and see. Indeed, a life that is free of suffering is a true possibility for all being. 

The fragmented "me” thinks that it is IN the mental space of time that we label physical experiencing. In truth, time and space are appearing within you. To confirm this, simply notice that everywhere you are, it is always here and now. If it was reversed …  if you were limited to time and space … and if your identity was the body only, this could not be so. Every time and place would be something other than here and now. You are the permanent factor that is not confined to the body’s time and place.

In the divided world of duality within time, the ego experiences that it is subject to the push and pull of the opposing forces that are in constant resistance with one another. Every experience is threatened by its opposite. The ego constantly vacillates between pleasure-pain, happy-sad, relative peace-conflict, relative love-hate, etc. It has virtually no conscious stability. In fact these opposites depend upon one another for their definitive existence. For instance, we define happiness as a lack of sadness and sadness as a lack of happiness. 

There is a continuum between these opposites along which there are many varying degrees. The ego defines its placement on the continuum, through the absence of the other … and only time separates them. First, the ego cycles to being relatively happy and after certain duration, it cycles to being relatively sad, which in turn will once again cycle to being relatively happy. 

In fact, within time, constant sadness is just as unattainable as stable happiness; whereas joy is inherent in both and beyond the opposites. For the ego, pleasure cannot exist without pain. Relative love cannot prevail without hatred. As a time traveler, the ego's time-space-body limitation is always subject to both.

Non-duality is transcendental and its world is free of the cycling of time. Therefore, the opposites, such as relative love-hatred or relative peace-conflict, disappear into oneness and the darkness cannot survive the love of the merger. We are stunned by a brilliant stillness that is preeminent, sublime and unrivaled. 

Steadfast joy is natural to the human being. As the non-dual reality, true experience is not in opposition to any other. Therefore, competition, aggression, envy, greed and sexual obsession are effortlessly banished. My point is that you are needlessly suffering and that the transformative power lies within you.

First, the invitation is to realize time freedom. In this attentive openness, we are free of the time required for the vacillating cycles. The opposites cannot take flight and are transcended. Since the concept of “me” requires time, we are also free of the pain gap and its delusion of separation. 

The opposites are part and parcel of the idea of “me,” its never-ending desires and fears, and its need based insecurity. When the concept of “I” profoundly surrenders, both relative love and hatred are extinguished by unconditional love. We move beyond the relative peace that inevitably cycles to war and realize the absolute peace that is beyond all understanding. This transforms so called human experience into an appearance within an all-pervading field of innocence and equanimity. One could say that we regain virginal sight.

In the beginning, we practice being present to this moment; the only entry point to the "inner body." In this, we become aware of what it feels like to actually be fully and completely in our body, rather than ruminating in our head. Our senses come alive and we become aware of our effortless breathing. We realize our aliveness.

Then attention begins shifting to simply "I am" rather than “I am this or that.” Here, we are in alignment with the infinite pure being that is the open door to a "new" reality. In truth, you are already the infinite and intelligent power that is the totality.

The timeless Now, or what Ramana Maharshi called the Forever Now and Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, is beyond the appearance of the present moment. The timeless Now is free of content altogether and is the space within which the present moment is appearing. It is beyond the concept of "you," your idea of separation and the vacillating cycles that oppose one another ... and that allow the perception of negativity to persist.  

If you could realize that you are radiant love and that this realization is the key to world transformation, would you hesitate and wait? Would it not be worth it to at least look and consider the Heart of the matter?

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

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

Friends of the Heart September 2011 Issue Now Posted:

www.KatieDavis.org/FriendsoftheHeart.html

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"

More information HERE

"New Releases"

MP3 Downloads (52 minutes each)

"A Conversation on Non-duality with Katie Davis"

"A Conversation on Non-duality with Sundance Burke"

More information HERE

"Seattle Eastside Satsang ~ Seattle Friends of the Heart"

Article by Sundance Burke

October 2 - December 28

Sundays, 4:00 pm, Seattle Eastside Satsang with Sundance and Katie

Alternating Thursdays, 7:00 pm, Seattle Eastside Satsang with Katie Davis

Altternating Thursdays, 7:00 pm, Simply Being Free with Sundance Burke

More information HERE

"What is Simply Being Free with Sundance?"

Article by Sundance Burke

Simply points to that which is timeless, and thus, beyond effort or practice

Being is your Presence ~ the ISness of consciousness

Free ~ You are That

With ~ Connector of Oneness

Sundance is a name I calls Itself

Continue reading by clicking HERE

"Private Appointments" with Katie Davis or Sundance Burke

October 1 - December 28

Worldwide: By phone, cell or Skype

In 'Person' in Bellevue, WA, USA

More information HERE

Free Downloads and Free Videos at www.KatieDavis.org

Free Videos at www.SundanceBurke.org

(Tour Schedule Resumes Soon)

Eckhart Tolle's Definition of Qi by Kris Caldwell, Seattle Tiantian School of Qigong

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.

More about Kris Caldwell and Qigong at www.tiantianqigong.com

Kris mentions Kirtana who offered an evening concert at the retreat. More about Kirtana at: www.kirtana.com

Visit the Katie Davis Website at www.KatieDavis.org

"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

Who You Really Are Is Love by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

"Who You Really Are Is Love" by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Rumi, a thirteenth century Sufi poet, defines love as the magical moment when two spiritually connected individuals first meet. We call that love at first sight. In this meeting of eyes, Rumi romantically shares that we not only experience the union of two loving souls, but also the Love that is the crux of the universe. According to Rumi, when we fall in love with one another, we are actually experincing the Divine.

While not the Absolute, upon spiritual awakening, one of the first miracles that we realize is that we are Divine Love. This realization is an explosion of Radiance, whose magnitude had never been consciously experienced. Far beyond the relative love that seemingly requires another, Radiant Love is a mystical wholeness that is utterly beyond understanding and too overwhelming to even express. In this writing, not one word is able to properly define or contain it.

All love is one Love. Whether ethereal or everyday love, such as mother for child, when this cherished moment appears, we often have the misperception that someone or some other thing caused this rising as Love. In reality, we lose ourselves and for at least a moment, we are free of desire. This disappearance of the ego creates a crevice through which shines the Radiant Love that we genuinely are. We realize that there is only This Love and it is ever-present, since it is who we naturally are.

What I often refer to as the Beloved is the sacred substratum of the life situation, which is free of lovers all together. It does not reside within the confines of space and time. It is discovered in the twinkling of an eye of no time at all. This realization allows unconditional love to emerge into our life situation, our relationships and into the world.

As time travelers, we are identified with being a lover who loves someone else. As long as this subject-object relationship remains, true love cannot thrive. We expect and demand this or that to satisfy our self-created sense of lack. This lack is the ego’s belief in individuality as identity that is based on separation. It manifests in this world as the never-ending search for personal love, gratification and acceptance.

The false sense of “me” hopelessly pretends to separate from Totality and then expects someone else to fill the resulting pain gap. It fears the loss of a lover; it feels jealous, competes and needs. It may even voice its love for the Divine and faithfully express deep longing, while mourning its aloneness and separation. Yet, it stubbornly insists upon maintaining its sense of separation and of course, the result is suffering. Nonsensically, it then blames someone else for the emotional pain. It is the divided one, who is longing and searching, that sustains the delusion of estrangement.

Love is not really personal. It cannot be gained through any other. Love cannot be given to you, nor can it be threatened or taken away. It is essentially who you are. When you are seeking a lover, you are actually searching for love and its fulfillment. You are overlooking that you are what you are seeking, which is why it cannot be found.

Before you continue this search, my invitation is to discover that you are love’s conscious fulfillment. In this discovery, you then have the opportunity to meet romantic love as wholeness. You are free of the pre-existing condition and pain gap. At last, you no longer need to complete yourself.

If you are already in a problematic relationship, such as many personal relationships may be, as true lovers, you can disappear together. Free of “you” and “me,” we intimately rise above the push and pull of personal relationship and preciously rise as the Pure Love that we genuinely are.

In its purity and wholeness, Radiant Love is synonymous with Self-realization. It is the realized maturity of Pure Beingness. Then, romantic love does not need to bloom. When the perfect lover appears, the Rose already is.

"Who You Really Are” by singer/songwriter Kirtana from the CD “This Embrace.”

In this song, Kirtana points to the Ultimate Reality.

As Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon is quoted as saying, "I am the Abode of Love."

At Kirtana’s website, enjoy samples of all of Kirtana’s songs from all six of her CD releases.  

Also available is a new songbook with lyrics that is entitled Singing This Love Kirtana

www.Kirtana.com

You are invited to the Katie Davis Website to enjoy free videos and free downloads.

www.KatieDavis.org

True Forgiveness is Being Now by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

 

True Forgiveness is Being Now

By Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

The ego is the false sense of self that bases its self-image on time. It forms concepts about itself and so called "others" that are all based on past experiences. According to these past life circumstances, it then forms its likes and dislikes. In so doing, the ego is creating its desires and fears. These desires and fears then form its attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, intentions, expectations, opinions, judgments and its overall conditioning; all of which require more time. In turn, the ego then forms its concept of self based upon its success in either getting what it wants or avoiding what it fears.

Some refer to this false concept of self as the conditioned personality. It is this psychological structure that is the source of all sorrow and misery. Ego needs time and its story in order to form its false concept of self. Without its story, it is clearly seen that ego is unreal and does not even exist.

The older the ego becomes, the more past it is carrying. The burden becomes heavier and heavier with less and less time for future hope. If the pain of the past becomes too heavy to bear, it is common for the concept of forgiveness to come to the forefront. Exhausted by the past pain and by trying to perpetuate further separation through blaming others, the ego begins surrendering and letting go of its past stories.

Since  forgiveness requires "inner" work, the opportunity of spiritual awakening may be drawing near. Through this inner focus and self-observation, the ego becomes aware of its fears, lost hopes, anger, bitterness, regrets, sadness, resentments, shame and guilt. For the older ego, the list of stories seems endless and it might even seem altogether hopeless.

It is finally seen that it cannot keep its painful story and get rid of the pain. As the past stories are surrendered, the burden becomes lighter. Slowly, it is freeing itself from time. Presence begins emerging and it appreciates the present moment experience as something fresh and no longer shadowed by the past.

With the good fortune of self-observation, attention finally begins noticing that it is the storyteller and not the story that is perpetuating the pain. We begin inquiring who this storyteller really is and whether this concept of "I" is even valid in the first place. We finally realize that the concept of "I" is nothing more than another idea to which we add many good and unfortunate stories that condition us and therefore limit us. If we are willing to surrender this false concept of "I" that is the storyteller, all of the accumulated stories fall away with it.

In identification with dreaming "I," forgiveness sometimes remains only a mental concept. In other words, the ego might be relatively willing to conceptually forgive within the mind, but absolute forgiveness might elude the heart. By relinquishing the personal self-image, we transform the concept of forgiveness into the freedom of the heart that is unconditional love and perfect peace. 

Then through presence, we maintain the openness of our inner space moment to moment. True forgiveness has no external requirement, which means it depends upon no one. It has nothing to do with any so called other and remains free of the accompanying story-time. Real forgiveness is the power of timelessness within us that is already free of personal history. Where is the past in the here and now?

When we are free of the concept of forgiveness, we are living free. This is not an optimist's hope for the future. It is readily accessible for every human being right now and only now. The problem, so to speak, is not the insanity of a multitude of personal, family and world problems. The problem is the insanity in the delusion of time, the idea of separation that begins with the concept of "me," and its repetitive storyteller. This in turn facilitates the runaway madness of the unawake mind. 

Free of the ego, we are able to greet every moment authentically and compassionately. Free of time, we are free of the stories that bond us to negativity and suffering. Being Now, we realize that we have always been free.

♥

Katie Davis Website

www.KatieDavis.org 

(Free videos on Non-duality, Advaita, spiritual awakening, enlightenment and Self-realization. Free downloads of e-books and chapters. Join our mailing list to receive the Friends of the Heart Newsletter once a month with more free articles and event information.)

"A Conversation on Non Duality" by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

"A Conversation on Non Duality": Katie Davis, "Awake Joy"

MP3 Download

From the newly published book entitled "Conversations on Non-duality": Twenty-Six Awakenings (edited by Eleanora Gilbert and published by Cherry Red Books), this is another new release by Conscious TV with Katie Davis, author of the book "Awake Joy", who is interviewed by Renate McNay of Conscious TV in an MP3 downloadable format.

IN THIS HIGHLY ENERGETIC INTERVIEW, you deeply sense the blissful stillness that is the signature of spiritual realization. As the interviewer inquires into the wonderment of our true nature, you may also be consciously graced by the palpable frequency of the silence.

Katie Davis shares the mystery of her awakening and then follows with pointers to Self-inquiry, the delusion of the separate sense of self, you are already That which you seek and understanding that Self-realization is a true and immediate possibility for you right now.

KATIE DAVIS, author, Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment, is a graduate of the University of Washington. In 1986, she encountered a spontaneous and radical awakening, without practices or teachers.

Since 1999, she has been traveling worldwide to share the ever-present possibility of Self-realization that is the end of all suffering. Katie offers satsang, intentives, silent retreats, private consultations and is a Keynote Presenter for organizations and conferences. www.KatieDavis.org  

Available in the United States:

Click Amazon.com or Click iTunes

Available in the United Kingdom:

Click Amazon.co.uk or Click iTunes

"Awake Joy": The Essence of Enlightenment, Book by Katie Davis

Click Amazon US or Amazon UK or click Katie Davis Awake Books Store

New Release by Cherry Red Books "Conversations on Non-duality": Twenty-Six Awakenings

Click Amazon US or Amazon UK

"A Conversation on Non Duality" with Sundance Burke, "An Interview with Sundance Burke", Author "Free Spirit"

"A Conversation on Non-Duality with Sundance Burke"

"An Interview with Sundance Burke"

Author, "Free Spirit"

From the newly released book by Cherry Red Books "Conversations on Non-duality: Twenty-six Awakenings," edited by Eleonara Gilbert, this is another new release by Conscious TV with Sundance Burke, author of the book Free Spirit, who is interviewed by Iain McNay of Conscious TV in an MP3 downloadable format.

IN THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW with Iain McNay, Sundance paradoxically shares the personal story of how he realized his formless Spirit, the essence of his and all being. Just the fact of being given the birth-name, Donald the Third, seemed to catalyze his lifelong quest for Self-realization. Graced by a chance encounter with an enlightened stranger, a multitude of synchronistic events, his own out of body experiences and fears of an early death, Sundance came face to face with life’s most profound questions: who or what am I and why am I here? As it turned out, this kind of adventure appealed to Sundance’s innate curiosity more than anything else, so at the age of 32 his life-path was inexorably altered. After many years of seeking, Sundance’s inner quest culminated. Without apparent reason, the seeking just stopped and never returned, revealing the conscious calm-joy that we truly are.

SUNDANCE BURKE, Spiritual Teacher and Author, was born in Seattle, Washington under the given name, Donald Russell Burke III. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Gonzaga School of Law. Sundance is a former practicing lawyer and businessman. He is the father of two children and the grandfather of three more.

Sundance Burke is the author of Free Spirit, A Guide to Enlightened Being, published in 2008. He offers public talks, video recordings, private meetings, intensive workshops and retreats for those who long to awaken to their true nature.

While traveling for law business in 1982, Sundance was graced with the profound spiritual experience of being the loving witness to the mind’s dream of personal existence. This awareness of impersonal being completely shattered his former understanding of self-identity and the nature of the world. In the years that followed, he found himself undertaking an intense inward journey into the heart of this realization.

Available in the United States:

Click Amazon.com or Click iTunes US

Available in the United Kingdom:

Click Amazon.co.uk or Click iTunes UK


www.SundanceBurke.org

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

The Friends of the Heart May Newsletter by Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy" has now been published for viewing on the Katie Davis website with articles on Non-duality, spiritual awakening, enlightenment and Self-realization.

In This Issue:

"We Have Relocated"

"The Goat, the Meditator and the Sky of the Dormant Mind" by Katie Davis

"Conversations on Non-duality: Twenty-Six Awakenings"

"A Conversation on Non Duality" with Katie Davis MP3 Download

"A Conversation on Non Duality" with Sundance Burke MP3 Download

Go now to www.KatieDavis.org/FriendsoftheHeart.html

Katie Davis www.KatieDavis.org

Sundance Burke www.SundanceBurke.org

"Conversations on Non-duality"

Conversations on Non-duality: Twenty-six Awakenings

 

A New Book Release by Cherry Red Books: Conversations on Non-duality

A fascinating compilation of the life stories of perfectly ordinary people and the different paths they've taken on their spiritual journey searching for oneness, completeness, and unity.

From a rich variety of backgrounds, the people profiled here have been through extraordinary experiences leading to amazing new perceptions. They all shared a common sense of dissatisfaction with their lives and a longing for happiness, connection, health, love, fulfilling relationships and freedom. As they reveal the means by which they each went about achieving an end to their suffering—from therapy to study with gurus, their stories range from funny to moving and tragic to inspiring, but there is a common element in their engagement with nonduality.

In simple terms, nonduality means no separation—although it appears that there are separate individuals and objects in our world, in reality there is only oneness. It is this realization that has transformed the lives of these 26 ordinary men and women from many cultures and from a wide range of social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. Here they share their insights and wisdom.

Includes interviews with David Bingham, Daniel Brown, Sundance Burke, Katie Davis, Peter Fenner, Steve Ford, Jeff Foster, Suzanne Foxton, Gangaji, Richard Lang, Roger Linden, Wayne Liquorman, Francis Lucille, Mooji, Catherine Noyce, Jac O'Keeffe, Tony Parsons, Bernie Prior, Halina Pytlasinska, Genpo Roshi, Florian Schlosser, Mandi Solk, Rupert Spira, James Swartz, Richard Sylvester and Pamela Wilson.

Now Available in the United States at Amazon U.S.

Now Available in the United Kingdom at Amazon U.K.

"A Conversation on Non Duality" with Katie Davis entitled "Awake Joy" is also available at Amazon and iTunes in MP3 Downloads.

 

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

The Goat, The Meditator and the Sky of the Dormant Mind by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

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 ...

Nonetheless, the radiance flows ...

♥ 

 

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

(Free videos, free downloads, free monthly Friends of the Heart Newsletters with more articles on spiritual awakening and Self-realization)

 

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) 

You Are Already the Ultimate Reality by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Perhaps you have heard now that Self-realization is a possibility for every human being. Previously, enlightenment was considered to be available only to a gifted few, who were referred to as saints or sages. Today, this is not so and in fact, you have the opportunity right now to be free of the idea of time, separation and therefore free of all psychological suffering.

The only obstruction is a case of mistaken identity. Commonly, people assume that they are the body only, with its given name, since this is what we were conditioned to believe; a finite body born into time that will eventually die and, during this relatively short lifespan, live within the confines and limitations of the physical form with its conditioned attitudes and beliefs that lead to either pleasure or pain.

Perhaps through chance, we finally hear the remarkable good news that we are indeed not the mind-body involved in a psychological process of becoming something more. Indeed, we hear that we are already the Ultimate Reality that is inseparable from unconditional love, causeless joy and perfect peace; a universal intelligence, within which the entire universe is appearing!

Further, we are told that once realized, it will seem so simple and obvious that we will be dismayed that who we really are was ever overlooked. Nonetheless, as unbelievable that this might seem, it is still relatively rare that one will hear this message and become curious enough to realize the truth. This is indeed changing as all things do.

The invitation today is to look to discover the truth, so that all that is false is directly perceived. When that which is false is noticed, it spontaneously falls away to reveal a deeper truth.

With learning rather than looking, we only acquire new beliefs. For example, someone might have taught you what honey tastes like, where to find it and many other interesting facts, but you cannot say with any certainty that you know honey, until you have had the direct experience in the tasting.

Honey however is an objective experience; something other than we are. So when we hear the pointer to seek the source of the ego-I thought, we begin seeking it objectively. Traditionally, this is what the mind naturally does, when it looks for the source of things. It seeks among the separate things themselves. Normally, the mind searches among objects.

Contrary to what the ego thinks, you are not just another object appearing in the world. While ultimately not quite true, YOU are the SOURCE of all objects. So to realize this, the looking must be within you.

Today's message is to merely turn within. Habitually, the mind's attention is turned outward and it experiences only what is in space and time. The mind turned outward is the home of the ego-body, its world and suffering. With the mirror of the mind turned inward, the light of consciousness burns all of the fog off the mirror. When the fog is cleared, it is able to reflect pure light. Then, all is bathed in radiant love's light!

Self-realization calls for turning the mind's attention within. There is an unfathomable and timeless dimension within you, whose portal can only be accessed right now, through the physical body into its inner body that is beyond thought, emotion and form. This dimension is not an object. It is essentially who you infinitely are.

Mind turned outward is space, time and suffering.

Mind turned within is timelessly the Heart of all being.

When we turn within, it is essentially the beginning of a new life.

Katie Davis Website www.KatieDavis.org

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