Tag Archives: consciousness

Birth And Death – Which Is Which?

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Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

So, which is which? When we are born, we are born into a very restrictive physical body and those who do not ultimately realise that they are something much greater than the body quite often live lives of “death.” In other words, they quite often live lives of pain and suffering. Paradoxically, when we go through the process of physical death, the soul experiences an incredible sense of freedom; the spirit literally flies when the body is shed.

Also, people with little or no spiritual awareness are usually very afraid to “die.” Given that death is a very important part of life, are they actually afraid to live? In contrast, people who have a certain level of spiritual awareness quite often do not fear death because they know that death is merely a process (not an end) by which we are able to transition to our next reality.

Of course, in consciousness there is neither birth nor death, only “That Which Is.”

 

Forgiveness

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We are a species very much still in its infancy. A good indicator of this is the fact that we have the word “forgiveness” in our vocabulary. This is probably a lot to do with religions telling us for centuries that we need to be forgiven by their angry god. Forgiveness is of the ego and is born out of the need to either forgive or be forgiven. Our true nature (I know…I sound like a broken record…) is Consciousness, which is non-dualistic, and exists as itself and nothing else. Therefore, in Consciousness there is no such thing as forgiveness.

Of course, everything has perspective within its own context. So, for someone unaware of their true nature, forgiveness most certainly is a thing. It serves as a tool to help them along their pathway to the stage where they realise that it really isn’t necessary. Another great paradox of life; using something that doesn’t actually exist in order to know the only thing that does actually exist. Pure genius from the “proper” God (infinite Consciousness).

Understanding…

Yes, understanding, not forgiveness is what is required. When our species replaces forgiveness with understanding we will know that, collectively, we are finally on the way to a greater awareness of our true nature.

 

Passing Clouds – A Thought

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We are all but passing clouds on the airways of life. Like the clouds, we dissipate and reform, we shed tears; and we also collide. Sometimes the collisions are stunningly magnificent, we merge with another in love and produce a result that is enchantingly beautiful. Other times the collisions are like those of storm clouds, angry, dark and repellent. 

This could be thought of as a nonsensical comparison, considering that clouds are not sentient beings and humans are. But, I believe that we have a lot to learn from nature and I also believe that we may have a lot more in common with her than we may think; we are, after all, made of the same stuff, and that stuff is in constant motion. If you consider that all objects, all phenomena; including our species, on this dreamland stage are conceived of consciousness, by consciousness and within consciousness, then the idea is not so fanciful.

Dancing Fool – A Short Story

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“Would you care to dance,” said the tempest to the leaves; and dance they did, for they had no choice.

“Such grace and elegance in your movement,” sneered the tempest smugly, for his ego was strutting like a train-rattling peacock. “Of course,” he continued, “you do realise, don’t you, that you only move because of my power and might? Without me you would just rot on the ground; your dancing shoes would be redundant.” The leaves laughed mockingly at their tormentor.

“What’s so funny?” Demanded the tempest, feeling decidedly awkward and with his strutting reduced to no more than a distant memory. “Your foolishness is what’s so funny,” replied the leaves, trying and failing to suppress a snigger. Now the tempest was really rattled, “explain yourselves,” he demanded.

“Oh mighty windbag, foolish dancer, it is neither you nor us that moves. The only mover is consciousness and we are all but dancers in the mind of the observer.

 

 

 

Zen Poems Of Love And Happiness

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This is the introduction for my latest writing project, Zen Poems Of Love And Happiness, which should be available to buy by the end of this year. I may yet change a few bits, but by and large, this is it.

 

In September 2024 I wrote and published a poem on my blog. Even though another poem followed before the month was out, I had no idea what was to come. I suddenly experienced a light-bulb moment and before I knew what was happening, I found myself writing my first ever book of prose. I’ve always been fascinated by the work of Rumi and Rabindranath Tagore; how they write such beautifully enchanting, and seemingly other worldly, works. I’ve also been greatly touched by the writing of Marcus Aurelius, and now I find all these verses just flowing out from within me; it really is such a beautiful feeling. I shouldn’t be surprised at this phenomenon (although I am a bit) because ever since Zen entered my life several years ago, things just haven’t been the same.

Zen is one of those words that gets used a lot, mainly by people who don’t understand what it means. It has nothing to do with lighting candles and sitting cross-legged on the floor making funny noises, but of course, you can light as many candles as you want, sit where you want, how you want and make whatever noises you want; it makes no difference to Zen.

I don’t profess to be some sort of world authority, but in this introduction, I am simply expressing my view in accordance with my understanding, which is derived from my actual life experience and intuitive knowing. Zen is about unteaching what you have been taught, it is about dissolving away the chains of your conditioning, your old, stale beliefs that keep you in bondage.

Zen is not a religion as such because it is not a man-made egoic entity. It does not require anything from you; neither are you required to believe anything. It is simply the natural presence of consciousness, there is nothing to “do” except to allow that higher power within you to weave its magic. You don’t need to be Einstein to realise the danger posed by institutions that require you to blindly believe in a doctrine, with threats of punishment if you don’t. In Zen there are no Gods, no gurus, no messiahs, no churches, no temples, no scriptures, no teachers, no dogma and no doctrine. Zen cannot be taught because there is nothing to teach. Of course, there are people out there, especially on the internet, who for a price, will sell you their “Zen course.”

Zen does not threaten you with an angry, vindictive God, who will pass judgement on you and cast you into the fires of hell if you don’t love “him” in the way “he” demands to be loved. Indeed, Zen does not demand anything and judgementalism is an egoic human trait that has its roots in fear.

People who do their best to live a life in Zen don’t care what religion you are, or indeed if you have a religion at all. This is because they don’t treat spirituality as a competition and do not have anything to prove or preach and have no desire to impose a belief system on others or to convert.

Beliefs are nothing more than thoughts in the mind. What you believe will create your reality. But your reality may not necessarily be representative of truth. With this in mind, I would add that your truth is your own and you have your own journey, so don’t just blindly believe what I have written here. If, however, what I have written resonates with you and you can take something from it, then I’m really happy to have helped along the way.

Zen is very subtle and incredibly beautiful, and will just bubble up from within you when it is ready with all the nonchalance of a lazy domestic cat; it will reveal you to yourself.

 

Look Within…Eh?

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Look within? What does that even mean? It’s no wonder that people who are on the first few rungs of the spiritual ladder get frustrated and disheartened when they receive this statement as an answer from a “seasoned pro” after asking a question. Yes, it may be true that all the answers we will ever need can be found within us, but just to advise someone to “look within” can sound a bit throwaway. It’s a statement that gets used quite a lot, and it’s very valid, but without further explanation it’s a statement that doesn’t carry much meaning. Lets face it, it’s not as if you can turn your eyes around and view your body from the inside. With this in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to write an article on what it means to me.

First of all, before we do anything else, it will really help if we explode the myth that consciousness, the spirit, the soul etc. resides within the body. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that the body resides within consciousness. Yes, consciousness may be in the body, but only because the body is comprised of consciousness in the gross form that we call matter. In fact, consciousness permeates EVERYTHING, because everything is consciousness existing at varying rates of vibration.

I have my own method of looking within, which involves various breathing exercises, but to keep things as simple as possible, the following should set you on the pathway of being able to look within yourself (if you have just started exploring spirituality and you happen to be reading this). Firstly, get yourself into a position that is comfortable for you. This could be sitting in a comfortable chair or even laying down on your bed; you don’t have to sit cross-legged on the floor, just get comfortable. Then close your eyes, and without trying to perform any tasks (clearing your mind etc.) just breath. That’s all you have to do. If you are agitated about something and your breathing seems fast, don’t worry, just continue to breath. After a while (it doesn’t matter how long it takes) your breathing should start to slow down and you should also start to feel more relaxed.

Now, at some point, and again, it does not matter how long this takes, you should become aware of an expansion of consciousness. You will probably still be aware of your physical form, but you will find that these feelings you have of the existence of your body, are actually contained within this expansion of consciousness. When we are rushing around and agitated it’s impossible to have this sensation. The more you sink down into relaxation, the more you will feel the expanse of your true nature, which is consciousness. This is about as complicated as it needs to be, especially at this stage of your journey. But, if we take a moment to examine what has actually happened, you will see that all you have done is to allow yourself to “Be” and in doing so you have allowed your true nature to just drift to the surface and expand outwards. After a short time of practicing this method it should become second nature. You will be able to just close your eyes for a few seconds and feel the expansion, no matter where you are; at the bus stop, sitting in the doctors surgery etc.

This has opened the door for you now. We are all different and searching for different things. But, you have given your true nature access to the physical you and I’m sure that it has its own agenda as to how it will guide you going forward. Hope you found this useful.

 

 

The Dualistic Concept Of Heaven And Hell

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Heaven and Hell are not places that you go to after death. Whether you’ve been “good” or “bad” there are no such places as Heaven and Hell; they are merely concepts that exist in the mind. We create our own Heaven and Hell here on earth.

The only reality, ultimately, is Consciousness, which exists as it is. For Heaven and Hell to exist, they would have to have some form of objective reality, which means that they would have to appear somewhere within the timelessness of Consciousness. If that was the case, they would have limitations (boundaries), which would render them both finite. This completely blows out of the water the mythological religious view that Heaven and Hell are eternal; eternal bliss and eternal damnation respectively. You cannot have two eternities, it is both spiritually and scientifically impossible. Eternity is timeless infinity, so if Heaven and Hell existed there would have to be a place (boundary) where one ceased and the other began. Therefore the only conclusion is that both Heaven and Hell are dualistic concepts that exist only in the mind.  

Status: Is There Any Point?

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There is an old Italian proverb that goes:

At the end of the game both the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

I love that proverb. If you take it at face value, it is surely telling us that in life, it doesn’t matter who we are, we all end up leaving in a box. (Yes, I can hear you nit-pickers out there, saying not everyone goes in a box), but metaphorically, it is true. I, however, like to look at this proverb from a deeper level because this is where I think the beauty lies. For me, what this proverb is telling us is that status in life must be one of the most pointless things ever. Our true nature is that of consciousness, therefore we own nothing because we need nothing, and in ultimate reality, there is nothing to own. The same can be said of “owning” some sort of status, whether that be monarch, politician, mayor or company chairman. All such titles are superficial and any feelings of superiority are mind (ego) constructed. Life is very non-discriminative, when it comes calling it pays no mind to how much money you have in the bank or your job title.

Of course, let us also remember that as a species, we have the habit of imposing status onto others too. We describe other people in various ways, not all of them complimentary. in fact, we can be very creative and colourful in our descriptions of others. I think that this proverb is a very gentle reminder for all of us to stay grounded and to be aware that regardless of what is going on, on the surface, we are internally all one consciousness. Whether king or beggar, life can bite you on the ankles when you least expect it, so be kind, try not to judge and be grateful for everything that life offers.

 

The Road To Nowhere

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Ikkyu 1394 – 1481

I believe that I’ve covered this concept before. However, I don’t think that I’ve ever had a truer understanding of what it actually means until now. Stuff that I’ve been reading lately coupled with my own experiences have really brought home to me that there is no destination apart from the actual journey. Wherever we find ourselves in any particular moment is our destination; it is Divinely and perfectly exactly where we need to be in accordance with the soul’s agenda (desire), and the soul’s desire is the only thing that matters. It is also a reminder that we do not have to search for anything in this life; we are already that which we seek.

Life is an eternal series of cycles that gives consciousness the opportunity to express and know itself through the physical form. It is also the process via which the individual soul evolves into the remembrance of its true nature (consciousness).

I’m reminded also of the quote from ancient Japanese Zen master, Ikkyu:-

“Having no destination I am never lost.”

Enlightenment

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Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as “enlightenment.” In our ignorance, we use the word when we are engaged in discussions around the subject, but it is only for the sake of using suitable vocabulary to fit the conversation. Enlightenment is nothing more than the realisation that we are already enlightened, we always were and we always will be. When we are slaves to the ego, we are either completely unconscious, or we have the knowledge that we are consciousness/spirit currently occupying a body, but at the same time we believe that we are on a “spiritual journey” in order to become what we call “enlightened.” You cannot become what you already are.

The genuinely enlightened souls who walk among us would never, ever make the statement, “I am enlightened” because to speak of enlightenment only affirms the existence of the state of being unenlightened, in other words it is an example of dualism expressed by one who is immersed in the illusion of duality (ego). In consciousness, there is only consciousness and nothing else; this is ultimate reality, there are no “states” and there is nothing to achieve. We can say that enlightenment is the knowing, experientially, of the nature of consciousness (which is our true nature).