Shakti Meditation's Blog (63)

"One of the greatest things that can happen

to you on the spiritual journey

is you lose the will to keep going forward.



Because the mind is always going forward.

It is always seeking the next task,

the next accomplishment, the next attainment,

the next object of desire.



This is how we maintain our sense of self.

Like a…

“Everyone has a feeling of void inside them.



And we constantly try to fill this void

with food, with sex, with drugs,

with conflict and distractions,

with beliefs and knowledge.



Our entire modern culture

with all of its gadgets and social media

thrives on keeping us distracted from this void;

keeping us looking for the next…

"As you start to grow in awareness in meditation,

it is like you have all of these rubber bands attached to thoughts.



You are present, and then you are pulled back into thoughts.

You move back into awareness,

and then you are pulled back into thoughts.



But every time you rest back into awareness,

those rubber bands start to burn…

"The mind projects stories

on top of this moment.

 

This moment itself in its essence

is free of stories.

 

It is through the stories of the mind

that you are this person

in this environment

with these desires, worries etc.

 

In meditation,

we want to surrender the stories as they arise.

Not push them away or control them in…

"The mind must cling on to something.

It clings on to the body,

clings on to thoughts,

clings on to emotions.



When it can cling on to something, it feels real,

it feels as though it's something solid,

defined, and that feels safe.



Even though there's suffering in that safety,

there's limitation in that safety

there's…

"If you close your eyes in this moment and

let go of being involved with both thinking & doing,



then that sense of being separate disappears

and all that is left is consciousness.



You don't do consciousness in any way.

It simply is.



Only when your attention

contracts into being involved with thinking

do you appear…

This quote is from last week's satsang.

You can listen to it by playing this youtube video

Nice to listen to while reading.





"You cannot define yourself.

That's in the superficial thinking perception.



The superficial thinking perception

creates its own definition through…

This quote is from a recent live satsang.

You can listen to it by playing this youtube video

It's nice to listen to while reading:



"The essence of this moment

is oneness, peace, fulfillment.



There is nothing that is separate

from this peace.



To say the physical…

"The mind is very manipulative.

Other's people's mind's are very manipulative.

Both are constantly trying to suck you

into a reality that is only made of thoughts.



Beyond the thought, where is that reality

that people are so personally invested in?



But to just try and remain a witness

to the thinking process is very…

"The intellectual mind

fixates on subject/object;

me and you;

fixates on defining me, naming me,

defining you, naming you,

with descriptions and judgments attached.



Therefore, you never meet me.

You never meet anybody.

You only meet your idea of the other person;

your definition, name, description

& judgment of the…

"In my experience,

the fundamental spiritual practice

is fully allowing this moment to be.



Not to control the thoughts,

but allow thinking to be.

Not to repress feelings/sensations

but allow all feelings/sensations to be.



Without obsessing over them,

owning them;

without dramatizing and without control.



It's a…

"When you fall in love with this peace,

you're home free.



When you're not in love with this peace,

then no matter what you attain,

what you experience,

it will not fully satisfy you.



When you fall in love with something/someone,

when it is genuine,

and not just based on needy attachment,

then it doesn't matter

if…

"There's a bushwalk near my house.



It's not very well kept;

it's quite rough and wild

and because of that hardly anyone walks it.



I can walk 5 or 10 minutes

down the path and

there are no sounds of people at all.



No cars, no noises from houses.

Just pure nature.



Although there is the rush of the wind,…

"It's a lot of effort to be a somebody;

a lot of stress.



You have to keep reinforcing

the idea to yourself and others

that you are a somebody.

You have to defend your position,

your opinions, your beliefs, your accomplishments.



You have to keep remembering

your worries and desires;

always planning and…

"Awareness cannot be known

by the intellectual part of the mind,



but the mind can and does

recognize awareness through feeling.



It may feel it as peace, as bliss, as love.

It may feel it as formless being,

energy, silence, the witness

or even as a sense of freedom.



And through feeling,,

the mind can recognize…