Knowledge and Religion

You are that Awareness

 

Craig has some comments on my last mailing:

As always, your email messages put an ear-stretching grin on my face and a radiance in my being. Of course, I'm up against a deadline right now but -ha! - I choose to say hello to you instead. What your message reminded me of is the calm at the center of the storm; in Aikido,

I'm seeking more the place of center, which initially may be a physical position, but ultimately it's that place that is closer to what you are talking about, where we are who we are without struggle or separation. Obviously I'm not there yet but the fog may be lifting. Well, back to my work! And thank you for your work!!

with love,
Craig

Hi Craig,

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to reply to this email. See my blogs are actually a big argument. It goes something like this: "You are free"..."No I'm not!"..."Yes you are."

Common sense seems to dictate that we are not quite there yet. But this teaching is really uncommon sense. That's because here we show how you are already there.

The tremendous heights that sages like Christ and Buddha described are actually found right at your center. You don't create it; you just discover what's already true.

Is the me really you?
But since you're a humble guy you have the feeling that, "This couldn't possibly be me." But did you know that "me" isn't really you at all?  It is just an imposture that you assume is you. But in reality you are the space like Awareness that sees that thought called "me."

While this “me” seems to be the subject of your sentence, to Awareness it is just another object. You are that Awareness, not an object that you see. Your freedom comes from taking your rightful place as Awareness, not from attempting to manipulate or improve the false sense of “me.”

So just be aware that at any moment you can make that shift from limitation to freedom. A beginner in Aikido might think about the moves quite a bit. But at some point that beginner discovers his or her center, and sees that by standing there everything is managed perfectly well.

In the same way, you can make that shift from standing as the limited "me" to standing as infinite Consciousness. You will then see what your identity really is. In fact it is your own Consciousness that makes everything else seem real. You will see how “the everything” is really the one substance that we call Consciousness. This is how everything in the universe is really connected. Furthermore you will see that standing here everything is managed perfectly well. Your struggles and your worry are not needed.

And of course, when the universe goes it doesn't mean that you go. The universe can come and go. But in reality you don't come and go; it is you that remains as this undying Awareness. After all there’s a reason why you don’t remember your birth and why you can’t conceive of your death. That’s because they don’t happen to you, only the false sense of limitation.

Finding support for your practice

This is a more advanced article. If you want a basic understanding of this path, or if you want support as you practice throughout the year go to: www.light-up-your-life.com. Read down the page and enjoy the wonderful pointers to your Self-Nature. Also notice the many links to resources that are available to you.

You can also read through the archives of this blog and you will see how it is possible to find the innate freedom that’s right at your center.

If you would like a step by step approach to getting to your core and finding this freedom, you can get my book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.”

Here questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all in this blog. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Tell your friends

If you enjoy these blogs, tell your friends. Although we don’t have money for advertising, we would love to see everyone who wants to, wake up to the wisdom at their very core.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

You're Welcome to Join Us

On leap day, February 29, 2008, Michael will give a special Free class,

How Can Knowledge Set You Free?

The class is located at the Inner Journey in downtown
Los Gatos California. The address is:

     222 N. Santa Cruz Avenue,
     Los Gatos California 95030.

    The time is 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

    I will allow plenty of time for your questions.

Here is a link to the Inner Journey:

http://www.inner-journey.com/

For more information please call me at (408) 353-3555
and leave a message. I will get back to you quickly.

******************************************************************
   
We are getting more reviews of "Making Your Wisdom Come
Alive" At Amazon.com. To see them go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Your-Wisdom-Come-Alive/dp/141966946X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202938373&sr=8-1

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman
www.light-up-your-life.com
_______________________________
You can find the source of Happiness
and Wisdom. It is right at your center.
_______________________________
michael@light-up-your-life.com

Getting to the essence of your experiences

Here’s a note from Scott:

Mike 

I felt compelled to write you this morning.
I loaned your book to a client who read it. He has asked me numerous questions since, about my experience of the reading and what I got from it.

He has since mentioned a number of times, that because of reading the book, he has changed. He described a number of different occasions where he was self-aware and even having a white-light experience. He is really excited and intrigued by the experience of reading your book!

I know this note only mentions a very brief description of his accounts. But, the impact was significant to the point where he talks about it every time we meet. He is very grateful I loaned it to him!

Scott

 Hi Scott,

Thanks for your note. I wrote Making Your Wisdom Come Alive so that people can begin to experience these spiritual truths. So I am always happy when someone takes these words to heart and begins to have life changing experiences.

Just remind your friend that while spiritual experiences are good, the book points to a shift of your center, from the character that seems to go through the experience, to your real identity, which is Consciousness and Bliss.

Even spiritual experiences will come and go. That’s why your friend doesn’t experience white light all of the time. But the fact that he sees the coming and going of these experiences means that he stands as the changeless Consciousness, and not as the character going through the experiences. After all it is from this stillness that he is able to recognize change. This is the ultimate meaning of being Self-Aware.

So when all the experiences are over, you are just left with your original nature. Standing here life changes completely right back to what it always was. You will find that your being is the changeless reality behind all the changes in your experience. 

Here you will find all the beauty of your experiences without their inherent limitations of time and space. Tell your friend, “If you want to know for sure just stand here and see."

These discussions are great for you also as you will find your own experiences and sense of reality deepening. Discussing this book with a friend is a perfect way to delve deeply into it.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman
www.light-up-your-life.com   

Is your life driven by fate or free will?

Awhile ago someone posted a comment on my blog. It turned out to be an ad for a psychic reading company. At fist I was surprised because up to now, except for my book, my blogs have been ad free.

But then I thought, “This is a great opportunity to write about one of my favorite topics: Is your life driven by  fate or by free will.”  So is your life just a matter of fate that can be predicted by a psychic or astrologer. Here is the ad that they wrote:

No matter where your life is now, Find out what is up ahead!

If you are feeling uncertain about any aspect of your life or simply just want to know what is up ahead give us a call and be pleasantly surprised with our candid readings.

No matter what your concern is, we are here to help you with our skills as Psychics, Astrologers and Tarot Readers. Whether your concern is Financial, Romantic, Employment or just every day stressors that can make life less tolerable, we can look at these and more to assist you in finding your true path to fulfillment and happiness by utilizing Astrological, Psychic or Tarot readings.

In my case, I was more on the free will side of this argument. But then I started to ask: “If life is strictly a matter of free will then why do people have different temperaments?” I found that even if they were born into the same family, three children will each have different temperaments, abilities, and interests. I could not account for these differences merely by the environment that the children were born into.

And then why was I born into this family with this environment and not into another one? I had to conclude that there were more factors going into my life than just my free will. What I thought was free will like the ability to choose between this job and that, this car and that car, and this life style and that life style may have only resulted from conditions that were beyond my control.

But then again if life was just a matter of fate, if we were just rail cars stuck on a particular track from birth to death what value would life hold anyway? Or maybe this track is a little flexible giving us a little freedom anyway.

Enter the Doorway of Freewill

As I started my spiritual practice I found the secret to freewill. This is the place were the train leaves the tracks for good. This place is your own Self-Nature.

The best description that we can give to this place is Consciousness and Bliss. This is a description of the one substance that pervades and supports the whole universe. It is only from the perspective of your mind that it seems like two things.

But on the level of your mind, you can consider Consciousness and Bliss as two doorways into your nature. Enter through either of these doors and you will find the deepest meaning of freewill.

Freewill as Bliss

First let’s look from the point of view of Bliss. As long as you think that the objects that you see in the world are the cause of your happiness, your life will seem to be driven by these objects. That’s because you are wired to go towards happiness and away from suffering. As these objects change, including as your mind changes your happiness will seem to come and go as if it were affected by an outside force. Then you can ask: “By fate will my life be happy or sad? Should I consult a Psychic to see if I will get what I want?” 

However when you finally realize that happiness was never caused by the objects that you see but by the place where you actually experience it – your own Self-Nature, you will end that incessant running after happiness. You can then rest in the freedom of you own Self-Nature. Standing here you will no longer need a psychic to predict your happiness and your life will come unglued from any track that it might be stuck on.

Our new ad can say: Consult your own Self-Nature, guaranteed to find happiness. You consult your own Self-Nature simply by standing there.

Freewill as Consciousness

If your doorway is Consciousness you will come to the same conclusion. As long as you take the patterns in your mind to be true you will seem to live by those patterns as if they were an external force driving your life this way or that way.

If you want to know what a mental pattern is just complete one of these sentences: When I’m in this situation I always react _______. 

Here’s another example: When I’m in an intimate relationship I always ________. Mental patterns are just little unexamined beliefs that flutter through your mind. They could be beliefs about the world, your mind, or yourself. Then your life plays out based on these beliefs.

For example: If I let someone get too close what would they see? Here’s the assumption that you are innately bad or off. Without this assumption people could get a lot closer.

I hope you get a sense from this quick description what these patterns are. When you finally recognize these beliefs as just beliefs and not reality you are free of them. That’s because you are now standing as Consciousness and not as a state of mind.

When the patterns that seem to control your mind are gone what is there left for a psychic to predict. When your mind is free from the relatively few unexamined beliefs that seem to control your life you are free to respond to life in the best way possible. No one can predict what this way will be. This is freewill.

Then the ad could say: “Stand as Consciousness and not as a pattern in your mind. Then you will put psychics out of business.”

Finding support for your practice

This is a more advanced article. If you intrigued by this article, and want a more basic understanding of the path of Self-Knowledge, or if you want support as you practice throughout the year go to: www.light-up-your-life.com. Read down the page and enjoy the wonderful pointers to your Self-Nature. Also notice the many links to resources that are available to you. You can also read through the archives of this blog and you will see how it is possible to find the innate freedom that’s right at your center.

You can also read through the archives of this blog and you will see how it is possible to find the innate freedom that’s right at your center.

If you would like a step by step approach to getting to your core and finding this freedom, you can get my book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.”

Here in this blog, questions about this article or other things going on in your life are always welcome; you can write us at michael@ananya.com. I love questions and try to answer them all. That’s because when you start to question limitation, you are on the verge of destroying it.

Tell your friends

If you enjoy these blogs, tell your friends. Although we don’t have money for advertising, we would love to see everyone who wants to, wake up to the wisdom at their very core.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman