Knowledge and Religion

The Mind in Meditation

Recently I was excited to read a book on meditation because the author had some experiences and was not merely an intellectual. But I was disappointed to find that he had two separate pockets, one for his meditations, and one for his experiences. Even though he had deeper experiences, the author brought lock stock and barrel into the traditional misunderstandings about meditation. And in the end he admitted that you shouldn’t meditate too much or you will limit your experiences.

The reason for this author’s confusion was that he unknowingly was talking from two different centers. His meditation advice came from a state of mind, and his experiences come from his original state transcending thought.

Make your meditations into a one step process
So his meditation process involved first purifying the mind and then looking into your awareness. Here’s where those of us with self knowledge can smile a little, because we can see exactly what he is doing. He is relegating awareness to a state of mind, while in reality Awareness transcends all states of mind as Awarness is another name for your own self-nature. Once awareness becomes a state of mind then comes the endless preparations necessary to find this awareness. And your meditation practice seems to go up and down with your thought waves.

So here are some of the prerequisites that he gave with the hope that you can stabilize something that is naturally in motion. First eat the proper diet, then breathe correctly, relax the various points called chakras, and then quiet the mind and finally you are ready to look into awareness.

Before doing anything, look afresh
But here is the real secret for purifying the mind. If you simply take a fresh look at your mind, you will find that it is intrinsically pure. And that’s before you do anything to it. Of course we know what our thoughts say, but did you ever take a look to see what your mind is in itself? Is it really just a bunch of thoughts? What color is it and what is it shape? What is the sound that belongs to mind in itself?

If you run a blank you will have come face to face with that crystal clear thing called mind. A little discovery like this will bring the thing that you hope to obtain much closer to what you are now. In the end you will see that a pure mind is not the opposite of thoughts. With or without the thing that you call thoughts, your mind is already the purity that you are looking for.

You shine by your own light
Furthermore, once you discover the nature of your mind, you will not have to look for a separate awareness. The nature of your mind is awareness. It is clear and shines by its own timeless self. Although you can’t see your mind as a separate thing, it sees all. You know it because you are it, without the need for a separate knower. This is a description of your bright ever-shinning original mind.

So in your meditation abide as the thing that you are, and you can do away with the prerequisites. And best of all you will find that your deepest experience and your everyday meditations will be exactly the same. Although thoughts and your deepest experiences may at times may seem separate, in the end they get sewn into one pocket. And the name embroidered on that pocket is “I”, unseen yet abiding forever in its own light.

Asking Questions
If this blog seems a little theoretical to you, ask questions. Then you will see how the explanations in this blog apply to your life. And the freedom that you find will be real. Questioning is the key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation, it falls away.

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. When you can ask, you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

Also for more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. 
 
Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants, can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

Freedom from Limitation

Most people that I talk with don’t realize how free they can be. If a person could find a way to clear out the frameworks that seem to keep him or her in limitation, their true potential would reveal itself by itself. In case you think that you are a limited person, did you know that you are the source of wisdom and bliss? The freedom that we talk about here is remarkable; it is complete freedom from the situations that seem to cause suffering.

This freedom has the quality of being unexpected but welcome. It does not depend on changing the situations that you blame as the cause of suffering. In other words if you change your partner in your relationship or not, whether you change your job or not, whether you work or retire and even if you are sick and in pain you can still be at peace. That’s because the freedom described here comes from the depths of your being and not from the situations that you face. Indeed this freedom is even deeper than the condition of your mind and body.

What you can see you are free of
So you may wonder, “How can I clear out the frameworks that seem to keep me in limitation?” The first step is to simply recognize them. The limitations and suffering that you take to be natural are not natural at all. The thing that glues them together is your belief in them. When you can finally see frameworks as frameworks and not as reality you dissolve the glue that holds these frameworks together and they disappear. Now here’s the most interesting thing: there is no other step necessary; you don’t have to use positive thinking or the force of will. That’s because you are the seer of limitation, not the one caught in it. So when you recognize a limited view as limitation and not as reality you automatically return to your natural place as awareness, free from the limitation that you see. 

So use your natural curiosity and question suffering. After all only peace and joy feel natural. Suffering has a cause and you can find that cause. You might see it as your view of the world, the view of your mind, or your view of yourself. Once you see these frameworks you’ll be in for a surprise. The situations that are supposed to cause suffering just won’t bother you anymore.

You don't have to apply force to make this fundamental change. All you have to do is recognize limitation for what it is—assumed limitation. The rest of this practice occurs beyond your mind and will. Returning to your natural freedom, all of the problems that life seems to bring get released. You are left with nothing but freedom and a joy that your mind just can’t fathom. And you think, “I’m supposed to have problems and here I am in utter joy!”

Asking Questions
If this blog seems a little theoretical to you ask questions. Then you will see how the explanations in this blog apply to your life. And the freedom that you find will be real. Questioning is the key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation, it falls away.

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. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

Also for more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. 
 
Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

Dying into the Deathless Spirit

Below is a quote from Gitanjali  (an offering of songs) by Rabindranath Tagore. I am sure you will find that the beauty of these words shine forth by themselves. I hope you will enjoy them fully,  by resting in the place that they point to.

Gitanjali

I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms, hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.

No more sailing from harbor to harbor with this my weather-beaten boat. The days are long past when my sport was to be tossed on waves.

And now I am eager to die into the deathless.

Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss where swells up the music of toneless strings I shall take this harp of my life.

I shall tune it to the notes of forever, and when it has sobbed out its last utterance, lay down my silent harp at the seat of the silent.

by Rabindranath Tagore produced by Chetan Jain, Viswas G and Anand Rao at Bharat Literature

These verses are from near the end Tagore's poem where he heads towards the end of his life. Also these verses describe another type of dissolution into the unseen and unheard form that has no boundaries, the perfect pearl of the formless, your very nature.

These verses are a wonderful description of self discovery. With a little explanation you too can experience that which he so beautifully describes and die into the deathless. The problem is that here on earth we tend to forget the thing that we are, and take ourselves to be the objects that we see. The culprits that we identify with most are the physical body and states of mind. We also take our self to be the thought I. Self discovery is returning to our rightful place, our real nature. 

How can you possibly know that which has no form?
Now you might ask, “Why would I mix myself up with an object; after all I am what I am, aren’t I?” The answer is that you are that perfect pearl of the formless, the harp that plays silent music. This is something that is beyond the ability of your senses, and the thoughts in your mind to grasp. Senses and thoughts are designed to look out and see objects that are either physical or mental. There is no sense designed to look back at the ultimate seer, which is the steady unflinching Consciousness that lights up the mind and makes it knowable. If you attempt to turn your eyes around and look at Consciousness, you will just end up with a headache and not the silent Consciousness that you are.

So now you might ask, “If I can’t sense or think myself, how can I possibly know myself?” If you ask this question you are on the right track. You know yourself because you are yourself, without the need for a separate knower. Like the sun, you shine by your own light without the need for a separate light.

The still place that sees the ever-changing universe
Self inquiry is returning to the state that sees form but has no form of its own. It is a matter of disengaging from the little pets that you take to be you and returning to your formless state. Whether it’s a quiet mind or a mind that contains certain thoughts, the fact is that any state of mind is just an object that you see and not you. This means that the ultimate spiritual practice is returning to that which you are the whole time. Spiritual practice is not self purification.

The weather-beaten boat tossed on the waves is identification with the body. Dying into the deathless is returning to that which was never born and will never die. It is the still place that sees the ever-changing universe; and when the universe disappears, standing here you remain in perfect peace as the deathless spirit.  

For more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. Also feel free to ask questions. Questioning is the key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation, it falls away.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

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.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

Expanding Your Mind

Did you ever have a mind expanding experience where life seemed to come in close and get amplified in ways that you could barely describe; an experience punctuated by waves of bliss? Are you curious about what actually happened to your mind? How did it actually expand? You might be surprised to know that your mind did not really expand. Rather what you thought was an experience, was really a glimpse into your natural state. But because it seemed to have a beginning and an end, you thought that that it was an experience.

Your next question might be how can I get back there again and that’s where the trouble starts. Your question implies that you are somehow separate from the state that you were in. Your assumption was that you were a person having a great experience. And based on that assumption, you look for ways to get back again. You might ask, “Was it the way I was sitting or that my eyes were open or closed; was it the tree that I was sitting under or the position of the sun as it set over the hills?” “Maybe,” you might think, “it was my breathing or the thoughts or lack of thoughts in my mind. Was it perhaps the drug that I took?”

Once you determine what you think the causes of the experience were, you try to setup and repeat those conditions, with the hope of returning to that wonderful state. And if you fail in your efforts you bring in self judgment: “I must be deficient.”

The five keys to the kingdom
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.

 ___________________________________________________________________

Today I am going to give you the four keys to the kingdom so you never have to come down and suffer again. So are you ready? First, you are what you seek! So if you want to expand your mind fully, and get back to your highest states, find out who you really are.

Second, you are not an object. Assuming that you are an object, life seems divided and you feel limited. When you look into it deeply, you will find that all the factors mentioned above as possible causes for your experience are just objects that you see and not the real conditions. Whether it is factors in your environment, body, or mind, these are only the conditions of objects. You are the space-like ever-free Awareness that sees them. You are not the one caught by their limitations. The cause of your experience was your identity, not some object that you saw.

Moreover you do not sense yourself like you sense an object by sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell. You are not a thought either. You know yourself because you are yourself. This is the essence of direct experience. As soon as you attempt to capture yourself in the same way that you sense an object, you bump into limitation and feel as if your experience is disappearing. 

The third key is that it is your view of the objects that you sense that keep you stuck in limitation.  For instance if you feel that the world is a dark or scary place, you will not be able to enjoy the oneness that underlies it and makes it up.

The forth key is that when you see a limitation as limitation and not you, you are freed from that limitation. The only thing you have to do is see these limitations for what they really are. That will take the apparent power out of them and you will naturally return to what you really are.

The most subtle object is the thought I. Once you see that this thought is just a thought and not the real you, you will have eliminated the anchor that drags you back into limitation. That’s when there will be nothing left to come back to.

Use these keys to return to your real experience
So in your meditations and in your life try to use these keys to free yourself from the suffering and limitation that you feel. When you seem to come down from your high experiences, take some time and determine what you are coming back to. Is it a physical body or a state of mind? Perhaps it’s a view of the world. When you finally see that limitation is just that – limitation, and not a real definition for you, you will be in for a surprise. Without even trying, you and your most expanded experiences will be one.

For more detailed explanations and examples read through these blogs or get my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. Also feel free to ask questions. Questions are the bonus key to your freedom. You’ll see that when you question limitation it falls away.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

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.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

On Occupy Wall Street

Somebody asked me about the Occupy Wall Street movement. I thought this question was a little unusual because I never broach into the political realms. But there are some spiritual aspects to this movement. I think that if the people in this movement are willing to consider these aspects, they will bring more focus to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Specifically there are three spiritual questions that can bring this focus to this movement:

First, what is value of a human being?

Second, what is the purpose of life?

And third, where can a human being find happiness?

By answering these questions I think that the participants in this movement will gain a better understanding of what they are rebelling against, and what they hope to achieve. So today let’s discuss the real value of being human:

Is the value of a human being the same as a corporation?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.

 ___________________________________________________________________

At first the value of a corporation seems quite obvious. Its value comes from its balance sheet. The more profit a company makes the more value it has. There are two ways that a company can increase its profits: by increasing its sales and investments, and by decreasing its expenses.

Notice that there is no place here for human values and needs. Also there is no room for compassion. For instance if it helps the corporation’s balance sheet to lay people off before Christmas, then your Christmas present will be a layoff notice. Also, a company will give to charity if the company feels it will help its reputation so that it can sell more products.  But the aim of the company is to cut down on a person’s buying resistance, not to help people.

Can our value be measured by our wealth?

How to find real success

Occasionally I like to include a series of questions in my blog, each question clarifying the last. In our conversation we discuss what makes your life a successful one?

This is a question from Sabir:

Thank you Michael,

Your answers were really great and provided the necessary base to make the person free from all sorts of suffering.

Michael, I have circle of friends where I discuss your suggestion for knowing and meditating on your self-nature. I do believe in every single word that you have pointed out as you clearly state that these are the teachings of sages of old and you didn't discover anything new.  But my friends raise the point that if the stillness and oneness are the only thing to concentrate on then what's the point living life in this world? Since you believe that happiness comes from the place where you actually experience it and not from the opportunities that life brings you, then if you obtain oneness you wouldn't be excited by the opportunities for success that come into your life.

Likewise sorrow or grief shouldn't hurt you, but in the actual world you cannot isolate yourself from these emotions because that would be unnatural.

I tried hard but couldn't make my point clear to them. What would you say in this regard, Michael? Here I must mention that as success is the main motive of my friends they said that this wisdom meditation doesn't support success. One of my friends has attended Richard Bandler famous NLP Neuro-linguistic program in Karachi Branch and other found Paul Mckenna success programs series and they believe that they get certain benefits from those programs. I saw Paul Mckenna books and listen to CDs at my friend place; those have some impact because it based on stimulating imagination which is quiet contrary to meditations

Here was our reply to Sabir's question:
Hi Sabir,

Could ask your friends exactly how they define success? For instance Steve Jobs, since I mentioned him, died with a net worth of around 30 billion dollars U.S. My wife calculated that even if he spent a million dollars a day for eighty years he would have money left over. But he was only 56 years old when he died and was sick for the last eight years of his life. Is that success?

Bernie Madoff is another example. He made lots of money too, but he made it by deception and will spend the rest of his life in jail. Is that the way they would define success? Or Mother Teresa spent her life serving the poor. Is that success? And Kabir of whom you will read about in my newly revised book wrote poetry that is beautiful even in English. (You may be able to read Kabir in his original language.) Is that success?

If your friends have metrics I would like to know them too. For instance they may define X amount of money, or Y amount of years living in good health or Z amount of children as success. Once I have a good idea of what they mean by success, I will be able to give them a precise and complete answer as to how Self-Knowledge will or won't help them with their goals.

Best Wishes,

Then Sabir wrote:

Michael

I have had contact with you since 2006, even before that I always felt amazing states whenever I thought of myself, the world, my surroundings and this universe.

I always felt there is something beneath your suggested meditations and they show me that beneath path, whenever I used it at the times of difficulties and miseries I found great benefits.

I agree with your advice in the last paragraph of your second to last email that at this time of comfort, I should practice rigorously and I will do it with the help of your book and then I will ask for any clarifications.

I think my friend’s idea of success is status and money. But as you mentioned in the examples of Steve Jobs & Bernie, money and status do not necessarily bring happiness and peace. But because we all live in this materialistic world where everybody thinks objectively instead of subjectively, it is hard for them to digest the concept of meditation.

My friends argue that if all you want is stillness and oneness why live in this world at all.  If you gain this oneness then you wouldn’t be excited by any opportunity for any success comes your way in life. After all you believe that happiness doesn't come from opportunities; it comes from the place where you actually experience it. Likewise given this belief sorrow or grief shouldn't hurt you. But in the world you can’t isolate yourself from these emotions, coming from a changing world. That would be unnatural. Could you shed some light on these arguments, Michael?
Thanks & Regards

Sabir

We replied to this second question as follows:
Hi Sabir,

Of course it is hard to imagine what it is like to wake up. Most people think that in life you either are busy running after goals and objectives, or dull where you just sleep all day. They can hardly conceive of a state where life becomes fascinating just because of what it is, without the need to gain anything from it. But the feeling is amazing. It is like you have everything because you are everything.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory.

See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:
Amazon.com

___________________________________________________________________

 

Traditionally they say that there are no rules for a sage. A sage can run a country, run a business, fight in the army, or just sit all day and meditate. If a sage appears to have desires his or her desires are like a burnt rope. Although it appears to be a rope, when you touch it the rope falls apart; desires have no ability to bind the sage.

And when the sage passes away he returns to that which he is already, always was and always shall be. That's because for a sage the thing that dies has already passed away. But one thing I can tell you for sure, a sage is not dull. A sage is as awake as you can possibly be, without even trying.

The peace that even supports sorrow

Finding Peace in a Brutal World

Since I encourage curiosity, it is my joy to answer the questions that I get. When a person questions the circumstances that make up his or her life, things start to change for the better and freedom is just around the corner. Here are some more questions from Sabir:

Thanks Michael for your reply, As you encourage questions, I will ask because I am confused and seek clarity through the guidance of your wisdom.

How do you define Happiness? We live in this world and have to live under the circumstances that we face day by day. I am fortunate that I have some education and experience, and live my life in so much comfort, but in this part of the world where basic necessities are rare, people are dying due to floods, droughts, earthquakes and poverty. How can a person seek his or her self-nature when the reality, or as you called limitations are so brutal?  Living in extremely difficult circumstances, how can a person find happiness/self-nature or gain self-knowledge with an empty stomach, crying hungry children, and dying parents?

My point is that man is helpless; it was not his choice to come into the world.  Like the Sufi preachers, you use very simple words to encourage people to dig out and seek their inner nature. But how can people do that while living in this real world if it is REAL?

Another instance of a painful reality is a person facing a serious setback and break up of an intense relationship. This makes his life miserable. Every breath he takes is filled with sorrow and grief because his loved one left him alone. How can he escape this suffering? Can he get his normal life back? Should he consult with a doctor for a remedy? Can you suggest some meditation to overcome this misery? Michael, please help as this is really a matter of life or death for someone?

Regards,
Sabir 

At best these words can point to a state that is really beyond words. I know that when I use the word happiness people will think of a smile as they lie on their favorite beach sipping a cocktail. Moreover they will think of pain, misery and sadness as the opposite of this happiness. However I am using happiness in a different way. I am refering to the feeling of being at home or at peace. I am talking about a happiness that has no opposite.  What this means is that even in the midst of pain as you cry ouch! you can still abide in peace. Obviously this does not come from a state of mind. After all you are thinking and feeling ouch!

This happiness comes from standing as the silent witness, where the ups and downs of life are seen in their proper perspective. It means standing as the stillness that all of this motion points to. You should know that you cannot create this stillness; you can only abide in your original state.

The world is an unstable place for finding happiness _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

From your question I can see that you know that life can be unpredictable. Even for someone as well off as you, you never know when there will be an earthquake, flood, or war. Quickly all of your possessions will disappear. And even if you manage to hang on to your possessions disease is unpredictable and can strike at any time.

If you think that pain and suffering are just for the poor, you should remember what happened in my part of the world. We live in California near where Steve Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer. While he could afford the best care, he only lived for eight years, even with his painful treatments.

But life provides an incredible opportunity
However you should know one thing: despite all of the pain and suffering that you see, life is still an incredible opportunity. While experiencing suffering in the human form, you can discover that which is free from suffering and even death. And once you discover this, you will suffer no more. This is the promise of all sages springing from before eternity, and this is my promise to you. If you just look to the place where these words point you will find a joy that is unaffected by the ups and downs in life. You will find oneness, which is the reality and harmony behind the whole universe. This is the wish fulfilling gem that everyone seeks in various forms.

Although suffering seems intense, when you discover the secret of this teaching in an instant your suffering disappears. Like a magic trick, suffering seems intense when it is present, but once it is gone it will feel like it never came into being. Suffering disappears for good when the person, bombarded by changing circumstances, disappears. Then as if rising out of the ashes of limitation, you will become the changeless Self that you always were. It is here that you will rest in peace.

Finding peace after a painful breakup
Now for the person facing a breakup of an intense relationship: Like death, this person is grieving the loss of a loved one and that is natural. This person does not have to change his mind. The grieving process will naturally run its course. Meditation is the best remedy for grief. Here are two pointers that you can give to that person to help with his meditation:

First it is unfair to ask another person to provide you with the happiness and love that she just can’t provide. That’s because happiness and love comes right from your heart and not from another person. This means love comes from the place where you actually experience it, and not from the things that you see. Notice this and in future relationships you will be able to experience a deep connection in oneness, without the fear of loss.

You are the seer of limitation, not the one trapped in it
Second, notice that your identity is really the Awareness that sees the person who appears caught in his problems. The seer is like a steady flame. As the seer, you are not the one trapped by your problems. You can tell this person that Awareness is not a state of mind. Rather it is your original identity. Knowing this you don’t have to change your mind. Doctors and medications can only help you to change your mind for a short period of time; these are temporary fixes. On the other hand in meditation you can shift the place where you stand, out of the mind and into your innate Awareness. That will help you resolve this problem for good. In my book you will find many more gems to help with relationships.

Use your circumstance as an opportunity to practice
One last thing: In my spiritual practice the world around me was fairly stable. I had enough to eat, and there were no wars or natural disasters. This made it easier for me to find the things that were bothering me and keeping me stuck in limitation so that I could resolve them and wake up. While you can practice under any circumstance, I would recommend taking advantage of the fact that your world is stable right now. Practice with an open minded intensity so no matter how your world changes, you will never suffer again. Please tell me if this answered your questions or if you have any further concerns.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

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.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

The secret technique for finding your self

Here is an important question from Sabir:

Hello Michael,
How are you?
Remember me!
This is Sabir, your old student. I still read your book but unfortunately do not often meditate according to the teaching in the book. But whenever I try to see my mind and my problems from the eyes of myself, I really get some amazing feelings which I can't explain in words.

I was busy in this materialistic world. I immigrated to Australia, but am back in Pakistan because my mother is quiet sick and she needs me. Michael, I read your book countless times, but still I seriously think I am lacking the essence of your suggested meditation. Can you advise me on a new meditation technique to get to this essence?

Can I get the revised version of your book?
Regards,
Sabir

Here is our reply:

Hi Sabir,

I can see that you have had glimpses into your Self-Nature as some amazing feelings that you can’t put into words. This shows how in an instant you can be lifted out of your problems and limitations, and into the freedom of your real identity.  These experiences are great. To further your experiences you may want to explore this: when you come back into limitation, what are you coming back to? The thing that you come back to is the place you are taking to be your home. Although you can have a nice foray into the reality behind the universe, in the end you will come back to the place that you call me.

Perhaps you are coming back to the one who pursues happiness in the world.  In that case meditate on where you actually experience happiness. Notice I didn’t say give up something or try to get the right things. When you feel happiness, notice where it comes from. Does it come from the things that you see, or does happiness come right from the place where you experience it? Discovering this, when happiness seems to disappear you will know where to find it again.

Here you happily remain in your Self-Nature
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

When meditating on Self-Knowledge you want to see what you take to be you. This will help you to notice when you are taking assumed limitations to be reality. Remember, noticing limitation is the doorway to freedom. When without judgment you see limitation, you are automatically standing in the freedom of your real identity. In the end you will notice that you are the thing that you are seeking. That’s when the last assumption disappears and  there is no place left to come crashing down into suffering. Yes it is true; self-knowledge does put an end to suffering.

New techniques are only interesting when you are centered in your thought process. Not realizing that they are naturally free of the thoughts in their mind, people are always looking for new techniques to improve their thinking. But as always the most fascinating meditation is the ancient technique of returning to the Consciousness and Bliss that you really are. Although this place is always the same, you will find that standing here life becomes fresh and new. Always the same yet fresh and new, the only way to reconcile these seemingly opposite states is to stand here in your Self-Nature and see this for yourself.

Use old age and death as a motivation
I am sorry to hear about your mother. I wish her the best. As you take care of her, use this as a reminder. Bodies get old, sick and in the end they die. The only thing that doesn’t die is the thing that was never born. That is your Self-Nature. If you can answer this one question in your lifetime: “Who am I,” you too will never die.

In the revised edition of my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive, I talk more about meditation, specifically how we meditate. But you will see that the meditation techniques are rather flexible.  That’s because whether sitting, standing or walking; eyes open or closed you are always the Self. But I do recommend spending a little time each day contemplating the truth of your own being, until it is natural to stand as you are.

Asking Question
As always feel free to ask questions. It is only when you don’t ask that you get to live in assumed limitations. When you can ask you are well on your way to freeing yourself from the limitations that seem to cause your suffering.

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.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman

 

When your meditations become stale

I would like to take a break from our Buddhist text: Verses on The Faith Mind and answer a question from Dee. You know how much I love questions. Questions not only sharpen your understanding, they bring your meditations and your life into one continuous whole.

So here is the question from Dee:

Hi Michael,
Once again, thank you for getting back to me. Yes please, I would appreciate your sending me a link to your e-book as a PDF file.

You asked me what I am having a problem with re my spiritual practices!
My husband and I live in the bush in a nature reserve – we spend the majority of our time alone and I have not found anyone like-minded to interact with. My main problem is that I seem to be lacking the motivation I used to have when it comes to doing my meditation twice daily like I used to in the past – I went through years of deep self-analysis and studied with a wonderful Swami who taught me so much – what more is there to say?- lack of motivation……………………
Many thanks,
Dee

Hi Dee,

I think you will really enjoy Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. I wrote it for two audiences: beginners as an introduction, and spiritual aspirants whose practice is becoming stale. Often times in spiritual practice, we define our goal as way over there. Then we think, If I can just continue with my practice, I will somehow drill though a wall lined with obstacles and get there.

Eventually you start to feel as if you will never arrive at the thing you conceive to be the goal. That's when the motivation goes away. Self-knowledge will easily help you to overcome this problem. You will see clearly that the goal you are trying to reach is here and not way over there.

You are looking for a state of being _____________________________________________________________________________________

Give the gift of enlightenment when you give Making Your Wisdom Come Alive. This book points to the wisdom and joy that you find at your center. Here you can find the light that makes life shine in its full glory. See our fully revised second edition.

For more information go to:Amazon.com

Also now you can read this book on your Kindle or other electronic device. Please go to Amazon Kindle.
___________________________________________________________________

Furthermore you will recognize that you are not looking for a state of mind, you are looking for a state of being, which is the real you. Many things can affect the mind such as certain drugs, chemical imbalances in the body, diseases, and old age. But fortunately you are the seer of your mind, not the one caught in it.

When your path is Self-Knowledge, even if you get caught by an old mental pattern, you will have a strong sense that you can find your way free of it. You will feel that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's when your energy comes back.

Freedom is so free that you are free of environments
As for your environment, do what's best for your practice. Sages throughout history have recommended having Sat Sang (meetings for spiritual support) with other aspirants. But did you ever notice how people who live in the city long to live in the country, and people who live in the beauty of the country long to live in the city.

Somehow we are always defining happiness as being over there. Thus we never notice the place where we actually experience happiness. This place is not in the city, nor is it in the country; it is in your own heart. When you do feel joy, notice the place where it comes from. Then with this simple meditation, you will be on your way to turning your practice around.

I hope that this helps. Please feel free to continue asking questions. After all Self-Knowledge is the path for the curious. 

Asking Question
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.

Please Tell Your Friends
Please tell you friends. Although we don’t have an advertising budget, we hope that everyone who wants to can find out about and wake up to this wisdom.

Best Wishes,

Michael Gluckman