Knowledge and Religion

Spending Time away From this Computer

This week we went on a retreat into the hills of Northern California. There was no cell phone connection, and no internet. We were cut off from the modern world. In some ways it was like being dead. Although we were doing fine, except for the beauty around us we were out of contact with the world. This leads to several questions: first of all, “When I crave all of the distractions that come with my cell phone, the millions of websites and the thousands of TV shows and videos at my disposal, what do I hope to find?” Or more to the point, “What am I running away from?”

If you have read these blogs before, you know and may have discovered afresh for yourself that the sparkling sense of existence that seems to come from the world actually comes from you. Also the happiness that seems to come from objects actually comes from the place where you experience happiness, your own self-nature. For more information on this go to: Inspire Me Today. 

You are the seer of limitation not the one caught in it _____________________________________________________________________________________

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.

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So what happens when you find yourself away from the things in the world that keep you distracted? Are you at ease without your usual distractions? Or are you tempted to run back into town to watch that TV show, get your email, and make a phone call? But before you run anywhere ask why? Are you afraid of the thoughts coming up in your mind like “What happens when I die?” Or do you feel that the world is a scary or threatening place? Do you feel bored when you are not busy? The great thing about this type of questioning is that once you discover the thing that bothers you, you are on the verge of releasing it. That’s because assumptions survive by lack of questioning. When you recognize the thing that is really bothering you, by your wisdom, you are able to stop identifying with it. That’s when you return to your natural state of freedom as the seer of limitation.

I am sure that you know that you are the seer of limitation, not the one caught in it. Since your nature is freedom, limitation feels constricting like a shoe that doesn’t fit. That’s why when you identify with limitation you find yourself attempting to escape from it by running after all of the distractions you can find. But even the thousand TV shows at your disposal are not enough. If on the other hand you can inquire into and see the assumptions that cause your suffering, you can stop the frantic running and return to your home, your natural state.

At the time of death the world disappears, not you!
So if you enjoy meditation, I would recommend spending some time away from the world of modern electronics. Are you really missing something that’s important? Instead of picking up that cell phone to make a call, or clicking on one more link, just sit and enjoy bliss at its source. You will find that you can enjoy the wisdom and bliss that does not depend on the things in the world. This wisdom springs from your identity.

And you will know that even when you pass away nothing really changes. It is more like the phone line that connects you with the world gets cut. Although the world disappears your sense of existence remains the same. What you are you always were and always will be. When you wake up you find that the character in the dream was really nothing at all.

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?
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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.

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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?

The why of Self-Knowledge

At first this thing called Self-Knowledge might seem confusing or at least nebulous. After all we are ourselves already, aren’t we? So what’s there to know? You may wonder why when Socrates asked the Oracle of Delphi, what’s the most important thing to know she replied, Know thyself. And Moses found out that God’s name was, I am that I am. It seems like there is some reason to know yourself.  But what could that reason possibly be.

I pull up to the 76 gas station on Los Gatos Avenue and ask: Can you tell me how to get to the town of Los Gatos? The attendant answers, What, you are already in Los Gatos.  With that knowledge I arrived in Los Gatos, right? No, I was already in Los Gatos but being ignorant of Los Gatos I was running all over desperate to find Los Gatos so that I could go to my meeting.

Knowledge is the cure for Ignorance
The problem was not a matter of doing something; after all I was already in Los Gatos.  The problem was ignorance. Since my problem came from ignorance the only solution was knowledge. Self-Knowledge is returning to the place where we stand anyway. 

With this as an introduction, we are ready to tackle the why of Self-Knowledge. I think you will see that Self-Knowledge is like the parting of the red sea so that you can easily walk from assumed limitation to the freedom that you are. However you will find one difference. You are already on the right side of this vast ocean. 

Like a Diamond your Self-Nature is Clear _____________________________________________________________________________________

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.
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What happens is that we take this diamond like clear Awareness, our self-nature, and mix it up with the limitations that we see. This is like assuming that the diamonds are green because the walls of the room are green. Mixing up our identity with limitation is like putting on a shoe that doesn’t fit; it’s just plain irritating.

So what are the limitations that we see? After all I don’t take my identity to be the things that I see, do I? That’s why I don’t take myself to be the tree growing outside my office window. If I did you could tell me, No you are not that tree; that tree is just an object that you see. Did you know that your body is also an object that you see? That means that its limitations are not your limitations.

The Limitations of the Body are not your Limitations
For instance, this body is five foot nine 170 pounds. When I say that I’m a doctor, writer or policeman, father or son, young or old, sick or well I am referring to the body, and that’s not me. The problem is that while I can see the body the body can’t see me. The same applies to the mind. I see the thoughts in my mind including the nefarious “I” thought, and while I see my mind, my mind doesn’t see me.

This diagram illustrates what I am saying:

 

Notice that there is no box around Awareness. That’s because Awareness is like space; since Awareness has no location, the mind can’t grasp it or think awareness like we think a thoughts. The I concept is the I that we often take to be the subject. For example I might think: I am writing this blog. The I in that sentence is just another thing that I see; it's not really me.

So the way you know yourself is by standing in the place that you are anyway. As you don’t need a flashlight to find the sun, you don’t need a separate light to find the Awareness that lights up the mind and body.

If a phone speaks does that make it alive?
Last week at apple several things happened. They are relevant to this blog on the why of self-knowledge. First the iPhone 4S came out. One of the unique features of this phone is that you can talk to it and it will answer or do what you want. So when they asked the phone, Who are you, it answered, I am your humble personal assistant.

So if the phone can tell you who it is the phone alive? Of course not! There are three important differences between the iPhone and us:

First, we are aware of our thoughts; the phone isn’t.

Second, when the phone turns off nothing is there. In contrast, when our mind turns off we are still completely there. Although we can’t remember a thing, we know if we had a good night’s sleep or not, don’t we?

And third, when we go to sleep we don’t think, Oh no reality is starting to disappear! The world disappears as if it never came to be, but our sense of reality remains the same as it always is, doesn’t it? That’s why when we are dreaming, the dream world seems real.

When the body passes away, do you die?
This leads to the other thing that happened last week at Apple: Steve Jobs passed away. Obviously the thing that we recognize as Steve Jobs is gone. But the bright Awareness that lights up the mind and body, and makes them come alive, that didn’t go anywhere. That remained as it always is and that is what we are. Awareness is the thing that we really experience; but words and thoughts are too limited to describe it. . .  Even God could only stammer, I am that I am.   

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

           

 

On Returning to our Origin

We just got back from our trip to Philadelphia where my wife and I visited our family. In their nineties, my parents are moving towards the end of their lives. So what spiritual instructions could we give to someone of that age? Would you like to be a fly on the wall and listen to the instructions that will take them beyond birth and death? This is your opportunity. If you can catch the meaning of these words, you too will not taste death. And even in life you will live in peace.

Certainly a long and drawn out practice will not work for my parents. And, how are they going to focus on a difficult practice as if it were the razor's edge? Moreover if they depended on using their breath or taking drugs to calm their mind, the first thing they should know is when the body and lungs disappear, these techniques will no longer work. And if they think that meditation is a matter of controlling the mind and body they will also be in for a surprise. At the time of death the sense of I, as the one who controls is the first thing to drop out. That’s when they will come face to face with the things that they really take to be true.

You are the seer of thoughts; not the one caught in them
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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.
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But my parents should also know that at the time of death, no matter how strange their thinking becomes, they are the seer of their thoughts, not the one caught in them. If they simply stand as the Consciousness that they really are, things will come to perfect balance. They will return to the harmony that was there all along and just got overlooked. It is the harmony that comes right from their self-nature. And they will not have to worry one little bit.

The only quality that they need for the meditation that transcends life and death is freedom from self judgment. After all, it is judgment that takes us out of our natural state of awareness and draws us in until we mistake a state of mind for reality. By giving up self judgment we are free to return to our natural state.

You are the one thing that remains
So here’s it what I told my parents:

Just abide in your original nature as all seeing Awareness. Everything else comes and goes. That includes the body, mother, father, doer and enjoyer, the world, any state of mind, no matter how strange it may seem, and even the thought I, which attempts to impersonate you.

Although everything disappears, the thing that makes the world seem so real remains. That’s because reality comes from you, not from the world. In relation to the world your identity, Awareness, is the witnessing Consciousness. But in reality you are the all seeing eye of God. Remain here as you always were, always are, and always shall be and you will rest in peace.

And with those parting words we boarded our flight back to California.

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

Out of the Body Experience

Recently I saw an article on the ABC news site talking about a scientific investigation into out of the body experiences. That is where you are floating above your body and looking back at it. The scientists were trying to determine if these experiences where real, or just a figments of the person’s imagination.  The way the article described this was a person looking back on his or her self.

This is exactly where the scientists get mixed up. They never fully investigate their own Self Nature. So today I thought I would help them set up a method for investigating their own identity. After they read this article, these scientists will wonder if they were ever contained in a body to begin with. So buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for some mind blowing information that will help you to uncover your original center. In fact this is your center even now.

We sense that we are greater than physical Beings _____________________________________________________________________________________

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.
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We already have a sense that there is something really deep buried within the person. Even though we see that everyone dies, we have a sense that we won’t die. Did you ever wonder where this comes from? Also, we feel like one person and not like many. At first you may think that this too is a contradiction to what you actually experience. After all you seem to be many people don’t you? For example you are a daughter to your mother and a mother to your daughter, a wife, a teacher and a friend.  It seems like as your experience changes your identity should also change. But it doesn’t. There is something within the person that is not affected by his or her situation or circumstances. That thing is the real you, and that’s the one we’re going to uncover today.

The method we are going to use is quite simple. You are the subject and the things that you experience are objects. You don’t mix yourself up with an object, do you? That’s why when I ask, Who are you, you don’t say, I’m Michael Gluckman. If you mixed yourself up with me, I would correct you and say, I am merely an object in your experience; I am not you, at least for now.

The body is an object — you are not an object.
Ok, so what does this mean? You know that you aren’t Michael Gluckman, because this writer is just an object in your experience; isn’t the body also an object that you experience?  Don’t look past this seemingly simplistic line of reasoning! This means that while the body is limited by time and space, perhaps its limitations are not yours. The reason I say perhaps, is because these words are mere pointers; you have to uncover their meaning for yourself by looking deeply into what you actually experience.

Now we assume that we are limited by the objects that we see. That’s why the scientists assume that when you have an out of the body experience you are looking back at yourself. But once you start to investigate, you will discover that there is a lot more to you than the scientists know. You are the Consciousness that lights up limitation; you are not the one caught in it.

Scientists assume that they know the seer
You may want to know where these scientists, who are brilliant men and women, get confused. Scientists are used to looking at objects. And as you know, objects are things that you sense, or things that can be defined by your thoughts. The problem is that you cannot know yourself like you know an object.

That would be like space assuming that it was limited to a pot and then trying to come up with a definition for space. Pot space is too limited to know the nature of space. The only way that space can know itself is by recognizing that the walls of a pot do not really define space. That deep knowledge will allow space to return to its original nature, the place that it never really left.

They fail to notice the treasure hidden in their own identity
Like the pot space, the scientists would have to notice that they are not contained in their mind and body. Moreover, their mind and body cannot see them. For this reason they cannot know themselves as a shape or thought. The only way they can fully know their self–nature is by being their self. I call this knowledge by direct experience. Since this is direct experience, it is the opportunity for you too to explore and verify the meaning of these words. Then you will step beyond the limitations of the body. But in reality you will not step anywhere; you will only find what you always were, always are and always shall be, and you just overlooked this great treasure.

Then you will recognize that if you appear to be in a body or out of it, you never really leave yourself. You always are yourself. And if you look back at the body you are merely looking back at the body, not at the Awareness and Bliss, which is the real you.

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

How we relate to God

We are used to classifying religions according to sects, the major ones being Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, and Jew. But there is a little used, though much more relevant way to classify religious practices and beliefs. It is by how a practitioner relates to God.

In this classification a religious sect can fit into more than one category. Instead of just labeling a belief, this classification relates more to what people actually experience.  The categories are duality, qualified duality, qualified nonduality and nonduality.

What is Duality?
Duality is the category that most people in western religions are familiar with. This is where the person is over here and God is over there and never the twain shall meet. Perhaps when you die you will get to meet that being called God, but that’s as close as you will ever get.

Incidentally an atheist doesn’t believe in this type of God. While some people have faith that when they die they will go to heaven and meet God, an atheist has faith that this won’t happen. Usually neither the dualist nor the atheist can imagine that there can be a completely different relationship to God that's outside belief and non-belief.

What is Qualified Duality?
Qualified duality is when a person has a vision or other experience of God. But even with this mystical experience, he or she and God are two separate beings. But here the practitioner has a little more than faith to go on. In some form such as a sight, sound, or sense of great love the person receives a visit from God.

Although these experiences are wonderful, people often report that they are very disappointed when their experience comes to an end. Mother Teresa for instance wondered where the love went that she had felt when she first started her practice of helping the poor people of India.

What is Qualified Nonduality?
Qualifies nonduality starts to shift the conversation. Up until now we were talking about you as being completely distinct from God. But here we share the same substance as God; we are no longer completely separate.

As an example we are a spark that comes from the flame called God. Although we are made of the same substance as God, we are only a tiny portion of this vast substance. The practitioner might notice that the world was created out of God. After all in the beginning there was no other substance available to create the world from except God.In that way he or she may feel like part of God or made of the sam substance as God.

What is Nonduality?
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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.
________________________________________________________________________

Nonduality means that there is only one substance that permeates the whole universe. While the universe is made of this substance, this substance is not dependent upon the appearance or disappearance of the universe. You discover the nature of this substance by finding your identity. This substance is the source Consciousness and Bliss. It is the thing that makes the universe appear to be so real.

When you first hear about nonduality it may seem improbable. After all you may not feel as if your identity encompasses the whole universe. So to get a sense of what this substance is we can use the example of space. If space were to identify with a room, a pot or even a whole building it might think that it is limited by these shapes. When the pot breaks or the building falls down the space may feel that it will die.

But what actually happens; space merges with universal space and discovers that nothing really happened. Building space was neither dependent on the building, nor limited to that building. In the same way we may think that we are limited by the shape of our body or the thoughts in our mind. But if we investigate closely we will find that our real form can never be contained by the things that we see.

When you experience it, the dream seems real
Here is another example that may help. When you were about to wake up from last night’s dream you told your friends that this whole world was just a dream. They then cried out in alarm, “What do you mean, we’re awake.”

From within the dream the whole world seems like it is made up of many different substances, and guided by all the various laws and energies that you find in that dream. But when you wake up you get to see that the whole world was actually made from the mind of the waking one. Moreover, when the dream world disappeared, the thing that made it seem so real remained, just as it always was. This thing is of course the mind of the waking one. And guess who the waking one really is ... it is you!

Here lies the source of reality
As in the dream, when you wake up you become the thing that makes this world seem so real. But nothing really changes. You are what you were the whole time, and you just overlooked it.

One last thing, the purpose of this blog and of my book, Making Your Wisdom Come Alive is to point out how you can experience the source of consciousness and bliss directly; to show you how close this state really It is not far away or just beyond your grasp. In fact this blog points to the thing that you are even now. If you find the place where these words point you will see how the thing that seems the most improbable is exactly what you are; that is the nondual reality on which the whole universe rests.

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

 

Self Knowledge reaches into Eternity

I get many requests from people asking me to support their brand of spirituality. You should know that I support all flavors of spirituality, as long as they are based on love and on the desire of the practitioners to better themselves.

But I have a special place in my heart for anyone who wants to follow the path of Self-Knowledge. On this path the essential question is: How can I find that which will last? When I say last I mean lasts not for 100 years or even 1000 years, but that which will last eternally. I can hear your objection now: That’s impossible, nothing lasts forever! But by the end of this blog you will get a taste for how it is possible that something lasts forever.

Build a solid foundation
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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. Go to Amazon Kindle.
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Furthermore I can assure you that this question will eliminate many of the brands of spirituality that we see practiced today. If you build your practice based on the condition of the body and mind, it is like building your practice on a foundation of sand. When the winds of time howl and the earth starts to quake this house will fall down. So it is important to build your practice on a solid rock like foundation. Then when the storms of life come with all of their furry your house will stand.

So now to get to our question, Where can you find eternity? After all everything comes to an end, doesn’t it? It is true that everything that you experience and see comes to an end. But did you ever consider this: where do you stand so you see that everything is in motion? The stillness that sees everything changing, that’s the real you, not the objects that are born, live and then die. In other words you are the one thing that doesn’t change.

Suffering occurs for Limitation, not for You
This means that the seer has no boundaries. It is only objects that are limited by space and time. You are the seer free from the qualities of the things that you see. So freedom comes by returning to your natural state of Consciousness and Bliss. Suffering and death occur when you take yourself to be the limitations that you see.

You should also know that your body and the thoughts in your mind are mere objects in your awareness; their changes are not your changes. By remaining centered in your own self-nature, you will get to experience a freedom that is not affected by the condition of the body and mind. Standing here you will know that your horrizons are even beyound birth, decay and death. Not as a mere theory, but as your direct experience.

You are the singular light that is never Extinguished
Moreover you should know that the mind and body are too limited to be able to look back and see who you really are. Since you see your mind but your mind can't see you, you don’t grasp your self-nature like you grasp an object. Now I can hear you objection: If I can’t see or think my Self-Nature how can I know it? The answer is that you know yourself because you are yourself. In the same way you don’t need a separate light to know the sun, you don’t need a separate mind or consciousness to know your-self.

So self-knowledge offers you the opportunity to experience yourself as you are, not as you are supposed to be. Standing here you will see that the sense of Reality, Consciousness and Bliss that you assumed belonged to the body, mind and world actually belongs to your ever present and changeless self. This is the place that spirituality actually points to. Standing here you get to cut the imaginary chains that bind you to limititation so you can be your original, all encompassing nature forever.

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

 

Where does peace come from?

Now that the weather is nice in Northern California where I live, it is time to walk the local trails. Yesterday I passed a sign warning hikers that they may encounter rattle snakes and mountain lions. Given the right circumstances, both of these animals can be dangerous. That means that they can attack and kill a human being.

But does this mean that harmony gets destroyed? After all people don’t go walking in nature in order to get killed, do they? The beauty in nature provides us with a chance to find peace and harmony; to come back to a sense of balance. But danger reminds us that if we want lasting peace we have to find it at the source.

Our environment can change at any moment _____________________________________________________________________________________

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. Go to Amazon Kindle.
________________________________________________________________________
One thing is for sure: If your peace is based on your environment it won't last. That’s because in the environment circumstances change. While here in northern California beautiful days are the norm, we still have earthquakes, floods, fires, and wild animals. And yet people travel here from all over the world just to enjoy this beauty.

If however you blame your peace on the places that you go for vacation, what happens when you have to face the rest of your life, your family, your job, and the city traffic? Two things here will seem to shatter your peace: when you change your environment like when you move from the country to the city, and when your environment changes due to earthquakes, floods, changes in your state of mind etc.

We do not create peace
Somehow though when we look deeply, we see vacations as a chance to get in touch with peace, not to create it. So how do you get in touch with peace? Like happiness, you get in touch with peace by noticing where you actually experience it. Is it in the oak or redwood trees? What about the rushing streams or the fields full of wild flowers? Is it in the health of your body or the state of your mind? You don’t experience peace over there, do you? You experience it here. The place where you actually experience peace is the place where it comes from.

What this means is that neither your physical nor your mental environment can create your peace, and therefore your environment can't snatch it away; when in the river of life, your environment changes unexpectedly, your peace does not have to slip away.

Peace is what you are, not a thing that you see
When you abide as the source of peace you will discover the meaning of the Peace that passes all understanding. This peace does not behave the way you might expect. When things in your life seem to go a-rye, this peace does not disappear. That’s because peace is closer to you than the events that make up your life. In fact it is so close that nothing can interfere with it, not the health of your body or the state of your mind.

And yet you can look right past your innate peace and blame your environment. That’s why when your environment change your peace may seem to slip away. But when you return your peace to its source, which turns out to be your real nature, you discover that peace is like the depth of the ocean unaffected by the storms above.

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

What is your identity anyway?

Why do you look for a sign where there is no sign?

I’d like to continue this discussion on identity because it's confusing to many aspirants seeking their own self nature. That's because your identity is not objective. There is no sign that can confirm your identity; not even a state of health or a quiet mind. You have to know your freedom directly because you stand free of the limits that you see. When you experience this, it becomes obvious. But since it’s beyond your capacity to think about it, at first when you hear that you are Consciousness, it may seem incomprehensible.

The mind knows only opposites
However if you want a real adventure in life, go for self-knowledge. Since your mind is incapable of predicting the results of self-knowledge, at each turn, life becomes fresh and new. As for the mind, it can only grasp things that have opposites. You know a good vacation in relation to a bad one, a good day in comparison to a bad one, a small car in relation to a big one. You only know a huge mosquito by comparing it to a small one, and a high mountain in relationship to a foothill. You know sleep by wakefulness and even life by comparison to death.

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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. Go to Amazon Kindle.
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The opposites listed above are all objects that you see; but how can there possibly be an opposite to Consciousness, which is the knower of the mind itself. Whether the object is a thought, your body, or a thing in the world, the only proof of consciousness is the fact that you are aware of that object.

Your experience is the real proof
However the word only is a misnomer. There is another proof of Consciousness. You know the nature of Consciousness by standing as Consciousness. By pulling your identity out of the things that you see and standing as the one thing that you are. This is what I call proof by direct experience. So to follow the path of self-knowledge, eliminate every object that you see, until you remain as the self-luminous Consciousness alone. You are the one homogeneous Awareness that lights up the world.

As for limiting identities, you often get to see them and hear them: I’m a mother or father, daughter or son; I am rich or poor, young or old, a doctor, teacher or writer; I’m five foot nine inches, 165 pound man.  Your identity also gets attached to your desires and fears too: I want a new car or house; I never want to see that person again.

Is the thought I really the subject?
When most people question the thoughts going through their mind, they assume that they know who the thinker is. By contrast, when it comes to self-knowledge we don’t care about the thoughts going through our mind. Rather we care about the assumptions that thoughts point to. The most basic of these assumptions is that you are the thinker. For instance when you think, I can’t do math, you assume that the I and the can’t both apply to you. Then you try to replace the I can’t with I can. This is the formula for creating a huge struggle; which one will win? The I can’t or the I can? 
 
But on the path of self knowledge you take a different approach: neither the I nor the can’t apply to you. Remember you are the seer of these thoughts, not the one stuck in them. So you can think these thoughts all you want. You just remain in your natural state of Awareness. Where before you felt limited by two possibilities, you now have open space.

So does this guarantee that you will be able to learn math, of course not. But what you will find is that things will start to happen outside the opposites that your mind conceives including I can and I can’t. I’m sure that you will agree, without struggling with your mind you will have a much better chance of understanding math.

Pull your identity out of the thought I and see what happens
As with I can and I can’t you can pull your identity out of other insidious thoughts that seem to speed through your mind such as: I’m depressed or I’m angry etc. If this is hard to understand, simply pull your identity out of the thought I and see what happens.

It is a pleasant surprise to find a clear space that was once cluttered by suffering. Although you won’t be able to predict the future, you will be very happy living in the present. And life will unfold like a wonderful present, just the way it’s supposed to. All this without having to control your mind. As a bonus you will know that you are the one harmonious Consciousness that's free from the notion of another; just like you always suspected, you are not a collection of thoughts and objects.

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

How can I possibly get to my real nature?

Often I get questions about what can I do to get to the final goal enlightenment.  With this question comes the assumption that the path to Self-Knowledge is a long path with many difficulties. But today I want to take difficulty and pull it out by the root.  Remember this is the path of Self-Knowledge.  So you are actually asking the question: What can I do to get to myself? Framing the question like this the answer becomes obvious. You can’t do anything. You already are yourself!

Self knowledge is just a matter of setting the record straight. When you mix your identity up with the limitations that you see, then it seems like there’s a long hard path ahead. This is like walking through the woods in the dim morning light. All of the sudden you feel a bite on your leg and then something quickly moves away. You have just been bitten by a poisonous snake and you are about to die! You feel the bite swelling and you recognize that you only have a short time left. Then an old lady comes by, sees you crying and asks, What’s the matter?

Do you really die?
_____________________________________________________________________________________

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. Go to Amazon Kindle.
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You tell her that you were just bitten by a poisonous snake and you are about die. She sizes up the situation at a glance and says, See that branch blowing in the wind. See the twig jutting out from the end of the branch with the blood on it. You weren’t bitten by a snake. You were scratched by that twig.

What a relief. You are not going to die. Now you can put a band aid on the scratch and happily go on your way. So how did the old lady cure the snake bite? By showing you that the snake was never really there; it was just an assumption. How difficult was it to get rid of the snake and see the branch for what it was. It was just a matter of looking at your situation afresh, wasn't it? The same is true of Self Knowledge.

We assume that we are the things that we see
In the same way that you assumed that you were bitten by a snake and are therefore about to die, you feel that you are limited by the things that you see. The body was born, grows old and dies. So if your identity is tied in with the body, then when the body suffers in illness and death it feels as if you are suffering and dying. Until of course this old man comes along and shows you how you were always free of the condition of the body.

Similarly if your identity is tied to certain thoughts in the mind, when you start to lose control of these thoughts which happens in disease and death, it feels as if you are ceasing to exist. But did you ever wonder where you stand so that you are aware of the changes that occur in the body and mind? The motion that you see belies the stillness that you are.

Self Knowledge is not intellectual knowledge
So what is Self Knowledge anyway? It is taking your identity out of the limitations that you see, and returning to the place where you actually abide anyway. This is setting the record straight.

However, you should know that Self Knowledge is not merely an intellectual pursuit. Intellectual knowledge is a product of thoughts, and thoughts are objects that you see; they come and go and therefore they are not you. If your practice is supported merely by your thoughts, when you begin to fade and you lose control of your thoughts, it will feel as if your lifeline is being cut.

But fortunately you know yourself in a deeper way then by thought. You know yourself because you stand as the Consciousness that lights up your thoughts and makes them seem alive. Standing as Consciousness, you will know by your direct experience where these words point to.

Thoughts come and go not you
The different between intellectual knowledge and direct experience is the difference between reading about California and living there. I think you will agree that no matter how many facts I know about your home town it is not the same as living there.

The same is true of self knowledge. If you attempt to understand yourself by standing as objects called thoughts, this path will seem unduly complicated like a razors edge. But fortunately it’s easier to stand as the Consciousness and Bliss that you are, then to ruminate over this knowledge with your thoughts. Standing here as the self you will see where these words point. It is not to a state of mind; it is to a state of being; this is your natural state.

And most important you will know what I mean when I say, The path of self knowledge is not about what you do, it is about what you are.

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