11 Things I’ve Learned About Spirituality
Written on April 18, 2008 by Tom Stine
credit: Last week, I wrote an article listing 6 “mistakes” I had made on the spiritual journey. Being of reasonable intelligence (no comments, please!), it dawned on me that maybe I could do a follow-up article on what I’ve learned from spirituality. Admittedly, I learned from all my seeming mistakes, but this article will look at my learnings from a slightly more positive angle.
Warning: I’m going to take some shots at some deeply held spiritual ideas and beliefs. I can’t possibly explain some of what I’ve learned without them. Some of what you find under the heading of spirituality just doesn’t make much sense to me, or simply doesn’t seem to work. So, you’ve been warned. 
That said, in no particular order, here are 11 things that I’ve learned:
- The entire spiritual journey is a journey to discover what you are. Who knew? Just because the enlightened ones for thousands of years have been telling us this one doesn’t mean I should have been listening, right? Over and over again I’ve head the message, but until the past few years I failed to pay any attention. “Find out first what you are.” That’s it. All the rest is a side dish.
- I am not who I thought I was. For 43 years, I thought I was Tom Stine. Well, make that 41 years, because for the first 2 years I didn’t really think I was anyone. Around the age of 2 or so we start to believe we are Tom or Tina or Bob or Alice. But a funny thing happens when you actually start to do spiritual inquiry. You ask the question, “What am I?” You look within. And you inevitably arrive at some variation on “I don’t know.” Haven’t you been, in one form or another, haunted by that realization your whole life? Wasn’t that part of the utter agony of being a teenager, not knowing the answer to “What am I?” As I started to work with “What am I?” I found myself confronted by the obvious fact that when I look within I found nothing. And after a while, I started to accept that maybe this nothing I kept finding was in some way what I am. And then I experienced a great discovery: nothing isn’t just nothing. As one master said, “It’s the fullest nothing you’ll ever bump against.” And there it is: I’m not Tom, really. I’m much more than that. And you are much more than your persona, too.
The entire spiritual journey is a journey to discover what you are. Who knew?
- The Truth is outside of the mind and cannot be found in the mind. That was a tough one to learn, but in the end, everyone has to learn it. You can never find out the truth by searching for it in your mind. The mind is contained in the truth. And the truth, the great spiritual truth that everyone is seeking, is that you are the everything, consciousness, Presence, the Void, God.
- Thoughts might be useful at times, but most are not to be believed. Unfortunately, the vast majority of what I believe is not only false in terms of ultimate truth, but isn’t even true in a relative sense. I had to be honest: how many thousands of times had I believed a thought that passes through my head only to discover I was incredibly wrong? Pretty much every thought you have about why someone did or said something to you has been a complete disaster. “Mary yelled at me because she isn’t a nice person,” goes the thought, which ignores the 100 times Mary has been kind and generous. Sound familiar? Come on, be honest, your thinking is a disaster! 2+2=4? Useful at times. The rest? Garbage! The great cosmic joke. The less I believe my thoughts, the happier I am and the better life is.
- Spiritual ideas and thoughts are useful but not the truth. This follows from the point above. We can discuss and debate spirituality until the cows come home but doing so won’t produce any truth. We have to experience the living splendor of the ideas and words. Until they come alive within you, they are symbols of symbols of Reality. When I got out of my head and down into my heart and gut, when the words started coming alive within me from hours of sitting and opening and letting go of my beliefs, then spirituality started to live and breath in me. That’s where it’s at. This relates to the point I was making in my previous article, What Is Spirituality? Really. Check it out.
- Channeling. *sigh* I can’t do channeling any more. I tried valiantly, even going so far as to pretend that A Course in Miracles isn’t really a channeled book. But it is. Why don’t I care for channeling, you ask? Because channeling requires a lot of faith and willingness to believe in it. I don’t want to have to believe in any aspect of spirituality any more. Direct experience or nothing, thank you very much. Look at it this way: channeling requires that you have faith in the truthfulness of the channel. There’s no way to prove or disprove that the channel really is letting a 10,000 year old Lemurian come through them. The only choice, the way I see it, is to accept that the channeling is real, and that’s before you even get to the ideas the channel is stating. Too many evaluations for me. Moreover, some channels seem just a little too unstable for my taste. Apparently the channeled material hasn’t done them a whole lot of good. So, I prefer to take my spirituality straight-up, not through an intermediary. Please don’t misunderstand, none of what I’m saying means that channeled material is all garbage. Far from it. Some of it rings quite true. But I don’t really see it as necessary. If it works for you, fine, but again, I prefer my own direct experience. I don’t want to have to sort out the messenger as well as the message.
- Jesus, I love you, but did you really exist? By the same standards, I can’t accept Jesus or the Buddha as necessarily real, historical people. All we have are a bunch of stories written by their disciples and followers, and most of what is written wasn’t even written by eyewitnesses. Any historian worth his salt would cry foul at this point. Ah, but then there is faith, you say. You have to believe. Well, yes, but again, I like direct experience. I’ve benefited greatly from reading the words attributed to the Buddha and Jesus, but it is only as they have come alive within me that they have any real meaning or reality. This awakening within me has led me to believe that Jesus and the Buddha quite likely were historical figures, but I know it is merely a belief, nothing more. And just because my mind likes it and finds it fascinating doesn’t make it so.
- There’s a lot of wild wacky stuff that is called “spirituality”. I’m sure to step on a few toes with this one, but, c’est la vie! Would you believe at the start of my spiritual journey, 18 years ago, I tried living on sprouts, nuts and dried fruit, in the winter, in hopes of enlightening myself? Yep, sure did. And all I managed to do was “lighten” myself by about 40 pounds! At least I got to eat like a hog when I finally realized that I was being, well, plain stupid. I could go on with plenty of other examples from my life and others, but you get the idea. Given that most spiritual growth occurs from living a fairly normal life with periods of meditation, contemplation or prayer thrown in then, well, eating sprouts or sticking crystals in various body cavities seems a little silly. But hey, it could be kinda fun!
- Past lives have very little to do with right now, and right now is where it is at. I’ve been to a few psychics, some quite good. I’ve been told I was general in Napoleon’s army (I love France and speaking French), a prostitute (I guess because I like sex?) and a priest (no idea why this one). And in the end, knowing these things has been completely useless to me. As a matter of fact, all explanations in this vain have not helped me in the slightest on the spiritual journey. They are fun to play with, sure, but they haven’t contributed to my growth. I like what Adyashanti said in response to a question about past lives: “As near as I can tell, it seems like most people who remember past lives were at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. There must have been few million people milling around.” If you do past lives, great, more power to you. But knowing a past life is really no more useful than knowing any other memory when it comes to the real “goal” of spirituality: awakening to the truth of what we are.
- Spiritual people are wonderful, beautiful, delightful people. I love spiritual people. I love accountants and doctors and lawyers, too (yes, even lawyers!). But I get a thorough kick out of the energy and aliveness that spiritual folks have. And not just Eastern or New Agey spiritual people. I love walking into a cathedral in Paris and feeling the energy that has been poured into it by millions of devoted, fervent prayers over the course of centuries. I love walking into just about any old church, for that matter. Even though some crazy stuff gets said in them, the spirit of the practitioners is wonderful to me. I’ve met some wonderful Baptists, Catholics, Buddhists, you name it.
- Life is too much fun to take anything in spirituality too seriously, including all the above! I used to be so incredibly serious about this whole spirituality thing. I was dedicated, I was intense. Still am a little. But most of that has faded. Everything has gotten too funny to take too seriously. Far more fun to enjoy life. Not like a hedonist, but just enjoy the flow. I still sit a lot because I enjoy a good meditation. But it is lighter these days. And getting lighter and lighter the more I sit.
That should be enough for today. I could write 50 more, and expand on many of the above, though. I think once each month I will try to toss out a little list of things that I’ve learned on the spiritual journey.
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44 comments
on April 18th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
i feel ya’
on April 18th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Tom,
The more I learn about you the more I’d love to hang out over a Chai and a laptop.
About the past lives thing:
I’ve often wondered if we tap into a collective consciousness outside of time and space when we access past lives… Could it be that we just get whatever information we can use at the time? What if learning you were a General in the army had more to do with accepting your leadership skills than anything do with past lives.?….. or… what if you might have been tapping into the DNA cellular memory of a deceased relative?
Regardless, I agree that the info is fun, (perhaps) but useless unless you can use it in a real life situation.
Great post Tom
Michelle Vandepas’s last blog post..Here’s A Quick Way To Discover What’s Important To You (and me)
on April 18th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Space, time, who am I, spirituality, and art. It’s all about art, that’s what really lasts . I was going to say that our beliefs die with us except that the institutions and grudges our beliefs create live on in our heirs.
I immediately thought about Esther Hicks when I read the channeling number. What you say about channeling will give anyone pause to consider the source… but I like the message from Abraham, which is pretty much what you say in number 11.
It’s a tangled web we weave in our minds trying to figure out who we are and what we’re here for. But it’s fun, too (that is, when it’s fun). I’m sure I’m just complicating things thoroughly!! Great post.
Cheryl’s last blog post..Naga and the Buddha
on April 18th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Hi Tom,
Regarding Jesus. Maritn Luther reputedly said: Jesus could be born a thousand times in Jerusalem, yet if he is not born in my heart it is to no avail (rough translation).
Past lives. You really don’t understand about the priest? Reflect on what you do on this blog.
I don’t think the lightness that comes on the spiritual path is mentioned enough. So I’m glad you did.
Evan’s last blog post..Blogs I Can Recommend
on April 19th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Who’s that fake Clay above? And why does he have YOUR URL?
Anyway, this is a great post. I bet you’re a great, wonderful life coach.
I also like that you wrote #11.
Clay Collins | The Growing Life’s last blog post..The Cult of Abundance, Goal Autoimmune Disorder, & Abundance 2.0
on April 19th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Hi Tom,
I think that there’s a reason that we don’t remember our past lives so easily - because they are in the past. We are meant to live in the present moment in order to be fully alive, and this is the only moment where we truly can be awakened. (and I used to spend a lot of time on the past life topic
).
I do really resonate with Abraham-Hicks’ teaching’s and yes, she is channeling. I don’t have enough experience with direct channeling to comment on that myself.
I like #11, I used to be much more serious about “spirituality”, too, like you must really be “out there” in order to become enlightened.
Well someone stocking shelves could be more enlightened than another who attends retreats every weekend if the shelf stocker is living in the present moment and seeing joy and love in life, in each moment (and no, I’m not picking on that job, just needed an example
).
I just don’t think it has to be as hard as we might make it sometimes.
Great post Tom, thanks for sharing it with us!
JoLynn Braley’s last blog post..The Fit Shack Is a Year Old and Has a New Look!
on April 19th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Clay, I love it “fake Clay” very funny. The real Clay seems awesome. The rest of you commenters too. Evan we’ve had some interesting discussions. I’ve learned an awful lot from you. As I’ve told you I love your site.
Some of the others I haven’t had the privilege of meeting yet. Maybe as we converse here on Tom’s site or as we check out each others sites.
And Tom once again you have hit a homerun of a post. The information is just to much to eat in one sitting I’m going to have to come back a few times to digest it all. I think I like #11 also. I’ve been taking it to seriously I need to let go a little and have some fun with it.And as for #7 the answer to your question is for me, a resounding yes. Because It has very little to do with my mind. It is truly in my heart that he resides. For this one thing I can be sure of. Why do you ask? Because I can feel him!!
Mark Krusen’s last blog post..Justa having a day together!
on April 19th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Tom, this is for me one of your better post. You have a lot in it for me. Back to #7 for a minute if you don’t mind. In my readings of the bible to deny Christ would be to deny God. Than conversely to deny God would be to deny ourselves a chance at eternity. I’ve never been t eternity but it sounds like a pretty neat place if my eternity could be heaven. If there is not heaven. That’s ok too in my book. Because life on Earth is pretty neat to.
Mark Krusen’s last blog post..Justa having a day together!
on April 19th, 2008 at 7:29 am
@Michelle I would love to hang-out with you, too! It’s only 14 hours from my house to yours. We could do it.
Past lives are certainly fun, don’t get me wrong. But it ultimately goes back to my main theme: spirituality is all about answering the question “what am I?” And all my past lives seem to be as irrelevant toward that as my current incarnation. Because I’m not that. I’m….. THAT. Silence.
But we can discuss past lives and have some great laughs. I’ll take a double espresso. Je préfère le cafe, n’est-ce pas? Oops, my French general is speaking again. Merde!
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Tom,
I’m definitely with you on your last point. So much of humility and spirituality is about becoming able to enjoy and laugh at our limitations and the limitations of the world.
Thanks for a great post, I’ve just signed up to your RSS feed.
David
David | beplayful’s last blog post..My Blogging Adventure
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:40 am
@Clay #1: Glad to have you here. Thanks.
@Clay Collins: No fake Clays. My URL shows on every post that doesn’t leave a website. I need to disable that. Gotta plow through some php. Thanks, dude. I love coaching. People are a blast to work with. I’ve gotta write a post as a follow-up to your Abundance 2.0 post. You’ve got my money/abundance thoughts flowing.
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:43 am
@Cheryl Thanks. It is all art. You see it, too. I’ve always loved just experiencing art, not thinking about it, kind of like life.
@Evan Love the Martin Luther quote. I couldn’t agree more. As for the Priest…. Funny, had I written minister I would have gotten it. But priest, well duh.
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:47 am
@JoLynn I agree, the present is the moment to live in. As a matter of fact, it is the only moment that we do live in. Even if we remember the past or a past life, we are remembering it NOW. As for Abraham-Hicks, yes, there are a lot of good things that come from Esther Hicks and her channeling. I say if it works for you, go for it! Just always consider the source. And pay attention to the life of the channel. I find that to be very illuminating. I don’t know much about Esther. But some channels are a wreck!
@Mark Thanks for the compliments! I’m glad this one resonates for you. I like that your faith in Christ is based upon your direct experience of the presence within you, not because someone told you so. It means a lot more when it comes from within.
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:49 am
@ David Nice to have you here! Yes, the last point was the one that mattered the most to me. It really is about loving and enjoying life. That’s what matters most. The more we open to awareness, the more joyous life becomes.
on April 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Interesting thoughts on spirituality. I think an important thing is that spirituality can never be contained to the mind and mental thought, you have to go beyond.
Tejvan Pettinger’s last blog post..Eliminating your weakness - the positive way
on April 19th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Tejvan, When you go beyond the mind and mental thought where are you?
Mark Krusen’s last blog post..Justa having a day together!
on April 19th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
@Tejvan I agree. What we seek is beyond the mind. The mind is contained within it.
@Mark When you go beyond the mind, you discover yourself, who you really are. When you aren’t thinking, even for just a moment, are you not still you? Aren’t you aware of things? What are you when you aren’t thinking? THAT’S the question!! What are you?
on April 19th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hi Mark,
Our thoughts are part of us, not vice versa.
Evan’s last blog post..Some Great Posts
on April 20th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Hi Tom,
What a great sharing.
I absolutely agree with you on the 7th point.
“The Truth is outside of the mind and cannot be found in the mind”
This one really got me thinking.
Thank you for this great article, Tom.
Raymond Chua’s last blog post..The Most Powerful Skills to Learn Any Skills You Want
on April 20th, 2008 at 3:04 am
What a beautiful article Tom - not only the writing, but also the formatting.
Definately agree on #11.
You can use all of your life to find out “who you are”, or “why you’re here” or similar. But you can also do a (little) bit of that, and enjoy the rest.
For me it’s *all* about finding the right balance.
Alex Kay’s last blog post..On Being a Man
on April 20th, 2008 at 10:36 am
@Raymond You bet! I enjoyed writing it. Glad you like #7.
@Alex You are so right, my friend. Balance is very important. We can spend an enormous amount of time on our “spiritual life” and let the rest of our life go to hell. Been there. And vice versa, too. Been there also!
on April 21st, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Wow! Great post. I just stumbled upon this blog. I love what you wrote: Direct experience or nothing, thank you very much!
actually, I love the whole post.
on April 21st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Great post Tom,
These are the lessons of someone that has travelled the path for a good amount of time, has seen through the outer forms that people obsess over and into some deeper “truths”.
I think these older forms of spirituality and traditional religion are about giving people complete answers to the “who am i and what is this?” question. I feel that you recongise that this is not a question with an easy, one size fits all anser.
Steve Mills’s last blog post..Stress Of Connection Culture
on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 am
@Tom
Great article. I’ve learned much the same, some of it the hard way (laughs). Have run into channelers who are channeling someone who’s not who they say they are. Its also pretty clear its hard on the channel. It was suggested that channeling reduces mind-body integration so is contrary to spiritual progress.
You may find past lives slightly more useful when experienced directly. They can give context to some of the curiosities in our lives, like why I was lead to police work for a bit. (it was not a natural fit) That said, they are part of what i call the mesh, the structure of illusion, the story, so they are something to move past. Theres a cool stage when the mesh collapses and the supposed causality and ‘karma’ dissolve. This actually changes history. But thats another subject…
A few others i had to learn that come to mind - there is no one truth. Nor one guru. You will outgrow the teacher. The teacher is human. Oh, and the awakened are not perfected (laughs)
Davidya’s last blog post..Deepest Being
on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 am
@Michelle
Tapping into the collective is valid but quite distinct from past lives. Past lives have a kind of thread of continuity through them, interlacing with nodes of other lives.
As Tom mentions, theres a lot of pseudo past life stories floating around. Always a bad sign if they were always famous or with the famous. But as you observe, we tend to draw out what relates to the current scenario, what we need to know. If its valid, it will tend to grow in clarity and complexity over time. False tends to be stuck and deteriorate. True also tends to be hard to take, that we may have behaved like that. Tom’s prostitute comes to mind. Violence, hate, stupidity, death. Past lives are not typically pretty. On the other hand, when you remember death a few times, it looses any hold on you.
I’d say that in some ways its a blessing not to go there. Stick with the now and the truth. Much more fun.
Davidya’s last blog post..Deepest Being
on April 26th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
@Lisa Thank you very much for your comments. Yes, absolutely, direct experience is really all that counts. That is true spirituality, don’t you think? Nice to have you here.
on April 26th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
@Steve Thanks for visiting and for your comment. The question “Who am I?” is, from my perspective, not meant to get an answer. It is a strategy, a tool for seeing something new about oneself. In a sense, it is a question I could never give an answer to, even though I write about it. It is really a question that only the asker can “answer,” and even then, really, it is an experience. Thank you again for reading and commenting. Glad to have you here.
on April 26th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
@Tom
Interesting comment on “who am I”. I agree that it is something one can only answer within oneself. I would say it also shifts from a sense of who we experience ourselves to be to the sense of who we are, our sense of being. Values of illusion, followed by deepening awareness of being.
I would also say that its important to understand that who we seem to be changes over time so there is no single answer. I have found a framework for seeing how that evolves is quite useful. Adya’s post-awakening discussion DVD for example. Each of us steps through that uniquely, but there are some general ‘typicals’, just as there are typical growth stages in a childs maturing. Understanding the pattern helps us step through the disintegration stage of the growth cycle that arises as we drop the old but have not fully stepped into the new. A road map if you will, and a verification of experience.
So I guess we could say the question remains an important one even if there is no one answer.
Davidya’s last blog post..Desire vs Craving
on April 27th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
@Davidya I liked these things that you learned. As you know, I’m on an Adyashanti kick. But I know I will move beyond him. As Nisargadatta so aptly pointed out, it is the Guru (the inner one) that is our only true teacher. All the human ones are meant to drop away.
The awakened are not perfected. Duh!
That needs a more complete response on my part. It seems that the One is always looking to more clearly express love in the world of form.
on April 27th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
@Tom Welcome back to the world! I agree, the inner guru is the true teacher. At first, it is through learning and experience. After the second waking, we have passed the final ‘veil’, woken from the final illusion. Then all of expression is found to be the flow of consciousness within ourself, and that flow is knowledge. What remains is true, the true guru emerges. That who we always were.
And yes, the opening or awakening never ends. Always more refinement, more opening, more growth, and more love is possible. Where is the end to infinity?
Davidya’s last blog post..The Electric Sun
on April 28th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
@Davidya You know, we really can’t get around those initial human teachers, can we? They are important. They are often essential. As flawed as so many of them are, still, we need them.
on April 28th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I agree entirely. The path is not all well marked, so we need the help of those that have gone before. We need an expanded perspective so we don’t take the new and put it in too small a box. Its easy to get stuck otherwise. And when its very new, its oh so valuable to have someone say yes, this is it.
Even when we’re at the heights of existence, sharing the experience can broaden the horizons even more.
Good teachers like Adya are the special treasures
Davidya’s last blog post..The Electric Sun
on April 29th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Davidya, I like where you say “sharing the experience…” I have found this to be so true with Tom’s comments and those that have followed. I’ve gotten stuck a few times myself the last little while. Some medicine adjustments are clearing the fog of perception for me. Thanks for your input on some of my recent comments on some of the post here on Tom’s blog.
Mark Krusen’s last blog post..Justa reflecting on some things.
on July 10th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Tom, you rock. You seriously rock. It’s great seeing people like you coming to these awesome conclusions. Reading you posts, you feel like a brother to me.
on July 10th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
@Ariel Thanks! I must say compliments like yours are quite nice to hear.
I’ll have to check out your blog. Namaste.
on July 13th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Hi Tom - I liked #7 a lot. Wrote about it myself at a journal type mini-site I have: Buddha was just a person.
The Buddha, Jesus - they were just people - if they really existed at all. Because they experienced something doesn’t mean you can by repeating what they did. You’re a different person. Your mind is not the same as anyone else’s and yet there are similarities. It’s a nice thought that we can sit under a bodhi tree and find enlightenment, but a lot lead up to the point he was at before he sat down.
That said, there is something to the meditation idea (focusing on the breath and mindfulness). I found amazing states as the mind slowed, then stopped. I am starting to write more at my main blog but the most material is at seemlessness. Many videos and things I hope you have a look at if you have some time. Best of Life Tom - I love your blog - I grabbed the RSS already.
Vern
Vern at AimforAwesome’s last blog post..Quieting the Subconscious Through Meditation
on July 14th, 2008 at 9:41 am
@Vern Glad you liked the post and have subscribed. Thanks! and glad to have you here.
Yes, we all experience everything in a different way. A big “mistake” that people make is to try to be like the Buddha. If he sat under the tree, then that was his gig. Not mine. I don’t have any nice trees to sit under. I prefer my Lazyboy! We all have our own unique path, don’t we? And yet, I agree, there is something to meditation. Or sitting, as I prefer to call it. Just stop, sit, and let what comes, come. Very powerful process, in my opinion.
Nice to have you here. I will try to head over to your blog and have a look!
on July 14th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Lazyboys! They work, as do reclining business chairs. I was working in my home office in Florida once… and leaned back in the chair to relax a bit. I closed my eyes, hands in my lap and watched the breath a bit. In a few minutes I had one of the most profound states of focused concentration that ever came. I’ve explained it at my meditation journal site. If you’re interested I can email you the link - don’t want to keep dropping links in your comments, don’t know how you feel about that. I’m really enjoying your blog - reading more everyday. A great find! Keep it up Tom, you write it, I’ll read it!
Vern at AimforAwesome’s last blog post..Video 1: Questioning Your Religion
on July 14th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Tom, you said - “The Truth is outside of the mind and cannot be found in the mind.” I couldn’t be more with you on this… Once the mind goes away, whatever process that’s available to us all - can begin. It’s so strange that it starts on it’s own. In brief, I sat, watched the breath and kept re-focusing on the breath. I practiced mindfulness during the day often too. Before long the mind stopped. Stopped as in no movement whatsoever… no thought, no perceptions that ran through the mind filter of memory and experience… The process just started on it’s own then. The mind, ego, self - need to get out of the way so the natural process can start. It’s not something you can go get. It comes. It’s not something you can move toward except by slowing down and then stopping the mind.
And, it doesn’t appear that the process starts from the mind. I liken it to something from outside the normal realm of 3-d experience and reality coming and touching me. It’s as if a corner of heaven is bent down and happens to touch me… from there reality is changed to such an incredible plane… one that I didn’t create. I didn’t even know about before meditation.
I’m not like most meditators, choosing not to know about the BuddhISM expectations and path that ’should’ be followed as one meditates samatha / vipassana style… I didn’t want to know. I wanted the essence. What happens in my own experiment when I sit, focus on breath and be mindful of the present moment when I’m going through my day? Wow. LOTS! Anyway - enough writing… enjoying your articles immensely. - Vern
on July 15th, 2008 at 9:53 am
@Vern I’m glad you are enjoying the articles. It is a wonderful thing to experience a stopped mind. Very peaceful. And you are correct: you can’t get it. It gets you.
on August 31st, 2008 at 5:17 am
Great post, your last point is definitely my favourite. No matter what you believe in or what you follow, make sure you are having fun. Life is too short for you not to be.
Cheers,
Glen
on September 5th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
@Glen I couldn’t agree more!
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