Sedona Method Retreat Day 3

Written on June 24, 2008 by Tom Stine


While talking with one of my roommates this morning, the following words came quite spontaneously out of my mouth:

The whole point of spirituality is to clear out the garbage that keeps you from knowing the truth of what you are so that beingness, which is what you are and synonymous with love, can express itself fully in the world through you.

He liked it so much that it seemed a bit obvious to share it with you. I’m quite certain there is more that could be said on the subject, but the above works well for me right now. It seems to be the real bottom line to all of the things we do that we call spirituality. And that pretty much sums up day 3 at the retreat. Until next time…. Namaste.


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BarbaraNo Gravatar  said
on June 24th, 2008 at 1:20 pm


Hi Tom,

I’ve read the retreat updates. It seems this energy we all share may have traveled halfway across the country, me being no stranger to anger, as I process my own currently. Unlike you wondering where the energy came from ‘out of the blue’, I often have a gratitude for the bright blue sky that I can see without first the screen of anger to peer through.

Your reason for what you do today and every day reminded me of a quote I read once. Not sure who to credit. If I figure that out, I’ll let you know. It was:

Spiritual work is facng your monumental task of figuring out what’s going on.

Tom StineNo Gravatar  said
on June 25th, 2008 at 10:29 am


@Barbara I know what you mean. Funny how the connections work. I happy to say that the anger lifted easily.

DavidyaNo Gravatar  said
on June 25th, 2008 at 9:37 pm


You’ve inspired me, Tom. Or should I say, life has conspired to follow your path. I’m making arrangements to go on 2 retreats next month. One a longer than usual one with Lorne, the other a weeks silence locally.

Davidya’s last blog post..Now

Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind MapNo Gravatar  said
on June 26th, 2008 at 8:14 am


I’ve not been a subscriber to your blog posts for all that long but must confess that I really enjoy reading your articles. The insight posted here in particular has so much truth in it. It’s beautiful the way you expressed it!

Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..Five Hindrances To A Successful Meditation

Tom StineNo Gravatar  said
on June 26th, 2008 at 11:21 pm


@Evelyn Thank you for your generous comments! It is nice to have you here. I’m glad this insight had something good for you. I seem to get my best insights when I’m talking with people or answering questions. It is interesting what will come out quite spontaneously. Glad to have you here. :-)

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Guru Quotes

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

—Arthur C. Clarke

“Is Enlightenment easy or difficult?”
“It is as easy and as difficult as seeing what is right before your eyes.”
“How can seeing what is right before one’s eyes be difficult?”
To that the Master responded with the following anecdote:
A girl greeted her boyfriend. “Notice anything different about me?”
“New dress?”
“No.”
“New shoes?”
“No. Something else.”
“I give up.”
“I’m wearing a gas mask.”

All of our thoughts are conditioned. We all are thinking exactly along the lines we are conditioned to think. Programmed like a computer. Anybody who thinks they are actually choosing of their own free will the line of thinking that they have is completely deluded by their thinking.


Behind most spiritual practices is the belief that you have to get someplace you’re not- a destination called realization or enlightenment. But realization isn’t someplace else; it’s the naturally occurring human state. It doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s who we all are. Spiritual practices also set up many pictures of what this state looks like. For example, when I described how much fear was present, people told me the fear meant that something must be wrong, because fear was an indication that I wasn’t in the proper state. But fear is just what it is, and it’s there too in the vastness of who we are.

In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.