life quotes

158 posts

Chop Wood and Live Within the Presence of Now

What are you aware of in this moment? Awareness defines your existence. The search for enlightenment has become more apparent in our society. This exploration of self-discovery in the pursuit of serenity began after the awaken of self-consciousness. The Buddha offers insight for our consideration. He teaches that Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.

Zen also teaches a similar philosophy about living life in a state of presence. The Zen quote When hungry eat, when tired sleep from Po Chang offers beneficial wisdom. The mind has difficulty accepting the simplicity of life. This mind resistance is due to the self-imposed details, complexity, and conditioning of our human existence. Sages such as Buddha, Jesus, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and others offer us signposts to a pathway beyond the mind.

So, what do the teachings of these sages really suggest? Firstly, please understand that the mind is a helpful servant but a terrible master. Therefore, any understanding of life based strictly on the mind will only cause further confusion and complexity. How does insight resonate with you? The act of being allows balance and harmony in the experience of life. Nonetheless, strictly living from mind assumptions, interpretations, and definitions manipulations the simplicity of living. Here also, don’t let the mind fool you. Simplicity does not suggest a paradise without worry or pain. Foremost, your essence is universal presence. Secondarily, this presence is manifesting through an object/body. Continue reading →

Dance with a Tree and Sing Your Song

Being one with Life is a discover that changes how you live. More and more people are awakening to the simplicity of conscious living. People either realize this simplicity or they don’t. Please understand that active conscious awareness is not necessary to exist. You will continue to live with or without conscious awareness. Nevertheless, the quality of your life experience changes greatly when you consciously live in the flow of life. Also, there is no ready-made guideline or map leading to X marks the spot. The X represents the shift from mind to active consciousness in your life experience. You will deeply know when you are truly awake. Henceforth, you will recognize that life is a dance. And, you are the composer. Everyone composes a life song. But, most people unconsciously write this composition. Therefore, most individuals repeatedly experience drama, confusion, and fear.

Life and universal energy literally dance to the rhythm of our inner universe. There is a vibrating flow within the state of our being. This music is always playing. But, we don’t really listen. We compose a dance through the simply act of being. Everything in our surroundings, include the vibration of life, blend into this rhythm. Our conscious or unconscious energy energizes the manifestation of life and the universe.

Therefore, it is best to lead this universal life song from a conscious state of being. Continue reading →

Oneself Is not Alone nor Afraid nor Forgotten

Aloneness. We reflected on this topic from time to time. Still, there are many people that write me about feeling lonely and being alone. So, let’s take another look at loneliness. It is wise to first determine if you are truly lonely. Or, do you think you are alone only because the mind tells you to be lonely. Firstly, understand that oneself is in reference to one (reflexive form). Philosophically or spiritually we can say that this is the one self.

Accordingly, let’s start with this question. Are you lonely? Likely, you will immediately react with various answers that supposedly validate your loneliness. So, step back from these thoughts of lonesomeness. Acknowledge that what you think is just the mind in a repetitious cycle. The simple acknowledgement that you are the observer of these thoughts benefit conscious awareness, thus your state of being. But, whether you impersonate the mind and act out its drama as a puppet is your choice. Continue reading →

Assumptions Restrict the Universal Flow of Life

Life and love are very simplistic and pure. Life needs no validation through assumptions or beliefs. Love can equally only be truly fulfilling when felt in its purity, without conceptual definition or restriction. There is naturally a basic pattern of unity that derives from a species individual and collective development. This does not however explain how we feel what a plant feels or what an animal feels. There are two factors to consider in the discussion of empathy.

The first factor, as the first definition of empathy states, is a state of imaginative projection. This is naturally possible for a species such as our own. This may result from the developed field of creative intelligence and our emotions. We place behavior and emotions definition labels on objects and other living forms to explain everything for our own purposes. The second factor is very significant. This is the field of oneness. This is much more than just projecting a subjective state of being into another form, animate or inanimate. Continue reading →

Live Aware Within the Frequency of Life

Many people may believe that consciousness is not possible without the mind. What do you think about this idea? (Yes, that was a trick question.) It would be more accurate to ask: What does the mind think of this idea? The brain is a biological organ. This is, in many ways, an entity in itself. Then there is consciousness. Consciousness at some level has perhaps always had a frequency of presence about it. Consciousness is a source of perpetual possibilities for any life-form that has become aware of it. Therefore, let’s focus on consciousness. Why we always associate object consciousness with the mind is not important for our discussion.

The significance lies in the knowledge that there is the brain and there is also consciousness. The mind exists and consciousness equally exists, whether in a more self-consciously developed life-form or not. Both the mind and consciousness are there even without one knowing about the other. The two are, however, intertwined. This is true whether a life-form is aware of consciousness or not. Although a butterfly is not actually mentally aware of consciousness, it swims in a frequency of energy within a field of object and universal consciousness. This holds true for everything, doesn’t it? We can conclude that although the two appear to be separate as two entities, they are actually one. Continue reading →

Feel Bad? You Think It Is Real. But It Is Not

Do you often feel bad about a situation, person or even yourself? Feeling bad is of the mind, nothing more…nothing less. How consciously awake are you? Most likely, you realize that the mind thinks this way and that. However, this does not mean that what the mind thinks is real. Yes, it feels real. But, it’s not. You experience a mind projection. This is the mind jumping to conclusions. Thus, an unconscious person, experiences a mind-induced reaction. Moreover, this thought is temporary. Acknowledge this fact and take a further conscious step to living in a state of non-attachment. Thought activity is nothing more than time-based memory. We can call these anxiety phantoms. Still and foremost, remember that these are temporary. Thoughts and feelings come and go.

Now, and literally now, recognize that you are not your thoughts. Nor will you ever be your thoughts. However, you might try this and still feel bad. Trust the awakening process. Thoughts and feelings will pass. Bad is the same as good. You feel it because you unconsciously choose to experience one or the other. And, yes, you always have a choice. Continue reading →

Guess What? None of This Matters

It seems there is always something happening. People complain about this and that and often about everything. Yesterday and Tomorrow is always of importance. Yet, all things are a bother. There is frustration in many of our experiences. It is as if a dark threatening cloud is just out of sight. But guess what? Everything is not as it seems. Nor, as the mind tells you. Actually, we bask in the bright light of life. Nevertheless, a single thought or emotion can obscure life’s brightness.

Why do we so easily disregard or even forget the radiance and clarity within presence? The list of answers to this question is long. There are many factors that manipulate or restrict our conscious awareness. Fear, anticipation, and attachment are a few of these influences and result from mind conditioned behavior. So, what does the title of this article suggest? The short explanation is that nothing truly matters. Still, let’s expand on this insight. Likewise, let’s consider an exercise to practice conscious awareness each day. This stepping stone has the potential to keep us in the now of life. Continue reading →

Everyone Wants to Be a Superstar

Conditioning causes us to strive for more, and therefore we demand and expect many things. This is the downside of an imperialistic system that eventually became a democracy in most parts of the world. Thus, personal and social ramifications started early in our evolution. Therefore, there is a demand to do more, have more, and be more as a result of our development factors. Everyone wants to be a superstar.

There is only you, the one presence in this universe. And, it is you that is either consciously aware of this isness and oneness or not.

It is not necessary for us to consider social systems, politics, or even evolution. Still, reflecting on our evolution regarding the mind and object consciousness is a helpful spiritual stepping stone. The need to achieve more is evident in most industrial and heavily populated countries. Strive and do more is a way of life for most people. Continue reading →

Are We Just a Feather Floating in the Breeze?

Many people may be familiar with the feather at the beginning and end of the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump expresses profound insight at the end of the movie. The analogy is between our existence and a feather flowing through the wind.

We use terms such as destiny and fate to describe the unfolding of situations and events. However, this behavior limits our life experience observation. Thus, restricts our understanding of how and why universal energy manifests. A feather floats in the air and appears to sway back and forth in the wind. Is this its fate in life, or is it simply a victim of the wind blowing?

Now ask yourself this same question. Is fate responsible for what happens to you? Or could it be that thoughts, people, and basically everything blow you back and forth in the dimension of life? Which is it? This first seems very difficult to determine accurately. So, Is it one or the other or both? Continue reading →

Masculine and Feminine so Why the Confusion

Masculine and feminine invoke duality. Why is this duality structure, as with many other concepts, superimposed onto our existence? There is the natural flow of evolution to consider. The conception of offspring requires both in most species. But here also the mind has developed a complex game of assumptions and labels based on this naturally occurring phenomenon.

This has led to us establishing concepts and opposites according to mind structures, beliefs, and definitions. The introduction of any type of duality into our existence—or the universe, for that matter—is merely mind imposed. Still, is it possible that the essence of all objects is based on a unit of one? All objects manifest energy at a given level. This dimension may consist of different frequencies, but these have the potential to vibrate as one. Continue reading →