Did you know?

Research shows that at any moment up to 90% of our thoughts are negative. That’s right 90%. And we are completely unaware of this. Part of the problem is the constant drumbeat of negative messages that surround us. I stopped watching the local news long ago because of this.

Is this an indicator of our level of spirituality? I have found that as my own spirituality has progressed my thoughts have become more and more positive. Part of this is that I have fewer and fewer thoughts. As the surrender to spirit occurs the racing mind of illusion slows.

There are those who say that in time the egoic mind will completely stop for the spiritual seeker. While this is appealing, it may also have its downside. Without the ego, is it possible to operate in a world full of ego and personality? Would we even be able to communicate? Aren’t our words learned and acquired full of the meaning assigned by the ego?

Maybe our response to negativity should be to bring our full attention to it. Can we look for the things that we like instead of the things we dislike? Can we focus on what we will do instead of what we won’t?

Just think of how our relationships might change. Who doesn’t like to be around the person who can see the good in things, who focuses on what can be done, who sees the light instead of the shadow. Think about how much better we might do at work, to be known as the person who gets it done with joy and happiness.

I was listening to a radio show recently and a relationship expert said that the secret to better relationships was converting our negative propensities into saying at least five nice things each day. When was the last time someone said five nice things to you in a week, let alone a day? How nice would that be? Dare to be that person if you can. It all starts with our full attention.

Consciousness – Upside Down?

We call it the unconscious, but it is actually our true consciousness, however hidden it may be.

What we typically call consciousness is the personality, the voice in the head; the egoic, racing, monkey mind that we have become. This is just an acquired illusion; an act we play out everyday on society’s stage of false reality.

Is it any wonder we are confused? Not knowing consciousness is the definition of ignorance, not in a pejorative way but by definition.

There are those who are enormously impressed with educational credentials, high society’s imprint or inherited treasure. They may make jokes of or look down at others with less of society’s fallacious stamp of approval. The joke is really on these people, for the precious inheritance of consciousness is one that we have all been given, coincident with the miraculous gift of human birth.

The spectacular presence rises out of the shadow of the ego, returning to its rightful place. What a simply beautiful reality, that by quieting the acquired language of personality, we liberate the magnificence within.

We find that the more complex and educated the personality, the far more removed that ego is from the truth. How could we have let this happen? The shame is on us for repeating this mistake generation after generation.

Desire

Desire originates in the acquired mind of personality. Desire has an irresistible nature, and for some of us, is the most difficult challenge in achieving our true nature. Within our egoic mind, the yearnings of desire are based on the false belief that satisfaction of a desire leads to happiness, only to find that it satisfies nothing and only leads to the next desire.

Desire is much like unrequited love. It leads us nowhere and is a figment of our egoic imagination. Watching desire rise and fall without acting, forms the starting line to our true nature.

The End of Desire

The end of desire is
The end of a life lived in illusion
The end of jealousy, insecurity and fear
For desire leads us only
To the next desire
The endless search for fulfillment
While that treasure can only
Be found within.

Truth versus Perspective

We have been led to believe that what we experience in life is the truth; a truth that we uniquely perceive. We have forgotten that most of what we call the truth is actually our perspective, seen through the eyes of our personality, the egoic mind we have become, far removed from our true nature. This egoic mind is full of illusion, likes, dislikes, hidden bias and other clouded ideas.

We are not consciously aware of this perspective. When we speak within our perspective, we should not call it the truth. The truth is so much more special than that. The truth comes from an unassailable place. The truth is rare in its telling, a hallowed ground, absolute in its power, rooted in universal consciousness.