The Seer

You could say that intuition is a kind of knowing, but you don’t know how you got there. You know something, but you don’t know by what path you’ve arrived at what you know. It’s a sudden arising of knowledge or knowing something, but “I don’t know how I know this.”

What is at work here is non-conceptual intelligence, when intuition arises.Intuition is not arrived at by thinking, not by logic. It’s arrived at in a way that we cannot explain. It is closely related to creativity and inspiration. Inspiration also comes from that place.

Intuition is given to you. [It is given to] all great artists, musicians, writers, and even great scientists who made deep discoveries that were revolutionary — like Einstein. Einstein had a ’sense’ of his theory of relativity. Before he could fully prove it, he already knew it was true.

It was intuition that came to him. Of course, he had done a lot of thinking before that happened.

Sometimes you have to do a lot of thinking, and then suddenly, thinking doesn’t get you anywhere anymore, and you stop thinking, and you go out and take a few deep breaths. Or you go out into nature and sit under a tree. And suddenly, intuition is there. Something you couldn’t have arrived at through thinking.

It’s vital for every human being to contact that place within, where intuition arises, because otherwise you are confined to the limitations of your conceptual mind … your life is just repetitive, and no new ideas can come. If it’s a fresh and new idea, it comes from a place where all creativity arises — which ultimately, is the stillness within. That’s where intuition arises.

If you can be still even for a moment, then there’s a possibility that some intuitive thing arises as a thought or as a spontaneous thing that you say, and you’ve surprised yourself. Maybe somebody needs your help or advice, and rather than thinking “I should be helping that person. What can I say next to help them?”, rather than that, you just become still, listen, look. And suddenly you may find yourself saying something. It’s intuitive. Suddenly a deeper intelligence comes and uses your mind. That’s what we call intuition.

Realize that this is at the basis of all creative activities, all truly creative activities. Perception is something that comes from the outside, and intuition comes from the inner. It comes from you. It is essentially one with who you are, intelligence itself.

The easiest way to develop intuition is to develop the ability to be still at times. Rather than ‘trying’ to develop intuition, go to the place where all intuition arises. You don’t need to worry about becoming more intuitive if you focus more on being still. Not necessarily for long periods of time, but have moments of stillness in your life, so that every day is interspersed with moments of stillness.

You could just close your eyes and take one or two deep breaths. Or you don’t even have to close your eyes, but while you’re listening or looking at somebody, feel yourself breathing. Feel the inner aliveness within your body. If you are looking at your computer screen, look away for a moment, or close your eyes for a moment, and take one or two conscious breaths. It brings you to stillness.

Wherever you are, there are always opportunities for a moment of stillness. And that is vital, because otherwise your life is unbalanced. If you don’t find stillness, all you have is activity — one thing after another. And this covers up your potential intuitive faculty, continuously.

Seek out moments of stillness. Even the busiest person can do it. If you’re driving home, or driving to work, every traffic light is an invitation to stillness. [There are] so many opportunities for stillness. Stillness is where intuition arises.

~ by Eckhart Tolle (who was born on this day in 1948 — Happy Birthday Eckhart: )

Conscious Awareness or ‘Pure Consciousness’, is not attainable via any religious theory, ritual, or belief. This is why Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees, who held fast to their traditions and beliefs, that they did not understand his message, nor did they understand the message of their own scripture.

Jesus would say the same today to all those who hold dear to ancient, traditional beliefs, whether Christian beliefs or not.

The finite mind of self is incapable of realizing a Pure Consciousness that is other than self. Pure Consciousness is not realized through self, but through Christ. Not the Christian Christ, nor a person called Christ, but the living Christ — the Spiritual Christ.

The apostle Paul referred to the Christ on at least one occasion as the ‘mind of Christ.’ In so saying, he was speaking of an Awareness in Consciousness that is other than self.

Christ Jesus was Jesus in Christ, or Jesus having realized Pure Consciousness through Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven, which is Pure Conscious Awareness absent the self, is likewise realized (becomes real) through Christ.

Thus, following his awakening, Jesus could declare, ‘the time is fulfilled’ (Pure Consciousness has awakened in Man), therefore ‘the kingdom of God is at hand.’

~ From: The Christ is Not a Person, by J.C. Tefft. pp 22. (recommeded by Eckhart Tolle)

It’s the holiday season again with its special Christmas lights. For each of us, however, our entire life-experience has had but one purpose behind it — discovering the Light of the Eternal.

This season marks the timeless moment when immaculate awareness comes to free us from the mistaken worship of the graven images of limited light in order to recognize, what the Bible calls, “the Father of lights (the Light of Conscousness), with whom is no

variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

God’s light is enfolded within the awareness that sees Christmas lights twinkling, that watches the evening sky with starlight gleaming. In the same way that the “words” are “information,” just so is light unfolding the wisdom and knowledge of God within us.

Who is “us”? The Self-Awareness of the Infinite Eternal.

Life runs in Light because Life is that light. The searching soul that struggles to see, skirts the edges of shadows, plumbs the darkened valleys of hidden hills and measures the forms of opaqueness.

But for each of us, in each one’s time, the experience examined, the shadows searched, leads us to the Light, the Light to the Godhead. The shadows are gone, having let us see so we know we see the immeasurable allness of Light.

~ by William Samuel. To read the rest of this luminous article, >>>Click Here.

Also, on the weekend of Dec. 11, there will be an audio podcast of one of William’s talks posted on Urban Guru Cafe

Unconditional love is not based on what the other person does or does not do. It is not based on whether someone lives up to some image you have in your mind. It is not based on whether you get a return on your investment in a relationship. Those are conditions.

Love is who we are. It is what life is. You cannot give love. To love someone is not to give them anything but to recognize the love that is already there. To pretend that you have something that others need, including love, is arrogant. This pretense fuels separation. It is spiritual violence.

To seek, expect, or demand love is not love at all. It is egoic neediness. Love wants nothing because it lacks nothing. Love does not seek love. It places no conditions on life and others. It simply recognizes itself everywhere, in everyone.

It does not buy into the illusion of separation.

Unconditional love is not something that thought could ever show you. To realize it, find out what is prior to that thought-based story of “me” in the mind.

What is reading these words — not the thoughts that arise to agree or disagree with what is being said — but rather the simple presence itself?

What is resonating beyond these ideas? That presence is love. Realize that what you truly are, beyond all mental conditions, is unconditional love.

~ From: Reflections of the One Life, by Scott Kiloby www.kiloby.com

BTW: If you enjoy Scott’s writing, why not get one of his insightful quotes every day for free via our Peter’s Pearls service? It’s easy to >>>Subscribe.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing and everything happens by itself. No input is needed to maintain this life; this microcosm we call our body. The eyes see without any need of the effort to look. The ears hear, again with no need to listen.

They work perfectly smoothly and spontaneously all by themselves. Likewise the heart continues to beat without a reminder from us, the lungs, digestion and all the organs do their jobs quite uninterrupted.

Do we even give a thought as to how nutrients are broken down, get into the bloodstream and are transported around the body to the desired spot? Do we have input into how wastes are selected and carried away. Does the ‘me’ build the muscle tissue and bones piece by piece? Do we even know how they fit together? Can you explain the simplest actions like how to lift a finger?

If I were a Martian come down to Earth and inhabited this body would you be able to explain to me how to operate this body – even the simplest actions?

So why do we need the idea of a ‘me’ to function. On close inspection it becomes clear we don’t but the belief doesn’t just go away. What does this imaginary ‘me’ do while the rest of the body is looking after itself, sourcing water when thirsty, food when hungry. When hunger happens you may think it’s you that prepares the food to eat and in a sense it is since you have to locate and prepare the food – or is that automatic too?

Does the brain that put the food away after shopping already know where it’s to be found, without a ‘me’? When hunger strikes did you create the hunger, the feelings of hunger? Did you decide to be thirsty in the first place? Why is it that you like certain foods when another person has other tastes? Why am I lactose intolerant – did I choose that?

Do people choose the terrible illnesses and accidents that befall them? If the body is programmed to look after itself then why do I need to maintain this conviction there is a ‘me’ in control? And am I maintaining this belief or is the belief self sustaining giving the impression there is a ‘me’ doing it?

The sense organs receive energy from the outside and channels it to the brain that sorts it out in a meaningful way and creates the finished and ongoing conscious perception that is witnessed. The internal sensors gauge levels of nutrients and fluids in order to maintain the necessary balance, corrects imbalances, breaks and breakdowns. And it all happens spontaneously.

“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself.” Zen proverb.

~ by Roy Townsend, who was a much appreciated guest-teacher at Gurukula earlier this month.

“The same awareness that’s present when you stop thinking is also present in every thought. By the power of sustaining awareness for short moments, many times, confidence in awareness is nurtured until awareness becomes permanent and automatic at all times and in all situations — including the times when many thoughts are arising.”

~ by Candace O’Denver

Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to — alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person — you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain.

That is why, after the initial euphoria has passed, there is so much unhappiness, so much pain in intimate relationships. They do not cause pain and unhappiness. They bring out the pain and unhappiness that is already in you.

Every addiction does that. Every addiction reaches a point where it does not work for you anymore, and then you feel the pain more intensely than ever.

This is one reason why most people are always trying to escape from the present moment and are seeking some kind of salvation in the future. The first thing that they might encounter if they focused their attention on the Now is their own pain, and this is what they fear.

If they only knew how easy it is to access in the Now the power of presence that dissolves the past and its pain, the reality that dissolves the illusion. If they only knew how close they are to their own reality, how close to God.

The pain-body, which is the dark shadow cast by the ego, is actually afraid of the light of your consciousness. It is afraid of being found out. Its survival depends on your unconscious identification with it, as well as on your unconscious fear of facing the pain that lives in you. But if you don’t face it, if you don’t bring the light of your consciousness into the pain, you will be forced to relive it again and again.

The pain-body may seem to you like a dangerous monster that you cannot bear to look at, but I assure you that it is an insubstantial phantom that cannot prevail against the power of your presence.

~ by Eckhart Tolle

Question: “I’m an architect and I deal with processes and tasks. How can I be present at work?”

Leonard: If you are sufficiently grounded in Presence, then you can go to work as an architect and your mind becomes your partner. It is an instrument of expression, but it serves you most effectively when it is a clear instrument of expression. If it is full of all your repressed emotions and limiting beliefs from the past, then it is not very effective. If you are concerned with outcome so that your ego is involved, it is not very effective. But if you are able to relax and become present in a way that leads to a silent mind, then the mind will be a very effective instrument of expression.

At times, your work will be mostly mental. Every now and then, drop out of it. Become present. Allow your mind to be still. Allow expression to flow from the source, which exists at the very heart of silence within you. This is where all true creativity arises from.

History is full of such examples. Even Einstein reported that his revolutionary equation of E=mc2 arose from a dimension which was transcendent of the mind. Many great artists and musicians have spoken of similar experiences. There is no reason why this level of true creativity cannot flow into your work as an architect.

Of course, not everyone can clear the mind in the way I am suggesting. This raises additional questions. How can we free ourselves from a painful and limited past so that we can become more present? And how can we avoid being caught in future outcome which then involves the ego and closes the door to the creative source that I have been speaking of?

~ From Leonard Jacobson’s new blog page.

Having access to that formless realm is truly liberating. It frees you from bondage to form and identification with form. It is life in its undifferentiated state prior to its fragmentation into multiplicity. We may call it the Unmanifested, the invisible Source of all things, the Being within all beings. It is a realm of deep stillness and peace, but also of joy and intense aliveness. Whenever you are present, you become (your form becomes) “transparent” to some extent to the light, the pure consciousness that emanates from this Source. You also realize that the light is not separate from who you are but constitutes your very essence.

~ Eckhart Tolle

I was sorry to hear that you’ve been in so much distress with the flu and hope that by now, you’re feeling more like your normal healthy self.

Regarding your inquiry: I’m so glad that you were able to be in Presence, however briefly, while in the throes of your illness, as this indicates a certain growth of ‘consciousness’ within you. Anyone can be in Presence with a minimum of intention when not in bodily or mental distress and in pleasant surrounds, but it takes more spiritual ‘maturity’ to be in Presence in adverse conditions and/or circumstances.

First of all, be wary of buying into the ‘it chose me’ concept — this is pure dualism — ie, the ‘it’ and the ‘me.’ In actual fact, there is only the One … and that is what we are. Ultimately, there is never anything outside our true Self doing something to us … it’s all happening within the Self that we are. Or, in other words, whatever happens, it’s the One playing games of limitation with ItSelf … experiencing the opposites of human experience, which sometimes includes health or illness, ability and disability, pleasure and pain etc.

We can never understand this with our finite mind, so don’t try to understand it rationally, it’s just part of the ‘dance’ of Consciousness. Nobody is ever doing anything to anybody else … despite all appearances to the contrary.

As long as you’re being expressed as a human form, you will experience loss (of health) and limitation. This should not surprise us as … all forms are unstable … no ‘thing’ or form lasts forever.

Illness matters, but it does not matter absolutely … only knowing Who or What we truly are, and resting in this sublime recognition, matters absolutely.

Whether enjoying good health or enduring painful illness, we can say to ourselves, ‘this too will pass’, as indeed will the form itself eventually. Nothing in phenomenality lasts.

By now you realise, I trust, that you are in essence Awareness or Consciousness or Spirit etc. etc. You do not have awareness … you ARE the eternal Awareness beyond all time and space.

As Awareness, you can be aware in two directions. You can be aware of the ‘content’ of your awareness such as thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations such as pain or pleasure, and then your sensory perceptions such as sight, sound, taste etc. In this direction, you were accutely aware of the terrible pain and discomfort of your flu symptoms.

The other direction is for Awareness to be aware of ItSelf, ie, not the content of awareness but of the ‘capacity’ that Awareness is. Some other teachers refer to it as the ’spaciousness’ in which all things exist and are comprehended. In fact, without the capacity or spaciousness of Awareness, nothing could be known at all.

When you focused on your breathing for a short time, you went beyond your thoughts (I am a very sick man with the flu) and into Presence, which is beyond the mind into the realm of pure Awareness. Your identification for those few moments was away from the form and with the Formless which is not, and never can be, touched by pain and fever. Your Formless eternal Self, can never suffer loss or injury of any kind … it is always pure, unchanging and inviolable. In other words, As Awareness, you were momentarily aware only of your true Self, rather than your manifest self, as RIchard, who obviously was still sufering from the flu.

Normally, the spiritually mature (or, Self-realised) person is aware of both directions at the same time — the ‘capacity’ and the ‘content’ — not just one or the other.

In reality, there is no difference whatever between Awareness, and what Awareness is aware of … they are all One. The unconscious person (the average person in the world) is only aware of one dimension — his or her humanness, and the world of opposites that goes with it. The conscious (or awakened) person, however, is always aware of two dimensions — that of impersonal eternal Beingness and one’s personal finite humanness. Thus, they are a fully realised ‘human-being.’

As we identify more and more with the Awareness we are, we will still be aware of pleasure an pain — even the pain of a severe flu when it occurs, but when it’s observed or witnessed from the standpoint of Awareness, there will be pain without suffering, there will be a causeless peace underneath the turmoil and distress of ill-health and an inner smile that knows that no matter what happens, nothing truly important can be lost or injured.

As we abide in Present awareness, new energies are released and our immune system is able to function uninhibited by the conditioned mind and renewal and healing are more likely to take place.