N-lightenment

Something in you already knows.

Monk, mystic, author, artist and spiritual teacher, Peter is a spiritual catalyst, helping people discover their True Awakened Nature. See more here: https://n-lightenment.com/about-2/

The Ego and Conversation

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The ego loves conversation. Here it can share its ideas and opinions. It can reinforce itself by gaining attention and hopefully approval. In conversation, the ego feels very real. This is its normal environment. It very much wants to get its ideas and opinions across to others. It very much wants to be seen and acknowledged as “right”. If it does not receive approval and acknowledgment, it feels lessened and it suffers. If it does, it feels bigger, more important and good.

Conversation is the playground of the ego. Here is where it builds and reinforces itself. Here is where it “proves” it is real and not simply an illusion created out of conditioned thoughts.

The True Self has none of these needs that the ego has. It is already real so it has no need to prove itself or gain acknowledgment for what is already true. It does not need any approval or acknowledgment. It always knows itself and that is all the acknowledgment it ever needs. It is always at peace, always happy and always one with all that exists.

In the Enlightenment Experience Groups, we want to stay in this experience of the True Self. We have spent most of our lives living as an ego and being controlled by this sense of a separate, independent, individual self. We have experienced the suffering that inevitably follows the ego like its shadow. The ego can never be apart from suffering no matter how it tries. The ego is the sole cause of all suffering and is suffering itself. There is no suffering without this sense of a separate self. This ego has a functional purpose for basic functioning in the world, but when it is identified as what we are, when it runs the show, we will always experience suffering. For this reason, during the Enlightenment Experience Groups, we do not encourage the ego. We do not cater to it, acknowledge it or flatter it. We see it for what it is and simply let it go.

That is also why we avoid conversation in the Groups. If there is a break, we remain in silence. We have specific practices that allow very limited speaking. But these practices do not allow the ego to assert itself. Instead they bring us into this expanded state of our True Self. From here we see the ego very clearly and it no longer bothers us.

I’m not suggesting you never have a conversation again. Conversations are fine. But please notice the tendency of the ego to arise in any conversation you have. If you experience a desire for attention, acknowledgment, approval or being right, ask yourself what is doing this? Where is this desire coming from? And what is aware of all of this? This can be a wonderful teaching for you. Take a moment of silence to really feel this. Yes, right in the middle of your conversation. Don’t worry; if the person you are with is speaking from their ego, they won’t even notice it. And you will be very happy.

Happiness

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“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

You Are Not The “Thinker”

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“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the thinker.

The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.

You begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence.

You also realize that all things that really matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind.

You begin to awaken.”

– Eckhart Tolle

Like A Baby Chick

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Brown-EggLike a baby chick we get used to the hard shell of our ego. This is our world. It is all we know. But for some of us this hard shell becomes too confining. We begin to grow and press up against its walls.
 
As this happens, cracks appear in this shell that we once thought was the whole world. There is a sense that there is something more. We don’t know what yet. The world outside the shell is all new to us. It is a mystery. Since it is completely unknown, it can be very frightening. But we can’t deny that this shell is much too small and limited. So we continue pushing against it, pecking at it with our questions. The more we question this ego shell, the more it crumbles.
 
At some point it collapses completely. We emerge to see that there really is much more to the world than this tiny shell we once thought was all there is. So much more. 

Absolute Honesty

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I must be completely honest with you or I am not honest with myself. If I am not honest with you, I am not in alignment with Truth. I am living a lie. How do I know if I am being completely honest? How do I know if I am in alignment with Truth? It is easy. When I am in alignment with Truth, I feel expanded, free, blissful, peaceful, connected to all that is. This is the experience of Truth. When I am in alignment with Truth, I am Truth, so this is what I feel.

When I am not in alignment with Truth, I don’t feel this. I may simply feel neutral or unaware of my feelings. If I am aware of my feelings, I may feel contracted, limited, small when compared to the vast expansive infinite freedom of Truth. And this is how I know. This is my inner guidance system. And, unlike the mind, this system is never wrong. It can never be wrong. The feelings of Truth and not-Truth are very different, a very direct contrast to each other.

So I must begin by telling you that I, as a separate individual person, am not writing this. When I say this, I feel this expansion and freedom that tells me this is true. It may seem strange for me to say this. It defies our customary knowledge of what is true. Nevertheless, it is true. I, as a separate person, am not writing this.

If we want to delve just a little deeper into why this is true, we can simply look logically at life. Even our mind can tell us what I say is true, at least in this instance. Without the coming together of my parents, this particular writing would not appear to you now. Without their teaching me to speak or read, this writing could not be here. Without the many teachers who taught me how to write, or authors and poets who taught me what beautiful writing is or the spiritual teachers who pointed me in the direction of Truth, these words could not possibly appear to you as they are now.

Do I really have to mention sunlight, water, or food to you? Do I have to mention the many programmers who created the Internet and the device and software you are using to read this? It is much too long a list for me to include here or that I am even aware of. Without any of this, these words could not appear to you as they are now, nor could I write them. So if I say that I, as an individual separate person, wrote this, I am lying to you and, much more importantly, to myself. I, as a personal self, am taking credit for something I could not do without the infinite flow of life that made it all possible. I am lying to you and to myself.

Two Kinds of Lies

There are two kinds of lies. One is the lie we are aware of. We know something is not true and yet we say it anyway. This is the conventional definition and understanding of a lie. But if we are to be completely and scrupulously honest, we must also include the other type of lie. This is the unintentional lie. This is the lie we tell ourselves when we absolutely and completely believe something is true, when we believe with all our heart that it is true, and yet it is not true. An unintentional lie may simply be the feeling that “I did that.” “I wrote this.” “I accomplished this thing.” It seems innocent enough. And everyone we know would agree that this statement is true. And they may applaud and congratulate us on our wonderful accomplishment. This is the experience of most artists and creative people. We appear to accomplish a great deal. But none of this is true. These are all unintentional lies supported by our society and culture that is based entirely on both intentional and unintentional lies.

How do I know this is true? The expansive feeling is here? It never lies. We may believe with all our heart that we are a separate, individual person living in a world of separate individual people. This is what it looks like. This is what it appears to be. This is what everyone we have ever known has told us, taught us and agreed with us about its truth. Yet this is not true. This is, in fact, the fundamental unintentional lie that all the other lies are based upon. This is what, in spiritual terms, we call “living in the dream.”

It is only when this lie is revealed as a lie and we are free of it that we are able to wake up and experience the world as it is, to experience Truth. Until we are free of this fundamental lie, this experience of freedom, infinite expansiveness, bliss, peace and unconditional love is rare. It arises only during rare moments of clarity when for a brief time we transcend this lie. These moments are very important, as they are our only direct experience of Truth. We may experience brief glimmers of this when something we read, hear or see resonates deeply in us. This is Truth recognizing Truth. The personal self and all our ideas, training and knowledge have nothing to do with this. It is only the momentary absence of this personal self that allows Truth to see Itself.

Being scrupulously and completely honest with yourself is a major aspect of both awakening and remaining awake. It is critical for both. If you are not yet awake and rarely, if ever, experience this expansiveness, freedom, peace, bliss and love that is the feeling of being in alignment with Truth, then there are still things you can do.

Question

You can question. You can question everything. You can question all your thoughts and beliefs. Ask them to prove their Truth to you. Don’t settle for any mental, thought-based answer. It will not and cannot be True. But when you let go of your most cherished and long-held beliefs, you will experience a freedom and expansiveness. You will feel better. You will begin to come into alignment with Truth.

The mind can never lead you to Truth. This is a long cherished conditioned belief that is based on the fundamental lie of separation. Instead trust this feeling of freedom, expansion, love, peace and bliss. At first it may – and probably will – be very subtle. You’re not used to experiencing your feelings at this level. They have been covered over with thoughts for most of your life. But stick with it. They are here. If you stick with it and pay close attention, they will be revealed. As you continue questioning everything in your life, you are actually questioning the dream, the lie, itself. It cannot prove itself true because it has never been true. As you question, the dream will, bit by bit, dissolve and fall away. And more Truth will be revealed. And this will feel very, very good. You will become increasingly more aware of this feeling of freedom, expansiveness, peace, bliss and love as you do this. And you will also become increasingly aware of the experience of contraction and limitation that was up until this point simply the experience of your life. The great contrast between these two will show you what is True and what is not.

If you are already awake, and a teacher, this is particularly important. You absolutely must be meticulously honest with yourself in every moment. It takes time and a purification process to dissolve all the lies we have accumulated prior to awakening. And most of these lie deeply hidden. The purification process requires absolute honesty in every moment. Without this, these lies will, at some point, infiltrate and corrupt even the best and purest teaching. Complete honesty is the only way to prevent this from occurring. We have spent a lifetime accumulating these lies and live in a culture that is continuously promoting them. Meticulous honesty at all times is essential.

Fortunately, we are in the rare position to intuitively feel what is True and what is not. Our inner guidance system is working. But it is our responsibility to pay attention to it and honor it.

Some have asked, if you did not write your book, why is your name on the cover? That is a good question; so let me answer it here. Think of it as a pseudonym, a name that represents something else. In this case, a unique expression of the totality and oneness of all life. As I said earlier, in all my writing, including this, there are infinite factors that go into the manifestation of this writing. This is just as true of the book. I, as a separate person, did not write, nor could I have written, that book. The book arose because of infinite factors. If even one of those infinite factors was absent there would be no book. At the same time, there is this absolutely unique (but in no way separate or independent) expression of the totality and oneness of all life.

This is true for all of us. We are all absolutely unique (unique as a snowflake) expressions of this one totality. And we are not in any way separate from this one totality. This may seem paradoxical. Get used to it. Truth is filled with paradoxes the mind cannot reconcile. So yes, I am both a unique expression of the one totality and simultaneously the whole of the one totality. What I cannot be is separate from the one totality. That separation is the fundamental lie will all live under until we awaken.

Be totally honest in every moment of your life. Before you awaken to Truth, question everything. Everything. Every thought, every feeling, every perception, every experience and every belief. Make them prove themselves as True. This is a wonderful exploration. If you do this consistently, the lies will reveal themselves and fall away revealing the Truth that was always here temporarily hidden by them.

You can find moments of resonance in books and teachings of Truth or in nature. And these are valuable too. But your most valuable teaching will come from your deep and relentless questioning, your direct experiences and your meticulous honesty.

If you are already awake, it is this meticulous honesty that will help you maintain, purify and deepen your awareness. And this will be the greatest gift you can give your students. All we can teach is Truth. And if we are not teaching Truth, we have nothing of real value to give.

Completely Happy

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To awaken is to realize, once and for all, that there is absolutely nothing in the world that can give you what you already have, which is complete and utter happiness, peace and unconditional love. And, be honest, that’s all you really wanted anyway, isn’t it? Throw in infinite and eternal life and you’ve got the whole package. The irony is you’ve always had the whole package. In fact, you’ve always been the whole package.

Strange that you’ve spent so much time searching in the world for what you’ve always been. It’s okay. You’ve just been looking in the wrong direction. Time to come back Home.