Blog - N-lightenment -

Gratitude

November 25, 2015 by Chaitanya Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving, My Dear Friends.

Early this morning the guy who checks the water meter for the Zendo shut off the water and forgot to turn it back on. So I was left without water all day. Everyone else on the street had water so it seemed there might be a big problem like the roots of a tree breaking through the main pipe somewhere between the street and the Zendo. This might take days or a week or more to find. I was settling in to what it would be like to live for a week or so with no water. This is not so different from how many in the Third World live. No showers. No washing dishes. Trying to find another arrangement for using the toilet, etc.

Late tonight the guy realized his mistake, apologized and turned it back on. Water! Yay!! I was and am so grateful. I am doubly grateful because I now know what it is like to live without the water I had been taking for granted. And now I don’t take it for granted. This is a huge gift.

If you are having trouble finding things to be really grateful for this holiday or any day, I have a wonderful suggestion. Tomorrow morning, go out and shut off the main water supply to your house. Imagine that you will never have water to your house again or that it will be off for a month or more. Think about the new arrangements you will have to live under in this situation. No running water. No showers. No toilet, etc. If you need to go further. Empty your house of all food. Give your money and credit card to a friend to hold for you, just for the day. Keep 50 cents for yourself. Now decide how you will eat for the day with just 50 cents. It will take some decision-making. Imagine that this is will be for the next week or month.

Do you think you will be grateful when your friend gives you your credit card and cash back the next day so you can buy something to eat? Do you think you will be grateful for water coming into your house so you can shower and use the toilet? I assure you you will be. You will be very grateful. You will be doubly blessed. You will no longer take for granted things you have been taking for granted for so long.

Does it seem surprising that people in the Third World who have so little often seem so much happier than people the First World who have so much? In the Third World sometimes just finding something to eat for the day is enough to make their day. Here in the West, we complain if our lights go out or there is no water coming into our house. We have lost our perspective. We live in a fantasy world disconnected from life and reality. And this fantasy world is encouraged and promoted by our society. Is it any wonder we are not happy or grateful?

If you are already grateful, this is wonderful. You are seeing life as it is. We all have so much to be grateful for. Our breath. The beating of our heart. But if you are having trouble feeling this deep gratitude for life, try my little experiment. I think it will help. Go for just one day without the things you have been taking for granted. I think you will find all the gratitude you need.

I am very grateful for this kind and generous Bhodhisattva who shut my house water off this morning. And then waited until I had learned this important lesson before turning it back on again.

Happy Thanksgiving.

May your heart overflow with gratitude for all the things you had taken for granted in your life. For then you will be truly blessed. It is not what we have that makes us happy. It is what we are grateful for.

You ARE Peace

November 21, 2015 by Chaitanya Leave a Comment

Where else could we ever find peace other than right here and now where it has always been? If we continue to imagine we can find peace outside in the world, in others, in books or teachings, we will keep the myth alive that peace can ever be anyplace other than right here and now where it has always been.

We imagine that it is good to look for peace in the world and to make efforts to bring peace to the world. But the only way we can ever bring peace to the world is by realizing the peace that has always been right here. When we realize that we ARE peace, all our actions bring peace to the world. Our very being AS peace brings peace to the world.

Stop imagining that there is not peace or that we can attain peace someday other than right now if we do the right things and the right spiritual practices. Peace is right here now. It always has been. We have never been separate from peace in any moment of our entire life. We were just not aware of this. We were blind. We were dreaming. It’s time to be aware. It’s time to wake up. What better time than right now, which is the only time we can ever find peace?

You ARE peace. You have never been anything other than peace. It is time to directly realize and experience this infinite peace that you ARE. This is what brings peace to the world. There is nothing else that can. The world needs you to do this. The world needs you to wake up. The world needs you to realize the peace that you ARE. This is how you bring peace to the world.

Nature

November 21, 2015 by Chaitanya 5 Comments

You are not a person enjoying nature. You are nature enjoying itself.

Most of love to be in nature. It has a calming, opening and expanding effect on us. We appreciate the beauty of nature. After a beautiful day in the country, we often miss it when we return to our apartment in the city. Many of us feel that we might want to move to the country someday to be around nature more often.

Our experience is that nature is something outside and separate from us. We have lost the awareness that we could never be separate from nature. We have lost the awareness that we ARE nature. Logically, this should be completely obvious to to all of us. But it’s not. Somehow we have lost touch with what we are. We feel that somehow we are a human being separate from nature. This has never been true. How could it be? And still, with names, labels and conditioned beliefs, we have defined ourselves as something different from nature (human, male or female, young or old, etc.) We no longer realize that we are not separate from nature in any way, nor could we ever be.

When we return from the country to our urban apartment. We are nature itself living in an urban apartment. If you really want to see the incredible majestic beauty of nature, simply look at your hand, feel your breath moving in and out of your body, feel your heart beating. This is nature. You are nature. You could never be separate from it if you tried. So stop trying. You are already home. You are already free. Now enjoy it.

Truth

November 21, 2015 by Chaitanya 6 Comments

There is no way to Truth. Truth itself is the way.

There is nothing simpler or more obvious in all the world than Truth. It takes no effort, no study and no knowledge to realize Truth. Truth is always here. In fact, effort, study and knowledge are what keep us from realizing the Truth that is always right here and now.

To realize Truth simply let go of everything you think Truth is. This is the only way you will ever realize Truth. Clear that thick, dense cobweb of thoughts, ideas, opinions and knowledge that are blocking your clear, direct experience of what is. Yes, it is that simple.

Truth is here. It has always been here. You were just too busy looking for it to realize what has always been here. Relax. Let go. Surrender all those thoughts about what is true and experience Truth directly.

My Teaching Is My Being

November 9, 2015 by Chaitanya Leave a Comment

Perhaps the best teaching I can offer is simply my awakened being itself. This sets an example that people can see and feel. And it is effortless because I cannot not be This. People can see that it is possible to live in this way. It is possible to live in harmony with life, in peace, bliss and unconditional love. And this inspires them. What I say and write has value, as this also comes from this Oneness. But I think the real teaching comes in what I am. This seems to have the most profound and lasting effect.

Part of my purpose in life, maybe my only purpose now, is to point to another way of being that most people are currently unaware of. I do this both through teaching and example. It is important to see that some people actually do live this way, without a sense of individuality or separation, in peace, harmony, unconditional love and bliss. When they see people like me living in this way, they realize it is possible. And that perhaps they can live in this way too. And of course they can. It is the truth of what we all are.

See Through Your Heart, Not Your Eyes

November 9, 2015 by Chaitanya Leave a Comment

If you really want to see the world as it is, don’t see it through your eyes. See it through your heart. This takes some practice at first. Our physical eyes are very related to our conditioned thoughts. You’ve heard the saying, “Seeing is believing.” But this is actually totally inaccurate. Instead scientists have discovered that ‘Believing is seeing.” We only see what we believe we are seeing. Our conditioned thoughts filter and re-arrange what we see to fit our beliefs.

So if we want to see the world as it is, we can’t rely on our physical senses. They are much too distorted by our conditioned beliefs. Instead we can learn to see through our heart. We can learn to see the world through feeling.

As I said, this takes some practice at first. For those who have experienced this great presence of love during meditation, as many have in the Living Awake Groups, you can begin with your eyes closed until this feeling fills you completely. When you are completely filled with love, not for a person or object or anything at all, just the very being of love, open your eyes and look around. You will notice the strong habit to go back to seeing through your previously conditioned thoughts and beliefs and this feeling of love will begin to fade. Don’t let that happen. Keep most of your attention on this love that is always here. 75% love, 25% what your physical eyes are seeing. This will prevent your conditioned thoughts from taking over and creating what you see. Things will look very different I can promise you that.

You may need to close your eyes from time to time to re-establish your attention and awareness on this love without subject or object. As soon as this awareness has been re-established open your eyes again and look at the world. It doesn’t matter what you look at, but it will probably be easier with inanimate objects at first. You have less conditioned thoughts about inanimate objects than you do about people for instance. What you will notice right away is that everything you see has this quality of infinite love about it. And that there is no separation anywhere. Shapes and colors and forms are just as they were before, but now there is this great unity about all of it. It is as if you were looking at what is behind everything you see. It is as if you are looking at the Source. And it is the same Source for everything. And this Source is not separate from you.

So try this practice of looking at the world through your heart instead of just your eyes and your conditioned beliefs. It’s a real “eye opener”. You will be seeing with awakened eyes.

There are many more practices, posts and videos on this website that can help you. For a more detailed, step-by-step practice of opening your heart to the love that is always here, the book The Zen of Love – Discover Your Own Awakened Heart can be very helpful.

There are also online groups: Living Awake Groups
as well as individual sessions available: Individual Session

The Map of Consciousness – The Journey to Awakening