A Meditation on Emptiness

Close your eyes (unless you are driving!), take a deep and slow breath, and imagine yourself, your whole being, as vast, empty, aware space… And realize that this space, filled with creative potential, is your true, spiritual nature… It is who and what you most essentially are… Hang out in that emptiness for as long as you want, until you feel really one with it… Then feel yourself rooted in existence, the flow of life, here, now… Actually sense your breathing, and feel the energy tingling in your hands and feet… Feel the vibration of now… Then open your eyes, and just abide in the feeling of being empty space, the plenum-void as Buddhists call it… The full-emptiness, because it is literally vibrating with energy and potential… Contemplate the mantra: “My thoughts come and go yet I, as an aware being, am always here…” Allow yourself to continue to dwell, for a few minutes, in the emptiness... Breathe consciously, and feel yourself as this alive, creative, loving presence that is here, now… Enjoy the feeling of ease, harmony, and flow you are experiencing… As you begin to notice, to actually look within and watch how thoughts, and especially the “I” and “me” thoughts, constantly arise and disappear in your inner visual field… Or hear them, or feel them… An insight may occur… You can think about anything and yet your thoughts do not create upset… You are literally senior to your thoughts… You realize that you can consciously choose your thoughts, and choose actions that will create good in your world…

A Personal Statement

I have seen that everything between my ears—including all ideas and images about “I” and “me”—are not real, yet I, as an aware, clear, and conscious human being, am still very much here… That, in a nutshell, is what I teach. That is what has to be seen to realize true, complete, and final (except for those occasional, inevitable, pesky human residues of old ego patterns!) freedom and happiness… The happiness that doesn’t depend on circumstances… This is my true nature, and yours. It is the true nature of every single human being on earth…

Self-Discipline and Vigilance

Discovering the truth of happiness within you requires a measure of self-discipline and vigilance. You don’t have to be extreme in these behaviors; extreme anything is usually a sign that your ego is involved, and thus is self-defeating. All that is required is a modicum of self-discipline and vigilance.

You need enough discipline such that when you get caught up in your “story” and find yourself in conflict, suffering in some way, you can bring yourself back to the present, to what is here, now—the feelings and sensations in your body, and your current circumstances in this moment.

     

You have to be curious about your own suffering—like I was when I had my awakening. You have to be willing to look deeply inside yourself to find out where you are still not free. And you need tremendous self-honesty, the courage to face the truth about yourself, your own inner “demons,” the things that are not so pretty in your character or behavior.

     

If it helps, you can welcome the suffering, welcome it because it is showing you where you are not yet free. You can remind yourself of the mantra: I am not my thoughts… I am a wise, loving, powerful being.

     

Then breathe deeply and slowly, let the mantra fall away, and come back to the alert, relatively thought-free space. Close your eyes for a few moments and imagine yourself as being empty space. Experience what it is like to be this clear, spacious awareness, this conscious, aware presence you are.

     

When you do this—and you are literally, in a sense, doing beingness—and so long as you don’t get distracted by some thought or story again, you will have the experience of freedom. You will realize that you are, indeed, not your thoughts, but rather the ever-present, changeless awareness in which everything, including your thoughts, comes and goes.