The Power of Curiosity

The more you do the simple practice of closing your eyes, taking a deep, slow breath, and imaging yourself as empty space, the more you realize that you are not your thoughts, but that you are still here. Then these deeper, unconscious thoughts will have room to surface in you. They will likely trigger old feelings of anxiety, fear, shame, guilt, anger, resentment, sadness, or some other form of unease, of suffering.

Then you have to be really present with these feelings, this deeper angst. You have to be very alert, watchful, almost like a scientist in your curiosity to discover what is true in you. Past memories, usually of something traumatic that happened long ago in childhood, may arise.

When they do, you must learn to welcome them because they are showing you where you are not free, where you are not abiding in the happiness that is your true nature. So, the secret is to learn to welcome them, accept them, embrace them—and then see that they are not real either!

They may certainly have once been true—after all, the traumatic event, whether it was getting separated from your mother in the store, or being molested by a relative, did happen—but the memory or story is not true now. It is only a thought, a story, which has surfaced from the past into your conscious mind.

The more aware you are of that thought, the more deeply and slowly you breathe, and consciously be present with it—and actually see it arising within your inner visual field—the more it dissolves, and you find yourself experiencing a deeper level of release, of letting go. The old emotion triggered by the memory unwinds, releases, and you find yourself relaxing more into the present. You experience more ease, more inner harmony. You can see and think more clearly.

Discovering Your True Purpose

Over the weekend I noticed myself feeling slightly "off," not quite in my usual flow of peace, harmony, and well-being. I haven't felt this way in a long time, so I knew my energy needed to shift. There were vague, ill-defined "stories" tugging at me, and of course I know I am not my story, but nevertheless, I am all too human, and so am still subject to these residues of the ego-bound "me"...!

There are a number of changes happening in my life right now, and so they are potential distractions. For example, I am seeking a new apartment; my 26 year old son, Adam, is planning on coming to live with me; I am wanting to be in a relationship after seven years, and have been connecting with several new women; I've been feeling chillier this winter in Los Angeles, and have even thought about moving further south...

But I knew none of these distractions was the real issue. So, yesterday afternoon, Sunday, I decided to drive to the beach near Cross Creek in Malibu about an hour before sunset and get stoned, something I hadn't done in a while. As I wrote in end your story. Begin your life... :

Many years ago I was sitting on the deck outside my cottage, enjoying the feeling of being stoned. I was thinking about what the word “pot” meant, and had a revelation: it is an acronym which stands for “perception opened totally.”

Certainly, that was what it had always done for me. It invariably gave me a rich flow of creative insights which I didn’t get in my normal state. The practice in this book, for example, arose out of one such session. It also, of course, enhances kinesthetic sensation, which means it can heighten the experience of activities like movement, dancing, love-making, and listening to or playing music.

But “pot” has another, darker meaning. Your life can go to “pot” if you do it too much. You forget things, make mistakes, and it can destroy the motivation to achieve or accomplish anything. In short, you go unconscious. So, caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware. As with all things in the material world, balance—just the right amount—is the key to maintaining a healthy, vibrant well-being.

I knew that a few tokes would clear my energy and give me the insight into what was going on with me. And indeed that did happen. I realized I had strayed from my purpose in life, my mission, the only reason why I am still here: to serve others, those who are receptive to it, by teaching them the practice of freedom.

And so I was instantly connected and in the flow again. I got out of the car and walked on the beach to watch the sunset. More insights flowed in, but all around this question of purpose. Of course, I've known my true purpose for years now, ever since my awakening in 1995, but this time the knowing was at a deeper level.

Then, while I was on the beach, a woman friend called from Sebastopol, someone whom I hadn't heard from in ages. She was calling for clarification around an issue she had... and I gave her some feedback, and thus fulfilled my purpose! Then later, at dinner at Abuelita's in Topanga, I connected with a couple of people who were having varying degrees of suffering... and again fulfilled my purpose. That's why I moved south to Los Angeles, to get my message out to more people. And it is happening, gradually and slowly.

The practice of freedom, which is the basis of my book, is designed to help you uncover your true purpose for being here. Until you know what your passion, your purpose is, you are like a ship without a rudder, and you don't really know where you are going. You don't really know what to do with your life.

But once you know your true purpose, then you are on fire. You live with a passion and a focus that magnetizes opportunities in support of your mission. Truly, there is no happier way to live than this.