Getting It Right

Some of us really spend a lot of energy trying to get life right - to make the right decisions, to do and say the right thing. I used to be almost paralysed in making a decision because I wanted to make sure I did the best thing.

We bring this with us when we learn Ascension - we want to be the best student, we want to get Ascension right, we want the formula to perfection.

When I first learnt to Ascend I was very confused, annoyed even. I loved Ascending, but when I asked a teacher what should I do next, she replied "What do you want to do?".

I was annoyed because I wanted someone to tell me what do to and how to live. When the Ishayas suggested I stand on my own feet and look within, it was a disorientating. I was so used to seeking the Truth without; in books, in inspirational people, in spiritual movements. Those tricky Ishayas, always pointing the finger back to your own heart.

But it is the perfect thing for me, to continually see if there is anywhere I'm trying to get something right, getting involved in "I should", trying to become.

Just take the time to effortlessly go within. Because from the stillness comes Life. From the stillness comes inspiration and joy, love and beauty, creativity and contentment. From the stillness comes the perfect moment.

You can't get that wrong. AND, you can't get it right. You just have to accept it, exactly as it is. There's the perfection.

So enjoy!

www.thebrightpath.com

A Certain Uncertainty

I sat down to write just a few minutes ago and it seems like everything I start to tap away I stop and delete.

I felt in the mood to write something definite, but I'm having a hard time finding anything definite right now.

It reminds me of a joke: I used to be so uncertain, but now I'm not sure...

Anyway... its not the desperate situation it sounds. I'm at peace with this uncertainty, all because of my practice and the experience of inner certainty it gives me. I know there is one certain thing right now: The sense of stillness, of presence and being that is within. I'm definite about that.

Well - I'm definite that it exists right now, I can choose for it right now. Whether its going to be here in the future, again I'm not sure. I'm certain I don't want to take that for granted, I want to enjoy it fully now - not put it on the back burner for later.

But as for everything else, I can't really say for sure.

There is another thing I can think of that is certain: It is my power to decide how I define the events of my life. The power of choice. How do I want to view my life? Is the glass half full or half empty? Is this good karma coming back to me, or is it bad karma? Who knows? Looking back, the events that seemed bad to me back then, on reflection, have put me where I am and made me who I am today. And I'm definitely very grateful for that.

But everything else is so uncertain. Will I be here tomorrow? Will the sun rise again? Will the cat still find away to sit on my lap tonight? Will the strawberries taste as good tonight as they did last night?

Probably, but nothing like a bit of uncertainty to make you enjoy what you have now, to stop you taking things for granted, huh? So why not embrace uncertainty, embrace not sure-ness?

But embrace it only from an absolute foundation in inner certainty, inner sure-ity. Embrace the power of choice, of definition, that you have in how you label the events in your life. Use it to seek to acknowledge that which is beauty, that which is love, no matter how small. Acknowledge it, as it is, right now. Not because it might be here tomorrow, but because you experience it here now.

When you accept this power of choice for goodness, combined with the definite silence and presence within, you tap into the absolute source of love and beauty in your life. And the best bit is that since its up to you, only you can tell me whether or not it is certain. Only you can make this life definite, only you can decide what will last.

I can't think of anything else that creates as much peace as that knowing.

All you need is...

The only thing that will save the world is praise.

Love gets all the publicity, from songs ("All you need is...") to commemorative days (Valentine's Day). Gratitude is famous in its own right with people making gratitude lists and carrying stones to remind them to be thankful. Compassion has its champions in a whole tradition, the Buddhists.

Praise gets very little recognition, yet it lays the groundwork so those superstars of the emotions can flow unrestricted. Praise is like the PA that does all the hard work so the boss can get the credit, the street sweeper that makes the city sparkle, the gardener that weeds and plants and tends so the garden becomes full of beauty.

However, praise is not hard work. It involves only this: The simple appreciation of what is already in your life.

Everyone who ever did something world changing, like Christ or Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama, knew and lived praise. They always seek to appreciate, to see the beauty in what already is here, exactly as it is, without seeking to change it. Taken to its fullest continued application like these people embody, praise becomes an experience of life as completely full, lacking absolutely nothing.

Some stop short here. They complain that praise is a way of sticking your head in the sand. They say praise is all very nice, but what about reality?

Yet which reality? Everyone lives in their own little universes. Everyone sees themselves and their world through their judgements, through their perceptions, filtered through their past experiences. Reality as it is defined here is what you make it, reality depends on the way you see what you see.

Praise, in its purity of vision, cuts through the surface differences, the surface play and allows you to experience the actual Reality of Life. Praise allows you to see how good life really is.

This is how praise will save the world: A continued choice for praise brings the recognition of the Kingdom of Heaven as being here and now. You realise the Kingdom of Heaven has always been here. It never went anywhere, only we did.

A wise man once said that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. It all begins with our choice, right now. What kind of world do you want to live in?

Giving it the Buddha

If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.
Buddha


I've read a lot of Buddhist books. Before Ascension I would read in them about unconditional giving, how the most powerful giving is that done without concern or regard for the result, without interest for getting anything. This threw me, because I looked at my giving at the time and saw how I always gave to get.

I couldn't understand how someone could actually give unconditionally. Nevertheless, I tried really hard to act in an enlightened way, I attempted to give like Buddha would. Don't think it worked terribly well... I've seen since that trying to act like the enlightened never does.

Ascension has been great for me - its given me an experience of what all those great teachers have taught throughout time. The more I gently choose for the Ascendant, the more I understand what they are talking about.

I find myself living a life that is lining up with Truth. Grace is in the driving seat, and a willingness to stay open and submit to the timetable of God allows her to get on with the job without me tugging on the handbrake.

I now see myself giving without wanting to get something from the other person, and now I understand. I love to give because it makes me feel joyful, it expands my experience of life.

Its a funny thing - some people give love so they can experience more love. Or they give money so they can get more money. The joy contained in the act of giving is more than enough. So, if you really want to get pedantic, its not unconditional, but as it makes me feel free I don't really care anymore.

I love how you make one choice for the Ascendant, now, and your life naturally lines up like a compass naturally seeks north. You don't have to try and replicate an enlightened life, but you start living it because thats what brings you the most joy.

You don't have to guess what is right action, right action becomes you.

You might remember a few years ago there was a fashion for wearing wrist bands which had WWJD? on them - standing for What Would Jesus Do?

But I imagine Jesus (and Buddha, for that matter) might ask: What Would You Do?

Those tricky fellows, they're always pointing the finger back at your own heart.

Fishy Giving

Do you give to get? Or do you give unconditionally?

Perhaps you may give with the expectation that you should give, because that's what you think is expected of you. Perhaps you give because it's good karma - that by giving you'll be in heaven that much quicker? Perhaps you give because then it sets up a flow that means the universe will give to you much more?

In other words: Is giving all about you, and the recipient is only a means so that you can benefit?

Have a look at this because giving is something that is not about you at all. Actually what happens when you give freely is that you lose yourself: The small, fearful, limited you.

When you Ascend you have this opportunity to give absolutely.
You are giving your attention away to the largest of experiences, giving small you up for the vastness of the true you. Its completely unselfish, because you are letting go of the grip on the part of you that is fishy.

Give yourself to this moment, to the Attitude, to the Ascendant, right now. Have no expectations. Make no demands of it. Be humble enough to accept the experience exactly as it is. Let go of any need to make this experience different.

There is the essence of giving.

Not so you can get, but so you realise that you never actually needed. You are giving your attention to the fullness of experience, not the lack. And what you put your attention on consistently grows beautifully in permanence.

Ascend to give, not to get. Tell us what you find out...

To Live Or To Die Slowly?

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice”.
Anon

At the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, where the Private Ryan, now in old age, goes to visit the graves of the men that died rescuing him. He breaks down in tears and asks his wife: “Tell me I’ve lived a good life”. He wants recognition that his life has been worthwhile. He’s saying that he knows he was given the chance to live by men who died, and wants to know that he made the most of it.

The scene touched me on so many levels. What it boils down to is this: I don’t want to get to the end of my life and not be sure. Or worse, I don’t want to get to the end and know that I missed something through fear or laziness.

Death is a big prompt for many to question what life is all about. Typically the mind also comes fully to the fore with regret for things said and unsaid, done and undone.

Living a rich, meaningful life for me is living without regret – experiencing the full purity of the Ascendant so that regret has no hold on this moment, and at the same time doing all that I can to fulfil my role in each moment, to make sure no seeds of regret are sown.

The beauty of knowing the Ascendant is that each moment can die cleanly, leaving no trace, so that this moment can be truly lived, fresh and new.

Compromise and Success

One of the most powerful moments in my life was at the end of the First Sphere when the Ishayas suggested that I ask myself:
“Where in my life am I compromising?”

It absolutely blew my socks off because compromise was the last thing I wanted to do, yet when directly examined under such a spotlight I saw my life was riddled with compromise.

It was a powerful motivator to move, to go beyond my cosy situation and start to realise what I really wanted to do in life. It remains a potent guide.

This question requires knowing where you are heading - what you consider to be success. Success could mean making a million pounds, or simply getting out of bed every morning. I love that because it’s completely personal, is different depending on which part of your life you are talking about, and changes over time.

So: How do you personally know you are compromising? What is compromise to you? What is success? How do you know you are living a full life?

Seriously Simple

Why, when it comes to spirituality, do people get so serious and vexed and bent out of shape?

There's plenty of examples in the traditions of the world. Dozy Zen monks being beaten with sticks, guilty Christians whipping themselves, Bodhidharma supposedly tearing off his eyelids so he wouldn't lose awareness when meditating, the predominant image of Jesus being one of pain and suffering, Hindhus doing silly things to their bodies in the name of God.

I've taken things veeeery seriously in my pursuit of joy and peace. I have tried hard to be joy. I thought that I had to fight and strain against my mind, struggle and lock it down in order to experience peace.

I'm so grateful I met the Ishayas. I could quite easily still be starving myself, waking early every morning to do my yoga, criticising myself if I ever wanted to sleep in, or felt the urge to eat an icecream or a meat pie. I made myself sit cross legged and with a straight spine for an hour every day, even though sometimes my whole body cried out for relief.

Weird.

When I met the Ishayas I thought they were simple people. Simple as in stupid cos they were laughing all the time. I thought they might have something with this Ascension business, but obviously they didn't know what they really had because they didn't even take it seriously.

Makes me laugh now at my absolute arrogance. At least I gave Ascension a go because all that arrogance and harshness melted in the face of what the attitudes enlivened in me.

Ascension has given me an experience of complete presence, a beingness that simply takes over any limitation or self violence. There's nothing to do except choose for it and live. Its given me the ability to laugh at everything. Its given me total contentment of what is, exactly as it is.

The Truth requires no seriousness or hardness or processing or guessing or anything to experience it. It also needs no diet or exercise regime or any change whatsoever.

You need nothing else, except right now, choose an Ascension Attitude and live your life.

It is that simple.

You can just let go and trust that that is all that is required.

You can let go and trust that now is enough. Because now is not enough. It is everything.

I'm so grateful for that simplicity, I can't tell you.

"Why God, Why?"... When Life Hurts

I had the belief that the more spiritually advanced I got, the more my life would become free of challenge and sadness.

The challenges of life, big and small, haven't stopped. People I love die, grow old, get sick. I still have to pay the bills, I have to clean the toilet. Life in all its colours and shades continues. But my reaction to it has changed.

From what I have lived through, I can tell you this: Peace is possible in any situation. Painful events may be there, but ongoing, soul questioning suffering is, when it comes down to it, a choice, optional.

This is the invitation of all the world's teachers, and it's true: There is salvation.

When my mum died of cancer, I was surprised to find myself responding in the way I did. Rather than see it as a loss, the overwhelming response was of fullness, of celebration for her life. I was grateful for the time I did have with her, the fact that in no small way she helped make me what I am today.

It was an amazing experience, and one that came because of my Ascension practice.

When life hurts, it means we aren't accepting what is. We're fighting, we're struggling, we're shaking our fist at God and asking "WHY?". As Eckhart Tolle pointed out, the answer is always this:
If you can't change or leave a situation, the only solution is to allow and accept. Anything else is torture, and nothing or no one can stop the pain until you stop struggling. Everytime.

Ascension gives you this acceptance, just by your willingness to set aside the cares of the moment, step into presence and say an Ascension Attitude.

The more you gently immerse yourself in the Ascendant, the more you become non-resistance itself. God sees fit to place you here, and remove this person to here, so be it. No longer do you question and fight, but you find it simpler and simpler to allow, involve yourself in presence again and do what you can do. Life becomes free.

Of course, it is easy to make the choice for seeing the glass half full, to accept, to see the positive when everything is going well. Its a different kettle of fish when its not.
If its not easy, its time to get help. You don't need to do this alone.

It's worth getting that help. It's worth doing everything you can to be at peace. It's worth re-committing to your practice.

By making the choice now, you set your future ahead of you. This choice becomes easier and easier to make, no matter the situation.

Lao Tzu once wrote: "Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you".

You want that?

Chop chop carry carry

Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.
Zen saying

In the east there is an old story about the appearance of mastery and humility. It is of an old caretaker in the monastery, contentedly serving all by doing the lowly tasks of sweeping and cleaning. The young arrogant monks suspect nothing but an ignorant peasant, but the abbot and older monks know that in their midst lives the greatest Teacher in the land.

The young monks treat the old man with distain and disrespect, the old sage in turn does not care what anyone thinks of him. The story goes that one monk makes friends with the old man and learns much about appearances, ambition, and his own judgements.

I love this story because everyone wants to be someone. Very rare are those that want to be themselves. People want to be famous, to be recognised. With noble intention we want to make a difference, especially if the difference is noticed far and wide.

We also believe that we should be doing something else. That our lives are not noble as they are. That who we are and what we do is not good enough. Many spiritual people fall into this trap. That if we were truly spiritual we would look and act and be a certain way, most definitely different from what we are right now. That we would ‘arrive’ and make an impact on the world through best-selling books and interviews with Oprah. In that vision there is always an assumption that those who aren’t doing that are compromising, that they aren’t complete.

Again in the east, water is used often as a metaphor for humility and service as it flows to the lowest point, serving and supporting all life, able to be transformed to whatever is needed. It has no ambitions beyond to fulfil its purpose in life.

What is our purpose in life? For me it is to dissolve without trace of limitation into the Ascendant. To know absolute love and joy and peace. To follow the will of God in every moment. Perhaps that means chatting with celebrities about inner peace, perhaps it means sweeping the courtyard. It could simply be looking after the people around me, making sure they have what they need and know they are loved. Whatever it is, it is doing it with presence and connection, service and contentment.