this is it

no matter what it brings or fails to bring, nothing matters more than this moment. are you in a rush for enlightenment? what's the hurry?

if you can't accept this simple moment, sitting here, in this chair, without dreaming and reaching for more, what makes you think you'll be prepared to let in anything else?

instead of reaching out for what you think you need, why not try accepting what life is handing you, no questions asked? or do you know what you need better than life itself?

this is it. welcome. this moment is all you have, and now is your only chance to live it, cherish it, enjoy it.

no split

there is no division between those who consider themselves "spiritual" and those who prefer a more "worldly" approach to living. these terms are just labels; convenient perhaps for communication's sake, but not pointing to an absolute reality.

in truth, we're all playing by the same rules. there is but one standard against which our destinies are measured, and that's the degree of our spiritual development.

but why call it spiritual? it's not spiritual; it's just life. calling it spiritual seems to relegate it to a separate compartment of life, as if a person could choose to be spiritual or not in the same way they can choose to be a sports enthusiast, a butterfly collector or a professional cook.

the difference is, if we're not into collecting insects we remain relatively unaffected by the world of entomology, while if we don't consider ourselves to be a "spiritual person" our subjective experience of life continues to be entirely determined by our level of truth-awareness.

claiming to be "non-spiritual" doesn't get us categorized differently and make us answerable to a different set of rules, exempt from the "spiritual" consequences of our actions. in the same way, merely claiming to be "spiritual" doesn't win us any favors. the realization of truth and happinness is arrived at through each step we take on the path, not by making statements about what kind of person we are.

spirituality in its most basic, real and powerful form is a mode of living that dissolves the obstacles to enlightenment, transporting us from confusion and ignorance to realization and on to growing levels of awareness of the true nature of reality (to say "the true nature of reality" is equivalent to saying "the truth about ourselves").

existential ignorance and all the forms of suffering and negativity it spawns are present to one degree or another until the realization of one's true nature dawns. once this recognition occurs, sincere love and its tremendously powerful healing potential is manifested in ever-expanding ways. in this sense, spiritual development is the most relevant aspect of life, and should logically be the prime object of focus for those who wish to bring an end to their suffering. it's the most important factor regarding one's own welfare and that of humanity.

this doesn't mean that everyone should drop what they're doing and take up a particular spiritual practice. since spirituality points directly to the subjective experience of life itself, "spiritual" lessons can be learned through any endeavor as long as there is a willingness to progress in one's understanding of "self" and life. information traditionally denoted as spiritual, however - if genuine - can be enormously catalytic for those who are consciously striving for truth in the same way an umbrella is more effective at keeping you dry in a storm than throwing a shopping bag over your head; it's specifically designed for the particular purpose of facilitating awakening.

exhausted with life?

if we experienced life directly, we most assuredly would never feel tired of it.

exhaustion, on the other hand, is a feeling that’s perfectly appropriate for the complicated and stressful (not to mention illusory) story about our life that we invest such a massive amount of energy in telling ourselves, day after day, one minute after the next.

we can be proud of our frustration, our depression, even our rage, because these are all natural reactions to the superposition of an unnatural layer over the perfect reality that already exists beneath.

life is certainly in no need of improvement or assistance from our thought-structures to exist, but it remains pristinely as it is regardless of the stories about it we choose to believe in; it is we who suffer from the distortion created when we mistakenly believe in the stories as reality and don’t accept them merely as stories.

at any time, we can choose to stop investing in the strenuous activity of sustaining the story and rest in the simplicity of truth, which is present in every aspect of ourselves. it is only force of habit that prevents us from doing so on a consistent basis.

interaction!

there was a comment to the scheduling postponement post today by an anonymous writer. i'll respond to what i felt were the central ideas expressed:

"How about discussing what the fundamental truth is. What is life? Or if you prefer what is self ... I would like you to speak more of truth and less of action for discovery."

as i understand it, truth, life, self is existenceness. it's the alive and aware space that holds everything and is everything. it's right there to be experienced as the absolutely present truth of what you are; never increased, never diminished.

because it's always there, it's hard to recognize. it doesn't have a beginning and an end, doesn't stand out against a backdrop. we're accustomed to focusing on things with borders, defined things. this can't be defined or pointed out. it is the backdrop and the things it holds. you can't single it out and and say: "see? this is truth."

but i ask sincerely, not rhetorically, why truth itself should be described? a description won't lead to the experience of it for those who haven't recognized it for themselves, because it can't be grasped and created with the mind.

"Do not waste your effort trying to teach those who are asleep. But instead teach those who are awake and are ready to learn."

those who are asleep are exactly the ones i'm speaking to, if by asleep we take to mean ignorant to one's true nature. i'm obviously not directing these words to those not interested in finding out, but to those who are consciously searching for truth and receptive.

i suppose that those who no longer pay homage to mental ideas of selfhood and have ceased to engage in the constant maintenance involved with such a thing have little or no need for these words.