What is the Truth of Life?

The truth regarding what aspect of life exactly? Are we looking at the truth of life on earth in its totality? Are we considering the truth of human life; why am I here, why am I alive? etc. or are we looking at what you "think" is the truth based on your particular view point, based on what you have been programmed to believe is the truth?

When people look at this subject they do so through a "filter" of psychological and emotional impressions that have accumulated in their psyche/mind since they were born to this planet. By the time each of us has reached adulthood we have already filled our heads with enough attitudes, beliefs and opinions, based on our experiences of life and living, to believe that what we, each of us, believes in must be the truth regardless of what others think. We do this because we have become "robotic", we are like walking, talking computers . . . garbage in, garbage out!

Everyone has been programmed by their experiences of living to believe in their own programme and so we live in a world where there is constant conflict because everyone is running different mental/emotional programs. Some differ slightly and some greatly. Some work together because they have very similar programs and others, being programs from the opposite polarity, are in disagreement. The greater the difference, and therefore distance between us, the greater the conflict.

The question I have to ask you is "Can you see the TRUTH in what you have just read?" Does any of this resonate within you as something that you need to take a closer look at and address in your life? Are you living in a robotic way, are all your attitudes, beliefs and opinions simply a form of mental and emotional programming of your mind that has lead you to be attached to what has been proffered to you as the truth? At this point it would be a good idea to go back to the beginning and just read this again so that you grasp the enormity of what you have just read and let it sink in . . .

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In my experience what I have written here is the truth and the reason I can say that is because I have put in many years of self-observation and self-realization, which has lead to an expansion of consciousness and self-awareness. This process has dissolved the normal conditioned programming of my mind and replaced it with the original and natural state of Being. This state is the freshness and newness of present moment awareness, It is a state of pure and clear perception or intelligence that is free from all past conditioning.

So, in my experience, the Truth is that everyone on planet earth has been programmed to believe in, and have opinions about, something . . . anything and everything, and it is because of our programming that we live in a world of conflict where very few people actually know this Truth. Everyone is living through their programming and most have not realised that there is a greater Reality and Integrity hidden below the surface of themselves. Therefore everyone is living on the surface of themselves, very few know what is going on below the surface!

Below the surface, which equates to your programming (which is all your past conditioning) lies the Truth of who you are. It is your Reality and it is a Greater Integrity than the programme you are running through your mind everyday! That programme is the "lie", it is the impostor that creates unhappiness within the individual man and woman and it makes each of us live problematically. Everyone has periods of unhappiness and problems to overcome in this man made world, don't they? If not constantly than at least periodically, yes? Well, that is the lie! All problems on earth are created by mans conditioned programming. Remove the conditioning, remove the programming of the past and you enter a totally different state of being where there is no more unhappiness in your life . . . no more problems! That is the "Miracle" of the enlightened life . . .

Removing all problems from the world that man has created on the surface of this blessed earth would take a greater miracle. That would require all, or enough, men and women to be at a point of evolving consciousness where there was a shift in the consciousness of the planet . . . and that time has not yet arrived.

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This article has a top rating on the Helium website http://www.helium.com/ Under the Religion & Spirituality Channel, click onto Self-help which will take you to Self-Awareness & Realization and then Reflections: The truth about life. Why not join us as a writer . . . see you there!

What is Meditation?

Meditation is an Intelligent state of perception beyond the thinking mind.

When the thinking mind is perfectly still a new state of perception is realized where total "attention" to the present moment is experienced and this state of "present moment awareness" contains within it a great secret and power. A secret that the thinking mind is totally unaware of, but this state can only be experienced by the mind that has been stilled. This is because the thinking mind is not fully present, it is lost in thought, therefore the mind that has not realized "stillness" has no experience of it and is not qualified to make comment. That does not prevent it from doing so however, and that is how thought, belief and opinion are born; out of the ignorance of a mind that is not still.

The thinking mind does not know what it is like to be still, therefore all the thinking mind can do is have an opinion on the subject, which is of course . . . "thought." Opinion is an aspect of thought, it is one of the modes through which thought operates (belief & opinion are hardened layers of thought), and because 99.9% of the earths population have not "stilled" the thinking mind we live in a world of opinion and belief where the truth regarding the nature of "Stillness", and the "inner peace" of a mind that does not think, is not understood. The only solution is to "still" the thinking mind. Then and only then will you know what stillness leads to, because you will have the direct experience yourself, and no one will ever be able to take it away from you again. The secret of your own inner power will literally become you! Correct meditation is the tool that you can use to enter this "pristine" state of inner peace known as stillness, which reveals this point of power to you.

Meditation can also be seen as a series of stepping stones across the "stream of thought" within the mind. Correct meditation will take you by the hand and lead you across the stream of thought to the other side, whereas incorrect meditation will only lead you into confusion, and into a very wet experience! Incorrect meditation uses the thinking mind in an attempt to overcome that very same thinking mind, which is of course an impossible task. Why would the "thinker" want to defeat itself? The thinker in you is the one you have to become aware of and move beyond . . . into the stillness and inner peace that lies just beyond it. The fact is that "thought" can not bring "thought" to a point of stillness and there is a very good reason for this. Let's take a simple example. If you use a single word or phrase to focus your attention on what are you actually doing? You are thinking, yes? You are actually focused on one word or phrase to the exclusion of all others but you are still using the thinking mind in an attempt to still it . . .erm, do you see the problem here? It is like feeding the fire while you are fighting the flames. Thought feeds thought and stillness puts the flame of thought out! The point I am making here is that you will need to learn a form of meditation that is based upon you, your natural intelligence, turning in on itself as the observer of thought. And when I speak of thought I also include the emotions that are reactions born of thought. You literally have to "watch" yourself thinking continuously in order that you can take back control of your mind and therefore, as a consequence, your external life.

Some people when they learn incorrect forms of meditation end up having such a wet experience that they never attempt to cross the stream of the mind again! They end up saying that meditation doesn't work, that it is impossible to still the thinking mind. There are others who don't understand the benefits of meditation and see it as pointless. That's OK because such people are entitled to their opinion, no matter how blind that opinion or belief may be. The simple fact is that they are not yet ready to make a "jump in the level of being", out of thought, and into the perfection of the still mind. Only the individual who is willing to "still" the thinking mind (and in the process dissipate all belief & opinion) can have the direct experience of a greater reality or truth than the thinking mind. When stillness and inner peace are realized as your natural state of being you will experience this jump in the level of being, one that is free of what I would describe as all normal forms of negativity and unhappy conditioning.
Why would anyone want to still the thinking mind?

Stillness is a state of "Inner Peace" and inner peace is the end of worry. So, right from the start, we have one good reason . . . a life of freedom from worry. What is worry? Worry is the mind thinking problematically, with a will of its own, without pause. Have you ever spent time in self-observation? By that I mean have you ever spent time observing the way your mind works and watched it in action? The action of the mind is thought. That is the first step across the stream of the thinking mind; Begin with "Self-Observation." Watch yourself thinking and getting emotional and observe your thoughts and emotions as they rise and fall. And do this without judging those thoughts and emotions as being good or bad, right or wrong or even likable or dis-likable.

You will need to spend considerable time observing the way your mind operates and the way thought and emotion are connected. I don't know if you have ever noticed but if you are unhappy it is because your mind is thinking about something and you then begin to become emotional about it.

Meditation, when practiced with true dedication, will remove unhappiness from your life. It is not possible to be unhappy when the mind is perfectly still. Why? Because for the thinking mind to be perfectly still all ignorance and false conditioning have to be dissolved, dissipated and removed from your being. Then you are in a state of total "peace of mind."
But that's not all. When you still your mind you'll also experience what true "joy" is. Some people call it "bliss" and others "love" but the label is not important. What is important is the direct experience of this state of being. Peace, joy, bliss and love are words that describe a state of BEING, they are not emotions, they are what remain when all normal conditioned emotions have been removed from your total system. (The most appropriate name for your total system is the general verb "Being.")

Would you like to experience a life that is free of all psychological and emotional unhappiness, is that possible? Yes it is possible and not only will you be free from pain, misery, suffering and unhappiness, which is the normal human condition but your life will also change externally. Seemingly from nowhere changes will begin to unfold in your life. The external circumstances of living will begin to improve or change for the better. Why and how does this happen? It happens because at your very center, the center of your being, there is the perfection of the original state. And the original state, being perfect, is attempting to "unfold" as your life . . . the life that you are. This perfect state of being, which is at your center, is perfectly still. It does not move, it doesn't go anywhere or do anything, it does not even think . . . it just is! But in its "isness" there is total perfection. No problems, no unhappiness, no mental or emotional misery and no struggle or trying to be something it's not.

This perfect state may be "thought of" as a blank canvass by the minds of the unenlightened, and there is nothing wrong with that, other than the fact that this "blank canvass" is your own state of pure and clear Intelligence. What the enlightened have realized is that this state of pure and clear intelligence is the real "i" in the word real"i"zation. In other words it is what "I" really am when all past conditioning has been removed from my sub-conscious mind.
This blank canvass, which is your Intelligence free from the willful interference of your problematic thinking, attitudes, beliefs, opinions and the conditioning of the personality, is perfection.

Some people call this state heaven, paradise or a garden of Eden but whatever label you give it, there is one fact that every man or woman who fully investigates this subject discovers; "the center is already perfect." It is the natural state of perfect stillness and inner peace at the center of each of us and it is filled with a natural "Joy" that has no opposite polarity, no sorrow, contained within it.

The direct experience of your center, which is the "realization" of who and what you "really" are, automatically and naturally dissolves, dissipates and removes all your conditioned negativity, aimless and problematic thinking (worry) and emotional unhappiness.
The realization of the perfect state brings that very perfection with it into existence; through you, through your life . . . as your life. Not at some future date, not when you experience physical death but now, while you are alive. The time to begin the process of bringing the perfection of paradise to earth is . . . Now. Let us begin!

What is going on Inside You . . .

What is going on inside you, who are you really, is there anything to discover beyond your physical existence?

Let's take a look at the Metaphysical: Meta is a word meaning beyond. What is there to discover beyond the physical? There is so much there, beyond the physical body (within the depths of the mind) and not all of it is desirable. In fact there is a layer of ignorance within the mind which is completely undesirable.

From birth right through to this very moment you have been accumulating a subconscious past. This past is what you call yourself, your personality, the person you think of as you. This subconscious layering of past conditioning consists of all your aimless and problematic thinking, your attitudes, beliefs and opinions along with everything that you've become attached to in existence since you were born to this world. It also consists of all your psychological and emotional pain, misery, suffering and unhappiness. It is all there, within you, hidden in your mind and it thinks that IT is You! But is it?

Beneath the thin layer of mind known as the subconscious lies the unconscious. But what do you know of the unconscious, this vast and infinitely deep realm of your Psyche? Most people know very little of it because most of them are caught up in the subconscious . . . and I have to ask, are you any different?

Your reality, or what you really are, is hidden within the unconscious mind. The secret is to find a way to Transcend, Divine Through and Move Beyond the layer of ignorance, which you call yourself, the personality. In so doing you will re-connect with a greater Reality/Integrity than the self/personality.

How can you move beyond the conditioned mind and into the depths of the unconditioned mind? There is only one "Pure" way to do this, to move beyond the surface of yourself, and that requires you to become an observer of your "self" (self being everything you think you are . . but are not!). You have to separate your intelligent state of "Awareness" from your conditioned thinking mind and the only way to do this is by becoming "The Intelligent Observer" of yourself. You have to partake in a great "experiment". You have to take on the role of a scientist and become the observer of yourself. You must sit in self-observation, walk in self-observation and "be" in self-observation 24/7. You have to become the silent witness of all that is happening within your own psyche/mind. There is no other way . . . and sooner or later this is what you must do, if you are to become enlightened, liberated and free from discursive thinking and emotional unhappiness, if you are to move beyond the physical and beyond the conditioned mind.

Most people do not move beyond the conditioned mind. Even those who are involved in prayer and visualization are working within the conditioned thinking of the subconcsious mind. They are calling up the past and inflicting it on the present, and in so doing they are NOT living in a state of present moment awareness. How could they when they are lost in the subconscious conditioned mind (the past in you), and are therefore not living in the freshness and newness of the Unconscious mind, which is the state of intelligent perception.

"I", the still mind and a body in existence; that is the integrated state of being, the enlightened state. The conditioned, subconscious mind, sits "BANG" in-between the the body and "I". "I" am the intelligence that is reading these words now. That is what "I" am, but there is another I getting in the way. The I of the personality, which thinks it is you (or I), but it is not you, not the being you really are, it is an impostor! The "Truth" of this will become clear and real in your experience as you become an observer of the impostor, as you observe it wilfully making you think aimlessly and problematically even when you cry out for it to STOP! But it will not because it has become your master, it controls you and so the divine "I", the intelligence you really are, remains lost underneath this great impostor.

Which are you, are you the thoughts and feelings you observe within your mind or are you the intelligence that is observing those thoughts? Do you "think" that you are both? That's a nice trick, one of many that the thinker in you will perform in an attempt to make you fail in your attempt to break free from its strangle hold on you, but you must not fall for it. You are the observer of your thoughts, feelings and actions, you are the intelligence behind it all, and your task is to see this for yourself with great clarity of perception. The only way to reach a point where you can break free from the conditioned mind, and therefore experience enlightenment, is to be persistent in your self-observation. You must return to your laboratory every day and sit in meditation/self-observation, and then you must take your new found inner peace and stillness into the world with you and remain an observer, day in and day out until . . . you break free of the subconscious mind and enter the pristine clarity of the unconscious.

Beyond the physical there are deeper and ever deeper levels of mind and being. Beyond the conditioned subconscious mind there is the unconditioned reality of the unconscious mind where the Truth of life on earth can be realized. This is where the truth regarding such words as immortal, eternal, spiritual and enlightenment is realised and it is the end of ignorance. It is death to all that is false within you and it is a re-birth of the divine reality and Integrity of your perfect state of BEING.