137 Living Light, How to Let Go, Raising Kids, Forgiveness, Anger, Spirits - Q & A

This is a recording of a Live Q & A which has been edited for clarity, length, and helpfulness.  In this lively exchange, we discussed some of the hows in experiencing our Selves as Light.  At some point we let go deeply and flow happens.  We discuss some hows of letting go.  We also discuss forgiveness, how to help our children spiritually in todays world, releasing deep anger, can we feel malevolent beings in other realms and what to do, experiencing our Selves as the Infinite, etc.  
Though I am a psychotherapist and these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful, they are not psychotherapy.  If psychotherapy is ever needed, please reach out to a psychotherapist. 

These podcasts are here to support your personal path of awakening whatever that might be. I feel they are most powerful when listened to in sequence from podcast one forward because each is built on the last. Though they, also, all stand on their own. If anything does not resonate, please disregard it and follow your heart. All my podcasts and website are free. Enjoy!

Though I am a psychotherapist, and these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful, they are not psychotherapy. If psychotherapy is ever needed, please reach out to a psychotherapist.

www.williamecooper.wordpress.com for more support. You may, especially, enjoy the short contemplations and the resource page which gives you some supportive material.

Transcript

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Welcome everybody. I trust you're doing well today. Welcome to Awakening Together, Relaxing into Happiness. My name is William Cooper. Good to see you. In this podcast or live session, what we're going to do is if you have any questions about your spiritual path, whatever it is, we could talk about them. It could help guide our discussion and others will listen in. Or if you have any other questions, feel free to ask them. While you're thinking about any questions or comments you might have, could we talk about happiness for a moment? Hi Blossom, good morning. You see the people behind me, um, the guy in the yellow, that's Bhagavan. I was with him for about 10 years in India. I would go back and forth. I spent years in India. You see Buddha in the middle, Ramana at the far end and right at the foot of Bhagavan is Jesus. All my friends. And they had something in common. They were happy and are happy. And the way that they were happy is the way that we're all happy. We're all the same. Our innate being, just who we are right now is explosive happiness. But for us covering it up, we would be radiant. And some of you are. And on our spiritual path, sometimes we feel radiance and we should because that's who we are. And at the same time, we feel discord and hurt and anger and fear because in one section of ourselves, we're cut off from ourselves. So we feel when we cut off from happiness, we don't feel so well. So these people behind me, my friends, Bhagavan, Buddha, Ramana, Jesus, what did they do? They let go. And that's what they taught. Just let go of holding on tightly. Because happiness flows, right? That's who you are. And but for you clenching on things, you would feel happy, you would not have, you might have problems, but you would still feel happy. Happiness flows, well being flows, confidence flows, relaxation flows, peace flows. And what doesn't flow is anything that's troubling you. Anger, that doesn't flow, that's attention. Fear, it's attention. Hurt, that doesn't flow, you feel tight inside, you're hurting. That's not a flow. It's a blocking. So just like me holding on to this pen with my fist, I'm holding on tightly. But if I want to let go of this pen, and I'll say it represents pain, I have to open my fist and I have to let go. Nobody's doing that holding on but me. I might be in very difficult circumstances, but I'm the one that's holding on. I'm the one that has to stop holding on. Jesus, all of them behind me, were a master of letting go. And you might remember any of you who have read the Bible, constantly Jesus is saying, let go, let go. In Matthew five, he says, if somebody slaps you in the face, turn the other cheek. In other words, let go. He said, later on in Matthew five, he says, if somebody sues you and wants to take the shirt off your back, give them your coat, let go. People couldn't figure that out. I remember when I first read that I what is he talking about? Because when we're right, like that guy slapped me in the face, and I didn't deserve that and he was wrong. I don't want to let go. Because I'm right. But somewhere I have to make a choice. Do I want to flow? Or do I want to be right and very tight, angry, you hit me in the face, you're suing me, and I'm you have no basis for that lawsuit. It's a tough one. But you may have to make a choice because in life, everything comes down to that. In the end, if you're interested in awakening, being your whole, happy, flowing self, that means there's no holding on. None. It doesn't mean that you can't do things in the world, wise things. It doesn't mean that you can't be assertive, you can do everything you need to do and want to do. However, what you can't do is hold on. You might remember in Matthew seven, Jesus said, Judge not lest you be judged. Judging that's not letting go. I'm holding a grudge. I'm holding a perspective on you. That doesn't mean that I can't have a perspective. It just means I don't hold on to the negativity. I can be wise. But I just don't hold on to the negativity. Later in Matthew 18. I think it was Peter asked Jesus. Well, okay. Somebody has done something horrible. Do I have to let it go? Do I have to forgive them? Jesus says yes. So what if I forgive them up to seven times and they keep doing it? Then what? Jesus said, forgive them forever. Let go. Let go. It's a hard one. Let go. If you want to be happy, if you want to flow, you have to be open. Holding on is not open. I hope that makes some sense. The next question, of course, is let go. Okay. Okay. I want to be awake. I don't want to suffer when I'm tight. As I said before, happiness is flowing. It's open. That's who you are. You don't have to do anything to be happy. That's complete letting go and you're happy. The only thing you have to do something to achieve is to be tight and that helps you create anger and hurt and fear. And it helps you take action based on anger, hurt and fear. That's the only thing you have to do. Conversely, from letting go, you'd say, oh, okay, I let go then I'm just happy. Now what? How do I live life? Well, you flow. You respond to things in a letting go way. You still interact, but you're out of the world of reaction and hurt, fear and anger. You're reacting. So that's a lot of suffering. So let's say, okay, fine, I'll let go. How? That's the next question. You hear people all the time. We'll just let go. And you go, okay, well, that sounds good. I'll do that. How? Well, by the way, the last 136 podcasts that are right here on Insight Timer and every platform are free and they step by step talk about how to let go. The how. For instance, and I'm sorry, it's not always just a snap of the finger and one, two, three, and one size fits all. We span lots of realities all at the same time. Your being has lots of different levels. And depending on where the problem is, you use a certain tool to let go. If you have emotional issues, you might want to see a psychotherapist or talk to a friend or something else. You might deal with it emotionally. If you have PTSD, which a lot of people have low level PTSD or high level, it's like a muscle cramp, but of the brain. Meditation does not release a muscle cramp. It works some on PTSD and it goes well with different approaches with PTSD. But in the podcast, oh, I think 26 to 30 or something like that. I talk about PTSD. And if you want more information, I give you guidance on where to find it. But I hope to give you enough information that if you have things that just won't let go, they've been stuck for decades. You've been meditating your heart out and they're still there. That might be a clue that there's a little PTSD involved and you need a different approach. And some of those approaches are also good for, for other levels too. So I'll, I'll just say some quick things, but I mentioned all the previous podcasts. So you don't feel high and dry. You don't feel like, oh great, you brought that up. I really do want to let go, but thanks for not telling me how, but here's some quick things you can do there. Maybe not quick, but deep life feels the vibration of all the things that you're holding onto. Because when we have unresolved things, we often feel them, but it's too much. And then we repress them and we stick them inside of our psyche. And we do this thousands of times until we have so many things inside that we can't feel the radiance of our being. So life will feel the most pressing thing or the thing that needs to come out next. And it will do something to trigger it. For instance, if you have anger, I'll just make something up. Somebody cuts you off in traffic and your anger comes up. Oh, now you can see it. You didn't have to hunt for it. You didn't have to work for it. There it is. You cut me off in traffic and I'm so angry. That would not be a reaction unless you had repressed anger that cutting off in traffic. Yeah, that was irritating, but all the anger that follows, that's the old stuff coming up. So, okay, now you can start to let that go. How in real time, just let it flow. Whoa, it hurts. I know it hurt going in. That's why I repressed it. It hurts coming out, but it's not going to kill you. In fact, one layer less of anger inside of you, you'll start being healthier and feel better in the long run. So just don't react to that driver. Drive wisely. Be in this world, but not of it, you might say, but let it flow. Let the anger flow. If you want to flow, you have to flow. You can't pick and choose. You flow. So let the anger flow. If something happens and there's fear, let the fear flow. Just watch it. Now you're much better off doing that. If you have a meditation practice, cause you've gotten used to watching things and you start to notice when you sit still, things start to settle out and you start to see what's what I'm the one watching. The things that I am watching aren't me. I'm watching them. I'm not them. So the first way to release, uh, these tensions is to let life help you and, and bring the neighbor yelling at you or the dog barking at you or the person cutting you off in traffic or, or the line at the bank or whatever, bringing up your feelings. So you can start to let them go. The second way is just sitting still in meditation. And when you sit down, you can't run to the refrigerator and eat a pie. You can't watch TV. You can't watch a movie. You can't talk to a friend. You just have to sit there. And when you sit there, all your repressed stuff starts to come up. You feel it, you see it, and it starts to unwind. You let it unwind, let it express its energy. It hurts. It hurt going in. It hurts coming out. It's, it's spinning wildly like a wound tight rubber band as it releases its energy because you're not interfering. You're feeling it, but you're not jumping in and trying to solve it. You're just letting it release its energy. It starts to go loose, limp, and relaxed. It goes slack. Then let that tension breathe in peace because it needs to soak up some peace so that it can relax. Just like a muscle tension, getting a massage relaxes when it breathes, breathes in relaxation. Your inner emotions need to breathe in also. So if you've sat for a while and you've been meditating, you're used to feeling yourself as peace, love, and wellbeing, watching all this stuff unwinding. So let it relax into your beingness. If you haven't meditated long enough to feel that, feel the qualities of your being that takes a while, then connect to something else. Connect to nature. Okay. So this thing has come up, it's unwinding, it's unwinding this old problem or something. Take a walk, connect to a tree, connect to grass, connect to the blue sky. If you can't do that, then touch a wall and feel what the wall feels like or touch your desk. It'll be quiet. It'll be calm. Soak up that calmness. Let the problem soak up the calmness. When something that's tense soaks up calmness, what happens? Just like a massage, it releases that relaxes and poof, it disappears. The tension disappears. Same as in emotions with PTSD. You move very slowly. You do similar things, but in a slower way. And I would just listen to those podcasts, number 26 through 30 or 31. So they're labeled PTSD. Okay. One other thing I'll mention, and then I'm going to start addressing your questions and let you guide us. But you know, I often will say that when I feel the quality of my being, which is now most of the time, and it's so powerful that, you know, it's kind of strange. It's hard to sleep at night because it's like, I've got an atomic bomb going off inside of my body and I do sleep, but I always wondered how saints, Samaji and Bhagavan and Buddha and Ramana, why they didn't need, they only need like two hours of sleep. Well, that's starting to happen to me around the edges. Because we are so much, our being is so much power and energy. It's, it's explosive. Now, I say that as encouragement, because if you'd known me back a while back, you know, when I first started this whole process, I didn't feel anything. I didn't even hardly feel my, I felt pain and suffering for decades. I won't get into all that right now. But if you ever feel pain or suffering, and you don't feel the radiance of your being, and you just hope one day you could, but you're not sure that will happen. I will tell you, if you stay on your path, whatever it is, and you stay open to new ideas and things that work for you, if they don't work for you, don't do them. But if they work for you, do them and let them open you bit by bit by bit, you will guaranteed experience the radiance of your being. You will daily consistent baby steps. That's all it takes. It doesn't, it doesn't have to be a huge thing. Just do something every day. Do what you can do. Well, I can't do much. Fine. Do what you can do. But this explosive, I often will say it's radiant and explosive. I want to add one other thing. It also feels other ways, depending on what chakra it's coming through. For instance, I can feel deep silence and quiet. That's my favorite sound is quiet, silence. It it's coming from my crown chakra through my crown chakra. So I'm saying this because depends on how you wake up. If I've said, Oh, it's radiant. And you aren't feeling that you say, well, I must be doing something wrong. No, you're not doing anything wrong. If you feel deep silence, it just means the first chakra that's really opening, perhaps is your crown chakra, or maybe your third eye, your third eye, there's great clarity. Heart is love. Maybe you just feel love. Maybe that's your primary thing is love. Well, that would be your heart chakra. So you don't need to have all this stuff the way I've described it. And in my solar plexus, it feels like a burning sun feels like the sun is burning. That's the solar plexus. The root chakra at the bottom of your spine, that feels very connected, you feel supported and connected to the earth, the universe, the world, you feel like the power of the universe in a deep, strong, supportive senses coming up through your body, your second chakra tantra, it's like lightning power. You can feel all of these things at the same time, or they can rotate, or you may only feel one of them. How, again, let go. There's only two options. Let go and flow with your innate being happiness or hold on and protect yourself and feel pain. That's it. That's all there is. That's it. Letting go. Isn't so easy. You might be walking down the street and you're feeling pretty good. You're feeling your being, but then something comes up from deep. And you know, you think of something at the supermarket that wasn't right. And you want to think about it and you want to get involved or you think about something that happened concerning your neighbor or politics or something. There's a lot of stuff going on out there. Doesn't mean that you can't interact with it. It just means you have to let go. You can deal with it, but you don't need to be captured by it. Not so easy because it's an addiction. You will want to think about it. You will want to. Now, how do you get over that? It's just like you do anything in meditation. It comes up and it's a grit. It's I want to think about it. I want to do get involved in this thing. It's got me all wound up. Just like anything else in meditation, that's an energy. You watch it. You let it unwind, expend its energy and breathe in the wellness of your being. Let that go. Let the addiction go. That's what's fueling all the other things above it. All the other thoughts and emotions. You keep letting go until all there is is let go. All there is is happiness and radiance. Again, the other 136 podcasts, they're all free. They're all there. Listen to them at your leisure. Listen to them any way you want. By the way, if you see a title you like, just listen to that. However, I think it's much more thorough to start at podcast number one and work your way forward because each podcast builds on the podcast before them. For instance, podcast number three, you see Ramana behind us. He's the guy with the beard on the end, the green background. We often stay at his ashram in Thiruvannamalai, India and stay where he meditated, walk up to his in the mountain and meditate in his cave. Well, in podcast number three, we talk about one of the things he would talk about and that is letting go. He would say, if you have a thought and you can let it go, then you know that you're not that thought because you're still here and now it's gone. He didn't say it this way, but if you went to therapy and you worked on a problem and let it go, you know you're not your problem because you let it go and you're still here. You're not your emotions because you could let those go and you'll still be here. You're not your thoughts because you could let those go and you would still be there. In fact, when people would come up to him, they say, Ramana, he was very powerful. Ramana, what about my relationship? What about my job? What should I do in life? All these kind of things people ask gurus, he would say, well, first find out who you are before you worry about your relationship or your job or your life. Who are you? You are the one when you let everything go, you're the one that remains because you're here right now. It's just what we said. What are you letting go? All that tension. Tension generates thoughts and emotions. So when you let go of the tension, you let go of the emotions and the thoughts or vice versa. Maybe you start with your thoughts. Let those go. You find out the thing that was fueling them or emotions. You let those unwind, release their energy, breathe and relaxation. They melt. Then what's underneath those might be a perspective, might be a habit, could be in the East. They call it ignorance. You just have a misperception of things. Your culture taught you one thing and it's just not true. In Bible talk, they call that sin. Sin is that which separates you from your being or the infinite ignorance is that which separates you from your being or the infinite. Okay, enough of that. Let me let me just see what what's on your mind. And thanks for all that. If that triggered anything for you, any of you, and you want to talk about it, please feel free. Jen says, Hi, William. I'm so happy you're back. I've been listening to your prior podcasts again. Great. I find your talk so helpful. Your vibe is so soothing and encouraging. Well, thank you, Jen. And I love how you're going back through the podcasts. Because as you know, they're step by step, just sort of shining a light on we're all human beings and just how our insides often work. Because I was so cut off from myself. And in such a dark place, I went to four years of theological school trying to figure out answers. It was helpful. I became a psychotherapist. I also wanted to help people, but I'm a people and I wanted to help me too. And I've gone to India 14 times average of three months per time, been to Bhutan and Brazil. I say all that stuff. Because I've been with dozens of awakened teachers, maybe hundreds. I say all that to say I was hurting. That's what propelled me to do all that. And I've taken the things that I found most helpful and put them in the podcasts. So they're distilled decades of distilled information. Maybe you can't go to India today and be with an awakened being for years. Maybe you can't do it. Maybe you've got a job and a family. I've distilled it. And in my thinking, I remember being in seminary and I just didn't know which way to go. And I just was so grateful any time anybody would give me a tidbit. So that's what I'm trying to do. In a way I'm doing it. When I offer it, in a way I'm offering to myself as well. What I needed and what I received through both sitting still for decades and learning and watching, but also so many teachers, my friend Bhagavan in the yellow, Buddha, Jesus, Ramana, Amaji, Shiva, Shakti, so many, so many more. I don't want to take all of our time going through it all, but I have to say Francis, Lucia, wow, Adyashanti, just so many. Anybody you can think of, I've probably talked to Ram Dass, Eckhart Tolle, everybody. I've traveled all over the place. So I've distilled that down and now I am experiencing myself as light. So what I distilled down, I did it because it works. It's the way it seems to work. Okay. Thank you, Jen. Nina, I a static dance with my eyes closed recently. I felt somebody watching me and three separate occasions. I have felt no, not safe to be my authentic self. I tried to ignore my intuition, surround myself with people who feel good, but I just couldn't stay. I wasn't going to say anything, but I did. Well, you helped me find the lesson. What a good, thank you for sharing. First of all, that's open, Nina. I really appreciate that. I used to do a static dancing in Austin for years and years and years, and that's very, very powerful. First of all, there are many realms that are going on, many realities, some positive, just because you're communicating from another reality doesn't mean you've solved all of your issues. Sometimes there's some negative stuff going on out there. You're safe from it, by the way, in this reality, but you may have felt somebody who doesn't themselves feel safe. That's in another reality, reaching out to you. Hard for me to say, I'm just speculating, but what would be the lesson for me? There's one lesson that seems to cover most everything. And I actually used to work with people who were psychic. And I remember one man, he had some kind of entity after him. And this guy, he was a professional psychic. And he did not himself realize he was safe because he was so psychic. And he could feel so much from this other realm that he thought he was in danger. And so I knew we were safe, and I was able to heal the situation. What I'm trying to say is, as you do your spiritual practice, and I found nothing more powerful than sitting still and meditating because it allows that which is repressed to come up. But whatever works for you, I would do it. And start letting go starting these things that have been repressed inside of us. Let them come up like I described a little earlier in this podcast, as well as in all the prior 136 podcasts. And I know you're working your way through them. And thank you for that. As you do that, this stuff is going to release, release, release. Why is that important? Because you're going to feel yourself as a radiant, vibrant being more than anything else. Why is that important? Because it's that light that is so powerful, nothing can overcome it. Remember, Jesus used to say, Satan, get behind me, or he would rebuke the spirits. Buddha also, you know, so can you, because you're a bright light. And just because you have somebody that hasn't meditated enough in another realm, that's got issues, you don't have to be affected by them. But right now, because you're so intuitive, you're feeling them. As that light comes out stronger and stronger and stronger, it overwhelms negativity. Just like, as you sit still, your light overwhelms or unwinds the negativity that you've created and repressed inside of you. That's what comes up in meditation. That's we don't repress happiness, we only repress the stuff we don't want to deal with. And that's what comes up. And that bright light is what dissolves it. And as it more and more gets dissolved, there's less and less covering you up, and you feel yourself more clearly. And you start to feel yourself as light and radiance, as I feel myself today, as you many of you do as well, and those that don't will, and there will be a mixture of both your unresolved things, creating pain that you feel and the light that you are, you're feeling that too. And that's maybe what you feel also Nina at different times, the light and the negativity. Hope that helps. And if we need to talk more, just type it in. Alice, I feel like I'm sitting with the feelings and allowing them to come up. But the anger keeps coming up. Is that normal? Yes, Alice, that is very normal. You know, it may be that you have some things that took years, like you might have been on, I'll just make it up. I don't know. I'm just saying as an example, you might have have been under very unfavorable circumstances for years and years and every day swallowing anger, it just didn't make sense. For instance, if you were a child and you were vulnerable, and you were in a bad situation, you couldn't just complain all the time, or it would be worse for you. So you would just choke down anger and choke it down and choke it down and choke it down. Well, it's like an iceberg now. And it takes a while for that whole iceberg to melt. But every time you feel it and every time you don't get involved in it, if you get involved in it, and start mulling and musing and all that, that keeps it frozen as an iceberg. If you just let it come out, you watch it and you feel it. Oh, it hurts. It hurts. It hurts. And you feel it. It's feels terrible. And you just let it come out and come out and come out. That is the iceberg melting. That's what it feels like. Just let it flow. That's the word for today. Let things flow. If you let things flow long enough, all that's left after everything melts out is happiness flowing, right? But if something's flowing, that's not happiness, then it needs to flow and it needs to flow out. So let it get out of the way, let it flow. So let your anger flow without inflicting it on anybody else. But Alice, everybody feels that way myself included. Some of this stuff just takes a while, but as more and more melts out, you'll feel your happy being coming forward, shining, and perhaps you already do more and more and more. You don't have to melt the whole iceberg to feel good. You just need to melt a hole in the iceberg for enough light to shine through and you feel that and that is called good. It feels good. Light feels good. Light feels like all the things I described earlier, depending on which chakra you're feeling it through. It feels like silence. It feels like peace. It feels like happiness. It feels like joy. It feels like love. It feels connected and supported. It feels deep trust. It feels the universe is on your side. And when you think something that happens, we can learn techniques to kind of visualize all that stuff. But those are just techniques. When you melt all the underlying blockages, that stuff happens automatically. So that's what I'm pointing to the deepest way of going about it that I know. But in some of the prior podcasts, I do talk about visualization and things like that, because sometimes that's helpful. You just want to do it in this situation with anger, not so much. I'm just talking in general about other things. Ruth says, any advice on how to guide my young children in their awareness awakening? They are 1413 and 10. I see them struggle with daily anxieties, fear, hurt and anger. Oh, Ruth, that is such a good question. That's the human condition, by the way. In India, they talk about there's different kinds of conditioning, which is basically karma. Cause effect is karma. We have our personal karma. We have our city karma. We have our country karma. We have world karma. Basically, what they're saying is we're affected by what's going on around us. I imagine in school, there's all sorts of stuff going on. It's hard. Me, when I was a kid, it was oh, so hard. You wouldn't believe it. Well, you do believe it hard for all of us. I would say lots of love, connection, connect to them, listen to them. As you flow, as you do your work, inner work, every little bit that you're freed up will transmit to them because they are connected to you in the deepest of ways. Every bit of happiness you feel, they'll start to get, they'll start to feel. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, you might remember this, he was the founder of TM, as well as my guru Bhagavan in the yellow and so many other gurus would say things such as when one one hundredth of a percent of the population of an area meditates, there's less crime, there's less unhappiness. Bhagavan would say when there's one awakened family, it awakens 100,000 other families. Ramana, he's the one with the green background behind me. When people would ask him to use his voice for social action, he would say, if you want to do that, you do it. That's important. But I'm called to be clear and to be whole. And that's the best way I can change the world, because we're all connected. It's an interconnected web. So point is, when you do your consistent daily practice, and you become clearer, your kids will become clearer. Slowly, you could teach them about meditation, but they're pretty young right now. Main thing is I would connect to them, love them, do what you can for them. I know that's probably not a complete answer. But it's a lot. If you do that, that's a lot. On all my answers, as far as the emotional realm is concerned for all people, all the time. It's important to have good friends. And or if you have emotional issues, see a therapist, I am a psychotherapist, but this isn't psychotherapy. That can help. Also, maybe your kids, maybe they could use some of that. I don't know, maybe they already are. Mainly, I would just start with yourself and stay connected to them the best you can. And I know they're at an age where that might not be so easy, because they've got stuff coming up that's blocking them that needs to come up that needs to flow. But probably they don't know how to handle it either. Talk to them. Just do what you can just just wanting and being willing to connect and help even if you don't think you're doing a good job. Just wanting and doing what you can means the world that will be highly effective. We're in an energetic world and it's seen on those deep levels. It's felt on deep levels, even if you don't think it's being felt, it is being felt. Ruth continues, and often I'd like to give them very simple tips while they're in the throes of it so they can let it flow. But it's tough to articulate and they think it's too adult of a technique. Yeah. How about a walk outside? Hey, you're going through a tough time. Do you want to walk with me? Let's go. Let's go sit by a tree. You might say, have you ever hugged a tree? Does it make you feel better or worse? Put it in yes or no. Let's do an experiment. You feel real bad. This horrible thing happened. Let's go hug a tree. It's bizarre. I know. Let's do it. And you tell me, did it does it feel better or worse? And let them tell you, maybe it doesn't feel better. Okay. Don't do that anymore. Let's walk in the grass barefooted. Does that feel better or worse? I know it has nothing to do with this problem. We can talk about the problem or just, just talk. Just listening is so powerful. I'll tell you something. When I was, uh, I, I told you that I was a psychotherapist. I am a psychotherapist. And I remember in school, we would see some different leaders of different schools of psychotherapy working with people. And the one I liked the least was a guy named Carl Rogers, because he didn't seem to have any techniques. They all worked with this lady named Gloria. All these different therapists would work with her. Fritz Perls from Gestalt Therapy, Albert Ellis with a rational emotive therapy, some analysts. I don't remember, but lots of people would work with her and they'd film it. And Carl Rogers worked with her. And I was looking for techniques like what's got, what's the answer here? What do I do? And what did Carl? He just would ask Gloria. He would just listen to Gloria. Gloria would say, Oh, I feel terrible. And Carl Rogers would just look at her very intently and connect to her and say, you feel terrible. And she'd go, yes. And Carl Rogers would go, yes. And she'd start crying. And he'd say, that makes you feel like crying, doesn't it? I mean, come on. That's all he did. Unconditional positive regard. He listened, and he listened so hard. He was sweating his shirt was soaked in sweat. But that's all he did. He would just reflect back to her. And decades later, I thought this guy is a genius. When you feel connected, when somebody loves you enough to connect to you and listen to you, that changes the world, it changes their world. So that's one thing you can do. And then take a walk in the park. It's not a complicated technique, but I think it's probably the most powerful and real human and spirit. That's what Jesus did. He would connect to people. That's what Bhagavan does. That's what Buddha, all these guys behind me, they would connect to people. And in that connection with such power and radiance, it would change them. You read some of those Bible passages. I'm not a big religious person. I bring up people that are my friends, and they're my friends. Amanda, I was knocked over by a friend's dog. She just let it go from her car and it ran down to the beach and knocked me over. It was nearly two years ago. And I've had a lot of physical problems still, including issues as a result of hitting my head hard. I've been unable to let go because she hasn't said sorry. I've been so hung up about it. And I realized that in some ways I've been keeping myself unwell, just waiting for her to say sorry. Your words help a lot. Amanda, you're speaking for us all. That's the human condition. But for that, we'd be awake. That one thing. Can you imagine somebody slaps you in the face and Jesus says, turn the other cheek? Can you what? Somebody sues you for the shirt off your back and he says, give him your coat. Also, what? He just said, let go. Okay, what if somebody toward crucifies you for just saying, I'm one with the universe, the Father and I are one. And to back it up, because miracles are happening all around you. You're not trying, they just are. Because you really are that clear, and they kill you. And he says, forgive them for they know not what they do. I mean, really? Buddha, Ramana, all of them. They let go and it wasn't easy. None of them were sitting on a satin pillow. Buddha, he was tempted. He was under the Bodhi tree. And Myra was sending every temptation, every thing at him, and we've all felt it. I'm sure he got bitten by a dog and bumped by a dog. And, Amanda, I'm saying, I understand what you're saying, because I'm the same way. But I'm trying, I'm letting go for all I'm worth. And like you said, Alice, it sometimes takes a while. Sometimes that one thing just goes on and on and on. And you have to let it expend its energy, release, and then let it begin to breathe in. In PTSD, they say do not go too fast. It's like a muscle cramp. What if that pain inside of you can only when I say breathe in wellness, what if it can only take one pinhead of wellness, that's all I can take. Well, don't sit and whip it and force it to take more. Just because maybe some book says you should listen to yourself. If you can only take in one smidgen of wellness, just do that today. Just do that. That will melt and it will start to, it's like leaven and bread, it will start to permeate that bread. But don't push yourself. There is no such thing as time. What's the hurry here? Why are we in such a hurry? It hurts, that's why. But other than that, what's the rush? Just do your daily practice. You all, first of all, I'm sorry, I'm not saying I'm so sorry about all this stuff. I am. I think we're all everybody here in the similar boat, whether you're typing in a question or not. And it hurts. It's suffering. And some of this stuff doesn't sound as bad as it feels. And all of it sounds bad. But I recognize and so I'll just say I'm sorry to everybody right now. I'm sorry. This stuff hurts. You got to be. It's hard work being. It's hard letting this stuff go. It's hard. It takes courage. You don't push it away by willpower, by the way. You have to feel it and let it melt like an ice cube. It's cold. It hurts. Let it melt. Let it dissipate. That's different than pushing it away. It's different than managing it. Oh, I have a good technique. 123 boom, boom, boom. You know, that could be temporary help. And as I said earlier, there are many levels. So sometimes you do need to do that stuff. But in the end, you just have to let it melt out. Nina says, William, you spoke to my soul resonates so deeply. You are giving me a true gift forever. Grateful. Thank you, Nina. And thank you for the gift of sharing what you have experienced. I understand it. The key for all of us, you'll notice and all of these questions and all of these realms, regardless of where we're touching, is letting go and letting the brilliance that you already are. You don't have to do anything to be radiance. You already are that you're being it's a done deal. It is the fabric of the universe is you. It's that strong. It is more bright than the sun. The sun comes from it. That's what I'm talking about. It's not like because I grew up, you know, I'll read a philosophy book or something. Oh, that's nice. Oh, okay. Nice. I'll visualize it or something. Yeah, I feel a little bit better. No. It's an atomic bomb, or it's infinite peace. Deep happiness. It's the radiance that's coming from the world. Everything in the world is made of consciousness. And consciousness is made of love. Everything and everybody is made of love. Now, if we twisted that into another shape, you can, you can freeze water into the shape of a knife and stab somebody with it. But it's water, you can twist love into the shape of a knife and stab somebody with it. But it's love. When you meditate, you let that shape melt, you let it that's the unwinding the untwisting it exudes its energy. Why does it have this energy that it's exuding? Because it's been twisted like a rubber band into a shape. It's been frozen into a shape of hurt, fear and anger. You're letting that melt. It turns into love. It feels like to me now, like what I've just described a melting ice cube or iceberg, but it also feels like logs on a fire now. They're just burning and they're releasing more light and fire heat, which is love and peace and wellness. So as stuff comes up, it feels like another log thrown on the fire. You don't want to get rid of the log. The log is adding to your aura to your well being. You don't want to manage it, you want to let it burn. So thank you all. Heidi says Amanda as a dog owner, your story helps me hoping for your well being. Thank you, Heidi. And thank you for sending that love and understanding to Amanda. You know, in the East, and again, we don't realize stuff. All of us. One person, it's about a dog, another person, it's about something else. It's about the grocery store, another person, it's about something else. Sit still. And as we respond more, we understand more as we understand more, we respond more, less reaction. Heidi, my icebergs are as large as countries. I'll keep melting. Heidi, I identify with that. The reason I came up with icebergs, because that's what I feel and felt inside. They used to be really the size of countries. Literally, I know what you mean. And they would be stacked up iceberg on iceberg on iceberg. So as encouragement, keep doing your daily practice. I'm just saying they will melt, the sun will shine. And you don't have to wait for them all to melt to feel the sun. Just melt something. Just keep doing the good work you're doing. Alice, I love the iceberg analogy. Very helpful. And yes, I'm 67. And in childhood, I had to push down a lot of anger from the abuse of older siblings. That's it. Bingo. And you know, it takes a while for that stuff to surface fully sometimes. And now it is. It's a great gift, Alice. Good job. Keep it up. As you heal, you heal the world. Interconnected web. You heal 100,000 people around you. We all think that's just an encouraging thought. But to tell you, it's reality. It is a real thing. Okay. Amanda says, Heidi, thank you. Saddest thing is I've become wary of dogs since then. That wariness, Amanda, let it come up. Let it expended synergy, let it unwind and let it release. I have had similar dog issues. I love dogs, but I've had some dog things. I won't get into it. But I understand what you're saying, Amanda. Let it melt. Let it breathe in. For any of you that haven't listened to the prior podcast, if any of this is resonating, start with number one. We talk about the hows, how to do this stuff. It's not enough to say do it. We've talked about it in this podcast too, but in more depth with the other ones, because it's just more podcast. Nina, how beautiful. I have three children, two ages, four, two and nine months. Very complete answer. Love hugging trees, walking barefoot. Great, great advice. You know what? Nature is such a wonderful deepener and bridge because nature is being in creation. That's not thinking. It's simply flowing. So when we connect to it, it teaches us to flow. If we let it, if we open and connect, then after a while we're just flowing. And I'm not saying you're not already flowing. I'm just saying on everything we're already doing well, it's infinitely deeper than that. So we keep going. Jules, practicing forgiveness feels beautiful. A great release. Yes, it is beautiful and it is a great release. It's a great letting go. If you can forgive, you, maybe you can let go of everything. I don't know, but maybe. It's deep. That was Jesus's main thing, right? Forgive. Forgive them for they know not what they do. Alice, trying to force wellness to me is like kicking a wounded animal. It makes me want to curl up into a tighter ball. Well said, Alice. Thank you. Yeah, you can't manage or force yourself by willpower to let go. Now there's always the exception. I mean, in certain times of my life, I have used my willpower and it has moved me to a place I suppose I needed to be, but I'm not sure that it ever healed me. I'm not sure that I ever awakened from it. Maybe we could call willpower focusing, doing daily practices consistently. I don't know. Willpower is a good thing, but force. Yeah, Alice, I agree. Nicholas, meet your maker. Yep. Our maker is our being. There's, there's not, we didn't come up with this beautiful being inside of us. And as Jesus said, the father and I are one. And he said, you are too. That's one. It wasn't two. Oh, somebody just, if there's only one, somebody's got to disappear. Is it going to be the ultimate infinite or is it going to be Jesus? Oops, it's Jesus. Jesus got to go. There's only one. So meet yourself. Meet your maker is you. And I don't mean the small you. I don't mean the personal you. I don't even mean the Jesus. I mean, the one Jesus was saying, the father and I are one. One means that you, Yogananda said, it's not quite right to say, I am God. That's, that doesn't even feel right. Rather, God has become me. The infinite has become me. I let go so much that all that's left is the infinite. Meet that one. Meet that one. Thank you, Jennifer. Jennifer says, thanks, William and everyone. Very helpful. Thank you, Jennifer. And thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I look forward to the next time we talk. Great questions. Thanks for being so open. Take care. Bye.