141 Mastering Hard Times - Q & A

This is a recording of a Live Q & A which has been edited for clarity, length, and helpfulness. 
Lately many have been experiencing distress both inside and outside.  Current events have been difficult for many. Much of the discussion in this Q & A centered around living in awareness with these many levels of distress. Topics included, "Starting by getting out of the pounding surf." Also, do I cause my own problems by bringing my perspective to what would be a happy event inside and out?  Do awakened people always know they are awake?  Ways to comfort another, How to be kind to myself, Do I need to control myself and my circumstances in order to awaken? Etc.
We also noted that 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.

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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Hello everybody. This is William Cooper. Welcome to Awakening Together, Relaxing into Happiness. Good to see you all. I trust you're doing well. One of the reasons we're having this live session today is somebody emailed me and said, you know, this week has been tough. Hi Jen, and Jen is the one that emailed me. She said what I think a lot of us are feeling is that this week has been tough. And one of the reasons it's been tough is because the election in the United States, and I know people from all over the world listen to this podcast, and some of you have wars. Some of you might be fighting in a war. Lots is going on everywhere in the United States. As many know, we had an election and half the country is upset about the outcome. The other half presumably is happy. Four years ago, it was the opposite. The other half was upset. So, it has been difficult. This is a session on awakening. And in these live sessions and podcasts, we really focus on your well-being, your awakening. And it's not a political podcast, and that's not what we're doing here today. But as any life event, if you have any questions or comments about how it is affecting you and maybe what you might do to continue with your awakening process, this is a good time to ask questions. You can type them in the box and we can address them. I'm grateful for every question that you ask. Also, we're all in this together, and every side of the political spectrum is welcome. We're all awakening. Every question is good. Every comment is good. Every religion is good. Every spiritual path is good. So, they're all leading to our awakening. So, please feel welcome regardless of how you're feeling today or from what direction you're coming. And I'm going to say a few words, but continue to type in your questions, and I will address them in just a short while. Buddha said, he observed, that life is suffering. Why? Because it's inherently unstable. As soon as you get it to where you like it, it changes. Or if you try to keep some evil away, it changes and suddenly it's in your lap. So, you can't control it. It's unstable. There's only one stable thing that exists, and that's consciousness. That's awareness. That's who you are, your beingness. That is purely stable. For that reason, Buddha said, take refuge in your being. Or in Buddhist terms, take refuge in the Buddha. But you are the Buddha. Your being is the Buddha. The qualities of your being are happiness, love, well-being, joy, bliss, peace. And that's what we're all looking for, because we've been distracted often by the unstableness in the world, in life, and we're trying to find our happiness there. But it's not there. Let's take this election, for example. It could be any example we could take. But have you noticed the more you get involved in it, do you feel better? No. Maybe temporarily. But it's true with anything in life. Does that mean we need to avoid life and not love and not connect? No. Jesus said, be in the world. Be in the world, but not of it. And that's a similar thing as what Buddha said when he said, take refuge in the Buddha, in your being, in your heart. Rest there. You're safe there. You're surrounded by yourself, which is happiness, is well-being, is peace, is love. So, rest there and let the rest go. That's what this series of podcasts is all about, because the other question is, is how? And what do you mean? So, I've attempted in this series of podcasts to simplify things, make them clear, and step by step unfold a good path. The path that I've found to be helpful. Every path is a good path, but I've tried to eliminate those things that have been a distraction and just put the essentials. It's a good place to start or to support what you've already done. The most powerful way to listen to these podcasts is start with number one and move forward because each podcast builds on the last. Each is like a tile in a beautiful mosaic. That mosaic is your life, your awakened life. And what is awakening? That's you without your problems. Let me tell you a story. There was a man born in India. His name was Anthony DeMello, a Catholic priest, an awakened Catholic priest. And he told this story. He said there was a young couple who had been hiking in the mountains and found a beautiful, beautiful pasture surrounded by trees, a clear brook running through the pasture, just gorgeous. They were so excited and they decided that when they went home, they would make plans to come back and bring a picnic there. And just really, really, now that they had found this beautiful place to really enjoy it, spend the afternoon there. So some weeks later, they pulled it all together, had a beautiful picnic basket and hiked hours into the woods until they came to that pasture. They were so happy. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, an incredibly powerful thunderstorm poured on them, drenched them. And it just kept pouring and raining and raining and raining until their picnic, from their viewpoint, was ruined. Now, Anthony DeMello said the trees weren't unhappy. They were happy. The grass was happy. The sky was happy. The rain was happy. Everybody was happy but these people, because their plans had been ruined. Their dreams had been ruined, at least from their perspective at the time. Life is happy. There's no problem in life. If I ever feel unhappy or distressed, that's what I'm adding to life. I'm bringing that. There's no law that says that I have to be unhappy because a certain thing happens or doesn't happen. When you take refuge in the Buddha, when you rest in your being, everything's happy, regardless of whether it rains or whether you lose an election or whatever. Because you are happiness and it's not dependent on what happens around you. When you see life from happiness, what you see and connect to is happiness. You see what you are. So, the world is a kind of a strange thing. It's made of consciousness, condensed consciousness. Beyond existence is quite quiet. It's a fullness but it's so quiet. It's empty fullness. You can only know it through your intuition because it's not a created thing. It's beyond creation. It's beyond this world. When it comes into creation, it slows down. It turns into light and then that light slows down and it turns into a sound like OM and also a high-pitched sound. And then that slows down and it turns into bliss, joy, love, peace, well-being. And that slows down and it turns into energy. And that energy slows down and it turns into atoms, turning into molecules, turning into dogs and cats and the rest of the world. So, if you approach the world from the created place, it changes constantly. People die, they move, things happen. But if you see the world from your Buddha nature, your beingness, you as consciousness, bliss, well-being, love, happiness, what you see the world as is as consciousness as well. You see it as happiness, wellness, bliss, joy. That's what you see because that's from which you're viewing the world. You're viewing it from bliss and all you see is bliss. So, when Jesus said be in the world but not of it, you can do that. And you can fully interact and you can fully enjoy and you can fully engage. And you're engaging from a good place. And when you engage, good things happen. And if they don't, because it's the world, it changes. If they don't, it's okay. Anyway, we get into all this more deeply, how to let go of those things that are blocking us or distracting us from who we are and being in touch with who we are truly. Our true nature. That's awakening. To let go of what we're not and to enjoy what we are. If you have any tension in your body ever, or any hurt, or any fear, or any anger, most likely that's because you're holding it in. You've created this and you're holding it there. You're keeping it created and that's what's causing pain. So, it's one thing to recognize it and then you let it exude its energy and begin to fall apart, relax, breathe in the wellness that you are and let it dissolve. And then you're not holding it and you don't have to solve anything because it no longer exists. That particular thing, that particular attitude is gone. So, one by one, when life triggers you, things come up and you can let them go because you can see them if you're willing to let them go. Buddha said that the people that come to the earth plane, the beings that come to the earth plane, there's a reason why they come here because the earth plane triggers us and helps us see the things that we've been carrying. And what he said was those that come here have anger, hurt, fear, laziness, jealousy, anxiety, symptoms of things that we've been holding onto because we haven't fully realized ourselves. And this earth plane is a good place to heal. Have you noticed you get triggered here on earth? The election triggered a lot of us. There's so many other things in life that constantly trigger us. And therefore these impurities, the things that are blocking us, they come up. We feel them. Ow, I'm angry or I'm hurt or I'm afraid or I'm anxious. Help. I feel terrible. That means I'm triggered. So now I can see it and then I can let it go. So that's what we're doing here in Buddha's opinion. Now mine too, probably many of yours opinions as well. Okay. So as far as the election is concerned, it's a good way to see everything's fine. You are a beautiful light, love, peace, and wellbeing. There's nothing you have to do to be that. You're already are that. That's the nature of your being. And it sounds like a philosophy sometimes, but really to me, it's almost amazing, but light just blows out. It just floods out and it doesn't require anything except to let go of those things that are coming up, that are blocking blocks. That's a feeling too. When I say, Oh, I'm blocked. That's a feeling. So just let it exude its energy. Don't keep it alive. Don't hold onto it. Just let it melt. Just watch it. Feel it. The reason why it's hard to feel it is because it's made of things that hurt. We don't repress happiness. We repress hurt, fear, and anger and things like that. So when it comes up to melt, that's what it exudes. And I don't like that. I'd prefer to watch a movie instead or go, go do something else or whatever. You name it. But as it melts, it turns back into what it's made of, which is consciousness, is well-being, is happiness. And your aura gets brighter and brighter. It's what you feel. It's what your experience. So as many of you know, it's far from a philosophy. It's what happens. So, okay. And, you know, let me say one other thing and then I want to get to your questions. There's so much we could talk about, but as I put in the podcasts, 26 to 30, which are on PTSD and its relationship to awakening, letting go. Sometimes you have to just move slowly because I can say all these things and if we jump in too fast, it's overwhelming and the nervous system is overwhelmed. We have to move slowly. And like my friend Bob always used to say, the first thing on the spiritual path is to get out of the pounding surf. If you're overwhelmed, forget all this awakening business. Go for a walk in nature, walk in the woods, do something that feels good for you now. Buddha said the second of the three jewels, the first is to take refuge in the Buddha. The second is take refuge in the Sangha, in your friends, be with your spiritual group, connection with others. That's very powerful in healing PTSD also, but it's very powerful in every case. And the third jewel is good teachings. Take refuge in good teachings. So, it just, teachings bring your awareness to what's going on and then you can move accordingly. And there's lots of good teachings out there. So, what I'm saying is, take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself. Take a breath of fresh air. Give yourself some time. No matter what it is, when you're having hard times, be nice to yourself. Nothing you have to do today. Just take care. It's okay. Everything is okay. You know, on that picnic, everything was okay. It's just the people thought it wasn't okay. Really? Everything is okay and it will work out. It is working out and life is trying to trigger you in a way that is productive. That's helpful. Okay. A lot of people said hello and it's so good to see you all. Monica, Sue, Alice, Ru, Jen, Alexandria. Hi. Hi, everybody. Theresa. Hi. Jennifer. Wow. It's good to see you all, Monica. Okay. And I'll get to questions now. Alice says, my question is, do enlightened people, awakened people know that they're awakened? Alice, that's such a great question. I remember my guru, Bhagavan, my former guru, he was saying, you know, there's a lot of people that are awakened that don't know that they're awakened. Because what is awakened? That's experiencing who you are, your being. Your being is happiness, love, well-being, and peace. And there are people that fully experience themselves that way, because awakened is a strange term. And what it refers to is if I don't experience myself that way, little bit by little bit, I start letting things go, letting obstacles and layers dissolve and go. And as that happens, I start to experience myself more and more as light, bliss, well-being. And that's the process of awakening. Until I feel as if I'm just an explosion, a bright, bright light. And going from darkness to light, that's awakening. But some people already are light. And if they don't have the contrast, and I wouldn't wish that on them, but if they don't, then they're awakened and they may not even know it. So that's a very good question. And the answer is no, not all awakened people know that they're awakened. The ones that had to work at it, they know. The way you know is you know how it was before. And you watch it step by step, layer by layer. You start watching and feeling your true self. And it's such a relief. The well-being feels so good. The peace so good. And then as another chunk, a layer comes up, because that's often the process of awakening as your light spreads further and further out and get stronger and stronger. You keep hitting the next layer or block that's further out that you never even had the power to see before it was so far out, so deeply buried, or covered up perhaps. But as you're like, it's brighter and brighter it keeps expanding and light expands forever until it hits a container. So you hit the next layer out. So the process of awakening, you're quite aware of what's going on as it happens, because you feel it. Now in the beginning, you don't so much because you've got so many layers, it feels like nothing's happening in a way. Because as soon as one layer melts, there's a hundred other ones behind it and you don't feel much light coming through at first, perhaps. But later you do. Okay, I hope that answers your question, Alice. It's a good question. And Therese says she has the same question. Everybody likes that question. Alexandria. Kathleen, I see things much more clearly but cannot figure out my path. That's, you know, it is hard sometimes. The best advice I have, as I said, the best way to listen to these podcasts is start at number one and move forward because they build on each other. But somewhere in there is a podcast with the title something like discovering my life purpose. And if you haven't heard that podcast, I'd go to that because each of these podcasts does stand on their own. And so if a title really grabs you and jumps out, I prefer you not to have to wait to listen to that. It's only that when you start with number one, you start building a foundation so that by the time you get to some of the later podcast, you've got more clarity and power behind you. But really, I would just listen to the podcast you want to and then go back to number one and keep going forward and then listen to it again when you get to it in that way. But Kathleen, as you follow your spiritual path, as you continue to let things go and melt away as we describe in these podcasts, or perhaps you have another way of doing it, but as you get clearer and clearer, you will see clearly and you will know. But part of your path is where you are right now. There are no accidents. The not seeing clearly right now is part of your path. There's another podcast I might listen to and it has something in the title of something like sitting still until you can see clearly. That's the title, something like that. I would listen to that one too. Anyway, I hope that helps. I think that those two podcasts on finding your life purpose and sitting still until you can see clearly are helpful and all the rest in order would be good. Okay. If I haven't answered any of your questions clearly or enough, just type again in the box and I will get back to it on a deeper level. April, yes, some are thrilled. How can I assist others close to me that are not so thrilled about the outcome? Words of comfort to them. Well, here's the thing, you know, just being with them and listening to them and connecting to them, even touching them is very settling. People need contact, connection. I don't know that any amount of verbiage is going to help because every paragraph begets another paragraph, which begets another paragraph. And I don't know. And then in the end, everybody's just kind of upset and sad. So, I think just connecting and listening, let that person do the talking, that might be helpful. Now, in the end, just like Buddha said, you have to take refuge inside, but if you're not on a deep spiritual path, you can't force somebody to do that. But I don't think there's going to be any ultimate relief in the world or in any individual person's life, unless their center of gravity shifts to that which is stable from what that which is unstable. And there's only one stable thing, one stable place, and that's in your being. Again, there's many paths. I feel that what I'm laying out in these podcasts, after years in India, being with lots of gurus as a psychotherapist and as having been to seminary and having life experience, at least it's a start. I've weeded through stuff that other people haven't maybe had as much time to be able to do. So, it's a good start. Is it the only thing? No, no, no, no, no, no. But it's something. And there's a lot of other good paths out there. But if a person can walk in nature, if they can connect to those. See, what's going on with nature? Nature is just happy. It's not thinking and putting conditions on things. So, it's allowed to flow. And when you're with consciousness that's just flowing, you start to resonate in that way and you start to flow and feel good. Same with dogs and cats. They're not thinking about things overly much. They let things go often. Not completely, but they do. So, when you're around them, you start to feel better. Art can connect to your deepest place, certain kinds of art. One of the ministers in France, one of the ministers of art, way back, he said the difference between art and a pretty picture is art is what conveys the infinite. Where you look at it, you can connect to your deepest self. So, any of those things or any kind of thing in that direction can help people. Going to a yoga class with your friend, if they want to do that. Exercise is good, but yoga helps release so much. We hold so much in our body. Okay. Jen says, I find it so hard this balance between taking action and staying current on news versus going onwards and working on my peace and light. You've quoted before a guru said, if you feel called to action, good. And that guru said it was most effective for him to work on and shine his light. Even knowing this, it's so hard. I don't want to be alone. I want to take action when I know others are suffering. You also mentioned the thoughts of fear versus immediate danger. I think it was the 15 second rule. Yes. I think it would help me just to hear more words on going back and forth, balancing this, like the story of seeing the fishermen kill the fish and how you handled that. More examples of how to vacillate between the two states without judgment. It's almost like, how do I love myself when I'm not feeling loving? How can I be with that? Go deeper. Maybe the feeling of needing to take action is another way of avoiding feeling the uncomfortableness, question mark. Like, there are things in this world that are not good. How do I be with that? How do I fully accept that? It's all strong emotion from thought. And then if the goal is not to have strong emotion, then it looks like I'm cut off from my heart. These are the thoughts where I spin and get lost. Thank you so much for all the guidance. Wow. That's really good. Thank you, Jen. Whoo. You got a lot in there of good stuff that all of us have asked or are asking. So thank you for asking it so well too. And you have listened to a lot of my podcasts. Yes. For the rest of you, there's a podcast on social action that's about this Guru Ramana that Jen is talking about. I think it's podcast number 60, but just look, it'll have social action in the title. Social Action and Awakening, I think is the title. And in that podcast, somebody asked Ramana, said it was during World War II. And you can imagine how difficult that was. And they asked Ramana, well, Ramana, you're such a powerful being and you have so much stature. Why don't you speak out? We'd like you to speak out on this evil that's going on. We'd like you to encourage people and get out there and really speak out. Do some social action of some kind. Would be very powerful. The world is really hurting. And Ramana said to him, he said, well, you have to follow your heart. And if you feel led to do social action, you absolutely should do it. He said, I don't feel that. He said, what I feel is to go inside and be as pure and as clear as possible. Let my radiance shine powerfully. I feel like I will do far more for the world that way than if I did social action. You follow your heart and I'll follow mine. And that's the key is following our hearts. The first time I went to India in 2004, and I've been there 14 times, spent years in India with so many, so many gurus. But my main guru, the one that I met that time, Bhagavan, I asked him, I think it might've been my first question I asked. He has millions of followers. That day, there was about 500 foreigners there. And I told him, you know, I'm walking on the beach. I'd like to get up early and walk on the beach. And where I live, people treat sea life very disrespectfully. Like, I mean, this will sound strange, but they'll get baseball bats and smash crabs, or they'll just kill and chop up fish that they don't even want to eat. They could just throw them back, but they would just sort of do all this sort of thing. And it was painful for me. And I just couldn't take it. And just like you, Jen, I would go and talk to these people from time to time. I didn't want to, I didn't, it was horrible. I mean, I don't like doing that sort of thing. I don't like talking. I was trying to be kind, but like, just, you know, ask them to consider, like, you don't have to do that. And sometimes, some took it better than others. I didn't really have any chase me with the baseball bats, but sometimes it didn't go very well. And I said, Bhagavan, it's very painful. What should I do? And he says, well, actually, everything is fine. There is no problem. He said, but you don't see that. That's not your experience. So, you can't go by that. You have to live your life, your truth, where you are. Do what you need to do. Follow your heart, whatever that is. Same with social action. Now, where he was coming from is what I'm saying, what I said previously, that when you rest in your being, which started happening much later for me, but when you rest in your being, joy sees joy. And it's like, you could freeze ice into the shape of a knife. It's life-giving water, but that knife could kill somebody. It's sharp. But when it melts, it melts back into water that you can drink. Consciousness is kind of like that. Objects in the world are frozen into, consciousness is frozen into objects, just like water could be frozen into ice. And when you look at it from joy, from your being, you feel joy. You see it as joy. You feel it as vibration, whether it be the table, the wall, a tree. Some things are flowing more freely than others, but it's all joy and it's all consciousness. You also start developing a deeper trust, not on purpose, but as you get clearer and you rest in your being and your being, I shouldn't say rest in your being, you realize you are your being. That's probably a more direct way to say it. As you realize you are your being, you're everything, you're one. And because you're one, it's all trust. You trust yourself. That's all there is. So, trust evolves because how clear am I today? As soon as I think I'm clear, maybe another nugget of block, a deeper block comes flying up and it engulfs me. And I let that dissolve just as we described in these series of podcasts. And then I'm clearer. Well, every time I get clearer, there's deeper trust because I am clearer and everything is completely trustworthy. That's why Jesus said, you know, why are you worrying? The flowers are clothed better than the finest garments of Solomon and the birds are taken care of, they're fed. Why are you worrying? God will take care of you just as he does them. Well, you can use whatever words or labels you want, but the infinite God, whatever you want to say, has everything in place because that's you. Your life is unfolding perfectly. So, back to Jen, your question, how do you go between the two? You listen to your heart. You don't really, like Bhagavan told me, you don't push yourself beyond where you truly are. But if you feel tension, if you feel fear, if you feel anxiety, I would also include meditate because those are the things that you want to release and let go of. Any fear, any discomfort, any tension, that's not who you are. Now, yes, I do. There is that 15 second rule or 10 second rule. There is some biological fear that happens. If a tiger is about to eat you in 10 seconds, okay, that's acceptable. That fear helps you run fast. But 99% of the fear is not that. It's psychological fear. And that's what we let go of. And sometimes that fear is what motivates us in a way to talk to people when maybe they don't need to be talked to sometimes. We're trying to get them to stop so we don't feel our fear or our hurt or our troubles sometimes. But guiding it all is your intuition and even deeper than your intuition is your deepest self that's guiding your whole life. It's all fine. Exactly where you are is perfect. And even the struggle to become clearer is perfect. It's excruciating. And I'm sorry for that. But it is perfect. And it's a sign of deep things melting and becoming clearer. I hope that answered your question, at least some Jen type in a little bit more. If I on the parts that I haven't answered, perhaps, if there are some. Yes, Alice says Dolores cannon talked about how we our spirits come to planet Earth to do the hard stuff. Yeah. It's a place where we can see it's like everything slows down. And what is normally just a little speck looks like a giant mountain. And we can get our hands on it and work on it. It's excruciating. It hurts. But we can do something about it. We can let it go. It hurts because it's made of hurt. Does it it's not inherently a hurtful endeavor is that we are already hurting. Even if we've repressed it, it's under the surface. And it's affecting us. So it's releasing that and then we feel better and get clearer. Alexandria says, Hi, I hear Jen, it's easy for me to sit in my comfy home with my food in the fridge and so on, and have the space to turn in and lead into my own shame, guilt, fear and release it. Again, feeling the pain and then getting flooded with peace, calm and joy. And to be kind to everybody because I'm so privileged in my circumstances how to reconcile that. You know, and that is the process of awakening is to get out of the pounding surf. Ramana found a cave. He got away from society. He found a cave and he sat in a cave for decades. And then they grabbed him and hauled him down the mountain and built an ashram around him. He healed a lot of people. He changed a lot of lives. We have to trust life. And if we're blessed enough to have a comfortable, clean, nice place, and we can have things quiet enough to really focus and become clearer a little faster, that's great or not. You don't have to have those things to become clear. But if we do, that's a blessing. There are other things that are not a blessing in our life. It's usually a mixed bag. Nonetheless, the awakened coming back in the world, like Jesus said, be in the world, but not of it. As as we get clearer, before we're clear, we're motivated to protect ourselves. We've developed a personality that's trying to protect us from hurt, fear and anger. So we react to things. That's what's called being triggered. We get triggered a lot in life because we have a personality made of hurt, fear and anger. As that dissolves, we still need a personality. But as that hurt, fear and anger dissolves out, we're better able to flow through life and respond to life. We're better able to connect to people. We're better able to help people. We're better able to be clearer with people. So the awakening process inevitably, typically leads people to go into the world and flow just like Jesus did, just like Buddha did, just like every great saint and just like you all do. But it's good to know proper timing. Ramana sat in the cave for years, for decades before he flowed out in the world. He did a little at a time. He would flow a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more. Jesus went into the wilderness for lots of years. I'm guessing a long time. And he worked out his stuff. In the Bible, it says 40 days and 40 nights. But whenever the Bible says that, that means a long time. It's just an expression, which means a very long time. So, okay. Tommy asked, in deep listening is healing. Even before you know what to do to heal, increased connection is the key to healing. Thank you, Tommy. So true. I've often related the story that as a psychotherapist, I remember we listened to a lot of therapists do their work so we could learn from them. And there's a series of videos of a lot of therapists working with a patient named Gloria. And the therapist I liked the least was Carl Rogers, because he would simply listen deeply. And whenever Gloria would say something, like Gloria might say, I'm angry. And then Carl Rogers would say, oh, you're angry. And then she'd say, yes, I really am. And he might go, yes. And I thought the guy's doing nothing. And now at the end of the session, he was so covered with sweat because he was connecting so deeply and profoundly and listening. He wasn't manipulating or guiding or even therapizing. There's a lot of good therapy out there, but he was simply listening. And to me now, I think he was a genius. He's now my favorite therapist. So anyway, yes. Thank you, Tommy. Deep listening is healing. April, yes. Thank you, William. Sometimes I feel shame for being so happy, which seems ridiculous. Yeah, April, I would sit with the shame. That's a thing to let go of. All that needs to be left is happiness. That was Jesus's message. That was Buddha's message. That's your message. That's your heart's message. A happy person spreads happiness. An upset person spreads upset, even if you try to cover it up. Somebody who's hurting spreads hurt. So it's good. You sit down and release anything. If there's anything within you except for happiness, whatever that other thing is, you can let it go. And you want to ask yourself, if you don't let it go, why not? Why wouldn't you? Alexandria. Jen, I can answer my question by knowing that as I lean in, work on stuff, I'm sending out positive energy of calm and kindness. And like dominoes, my actions will matter. Okay, Alexandria. Yes. Beautiful. Exactly. Exactly. And that's what Ramana felt. Sue says, Tommy beautifully said, and Tommy was saying, listening is healing. And that is so beautiful. Violet says, same with music. And Violet has a beautiful podcast on music. And just like the minister in France said that true art is what connects you to the divine, to the infinite. That's what blossom does with her music. So I would invite you to search for her on insight timer and take a listen. Tommy, hundreds of millions of people are today on a personal spiritual path where they do not choose to give their power away to any external guru. Yes. Institution or religion. Yes. They use their own awakened powers of discernment to learn from many different teachers and traditions and craft their own path. Yes. This is a natural evolutionary development, which is the foundation for humanity's future and independent path of spiritual initiation. Although initiation always involves the participation of higher spiritual beings, we learn to connect directly to spirit without going through human intermediaries in the physical world. Yes. And I would say you are that higher being. You are that higher being all of you, your heart, your being is that higher being. It's all one. We all learn from each other. But what I learned, well, I won't get into it, but by being with gurus that gave initiations and very powerful in the end, I'm what I'm looking for. And I don't mean the personal I, I mean the one like Yogananda said, it's not quite right to say I am God. He liked to say, God has become me. There is no me left. Therefore only the divine. That's the higher. Let's see. Tommy says, our unlimited desires are clouding our peace. Every desire we have is a focus on suffering. Yes. The more we judge, the more we separate ourselves, learn to love everything, everyone. Reality is neutral. The more negativity we project out, the more negativity we will attract and witness. The universe is a mirror to show to us. Yes. Yes. We just let it go. And the universe does reflect to us who we are. Alexandria says, perfect. William mixed bag. Yes. Mixed bag. Jen. Thank you. It sometimes looks heartless to be present to someone suffering without trying to change, fix them. Like my child crying and they reject hugs, et cetera, or similarly not taking action. When I know how bad things are happening in the world, how do I reconcile this feeling when there's a component to being detached that doesn't look loving? I know. Keep my heart soft. Listen to it. I guess I'm asking for thoughts to reorient me when these thoughts come up. And yes, you're totally right. I can meditate more. Really every moment is a meditation now. Yes. And these feelings also, Jen, see, it takes work to turn consciousness into an object. And every feeling we have inside is something we've, we're the only ones inside of us. It's something we've made. And if we haven't deconstructed it, it's still there. So life will trigger us. It will reflect to us. It will bounce off of us and it will show us these things that remain in us. And rather than fight to keep it, fight to stay away from it, fight to manage it. Instead, just let it, it's like an ice cube melting. It hurts in my hand. It's cold, but let it melt. If you can, if you can't let it melt a little bit and what's left, we'll come back on another day. You don't have to do it all at once, but let it melt. So when you feel uncomfortable, let that discomfort melt in PTSD. One of the deepest healing things you can do when somebody has gone through a trauma is if it's okay with them, just be with them. Listen to them. Listening is healing. If they can take your touching them, if that's comfortable for them, that's very healing. It's the connection. So often we feel like we have to change and fix. We have to come up with a solution. One, two, three, four, five. But sometimes it's just sitting with them and connecting. And that's hard for lots of us to do. But that's a start. And if you feel discomfort coming up in you, that's your discomfort and life is reflecting to you. Let it go. If it's not joy and peace and happiness, let it go. Let it melt. Let it exude its energy and go. Let's see. Blossom Violet says, thank you, William. Alexandria, thank you for all your podcasts. You have gently taught me so much. Be well. Thank you, Alexandria. Therese, thank you for doing this session and thank you for always responding to feedback. I get a lot out of the dialogues you have with everybody. Yes, when people give reviews on the various podcasts, if I can, I try to respond. Like in the reviews, they might ask a question, like you said this, but this is what I'm experienced. What do you mean by that? I try to give a short answer that might be helpful. Might not be everything, but it's something. Christine, I am the I am, are the first words I heard within me when I awakened about six years ago. Beautiful, Christine, and so true. That's who you are. It is true. I am the I am. Absolutely. Mark, my guru from India came to Seattle and found me. Never had to convert to Hinduism, just meditation. Yeah. Yeah. There's no conversion necessary. It's all one. It's all one. Sue, William, do you have any advice on accepting myself more? This seems to be the root of a lot of struggles for me. You know, Sue, first of all, I think you've been listening. I don't really remember who's listened to what podcasts, but if you haven't, please start with podcast one and work your way forward. The reason why I say that is because generally when I'm not accepting myself, there's feelings other than love, peace, joy, and wellness, and how to let that go is what we talk about, how to let it dissolve. So that's one thing. The second thing is, and people have misconceptions about meditation and a number of things. So we deal with so much in these, this body of podcasts, a step at a time. And secondly, you know, with all things, we are a multi-leveled, multi-leveled being, and we exist on so many levels of existence at the same time. So there's no one answer to everything. It's a lot of answers depending on which part of us we're addressing. Psychotherapy is always good for one level. Yoga is very good because often we hold discomfort in our body. You can find good teachers online or in yoga studios, you get a sangha, a group that comes along with it and instruction. These podcasts are good, but then there's the simplest things, walking in nature, talking to a friend, and even simpler, talk to yourself nicely. And don't beat yourself up when you notice that you're pushing yourself or hurting yourself. Just take a breath and start over, do a do-over. You know, if you notice that you're treating yourself angrily or you're putting pressure on yourself, take a breath and do it again. Say something nice to yourself instead. Your being is truth, love, and well-being. Again, not a philosophy. This is a felt experience when enough layers have cleared off. And what emanates from that is simply kindness. But even when you first realize who you are, peace, love, and well-being, you'll have a lot of old habits of treating yourself poorly, because that's what you were oriented before you knew who you were. You were oriented to hurt, fear, and anger. And I don't mean you in particular, I mean all of us. So at some point, even in the awakening process, you just have to stop and change. I had a teacher for years, Prajnananda, he's head of the Kriya International group, same lineage as Yogananda, but he mostly works with that lineage everywhere, but within the United States, but mainly overseas. He's very powerful, very well-known overseas. And I had the good luck to work with him. At the end of every Kriya, he would ask, notice what changed today. So it's not simply doing a meditation and just letting everything take care of itself. Part of the thing that's taking care of itself is me making a conscious change. So treat yourself nicely. And I know you are, but thank you for your question, because this is something we all do. We all do, Sue. So thank you for asking it. And Sue says, that's beautiful. Notice that we have changed today and making the conscious choice to change. Yes. Thank you for your insights, and we'll continue listening to your podcast. Thank you, Sue. Yes. It's so powerful. Like at the deepest levels of awake, let's just say at a very deep level of awakening, or it's all just clear bliss, peace and wellbeing. You might notice that there is just a very subtle assumption or just a feeling of who I am, like my personality. And it might include tension or an attitude or something like that. That is not who you are. It's an old habit. It's an old way of looking at who we are. And so we can make the decision to let that go right then. It's so fragile. It's almost like you could just take a breath and let it go. And it goes. It just goes. Let it breathe in that peace that you're feeling on these deepest levels. And it just lets go. So yes, Sue, on every level, you could just make a decision and let go. I'm not saying repress. I'm not saying avoid. I'm not saying positive. Think it away. I'm not saying any of that. I'm just saying, make a nice decision. Treat yourself nicely. Begin to stop. And I'm speaking to all of us again. I don't want it to sound like it's to you exclusively, Sue. You just asked the question. So you get all the verbiage. Tommy has a very good question. And Tommy, I'm going to have to be a little fast because we're over time. And I think we might get cut off. So excuse my quickness. Tommy, the realization of our unique self is possible when we bring our attention to our inner experience with honesty, trust, and create deep presence. If this presence is fully accepted and allowed, it can give us a unity consciousness and experience where everything and awareness is deeply one. Many traditional spiritual practices aim at reaching unity consciousness by overcoming the ego identity often by staying very still and trying to minimize or control the contact with the world. Meditation, unique self is when we take our experience of presence to feel, see, and honor the uniqueness of ourselves as part of the whole. What are your thoughts on this perspective? Very good question. Yes, the big picture is, yes, we're in this world and we're a unique expression and we don't want to give that up, meditate it away or control away our unique expression through willpower or concentration. Instead, as you say, when we bring a deep sense of awareness to ourselves and we continue to flow, everything that is twisted or turned in a way that is not us begins to expend its energy release and open up into our beautiful expression flowing from being rather than reacting from an old concept of separation, which begets hurt, fear, and anger. Meditation is a good way to stop so that I'm not distracted. And it's hard when I'm not distracted to repress things. So when I stop in meditation, I can't turn on the TV. I can't run to the refrigerator and eat a pie. I just sit there and I observe with deep awareness myself and I begin to release those things that are not me. They unwind, they melt, they dissipate, and I melt into a free-flowing consciousness of which I am. I can bring that same flow into life when I know how to do it, when I'm not getting distracted, when I know the difference, and I can flow rather than try to control and avoid. Now part of life, bringing deep presence to where I am is to bring presence to places where I'm not flowing, where I am stuck. Something in life can mirror me. It can trigger me. So now I can see clearly where I am stuck and that will begin to unwind as well, just as it does in meditation. So yes, both meditation and a deep presence in life, as well as in meditation, is very, very powerful. So yes, I agree. Flowing is what we're talking about in these podcasts. Flowing with a great sense of awareness rather than just controlling and blocking out things. Awareness of both who I am peace, love, joy, wellness, happiness, and also aware of all that I'm not. I bring my attention, my awareness, and I am with very deeply any hurt, any pain, any discord, any tension, and I let it unwind and release, breathe in wellness. And as it does, it relaxes and releases, gone forever. That's the same process that I take with me in life. I'm aware of who I am. And I bring my awareness also naturally to who I'm not. And that restores flow as it opens up, as it releases and relaxes. When I previously alluded to Ramana being in a cave, he was doing that so that he could flow very deeply, very profoundly with great focus, and he could go very, very deeply within him. He wasn't trying to control or block out by being in a cave. Some methods and sometimes people do that. And I know that's not what you're talking about. And neither is it what we're talking about in these podcasts. So yes, I think what you're saying is right on. Oh, one other thing about getting out of the pounding surf. I did do this podcast 140, number 140, which is simply a meditation for relaxation. It's just let your body relax. And that might be good for your neighbor who's stressed out. Maybe they could just relax for a while. Maybe just give them that one podcast because it's not, it's pretty simple. Just relax. Let all the muscles in your body relax kind of thing. It's a guided meditation. Okay. Love and blessings to all. Thank you. Thank you, Christine, Sue, Ru, everybody. Thank you. Take care. Talk to you soon. Bye.