Independence = Freedom to Be
Yesterday morning, at breakfast, a friend read this to me:

Essentially, all the sages are saying the same thing. They're saying life is non-dual, one without a second; there is only That. It's omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience. Omnipresence means total presence, not a future and past. Total presence. Omnipotence means total power. Omniscience means total intelligence, total knowingness. Total-nothing other than that. In the Dzogchen scriptures, they mention non-conceptual awareness. They tell you in one sentence, "The great perfection is non-conceptual awareness." They call in "non-conceptual, ever-fresh, self-shining presence awareness. Just this and nothing else."

We're used to working things out in the mind. But when it comes to pure intelligence, the mind can't grasp it. The mind is a thing, and it can't understand no thing. Presence awareness contains the mind. The mind can't contain it. That's why it says in the Bhagavad Gita, the sword can't cut it, fire can't burn it, wind can't dry it, and water can't drown it. Presence awareness contains all of those things. None of those things could contain or grasp it. They wouldn't exist without it. So it's pointless. Stop the search. Stop the search right now.

There was never any final moment. When I was with Nisargadatta, I just realized what he was saying-that I had always and ever been That. I couldn't have been anything else! The seeming sixteen years of my search disappeared like a dream. I realized that the sixteen years didn't matter. Anything that was previous didn't matter. Anything in the future didn't matter. The actuality is right now. I can never live this moment again, and neither can you. If I'm not living totally in this moment, if I'm not seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling fully-if I'm locked into the mind instead-I'm not actually living. When you're totally aware, totally alert, you're really living. This is the actuality of this moment. It can never happen again. You can recall the past, or you can imagine the future. But you're wasting all your energy in the recollection and the imagination, because they're stopping you from seeing what is happening right now. So if you're aware, if you're awake, then be that.

    --From Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer with "Sailor" Bob Adamson
             by James Braha    pp 104-106

Can you imagine living fully right now?
No chains from the past
No fears of the future
Nowhere to go;
No history to forgive
Or forget.
No thought, at all.

No need to add my story
To anything I see
Simply allowing it all
The freedom to be.

That sounds like real independence
To me.

For those in America, have a blessed Independence Day. For those of you in other parts of the planet, go ahead and set yourself free of the bondage imposed by a belief in the finite. It is the ultimate freedom.

Happy Independence Day, wherever you are!

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 7/3/2009 6:48 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Breath of Creation
Yesterday I received an email promoting Rob Bell's upcoming tour. I found these words, (I am guessing written by Rob Bell) in this announcement:

We plot, we plan, we assume things are going to go
A certain way and then they don't and we find ourselves
In a new place, a place we haven't been before, a place
We never would have imagined on our own,
And so it was difficult and unexpected and maybe even
Tragic and yet it opened us up and freed us to see
Things in a whole new way
Suffering does that-
It hurts,
But it also creates.
How many of the most significant moments in your
Life came not because it all went right, but because
It all fell apart?
It's strange how there can be art in the agony. . .

I am not completely clear why I am compelled to share these words, this morning, but either I or someone on this list needs to hear them.

Perhaps it is simply a reminder, to me, to always look for the art, even when all I feel is agony.

Perhaps it is a reminder that tragic events can open me up to looking at life in a whole new way.

I am reminded, with increasing intensity, that how I look at life is more important than what I think I am seeing.

Here's what I mean:

I see something
I define it
I classify it
It is good or bad
It is helpful or destructive
It brings pleasure or causes pain
It is wanted or undesired.

The very act
Of naming it
Takes me out of the realm of possibility
And limits me
To the definitions I use in my naming.

Perhaps I simply need a reminder that my way of looking at the world needs to be continuously challenged to rid myself of complacency.

Maybe, I just need to remember that anything I focus on, anything I fix my sights on is increasing its presence in my experience.

For whatever reason, I found these words to be important and I needed to share them, this morning.

May you find the value you need for your life experience, if these words were also meant for you.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 7/2/2009 6:48 AM | View Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Embrace it All
Recently, at a small gathering, some friends and I watched a short movie from the Spiritual Cinema Circle entitled "Gabrielle". The premise was that a soul, preparing to enter a baby's body, was entitled to preview some of the future aspects of that life.

The soul, we were witnessing in the film, saw some of the pain her new identity would endure, and she had doubts about following through with her agreement.

Prior to entering her new life, Gabrielle, needed to sign an "Agreement." I thought the statements in this contract were intriguing so I am sharing some of the highlights:

I ________________ agree to choose life. After seeing the events of my proposed physical existence, I am satisfied with my choice of parents and my future. I am ready to be born as _____________.

I understand that love, hate, joy, sorrow, fear, and courage breathe life into my soul.

I agree to accept my life as it accepts me. I understand that my happiness is not guaranteed.

This last weekend, I was clearing out some old email and I came across the following statement from John MacEnulty. John has been publishing a short newsletter which he calls "Emanations" for years. He was one of my inspirations for starting ET's Reflections, which preceded Secrets to Peace.

In 2005 John wrote: "I am here to live life to the fullest, experience the beauty and the sadness, the blossoming and the dying, the tears, the laughter, the whole thing, the life experience with all the richness that divine has packed into it."

I seldom know how to react to friends when life offers them opportunities for growth. Just in the last week a man I admire lost a young son, another friend had a tree branch come through the roof; still others had water in their basements or living rooms.

The normal, everyday human Elliott wants to reach out, offer condolences and try to help in any way possible. The spiritual adventurer, in me, can barely wait to hear of the growth these beautiful people will discover through these events. The healer in me goes inside, locates these individuals, and loves them, knowing that anything that hurts my brother or sister, hurts us all.

My truth, on this day, is that everything, the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly offers me exactly what I need for this moment. It does, truly, all add to the "richness" of my experience as it "breathes" life into my soul.

To all of my friends who have experienced any loss this week, please know that I have found you, inside of my Self, and have totally wrapped you in Light and Love. I know, with no degree of uncertainty, that this event will carry great blessings as it passes from present reality to memory.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 7/1/2009 6:27 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Look Beyond the Obvious
I had to write a paper, which described myworldview, for a recent Ethics class. I wantto share a part of my writing with you today.

"My work in life is not to teach others aboutthe life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, mylife's work is to show that the Christ livesin and through me."

In one form or another, I think we each sharethis mission: To become the greatestexpression of that, which is Divine, within us.

I recently read this quote from Mother Teresaof Calcutta: "I believe in person toperson. Every person is Christ for me, andsince there is only one Jesus, that person isthe one person in the world at that moment."

I think this is one of the ways we movecloser to our True nature, by seeing theDivine in each and every other person.

Jesus gave us the advice, "..That whichyou do to the least of my brethren, you alsodo to me." - Matthew 25:40

I would suggest that what you see in theleast of your brothers/sisters mirrors whatyou know about yourself. What you believeabout your brothers/sisters reveals the truthyou hold about yourself.

When I look into the eyes of anyone I meet, Isearch for myself. Not the little "s" selfwith all his small "t" truths andpersonalized memories, but for the capital"S" Self, which is who I Am when all myfacades are peeled away. It is always inthere. There are only three things which keepme from seeing this Truth:
    1. Fear
    2. Preconceived ideas
    3. An unwillingness to look that deeply
Sometimes, in prison, I find myself really disliking some inmate. On closer inspection,removed from the situation, I realize that what I really do not like is looking within and rerecognizing that I could be that individual. I could actually live in a world where violence was my first choice for conflict resolution. I could live as a person who believed it was in my best interest to do unto you before you do unto me. And then I comprehend that this awareness is what I do not like. I do not like the fact that I could actually be this wounded soul before me. His truth still resides within me, and I do not like having to face this aspect of my self.

When I sit down, this new revelation in hand,and really look into this man's eyes, I seethe Light. It is buried beneath dozens oflayers of hurt, but it is there.

In that moment, we connect, and my fear is healed.

My hope is that this demonstration fuels that light and it grows as we work together for the next year.

We all have the same opportunity, minute tominute, with every pair of eyes willing to open themselves to contact. The eyes are the sensory path to the soul.


I vow to see in you what I hope you see in me.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/30/2009 6:23 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
What are your If-Then's
While the commercials are usually silly, I love the question, "What is in your wallet?" which accompanies one credit card advertisement.

I love it because I am always asking, of myself, "What's in your programming?" It is my "if-then" programming that I call into question.

We all have these programs running; oftentimes they dominate and totally control our experience. Because these "if-then" statements are like an operating system, which functions at our core (subconscious), instead of showing up in our conscious awareness, we are often not aware they even exist until the "then" portion of the conditioned response shows up. Then, what often happens is that instead of us owning our programming, these "if-then" statements appear to own us.

When these programs control us, we feel powerless. We see ourselves as victims of the outer world and feel incapable of change.

While it is true that we often have very little apparent power over the "if" portion (the stimulus) of the "if-then" program, we have complete autonomy over the "then" (reaction or response) portion.

This can show up in very obvious ways such as:
    · If she does parrot "I love you" after I have said "I love you" I need to question whether or not she still cares.

    · If it rains today, I will not be happy.

    · If it is Friday, then it is going to be a good day.
But it can also show up as more subtle truths:
    · If I try to love, then I will just get hurt.

    · Every time I trust, someone lets me down.

    · If I give them an inch, they will take a mile.
Most of the programming we have accepted as our "worldview" runs unchallenged. In other words, we seldom even examine this programming unless the pain being created by the program is greater than the risk of changing our minds. So, most of the time we just know what we know, and let it go at that. What I know can be so much more destructive than what I do not know.

What I know can forever keep me from becoming a greater me.

This is why Socrates was spot on with "The unexamined life is a life not worth living."

I think that every life is worth living, but when I lie on my death bed, provided there is time for reflection, I want to remember that I questioned everything, and constantly re-created who I was and how I showed up in the world.

I am not yet who I long to be. There are still programs, remaining "if-then" statements, which evoke mindless reactions instead of thoughtful responses. But, knowing I am free to become the greatest me I can imagine is absolutely exhilarating.

Each day, each opportunity to discover and replace self-created pain with life affirming Love is like a perpetual treasure hunt. In each program where a love-based response replaces an autonomic reaction, it is like finding gold, enriching my day to day experience beyond my ability to describe.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/29/2009 6:34 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Thank You Michael
Michael,

Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with us.

May you now find the peace you seemed to miss while with us.







This is one of my favorite M J videos.



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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/28/2009 8:00 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
It is a Good Day to Die
Surrounded by beauty
Today is a good day to die.

There is a scene at the end of the movie The Mission in which Jeremy Iron's character, (representing the Light or the Christ Consciousness), challenges Robert DeNiro's character, (representing the collective or earth-based consciousness), to reconsider using weapons to defend against encroaching forces.

DeNiro's character insists that fighting, with all his might, is the right thing to do, while the priest played by Irons says, "If you are right, and love is not enough, I have no desire to be here, anyway." I paraphrased this quote, from a not so recent memory, but I am fairly confident I captured the flavor of the conflict.

This is our daily choice.

One idea has us being in the world but not of it and the other has us joining the consciousness of humanity which believes this physical experience is what is real.

The physical is the vehicle, it is not the "experiencer".

When we take a road trip, the car is just the means of transportation; it is not the journey itself. It is necessary, but the journey does not end if the car breaks down or disappears. If the vehicle is lost, the journey just changes form; an adventure, different than the one first visualized, emerges out of the loss.

The inmates, I work with, overwhelmingly agree with DeNiro's character that picking up the sword, to defend this physical experience with all his might, was the right thing to do. They refused to believe me when I said I agreed with Iron's character. They wanted to play the scenario game, "surely there must be something you would pick up arms to defend" they echoed in disbelief. I not only believe, but know, that for me, Love is enough.

Surrounded by beauty,
In every now moment,
There is nothing to die from
Nothing to die to.

In this heavenly awareness
In this realization of oneness
There is nowhere to go
Nothing to leave.

"Today is a good day to die, "is not a statement about dying, it is a way of living.

This day I will live my life
as if there is no tomorrow

as if this is my one chance
to leave a legacy of love,

as if the world itself
depends on my example.

It does, you know!

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/26/2009 5:57 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Basically, I'm Selfish
Recently, an ex-subscriber to this list wrote, "I have so little time to read emails, I must let yours go. At first, it seemed you wrote new, inspiring thoughts each day. Now, it seems that every day is the same message."

I am sharing this just to say that I have no particular agenda with these daily reflections except to share the astonishment with life, which I feel. While it is rewarding to me when someone writes that my words have inspired them, it is not the real purpose of my sharing. Even though I get goose bumps when someone tells me that these words were exactly what they needed to hear, I do not share my discoveries with that as my motivation.

I share, what I share, because I feel a type of emptiness when I am not allowing my inner discoveries to flow out of me in this manner. I feel like I have dammed up the very energy that keeps me vital, that contributes to my joy, when I am not sharing my journey with others.

My journey is not "everyone's" journey.

Well, in some ways it is, but that's an area for exploration on another day

The point is not everyone will resonate with the revelations which excite me. To some the experience of being cradled in the loving hands of the Universe is so routine, so ordinary; my expressions of awe are somewhat adolescent. To others the world is such an unsafe place that my child-like wonder appears overly Pollyannaish.

I have no desire for you to experience life exactly as I do. If my writings have any agenda it would be to open you up to sharing your experience with others, so that we may all grow, not only through our own sensory input, but also through a appreciation of the reality in which you live.

I do not put a lot of analysis into my writing. I sit down and start my fingers moving on the keyboard, and watch to see what is seeking expression, from deep within me.

Some days I think the same thing as the ex-subscriber. I have heard myself lament, "Geez, is there not an original thought in there somewhere?" But, I have this agreement with my inner self that I will not edit or throw out the gifts it brings forth for me. So, most days, I simply send what I am given. Occasionally, I would like to retract what I have written, when a later re-reading reveals a lack of clarity or a possible misperception, but I have to let those days go. I must trust my inner guidance.

For those who read these words, I am most grateful. According to the software supplied by my list server only about one fifth of all the subscribers even open my mail. For a time I felt troubled by this information, but then I remembered that I am not seeking to teach nor am I seeking to persuade. I send this out simply because it thrills me.

So, I apologize to those who sometimes find little value here, and I cherish those who stay, even though some of those days may be inevitable.

If nothing else may my example urge each of you to find some vehicle of expression which brings you as much joy as these daily musings bring me.

That which is divine in me, recognizes, salutes, and embraces that which is divine in you.

I humbly thank you for being here and investing your precious time with me.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/25/2009 8:29 AM | View Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Powerless Blessings
This morning my power went out at about 5:20 and it stayed out for the next two and one half hours. Because it was dark inside, I went outside to read by the light of the rising sun.

What a glorious morning.

What first appeared to be a challenging event became an amazing blessing. It was perfect. Not as hot nor as humid as the last two mornings, this day started quieter than most.

In this dawning of a new day I began to ponder what it would have been like to have lived with no power, no lights, and no air conditioning. Would I have been blessed by each new day as I have by this one?

One of the amazing things I read this morning, once again from Mary Oliver, was this gentle reminder:

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

I love this. It absolutely addresses the childlike giddiness I am feeling inside as a result of the opportunity to welcome this morning without the usual electronic clutter, which often crowds my little piece of the world.

What a way to live each moment;
Astonished by what I see,
Allowing my words
To create themselves
From within this experience of amazement,
And then sharing the thoughts
That reveal themselves
With all who will lend an ear.

The magnificence which surrounds me
Waits patiently for my acknowledgment.
It does not long for
Nor does it need
My approval
Or even my attention,
But an amazing transformation occurs
When I open my mind and heart
To its essence.

For example:
Consider what happens when I fully embrace
The golden day lily.

Instead of just being some flower in a field
This glorious display of light,
Clothed in the divinity of life itself,
Grows and glows within me,
As though it were transplanted
Into my mystical, fertile soul
It encourages me
To carry its essence
Forward
With every step I take.

What can possibly disturb the calm peace of a fertile soul, bursting at the seams with light-filled beauty?

May the magnificence of this incredible morning carry you from blessing to blessing, as this day continues to unfold.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/24/2009 9:37 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
It is all an Idea of God

So every day
I was surrounded by the beautiful crying forth
of the ideas of God,

one of which was you.

      - So every day, by Mary Oliver

I can not
or perhaps will not
let this idea go.

It seems mandatory
to remind myself
over and over,
if need be

that every thing I see
is a manifestation
of God.

It is important because I still want to judge the stunning blue jay, even in its meanness, as beautiful, and the sparrow as rather dull, its colors not as aesthetically pleasing.

It is important because I want to hate the revolutionary guard who controls, with violence, my brother's quest for freedom, dignity, and self-determination.

If I really knew,
fully owned the wisdom
that it was all God,
would I still pick and choose
when to offer my love
and when to withdraw this offer?

It is apparent to me that this is an "all or nothing" proposition. There is no middle ground. To love God with all my heart and soul is the only choice which promises lasting peace.

Recognizing that "it is all God" calls my commitment to a new level; often well beyond my comfort zone.

It is so easy to see God in your eyes, in your heart, and in your actions when you are doing what I think is consistent with how love should look, act, and be demonstrated.

I want to abandon this whole notion the minute your choices seem to prove my theories are all wrong; the second you show up in opposition to the thoughts I hold so dear.

It is very tempting to leave God out there
separate from it's creation,
that one ideal
the only perfection
that deity
singularly worthy
of my unconditional love.

Of course, if I am totally honest
with myself
I have had trouble with that idea too.
Remember when I thought I was living my life
"right"
and this God
of thought
still sent thieves
in the night?
Even then
despite the fact that God
was out there, somewhere,
I had trouble
loving her,
all the time.

Perhaps the challenge lies
not in where I place God
but in the fact that I am only willing
to love freely
when I get my way;
when life
unfolds exactly
as I think it should.

To love
as God loves
may be too lofty of a goal
for a mind
which thinks it can identify
that which deserves love
and that which does not.

And yet
to love
with reckless abandon
is what drives me.
It is what defines me.
It is the longing
which propels my feet,
hands, and heart
forward.
It is my motivation for
honest self examination.
It is what calls me
to present-moment awareness.

In this moment
I forgive myself
for the judgments
I have used
to warrant selfishness.

Perhaps by learning
to love myself,
as I long to love others,
I shall find the courage
to see only God
when I look at me,
even if I do not like what I see.

Maybe this will free me
to remember
that everything I see

is an idea of God
crying forth,

as you,
as me.

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Posted by Elliott Teters at 6/23/2009 9:03 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)