* Suffering in the hell of past stories * The ego's self-repair programme * Mental suffering and physical illness * Why should we forgive? * The liberating practice of forgiveness *
On the porch of our own hell..
Often we feel depressed, lethargic because we are wrestling with the ghosts of our grievances and resentments; and in this hopeless struggle we burn up our life energies. Perhaps we are at war with ourselves, we lack self-confidence, or someone has wronged us in the past, or done us an injustice, and we cannot forgive them. Something has happened that has scarred our carefully nurtured ego, and our soul is bleeding, suffering and scorched. It may have been a single stinging sentence, a few seconds of a very unpleasant event, but we replay the story over and over in our minds. In a voice of resentment, we engage in internal dialogue, or even loudly argue with our absent opponent, defending our truth, patching up our already brain-stained little selves. In truth, the event lasted only a fleeting moment, but we relive it again and again, projecting it onto the screen of our minds as a never-ending story. The mind makes no distinction between reality and imagination, so the incident happens to us again and again each time we relive it.
* Our existence is a miracle * Does the body have consciousness or consciousness have a body? * "Nothing" or matter? * The oddities of selective attention * Is it the cat's head that causes its tail? * What are you paying attention to * The mysteries of consciousness *
We know that some time between 13 and 14 billion years ago, energy condensed into a tiny dot exploded in a huge explosion, and here we are, sentient thinking beings, wondering how it is that I am writing these lines on a high-tech gadget and you understand what I wrote. Isn't it amazing that such a mysterious awareness has sprung out of nowhere? But there are those who do not wonder at this, but sit in the hell of their suffering and think: I have a perishable body, in it a kind of consciousness, a multitude of emotions and thoughts; my body will pass away, die, and this consciousness will also dissolve into nothingness. And it may be that it is not our body that has consciousness, but consciousness that has taken on a body.
* The mysteries of our bodies * Captive to thoughts and emotions * The ultimate mystery: the Consciousness *
The mysteries of our body
Our senses tell us that our bodies are solid and constant. But in reality, our bodies are constantly changing, like a flowing river. With each breath, a huge number of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms enter our body, are incorporated into our cells, and the same number leave our body when we exhale.
In less than a year, 98% of the atoms in our body are replaced: the liver is renewed in 6 weeks, the skin in 5 days, bones are replaced every 3 months, and the 'raw material' of hereditary DNA is replaced in 6 weeks.
* How do we become conscious? * A tyrant who lives inside our heads * The ego's death *
You must often meet people who are very caracan, strong and serious personalities: they embrace all sorts of beliefs, they are stubborn, they are rigidly adherent to their "principles", they have carved out an inflexible, hard personality for themselves, they often suffer and are subjected to "injustices" - as if they are at war with the whole Universe. They take it as a personal affront when someone disagrees with them, they become rude and speak their truth... even when they no longer have an audience. They carry the heavy burden of their fixed thoughts, life is a misery for them, they live only in the captivity of their thoughts. If you think that you are not "that crazy", but sober-minded, you have to face reality: inside your head there is a constantly nagging, wanting, willful tyrannical "little me" - who often makes your life hell.
You'll notice: you simply can't stop thinking!
* We go in search of our true self, the spirit/soul within us, by experiencing it directly * Who are we beyond our imagination? * What is observing awareness? * And what is beyond? *
In the beginning there was an unconscious unity of existence with the universe. Then came the consciousness of the body, and with it the consciousness of the "I am" - the observing consciousness that experiences the world with innocent curiosity. And as time went on, more and more layers were added to your true self, beliefs, ideas about who you are and who you should be. An image of 'self' has emerged, a phantom that has lost touch with its true self and has fallen into a dreamlike stupor as a confused little self, living in doubt and suffering.
* A taste of a new state of consciousness * What is beyond material forms? * The wonder of space * What is the mystery of consciousness?
Tasting a newly discoverable state of consciousness
Have you ever wondered what it is that hides behind your eyes, looking at the world through them? What is it that experiences its environment through your body? What is it that knows your emotions and what is it that knows your thoughts? Please, now - in this moment - turn your attention to the Consciousness that is reading these lines! Listen to the observer within you!
There is a wonderful form of greeting in the Indian subcontinent. You meet someone, look deeply into their eyes, recognize the divine essence within, join your hands together in front of your chest, bow and say with sincere reverence, "I salute the divine spirit within you". This is the ceremony of Namaste, which is fascinating: a deep respect, a reverence for the spirit recognised in the other. Because you know that we are the same: a divine spirit in human skin.
Why do we think the way we think? Why do we feel the emotions we feel? And why do we most often act in a mechanical, unconscious way?
The wisest thing to do is to realise that we get lost in our thoughts, we get completely absorbed in obsessive thinking. In our heads, a voice, a grumpy general, growls, shouts, criticises, moralises and dictates: we are in internal dialogue with ourselves.
We collapse under the weight of the thoughts swirling in our minds, "What will happen tomorrow? What will happen to me? What if things had been different in the past?"
Read more: Why do we think the way we think? The Ego and the Consciousness..