Discovering Awesomeness

[Nahm]

@EmptyVase

Thank you! 

[Guest EmptyVase]

I am effortless

[Guest EmptyVase]

It's crazy just how much we want to avoid feeling. Once seen, it can't be unseen. Distraction from feeling becomes more and more unpleasant.

[Guest EmptyVase]

It's both a fascinating and shocking discovery, that the ego does not want to feel good, even if it is granted the opportunity. It wants to hold on to negative self-referential thinking, even though ego itself knows that this is destructive behavior.

It's as if awareness offers ego (by not believing the thoughts) the chance to feel better, but ego kicks and screams and wants to hold on tight to negative self-thinking.

Sometimes, it can't let go. Sometimes, ego is just not ready yet to feel better. Sometimes, ego wants to judge and feel like shit. All of that is okay and should be approached by feeling within. This automatically leads to the acceptance of the conditions we find ourselves in sometimes.

Upon this realization, one sees just how much ego has its chains around oneself. At the same time, emotional awareness reveals the impermanence of the mechanisms behind the ego. This loosens the chains and makes the ego more receptible to letting go.

[Guest EmptyVase]

Language goes way beyond just simple grammatics. A perfectly well spoken person may have a worse language than someone who can only utter a few words.

Language is one subdomain in the broad field of communication. Communication goes way beyond our human concepts of it.

[Guest EmptyVase]

Everything is our teacher.

[Guest EmptyVase]

A Funny Strange Loop

This sentence is not the Truth.

[Guest EmptyVase]

I did not choose this.

I chose this.

Wait, who?

[Guest EmptyVase]

Trying to perceive Awareness is like trying to taste the tongue, hear the ear, smell the nose or feel feeling.

How do we overcome this?

By realizing that overcoming is not possible, as there is nothing to overcome. We can't perceive Awareness, because we are Awareness.

The solution for me was somewhat contradictory - I stopped seeking. Not in the sense that I don't want to understand, but by realizing that I have to give up the idea of understanding, in order to understand. Sadhguru would say: "You just shut up." Being aware of ego, trying to understand through words, meanings and concepts, and letting that go is 'one step forward'.

Another helpful thing to realize is the effortless nature of being. In order to exist, you literally do not have to do anything. Connecting back to what is, while simultaneously being aware of the ego trying to understand, is key. One might say surrendering to reality, to what is, and letting yourself melt in this.

"Be like melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself."

- Rumi

[Guest EmptyVase]

A Lost Satellite

Floating, somewhere in space, I was sending my signals towards home. I didn't know where home was, so I had no choice but to send the signals in every direction. Home, the place I bred from.

Desperately I was floating. With my heart ripped open for home, I unfortunately mistook floating objects in space for home. I looked for home in them, which only deepened my heartaches. A homesick satellite, roaming through space, and incessantly sending signals. Sometimes, the incoming objects gave me a sense of meaning and purpose. Sometimes, they distracted me and made me turn my back to home. But silently, when I was all alone by myself, I was weeping for what makes me feel whole again. The pain in my heart hurt really bad. It was utterly broken. But that made it also utterly open.

With my heart wide open for Love, heartbreak after heartbreak, all that made me more desperate and incomplete. Heartbreaks came in so many different forms and every heartbreak hurt in its own way.

I tried to glue together, what is in pieces. I tried to fill myself, in order to finally feel whole again. I hoped that this would somehow bring me closer towards home.

I was drifting so long in space, that I started to lose hope. Maybe all the communication I tried to establish was for nothing. And then, all of a sudden, I started to receive signals. "This can't be true.", I thought to myself. I doubted the signals I was desperately waiting so long for. But the incoming signal did not stop. Like breadcrumbs, the signals gave me guidance towards home - even if I resisted home. I realized that I was up there for so long, that I did not want to leave that place anymore. But the hunger was so big, that I had no choice but to follow the breadcrumbs in front of me.

Slowly, I started to gain hope again. Frozen, my heart kept itself together. But I increasingly started to trust the signals which I received. It allowed me to let the warmth inside again. But it also risked, that my heart would fall apart once more. Would I really risk to melt the ice? To go through all the heartaches once more? To consciously shatter my heart?

Suddenly, I noticed the cold sting of my frozen heart. My heart wanted to beat, to pulsate. And the ice wanted to stay as the ice, keeping everything together in a static and safe way. The ice thought to itself "The uncertainty of melting is too big - if I melt, I die."

I realized, that my heartbreaks were never the problem. It was only the ice I accumulated, which tried to glue together my broken heart. But my aching heart was nothing, but a compass towards home. Upon seeing this, I gulped, took a last look at the ice and put all my attention towards home again. The ice was relieved too, as it no longer had to carry the burden of keeping the heart together. It realized that it was destined to melt. A lot of frozen molecules have been collected and attached to the ice. The frozen molecules constituted the very ice. And they wanted to become vibrant again.

Every single molecule realized, that it cannot be frozen forever. They had to come and they had to go, but they can not remain static. It is not their nature. It is their nature to come and go. Now, the molecules were smarter than before. They knew, that resistance is pointless. There was never a fight to win. It was only that the molecules deceived themselves into thinking, that there is discord. Unknowingly, they were fighting themselves all along, for nothing. The fight to remain static, subsided.

They smiled upon their resistance to remain. Blinded, by the warm shining light of Love, they melted towards the unknown, not knowing where they will be going.

A satellite, happily drifting through space, has finally found home.

[Raptorsin7]

17 hours ago, EmptyVase said:

Trying to perceive Awareness is like trying to taste the tongue, hear the ear, smell the nose or feel feeling.

How do we overcome this?

By realizing that overcoming is not possible, as there is nothing to overcome. We can't perceive Awareness, because we are Awareness.

The solution for me was somewhat contradictory - I stopped seeking. Not in the sense that I don't want to understand, but by realizing that I have to give up the idea of understanding, in order to understand. Sadhguru would say: "You just shut up." Being aware of ego, trying to understand through words, meanings and concepts, and letting that go is 'one step forward'.

Another helpful thing to realize is the effortless nature of being. In order to exist, you literally do not have to do anything. Connecting back to what is, while simultaneously being aware of the ego trying to understand, is key. One might say surrendering to reality, to what is, and letting yourself melt in this.

"Be like melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself."

- Rumi

Was this a one time shift, or something that you have to keep remembering or practicing?

 

[Guest EmptyVase]

48 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

Was this a one time shift, or something that you have to keep remembering or practicing?

 

A mix of both.

Practicing rewires the brain, prepares for upcoming shifts and lays the ground for integration.

A psilocybin trip gave me the sudden shift. After the trip, I understood what true surrender is about. If I hadn't had my practice, I probably could not integrate true surrender into everyday life. Meditation is, in a sense, a constant reminder to what is, as we live in a world full of distractions.

[Nahm]

?

[Guest EmptyVase]

Relationships, Acceptance and Love

One of the most beautiful things in a healthy relationship is to be accepted, as we are.

This creates a sphere, in which we can fully be ourselves, without hiding any aspects about our way of being.

This is very much aligned with Truth. This is why we feel so much Love.

Fully accepting who we are opens the gates to Love. It is perhaps the most beautiful and freeing feeling we can experience.

Compared to loving ourselves, it's rather easy for us, to love every aspect about our partner - both their shortcomings and beauties. At the end of the day, the very person we love would not exist, if one half would be missing. Both make one.

But can we be selfless enough, to love every aspect about ourselves? Can we at least try?

[Guest EmptyVase]

Instead of work, get to dream and actualize.

This way, we remove the culturally negative connotation of the term "work."

[Guest EmptyVase]

Forum Use

When I first joined this forum, I just sought out some advice on self-help and spirituality.

Over time, I've read more and more here and gained a lot of useful insights, teachings and perspectives.

A point came, where I wanted to give something back. Not only for Leo, but also for the community. Contributing quality content to the forum was my main focus. That was the reason, why I started this journal in the first place.

There are users here, which give way more helpful advice - both in quality and quantity. And even though I couldn't give as much back as I received, I still think I played my part. If I could help out just one single person, I have already reached my goal.

I won't leave the forum, but I want to scale up the giving back. The way to do this is by following my life purpose. The time I invested in this forum, I will now fully invest in myself.

If I feel like it, I will post something in this journal, help someone out or post something in a topic. And maybe I will come back to seek out that juicy advice, when I can't help myself. How cool is this possibility?

But for now, the forum has fulfilled its purpose for me. There are no grand open questions anymore, which I can't answer for myself. Thanks to the forum, I received the necessary tools to accomplish this. I'm deeply thankful to have stumpled upon actualized.org. And I'm also deeply thankful to everyone who has helped me out, be it directly or indirectly. It has changed my life for the better. Sending love to everyone of you. 

[Guest EmptyVase]

Interview with Phil from Actuality of Being

I asked @Nahm whether he wants to talk about a few things regarding his work with Actuality of Being - and he agreed, which is amazing! Thank you again for doing this. ?

So, without further ado, I present to you the questions:

 

Question 1

Truly knowing yourself in a way which is not attached to concepts, is probably the most important aspect in order to be able to teach the way 'you' do.

As far as I know, you're on this path since quite a while, thus you've probably come across many different concepts. Which teachers, teachings, models and/or spiritual practices would you recommend for someone, who truly wants to know himself, and who wants to start a business similiar to yours?

 

Question 2

Have you had cases where it seemed like you can't help your client? If so, what did you do when such a situation occured? What is the biggest struggle when such a thing happens?

 

Question 3

What were the biggest challenges you faced with the founding of 'Actuality of Being'?

In that regard, what were the biggest challenges you faced with yourself?

Are the last two questions one and the same?

 

Question 4

What one piece of advice would you give to someone (no pun intended) who wants to start a business similar to yours?

If there's no such thing as 'one piece of advice': what advice would you give, generally speaking?

 

 

I'm super excited to hear your answers! Thanks a lot for taking the time. ?

Edited February 16, 2021 by EmptyVase

[Nahm]

Should be said, these are ‘story time’ answers about ‘Phil’, but happy to help nonetheless. 

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Question 1

Which teachers, teachings, models and/or spiritual practices would you recommend for someone, who truly wants to know himself, and who wants to start a business similiar to yours?

It would be entirely relative to that someone. To give a general answer though, for a seeker... loving, responsibility, a clean diet, fitness, Maslow’s pyramid, using the dreamboard & emotional scale, daily proper meditation, guitar and or piano & singing, solo retreats & trips in nature, the books Ask & It Is Given, and The Nature Of Consciousness, law of attraction, law of one, law of as above & so below, all of the immutable / universal laws really, basic economics, psychology, neurology and quantum mechanics. Again, very general here, the much preferred answer is entirely a one off from talking to the seeker, if they’re still a seeker by the time we’re done talking, which is highly unlikely. 

To someone who wants to start a similar business I’d suggest scheduling a session. That’s not a sexy answer I realize, but it would be entirely relative to that someone. There really is no generic answer I could say here that would not be misleading. Imagine someone advising Ester to be like Rupert, or Rupert to be like Ester. Can’t be generalized really, other than to say it would be best if they had many years of experience talking with individuals, couples, and families about wants, needs, & life dreams, and have already met their own needs, are manifesting their wants, and living their dream life. Generally speaking, the best experience for helping people create successful businesses is having created serval successful businesss, like any other line of work in that way. 

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Question 2

Have you had cases where it seemed like you can't help your client? If so, what did you do when such a situation occured? What is the biggest struggle when such a thing happens?

No. 

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Question 3

What were the biggest challenges you faced with the founding of 'Actuality of Being'?

In that regard, what were the biggest challenges you faced with yourself?

Are the last two questions one and the same?

None. It’s been a great joy in my life. That there were no challenges is basically the result of the answer to question 1. 

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Question 4

What one piece of advice would you give to someone (no pun intended) who wants to start a business similar to yours?

If there's no such thing as 'one piece of advice': what advice would you give, generally speaking?

Fall in love with truth and being alone, or find something more fitting that one is passionate about, maybe life coaching or the like. That is not to say be alone. I’ve a wife & family, friends, coworkers, etc. 

Offered what came to mind. The only real answer is I never thought of any it. It really is just experiencing what’s happening so to speak. 

[Guest EmptyVase]

@Nahm

Beautiful, thank you!! 

The most rewarding part in reading your answer was that internal voice saying: "See, you already 'know' all this stuff!"

Regarding question 1, even though it is general, the list still gives a very helpful overview. Thank you!

And also, scheduling a session and discovering that starting a business is entirely relative to someone (Ahh all the possible opportunities within that answer! + You yourself get to choose, which one of those it shall be!) is a sexy answer. 

9 hours ago, Nahm said:

Again, very general here, the much preferred answer is entirely a one off from talking to the seeker, if they’re still a seeker by the time we’re done talking, which is highly unlikely

Why is that? Is it because the seeker

[Nahm]

@EmptyVase

☺️