Liberation is the Third Noble Truth in Buddhism. From my experience, I say that realizing the experience of being free in daily life is significant to the spiritual path and becoming a mature and well balanced person. But when we examine what Buddhism says on this theme, and quote scriptures, does Buddhism display real philosophy?

Q: Thank you for the meditation instructions. It doesn't seem be working for me though. I repeat the mantra and nothing much happens. I just wander off into everyday thoughts and come back to the mantra when I remember to, like you said, over and over again for the twenty minutes. It is pretty boring. Am I just not suited for this?

A: Our nervous systems are wired for the experience of blissful silence. Indeed, we are created for this. No human being is an exception. However, every nervous system contains obstructions which are to be released and flushed out – lifetimes of accumulated impurities that block our natural state from manifesting in the world, blocking us from inward seeing.

The practices of yoga are concerned with the removal of these obstructions. Yoga is a cleaning process. It is the cleaning that brings union between our inner and outer nature. During meditation, we know the process is working when we lose the mantra and later find ourselves in some other thoughts. During the meditation procedure, these other thoughts are a symptom that something has been released. Recognizing that, we go back to the mantra and continue the process. It is important to be easy with the mantra, not hanging on to a clear mental pronunciation, not hanging on to an unclear mental pronunciation, no hanging on at all, just easily being with it. If we develop this habit of easiness, the mind will settle into its silence naturally. It is a natural process of our mind we are facilitating. Until now, all of our conscious thoughts have been for going outward into manifestation in the mind, and into the world.

The mantra, I AM, is for going inward into de-manifestation, taking us to the source of our thoughts, the source of us, pure consciousness, unbounded awareness. But it isn't always experienced in such glorious terms. Often it is just losing the mantra, having some pleasant unaccounted for time of no mantra and no thoughts, then becoming aware of thoughts again, and then going back to the mantra. The cleansing process goes on. This is perfect meditation. This is the habit we want to cultivate in meditation every day, for it will lead us to the infinite.

The experiences will be there as the cleansing process continues. But the experiences, or lack of them, are not the measure of the correctness of the meditation procedure. The procedure is very specific, and we may or may not feel inner expansion on any given day. You see? In a way, it is like digging for treasure. Good digging is moving earth in a very particular way that efficiently takes us down to where the box full of gold sits waiting for us. The digging itself may not seem to resemble a box full of gold. Nevertheless, it is the digging that leads to the gold. The good news with meditation is that we will glimpse the gold often during the digging process, and also while we are not digging during our regular daily activities. Our experience of the gold accumulates gradually over time as we practice meditation daily. Then, one day, we realize that we are the gold. We kept at it for a long time and everything has changed. From day one we begin to see the world differently, for through the inner cleansing process we are becoming that which underlies the world. From the very beginning we have been that.

With yoga we clean the window of our nervous system and develop a clear perception that this is the truth. This is who we are. The mystery of life is being uncovered. We are that which underlies everything. We are eternal bliss! So stick with it. Continuously fan the fire of your desire to know the truth within you. This will keep you going. Along the way, you will get positive feedback from within yourself. Keep following the procedure of meditation twice daily for twenty minutes. As your experiences go deeper you will not want to stop facilitating this natural ability you have to go within, because it is your own self you are uncovering. You will be self-propelled. In time, we will add advanced yoga practices that will greatly increase the power of meditation. If a sturdy garden hose is not getting all the dirt, we have the option to hook the hose up to a pressure washer.

The guru is in you. Note: For detailed instructions on deep meditation, see the AYP Deep Meditation book at http://aypsite.com/books.html#dm

Dream...
Into being

Happiness
Of a garden
Planted with seeds of joy

Growing into full blooms
Of peaceful contentment

Blossoming into light
Filled of
Endless Beauty

Beauty becomes me
In the mystery of my soul
I hunger for what is not touched
With the human hand

The mystical revelation
The shaman's song
The connection we all long for
In this dance of intimacy

The learning I discover
The many parts that make the whole
Encompassing the heart of humanity

In the palm of my hand

I reach the destination
Reborn by this epiphany
That deep down in the
Center of myself
Is

All others

Mark Twain, a brilliant observer, once said, “The fear of death follows the fear of life.” It’s common to see people cling to life at almost any cost. We assume that it’s because they love life and fear death, but as Twain pointed out, there is probably much more to the issue. We recently came across an intriguing internet article that speaks eloquently on this subject. It was based on the book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying written by hospice nurse Bonnie Ware. 

As you read Ms. Ware’s list, you can’t help but notice that a recurring theme is the fear of living:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

It’s no coincidence that each sentence begins with the word wish since wishing is a useless activity that gets us gets us nowhere. Sadly, when it’s too late to do much about it, we often realize at best, our life was half lived. Too often this happens because we’re afraid to look within and find out what’s most valuable to us. Instead, we give into peer pressure and “go along to get along.” We recently saw a book in the window of a FedEx shop titled, How to Make Yourself Indispensable to Your Employer.” Such a book may appear to offer sound advice but when we use it as a guide, we can easily throw our life away in service to the dictates of a society that often values us only for our ability to support its interests. Thoreau observed the result when he said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” Ms. Ware saw first-hand the results of living this way and points out the heavy price we pay for denying self, “Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried.”

Surprisingly, many of Ms. Ware’s patients did not understand until they were dying that these regrets were the result of their own choices, or that they had even made the choices. They didn’t stop to think that their own happiness, how much hours they worked, giving up their dreams, suppressing their feelings or neglecting their friends were all choices, choices that could be made differently.

If this life was all we had, we would be paying an extremely high price for choices we make, or fail to make that were not in our own best interests. But spiritual sages tell us something quite different:

I am not a little mortal being with bones that break, a body that will perish. I am the deathless, changeless infinite—Yogananda

Death is the temporary end to a temporary phenomenon…It is not the end, only a door into another room—Eknath Easwaran

As to your life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, no doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before—Walt Whitman

Imagine a sheet of paper with two slits cut in it and a thin slip of paper woven through the slits. No matter which side of the paper you look at, you can see the strip of woven paper, but you can’t see the entire strip at one time. This image fits nicely with Eckhart Tolle’s explanation of life, “Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.”  Life, like the strip of paper, cannot always be seen, but it continually exists.

Although we can keep going round and round in the cycle of birth and death, living one miserable life after another appears to be little more than an exercise in futility. There is something more, something far better, but it involves the courage to look within and make different choices. ‘Death before dying’ is a theme that runs through the teachings of the world’s great sages, and it’s also a cure for the fear of life. Rumi points out:

This world is the seed-time of the Beyond. If you are lazy at seed-time, you weep at harvest, when all tears are futile. It is today, now, that we must use and profit from each breath, for each of our breaths is a treasure…spend each breath on the Path to God and never grow desperate. [italics ours]

The ‘death’ we get is created by the life we live.  A life lived in fear will lead to rebirth as another body that can’t remember its true identity and remains in fear. Or, we can use this lifetime to ‘wake up’ and realize the deathless Self. The Upanishads tell us, “Perceiving the truth, [we] become that truth; [we] pass beyond all suffering, beyond death; all the knots of [our] heart are loosed.” Life is about constant choice. When we fall in line with this world, it blocks out the truths our heart is whispering to us. When we make the choice to be courageous, look within and hear those whisperings, we find that there never has been, and never will be, anything to fear.

If one is afraid of losing anything, they have not looked into the Friend’s eyes: they have forgotten God’s promise…When your fears surrender…you will begin to experience that all existence is a teeming sea of infinite life…Stay in the dangerous life that’s yours. There you’ll meet the face that dissolves fear—Hafiz

Hope and fear are phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as Self, what do we have to fear? —Lao Tzu

Lee and Steven Hager are the authors of several books featuring the synergy of science, spirituality and gnosis.

Visit The Beginning of Fearlessness Website and blog: http://www.thebeginningoffearlessness.com

“One can have no greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses, and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”  ~ Bob Moawad

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” ~ Robert Byrne

“A man is what he thinks all day long.” ~ Emerson

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~Alice Walker

“How terrible it would be to come to the end of your life and realize you did not live it. ~ Garold N. Larson

“Things do not change; we change.” ~ Thoreau

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” ~ Marianne Williamson

“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” ~ Lao Tzu

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” ~ Buddha

These days, the words heaven and hell are quite often thought of as descriptors or metaphors for a life experience rather than actual abodes in the spirit realm. Although the terms are used lightly, some, especially fundamentalists, take these words quite seriously and feel certain they play an integral part in the ‘afterlife.’ Even those who scoff at the idea can’t be certain and may wonder from time to time if there is any truth in the idea that we could receive eternal bliss or everlasting torment as a reward or recompense for the life we’re living now. Where can we find answers? While many religions stick to the literal interpretations of these words, science has something quite different to show us.

The concepts of heaven and hell as specific places where reward and punishment are meted out were derived from the ancient belief that a cosmic war between good and evil is raging inside and outside the universe. This theme has been central throughout man’s history, and continues to take center stage in our thoughts today. We see our world in terms of opposites since out though system is based on a dualistic perspective. Looking at what takes place in our world, and seeing though a dualistic perspective, it’s no surprise that we came to the conclusion that the universe is divided between good and evil. This perspective is so ingrained, we assume it’s accurate, but we rarely ask ourselves whether it’s true.

Although humans have focused on a division between good and evil far longer, the modern English word heaven came into use around the 12th century and originally meant ‘sky’ or ‘firmament.’ Christians began associating the sky with the throne or abode of God. Working from a description of a symbolic ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ in the Bible book of Revelation, heaven was eventually thought of as a city that included pearly gates, fluffy clouds, streets of gold and angelic harpists.

Since our dualistic thought system demands an opposite, God’s dwelling place, the bastion of good, required that God’s opposite, Satan, also had to have an abode that was the epitome of evil. Angels and demons round out the populations that fill these spirit realms and carry out the work of their respective leader. The word hell originated around the 8th century and referred to ‘something covered over’ or the ‘nether world of the dead.’ In Norse religion, there was no thought of punishment involved; instead, ‘hel’ was a being that presided over a ‘misty place’ where the dead resided.

Eventually it became popular to think that if God resided in the sky, Satan must be luring underground. Somewhere along the line it was decided (with no proof whatsoever) that the way we live our life on earth would determine whether we were rewarded in heaven after we died, or were tormented in hell. As a result, so-called ‘holy’ books are filled with rules that must be followed and ‘belief systems’ that must be embraced if we want to go to heaven instead of hell. The rules and beliefs are never clear-cut, and make success impossible to predict, keeping believers in a constant state of anxiety and fear.

The concepts of heaven and hell, as well as the idea that a cosmic war between good and evil is raging, present some impossible paradoxes that religion regularly tries to dodge. It would be impossible to list all these issues in a short blog, but we’ve included a couple of the most compelling. Most religions teach that God is love, but as the creator of everything in existence, this would mean that God would also be responsible for evil. If we assume that Satan has the power to challenge God, we must conclude that evil is more powerful than good since God is too weak to control his evil creation. But if God punishes as well as rewards, then Satan is the warden of God’s prison and his right-hand-man who doles out punishments on his behalf. One must also question the math that says a few years lived on earth deserves either an eternity of reward or punishment. Many have rightfully walked away from religion based on these ridiculous ideas. We don’t blame them; we walked away too, but we still wanted some answers. Instead of throwing God out with the filthy religious bathwater, we looked at the subject from a scientific perspective.

Our ancestors based their views on what they saw happening in the world. We aren’t that limited. As science looks into the quantum universe, we see that nothing is as it seems to be. We have imagined that the universe is locked in a struggle between good and evil only because we haven’t understood what the universe actually is. Our misperceptions are built on the faulty concept that a separation exists between the material and spiritual realms. We see the Divine as something separate from ourselves, but quantum physics paints a very different picture.

From a quantum perspective, everything in existence is one thing: one interconnected, indivisible life, one shared consciousness. The so-called ‘material’ and ‘spiritual’ are one, and cannot be separated. Physicists tell us that everything in existence came from one Source. Spiritual sages (and many physicists) say that Source is the Divine. Since there can be no separation within this oneness, everything that exists is the Divine. Since our Source permeates and gives life to everything is existence, a separate dwelling place apart from creation would be impossible and unnecessary. But, you may ask, what accounts for the evil we see every day?

Physics has also discovered something that spiritual sages have been teaching for centuries: the material world is a dream, an illusion, Maya, a virtual reality. In comparison, the material world is as real to quantum reality as a movie or a dream is real to us. We experience the movie or the dream, but we know that the action only appears to take place. You exist as pure consciousness, not a physical body. However, consciousness has the ability to project the material world and the drama that plays out here. Since that’s the case, it begs the question: why we would choose to project a world that appears to be locked in a struggle between good and evil. Why would we purposely set up our own suffering and continue to endure it? Actually that was not our original intent. Instead, we were rebelling against the oneness of All That Is. We wanted to prove that separation, and the opportunity to become special, could work as well as equality within oneness. Obviously the experiment has failed, but in the process we’ve forgotten that we can stop the drama anytime we wish and wake up to oneness.

The world we construct through consciousness is experiment, nothing more, nothing less. We are not trying to pass a test, and nothing we do here is worthy of either a reward or a punishment. The point of this existence is to experience separation and specialness and decide for ourselves if the experience is worth the suffering in inevitably causes. We can choose individually, at any time, to stop the experiment. The Divine has allowed us to dream up whatever we would like. As we can see, some have chosen to take the experiment to the extremes of what we might label ‘evil,’ but that evil arose from their own desires. Nonetheless, while we continue to project the material world and try every possible scheme, our dreaming minds (the true Self) are safe and we are loved and protected. It’s impossible for us to leave oneness, and there is no ‘place’ to go after we die. In fact, the whole idea of death is yet another misperception that keeps us imprisoned in fear. Since consciousness is immortal, we have the choice of continuing to project this miserable dream during one lifetime after another, or let it go and wake up again to oneness. Heaven and Hell are constructs of minds that forgot who they were. They have never been real, and they never will be. We have made a mistake in judgment, but mistakes can be corrected.

I love to write poetry , I hope to share with you some samples of my poetry I have written ans self published  couple of poetry books ,I also have a website you can view my books and poetry at www.margaretspoetrykorner.com
I was told that I have a gift , and I  believe this to be true , because I never took a course on poetry , I never read a book or novel , and yet I'm writing one .

Your mind has a natural ability to be quiet. When it becomes quiet, you are in touch with your genius. Albert Einstein said the ideas that led him to the theory of relativity came during moments of quiet reflection. Mozart heard sonatas and symphonies resonating through the silent reaches of his mind. All he had to do was write them down. We know that Isaac Newton came up with laws of motion and gravity while relaxing under an apple tree. Whether he actually got hit in the head by that apple or not, no one knows, but there is no doubt that his quiet mind yielded a treasure of knowledge.

We could cite more examples, but you get the point. Silent mind has great creativity. But this is not all. Silent mind is peaceful, blissful and healthy, and radiates these qualities out through the person to the surroundings. People who know how to cultivate quiet mind not only are in touch with their inner creativity, they also radiate a youthfulness and optimism that effects everyone nearby. They have "good vibrations." Earlier we spoke of consciousness (awareness -- the observer), and the objective world (the observed). The essential nature of our consciousness is blissful silence. It is what is behind the mind, what is experienced when the mind becomes still. It is an infinite storehouse of the qualities just mentioned, the realm of what we know as God, always right here within ourselves. This is why it is proclaimed in the Psalms, "Be still and know I am God."

To access the divine all we have to do is know how to be still. Meditation is the process of systematically allowing the mind to become still for specific periods of time each day. In doing this daily over weeks, months and years, quietness, consciousness, gradually becomes more evident when the mind is active while we are not meditating, and worldly life is enriched. Through meditation, the relationship between consciousness and the world gradually changes. This is a process of yoga, the joining. It is the first step. Once blissful silence is coming on in daily experience, many other things can be done to enhance and expand it. But first we have to establish a base in consciousness, awaken the silent inner seed of who we are, so to speak.

It was mentioned that your mind has a natural ability to become quiet. In the deep meditation method we will practice here, we will harness that natural ability. In fact, all of the practices which will be taught here (and there are quite a few), we will be harnessing your natural abilities. The idea is to show you how to utilize the gifts you have already. We will just be adding special levers here and there to activate your natural abilities. The rest will be up to you. If you apply what you learn, and keep at it, one day you will know that you are a perpetual bliss machine, capable of experience far beyond the imaginings of the mind.

Oh yes, you really are. Meditation is the first step. Thoughts are coming up in the mind from the minute we wake up in the morning until the minute we fall asleep at night, and then more are coming during dreaming. Yet we say the mind has a natural ability to be quiet. How? We will use a thought to do it. Not just any thought. A special thought called a "mantra." We will use a particular method of thinking this mantra that allows the mind to do what it can easily do if given the opportunity, settle down. Actually, any thought can be used to meditate, as been amply demonstrated by researchers over the past thirty years. But we'd like to use a particular thought, one that has certain vibratory qualities, one that produces a certain effect in the nervous system. It is also one we can enhance as our practice advances, but more about that later.

The mantra we will begin with here is: …I AM… We will not be focusing on the meaning of I AM during meditation. No doubt it has sacred meaning in the Judeo/Christian tradition in particular, and also bears similarity to the sacred sounds of other traditions. It is the sound we are interested in, not the meaning. It is the sound we will be using, within. We are after the profound vibratory quality of the sound when it is used effectively deep inside the mind and nervous system. Perhaps these profound effects inside the human being are the reason why I AM has been revered for centuries. What we will be doing is focusing on the correct utilization of the mantra in the practice of meditation. Then we will have the best results.

Here is how we will use it:
Find a quiet, comfortable place where you can sit, preferably with back support. We want to remove unnecessary distractions. Just sit and relax somewhere where you can close your eyes for twenty minutes without interruptions. Once you have gotten comfortable, slowly close your eyes. You will notice thoughts, streams of thoughts. That is fine. Just observe them without minding them. After about a minute, gently introduce the thought …I AM… and begin to repeat it easily and effortlessly in your mind. If your mind wanders off into other thoughts, you will eventually realize this has happened. Don't be concerned about it. It is natural. When you realize you are not repeating the mantra, gently go back to it. This is all you have to do. Easily repeat the mantra silently inside. When you realize you are not thinking it, then easily come back to it. The goal is not to stay on it. The goal is to follow the simple procedure of thinking the mantra, losing it, and coming back to it when you find you have lost it. Do not resist if the mantra tends to become less distinct. Thinking the mantra does not have to be with clear pronunciation.

I AM can be experienced at many levels in your mind and nervous system. When you come back to it, come back to a level that is comfortable, not straining for either a clear or fuzzy pronunciation. Do this procedure for twenty minutes, and, then, with your eyes closed, take a few minutes to rest before you get up. This practice is to be done twice each day, before you start your day and before you begin your evening activities. It is best done before meals, as digestion can interfere with the process of meditation. Make a commitment to yourself to do it for a few months. Give it some time to work. You will be amazed at the results, and then you will want to keep going forward to more and more. That's enough for now. In the following lessons, we will go into more detail about the process and consequences of meditation.

After that we will begin to work with another natural ability we each have, our ability to use the breath to move silence in us with endless ecstasy. See lesson 106 (http://aypsite.com/106.html) for a Q&A on mantra and breathing in meditation. The guru is in you. Note: For detailed instructions on deep meditation, see the AYP Deep Meditation book at http://aypsite.com/books.html#dm

It is common knowledge that if we want to be successful at something, at anything, we must desire it continuously, and be willing to act to fulfill that desire every day. Think of the most successful people you know. Isn't this what they have in common? If we look at their lives, we see that they have worked long and hard to achieve excellence in their chosen field. Behind that, an insatiable desire to succeed in their efforts kept them driving them forward, overcoming obstacles, working for years toward their objective. It is like that in yoga and religion, which is working toward divine union.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." He also said, "Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will open to you." This is the magic formula -- desire toward a goal, which spawns action toward that goal. Continuous desire is the fuel. Daily action is the fire. The word "continuous" is important, as is the word "goal." Without these two operative functions, desires are scattered, actions are unfocused, and not much happens. With them, anything is achievable. If we cultivate our desire to become continuously focused on a particular goal, such as the achievement of divine union, we are cultivating a special kind of desire. It is called "devotion."

 Devotion is the continuous flow of desire toward an object or goal. We are all familiar with the concept of devotion. It is how we explain the success of great achievers: "Oh, she is so devoted to her work." Or of great mystics: "Oh, she is so devoted to God." It is no coincidence that devotion and greatness are found in the same place. The first invariably leads to the second. The second cannot happen without the first. Whatever your concept of enlightenment may be, whatever tradition or creed you hail from, whatever inspires you in the direction of spiritual unfoldment, cultivate that. It is the engine of practice. It is what enables us to sustain daily spiritual practice for as long as it takes.

As we practice, our divine experience grows, and, with that, devotion grows. Increased devotion intensifies our commitment to practice, and more dedicated practice yields more divine experience which in turn increases devotion further. This is how it progresses -- devotion yielding practice… yielding divine experience… yielding more devotion… and so on. Devotion sustained at a fever pitch by every means possible is the spiritual aspirant's best friend. It is not always an easy life being constantly consumed by spiritual "hunger and thirst," but it puts us on the royal road to enlightenment.

Intense devotion to transforming our lives through advanced yoga practices assures that what must be done will be done. Speaking of what must be done, now let's talk about the next step -- developing the habit of cultivating our eternal silent depths on a daily basis. Lets talk about meditation. The guru is in you. Note:

For detailed instructions on employing desire and action on our spiritual path, see the AYP Bhakti and Karma Yoga book at http://aypsite.com/books.html#bky