There are so many things nowadays that pull us away from awareness that it is the author's opinion that the sincere seeker must practice our awareness meditation.
Over the years, I see many people visiting my blogs and website, or listening to my radio programs. They stop by for a few seconds or minutes, but never take the next step.
What is the next step? Responding inwardly to the ring of truth and quietly saying "Yes." The truth is usually a bit shocking or painful. It awakens our ego to see its own wrong.
Now, if a person recognizes the truth and doesn't try to deny it, the good of truth can begin to enter to help. This response to the Truth, what we wordlessly know in our hearts is right, leads to a willingness to change. In the Light of Inner Truth we see that we cannot change ourselves, but now in communion with the deepest and highest Truth, we wordlessly cry out to God.
And so, it comes to pass that the sincere soul is drawn to be in even closer touch with the inner Light of Truth, conscience in other words, that makes us sorry. Though saddened by what we see about ourselves in the Light of Conscience, we don't mind because we love the Truth and are sick of living a lie. We are relieved of the struggle of suppressing guilt and trying to make ourselves right.
This desire for even more truth is the impulse of the soul which is willing to be sorry and wants to change.
What is the next step? Here we get into the difference between the sincerity of people. Some are very sincere and committed to want the process to continue, even though it means the dashing of pride. Others shy away and are not willing to go all the way. Deep down, they wish to preserve some shred of pride, some hope of worldly delight.
And we also have to admit that the world is very powerful and convincing--just when a person is ready to return to conscience and make some God-inspired changes, the worldly ones rush in with their "help." Worldly churches offer a substitute for inner rapport with the source of conscience. They come with books, scriptures, rituals, techniques, and study plans.
They smile and hug you and accept you just as you are. And when you fall for their seduction and accept their help and embrace, you are "saved" from conscience. But you are claimed by the world, even though it may be dressed in religious garb.
Some of us have experienced the horror of being descended on by a multitude of helpers whose help does not really help. Some of us have been tricked, in an emotional moment, into making a decision and accepting Christ (where it is He who must accept us). Others of us have found a teacher, guru, minister, philosophy or technique of some sort. We were at first very excited and thought we had found the answer.
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We devoted ourselves to our leader or study; and at first we appeared to make progress. Perhaps we cleaned up our act, changed environments, and dropped some bad influences. But months or years late, nothing has really changed.
On the surface we may look better, perhaps having substituted study for the bottle, but underneath we are still prideful, now having cloaked it in different garb and now buttressed by the approval and love of the world. We have a different set of friends and needs, but we still rely on them for support, reassurance, and reinforcement. If we had really found God and had really changed, we wouldn't need any external reinforcement. God's approval and God's grace would suffice.
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The truth is that we still hadn't really found the answer. But this is the hardest thing of all to admit. Some see how they were fooled, and become very resentful, spend all their time going after the person or group that misled them. But they are destroyed by their fixation and resentment. Others throw in the towel and revel in judgment and cynicism (more forms of pride).
For others, there is only one thing left (if they don't admit the truth and return to the God of conscience), and that is to get even more deeply involved with their worldly religious or secular cause or organization. This time by going to the next level (in the hierarchy of hell)--becoming a shill to promote, seduce and push their hell bound way on others.
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Parents, educators, worldly helpers, proselytizers, and evangelists of all stripes see it as their bounden duty to put other's lights out and claim them for the worldly system. They love to stake their claim on the young. We're speaking of organized various persuasions of religion or causes (including such causes as Communism, global warming and so on).
By far the most powerful system of knowledge today is the whole business of education (where kids are forced to sit in boring classrooms for 15, 20, or even 25 years). Just about everyone worships education and the educators, viewing education as our savior. We look to science to save us, to technology to save, and to worldly institutions to give us the knowledge that we think will bring success to our pride. And, God help us, many look to religious knowledge to save them.
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Those that don't become ambitious and unprincipled, become drop outs and failures, made permanent victims and destroyed through their hatred of the pressure system.
I'm not advocating ignorance, nor am I opposed to knowledge. But knowledge without understanding, education without morality, governance without God, is why our problems are only increasing. The mindless rote application of knowledge without understanding leads to suffering and more problems.
They asked Buddha who he was, and he said that he was simply someone who had woken up. And what did he oppose? The rigid formalism that had taken over an otherwise good worldview. But guess what happened after Buddha died. His words were turned into a regious system of knowledge, and soon there were different schools, vying against each other and inflicting more study on their victims.
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And just who were the Sadducees and the Pharisees who were so against Jesus and His message? They were the theologians, scholars, degreed, and clergy of the day.
They worshipped knowledge (which brought them power and self righteousness). But knowledge became a substitute for understanding. They had knowledge about sin, knowledge about God, and knowledge about truth. But when they encountered the real living Truth Made Flesh, He awakened them to the inner Truth of Conscience, and they reacted like a vampire to a cross.
The real things shamed them and so they hated it. And if they did not hate it, they were so far away from understanding (through their absorption in intellectual knowledge) that they could not even hear what he was saying. His truth sounded like nonsense or blasphemy to them. Whereas intellectual doublespeak sounds like nonsense to a person with understanding.
Today's secular and religious Pharisees and Sadducees, worshipping at the alter of knowledge and forcing education on the young, are simply doing unto others what was done to them. They cannot stop, lest they awaken to guilt. And they cannot bear people waking up to what is being done to them. That is why the learned knowledge elite keep everyone busy striving for knowledge and studying, so there is no space in which to begin to awaken. That is also why problems work to the elite's advantage. It keeps people in a psychotic state and looking to the experts, advisers, bureaucrats, and educators for answers.
No sooner does the individual begin to awaken to see his or her failing, then there is a tendency to rush to compensate with knowledge to make it go away. And when knowledge fails to solve our problem, then most people look for something to take away awareness of the symptoms. Excuses come to mind. And soon some knowledgeable rogue says that your problem is not do to character failing or misdirected lifestyle. He says that it is genetic or you have a disease. Thus failing is neatly explained away by the experts; and pills, distractions, study, or alcohol take away awareness of the symptoms.
To really recover, we must be willing to sit still for conscience. We must also be willing to not reach for excuses, rationale or worldly distractions or comfort. If we bear conscience for awhile, we are left with the problem, but now we are close to the inner Light and have reconciled to God.
Soon, in His own time and space, He provides a solution. Either we see what we must do or give up doing; or the problem just solves itself. This is the magic of grace, and the gift of God to those who love Him.
When it comes to the deepest problems of existence, we tend to get in the way of conscience and its saving grace by interfering with the process. The energy of our own striving pulls us from awareness. Having erred, it is just too easy to struggle and then to slip into daydreams or some comforting music, alcohol, drug or distraction fix.
We make the mistake of trying to deal with our own guilts, which only strengthens them and makes us weary. You cannot forgive yourself. You need God's forgiveness and guidance. But you cannot find these in daydreams or external words or rituals. You discover them when you are aware in the Presence in the present.
Now that you know that your own egocentric nature opposes sitting still for conscience, and now that you know that the whole world is there to rush to your aid to "save" you from Truth and conscience, perhaps yo can see why most people are lost and keep falling into traps. You will also see why you need the meditation that we offer here at the Center For Commonsense Counseling.
It is a helpful tool, showing you the simple art of sitting still before conscience. If you have the right attitude (sincerity), then you also need the right tool. One that leads to more awareness, more conscience, more realization. You don't want something that is at first comforting and puts you to sleep. Nor do you want some practice or meditation that is worldly and is cleverly designed by someone who knows how to help us stay asleep in a comfort zone. We must learn to defocus instead of concentrating. We must learn to stand back and see the big picture. We must get out of thinking and emotions.
Most people don't know where God is. They have lost touch with intuition and conscience. They are lost in thinking, imagination, and feelings. It order to truly recover, we absolutely must make contact with God by way of the Light of Conscience He sends us. We must locate and sit still for this Truth. The Truth is like a light that shines. it does not speak to us with words, it makes us aware and basically shows us the way things really are. The proper meditation is simply learning to sit still for this Light.
Now you know why I say: "there are so many things nowadays that pull us away from awareness that it is the author's opinion that the sincere seeker must practice our awareness meditation." Because we tend to struggle with our own failings, the energy of our own striving pulls us from awareness. Having erred, it is just too easy to struggle and then to slip into daydreams or some comforting music, alcohol, drug or distraction fix. We make the mistake of trying to deal with our own guilts, which only strengthens them and makes us weary. You cannot forgive yourself. You need God's forgiveness and guidance. But you cannot find these in daydreams or external words or rituals. You discover them when you are aware in the Presence in the present.
I have to say that most people already have all the knowledge and help that they want. They see no need for change: they like themselves the way they are. And if they sense a need, they rush to the world for knowledge answers. It is only the sincere seeker that is not satisfied with half truths and shallow answers. Nor do they want to be embraced and loved by a system that takes away the sad-gladness and quiet joy of coming clean before conscience. So, our meditation is not for everyone. But for the sincere seeker, it is a God-sent.
If you would like to find out more about our meditation visit our virtual home and learn more and perhaps listen to it. It is free with no strings attached.
