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We come into this world with a psyche that is split into separation from our true divine nature, and the blueprint for ego becomes instituted. The story of Adam and Eve describes this spilt as our fall from grace. But it never really happened! It’s all maya – illusion – and becomes our inner journey toward awakening to the truth of who we are. Beyond ego and the lower mind lies our true spiritual nature as limitless and timeless beings. But because the ego is defined by the electro-magnetic charges of negative and positive, duality, and specifically loss and gain, are born in the mental and emotional bodies. So loss and gain are programmed into our consciousness from the get go becoming an unconscious lens through which we view the world.
In fact, if I could distill into a single egoic construct all of the processes that people come to me wanting to clear, it would be loss and gain. This is true because the relative mind will interpret any negativity in one’s life as a loss, whether it’s a material “loss” of some kind, some heavy state in the emotional body, or simply a loss of happiness. Sure, losses and gains are part of life – they seem very real in this world. But this is only the mind’s superficial reading of what’s going on; it is the dual mind’s interpretation of the natural ebb and flow of life. In truth, our natural state of wholeness and oneness is complete in itself: paraphrasing my teacher, nothing can ever be added to or taken away from that which we are!
What if we could stand “outside” of the natural rhythms of life and just watch? Rather than getting pulled into and identifying with a story around loss and gain, we watch and witness the movement of energy in our emotional body. This neutral witness is grounded in being. It’s identity is as spiritual presence. When we know ourselves to be that still presence – unchanging and eternal – then the ups and downs of life occur, but they don’t shake the ground of being that we are. Our deepest knowing from the place is that the invisible realms always support us and that the Universe is the source of unlimited supply! Loss and gain are real for you only when you believe them to be true. Granted this is a paradigm shift in the way we see the world, and so it becomes a process of undoing and reprogramming the limited mind.
The witness, or neutral observer is our ally here. By pro-actively witnessing or catching the contracting energy in the mind or emotional body, and then consciously choosing not to buy into it we create an little expansion and an ascension. We are detaching from ego and opening to what is true beyond it, which is our divine nature waiting to be unveiled! It is also helpful at this point to remind our lower selves of our unlimited spiritual nature with an affirmation, such as I am Spirit, I am divine and I am always supported.
So, practically, this is how it might play out in your life: You seem to incur a material loss of some kind – the IRS notifies you that you are in errs and wants you to pay more taxes, perhaps. You can consciously choose from your neutral witnessing presence not to take it as a loss. Rather, you can choose to step out of an egoic response and see it as a temporary ebb in the flow, reminding yourself that the Universe has your back, always. You have faith because you know that the tide will turn eventually, and, especially, if you are able to remain open and centered and not contract emotionally, it will happen sooner rather than later!
Negative emotions will also feel like a loss to the ego.The entire structure of our emotional body is based on negative and positive, loss and gain. So even the slightest drop of our awareness into negativity, say self-doubt, perhaps, will register as a loss. Unless we are able to witness it! If we can catch self-doubt as it slips into our awareness and detach from the story we are telling ourselves about it, we won’t make it real and unconsciously feed energy in to it. We can, instead, align with our center and allow all feelings, however negative (or positive), to pass through the still Presence that we are – never diminished or increased, but always full, complete and content in itself!
I received an e-mail from someone who was feeling frustrated when she tried to talk to her friends. She was sharing with them that she is seeing a world in a state of chaos and potential collapse with climate change, the melting of the polar ice caps, species extinction etc. and that they had better wake up and take notice. Yet, her message was falling on deaf ears. No one seemed to want to hear about it, let alone talk about it. She feels passionate about the urgency of the state of the planet but, at the same time, doesn’t want to risk losing her friendships. She asked me what I think she should do, and we set up a Skype call.
I shared with her that there can be a fine line to walk when sharing one’s truth about an issue with friends which has the potential to shake up their comfortable reality. What I’ve learned about truth speaking is that in order for one’s truth to be received by another we must get out of the way! That is to say, our words must be free of any taint of ego. If others sense we are coming from an egoic place, even a little bit, they will likely shut down. This is where discernment can be our closest ally.
I suggested some questions for self-inquiry:
Am I attached to my point of view? Are you able to have an open discussion about the issues, and if your ideas are rejected, will you take it personally? Are you willing to cede and/or modify one of your positions if a convincing opposing argument is made?
Am I being self-righteous in my tone, however subtle? Are you consciously or unconsciously assuming a morally superior attitude?
Is there some part of me seeking validation? Do you need to be “right” because your sense of self-worth would be otherwise threatened?
Am I playing a savior? Do you feel like it’s up to you to save your friends and the planet from some certain demise?
When we are free of ego we come from a place of neutrality and naturally express our truth from a balanced place in the heart. This makes all the difference. Our passion about an issue remains in place, but there is no attachment to an outcome, and we maintain our inner peace whether our words are accepted or rejected. When we speak our truth from the heart our words will be infused with spiritual power and will create an opening in the energetic field between ourselves and the “other”, which invites receptivity. We trust that our words will be heard and received by those who are ready to hear and receive them. It is these souls with whom we can collaborate.
… and for those who are choosing to remain unconscious? We trust that we have planted a seed in their consciousness that has the potential to sprout and grow. Then, after a time, we may check in to see how our seedling is doing by opening up a new conversation, again, always holding to the non egoic place as the place of our true power. After all, it’s the human ego that got us into this predicament, and transmuting it through the open heart is our only way out. This is the realm of wisdom, intuition, inspiration, and even the miraculous. Nothing else will ever do.
As I write this, I can feel one of the The Hopi Elders tapping me on the shoulder, and I am reminded of their message to us from a few years back. With deep respect for their infinite wisdom, I give them the last word:
We Are the Ones
We’ve Been Waiting For
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
–The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation
In a discussion group the other day someone asked “Is there any one thing we can do on a daily basis, besides meditation, that will help us grow spiritually?” I felt into the question for a moment and the answer quickly floated into my awareness from my core: neutrality. “Yes. Practice neutrality,” I answered.
In truth, all wisdom, all inner knowing that we seek, emerges from our alignment with our spiritual core. And it is the practice of neutrality that takes us there. Neutrality naturally and effortlessly aligns our awareness/consciousness with a column of golden-white light that exists in our subtle body, or energy body. In Sanskrit it is called the shushumna, and it sits just in front of the physical spine and parallel to it, extending from head to toe and beyond – to the center of the galaxy above, as well as to the earth below. It is the gateway to higher consciousness and to the wisdom that exists outside of ego and our egoic limitations.
So it is through the practice of neutrality throughout our day, moment to moment, that silences the egoic mind with its desires and fears, its likes and dislikes, and allows our awareness to come to rest. Peace, balance, equanimity, trust, faith, and more are the states of being that we find there.
What does it mean to be neutral…practically? How do we do neutrality? As my teacher often says, to be neutral is to be neither attracted to or repulsed by anything. With our Observer as our viewing point we watch the inevitable dramas of life play out, noticing our reactivity, noticing if and how we are pushed and pulled by our thoughts and emotions. Can we hold the higher mind and simply watch what is unfolding without identifying with it? If emotion is present can we allow it to be there without being pulled into reactivity? This is neutrality and the doorway into the peace at our core in the shushumna. By resting here more and more our consciousness will ascend.
Awhile back I was on the phone and verbally assaulted by someone. I was belittled and shamed and essentially told (with many more hateful words!) that I was incompetent and worthless. When I reminded this person that their unhappiness came from the choices they have made in life and not from me, they hung up the phone! Throughout the call I was able to witness the barrage from the higher neutral mind and see that these accusations were projections coming for this person’s inner pain and disconnect. My immediate internal response was forgiveness. That said, my emotional body felt shattered, as you might guess, after such a violent assault. My reaction was to breath deeply to allow the charged energy to dissipate and to go for a brisk walk.
Do you see how I was able to remain neutral, even while my emotional body was activated? If my response had been to go into anger and blame and verbally retaliate in some way, I would have lost my neutral observer. I would have been identified with the story, and by taking a side or a position I would have created a relationship of polarity with “the other”. I would have been in egoic consciousness and had a personal issue to process and clear.
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So by making a commitment to neutrality, putting it into practice as best we can, and processing our shortcomings we strengthen our neutral observer overtime. We begin to spend more time in our core state and with the peace and balance that we find there. Our ascension in consciousness begins and grows from here.
Beyond our desires and fears, our anger and our pain a place of peace, equanimity and love awaits us at the level of the heart and beyond. In this full day seminar you will learn about the beauty and power of living from the heart chakra, or the spiritual heart, and how it serves as the doorway into expanded awareness and higher consciousness.
Our minds are polarized in nature creating the familiar teeter-totter of emotions that we experience daily. We may feel good one moment or on one day, then bad the next in an endless cycle of pleasure and pain. Over the course of our day together we will learn how to walk the “razors edge” between the ups and downs of life and begin to live from the still center of our being and from the love that naturally resides there. Our time together will include guided meditations to ground our new awarenesses.
Topics we will explore include:
the chakra energy system and the shushumna (the core light within)
the Human Imprint and the upward and downward spirals
the Neutral Witness and the path of the Middle Way
practical techniques for clearing the blocks that keep us from our hearts
The seminar will be held in San Francisco at a quiet Outer Richmond district location. Suggested donation: $75. Please bring a lunch. For questions or to reserve your space you may e-mail Gary at: garysnote@bluebottle.com
I had a phone call with someone recently who shared this:
“Staff meetings at work have been tense lately with management pitted against employees around just compensation. I always have something to say, especially when my buttons get pushed, but I feel no one listens to me and I feel dismissed – I’m afraid they see me as weak and ineffectual. Then, later, I feel frustrated because I realize I didn’t say what I really wanted to say. What’s going on here? How can I change people’s perception of me?”
Here is how I responded:
The real power of our words comes from a place of neutrality and our commitment to speaking absolute truth. From this place there is no agenda and no investment in making someone right or wrong, or good or bad. This kind of egoic positioning actually blocks access to our intuition and higher intelligence and to our highest expression.
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