Friday, July 8, 2016

No self, No suffering.


There is a lovely book called "The Lost Teachings of Wu Hsin", translated by Roy Melvyn.  Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"If you knew this
To be only a dream,
Would any of it
really matter?"

There seems to be a universal belief that suffering is prevalent on the planet.  We see it on the internet, we hear it on the news, and we hear accounts of it from people we know.  Then there is the experience we ourselves have that we label as suffering.  

Wouldn't you love to be done suffering?  
What if I told you that suffering is optional?

The only way to step out of suffering is to really see what is true... to see what/who you really are. Have you ever just got quiet enough to close your eyes and really look for yourself? Really look for 'yourself'.
Is there anyone there?
Or is there simply aware presence?

Through inquiry, you can find out the Truth.
You are not a "person".  
You are as vast as the sky!
Suffering dissolves when we observe life from the eyes of the vastness, rather than the eyes of a "person".


"From the point of view of
The person
Problems never cease.
From the point of view of
The Totality
Problems never arise.
Perfection is disturbed by
The arrival of judgement."

So how do we do this?
Simple. 
It's all about where you put your attention.  


When he focused on his smallness,
Chun San was filled with anxiety.
When he saw his vastness,
Anxiety was nowhere to be found.

Try it when you feel overwhelmed. 
You have the ability to step out of suffering... 
but no one can do it for you.






Sunday, April 3, 2016

Are you at peace with Death?



Bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef

With what is happening on the earth today...  wars, climate engineering, animals leaving in the sum of 200 species/day, ISIS, pollution, the military industrial complex... the climate is off the rails all over the globe.     I think it's time to realize that we don't have a lot of time left on the planet.  Mother Earth has cancer and it's terminal.  Our government is covering it up, as are most of the governments around the world. 

Can this runaway train of catastrophe be stopped?  Critical mass is the only way to make a change...  It will take everyone who is awake to this to wake up everyone else.  
And this is a very tall order because many people don't even want to face this enormous challenge. But the truth is that we are all cleaning up our little patch of sand while the tsunami is heading straight toward us!   

Here is the latest GeoEngineering Update... listen to it and please share with everyone you know: 




So now, for a moment, consider the worst that can happen... what if all of civilization collapses by 2020.  That is a very probable scenario...  would you be OK with that?  Can you look death straight in the eye and say... OK... I'm ready.  I'm happy with everything and I know who I am... nothing left to do here.  Think about it.

Let's do a little inquiry on this topic. There's only one way someone can be at peace.. and that is to know that what you are was never born and can never die.  You are the unborn Buddha mind, whole and complete with nothing to do.  When you know this without a doubt, then death loses it's threat and fear dissolves.   That is what I feel is the beauty of the nondual teachings that are so available to us today.  We are truly blessed to have access to this wisdom, especially considering that it used to be hidden.  Now it's all right there on You Tube!

So just inquire...   if you are pure awareness... can you die?
When Ramana's devotees gathered at his deathbed, one begged him, "please Master, don't leave us!".  And Ramana's reply was, "But where would I go?"




If you still have fear come up at the thought of death, then please do consider contacting me for an inquiry session.
Just go to my website, NewParadigmCounseling.net and fill out the contact form!  Inquiry is different than therapy in that it does not go on and on.  Once you know what's true for yourself, you are free!  3-5 inquiry sessions are all that's usually needed!  


Saturday, February 27, 2016

Can you just BE HAPPY?



I just love this quote. It is so common among humans to hold the belief that "I can only be happy when I find my 'soulmate'.  This concept is rampant and is usually not even questioned until the man or woman of our dreams dies, rejects us, or demonstrates some objectionable behaviors.
So...  let's really take a look at it.   

Say you find yourself without a mate.  You have only fond memories and the truth is "it's over". Before you go looking for someone else to 'complete' you, let's really inquire to see what's going on.   What is it that you are really looking for?
You just want to be happy right?  Can you just be happy right now in this moment?  Isn't it the belief that you need someone in order to be happy that is the lie?


You need someone to be happy. Is it true?
Who were you before you had that thought?
The Truth is... YOU = Happiness. But when we believe that we need someone to be happy, then suddenly we feel depressed, lacking, unhappy, you name it.  All those emotions just happened in response to believing that thought.

Now try on this turnaround:  "I don't need anyone to be happy." Isn't this more true?  Give yourself several examples of how this is true.  Prove it to yourself!  Because you can't fool you. You ARE the one you've been waiting for! 



Monday, June 29, 2015

YOU ARE what you are looking for!


All suffering is a result of mistaken identity.
From the time we are children, we are told "who we are".
Our parents, our peers, and society have given us labels, which are really not true.  These labels are simply words that point to us, but they are NOT us.  

Over time, we assume that we are our mind-body-organism, when in reality, we are the formless!  We are the magnificence that fills and pervades our form... and actually pervades everything.  When we identify with our form, we take everything personally!  All problems are personal.

So how do we go about discovering our true Self?
By doing self-inquiry...

Self-inquiry asks: "Who am I without my thoughts?
When you start to ask questions rather than assume you know all the answers, a whole new world can open up-  
a peaceful world beyond good and bad. 

If you would like to see inquiry in progress, you can watch this 58 minute movie with Byron Katie.  Watch the ease with which suffering can dissolve into nothing...

Just click the link:






Saturday, January 10, 2015

Transcending Low Frequencies



With all the current strife going on, it can be very tempting to just throw up ones arms and go to bed in depression.  And sometimes the only sensible thing to do is to stop and rest.
However, there IS something one can do to rise above the relative chaos. 

"The only way out is the way in."  You may have heard this before. This means that your suffering won't end by trying to change the circumstances around you.  The way to end suffering is to realize that the "sufferer" doesn't exist.  In other words, when you really inquire into "who" is suffering, there is no one there!  So what's going on?  The "suffering" is simply a sensation, a movement of energy, a feeling or a thought. But when you really dive into that suffering, what you discover is that everything is a movement of energy and it all comes and goes.  "This too shall pass."  Upon inquiring, the whole problem dissolves.  

One way to bring up your vibration quickly is to practice the following little exercise that Mooji recommends: 




When there is suffering, there is resistance to "what is". Instead of fighting what is,  just stop and move from the head back into the heart.  Then peace will return.  Try it. You CAN do it.  Suffering IS optional.


Even little squirrels do this.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Nothing is Personal


Many times circumstances happen in our lives and we think,
"Why is this happening to me?" OR 
"What did I do to deserve this?"

Well, the answer to both those questions is the same.
"YOU" didn't do anything; and 'It' is not happening to "YOU"!
Why??  Because there isn't a YOU 
for anything to happen TO!

When something happens that we don't like, we tend to fall into the assumption that we are a person with a body.
It is our identification with being a person that is the problem...  not the thing that is happening!
 Question this assumption!
Are you looking from your self image? OR are you looking from your true Self?

Listen as Mooji discusses this great delusion: 



"When this 'I' is not there, 
everything is fine!"
~Mooji


Self-inquiry is the fastest way to freedom from suffering!
If you are tired of suffering, then please consider trying 
a session of Inquiry...
visit my website: 





Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Keep Quiet

Mr.Nut demonstrating the practice of keeping silent.


I just returned from an exquisite silent retreat with Sri Mooji in Portugal.  The atmosphere was sublime, the guided meditations were life-altering and to sit in the Presence of my beloved Moojiji was heavenly!

It's amazing what a week of silence will do for your being!
Resting in awareness is so satisfying and nurtures you to your core!  And Mr.Nut has been doing this for years! Such a wise squirrel!  
Here is a lovely video of Mooji talking about keeping quiet.   Enjoy!





"Life is so much wiser and kinder
than your mind imagines.
Trust and be still."

~Mooji



Om Sri Mooji Baba Ki Jai! 






Sunday, November 3, 2013

Leave Everything Alone


"The advice is to leave everything alone.
Don't even try to figure anything out
and it will figure itself out.

Just 'close shop'; close up business in a way.
Bring everything into that space
and rest in that neutrality."
                                                   ~Mooji




Here in the West, we seem to always be busy "doing". We get caught up in doing things to feel better, to get healthier, to make money, to learn things, and on and on.   

All this is fine, but everything that we can achieve will pass away. Everything we can create will disappear in time. 
Only awareness remains unchanged.  

But how does one realize perfect peace… bliss… enlightenment? How does one become established in what is unchanging? How do we realize our true identity?

In a recent satsang in St.Petersberg, 
Mooji gave the answer to this question….


Awareness remains unchanged.  
That is truth.
That is God.
That is the timeless.
That is WHO we are.
Wearing the garment of time;
for this season, called a lifetime…
it has always been like this.
Don't be afraid!
WHO you are can never perish!

While there is time… find the timeless!
While the body is warm… recognize the eternal.
You don't have to leave this room…
you don't have to go anywhere. 
"IT" will not be "there".
"IT" is here in the core of your being.
"IT" hears these words.
The angels of your being dance with joy
to see your mind set free from delusion.
WHO resists this?
For whom is there doubt?
Introduce the doubter!

How to do this?
It's not a "doing"…
It's a recognizing.
Stay as awareness;
It's already here!



Om Shanti Shanti Om
















Sunday, June 16, 2013

Shifting Reality

Muffin just resting in the Presence

The only way suffering is possible is if we are resisting
what is happening in the moment.  So simple.
The good news is that the end of suffering is within our grasp!  All it requires is for us to just "allow" what is.  That's easier said than done, only because we have so much practice at resisting everything!  Thousands of years of practice!


That's why I so much appreciate my squirrels.  They are the best teachers of just resting in the way it is. They never try to be something they're not. They are always reliably themselves and therefore content. What's their secret?

The thing about little squirrels is this...  their mind is free and without concern.  They do not experience themselves as separate from their world. They go with the flow. And they don't dwell in the past or worry about the future.  They are totally present in the now! 



So the next time you are stressed out,  
here's something you can play with:

1. Stop and take a deep breath. 
2. Ask yourself what point of view is causing your suffering.
3. Take that point of view and put it on the shelf for now.
4. Take another breath and stop thinking.
5. Look around you and find one thing you are thankful for.
Good Job!...
Now here's where you get to stretch your imagination:
6. Take the point of view that stressed you out and see if you can find one thing that's good about it.  

Now the mind is going to fight you on this... it wants to keep seeing what's wrong with the situation. The truth is that what's wrong with the situation is just one point of view. The mind would rather be right than happy. So just for fun, let yourself explore the opposite point of view. 
Be like a child and use your imagination.  
If you can think a thought and it can stress you out, 
you can certainly think the opposite thought and let yourself relax and feel good.  And if you were a little squirrel, you wouldn't bother to think at all. You'd be too busy playing.



 Remember, suffering is NOT in the fact, but rather, in the perception of the fact.  Just notice.  When you change your point of view...  your reality shifts!  

from Nisgaradatta's  I Am That:

"The mind is what it thinks.  To make it true, think true."

"The Absolute is the birthplace of perceiving. It makes perception possible.  But too much analysis leads you nowhere. There is in you the core of being which is beyond analysis, beyond the mind. You can know it in action only.  Express it in daily life and its light will grow ever brighter.
The legitimate function of the mind is to tell you what is not.  But if you want positive knowledge,
 you must go beyond the mind."

Q. In all the universe is there one single thing of value?
A. Yes, the power of love.


 A wise little squirrel recommended this book.




Friday, February 22, 2013

It Takes Courage to Wake Up!

Do we have the courage to see all that we have created as a result of our trying to save time, gratify our senses or make more money?  Some people use one of the quotes from the bible...


And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and 
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that 
creepeth upon the earth. Gen. 1:26

and misinterpret the word 'dominion' to mean 'destroy at whim'. However, they forget all about the 6th commandment,  


         Thou shalt not kill.   Exo. 20:13


    "Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given.  But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer.  Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, and the climate's ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day."
                                              ~Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Can our mistakes be rectified? And where do we start?  Take a look at this amazing film about the devastating truth about what the ubiquitous use of plastic has done to Mother Earth....




Why is it so easy to close our eyes to the cruelty we inflict on our animal brothers and sisters? Hunting is no longer something done in order to survive... it is being done for "fun"... and is considered by the heartless, to be a "sport".  A human being's true essence is the natural state of a compassionate heart. To be separate from this birthright is a deplorable condition.  We were all created in the likeness of the Divine, but that doesn't mean that we still uphold that image!  If we truly acted from that likeness, our earth would still be the paradise it once was. 



That is why Awakening is so essential to the survival of Mother Earth and her creatures.  It really does take a flowering of the heart so that we no longer experience being "separate" from all the creatures. 
Many grassroots groups all over the planet are working hard to awaken the masses... one heart at a time.  The Oneness University in southern India,  the School for the Work of Byron Katie, and the Great Freedom teachings of Candice O'Denver are three very powerful groups that are working 'round the clock to wake up the "sleeping ones". 

And once awakened, there still is the task ahead... to rescue and rehabilitate our Mother Earth and all her children. 

      "Before enlightenment: "Chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: Chop wood, carry water."


Music is definitely another major tool for global awakening as demonstrated with Playing For Change's "ONE LOVE" ~ 





Perhaps the music of the awakened ones will help move the planet in the right direction... Just listen to Matt Phillips as he sings his amazing song, "Little Frog":