After that Awakening Experience

Even after you've had those deep profound insights, those Awakening Experiences where you felt this is it, there's nowhere further to go. Even all that ends up being not enough. The job is not done or so it seems.

Or you may be one of those who think you only have an intellectual understanding; that your understanding is not deep enough.

That there's something more to it.

But the Insight here is very simple. It's not that you haven't understood it. It's just that you have to start living it.

The Understanding is simply this:

That you and I are not two.

That you are not separate from the Ultimate Reality. That this is all just an expression of the same Reality, which is non dual. Not two.

Indivisible. And always whole.

So, how is this to be lived out, when you're surrounded by what seem to be other people? Surrounded by activities, a variety of things to do, and goals to be attained.

And all this thinking, these ideas, pull you back to the same old, same old problems. If you're prone to depression, the depression comes back. If you're prone to anxiety, that's what you get back. The anger, the resentment, the shame, and the low self-esteem.

All those problems are still there even after you had that most perfect Insight.

This perfect Understanding that has been handed to you, that is supposed to cure the mind, why didn't it work?

There's this feeling of lacking something. But what you're lacking is not one final perfect experience or profound insight.

It's something very very simple. It is in fact maybe the first step, and all the rest were just setting the scene for you to take it.

You now have to learn to live these insights. To feel them. Live them truly.

And when the misery and gloom starts to set in, you have to be able to use these insights to pull you out of that pit.

So, how is this to be done?

Your understanding should already tell you that the root cause of all these problems are chains of thinking, and the moods they induce and the pits they dig you, and push you down. The thinking involves being something; taking some perspective, some identity that isn't really yours And deviating from that brilliant Insight that you have already had.

All the insights you have had, this Understanding you have, through this you already know that the root cause of all this misery is the false idea of a self. At the root of all this thinking is a mistaken identity which leads to these moods, and these nightmares, and all the problems; the mental problems, facing you in this life.

A kind of self that only ever appears in thinking, and imagination, and conversation.

This is not the Self.

This idea of self is the root cause of chains of thinking, and those thinkings can lead you down on all these dark paths. Mostly, the struggle begins when they result in some kind of mood; some kind of pain. That's when the reaction begins to try to quell the problem.

But you can't just stop the symptoms, you have to go to the cause.

And the immediate cause is too much thinking!

Now, you know you can't stop the thinking. If you could you would have, long ago. You would only think when it was necessary.

But that kind of direct control is not really available.

But even though you can't stop the thinking, you can definitely slow it down. Most definitely, you can slow it down.

Just like with the breath.

If you try to stop it completely, at some point the brain will overrule that directive. The body will breathe as long as it is alive. But you can slow down the breath. Simply through your awareness, you can go from that ragged shallow breathing onto a calm and controlled breath.

In the same way, you do have the power over that thinking. Put all those intellectual arguments on free will to the side for now.

Just try it!

You may not be able to stop the thinking.

As long as the brain is functioning normally, there will be thoughts. But you can slow it down.

And that's all it takes!

As the mind slows down, there is a an un-caring that comes with it.

Not uncaring as in cold and uncaring. But a dropping of all cares and concerns. If something needs to be done, it is still done calmly and gracefully. With the focus on the act rather than any outcome or consequence.

So, slow down the thinking. Just slow it down and settle into that unconcern. Settle into that un-caring.

And in that, where everyone says they will be apathy and lethargy, there you will find love.

The un-caring turns out to be loving. Loving without bounds. Just love of being.

This is the culmination of your insights and those Awakening experiences.

So, just slow down the mind. Just slow down the thinking. And feel the heart start to thaw.

You need not do anything.

It happens most naturally, because the loving is the natural state. All you need do is slow down the thinking. In the same way you slow down the breathing.

Don't try to do it with more thinking.

It's just a an awareness. A carefree loving awareness.

This most natural, affectionate awareness is the key.

So, just as you slow down your breathing slow down the thinking.

In fact, the state of the mind is reflected in the rhythm of the breathing, the tension of the muscles in the face and the body. So there is some good that can come from traditional meditation.

But this is not about establishing a practice. It is about not caring.

Not ever caring again for that old perspective that was found to be mistaken. In seeing clearly that in this un-caring nothing is lost except the concern, and the worries, and the anxiety, and the gloom, you should see that this is most natural and right.

The body does not perform its tasks any worse, it does them very well in fact. The mind does not get dull, it becomes steady.

And, in fact, as you settle into this unconcern and feel the love, the mind is immersed in an irresistible source of inspiration. And so, priorities might change of course. With love and inspiration the way this life is being lived may change. But it won't be for the worse.

Better to live true to your heart than to live out your days in this cloud of gloom.

So, just slow slow down your mind. Slow down the thinking. And feel the love.

Where does it come from?

It's not coming from the outside. Love always comes from the Heart. The very core of your being.

What are all these lost souls searching for then? What are we fighting over?

In all the objects of the world, not a single one contains happiness. In all the goals you set yourself, in all the achievements you attained, name one that is ever at hand to pull you out of those pits of gloom.

Happiness comes from within. So it is ever at hand for you to access.

Then what is all this restlessness for? What are you seeking externally for?

By now you should know, everything in life is overrated.

Everything!

Not a single thing has failed to disappoint you.

But is life itself overrated?

You won't know until you live for real.

So, slow down the mind. Slow down the thinking. Plant your feet in this timeless moment called Now.

And refuse to move.

Be unconcerned.

Who cares?

Who is it that cares?

Some neurons firing off inside the skull. What do they know about anything? Insentient little jelly beans!

Who cares?

None of this is your concern.

Who is it that wants to impose its will upon Reality? Who has these compulsions and aversions? Who wants any of this? Or doesn't want any of this?

At every misstep there is the acceptance of the false identity.

Question it. Deny it.

None of it is your concern.

Even those problems which seem not related to thinking, always are. If you go into sudden fits of rage, behind the rage are false concepts built through thinking. The seeds are laid beforehand. And as you slow down into to that unconcern; that un-caring, that peace and love, can rage take root?

And if your problem is these terrors that engulf the mind, sudden panic, again the seeds are laid through the wrong concepts.

Crush them.

But not by fighting. Just by slowing down.

Trust me, no matter how deep the pit the thinking digs up, no matter how dark the gloom, this is the way out. This is the exit door always held open for you.

Just slow down. Stop caring.

And turn that care inwards. Feel your own Heart. The core of the insights you already have. Feel that love.

And find that all love, all joy, all life itself, flows from this mysterious and miraculous Heart of yours. Feel that love fully. Let it engulf you and drown the thinking and the noise. It will wash away all stains or concepts of any identity.

Then nothing will be excluded from your love. This is a love that is all inclusive and unconditional.

So, just slow down the mind. Slow down the thinking and keep it that way.

If it starts again, that's all right. Just slow down again. Slow down the thinking.

You can definitely do that much.