Raven meeting room at Cold Mountain Institute
Reposted from 2011. Written with the prospect of Ascension being Dec. 21, 2012 and a whole world yet to awaken.
To my way of thinking, we may be out of time to “do” something about our unfinished business. We may have no time left for Zen retreats, enlightenment intensives, or human-development trainings.
We may have no time left to read and digest Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and Sri Ramana Maharshi.
We may have no time left to figure out how to be with a galactic or a spiritual hierarch.
What we need now is one foundational practice, one way to be with whatever comes our way, a way that’s easily remembered and that’ll meet all unpredictable circumstances we predictably might face.
I don’t know what you see when you look at that question. I know what I see.
The one foundational practice that I can see that sums up the teachings of a major bloc of psychologists, spiritual teachers, and galactics is: Be with the truth of the moment and observe what arises. I think of this as the awareness path.
- “Be with”: To abide as open awareness of, remain neutral to. Be with what?
- “The truth”: That which is so, accurate, actually and always existing. Of what?
- “Of the moment”: Of now, this actual instant, this portal to another world. And do what?
- “And observe”: See, notice, raise to conscious awareness without acting upon. What?
- “What arises”: What enters into one’s field of conscious awareness as a result of being with the truth of the moment, whatever that is.
Then begin again.
Archangel Michael is referring to this practice, I think, when he advises us to stand back and observe. (1)
This one practice is appropriate to being with one’s self in a quiet moment, to being with our friends and colleagues in social or work situations, and to being with spirits and galactics in unfamiliar settings and exchanges.
To be with the truth of the moment and observe what arises is to be fully present. One cannot exist in this state and have harmful intent. I simply notice harmful intent if a thought of it occurs and allow it to continue on its way, with no foothold or grip.
If a challenge to our conventions or attitudes arises from without, I be with that and see what emerges in me. We’re either being with or noticing, experiencing or observing.
Doing this practice is doing what the processing of unfinished business requires of us in any case.
Moreover we position ourselves to maximally move through our future fears, just as we have our past issues – solely relying on and resorting to awareness. Simple, bare awareness.
Someone will quickly say, “No, we must accomplish things by our own effort. We can’t just sit back and be passive.”
Being with and noticing what arises – awareness – is not passive. It’s action of the highest order: It’s dissolutive, transformative.
The transformative power of awareness was what Chuang Tzu was pointing at when he said: “You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves.” (2)
What we resist persists. But what we remain in simple awareness of passes … transforms itself into nothingness. Nothing sticks to the teflon of awareness.
- Being with and observing is the best means of taking in the greatest amount of novelty in a totally-novel situation.
- It causes the dropping of leftover grievances and the dissolving of future fears.
- It purifies the mind and brings it to stillness. Once we’ve stilled and purified the mind, we’ve done all we can. The rest is up to God.
No practice can carry us more than a part of the way. In my view, enlightenment is by grace alone: It remains the gift of God.
As Ramana Maharshi noted:
“Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it.” (3)
Bernadette Roberts says the same:
“At a certain point, when we have done all we can [to bring about an abiding union with the divine], the divine steps in and takes over.” (4)
Yes, I’m aware that these words were spoken to students with time for things like meditation, who’d reached the end of their best efforts.
But they apply equally well, with appropriate changes, to active lightworkers who’ve reached the end of a cycle, must soon navigate Ascension, and must help others to do the same.
The practice best suited to the end of disciplines and the end of times, in my opinion, is to be with the truth of the moment and observe what arises.
So that’s my take on a basic foundational practice.
I don’t think there’s any more time for processing. There’s only time now to be with and observe.
Footnotes
(1) Archangel Michael to Steve Beckow in a personal reading through Linda Dillon, Dec. 11, 2013.
(2) Chuang Tzu in Burton Watson, trans. The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1968, 122.
(3) Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Question 197. Downloaded from https://www.ramana-maharshi.org/books.htm, 31 August 2005.
(4) Bernadette Roberts, “The Path to No-Self” in Stephan Bodian, ed. Timeless Visions, Healing Voices. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1991.