Awakening to your true nature means that you realize the absolute truth about yourself—and it’s the end of suffering. You know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are not the limited, separate person who lacks, strives, needs, fears and defends. You realize with every cell of your being that you are the endless peace that includes everything. You know that your true nature is love itself.
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Mindfulness is no longer a practice or something you do twice a day. It’s what you are—effortlessly aware. And in this awareness, you’re wise and open-hearted, meeting everyone and everything with love and understanding. This magnificent truth is revealed in its own time, but don’t wait for the clouds to part so grace illuminates your true nature. Orient your whole life to living beyond your limited ideas of yourself and the world.
1. Consciously Be Aware
Living unconsciously leaves you spinning in programmed habits. You play out conditioning like a robot without knowing what you’re doing or why.
Take some time every day to simply, consciously be alive to your present moment experience.
• Sit quietly for 10 minutes or more of daily meditation where you rest as open space, doing nothing, allowing your experience to come and go;
• Take a breath when you realize an emotion is present and welcome the feeling in the space of aware presence.
• Stop once an hour and shift your attention away from the world and back to yourself so you’re alive to what’s present.
2. Expand Your Mind
When we’re stuck in our beliefs about ourselves and the world, we’re resisting the fullness of what life is offering us right now. What if you didn’t expect anyone to do anything? What if you forgot to believe that you’re fearful and unworthy? What if things are just fine as they are without your trying to control them? Every day, let any beliefs fall away and keep inviting your mind to open…open…open. Let it be clear like a cloudless sky. Consider the possibility that all this thinking is unnecessary.
3. Love Your Body
Many of us live in our minds, consumed by trying to figure everything out. And here’s what we’re missing. Whenever you’re feeling an emotion or you’re lost in an unconscious habit, you’re experiencing sensations in your body. While you’re worrying about getting everything done, there are places in your body that are tense and contracted. If you feel frustrated, your body may be agitated, heavy or pressured. Bring a vast field of awareness to these physical sensations and let them be present without telling a story about them. It’s the healing balm you’ve needed for so long.And isn’t it delicious to simply be peaceful with what is?
4. Forget What You Know
Every moment is so incredibly fresh! Forget what you know, and live in alignment with this freshness.
• Stand before someone who triggers you, forgetting any history together;
• Be in a familiar environment, seeing it as if for the first time;
• Taste, touch, see and hear things freshly;
• Wake up one morning and spend a few hours not knowing what you’ll do or say;
• Open to the possibility of experiencing awe and wonder in the simple things of ordinary life.
5. Notice Awakened States
Awakening is already who you are—whether you consciously know it or not. The simple act of noticing what’s already true aligns your mind, body and heart with the source of all, which is infinite awareness.
As you go through your day,
• Notice, and enjoy, when things go well;
• Recognize when you’re touched in the face of beauty, tenderness and love;
• Appreciate when creative ideas appear;
• Surrender your desires and dissatisfactions into life as it is actually unfolding.
Just like the true nature of a wave is ocean, your true reality is the limitless splendor of the universe. Remind yourself that nothing is personal to you—everything appears by grace. Then go out there fully alive in your humanity, free and receptive to what life offers you. What is your experience of awakening in the moment? What gets in the way? Please leave a comment, and we’ll talk about it!
