Welcome to the
thirteenth
issue of Light-Up-Your-Life
Newsletter.
The aim of this newsletter is to guide you as you discover
the very source of Happiness and Wisdom. This source is
so deep that it is unaffected by the conditions of your
environment, your body, and mind.
In this issue we will explore how letting go of assumptions.
can open up a whole new world.
And don't forget to read the last article in this newsletter,
Why it's a happy Easter . What is dying and resurrection
really?
See our new e-book, "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive."
for a guide that will take you to the core of the universe.
In “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive” we take you, step by step,
through the process of putting aside limitations, and waking up
to your own true nature, so that you can stand in this Freedom
and Bliss without interruption.
So don't delay your happiness and freedom. Get to the core of
life itself and live in peace.
For more information use this link:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html
If you have questions or comments please send an e-mail to:
michael@light-up-your-life.com.
We look forward to your comments and questions.
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These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus
spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of
these sayings will not experience death."
(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking
until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled.
When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and
he will rule over the All."
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See,
the Kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky
will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,'
then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Kingdom
is inside of you, and it is outside of you.
(18) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end
will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the
beginning, that you look for the end? For where the
beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who
will take his place in the beginning; he will know the
end and will not experience death."
The Nag Hammadi Library
The Gospel of Thomas
Translated by Thomas O. Lambdin
© E.J. Brill Leiden, The Netherlands.
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These words that I write mean nothing unless you can
verify their meaning by your own direct experience. I
found in my own spiritual practice that the best way
to experience the truth of your own Self-Nature is to
find and let go of assumptions. So today I want to
clarify the meaning of letting go of assumptions.
While I was reading an interview with Robert Frager(1),
this article on eliminating assumptions came into
focus. Robet Frager started the Institute of
Transpersonal Psychology (ITP). Transpersonal is
a great name for freedom, because freedom comes
when you step out of the assumption that you are
limited to a body, an energy state, a
mind, or any of
the other elements that seem to make up a person.
You transcend the person.
Stepping out is not stepping out at all
And yet in the interview Frager talked about being in
the body, the heart, and the intellect. On the face
of it, this seems like a contradiction. How can you
transcend the person when you’re in the elements
that make up the person. If this is not a contradiction,
then maybe stepping out of the person is not stepping
out of the person at all. Rather it is seeing that even
now you are not limited to a person.
Here’s an example from my own experience. When
I met my spiritual teacher, I was very athletic. In high
school I played American football. After high school I
practiced martial Arts. In 1972 I started the practice of
Aikido, a martial art that emphasized the subtle energy
that comes from breath and ki (sometimes called
parana or chi).
Are you limited by a body
So eight years later, while I was sitting with my teacher
listening to a talk on Self-Knowledge I found myself
doing the Aikido wrist exercises, the same ones that I
did every day for eight years. When I saw what I was
doing I felt embarrassed. My face turned red and my
palms started to sweat. Luckily I put aside my
embarrassment and thought, “If I am not limited to a
body then even now, in the middle of these wrist
exercises, I must be free from the body.”
So putting aside my assumptions, I looked to see if I
was limited to a body. When I looked I found a freedom
and expansiveness that I never knew was there.
Without doing anything different with the body, I
looked afresh and saw what I really experienced.
Are you limited by your mind
The same is true of your mind. How many people think
that meditation is doing something with your mind.
For instance some people attempt to quiet it. Others
want to watch it. However, try this experiment. Put
aside your assumptions and take a direct look to see
what your mind is anyway. You say it is thoughts. What
color are these thoughts; what is their shape? Don’t
believe rumors about what your mind is. Take a look
for yourself.
Free yourself from your mind
If you try this meditation, you could wake up in an
instant. By waking up I mean see things as they really
are. You will also understand what the third patriarch
meant in this dialogue where the student asks:
“I am having trouble with my mind.”
The third patriarch said, “Then give me your mind and I
will cure it.”
Student, “But I can’t find my mind.”
Master, “Then I have cured it.”
You will also see directly, by your own experience, that
you don’t have to step outside your body and mind to
wake up. When apparently right inside the body and
mind, you aren’t limited to a body or mind.
Limitations are not your natural state
Stepping out of the limitations that you feel is not
stepping out at all. It is rather recognizing that
limitations are not the normal state of affairs for
you. By your nature you are free. From here you
can look afresh, without your normal assumptions,
and see if they really limit you. Do not replace the
assumptions that you take to be true with new ones.
All that you have to do is see what you actually
experience. You will then know how to eliminate
assumptions.
To find out more about finding this expansive freedom go to:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html
(1) To read the interview with Robert Frager in full go to:
http://www.ideodynamic.com/enneagram-monthly/EM_archiv.htm?2001/EM_0112_a1.htm~Article
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Since this is Easter time it is a perfect time to talk
about dying and being resurrected.
Then you will see why Easter is a happy holiday.
I have never seen anyone die and then on the third
day get up and walk away. If this is what Jesus meant
by dying and then being resurrected it would prove one
thing, that he was a great magician. While that would
be an impressive act, it wouldn't help us in the least.
Waking up is not a magic trick
In fact I am always amazed how people assume that
magic tricks are a signs of enlightenment. Why are
they pushing away
that which is so close? Are they
just overlooking it? Maybe they think that if it is
truly great and good it must be far away and hard
to obtain.
You are what you're looking for
But the signs of awakening are not by what you can do;
they are rather by what you are. Indeed the “good news”
is that you are what you're looking for -- that, “The
kingdom of heaven is within you.”
What did Jesus want to communicate
If your aim is to wake up to your original nature, the
important thing to ask is what did Jesus hope to
communicate by the image of dying and then being
resurrected? If you can see beyond the physical story
it becomes obvious that he was not saying, “See how
good I am, I can die and then be resurrected.”
Leaving this aside we can ask, “How can dying and
being resurrected help us to experience what he
experienced?”
Dying to your limitations
So what is dying? It is dying to your limitations, the
walls that seem to leave you unfulfilled and feeling
separate from the universe where you are intrinsically
one with everyone and everything. These are funny
walls because when you look, you discover that they
are really not there.
In the beginning you were free from limitations. Then
you fell asleep and in your dream you suffered. Now
it is time to wake up from this dream and return to
your original nature. You think you are limited by a
mind and a body. When limitations die, you are
resurrected. Here you find out who you always were.
Become what Jesus is
Abiding here you become what Jesus is always. To
understand this see that making assumptions of
limitation is like living in a dream. When the imagined
dream character dies, you wake up and see things as they
always were, free from the limitations and suffering that
the character seemed to experience.
You discover that your experience was not the experience
of a dream character. It was really the experience of the
one who is awake --
of Jesus. Experiencing this you see
the majestic heights that you can reach right in your
lifetime. Indeed this is what Jesus really wants for you.
Easter is the celebration of waking up
If you understand dying as letting go of limitations you
will see why Easter is a joyful holiday. It is a holiday that
celebrates waking up to the reality that underlies the
whole universe.
Let go of your assumed limitations and see what's really
here.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments
at: Michael@light-up-your-life.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Gluckman