Heart letter 15 -  from the quest for Truth to the awareness of Truth

Namaste,

In the last heart letter I shared with you some principles about the difference between the mind and true intelligence. Now I would like to share with you a distinction between truth and the ‘quest’ for truth.

To many the quest for ‘Truth’ is intimately tied to the idea of all that is positive. You may feel that if you are moving closer to Truth that your life should be happier or more positive. However, Truth itself already IS
positive. It is the sum totality of positivity – not as polarsied (opposite to negative) – but rather as that which is complete and therefor contains no negative perception.

You cannot add anything to Truth, nor does it need to be created… it is simply to be rediscovered. And that is what we really mean when we talk about the quest for Truth.

The quest is the process of the individual returning their full awareness to that which already is. But, in terms of a process, this quest is not a ‘positive’ one. It is ‘negative’. It is not about adding something to your self – or making your self better with more Truth – or being more positive - because in your deepest essence you already are all that is True… all that is positive!

Rather it is about a process of undoing the behaviours or conditions that keep you blinded to this Truth. It is a deconstruction. That process inevitably highlights everything that feels negative. And, it is actually a negating
process. Everything that has been accumulated – that is false – is to be negated. Not with the mind – but with awareness.  The mind is incapable of this task because the mind is so directly related to the stories you hold on to.

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Heart letter 15 – from the quest for Truth to the awareness of Truth is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Heart letter – the responsibility of happiness

Hello Dear Ones,

Happiness is my motivation… and it is yours too.

I do what I do because I want to share happiness. I do so because I have true happiness in every moment. And I know that this happiness is within us all and at the heart of every person’s quest. The desire for happiness makes us all the same. And if you are to consider your motivations in every moment, if you look a little deeper than the surface, you will see that everything you are doing, everything you reach for, is driven by the hope that it will bring you a little more happiness.

Interestingly though, most people’s quest for happiness is dependent on external circumstances. We so often place the source of happiness on outer conditions – thinking that if everything around us can meet our needs it will make us happy. We even blame life and others for our unhappiness.

However the truth is, if you want to be happy in life, you have to take responsibility for yourself. Letting your self be defined by others or by life’s external circumstances will keep you feeling as if true (and lasting) happiness is out of your reach. In doing so you become a victim of circumstance. Letting your self be a victim is a sure path to unhappiness.

Victims believe things just happen to them, that nothing is their fault and that other people make them feel or do things. This only generates blame, resentment and envy.

Ultimately our life… and our happiness within life… is up to each  one of us ‘personally’.

Even Aristotle said “happiness depends on our selves”.

At the surface level happiness is a choice. It requires us to approach life consciously, to choose our responses and actions with self-responsibility. At the deepest level it is our true nature.

In the first instance, we must recognise that happiness – and the energy of happiness – comes from deep within our own being. It’s what gives us the energy and motivation to be kind, loving, gentle and giving.

You will notice that these energies all express a movement from our inner being to the outer world.

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heart letter no.14 – the responsibility of happiness is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Heart letter – a question of intelligence

Namaste,

Today I would like to remind you of a very simple truth… and a very simple power.

No matter what you are facing, no matter why you are facing it… you are only ever in the present moment.

Respond to each event, each moment as this, and you will find even the greatest challenges are really just small steps… steps that can only be taken…each one in the NOW.

To accompany this truth we have available to us the power of consciousness.

No matter what you are facing, no matter why you are facing it… you are always a presence of consciousness. Respond to each moment with present consciousness and you will find that even the greatest challenges are just a play of consciousness. It is up to you how you respond. If you are present and available as the consciousness that you are you will always know how to respond. You will not have to worry about the next moment or the last. You will realise that inherent within you is a conscious intelligence that knows the way…

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heart letter no.13 – a question of intelligence is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Heart letter – carpe diem – with awareness!

Namaste,
All too often people reach the end of their life only to look back at all the moments missed. Life is either empty from too much procrastination, or a burden from too many regretful acts.

John Keates said: Carpe diem – seize the day. This is a wonderful phrase uttered not often enough perhaps… or even grasped all too readily without any conscience.
It seems most people are stuck at either end of this dance; living a life that is either reckless or one that is sorely absent. Somewhere in between there is gold to be found.
In the centre of our life, in the living moment, is a renewable treasure, if only we can be present enough to grasp it.
The trick is to live as if you may die in the next hour yet learn to act as if you were going to live forever.
On the one hand we are to give our self fully to each moment, on the other, we must do so with great conscience – with the awareness that every thought and every action matters for the rest of our life… for eternity. There are implications, consequences, for every single thought and act. Each one will surely ripple through the living tapestry of the now to shape the fabric of the future.

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heart letter no.12 – carpe diem – with awareness is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Hello everyone,

Last letter I talked about different types of perception and the effect they have in our lives. In this letter I’d like to look a little more closely at some of those effects and how they can be useful. I mentioned that with positive perception we cultivate more temporal/conditional happiness and that with negative perception we cultivate more temporal/conditional suffering, whilst with clear perception we cultivate true, lasting happiness, peace and freedom.

I also mentioned that with more meditative awareness we access clear perception. However it’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean we will be altogether free of momentary negative feelings. What it does mean is that we can perhaps begin to understand the negative feelings and their purpose in our lives.

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heart letter no.11 – tools for growth is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Hello everyone,

Lately I have noticed more people having a dialogue about manifestation. The general principle being ‘how we think creates what we experience’. Interestingly  most of the focus is on ‘the what’ we experience.

But what if the experience we are having is not so much about the ‘what’ – but rather about HOW we experience the ‘what’? What if our real creative power is in being able to consciously respond to everything – the things we call good and the things we call bad ? What if our true joy isn’t in being able to somehow magically control the universe through our thinking so that we only experience the objects and circumstances we want? What if our true joy is in being able to master the way we respond to every circumstance irrespective of what it is?

Are we really going to experience a terrible world upheaval because we have all been focused on our fears? Or is the experience of world upheaval simply because it is one of the cycles of life? Did all of the Buddhist monks who focused and meditated on compassion somehow fail? Were the violent invasions by China the evidence that actually the monks were really focusing on violence? Or is it possible that the monks were simply part of a process and that they were able to still embody peace because they mastered the art of HOW they responded to the circumstance?

As humans we spend a lot of time trying to work out the right formula for perception in an effort to control our life direction. But what if life’s direction is already its own being? What if the grand master of illusion, our ego, has just conjured up another one: that we somehow have control over reality through our thoughts?

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heart letter no.10 – the power of response is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

I know I join many in expressing my compassion for all the people who are faced with recent extreme trauma and challenges. As we bear witness to a spate of natural and social disasters, it is natural, even for those not directly affected, to feel overwhelmed or shocked. The truth is we ARE all affected, because we are indeed all connected. We are ONE LIFE.

I know that we all share a deep desire to help in some way and to support those who are most in need at this time. And during these times of upheaval help is needed. There is the process of renewing – of re-constructing. People are responding all over the world – material help is being given and indeed is very needed and relevant.

Deeper than this, however, something is happening at an emotional level in the consciousness of humanity. There is great solidarity that awakens in the hearts of humankind during times of immense tragedy – and a process of reflection. Now, as we face an accelerating scale of disasters, it is essential we take the time to reflect. It is time to re-consider our priorities and to re-gauge what has true or lasting meaning in our lives.

At times such as this we are stripped of our usual sense of security and comfort, and we cannot ignore the stir of our inner feelings. There are questions to consider – soulful questions to reflect upon. The power of reflection may lead us to a greater change, beyond the surface level of fears and traumas.

Although we naturally seek to extend ourselves to others, to comfort or to reach out for help, it is our inner dimension that most beckons us during times of upheaval. If we gather our thoughts into quiet contemplation we may re-connect to the peace that is always here… the essence underlying every moment – even in the midst of disaster.

The essence of life itself commands its power in our life. It is this which calls us to look beyond the transitory events in order to find true understanding and more lasting meaning.

It is through this that we may acknowledge another dimension of help that is available to us – always

… the truth and power of silence

… the conscious presence that is forever here

… eternal awake awareness

… forever oneness

… forever peace.

This is the presence found in our silent meditative being.

Whether material order is regained or not, silence is here… peace is in our midst. It is here in each one of us. As we become more conscious of this presence within, we regain a state of calm, an equipoise, an awareness that sees, knows and feels that which is beyond our usual attachments to the material world. It naturally, powerfully, opens us to the constant flow of life, where we can know that, no matter how things appear on the surface, deep within, there is always freshness, newness and wholeness. There is a stillness – a power that always remains undisturbed.

In this stillness and silence we regain the vision of life’s true nature. We regain a state of acceptance and connectedness with life – as it is. And, as we do so we surrender. We attain a radical state of trust in our self as conscious being and in life as eternal presence. As we trust ever more deeply in the power of this conscious presence we see that we are always provided with all the help that is needed and with all that is always in truth – with the true nature of our self and existence.

Yet at large, the general population look on in bewilderment. Why? Because most of us are still caught in the illusion and attachment to form. We are still looking to our physical realm for all the answers: for success, fulfillment and happiness. Meanwhile, the universe and our world continue to be

… an infinite field of ever-changing energy

… a dance of cause and effect

… a constant process of creation and destruction.

Nothing in the world of form is permanent – only its essence is permanent.

So why is humanity always glued to the image of horror in tragedy? Why are we so afraid of upheaval when such events are a natural part of life’s constantly changing process? We are transfixed by tragedy because at an unconscious level we are trying to understand and come to terms with ‘death’… transformation.

What are we missing? It is the deeper perfection of life itself that we miss – the stillness, the essence that has nothing to do with the coming and goings of form. This brings us to the problem of depending on what ‘happens’ to make us happy. And, as we see, most of humanity is fixated with what happens at the material level.

As far as true joy is concerned, your football team winning, or you winning the lottery is completely irrelevant. Peace is the same – whether you have your house one day and not the next is irrelevant. True joy and deep peace cannot be achieved through dependency on transitory material events. Nor can they be manifested by an act of will, especially if that will is based on a goal or need from the external world of circumstance. That will lives in the same world in which rich men exploit poor people and hyper-consumerism destroys our natural environment.

True happiness and peace actually derive from an essence beyond form. It is consciousness itself which is always the supreme essence of who you are – complete, needing nothing more or nothing less, having no conditions. Simply being.

In times of great upheaval our deepest fears are always exposed, and the ego runs amok. Yet despite the scattered and divisive noise of the mind there is always a deeper thread of awareness. It is this thread that can be our greatest help in our darkest moments. Right in the midst of the mind’s fear, the darkness of the ego, is a ray of light – a deeper shining presence, an unconditioned awareness that itself is the light of all love, joy and peace.

Contrary to how it seems, this essence is not a tiny part of us – some tiny fragment hidden between the folds of our conditioned mind – it is the WHOLE of us. This essence is the totality of our self – our eternal, ever-present being, which is forever ONE. Essence is not a small thing, it is immense. It is immeasurable. It is our essence that can show us the way, that delivers the true help that we need, the answers we seek, the peace we yearn for, and the love we long to return to.

Using the mind to solve ‘problems’ can occasionally result in some insight as well as some improvement in our situation, and our ability to deal with life’s difficulties. However, it does not result in freedom from them – a transcendence whereby we are no longer tied to conditions to feel happy, secure, loved or at peace. This sort of change is really only temporary, because it is still associated with a conditioned identity that will continue to create problems and suffering in more subtle and creative ways.

What I am pointing to here is a greater power, a deeper solution that frees us from the whole conditioned identity. Whether we know it yet or not, this is what we are seeking. What we truly want is freedom from the condition that creates our suffering in the first place. When you use the mind or ego, it is like rearranging furniture in a prison cell in order to make it more comfortable. When you enter awareness – pure consciousness – you leave the prison cell altogether. In fact, you see that there never was a prison to start with! The prison was just a projection of the mind.

It is the liberating power of awareness that can offer the greatest help during these times of trauma or unease. Not only can it aid you at a ‘personal’ level to regain a sense of peace and trust in life, but it can be extended to others, enabling a greater solidarity and capacity for us to unite in the aftermath of tragedy.

As you awaken more to your own essence, you become a field of peace and love – you shine as this peace and love. You also become a presence of true compassion, capable of extending this deeper awareness into other people’s lives. You become the presence of a deeper vibration that affects the whole at the unseen level, but at a very real level – the level in which we truly are all ONE and in which true peace is known. This is the type of help that is all-reaching, unhindered by physical distance or limited conditions, connecting of all people in all places – the true harbinger of peace, wellbeing and happiness.

This article was first published in the Inner Self Magazine Issue No 25

WisdomHeart

Open to the living truth and power of compassion

Sat 17th & Sun 18th September.

Do you yearn to love yourself but wonder how to at the deepest level?

Do you yearn for peace and resolution in your relationships and in the world?

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A power beyond tragedy by Isira is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Namaste,

At the heart of everything I speak about and offer is the invitation to enter into deeper awareness: to become living awareness. The invitation beckons you to bring all that has been unconscious into the light of your conscious Self.

In essence this requires attention: to be present in the moment – to pay attention to the streams of thoughts and feelings that interrupt your ability to simply BE present. Without first developing this ability to ‘pay attention’ the streams of thoughts continue… projected onto the screen of life. Without paying attention you continue to mistakenly believe that this stream of thoughts is reality itself. As a consequence the true beauty, freedom and peace that is you, that is all, seem at a distance.

Paying attention requires good mental gymnastics. It requires consistent exercise – primarily the reminder to your self to keep paying attention!

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heart letter no.9 – the power of paying attention is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Greetings to you all,

Amid all the ongoing natural disasters and social and political chaos, it is interesting to observe an event that reflects humanity’s belief and hope in things more enchanting. I am referring of course to the Royal Wedding.

Curious, I decided to turn on the television – not a usual choice – to watch. What struck me was the shared sense of hope, anticipation, fascination and even obsession. It was a very real human affair yet, in this case, the common ritual of marriage was elevated to an exalted position.

As I watched I couldn’t help but feel a sense of irony… that perhaps most people are so enamoured by the whole event because it reflects their own deep hope and inner fantasy of the fairy tale union. I do not say this in any way to denigrate the royal family or the solemn act of commitment and faith in their union made by Prince William and The Duchess Katherine.

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heart letter no.8 – a more conscious love is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher

Namaste,

Having already explored the core symptoms of humanity’s disconnection from spirit, we can see that every condition we encounter is intertwined with every other condition. We can see that the cause of all suffering and fear is due to our perceived disconnection. We also recognise that in every instance, no matter what type of problem we are facing, there is one certain solution. That is regaining an awake or aware connection with our innermost being – our self that is pure consciousness… our eternal Self.

For aeons however, it has most often been considered that this Self is something beyond what we are… something other than the very living presence that is us. This Self has been seen as transcendent and therefore the elusive subject of debates and seeking. Yet, when we drop our concepts and projections, when we rest deep in our own centre, when we are simply open conscious presence, we know that there is nothing but beingness. And this beingness is our living self in this very moment. This beingness is here.

The entire universe is this field of beingness in this very moment as you read this, and in every moment. We are not separate from it. We, you, me, this body, this ‘individual’ human expression is an integral aspect of the all. Every molecule is oscillating in vibration with the entire universe.

There is no beyond, there is only here, the infinitely small, infinitely great and utterly demanding present.

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heart letter no.7 – microcosm macrocosm: creating a unified life is a post from: isira sananda spiritual teacher