Thought is not the enemy.

Thought is not the enemy. It is what we think that is the enemy. We are all conditioned with thoughts that are not our own, thoughts based on fear and past trauma. When thoughts are refined by the search for truth, peace happens, relaxation happens, a quiet mind without conflict happens. 

The ego remains but it is in the background, a tool to be used by Self as needed. David Hawkins says that you treat the ego like a friendly pet. It doesn't rule the house, and it is also not the enemy when it knows its place. 

Relaxation

What I have found is that if you seek truth, and if you are willing to work at it, and face the dark night, you will find relaxation happening as a result of clarity. As the truth is discovered, relaxation happens automatically. I have never had to work at relaxation. I have only searched for truth. Relaxation happened as a result. So did a quiet mind come on its own as truth was known.

Love vs Religion

Love is fluid. Religion is rigid. 

Karma

You have karma as long as you think you are the doer. When you realize you are not the doer, how in the hell could you have karma?

World Is A Projection

Everything is a projection in consciousness, granted. But, only those beings that have a metabolism have consciousness. Only those beings with metabolism are self conscious. The rest is the playing field. A soccer team cares who wins. The field does not.

A Peaceful Place

"I am" is the fundamental expression of awareness. It is not personal. To become personal there has to be an object. For example, "I am Joe. Or "I am sad". Or "I am male," or "I am female." 

Nisargadatta recommends that we contemplate that simple "I am" without any other object. This keeps it impersonal. The end result is that eventually one identifies with impersonal awareness. This identity shift removes one's personal identifications, which removes us from much suffering, and quiets the mind. 

So, if you are looking for a simple meditation that works. This is a method that anyone can use and do anywhere. The result is that one can say "things happen, I do not do them." The person remains. It goes to work, eats, sleeps, has good days and bad days, but the impersonal self remains the focal point, and that is a peaceful place. 

Ego Nothing?

Compared to the Absolute, the small self is a nothing. It's a construct. But, it is an emanation from source, and it is due some respect. I have found that it is only people with a strong ego that can confront the fact of its 'nothingness." Defensive people don't have enough ego to confront its limitations. Paradoxical, like all subtle realities.

Misery

With realization, the small self knows he always was, and always will be That. And that's when the misery ends. 

Existence Always

The only conclusion I can relate to is that a power has always existed. Existence implies awareness. Awareness of objects constitutes consciousness. Everything else in the universe is the creativity and exploration of the original power.

We Are The Hologram

Consciousness is everything that exists as a projection in awareness.

Presence is Fundamental

Just observe whatever you are experiencing and notice that whether it is thought, or irritation, or joy, it is being experienced in presence. You are that presence regardless of what you are thinking or feeling. The presence is always there, no matter how much the experience changes. Recognizing this, the only conclusion one comes to is that you are that presence. Nothing more to know.

Intent

"He who calls on me by whatever name, is mine, and dear to me." Same goes for whatever method one chooses. It's the intent that matters, not the method.

Ego Is Secondary

A healthy ego knows it is not the top dog, it's just a tool to navigate the relative world. An ego that acknowledges it's secondary status to the Self, God, the Absolute, is helpful, not harmful.

Relative World and Ignorance

If you are the Absolute and know it, then of course there is nothing to wake up from. But, the whole reason there is even a term "enlightenment" is because we live in ignorance of our true Self.

Any normal human being does have something to wake up from, assuming he realizes his ignorance. Dream or not, there is a relative world, and our human selves live in it. We can play the game in ignorance (nothing to wake up from), or we can get off our butt and try to get to the truth. 

We Need Our Intuition

We are so closed in with materialism that it isn't questioned. It makes us discount our intuition. Then we have to work and learn to the point where we can see what happened to our souls when materialism took over. We end up begging our intellect to give us a little permission to experience what is beyond the intellect. Tough nut to crack!

Intuition and Authority

I have always followed my intuition regarding authority. In spiritual matters, I have always sensed a teacher that resonates in my heart, whether I understood that teacher or not. Over 50 years of study I have found that my intuition was right on. I never put a teacher above my own mind and heart, but did in humility learn from those I found to have deeper understanding than I.

Things Are As They Are

If ultimately we are that One without a second, the idea of free will or not is moot. That One has no other so the concept of free will does not apply. Things are as they are.

All Is Love

Mystical experiences often result in a feeling of overwhelming love and unity. In day to day life we do not feel that all is love. Much of life is suffering and so the questions arises, "Where is the love?" From the Absolute perspective it seems implausible that it would not love all its creation, no matter how the experience is at the human level.

Intellectual Understanding

I have found that intellectual understanding is like a key that gives you permission to enter into the experience that the knowledge points to. As long as the mind does not accept the premise, it easily blocks access to experience.

Unlimited

Our conditioning limits choice which must then limit any free will. As we realize our conditioning and let it go as best we can, there is less limitation. If we make good choices, our freedom seems to increase. With bad choices, our options diminish.

Ultimately, when we realize we are That (Brahman), the question of free will is moot. That which is unlimited has no use for freedom as there are no limits.