Reflections

To say, “be detached” is meaningless

2026-11-09T02:57:59.801-08:00

The 17th century philosopher Spinoza had the amazing insight that every emotion is directly linked to an idea behind it, which often manifests itself as a mental image.

To say, be detached, is meaningless as we would simply repress an emotion that longs to express itself, but to inquire into the idea or mental image behind it works wonders to look through the idea we have about the world, or mostly, about ourselves.

When we inquire into the nature of our beliefs and self identity we often find a memory that shaped us. Reliving this memory, getting our arms around it, understanding it and eventually, letting go of it, dismantles our self-image.

Would you choose love and happiness or emotional highs and lows?

2026-11-08T04:27:21.861-08:00

It’s being or having.

It’s “I am that I am” or a world of pleasure and pain.

It’s love and happiness versus emotional highs and lows.

No matter how much “you” try, there will always be a feeling of discontentment: A lost love, a body ailment, a compulsion, financial or relationship struggles, etc. The purpose of the current state of incompleteness and discontent is to show “you” to look for something new. What are the self-imposed interferences which keep you from the state of silence and love?

How to get access to the manifesting state of the Field of Infinite Possibilities? “You” can’t, yet, what “you” aspire to get is already present. Success is guaranteed! What irony it would be if Awakening is not followed by Wakefulness. Yet, don’t rest in the presence of inner conflicts and discontentment. Authenticity and sincerity guides “you” on the self inquiry path.

Psychological mind separates us from the unmanifested

2026-11-07T04:22:57.767-08:00

What are we? We come to an understanding of what we are by realizing that we are manifestation. The start for everything in the world is energy. That we cannot dispute. We are manifested energy. Where do we come from? We came from the unmanifested.

A simple little example, take H20. Its energy on the molecular level. When it is water vapor which is there right now in the air and we are breathing it in, we do not appreciate it with our five senses. The moment we extract it from the air as liquid, which is water, or as solid—ice—it becomes manifested to us.

The unmanifested is there all the time and it is constant. It’s there, we cannot dispute it. When it becomes manifested, it automatically undergoes certain rules of the Play of Leela in the manifested world.

The question that comes up is, what separates the manifested world from the unmanifested? That is what all the great masters have been teaching us, and that is what we can experience for ourselves and learn through observation of the psychological mind. Psychological mind is what separates us from each other, and that is what we cling to. For example if someone praises us. We also cling to the unpleasant. Let’s say someone hurts us and it influences how we live our life based on this memory. With psychological mind we get stuck in the manifestation. It becomes hardened. It becomes concrete.

What unites us? That’s when we drop into a state of no-mind. Psychological mind separates us, no-mind unites us, and that’s why the masters all talk about dropping into silence.

By Vinod Mittal

Let’s bow to the masters. They spend most of their lives in the unmanifested and let the Play of Leela simply flow through them, but let’s not sell ourselves short either. Everyone has the antenna to connect to what lies beyond the psychological mind. It is just that we tend to get triggered into the manifested more than we like to admit.

What separates modern man from the spiritual traveler is the appreciation for the flow of life. Modern man has his eyes set on accomplishment. The spiritual travelers try to detach from this carrot which is dangling in front of the unconscious donkey.

Manifest by riding the energies of the Play of Consciousness, or be manifested. That’s the choice we have once we manage to look through the limited workings of conditioned mind. Sometimes it’s a powerful external vibration that connects us to what lies beyond, sometimes it’s a special person, a mission, a special place or event that connects us. The spiritual work we can do is to inquire into the psychological mind and once we wrap our arms around the interferences, learn to let go of them.

The problem with the silent witness

2026-11-06T05:14:19.477-08:00

There is something very powerful about Ramana Maharshi’s self inquiry method. The subject is always in question. In being there is no subject and no object. Oneness reigns and higher energies are calling the shots. There is no one around to think and act.

Have you observed that in true listening there is no listener, just listening? Or take sex, have you observed that when both partners really meet there is only love and both parties disappear in the act? In Oneness there is no subject to speak of, just being.

When spiritual teachers say, “you are the one listening to your thoughts,” they empower the spiritual entity who feels in control to separate the wheat from the chaff as the Old Testament would say. The silent witness may strengthen the individual!

In Ramana Maharshi’s self inquiry we start asking questions when a doer or a thinker appears. The aim of these exercises is not to receive an answer, their aim is to dissolve the questioner until Oneness reigns.

#ramanamaharshi #selfinquiry #awakening #spirituality

Spiritual Work

2026-11-05T03:52:59.646-08:00

I am in the process of dropping a few pounds so besides exercising more I also watch my calories and sugar intake. My wife has a (near) zero sugar diet for medical reasons so I always get her the unsweetened almond milk. I thought I had picked up 3 containers from the grocery store but one turned out to be the regular almond milk, so I use it for my coffee instead. Immediately I felt the difference and don’t like it at all, but I also conjecture that if I made this almond milk my daily coffee additive, there would be a day when it feels normal.

Isn’t that how our mind drowns out Original Mind? Like a frog in the water on the stove the conditioning takes over and we cannot perceive its presence. Unless, that is, we remove the triggers and existing pain bodies so carefully that we become sensitive to the interference. Isn’t our spiritual work just like minding a diet conducive to Original Mind? Clean up the interference to the best of “your” ability and mind the self involvement when the stain proves stubbornly persistent. That’s the spiritual work in a nutshell.

Spiritual diet

2026-11-04T03:52:05.668-08:00

I have tried losing weight for a few years. It was always the same pattern. The first ten pounds happen quickly with the New Year’s Resolution, but the second ten pounds never happen, and then with the good food over Thanksgiving and Christmas, the old weight is right back. This year was different though. I didn’t like it when in a recent check-up the doctor said my blood pressure is too high, and I also have to fit into an old tuxedo for a function, so I decided to stop eating carbs and go to the gym a second time in a day for cardio exercises. Surprise, surprise, the pounds are dropping as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

The root cause of the refusal to lose the pounds was simple enough, a belief that I can carry the weight, a love for carbs and a dislike of running. The visit to the dr office was the incentive to finally do something about the weight, and that’s a no to carbs and yes to running. Let me use this analogy to discuss going on a spiritual diet. Why would we stand up to the ego when deep down inside it is literally the belief that we are that bunch of psychological programs telling us we like pleasure and we hate pain (as defined by the ego). The masters tell us to question this notion of pleasure and pain, but can we actually?

Observe the agenda at work when you do something or meet someone. Notice the attachments you have and question the desire to escape from your responsibilities. This is not a stoic philosophy of sorts not to enjoy life, it’s an ask to check the self-generated vibrations and contrast them with the universal energies that are always at our disposal. Along the Way there is no agenda, only following the flow of life, and there are no attachments and aversions either. The energies of the Way speak for themselves. But why should we question what we like and dislike? What makes us question this bio-robot?

Changing the belief that we are perfect is the hardest step in embarking on a spiritual diet. In the weight loss example the resistance was the belief that I can carry the weight of 230 pounds with a height of 6’1. Likewise, the ego always adjusts its belief system with the changing realities. With Awakening comes the understanding that again we are perfect as is, just like we were perfect when we were running after name, fame, relationships, or whatever else it was that was meaningful to us. That’s why most of us spiritual travelers are halfway there—mastering the higher energies in some areas while being as human as they come in others.

What can change this core belief that we are already perfect as is? What makes us sit through the pain of the past when it presents itself without running away from it? And what makes us question the attachments when they interfere with the flow of life? You tell us. There are no general answers, no religion and no guru that can help us with this one. The answer has to come from the depth of our being.

The observer is the observed!

2026-11-03T03:46:37.747-08:00

“You are the one who watches your conditioning!” Ah, how can it be that we listen to the masters—Mooji, Eckhart Tolle, Rupert Spira, etc.—and nod enthusiastically because their message sounds so simple and straightforward, but a year later we are back to their seminars to get a refresher course. Why?

“The observer is the observed,” is the powerful teaching J. Krishnamurti left us, which is corroborated by quantum mechanics as well. If you hear, “that’s not a loving thought” in your head, the listener—and judge—is part of the same conditioning that caused the thinking process in the first place. What to do?

Who am I? I am the one who sees the impossibility of getting our arms around conditioning. That’s when the Light comes in. Be still for a moment and feel the energy powering through your heart. Sense the inner and outer energies and stay with them until they start aligning. Outer and inner are One.

#jkrishnamurti #spirituality #awakening

Clean up, everybody everywhere!

2026-11-02T05:38:58.897-08:00

Clean up, clean up,

everybody, everywhere,

Clean up, clean up,

everybody, do your share!

This was a nursery rhyme the boys learnt at pre-school. I was reminded of it when I came across Rachna Thakur’s:

“One should be conscious of external and internal dirt. As one keeps the body clean, so should be the mind. Free from selfish desires and clinging attachments. Pure and sublime thought entering the intellect; a personality spotless from the stain of vasanas (impressions of the mind/conditioning).”

Only one piece of advice here given that humanity has aimed for ethics and spiritual purity for ages without getting very far—the “should” and “could” originating from the mind need to be inquired into. Let the heart-center call the shots. The messiness of the environment we are in, as well as our inner conflicted attitude, have been given to us to discover the Truth of the moment. The cleaning process not only makes the world a little better; the cleaning erases the thinker and doer.

Warm around the heart

2026-11-01T06:31:47.089-08:00

“Thoughts come and go.

The ‘I’ that claims them is the problem.”

Ramana Maharshi

There is a heart-centered energy flow at work. Activating it while looking through the mind-centered energy flow is what spiritual living is all about. When we are fully present the mind becomes still while the heart-centered energy flow is fully operational and the outer vibrations align with the inner.. The Germans describe the heart-centered energy as “warm uns Herz”—warm around the heart. We are present when jnana (wisdom) and bhakti (love) yoga meet. S-E-L-F, that is,

S (tillness) of our mind;

E (nergy) reaches crown;

L (ove) prevails, and the

F (low) of life is uninterrupted.

reigns.

It’s allright to be in-between occasionally, but we can seek the people, environments and activities that warm our heart just as we can turn away from those that are mind-centered and not heart-centered. We are humanity so the lower vibration energies will continue to be present to help us learn transcending them. Meanwhile, we can always remind ourselves that the thought-feeling energies, while present, do not own nor define us.

In Awareness every moment is fresh

2026-10-31T04:00:50.326-07:00

Questioner: When a spectator who is watching a play is completely absorbed in the play, is that the state of total attention?

J. Krishnamurti: You are watching a play, and the play is so interesting that you are completely absorbed. There is no `you' for the moment, because the play has absorbed you, with all your worries, anxieties, fears. Now, what is the difference between your absorption, and that of a child who is absorbed by an amusing toy? The child may have been naughty, mischievous, doing all kinds of restless things, but give that child a toy which is very interesting, and he is completely absorbed in it. The toy is so interesting that he forgets all about his restlessness. What is the difference between the two? A play, a book, a church service, an idea, a belief, a piece of music, a picture, or what you will, absorbs you, and you forget yourself. So what has become important is the picture, the toy, and not the understanding of yourself. You may be absorbed for an hour by the play, but when you go back to your home you have your old self again. So if one is absorbed by anything, by propaganda, by nationalistic demands, or if one identifies oneself with something, which is another form of absorption, in that state there is no learning; therefore there is no freedom, and hence no virtue. A mind that is absorbed by a toy, however gracious, however beautiful, however supposedly important, is obviously escaping from itself. Such a mind is always in disorder, and its actions produce further disorder, further confusion in the world.

Question and Answers with J. Krishnamurti

In Awareness every moment is new and fresh. Be self-aware if there is any attachment to the moment at hand or if there is escape. Inquire into who is attached and who is escaping. That’s meditation, or mindfulness, in a nutshell.

Be one with the obstacle and Awareness shines through

2026-10-30T06:05:22.169-07:00

You hear that often from the masters, turn your mind inwards and let your heart shine instead. Easier said than done!

I have been a spiritual seeker—on and off—for most of my life. The most intense period was in graduate school, following an amazing church experience just after I graduated in economics in Germany and was headed for a PhD in the US. While advancing my studies in economics in Providence, RI, I stumbled on the Bhagavad Gita, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna and J. Krishnamurti in the library, and did not rest until I had convinced myself that the power of Christ was real and has manifested again and again. Then came work, my family and I lost touch with spirituality until I reached my early 40s when a spontaneous kundalini Awakening experience found me. It was a magical time and I wrote a couple of books in my free time as I wanted to share the magic of the Way.

The stagnation really happened when I tried practicing spirituality full time. Getting my arms around non-duality, Ramana Maharshi’s self inquiry and Nisargadatta Maharaj’s “I Am” way of living was harder than expected. Even though this had been a fact of life since Awakening started, I suddenly realized that I had one foot in the real world and the other in the magical world of Oneness. I was halfway there so to speak. What to do? I experienced stuck energy until I realized that spiritual searching and the desire to teach was the obstacle. It was the mind trying to keep itself in business wrapped up in spiritual clothes. So what do you do when you find that the quest and the teaching is the obstacle? Do you stop and throw in the towel? It’s actually quite simple. Awareness is, moment by moment—a restless mind, stuck energy, a frozen heart or a perceived obstacle imply that we have gone for a walk while God is at Home. Be one with the obstacle and Awareness shines through.

#awakening #spirituality #mind #quest

Inquire into the good, the bad and the ugly

2026-10-29T03:18:27.586-07:00

Someone in the Buddhist community shared a story of Ajan Chah where a monk had a run-in with another monk and felt agitated, but his day turned around when Ajan Chah greeted him with a big smile. Later that evening monks meditated together and he was singled out to meditate with the master exclusively and he reached the deepest depth being next to the master. Suddenly Ajan Chah kicked him in the chest and he fell to the ground confused.

A total embrace of the moment at hand is all that we can do consciously along a spiritual quest. Aware of being angry at the colleague monk, aware of being happy when the master smiles at us, etc. The opportunity is always to bring it back to ourselves:

We fight with the colleague—what inner pain body is triggered here?

The master smiles at us—Awareness is within, not with the master.

Happiness with the deep meditation result—perhaps I enjoy exclusivity.

Kick in the chest—thank you for making me aware that I am unaware!

The power of now is always here and now, in the holy, the good, the bad and the ugly. “I Am” remains a concept when we are owned by our mind, but the moment is always happy to demonstrate our mind interference because it is the mind that generates the perceived moment. The mind would title this post “go to by going through,” but that’s the interference, you see? We focus on the here and now with the intent to reach the “I Am” state. Inquire without having any expectations and Awareness shines through.

Be one with the holy, the good and the ugly!

2026-10-28T05:00:58.123-07:00

During the European crisis an Italian banker remarked, “Everyone told me, ‘don’t panic, don’t panic!’ Well, I should have panicked!”

We all have experienced the magic when life confronts us with obstacles and we go within and connect with that magnificent Presence that restores pure being instantaneously. Keeping the lesson of the Italian banker in mind though, when we face life and the discontentment and restlessness linger or even intensify, be one with it and see what happens. Be One in the holy, the good, the bad and the ugly. That’s what Oneness is all about.

Freedom can be sensed, known, felt and seen

2026-10-27T05:05:33.875-07:00

If you meditate every day

you notice the mental noise pollution.

When you work with a spiritual master

you taste the power of her vibrations.

Every bit of conscious spiritual work

—unless an escape to look within—

fans the urge to be free of conditioning.

Freedom is known, sensed, felt, seen

moment by moment by facing life

and by keeping an open mind and heart.

The step is the Way!

2026-10-26T04:49:17.770-07:00

The first best world is the power of now—

pure being without any self interference.

The second best world is life itself—

knowing that conditioned self is in the Way,

the Field of Infinite Potential manifests a path

that helps us to awaken to our conditioning.

“The step is the Way,” describes the power of now.

“Life sets you free,” describes our life story.

The power of now calls out moment by moment, but

even if we occasionally sleep walk, a higher intelligence

helps us get the self out of the Way!

#spirituality #awakening #powerofnow

Life wakes “you” up!

2026-10-25T06:08:51.635-07:00

The “world” by its nature is the separateness of species. It will never function smoothly. Any fruit except for the Self is futile. Please think this over deeply.

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Many of us are on a conscious spiritual quest where we aim to inquire into the nature of being; methods differ—meditation, mindfulness, yoga, religion, self inquiry, work with a guru, non-dual reflections, etc. The quest is noble and even necessary since effortless being requires a little self restraint in order to get our arms around the conditioning we have been burdened with for ages. Still, those who aspire do not have, otherwise they wouldn’t aspire to be somewhere else but being here and now!

There is one trusted method to live the power of now and that is to welcome the here and now with open arms, the holy, the good, the bad and the ugly. Pleasure and pain is the residual in this approach—as the saying goes, pain is unavoidable but suffering is. It’s not about facing life’s ups and downs as a stoic; that would be another identity we would proudly cling to; it’s about seeing life’s ups and down as they are, not as we wish them or fear them to be.

Let’s say boredom descends, or anxiety rises. Let’s watch it just like holding a gem in our hand. We feel guilty because once again we missed our mindfulness practice— let’s look at this too! Every move when the thought-feeling energy attempts to form a center that defines us is watched. Some moves we catch, other moves we only realize hours or days later—it’s ok. It’s all part of spiritual practice.

Life is very helpful that way. When we deliberately or carelessly overlook something, life will be happy to tell us about it. All that is necessary is to look, to sense, to feel and to be.

Either way, the Way has its way

2026-10-24T07:46:00.651-07:00

What is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

A Course in Miracles

I had a satori moment once when I was that screen that displayed life as is. There was no conscious and subconscious to speak of—no self identity other than the notion “I exist”—just viewing, manifesting and Oneness.

Every thought, feeling and occurrence that is not in alignment with “being, consciousness, bliss” is tainted, but identification is key here. In a second best world the thought-feeling energy that rises, lingers for a short moment and then fades can be compared to the passing cloud that never really interferes with the blue sky. Only the thought-feeling energy that we identify with—consciously or subconsciously—is the rain cloud that renders the blue sky scenario meaningless. It has to be faced, investigated, understood and let go of in order to allow the brilliant blue sky on the next morning.

The All-Encompassing has been guiding us on the path for eons. In the famous yin and yang symbol we might consider the white area surrounding the black dot as the satori moment; the black dot in the white area as the passing interference we have outgrown; the white spot in the dark area as the interference we recognize as such but still the ongoing attachment or aversion invites us to inquire further, while the black area outside the white dot denotes the conditioned self engagement we are not even aware of.

We are this creative Force that sends us on this self-dissolution quest in time. In the words of the Tao Te Ching (Chapter 29 in the Steven Mitchell translation) it reads: “The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them. She lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle". Let’s enjoy the mystery in the blue sky days as they present themselves and engage with and inquire into the manifestation that we are part of as best as possible on the rainy days. Either way, the Way has its way. The power of now has it that we can always enjoy the spectacle from the center of the circle.

#awakening #spirituality #taoteching #yinyang

Observe the wish for making right

2026-10-23T04:44:56.236-07:00

My wife and I were on our way to Heathrow airport. We had left plenty of time as due to the transport strike we knew that traffic would be slow. Still, getting out of the city was agonizingly slow. I felt irritation rising in my wife, and I started to get worried if we would make our flight in these traffic conditions. Suddenly I remembered a game I used to play in Paris in the early days of Awakening. I was fascinated with the Law of Attraction then and literally “vibed” my way through traffic when the schedule got tight. While I no longer practice the Law of Attraction as I have come to realize that it is not worth my while to consciously ask for anything, I still realized that I was tense and wasn’t helping the situation, so I managed to become aware of my inner tightness and dissolved it. The result was amazing. My wife fell asleep in the car. The Ueber driver cut more assertively through traffic and the lights started to favor us more often than before. We made it in time to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

There is an important spiritual message in that occurrence. The conscious act in the Awakening journey is the wish to stop the self inflicted dysfunction in the world. Observing is something we can do. We can inquire into the entity that wants to advance on the spiritual path. As we become more mindful of our self-induced interferences the Light is perceived more brightly in the outside world. By spotting our conditioning in action we start dissolving our interferences on the inside. Life is easier as we get the self out of the Way, and it’s more fun too.

The “I Am state”

2026-10-22T04:48:41.177-07:00

There are two circuits running. The one is pure energy flowing through us; only a content feeling of “I exist” is present, everything else is taken care of by itself. The second one is the thinking, feeling, reaching for, avoiding state. In the “I Am state” the here and now is as predominant as a ten-lane highway, while in the conditioned self state the present moment is as precarious as a razor’s edge. Everyone has glimpses of the “I Am state” for we are That. Spiritual living is the feat of looking at the conditioned self state as is, without wishing it to be any different; curious of its nature like watching a fascinating murder mystery. Ask, who is it who wants to return to the “I Am state”?

The story of the scorpion and the holy man with an alternative ending

2026-10-21T01:44:09.604-07:00

Whoever sees his nature is a Buddha.

Bodhidharma

You have probably heard the story of the scorpion and the holy man in which a passerby watches that strange encounter where a holy man keeps rescuing a scorpion from drowning and the scorpion keeps stinging him and falls back into the water as the holy man instinctively drops him as he is stung. When the passerby asks in bewilderment what is going on the holy man shrugs his shoulders and says, “it’s the nature of scorpions to sting and it’s the nature of a holy man to save creatures in distress.”

In the alternative ending of the story the holy man sees the bewilderment written on the passerby’s face and he suddenly understands that he wore that title “holy man” like a garment. Joyfully he drops it and faces life again and the scorpion drowns. The end!

# awakening #spirituality #bodhidharma

The here and now is an energy that can be felt, seen, sensed and known!

2026-10-20T03:36:07.442-07:00

The study, and the practice, or effort must continue relentlessly according to each one’s capacity, until it is understood or realized.

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

A friend is convinced that the spiritual quest is a knowing—the realization when psychological thinking is present or not.

Another friend highlights the power of feeling when something is off—the pinpointing of an interference, an existing pain-body, and emphasizes our ability to go within, to stay with this aberration, to get to the root of it, and let go of it.

I perceive the here and now as an energy. It’s an absence of thinking and a uniform feeling of contentment, but the energy flowing and acting is not “me.”

All of us are quite good at recognizing the harbinger of Oneness in the outside world, or the self-created symbols of divisiveness. When you see, you see. Knowing, sensing, feeling, seeing. In Oneness the here and now is a ten lane highway, whereas the self-induced interferences reduce it to a razor’s edge.

I no longer recommend anything to anyone. We all climb the illusionary mountain in our idiosyncratic way, but climbing we must because there is no alternative. When the river of life approaches the ocean of Oneness, all self-imposed interferences are ruthlessly swept away. Swimming upstream simply becomes too painful.

We cannot say that along a spiritual quest it gets easier and easier to follow the Way. The interference is meant to show us the area where we are still stuck and getting our arms around it can be hard even for the seasoned spiritual traveler because psychological self knows the spot where we are most vulnerable and clings to it. That’s where persistence comes in. God has already mapped out the path that sets us free but we have to keep going on it.

From my perspective and that of my friends I can assure you that the breakthrough comes sooner or later if we keep at it. Psychological self vanishes into the background and

S (tillness),

E (nergy),

L (ove),

F (low) prevails.

#spirituality #awakening #SiddharameshwarMaharaj

Meditation is 24/7

2026-10-18T22:47:26.994-07:00

Someone asked the question whether we can drink alcohol along a spiritual path and I answered, “you” consume the wine, but don’t let the wine consume “you.” I don’t drink alcohol but I watch mystery murders as entertainment; someone else might drink alcohol but may consider tv entertainment as an interference. We are here to experience the world—the holy, the good, the bad and the ugly—but what a well-being it is to enjoy being while doing so; that is to say, enjoy a serene, loving and potent energy flowing through us no matter what the activity might be. To the extent that something internal or external throws us off, we have another opportunity to inquire into its self-inflicted root-cause.

Adyashant gives a great definition of meditation,

“Meditation, in this sense, is really a state of discovery. Sitting in quiet and stillness and just being in a state of openness gives you a clear opportunity to watch what happens internally when you stop judging your experience, when you stop judging your mind for being busy, or you stop judging yourself for having a particular feeling. You don’t try to get rid of the feeling. You don’t try to get rid of the mind. You just let go of your judgement. You let go of trying to control the moment. For a while, you surrender into what is.”

Meditation is 24/7: Meditation is being when we are connected to higher energies, and meditation is being mindful when something seems off. In the moments when our serene, loving and potent well-being seems illusive, “you” have another opportunity to get the self out of the Way.

#spirituality #awakening #meditation #adyashanti #alcohol

Read the book of life with an open mind and heart

2026-10-18T05:21:12.459-07:00

A spiritual seeker had a job in a fast-paced environment. When he went to a spiritual retreat and talked to the master he complained about one particular colleague who is arrogant, condescending and doesn’t seem to like him very much. “Master,” he said, “I like my job and enjoy working with most of my co-workers, but there is that one particular individual who bothers me so much that I consider quitting the job.” The master advised him to spend some time with that contentious colleague before making any decisions. A few weeks passed and the man returned happy. “You were right,” he said, “after talking to him I realized that we have a common hobby, soccer, and since then he has completely transformed. “No,” the master replied, “you have transformed!”

“Read the book of life in the mirror of relationships,” J. Krishnamurti says. This world was created for “you” to discover the Oneness behind it. When we hit perceived obstacles we can go within and stay with the feeling that arises and look at it without fear, judgement, or with the attempt to wish it away. With attention, acceptance and letting go the feeling is bound to fade and transform into a completely different state. On the outside, we can see our projection, attachment and judgement and see it as it is. We can learn to read the book of life without any bias, and chances are we are going to like what we encounter.

Move over conditioned mind

2026-10-17T18:06:03.323-07:00

Conditioned mind is what it is. Maybe there can be some neurological healing as it is the case with recovering addicts or devoted meditation practioners; maybe there can be a letting go of pain bodies so that we get triggered less or suffer less. Maybe there can be an emerging wisdom from learned life lessons, but psychological thinking cannot be reformed. It is an aberration from life as is.

True learning, true transformation, and true breaking free happens moment by moment as Grace shines through and when a conditioned mind grasps its own futility and becomes silent for a moment. That’s when S (erenity) E (nergy) L (ove) F (low) come to the fore. It’s either or, it’s now or never. Grasp this fact and merge with life as S-E-L-F and not as conditioned self wishes it or fears it to be.

Feeling the God connection

2026-10-16T03:47:39.471-07:00

What is a common characterization of successful people? They hear the inner nay-sayer just like everyone else, but these concerns don’t measure up to the “we’ll see about that!” mindset they have. It’s not positive thinking. It's knowing, “God has put me here for a good reason. Let’s find out what it is.”

Likewise, the spiritual quest ends when a humming sound takes over. It’s a vibration, an alignment of inner and outer energies. The conditioning of the past with its fears, desires, regrets, projections, etc. is still around, but it gets overshadowed by this energy connection that operates outside of it.

How to reach it? Let go of everything that interferes with this energy alignment!