The FREEDOM Blog

The other day, my brother in law, who is not philosophical by nature, sent my mind into an interesting story. He had come out to replace our toilet (in exchange for which my wife will sew him a new vest - his wifecan't sew, I don't do toilets). At one point he was taking a short break and was on the phone with a friend who had obviously said something to the effect that they were "Dealing with shit," to which my brother in law wisely replied, "That doesn't do any good, there's always more shit!" Indeed, I thought, there IS always more shit, and yet this is what all the world is trying to do - deal with their shit, as if, at some point there won't be any more. How ludicrous! There will ALWAYS be more shit. The end of shit is the end of the game, and there is no end of the game. The end of the game is called dying...and then you get another life, and try again. At least, that's the way it works in the games. Your character dies, and then you tr...

One of the primary difficulties when it comes to Enlightenment is that hardly anyone understands in the least what it is. For instance, I have often made the distinction between Mastery and Enlightenment, while 'Jed McKenna' makes the distinction between Mysticism and Enlightenment. Expanding those three a little, I would like to give a quick overview of what I'm calling the 5 M's : Morality Maturity Mastery Mysticism Moksha (Moksha being one of the Sanskrit words for Enlightenment and essential means 'Freedom') Many of these categories will have overlaps, and many 'individuals' overlap in where they 'are' or in their 'recognition' of these 5. But the general idea is that if you are seeking something, you better know what the heck that it is you're seeking. If you're not clear, you're not going to be even looking in the right place, and chances are extremely good you're going to get something that ISN'T enlightenment...

First, let me tell you about the miracle... I woke up. And I received a revelation... Everyone can wake up. And what's more... All the 'problems' in the world are due to being asleep, i.e. not knowing who they are, truly as simply the dream of the Absolute. However, the great revelation continued (it was a voice...I heard it in my head as plainly as I hear you groaning right now). It said to me, "Aja, get everyone to come together and we can create another miracle. Get everyone to come together at a particular time and recognize who they are and the entire world can wake up from the dream." "WHEN?" I asked. "Why, Right Now in This Moment!" "Which moment?" I pleaded. "This moment. What other moment is there, bozo?" "But," I remonstrated, "aren't some moments more spiritual than others?" "Yes, of course. This moment, Right Now, is (according to our incredible celestial and cool calculations, and t...

Ooh! Ooh! I've done it again. I seem to have gotten myself in trouble for telling the truth (well, at least my truth). Is there an ultimate Truth? Only God knows. And I get the picture of God sitting alone wondering whether he/she exists - "Most of the people I talk to can't hear me or don't believe it's Me, and half of those who claim I talk to them, I wouldn't give the time of day to. Hmmm?! I wonder if I do exist?" The last few days have been interesting. A wonderful friend wrote me that to him, a friend is, "One with whom I can think out loud," in other words, someone who is totally non-judgmental, totally accepting, etc. In the last day, I have been accused of chewing on rotting corpses, overly flirting, being too ordinary (for an enlightened teacher), and on and on. I recently wrote about 'Being As You Are", and I guess I'd have to say how fascinating it is to see how delightfully the Universe responds: I Am as I Is, and the ...

First, a major caveat: This is not about awakening in the traditional sense. In other words, it is not about exploring consciousness, recognizing who you are, in the Radical Enlightenment way. However, what we are about is Truth. More than anything, our life has been dedicated to the pursuit of what is Truth, what is real, and sometimes this incorporates what is part of the apparent dream. Everything is part of the great Lila, the divine dance. To hide from any aspect is to hide from Truth. So, sometimes it is necessary to ask oneself - are you truly seeking Truth, in EVERY aspect, or are you seeking mollification and escapism? It's all an illusion, right! So whatever happens in the dream is only a dream. If you are sure of this, then truly let it all go and totally retreat into the pure essence of consciousness without stopping. However, if you are only seeking happiness (i.e. pleasure and pleasantries in the name of spirituality) then you are NOT seeking Truth. Truth comes in m...

Many people are familiar with the phrase "Be as you are," and many are also familiar with the book of the same name by David Godman, about the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. But how many are really familiar with what it is to Be As You Are? What I'd like you to do for a moment is really explore and investigate the 'feeling' that accompanies being as you are. Right now, be as you are! Now a question might come up of what does this mean, or how do I do that. The real question is how do you NOT do that? How can you not be as you are? Primarily by trying to be something that you're not. I ran into a wonderful quote the other day. It's from the Hasidic tradition featuring Rabbi Zusya. The quote has Rabbi Zusya saying, "When I reach the next world, God will not ask me, 'Why were you not Moses?' Instead, he will ask me, 'Why were you not Zusya?'" This is exactly the problem. Everyone is trying to be a Buddha or a Jesus or an anything ot...

"Is there an out there, out there? I don't recall where I first heard this phrase, but it re-arose in consciousness the other day. I like I because it really begins a process of self inquiry. People - most people - take it pretty much for granted that there IS an out there out there - that what they perceive is certainly real and concrete. But as both the mystics from nearly all variety of traditions, and many of the modern day quantum theorists and scientists are telling us is that there is no out there. Of course, this begs the question, if there is no out there out there, then what is there? Or what is here? Or even what is? The traditional response is to start spewing out mentally or intellectually conceptions based on what you have heard. But what if you take a different approach? What if you begin to directly explore what is present, right now? Where do you begin? The best place to begin is with the idea of who or what is it that is assuming that there is an out there, i...