Spirituality and Consciousness

Our on-going discussions over to this blog:

SPIRITUALITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS -
CO-CREATING THE FUTURE

http://www.tbd.com/group/1396/view


(Most recent memeber count 140 as of Novembe, 2008)


PLEASE JOIN US!

Thank you,

Mick Quinn

The June Newsletter

Here is a link to the June, 2007 newsletter. Enjoy!

http://www.mickquinn.com/newsletter_June.7.07.htm

A recent question

Mike's email---------------------------

There is still an "I" that is seeking. It is realized, at least intellectually, that I am not the mind, thoughts, body, etc., and this has been verified through direct experience by introspection. I have experienced what seems like pure awareness for brief periods of time, but gravitate back to the ego-identity.

How is one to stop seeking and simply identify with Awareness? The mind does not seem ready to loosen its grip. When my awareness touches, Awareness is unlike any other experience, but I'm sure it is still partially filtered through the ego-mind.
Do you have any suggestions?

With Love and Gratitude,
Mike F

My reply ---------------------------

In the end, it is all about how much we care. What do you value the most?
Freedom from the little-mind or allowing the ego to absorb your attention?

There is always a moment, a choosing faculty, a decisive essence in you who can make that choice, Freedom or otherwise. Now, depending on your karma, and the amount of concealed conditioning in your relevant relationships, you may or may not have
a difficult time with this. Identifying the ego in your life is the key, and go from there. The way out is close, Mike, your question reflects this, but until you are fully committed to the resolution, the circular nature of the suffering is very likely to continue.

You asked: How is one to stop seeking and simply identify with Awareness?
Identify with “seeking” as Awareness. For example, the desire to be free
is a wholesome desire. The desire to express narcissism is not. The “mind”
is never going to be ready to loose its grip, but you can be prepared to
let go of the mind.

When your awareness touches Awareness, and you know it is unlike any
other experience, at that time, there is most likely no-ego there. It is when
you return to living your life, however, that your interpretation of that
experience may become tainted with conditioning, as a direct reflection
of your current stage of development. Do you know what that is?

Remember, spiritual experiences are never going to free you until you can
interpret them free from (concealed) conditioning. A regular meditation practice,
up to an hour a day, will be very beneficial to your quest.

I am not sure if I mentioned this to you in past, but take a look should you be interested in pushing further into your evolution.

http://www.mickquinn.com/integral_coaching.htm

With Love and Gratitude to you,

Mick.

For the latest news

Please visit:

http://www.powerandgracebook.com/latestnews.htm

Thanks!!!

Mick.

The photos from Ireland

Thanks for all your kudos on the latest photos here. The 'water' picture was taken at sunset in an lovely area south of my home town (of Athlone) that has been prone to flooding for many, many years. This is a public road that my mom was walking on, which in a matter of a few days could be completely submerged.

Daily One-Liners & Weekly Quotes

Post your questions or comments to the Daily One-Liners or Weekly Quotes here.

Newsletter - January 2nd

Hi!
The move to Barcelona went great!! We are
working on getting a workshop schedule up
and running here in anticipation of the
Spanish book launch in May.
(Photo is the sunrise from the office.)

__________________________________________________
News and highlights from 2006
~ Hay House author Gary Renard endorses Power and Grace.
~ Publishing deal signed for Spain and Latin America (May '07)
~ Paraview Literary Agency agrees to represent this book.
~ Foreword written by nationally syndicated journalist.
For more news click here: Latest news page.

__________________________________________________
Article: AWAKENING YOUR VALUES:

Mahatma Gandhi said:
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

Often we declare a desire to change with great gusto and conviction, but may find that within a few days or weeks our enthusiasm (root: God within) to change has almost completely dissipated.

Why is this so? How can we make decisions and then sustain transformation permanently?

The core of the issue is that although our intentions are good, the ways in which we use our values to direct those intentions are subject to both individual and collective conditioning; hence, the purest objectives are misdirected by the ogre (the ego), and we end up essentially back where we started.

Intention is classically defined as the aim or anticipated outcome of an action. Your intention to awaken to authentic joy, however, will be completely ineffective without a supportive decision-making process. Though you mean well, your values and the way in which they are arranged can't support or manifest your best intentions.

To sustain the conditions for awakening to authentic joy, your decision-making structures–your values–must be capable of influencing and guiding a pure intention to awaken.

When our values and the way in which we use them are dominate by the ogre, lasting transformation is difficult, if not impossible. Values are core psychological structures by which all major decisions are made and, as such, they greatly influence your world.

Values that are selected and organized by the ogre are sufficient for a successful material life, but completely inadequate to support an awakening to authentic joy. Inherited (conditioned) values are sufficient for a successful material life; however, they cannot guide your intention to be free, no matter how hard you "try".

By looking at your current life situations you can uncover proof of what you value and of what is important to you–you can determine what your current values and intentions are by simply looking at the tangible evidence for them in your life.
Many who consider themselves genuine seekers on the path spend significantly more time engaged in activities that support the ogre than they do in support of their awakening to authentic joy.

When viewed from an awakened perspective what the ogre calls "a balanced life" is often one of mediocrity and compromise and you may realize that your values are arranged by the ogre to suit its needs.

Conditioned values cannot direct pure intentions, because ogre-values and awakened intentions are drawn to parallel outcomes. For example, if your values are focused on a productive career path, and you also have an intention to awaken to authentic joy, it will be impossible for you to manifest the latter without first being clear that your values are capable of directing such a pure intention.

The most humble of wishes would be to awaken to authentic joy, also known as freedom. In this book, "Power and Grace - The Wisdom of Awakening," we will look at how this potential exists within your free will and how, when you are clear about your values and their arrangement, you can create a direct link between your intentions and a destiny of authentic joy.

Consciously aligning your values delivers you to a destiny of authentic joy. All other outcomes you wish to manifest by the power of intention may occur, but their rewards will only be temporary and they will not free you from unnecessary suffering.

To stabilize the conditions for your pure intentions and to yield changes that "stick," you must reclaim consciousness that will otherwise be consumed in a continuous struggle with ego-based outcomes.

Liberation from the effects of hand-me-down values is the outcome when those values are rearranged into one conscious group. When the primary value of this single hierarchy supports and guides your intention to awaken to authentic joy, which will be the outcome. This sustains the conditions for awakening by reclaiming your awareness that would ordinarily be lost in on-going attempts to resolve the outcomes of ego-based choices.

The primary value you select for this single hierarchy always represents your interest in awakening to authentic joy marginally more important than other interests in your life. Making a decision-an awakened choice-based on such a conscious primary principle will produce an awakened effect. This new arrangement also supports all other necessary aspects of living because your subsequent values can include money, security, family, love, creativity, learning, etc.

An awakened person's life is centered on a clear, single hierarchy of values, and when asked, could instantly identify her primary value. The primary value will be consistent with awakening to authentic joy and significant choices made in day-to-day life will give consistent and tangible proof of this arrangement.

To create the conditions for awakening to authentic joy you can align the outcome with that intention by placing a primary value, such as freedom (from suffering), fulfillment, or potential, over and above all other values you have, on a single hierarchy of values.

By making all major life decisions according to a primary value, such as freedom, the intended outcome will be realized regardless of the circumstances surrounding the decision. You will discover that awakening to authentic joy is not dependent on options or outcomes, but on how consistently your intentions to live such a life are directed by a conscious primary value.

Eventually, it becomes clear that you are "choiceless", and you approach change, transformation, and the evolution of your own consciousness with unbending confidence, because you now know that your intention to awaken is always going to be your outcome. (This, despite the fact that the ogre may attempt to disrupt your decision-making).

Conditioning, on the other hand, segregates values into distinct and concurrent groups - related to career, home, family, friends, hobbies, etc. The ego does this in a futile attempt to manipulate reality. For example: A working mother would have different groups of values for decisions about her job than she would for decisions about the welfare of her children.

The struggle you experience with major life decisions and their subsequent outcomes is the result of the conflict between all of these groups of ogre-guiding principles. It is also important to understand that not only does each group have its own divergent agenda, but, at the time of deciding, each group will also have its own presiding primary value.

This arrangement ensures that the ogre remains in firm control of your life experience. You regularly "put off" big decisions, vacillate between your options, "run scenarios," or seek the opinions of others. Then, having made a decision, you often "change your mind."

Frequently you will "shop around" for opinions until you hear one that you think is the "right" one. At other times you are unable, or unwilling to follow through on the choices you made because you realize they were not "the best ones" you could have made.

Because most of us are not aware of the existence of these multiple groups of values, we experience great anguish and confusion in times of making important choices. "Not knowing what to do" is a clear manifestation that the ego is entrenched in values. An awakened person can make major life decisions in a matter of seconds with no worry and without fear that a decision may need to be "revised."

As you awaken to authentic joy, it will become apparent how the first big decision you ever made independently of your parents was based on the existence of multiple groups of values; the result of a conditioned intention; and a product of the ogre.

You may also realize that you have essentially been doing this ever since.

Real-life example: After a carefully planned career path, Josh received an incredible offer for his dream job. He had also recently gotten engaged. He and his fiancée, Diane, loved their first apartment together, the city where they lived, and being close to her family. However, they were both torn about what was best for their relationship, and his career goals. Josh decided to accept the offer because he arranged to spend four days per week at his work location and three-day weekends at home. He sincerely thought his first value was love, but by the evidence of this choice it was actually career.

After about six months of flying back and forth between Seattle and New York City, both his work and love life were beginning to suffer. When four more months passed they both acknowledged that things were just not working out and the couple decided to separate. One year later, Josh realized he was lonely in Seattle and that maybe his primary value was indeed love. Now he was considering returning to New York. When he mentioned this to Diane, she admitted that she no longer trusted him, because it was obvious that he could not trust himself to make sound decisions.

Exercise - Value Your Potential: Select one situation in your life where you know you are not living up to your full potential. Choose only one. Determine, as best you can, which value is supporting that situation. Is it possible that the value you discover is not really yours, but one that you picked up from individual or collective conditioning?

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