Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview - Bentinho Massaro

The moment I started to trust more in this natural presence, something happened. Most of all I became more at ease by the day, and additionally books and teachers of a more direct nature started to cross my path that 'confirmed' the way of direct trust in what's naturally here. Each of these books and teachers still got analyzed and mapped automatically, but simultaneously they helped me to let go more and more of that intellectual structure that was still very active and convincing at times.

Ever since my allegiance shifted from 'thinking' and 'other teachers' towards trusting in this intuitive sense of natural presence, that simple and always already present awareness has become more and more obvious in this experience.

This natural presence reveals the unity beyond all ideas and concepts and there is nothing that ever affects it. It's completely stable, ever-present and unchanging awareness. Yet it is not 'out of this world' or 'detached' in any way. In fact, it allows us to be completely engaged in life, for the first time really, without fear for our thoughts and emotions or those of others. There is a loving freedom present in and as every experience, without exception.

Experiences come and go, but they all come and go within that which is effortlessly aware of them. When this awareness becomes obvious to us, than not only is it discovered to be unaffected by whatever appears within awareness, but the unity of experiences and awareness is gradually (or suddenly) revealed.

This then neutralizes the power that experiences seemed to have over us, and there arises a natural freedom, love, wisdom and joy in the midst of every experience.

With Free Awareness, I hope to be able to provide some sort of simple and accessible structure, that can support you in directly awakening to that which is already wide awake at all times.

With gratitude and love to Life itself, in all of it's self-benefiting appearances,

Bentinho Massaro

Beyond the Ego: Part 1

Khen Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan, now the Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo, was born in Stok, Ladakh, India where his family encouraged him to study Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet.

(To see Part 2 and 3, go to YouTube)

Happiness Is Fleeting. True Joy Comes From Within

By Pamela J. Wells

We are happy when things go the way that we want them to, when we accomplish something, when we achieve a goal, when we win a game in a competition, or win a promotion. When things do not go the way that we want them to we are unhappy. When we do not get what we want and expect, we become disappointed and feel down.

Happiness is fleeting. It cannot be sustained, because it is dependent upon circumstances to change to what we want them to change to and once we get what we want, if we get what we want, happiness is felt and then it dies, because it has been fulfilled; so, in order to feel happiness again we must set another goal, which requires circumstances to change for the better, where we ultimately achieve our goal.

Our thoughts create happiness. Happiness is an emotion—a byproduct of our thinking. Happiness is not stationary. It is always moving. We’re happy one minute and then were unhappy the next. We may even achieve a goal and become happy, but during those feelings of happiness we may get unwelcomed news about something that upsets us and then we are no longer happy. Our focus on accomplishing and achieving the goal is now turned towards the problem that upset us.

Joy is naturally within us, regardless of what happens in our lives. There are no expectations for happiness, but a complete acceptance for All That Is, which includes when things go our way and when things do not go our way. We are ok, either way. Joy is experienced when the mental chatter of the mind is silenced and we are at peace. The mind covers up the natural joy that is inside of you, if you let it.

You must release all attachments—to other people, to material objects, to expectations, and to outcomes. This does not mean that you have to stop pursuing goals. You can have goals, just do not get attached to the outcome of those goals, expecting for them to make you happy. You will only get a temporary, fleeting feeling of happiness when you achieve a goal. Enjoy the process of pursuing a goal, instead of focusing on the outcome. The goal is easier to achieve when you enjoy each moment, the day-to-day process of taking action towards achieving the goal.

We tend to push happiness off as a destination to reach in the future, when we have joy available to us right in the here and now. All that is needed is to release all negative thoughts and perceptions that take us away from feeling our natural joy. The more at peace you are within, the more you will be able to experience true joy. Going within and being consciously aware of what you are thinking, on a regular basis, will help you to change your thoughts to more positive ones and to drop the ones that are of no use to you and that only bring you down. Life is a joy that is lived in each moment, where time is not a factor and there are no expectations.

Copyright © 2012 Pamela J. Wells. All Rights Reserved
Image licensed under Bigstockphoto.com

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.