Inner Peace Now

Question:

How does living in the moment, accepting things and already being at peace fit in with doing things in the world and achieving goals? Where does ambition go? If you already feel happy and at peace, why would you want to do anything?

Response:

This is a common question. Most people's action comes from a sense of fear, or a feeling of lack, as if something in the future will permanently satisfy them. Often people do things, work and plan because they are afraid of what will happen if they don't. Or they feel like once they get something or someone, or achieve a certain goal, then they will finally be happy.

(This is not the case for all people - many of the most successful people in the world work for the pure enjoyment of it and what it can bring to other's lives.)

As you become more present, your reason for action changes. You already feel at peace, safe and secure, fulfilled, so you no longer look to the world to give you these things. At first it may seem as if you are going in a totally different direction to everyone else, as you see that everything you do and experience is transient. As you dwell in the present, fear diminishes, since you are not lost in concepts or lost in time.

Any action you take or motivation you have then comes from a deeper place. It may not always be there - you may go through cycles of little or no activity to cycles of intense activity - or somewhere in the middle. It depends on the individual. Your action becomes inspired by the evolutionary impulse of the universe, for the good of all. You are not so concerned with the fruit of your action, and instead act or work fully in alignment with the present moment. You become truly inspired. When you function from this place, your work is actually of far higher quality and more likely to produce abundant fruit.

You operate from abundance. From a place of needing nothing - implying that you already have everything. Any obstacles that arise are fully accepted and worked around or through if possible. Life starts to use you for a greater purpose, rather than you trying to get something out of life.

To allow this kind of action or goal setting to arise, you have to align yourself with the present, which means fully accepting what is arising at this moment. Even if you are in a job you don't enjoy or an undesirable financial or living situation - acceptance will allow for useful change to arise. 

Acceptance makes things lighter, less serious. It instantly places you in a place of inner freedom and transcendence - which will mean no suffering. Acceptance also takes you deeper into your formless nature - allowing space to arise to bring forth some inspired or useful action.

Do not worry if you are not suddenly filled with inspiration or know what your outer purpose in life should be. Surrender. Get in touch with the infinite field of still awareness and intelligence that runs the universe. Be that. Dwell as that. Then if your body can be used for any useful purpose - it will be. Remain conscious and present and allow life to work through you.

Do not question cycles of inactivity. Others may label it as laziness or failure, but cycles of inactivity are just as important as those of great activity. They can be rest periods, periods of contemplation or spiritual growth, often phases that lay the groundwork for a later creation or work in the world. These periods can also show the ego in you, or bring it to the surface - the thing inside that feels insecure, hates uncertainty, or feels inferior because it does not have some sort of label in the world e.g a career, job, specific personality etc. - all these things are nothing to do with who you are. 

Periods of stagnation or external uncertainty/insecurity are blessings if you use them to disidentify from what is not real in you.

As you continue to disidentify from ego, you are the awareness in which the body arises and functions. The body is moved to take action by itself - it is not really your own doing. From this place you're at peace already, and the body moves in accordance with the divine intelligence that runs the universe.

You will not search for your sense of self in external things, so your egoic ambition will diminish. You may have goals, but they are based around what you can create or work towards that will benefit others or be purely creative, rather than enhancing your sense of self. You are no longer deluded in believing some thing in the future will bring you lasting satisfaction. You see that now is all there is. Then your actions take on a far greater power, and you are moved towards work that is in accordance with your inner state of consciousness.

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Nothing To Say To Others

Question:

I am finding it hard to talk to people now. Everyone is obsessed with 'doing' stuff, as if you are no good or your life is boring if you are not doing lots of things. I do not know what to say to these people who are constantly asking me questions like 'what are you doing at the moment?'.

Response:

The world is mostly ego-dominated, so most of the world is obsessed with doing. Constantly being lost in doing things is one of the ego's ways of preserving itself, of keeping distracted and occupied, and keeping its personality in place. If I did nothing, then I would be no-one - seems to be an unconscious assumption of many people - and being no-one is scary to the ego - since it implies its destruction.

When you are fully accepting the present moment, words flow from you if they are required. You do not have to do anything, they just arise. Or they may not - you may find no words emerging form the silence of your being - but this is not to be judged by you. Others may mistake silence for rudeness - but this is only because the ego is threatened by this silence. It can imply the truth that the ego does not exist.

Surrender yourself and trust that the right words will emerge when required - and you will find that they do.

Allow people to be - allow them to ask you seemingly absurd and ridiculous questions - just be aware of what reactions it provokes in you, and simply dwell as the awareness of them. Other people show you what is still reactive and egoic within yourself.

As you become more at ease in these situations through surrender - you will probably find that they manifest less for you in your external experience, since the egoic state of consciousness that produces these external experiences is being dissolved.

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Being Judged For No Career

Question:

People are judging me for not working or doing much for a career at the moment. I know that it should not matter what others think but it still makes me feel uncomfortable.

Response:

The thing that is uncomfortable is the ego in you. Use this as a chance to disidentify from it. What is around this feeling of discomfort?

...nothing

Yes, yet this nothingness can be perceived by you. It could also be called space or stillness. This space is not affected by what others think, nor is it affected by any feelings of discomfort that arise within it. Give more attention to this feeling of space, ignore the feelings of discomfort.

The space is eternal, full of peace and tranquility. As you remain in this space, as this space, any uncomfortable feelings or reactions will weaken by themselves.

Know that the thing that cares about opinions and judgements of others is purely the ego - nothing to do with you. Since it is nothing to do with you, let it be, do not identify. This is freedom.

You can also notice the futility of caring what others think - all it does is cause you confusion and suffering. People are so quick to judge, and their judgements are always based on their own conditioning - so it really is nothing to do with you.

Most people do not even see you - they just create a mental image of who they think you are, and take that to be you. It is meaningless, so give it no meaning or authority over you.

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Law Of Attraction Meets Presence

Question:

How does the Law of Attraction and The Secret fit in with being present and conscious?

Response:

The Law of Attraction (sometimes called The Secret) basically states that your external world is a reflection of your internal world. If you think a certain way about certain things - these things will manifest externally in your life. Thoughts are things. People then use, or try to use this to get what they want, and manifest the life they desire.

Everyone is using the law of attraction all the time - but many may not be aware of this, or aware of the effect of their thoughts on reality.

This is not disputed in many spiritual teachings - that the world is a projection of yourself. Your thoughts directly influence what is perceived to be your external world. Often people may believe that going deeper into the infinite peace of your true nature is opposite to using the law of attraction. It is not. The only difference may be the motives behind manifesting certain things, and the ease in which they are done.

As you become more present and conscious, you are not bound to the things of the world. In programmes like The Secret it seems to be implied that manifesting your desires leads to permanent happiness. However, permanent happiness comes from inside you, and is actually a basis for manifesting something, rather than something that you get from manifesting something.

People who use the law of attraction with little awareness of who they really are, just continue on a cycle of desire and fulfilment of desire. There is never a point of ok, that is enough, I am finally truly satisfied - since the ego, searching for happiness in external things or in time, is never satisfied. Some people may enjoy this, and will continue through life constantly desiring things and then satisfying the desire, until desire emerges again. 

Others may realise that nothing they create will give them a lasting sense of wholeness, and so they seek a deeper, lasting fulfilment that is not dependent on any transient form, but is part of who they already are.

As you realise you are already at peace and already happy, manifestation becomes more natural. It does not feel forced, and is not done because you feel like you will finally be happy once you get this or that. Manifestation happens through you. It becomes less serious. It becomes a play. The Universe uses you to create, and you create from a place of fullness and abundance. 

From here you will not be concerned with what your external reality can give you. Yet, as you feel safe and peaceful already - your external reality changes to reflect this.

The law of attraction talks about believing that you have a certain thing or situation already - so that it first becomes an internal reality which will manifest externally. That is what you are doing with presence - you already have feelings of peace, happiness, abundance and satisfaction (which is all any of us are really looking for) - so your external reality can not help but reflect this.

Rather than searching for happiness in things, I would suggest trying an experiment - use your external world to become more conscious. Try it out, and you will find a deeper lasting happiness, rather than a dependent, transient one. Since the world is a projection of your mind, use it to see what is still negative in you, what you still react to, what false identity you are still clinging to.

Without the external world, we would not be so easily allowed to witness these egoic traits within us. Our external lives trigger conditioned reflexes still present in us, which we can then disidentify from by using awareness. 

Use the world to realise your freedom, rather than being dependent on things to be a certain way to be happy. Get in touch with the untouchable stillness and peace that is always within you as a silent, formless presence.

As you use your external world in this way - you break free of the world and of your mind, the fear of death diminishes and you realise what you are. All the forms of the world then seem meaningless and shallow in comparison to being in touch with who you are, and in this state you actually manifest an abundant, peaceful lifestyle, since this is a reflection of your inner reality.

Things of the world are still enjoyed, but they no longer matter so much.

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Being Let Down

Question:

I keep getting let down by people in my life. It seems to be a cycle that keeps repeating itself. Do you know why this is happening and how I can stop it?

Response:

Look at your reaction to these things. How do you feel about it happening?

...I feel ok, as if I have to take action and make plans whenever these people are no longer involved in part of my life.

There must be some negativity in you, though, since you are asking me how you can stop this happening in your life. This is some kind of resistance, saying that you want it to stop. This is fine, since it brought you to ask this question, but you must be aware of any negative or resistive reaction in you.

If you still react negatively, you will continue to experience this in your external world. It is as if the negative reaction, in a dormant state, manifests something externally to trigger itself internally, to keep it alive. As you remove your identity from your reaction - there will be nothing to manifest this in your life anymore.

I hadn't thought to mention it earlier - but I actually do feel quite a strong rage against the person who has let me down.

Ok, so you are now aware of the reaction that may have been somewhat unconscious before. This is an egoic reaction, full of resistance and judgement. You are the awareness of all of this. It is witnessed by your presence. As the reaction arises, let it be, do not judge, and be the silent space in which it is all witnessed.

It seems at first as if resistance and anger can help resolve and issue, or stop it from happening again. Actually the opposite is true. Resistance will hold the situation in place, and will keep it manifesting again and again for you. Acceptance of your internal pain will transmute your negative reaction into peace. Be the loving space in which your reaction arises, and you will see you are not the one reacting.

This is all I can advise to stop this pattern repeating itself externally for you. Whether it happens again or not - you will be free anyway.

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Depression

Question:

I need your help, I feel so depressed and I just want the feeling to go away.

Do your feel depressed at this moment, here with me?

..No, I feel ok at the moment.

Then how can you be depressed if you are not depressed at this moment?

(laughs) I know what you mean, but the depression will come later, it comes in waves.

Do not get involved with psychological time, particularly when it comes to depression. Depression is based on time. There is only this moment, the now. That is all there is. All else is imagined. You are not depressed, because you are not depressed now.

If a wave of depression comes later, do not identify with the feeling. It is not real, since it comes and goes. Let it be completely, do not even try to stop it or wish it was not there. Remain as the space around it, the untouched stillness in which emotions arise. As you do this the depression will weaken by itself, and you will no longer feel as if you are depressed.

As you realise you are the awareness of depression, identification with the emotion is removed. Then the emotion is not nearly as troubling as it first was.

As you remove identification with the feeling of depression, the feeling will disappear by itself. Whether it disappears instantly or not will be irrelevant to you - since you will already be free.

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Self-Hatred

Question:

I have been experiencing extreme self hatred, how can i feel better? I try to talk myself out of it but it does not seem to work.

Response:

All the voices in your head are that of the ego. Even the voice that seems to be talking yourself out of feeling bad, this is also ego. You must remain as the awareness of all of this, do not identify.

...Ah, I did not realise 'the second' voice in my head is not me, but just another part of the ego.

As self hatred comes, be the neutral awareness of it. As resistance to this comes - it could be the talking yourself out of this - be the neutral awareness of this as well.

This kind of suffering can quickly take you deeply into your true nature if you treat it the right way. Suffering like this forces you out of identification with what is not real, with what is painful.

If you can fully welcome suffering as it arises, you will not be negatively effected by it any more. See it as a chance to go deeper into peace, by fully accepting this pain. Anything else, such as judgement or resistance, will just make it worse. If you are to transcend and transmute the pain into peace, you must fully accept it.

Be the space for it to do what it wants. Completely surrender.

Even your self-hatred is part of the isness of the present moment. When you do not believe the judgements your mind makes of it, then you see it simply is. Let it be.

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How Can I Stop Feeling Angry?

Question:

Hi Adam, I have read your page on how to deal with anger, but I am finding it very difficult to put into practice. Some things just seem to get me so angry that I can not free myself from it. The feeling is so strong I do not know what to do to lessen the pain. I try to surrender and accept that it is there but this does not seem to work. When I become the awareness of it this seems to make it worse as well. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

Response:

Hello. It seems that you are still resisting the anger at some level. There is no try in surrender, it is a relinquishment of all trying. Surrender is what is left when you give up all trying, all resistance, any attempts to control your thoughts or emotions. If you were truly surrendered, you would not care if the emotion is there or not, since you would have no identification with it.

In this state of surrender/nonresistance/acceptance, you do not mind the anger being there. It can stay as long as it wants, but you have no part in it. Do not get involved with the anger, do not touch it, just let it be. When you do not get involved, you do not mistake it for who you are. You are then untroubled by any pain that it brings. You