Open-Secrets

Tag: ah-almaas

  • Survivor: Berkeley California

    Survival Instinct Explored in Berkeley, CA

    survival_instinctThis past weekend, I attended A.H. Almaas’ winter retreat in Berkeley. The retreat focused on the survival instinct and most agreed it was a timely presentation.

    Two years ago we worked on the social instinct and last year we explored the sexual instinct. Almass explores the instinctual drives in relationship to the Enlightenment Drive – the dynamic quality of the soul that impels it toward awareness of its true nature and freedom from limitation and the past.

    The way we’re approaching the question of instincts and their drives is not a question of being free from them, it is a question of freeing them to be what they can be, and evolve and develop in a way that can become part of our realization, support for our realization. – A.H. Almaas

    Almaas sees nothing wrong with the survival drive or the other instinctual drives. They are natural components of animal existence and evolution. The challenge for human beings, who have the capacity to muck up the natural functioning of the drives, is how to help the drive do its job most effectively.

    Our capacity for reflective consciousness brings with it the capacity for projection and distortion of  what is really happening. The past gets projected onto the present situation and, the drive which can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined, kicks into gear with its fight or flight response.

    The current economic situation is raising a lot of safety and security concerns in people. Recessions, property, money and wealth are really not the types of dangers our instinctual drives evolved to engage. We’re hardwired to respond to actual immediate physical threat, not the imagined consequences of Bernie Madoff ripping us off or the consequences of job loss or a dwindling 401K.

    We have become so identified with our possessions, that we connect them very strongly to our survival. Survival now has a strong connection to money – and it’s partly true, but mostly not. A downgrade in lifestyle or having to eat beans instead of beef is not about survival. It’s about comfort, preference and self-image. The self-image is what becomes threatened – and – since the hard wiring can’t tell the difference between the body and the self-image, fear, anxiety, worry and even terror result.

    The direct connection to money is something we all need to explore – what it is, what does it stand for, what it means personally, how to work with it and relate to it.  This holds true for all of our possessions. This type of exploration will help to reveal the distortions that are interfering with the free functioning of the drives and thus the potential of the consciousness aligning them with the drive for enlightenment.

    A very interesting three days.

    Links of Interest

    [ad#post468]

    Items of Interest

  • Spiritual Liberation

    Is All the Fuss About Spiritual Liberation Really Necessary?

    spiritual_liberation_freedomSpiritual liberation, spiritual freedom, enlightenment, the spiritual journey – I see and hear references to these terms all the time. What is it that is being sought?

    Being liberated means there is no clinging to anything; there is no worry, no concern, no heaviness. The mind is not fixated, focused or bound to any particular content; you are aware of whatever arises in the mind, without effort, without even trying to be aware. – A.H. Almaas

    Does this mean we all just want to relax and be worry free? In a way yes, but perhaps there is more to the story.

    What is it that keeps us stressed, uptight, reactive, fixated and un-liberated? In the greatest of all ironies – it is the very thing seeking spiritual liberation that perpetuates the state of suffering – it is us, our identification with something less than liberation.

    The agitation and suffering that results from our lack of spiritual liberation keeps us seeking liberation – which is often imagined as a state of living free from sadness, difficulties, economic downturns, bursting real estate bubbles and the like. Quite preposterous if we really think about it.

    Whether you are happy or sad, whether a person is there with you or not, none of these things seem important. For the moment you are completely free from all the concerns in your life. This state can never be achieved by striving for it. It will just happen one day, and if you notice it you won’t think it’s a big deal. You’ll go on eating your dinner or whatever you are doing. The moment it becomes a big deal, it’s gone.  – A.H. Almaas

    It’s quite the conundrum. If we do nothing, it seems like we will remain where we are, right?

    The old adage – If we continue doing what we have always done, we’ll continue getting the same results.

    Again it’s not so much what you do as who/what does. Getting to the point of understanding this often takes some doing for most of us – which obviously delays spiritual liberation.

    Links of Interest

    [ad#post468]

    Items of Interest

  • Best Reads of 2008

    Amazon and Barnes & Noble Love Me

    I read about 50 books in 2008, most nonfiction as I have been very busy with real estate and Internet marketing consulting, Here are my top 4 recommendations.

    My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

    This is the only book I have ever read that I feel everyone should read. Medical professionals can gain extraordianry insight into a patient’s experience. Chances are each of us will either have a stroke or know someone who does. This book  provides invaluable insight into what happens and how we can improve our chances of full recovery. Those with an interest in spiritual development or metaphysics will find her experiences enthralling.

    The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss

    This book opened my eyes to possibilities I had never thought of. If you are looking to change direction in your career or lifestyle, this book is a must read.

    The Unfolding Now by A.H. Almaas

    I’m a little biased, being in the Ridhwan School, but this book provides great practical insight into the barriers and challenges of developing the capacity to live in the Now.

    Upgrade Your Life by Gina Trapani

    Invaluable for anyone who owns a computer. Simple and valuable tips for improving your knowledge, functioning and capacity. Easy to read and understand. Get over technophobia and increase productivity.

    From 2007

    The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

    I’ve given at least 6 copies of this book to friends and clients. If you have any interest in how to leverage the Internet to promote your business, career or product – this should be the first book on your list.

    Click on an Image for More Information

  • Narcissism – The I’s Have It

    PhotoFunia_9d6aeWho are you loving today?

    Narcissism describes the trait of excessive self-love, based on self-image or ego.

    The term narcissism means love of oneself, and refers to the set of character traits concerned with self-admiration, self-centeredness and self-regard. The name was chosen by Sigmund Freud, from the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Even George Carlin had something to say on narcissism.

    Narcissism isn’t just a combination of monumental self-esteem and rudeness. Narcissists desperately need other people to validate their own worth. A narcisist’s self-worth is based upon being admired by others. Many flaming narcissists are despicable jerks, dislike by many, but also admired for their business savvy, charisma, wealth, looks, etc. It’s the admiration that counts not being liked or disliked.

    The term narcissist usually conjures up an image of a self-centered, selfish person. Narcissists avoid personal accountability, it’s always the other person’s fault.

    From the perspective of Being, True Identity, or the Essential Self – we’re all narcissists. Being disconnected from what is real within us, we live our lives based upon images of self and not the actual ontological experience of self.

    Fundamental narcissism, the specific and most central manifestation of the disconnection from the essential core of the self, the Presence of being, underlies all other forms of narcissism. Pathological narcissism is a distortion or an exaggeration of fundamental narcissism. Fundamental narcissism is an intrinsic property of the ego-self, which is the self as experienced in the dimension of conventional experience.  –  A.H. Almaas – The Point of Existence

    Self-help books and personal development gurus speak to the value of self-love. Let’s not confuse this with narcissistic tendencies. Perhaps it would be better to encourage self-kindness and self-acceptance – which is really all all about disengaging the superego so we can actually explore our experience in an open manner without beating ourselves up all the time.

    If we accept the fact that psychological development includes a certain amount of baggage like narcissism,  racism and enough defenses to populate the Pentagon, it actually opens the door to fruitful exploration and the possibility of encountering what’s real.

    Of course, we can always Love New York

    [ad#post468]


  • Spiritual Light

    Spiritual-lightSpiritual Light, the Light of God, Universal Light – on the spiritual path, search or journey, we hear many things about spiritual light.

    It seems that light is part of the fundamental nature of the manifested. Some paths say sound (OM). You could argue both in the form of vibration arise simultaneously as the first arising out of the Absolute or Non-Being.

    In his new book – The Unfolding Now, A.H. Almaas has a chapter titled – Lighting Up the Now (free download). This chapter explores some of the ramifications of light as our basic nature.

    From the Big Bang to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Almaas asks us to consider the implications of being a Being of Light. What does that mean in terms of time? What about the body?

    Spiritual light isn’t something we go from here to there to find. Spiritual light is what is actually here appearing to our senses as material form.

    Jill Bolte Taylor discovered this when she had her stroke.

  • Universal Mind – Mind for Everyone

    Universal-mindI wrote about universal consciousness a while back and that got me thinking about universal mind. What’s the difference between universal mind and universal consciousness?

    Universal mind is sometimes referred to as God’s mind or the mind of God.

    Consciousness is not necessarily self-reflective though it contains the potential self-knowing.

    The url UniversalMind links to a web application site. I find this hilarious! Is the Internet moving toward being the universal mind?

    Perhaps this quote from A.H. Almaas puts it in perspcetive:

    We call it the Universal Mind because when we go beyond it, we see it as mind. But it is not mind as created by me personally. It’s the mind that actually exists as the totality of the Universe. Some people call it God’s mind. So from the level of the nonconceptual, the physical universe and Essence and all that exists are mind. They are concepts, like ideas or forms that are filled out with something. What they are filled out by is the nonconceptual, the original consciousness.

    And here is what Ralph Waldo Emerson says:

    Who shall define to me an Individual? I behold with awe & delight many illustrations of the One Universal Mind. I see my being embedded in it.

    Quoting Mark Epstein:

    What does universal mind mean? The problem with the concept of a transcendental reality is that it sets up a duality in which we are always other. This leads to a feeling of inferiority and a tendency to disparage one aspect or another of our experience. Buddhists prefer the idea of “no mind” to that of a universal one.

    When you contemplate universal mind – what/who is contemplating?

Open-Secrets