Heron Free

When one is free, everything comes: love, passion, forgiveness, joy. Because with freedom everything is allowed, everything is possible. You deny yourself nothing. This is why it is so highly sought after at the core of our very being.

Rule #1: You are the love you’re searching for.

Rule #2: You already have enough money.

Rule #3: A clear, sound mind will bring you loads of peace.

Rule #4: Follow your path, do what you love.

Rule #5: Everything else is gravy.

I have tried to stop the law of cause and effect and I tell you it is not possible. Have kept myself locked up in a dark room for days at a time, have sat atop cragged mountains without moving or making a sound.

Yes I have become more conscious. We call this awareness. I have become aware of the moment my breath leaves the body, how it travels outwards changing the world.

I have been privy to the fresh smells of pine needles as they enter my nostrils, felt their pleasant essence meld with my body.

I have watched the river flow and become lost in the stillness I felt within myself.

I have severed all relationships to not cause any more trouble, to avoid the loss of love and heartache at all costs.

Things have indeed changed. I now notice with awe and wonder the intricacy of the chamomile flower floating in my tea.

I have found the tears in your eyes before they come, before your sadness and frustration washes over me.

I have spent no money and become poor. I have spent all my money and become rich.

And through all these things karma was still there. The law of cause and effect imbued in all things, in my body, my reactions, my judgments of my reactions, my thoughts and feelings.

Everything changes, everything is affected, every thought leads to an action, every reaction leads to a consequence.

And in the end I realize we are bound by consequence, we are bound by cause and effect.

That karma can not be changed at the level of form because even as you try to change something, that in itself is a change creating another ripple.

And now I see that we are not trying to stop the law of cause and effect. We are not trying to stop time.

We are trying to not react to it, but how do you not react when not reacting is still a reaction in itself?

You accept everything as being beautiful, you accept all thoughts as being powerful. You accept all aspects of yourself, your mind and your body as being wonderful.

And when you accept who you are without judging, who you are not. You become the world.

You are not longer affected by the law of cause and effect because you are accepting of all it’s aspects.

You become the ocean and you leave the sea.

You accept… that You Are Love.

All forms of meditation rely on mystic elements in the fact that a simple thought can create increased self-awareness and experiencing within the human body is a remarkable human ability.

However in Integrative Meditation Training (IMT) (similarly in MBSR and Zen Meditation) we don’t add in additional beliefs or religious philosophy to increase personal validation or bring additional meaning to the technique as a way to stabilize an uncertain mind.

Though this does happen naturally as a consequence of the processing of new information, our goal is not to add in any more than is required.

The fact that we are alive, are perceiving and moving through all these life experiences is already mystical. We just take it for granted. We are trying to re-realize how amazing being here actually is.

There is often no need to spoil the soup by adding in unnecessary flavoring (e.g. additional beliefs). Though as we are all individuals and have personal preferences we may often choose to add in different spices or hot sauces (e.g., religion, Buddhism, atheism, humanism) in order to have a different personal experience.

When additions to the soup are done with awareness (conscious choice) they are based on personal truth and curiosity, when they are done unconsciously they are based on fear, past conditioning and the desire to stabilize a belief system experiencing uncertainty.

The first approach is preferable but we all of course must move through uncertainty in order to become certain.