posted May 27, 2007 11:29 AM         

I see people invest great passion in the "rightness" of their held beliefs. Jews, Christians, Muslims and others, often so sure they are right and others are wrong, the fundamentalist of each ready to kill others in the name of their "god" and their "rightness". And those with such "conviction" calling those who disagree with their side "terrorists".

I have listened to many teachers and I have checked in to my own experience and my innermost being to validate, or not; what is said. It is my experience that we are all the same oneness, and that our "separateness" is indeed an illusion; that this illusion is vast and pervasive and seems very real; that the stronger we indulge in the illusion the more egoic we act, the more ignorant we are and that all suffering we experience is in some way a result of this complex illusion. The illusion is a distortion of the Truth, which is always present behind the illusion and That is all of our true nature.

When we are truly in our hearts, truly feeling the connectedness, the love, we then feel joy and peace as we are more being our true nature. Truth does not assert, defend, or try to convince others. Our true nature IS Heart, is love.

The pain and suffering and apparent "wounds" are a result of being in illusion, in one's egoic activity too much. Most of what is going on in our day to day world is just a bunch of egoic programming interfacing with other programming, more like the Matrix (film) than people think. I know it is possible for each individual to wake up out of the dream or illusion to realize one's true nature, one's true being. The requirement is putting that commitment above all else - making realizing one's true nature one's highest priority in life. And that commitment leads in some way to honest SELF-INQUIRY (specifically, SELF-INQUIRY into the truth of one's self, one's true nature, and what activities of MIND one habituates which keeps one from realizing what they already always are).

And when it comes to "beliefs" it is important not to simply take the words of another and recite them as one's own, or quote them from a scripture, but to always find out for oneself through personal experience. And to share from there (personal experience) what one has found freely, openly, and relaxedly with others - for them to accept or reject as they wish. The diversity of perspectives, when shared casually with others can be a wonderful thing, expanding life's possibilities. Wanting or forcing others to see things the way you do is counter productive and not fun. I think this is one of the downfalls of traditional religions - trying to force or persuade others to their way of seeing things.

My devotion is to Truth. My highest priority and commitment in life is to abiding as and living life from my true, natural state. I regularly visit and listen to and speak with my teachers, who talk about this with other who are interested. I have found some great teachers who are quite good at pointing to the Truth. I gladly point to the pointers and you can connect with them here if you wish.

Therefore, to sum up my philosophy I would state simply:

1) We are all the same one "consciousness" that can take itself to be anything - and thus we seem to be what we take ourselves to be.

2) All that we experience in life is based on our interpretation. Our interpretation determines the nature of our existence.

3) ALL suffering and unfulfillment is the result of faulty interpretation - of taking ourselves to be a somebody separate from others. Taking ourselves to be an identity different from our true nature.

4) Therefore, having the broadest, truest angle of vision, the most accurate interpretation is wise.

5) Truly realizing and abiding as one's true nature (consciousness), the natural state, is the only way to accomplish this.

6) The requirement for enlightenment is to make #5 one's highest priority in life, above comfort, security, pleasure, etc. Then one will naturally attract the help and support one needs to wake up and stabilize in living that awakening. Stabilizing involves inquiring into and seeing all the ways in which one has avoided one's true nature, all the programming and habits and fixations, including one's very notion of being "separate".

Thus, I have found that the ONLY solution to the world's and an individual's struggle and suffering or unfulfillment is true self-realization (enlightenment). All other approaches and "solutions" are pseudo and/or temporary and are of the realm of hidden programming, which goes deeper than people realize. All those beings throughout history who have truly self-realized have said the same things - among those things that we are in a state of illusion which is so profound that even our notion of separateness is illusion; that the answer to life's woes is through Truth - which inevitably leads to self-realization - the awake state. The awake state is always present behind the illusion. It is not "attained", it is what is always there and comes forth when the illusion is busted. All are now invited to wake up from the dream.

In Love always,

Daniel

All over the world there are many working to improve the Dream of our world, to make it aligned with the Unity principle of life. I endorse the "Earth Charter" and invite you to read and share it with others.

Daniel is also available to give talks, teachings and presentations about Awakening,
Liberation as well as the artwork and what it is about. Inquire by email.