Questions and Replies

Reader
I just wanted to share with you how much your story touched my life.

Reply
Thanks so much for your warm and generous note. I am grateful for your acknowledgement and the reflections you have shared.

Reader
I have been questioning my self-worth, and going through all kinds of feelings of confusion lately....

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This is a natural part of many important personal transitions....

Reader
It seems that I have so much garbage that I'm carrying with me.

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Baggage is only baggage as long as we are carrying it.

Reader
I was brought up in a Southern Baptist preacher's home. I have always felt a very strong connection with God...just not in the "Christian" way.

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Good! I'm glad if you have felt this connection.

Reader
I have been on a very long journey trying to put my life back together again. I have been a victim far too long.

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This is a very wise recognition. Living this realization, on a daily basis, will strengthen the discovery of your own innate potential.

Reader
That still doesn't mean that I regret the past.

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Wise, again.

Reader
I am thankful that I am where I am today.

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Indeed! Everything we have experienced contributes to and supports who and what we are today....

Reader
The thing that has been bothering me lately is this: my best friend has had an awakening like you. It just hasn't happened for me.

Reply
Actually, what is important is not the experience of Awakening. Like all human experiences it is temporary, and the "fireworks" (ecstasies and euphorias) will, inevitably, fade....

Reader
What is important is the Recognition inherent within such experiences, and this Insight is available to each and every one of us, within the present moment: it is nothing more or other than a realization that the present moment is complete, exactly as it is showing up before you, here and now.

If this realization does not seem or feel true to you, then begin looking at all the beliefs and assumptions you hold which argue for the incompleteness of the present moment. Gradually, through a process of inquiry and self-examination, you will begin to realize that these beliefs are simply limited ideas about the nature of Reality, and as you begin to enlarge your understanding of Real and True, you will see that nothing essential is missing from the present moment.

Reader
I have shut down for a while.

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Why have you shut down?

Reader
I am just getting back into the spiritual groove.

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What does "getting back into the spiritual groove" mean to you?

Reader
It just gets discouraging.

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Only because we assume that things should somehow be something other than what they already are....

Reader
I would just love to have some outside input on this. I want to have all these wonderful things happen... but, they just have been really slow. I tend to want to rush things!

Reply
The most wonderful thing of all is the thing that is happening Right Now: the miracle of Reality manifesting in and through the present moment. This is the treasure that we overlook -- and in missing it, we begin a restless search for something dramatic that will remind us of this simple and obvious truth.

As I indicated earlier, the "fireworks" of an epiphany or an an experience of "awakening" are not what is important. In fact, for many people this Recognition and understanding dawns quite gradually, without any fanfare or drama.

Even in your own case, if you look deep within your own experience you will probably be able to find at least a few brief moments of contentment -- periods of time when you were not longing for things to be different or other than what they already are. When this contentment gradually extends until it is uninterrupted, you will one day find that you are no longer searching for something else to happen. You will find yourself in the very Center of the most miraculous miracle of all: a state of undisturbed and unbroken Awareness that is conscious of itself.

Reader
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how much your story touched on some of the things I am working through.

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I am very glad if this story was of value to you.

Reader
It is hard at times to see the good that our Higher Power gives us.

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Yes, it is. Because we assume that this "goodness" will take a specific shape and form. (We are all very eager to dictate the terms upon which Reality will appear to us!) When we finally acknowledge the two-word truth of enlightenment "Only God," then we can relax into seeing/enjoying/savoring the wonder of our immediate experience as a manifestation of the Infinite in and through the present moment.

Reader
It was good to hear that we are all at the place we need to all be.

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Indeed! Where else could we be?! As one of my favorite teachers, Peter Fenner, is reputed to have said, "If things could be any different, they would be."