I spent the week in a mountain resort. I’m sure the normal definition of a resort would not apply to this place, but it was Nature with a nice place to sleep.
I spent a lot of the time outside with my lady, and when you’re in Nature you learn things.
One thing that kept popping up in my head was the theory of God. Most think its a man sitting in a chair with a white beard waiting to call you out for the wrong you have done.
But when you stand under a waterfall that has cut grooves in solid rock over the years, you learn that God is right there, or right here, right now.
Take five seconds and look around when you’re in the woods. No descriptions here would do it any justice.
Nothing in Nature “tries” to do anything. It just is what it is out there. Thats why we feel peace in Nature, because we are in the Presence of things that do the exact opposite of what we do all day.
So the next question is..why?
Why do we paint our homes with the mental ideas of it “not” being a vacation?
How come we have proof that the mind tortures us but still come back with the feeling of sadness because the vacation is “over?”
How come we cant have the same energy, or state, at home that we have on vacation?
If we were to close our eyes right now and picture the woods, picture a hike, and smile, really feel the outdoors, would we not get some sort of feeling?
Why isn’t that feeling available in the middle of a New York City 200 square foot apartment?
Technically it is available because this “feeling” is always there, this is not something that materializes the second we enter a vacation, or Nature; its something that has always been there, its True Reality, but we don’t Know this.
When people speak of having a moment or becoming “enlightened”, most of it is while doing normal things. They suddenly understand what is Really going on.
Truthfully I don’t like the word enlightenment. There is no way to define it anyway, its all subjective. One persons enlightenment may not be another persons, which, in reality, gives hope to everyone.
The modern definition of the word would be someone “waking up” and realizing that they are more than their mind/ego, more than their thoughts; that they “are” what has always been there in the background, but it’s been covered up by useless mental energy. They realize that where they are standing is where they are supposed to be and any mental position beyond that is a waste of energy.
Think about it, if you were having the worst day possible and someone walked up to you with a bag of money, you would immediately feel better. But that money is just paper. Its not actually doing anything IN that moment. Its just an object. Its not that it cant do things, but right then and there….what has changed? Nothing. Your mind just made a model of happiness and all of a sudden the day became perfect.
Once again, this proves that at any moment, if we watch the mind instead of being its servant, we can be on vacation.
Anyone skilled in the mental arts knows this and can induce it on command. Now I’m not talking about living in bliss 24/7, I’m talking about taking a moment and realizing that whatever “good” feeling you had on vacation you can have right now, even for a second, but that second proves that its possible, and once you open the flood gate you just became the Master.
We LIVE in our minds. When do they ever stop? Our entire day is spent thinking with no purpose. The mind should be a scalpel, only used when needed, but when it’s used we Know it will work directly.
As many ancients have said, the mind took a long time to get to this point and if we weren’t attached to it like a dog on a leash, it could be the best tool we have available.
If you shine a flashlight on an animal that doesn’t like it, it runs away. The same goes for the mind. This is why people get so confused when it comes to teachings about the mind. They always say everything is so cryptic. It is, but its also designed to make you use the mind against itself.
Here is something none of the books say straight out: 90% of transcending your mind is just being honest about it, shining a light on it, looking for its “source”.
The second you truly Know that your mind/ego is ruining you is when most of it goes away. The mind/ego knows deep down that its not made to be in charge but it will do what it can get away with.
If you spend all day thinking that your thoughts are reality, then nothing will ever change. But notice when people have a “moment” they are never the same? This happened to me a year ago and its true.
This moment is nothing more than Knowing that something else exists besides the mind.
These moments, or simply studying people that have had them, brings us back to our topic. If this “moment” is always there, we just have to see it. We are seeing it more on vacation because we are more open to it.
Which once again leads us back to the point – we can be on vacation anywhere.
Before you ask how just take a minute to ponder what I’m saying.
Whatever you’re looking for is right here, right now, in this moment. You just have to see it, you have to Know it. Your mind/ego is telling you its not, but they are based in fear, not Truth.
The Truth is that everything we want is waiting for us to see it, but survival keeps us from seeing it. Anything that isn’t “normal” is not safe, so we avoid it.
How come all these “sages” or people from antiquity have been preaching it for years? Was every single one of them wrong?
Look at the Buddha, look at Jesus, these people have millions, if not billions of followers. Are they wrong? If you really read what they taught it’s a lot of what we read everyday. Its all out there.
This state is easily accessible when on vacation or in Nature, but the key word there is accessible.
Know that there is a such thing as feeling like you’re always on vacation. Or transcend the vacation all together and just look at it as an experience, nothing more.
Either way, know that the only thing making or “taking away” a vacation experience is your lack of awareness of what that experience really is.