Endless Satsang Press GIFTS WITH NO GIVER a love affair with truth oe!s by Nir!ala Nirmala offers these poems in gratitude for the love and grace that flow through his teacher, Neelam, and in gratitude for the blessings of truth brought to this world b! "amana 2aharshi and H.3.%. /oon-a. In addition he would like to thank 4onald &urcotte for his generous assistance in the design and production of this collection, and also /amela 3ilson for her help with editing. &hank !ou for downloading this free ebook. 5ou are welcome to share it with !our friends. &his book ma! be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If !ou en-o!ed this book, please visit http677endless- satsang.com7free to discover other works b! this author. &hanks for !our support. &his book and others b! Nirmala are also available in print on Ama'on.com. ndless #atsang ,oundation http677 endless-satsang.com +op!right 8c9 :;;; b! 4aniel rwa! 8Nirmala9 ,or more info or to purchase Nirmala(s other books on various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7free To Neela!" the blue sa##hire fla!e in !y heart 8Note6 &here is a free bonus at the end of this book of /art two of Living from the Heart b! Nirmala9 111111 $ONTENTS /<2# About the Author ,ree books b! Nirmala ,ree *onus6 xcerpt of Living from the Heart b! Nirmala 111111 GIFTS WITH NO GIVER !our hand is alwa!s in mine !our whispered endearments are m! constant companion !ou have never turned !our face from me no matter how man! times I have turned from !ou now I vow und!ing love I meet !ou in the secret places I used to hide from !ou in I hold !ou with tenderness I used to reserve for m! pain I would give !ou m! life and m! breath in an instant for !ou are m! true love the one with no form the one who has never been an!where, but right here in the singing of m! heart 111111 wh! fear this moment when no thoughts come at last I lie naked in the arms of experience wh! fear this moment when no words come at last I find rest in the lap of silence wh! fear this moment when love finds itself alone at last I am embraced b! infinit! itself wh! fear this moment when -udgment falls awa! at last m! defenses fail to keep intimac! at ba! wh! fear this moment when hope is lost at last m! foolish dreams are surrendered to perfection 111111 I ma! think I feel love but it is love that feels me constantl! testing the woven fibers that enclose and protect m! heart with a searing flame that allows no illusion of separation and as the insubstantial fabric of m! inner fortress is peeled awa! b! the persistent fire I desperatel! tr! to save some charred remains b! escaping into one more dream of passion I ma! think I can find love but it is love that finds me meanwhile, love becomes patient and lies in wait its und!ing embers gentl! glowing and even if I now turn and grasp after the source of warmth I end up cold and empt!-handed I ma! think I can possess love but it is love that possesses me and finall!, I am consumed for love has flared into an engulfing bla'e that takes ever!thing and gives nothing in return I ma! think love destro!s me but it is love that sets me free 111111 the past is long gone from here there is no wa! back how could there be the present is over too quickl! for feeble desires to have an! effect except to hide peace the future races ahead forever out of reach of dream! wishes and useless plans and !et when I rest in the endless now ever! need is satisfied in wa!s never imagined 111111 I have fallen in love with truth I onl! want to be with her I cannot stand to be apart I would gladl! go to the ends of the earth or I would never again move from this spot -ust to be sure to inhale her fragrant perfume with m! d!ing breath I have fallen in love with truth her ever! wish m! command I simpl! must obe! for she has captured m! soul and taken complete control of even m! innermost thoughts freeing me to find repose in her unadorned splendor I have fallen in love with truth with exquisite tenderness she shows me the perfection in m! ever! flaw no need for pretense for she knows ever!thing about me and !et takes me in her arms with complete abandon until onl! she remains 111111 sunlight burns shadow cools there is no difference earth is still grass is moving there is no difference wind rustles sk! is silent there is no difference spider drifts b! on a silken web and I remain there is no difference 111111 where is absence of desire once I dreamed there would onl! be bliss now I am in awe of the ordinar! now I am content with longing or no longing desires do not disturb the source of all desire life and death carr! on as the! alwa!s have and alwa!s will onl! the dreamer is gone behind the flow of imagination be!ond an! effort to be still dancing in the ebb and flow of attention more present than the breath I find the origins of m! illusions onl! the dreamer is gone the dream never ends 111111 river of voices eternal mantra of foam meaningless words swallowed in a humming roar thoughts arise and are splashed awa! river of music sacred song of motion nowhere to go but downstream actions arise and are swept awa! river of sounds laughing and cr!ing impossible to bring the depths to the surface emotions arise and are washed awa! river of silence flowing through ever!thing peace be!ond even the absence of sound nothing ever arises 111111 I don(t know what to sa! I never know what to sa! !et there is great power in not knowing knowing I can never know the m!ster! constantl! deepens overwhelming m! sense of what is the m!ster! speaks without words taking the breath awa! leaving no air for words in silence there is room for pain and bliss in unlimited measure 111111 love is a dream that does not stop when !ou awaken but constantl! surprises no strong emotions stirring up dust and clouding !our vision love is more than it seems and has a purpose !ou cannot see and !et cannot hide from love is an inescapable realit! that knocks !ou senseless takes !our breath awa! and leaves no heart beating but its own 111111 nobod! is m! lover I searched for her for lifetimes and finall! noticed she was alwa!s at m! side nothing is m! heart(s true desire but something used to alwa!s get in the wa! now emptiness fills me to overflowing as I fall into m! lover(s embrace I can love !ou or ... I can love love itself and thus love !ou trul! letting illusion rest at last has freedom spoiled me for an! other lover or is there room for the one in the infinite questions fall awa! in the embrace of m! true love -oin me in her arms and rest at last I am carried like a mother holding her infant child tender, !et firm I am provided for with caring attention that anticipates ever! need and !et I am swallowed whole b! this love 111111 no longer m! hand that moves no longer m! voice that muses no longer m! e!es that fill with tears at the simple beaut! of a ha'! afternoon who could contain this rapture who keeps this heart beating who could keep this heart from breaking at the loss of ever!thing it foolishl! held dear questions have lost their fascination longing has surrendered to fullness gratitude is enough even with the loss of ever!thing foolishl! held dear 111111 endless traces of memor! fill in empt! moments stealing m! peace and robbing m! happiness the! cannot take the real treasure be!ond peace and happiness behind ever! memor! is simple awareness of this ordinar! moment a bod! breathing a mind making comparisons and !et something more is alwa!s present this simple moment a bod! still breathing mind still chasing dreams what is the something more that fills the ordinar! with magic= the full recognition of what was alwa!s longed for in the heart 111111 through emptiness peace is born no painful labor required an eas! birth an eas! life an eas! death the peace flows from the depths the heart can onl! be broken when the ob-ect of love is gone but true love has no ob-ect through emptiness awareness is born it grows untended filling the emptiness with e!es and ears and noses and more hearts to be broken and mended broken and mended until the! can no longer be broken onl! mended through awareness birth is ended what never ends needs no beginning love is too large for a heart to hold !et the opened heart rests in this largeness until fear is also ended knowing the heart has alwa!s been unbroken 111111 no poem no song no ritual captures the simple beingness of a stone let alone a mountain of stone but let the stone write the poem let the mountain sing in !our heart let the rituals fall like gentle rain to nourish the gods inside ever! stone and ever! mountain let !our soul rise above the mountain above the rain above the clouds the -ourne! home requires no effort onl! willingness to release !our claw like grip on the familiar ground then the stone speaks unspeakable truth then the mountain fills !our heart with a silent song of peace and rituals sprout wings of surrender in !our soul and !ou arrive here 111111 like a green desert life has burst forth in this empt! container spilling over and moistening the parched soil no need to store the bount! the suppl! is endless the source is at hand the fruits of no labor within eas! reach feast on this feed the deepest longing drink until thirst is a distant memor! desire itself is consumed when the heart finds nourishment 111111 !our smile morning sun on new fallen snow melting the ic! chill unveiling a blue sapphire flame in m! heart burning memor! into ash revealing bliss !our e!es dark liquid pools of grace causing a whirlpool of emotion carr!ing me to the depths drowning me in -o! !our touch gentlest bree'e passing through skin and flesh and bone healing so complete leaving no scars where once were deep wounds !our form graceful flight in empt! sk! giving me birth naming me ruling me forever !et !our onl! command6 setting me free !our voice birdsong and distant thunder inspiring quiet so vast thinking no longer finds refuge !our love a rain swollen river overflowing its banks washing awa! all cherished possessions leaving an empt! cup full of peace 111111 I never knew tears could feel so good until I opened m! heart and found the! come from the same source as boundless laughter instead of blurring m! vision the! bring beaut! into focus instead of burning m! cheeks the! wash awa! dust! dr!ness I used to hide behind let sorrow have me now for surrender has freed me to savor the bittersweet nectar that flows in measureless abundance from within 111111 I bathe in hol! water wash m!self clean in the sacred river nothing has changed !et senses are now clear and I hear what she is sa!ing to m! heart6 give me !our foolish thoughts... !ou don(t need them an!more give me !our ever! desire... the! will never fulfill !ou give me !our deepest fears... what use have the! ever been to !ou give me !our ver! soul... !ou have alwa!s been too large for its tight confines so once again I plunge into 0anga(s embrace once for m! thoughts once more for m! desires and a third time for m! fears she has alwa!s had m! soul and once again, nothing has changed.... nothing alwa!s changes 111111 no deep rooted fears fear exists on the surface fear is the surface dive deeper and fear is swallowed in the depth of knowing nothing to fear in this moment even when a gun is held to !our head the thing most feared has not !et happened once an event has occurred fear is too late fear has no home here where all is as it is *reathe the tranquil air and discover the fragrant serenit! 111111 thoughts dance their enticing moves before m! entranced inner sight but the spell is broken when I wonder who is entranced memories beckon seductivel! with all the luster the! can manage !et their shine is swallowed in the light behind m! e!es there is one dancer I cannot resist her onl! movement is utter stillness I find no memor! in her transparent ga'e 111111 romance is a simple mistake finding true love in the arms of one other is like capturing a waterfall in a tin! cup thirst is slightl! quenched wh! not -ust step into the source romance is a beautiful distraction taking !ou be!ond !our dr! concerns !et what good is an open heart with room for onl! one when that one is gone the heart is empt! and dr! and tears fall on empt! ground romance is a single drop in a torrent of love wh! settle for one sip at a time the sweetest tasting water is deeper than the surface dive into the current and as !ou are swept awa! drink to !our heart(s content 111111 nothing seen is wasted the sight of ever! e!e increases the range of vision of that which sees ever! sight is a gem of pure perfection in the inner e!es of that which sees each viewpoint lives on forever nothing can die within that which sees look deepl! into an! e!e be!ond !our reflection come face to face with that which sees abandon appearance let go of pretense !ou are naked and exposed before that which sees do not turn awa! !our ga'e no need to hide onl! love shines in the e!es of that which sees 111111 all ma! have a mind of their own but thoughts are gifts of grace touching mind for an instant like melting snowflakes ever! place can be home but rest is a divine blessing when effort falls awa! like the setting sun the heart ma! burn with emptiness but love comes in waves smoothing awa! doubts like a tide erasing footprints in the sand 111111 in the dream I alwa!s pla! the fool in the dream m! defenses alwa!s fail in the dream m! desires are never full! satisfied in the dream m! heart is broken over and over wide awake I alwa!s pla! the fool wide awake m! defenses alwa!s fail wide awake m! desires are never full! satisfied wide awake m! heart sings its endless -o! 111111 what should we do what is the purpose of life here is the endless task to do nothing well here is !our purpose to be free of an! purpose wh! do we suffer so how can we end the pain here is the source of suffering in the desire to end suffering there is no end to pain nor an end to -o! within the soul of freedom 111111 m! longing was never deep enough to touch this empt! well m! effort was never great enough to move this unmovable mountain m! understanding was never broad enough to contain this silent truth m! dreaming was never real enough to shape this formless presence nothing is alwa!s enough when nothing is needed 111111 the m!ster! of this simple moment cannot be spoken !et all of histor! occurred to arrive here the m!ster! of the endless terrain of self cannot be mapped out countless new frontiers are born with ever! breath the m!ster! of awakening cannot be achieved all that is needed is to notice inner e!es that never close the m!ster! of sweet und!ing love cannot be understood the heart alread! knows what the mind can onl! long for the m!steries alwa!s remain untouched b! worried thought read! to welcome us home when we abandon our dreams 111111 take m! hand feel the vital grip that love lends to this flesh listen to m! voice hear the catch in m! throat of awe that can(t be expressed ga'e into m! e!es see tears welling up as I recogni'e m! long lost self in !our smile rest in m! arms find refuge in m! embrace until !ou know !ou are forever safe -oin me now here where we have never parted 111111 no word is real enough to con-ure up a crumb of bread still we tr! to find nourishment in endless musing no thought is thick enough to cushion a fall !et we pursue idle distractions while tripping on obstacles in our path there is a silent voice behind the words there is a quiet source of ever! thought listen without !our ears ponder without !our mind rest !our senses and !our sense for -ust one moment of this stillness will sustain and uphold !ou forever 111111 it is here in the breath it is here in the stillness between breaths it is here in the active mind it is here in the resting mind it is here in the dream(s panorama it is here in each moment of awakening it is here when all is well it is here when fear has nothing left to fear even then there is pure noticing even then there is no need for doing no frantic searching can find the obvious no seeking needed to find that which seeks it is here where it can never be lost or found 111111 where does willingness come from willing to do an!thing although nothing can be done willing to surrender ever!thing although nothing is mine willing to be exposed although there is nothing to hide where does lovingness come from loving the flaws in us although we are perfect loving the simplicit! although feelings are so complex loving !ou although no one is there where does gratefulness come from grateful for the laughter although the -oke is on me grateful for the beaut! although e!es cannot trul! see grateful for the bount! although hands are forever empt! 111111 truth is a living being that must be nourished and fed and loved then it grows and blossoms filling the air with pure aroma making us gasp with delight truth is a friend that asks for lo!alt! and acceptance then it enters our hearts dissolving the boundaries freeing us from loneliness truth is a demanding lover that requires constant affection and endless gifts then it rewards us with a glimpse of indescribable beaut! making us faint with satisfaction and finall! truth is an empt! hand that asks for and requires nothing 111111 the obvious signs a pla!ful smile absence of pretense disregard for convention respect for truth listen when the! speak look where the! point follow where the! lead abandon hope and faith and dreams accept nothing less than all the! have to give !our share in the infinite is infinite come claim !our birthright return to the place never left return and let the seeker rest subside in the unending peace let the seeker rest let that which !ou seek find !ou let the seeker rest the task is finished let the seeker rest let the seeker rest 111111 behind closed e!es the world falls awa! a whirl of empt! sensation with no boundar! drowning thought in a silent s!mphon! burning the bod! in painless effig! when e!es open again the world is cleansed onl! perfection remains the room is resplendent with the absence of illusion 111111 grateful for grace that fills mind with visions of the invisible grateful for time that expands to embrace stillness grateful for breath that seems to require no breather grateful for gratitude that breaks the soul wide open freeing love 111111 in a timeless instant before a painful idea appears in m! mind an ever present softness, a gentle hand reaches into m! thoughts and soothes them until the! reflect onl! empt! sk! in a timeless moment before a desire burns in m! heart an inexhaustible peace, a whispered silence quells the storm of fruitless wishing leaving me breathlessl! still in a timeless lifetime before m! stor! is wrenched from silence a wordless honest!, an unflinching ga'e shows me m! face without shadows of doubt dimming the fire within in a timeless eternit! before m! soul is torn from infinit! a passionate tenderness, an enfolding embrace leaves me alone with the source of sweetness even closer than a kiss 111111 welcome home welcome to the home never left !ou have alwa!s lived here will alwa!s live here this is home, forever... so stop now no effort is required even during all -ourne!s !ou have alwa!s been here this is home, forever... so relax now the fire is in the hearth this inner fire is keeping !ou warm the storms outside cannot touch !ou this is home, forever... so rest now ever!one loved is right here we have alwa!s lived here will alwa!s live here this is home, forever... 111111 I must follow this thought all the wa! let the mind have its wa! with me but onl! with me not with the quiet presence the voice behind all thoughts I must feel this emotion with m! whole being and as it sweeps me off m! feet en-o! the sensation of falling falling endlessl! into the arms of no lover I must, I must for this dream demands no less than total suspension of disbelief total surrender for the dream and the dreamer are one and the same I have never been more than a dream and the dreamer is awake 111111 endless poems wait to be written while all has been said before this truth cannot be spoken and so I tr! again -ust to get a little closer to the unspeakable realit! forever gentl! teasing -ust out of reach forever invisible at the edge of perception forever tranquil in the maelstrom of feelings forever present in this moment(s eternit! 111111 it doesn(t matter what I do mind -udges then -udges itself for -udging that(s -ust what minds do when I let it have its wa! it surprises me b! stopping and in the vacant interlude the mind finds no grip and falls effortlessl! into the deep pool of silence it never left 111111 rain falls within the endless awareness the sun still shines behind the clouds loss rips at the heart of love empt! peace still rests at the source of tears floods wash awa! the precious hillsides life rises to the surface for another breath of -o! thoughts race across the mind(s attention quiet still sings from the throat of nowhere pure freedom remains when all else is swallowed in the river of time 111111 mind alwa!s wins ever! thought an artful trap leading further into dreams resistance speeds the entanglement surrender, the onl! option then what surprising silence entanglement becomes a tender caress dreaming dissolves in wonder mind continues the endless game -umping in to claim peace as its own creating a new identit! to pla! with as if it could find something solid in empt! space laughter, the onl! response then identities come and go mind pla!s on the surface silence en-o!s it all 111111 all I have ever wanted is wanting all I have ever had is having all I am is all there is and wanting and having are alwa!s here in equal measure all I have ever loved is love all I have ever loved is loving all I am is love and loving is alwa!s here in infinite measure 111111 quite ordinar! desires come and go come and go never needing to be fulfilled their satisfaction made irrelevant b! the shining beaut! of a rain soaked forest the rain washing awa! thoughts of something lacking what could be lacking in this explosion of life that grows in each nook and crann! of the infinite heart the moisture of love seeping down to nourish the roots of ever! being or dancing in streams and rivers all the wa! home 111111 die a little with ever! disappointment or find what never dies and has no preferences tr! a little and keep illusion going or see the futilit! of effort and stop pushing on nothing be happ! a little now and then when circumstance allows or rest in the source of happiness now, then and alwa!s believe a little that !ou are someone or notice there is no separate one nor an! limit to being love a little with half a heart or let love have it all filling the heart to overflowing 111111 the dance of emptiness goes on and on colors, shapes and forms arra!ed in courtl! splendor on the dance floor of infinit! the patterns of the dance will h!pnoti'e if watched too closel! while the entire view ends all trances and frees the dreaming mind now -oin the dance its irresistible ebb and flow swallows !our pride in the pure -o! of moving stillness 111111 this voice is inadequate to express the abundant wonder of this endless moment this bod! is insufficient to embrace the sweet infinit! of this lover(s bodiless form these e!es are unable to capture the invisible beaut! of a cloudless sk! and !et I sing with -o!, caress the air with tenderness, allow beaut! to fill m! e!es with tears, and know that the love in m! heart is alwa!s enough 111111 truth is too simple for words before thought gets tangled up in nouns and verbs there is a wordless sound a deep breathless sigh of overwhelming relief to find the end of fiction in this ordinar! !et extraordinar! moment when words are recogni'ed as words and truth is recogni'ed as ever!thing else 111111 a quiet room empt! of profound thoughts in this moment no need to uncover deep truths the chairs do not mind the silence the rug is not burdened b! the lack of weight! ideas onl! the thought, >there must be something more> cries out in pretended anguish the chairs pa! no attention the rug onl! lies more quietl! until the pretended suffering can(t help but notice there is alwa!s more that does not need to be revealed 111111 laughter stops thought and fills the space behind the e!es with light such simple delight to find nothing is knowable I can onl! give ever!thing to this nothing and am over-o!ed to let it tear down the barricade in m! chest and steal m! heart 111111 the room is empt! except for these saddened e!es that find refuge in emptiness friends come and go lovers come and go but love itself never wavers emptiness is m! refuge emptiness is m! resting place ever!where I turn the end of boundaries awaits take sadness now take happiness also leave onl! clear vision the room is still empt! except for these opened e!es that find refuge in fullness 111111 earl! in the morning asleep in a dream onl! to awaken in another dream wh! disturb the quiet mist with imaginar! forms the heart is never fulfilled with dream lovers for there is never enough of what does not satisf! so let the mist have it all I have moistened m! cheeks long enough in this fog of dreaming I will not move again until m! true love appears when at last the sun burns awa! the ha'e no one is there what relief. . . to find her waiting 111111 mind finds a path to struggle along never reaching the goal heart knows it alread! rests in the path of something wonderful it cannot escape mind seeks to hold onto a still point of final understanding heart knows it is being held b! an unmoving whirlwind that it will never comprehend mind tries to feel safe enough to allow love out into the open heart knows love is never cautious and cannot be kept secret once all hope of refuge is abandoned 111111 simpl! resting from a full da! of resting feeling too rested to even consider an!thing more simpl! quiet sta!ing in the silent pauses no thought not even the idea6 no thought too bus! doing nothing to stop long enough to do something less 111111 excitement stirs the blood !et onl! nothingness is ever palpable imagined pleasures alwa!s fall short compared to the simple realit! this bird in the hand is worth a million in the bush sensations have their sa! promising satisfaction, as if the! could sta! long enough to fulfill endless desire !et alwa!s ending in a reverberating empt! stillness this deafening calm is cherished b! the core of being as the true source of infinit! 111111 light through a prism... a rainbow love through m! heart... the spectrum of feelings revealed red anger to blue sadness !ellow fear to black despair allow them back into m! heart and the prism works in reverse turning the most deepl! tinted pain back into pure white love 111111 foolish to chase after imaginar! pleasures the! love to dance out of reach giving onl! tastes of slight satisfaction simpler to give heartfelt attention to the source of contentment and find there is never an!thing missing in this moment then the rising water of devotion takes the weight out of these hands and dissolves the dreamlike boundaries of desire itself 111111 a world of endless contradiction sad smiles and -o!ous tears the heart is torn in two b! feelings that never fail to pull in opposite directions torn in two b! dreams that forever dance out of reach until at last the contents of the heart spill out in an endless flood of sad smiles and -o!ous tears that no longer have an! ambivalence because of their shared source 111111 words do not come there is no need for profound utterances or deep truths here is an ordinar! evening wh! spoil it with dramatic overstatement the silence amidst the noise the gem at the core of ever! experience is polished b! simple attention into shining magnificence 111111 ever! taste ever! sensation ever! possible pleasure is alread! present in the timeless awareness that is beating m! heart what use in chasing dreams that have alread! come true 111111 who would have guessed this empt! feeling in m! chest is the door to eternit! who could have known this longing is what I longed for how is it possible thoughts of freedom onl! hide freedom wh! don(t I care about answers when questions never end who would have guessed this empt! feeling in m! chest could be so full 111111 what kind of fire has no preference for fuel gladl! burning thoughts, feelings, bodies and souls !et it is a cool flame leaving the core untouched it flares whenever I give it attention or has it alwa!s been burning this brightl! 111111 sleep comes in the afternoon and then wakefulness never trul! returns drinking in rest like cool water cold outside does not touch it !awning does not disturb it thoughts of friends in pain can onl! make it more obvious here in this quiet house the totalit! comes out to pla! 111111 hot sun fills the e!es to overflowing while a cooling bree'e of freedom lifts sweat from the brow ever! experience from the past that visits now is recogni'ed for what it has alwa!s been pure food for the dreaming oneness the banquet continues with each breath I feast now even on heartbreak and loss as the! burst the limits I held so dear freeing me from resisting appetite for fear of a taste of sour fruit I also welcome the sweet dessert of quiet moments truth with no trimmings a simple meal of limitless portion ever! tender morsel of silence more filling than the last 111111 desire pure unadulterated longing tears at the chest with such force it seems the soul might leave -ust to find relief sadness bittersweet taste of emptiness weighs on the shoulders like a burden too heav! to bear surrender swallowing all pride collapsing from all effort onl! to find rest again in the depths of pain itself wh! was I running from this profound silent -o! 111111 sweeter than an! kiss the taste of eternit! lingers on m! lips tasting me onl! the slightest pause before her passion overwhelms m! feigned resistance and takes ever!thing I have to give if this lover breaks m! heart there will be no pieces left 111111 gratitude burns in the chest glad tears run down the cheeks strange illusion fills the e!es the hum of life thrills the ears no more sense of mine to senses the bod! no longer belongs to an!one leaving no one in the wa! of all a bod! can contain and all a bod! cannot touch wonder awes the mind inspiration raises the spirit silence soothes the doubts intuition speaks to the soul no more idea of someone with ideas knowing needs no knower freeing truth to expand into all mind can contain and all mind cannot even imagine 111111 when I am held in !our arms even pain is pure bliss dark thoughts of separation and lack are waves of pure pleasure unfulfilled desire is complete ecstas! thank !ou for never having let go 111111 the truth catches up with me I am not enough never have been never will be what relief to admit this finite container can never contain infinit! what -o! to find infinit! needs no container 111111 the tears flow freel! now the mind quiets and the heart breaks wide open all the hopes and dreams of a lifetime, man! lifetimes gentl! washed awa! longings that have burned in the mind for ages suddenl! flare up, but are quenched the d!ing embers of illusion gentl! washed awa! and the soul thus unburdened of pretense can barel! stand to open its water! e!es sights so intense, and !et so unreal gentl! washed awa! finall!, a voice that speaks the simplest of truth intermingled with sweet blissful sighs all the remaining fears and excitements gentl! laughed awa! 111111 the tired wanderer loses the strength to go on and in surrendering to hopelessness is surprised to finall! feel at home the hurried creek pauses in a cold, ston! pool and in sudden stillness arrives at the distant ocean the frightened warrior decides >I am read! to die> and in willing abandon becomes immortal the fitful bree'e fades to calm in the afternoon heat and in catching its breath is reborn as und!ing tradewinds the troubled philosopher finds nothing to believe in and in unexpected silence -ust smiles at the still unanswered questions the restless sea becomes smooth and mirrors the clouds and in ceasing all motion re-oins its own depths the saddened lover faces the loss of illusion once again and in d!ing to passion falls in love with love itself the wear! sun sinks into the embrace of the hori'on and in resting at last welcomes other shores to a new da! 111111 memories of true love are useless in filling empt! moments for this lover never shows the same face alwa!s a new disguise keeping mind in suspense and senses alert surrender to perpetual surprise and find her waiting once again in emptiness itself 111111 bod! is pure doing be!ond doing there is mind mind is pure knowing be!ond knowing there is heart heart is pure being mind is more than the brain the heart of being is infinitel! more than this ph!sical beating in the chest all resides in this heart the pulse of all life depends on its endless rh!thm lifting us in moments of simple awareness be!ond the limits of doing and knowing directl! to the source of our most tender feelings and be!ond even limitless love where all is merged in silent wonder 111111 the passion for freedom swallows the source of passion if twoness could lead to oneness we would all be faithful lovers no reason to dream of love for it is alread! here in the waking heart find it now in the sweet infinit! of this moment(s eternal embrace 111111 the flower can onl! wait for the bee to arrive !et passion appears from nowhere to pla! hide and seek with peace all that is gained is lost once again timeless dreams are swallowed in the !awn of an awakened sleeper !et spring rises like a phoenix from the ashes of winter all that is lost was never real is the heart big enough for the source of weeping is the heart big enough for this pure delight 111111 mind pla!s its oldest trick sighing woe is me so lonel! so lonel!....being someone what(s this a sweetness in the embrace of loneliness what deeper longing is being satisfied 111111 I alwa!s thought !ou would come to me in the shape of a beautiful lover I never dreamed !ou would steal m! heart with no shape at all I alwa!s pretended I needed arms to hold me and lips to kiss awa! m! pain !et I find fulfillment in the embrace of empt! space I alwa!s wished !ou would speak to me with words of tender sweetness now I know !ou whisper silentl! of !our und!ing love I alwa!s knew I would find !ou although I foolishl! looked with m! e!es !ou were here all along hiding -ust out of sight in m! heart 111111 a lasting marriage when devotion has claimed !ou for its own no longer an! chance to stra! a brief fling with illusion no longer satisfies the truth demands utter fidelit! with no possibilit! of divorce all pain must be faced and embraced as the true countenance of !our beloved all fear must be met and recogni'ed as the thrill of tasting the unknowable all -o! must be surrendered and acknowledged as a gift with no giver this union onl! requires telling the truth even when the truth shatters !our dreams even when the truth leaves !ou emptied out even when the truth reveals !our counterfeit existence then there is no other possibilit! than happil! ever after 111111 fire ma! burn the wood the ashes do not mind 111111 %&O'T THE %'THOR After a lifetime of spiritual seeking, Nirmala met his teacher, Neelam, a devotee of H.3.%. /oon-a 8/apa-i9. #he convinced Nirmala that seeking wasn?t necessar!@ and after experiencing a profound spiritual awakening in India, he began offering satsang and Nondual #piritual 2entoring with Neelam?s blessing. &his tradition of spiritual wisdom has been most profoundl! disseminated b! "amana 2aharshi, a revered Indian saint, who was /apa-i?s teacher. Nirmala?s perspective was also profoundl! expanded b! his friend and teacher, Ad!ashanti. Nirmala offers a unique vision and a gentle, compassionate approach, which adds to this rich tradition of inquir! into the truth of *eing. He is also the author of several books including Nothing /ersonal6 #eeing *e!ond the Illusion of a #eparate #elf. He has been offering satsang throughout the Anited #tates and +anada since :;;B. Nirmala lives in #edona, Ari'ona with his wife, 0ina %ake. Visit Nir!ala(s website" htt#"))www.en*less+satsang.,o! ,or more info or to purchase Nirmala(s other books on various ebook stores6 http677endless- satsang.com7free %bout Non*ual S#iritual -entoring with Nir!ala Nondual #piritual 2entoring with Nirmala is available to support !ou in giving attention and awareness to the more subtle and !et more satisf!ing inner dimensions of !our being. 3hether it is for a single spiritual mentoring session or for ongoing one-to-one spiritual guidance, this is an opportunit! for !ou to more completel! orient !our life towards the true source of peace, -o!, and happiness, especiall! if there is not ongoing satsang or other support available in !our location. As a spiritual teacher and spiritual mentor, Nirmala has worked with thousands of individuals and groups around the world to bring people into a direct experience of the spiritual truth of oneness be!ond the illusion of separation. He especiall! en-o!s working with individuals in one- to-one sessions because of the greater depth and intimac! possible. 2entoring sessions with Nirmala are an opportunit! for open-ended inquir!. In !our session, !ou can ask an! questions, raise an! concerns that are meaningful to !ou, or simpl! explore !our present moment experience, which is a doorwa! into a deeper realit!. "egular weekl!, biweekl!, or monthl! mentoring sessions can be especiall! transformative. &hese mentoring sessions are offered either in person or over the phone and t!picall! last an hour. 5ou can contact Nirmala at http677endless-satsang.com7arrange-a-session.htm to arrange a time for a spiritual mentoring session. At the arranged time, Nirmala will call !ou if !ou live in the Anited #tates or +anada. If !ou live in another countr!, !ou must initiate the call. FREE E+&OO.S %N/ E0$ERTS &1 NIR-%2% &he following e-books and book excerpts are available for free at http677endless-satsang.com7free Free E3,er#t" art Two of 2iving Fro! the Heart 1Note6 /art &wo is included in this ebook as a free bonus at the end of this list. ,or more info or to purchase the book on various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7living A collection of teachings about the Heart, including6 -/art one6 ,rom the Heart6 4ropping out of 5our 2ind and Into 5our *eing6 <ffers simple wa!s to shift into a more open and accepting perspective and to experience !our true nature as aware space. -/art two6 &he Heart(s 3isdom6 /oints the reader back to the Heart, the truest source of wisdom. -/art three6 %ove Is for 0iving, Not for 0etting6/oints to the true source of love in !our own heart. It is b! giving love that we are filled with love. Free Eboo4" That Is That" Essays about True Nature &hat Is &hat6 ssa!s About &rue Nature is a free collection of articles and answers to questions posed b! spiritual seekers. It captures the essence of spiritual inquir! and provides the reader with a real transmission of /resence on ever! page. It is much more than an exposition about our true nature as infinite consciousness, it offers an experiential exploration of who we reall! are, not onl! through the transmission in the words, but through the man! thoughtful questions it raises. Nirmala(s warm-hearted and accepting presence makes it possible to drop into the space he so eloquentl! describes, where peace, love, and -o! abide. ,or more info or to download this free ebook at various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7that Free E3,er#t" $ha#ter 5 of -eeting the -ystery" E3#loring the %ware resen,e at the Heart of %ll 2ife 4ownload +hapter C for free at http677endless-satsang.com7free ,or more info or to purchase the book at various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang7meeting 3hat is the source of the aliveness and awareness, which are fundamental to all life= 3hat is the nature of desire, and how do our desires relate to suffering= How do we know what is true= 3hat is the nature of belief, and how do our beliefs affect our abilit! to experience the deeper realit! that is alwa!s here= And in the midst of these m!steries, how do we live our dail! lives in the most satisf!ing and integrated wa!= Meeting the Mystery explores these questions and will help !ou discover new dimensions and possibilities in !our life. &his collection of articles and answers to questions posed b! spiritual seekers is a springboard to ever deeper inquir! into the greatest m!ster! of allD/resence, which is who !ou reall! are. Free E3,er#t" art One of Nothing ersonal6 Seeing &eyon* the Illusion of a Se#arate Self 4ownload part one for free at http677endless-satsang.com7free. ,or more info or to purchase the book at various online ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7 nothing In this concisel! edited collection of satsang talks and dialogues, Nirmala Ewelcomes whatever arises within the field of experience. In the midst of this welcoming is alwa!s an invitation to inquire deepl! within, to the core of who and what !ou are. Again and again, Nirmala points the questions back to the questioner and be!ond to the ver! source of existence itselfDto the faceless awareness that holds both the question and the questioner in a timeless embrace.F ),rom the ,oreword b! Ad!ashanti. ENothing /ersonal is an excellent book, ver! clear and warm-hearted. I love it and recommend it highl!. Nirmala is a genuine and authentic teacher, who points with great clarit! to the simplicit! and wonder of nondual presence. He invites !ou to Gsa! !es to the m!ster! of ever! moment.? 0ood stuff.F)Hoan &ollifson, Advaita teacher and author of Awake in the Heartland
***** FREE &ON'S SE$TION" 2IVING FRO- THE HE%RT 8xcerpt entitled &he Heart(s 3isdom9 Nir!ala /lease note6 &his free bonus is part two onl! of the book, Living from the Heart. ,or more info or to purchase the book on various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7free ndless #atsang ,oundation &his book consists of three related teachings about the Heart b! Nirmala. &he! were previousl! offered as downloads on www.endless-satsang.com. &he poetr! is from 0ifts with No 0iver b! Nirmala. ndless #atsang ,oundation http677www.endless-satsang.com +op!right I JKKB b! 4aniel rwa! 8aka Nirmala9 THE HE%RT(S WIS/O- &he truth is that which opens the Heart. &he capacit! to sense the truth is something we all alread! have. 3e all have a Heart that is alread! accuratel! showing us how true things are. An!thing that puts !ou in touch with more of the truth opens the Heart. &his is a literal and experiential description of truth. 3hen !our experience is bringing !ou more truth, there is a sense of opening, softening, relaxation, expansion, fulfillment, and satisfaction in the Heart. &his can be most directl! sensed in the center of the chest, but the Heart of all *eing is infinite and therefore actuall! bigger than !our entire bod!. #o this opening, softening, and expansion is actuall! happening ever!where@ we -ust sense it most clearl! and directl! in the center of the chest. 3hen !ou encounter truth, the sense of !our self opens, expands, softens, fills in, and lets go. &he me, the sense of !our self, is no longer felt to be so limited or small. It becomes more complete and unbounded. &he boundaries soften and dissolve, and an! sense of inadequac!, limitation, or deficienc! is lessened or eliminated. As a side effect of being in touch with more of the truth, !our mind gets quieter because !ou simpl! have less to think about. ven knowing a simple truth like where !our car ke!s are gives !ou less to think about. And when !ou touch upon a ver! large truth, !our mind becomes even quieter, like when !ou see the ocean for the first time6 &he truth or realit! !ou?re viewing is so immense that, at least for a moment, !our mind is stopped and becomes ver! quiet. In contrast, when !our experience is moving into a diminished or smaller experience of the truth and of realit!, the Heart contracts. &he sense of !our self gets tight, hard, contracted, and feels incomplete, bounded, and limited. It can feel like !ou are small, inadequate, or unworth!. &he smallness of the truth is reflected in the smallness of the sense of !our self. &he result of being less in touch with the truth is that !our mind gets busier as it tries to figure out what is true. ,ortunatel!, !our *eing is never diminished or contracted, onl! the sense of !our self. Hust as blocking !our view of the whole room b! partiall! covering !our e!es makes !our sense of the room smaller without actuall! making the room smaller, an idea or belief that is not ver! true is reflected in a small sense of !our self, without actuall! limiting or contracting !our *eing. &his opening and closing of the Heart in response to the degree of truth !ou are experiencing isn?t something !ou need to practice or perfect. 5our Heart has been accuratel! and perfectl! showing !ou how true !our experience has been all along. If !ou start to notice !our Heart?s openings and closings, !ou?ll discover that !ou alread! have ever!thing !ou need to determine what is true. &he Heart is the true inner teacher, the source of inner guidance we all have as our birthright. 5ou don?t need a spiritual teacher or spiritual books to show !ou what is true, -ust !our own Heart. Exercise: Take a moment to sense your Heart. Dropping into the Heart can hep you get more in touch with what is happening there. Notice if the Heart fees reativey contracte! or reativey open. "n either case, your Heart is working perfecty to show you the !egree of truth you are e#periencing in this moment. Aso notice if your Heart is e#pan!ing or contracting in this moment. The movement might $e su$te or a fairy gross contraction or rea#ation. %ou may $e a$e to notice that the Heart is aways shifting in response to every thought, feeing, !esire, an! e#perience that arises in your awareness. There is no wrong way for your Heart to respon!. "t is aways showing you the reative truth of this moment. WH%T IS THE TR'TH7 &ruth is what exists, what is here now. #o if what exists is also what is true, then there is onl! truth. 3hatever is present is trueDbut to var!ing degrees. Hust as there is no actual substance or energ! that is darkness, but -ust var!ing amounts of the energ! of light or photons, there is no falsehood or untruth, onl! var!ing degrees of the truth. 3e are alwa!s experiencing the truth. *ut because we don?t experience ever!thing in an! one moment, our experience of truth is alwa!s limited. #ometimes we experience a large amount of truthDof what is actuall! hereDand sometimes we experience onl! a small amount of what is actuall! happening, of what is true. <ur Heart?s openness or lack of openness in each moment is what shows us how much of the truth is being experienced in an! moment. 3hat about ideas that are mistaken= An idea or belief that has little or no correspondence to external realit! is going to be an extremel! small truth, so small it ma! onl! exist in one person?s mind, like the sa!ing6 EHe was a legend in his own mind.F 3hen !ou experience an erroneous idea or belief, !our Heart will contract appropriatel! to show !ou that it is a ver! small and inconsequential truth. ,or example, if !ou entertain the idea that !ou will never be happ! unless !ou have ten million dollars, !our Heart will contract appropriatel! to show !ou that it is -ust an idea. &his contraction ma! be ver! quick, so quick that it doesn?t cause !ou an! discomfort or trouble. *ut if !ou reall! believe this, then the sense of !our self will contract for as long as that idea is held. Exercise: &or 'ust a moment, ho! onto a imiting thought, such as (" wi never have enough time,) an! notice the response in your Heart. Does that thought aow you to rea# an! $e, or !oes it re*uire a kin! of effort or contraction 'ust to ho! it+ Now consi!er another thought that you fin! ri!icuous $ecause it is so untrue, such as (" wi never $e happy uness " $ecome ,resi!ent of the -nite! .tates.) Notice how it might not even $e possi$e to ho! onto this thought. "t might even make you augh. Many 'okes en! with a ri!icuousy impossi$e truth /e.g., (An! then the !og sai! to its owner, 0" guess " shou! have sai! Dimaggio instea! of 1uth23 an! the smaness of the truth of the punch ine causes you to et go of $eieving in it. Laughter is a won!erfu movement into a $igger perspective4 &houghts are realDthe! existDbut the! still exist onl! as ideas. 5ou could put all the thoughts ever thought into a pile, and the! still wouldn?t trip an!bod!. &he! onl! exist as neural firings in the brain, so to focus on thoughts exclusivel! is to severel! limit or contract !our experience of realit! and therefore the sense of !our self. In the range of ever!da! experience, our ideas have var!ing degrees of correspondence with realit!. &hose that correspond more closel! to realit! won?t contract or limit the sense of self for as long as mistaken ones. 2an! ideas are of service to our abilit! to be at ease in the world. ,or example, when !ou need to go someplace, correct ideas about how to get there allow !ou to simpl! go there and then move on to other experiences. Ideas such as these can enhance our experience, rather than limit or contract it. An idea about where something is located is, of course, not a big truth, but it?s also not usuall! experienced as a limiting one. THE HE%RT8S $%%$IT1 TO SHOW 1O' THE TR'TH All there is, is truth, and our Heart?s capacit! to reflect the degree of truth in an! experience is the wa! we recogni'e how true a particular experience is. 3hat is this Heart= 3hat is this sense of self that is ever present= It doesn?t relate to sensations in the ph!sical heart or chest. It?s a more subtle sense, at times even more subtle than the ph!sical senses, although the opening or contracting can also be experienced as relaxation and contraction in the ph!sical bod!. &he sense of !our self, the sense that !ou exist, is something more intimate than !our ph!sical experience. 3hat does it mean when !ou sa! me= 3hat are !ou referring to when !ou sa! me= &his simple fact that we are here, that we exist, is a ver! m!sterious aspect of our experience. 3hen we speak of it poeticall! to tr! to capture its essence, we call it the Heart, like when !ou know something in !our Heart or when !our Heart is touched. &his sense of !our self is a ver! alive and changing experience. At times, !our sense of me is open, free-flowing, and expanded. At other times, like when a -udgment arises, it feels small, inadequate, and deficient. In these moments, have !ou actuall! changed= Has !our bod! suddenl! shrunk= 2uch of the time this sense of me is bigger than or smaller than !our ph!sical bod!. How does that work= Have !ou ever experienced !our inner child= How can !our me be the si'e of a child when !ou are an adult= &he sense of me, the sense of self, is shifting all the time. It?s alwa!s either opening and expanding, or contracting and tightening, similar to the ongoing expansion and contraction of our breathing. Exercise: 5onsi!er the i!ea that it is $etter to $e thinner or more $eautifu or younger than you are, an! notice what happens to the sense of your sef. Does your Heart open, soften, an! e#pan!+ Does this i!ea aow you to simpy $e+ 6r !oes it tighten an! restrict the fow of your e#perience+ Then 'ust for contrast, notice what happens to the sense of your sef if you consi!er the i!ea that you are okay 'ust the way you are. "t might $e chaenging to consi!er this i!ea without other thoughts $eing triggere!, such as (7ut "2m not reay goo! enough4) "f this happens, your Heart wi show you how true this response is, not how true the origina i!ea of okayness is. 8ust as an e#periment, see if you can ho! the i!ea that you2re okay 'ust the way you are, an! then notice what happens in your Heart. Does this i!ea aow your Heart to open, soften, an! e#pan!+ Does it aow you to simpy $e+ 6r !oes it tighten an! restrict the fow of your e#perience+ &or most, the i!ea of $eing okay 'ust the way they are aows a greater ease an! funess to the e#perience of the sef. &he idea that it is better to be thinner, more beautiful, or !ounger than !ou are is simpl! a smaller truth than the idea that !ou are perfect the wa! !ou are. ven if !ou are beautiful, thin, or !oung, the idea that it is better to be that wa! can limit the sense of !our self. If it?s better to be that wa!, can !ou -ust relax and be, or do !ou need to do something to sta! that wa!= In contrast, a neutral idea that doesn?t state or impl! an!thing about !ou can be experienced neutrall! in !our sense of self. ,or example, if !ou consider the color of the ceiling in someone else?s house, this usuall! won?t open or close !our Heart because it?s not about !ou and probabl! doesn?t impl! an!thing about !ou. &he sense of !our self doesn?t shift in response to neutral ideas like this. &his opening and closing of the Heart is not a prescriptionDsomething !ou need to practice Dbut simpl! a description of what !our Heart has been doing !our entire life. 3hatever does happen in the sense of self in an! moment is entirel! correct and appropriate. It?s appropriate for !our Heart to close when someone is telling !ou a small, limiting truth@ and it?s appropriate for !our Heart to open when !ou experience a deep and profound realit!. THE HE%RT8S 9'I$.NESS 5our Heart is incredibl! quick. It instantl! knows how true something is and instantl! opens or closes to that degree. It?s so fast that it never reall! lands an!where. It is alwa!s either opening or closing in response to each moment. #o if a thought triggers another thought, the Heart will then be reflecting the relative truth of the triggered thought, not the original one. And if this triggered thought triggers another one, then !our Heart will reflect how true the latest thought is. &he openness of !our Heart can shift ver! rapidl!, as rapidl! as !ou can think another thought. I was working with a woman once who had difficult! taking time for herself. I asked her to check in her Heart to see how true it is that it is oka! to take time for herself. #he closed her e!es for a moment, and when I asked her what had happened, she said she felt an intense contraction. I was surprised, so I asked her to tell me exactl! what had happened. #he said she thought, EIt?s oka! to take time for m!self,F and then immediatel! decided this would be selfish, and her Heart contracted. Her Heart was showing her how true it was that it would be selfish to take time for herself. It was no longer reflecting the truth of the idea that it is oka! to take time for herself. In the quickness of our usual rapid-fire thinking, it can be trick! to determine what !our Heart is actuall! responding to. &herefore, when checking in !our Heart to see how true something is, it is helpful to slow down and take each thought or each possibilit! one at a time. Exercise: Take a moment to think a$out a situation in your ife. Notice if there are any famiiar or recurring thoughts a$out that situation. ,ick one of the main i!eas, $eiefs, opinions, or attitu!es you have a$out that situation or a$out someone or something reate! to it. Now 'ust ho! that thought genty in your awareness. 1epeat it to yoursef a few times, an! as you !o, notice what happens in your Heart. Does it open an! soften, or is there a kin! of tightness or har!ness that starts to form in your awareness+ 1emem$er, either way your Heart is working perfecty to show you how true the thought is. .ee if you can ho! that one simpe thought for a moment, amost ike a chi! competey engrosse! in whatever he or she is ooking at. Ho!ing a thought for a moment gives you a cearer picture of the reative truth of that thought, as in!icate! $y your Heart2s response whie you are focusing competey on it. "f your min! wan!ers an! you fin! yoursef having secon! an! thir! thoughts, or even a whoe conversation with yoursef a$out the situation, that2s fine. 8ust note that the Heart has move! on aong with your thoughts an! is now showing you the truth of the thought you are having in this moment. THE RO2E OF :'/G-ENTS Not onl! can an initial thought or experience trigger other thoughts, the opening or closing of !our Heart can itself trigger a thought or -udgment that results in the further closing of the Heart and a sense of !our self as limited or small. If !ou are a spiritual seeker and have come to believe that it is better for !our Heart to be open than closed, then a sudden contraction of the sense of !our self can trigger a further -udgment related to not wanting to be contracted, which closes the Heart even further. &est it for !ourself6 Exercise: "f you ho! the i!ea that you shou!n2t fee contracte!, !oes your Heart open+ Does that i!ea aow you to 'ust $e+ 6r !oes it tighten or imit the sense of your sef+ The i!ea that you shou!n2t fee contracte! is a imiting i!ea an! usuay fees tight or imite! $ecause it is simpy not very true. &here is a certain kind of logic to this c!cle of -udgment, even though it results in a restricted sense of self6 3hen the sense of !our self contracts, !our awareness also contracts and becomes limited, and !our unawareness expands. 3hen !our field of awareness becomes smaller, the rest of realit! lies outside !our awareness in that moment. &he logic of -udgment is based on this simple effect. As a result of a -udgment, !ou become less aware of !our experience and temporaril! less aware of the initial discomfort that triggered the -udgment. &herefore, !ou get some relief from it. &he logic of -udgment is based on this temporar! relief provided b! the reduction in !our awareness. However, the flaw in this logic is that now that contraction of !our awareness must be maintained or !ou will become aware again of the initial discomfort. 2aintaining a contraction is, itself, uncomfortable. &r! making a tight fist and holding it for several moments. It will quickl! begin to feel uncomfortable. #imilarl!, when !ou keep !our awareness contracted to avoid an uncomfortable sensation, this generates even more discomfort. #o when a c!cle of -udgment is triggered, the sense of !our self and !our awareness keep getting smaller as !ou tr! to avoid the ever-increasing discomfort caused b! this same contraction of !our sense of self and !our awareness. &his often continues until !ou are exhausted b! the effort involved in maintaining vigilance against !our discomfort, and !ou simpl! let go of an! -udgment. &he good news is that whenever !ou are not contracting !our sense of self through small truths, such as -udgments, the sense of !our self naturall! relaxes and opens. An open, spacious sense of self is the natural resting state of !our *eing, -ust as !our muscles naturall! lengthen and expand in the absence of an! effort to contract them. #o when a c!cle of -udgment wears !ou out, there is sometimes a profound release of the small sense of self and the contraction of awareness. In light of this, it?s not surprising that man! reali'ations and spiritual awakenings occur immediatel! following an extremel! contracted and painful experience. 2ore good news is that the tendenc! to -udge is not !our fault. 5ou were taught to do it b! those who raised !ou, who were taught b! those who raised them. &he! did this because it was the best wa! the! knew to manage their own discomfort. 3hen parents are confronted with the unlimited *eing of a two !ear-old 8and we all know how big that can be9, the! often resort to the best means the! know for giving that two !ear-old a more limited sense of his or her *eing6 -udgment. 3e eventuall! learned to do this for ourselves. 3e learned to -udge ourselves and hold limiting ideas about ourselves to get along with the people around us, especiall! those who clothed and fed us. Hudgment is -ust one of the man! wa!s we limit our experience of the truth and thereb! limit our experience of our self. <ther culprits are our ideas, beliefs, opinions, concepts, doubts, fears, worries, hopes, dreams, desires, and our usual knowledge. Hudgment is -ust one of the more effective wa!s of limiting the sense of our self because it alwa!s implies something limiting about the self. Exercise: Make a ist of some of the 'u!gments you have a$out yoursef, ife, an! other peope. ,ick ones that you reay $eieve. Now rea! through your ist severa times an! notice the sense you have of yoursef as you !o this. Does ho!ing these 'u!gments give you a sense of yoursef as someone in particuar, someone who has a very !efinite perspective on ife+ Do you fee more connecte! with others an! with the wor!, or !o you fee more separate an! apart from the wor!+ 9ven if that separate sense of sef fees superior $ecause it has the right 'u!gments, how $ig or open an! rea#e! is your sense of sef when you have these 'u!gments+ &his implied someone in all of !our -udgments is alwa!s a small someone, someone who is limited and therefore vulnerable to something bad or who needs to feel superior or for something good to happen to feel better or even survive. &he ultimate truth is that !ou are unlimited. 5our *eing can never be harmedDor benefitedDb! an! experience. <nl! a smaller 8less true9 idea of !our self can seem to be harmed or benefited. OSITIVE :'/G-ENT 3hat was said about negative -udgments applies to positive -udgments as well. 3hen some experience triggers a positive -udgment, the sense of our self contracts -ust as much as when we have a negative -udgment. &est this for !ourself6 Exercise: Think a$out something you have a very strong positive 'u!gment of, ike your favorite movie or something you have !one that you are very prou! of. Notice what happens to the sense of your sef when you have a positive thought a$out this. "f you fin! yoursef thinking something ike, (Great4 This is won!erfu:wait unti " te my frien!s4) notice what happens to the sense of your sef. %ou may $e surprise! to fin! that your Heart isn2t as open as it was $efore the positive 'u!gment. A $ig truth aows you to rea# an! 'ust $e however you are an! to change in any way that naturay happens. A positive i!ea a$out your sef impies that you have to continue to $e a certain way to $e okay. Implied even in positive -udgments is an idea of !ourself as someone who is limitedD someone who needs good things to happen to be oka! and feel adequate. &here?s nothing wrong with something good happening@ it?s -ust that even !our positive -udgments are small truths that are based on a small idea of !our self. 5our Heart will contract -ust as much for a small positive truth as for a small negative truth. ,ortunatel!, there?s nothing !ou need to do about a small truth be!ond recogni'ing it?s small. *esides, even small truths can be useful. #o there is no need to tr! to rid !ourself of them, which isn?t even possible. #eeing that the! are small immediatel! puts them in perspective. &hen, when the! arise, the! are seen as no big deal. 5ou might still think them, but no matter how often the! arise, !ou recogni'e them as relativel! unimportant. 5ou have probabl! experienced this abilit! of a bigger truth to displace or put in perspective a smaller truth. ,or example, if !ou or someone !ou love is suddenl! diagnosed with a life- threatening disease, what reall! matters becomes obvious. &he truth, or realit!, of a possible death makes man! other truths appear small and insignificant in comparison. 5ou don?t need to wait for a big truth to hit !ou over the head to put !our experience in perspective. #impl! notice how true each thought is. xperiences come in all different si'es. 5ou are alwa!s moving in and out of different degrees of truth, and !ou are naturall! able to discriminate how true each one is. 5ou can determine how trul! important something is -ust b! noticing the content of !our thought and the sense of self it results in. If it opens and relaxes the sense of !our self, !our Heart, then it is trul! important. If it contracts or limits the sense of !our self, !our Heart, then it?s not. %22 TR'TH IS RE2%TIVE &ruth is all there is. 5et our experience of truth, of realit!, is alwa!s partial. "ight now !our field of vision is partial. 5ou can onl! see what is in front of !ou, not what?s behind !ou. #imilarl!, !our Heart is alwa!s showing !ou the degree of truth of the experience !ou are having in the moment. 5our view or range of experience is alwa!s opening and closing, filling in the blanks in !our experience or forgetting or ignoring parts of !our experience. 3henever !ou focus on a particular aspect of experience, !ou necessaril! stop noticing other aspects. As a result, an! particular perspective is either smaller and more limited, larger and more complete, or roughl! the same degree of completeness as another perspective. &he openness of the sense of !our self is alwa!s relative. *ecause truth is alwa!s relative, an! particular truth could be experienced as an opening or a closing of !our Heart. ven a small experience of the truth ma! be larger than the experience !ou were -ust having and therefore will be experienced as an opening or relaxation in !our Heart. #imilarl!, even a fairl! large truth can feel limiting if !ou move into it from an even larger, more spacious experience. ,or example, if !ou?ve lived most of !our life pa!ing attention to !our thoughts and ideas, then the first time !ou are put in touch with !our emotions will be experienced as an expansion of consciousness. It will feel like !ou?ve discovered a new, rich dimension of !our *eing. However, if !ou?ve had man! even larger experiences of much more expanded states of *eing, possibl! through spiritual practices, then moving into a strong emotion like anger, sadness, or excitement ma! be experienced as a contraction or diminishment of the sense of !our self. &he same truth, the same experience of emotion, can be experienced as either an opening up in !our Heart or a closing down. It -ust depends on where !ou move into the emotion from and also how open or expanded the sense of !our self generall! is. &he difference can be slight between two experiences with similar degrees of truth or unimaginabl! huge. &he true dimensions of !our *eing are limitless. 5ou are ever!thing, and when !ou directl! experience this completeness, the sense of self can be equall! vast and limitless. 1O'R ERFE$T WIS/O- 5our Heart is the wisest thing in the universe. &he sense of !our self is alwa!s perfectl! and accuratel! showing !ou how true things are, how complete !our perspective is in ever! moment. ven when !our Heart is contracted because of some deepl! conditioned idea !ou are holding, it is appropriatel! and accuratel! wise in its contraction. No one has more capacit! to distinguish how true things are than an!one else. No one is wiser than !ou, and no one is less wise than !ou. #ince no one else is able to experience !our individual perspective, no one else can ever be more of an expert on !our experience than !ou. Hust as someone else can?t eat and digest !our breakfast for !ou, others can?t experience and digest !our perspective of the truth in each moment. If no Heart is an! wiser than an! other, perhaps that?s because there is -ust one Heart that functions through man! bodies and !et is not contained in an! of these particular expressions. 3hat !ou are is this one Heart of *eing. #ince we are all equall! endowed with the wisdom of the Heart, there is no need to give awa! our authorit! to another. &here is nothing better than !our own Heart at discriminating how true something is for !ou right now. In addition, the thoughts that cause contraction are not !our fault. 5our thoughts and beliefs were passed on to !ou b! others, who learned them from others. If !ou trace each conditioned thought or reaction back to its source, !ou?ll discover that all limiting beliefs and ideas are shared among us all. If an!one is to blame for them, it?s all of us put together. Another wa! !ou could sa! this is that the whole of *eing is the source of ever!thing, even the limited wa!s we have of experiencing that *eing. 3ith this understanding, the possibilit! exists to simpl! trust !our Heart, no matter how big or small the truth is that !ou are experiencing. 5ou can trust !our Heart when it opens, and !ou can trust it when it closes. 5our Heart is the wisest and most trustworth! thing there is. In the deepest spiritual traditions, the true teacher, or satguru, is seen to be within each of us. 5our true teacher is this sensitive and accurate Heart, which expands and contracts as it senses the endless folding and unfolding of life. %21ING 1O'R HE%RT8S WIS/O- *ecause the Heart responds so quickl! to what?s happening now. . . and now. . . and now, it?s helpful to slow down and take !our experience one thought or response at a time if !ou wish to find out how true it is. Hust as !ou can more full! appreciate a meal if !ou take each bite and savor it, the possibilit! exists to take time to full! sense a thought that arises. ,or example, let?s sa! !ou remember a disappointing experience and then the thought arises, E2! life will never be good enough.F *efore !ou rush into thinking of all the wa!s this is true or, alternativel!, defending !ourself with reasons wh! it isn?t true, !ou might take a moment to sense directl! how this thought affects the sense of !our self. &hen, when !ou know for !ourself how true this thought is all b! itself, it ma! be obvious that it is neither completel! true nor completel! false. If it is sensed directl! as a relativel! small truth about !our life, it ma! not even be necessar! to defend against it with an opposing thought. #ensing how true an initial thought is in this wa! can reduce the importance of an! ensuing thoughts. Another practical wa! of exploring and utili'ing !our Heart?s truth-sensing capacit! is to check in !our Heart when making a choice. *! doing that, !ou can find out what choice is the truer one. However, when it comes to relative choices 8e.g., what to do, what to eat, where to live, who to marr!, etc.9, the differences ma! be slight in !our Heart. ,rom the ultimate perspective, the practical choices we make in life ma! not be that important. #o it ma! take a while to learn to accuratel! sense the differences in how true various choices are. *ut -ust as a wine connoisseur can learn to discriminate the subtlest difference in flavors, !ou can learn to sense even ver! small differences in how true a choice is relative to another. 3hen checking in !our Heart for the truth about some choice, it?s helpful to consider as man! choices as possible. &he truest one ma! be somewhere in between the possibilities !ou?ve considered, or it ma! be something completel! different. ,or example, a friend was torn between her desire to go permanentl! on spiritual retreat and her desire to sta! with her husband. Neither option felt completel! true in her Heart. 3hen I suggested that ma!be she could sta! with her husband but still go awa! for long periods of time on spiritual retreats, her Heart opened, as she sensed this was the truest wa! to respond to both desires. Exercise: Think of a choice you are consi!ering in your ife. "t might $e $est to pick something where you have a !ecision to make that isn2t too important an! not too imme!iate so that you can reay e#pore the process of comparing the truth of your choices. Make a ist of possi$e choices you cou! make, an! $e sure to incu!e some that are in $etween or competey !ifferent from the first two options you come up with. Now reay take some time with each choice an! sense your Heart2s response as you ho! in min! the i!ea of making that choice. Again, keep it simpe, an! 'ust picture having ma!e the choice, an! et go of secon!ary consi!erations, such as pros an! cons an! further ramifications. Notice whether consi!ering a particuar choice resuts in a spacious, easefu sense in your Heart or a contracte! sense of your own sef. There is no right or wrong way for your Heart to respon!. 8ust notice the way it !oes respon!. "ncu!e the thought that it !oesn2t matter what you choose. "n many cases, the $iggest truth a$out your choices is that what you choose !oesn2t reay matter. "f that is the case, then that thought or perspective wi give you the most room to 'ust $e, an! the argest sense of yoursef. ,inall!, when considering the relative truth of various possible choices, it is also helpful to check in !our Heart several times over a period of time. speciall! when making ma-or life choices, checking numerous times before acting is more likel! to result in a more satisf!ing outcome. ,or example, if !ou want to know if it?s true to sta! in an intimate relationship, !ou might find a different result right after an argument than right after !our lover has surprised !ou with a gift. It?s a bigger perspective to find out what is truest over the long term than -ust what is true in the present moment. &he Heart is wise and accurate and can show !ou how true it is to sta! or go, how true it is to bu! a house, how true it is to take a new -ob, even how true it is to eat another cookie. *ut it also can show !ou much more of the possibilities inherent in this life and much more of the truth of !our *eing. In relation to these bigger truths, the practical questions of !our life turn out to be relativel! small matters. Asing !our Heart onl! to know things like what to do or where to live is like using a global positioning satellite s!stem to find !our wa! from !our bedroom to !our bathroom. It utili'es onl! a small part of !our Heart?s capacit!. However, following !our Heart da! in and da! out can put !ou in touch with the richness of the functioning of this dimension of !our *eing. Along the wa!, !ou ma! also find !our Heart opening in response to the bigger truths and deeper movements of *eing that touch ever! life. Exercise: &or a moment, sense if there is any ,eace here. Don2t worry how much or if there2s ony a itte $it of ,eace here right now. 8ust notice if you can sense any ,eace at a. Now focus your attention on that ,eace that is here $eneath the fow of thoughts or feeings. Give yoursef permission to reay sense the nature of ,eace an! the !eep stiness in that e#perience. As you touch ,eace with your awareness, notice if there reay is any $oun!ary to the stiness at the core of this moment. Don2t worry a$out !oing this right, $ut 'ust taste as much of the ,eace that is here right now as you can. Now notice the sense of your own 7eing. &ocusing on ,eace may have rea#e! or opene! your sense of sef profoun!y or 'ust a itte. Notice if this has softene! or e#pan!e! your Heart. THE -%N1 SI;ES OF TR'TH &he deepest and largest truths don?t fit into words or language. 3hile words can act as pointers, !our Heart will open the widest and the sense of !our self will feel the most complete and full in response to the direct experience of the vast dimensions of *eing that are be!ond thoughts and beliefs. As alwa!s, !our own Heart is the truest guide to these larger dimensions and possibilities, but the reason the sense of !our self expands when !our view of the truth is more complete is because !ou are the truth. 5ou are ever!thing that exists. 3hen !ou are experiencing more of the truth, !ou are experiencing more of !our self. &he truth comes in man! different si'es. <ne of the primar! wa!s !ou create and maintain a small sense of self is through a profound involvement with thought. 3e?ve been taught from an earl! age to think, conceptuali'e, and name things. *ecause there is such a huge momentum to thinking, moments without a thought happening are rare. &hinking is such a prevalent part of our moment-to-moment experience that man! of us live mostl! in our minds. Adding to this momentum of thought are strongl! held assumptions and beliefs about the world and !ourself, man! of which are unconscious. &his deeper current of thought also serves to create and maintain a small, separate sense of self. As a result of all of our conscious thinking and unconscious assumptions and beliefs, most people live in awareness of a ver! small part of realit!, most of which onl! exists in their mind. &his momentum of small truths is reflected in a momentum to !our small sense of self. &his leads to the question of what to do about it. Anfortunatel!, an! idea about what to do about it is -ust thatDan idea, another thought. However, what is possible is to simpl! be aware of the prevalence of thought in !our experience. &his awareness is not reall! something !ou do, as awareness is a fundamental qualit! of what !ou are. Hust as !ou don?t need to do an!thing to have shoulders, !ou don?t need to do an!thing extra right now to be awareDand to be aware of !our thinking. Exercise: ;hat is thinking ike right now+ %ou can notice not ony the content of your thoughts, $ut aso the rhythm an! spee! of your thoughts, the e$$ an! fow of thought. ;here !o thoughts come from an! where !o they go+ ;hat happens if there is a pause $etween thoughts+ How is the sense of your sef affecte! $y this fow of thought+ Do you nee! to think in or!er to $e+ Does thinking give your sense of sef a famiiar smaness an! sense of $oun!aries+ "s it uncomforta$e to not know something in this moment, to not have a thought+ The invitation is to 'ust notice thought an! its effect on the sense of your sef. Any i!ea of changing your e#perience is 'ust another thought that wi have a simiar effect on the sense of your sef. ;hy not simpy fin! out what thought is ike+ 9#perience for yoursef how true each thought is. There2s nothing wrong with sma truths:they2re 'ust sma. ;hat if a of your thinking is not that $ig a !ea+ ;hat if your thinking is 'ust not a very arge container for the truth+ Thinking can ony contain a sma amount of the truth. There is no nee! to get ri! of thought. 6nce you e#perience that thought is not a very arge container for the truth, this gives way to another *uestion< ;hat ese is here $esi!es thought+ ;hat ese is true+ As you sense the prevaence of thought an! possi$y even the !eeper current of unconscious $eiefs an! assumptions, you may aso $egin to sense what surroun!s an! contains thought. Drop into your Heart an! notice the space a aroun! your thoughts. ;hat effect !oes !ropping into your Heart have on your sense of sef+ THE /EEER $'RRENTS OF THO'GHT 2an! beliefs and assumptions shape and limit our experience of truth and the sense of our self even when we aren?t consciousl! thinking them. &he! are ideas and concepts that are so deepl! believed that the! aren?t even questioned, such as E%ife is shortF or E&here?s never enough time.F ,urthermore, these beliefs and assumptions generate other thoughts, which add to the momentum of thinking and keep !our Heart, the sense of !our self, small and contracted. &wo deeper currents of thought strongl! shape the experience of !our self. &he first is the belief in a direction to !our life. Asuall! this direction is toward more, different, or better experiences. *ut sometimes it?s framed in opposite terms as not less, the same, or not worse. In either case, there is a deepl! held belief that life should move or change in a particular wa!. <f course, things do change, which keeps the hope alive that the! will change in the wa! !ou want them to. &his deepl! held assumption that things could or should be better implies a small you. &he directionalit! of this assumption is based on a reference point6 &hings should be betterDfor you. If things should be better for you, then you must be lacking something. &his assumption and the thinking it generates help maintain a small, contracted sense of !our self because that is the implied reference point of the assumptionDa small you. &he second, even deeper and less conscious current of thought that serves to maintain a contracted sense of self is the assumption that ph!sical experience is the most real. &his is such a widel! held assumption that an! other orientation could get !ou labeled cra'!. ven ver! sensitive and spirituall!-oriented people who have had ver! real and profound experiences of other dimensions are often pulled b! this assumption back toward the ph!sical into a more limited experience of truth and their own *eing. &here are man! dimensions to realit! besides the purel! ph!sical, and as a human being, !our experience includes all of these dimensions. &here are the dimensions of thought, emotion, and intuition. And be!ond those, are dimensions of pure presence and spacious *eing. 2an! of these dimensions are more real than even ph!sical realit!. xperiences of this transcendent realit! give !ou a transcendent sense of !our self that is much fuller and more complete than the purel! ph!sical sense of !our self. THE THO'GHT TH%T 1O' %RE THE &O/1 &he idea that !our life could or should be better and the idea that ph!sical realit! is the most real animate an even more basic assumption6 that !ou are the bod!. 5our sense of !our self, and therefore the experience of !our *eing, is most often shaped and limited b! !our identification with the bod!, which results in the ongoing question, How is it going for the bod!= Is it better, more pleasurable, or at least not painful right now for the bod!= &his orientation toward the bod! isn?t bad, but it is a limited wa! of experiencing realit! and !our self. It?s like watching onl! one channel on !our television6 It?s something, but it?s limited. &his limitation can affect ever! experience !ou have. *! focusing on how it?s going for !our bod!, !ou can miss some of the richest and most profound possibilities in life. &he biggest truths ma! not even be particularl! comfortable for !our bod!. /rofound states of love and bliss can be exhausting from a purel! ph!sical perspective. &he deepest reali'ations of the nature of !our *eing can be so vast and expansive as to feel like a death for !our identit! as the bod!. Asking what !ou can do about this limitation will onl! reinforce it. Another possibilit! is to explore the sense of limitation that identification with the bod! gives to !our awareness and !our Heart. Exercise: ;hat is it ike to $eieve you are the $o!y right now+ Does this aow your Heart to open an! rea#+ 6r !oes it resut in a sma sense of your sef+ There is nothing wrong with sma truths= they 'ust aren2t very compete. %ou !on2t have to get ri! of or change sma truths. 8ust recogni>ing they are sma is enough. ;ith the recognition of the incompeteness of i!entifying with the $o!y, a arger curiosity often arises< ;hat ese is true a$out you+ Are you more than the $o!y+ ;hat other channes are there on this teevision cae! your ife+ ;hat ese is going on here+ THE SENSE OF ME *eneath the assumption that !ou are the bod! is an even deeper one. &he idea that !ou are the bod! is predicated on the assumption that you exist, that !ou are a me:a separate, individual self. &he most intimate sense of !our self is often this sense of me, which is a limited and incomplete sensing of !our self. It doesn?t include the far reaches of !our greater *eing. &his sense of a separate me is not bad or wrong@ it?s -ust limited and incomplete. In the midst of a ver! profound and large experience of truth, the sense of !our self can become so large and inclusive that it no longer has much of a sense of being your *eing. 3hen !ou awaken to the oneness of all things, the sense of a me can thin out quite dramaticall!. If you are the couch !ou are sitting on, the clouds in the sk!, and ever!thing else, then it simpl! doesn?t make sense to call it all me. If it is so much more than what !ou usuall! take !ourself to be, then the term me is -ust too small. In a profound experience of truth, the sense of me softens and expands to such a degree that there is onl! a slight sense of me as a separate self remaining, perhaps -ust as the observer of the vastness of truth. *e!ond these profound experiences of the truth, is the truth itself. 3hen !ou are in touch with the ultimate truth and the most complete sense of *eing, there is nothing separate remaining to sense itselfDthere is no experience and no experiencer, no Heart, and no sense of self. &here is onl! *eing. &he experience of bigger truths and even the biggest truth doesn?t obliterate !our capacit! to experience a small truth and therefore a separate self. *ut with man! experiences of shifting in and out of a small sense of self, this separate self feels more like a suit of clothes !ou can take on and off than like something permanent. As !ou move in and out of man! dimensions of *eing and even be!ond experience itself, the boundaries between all of these dimensions become ver! permeable and inconsequential. It turns out that these boundaries are -ust thoughts an!wa!. &he! don?t actuall! separate an!thing. &he question isn?t how to get rid of a small sense of self, but what is the sense of !our self like= Is it fixed or is it constantl! shiftingDopening and closing, expanding and contracting, tightening and loosening, and sometimes even disappearing altogether= &he sense of a separate self can therefore be loosel! held even though it continues to contract appropriatel! when a small truth is triggered. 3hat is !our sense of self like right now= 3hat is true right now= 5our Heart is the onl! guide !ou need for exploring even the biggest truths. THERE IS ON21 2OVE An!thing !ou or an!one else has ever done has been the movement of love. 3hat shapes the movement of love is the sense of me. 3hat we are alwa!s doing is taking care of the self, whether it is a small sense of self or a more expanded one. 3henever that sense of self is contracted and small, we take care of that me. And when it?s expanded, we take care of that larger sense of self. All we have ever done is tried to take care of the self in the best wa! we know how, which is alwa!s a loving act. *ut, of course, when our actions onl! take care of a contracted me, the! don?t take care of or take into account other things. ,or example, we might take care of our taste buds b! eating tast! foods, while ignoring our bod!?s need for nutrition. <r if we are so identified with a feeling that all we can do is take care of it, we ma! not be taking care of our whole *eing. &aking care of onl! the taste buds or onl! the emotions is still a loving act, but because it is such a narrow wa! of loving ourselves, it can be neglectful or even harmful to other aspects of our *eing or to others. If we see love in ever!thing we ma! be afraid that we will allow rape, murder, and other horribl! narrow wa!s of taking care of a small separate sense of me to continue. 5et in discovering that there is onl! love, the surprising thing is that our actions naturall! become more loving. If we see murder as an evil that needs to be abolished without also seeing its basic loving nature, that is when it makes sense to murder. If murder is reall! bad, then it makes sense to kill someone who has murdered someone else. <r it even makes sense to kill someone before the! kill us. It makes sense to bomb a countr! before it attacks us. *ut when we see the loving nature even of murder, we can respond to it in a wa! that doesn?t perpetuate it, even as we work to prevent it. It is possible to recogni'e the love that is alread! inside of us and alread! acting through all of us. It is in recogni'ing that love that the possibilit! exists for even greater recognition of love. +ontraril!, when we re-ect an! aspect of loveDwhich includes an!thing that?s happeningDthe more contracted our experience will be and the less completel! loving our actions will be. #o in condemning, we actuall! become more like what we condemn. #eeing the beaut!, perfection, and love within something is what allows it to transform, to move into a more complete wa! of loving. 3hen the sense of our self expands, our actions aren?t reall! an! more loving@ the!?re -ust more loving toward a more complete view of the self. 3hen our loving actions take care of a larger sense of ourselves, we appear more saint-like because the! are taking into account ever!bod!, since we recogni'e that we are ever!bod!. &hese actions are still self-gratif!ing, but the! are gratif!ing to a much broader sense of self. 3hen the awareness of self becomes even more complete, !ou come to see that there is ultimatel! nothing that needs to be changed or fixed. ver!thing is alread! fine. &he world alread! is full of love. 5our actions and ever!one else?s are alread! loving. 3hatever *eing is doing is *eing taking care of itself. &hat is all it ever does or ever has done. &his leads to an appreciation of ever!thing !ou do and ever!thing that happens, an appreciation of the wa! *eing moves ever! time it moves. %ove is pouring out ever!where. &here?s no evidence of the lack of love. 3hat a surprise to discover this in a world that seems so full of problems and things that need to be changed. TR'E FREE/O- In this culture where more is felt to be better, there is often an implication that bigger truths are better. If !our Heart can open and expand, then it ma! seem best to find a wa! to open the darn thing all the wa! and keep it that wa!. However, if !ou check in !our Heart right now as !ou hold the idea that it?s better to open !our Heart and keep it that wa!, !ou ma! be surprised to find that this idea actuall! feels tight or limiting. It?s simpl! not the biggest truth or the most freeing possibilit!. An even bigger, freer possibilit! is to allow the sense of !our self to be whatever si'e it is. If !our Heart is alwa!s accuratel! and appropriatel! opening or contracting to show !ou how true each moment?s perspective is, then the best result of experiencing a small truth is for !our Heart to contract and show !ou how small that truth is. It can be as liberating to find out that a small truth is small as to find out that a vast dimension of *eing is profoundl! real. In both cases, the nature of truth has been more full! illuminated. <nce !ou reali'e !ou can trust !our Heart -ust the wa! it is right now, whether it is open or closed, !ou can -ust rest within the folding and unfolding of all perspectives. 5ou don?t do an!thing to get rid of the small perspectives, which -ust arise out of the conditioned parts of !our *eing, and !ou don?t do an!thing to bring on the bigger perspectives, which -ust arise out of the unconditioned parts of !our *eing. 5ou -ust rest in the moment as it is. &here is never a need to have a bigger or smaller experience, as *eing is still *eing even in the small experiences. Its nature is the same, and part of its nature is this capacit! to discriminate how trueDhow completeDa particular perspective is. &he small experiences of *eing are still an expression of *eing?s ultimate nature, -ust as a single drop of water is still wet. #piritual seekers often think of liberation as sta!ing in an expanded experience of truth. 3hile expanded experiences are freeing 8especiall! when !ou?ve been contracted for a long time9, the abilit! to move in and out of man! different perspectives is an even greater freedom. 3alls are onl! a problem when !ou don?t know where the door is and therefore can?t get in or out. &rue freedom is when !ou can move in and out of identification with a small sense of !our self. 5ou don?t have to take m! word for it. ,ind out what happens in !our Heart if !ou -ust let the opening and closing of !our sense of self be -ust the wa! it is right now. 4oes this allow !our Heart to open= 4oes it allow !ou to -ust be for a moment= WHO %RE 1O'7 3hat is this *eing that !ou are alwa!s sensing to some degree= /erhaps the most surprising discover! is that the sense of !our self is not showing !ou an!thing about !our true nature. A limited sense of !our self is never about who !ou reall! are. It?s not indicative of who !ou are but, rather, shows !ou how true !our conditioning is. "ecogni'ing this can turn !our world inside out. &he sense of !our self is being shaped and limited b! the unfolding of conditioned beliefs and ideas@ it?s not a reflection of !our true nature. &his can be a tremendous relief. All of !our experiences of limitation, incompleteness, contraction, insufficienc!, or unworthiness have nothing to do with !ou. Instead, the! are accurate reflections of the limitations, incompleteness, smallness, insufficienc!, and unworthiness of !our ideas, -udgments, beliefs, concepts, fears, doubts, worries, hopes, dreams, and desires. &he! have nothing to do with the nature of !ou. &he most intimate experience of !our selfD!our HeartDis ultimatel! never a compete experience of !our true self. It is alwa!s a reative experience of the functioning of that true self as it determines the reative degree of truth in the particular content of !our experience. &his brings us back to the question6 3ho or what is the *eing that !ou are alwa!s sensing to a greater or lesser degree= &his question points to what is completel! be!ond wordsDand even be!ond experience. ven the most expanded e#perience of *eing is still not free of this shaping or limitation. In this case the question itself points to a bigger truth than an! answer, even an experiential one. 3hat happens in !our Heart when !ou simpl! hold the question, 3ho am I or what am I= ven if !our Heart is open, !ou can still wonder who or what is experiencing the openness. &he ultimate truth will never be captured in an experience because it?s simpl! too big to fit in even the most expanded experience. &his provides a clue to the question, 3ho are !ou= &he reason an expanded sense of !our self never quite contains the whoe truth of !our *eing is that !ou are ever!thing that exists. /erhaps !ou can rest now from the dream of experiencing the ultimate truth. &he truth is not dependent in an! wa! on !our experience of it. It is and alwa!s has been functioning -ust fine through what !ou call !our experience of a self, without ever being contained in that experience. &he sense of !our self, whether it is expanded or contracted, is a functioning expression of a much larger *eing that can never be full! captured in experience. /erhaps the e#perience of truth doesn?t need to be captured. &ruth is something we can also unfold graduall! bit b! bit like a meal or novel that we slowl! savor rather than rush through. 3e are and alwa!s have been reali'ing the truth even when we experience onl! a small part of it. &he richness of *eing is also revealed in the small truths that make up our lives. *eing is never harmed b! the limited perspectives we experience. *eing is not dependent on an! particular wa! of sensing !our self, nor even on the absence of a sense of self. *eing is alread! resting within the endless opening and closing of !our Heart, so !ou might as well en-o! the ride. the truth catches up with me " am not enough never have $een never wi $e what reief to a!mit this finite container can never contain infinity what 'oy to fin! infinity nee!s no container lease note" This free bonus is #art two only of the boo46 Living from the Heart. ,or more info or to purchase the book on various ebook stores6 http677endless-satsang.com7free 11111