Two Kinds of Sleep

We are all familar with the reality of falling asleep every night. All of humanity shares this experience without exception. However, even with all the new scientific discoveries and new technologies , scientists and doctors still don't understand sleep very well. Where do we go when we sleep? What is the nature and reality of dreams? Where is our consciousness in dreamless sleep?These are still questions that remain a mystery.
Let's now look at another kind of sleep that is even more difficult to understand. I'm talking about spiritual sleep. What is spiritual sleep? It is a metaphor used in many spiritual traditions for humanities lack of conscious awareness regarding the nature and experience of reality. Even while we are awake physically our minds are usually drifting and dreaming somewhere else. We are not present in the here and now. There is a screen of thoughts , labels , and mental noise that obscure and cloud up are ability to see things as they are. We view reality through a filter of past and future mind projection which blocks our clear perception of the world and more importantly our own essential nature at the core of our being. Another name for this is being spiritually unconscious. Most often we react and relate to our reality with mechanical and conditioned responses that are unconscious mental patterns we have learned from childhood on. Some of these patterns are part of a colective unconsciousness shared by most humans which of course we are unaware of. This is why most eastern spiritual traditions describe the spiritual path as an awakening of conscious awareness from the slumber of spiritual unconsciousness. The word buddha means "awake" or "awakened one". It means they have realized their own basic essential inner nature of full consciousness or buddha nature, and can see reality as it is. The Buddha called it "suchness" .
Of the two kinds of sleep, understanding and awakening from the spiritual slumber has meaning for all of us. This is the essential mission of all religion and spirituality. When we die the need for physical sleep will end . The real question is whether we will be spiritually awake or will continue to let our consciousness remain fast asleep without recognizing and awakening to who we are.

Finding Balance & Harmony

As human beings , we exist in two dimensions, the spiritual and the physical. As such it is important to understand, realize , and master both. This apparent duality may look like competing poles , or in conflict with each other, however this is really not the case. When we emphasize one by denying the other , we split ourselves into two polarities creating stress and discord. As eloquently stated in the teachings of the Tao, these seemingly polarities are actually complimentary. As also taught in many tantric paths , it is by accepting the whole of existence and moving through the physical plane by feeling and experiencing all of life's energies , can spiritual growth and liberation truly be! This was the teaching of the Buddha ( the middle way )
which is based on balance , peace and harmony. It is our task and challenge to realize this for ourselves. May you truly find that balance !!!

Being Present in the Now

Life is only Now !!! It is never not Now . The question is where is your consciousness? Is it totally aligned with life in this moment ? Does it stay present in the Now ? If not , how can you re-align your being and consciousness back to life? First you must clearly understand what obstacles prevent you from being present. The first one is your own thinking which wants to dominate and absorb all your consciousness. The second is suppessed emotional pain from the past which is stuck in your memories and resurfaces from time to time as fear , anxiety, or pain both emotional and physical. These obstacles are not easily overcome by simple techniques devised by the mind. Fortunately since you are connected to and a part of Life itself , it understands and will help you with these obstacles. It will give you challenges and life situations that if properly accepted and allowed to be as they are without resistance, will push you deeper and deeper into Presence. The basic practice is to allow this moment to be and surrender completely. In other words , no emotional separation to the form this moment takes no matter how challenging! This sounds simple. However, in reality it can be very difficult depending on the magnitude of the challenge Life presents in this moment. So no matter what happens , try to allow and embrace the form of this moment completely, then respond and take action or not out of full consciousness not out of the conditioned reaction of the ego mind. This will help you be in the Now, which is Life itself !!!

Depression

Many people throughout the world suffer from depression. It is a living hell for many as it sucks the joy and will to live out of their lives. The basic cause is the gap between what they expect to happen in their life and what actually does happen. This can come about in two ways. If there is a strong , future based , expectation of what they think will happen which turns out differently, or for many , when the current circumstances of life pile up on them to such a degree that they mentally breakdown and cannot process the stress level it has created . Either way, this gap is the cause of suffering and turns into depression in the extreme form. There is fundamentally one way to deal with this problem. The person must totally accept the life circumstances as they are and emotionally digest them . If there is any resistance to life as it is, the problem of depression will stick and not be resolved. It sounds like an easy solution , however in practice it can be extremely difficult to go through. It is in a way a kind of ego death when a person goes through this. In a very real sense the person feels as if a part of them is dying. They have to remember the part they feel is not their true divine essence which never dies and cannot be destroyed. It is the illusory self that feels the sting of ego death. Ultimately, this is spiritually healthy if the person can surrender to the suchness or isness of life as the Buddha said . This doesn't mean that a person cannot change his circumstances if they are not pleasant or painful. However, first must come acceptance and alignment with life so there is no disconnection from lifes energy. Then a conscious response can be planned and executed to try to change things for the better. If this is done with awareness and consciousness then it is fine. If it is an unconscious reaction based on negative emotion, it is likely that the situation will not change and could get worse. Being totally aligned with life as it is can be the best remedy for depression. Allowance, acceptance, and surrender are helpful tools on this process. Try this approach and see what happens !

Preparing The Ground

In today's active and busy world our minds tend to become cluttered with thoughts, emotions, and things to do. This creates a certain movement and momentum in our stream of mental activity that is hard to slow down. Most of us think it is important and necessary to engage in thinking and doing from the moment we awake till the time our head hits the pillow at night. We then many times still have active mental activity in our dreams as well, only to wake and proceed to pick up the action where we left off the day before. Just as our physical body needs rest and time to re-energize , our mind and spirit need time to rest as well. This is meditation !
Meditation is a vacation for the mind. It is time to clear out all the mental activity and clutter that is sometimes bordering on addiction , and become aware of the space of consciousness without thought that is the essence of who we are. This is the fundamental spiritual identity crisis of humanity. However, meditation is not easy if you are trying to go from the mind of obsessive thinking and doing to a peaceful meditative state in one step. You must first prepare the groung for this transition. This can be done by a number of means which include any kind of physical activity such as yoga, shaking, dancing , jumping followed by stillness either sitting or lying down in complete motionless position. This is called active meditation ! Another type of preparation is through the use of sound such as mantra chanting, Tibetan bells or bowls, the sound of falling rain or other meditative music. These stepping stones can help you transition from the clatter of a noisy mind to the sublime peace and bliss of deep meditation where you can get to know your own being at the essential level !!! It is truly worth the trouble !

The Masters

To my beloved Masters my heart is beyond gratitude. You have touched my soul at the very core. I feel your presence in every aspect of my life. Jesus , Osho, and Lao Tsu , my internal guides of spirit, you have helped me so much to realize the blessing of eternal life and the spiritual birthright of divine creation. Thank you!!! To my living master Khan Ba Da. You came like a thief in the night without a sign. Through your heart of boundless compassion , you have opened the way to the great ocean of one divine life. As the illusory mind dissolves, and real soul blossoms, please remember , I am eternally grateful to you for giving me this treasure that has changed my life forever. It's value has no equal in the world of things. It is the blessing that words cannot describe. No matter where the Tao leads us both in the future, we are one in spirt and heart, eternally bound through the love and life of heaven! Let it be now and forever !!!

Nourishing the Soul

The human being is made up of body , mind , spirit, and soul. The body and mind are temporal and the spirit and soul are non-temporal or eternal. However , most human beings spend almost all their tme and energy feeding or nourishing the body and mind. They pursue the physical survival and well being of the body and they thirst for information to satisfy the intellect. In the case of the spirit and soul, which is fundamentally at least as important , or some may say more important , there is not nearly enough time and effort given to nourish these essential aspects of the person. This results in an unhealthy imbalance and leads to physical and mental disease and ultimately death! Think about it ! If you were to make a choice of what aspects of the self to feed and nourish more, would it make sense to emphasize the temporal or the eternal. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take care of your body and mind. They are gifts from life and should be well cared for. Just don't ignore the more fundamental aspects of spirit and soul. They deserve at least as much care and concern , if not more, because they last forever. In today's world the spirit and soul of the human being suffers from neglect and malnourishment. They live in poverty while the body and intellect are glutonous and overfed. Look within you own being to see if you have a healthy balance or not. Ask your spirit and soul for a report card or survey on how they are doing relative to the mind and body. You may be surprised at what they say!

Self Realization

Some religious people have the perspective that self realization is self-centered. They believe that to be truly religious one must totally deny the evil world including the self. However, in this attitude or posture they fail to realize one critical reality. God created and is living in the self. God is the true Self. Self realization is God realization ! When one becomes totally Self realized , the last delusion is recognized. The delusion that there is a separation between God and the self.
Life is one ! The human being does not exist and cannot exist as a separate entity . The essence of the creator is at the core and center of each expression of life including humanity. If the mind looks for or projects God outside of the self, that is a conceptual God which is an illusion. This type of egoic mental projection is the basis of religious difference and strife. In somes cases it is the basis for violence and war! Without individual Self realization , there can be and will never be true and lasting peace in the world! Violence, war, civil strife, crime, domestic violence or any other form of non-peace in the world originates in the egoic consciousness of the un Self realized human being. True Self realization happens when the egoic mind is recognized for what it is , a mental illness and illusion. As the illusory mind is transcended and the divine mind wakes up and is realized, this becomes the basis for peace. Any attempts or efforts for peace , however noble , that don't rest on this foundation , ultimately are futile and will end up in collapse and frustration. These efforts are like a physician dealing only with the symptoms of disease and ignoring the root cause. Individual Self realization is the basic foundation or building block for true and lasting world peace. The individual is a microcosm of the cosmos. The divine Self realized human is what connects heaven and earth. When the delusion of the egoic mind has been transcended , and each human being is at peace not only outside themseves but more importantly within their essential being, world peace will be finally realized ! Otherwise the illusory egoic consciousness will continue it's reign of terror and violence over humanity !

Expectations

Whenever you think you know what is going to happen , or expect things to be a certain way, be prepared for something to turn out differently. The only certainty in life is that it is uncertain. One day you think you have it all figured out and , Wham, it blind sides you . This begs the question " How important is certainty anyway?" If we always new what was going to happen or if we could see or predict the future , wouldn't it get pretty boring after awhile? Life is mysterious, and that is the way it should be. Otherwise we would not grow! Life is organic both externally and internally. Embrace the mystery! It is a great adventure! Be open to let life lead you where it will. Change the word expectations to possibilities. Expectation is too conditional. It is a product of the conditioned mind. You are much more than your conditioned thinking! Your possibilities represent all the possibilities in the universe. You are only limited by your own mental and spiritual limitations. Life is your partner in the great adventure! Explore the massive new frontier of unconditioned pure consciousness! It is waiting for you.

Science and Religion

Science and religion need not be at odds with each other. Science is the pursuit of truth in the external, objective world and religion or spirituality is the pursuit of truth in the internal, subjective world. Just as the mind and body need to harmonize to have healthy life in man, so do these two important aspects of humanity. The strength of science lies in it's ability to look at reality with an open objective framework. When new and better understandings of existence and nature are discovered, the old views simply give way to the more advanced and better viewpoint. With religion and spirituality, it is a little more tricky. This realm of human inquiry attempts to find and explain the internal, subjective world of the mind , heart and soul. This territory is a much greater challenge for obvious reasons. Much advancement has been made also in this regard in recent times. Not only are new and more advanced understandings emerging today from many sources, a global shift of consciousness is happening on a scale that is unprecedented in human history. This shift has allowed for a better understanding of the ancient spiritual wisdom of most traditions and is providing a framework for integration as such. The Eternal Truth is One. It contains all aspects of reality including both subjective and objective aspects. All religions need to adopt the open minded and objective posture of the scientist when searching for internal truth. If advanced understanding emerges, the dogmas and less advanced concepts need to give way to the deeper realizations. This is very difficult for most traditional highly organized religions because their structure and very existence is highly dependent on the old concepts and precepts. At this point in mans evolution however, if they can't transcend their attachment to their limited grasp of reality, they will eventually be left on the garbage pile of history. Ultimate reality is non-conceptual and best experinced directly. It transcends all dogmas and belief systems. It is what Lao Tsu called the first principle. If you can speak about it, that's not it. Scriptures , sutras, words about ultimate reality are the second principle. In other words they are indirect and as such open to great potential for debate and misunderstanding . Even the words on this page are at best pointers to the truth!
Science on the other hand will never find ultimate reality if it continues to believe it is the whole enchilada. The failure to recognize the transcendent spiritual dimension has brought it to a dead end as such. I believe we are stuck at string theory! Even the great Albert Einstein was religious and knew the limits of physical science! What is needed is a scientific religiosity . In other words , both the theists and atheists need to adopt the beginners mind of Zen and take a fresh and open look in an integrated way. In other words, the human being is not simply the physical body including the intellectual mind, it is also not just the dimension of spirit , heart and soul. It is an integration of both. This is so obvious I wonder what all the fuss has been in the past!It must be the ego staking out its territory for survival. Let's drop that narrow view of life! Life is one integrated whole with the primordial energy and intelligence as subject and the manifested cosmos as object. They are totally interdependent and cannot exist without each other . As such there is divinity in all aspects of life! If we can all see through the veil of conceptual obscuration , we may experience life directly as it is. It would be better if we would all take an agnostic approach. Let life in the present moment reveal itself in all it's glory without the mental barriers of the highly conceptualized conditioned mind. We are all much more than that!!!

Returning to the Tao

The beginning of life from conception originates from the primordial energy of the Tao. This is the celestial energy of creation that comes from nothing and manifests into the myriad forms of life including the human form. From birth through infancy , childhood, adolescence and adulthood the unified celestial energy wanes and the dualistic mundane energy emerges as the child learns about reality through the conceptual mind . They see and conceptualize this from that, up from down , right from left, as well as many of the other seeming dualities in life. This divided mental framework causes the illusion of isolation and separateness in the consciousness.
This creates a separation and gap from the celestial pure original mind and from Tao itself. Most humans continue on that path until death. They have been trapped in the mundane mind and have never realized or known the original place from which they came . Subsequently, the process starts again with a new birth and the cycle continues. However this cycle does not have to be repeated again and again. It can be interupted and reversed by spiritual awakening and the process of enlightenment. Enlightenment is not some kind of magical experience available to only a few exceptional human beings. Ultimately it is the destiny of everyone. This process is a scientific process of returning back to the original Tao. The Tao mind is one of total purity and unity. It perceives reality as it is . The seeming illusion of the duality of the mundane starts to wane and is replaced by the celestial mind and energy of the original creation and beyond. It is a unified energy that transcends both being and non-being, both nothing and thing, both void and form and both heaven and earth. Reversing the process of samsara or the mundane is a scientific spiritual journey which can bring total self realization and heaven, nirvana or immortality, whatever you may like to call it. In the totally realized state, the last delusion is recognized and the division between the Tao and the self dissolves.This is the meaning of returning to the Tao!

Finding Balance and Equilibrium

To make beautiful sitar music you need a finely tuned sitar. If the strings are too tight, what will happen? They will break and there will be no music! If they are too loose, what will happen ? They willl fall out of the sitar and again no music. The music can only be played and enjoyed when the right balance and tension are made when tuning the instrument. Your body , mind , and spirit are the instrument of life in the amazing symphony of the cosmos. This balance should be there between all the apparent dualities in your life. Your internal world and your external world. Between male and female energies both within and without. And you as the center of the cosmos between heaven and earth. When you find that central point of balance , you find the Tao energy. This is another name for nirvana or heaven. It is the place where all silence and stillness exists together with all the potential energy of creation. The unmanifested nothingness where all life originates. At that point all the illusion of duality dissolves and reveals its one center. This is the point of balance and equilibrium. It is the place beyond all places that is within everything. If you find that within before you die, you will transcend death and know eternal life as Jesus said. The kingdom is within, do not look here or there. Look within!!!

Sexual Equality

For thousands of years, men have suppressed and dominated women! That is changing now as women are emerging from that place and establishing their true and rightful equality. Humanity is in desperate need of this balance being restored , otherwise the world will be in more and more peril. However, equality does not mean being similar.Life is made of polarities between opposites. There would be no men without women and vice versa. There would be no day without night, no left without right and so on. These seemingly opposite poles are actually complimentary and dependent on each other. That is the basis of equality! Men and women are not similar! If women try to be similar to men this is not how to be equal. They will be divided between their essentially feminine nature and the psuedo masculinity they are trying to establish. This is not how to achieve equality. Sexual equality is a gift of Life. It is a fact that needs recognition , not something to be achieved by changing our basic nature! Bringing awareness to this fact of life to the masculine world is the best way to allow this equality to be and flourish! Fighting and competing with men out of an egotistical consciousness wil only make men more resistant to change. Women must use their natural wisdom and intuitive sense to again claim this true reality. This natural path will result in the best and quickest outcome, and will be welcomed by both sexes! It is the dynamism of the essential differences between the sexes that makes life beautiful and mysterious . Let's not lose that fragrance to a psuedo equality based on becoming similar. Similarity is the death of the spirit. Vive La Difference' !!!

Attachment

Let's get down to the nitty gritty! The problem is attachment. Out of fear and insecurity of not realizing our essential nature, we grab at all the objects in our life or try to fill our world with stuff as a substitue for reality, which has elluded us. This unconscious emotion driven need to attach is what causes the dukka (suffering) in our lives as the Buddha said. It is like a vice grip on life which chokes all the beauty, joy and ecstacy out of our percieved existence. The buddhist term for this state of delusion is called samsara. We desperately try to control life even without being aware that we are doing it . It is very subtle and deceptive. We need to check our state of awareness and emotional sense periodically to see where we are at. Try imagining that you have given up or lost those things in your life that you cherish most! This includes not only material things , but also other human beings, concepts, images you may have of yourself or anything you have a strong sense of identity with. See how you feel as you contemplate this potential reality! Feel it completely and make those feelings fully conscious! What do you feel ? Most feel a strong sense of confusion, bewilderment and even some sort of psychological death. That is your state of attachment. The stronger that feeling is , the greater potential for suffering to occur if in reality any of those things do disappear. Being free of those attachments is the only true freedom in life that is real. Otherwise your own personal vice grip is killing your heart and soul. They need beauty, freedom, and pure love to blossom and flourish. That cannot be if the grip is too strong!

Sexual Repression

The life force energy of divinity expresses itself through sex . This is a divine impulse even more fundamental in many ways than eating. Why does a good deal of humanity believe sex to be sinful or dirty? Why are we so afraid to explore and fully understand such a essential part of our nature? Without breath we die. Without food and sleep we eventually die. If we suppress or repress sex we become out of balance with Life and nature. We should have an acute awareness and sensitivity to this fundamental aspect of our own divinity. We should be fully conscious of it. It is Life itself! When you repress sex , you kill your awareness of life. However , it is such a powerful force that we fear what will happen if we let this power loose. The moralists point to their evidence of moral and sexual degradation in our societies and say we must control this menace or we shall be destroyed! Sexual license comes from human unconsciousness ! When we are totally unaware of our own divine life energy , we either indulge or repress. It is two sides of the same problem. It is unconscious sexual obsession! Sometimes the celibate monk or priest is just as perverted as the child molester or the philanderer . They have simply repressed themselves into inacivity . The problem is still smoldering under the surface. It is stuck in their repressed mind waiting to explode. Then we read stories in the news of countless victims of sexual abuse and molestation and we are outraged and shocked by these accounts. Sexual unconsciousness is a major aspect of spiritual unconsciousness. The problem is lack of awareness. Without awareness we cannot be in control of the powerful energy within ourselves.
We become victims of the robot conditioned mind . It grabs us by the genitals and runs the show unconsciously. However repression doesn't help rectify the situation much. It creates a pressure cooker that builds and builds until it explodes all over everybody, or it kills the heart and soul and we become dead men and women walking. No wonder society has chosen indulgence over repression. At least their is some fun in mild indulgence! How can we be liberated from the prison of indulgence / repression. First we need a pure and healthy mind which is free and unattached. We need to loosen the ego's grip on our sexuality by recognizing the conditoned impulsive nature of it. This may require a period of abstinence for some time. The process is one of purification not repression. Through a purified mind we then need to make our sexual energy fully conscious by accepting who we are as divine sexual beings. Sexuality is our divine inheritance and birthright . Finally we need to allow our enegry to be expressed in a fully loving and conscious way to our partner and recognize that love making is divine. It is one of the tremendous and joyful experiences that we can have in life. Our partner becomes an extension of our own life force as we are united in the act of union. If the ego is still in contol, then your partner becomes a means to an end . They become just another object to use for temporary pleasure and discard when finished. If a husband has sex with that kind of mind he has raped his wife just like the rapists , except he is protected by the law. The quality of your consciousness determines the quality of your sex. Why be satisfied with the common ego driven obsession that permeates society . It is so much better in full divine consciousness . You are then free of the obsession.

Who is Responsible ?

Who is responsible for your salvation , liberation , awakening , or enlightenment, or whatever term suits you. Is it the priest or rabbi ?How about the reverend or minister ? Maybe the guru or spiritual master ? What about the cleric or imam. No!! It is not any of the above. Ultimately it is you!!! These middle men are their to help you take responsibility for yourself and your own heart and soul. Do not project that upon them! That attitude will eventually need to be replaced with one of total acceptance of your own life force and its complete realization. It is about Self realization! Finding the Buddha or Christ within. Getting completely in touch with your Being at the level of essence. The avatar or channel through which this happens is of vital importance! They can shine the light of consciousness upon your darkness and give you the possibility of tremendous Self realization! However, you must complete that process alone within your deepest dimension . It is in there already if you simply know where to look!

Chasing God

Chasing God is like chasing the horizon. You know he is there , but no matter how hard you try to reach him, you don't seem to get any closer! It can be and is frustrating. Sometimes you wind up feeling bad or guilty because this approach make you focus on your perceived shortcomings! If God is the ideal to be emulated, then look how far away I seem to be from that. Even if you look to Jesus instead, it can still lead you to the same place. If you are happy with your present state and feel completely one with God then you don't need to read any more. If not, why don't you try this method! Let God Chase You! Sounds radical ! How do you let God chase you. It is simple in concept but can sill be challenging. God is nothing! Indeed God is "NO THING" . He or she or it , whatever, is not an object both physical or mental. He is not an ideal to be emulated. He is Life itself living in your midst, within and without and beyond both! So how do you get God to chase you? Become nothing! Become "NO THING" . Or better yet, BE "NO THING". Or better yet, You already are "NO THING". That is your essence which is your real identity and being. When you are completely empty and void, the master of the universe will automatically fill you with his entire spirit and divine love. It is a metaphysical law! It Is!!! When is the best time to let God chase you? The eternal timeless NOW! He resides there!How do you become empty? Through meditation! Meditation can seem to be hard, however it beats chasing the horizon.

Uncertainty

Life is full of uncertainty. It is almost synomonous with it. By looking to bring certainty into your life , you are in many ways closing the door to the mystery and opportunity life has waiting for you. Do not look for certainty out of unconscious fear of life or death. Life brought you into existence, so trust it! You belong to it. You are the blank canvas waiting for the greatest artist of all to create its masterpiece. The canvas cannot fight , fear or argue with the artist and his work. Enjoy the creation process! Enjoy the brush strokes as they caress your canvas with color, expression, and love! Be the naked, pure white linen that is aching to recieve each new creative experience. Then your life will be total and holy. You don't need to follow anything else to be who you already are. You are the divine manifestation and co-creator of Life itself. What an honor to Be That ! So Be That !

Being Comfortable with Being Alone

Aloneness and Loneliness seem to be the same thing. They are not even close. Loneliness arises when something or someone that you are dependent is no longer in your presence. In extreme form it is an addiction to that person which can lead to great anxiety and panic. It feels like a huge whole in the center of your being. Your mind can then become torturous in the midst of severe loneliness.
Aloneness is completely different. When I was in deep meditation the other evening , I felt a great sense of aloneness come over me. However it had a totally different quality to it.I was void, empty, and nothing. There was a great sense of peace and tranquility. It was alive with vibrance and energy. Suddenly I felt a sense of transcedence no longer connected to the things of life. I was ready to die and ready to live and then beyond both. I had offered my life to Life. In that moment I felt complete and whole. It was a sense of complete reality. The reality of my Being. To know yourself in that place is the greatest joy! Nothing else compares in the world of form. To know your essence is to know Life!!!

Playing Semantics with the Ego

The concept of the devil in today's modern society is hard for many people to grasp.Is the devil real or is the devil the creation of the human mind. Certainly we see evidence of evil in the world .Humanity is dysfunctional on a daily basis Throughout the world so-called bad things happen even to so-called good people. But what is the origin of this dysfunction. Metaphorically speaking let's look at this story of Adam and Eve. Metaphorically speaking let's look at the story of our original human ancestors. It says that they lived in the Garden of Eden. There were two tree is in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was also a serpent in the garden with our ancestors. We all know the story from here so I won't go into the details. But let's try to understand the deeper hidden meaning beneath the story. The tree of life in Buddhist terms represents nirvana, or the world of non-duality, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents samsara which is duality,. Good and evil, pain and pleasure, right and wrong, Birth and Death. I don't want to focus on the process of how the story unfolds, there are many different opinions and perspectives in the theological community. We know the identity of the serpent was Satan, the fallen arch angel Lucifer. Let's examine his mind before the fall. Lucifer was the angel of intelligence. He could therefore see that humanity was in the position of God's children. He also knew that as an angel he would never be a child of God. This realization began his thinking or thought that if he could not be a child of God, then he would not allow our original ancestors to feel connected to the One life. That connection represents the tree of life. Now let's play a little semantics here. Let's replace Lucifer or Satan with the word Ego. We all know that the Ego is a fact of human life. It manifests itself on a daily basis throughout the world. What is the origin of the Ego. When Lucifer took the position in his mind to block our ancestors from the tree of life, this was the beginning of the Ego. The human mind became split between I and myself, split into two. The I side of being or awareness, and the myself side, being the Ego Because of the split mankind was cut off from the tree of life. Because of this duality the Ego has dominated and we can even call it Posessed the human mind. In other words humanity lost its true identity as children of God and became trapped in in the world of form alone .This is the world in the Buddhist terms of Samsara, the world of duality, good and evil. From the perspective of this world evil is real. When we view the world from the ego mind, evil is very real and manifest itself in countless horrific Ways From the perspective of nirvana, which is the non-dual, one life ,evil is an illusion, a creation of the ego mind which is ultimately not real. When we know ourselves as the I in the equation, or the awareness of the forms of our life, as opposed to being trapped in form consciousness or ego mind, we free ourselves and understand who we truly are as children of God, reconnected to the tree of life. I know a few people that I'm working with on their awakening who are angry At God and cannot understand how God can allow evil in the world. However, from this perspective God does not allow evil in the world. Evil manifest itself in the ego mind world because the human mind is still unconscious of its true identity. It is trapped in the condition thinking of the ego mind. So ultimately, evil is not a personal problem. Only when we believe and identify with the Ego do we then personalize any sin that we commit and feel guilty about it. This is how the Ego keeps us trapped. When a human being awakens to pure conscious awareness it is impossible for them to sin. In Buddhist terms that is called right thought ,right action for conscious living. That is why Jesus led a sinless life. When someone says they're angry at God my response is “Who Said That?” If that thought comes into your mind ,asked yourself who is speaking through me. That mind is the same mind that Lucifer had in the beginning. The exact same mind, the origin of the ego. The original mind of man became separated from God. Do not split yourself into I and myself.. You are not your Ego! You are one awareness, connected to the one life and connected to all humanity at the level of super consciousness which we'll share in the depths of our soul. God and I are one, no duality, no splitting of our mind into separate identities. If we have a strong belief in a conceptual God, we are still living in the world of samsara or duality. From that place we'll never realize who we truly are, and we will continue to be cut off from the tree of life because we are still connected to the tree of good and evil in the world a duality,. If Lucifer was the arch angel of intelligence, and the ego has been dominating human consciousness ever since the fall, it makes total sense that we live in a world where intelligence, is thought of as primary. From the very beginning when a child grows up information is bombarded upon them from the Ego mind, the collective ego mind. If a child is smart he is raised up as an example and almost worshiped. If the child's intelligence is lacking somehow the family ,the community, the society look down upon them as if they're not totally human, or that they have some kind of fundamental problem.Our value system is all screwed up. Our educational institutions focus almost exclusively on developing human intelligence, and the more highly developed the human intelligence becomes, the more analytical it becomes, the more we lose touch with life, the flow of life ,the oneness of life. If you look in nature animals ,trees ,plants do not have an ego problem. They haven't split themselves into two. They are pure and present living in the now. They do not talk about their past or worry about their future. Humanity on the other hand spends very little time in full conscious awareness of the present moment. They are lost in thought in either the past or the future, and they miss the vibrant life and oneness that is right under their noses.

In conclusion, the Ego is not your ego unless you identify with it. The Ego is another name for Satan, Lucifer, the fallen arch angel of intelligence. This little secret and has kept humanity in the darkness for thousands of years. And the time for that dominance is over. Humanity is moving towards nirvana, non-dual consciousness, one life connected to the tree of life. It is essential that it happens at this time because the Ego working with unconscious humans has the capacity to destroy the human race. Unless the values of the tree of life, the one life, the one super consciousness that we all share which manifests itself by compassion and living for the sake of others and for the sake of our Selves because when we live for the sake of others ultimately we are living for ourselves because we are all one life .There is no us and them. So those in the world who are examples of true compassion such as the Dalai Lama and many others are beacons of light shining in a very dark world illuminating our consciousness back to its true identity reconnecting us to the Tree of Life.

How can we fight this darkness within ourselves. First of all you cannot fight darkness. As soon as you fight you have become the darkness yourself. The only way to transcend darkness is to Shine the light of truth and pure conscious awareness onto that unconsciousness and awaken our true nature, tapping into the deep compassion that comes when we realize we are one. The ego mind is about separation, envy, jealousy, hatred. The ego mind cannot survive in the present moment. Present moment awareness will suffocate the Ego mind. Life is only now, anything unreal or illusory cannot exist in the now. We must begin to live from being. We are not human doings ,we are human beings. When we truly realize this profoundly , then we will have reconnected ourselves to the tree of life, and the direction of our energy will flow from our life Chakra up through our seven chakras and out into humanity. In other words the movement is up and out through our pure consciousness as opposed to the ego consciousness where our energy is sucking everything into a bottomless endless hole, grasping, polling ,looking for the next thing, pulling everything into us like a vortex into the bottomless pit of total unsatisfactoriness, never finding peace or joy, because the ego is not real. Our energy movement must flow out of the depths of our being. We must reverse the direction of our energy flow from grasping, polling, sucking into ourselves to a 180° different direction. The only place to find the source of energy that can begin to reverse that direction is in the now. The Ego doesn't pay any attention to the now ,hates the now, and wants to distract you from the now by trapping you in the delusion of past and future. Let's all get reconnected through the now. The now is not this little fleeting moment . It is one eternal moment. It has endless depth. Now is forever and forever is now. Then we can truly rest in that awareness and began life again connected to the tree of life.