Life Awake

9. The 3 Orientations Part 3

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8. The 3 Orientations Part 2

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7. The 3 Orientations Part 1

Download here https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/the_3_orientations.pdf [https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/the_3_orientations.pdf] The 3 Orientations Our mind, it has no locus of true and authentic pleasure It’s role is to mitigate and resolve present moment suffering And to try to imagine a world where this suffering does not exist. One Those in the inner circle know this: That life is best known not through the mind, but through direct experience. Which means, we do not grip for an outcome And instead we open, let things unfold, and release. This is the inner circle and the orientation of experience It is the realm of revelation It’s where we find source in all it’s beauty And where we get to meet the miracle of life itself. Two When our experience is pleasurable, Our movements, their nature is expression There is no goal to them but authenticity And this, we call art, dance or play When instead of pleasure, our experience turns discomfort, Instead of expression, we turn ourselves, our movements, into action. Now our goal is to make the experience different We are compelled, and so we desire change. In action we set joy aside, and exchange it for the experience of effort. The inner circle becomes then darkened And will power is declared the new master and king. Contemplative ShortsTM This is the nature of the orientation that is action A realm governed by overcome and challenge The present moment looses its lure and luster Fundamentally, everything becomes not ok! Three To really open into pleasure is high mastery It’s a dive below the mind Into deep currents of subjectivity and surrender. Instead we get enchanted by presentations of pleasure Trying to predict what the right circumstance is That will allow us to have the experience that we seek. Our dream is to be able to guarantee ourselves a good experience, One that can free us form our mitigating efforts And one that will allow us to rest within This is the nature of the orientation that is circumstance We try to bind our circumstance to our sought after experience An attempt to stop the ever changing subjective nature of experience A life of checking all the boxes, seeking to acquire a feeling state One that comes with a lifetime warranty.

6. Experience And the Word

Download here https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/experience_and_the_word.pdf [https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/experience_and_the_word.pdf] Experience and the Word The experience of a thing is always so much bigger than the words that describe it. If I give you the word ‘water’ don’t expect it to quench your thirst. Also know that the word apple will always be much smaller than the sweetness that comes with sinking your teeth into it, and actually taking a bite. We talk words but forget that what’s important is the experience that stands behind them. So we come to understand many things, but are oblivious of how very little we intimately know. I like it that you understand many things because that means that you are aware of their existence, but ultimately I would like you to also take the time to know things, which means that you have lived them, and that they now live in you, so you can share them with others. The one we call the mystic is the one who tries to share with you this big experience he is living. He wants you to understand that this experience is available to you, and that it’s really close, and in fact just around the corner. So you get excited to have some greater experience, but he’s just trying to tell you that this experience is you. The path of wisdom is the one that takes you from the surface of your own ocean, all the way to its inconceivable depth. It takes you from attempting to grasp this enormity, to the miracle that is the dance of life itself. The invitation for you is to pay less attention to the words, and more attention to their underlying meaning. To make it less about the symbols on paper, and more about how these pebbles touch your inner somatic space. If you have never had the experience of ever being without money, then you might want to consider that the word ‘poor’ for you remains in the realm of the abstract. And so is it ok for you to let your guard down and be humbled, and admit that you understand, but that you are sorry but you do not actually know. Let us try together, to tease apart the difference between understanding, knowing, and not knowing. Maybe after that we can take the word ‘Self’, and see if we want to dive into its many layers. See if we are willing to gain a knowledge that only comes from letting ourselves naturally open up and unfold.

5. To bring the question alive

Download here https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/to_bring_the_question_alive.pdf [https://www.contemplativeshorts.com/uploads/3/8/7/6/3876252/to_bring_the_question_alive.pdf] To bring the question alive When I was a child, in school,  the question, Its meaning, was to present the correct answer. Was the question my friend ? No  Instead, it was something to overcome  or all together, something to avoid. To be surrounded by established answers It leaves us very little room to experience and discover And then instead of a living question It becomes about adhering to the right answer Or in other words, a question about how we can best conform. It’s a wonderful thing to bring questions back to life which is really more about the process of discovery, and less about the answer we present. For me “Who am I?” was the gift that provided no clear answer And it helped me wake up something that since childhood, was dormant and asleep. Today, and perhaps not surprising, I find myself more curious that ever. How to wake up the world in front of me, that is so outwardly looking and internally so very much asleep. But since it’s about the question and since there is no presumed correct answer Then all we have left is a dialogue between us, and a path we walk on, that we lay together, brick by brick.