Does your mind obsessively wander
to your past experiences?
Well, guess what?
I’ve got some really good news for you:
it’s alright!! Here’s why:
Assuming you’re not delving into
the false belief of a separated self,
it’s nothing more than “experiences”
of the past – could be anybody’s –
just playing out for entertainment
with no more attachment than that!

But we must with all diligence
refrain from giving our or anyone else’s
movie-like memories power in the present.
We want peace, joy and celebration.
as does everyone else!
So we read our holy books and realize
our minds have not yet caught up
to the level of awareness that we know
we already have!
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Ken Etter:
“So we read our holy books and realize
our minds have not yet caught up
to the level of awareness that we know
we already have!”

This is where the true “discovery” really exists on this journey, to find that what we have been seeking has always existed within. Unfortunately as we take this journey and often seek direction from “holy books” aka world view writings, I have found that we more often exchange one layer for another, when in fact all that we are seeking already exists within, laying in wait for us to remove all the layers, most often in our thoughts, and most often from the thoughts from the past, that so often almost dominate our heads. It is when we learn to quiet the thoughts, or maybe better said learn to stop responding to the continual flow of thoughts, of thinking within us that we then discover this amazing presence, awareness within, that has always been there and always will. American spiritual writer Adyashanti states this as merely being, to get to the level where all of the layers, especially that of continual thought, have been dispersed, removed and simply rest in that being, that awareness. In the Christian text this is phrased more simply in Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know I am God”, understanding that the terms God, consciousness, awareness, being are all interchangeable.

Robin Starbuck:
That’s most illuminating, Ken, and exactly what I was alluding to [I’m going to copy it onto my website …]. One small point I’d like to add is that when we summarily dismiss the notion of ourselves as a Separate Self (separated from God), we no longer have to strive to quiet or stop our thoughts: they become like film flicks on a screen going hither and yon without our engagement whatsoever!