Freedom

Finding Peace and Stability

/ Tim Custis / Leave a comment

Many believe that God resides outside them, a place they call heaven. People say when I die, I will be with God, or when a loved one has passed, they are now with God. Well, I say that God is within you, within everything you see, feel, and touch. If you are always looking for God outside yourself, you will never know lasting happiness or peace, because it will always come and go. If you pay attention, you will see that nothing in personhood is stable, and I know of only one place to find stability.

It is not until you begin looking within that you will find your true nature; that you will find your True-Self. Start self-inquiry today and find your way back home now, not later, or someday when the body dies. Discover the peace and stability that is always with you.

If you are an atheist or have other beliefs than in a God, you will also find this peace and stability through self-inquiry because when we know ourselves from this fundamental place, we discover the truth.

Begin to reconnect with the heart of consciousness by connecting with your physical heart first. Place your hands on your chest and feel the heart beating. Let go of any thoughts, feelings, or physical sensations that pull your attention away from being with God’s pulse, the Universe, or Divine Creation. Pick the label or word that works for you. Do not allow the mind too step in and distract you. It might say this is too simple, or it will not work, or I do not like this word or label. Watch the subtle way it creates an uncomfortable feeling in the body and all the other ways that it tries to take your attention. Come back to the beating heart and feel the peace that is greater than any distraction the mind can create.

Do this anytime you find yourself in worry, stress, or anxiety, whenever you want to feel the peace and stability of your True-Self. As you begin to experience this, you ground yourself in the present moment and your experience of personhood shifts. You will again remember what you have always known and forgotten. Come back to this simple practice throughout the day, if only for a moment. Anchor in the truth, so the mind’s ability to distract you will be weakened. Discover this through direct experience and not from a place of knowledge. Watch the mind say yes, I know this to be right and then send you in another direction. Do not try to stop the distractions; this is another distraction. Do not identify with them, and then they will have no power over you.  The mind will not stop trying to distract you, so let those distractions be an opportunity instead of a problem. Let them be a beacon, the guiding light, your wakeup call back to your True-Self.

“I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I’ve been knocking from the inside.”

 ― Rumi 

Experience the Resurrection of You

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You have a thought, and the thought says that what is happening to me is being forced upon me.

Yet how we choose to experience what we perceive to be being forced upon us is wholly ours. The mind is not the dictator of how we feel about the experience we are having unless we let it. Unless we attach to the thought, give it legitimacy or said another way, identify with it. Because once we identify with it, it becomes real for us, not everyone, just us.

Have you ever experienced a period in your life where nothing had changed, and yet everything was different? Something did change, what was it? It was not something on the outside, but rather something within.

Was it a belief, perception, or some other concept of the mind that changed? When we begin to pay attention at this level by using awareness, nothing has to improve on the outside, and yet everything can be different, how we experience the world shifts.

This shows us the power of awareness and our ability to experience our lives in a new way. Yes, you can dethrone the dictator if you begin to pay more attention to its cunning ways.

Feelings

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Do you think that how you feel is based upon what happens to you? Or do you have a choice in how you feel no matter what happens to you?

What would it be like if instead of allowing what happens to you to dictate how you feel, that you could make a choice of how you want to feel about anything that happens to you? I am here to tell you that this is not only possible, but that is how things are supposed to be. Your feelings do not control you unless you let them.

In truth, you can change your feelings any time you want with a little desire, some intention, and a keenly developed awareness. The next time you find your feelings taking control or out of control take a deep breath and remember that you can feel different if you choose too.

Free Yourself from Pain and Suffering

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Pain and suffering do not come from letting go; they arise out of fear and our inability to be present in the moment. We are resisting what is, and trying to avoid feeling our pain. By doing this, we mistakenly think we will suffer less or not at all when in truth the opposite becomes our reality. This resistance is automatic and originates out of our conditioning. When we acknowledge and embrace our pain and suffering, and we bring our attention back to the present moment, we have the opportunity to release whatever is causing our discomfort.

We can recognize what this moment looks like because we become sick and tired of being sick and tired. At that very moment, we step back into the present moment with the truth of what we are feeling, and this is when the door to infinite possibilities opens up, and healing becomes possible. We now have a choice to step through the door or close it by falling back into resistance. Do not worry if you close the door, even more than once because the opportunity will always come up again.

Remember that as long as you stay in resistance, you will continue to experience pain and suffering. Your willingness to be present with your painful feelings needs to be greater than your fear of stepping through the door. Through the experience of this process, you can build a strong foundation of trust and faith something greater than yourself or in the realization of how the universe works energetically.

When we are willing to feel our feelings and be present in the moment with them and the truth of what is happening, life presents us the opportunity to let our pain and suffering go and experience joy again. This may occur instantly or over a period as it becomes clear that you must let the energy go. The next time you feel lost in your pain and suffering, know that the door to healing is open and waiting for you to walk through it and to the other side, where joy and peace are waiting for you.

What Will Be the Legacy of Your Life

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We will never have what many call freedom is in this life if we do not begin to listen, hear each other’s truth, and then be willing to compromise. Thinking that freedom only comes in one size and shape, being rigid about what we believe to be true, and not willing to let go, will only lead to personal heartache and a world full of mistrust. You can feel and see this already in today’s world. Also, living this way will only contribute to the problems that future generations have to face. These problems arise so slowly; over generations that they are overlooked by many during their lifetime.

By bringing more attention to our personal thoughts and actions, we open the doorway to awakening, to our conditioning, and the false beliefs that separate us. This allows real freedom to unfold because as long as we are burdened by our negative thinking, what we perceive as freedom such as, political, geographical or financial is an illusion. Real freedom comes from self-freedom.

We are more alike than our own thoughts allow us to see and it is time that we discover this and begin to let go of our old beliefs, patterns, and thinking. We must be willing look for the middle ground, be all-inclusive by expressing the true meaning of love and stop creating more division by holding our ground, thinking that our way is the only way. When we do this, we create separation between the self and our soul, and this leads to more division in the world. We cling to like-minded people, locking the old patterns in even more profoundly and never experiencing the real beauty of this diverse world we live in.

When someone becomes lost in his or her own beliefs and desires, he or she will use the division in our society to create more separation, hate, and anger. The reality is when we break down the walls of separation and come together nothing is insurmountable. Our greatest power and gifts come from our connection to one another, and our biggest danger lies in separation, which only causes devastation.

We lay a brick on the foundation of our self-destruction every time we focus on our differences. We will fulfill this prophecy if we do not come together for the common good of every person on this planet.

The process of questioning our beliefs, paying attention to our thoughts and actions will only bring more balance, joy, and peace into our lives. Peace does not arise out of getting what we want, peace comes first, from within, and then and only then do we reach fulfillment because peace is the source of fulfillment.

Take a moment to contemplate what love really means and then see if your beliefs about other people and this world align with that meaning. Let any conditioning from society, family, religion, politics go for a moment. Then ask yourself, if I come from love, how will my thoughts and actions be different?

When we let go of our fear about what might happen and open our hearts to everyone, become vulnerable and embrace empathy we can change the world. If we allow our fear to be the foundation for our choices, we will self-destruct. What decision will you make, what kind of world will you leave behind for future generations? What will be the legacy of your life?

 

Humanity’s Most Important Discovery to Make

/ Tim Custis / 3 Comments

Finding our True-Self through inner exploration is more important than any scientific discovery, invention or creation by man. If we do not take this responsibility seriously, we will continue to destroy the planet and ourselves through the choices we make.

Our choices arise from a foundation created by our conditioning and the person we have become, not our True-Self. The True-Self is free from all conditioning. This conditioning gets passed down from generation to generation within our race, gender, family, country or any other group that we belong. If we continue on our current path without any correction in our thinking or actions, the planet will continue to deteriorate, and we will keep fighting wars until we self-destruct, whether these wars are internal ones or with each other.

Bringing awareness to our thoughts and actions, and questioning them will begin to release this conditioning. Know, that our conditioning, like a bad habit or addiction, will not let go without a fight and we must be vigilant in our efforts to expose it and free ourselves. If we do not bring the light of awareness into our lives, then we are destined to be oblivious to this conditioning and held hostage by it.

If you think you are already free from it, I would ask you to question that thought because your conditioning may be deceiving you. Also, when your thoughts say it is too hard or you cannot or do not need to do it know that this too is your conditioning anchoring in and protecting its place in your life. You always have the power and ability to release your conditioning, no matter what your current situation is in this life.

If you are sincere in your wish to release it, then your unbending intention to question your thoughts and actions will begin to shine a light in the corners of your being, exposing what needs to release. You have nothing to fear or lose except that which you no longer need.

There is nothing more important in your life than freeing yourself from this conditioning. When our guidance comes from the True-Self, we lead from the heart, and our efforts will be for the highest good of everyone. Can you see the possibilities once we rise to our full potential and enter the flow of natures organizing intelligence?

I know it is possible to live in a peaceful world where everyone can flourish together without fear. What do you think?

Something Helpful in Difficult Times

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When things get tough, we are often stuck in thinking continuous thoughts about our difficult situation, and we are unable to break out of this unhelpful thinking. At some point, a moment of clarity will show up, and you will hear these thoughts. At that moment reach for a thought that feels better.

When you do this, you will find that The Universe will respond differently because of your effort, and your intention. Yes, you may fall back into the darkness of your thoughts temporarily, but remember each time you reach for something that feels better you will release a piece of the dark revealing more light.

Eventually, this massive field of darkness that you thought you would never find your way out of will reveal the light again. The dark never destroys the light, and it only hides it until we focus on it. Remember whatever we put our attention on becomes visible. This is not new age gibberish; this is quantum physics in action. This is how life works, and you always have a way back to the light if you look for it.

So remember to reach for a thought that feels better when things do not feel right and watch how the Universe responds to your effort to feel better. Staying in the dark is optional, and it is your choice whether to live there or in the light.

When Tragedy Strikes in America

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In America when tragedy strikes or when a large enough part of the population sees and understands that something is wrong or something needs to change, we get up and move forward making the change necessary to keep people free, to keep people safe and to do the right thing. There are always those who want things to stay the way they are out of fear, out of misguided thinking or out of ignorance. You only have to look at our history to see this fact; there are many examples like the woman’s right to vote, segregation or slavery. Holdouts never get their way because in the end what is moral, compassionate and right always wins.

Yes, they make it hard for those people who see what will be, who see what is moral, compassionate and right and needs to be done. Remember that these people are lost in the past, they want things to stay the same, they resist change in their lives and this world, and they will fight to keep the things as they are. Remember, that they need our compassion and understanding, not our anger and hate. Why, because they cannot see what the right thing to do is at this moment.

You waste your time trying to change their minds, and it is only an exercise of your ego to be right. The energy that you lose with this futile course of action could be used for creating the change you seek instead of falling into a dark hole of wasted time.

Drop down into your heart and know that if you let go of your anger, frustration, and fear that you help them heal and let go of theirs. Take action like voting, running for office, supporting a candidate or doing whatever you feel called to do that follows your passion. Through this action, you will be helping to heal yourself and everyone on this planet. The change will come because that is inevitable. Remain hopeful, confident, passionate and enthusiastic because these qualities have the power to create what you want. You will never create the future you want out of anger, fear or any emotion that does not make you feel good. When you notice upset in your body or life reach for good feelings, find your passion and let us create a peaceful world where we can coexist with all its diversity and beauty.

I am Exhausted, Debate, Debate, Debate

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Don’t you think it is about time that we stop holding our personal beliefs so tightly that nothing ever is done? Don’t you think it is about time that we get honest with ourselves and do what is right for our kids, future generations, and the world? Don’t you think it is about time we realize that there is no one answer and this issue must be addressed from multiple sides?

Do you think you know what I am talking about? Well, guess again because this is not just about guns. You are you so fixated on your side of any issue that you cannot see what needs to be done. Whether we are talking about guns, mental health, abortion, teen pregnancy, climate change or any other hot topic, we need to stop doing what we are doing now because it is not working.

What will work is a balanced approach that neither side will be thrilled with; however, from this place lives will be helped and saved. We must stop putting the issues and our beliefs first and put the human being that needs our help and love first, not the other way around.

Stop telling other people they are wrong. Telling other people they are wrong only makes them hold to their beliefs even tighter. It does not give them the space to think or to use common sense.

Everyone must first look into their hearts and do what is right even when it goes against their beliefs. We must all take a searching, and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and not someone else’s for them.

We must do what is morally right and compassionate. We must do what is right for the people who are suffering and dying, and we must be willing to let go of our desire to get what we want for the sake of the other person.

Freedom is not found in mere activity, but by taking an honest look at ourselves, our lives and then finding a way to be of service to those around us.

Even if something is written in the bible, spiritual text, constitution or law, we must be willing to revisit it, to contemplate it and make sure that it still makes sense in today’s world. Things change, and we must be willing to change with them, or we will continue to suffer from our stubbornness to keep things the same. Besides, in truth you cannot, just look at history.

When we dare to look within, begin living from our hearts and not our repetitive and fixed thoughts alone, do what is right for the other person, and let go of our self-centered desires, things will begin to get better. Otherwise, we will be stuck in this cycle of debate for years. Besides, things will change anyway, so the choice is, do we want things to change now or should we wait until we are forced to change?

 

 

 

The Perfect Life

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Does the perfect life exist? Are you still searching for it? Can it be found? If we change our perception of what we are looking for we might just find it.

We find it when we stop looking for it and change our perception of what it really is. Each one of us has the potential to live our own perfect life. I am not talking about the one you think you can find without pain, without feelings that make you uncomfortable; the one that you think will be free from all suffering. Life is not meant to be lived without feeling and some of them will be uncomfortable.

We find our way when we let go of searching for this illusionary perfect life and we stop living in the future, thinking I will be happy when… In addition, we must stop living in the past and be holding onto emotions that are ready to be released. We must stop reliving the stories that do not allow us to move forward in life.

We begin to find our way when we learn to navigate uncomfortable times because we all experience them. We begin to find our way when we learn to be with our uncomfortable feelings and release them without being stuck carrying them around for years. We begin to find our way when we stop beating ourselves up for not achieving this imaginary perfect life. We begin to find our way by bringing our attention back to the present moment and loving ourselves just as we are; the imperfect, perfect human being that we have become. Wake up to who you have become. Now begin to uncover the perfect life you have hidden underneath that persona.