Bask in the Emptiness of No-Self

We limit our experience when we believe we are this name and form. Take a moment and see beyond what we call "the self." Recognize Truth shining through all forms. Know you are this Truth. Bask in the Emptiness. Sit quietly for a few minutes and completely let go of the notion of "You." Allow pure awareness to arise, without a self who sees. What do you discover?

On the new moon I went for a late night drive with a friend in his convertible. I wanted to go star gazing. We drove into the country and stopped in a place without ant lights for several miles. The stars were magnetic. I looked up and the stars glowed. My perception shifted and suddenly there was no me. There was only Awareness looking up at the stars. There was so much freedom in letting go of the me. While I have been practicing self-inquiry and meditation for sometime, this tasted so pure. Since then I have been practicing letting go of me and just being Awareness. It is a powerful experience of being free.

Tantra Tip of the Day - Focus on the Gaps

"Pay attention to the gap – the gap between two thoughts, the brief silent space between words in a conversation, between the notes of a piano of flute, or the gap between the in-breath and the out-breath. When you pay attention to those gaps, awareness of “something” becomes – just awareness. The formless dimension of pure consciousness arises from within you and replaces identification with form."

Eckhart Tolle

Try this: Take moments today and allow yourself to focus your attention on the gaps, the emptiness, instead of what is happening in it. See if you can experience awareness itself rather than awareness of “something.” Once you discover awareness as separate from things you are on the path of discovering your true nature.

C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

The Tantra Tip of the Day- The Mandala Inside Me

The visualization and concretization of the mandala concept is one of the most significant contributions of Buddhism to Transpersonal Psychology. Mandalas are seen as sacred places which, by their very presence in the world, remind a viewer of the immanence of sanctity in the Universe and its potential in his or her self. In the context of the Buddhist path the purpose of a mandala is to put an end to human suffering, to attain enlightenment and to attain a correct view of Reality. It is a means to discover divinity by the realization that it resides within one's own self.
This is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala

“The spiritual secret is that giving up any hope of escape from suffering actually opens the door to compassion and skillful means.”
Judith Simmer- Brown, Dakini’s Warm Breath


The Mandala Inside Me

My life is a mandala, it has a perimeter and at its center is a throne. Everything within this mandala is of my own making. Therefore, there is no escaping the suffering, as I am the creator of it. The way to end the suffering is by ending my mind’s addiction to it.

The suffering is created by my mind resisting what is arising and judging my every move. The way to end this suffering is by total acceptance of all parts of me. It is through love that freedom is realized. When I come to accept and love all parts of myself unconditionally then I discover freedom. Fear and judgment of myself and others dissolve in the face of acceptance. This allows me to see the divine in myself, in others, and in everything around me.

As I open to seeing and being my divine self in every moment, I move into an awareness that my mandala sits at the perfect center of a perfect universe that is made up of pure bliss. The bliss of pure potential creates the mandala of my life. Creation desires to dream, a dream of me in this world made of form. I am Creator and creation. There is no difference between my mandala and the emptiness from which it arises. They are one in the same; the only difference is the perspective I hold. Do I choose to feel the One or to feel separation?

I wrote this piece several years ago after I recognized how much I was suffering over a man who was unable to meet me in the way I wanted him too.

(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com

Tantra Tip of the Day - Stop

Stop, just for a moment and be still. Feel that which is hidden just beyond the veil of form. Dip your toe into this pool of emptiness.

Tantra Tip of the Day - Fresh Eyes

Let go of what you know, with fresh eyes see the Truth that is always here. Breathe it into your heart and expand into emptiness.

It is the simplest things that make us joyful.
Blessings,
Crystal Dawn

Emptiness Blooms in the Heart- A Weekend with Gangaji, Jan. 10-11

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I read Gangaji’s book The Diamond in Your Pocket: discovering your true radiance. This book is a gold mine of wisdom. I found answers to questions I have been curious about for years. She speaks with such clarity about emptiness, which is not so easy to do. As I read the words, I began to notice a real shift in my consciousness. My ego seemed to be dissolving. (It is an interesting thing to watch, this letting go of me as a separate being.) I have had many experiences over the years of entering ecstatic states of bliss, oneness, unity consciousness and they were marvelous, but as Gangaji points out- they end. This process is different. I am not in an ecstatic state. Instead of an “I” being aware, there is awareness of Awareness, that which never changes. This is a shift into a new way of being.

After Christmas I went online to see if she had any workshops in the near future and, to my joy, she was scheduled in San Diego Jan.10-11. I signed up immediately. My time with her was delightful. Her presence has a translucent quality and I could feel the Truth flow from her as a gentle, penetrating light. On Saturday afternoon, as we meditated with her, I felt a bouquet of roses, the color of emptiness, blossom and open my heart. This was so visceral I could almost smell the love and freedom as they filled the room. The path of self- inquiry she shares is so direct and powerful. Awareness is so clear and pure. I see now that thoughts, feelings, and desires will continue to come and go and yet this Awareness is always here in each moment.

This morning, I awoke at 4 a.m. and there were negative thoughts, fears that I am not being productive enough, to-dos, and concerns about the future. (There has been a noticeable desire to be in the flow and not to do for the past several weeks.) I lay in bed and watched the thoughts. I stayed aware and still the thoughts came and went. My mind remained busy until about 6:30, when I dozed off. I got up at 7:30 a.m. and watched a Gangaji DVD. It helped to hear her speak of Awareness and the traps the mind sets. Awareness settled in again. What I am learning is to stay present and watch the mind to see the story and not get caught in it, to feel the emotions but not become them, allowing whatever is arising to be as it is- conscious of it all and yet knowing it is not me. It is a new way of being and seeing.

Questions arise, lots of questions and, as Gangaji so beautifully suggested, there is nothing to expect and who is there to expect it anyhow?” So I relax, stay present and allow Truth to be revealed. http://www.gangaji.org/

“Life is the Guru kissing, slapping, confirming, denying. What does it mean to be true to who you are?” Gangaji