We have become completely absorbed in the world of the thinking mind and have lost touch with the truth of who we are when we are awake and present. But making the shift couldn't be simpler.
How to get the most out of these Wisdom Quotes:
Put aside everything you think you already know.
Open your mind and heart to receive something new.
Take your time going through each point.
Return to any points that particularly touch you.
In the coming days, listen carefully to the wisdom within you.
1. Who We Have Become
"When you’re present you are love, you are acceptance, you are compassion, you are empowered from within and you exist in the realization of oneness. That’s the truth of who you are and there’s nothing you can do about it.
The question arises, what happened? Where did we go astray? Who have we become? Because we’ve become something other than the truth of who we are.
We’ve become caught in the world of the human, thinking mind, dominated by the ego. Lost in separation, lost in illusion, walking around with all these repressed emotions from our past, all these limiting beliefs from our past, all these fears and desires that keep us in the past and future.
And most of us would like to deny who we’ve become, hide or fix who we’ve become. Most of us judge who we’ve become. We don’t want anyone to know who we’ve become: jealous, controlling, a victim, manipulative, judgmental, not good enough, unworthy, unloved, alone… We don’t want anyone to know those things about us, so we hide them, and we hide them from ourselves.
I don’t want anyone to know I feel unloved so I spend the rest of my life hiding it and searching for someone to love me. Deep down, I feel I’m not good enough so I spend the rest of my life trying to prove that I’m good enough. I don’t feel I’m acceptable or accepted, so I spend the rest of my life trying to gain acceptance. I don’t feel I fit in, so I spend the rest of my life trying to fit in. Deep down, I feel alone and so I spend the rest of my life trying to escape the pain of aloneness, the pain of separation.
So this teaching is about awakening, awakening from the limited world of the mind, awakening from the remembered past, the imagined future, awakening from illusion and separation, and awakening from the dream."
~Leonard Jacobson, from the video: Right Relationship With the Ego
COACHING NOTES:
We begin by seeing a stark difference between the truth of who we are and what we have become. Read that first paragraph again.
2. Shifting to Presence
"There eventually comes a point where there’s a shift in who you are. Before awakening, your home is the world of the mind - that’s where you live, that’s where you engage with the world, with other people, from within the mind. But it’s very difficult and conflicted if it’s all occurring within the world of the mind, so the shift is to presence.
As you become present, you open into love, you open into acceptance, there’s no judgment, you open into compassion, you’re empowered from within, and you exist in the realization of Oneness. This is who you are when you’re present.
You come out of the mind by shifting your focus to something that is actually here in the moment with you. If your eyes are closed, it could be your body breathing. It could be the sound you hear. It could be the feeling of your feet touching the floor. It doesn’t matter what it is.
The beautiful thing is, there’s always something to be present with, no matter where you are or what you’re doing because the present moment never goes away. And there’s always so much in the present moment that you can be present with.
Just for a moment, leave me and be present with the flower. Bring that gift of presence to the flower. Stay present with the flower. The flower is enjoying your presence immensely. The flower is not used to someone being present with it.
It’s really so simple.
And then I can ask you: “Who is present in this moment?” “I am.” Just “I am.” It’s like a declaration. "Who is here?" "I am." And then silence."
~Leonard Jacobson, from the video: Right Relationship With the Ego
COACHING NOTES:
There's always something to be present with, and it's so simple to be present with it by exercising your senses.
In the video, Leonard used the examples of a bag and a tissue box that were in front of him. You can look out of the window and be present with a tree you can see, or with your pet. It's so easy to be present with an animal. It's also easy to be present with any sounds you hear and with your breath, following it in and out consciously.
Notice all the ways you're being invited into presence throughout the day.
3. Keeping a Clear Sky
"Right now, become truly present with one of these leaves or one of these flowers. Now, stay present with the flower.
If a thought was to arise within you, you just notice it. You’re not for it, you’re not against it. You don’t say it’s stupid. You don’t try and get rid of it, you don’t try and stop it.
You just stay present with the flower. You just notice it, “Oh, thinking!” and then come back to being present with your body breathing or the flower or whatever’s here.
You notice it. The moment you’re for it or against it, it catches you.
It’s just a little thought passing across a vast, blue sky. You are the vast, blue sky. The thought is like a tiny cloud. Can a tiny cloud obscure the vast, blue sky? No - unless you get involved in the cloud, or involved in the thought.
How do you get involved in the thought? If you’re for it and you believe it and it’s interesting, you drift off with the thought; or if you’re against it, or trying to stop it because you’re trying to be enlightened, then you get absorbed into the thought.
A tiny thought cannot obscure a clear, blue sky. But, many, many clouds, one after the other - tiny cloud, tiny cloud, tiny cloud... They never stop, they keep popping up. Before you know it, there’s no blue sky. That’s endless thought.
So how do you overcome that? You overcome it very gently and, in a way, not trying to overcome it. You’re just exercising your God-given right to be present with something that’s here in the moment with you.
If it only lasts two seconds before the thoughts resume, that’s okay. Allow that, just go with that. But maybe 30 seconds later or two minutes later or an hour later, come back, be present for another two seconds.
No effort, no trying, no practice, no resistance. You’re just exercising your God-given right to be here, in the truth of life, present with what is here."
~Leonard Jacobson, from the video: Right Relationship With the Ego
COACHING NOTES:
What do you do when a thought arises? You simply notice it and say to yourself (or even out loud if it helps) "Thinking!" You can do the same with the content of your thoughts. Call yourself out when you realize you're "Blaming!" or "Judging!" or "Complaining!"
But always be gentle with yourself. Let a smile spread over your face when you catch yourself getting involved in a cloud of thought, and then let it go with a simple word..
4. Not Missing a Thing
"The only catch is that we humans are so deeply habituated to living in the mind, we’re so deeply addicted to thinking, that we have to ask ourselves: what will it take to make this shift out of the world of the mind into the world of now? What will it take? What is the way of awakening? What is the way of liberation?
That’s what this teaching is about. Two simple steps. Step one: master the art of being present. Step two: bring conscious awareness to all the ways you’re pulled out of the present moment, all the blocks to your being present, and all the things that keep you in prison in the past and future.
That’s all it is at any given time. Either you’re present, or you’re bringing consciousness to how you’re not present.
It’s not an analytical process. It’s a witnessing process from presence. From presence, I witness whatever is coming up that is not of presence. I’m not trying to change it, I’m not trying to fix it, but I don’t miss a thing. Not a thing. That’s what it takes to awaken. You have to be so present that you don’t miss a thing.
Judgement is arising. The feeling of unworthiness is arising. I own it, I acknowledge it, I confess it - it’s not the truth - I’m not trying to fix it, I’m not trying to get rid of it, I’m just bringing it to consciousness. Because these things only have power over you when they’re unconscious.
As you bring them to consciousness with love, acceptance, and compassion, they just all relax and release you deeper and deeper into the present moment. That is the simple way of awakening. And it works.
The greatest gift you can bring anyone is the gift of being present, the gift of presence. It’s the only thing anyone really needs but they’ve disconnected so deeply from this deep, true need, that they’ve forgotten that’s what they need. But when you start bringing that gift to others they’ll start to respond, they’ll feel it. "Wow, someone’s actually present with me! I’m not used to that."
~Leonard Jacobson, from the video: Right Relationship With Ego
COACHING NOTES:
Every day is filled with opportunities to bring to consciousness all the ways you're keeping yourself from being present. Become aware of how you drift off into the past and future, and remain lost in the world of the mind throughout the day,
As soon as you bring awareness to this, you become present. Presence and awareness always go together.
If you find yourself trying to fix or get rid of certain thoughts and feelings, come back to this moment, to the world of Now. Notice that even your positive intentions are part of your conceptual mind, projecting into the future, and keeping you from being here now.
5. Allowing Everything to Be Revealed in Love
"And then, as you become more present, it’ll become easier and easier. You’ll start to notice what’s going on within the mind.
It has to be gentle. You have to be in right relationship with your thoughts, just like you have to be in right relationship with the ego. or right relationship with the inner child, or right relationship with your anger. This is all about coming into right relationship with every aspect of yourself.
And right relationship is only possible from presence, because when you’re present you are love, you are acceptance, you are compassion. It’s who you are. You don’t have to do it. It’s who you are. And so, it’s you, meeting these aspects of yourself. It’s as if everything is being revealed in love, in this energy of love, acceptance, compassion.
Even if judgement arises, no problem, you notice that - even that’s revealed with love. "Wow, I’m so judgemental! That’s amazing. Wow, I never stop thinking! One thought after the other. I’m feeling unworthy, how interesting!" You feel it, maybe have a little cry, but you’re not lost in it.
Right relationship. It’s the only thing that will awaken you, liberate you."
~Leonard Jacobson, from the video: Right Relationship With the Ego
COACHING NOTES:
If we knew the truth of who we are, we wouldn't hesitate to fully open our hearts and allow everything to be met with the energy of love, acceptance and compassion. If we knew the truth of who we are, we would be amazed at the freedom we can experience right now, in this moment.
In order to come into a right relationship with every aspect of our being, we must meet ourselves as we truly are. And the only way to do that is to be here now instead of lost in the world of the mind.
6. Discovering the Divine
"When you go for a walk and you're walking past a tree - there's a little bit of a breeze - know this: every leaf moving on every tree is waving to you. It's saying, "Here I am. Will you not be present with me? I've been waiting for you forever. Please be present with me."
Every flower is saying to you, "Look how beautiful I am. What more can I do to attract your attention? Is your dream so interesting that you refuse to be present with me?
Come out of your dream. Discover who I really am, for you see me as a flower, but that's not who I really am. I'm really God in the form of a flower."
~ Leonard Jacobson, from the video: You Can Awaken Now
🔷
"The direct experience of God is transcendent of your mind, it's transcendent of all thoughts, and it's transcendent of all belief. And yet, it's a living experience.
It's really experiencing God as the silent presence at the very heart of all things present. That is what is meant by omnipresent."
~ Leonard Jacobson, from the video: The Flowering of Presence
COACHING NOTES:
Have you ever considered that the leaves are waving and the flowers are speaking to you? What if, the next time you noticed them, you allowed yourself to become present with them?
Be open to the deep and silent presence of life. You never know what you may find there.