Opening into Oneness
The deeper we go into Presence, the more obvious it becomes that it is synonymous with God, Spirit, Oneness, and the Divine energy of the whole Universe.
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.
* All quotes are from Liberating Jesus by Leonard Jacobson
1. Choosing to Live in the Truth of Life
"When you are present, you will feel loving, peaceful and at ease. You will feel empowered and you will feel free.
You might occasionally feel blissful, but that is not why you choose to be present. You choose to be present simply because the present moment is the only life really available to you.
Everything else is past memory and future imagining.
In truth, there is no life outside of this moment, so you are choosing to live in the truth of life rather than in a world of illusion.
It’s very simple. Just be here. I’m here, you’re here. The flowers are here. That’s all it is.
As we deepen into Presence, Oneness is revealed. Heaven on Earth is revealed.
To be present is your natural state. It’s unnatural to be thinking all the time, but most people are unable to stop thinking.
We can’t afford to continue living unconsciously upon this earth.
It is only when we awaken into the very heart of silence that truth and Oneness will be revealed. Only when we are truly present will we experience the living Presence of God in all things present."
COACHING NOTES:
What mental idea do you have of the present moment? Is it just a point on a timeline between past and future?
The present moment is so much more than anything we can imagine. It is a place of truth and Oneness, of peace and freedom, and the very living presence of God.
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2. Realizing This Moment Is Enough
"I’m perfectly happy with the moment as it is. I’m not looking for more. This moment is enough. That’s really an important statement. It is a realization that everyone must come to.
The ego is constantly wanting more. It will never settle for the moment as it is, and it will very subtly drive you into the next moment looking for more. It is really a trick of the ego to prevent you from settling into Presence.
Most people on a spiritual path are looking for a peak experience. They are looking for bliss. They are looking for the extraordinary. But often the present moment is ordinary.
If you accept the present moment as ordinary, it will eventually reveal the present moment as extraordinary. If you accept the present moment as ordinary, then you can settle there. You can deepen into Presence and then you will begin to feel the fulness of the moment.
You will begin to feel peace and silence. You will experience a subtle sense of Oneness. You will feel whole and complete within yourself. And if you are present and overflowing with love, generosity and gratitude, then the extraordinary nature of Presence might open for you.
If you approach the present moment in the right way, it will reveal its hidden treasures. And it will be far more beautiful than anything you can imagine with your mind."
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Now, very few people are willing to accept the present moment as it is. They’re looking for the big bang. They want to be enlightened. They want bliss and ecstasy. But all that is driven by the ego, which is never satisfied with the way things are and is always wanting more.
To be truly awakened is actually very ordinary. It just means that you are here as the trees are here. You’re here as the flowers are here. That’s all it is. You’re here, rather than lost in a world of not here.
As you relax and deepen into the present moment, no matter how ordinary it appears to be, then slowly and gently the deeper levels of Presence will open up."
COACHING NOTES:
This beautifully ordinary moment, right now, is enough. This moment is enough. Let this moment be enough for you, just as it is.
And then allow yourself to relax and deepen into Presence. It is in the embracing of the ordinary that the extraordinary reveals itself.
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3. Sensing the Divine Presence in Everything
"You can’t hold on to anything. You can’t seek anything. All you can do is relax into the present moment and accept the present moment as it is. Honor the present moment as the truth of life and the doorway to God, and it will reveal its hidden treasures.
God cannot be known with the mind. God cannot be understood or defined. The best that the mind can do is believe in God. But to believe in God is a very poor substitute for knowing God through your own direct experience. And once you know, there is no need for belief.
For me, God is silent Presence at the very heart of all things present. God is real. God is here now. But we are not. We have become absorbed into the past and future world of the mind.
If you want to experience the living Presence of God in all things present, you will have to come to where God is. You will have to come out of the mind and become present.
When we become fully present, we will begin to sense the Presence that is in everything. This Presence is what I mean by God, and it is reflected in the expression, “God is omnipresent.”
COACHING NOTES:
The deeper we go into Presence, the more obvious it becomes that it is synonymous with God, Spirit, Oneness, and the Divine energy of the whole Universe.
If God is indeed the Presence in all things present, then we have God's address. We know where to find God. And if we, through a conscious breath, become present, what distance is there between us and God?
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4. Letting the Moment Be Your Master
"All human suffering is a result of human unconsciousness. It’s because we’re all lost in the mind and disconnected from Presence that we suffer. When we’re lost in the mind, we are governed by our own egos.
Now there are more than seven billion egos on this planet living under the control and influence of the ego. What will the outcome be if we continue to live in this way?
The greatest service you can contribute to end the suffering of humanity is your own awakening. That’s the real solution. And if enough of us awaken, it will create a ripple effect at the collective level, which will eventually lead to the collective awakening of humanity.
The whole point of the human journey is not to fix or improve the dream, but to awaken out of the dream. We can end all suffering in our lives simply by recognizing a simple and fundamental truth.
“In truth, there is no life outside of this moment.”
If you recognize this simple truth and you recognize that you have been lost in a dream for most of your life, then you greatly increase your chance of awakening from that dream.
The dream does not have to go away. We just have to stop believing in it as somehow being true. And we have to abide in the truth that is always available to us when we are present.
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What I say is become a disciple unto the present moment. Let the present moment be your master. And for me, the present moment and God are one and the same, so become a disciple to God.
This means that you are discipled in returning to Presence whenever you notice that you have drifted into the past and future world of thought and disconnected from the present moment.
What I usually suggest is that whenever it is appropriate for you to think, then think. When there is no need to be thinking, then be present.
There’s no need to think when you’re washing the dishes. There’s no need to think when you’re putting the garbage out. There is no need to think if you are going for a walk. You would be much better off being present as you wash the dishes or go for a walk."
COACHING NOTES:
There are many, many moments in our day when we don't need to be thinking. Find these moments and use them to dive into Presence.
Use your senses to become present with whatever is here with you - what can you can see, hear, touch, taste and smell? Everything is inviting you to be present with it. All you have to do is remember to respond to the invitation.
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5. Relaxing Out of the Dream
"If you intend to kill the ego or get rid of the ego in any way, you will remain eternally enslaved by the ego. You cannot defeat the ego for the simple reason that the one trying to defeat the ego is the ego itself. It is one of the ego’s tricks to keep you under its control.
To try to get rid of the ego is a judgment of the ego, and all judgment takes you out of Presence.
So, how do we free ourselves from the control and domination of our own egos? There is only one way. We must come into right relationship with the ego and that is only possible when you are present.
When you are present, you are the energy of love, acceptance and compassion and it is this energy of love, acceptance and compassion that you bring to the ego.
You know now that the ego is not the enemy. In fact, it is your friend and protector. It has been protecting you all these years against the pain of living in a world where no one is present.
If you have a limiting belief that you are not loved or you are not accepted, it is trying different strategies to get you the love and acceptance that it thinks you need. If you have a limiting belief that you are not good enough, the ego will develop strategies to prove to others that you are good enough.
The problem is that none of the ego’s strategies work.
Even if many people are loving you in this moment, you will not feel it. You will not let it in because, at a deeper and more unconscious level, you have the limiting belief that you are not loved. That limiting belief will prevail until you bring it to consciousness and stop believing in it.
Eventually, the ego becomes frustrated with you. It judges and criticizes you as a way of motivating you to be better. But that approach does not work either.
If you try to fix yourself from within the dream, you are affirming that the dream is real, and you will become even more absorbed into the dream. But if you simply recognize the dream for what it is, then slowly you will begin to relax out of the dream as you open into Presence."
COACHING NOTES:
Here, Leonard tells us that the only way to free ourselves from the control and domination of our ego is to come into right relationship with it, and the only way that is possible is to be present.
So then, we come back to presence, again and again, as the answer to all our problems, as the place of peace and freedom, and as the expression of our true nature, in oneness with all of life.
Notice if doubtful thoughts arise. Could it really be so simple? Is that all I have to do, be present? And yet, we intuitively know that when the answer is complicated, it's the intellect, and when the answer is simple, it's the Spirit. As with everything, we must ultimately trust the wisdom within us to guide the way.
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6. Opening into Oneness
"As you become more and more present, you will find yourself liberated from the dream. The dream is still there but you are no longer identified with it.
You know that it is all an illusion and the feeling of being separate dissolves as you gradually open into Oneness. The limiting beliefs lose their power over you.
You have been through a process of liberating the repressed emotions, which will bring a much greater level of peace and freedom into your life.
You no longer judge yourself or others. You are no longer concerned by what others think of you. You feel free to be yourself and express yourself freely.
Of course, you can still think, but now your thinking is much clearer because you are not burdened by pain from the past or anxiety about the future.
When you are present, you are quite literally the energy of love. It has nothing to do with who or what you love. You are love and you emanate love in the same way that a candle emanates light.
You are also the energy of acceptance and compassion and you are empowered from within.
Can you imagine how your life will change as all these qualities of Presence begin to flow into your life?"
COACHING NOTES:
Consider the answer to the question at the end of the quote.
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