Buddha: ‘Living’ is the experience you undertake as you have this so called ‘life’. But are you living? Or existing? Do not forget that ‘living’ in it’s true sense is an opening of possibility; the numerous and endless ways you can meet this moment now as you are alive in body.
Live today. Existence will still be here tomorrow. But it may change. Feel alive and embrace the experience of possibilities. Do not shed them for a meaningless existence.
I exist: I live- just in a different way from you. I still engage in the lives I live and experience them in their fullest. While you may not comprehend my meaning on myself, comprehend it for yourself. Feel like you’re living while you are alive.
Note from Zoe: Yesterday I had a personal conversation with Jesus who was enlightening my friend and I on taking ‘right action’, particularly in regards to health. Buddha took this further when we ‘spoke’. The capital letters are his.
Conversations with Buddha and Zoe: Right Action for Health
Buddha: Yesterday Zoe, you heard my colleague speak to you about the need for right action and proper rest. Let me recap for everyone.
‘Right action’ is when you are choosing to take a course, undertake the course, when it is right for you. Not right for another, but right for you. Of course nothing that could ever be truly right action for you could involve harming another because that is not how you are designed. Right action is when you choose to truly fulfill yourself and take steps to achieve that. It is through this right action, together with right reason and circumstance, that health and well-being are promoted. Quite simply deep fulfillment makes illness impossible.
Right action makes illness a fleeting guest in the house of the body. You are learning this Zoe. The fulfillment needs to be deep and deeply personal to the individual. Whatever it is! Picking up a needle and thread, climbing a mountain, watching an apple grow, making a deal. It is only through deep fulfillment- unique to every individual- that illness is made a hasty guest.
Rest is important too. However, rest WHEN THE BODY IS TIRED! Many of you today rest when your mind is tired. The body must still be rewarded for giving you a vehicle in which you exist. Move the body during the day till it is tired. If you return from work and you feel tired asked yourself who is tired? Your body? Your mind? Your spirit? This is important. Rest the BODY when tired. Rest the mind when the mind is tired. But do not forget the needs of the body, if actually your body is never tired by your work. This is very important if you wish illness to stay infrequently, if at all.
Now WHEN the body is tired- REST. But the mind will need to facilitate this rest, otherwise all that will be experienced is a temporary cessation of movement without deep regeneration. Practically rest when your body is tired and ENJOY it. Even if it’s the flu- enjoy giving the body what it needs. This mental and emotional willingness to physically rest promotes deep regeneration. And, if the body is tired, this is what it needs. As a course of right action, give it this.
Be mindful though of over inactivity- a problem I see as I look on. The body can’t be tired if not worked, unless ill or undergoing deep regenerative transformation and healing. The body cannot be healthful if its needs are not met- to move. Nor can you if you are not giving yourself fulfillment through right action. This is a process that needs to be relearned to accommodate the shift in lifestyle that has occurred.
Jesus: Sleep is essential for your spiritual health. It is a time for the body to regulate, the mind to be soothed and your soul to rise free from the form of the body.
For those of you wishing to have closer connection to me ensure that your sleep is good. If it is not take remedial action straight away. Turn of the television, stimulating or woeful music. Put down the papers and the books. Allow yourself to rest fully before bed. Allow yourself to soothe yourself into sleep and from there we will endeavour to soothe you.
For mind and mastery to be complete there needs to be a full understanding of the nature of mind; the workings of mind and the ability from that therefore to direct mind. “Resist nothing” does not refer to earthly pleasures or deliberately indulging in squalid, dirty, self gratification states. However, the fear that that is where the mind could take one, means that one resists certain thoughts, urges and in the resistance, one becomes unable to see what is real. In other words the fear of what might be real creates resistance so that reality is never quite achieved albeit heavily sought by the individual.
Your mind takes you in a myriad of directions always towards the same point though: truth, honor, trust, faith, strength. Yet this is not the experience of mind that people have. Indeed for most mind is perpetual thinking, perpetual thoughts that take you in a myriad of directions. When one approaches a type of thought that one identifies as ‘bad’, such as what we have already spoken about- thoughts of squalor, deprivation, etc,- one immediately sensors those thoughts. Yet where do these thoughts come from? Why would you sensor one and not all thought? For if we were to be fully present we would be aware of the nature of our thoughts.
I will try to keep this clear on this occasion. Mind is strength, faith, focus, union with spirit. It is a gateway to the essence, to the soul, to God, and the God experience. The road to this is paved and littered with thought. These thoughts are like leaves fallen from the trees in autumn and how we choose to respond to our journey, whilst in body, is often to become distracted by the thoughts that are on the path: to the point that we become concerned only with the nature of the leaves and the nature of do we like the leaves. And we have forgotten that the purpose of the path is to bring us to union, union with ourselves in the arms of God. Therefore resist no leaf. As you are dedicated to following your path- the path to you, the path to union with God – falsehood comes only from focusing and identifying and creating relationships with thought forms. Therefore resist nothing. Accept all and continue on your journey where we will await you.
Conversation with Buddha and Zoe: All Is Impermanent
Buddha: Begin now to look at the world the way we see it. This world is of temporary form- always shifting, always moving out, shifting each of your every lives. This world that you live in is bigger, bolder and greater than the individual life that you currently inhabit.
With this knowledge learn to respect the earth. Learn to keep the earth’s greatness in your mind and with every choice that you make be aware of consequence. I say this to each and every one of you.Yet do not become fixed on the permanence of damage or sustainability or even on life itself.
Think of yourself as in transit. You are always moving from one form into another. Birth, life stages, days, places that you visit- always moving in and out of form. Not just within the lifetime of the soul but within the lifetime even of the day. One moment is always different from the next, yet you remain. So treat your host with respect and dignity, your host the earth. You are traveling through this lifetime and leave it well.
Begin to recognize that there are those that have gone before you who knew and understood this and worked to leave no footprint of themselves upon the earth. Take a step towards this. This will do two things: Firstly this will give the respect to the earth that it deserves. Secondly this will begin to train you in the nature of your reality right now as you sit and read these words. This moment, whilst real now, will be gone in a moment from now. Take from it what you need. Recognize the impermanence of all and become still and settled within that. Great is the suffering of the many who try and fix points through time, through desire.
Whilst great things can be achieved within a lifetime, within a year, within a month, a week, a day, all is just single moments threaded together. All is impermanent.
I taught to think of moments, of actions, of words spoken to others, of thoughts, all of these as beads on string. Each bead represents that thought, that moment, that desire, that action. This will be the legacy that the soul will carry forth from you. You will with you a string of beads and on that string will be your decisions whether you have been conscious of them or not. This is what you will take to what id beyond form. I taught that this is all that is important- a string of beads- and that isn’t even real in form but metaphysical.
Today I will teach you to value the impact of your life, your choices. Delve into your thoughts, your desires to help you become aware of the impact of your life and your choices, conscious or not.
Life is different today. Different in the fact that impact is greater, desire is greater, restlessness and suffering is greater and this happens at a time when many of you have more of that which is in form. Therefore switch your focus from your daytime job to give you things, material forms, and instead focus on your inner world. This is your real job and it matters not what you do in the world of form. What matters is how. Bring conscious awareness into your life, into your moment and learn to keep the focus on your internal world. learn to become aware of when you become out of yourself and learn to hold the moments where you are inside. Inside your body, inside your life, inside what you are doing- this is where you meet the present. This is where you are doing you inner work.
Conversation with Buddha and Zoe: Where are you? An Exercise
Buddha: So reader, with a pen and paper in front of you draw a square and put you name inside the square.
Now where are you, are you in your body or are you in the square? Are you in both? For those of you who are acquainted with the sensations of energy, are you pulled into the square therefore connected to it or do you simply feel nothing at all?
Now draw a circle under the square, put your name in this. Draw a line connecting the square to the circle. Where are you now? You are in your body, you are in the square, you are also in the circle and you have made a connection.
Now below the circle draw a square and write the name of your sibling or the name of your friend. Where are you now? You are in your body, you are in your square, your circle, the connections between your square and your circle. Are you in this square with your sibling or friends name? No for you can’t. For those of you who are sensitive to energies do you feel attracted or repelled to the square with another name in it? This square, with the other name in it, is a form that is separate to your own yet can you enter that form? No. You can depict that form in letters and shape. This has often been the case with art but can you enter the form of another? No.
So you cannot enter the form of another. But you can enter other forms of yourself. Now I will try not to speak in riddles as this is a subject that I could speak about for many hours.
You, whilst here on earth, have a body yet you are able to put parts of yourself into form that is outside of your body. You do this with your work. You do this with your food when you create a meal. With every creative project you put part of yourself and you become linked to that creative project. So you create a trail whilst living; a trail of essence or, at least those who are working and connected to their essence, create this.
There is a piece of you in everything you will do, in everything you have ever done. And this is deliberately been designed to be the case. You are unbelievably creative and invest you in everything you do. Yet the great experience for most of you is life lives on automatic pilot or with resistance. Would you change what you did and what you do if you knew that part of yourself became invested in it and connected to it?
This is my question for all of you today. You cannot escape your actions, the choices. This is so. At all times you can also change form. This is so. So when you realize that you have been drawing squares through deeds and realize that you do not like the fact that part of you is invested in a square then you can simply start from that point to draw a circle or any other shape you fancy. For whilst you need to reconcile what has been done with what you do, with the present and with where you are, know that you can also use the present to create a new.
Conversation with Buddha and Zoe: Teaching the World to Breathe
Buddha: Zoë, let’s teach the world to breathe.
Readers, close your eyes and take a deep breathe and another and another. Now, opening your eyes, what were you aware of when you breathed? One nostril is always more dominant at any one time than another. Which nostril of yours had the best free flow of air in and out of the body? If you cannot answer this question, shut your eyes once more and take a couple of deep breathes again and see if you can feel which one is which.
If you haven’t been able to sense this may I ask you to close off one nostril and breathe in and breathe out, then close off the other nostril and breathe in and breathe out and your answer will be apparent.
Now I wish you to focus on the breath, taking a strong breath and with this strong breath we wish you to focus on strengthening the body: breathing in and out. Now picture me in your minds eye in front of you and breathe strengthening, breathe and focus on me. If your mind wanders, which I expect it will, bring it back to me and the strengthening breath and focus on this. Focus on this for a long as it takes until your mind wanders, then focus on it once more, do this three or four times. For some of you this may be a second for some of you this may be a minute. Regardless repeat this process three times and lets get you breathing strength and vitality into your bodies. Enjoy this process and know that I will be with you.
Background to Conversation with Buddha and TMichael on Smoking Cigarettes
Note from TM: This topic may be a bit off from the typical spiritual topics we talk about, but it’s one that I have been wondering about for some time from a spiritual perspective. Many people I know, including myself, have struggled with trying to quit smoking cigarettes. We all know about the health issues associated with smoking, yet continue. Is there an understanding about smoking cigarettes that could help people quit?
Master Buddha: It’s a good topic because it bridges the material and spiritual realms. On the purely physical level smoking cigarettes is well known to create a physical addiction. That is not so difficult to understand or accept.
It weakens the breath capacity and reduces the nutrients that can be carried by the blood. Additionally, it carries with it potentially harmful chemicals throughout the body. This is the part that is established. Just a small amount of common sense can grasp this and say that it is not necessary to smoke cigarettes to achieve good health and that to the contrary it degrades health.On the emotional and mental levels other addictions are at work. Smoking also creates an illusion of power. And this is much harder to give up than the physical addiction. Power can mean different things to different people, but I mean it I the sense that one feels powerful to do whatever one needs to do. If one feels weak in some way, he will compensate by finding some way to feel powerful. This is why so many people begin smoking as a teenager—a time in which a great sense of weakness is experienced. Others experience the attraction to smoking during emotionally upsetting moments. Still others enjoy smoking when they are drinking alcohol (this is more complicated because the source of weakness is not so apparent).
It should be obvious that real power is not gained from smoking cigarettes, but that is exactly what makes it a illusion. For those who derive power from it, it is real, and thus an effective illusion.
There is a proverb that states, “The best way to eliminate is to substitute”. In order to do this in a way that supports substituting real understanding for an illusion, one must understand that the apparent weakness for which the illusion is compensating, can be addressed through self-awareness and contemplation. Some people, when quitting smoking, will substitute another substance or activity that supplies the power they seek. This could be substituting one illusion for another; perhaps one that is less harmful in other ways. The real benefit will come from a true understanding of the weakness perceived in the first place, and then proceed to cure it. Some people can make the behavioral change without this deeper understanding I’m speaking of, and for them this is a success. For others it requires the deeper contemplation and cure. Most likely the underlying feeling of impotence, or weakness, is affecting them in other ways as well and this approach will be more helpful.
The worst thing that can happen is for one to come from an approach of judgment, self-loathing, guilt, shame or anger at oneself. Be gentle with yourself as you begin to unravel the complexities that lead to behavior that is inherently harmful. At one point, however erroneous, the smoking habit derived from an intent to cope by providing a power that compensated for a weakness. Seeing that error in choice and seeking a new one confirms self-love and care.
Conversation with Buddha and Zoe: Mind is Strength, Faith, Focus, Union with Spirit
Buddha: Zoë, you have been hearing my words in your head, ‘resist nothing, resist nothing’ and so on. Let me explain what this means.
For mind and mastery to be complete there needs to be a full understanding of the nature of mind, the workings of mind and the ability from that therefore to direct mind. “Resist nothing” does not refer to earthly pleasures or deliberately indulging in squalid, dirty, self gratification states. However, the fear that that is where the mind could take one, means that one resists certain thoughts, urges and in the resistance, one becomes unable to see what is real. In other words, the fear of what might be real creates resistance so that reality is never quite achieved albeit heavily sought by the individual.
Your mind takes you in a myriad of directions always towards the same point though: truth, honour, trust, faith, strength. Yet this is not the experience of mind that people have. For most, ‘mind’ equates perpetual thinking; perpetual thoughts that take you in a myriad of directions. When one approaches a type of thought that one identifies as ‘bad’, such as what we have already spoken about, one immediately censors those thoughts.
Yet where do these thoughts come from? Why would you censor one and not all thought?
If we were fully present we would be aware of the nature of our thoughts and the thinking process.
I will try to keep this clear and simple on this occasion.
Mind is strength, faith, focus, union with spirit. It is a gateway to the essence, to the soul, to God, and the God experience. The road to this union is paved and littered with thought. These thoughts are like leaves fallen from the trees in autumn. How do we choose to respond to our journey whilst in body? It is often to become distracted by the thoughts that are on the path to the point that we become concerned only with the nature of the leaves and the nature of do we like the leaves. And we have forgotten that the purpose of the path is to bring us to union: union with ourselves in the arms of God. Therefore, resist no leaf. As you are dedicated to following your path, the path to you, the path to union with God, falsehood comes only from focusing and identifying and creating relationships with thought forms. Therefore, resist nothing. Accept all and continue on your journey where we will await you.
Conversation with Buddha and Zoe: Uniting with the Body Using Breath
Buddha: Today we are going to focus on respiration: in and out. Why have so many of my teachings, and those who have followed me, focused on the breath? Firstly, as everyone is aware, breathing happens with or without you. Secondly, when you consciously engage your breath you are consciously engaging with the state of being that is happening whether you are aware of it or not. This is one of the easiest, and always the most successful, way of being in the present moment. You cannot escape your breath for breathing is happening to you. But when you join with what is happening to you and offer no resistance, then oneness is developed. There is nothing quite like this. There need be no association with thought. So observation of breath and conjoining of being is my favorite tool for teaching people to become still and whole.
After a few breaths the system becomes energised. Energised not only from the oxygen it has been breathing, but from the release of energy that happens when one becomes present in any given moment. By being conscious of the breath, conscious and conjoining with what is happening and offering no resistance, a huge energy release is borne. It’s akin to a star burst. This is you, one, in ones full potential in any given time simply by being aware of the breath conjoining with being, activating energy. It is from here and only here that transcendental states can be reached.
And what is the message? The message is that one does not ever escape the body to achieve greater levels of spirituality. One doesn’t ever go anywhere else than where one is to achieve greater levels of spirituality. One simply stops, observes the breathes, star burst happens, and the transcendental experience can take place. Simple isn’t it?
In my life as Buddha, I tried everything I had ever heard of to achieve greater levels of spirituality, to reach nirvana. I tried everything that meant leaving the body, in some ways looking back now, killing the body. I also had had from my previous times experiences of indulging the body and all the body was doing was being! Simply responding to what I did with it. If I ate it would digest it, if I drank it would absorb, if I fell it would bruise, if I laughed it chortled. What a close relationship you have people, spiritual beings, with your body. This is something never to be overlooked, but something to be nurtured. This is your best friend. Look after it, but more importantly be one with it through oneness with it. The star burst happens the transcendental state can take place. Care not for what it looks like only its levels of health. If something needs fixed or restored work towards that goal in whichever way you know how. Do not criticise and judge it for being something that it is not, for it is and your development will happen through your uniting with the body, not from desecrating it for it being not something that is a construct of the mind.
So for all of you breathe, enjoy, relax, come and meet me [Buddha laughs].
