' Issiah Toner - Letting go into the mystery '...

Seven years after a wonderous epiphany there has been days and days of Silent meditative retreat, All sorts of workshops, samplings of spiritual teachers and teachings, and countless books and discussions... Life might not have carved out a teacher with me but I do have a few things I've learned that might help others along the way:

1: Love yourself. Do whatever you can to see your innocence from self loathing. Once you see it give it to others. It's in empathy that we become our greatest expression.

2: You are not the voice of thinking in your head. You are not the ego. You are what's aware of it. You are aware presence. There is an aspect of ego that allows us to function as human beings ; The rest of it is just consciousness stuck in survival mode. There is one being having the experience of a you and a me. The identification of being individualized is the ego. The truth is still One being. The self is a false self. We are One. Waking up to this is real. What an amazing experience being had. There is no "other."
We get to be "In the World but not of it." We get to enjoy and express our uniqueness without it having to measure up or conquer.

3: Once the breakthrough insight occurs we are able to see the different spiritual teachings of the world as different paths up the same mountain. We also are able to see where they have become stuck. What commonly happens, often in horrific fashion, is that the teachings or religion become the very thing they were meant to free us from.

4: Seeing the highest truth will threaten our sense of self. We will turn away, hide, and fight in order to not have to face it. It takes incredible courage to follow our intuition into the unknown. It takes true courage to step outside of our comfort zone and let go into the mystery of life. For so many of us; What society teaches us as courage is actually fear management. We fear the feminine aspect of existence (that which is beyond us) and worship the masculine aspect of control.

5: Waking up will require you to stand on your own two feet. Consciousness through human being is very lost. Follow your intuition to spiritual friendships. They are precious, nourishing, and needed. They might not be what your mind imagines; Follow your intuition.

6: Our ego minds are made to navigate contrast. They separate things into black and white the best they can in order for us to function and thrive. What we are gets so confused when it tries to find itself with this tool because it is all of it and can't be separated. It will turn a blind eye to what it doesn't want to see and sweep it under the rug while it hangs on to defining ideas for dear life. The other side of the equation that we sweep under the rug haunts us as our denied shadow side. To align with "what" we are we need to allow ourselves to rest in the presence of this moment. We are not the thoughts being produced in our heads. We are what's aware of them. Learning to rest in this open awareness is coming home.

7: I will say it again because it is so important. We need to develop self compassion. We have to love and forgive ourselves. In doing so we develop compassion for everyone and everything. Therapy can be very helpful here. There is also practices we can do in order to heal our misperceptions and align with the loving creative force behind existence.

8: PRACTICE GRATITUDE! I am living proof that we can rewire our minds by focusing on the goodness of life. I've come up with the simple practice of filling out a half of a notebook page everyday with what I am grateful for.. It becomes a new filter for seeing life. I believe that gratitude is actually the "filter-less" view of our true nature.

9: It's ok to fall off our horses. Just keep setting the intention to ride them. Be gentle with ourselves, not harsh and self critical. Freedom comes from the intention not our control.

10: Follow your intuition. Don't get caught up in identifying too much with one path or another. Sometimes we have to change paths. Sometimes we have to stay with the same one. It's different for each of us and only our insides know the way.