Following on the interest, and apparent usefulness of the "Dialogues w/Dominic" series ("Dominic's Awakening Continues...", "DIY nondual awakening w/big job, family, 3 yrs on/off practice", etc.) i got another very different folk i've been working w/, to give his permission to reproduce our dialogues.
These are with "Rikki" (real name), who is single, mid-twenties, working full-time in a job he's not crazy about, and hoping to find a more rewarding career. he's been on the spiritual path for a while, in several popular approaches and saw "no self" about 2 years ago. he wants to deepen his understanding and help others.
Expanding Awakening and Alignment
Rikki
Hey Gary, pleasure to connect. I came
across a video of you on youtube linked from the Liberation Unleashed website. I've been involved in LU plus a couple of other movements
since seeing no-self around 2 years ago. Since then i've been working on
deepening and trying to help others.
Your videos have been great to watch, almost a bridge
between the eastern philosophy and science. Great stuff. I will be investigating your work further and using it to
advance my own understanding of reality, and how I can most efficiently
communicate that to help free others.
Gary
i have
found that integrating science into spirituality is a powerful tool to understand what is happening in
consciousness. we were flying totally blind for so long, and now we can
understand some of it.
There is no doubt that it will not all be explainable
scientifically, as so much is beyond explanation and transcendent, but whatever can be known is useful to clear away
the garbage around many beliefs.
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| Rikki's pic of Happiness Beyond Thought free download |
Rikki
Finding your
work has been pretty awesome, fusing Eastern philosophies and science together,
I didn't realize someone had really done this until a few days ago, so i'm
inspired.
Since seeing no-self years ago, which many consider to be enlightenment, I still have this intense desire to achieve, to
do great things and inspire others. I feel like life is bubbling away under the
surface and although i'm closer to tapping that than ever before, I still don't
feel i'm living in total alignment with that.
Could you please shed some light on this Gary?
Gary
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| Synapse See wiki link to see what the arrows are |
IME, awakening
is not a "once and done", it goes on and on. (i don't use the
"e" word [enlightenment] as it is so misunderstood). we have roughly
50,000,000,000,000 synaptic interconnections between our neurons; if only 2% of
those are used in "selfing" and self-related behaviors, that is still
1,000,000,000,000 that need to be unwound and/or reconfigured. That, thankfully,
doesn't happen all at once or it would be cataclysmic.
It goes on, and on and
on. If anyone declares themselves "finished", they aren't.
you will find "yourself" moved to do all sorts of
things, out of your control, as your life Dances itself forward. As you get out
of the way, you will find yourself more "in alignment" with
that energy.
If you feel you are not in "total alignment",
"you" aren't, so that is where the focus needs to be - on
"you". Where are "you"?, when are "you"? what is
this "you" that isn't in alignment?
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| Alignment |
we focus on something out there that is not aligned w/us,
but that is backwards...it is us that isn't in alignment. The Dance, the
Universe, is always perfectly aligned.
Rikki
Wow Gary, that is so spot on. It all makes perfect sense.
Your work is incredible.
What's interesting is that I saw no self existed around 2
years ago, but this selfing network really makes sense. What you replied
there is just it.
I'm going to work on deepening this, and aligning with life, 100%. What will be interesting is that because I saw no self existed a while
ago, will my results be 'faster' than average? I'll let you know...
Making (Career) Choices
Rikki
I've been practicing all week, feel very
centered and still at times. It's definitely feeling more ordered. i found your
YouTube guided meditation video very helpful and will incorporate listening to
that into my daily practice.
i've also found solutions to "problems" naturally coming up
since i've been practicing. It's like there is space for the answer to emerge.
i spent a LONG time racking my brain over career choices,
and at 24 I wanted to get something moving. So far i've naturally been drawn into doing my
truck driver's license, which isn't my preferred choice, but I think i'll use it
as a fall back as there's good money to be made.
Today I find myself drawn to becoming a doctor, which seems
to be inspired by your neuroscience work and my love of human exploration. An illness through teens meant my
qualifications were limited, despite earlier academic potential. That was a mind-made problem that manifested
itself into physical illness.
So i'm walking an interesting path right now, excited about
where it will take me, and moving ever deeper into stillness.
Gary
Sounds like things are dancing along. you
will make the right choice on your career; you won't be able to make the
"wrong" one. you're too valuable to waste. The
Universe has already moved you forward spiritually. She will use you somehow,
but it may not be what you expect...just stay open.
Rikki
Thanks for your advice, my issue right now is
finding my 'right' career path.
What seems to happen is i'll be taken with
something for a while, it'll seem the correct move and i'll research, only for
it to fall away and be forgotten about later.
Despite only being 24, i've had a pretty eventful life.
I finished art college a few years ago but became
despondent with it, and no longer wish to continue in this vein. I'm an intelligent, 24 yr old guy essentially stuck
in a dead end job. Every day I feel like my talents are being wasted, and I
feel an intense desire for change.
I have been looking into going to med school the past couple
of weeks. I feel internally drawn to that (right now). Because of
illness as a teen (M.E. [chronic fatigue syndrome]), i'd have to attend 2 years of college to get the
qualifications before applying for med school.
I'm not sure where it will lead,
or how i'm going to afford it, but something tells me to take the first
step and see where it leads me. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, and has
a lot of positives to it, even if I don't know where it will end up.
Not knowing my career direction has kept me atrophied for
quite a while, but lately i've felt a huge, almost overwhelming energy for
change.
Could you please shed some light on that?
Gary
If
you feel strongly, intuitively drawn to medicine, "take the first
step" and see where it leads you. i spent a lot of time around health
care work and folk.
There are many great jobs
that pay very well, are in high demand, help folk greatly,
that don't require the full medical school routine. Paramedics, nurses, EMTs,
Physician Assistants, Nurse Anesthetists, etc. are
examples.
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Most of my visits to my General Practitioner doctor have actually been w/his physician assistants. They are carrying an increasingly critical
role in providing health care.
Rikki
I like the idea of obtaining the degree because my options are vast from that point.
One question I do have - how do you KNOW the right action?
I find something will come up and seem to look a great idea for
a while, then disappear. Nothing seems to "lock in" and feel "right". I've kind
of atrophied in this position, not knowing the "right" move, although this medical route seems to be persistent, and the right answers,
websites, etc., seem to be finding their way to me.
Then my attention will drift off into something
else. How do you see this? Do you feel a strong energy or compulsion to act
in a certain direction at times?
Gary
How
"i" make decisions is "intuitive" and relies on
feeling the right answer arise from stillness. you compare "intuition" and "blah, blah" answers and ask each why that is the right choice. If there is an "answer/argument", that is the WRONG choice. If there is NO answer, that is the right choice.
The process is described in blogposts
"Can you believe what arises from nondual stillness?" Is it just more"blah, blah"?", "Choosing...Is it "me" or the dopamine doing it?", and "how do you make your decisions w/no "I"?.
Rikki
Great advice as
always. Back to meditating at least 30 minutes a day.
A future career path seems to have opened up, becoming a
doctor. Interesting how I was naturally inclined to find the right websites,
and attended a presentation about an access course, seemingly making these
plans to that goal and yet it all seems to have been done so organically.
Very interesting to me so far.
Need to learn to let go and trust.
Gary
Sounds like a
plan. It is interesting how "what is supposed to
happen" will happen all by itself, like your finding the right websites, course preso, etc., "organically".
BTW, will be speaking @ Buddhist Geeks Conference in Boulder, CO this Sunday. If you're in Boulder stop by, or you can catch the simulcast w/Tricycle Buddhist mag. The talk will be available next week and until Sept 5 on Tricycle.
Will also be doing an online discussion on my talk for Tricycle next and filming a "What is Contemplative Technology?" video w/Buddhist Geeks.
BTW, will be speaking @ Buddhist Geeks Conference in Boulder, CO this Sunday. If you're in Boulder stop by, or you can catch the simulcast w/Tricycle Buddhist mag. The talk will be available next week and until Sept 5 on Tricycle.
Will also be doing an online discussion on my talk for Tricycle next and filming a "What is Contemplative Technology?" video w/Buddhist Geeks.
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