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True spiritual practice is done in public. Most of us have spent years practicing in the privacy of our own rooms, and yet because of this find that much of our practice does not translate into real life relationships. If we are finding ourselves unable to relate to life, and simply wanting to be isolated from this beautiful world, chances are we need to find a way to integrate our practice into Reality. If our world is going to change, if we are truly going to become liberated, our practice must translate to our lives, it must include our relationships, our families, our children, our workplace and our environment. Without the full inclusion of life, our hearts will always be aching, for a deeper connection and expression of love.

Hello, everybody!

I've posted a bunch of new YouTube videos since I was here last, but the most important one is probably the 2-hour satsang video I put up recently.

If you look at the main website, you'll also see other videos as well as hundreds of posts I've written over the past few years.

Here's are links to:

1) The Posts page of AwakeningClarityNow.com

2) My YouTube channel 

3) My Podcast Channel --my podcasts are also available on iTunes.

4) My latest book, Awaken NOW: The Living Method of Spiritual Awakening which has been an Eastern Philosophy bestseller in the US, UK, and Australia. It's available as a paperback, Kindle edition, and an audio book.

5) The Meetings page of AwakeningClarityNow.com, which will tell you about the new Awakening Dialogues.

I invite you to join many hundreds of people around the world, and come wake with me!

All love,

Fred

1 1/2 minute video: https://youtu.be/PPg4r-CRY3U

To be free of the endless commenting, reviewing, anticipating, and frequent chaos in the mind, a remarkably effective strategy is to shift the focus of awareness from thoughts and emotions into the immediate sensory experience of what is seen, heard and felt in the immediate here-and-now. Bring attention to your body and the physical world around you. Include in this special attention to the sensations of breathing. Do this for fifteen to thirty seconds and see if you don’t experience a sense of calm and clarity that might be described as a taste of sanity.  There is a phenomenon concerning mind that is similar to the law in physics that says no two objects can occupy the same space. By focusing awareness totally into the here-and-now of the senses, the talking mind of the ego begins to quiet, and ultimately fall silent.  To whatever degree (percentage, if you will) the energy of mind can shift from thinking to sensing, there is a proportional quieting of the mind’s emotional talking.  As you practice this sensory-focused awareness, becoming more skillful in it, you will discover that your life is becoming calmer, clearer and saner. You will be opening the door to a deep well of wisdom and security that exists within the quiet recesses of every person. You will find yourself living pleasantly and effectively in the now, not crazily in the then and when.

Question your beliefs, perspectives, ideas, feelings and inquire with a open heart into what manifests them.  Allow them to un-manifest. What remains is stillness, presence and love. The is the natural state of who you are. Every moment provides you with the opportunity to wake up.  You don't have to be on a mountain top to find what you need.  All is already here and showing up in your regular life.  The invitation is always here, always arising and pointing you within, pointing you home.

Happy February! I've just put up a new video post, "When the One Thing Going On Tells Itself the Truth," and there is a also recently written post, "No Practice, No Problem," as well as Letters from the Field and whatever else arose. It's also time to register for February's Sunday Satsangs. Come join us at AwakeningClarityNow.com. Peace...

Like most people, I find myself caught in repetitive thinking from time to time. It’s usually about something that I need to do in the future, and can be rather bothersome. For example, when I’m laying in bed thinking about something I think I need to do in the future. Obviously there are times when you may need to think ahead or plan, but we tend to get stuck in overthinking things that are really of no importance in the grand scheme of things. It may be helpful to ask yourself, “Can anything be done about this situation now?” If not, why waste time thinking about it?

In my experience very little thinking is actually necessary to make things happen. We do things all day long without thinking about them. But we have a tendency to dwell on certain things instead of just doing them or letting them go. So, let’s explore what happens when we stop thinking about doing things and let things happen.

The next time you have time where you don’t need to be anywhere in particular, just stand in the middle of the room and wait to see what happens. Whatever the body decides to do, go with it. Let the mind follow instead of lead. It may be that you just stand there waiting for something to happen for a few minutes, but eventually there will be movement. It may begin by just turning your head to look at something. As you observe, ask yourself, “I wonder what it’s* going to look at next?” Then wait and watch. Movement will happen eventually. When it does, allow that sense of curiosity to return. “Now what’s it* going to do?” Notice how your mind doesn't need to be in control for action to occur.

Spend some time with this and you can build more trust in just allowing. Use it the next time you go to the store. “I wonder which aisle it’s going to go down?” “I wonder what it will pick up next?” Wonder is the optimum word here. Just wonder at how Life does what it needs to do without you needing to think about it. “I wonder what it* will think of next?” is another interesting thing to ask. You never know, nor can you control, what thought is going to pop in your head next. But there is value in watching the mind just like you watch the body in this way of wonder.

In this exercise you are engaged in active and attentive waiting. This creates stillness even when there is movement and directs your attention to the present moment.The deeper you go into the present moment, the deeper the sense of wonder gets. You can then connect with the mystical impulse of Life that makes things happen. That impulse is ever present but can only be appreciated when thought isn’t covering it up. You can uncover it by letting Life move you instead of you trying to move it. Where is this thing going? We can’t know until we’re here.

* By the way, referring to the body/mind as an IT is a good way to create some space around who you think you are so you can pay more attention to what you really are -- Life itself.

Hello, everybody. Just a note to say I've put up several new videos in the past week or so, including this 2-hour online satsang. 

Fred Davis & Friends 2-Hour Satsang

I also put up my 101st podcast this week, including the audio of the satsang mentioned above. The link for that is:

Awakening Clarity Now Podcasting

The website, of course, has hundreds of useful posts and more.

Awakening Clarity Now

All love,

Fred

Hello, everybody! I've been really busy this week, putting up new posts and cutting new videos. Here are some highlights.

I've just posted a major new piece on my website, AwakeningClarityNow.com. My editor thinks it's one of my best, so come see what you think. :-)

There are some new podcasts available on Podbean and iTunes.

I've just put four ten-minutes post-awakening practice recording on the Insight Timer app that's available for both Apple and Android. 

I have a couple of new videos up; here's a link to one of the latest.

I've announced the third Living Method of Spiritual Awakening Self-Realization course (online), and the first monthly Clarity Series.  I hope to see you soon!

All love,

Fred

Hello, everybody. I've just put up a new post on Awakening Clarity Now that you may find of interest.

We think we're making a lot of progress. It feels like it. It looks like it. But how much progress does a hamster make when it's breathlessly running on its wheel? Is it even sure which direction it's moving in?

This article is about the strange phenomena of getting tripped up by our own apparent knowledge. Do come join us.

PS

I also announced a new Living Method of Awakening Self-Realization course that will be held on Tuesdays. I'm currently holding one on Sundays and the response--and wake up rate--has been excellent. Take a peek at the post right below Spiritual Progress or Spiritual Regress. Thanks!

I like the little block that shows up on my page that says "What brings you here?" I am not a person that spends much time on the computer and I tend to not be drawn to use it as a form of communicating my thoughts except for what is logistically showing up to be tended to or if it is the way someone desires to communicate with me. But checking on my Asheville Sangha page I see this question and I feel a smile inside flowing out and it is showing up to participate in this way...so lovely and fun! What brings me here is that there is a desire for you to know that I am here and at your service my Beloved. I have been flying a small flag for quite awhile.  There has been a quietness about sharing but I also feel it should not be hard to find me and or connect with what we are about at the regular Satsang meetings that are held.  I haven't set up a website as of yet but we do record all of the meetings and they are available if your feel drawn check it out.  You can contact Julia Borg and she can make that happen. I have been offering group Satsang and Darshan for almost 3 years with tremendous love and support of Sangha. Folks had been asking me for many years before that but I stayed away from it until meeting and asking Adyashanti.  At the time I felt like I wasn't "cooked enough" to talk about it.  He simply told me if someone asked me a question to talk. From that moment it was a serious invitation for the veil that I could feel remaining to fall away as it did soon after that. With Adya's support I began this apparent role as a teacher. He continued to be very available to me to go over meetings and my questions for the next two years as I would not have felt I could do it otherwise. My deepest desire was and still is to function totally from integrity. Finally a year or so ago my need for him actually became a source of discomfort for me. I both didn't and did understand what was happening. He told me it was now time for me to trust myself. He totally became not only my teacher and friend but very own Self.  I always was feeling this deep pull, then deeper and deeper still,to end this feeling of teacher/student and knew it would not be fully integrated until I didn't experience him as higher or somehow with some magical ingredient that I still was not awake to.  Since then I find he is or more simply the teacher is within and after 6 months or so from that meeting I realized since then there had been no external questions arising anymore. I actually then realized all along Adya had over and over again just validated my questions and honored the way truth moves through this form called Alaya. He teaching is always about trusting yourself.  Its all a inside job. I did have a couple times I was burning to hear his voice but the first time I simpy cried and burned in the yearning.  The next time my daughter shows up with our family computer complaining a man was talking over her tv show and if I would turn it off.  I handed her the iPad instead realizing it was adya's voice and that a prior recording had somehow been activated.  I listened and it was one of my most loved parts of a favorite satsang I had heard before.  He was telling the story about the happiest day of his life when his wife woke up from separation and came to him as he was waking up out of bed and she simply said "I don't need you anymore!"  I held my computer realizing how  much I am supported always in Grace. Its not that my teacher isn't there for me anymore or that we aren't friends. He told me he would be there for me always even in 50 years but I now know that need for external help -even Adya- that is not to be held on to. Even that must fall away. Not that that is a rule or anything for me never to connect with him in that way as it is a mystery.  It's just that is the way it naturally is. Our nature is unconditioned and whole and from that arises unconditional love as Adya reflects so powerfully.  But that is also my true nature and your true nature. Freedom can only be found within and from my own experience I find that that freedom, who we are, this, is ever expanding and ever deepening beyond the beyond and not even that. Anywhere we find separation is a shining light pointing us home all the way through to realize we were always this way. That you and I are the same and the Beloved is our natural Self. I love how Adya says his life is dedicated to the awakening of all beings.  I also feel this deep call...  You are my very Self. Your suffering is my suffering.  We are the same.  Your awakening is my awakening.  I am at your feet. Our deepest desire is truth and I can only bow to that.  How may I be of service my to you my Beloved? 

Hello, everybody. AwakeningClarityNow.com has a new, two-part post, "The Truth, the Dream and the Teaching," which addresses our experience of reality as well as Reality itself.

There are some new podcasts up, too, and you can now find those on iTunes, Podbean and of course on the main website. I've also put up a couple of new YouTube videos in the last few days.

17 years ago today I was living (or more accurately, dying) in Mt Tabor City Park in Portland, Oregon. What a miracle. Happy Labor Day!

Honoring our Innermost Nature

Throughout our lives so much will come to us: happiness, success, falling in love, everything wonderfully going our way—as well as the opposite, illness, painful emotional dramas, difficulty, pain, heartache, and the death of loved ones.  Sometimes our lives beautifully come together and other times, our lives completely fall apart.

Yet all the while through the passing experiences of pain and pleasure, something deeper persists—something greater and deeper than even our thoughts and feelings about our experience.  Throughout these passing experiences of life and our passing thoughts which go with them, there is a quiet, spacious and awake presence...

read more

I've just completed part two of a major new article and video, You Are Not Born and You Do Not Die. The article is divided into two parts and the video is complete unto itself. I've placed all three pieces in line to make them easy to discover.

People have loved Part 1 and the video version and now I'm posting the final portion, Part 2 of the text version. Do come join us at AwakeningClarityNow.com.

Audio tracks from my YouTube videos are now available to listen to online, to download to your phone, tablet, PC/Mac, or through the Podbean app available through both Apple and Android. There are presently 83 tracks--hours and hours of free audio. Here is the website address:

http://AwakeningClarityNow.podbean.com/

Hello, everyone! Just a note to invite you over to Awakening Clarity Now where I've put up a new Prime Post, You Are Not Born and You Do Not Die.

The same message said another way is available in the video of the same name.

It has taken a while for me to fully realize the impact of reassurance when a friend or loved one is struggling, stressed or pained in some way. In my world, I see the goodness in the world, and know that personal suffering is avoidable with the proper "tools" (for lack of a better word). But this is viewed as a phony belief by many, and not readily accepted by most. So, it's not very reassuring to approach someone who is upset with things like, "It's going to be okay," much less to say things like, "This is actually a good thing. If you look at it this way, you can see that it's not as bad as you think. Everything happens for you, not to you (as Katie likes to say). Here are some reasons not to get stressed out about this..."

Despite the fact that my wife has told me on a number of occasions that she doesn't want to be told things like that, my instincts continue to override logic (or whatever you want to call it) and rush in to "helper mode." It's interesting to see how unhelpful that can be most of the time.  But there are a few key things that I've come to realize. First, a person complaining about something isn't necessarily requesting help, just voicing what's inside them. Secondly, when rushing into reassurance mode, there is a tendency to either negate the other person's feelings, or make them feel bad for having them, thereby making them frustrated at the messenger for not understanding them. Call me a slow learner, but after years of my unsuccessful attempts to help others, I'm finally getting it. "They don't need my help, they need a hug," is a saying that came to me recently.

This new undefstanding is thanks in part to having a toddler in the "terrible threes" stage of life, and a friend of mine who is somewhat of a parenting guru (thanks BJ). She and I had a "chance" meeting at just the right time (as all meetings do), and she told me about how to best deal with crying/complaining toddlers who want something that they can't have. Here is a summary of the tips she gave me:

Listen to what they have to say and repeat back to them their wishes in an understanding way. They just want what all of us want -- to be heard and understood. Shifting the focus of their desire to an agreeable solution makes the desired object/event less important. An example she gave was a situation where the child wants a cookie that you don't want her to have. You might say, "You really like cookies don't you? I do, too. Let's have one later on after we eat dinner (or something to that effect)." Follow up that with a slight change of subject, and the upset tends to dissipate. Basically, when you "join them" or acknowledge their desire in a positive light, rather than just telling them "No," the outcome is much more peaceful, and they tend to forget about what upset them in the first place. We have had a lot of success with this approach, but each situation calls for a different level of "joining" and finding an agreeable solution or new subject to focus on (it's a never-ending learning process for everyone involved).

Anyway, after a few recent failed attempts to reassure my wife about something she viewed as negative backfired, I realized that I had been going about things all wrong.  As in the case with a toddler (and I'm not saying my wife acts like a three year old - at least not always ;)), she wants her feelings to be heard and understood (what most people want). Silly me, I thought that people who were stressed out wanted reassurance (must be the way I was raised). Now that I know that my attempts to help have been interpreted as me not caring, not listening, negating her feelings, etc., I am attempting to step back and take a look at the way I approach my relationships.

I've heard the term, "giving space" for someone who needs to express their frustration, and I've been trying to figure out what that looks like. As with everything, it's very situational and an "unlearning" process. Being with someone in some form of emotional/psychological pain, without trying to fix them and allowing them the space to experience what they are experiencing, runs counter to my intuition and seems to be a bit of a tightrope.

On the one side of the tightrope is the listening and not-say-anything approach, which may be interpreted as uncaring. Another way might be agreeing with the other person, which could look like being condescending if you're not sincere. Then there's the crusher, "Everything happens for the best," which, as true as it is, may be seen as disrespectful of the other person's feelings (and may get you slapped if you're not careful).

There is also the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words," which points to things like simply holding a person's hand, or giving them a hug when they are in pain and you don't know what to do. That may convey the entire message of "I'm here for you," without the needs for words of reassurance.

So, what am I learning from all of this?  Here are a few things that have come up for me.

First, what the other person is experiencing is to be respected, even if it's not understood.  Everyone is living in their own separate reality that is not like any one else's, and we're all doing our best to interact with people who don't see life the way we do.

"This too shall pass," is another good thing to keep in mind. It's not just some belief, it's the simple truth. Everything passes as soon as it happens, and in five minutes the entire episode may be done and over.

Don't expect too much of yourself. Regardless of your approach, don't feel like a failure if things don't magically get "better." Don't be surprised if you are blamed for the hurt of another, and don't take it personally.

Remember that this, whatever form this moment takes, is a necessary part of the path for others. They are walking it the only way they know how, as are you.

"They" are really "you" in disguise, and their job is to point out where we still have unresolved issues (or stuck energy), which takes the form of them "pushing our buttons."

A quote I read recently from Byron Katie was, "Defense is the first act of war." That may not sit well with some, but the way she explained it made it so beautifully clear that war can not exist when there is no retaliation. It's difficult to practice when our buttons get pushed, but that level of acceptance is the secret to peace.

Don't forget to be true to yourself when you are engaged with another human being who is in a negative state.  If you can maintain a calm demeanor in the face of someone taking their pain out on you, that's great. But you don't have to take it. Removing yourself from a situation might be the kindest thing you can do.

It's been a learning process for me, and I'm sure I'll have more to share about it later.

Random Notes to Self:

Misguided attempts to make them feel better

See the bright side

Addicted to suffering

Guilt for being happy and seeing things as good

Addicted to past, unable to be present

Unable to "Join" them where they are

Reassurance heard as "Get over it," and a lack of respect.

Say nothing? Allow the wallowing? Love the wallowing

It's all about me. They are teaching us how to feel and experience emotions.

What should I be learning from this?

Respect

Allow

Ask how their holding up.

It is as it should be.

It is for the best.

No guilt for an apparent failure.

Due to an oversight, I've not previously announced my online workshops to the sangha. The first four have been sold out. Clarity Workshop #3 is coming up July 28. There are open seat. Awakening Workshop #3 will be held on August 9. There are still 3 open seats for that one. Click here for details on both.

Hello, everybody. I invite you to watch this new, free 47 minute video that I put up this week. It's a bit different. It will make some of you itch a bit, but it will help others to rest. All love, Fred

THAT Which Is Prior to Manifestation

I recently traveled to Boulder to visit my sister, and to attend a seminar there with my first Zen teacher from the San Francisco Zen Center, Richard Baker Roshi. He is the dharma heir of Suzuki Roshi, the most famous Japanese Zen master to live and teach in America, and the author of Zen Mind Beginners Mind. I hadn't seen him since 1981, and I was really looking forward to seeing how we had both changed in relation to each other over the years. The first thing he mentioned was that he struggles with making the teaching relevant to his audience. He said after 50 years of being a teacher, for him the nature of the process changed over time, but doesn't go away. I was immediately aware of a tendency in myself to hope that when I've been teaching for 25 years, that struggle will be over. I had to laugh at myself, after all that is kind of like hoping that with the all the struggles of parenting my boys up to now, the struggles will be over by the time they actually are full fledged adolescents!

The first Zen teacher I read about many years ago, Huang Po, said the ultimate reality is that which is always right before you, in all its fulness, utterly complete. In other words, we always are the full complete expression of the ultimate reality, but we are unaware of this. The unique nature of Japanese Zen teaching is that first timers are directly presented with this teaching the first time they walk through the door. Baker Roshi talked about how during the first 20 years of his teaching he didn't really explain anything. In essence his teaching was presenting different versions of Huang Po's statement about the nature of the absolute, and students were left to face that block to recognizing its truth. Of course there was a lot of explaining going on, but authentic contemplative  practice was very new to our culture. No one knew what really needed to be explained in our adapting to Eastern spirituality.  Baker Roshi mentioned that students were often left feeling like that block was a huge cliff, always rising right before them, that they felt powerless to climb. I realized this was very true in my case when I was young. The cliff has changed over time. In some ways it's no longer my cliff, but the block to pure awareness that is shared by us all. After 50 years of teaching, Baker Roshi is now facing the same cliff in a different light.

In the Japanese Zen tradition, the title Roshi means old man, or a very seasoned teacher. Baker Roshi received the title at age 35. Not only was he much too young, but the collective evolution of the consciousness of teachers and students back then was quite different than now. Fascinated by the lure of transcendental bliss and wisdom, those on the spiritual path were looking within. However both students and teachers were largely unaware of the many obstacles lurking in the depths of our being. Baker Roshi, and other teachers from other disciplines, were presenting the teaching as if the teachers had already climbed the cliff, and were at least close to being fully enlightened beings. This created a huge gulf between the teachers and their students, and both students and teachers were largely unaware of this. Both were vulnerable to unconscious wounds manifesting in destructive patterns that threatened to, and did in fact ruin many spiritual communities. This is the primary reason that the realm of psychotherapy is now such a powerful adjunct for teachers as well as students.

Now it is more in the muscle memory of teachers, and of some savvy students, that it is natural for us to recognize the unchanging nature of the block. We're learning to respect its power in guiding us to learn to more fully occupy our lives. We can now more easily learn how to gradually allow a deeper absorption into the actual nature of our emotional wounds. We can learn to let our cliffs dissolve together as the spirit of our inter being in action. This is the real fuel of our inquiry, this is the real support of the fellowship of sangha.