Inner Bloom

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Introduction ..................................................... 1

The King and the Monk: A Journey to Self-Realization ............. 3

The First Awakening .............................................. 5

Awakening Your Intelligence ...................................... 8

Accepting Your True Self ........................................ 14

The Goal: Enlightenment ......................................... 17

What can I do to achieve enlightenment? ...................... 21

Why is it hard to be present? ................................ 22

Can I be enlightened while living a normal life? ............. 24

Why should I become enlightened at all? ...................... 25

An Exercise for Stepping Out of the Mind ..................... 27

Transcending Society / Breaking Free ............................ 28

No Mind: The Effortless Action .................................. 32

Conscious Manifestation ......................................... 37

The Sword of Consciousness ...................................... 41

The Nature of Interconnectedness ................................ 47

Introduction:

At the age of five, while alone on a swing in the garden, I first recognized my solitude. In that moment, I became aware of my life — and my responsibility for it.

My parents had divorced when I was two years old. My father embraced an orthodox Jewish lifestyle, while I lived with my mother and stepfather, a high-ranking military officer. These two households were worlds apart — their values, ways, and energy often in conflict. This contrast forced my consciousness to observe deeply and question: What is the right way to live?

At the age of 22, reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle made me recognize the one thing I had been after all along — but didn’t yet know intellectually. My consciousness was seeking its ultimate flowering: enlightenment.

Two years later, after going through several shifts in consciousness in my university dorm room, I left my studies behind and set out to find communities around the world devoted to conscious growth.

This book is an invitation — to ignite your inner intelligence and step into a journey of ecstasy, awakening, and trust. Through these pages, I invite you to dive deeper into self-discovery, as we explore the vast depths of consciousness and the transformation that’s always within reach.

The King and the Monk: A Journey to Self-Realization

There was once a king who had everything — gold, power, servants, and the praise of everyone around him. But inside, he felt something was missing. An invisible hunger followed him wherever he went.

One night, tired of pretending, he left the palace in simple clothes and rode to a mountain where he had heard of a monk living in solitude.

At sunrise, he found the monk sitting on a rock, silent.

“I’ve heard you carry some wisdom,” the king said. “I want to understand what’s real. Nothing I have touches what I truly long for.”

The monk didn’t look at him. He said, “You? A king? You’ve built your whole life on noise and illusion. What makes you think you can hear the truth?”

The king’s hand went to his sword. “Be careful how you speak,” he warned. “Your life wouldn’t be difficult for me to take.”

The monk turned slowly and looked him in the eyes. “Then kill me. This rage you feel? That’s how you build your own hell.”

The king froze.

The monk continued, “You’re ruled by your own mind, like a puppet. True strength is not anger.”

The sword slipped from the king’s fingers. His breath caught in his chest.

The monk’s voice softened. “True fulfillment only begins when you let go of pride and surrender the false self.”

The king’s face transformed.

The First Awakening

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the first signs of human existence appeared on Earth. These early humans were mostly driven by basic needs, such as seeking food, shelter, and reproduction. Similar to the animals that surrounded them, they were governed by instincts and focused on survival.

However, at some revolutionary point, one human began to develop the first signs of awareness of their own nature. Suddenly, emotional states like anger, happiness, and even peace were recognized, these were beyond the mere physical aspect. These moments of self-awareness gave a new dimension to that human being, giving the first glimpses of the realization of his consciousness.

Attributes such as caring for others, compassion, and creativity were being acknowledged. Some began to ponder their purpose in the world and the meaning of life. These contemplations must have ignited tremendous energy within them, propelling them to create art, forge deeper connections with others, and participate in spiritual rituals as a means of expressing their inner experiences. Much like a flower reaching its peak, humans were now transcending to a new dimension of their existence.

To this day, the self-realization journey is the state of which humanity is still evolving into. Despite tremendous form-level progress we made intellectually, technologically, and architecturally, we are still possessing an immature consciousness very similar to our ancestors. Anxiety, fear, jealousy, and greed that once served our survival instincts are yet present and hinder our inner purpose and the manifestation of our fullest capacity.

In this book, we delve into the unfoldment of our unmanifested potential and awaken the peaks of what is possible to be attained in our lives. We will dive to see our programmed minds and give rise to the awakening of our intelligence. This effort should open us to the wisdom, joy, and creativity that yearn to manifest through us. Whether you are seeking self-realization, fulfillment, or a breakthrough in your life’s programming, in the following chapters, we will explore together what is possible for you.

Awakening Your Intelligence

Have you ever wondered why life can feel like a constant struggle at times? Why, despite our best efforts, we often find ourselves caught in cycles of stress, conflict, and discontentment? The answer lies in understanding the nature of our mind and how it differs from our true intelligence.

Your mind is the collection of thoughts, beliefs, and images that you have accumulated throughout your life. It's a personal library filled with volumes of memories, shaped by the environment and culture you were born into. Each human perceives the world through the lens of his or her mind, which is a mental filter that colors your daily life.

The greatest challenge humanity faces, awarely or unawarely, is the thousands of years of habitual thinking that have built up this mental programming. For instance, when a child is born to parents in Argentina, as he grows, his mother teaches him how to say "mother," how to hold a spoon, and soon after, how he is expected to behave. The child learns about the customs of the family, the language, and what behaviors or actions will be rewarded or punished. Later in his life, through teachers in school, media entertainment, and children around him, he further learns what is considered ideal or rebellious behavior according to his upbringing.

This process, which is recorded in the brain, is the mind. Most human beings develop their sense of self through the collective thought process, which is repeated more than 95% continuously. They will follow ideas that support the form of identity that has been created, along with the beliefs and prejudices collected or given throughout their lives. Unless one becomes aware of their own mind, conditional thinking will guide one's life until an urgency for an awakening emerges.

Intelligence, on the other hand, is not bound by culture, history, religion, or desire for future outcomes. Intelligence is the very source of who you truly are. What appears as you, is nothing but the appearance of your body, role and habitual thinking. The essence core of who you are is the source of existence. The "I am" before identification.

If you are reading these pages because you yearn to break free from the cycle of thought and gain a greater understanding of who you are, then transcending the limitations of the mind is the path to accessing your unmanifested potential. As long as the mind remains unobserved, your life moves in almost complete unconsciousness and this leads to narrow living, turmoil, and inner conflict, trapping you in a vicious cycle.

Your false understanding of who you are prevents the tremendous aliveness and creativity within you from pulsating and unfolding. It is the individuality yearning to emerge and break free from the conditioned self, blossoming into the fullness of your intelligence, which manifests your ultimate potential.

The modern world today constantly bombards us with sensory stimuli - advertisements, social media, and eye-catching media designed to grab our attention and evoke reactions. This constant barrage of sensory input overloads and reduces your brain's capacity for creative and critical thinking, causing it to become clouded and dull. Overwhelmed by this deluge of stimuli, the brain becomes conditioned to seek pleasure and avoid discomfort from the entertainment it's consuming.

Your brain records memories - things you may have tasted yesterday, a romantic feeling experienced, or an image of a beautiful form seen. Based on these memories, you then develop cravings to recreate and relive those pleasant experiences again. We set goals based on these past pleasures and endlessly pursue them with relentlessness. What often remains unobserved is that even after achieving these goals, we only experience a fleeting sense of accomplishment before moving on to the next pursuit. In this endless cycle, we struggle, force, justify, and sacrifice our peace and relationships to attain different objectives. One can become so absorbed in this pursuit that it continues indefinitely, until life inevitably presents a real, often challenging event that disrupts the vicious cycle. The mind perpetuates this cycle by continually creating new worldly goals and ideals for the future, all in an effort to maintain its own validity and existence. Without these pursuits, the ego faces the unsettling prospect of its own annihilation.

To bring about a transformation in our consciousness, we must recognize the narrow and confining limitations of this pursuit. This blindly followed programming is what most humans are completely identified with, believing it to be who they are. Anxiety, jealousy, and violence are the most evident markers of it, but its greatest limitation is that it represents only a tiny fraction of our true essence.

Intelligence can only begin to flow within us when we become ready to go beyond the limitations of our minds, for intelligence has nothing to do with the future or the past; it is the radiant vibrancy of our being. Then, rather than the mind acting as the emperor and ruler of our lives, the mind takes its rightful place as a tool in service of our intelligence. The moment we disidentify with our mind and stop taking it as reality, an immensely creative energy starts to flow through us, our innermost core overflows, and a new, unconditioned action of our being begins to bloom.

Accepting Your True Self

Have you ever asked yourself, do you love yourself? Do you accept yourself as you are? The full acceptance of who you are is a profound phenomenon. It is not about loving one part and disliking another part of yourself. To love and accept oneself is to look at the whole organism, your vibrant being, as it is, without judgment, condemnation, comparison, or feelings of inferiority. It means watching the entire conflict that goes on within you without running away from it or trying to fix it, and without depending on the comfort of validation from another person. Accept that you are whole, a child of the universe, unlabeled by any psychiatric or any title whatsoever. Only then can your innate wisdom emerge

Beyond our routines and obligations, it is important to bring awareness to the fact that most human beings only become aware of their bodies when they are sick or injured. However, I encourage you to discover an experience that cultivates an awareness of your body when you are healthy, not just when you are unwell. Discover your aliveness by understanding the true meaning of your life. Your life is not meant to be lived somewhere in the future; there will never be a moment when you will be more alive than you are right now, regardless of what you have or haven't achieved in the world. This aliveness is what you were born with and can easily be observed in a child - an innocence and joy for no reason at all. Take notice of this the next time you walk down the street or through a park; sense the breath in your body as you walk and feel the wind caressing it. Try to recognize that the future, which the mind is often obsessed with, is merely a thought, and bring your attention to where you are and the aliveness of your body. Listen to what it is asking of you.

When you embrace your true self, you begin to experience life in its totality, without the filters of judgment or condemnation. You start to recognize that the present moment is the only reality, and that the aliveness you seek is already within you, waiting to be realized and celebrated. By accepting yourself fully and bringing awareness to your body and breath, you open the door to a profound sense of ecstasy and joy that is not dependent on external circumstances or achievements.

The Goal: Enlightenment

Society today has reached an unprecedented level of indulgence. Human beings are now pursuing almost every known pleasure, with vast media constantly pushing and seducing more experiences to stimulate our senses and pull us in endless directions. So how can clarity be attained when the mind is full of content?

Once, a young seeker traveled to a small village where a Sufi master lived. Upon arrival at the master's dwelling, he found him tending to a beautiful garden. The Sufi master greeted him warmly and invited him to sit with him near a small well.

As they sat together, the seeker eagerly began to share his knowledge and ideas about spirituality. He spoke at length, barely pausing to take a breath. The Sufi master listened patiently, nodding occasionally. After some time, he reached into the well and picked up a bucket. Then, he asked the seeker to hold out his own bucket. The seeker complied, and the master began pouring water from the well into the seeker's bucket using another bucket.

The Sufi master continued pouring water into the seeker's bucket until it was nearly full. Then, he kept on adding water, even though the bucket was already full. Water started overflowing and splashing all over the seeker. Shocked and confused, the seeker exclaimed, "What are you doing? Can't you see the bucket is full?"

The Sufi master smiled gently and replied, "Your mind is like this bucket. When it is full of ideas and beliefs, there is no room for anything new to be poured into you. To truly know enlightenment, you must empty your mind of what you think you know."

This story illustrates that in order to discover who we really are, we have to release our attachment to preconceived ideas and beliefs. Only when we empty ourselves of the cumulative knowledge, can we be perceptive to a new dimension in life.

It can start through a recognition of the current madness we have in the world, which can evoke someone to start to ponder about life. Or, this could be a deep inner calling to reach a higher state of consciousness for an inner purpose. Throughout history and even today, various terms have been used to describe Enlightenment, particularly in the East, such as Nirvana, Samadhi, and Omnipresence, as mentioned in the Bible. Sigmund Freud even presented the concept of the Oceanic feeling to describe this state. Mystics and enlightened masters have always attempted to point out to others what they have discovered: an overflowing ecstasy and formless source hidden within everything. This realm is the divine intelligence of the universe, the core of everything in the world. No mind, belief, or history is needed to know it, but rather a direct seeing, a profound revelation.

Enlightenment is your relationship with life in this moment, experienced anew with each breath and step. It is the aliveness and power that exists within you, transforming your actions into grace once realized and your flow into love. In Jewish Kabbalah, it is referred to as 'Devekut,' while Jesus described it as the eternal. In this state, the present moment becomes the goal, not lost in a future image. Only now exists; the future and the past are all contained within the present, the infinite essence of existence.

What can I do to achieve enlightenment?

The answer may seem paradoxical. Enlightenment is not something to be achieved through the mind or through a particular action. It is a recognition and awareness that transcends thought, allowing you to see things as they truly are. Your enlightened nature is already present; you need only to disappear as the ego and remain as a witness to your experience.

The reason you are not seeing your enlightened nature is because your attention is operating through a mind which understands only an action of cause and effect. This appears as endless thoughts, incessantly pulling your attention away from your true nature and core.

Your peak of consciousness transcends the dualities of right and wrong, better or worse, more or less—it is absolutely unconditioned. It carries profound wisdom that surpasses the confines of thought, reaching depths accessible only through awareness. In this profoundness, opinions, dogmas, and beliefs melt away in the light of your awareness.

Once you become conscious of the division within yourself, within society as a whole, and the recognition of hypocrisy in almost every human being, the urgency for realization intensifies. Cultivating this level of awareness and attention does not entail avoidance of memory. Memory, a natural function of the brain, continually records events and is essential for daily life. However, when attachment to memory as 'truth' or an ideal solidifies, it gives rise to belief systems and ideologies. Life confined to thought, which is anchored in past memories, lacks genuine insight. Your enlightened nature unleashes your fullest potential, enabling actions guided not by conditioning but by complete attention. True fulfillment emerges only through direct perception of this reality, marking the ultimate flowering of human consciousness.

Why do people find it challenging to be conscious and present?

Why do people find it challenging to be conscious and present? When you are fully conscious, you transcend the limitations of the mind. Each moment is entirely new, remaining unknown, which can be deeply unsettling for most people accustomed to a false sense of control—the mind. When you are truly present, your mind is, in fact, absent. Operating from the mind, one is inclined to project thoughts into the future or dwell on the past. This mental conditioning, developed over thousands of years, creates the illusion that the mind is central to life's movement, whereas in reality, it represents only a fraction of it. Being present without the mind, even momentarily, can feel unfamiliar and challenging. However, the mind does not define your true essence; it is merely an entity to which you cling incessantly. You may be experiencing brief moments of no-mind, initially unrecognized as your enlightened nature— the state of being without thought.

Choosing to move consciously, unbounded by any belief system or agenda, requires courage. The movement of no mind arises only when fear and the need for control are transcended and transformed into a deeper source that embodies the quality of trust. Actions stemming from this place have a completely different nature, as they come directly from the source of your intelligence and wholeness, functioning in harmony with the wisdom of the universe. While you may not mentally anticipate the fruit of your actions, you will simply observe them unfolding. This profound trust resides in life itself, within your being, and in everything around you. Religious scriptures often refer to it as God, an omnipresent force intertwined with the interconnectedness of all things. Many masters who have walked the Earth emphasized the importance of cultivating this trust and faith. True trust does not rely on someone external to you, keeping track of your belief in them; rather, it emanates from within you, in life, and in the totality of existence.

Can one be enlightened while still engaging in worldly activities and responsibilities, or does it require complete detachment?

Enlightenment doesn't necessarily change your external life. As the famous Zen saying goes: 'Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.' It does not mean you become a monk or behave in a certain manner. Spiritual enlightenment is quite the opposite. It is a recognition of the essence of who you are, a quality within you that is still and possesses a deeper knowing. This essence is free from conflict or self-doubt; it is your very nature. Therefore, it is possible to be enlightened and have nothing change in the outer form of your reality. You may still hold the same job, live in the same city, remain in the same relationship, and continue your usual activities. The only difference is your level of attention and awareness. Before, you were unconscious of your life, and now, the light switch is on. On the outside, everything may seem the same, but on the inside, a flow of tremendous energy and aliveness is present.

Why should I become enlightened at all?

You definitely don't need to. The search for self-recognition only comes when one is ready, thirsty, or exhausted from what the world seems to offer. For me, the quest for enlightenment was a recognition of my existing passion for my life, ecstasy, and the highest fulfillment. The famous Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen, reportedly once said: "Those who seek enlightenment regard their bodies as the furnace, the Dharma as the fire, and wisdom as the craftsmanship." This saying beautifully conveys the journey to the peak of your being.

Choosing this path of self-realization requires great courage to discover the true meaning of your life. To let go of ambition and goals that are heavily influenced by your conditioning, and to to find what life truly is all about.

The world is always telling you where to go, what to do, and how to be. Enlightenment is a deeper knowing that transcends it all and provides you with clarity in each step you take. A complete transformation in your perception, undivided and whole. And here's the trick: you need not "do" anything, because you are it. But the effort of becoming, is so ingrained in you that it's overlooked what it means to just be you.

Surrendering isn't easy, perhaps because we are accustomed to hardship and challenge. Being and surrendering to life isn't natural for us. For countless generations, humanity has only known the movement of ambition through the mind. This is why letting go is not easy. Imagine you have a ship and a captain to lead it. You put so much emphasis on him; he is the navigator of your path, and you are completely identified with him as who you are. The issue is that this captain of yours is completely mad! Your ship keeps going in directions that cause you pain and suffering, and so your captain must be fired and let go at once, but you have gotten so intoxicated with him that you are at a loss as to what to do. Your ship is heading the wrong way, leading you further away from your purpose, and you still go on talking to him...

This is the greatest challenge - giving up on the deceiver, the mad captain, who is not good for you. Another issue is that a whole society functions under the influence of endless mad captains. Dropping your mad captain and surrendering the ship will seem strange, irresponsible, and illogical. However, this action is the only one that is sane and that which will lead you rightly.

Enlightenment is absolute freedom, peace, and true contentment in life. Choosing to let the captain go is choosing to become conscious, to open your eyes and bring a new level of attention to life, serenity, and a quality of action that arises from this moment. This power is for you to claim, and as you develop more centering in your core, beauty, calamity, and ecstasy can be observed as indicators of your growth.

Can you provide an exercise to step out of the vicious cycle of the mind?

The next time you find yourself possessed by the incessant stream of thought, bring your fullest attention to where you are, watch the moment you are in, and be fully present where you are. Observe your mental involvement in whatever is causing you anxiety or pain and be attentive to your body and what it needs of you. What are you currently doing? What will make you feel good at this moment? Your body most likely responds to the signals it receives from your brain and acts as if under danger, though you most probably aren't. Be aware of your surroundings in the present, rather than allowing your attention to be consumed by incessant chattering.

Transcending Society / Breaking Free from Societal Constraints

As you may have started to figure out, this book is not about making you a better prisoner of social conditioning, but to open you to the vast potential that exists within you. Society teaches you how to behave, how to fit in, what is ideal—all methods to keep you controlled. Since nobody is free, nobody is very supportive of your cage breaking open.

Socrates beautifully illustrates this in the allegory of the cave, which he tells to his student Glaucon. He portrays society as prisoners sitting in a cave, facing a wall, their hands chained so they are unable to move. In front of them, shadows of different shapes are cast by a fire they cannot see. Socrates explains how their whole lives are spent defining these shapes, holding contests to guess the next one. This is where their entire existence unfolds—inside the cave, in the dark, far from the shining beauty of the outside world.

To truly transcend society's limitations and mental programming, you must first recognize that your essence identity is not defined by the confines of name, history, gender, age, roles within family or workplace, or financial status. These are all labels coming from the external world. At your core, beneath this, you are the infinite source of all things.

To transcend society is to become a whole person on your own - independent of anyone's approval or control. It is cultivating the ability to think and perceive through your own observations and experience. Only then will the truth reality be revealed to you - not as beliefs or conceptual ideas, but as a profound knowing that pervades beyond the mental realm. Through this deepened awareness, an immense power flows within you. This is the only truly meaningful way to know anything at its essence.

For this realization to occur, a journey, a thirst, must arise in you. Great energy is needed to break the mental programming. This is not to say that you have to leave your job, husband, or wife, but to start this path of realization. Your inner purpose will begin to unfold when you start to recognize the vastness that already exists within you, right here and now.

If you travel to different countries, you will likely see that most people, although culturally diverse, are very similar in their struggles. They sacrifice their own being for comfort, not daring to move beyond their conditioning. This is because the fear of the unknown is deeply rooted within them. Taking a step towards awareness means not waiting for life to force you into awakening, which it inevitably will. Instead, you choose to embrace its adventurous nature wholeheartedly before it surprises you.

There is a story about a Chinese farmer living in a village. One morning, the farmer woke up to see the gate of his horse stable was open, and his horse had run away, leaving the farmer without an animal to work his fields. In the evening, the neighbors came by and said, "We are so sorry for your loss. What a misfortune!" The farmer calmly replied, "Maybe."

Two days passed, and the horse returned, bringing five wild horses alongside it. The neighbors visited the farmer again, exclaiming, "How lucky you are! Your horse is back, and now you have a whole pack!" The farmer again replied, "Maybe."

The next day, the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, but he was thrown off and broke his leg. As he lay in bed with a broken leg, the troops that came to the village to recruit men for war could not take him.

The insight of this story is that life is to be embraced as it is, whatever the circumstances. When fully embraced, there is awareness and mindful action rather than unconscious reaction to the appearances of your life.

No Mind: The Effortless Action

If you've ever considered embarking on an entrepreneurial journey or making a career breakthrough to gain more freedom in your life, you've likely encountered countless self-help books, motivational speakers, and online courses that promise success through specific methodologies and disciplines. These doctrines often emphasize the power of the mind, encouraging you to work your mind to success.

However, your ultimate life's purpose cannot unfold through the efforts of the conditioned mind, as they will always be limited by the narrow confines of thought. True creation, wisdom and transformative action arise a state of pure awareness beyond the intellect. When you act from this deep well of intelligence, your actions align with your inner purpose, unfiltered by the distortions of unconscious thought patterns. This clarity represents the highest peak of consciousness, enabling you to respond to life with perfect appropriateness and spontaneity.

Throughout human history, countless individuals have sought this ability to encounter reality as it is, free from the insanity of the mind. The path of "no mind" has been recognized as the noble road to manifesting one's true purpose. In the 10th century, the great master Tilopa taught this path to his disciple Naropa, using the analogy of clouds in the sky to illustrate the nature of thoughts: "Mahamudra is beyond words and symbols, without making an effort, but remaining loose and natural, can break the yoke, thus attaining liberation.” He continued: “The clouds that wander through the sky have no roots, no home; nor do the distinctive thoughts floating through the mind. Through awareness, one can reach the state beyond all intellectual understanding.

Acting from a state of "no mind" does not imply passivity or disengagement from life. Rather, it means removing the barrier that separates you from the inherent wisdom and intelligence within you. When you operate from this vast inner space, you become more sensitive, attuned, and alive, able to navigate life's challenges with grace and ease.

At this point, you might be wondering, 'But what about my daily responsibilities?' Surely, I need my mind to function in the world. While it may seem that your life cannot exist without the constant chatter of the mind, the truth is that the mind is merely an entity that pretends to be the center of your existence, holding everything together. In reality, the mind is a shadow that follows you and pretends to be who you are, not your true essence. As you embark on this path of "no mind," your desires for physical, financial, and social well-being are not neglected. These are essential aspects of life. The difference lies in the state from which your actions arise. When you act from a state of pure awareness, you'll find that your choices are guided by an intelligent inner compass, rather than by a sense of lack, greed, or jealousy. This inner wisdom leads you into a profound sense of wholeness and connection as the source of your being.

By learning to access this deeper intelligence that transcends the limitations of conditioned thinking, you tap into creativity, intuition, and wisdom. This alignment with the purpose of the whole enables you to navigate life's challenges in a divine grace and harmony.

Conscious Manifestation

Deep within you lies a doorway to a dimension of boundless potential, waiting to be unveiled. This dimension is not about fulfilling desires or reaching goals set by the ego; it's about allowing the unmanifested essence of your being to flow into your life, guiding you to a state of true bliss and wholeness. This is the art of conscious manifestation.

Conscious manifestation is not about setting goals and repeating affirmations. It's about surrendering to the present moment, trusting that it will guide you to something far more profound than the ego's limited perception. As the saying goes, "The way unfolds for those ready to journey on it." Your mind, confined by its past experiences and conditioned beliefs, cannot grasp the immensity of the potential that is hidden within you. Therein lies the essence of your true creation and uniqueness.

When you consciously move through the manifestation of your life, you step beyond the realm of the mind and enter into a state of unity and presence. This type of manifestation transcends the limitations of the physical body and the thinking mind, tapping into an infinite source of creativity.

Glimpses of this timeless quality can be found in certain forms of art, such as classical compositions, paintings, and writings. These works possess a beauty that resonates with something beyond the finite reality of this world, touching the very core of your being. You can find yourself immersed in these creations for years without ever growing weary of them.

However, the moment you allow your mind to interfere and attempt to grasp or control this marvelous creative process, it will immediately diminish its expression through you. In that very instant, your flow with the source fell into the mind's limited perception, mistakenly believing that it plays a significant role in shaping your reality.

As Eckhart Tolle once said, "Life is not what it appears to be." Although society's commonly accepted paradigm has its own ideas about life, it cannot encompass the vastness of creation. The immeasurable, which exists beyond appearances, can only be felt. Bringing this essence into your life requires a courageous spirit, willing to break free from established patterns and norms that may not be understood or accepted by those who remain unquestioning.

Embarking on the conscious path of life reveals a sacred and liberating dimension, making the commonly followed ways pale in comparison to your true essence unveiled. To achieve this, you must wield an inner sword capable of cutting through the veil of delusion.

The Sword of Consciousness

Many paths are taken in life by humans: a path to a successful career, a path to marriage, a path to financial independence, or the path of religion or dogma. But there is a path greater than all, the highest attainment. This path holds a meaning that reaches the peak of your potential, your highest joy, power, fulfillment, and the deepest peace. This is the path to the ultimate reality - enlightenment. Walking this path, you would have to cut through the roots of all delusions, which are held beliefs, dogmas, and ideas you are unconscious of, until you come upon what's real.

During the 12th century, a Zen painter attempted to illustrate the Search by painting the 10 Bulls of Zen. In this painting, to which verses were later added to explain its meaning, the artist attempts to describe the journey of the seeker. The first verse says:

In the pasture of this world, I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull.

Following unnamed rivers, lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains,

My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the bull.

I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night.

This first verse shares the struggle of the seeker attempting to become aware of his mind, trying different practices and methods until exhaustion.

We try to meditate, read books, and take courses, all to make ourselves better. But what is this "better"? In Zen, we learn that this very ambition is what keeps us separate from the essence of who we are. The bull in the illustration represents the illusory self, with which we are so identified; becoming conscious of it is the first glimpse of enlightenment.

The verse continues:

Discovering the Footprints:

Along the riverbank under the trees, I discover footprints.

Even under the fragrant grass, I see his prints.

Deep in remote mountains they are found.

These traces can no more be hidden than one's nose, looking heavenward.

The first time we can see that we are not our thoughts, a realization occurs. I remember one day while wandering in Granada, Spain, during my spiritual search. As I reached my hostel, I realized I had lost my keys. At that moment, I was very conscious. I began searching for the keys in the room and suddenly noticed a thought that was rising: "Oh, I lost my keys..." I observed this thought and wondered, is this the first evidence that I am not the thinker? Before, I had only read about it, but now - I was seeing it clearly; my being is prior to it.

As I kept searching further, I began to become more attentive to my mind and kept my entire purpose on watching and maintaining awareness.

It is called the pathless path for a good reason. Finding your true face takes you in ways that require you to sit with the pain and not avoid what is. Imagine being lost in a vast jungle, with trees, wild animals, and poisonous plants, with only a sword to cut through the lush vegetation to find your way home. Those who truly desire to reach home will undoubtedly do so; the only question is how much longer you will tolerate living under the narrowness, limited reality, and prison of your own mind.

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Throughout thousands of years, mystics have attempted to express what cannot be expressed in words. They have sought to convey the ineffable through speech, music, poetry, art, and books. Jesus once said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." In this saying, he emphasized the importance of the path to enlightenment as a journey of self-discovery. Moses is known to have heard the message, "I AM THAT I AM," a phrase that points to the timeless, unchanging nature of one's Source.

Other spiritual teachers have echoed their realizations, each in their own unique way. Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, wrote, "There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don't you?"

These mystics and sages, though separated by time, culture, and tradition, all point to the same fundamental truth: the path to enlightenment is a journey of inner discovery, a process of shedding the layers of illusion and coming to rest in the reality of one's true nature. It is a pathless path, for each individual must navigate their path to their own realization, cutting through the thickets of conditioning and belief with the sword of direct insight.

The Nature of Interconnectedness

Researchers have discovered the miraculous connections between plants, such as mushrooms and trees, and the vast web of interconnections they form. Similarly, there is a connection between the farthest star in the universe and you. This miraculous fact can only be revealed to the conscious being. Humans tend to walk through the universe sensing a form of separation from one another and the nature around them; this sense of separation is an illusion, derived from identification with a false idea held in their mind.

Have you heard some people say that they only feel love for their child and struggle to extend that same love to other children? This deep affection is often perceived as intrinsic and physical, but it's also linked to the mental concept of 'my child.' While the bond undeniably exists, true love transcends individual attachments and emanates from within to all things. In essence, while the love for 'my child' may feel special, there exists a broader, deeper essence that we all share. This revelation is divine as it makes you feel yourself, not as the "me" but as a far higher state of consciousness. The more you become conscious, the more you trust in the unknown, the more you get to see what you really are.

In the grandeur of existence, every individual is like a wave in the ocean, seemingly separate yet fundamentally interconnected. Once, there was a wave named Ripple who was continuously hitting the rock, thinking how unfortunate it is to have its whole life this way. One day, while crashing against a particularly smooth and reflective surface of a large rock, he caught a glimpse of his own reflection. Startled, Ripple stared at the mirror-like surface and saw not just himself, but the vast ocean stretching behind him, mirroring his own existence. In that moment of clarity, Ripple realized that he was not merely a wave, but the entire ocean itself.

This realization extends beyond illusory self to encompass the potential consciousness of humanity. We live in a world that is lonely, divided, and violent, and as long as we are caught in this idea of separation, the inner conflict, which translates to outer conflict, will continue to create the wars we keep on seeing in the world. Superstitions, dogmas, nationalism are the roots of the disease which we are in urgency to become conscious of. Unless we transcend these false identifications and narrow beliefs, nothing in the world or in us will change since we are the world.

This transformative journey is not one of form or accomplishment but a freedom from mental conditioning. It begins with recognizing our inherent desire for freedom and fulfillment, which is the birthright of every human being on earth. As we awaken to our interconnectedness and embrace the unity of all existence, we move closer to realizing our true nature and experiencing profound transformation on a personal and collective level.