I Am – by Satsang – I Recorded live on windy rolly sunset aboard my sailboat Chat d’O anchored off Maui.
The leader of this band Drew McManus led a rough life of many challenges…
His path to transcend those past challenges resulted in a deeply spiritual journey of healing and understanding.
In life, we must always keep our hearts & mind open.
Open to new ways to transcend our egos and learn how to love more & more unconditionally.
Open to new perspectives to contemplate in order to learn more & more about our ‘selves’ and the world we live in.
One of the many differences between religion and a personal path of Spirituality is…
Most religions use fear as a control mechanism to force people into buying into their particular doctrines and dogmas. Although there are many ‘progressive’ Christian churches that deliver ‘spirit’ without using fear tactics nor the demand to take man made up myths as the literal truth… one just has to seek them out, as they are not the ‘traditional’ approach.
My up bringing as a Catholic has countless stories of how psychologically damaging those fears were on some of my childhood friends… and even worse for the older generations.
But in the theme of “everything that has happened… had to.”
After a number of disturbing issues including how much nonsense was involved in their demand to take man made up myths as the literal truth, and among many other issues, like their dominating stance to:
‘’take my word for it or you’ll go to hell”
I was inspired to seek higher Truths about my life, my place in this life and ponder…,
“the timeless wonder of it all”.
This was the beginning of my :
“Letting go of the things that don’t serve me no more” attitude.
And this is still an important perspective to have as life goes along, we get older, and the chaos of our world “leaders” drag us closer to toward oblivion.
This song also points out how important it is to keep the chaos and stress on the ‘outside’, not to let it in where can take refuge.
Challenges, stress, and our need to deal with things that may create anger, fear, revenge, loathing and violence… this is when a spiritual practice that includes meditation is helpful.
Meditation requires one to maintain equanimity.
Following the breath is a way to stay ‘one pointed’ so that our minds don’t take us away with distracting and harmful ruminations.
We are always, at some point, ruminating…
pine-ing about the past or fretting about the future…
We hardly every get a chance to simply “Be Here Now”.
When challenging people or situations rear their ugliness…
Keep that on the outside, don’t let it in where peace is the nature of our True Being.
And let yourself know…
“I am holy and sacred and righteous and true, and I deserve to be here and so do you.”
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The phrase “I AM” has a very profound role in one’s Spiritual Path.
In the Advaita Vedanta tradition, many Masters have used this constant contemplation to fully realize their True Self, thus ‘Awakening’ to that irreversible state of ‘Enlightenment’.
One important book I read was “I AM That” by Sri Maharaj.
By consistently contemplating one’s True Self… Who or what is it that is Aware of being… aware.
This most highest state of human consciousness can be realized.
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In Sanskrit, ‘I Am’ is called ‘So Ham’, pronounced So Hum.
This also mimics the sound of our breath…
Mentally pronounce ‘so’ on your in-breath…
And pronounce ‘hummmmm’ on your out breath.
This is a good tool to use when in meditation the minds tosses distracting thoughts into your head.
Just repeat this mantra for as long as needed to clear the unwanted thoughts.
Also,
It is helpful during one’s busy day, when one notices that the mind keeps ruminating on meaningless drivel… once you are aware of any thoughts that are needed… Mentally chant ‘So Hum’.
Spiritual master Rupert Spira wrote a book entitled “I AM”.
His insights into our ‘True Nature’ will open many doors of understanding one’s life, this life, and our place in the ‘timeless wonder of it all’.
All these spiritual practices were created to liberate us from the inherent pain & suffering we needlessly endure because of our ignorance of who we really are and the bigger picture of Divinity.
Just a bit of knowledge can lead to a way of life that can lead to profound understandings of life.
Spiritual knowledge combined with the experience a mindful life practice of loving kindness, will indeed bring fourth Wisdoms that liberate one from the pain & suffering most endure their whole lives.
Often in life, it’s the fear of the unknown, that is worse than what we think we are afraid of.
For example:
In a dimly lit room, a coiled rope might make us jump with fear; our heart races, our breath becomes shallow and hyperventilating…
But when we turn on a light, a get the knowledge that…
It was not a snake… it was just a rope.
Knowing one’s True Nature will indeed liberate us from the pain & suffering of our inherent ignorance of thinking that “we” are our egos, we get old, sick, and die…
We are much more than that limited unevolved view.
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