Practical, humorous, and down-to-earth guide for living

Are you aware of a seemingly elusive feeling deep inside you that feels very good? It is like an inner smile, with warmth, light, and radiance. When we open up and relax into that inner feeling, we feel as though everything is right with the world, and that we already bountifully have anything we could reasonably want or need. It is a feeling of a deep contentment, a profound fulfillment, and an exalted sense of well-being. Some say that being firmly established in that most excellent inner feeling is the ultimate purpose of life. An ancient Eastern proverb says: Contentment is the highest goal.

There is only one time that great feeling can be experienced: that is now, this very moment. That great inner feeling is the most profound Truth. It is the secret of the ages, and it is also the Truth of the present moment. We only experience it when we look within. This is the ultimate reason that people meditate or do other spiritual practices—to experience that bliss within our own Self. There are innumerable meditation techniques and methods of practice, but the primary goal in life is to experience that wondrous feeling of our own inner Self.

Ordinarily we are caught up in thoughts and emotions, which take place in time, and which are usually related to the past or the future. Many of our habitual patterns of thought and feeling are of a negative or limiting nature, because we were conditioned or programmed that way from the time we were very young.

Such habitual ways of thinking and feeling lead to stress, tension, and conflict. Instead of life being a joy, a natural high, we go to the doldrums. We spend our days angry, depressed, irritated, insecure, and life seems hard. All this happens because we ignore the awareness and power inherent in the existing moment.

Only in the present moment do we have access to happiness, joy, love, contentment, peace, and the other positive, uplifting feelings.

We need to be reminded again and again to come back to the present, come back to the Truth. Otherwise we get lost in egotistical melodramas and forget all about the existing moment, which is the only life we have. We need a way to actually tune in to the Truth of the present moment, and that is the exact purpose of these writings.

This moment is the stage on which we deal with the challenges of daily life, or, as we will examine, the karma of this lifetime. When we live in the moment, in that space between any two thoughts, is when we face life best. We can learn how to do this, and how to focus the mind in the present moment in a way that immediately modifies our experience of daily situations and relationships. Understanding how we create our own reality is an amazing process.

Right now, in this moment, we can consciously connect with our own inner Self. It has been known by many names in various cultures and in different eras, yet whatever we call it, it remains as it is, and remains the one aspect of this entire cosmos that is eternally unchanging. We experience this within ourselves as our own Consciousness, our inner Awareness of Being.

Ignorant of the eternal Truth, everything we know is fleeting, and as long as things are fleeting there is the potential for anxiety and fear. We know this all too well. And today's world offers new challenges that we would never have dreamed of even ten years ago.

For now, simply be with these ideas, as though you are reading an interesting science fiction story, and especially be open to any insights or new ways of seeing or understanding things that might arise. You might have spontaneous insights and revelations regarding what you as an individual need to know in order to proactively participate in your own spiritual evolution.

Living In Today's World

How do we deal with the realities of today's world, including economic hardship and insecurity for many? Hard times have existed in this world ever since it began, yet there have always been those few who knew the Truth of Being and lived in mastery of life to varying degrees. Many great teachers throughout time have taught this same great truth, although it has been interpreted in different ways, and there have been different points of emphasis, leading to the various paths that ultimately bring us back to the same Truth.

This outer challenging world, including the physical realities of economic hardship, deteriorating health, loss, lack, or limitation of any nature, does exists in its own realm. However it is not the only realm in existence, and it is certainly not the highest, nicest, or most pleasant realm. If we have a choice--which we do, whether we consciously realize it or not--why not choose to live in the exalted truth of the present moment, instead of languishing in the pain of external woe? We do have a choice, but we must exercise it.

We want to get to know that aspect of our own inner Self that is changeless. All things in this world change, physically, emotionally, and mentally. To have a still mind, a still emotional state, or even a still body would be a great attainment. There is great power in stillness, for it is the substratum of life as we know it. All movement, motion, and activity take place like a painting on the canvas of inner stillness.

That inner stillness exists right now; we only need to awaken our awareness of our own Truth.

The highest, most refined feelings and experiences will not be found in the melodramas of outer life and passing time. If we lose touch with our inner feeling, we get lost in our mental stories about what is going on and who is doing what. We get lost in habitual negative emotions that go along with those mental stories, and we lose touch with the Truth of the present moment. Through careless thinking we tend to create a reality that we don't even want. The mind creates our personal reality in each and every moment, not just now and then.

We Create Our Own Reality

The one underlying theme throughout this work is: Remain conscious of that great inner feeling right now. Awaken it within yourself. Create a positive habit out of it. Don’t wait for some external source to inspire joy. Joy naturally springs from within us whenever we get momentarily free from mental burdens and concerns.

Through the power of meditation, or through visiting the space between thoughts, we experience a great inner light. Through the conduit of this exquisite light, we experience love within our own heart.

This heart, the heart of love, is the portal through which we experience the highest aspect of the present moment.

We can go through life conscious of this extraordinary inner feeling everywhere we go and during everything we do, regardless of what is happening around us or to us. We can simply make this inner radiance our lifestyle. Through doing so, that extraordinary feeling is spontaneously radiated to others around us.

The sparkling inner feeling is palpable—others can easily sense it. It is contagious--others will feel good by simply being around us, without having any idea why. If we maintain this great feeling within ourselves, others will pick up on it and begin to experience the same feeling within themselves. Spend some time with a cheerful person, and see how much better you feel afterwards. Then spend some time with a depressed or angry person, and see how much worse you feel. There is a definite, distinguishable difference.

Through understanding this simple principle, we see how we can most contribute to others and the world around us by simply maintaining a good feeling in ourselves. We will discuss this fully so that you can master the process.

Experiencing true joy or love is a transcendence of time. The experience itself happens only in the present moment.

It is one thing to know about these principles and to agree with them, but actual mastery in practical daily life is a whole other matter. It takes practice, repetition, and consistency to actually apply these principles of truth in our own life. Otherwise we have learned some interesting information without any significant transformation. There are many who seek knowledge of the Truth, yet only a few are willing to do what is necessary for actual achievement and mastery.

When we are conscious of Consciousness, we experience that great feeling in the heart. Consciousness is not cold, intellectual, or remote. It is warm, heartfelt, the most exquisite openness and intimacy.

If you ever get the idea that I am repeating myself, I am. I have experienced a lifetime of repeating these principles over and over. It takes much repetition of a single exalted idea to make the slightest impression in the average human consciousness.

We are so conditioned and programmed to see and experience the world in rigidly limited ways. It is very challenging to open up to new ways of seeing and experiencing things, and the only possibility of success is through continuous repetition of the principles of Truth, as well as the persistent practice of our new understanding in moment-to-moment life. After exploring the principles of Truth in many different ways, and through applying them in practical ways in our own life, they gradually become part of us, and become our own understanding and wisdom.

Living the Principles of Truth

Understand from the beginning that these writings are regarding the communication of natural principles that can be practiced in one’s own daily life for a greater life, regardless of how one’s life might be manifesting in any given moment. The same principles can be applied equally for success in business or career, for harmony in relationships, for intensity and focus in sports or the arts or any field of creative expertise, in matters of health and longevity, for increased prosperity and the enjoyment of life, and in the long run, spiritual growth and absolute freedom.

You will be taught how to apply the principles of the creative power of mind in order to live in your own secret heaven here and now, while in this physical body. Unfortunately, most of us unconsciously use the same power to live in some degree of hell here and now, in this body, because we describe many aspects of our life in negative, hellish ways instead of positive, heavenly ways. We live in financial insecurity, for example, because we focus on fear and anxiety instead of developing a consciousness of prosperity through feeling the reality of having all that we need. Such an attitude attracts prosperity to us, while negative attitudes of lack and loss repel it.

You will learn how to think only of what you actually want to manifest in your life, or what feels pleasant, and to refuse to think of what you don’t want to manifest, or what feels unpleasant. This seems so simple that the conscious mind is almost unable to recognize the profound life-transforming significance of it.

Because of previous conditioning, we are unable to see the greatness of our own Being. Through persistent practice we can learn to break free from prior, limiting conditioning, so that we can live in the awareness of our own Truth, the Awareness of Being, which is living as a true human being. When we live in the awareness of our own inner Truth—and the love, light, and bliss that accompanies that experience—then we have fulfilled the purpose of our being here.

Among the Eastern scriptures is a great text called the Yoga Vasishtha. It contains the teachings of the sage Vasishtha to the young Lord Rama, which basically explains how all of life came to be and how the universe works. In it, the sage says:

O Rama, if you overcome the sorrow of repetitive history, you will live here on earth like a god. When delusion is gone and the truth is realized by means of inquiry into self-nature, when the mind is at peace and the heart leaps to the supreme truth, when all the disturbing thought-waves in the mind-stuff have subsided and there is unbroken flow of peace, and the heart is filled with the bliss of the Absolute, then this very world becomes an abode of bliss.

Such a person has nothing to acquire or to shun. He is untainted by the defects of life and untouched by sorrow. He does not come into being or go out, although he appears to come and go in the eyes of the beholder. He is not affected by the past tendencies that have lost their momentum; his mind has given up its restlessness, and he rests in the bliss that is his essential nature. Such bliss is possible only by self-knowledge, not by any other means. Therefore, one should apply oneself constantly to self-knowledge. This alone is one’s duty.


Some lesson headings:
Living in the Truth of the Present Moment
What You Think Is What You Get
The Evolution of Wisdom
How Feeling Creates Reality
Attention, Conscious Intent, and Will
Our Amazing Capacity to Change
The Incredible Power of Feelings
The Importance of Priorities
The Greatest Game Ever Invented
The Ego and Beyond
The Inner State
The Art of Flowing
Love Is Where the Heart Is
Growth Through Relationships
God in Human Form
The Mastery of Life
Attaining the Highest Now
Living in Your Own Secret Heaven
Entering the Stillness
Establishing Joy in Your Heart

For more information on the writings of D. R. Butler, and the Course of Training offered through email, please write us at drbutler.course@gmail.com

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