Spiritual Practice—It Comes Down to Being Real

"Many people get caught up in spiritual experiences and perceptions and all kinds of interesting, subtle impressions, some of which can be exciting and uplifting.

But there is nothing like the simplicity of being oneself—settling into yourself, just being there, recognizing what you are, and feeling the sense of intimacy and realness of that.

All the inner journey, all of the spiritual practice, ultimately comes down to this: that we are able to be genuinely what we are.  If you want to do inner practice in order to develop certain powers or go to other dimensions, or have special experiences, you still don't know what spiritual work is.  And this is because you have not yet recognized what reality is or what being real means."

A. H. Almaas "Loving the Real"
from The Unfolding Now—Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence

For more in-depth dharma articles and instruction, visit:  METTA REFUGE

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Endless Striving and the "Great Betrayal"

"Stop striving after all kinds of things; stop dreaming, scheming, planning, working, achieving, attempting, moving, manipulating, trying to be something, trying to get somewhere. You forget the simplest, most obvious thing, which is to be here. If you are not in your body, you miss the source of all significance, meaning, and satisfaction.

How can you feel the satisfaction, if you are not here? We miss who we are, which is fundamentally beingness, existence. If we are not here, we exist only on the fringes of reality. We don't sufficiently value simply being. Instead, we value what we want to accomplish, or what we want to possess. It is our biggest mistake. It is called the "great betrayal."

A.H. Almaas (Diamond Heart - Book Three, pg. 12)

For more in-depth dharma articles and instruction, visit:  METTA REFUGE

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Curiosity - It's the Very Spirit of Truth

A. H. Almaas on Curiosity

"A central, crucial aspect of this work, the spirit of truth, is curiosity. That is the method, the goal and the path. They’re all there, all the time. There is no need to be enlightened to become curious, right? Curiosity is always there, a certain attitude or movement that we’re capable of at any time. And curiosity opens the joy. Joy is curious. Joy is curiosity. As you love the truth, or as truth loves the activity you are engaged in, truth shines. That shining of the truth is the joy. You are being the truth, investigating the truth, loving the truth, and your joy is joy in the truth."

(A.H. Almaas - Diamond Heart, Book One, pg. 239)

"The truth is what makes things beautiful. And curiosity leads to the truth without being oriented by the personality. Curiosity is the motivation from Essence itself. Seeking truth as a goal, as long as you are time-oriented, is motivated by the personality. So, paradoxically, the first thing we need to do is not to seek curiosity. The point is to investigate curiosity, to become curious about curiosity. It is something that cannot be sought, just like happiness can’t be sought. You seek happiness and you kill it. You seek curiosity, and you kill it. Observe your moments of curiosity. Be curious about them; see how there is joy there. The joy is the flicker, the spark of curiosity. It is the spark of truth operating. Curiosity is not seeking, it is living."

(A.H. Almaas - Diamond Heart - Book One, pg. 242)

To learn more: Shambhala Publications - Books by A. H. Almaas

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