The 5 Principles of Authentic Living

by Robert Rabbin - 

I would like to share with you The 5 Principles of Authentic Living, which represent nearly 50 years of self-study and self-expression.

The first led to self-realization based on direct experience; the second led to unfettered forms of actualizing that realization in the world.

These five principles comprise 10 simple words: two words per principle.

They are my scripture, the profoundly holy and profusely practical book I use to guide me along the pathless path of an authentic life. The value of this isn’t so much in the reading of it (10 words, after all, doesn’t take long), but in the doing of it.

Embodiment. 

The value of these 10 words is in direct proportion to the degree we embody them.

At the age of 11, I began questioning things, especially myself. Who the hell was I? What is truly going on here? What should I do, and how should I live? So, I began to wander in search of credible answers.

When I was 23, I found myself in India, where I walked into the ashram of Swami Muktananda to visit a friend—I thought for a few days. A few days became more than 10 years. Muktananda’s basic message and teaching was simply this: Meditate on your own Self. God dwells within you as you.

Easy enough, I thought. Find the truthful core of my own Self, speak to that inner God, and I’d know all the answers to all my questions. I began to meditate on my own Self. It wasn’t that easy. There was this little thing called “mind” which seemed to wreak all kinds of havoc with my simple plan of meditating on my Self and chatting with God.

Nonetheless, I persevered as best I could. 10 years went by. More years. Then and I don’t know exactly when it happened, I was taken by silence. My mind was no longer an impediment. Everything just settled. I can’t say how or why, because I truly do not know how or why.

I suddenly had my answers, but they were different from what I thought they would be. Instead of planting my flag on the summit of absolute truth and certainty, I found no mountain and non-answers, or anti-answers. My questions dissolved and then disappeared—and so did my confusion and anxiety about life. So did I, in a certain way.

I can’t write more about what I found. I’m not that brave or foolish. I can, however, tell you where I found everything I was looking for: The five Principles of Authentic Living.

You see, over the years, my teacher’s simple “Meditate on your own Self” became these five principles and God and Self became an authentic life. The principles reflect how I continued to explore the inside while expressing on the outside.

With these five principles I found the fulfillment of my search for self-knowledge, for meaning and truth, for my place in the world. These five principles revealed the answers and they continue to illuminate my path, moment by moment, effortlessly and flawlessly. 

I am never lost or confused. I always know where to go and what to do, just as I know when to be still and do nothing.

With these five principles as my mentors, I know how to live authentically. I am able to remain awake and alert and keenly aware of life from the inside out, and from the outside in. I know how to tap into and touch the very core of my inner creative consciousness and power, and I know how to express the many facets of that core in unique and enlivening ways.

Today, I live within the nuclear emptiness of these principles; they are my default posture in life.

I am convinced that we each have within our own self the blueprint for living authentically, for discovering from within our self our own deeply personal and truthful responses to Who am I? and How shall I live?

These 10 words are not a prescription for what but how. I cannot tell you who you are, what to want or what to believe, where to go and what to do, or what is real.

Even if I could, I’d say that for the sake of authenticity you ought to find out for yourself. I will, however, tell you that my own search for “self-realization,” for a truthful and heartfelt life, came to fruition in these 10 words.

Over the years, I have been told that my spoken and written words have touched the lives of many people, and that many are the better for it. And I will tell you that all my words and actions have come from within the creative and expressive hub of these five principles set out in 10 words.

The contributions I’ve made to people in my professional roles—as author, organizational consultant, leadership adviser, self-awareness teacher, public speaking guru, spiritual activist, and life mentor—flow from these 10 words.

Virtually every issue I’ve helped clarify, every problem I’ve helped solve, every condition I’ve helped improve, every insight I’ve helped generate—whether for myself or with individuals, couples, groups, teams, companies—has originated in one or more of these 10 words. These 10 words, these five principles, serve me well. They are the source of my knowing, feeling, and acting.

If you live with any doubt, confusion, or conflict about who you are and how you should live, these ten words may likewise be a gateway for you to live authentically, to live the life that only you can live.

In this regard, I feel that we all share a common purpose: to tell the truth of our authentic self without fear, and to live this truth with as much energy as we might like to muster. This is how we become a blessing to our self, and to others: to tell the truth that only we can tell. This is living authentically, and in this we are each best suited to know what to say, what to do, how to live.

We know. We come in knowing. We can never completely forget, though sometimes we might need a reminder. I certainly did. 

The 5 Principles of Authentic Living

1. Be Present

Be Present means to not be defined or determined by the thoughtstream—the constant flow of thoughts, images, beliefs, and emotions. Be Present is the blessing we need in order to experience our self and the world directly, unmediated by the content of the thoughtstream.

2. Pay Attention

Pay Attention means to notice what we’re doing in real time. It means to notice the effects we produce. It means to notice everything that’s happening—inside and out—while it’s happening, in real time.

3. Listen Deeply

Listen Deeply means to hear the constant stream of wordless clarity that comes from beneath the surface of the thoughtstream. The silence beneath the thoughtstream is a language of insight.

4. Speak Truthfully

Speak Truthfully is how we bring what is inside, outside; how we mark the world with our presence. This is how we announce and represent our authentic self to others and how we are heard and known by them. Speak Truthfully reveals, rather than conceals, our authentic self, purpose, intentions, and motives; it shows the strength of our spine and quality of our character.

5. Act Creatively

Insight without action is delusion. When the great Sir Lawrence Olivier was asked where he learned his acting technique, he laughed and said it wasn’t learned but developed and refined over countless moments of inspiration, experimentation, risk, and creativity.

Authentic acting, as in action, and authentic living are one and the same. Many, if not most, people on various paths of self-knowledge neglect this; they discount action. I don’t. It’s where and how we demonstrate the truth of our insight and attainment. Speaking about bullfighting is very different from being in the ring with the bull!

robertrabbin.com

elephantjournal.com

Soul Perspective in the Workplace

by Robert Rabbin -

We all want to enhance our experience of work and enrich our work environments with meaning and purpose, vision and values, creativity and inspiration, joy and deep human connection. 

How do we do this? 

Let's look inside our own self, into our own soul, for guidance.

If we're going to use the word soul in a business context, we'd better define it, we'd better understand it's meaning clearly. Otherwise, this single word--so often thought of as abstract, esoteric, and impractical--will probably create much confusion, doubt, and maybe even cynicism.

Let me tell you what I mean by soul, and how I think it relates to our work lives in very practical and useful ways.

There are many definitions of soul, some more precise than others, according to various religious, spiritual, and metaphysical belief systems, varying from culture to culture.

I use the words spirit and soul in the same way and to mean the vital principle or animating force within living beings.

I use the word soul poetically and metaphorically, to evoke a dimension of living which opens before us from time to time with such compelling force that we fall to our knees in silence and awe and gratitude.

Soul refers to those gorgeous moments of self-transcendence, of love, of joy, of communion with the whole of existence in which we find ourselves intimately connected to everything and everyone.

When these disruptions to our conventional way of living occur, the mask of appearances falls away, and we see something profound about life. We experience something that is timeless. It's beyond words, and the mind hardly grasps it. In these moments, a new perspective appears.

Let's go into this a bit deeper and see what this soul perspective implies for us. 

Take a moment to please remember a time when you experienced an awakening to the fuller and deeper meaning of being alive. Try to remember a time in which you were lifted by the hand of grace into a feeling of unconditional joy, abundance, and generosity.

In this remembrance and from this perspective, what does soulful living mean in the context of our work?

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE SOUL

The soul implies a real and living connection to others.  

Recognizing this connection with others means that we must treat others with respect, kindness, compassion, and dignity. Who would not like to be treated in this manner? 

Soul implies beauty.  

This means that our actions must preserve the natural beauty of life in all its manifestations. Recognizing the natural beauty of life, we will not destroy, pollute, defile, or degrade anything. This is certainly a sound principle to guide us in our business strategies and decisions, isn't it? 

Soul implies truth.  

This means we must speak the truth, we must be accountable for our actions, and we must be straightforward in our dealings with each other and with the communities of which we are a part.  

Recognizing this, we are bound to be honest and transparent in our actions and intentions. This is how business organizations can claim an honorable place in society. 

Soul implies balance and harmony. 

This means we must keep our priorities in order and give equal time to our own personal growth, to our families, to our communities--to those pursuits and activities that enrich our whole life.  

Recognizing the need for balance, we will not be compulsive or greedy, we will not sacrifice the integrity of this moment for a future promise. This will keep us sane and healthy. 

Soul implies universality.  

This means that we are all shareholders in certain basic values. What do we all want? We all want to be appreciated, to be accepted, to make a positive contribution to others. We want to feel that our lives and our labors make a positive difference.  

We want to give, to serve, to be the reason for someone else's happiness and well-being. A popular bumper sticker reminds us to serve others in these words: Practice random acts of kindness. 

Soul implies inspiration and deep passion.  

This means that we live and work from our hearts, from what we truly love. If we follow our hearts to work, we will not need to be motivated by some cheap management trick to give our best effort.  

Our heart will always ask us to give our best, for the sake of love and passion. We will not need to be bribed. Enthusiasm, cooperation, and commitment are the hallmarks of a heartfelt life. Is there anything we could not accomplish, together, working from and with our hearts? 

Soul implies joy.  

This means that we work from joy, with joy, and towards joy. This is not a Pollyanna principle, because I think that everything we do in life is for the sake of joy. Let's be honest about it: no one likes to work in an environment of tedium, depression, and sadness.  

Let joy be our standard: if joy is present, we are doing things right, and doing things well. If not, we are doing things wrong, and we should stop and figure out how to get back on track. Can you imagine a performance review whose only question was: Please rate the amount of joy you experienced on the job, on a scale of one to 10. 

Soul implies going beyond conventional boundaries.  

This means we should always feel free to risk new ideas, new approaches to old problems. This means we should develop our minds and bodies and spirits so that they shine with creativity and innovation.  

Recognizing this, we would welcome boldness, diversity, and initiative. We would be open to continuous learning and growth; and not just for the sake of profit, but for the sake of being human beings. I hope that we are all growing in self-awareness each day. 

Soul implies clarity and awareness.  

This means that we speak and act mindfully. Mindfulness is the moment-to-moment awareness of our true motives and intentions. It is a balanced alignment among thought, word, and action.  

Mindfulness means to be deeply in touch with our thoughts and emotions every moment.  

Mindfulness means that we are able to see what is actually happening around us, and to not be confused or misled by our own projected fantasies and ideas of what is happening.  

Being mindful implies a commitment to an ongoing process of self-inquiry, of discovery, of illuminating the unlit aspects of our subconscious that often drive us without our knowing it.

These are some of the things I mean by soul and some of the implications of soul in the workplace. I do not presume to be the authority in this; I do not want you to think I am laying down an exact formula. But if we continue this line of inquiry in our respective work places, I believe we will open up great and wonderful possibilities.

I believe any organization that encourages such a dialogue will stand at the very forefront of meaningful change and progress. I believe that such organizations will be known as much for what they do as how they do it; such organizations will be known as much for their products and services as for their ethics, values, and principles.

Liberating and nourishing the human soul within the workplace is a gift the world sorely needs at this time. Please be generous in your giving.

I'd like to leave you with a few questions to ponder, perhaps to discuss with others: 

• What is your definition of "soul"? 

• Is this definition based on what others have told you, on what you have read, or from your own direct experience? 

• Does your awareness of soul guide your choices and decisions in life? 

• Have you ever had a conversation about soul with colleagues in the workplace? 

• How do you feel when you are required by your job to say or do something that runs counter to the knowing of your soul? 

• How do you reconcile this? 

• What fears come up when you consider being truly authentic and congruent with your soul's wisdom? 

• How do you deal with them?

robertrabbin.com

The Supreme Summit of Sacred Wisdom

by Robert Rabbin -

The Wisdom of Silence:

Violence does not lead to peace. Violence does not create peace. Violence cannot co-exist with peace. These are self-evident truths. We cannot indulge war and expect peace.

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the hater but you do not murder the hate. 

In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." 

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

How many times must we prove these words? In my heart, I know that all people want peace, in spite of the seeming evidence to the contrary. 

Therefore, on behalf of all people, I want to call for peace: total and absolute peace throughout the world, without further thought or consideration or calculation of any kind.

It is a universal human experience that suffering, tragedy and death can awaken us from the surface of life to its depths, from the superficial to the meaningful, from the crude to the beautiful, from the selfish to the selfless, and from the mundane to the transcendent.

As we awaken, we are drawn towards deep reflection, inner Silence and wisdom.

Learning from Silence 

It is through deep reflection, inner Silence, and wisdom that we come to know peace. And now, in this moment of escalating passions and convictions, in this moment in which the world is trembling and reeling from past passions and convictions, we must seek that peace, know that peace, and become that peace.

To honor the truest expression of humanity, we must all call for peace, stand for peace and act for peace.

We must accept only peace. But first, we must become peace itself, not an idea or image of peace, not the rhetoric of peace, not the passions of peace but actual peace, the peace in which violence cannot arise, because its true causes have been seen, understood and transformed.

There are many among us who have given their lives to such peace, who have become such peace, and who can speak for such peace.

We must listen to them, learn from them, and give them seats in those rooms of power in which government and military officials now decide our nation's priorities and course of action.

Choices 

This is a crucial moment in human history. The path we choose now will create our future for years and generations to come. Our every thought, word, and act holds the power to create or destroy.

In the simplest of terms, our choices are between the paths of war or peace, between violence or nonviolence, between hatred or understanding, between fear or love, between retribution or reconciliation, between aggression or restraint.

It is of supreme importance that before we retaliate against those we believe sponsor attacks, before we choose one of these paths, we reflect and learn. In order to learn, we have to empty our cup of these things--the already known.

We must create within ourselves a sky of uncluttered awareness, in which we can rest in the clarity, equilibrium, and peace of our purest essence and deepest truth. We must allow our first and second thoughts, our inflamed feelings, and our habitual reactions to dissipate in this sky of awareness, into stillness and Silence.

Wisdom flows from Silence and we need wisdom. 

We need a clarity of perception and understanding beyond what we already know. Differing points of view and perspectives are useful, but a higher level of consciousness is essential.

The Sacred Hub 

Beyond thoughts and words, beyond concepts and beliefs, beyond all that is known and imagined, beyond the mind itself, is Silence--the sacred hub of the universe, the place where all differences dissolve, where all conflicts cease, where all fear turns to love, where all souls shine with the same single flame of radiance.

Silence reveals what we don't yet know and Silence will teach us what we must learn. 

From these teachings we will understand, and from this understanding we will grow wiser, and as we grow wiser we will act wisely.

Henry David Thoreau wrote,

"It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."

If we do not grow wiser, then we will do desperate things and our desperate acts will cause violence to escalate in ways we cannot even imagine. I pray that we will not take our world down this path.

Wisdom and Guidance 

Sitting in Silence and deep reflection, we will find a wisdom that is not diminished by the dualism of the mind, not driven by surface appearances, not defined by the commotion of passions and convictions, not ruled by the chaos of habitual thoughts and reactions.

In times of crisis such as we are now experiencing, we instinctively pause, reflect, and seek the solace and guidance of Silence. But for how long? For a moment? For a day? For a weekend?

Typically, that is what we do, and it is not enough, because when we again take to the streets of "business as usual," the quiet voices of reflection and silence are overcome by the louder noise of habit and convention, of thoughts and beliefs, of anxiety and tension, of ego, fear, and separation.

Instead, let us forge an enduring and unbreakable relationship to Silence and deep reflection, one that is constant and sacred, one that is attended to and cultivated in each moment, so that we may be ever and always guided by that to which we too rarely turn, and even then only in times of crisis, loss, and grief.

Surrender to Silence

We must surrender to Silence as a way of life, for it is in this Silence that we find the true heart and spirit, the true soul of our humanity.

Silence is the supreme summit from which we can see the past, present, and future of the human drama and what lies behind it. It is upon this summit that the saints and sages from every country and culture have stood, and it is upon this summit that we must all now stand.

Within this Silence, we learn much about the deeper nature and purpose of human life, about the nature of the world, about cause and effect, about immutable laws of existence. If we are to know peace, we must learn from Silence. So far, we have not. So let us begin now, together, in our call for peace.

Let us learn from Silence.

robertrabbin.com

Entering Reality

by Robert Rabbin -

In the beginning, meditation is a practice that teaches us to focus our attention on a single point, perhaps the breath or a mantra or the space between two thoughts. As we focus, we discover how many thoughts we have.

We begin to see that the mind is nothing but thoughts about things and thoughts about thoughts.

The mind races without order or purpose from one thing to the next, careening from the past to the future. We also see that all of these thoughts are self-centered; that is, all of the scenes that our thoughts create have the central character of "me."

As we continue to focus the mind, we begin to observe our thoughts and feeling states without getting lost in them. 

We see that these mental/emotional states arise in numberless waves within the mind, as the mind.

That which observes the thought-stream is awareness, which is qualitatively different than thinking. It has a depth and silence to it. Gradually, we begin to perceive with this awareness, in silence. And, as we do, our self-centeredness begins to dissolve.

Meditation practice calls us to the silence of pure awareness. 

The power of awareness, that consciousness behind the thoughts and images of the concept-loving mind, liberates us from the limiting conditions that are created by concepts and beliefs--such as self-centeredness.

A State of Being 

Entering this silence signals the end of meditation as a practice as an exercise in concentration and the beginning of meditation as a state of being.

A different way of seeing and knowing is aroused, a capacity of intuitive perception that is holistic and instantaneous.

In the stillness of meditation, we feel a subtle, pervasive Presence. 

Our thoughts continue to appear but they no longer obscure that Presence. This is called natural meditation, the experience of our own essence.

Our essence is a glowing Presence, a shimmering light around everything. It is indescribably beautiful and in the midst of this beauty we fall in love with all things.

Whether we see it nor not, the light of the Presence shines within us. 

If we would just sit quietly by the open window of our heart for a few minutes each day, soon that light would be evident to us, and soon that awakened light would heal, inspire, and enlighten us.

We would enter reality and become lovers and servants of this reality. And then everyone would be in love with all things.

robertrabbin.com

The Embodiment of Love

by Robert Rabbin -

We are each expressions of a fundamental reality, an essence that some call God, some spirit, some consciousness, some love. It doesn't matter what you call it. It doesn't care. It is beyond names. But it is real, and thus we all belong to the same family.

My blood is the same as yours, my heart is the same as yours, my body is the same as yours. We seem to stand apart from each other, but our essence is one. We only seem to be different, but we are all parts of a whole.

Naturally, whatever any one part does touches and affects the whole. If we think that we do not effect the whole, we are wrong. We can say that whatever we do to ourselves, we do to each other: each action is a stone thrown into the pond of our common existence.

Within minutes, or hours, or days we will feel the ripples of our actions wash over everything. This is why we cannot war our way to peace, because the killing keeps coming back. We have to wage peace, not war. And then peace will keep coming back.

Not only do we belong as brother and sister to other human beings, but we belong as brother and sister to all living things. 

We are not meant to have dominion over other creatures or the Earth, though we behave as though we are. This wrong thinking is based on the idea of separation, of being independent from the whole. This wrong thinking leads us to believe we are entitled to do anything we please, to usurp Nature for our own purposes. We are not entitled to do as we please.

We must live within the law of universal truth, within the heart where we are all brothers and sisters under one roof, in one house, with one father and mother.

The Crux of Wisdom

The crux of wisdom is the experience of Oneness. This is not an idea or a theory or an ideal. It is the most salient fact of the mystical experience and it is universally true. We each exist as expressions of the same fundamental reality.

We are each unique expressions, yes, but of the same essence. This is both spiritually true and practically true: whatever we do to another, we do to ourselves. Every thought, every word, every slight touch of our hand sends energetic impulses racing outward on the trillions of strands of connective tissue that enfolds us all in the One. To believe otherwise is the source of all suffering and violence and pollution on this Earth.

It is not just the belief in separation that creates problems. Beliefs in general separate us from the whole of existence and lock us into the prison of our thoughts. Thoughts, beliefs, concepts -- these are tools to navigate the limited, physical plane of reality.

They are not in any way capable of understanding the limitless truth, which must be felt with the heart. We cannot think our way through life, we have to love our way through life. The biggest problem in the world today is that people have come to believe that what they think is what is real. This is wrong.

Our Essense

Reality -- truth -- lies between thoughts, behind beliefs, before concepts. Truth is revealed in Silence, and Silence restores our connection to the whole. This is where humility comes from: Silence. Silence reveals that our thoughts do not describe reality, they hide reality. We must listen to Silence.

Silence is where our conscience is born, where we rediscover that love is our essence, and where we remember that true happiness lies not in personal fulfillment, but in service to others, and thus to our true Self, the Self in which all exist as One, in which all life is our life. Silence is where the arguments and arrogance of egocentric living are dissolved as salt into the sea of wisdom.

When we come to the end of our life, we are likely to have misgivings. This is because the purpose of life is to realize, consciously, that we are the embodiments of love; and many of us have not sought to realize this.

When we realize that we are a manifestation and embodiment of love, we become full and complete from the inside. All of our materialistic pursuits are called into question, and we find that we need far less than we might have thought. We realize we don't have to live in a state of constant becoming and acquiring.

Within each moment we find peace and deep contentment, which are inherent in our essential being. With peace and deep contentment filling us from within each moment, we do not need to manipulate external circumstances to attain happiness.

We do not have to tear at the fabric of life. We do not have to be greedy. We do not have to be afraid we will not have enough, or be enough, or do enough. We can live simply. We can simply live. Once we recognize who we are -- underneath all the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs we hold about who we are -- this will happen naturally.

With peace and contentment filling us from within, we open without effort to the surrounding beauty.

We have created a lot of ugliness to be sure, but underneath that is the natural beauty of life itself. Life is so beautiful. Everything is alive! The same conscious presence that lives within you lives equally within all.

Is it not amazing to feel the living spirit in this way? You feel yourself in others. You feel yourself in all that exists. Feeling this, how can you harm others? How can you not feel the fear, or suffering, or despair of others? How can you throw ugliness onto beauty? We cannot do these things anymore.

From the Heart

Feeling is the key. Feelings and emotions are not the same. Emotions are mind states like jealousy, anger, and fear. Emotions are sponsored by thoughts. Feelings are sponsored by the heart and are signs of wisdom: love, awe, joy, wonder, beauty, connectedness.

Feelings are the consciousness of the heart. The heart feels, the mind does not. The heart is alive, the mind is inert. The heart experiences, the mind conceptualizes. The heart joins, the mind separates. This is why we must emphasize heart, not mind.

If we do not live from our heart, we will be unable to account for our own actions, because all our thoughts will be in the way. We will be victims of our own thinking, looking elsewhere for the one "who did us in." It is no one but us.

Our thoughts are good servants, but terrible masters. Our thinking must reflect the wisdom of our heart. We cannot allow the mind and its constant stream of thoughts, beliefs, and concepts to persuade us that the heart is not real, or true, or useful. It is indeed the only thing that is. We have forgotten this, and now we must remember.

Love is the Power

We are all born as embodiments of love. We are all born with this knowledge; it is not lost, only ignored; not forgotten, only disregarded. What we once knew can be known again, right now. We have only to enter our heart to remember who we are.

I entered my heart, and I remembered what I once knew. I remembered light coming from everywhere. I remembered peace coming from everywhere. And love, such love, the kind of love that dissolves all fear and separation and anger. The kind of love that fills us with forgiveness and peace and compassion.

What else? Just this: Every human being wants to touch and taste the same happiness, the same goodness. And so we are all joined together, we are all as one in our desire for happiness and wholeness and love.

This is ours, from the beginning. This is what I remember; this is what I know; this is what my heart teaches me: all things are sacred; do not harm or kill others; do not pollute natural beauty. Love created this universe and it is the nourishing nectar of all creation.

Love is heart and pulse, yes; but love is tendon, too, in that it binds all existence together into one body. I am one who has remembered that love is the power of creation itself, love is the world, love is the law to which we must all surrender. All of creation comes from love, is sustained by love, and returns to love.

Daily Living

As the embodiments of love, how shall we live? What shall we do and what shall we not do? How shall we live? How shall we demonstrate what we know, deep in our heart? How are we to make real in this world what moves silently within us all?

It is not enough to ask and answer, Who am I? That is only half the equation of wisdom. The other half is to ask and answer, How shall I live? But answer slowly, and deeply. The first shout is likely not it. You've got to get down below the surface.

How shall I live? is the question that brings us from the mountaintop of inner realization to the valley of daily living.

Here, in the valley of daily living, is where our realization is polished and tested. This is where we show ourselves, where we tell the truth about our love and loves, where we finally make sense of the whole thing not in words and ideas and theories, but in the simple way we touch living things. In our daily living is where we demonstrate what we know about being an embodiment of love.

Yes, love is a feeling but it requires action to become complete, to become whole, to become realized. What actions will we take, moment to moment, in our daily lives, that demonstrate our love?

robertrabbin.com

Becoming One With Life

by Robert Rabbin -
The Healing Power of Silence:

This Silence, belongs to all of us–it is who we are; it is what we are. If we are to experience and embody authentic peace and love, if we are going to bring true healing to our wildly violent and endangered world, we are going to have to learn to live within this essence which joins us together as brothers and sisters.

Please remember the Silence beyond words, the Silence of mystery and magic, the Silence of the soul, of the heart, the Silence in which lovers give themselves to a greater loving, a selfless loving, the Silence which knows only this moment, this present moment, this incredible instant of pure life when time suddenly stops, when we breathe the high-altitude air we call Love. 

I want to remind you of these ways of Silence knowing and being, which you know, which you are. Silence is within our very genes. It winds around and binds together the strands of our DNA. It is the essence of who we are.

It is within our breath. It is there like music between our thoughts. It is the light within our eyes. It is the high arc of birds we long to follow home to their secret nests. It is in the rhythm of waves, the innocence of children, the deep feelings within the heart that have no cause, when the heart is pierced without warning and our eyes fill with teas. 

It is within the kindness of one person to another. It is within the stillness of nights and peace of early mornings. It is there when you see the one you love coming towards you, and your pulse pounds and races with delight and you move with her in a twilight not of this world, but of the spirit world, the world of our deeper knowing.

In Silence, we open to life and life opens to us. 

Life reaches towards us and touches us in the center of our heart. Our heart breaks open and another heart is revealed. This is the true heart, the one that knows how to meet life with open arms. Silence knows that thoughts about life are not life itself. If we touch life through Silence, life touches us back, intimately, sensually, erotically.

We become one with life itself, abandoning all thoughts about life.

Then the mystery of life, the wonder of life, the beauty of life, the sanctity of life, become our life. Everything but wonderment falls away the anger and fear and violence disappear as if they never existed. Knowing Silence is knowing ourselves for the first time; we see the world for the first time. 

We only have to be still, to be still until that Silence comes forth from within us, to surround us, to illuminate us. This Silence is the real teacher, the real teaching, the real path. This Silence is what we seek above all else for it is who we are. It is our own Self. It is restores us to love and redeems us in love.

Knowing Silence is... knowing your Self.

Knowing our Self is... Freedom.

In Silence, you are the very embodiment of joy, the very expression of love. All this is true right now, in this moment. Just enter your Self fully and deeply. You will find this Silence and in Silence you will know your own beauty, your own power, your own magnificence– it is the same for all! As the embodiment of Silence you are perfection itself.

You are a treasure to the world, a treasure to the world which the world needs now, right now, right now, not later or tomorrow but right now the world needs you to be your true Self, the world needs the healing power of your heart and of your Silence!

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