Anchoring Awakeness With Swami Nityananda

On August 2, 2023, Swami Nityananda and I spoke about non-dual awareness, joy, grace, everyday life, her teacher Swami Shankarananda, and her lineage which includes Kriya Yoga and the Venerable Yogananda, presence, energy, inspiration, light, the infinite, perceptions of limitation, being in a body, identity, awareness, vastness, balance, experience, purpose, being grounded, how to move through psychic attack and existential crisis, wisdom, (unconditional) love, being of service, the highest good, calm, generosity, integration, unfoldment, illusion of separateness, expansion, absence of conflict, community, relationship, kindness, purification, responsiveness, entry and connection points to continually living in awakeness, inspiration and moving in the energy of all this.

Transcript

Holness and welcome,

This is Josh Dippold of Integrating Presence,

And today I have Swami Nithyananda with me.

Swami,

How are you?

I am good.

It's really amazing to talk with you.

We talked just barely before the show,

And I asked where I was at,

And I'm in the lovely climes of Denmark in the middle of summertime,

But it feels like a spring day,

What I'm used to in the States,

And so yes,

It's lovely staying here.

Swami reached out to me recently to be on the show.

She asked about how mindfulness could potentially help us move beyond our limitations,

But before we get into that,

I just want to throw it back to Swami and say,

Who is Swami and what do you do?

What is this Indian title you have here?

What's going on with that?

So my meditation teacher was named Swami Shankarananda,

And he founded our meditation community,

Awake Yoga Meditation.

We're in Baltimore,

Maryland,

In the United States,

And he actually shared the teachings of yoga philosophy and non-dual awareness at Vyada Vedanta for almost 40 years in our meditation community.

I met him in 2010,

And he recognized me as his successor.

So when he left the body in 2014,

When he passed,

He gave me the name Swami Nithyananda,

And he asked me to carry on sharing the teachings of non-dual awareness,

And you're right,

Non-dual awareness is intensely practical.

So it helps us in our daily life to move beyond,

If we have a human perception of any limitations,

To move beyond that with joy and with grace,

Right in the midst of daily life,

Being fully present,

But also being connected to an energy of resourcefulness and inspiration and freshness.

Well,

Very cool.

Tell me what Nithyananda means,

And also then I want to ask you about,

Well,

What are these perceptions that people have of limitation,

And how all that happens,

And how you work with that and how you address that.

Sure.

So my teacher,

And again,

His name was Swami Shankarananda,

He was just a being of enormous light,

And so he would have translated Nithyananda as the bliss of one who loves the eternal,

Or the joy of the infinite.

And so that is actually also addressing your question.

So human perceptions of limitation,

Like we're in a body.

And so what that means is we appear to be in this container.

And the question for each human is,

Am I identifying primarily with that container,

Or am I aware of everything,

The vastness that is beyond that container?

And so as we transform and expand our awareness to connect with the vastness of everything that is beyond that container,

We're able to move through whatever perceptions we have,

If we have perceptions of pain or pleasure.

If we have perceptions of gain or loss,

We're able to move through them with balance and with joy,

Moving lightly through whatever the experiences are in time and space.

And also being very grounded and centered and clear about our purpose,

And the joy,

The gift of being here in time and space.

Now,

Let me play maybe devil's advocate.

I don't like that term for that word,

But you know what it means,

And we know what this means.

But what about someone that gets pretty expanded,

And they already know that they're not limited in this body,

And this is,

As they say,

Just we're having a human experience,

Right?

We're not,

We're having,

We're spiritual beings have a human experience,

Not the other way around.

But what if somebody gets really vast,

Expanded,

And then they start running up against what's perceived as darkness,

Or maybe,

I don't know,

People with expanded abilities and things like this,

Where they run up against maybe what they're perceiving as entities or psychic attacks,

Things like this.

Have you encountered folks like this,

People that are maybe even just a plain old existential crisis about being overwhelmed by vastness?

And I see that there is the wisdom in that I'm absolutely nothing,

Right?

Like a speck in just this vast universe,

But to me,

That's wise,

But it also needs to be balanced with I'm love,

I'm everything,

Everything is full of love all the time.

And I think flowing between these two,

This wisdom of how vast,

And infinite,

And boundless things are with this notion that love can flow through it all the time.

So a few things there,

Yeah?

I agree with you very much.

So for example,

In meditation,

It's really helpful to begin by connecting with that feeling of groundedness,

Like feeling your feet on the earth,

Feeling your interconnectedness with all of life,

And feeling that there is a flow of supreme love,

And kindness,

And wisdom that moves through this whole existence,

Feeling that same steadiness at the base of the spine.

And then it's from that grounded,

Calm,

Clear,

Centered,

Balanced awareness that the expansiveness can come,

And it can come in a gentle way,

It can come in an effortless way,

It can come in a way that is continually guided and supported by light,

And by supreme love.

And so I would say also,

In my community,

And in my tradition,

There's a deep emphasis on being of service.

So we are all here to be supportive,

And to be kind,

And to be present,

And to be wise,

As much as we possibly can,

With ourselves,

And very practically,

With the people we live with,

With the people we work with,

With our neighbors,

If we're on the bus,

Or the train,

Or wherever we find ourselves,

We're invited to be as established as we can in that energy of calm,

And connected to the supreme wisdom,

Which is vaster than individual awareness.

And then it's deeply important for us to use,

And to do so generously,

And skillfully,

And courageously,

All of the talents that our individual self has,

And to be continually offering them to the highest good.

Our own highest good is included in that.

And what we find in our community is that a community is deeply helpful for people who are expanding their awareness,

Because it does help ground and integrate that expanded awareness into a human body,

A human heart,

A human mind,

A human life.

So in my experience,

And from the people that I help move through these pathways of spiritual unfoldment,

There's nothing scary about the process.

And so we're always able to connect with light,

We're always able to unmask the illusion of separateness,

And we're always able to see and feel and be supported directly by that energy of the love that is vaster than any human limitation,

The love that is vaster than any appearance of darkness.

Humans certainly have the ability and the option to choose pain,

And to choose that illusion of separateness.

But also when we study ourselves,

And we have a practice community,

And we have a really pure set of teachings,

And an energy of support that is present,

Flowing in that community and in those teachings,

It very profoundly helps so that there's nothing scary about this process of expansion.

And there's always just that very simple,

Pure,

I am here,

What is highest and best in this moment?

I am here,

How may I be helpful?

How may I be hopeful?

How may I be of service right where I am?

I love this notion of being in service,

Because it's really hard to be in conflict with anything or anyone that I'm serving.

Same way with gratitude,

Too.

It's really hard to be in conflict with something I'm grateful for.

And also the third thing I found,

Too,

Is this notion of celebration,

Too.

It's kind of hard to be in conflict with something I'm celebrating as well.

Of course,

This is with the reminder that abuse is never okay.

It's not just going to be grateful that someone's abusing me or something like this,

Or celebrate something ridiculous like that.

No,

We need to do whatever we can if someone's in a situation like that,

Where we remove ourselves from that situation.

That's not what I'm talking about.

One thing also you touched on was community,

And I want to talk a little bit about community here.

What challenges have you had?

What have you found that works and doesn't work?

What makes a community run smoothly?

I think that a community that is animated by the principles that I just talked about,

It's just beautiful.

It's an absolute gift.

There's an immediate palpable presence of support and welcome and joy.

People who join our meditations or who join in person or hop on Zoom or YouTube,

Where we also share our meditations,

There's just this feeling of being greeted,

Being welcomed.

Then when one is greeted and welcomed in that way,

It helps establish one in that I'm always turning within to the light within myself.

I'm always welcoming that.

When I'm in contact with the light within myself,

Then I agree with you very much.

It's possible to move in the energy of celebration.

It's possible to move in the energy of gratitude.

It's possible to move in the energy of collaboration and cooperation.

I would actually say that what happens then is community becomes not only the meditation community,

Which of course is a really important foundation of that,

But it becomes everyone.

There becomes almost like a universal community,

A universal kindness,

A universal kinship.

We're living and moving in that energy.

It becomes a delight to walk through time and space and to just be moving in that energy.

As we transform our own consciousness and establish ourselves in that light and in that energy of cooperation and sharing and generosity,

As you were talking about,

Then what happens is that energy flows back to us.

Our perceptions and our experiences of the world as we move through time and space also transform as well.

Of course,

Human structures will transform as that happens.

This way of being has very practical consequences for each meditator,

So for each of us wherever we are.

We might be in very high-powered positions as CEOs or doctors or lawyers or surgeons or in boardrooms helping make high-powered decisions.

That energy of cooperation silently will be sharing through us,

And it can have a profoundly transformative effect for the organization wherever we find ourselves,

Also very profoundly transformative for our families,

For our relationships with the wonderful humans with whom we share our lives.

It also transforms our relationship with ourself.

You were mentioning it's not possible to be in conflict with another,

But what happens is we also end up not being in conflict with ourselves.

And then there's a kind of unified,

Harmonious way in which our energy is liberated when we're not fighting within ourselves.

I couldn't agree more,

And I know years ago when I first started kind of doing heart-opening exercises,

Basically just loving-kindness,

And I know all the crud from an unwholesome lifestyle is starting to surface to be seen and to be cleared,

And just the aching of the heart when I was going through to bring attention to it.

But then a lot after that cleared a lot,

Then it just seemed like it uncovered a place from where we're supposed to come from,

This kindness.

I mean,

Even just on the basic level,

It's just the absence of ill will.

And it's like creatures can sense this harmlessness,

This friendliness,

And a lot of times it really begins with ourselves and seeing how I was treating myself and treating others.

And so as the heart kind of got cleaned and cared for,

Then like you're saying,

It just kind of spills over to everyone we're around,

And even beings can sense that they're safe.

We give this gift of safety,

Of not being of harm to those around us.

Yeah,

So what would you have to say about just kindness in general,

You know?

One of the stories that my teacher told was,

He was sort of setting this up.

He was like,

I will tell you the secret.

I will tell you the secret.

You know,

So whatever is like the consummate teaching of all the yogis,

This is the secret.

And the secret,

According to my teacher,

Was be kind,

Be kind,

Be kind.

And so I do agree with you very much.

And it's making me almost cry with gratitude and respect that those who have walked this path of meditation before us,

This path of spiritual unfoldment before us,

Are very,

Very clear that if we can go directly to the energy of kindness,

That's one of the great gifts that we can give ourselves.

And so then to extend that energy of kindness to ourselves,

I agree with you very much.

The yogic teachings and the Buddhist teachings share that there is a process of self-transformation,

A process of purifying the heart,

A process of purifying the mind or the consciousness,

So that we are aware that one of the ways to put it is that this pure love is the only reality.

This energy of kindness is way down there at the bottom of everything.

And if we allow everything else to melt away or burn away,

Whatever image you want to use,

What remains is kindness.

And so for us to allow ourselves to go directly to kindness and to almost let that be the gauge of our days and our nights and of our own success,

Kindness is limitless.

And so success also can be limitless as well.

And I agree with you very much about there's almost like this openness that each of us walks around in this energy of openness.

And it's the energy of optimism.

It's the energy of positivity.

It's the energy of the best possible outcome.

And so that frequency lifts everyone,

Like the squirrels feel it,

The birds feel it.

If you're walking and a little rabbit hops by you,

The little rabbit will feel this energy too.

So one of the dramatic stories that happens in the yogic tradition is that even wild animals feel it,

And they sort of become cooperative and kind to one who is established in this energy.

So I'm not actually saying go out and seek out wild animals,

But this is so in our everyday life,

This is say that there's an angry person who's melting down in the post office or on the bus or in a meeting room or in your living room,

Wherever you find yourself.

If you connect with that energy of kindness,

That will silently shift the energy that's present and available in the room.

It makes that energy of kindness and calm available to others.

It's never forced upon another.

So you're not overriding another's free will.

That's not possible.

But you're making that open invitation to kindness and calm present and available.

And as another human is able to connect with that and integrate with that energy and live into that energy,

Then increasingly what happens is that energy fills the room wherever we find ourselves.

Thich Nhat Hanh said that once.

He said that it only takes one calm person in a boat to save the boat from being vanquished by the winds and by the waves.

And so that's for each of us.

We're invited to be,

If we are the only calm person in the room,

We're invited to be that one calm person that holds that frequency and that energy.

Yes,

It's beautiful.

And I've heard so many different stories too and experienced some things myself of how protective it can be too.

I mean,

I've heard people,

Meditators in the jungles of Sri Lanka,

Being protected by their loving kindness practice.

And again,

I don't advocate,

You know,

Go putting that to the test.

The other day I was walking this field across the way here and these three sheep come right up to me just,

You know,

Within a foot and just stand there and look at me.

And then they just moved on and kept eating again.

Yeah,

So this notion,

So in the Buddhist traditions,

It's called the Brahma-Viharas,

These four flavors of love and loving kindness or metta is one of them.

And it reminds me of a quote by Kurt Vonnegut,

Who says,

The only rule in life is kindness.

You know,

And there's a lot to that,

You know,

It's just this basic thing of non-ill will.

I mean,

It doesn't have to even be,

You know,

Spiritual,

You know,

Loving kindness or anything.

Just the absence of ill will,

I think,

Gives us a gift,

Gives everyone around us a gift.

I mean,

Not everyone can,

It's sad,

But not everyone can say that they haven't taken a life today.

You know,

Just imagine this whole world if everybody would just abstain from killing another human life for one day,

How transformed this whole world would be.

But the other Brahma-Viharas are compassion and this,

The other one is this rejoicing or this gladness,

This vicarious joy that we can be happy for everyone else's joy.

And so that increases our chances of happiness.

Like how many billion people they say is on this earth,

You know,

If we can be happy for their happiness.

This is a challenging one for me,

Though,

Because I usually get into,

Well,

Why is that person happy and I'm not?

But there is no limit to this.

You know,

It's not like I'm,

We're stealing each other's happiness.

There's,

It's boundless.

And then,

Of course,

The other one is equanimity.

And that's what you mentioned about the calm and the even keel,

This grandparently wisdom of,

I care about you,

But I know that you have to make your own decisions in life too.

And I can't live your life for you,

But I'm here for you if I need be.

And me getting upset about things isn't going to help me or you or anyone.

You know,

You can do this,

You've got this,

And you have to make your own decisions in life,

That type of thing.

So when you talk about love,

Yeah,

Tell me more of these flavors of love,

Because I mean,

I can love ice cream,

Right?

I really love ice cream.

Well,

That's great.

But I mean,

You know,

That's not what we're talking about here exactly,

Is it?

Oh,

So much joy.

And thanks for the way that you put that into words.

It was absolutely beautiful.

And actually,

In the yogic teachings,

A very similar teaching is present as well.

And so there is another thing,

I'm curious to know if this is present in your tradition as well,

But it's recommended that we establish ourselves in neutrality,

Non-attachment,

If we see someone who is making errors and causing pain to themselves and others.

And that can be a challenging one humanly as well.

So yes,

Just to confirm that in the yogic teachings as well,

It is recommended that we practice what you called,

I think,

Loving kindness.

I think my tradition often calls that like unconditional love or pure love.

Sure.

Yeah.

And so it's that universal pure love.

It's non-physical love.

It's beyond the love that you mentioned for your ice cream.

But when you're established in love for the source of all love,

That's another way to put it,

Then you recognize,

Oh,

This ice cream is amazing because it comes from the source of all love.

But you're not asking the ice cream to provide you with lasting satisfaction and fulfillment because you know that comes only from the source of all love.

And then what happens is in our relationships with humans,

We're also very clear,

Love actually flows to us from the source of all love.

And so it's flowing through humans from the source of all love.

And what happens then is our relationships transform because grasping and clinging is non-present because we're connected to the source of all love.

And so that flow is established.

It's always present.

It's always here with me and within me.

And so then that comes naturally from other humans and then as well,

Compassion.

So in one of the teachings in the yogic tradition is that compassion is sort of like love plus wisdom,

And it helps find a way forward.

And so that's just a really wonderful thing to connect with as well.

And I really love what you said about the love that understands that I'm here for you.

I love you.

And I trust you.

You are filled with light.

You are living an amazing life.

And I support you in making your choices in your journey.

And that's a very freeing and healing pathway as well.

Yeah,

It is too.

And that way we don't interfere with someone else's journey too.

And I like this,

What you said earlier about we could never interfere,

Or I forget exactly what you said.

But,

Oh,

Well,

It reminded me of a situation where we might need to take action.

What came to mind is this example of someone in front of us that is doing harm to someone else.

You know,

It's a really tough situation.

What if it's in my capacity to speak out and say,

You know,

Hey,

Stop beating that person or even if I could go over there and stop it without any harm to myself or the other person?

To me,

It seems an obvious choice to do that.

Now,

I'm open to saying why that might not be.

But especially when it comes to maybe mothers,

They're going to protect their children the best way that they know how.

I agree very much with what you're saying.

And this is,

It's sort of like connect to,

I'm comfortable using the word divine.

But if a listener prefers the word the universe or the source or the higher self,

Please use that word.

Connect to the divine first and then listen very quietly to what is most of service.

And then full on use your talents,

Your skills,

Every tool that is present and available to be of help.

So I'll give an example.

Say that you are a person who loves animals and you are aware that there's a case where an animal is being harmed.

Absolutely connect with what is healing and what helps that animal.

Do so after connecting with this expanded awareness so that you're not coming from only reactivity or your individual self and your feelings of anger and upset,

But you're coming from this vast resourcefulness.

And so another way to put this,

Like yogis might say,

If an angry elephant is running towards you,

That's the divine in the form of that angry elephant,

But it's perfect for the divine in the form of you to step out of the way of that angry elephant.

And to use your example,

If you see a kid or a mom or a kid and a mom in the pathway of the angry elephant,

It's perfect for you to step in and help the mom and the kid out of the pathway of the angry elephant.

That's actually part of what we're here to do.

So it's really important for us as humans to be noble and generous and dedicated and present and honorable,

Using all of our talents and our skills and our ability to respond.

Another way to put this is like if you become aware of the divine in the form of a thief,

It's completely great to call the divine in the form of the police,

If that's a good way to respond.

Or whatever it is that you have to do,

If you can turn on a floodlight to shine light and just make the thief go away.

That might be helpful in that moment as well.

And so to understand underneath all of it is unconditional love,

But humans can forget that and can cause harm and do damage.

And it's absolutely part of our role to be very faithful,

Honorable,

Responsive stewards the best that we possibly can,

To do it connecting with that energy of universal compassion and awareness.

And then listening very quietly within ourselves,

We'll know how to respond in that moment,

And it'll be helpful.

Sure.

Beautifully put,

Yes.

And that's a very good way to look at it.

And you mentioned my tradition.

And I do study and practice a lot of the Buddhist stuff,

But I still wouldn't label myself anything in particular.

In these traditions,

The thing that closest resembled what you said when you mentioned that before is non-clinging,

This non-attachment,

And especially non-clinging,

Though,

To this relinquishment,

This letting go,

As it's commonly said today.

And yeah,

The least amount of clinging,

The better.

Yeah,

Yeah.

So now,

This tradition,

I saw Kriya Yoga in there.

Now,

Is this the thing of Yogananda,

Too?

Did he do Kriya Yoga as well?

And tell people a little bit about that,

If you'd like,

And as far as the actual practices,

Too,

And the types of meditation that you're into and do.

Absolutely.

So my teacher was Swami Shankarananda,

And he founded our meditation community,

Awake Yoga Meditation.

He was consecrated as a swami by Swami Premananda.

Swami Premananda was consecrated as a swami by Yogananda.

And so I pay honorable respect and so much gratitude and devotion to everyone who's been part of this path and part of this line.

And so some people might know that in 1920,

Yogananda came from India to the United States to share teachings of yoga philosophy and to share meditation techniques referred to by the name of Kriya.

And so those practices were taught from Yogananda to Swami Premananda to Swami Shankarananda to me.

And I now share those teachings and those practices.

And so the meditations that we share at Awake Yoga Meditation,

When you hop online on Zoom or on YouTube or you walk into an in-person meditation,

There are often a 20-minute silent meditation.

And we provide a few invitations for people,

If you would like a few points of entry or guidance.

And then we just dive deep into the stillness.

And then we share teachings of yoga philosophy,

Which are very much like what you and I have just been talking about this whole time.

So there will be a meditation talk.

So that's what you can expect if you join one of our meditations.

Kriya Yoga is taught individually.

So a student would make an appointment with me,

And I would tailor teach the teachings of Kriya Yoga to that student.

And Kriya Yoga is an incredible ability to practice meditation 20 minutes in the morning,

20 minutes at night,

Integrated fully into daily life.

So this is moms and dads and grandparents.

And it's married people.

It's single people.

It's people from all backgrounds.

It's people from all nations.

And what happens is people find when they practice Kriya,

Kriya works with the breath a lot.

And it helps you go directly within.

And it gives you tools of self-transformation right within you.

So you were mentioning there's like an amazing gift of becoming aware just of what is present in me.

And how may I,

Within this body,

Within this human heart,

And these emotions that I'm feeling,

Within this human mind,

And these thoughts that I'm thinking within this human life,

How may I enjoy balance and steadiness and poise and flexibility?

And there's also a great sense,

I would say,

Of divine joy and divine happiness and divine fun.

And as you were mentioning earlier,

Happiness is unlimited.

It's boundless.

And so we're able to connect with that in meditation.

And then whatever our talents are,

Whatever our skill sets are in daily life,

That energy of boundless inspiration and boundless joy and boundless strength from within ourselves,

It's just flowing forth and sharing naturally through us.

And so it just,

The overall effect of Kriya meditation is it just helps you be more of your highest self and more of your best self.

Beautiful.

And there's a,

I haven't seen the whole documentary,

I don't think,

On Yogananda.

Isn't it just called Awake?

I think it might be.

Yeah.

It has a lot of archival footage and the famous book,

Autobiography of a Yogi.

I read a little bit of that in the past.

It's quite a phenomenal life journey he had and all the things that he was,

His abilities and his presence was really inspiring and continues to inspire so many people.

Now,

Let's talk a little bit about awakening,

If you'd like.

What would you just say in general to awakening?

You know,

Maybe your own experience around it,

If there's any kind of trends.

I don't know if that can be,

You know,

How people approach it in your tradition and outside your tradition.

What advice you would have to give people for awakening?

So I think the foundational observation is that the energy of awakeness is already with you.

It's already with every single human.

It's been with you from the first breath that you breathed.

In this body,

In this lifetime.

And so what happens when you become consciously aware,

I want to meditate,

I would like to consciously awaken,

That process quickens.

It becomes very dynamic.

And I would also say there is a self pacing to this process as well.

So whatever is most helpful,

You will be guided to it.

If having a teacher,

Having a meditation community is helpful,

You will know and it will be supportive.

Whatever books are helpful,

You will know,

You will be guided to them.

And so just step by step,

Moment by moment,

Guidance and support are present.

They're always with each of us.

My teacher taught that we are at a time of heightened awakening on this particular planet,

That there's more light coming in.

And that as a result,

Humans across the planet,

Perhaps in unprecedented numbers,

Are becoming aware of this energy within ourselves.

Awakeness,

It's non-separate from each of us.

So it's just you.

And it's you being your true self.

So it's you being your open-hearted self,

You being your rejoicing self,

You being your generous,

Forgiving,

Gracious,

Good-humored self.

And so awakening is just being that and then living in that current of energy and inspiration continually.

And what happens then is as we meditate,

We become established in that.

And so for myself,

I would say,

And I'll invite listeners to think about,

Everyone has entry points and points of connection.

So for myself,

One of the things that I was aware of,

I grew up in Washington State,

In the part of the state where it's mountains and evergreens and lakes,

Also very harsh winters.

But I was aware of myself connected to the natural world.

So I was aware that my body was an extension of the natural world and the natural world flowed into my body.

And that was actually my earliest awareness.

And so that,

For me,

Is a natural point of connection and awareness.

For every listener,

Think about your earliest points of feeling connected.

What were they?

Because they're always there.

They're always with you.

And then allow those points of connection and awareness to be continually present within you.

It is a foundation of strength within you.

And so just be connected to that foundation of strength within you.

And let it be one of the first things you become aware of when you wake up in the morning.

Let it be one of the last things you give thanks for before you go to sleep at night.

If you need a reset in the middle of the day,

Just connect with it.

Let it be that you reconnect with that connection,

That freshness,

That aliveness within yourself.

I met my teacher in 2010.

And I would also say,

That is a huge catalyst.

So my teacher was just this incredible,

Radiant presence of joy and dynamic energy and vitality.

And it's sort of like,

If you're not a strong singer and you come into contact with an amazing strong singer,

It helps you sing.

And it just helps you be open-hearted in your singing and just sing with abandon.

You don't care if you're on tune or not.

So my experience is that that's what happens when you meet your teacher.

It's like you just become aware of this current of harmony,

This current of spiritual energy,

This current of transformation,

This current of support.

So it's an incredible wind at your back and also steadiness,

Earth beneath your feet,

And also expansiveness,

Like the sky above you.

And it's really,

Really helpful for anyone's transformation.

If your primary motivation is always,

How can I be most of service?

That just grounds and integrates all of this.

And it helps ensure just the purity of your heart,

Your consciousness,

Your awareness.

It also gives you that motivation.

So you were mentioning that in the process of unfolding,

It's common for humans to become aware of,

I regret that in my previous life,

Before I became aware of this awakeness,

I caused harm to that person,

Or I made this choice and maybe caused harm to myself.

So when you have that sense of,

I'm on this path to be of service,

It helps you move forward.

It helps you have a sense of like,

This is my higher purpose.

And so it helps you love yourself through and beyond,

Sort of like keeping the wisdom from those past experiences,

But being able to let go of the pain and being gracious to yourself the same way that you would be gracious to another,

If another were transforming,

Keeping the wisdom and letting go of the pain.

Beautiful.

Yes,

It's really so important.

When I kind of made the choice to be of service,

It's clear as day because there's usually,

There's,

Maybe it's oversimplification,

But we can have a service to self or service to others.

And it's just,

You know,

It's clear as day to me now.

And this also includes being,

Taking care of ourselves.

So where we can be of service too.

And so that counts as well.

Now,

What would the other thing before we start wrapping up here,

What kind of like practical advice would you give to people and kind of like the work a day world?

I mean,

Maybe there's not too many people listening that are there,

But maybe there will be,

You know,

Or just practical things throughout the day too.

What you mentioned already was really helpful.

Is there anything else to share with folks?

Yeah.

So,

I mean,

Thank you for asking that question.

It's one of the things I'm really grateful.

My particular line of teachers and line of teachings invites us to wake up and to be fully awake in daily life,

Like right in our apartments,

Our houses,

Wherever we are in our jobs.

And so our meditation community includes doctors and surgeons and dentists and lawyers,

And it includes CEOs.

It includes really high powered people.

It of course also includes creative people,

Musicians and artists and songwriters and people who work in healing modalities.

And what our meditators consistently report is that when they meditate,

And for many of them,

It's 20 minutes in the morning,

What happens is they are able to be fully present in exactly the situations that I mentioned.

They never described them as high stress and high pressure,

But I think objectively,

It can be described as they are being of service in very high pressure situations from a human perspective.

But they're able to do that and to be fully present.

I think the word that you mentioned was equanimity.

They're able to bring that equanimity,

That sort of presence,

That balance,

That poise,

That remembering of their dedication to being here to be helpful.

And so it just brings clarity.

It just brings clarity,

Like if you're having a challenging conversation in a meeting room or a boardroom,

You remember the higher purpose,

And you have that ability to let go.

There's no attachment present,

And you are connecting with what is the most positive possible outcome,

Just the energy of that,

Not necessarily even knowing in advance what form that will take or what that will look like.

But as you open to the most positive possible outcome,

It helps the other people in the room also open to the most positive possible outcome.

So yes,

I mean,

I would say that these teachings and practices are intensely helpful for humans who work in very high powered situations.

It's also intensely helpful for parents,

For people who are partners,

For people who are friends,

For people who are neighbors,

For people who are taking care of parents.

So for any human,

This basically helps us be our full,

Joyful,

Free,

Best self,

Like right where we are.

And we also gain the ability,

I think,

To rejoice in the presence,

Like there is full divine joy already present right where we are.

And when we're connected with that,

We're able to almost relax and have fun as we go.

And when we relax and have fun as we go,

We certainly help others relax and have fun.

So our cooperative enterprises,

Whatever we're part of,

Like if we're in a classroom,

That energy will communicate itself silently to everyone else who's in the classroom as well.

I couldn't agree more.

And to the people that say,

You know,

Oh,

It's so selfish to meditate,

You know,

20,

30 minutes a day.

I can't stress enough.

No,

You're giving a gift to everyone,

Because at least in my experience,

I know I can meet the day,

Meet myself,

Meet everyone around me that I encounter,

Or even just be when I'm not meeting anyone,

Just be kind of more in a better state that has a domino effect,

Has a ripple effect that does make a difference.

And this notion of opening,

I think,

Is very important,

This opening and allowing things,

Because some people will just write something off to begin with or not be open to great outcomes.

And even to what I found,

Too,

Is that life seems to have in store for us so much more amazing,

Magical things than I could even possibly ever imagine or set a goal towards,

You know?

And not to say that I shouldn't imagine and set goals,

But it's just sometimes,

You know,

Life can be so fantastic and amazing that,

I mean,

I couldn't have dreamed that I would be,

You know,

In Denmark with a fiancé that I had followed for years online and really respected and just found so amazing.

And here we are together,

You know,

One of so many different possibilities.

Absolutely.

And so much joy to hear you and your fiancé.

I'm just so thrilled for you.

And that's beautiful.

Thank you for sharing that story.

Well,

Cool.

Thanks again for joining,

And may you all be blessed with your most optimal,

Ideal life in love and happiness,

Connection,

And openness.

Bye now.