120 - Opening To Joy - Q & A

In this dynamic Q & A we discussed the relationship between trust and clarity, meditation, "Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?". Another asked, now that she experiences unfathomable joy why does she feel like shutting down as she did when experiencing negative emotions? Another questioner, how to cope with anger?

Transcript

Welcome,

Everybody.

How are you doing this week?

I trust well.

I'm William Cooper and welcome to our podcast,

Awakening Together,

Relaxing into Happiness.

Hello,

Everybody.

Hello,

Blossom.

Oh,

My.

It's good to see you all.

This is a time where you can ask any questions that might have come up about your practice.

For those of you that don't know,

I have a series of podcasts on this platform.

They're over 100 and they're all free.

You can listen to any of them out of order.

Each one stands on its own.

But if I were suggesting,

I'd say go to number one because they also build on each other and they give you a nice center.

The center is already there.

You are your own center.

But I found on my journey,

Different perspectives to be very helpful and illuminating.

And perhaps you'll find that about these podcasts as well.

So you may have some questions yourself.

And if you do,

Just type them in the box and I'll say in mass,

Hello to everybody.

Hello,

Patty,

Nancy,

Catherine.

Today,

While you're thinking about your questions,

Let's talk about trust and clarity.

Let's talk about you,

Because at heart,

Your essence is like a ray of sun,

A sunbeam.

Warm and clear,

Infinite.

And it emanates a warmth that others can feel.

It also emanates in that warmth,

Love and peace.

And others can feel that as well.

You can feel that.

You're much like a sunbeam.

Very uncomplicated.

You just flow.

That's your essence.

There's nothing that you have to do to get there.

That's what you already are.

You're a sunbeam.

You're a ray of sun.

You warm the world.

You warm the universe.

You warm yourself.

You're safe.

You are love itself.

You are peace.

You are this love.

But how come we don't always feel it?

It's because we,

You know,

A sunbeam is just free and flowing.

It's not kinked up or twisted.

Yet,

The very power that we all have to create,

We can take consciousness.

It can flow through our body and our body mind.

And we can create things.

We can create a world.

We can create thoughts.

We can create emotions.

And when we're clear enough,

We can create what others might call miracles.

We can create in this universe.

What sometimes we do is we create unconsciously and we trip ourselves up.

We create structures.

We create distractions.

We create from our separation and distractions.

We create fear because when we're separate,

We get afraid.

We're separated from ourselves or we create anger because when we're separated from ourselves,

We feel frustrated or we feel hurt that we're left out.

We're separate.

So what do we do?

We create these structures,

But like we talk about in depth,

For those of you that haven't listened to these podcasts,

We talk about them in depth.

So if you want more information,

You can go back and listen to them.

But for today,

I'd say we create these structures and they exist forever until we let them go,

Until we discreate them.

We create attention.

Like right now,

I can tense my bicep.

I can tense it and I can let it go.

When I let it go,

It just receives what we might call relaxation or I don't know,

Peace and wellness.

It just relaxes.

There's a method.

Our thoughts,

Our emotions,

When they receive love and wellbeing,

They let go.

Just like that muscle lets go.

There is an exception and I talk about it in podcast 27 through 30-ish,

31,

Where my bicep,

Sometimes if it cramps,

It doesn't let go.

It's a muscle cramp and I've got to treat it differently than if I just tense my bicep.

I have to treat it differently.

Maybe I have to pull it out.

Maybe I have to be easy.

Maybe I have to massage it.

There's a number of things I have to do.

Well,

My mind,

My brain,

Or my nervous system can have not a muscle cramp,

But a mental cramp.

I can have an internal cramp and we call that PTSD.

So there are other ways to treat that.

You go,

Just like with a muscle cramp,

You go slowly,

Easily,

You connect it to wellbeing,

You let it receive,

But you go very gently on a muscle cramp or on an emotional cramp.

Nonetheless,

What I'm saying is there are ways to work with all of these distractions and things that block us.

Have you heard of the Tao Te Ching?

It's an ancient Chinese set of scriptures.

There are 108 verses written by Lao Tzu.

And in one of his verses,

It applies to what we're talking about today.

He writes from an awakened perspective.

So it's very powerful to read these 108 verses.

You can just Google it.

You can find it anywhere.

Very powerful.

But the one that I'd like to read today is trying to understand.

We all want to understand how,

How,

What do I do?

What do I do?

Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water.

Have you ever seen a clear pool of water and you can see the bottom?

It's beautiful.

But if you just swirl your hand around in it a bit and stir the mud up,

You can't see anything.

Throw some rocks in and get ripples.

You can't see anything.

You can't see much.

Well,

We're like a clear pool of water.

We're that sunbeam.

Clear,

Warm,

Loving,

Beautiful.

But if we swirl it up,

If we agitate it,

We can't see anything.

And then trying to see is like pushing,

Pushing,

But we can't see.

We can't see through it.

So Lao Tzu goes on to say,

First,

He says,

As I just read,

Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water.

Then he says,

Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

Sit still.

Sit still.

Often we try to solve problems with too much thinking or emoting,

And that just stirs the water up more.

It's the very thinking or emoting that is causing the ripples in the first place.

So it's kind of a catch 22.

Now we are multi-dimensional beings and we expand like a rainbow through the universe.

We exist through many different realities.

So sometimes thinking can be a good way to stop thinking.

Sometimes you have to have a,

Solve a problem in order to let go of the problem.

So there's that.

Sometimes exercise stops you for a while.

Sometimes a certain nutrition can be helpful.

Sometimes yoga,

Sometimes journaling.

So there are many different approaches and I'm not singling out one.

However,

The most powerful ultimately that heals all,

That clarifies so that you can see again,

Is being still.

That's the end point.

Once we do all the thinking we need,

Read all the books we need to read,

Do all the jogging we need to do,

Do all the yoga,

Be in nature as much as we need,

Always is a good,

Good amount of time.

As we've done all that,

The end point is eventually we sit still because we are stillness itself.

That's who we are.

And in that sitting still,

Everything unwinds,

It releases,

It relaxes,

And it lets go.

And then it breathes in what it's always wanted.

The reason why it's tense is because it feels like it isn't loved or it doesn't have peace or it doesn't have wellbeing.

But you are peace.

You are love.

You are wellbeing.

You are healing.

So when you breathe in yourself,

All those knots relax,

Release,

And let go.

It's a process,

I know.

And that's what we talk about in these podcasts.

So if this is new to you,

You might go back and listen to these podcasts from number one on.

I want to address Leanne's question,

But one other thing comes to me.

The first thing,

Just to circle back,

I want to emphasize you're fine.

Your heart is fine.

I don't care how much commotion is going on,

How much stuff we've created that's blocking us or distracting us.

I don't care how much of that we've created.

You're fine.

You're not the car you drive.

You're not the body-mind that might be agitated right now.

You're the driver of the car.

When you sit still,

Unlike a car,

Your body-mind settles down and it begins to reflect who you are.

Stillness,

Wellness,

Happiness,

Those are your innate qualities.

So there are no ultimate problems.

Everything is fine.

Though it doesn't always look or feel that way.

I like Jon Kabat-Zinn.

He sort of has introduced the West to mindfulness meditation.

You hear that all the time.

Well,

He's the one that got that going.

He noted that when life events come so fast that your nervous system and psyche are overwhelmed,

You have to take a break.

You're so overwhelmed,

What science has shown,

The best strategy is to do nothing.

Just get out of the pounding surf.

Go somewhere else.

Get away from the problem.

And I'm saying that because for one reason it goes with what we're just talking about.

You do nothing.

You let things settle.

But it's more than that.

It's somewhere between letting them settle and letting the muscle cramp or the PTSD that's trying to grip you,

Let go.

You go off on your own.

Some of that might happen because we're entering the holiday season and you might see some of your family.

And if you get caught in the middle of something intense,

You know,

People are trying their best,

But maybe their best isn't so good.

Maybe they have issues.

Maybe we have issues.

Take a break.

Go somewhere else.

Take a breath.

Do nothing.

Don't even have to figure it out for a while.

Just take a breath.

Okay.

Let the muddy water settle just a bit.

Leanne says,

Hi,

William.

Can we talk about joy for a while?

I've been listening to your podcast for a while.

The journey has been amazing.

I'm at the stage where things are melting and joy is here.

Yay.

That's such a good place.

I'm finding that holding the joy is a challenge.

Almost unbelievable.

I feel like I distract myself from the joy in the same way I would do for sadness.

What a good question.

Leanne.

It's just so overwhelming and beautiful at the same time.

My heart literally feels like it's going to burst from all the joy and I have to really focus on staying grounded.

Thank you for sharing that with us,

Leanne.

You put your finger on something that all of us either are experiencing on some level or will experience.

What is going on in my experience?

And I'll just let you sit with this and see what's true for you.

But first of all,

It's such a relief to find out actually,

Oh my goodness,

I am joy itself,

Just like everybody's been saying.

And you're experiencing it because you've been diligent in your practice,

Whatever your practice is.

I know that because that's how that works.

We let all of the stuff that's been tying us up melt away and your practice has helped you doing that.

So you feel this immeasurable joy.

In my podcast,

I've said you are the universe itself.

You are the power of the universe.

Now,

How is that going to go through this nervous system?

Because you really are.

When Jesus did miracles,

He really did them.

People try to explain them away,

But he did them.

And other clear beings do miracles because the power of the universe flows through you.

Every day is a miracle.

The life you create is a miracle.

We're just used to it,

So we don't think of it as a miracle,

But it is a miracle.

So here's what happens.

In our regular life,

Before we realized ourselves as joy,

Joy is your being shining through.

It's a part of awakening.

And in this process of awakening,

Our nervous system is growing to be able to let this immense joy flow,

This immense love.

But also before,

When we were separated,

We were in so much pain,

We found ways to help with the pain.

And some of those ways were to get lost in pleasure,

To get lost in thoughts,

Pleasurable or not so pleasurable,

But get lost in them.

Get lost in our emotions,

Daydream,

Watch TV.

That's a fantasy also.

That's a delusion.

It's not real.

We've gotten lost in our thoughts and our emotions and our addictions of one form or the other.

Thoughts can be addictions.

Most of them are.

95% are psychological thoughts,

Which are all addictions,

As well as our emotions.

So you're coming out of an addictive situation.

All of us are.

And when you sit still,

Which is what helps open up,

It helps the muddy water settle when you sit still.

And the muddy waters are made of thoughts and emotions that still need to unwind.

When you sit still,

There's more releasing of these thoughts and emotions.

And the reason why they were repressed,

Because when you sit still,

You can't repress things so easily.

And that's why they come to the surface and they release all of the energy that caused them to be repressed,

Which is pain,

Hurt or anger.

And in the midst of all that joy,

There are still emotions releasing.

There are still thoughts unwinding and they're still releasing hurt,

Fear and anger.

So that's another pain that doesn't feel good.

And your nervous system,

Like Jon Kabat-Zinn said,

Can only take so much.

When your nervous system is overwhelmed and your psyche is overwhelmed,

You take a break.

That's the standard focus for PTSD.

Only go as fast as is comfortable.

Take a break,

Go slowly.

So in your awakening process,

You've got your nervous system that's overwhelmed,

Taking in ever more joy and letting it flow through your body mind.

Your body mind is also reorienting,

Releasing,

Relaxing and letting go,

Releasing hurt,

Fear and anger.

That doesn't feel good.

So just like before awakening,

This mid-stage,

You're also faced with discomfort.

You can sometimes feel the joy pushing up against the boundaries even.

Even when you're in the midst of amazing joy,

You can feel it like around the edges.

It hurts a little bit.

You might describe it as it feels so good it hurts.

Well,

Because all of this is happening,

We go back to our old habits and we jump into our addictions.

We try to get away and believe it or not,

Some of that getting away is actually can be healthy because you've got to take a break sometimes and you distract yourself from your joy.

So this is a process that you will go through for a while.

You'll notice yourself going back and forth.

That's okay.

Just notice that you are doing that.

That will slow down.

The other thing I'd like to say about it is at the heart,

As all of these boundaries melt away,

As,

As the old structures melt away,

As the nervous system opens up and the boundaries melt away and joy can flow more effortlessly.

When it flows completely effortlessly,

It doesn't feel like anything because it's not pushing up against your insides.

It might be a nice,

Easy warmth or a nice,

Easy joy,

But it might feel like nothing,

Almost like a light.

Light doesn't feel like anything.

It just is light.

It's made of love.

You,

Your light is made of love.

It's made of peace.

It's made of wellbeing.

But as it,

As you get in touch with it for some periods of time,

It may not feel like much.

Then it may start to glow and glow and feel very,

Very profound.

But what I'm saying is you have to get,

Part of the process is you get used to joy as opposed to pleasure.

You know,

It's,

There's more action going out in the world because it's made of creation.

A lot of stuff is going on,

Pleasure and all sorts of sensations.

When you start to rest inside of your still center,

That is so joyful,

But it takes as you,

As you're learning a different sense.

It takes intuition in a sense.

Also the five senses can feel it run through your body.

Yes,

But it's a lot different than the pleasure we're used to.

So that takes a reorientation.

Your center is going to continue to move away from the pleasurable emotions and thoughts and outer events,

And you'll still enjoy them,

But you won't be centered in them.

You'll be centered more and more and more deeper and deeper and deeper in your being.

And as you're getting used to that,

It's easier to get pulled out into back into pleasure because that's our old habit.

Those are our old neural networks that we've developed when we were totally separate.

So you're going through a process.

The antidote is as Lao Tzu says,

Sit still until you need to take a break.

Let the waters clear and get used to sitting in clarity more and more and more.

And for a time,

Clarity will not be as pleasurable.

Clarity is not pleasurable.

It's blissful.

It's peaceful.

And that's different than pleasure.

I don't know how to put words on it deeper than that.

The way you find out is as you are already finding out,

Leanne,

Is to just sit still and you know for yourself,

And then you can put your own words on it.

But I hope that makes some sort of sense.

And if it,

If it doesn't,

Or you want more clarification,

Just ask,

Ask some more.

Kathleen is saying,

Don't try to hang on to either positive or negative,

But non-duality is difficult to live daily as we get caught up in clinging,

Which is where we need a lot of self-compassion.

Absolutely,

Katherine.

Thanks for that comment as well.

As I said,

We are an infinite being.

We span lots of realities.

We have personal interactions.

We are touching other realms.

Our being is,

We're existing on many different realms all at the same time.

And our center,

As I was talking to Leanne,

Is beyond sensations.

It's beyond pleasure.

It's beyond positive or negative.

Those are worldly sensations.

It's a still point that opens into the infinite.

And the flip side of the coin,

Ironically,

Is all of creation.

Creation and the infinite are the same thing.

What's beyond the creation and what is creation is the same thing,

The inside of the outside.

It's the same thing.

So,

We can be in the world,

But not of it,

As Jesus said.

But there's not a negative way of being.

It's not like if we're totally lost in the world and cut off that that's negative.

It's not.

It's the drama that we're in now.

But I can already tell you it's all going to clarify eventually for everybody.

So,

There's nothing wrong with living a drama.

The only thing is it can hurt.

That's why we want to stop for a while and be in the world and enjoy it,

But not be of it.

So,

That's why we do our spiritual practice.

Clinging or attachment,

That's just what,

Catherine,

I was talking about,

Leanne,

Even in your awakening process,

We look for relief sometimes because it can be so overwhelming.

And so,

We cling to something that gives us relief.

We could call that an addiction,

Addiction to the world,

An addiction to thinking,

Addiction to TV.

But it could also be viewed as a rest because we're in the world.

Our body is a physical thing and it takes our nervous system a little while to expand.

Like a caterpillar,

We're morphing into a butterfly.

I imagine it hurts those caterpillars for a while,

You know,

As they're changing.

Who knows what they're feeling?

It's probably not the easiest.

Kathleen says,

Aloha,

I'm Catherine from Maui.

I am PTS broken neck 23 years ago.

Loving this answer about mid-stage,

Spent two months being still and volcanic explosions and lots of pain,

Hurt and fear.

I had joy in my heart and no sadness takes over.

Thanks for this input.

Mahalo.

Thank you,

Kathleen.

Yes.

The pain,

Hurt and fear.

Sometimes people say I can't sit still because I can't quit thinking.

I can't,

It doesn't feel good.

I'm no good at meditation.

The sitting still is what releases the pain,

The fear,

The thinking that's pent up.

So you're excellent at meditation.

All of us out there.

That's how I felt.

I didn't know.

I didn't know I was doing it right.

It felt so bad,

But I was doing it right.

And Kathleen,

You had to sit still and so much pain,

Hurt and fear must've been both terrible.

And in the midst,

That's the only word you can say terrible,

But it does open into joy that saying,

What is it?

The only solution to a problem is through it.

Something like that.

That's called sitting still.

Oh,

Leanne says the only way out is through.

Thank you,

Leanne.

You know,

We all know we're all in the same boat,

Right?

We all are.

Everybody here.

If you ever feel like you're alone,

You're not.

Everybody here feels some version of the same thing.

We're all being cleansed and what's cleansing us?

Ironically,

Our problems.

Life is cleansing us.

We send out a beacon.

All of our hurts send out a beacon and say,

Hey,

I've been repressed.

I've been hidden because I hurt so badly.

Get me to the surface so I can relax,

Release and let go.

Well,

How do you do that?

You have a life event come to you and cause all sorts of trouble.

And then you feel hurt.

You feel pain.

You feel fear.

That old fear and hurt has been stored inside for so long.

Life brings it out.

That's what we're doing here,

Right?

We're all being cleansed.

It's hard.

Buddha said,

Have friends,

Have a sangha to support you.

But you're doing great.

And as you stick with it,

Step by step,

You explode.

As Leanne was talking about in love or joy,

As Kathleen said,

She had to,

She was forced to sit still.

Leanne says that all makes so much sense.

Thank you,

William.

And then Kathleen adds,

I teach public school and overextend daily.

I find myself being still is my go to place on my days off.

I'm happier alone in nature than with others.

I search here for directions.

I am cut off.

But look at me.

Come find you.

Welcome,

Kathleen.

Really,

For anybody that's new,

I've taken my entire life experience and just a thumbnail.

I am a psychotherapist.

I went to four years of theological school.

I've been to India 14 times for an average of three months per visit,

Been to Bhutan,

Brazil.

I've been all over the world talking to enlightened teachers.

And I've been sitting still as much as I can since 1973.

I've been in a lot of pain.

I understand.

I've had a lot of PTSD.

And now I feel a lot of joy.

I can see clearly my pool has gotten clear.

I still have stuff come up and it just fogs everything up,

But I know what to do.

I notice it still.

And in the midst of it,

I know it's okay.

I also feel that you don't have to be completely clear to be awake.

Every awake person has unclarity because we're in the world.

But as you let more and more go,

You realize you see more clearly,

Even when you're unclear.

And even when you're totally unclear,

Remember at heart,

You are clarity itself.

So there is clarity still there,

Even when there's so much that's unclear.

So you don't have to wait 20 years to get clear enough to see something.

Start looking right now because it's there.

Even if it's real foggy,

It's your clarity is still there.

Just look gently and keep clearing.

Keep clearing.

Sitting still is very helpful or you'll find some other path that's very helpful.

You know,

Sometimes when you talk to spiritual teachers or you get into a program or you read a book,

It says,

Do one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

And that is helpful and very thorough.

And I would highly recommend that because that way you cover everything.

However,

When you were a kid and you fell off your bike,

You didn't treat every part of your body.

You look to what hurt.

And if you skinned your knee,

You wash that off and put a bandage on your knee.

You went straight to what hurt and you use exactly what fit that problem today.

You didn't go through one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven.

You just went to the heart of it.

Like,

What do I need now?

So there's a time in our life where we need to do that.

Maybe all through our lives,

We sort of alternate and we balance between a thorough approach and an approach where you do something that you need to do right now,

Because you're hurting.

You need to get out of the pounding surf now.

So you do it.

That could be one yoga position that feels good to you.

Not the whole series.

For instance,

If you're holding tension in your body,

If you're holding hurt and anxiety,

Which most of us are,

It's a rough world out there.

Sometimes you can just tense all the muscles in your body,

Real tight,

Tight,

Tight,

Tight,

Hold it and let go and receive the relaxation that flows into your body.

That relaxation is your being.

You can do that right now.

It's not everything,

But it's something.

Craft your own practice that begins to help you unwind,

Helps you to relax.

You listen to teachers and take what's best for you.

And as I started to say to you,

Kathleen,

And everybody else that's listening in,

If you haven't listened to these podcasts,

I would start at number one because they build on each other and they're my life experience from all the things that I just told you about.

All that to say,

I've worked hard on myself and I've put what I find to be the most valuable things for me in these podcasts.

And they're usually fairly valuable to others as well.

Now,

These podcasts are not psychotherapy.

They're just podcasts.

If you want a psychotherapist,

Find a psychotherapist.

If you want a spiritual teacher,

Find a spiritual teacher.

If you want a yoga teacher,

Find a yoga teacher.

But these podcasts emphasis is to give you a center to organize all this infinite information out there so that you can,

From that vantage point,

Pick and choose what works for you.

At least you've got some organizing principle.

And at the same time,

Since each of these podcasts stand on their own,

If you see a title that is just screaming at you,

I want to listen to this now,

Listen to it now.

That's good too.

Christine says,

Leanne had previously said the only way out is through.

And then Christine comments,

Yes,

Not the get over it.

I was raised in the military and there was a lot of get over it.

In fact,

I didn't know till way later in my life that I even had problems because I thought the way to go forward is just to push everything else away.

Get over it.

You don't feel fear because you don't feel.

That's called courage.

At least that's what I thought as a kid.

Not true.

So yes,

Christine,

It's not get over it.

Absolutely not.

Barbara,

My experience has been what I go through,

I grow through.

Yes.

Life is beautiful and it gives you what you need.

Life will present you with blessed troubles.

They help you.

Catherine says they are amazing podcasts.

Thank you,

Catherine.

Ola says now when I become aware and doing a lot of self work,

I've noticed that my reaction when people are pushing my boundaries or expect me to react habitually,

Anger is my reaction.

Any advice?

Yes,

Ola,

That I'd say most people feel that.

If not most,

A lot.

When people are pushing your boundaries,

We feel anger.

Or when they expect us to react,

We feel anger.

Again,

Because we're multidimensional beings,

There are a lot of answers to each of these perspectives.

And I'm going to give you some.

The first on a human level,

Strong boundaries can be helpful because people have issues out there and they can,

I don't know what the word is,

Invade or push based on their issues.

And you need to be safe.

You need to be out of the pounding surf.

So when somebody breaches your boundaries,

One form of power is anger to protect yourself.

You're mobilizing that to protect yourself.

And I'm going to give you a completely different answer.

So there's nothing wrong with that.

As long as you don't make the matters worse and inflict your anger back on somebody else.

Sometimes you can act without being harmful is what I mean.

But another perspective,

The one for self growth first is you want to build your boundaries,

Know how to be assertive,

How to say no,

Build your boundaries.

So having done that,

Your next perspective is,

Okay,

Somebody's pushing you,

They're pounding you and you're feeling angry.

Just like we read from the Tao Te Ching,

Can you sit still and feel your anger?

Because as you feel your anger,

It can release,

Relax and let go.

That's a whole process.

And if you haven't listened to these podcasts,

As I said,

They're free on every platform.

Start with number one and move forward.

The reason I say that is because there's a good way to help these things unwind,

Release,

Relax and let go.

I'll give you a story that I've said in some other podcasts.

Somebody came up to a guru and they slapped him in the face.

He was at a public gathering and somebody just came out of the audience and slapped him.

The guru felt angry.

That was definitely an invasion of his boundaries.

Guess what he did?

He thanked that individual and everybody was shocked.

Why did you do that?

He said,

The reason why I did that was he showed that I still had anger in me.

I wouldn't have gotten angry unless I had anger in me,

Unconscious anger.

This person brought it out in me because if I wasn't angry,

I would have had a different reaction.

I wouldn't have been angry.

That's not in me.

So I might've been compassionate,

Like,

Are you okay?

That was a very hurtful thing to do.

Are you feeling okay?

Can I get you something?

Are you in a lot of pain?

What's happening?

What's going on with you?

So sitting still,

You can't repress these things.

They come up,

They release,

They relax and they let go.

In the process of expending their energy and releasing,

Relaxing and letting go,

Spinning around like a taunt rubber band,

Releasing its energy until finally it's slack and limp and loose and peaceful.

Peace.

Until you're like that,

Your insides will release what they have in them.

And probably if you're like me,

You got some abuse growing up in some form or fashion.

And as a little kid,

You couldn't express it and got a lot of old anger.

Could be,

I don't know.

I'm just saying based on me,

Based on being a therapist,

Many people have that.

But this part of you that's hurting,

It also,

In addition to releasing its energy,

There's another step.

It wants to breathe in peace and safety and love.

It wants to know it's okay.

So it's not simply about looking at stuff,

Unwinding and releasing because you're so still and your thoughts and emotions are releasing,

Relaxing and letting go.

That is a part of it.

But then there's a breath where that which is spinning,

That which is hurting,

Breathes in what it's looking for.

It breathes in you.

It breathes in love and peace and well-being.

If that's not possible because we're all in our process of our growth and our path,

And maybe I'm not quite there,

Then go to someplace where I can receive that.

Let that hurting part touch a tree and just feel the safety and the solidity and the peace of a tree or a love of one of your animals.

And just let the hurting part take that in.

For complete letting go,

For complete clarity,

There has to be complete trust.

Because when you completely trust,

You can let go,

Right?

And if you don't trust,

If you're not,

If you're nervous,

I don't trust,

I don't trust.

How do you ever let go?

But how do you get to complete trust?

I can tell you the universe is us and the universe is what's running the show.

So you can trust yourself.

So I'll tell you that at this point,

That sounds like a philosophy.

And in this point,

It kind of is.

But in real life,

My experience,

What I know intuitively,

And to me by now and intuition is just as strong as any of my five senses.

So I'm not just saying,

Oh,

This wispy thing.

I'm saying,

I definitely know,

Just like touching this computer.

I know we're safe.

I know the universe is us.

You know,

When you hear it's all one,

I know it's all one.

I understand that.

I know that.

That's my experience.

So I can tell you that's the way it is.

I can't,

You shouldn't believe that until you know it.

I'm just telling you about me.

So there's complete trust there,

But it takes time to work through the system.

I still have big nuggets of PTSD come flying up from,

From my childhood or my past.

So I can know all this,

But it takes a while for us to catch up for ourselves because we are multi-dimensional beings.

So we're going to go back and forth.

As I see clearly,

I can trust more.

As I trust more,

I can see more clearly.

As I see more clearly,

I can trust more.

You see where this is going.

You have to use what works for you.

Maybe it's a book today,

Reading a great book or listening to a great podcast or touching a tree or being in nature.

Maybe I open up and I trust just,

I take in a couple of drops because remember it's the taking in,

It's the receiving that is what opens you up.

You can't open up unless you receive,

Right?

You can't let go unless you receive love,

Peace,

Well-being,

Relaxation,

Something you have to receive.

So,

Hey,

A beginning place or an interim place is just getting good at receiving compliments.

How about that?

Or getting good receiving the energy from a tree when you touch it.

Don't just touch it as an object,

Touch it as a being.

Get good at receiving,

Practice receiving.

As you receive,

You let go.

As you let go,

What is,

What's blocking us?

It's all these tensions and twisted thoughts and emotions.

They're all coiled up and they're so thick,

All these objects that we've created in our past that are stuck in our unconscious mind and they're becoming conscious.

Those are so opaque,

They're so thick,

We can't see through them.

But as they let go,

They relax,

They release,

And they're gone.

When you have a tension in your body completely let go,

Where is it?

It's gone.

Well,

Obstructing thoughts and emotions are nothing more than tension.

When they receive,

They let go.

So,

Get good at receiving.

So,

Answering this question about anger is very,

Very deep.

I would listen to the podcast.

I would sit still.

I would do interim things like taking a jog,

Doing exercise,

Doing yoga.

So much gets stuck in our muscles that when you tense and release in yoga or even just doing one yoga pose a day,

You don't have to go someplace.

I don't have time to do yoga.

Great.

Do one thing a day.

Do something.

It's not all or nothing.

Do something.

It will help you receive.

And you'll feel a release.

Somewhat,

Some kind of release,

You'll feel it.

And your anger will open.

You know what anger is?

It's your innate power.

Anger is power that's twisted around.

It's twisted in a,

It's trying to help you,

But it's not completely clear.

There's a better way to help you.

If you rested in your pure power,

You would be safe and you wouldn't have to have the anger.

But right now,

Anger can help you.

It's trying,

But as you sit still,

As you do various things that help you,

Your anger can release,

Relax,

And let go.

Catherine says,

As far as my podcast,

Just go to Insight Timer and put William's name in the search box and you can listen to all the tracks.

Yes,

You can put my name in,

Or if you get on your search bar anywhere,

You can just type in William Cooper Awakening.

And it will pull up all these podcasts in every possible way.

Or Nancy says,

Kathleen,

The podcasts are tracks on William's profile page.

Yes,

They're also tracks on my profile page.

If they're missing some,

Because they're all there,

One through right now,

119,

This will be 120.

If they're missing any,

Just type in my name and the number after it,

The missing number,

William Cooper,

You know,

110,

And that should pop up.

Kathleen says,

Exciting.

B says,

Yes.

And Nancy says,

Oh,

Okay.

Kathleen,

They are not numbered in consecutive order,

So search for each number starting with one.

There you go.

Thank you,

Nancy.

Uh,

In some places they are in consecutive order.

So if you,

Uh,

Again,

Type in William Cooper Awakening,

They'll come up.

And in some places they are in consecutive order.

They all are there,

By the way,

Wherever you're looking.

Blossom Violet says,

I've been listening to this podcast and stillness.

Love Lao Tzu's analogy of the stillness in water.

Thank you,

William.

You know,

Thank you,

Blossom.

I'm going to read that Lao Tzu's,

Um,

Verse again.

And for anybody that's new,

I'm reading from the Tao Te Ching.

It's spelled T-A-O-T-E-C-H-I-N-G.

I do talk about a translation I like,

And I think it's around podcast 90 called Books That Awaken.

It's in there,

But it's profound when you read it,

108 verses,

You feel it.

And what Lao Tzu says is trying to understand is like straining through the muddy water.

Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

It's so beautiful.

All these 108 verses are so beautiful.

I do want to take one second and talk about this last sentence.

Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

We talked about trust begets clarity and clarity trust.

We talked about when we started this podcast that we're like light.

We're like a sun ray,

A sunbeam,

Just open and flowing,

Very relaxed and just emanating beautiful warmth and light.

Well,

Within that warmth and light,

All of creation emanates.

It's all formed.

Right action occurs effortlessly.

Everything out in the world has happened effortlessly.

I didn't create cars.

I didn't create trees.

I didn't create the sky.

It's here.

It's one creation is multifaceted.

It's effortless.

It's only when I'm totally blocked from myself that I have to effort through willpower because I'm cut off and I'm not feeling right action.

I'm not flowing.

I'm blocked.

A long time ago,

About 40 years ago,

When I was exploring the question,

Do I even believe in psychics?

And is there such thing as intuition and knowing the future?

I contacted about six or seven psychics.

I asked them all the same question,

A scientific approach.

And this one,

I remember she was very accurate and she was going through my life and she said,

Oh,

You've accomplished so much.

And I had,

I had accomplished a lot.

And she went through it and she said,

Oh,

You accomplished so much.

But the way she said it,

There was a little twist to it that sounded a little funny to me.

I mean,

I was taking it in.

Yes,

Yes,

I have.

Yes,

I have.

And then there was this little twist.

And I said,

Well,

You're saying that in a funny way.

Is there anything wrong with,

She says,

Oh no,

You have great willpower.

And I said,

Is there something,

Are you saying there's something wrong with that?

No.

She says,

It's wonderful.

You get a lot accomplished.

Then she added,

Nothing will become of it,

But you'll get a lot done.

It's kind of like that.

I can push and I can push through that muddy water and I get a lot done,

But it happens and it's motivated through mud.

I can't see what I'm doing.

Right action flows effortlessly and that's available to all of us.

And it's available to all of us,

By the way,

Even when we're not clear,

Because remember our being is always there.

So are all the objects that block us that we've created.

That's there too,

Until we uncreate them.

But our being is always there.

So it's never all or nothing.

There's somewhere in between.

Ola says,

Thank you for the insight.

Well,

Listen to the podcast.

Thank you,

Ola.

Kathleen,

I teach my kindergartners to be the pond.

They really become calmer.

Absolutely.

That's beautiful,

Kathleen.

Jennifer says,

Thanks,

William.

Excellent insights and very meaningful comments and questions from all.

Thank you all.

Peace and love.

Yes.

Thank you all.

And I wish you happy holidays.

If on the holidays you want to take a book with you,

Look at around podcast,

90 books that are awakened.

And if I was going to choose one book being around a family,

I would choose Byron Katie's book called Loving What Is.

I take that,

But there's a lot of good books in that podcast,

But that's also in there.

I would,

I would take that.

That could,

That could be helpful if you're under a combination of love and lots of issues flying around.

Blossom says,

Thank you.

And Blossom says,

Yes,

Byron Katie.

And she spells it out.

B-Y-R-O-N-K-A-T-I-E.

Alexander,

It's a pure joy to listen to you.

Oh,

Thank you,

Alexander.

And Alexander says,

Thank you.

Thank you,

Everybody.

Take care.

I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye.

Happy holidays.

Reviews

I’m glad you talk about inner stillness here and in other podcast Along with this one. It’s so simple I forget about it.

and I love the image of the universe is behind me. Anything I need to take care of I can trust myself to handle it because the universe is behind me. Powerful. 🦋💕🩵🦋💕🩵🦋💕🩵

9.8.25 second listen:
What a lovely vision of Kathleen's kindergarteners "being the pond!"
Me? I'm a baby Lotus 🪷 b/c I'm still in the mud lol but I continue, every morning. Consistency, baby steps, stillness, silence. A painful and beautiful journey.
The Byron Katie book is the only one I have left to read from your recommended list...

Hi William~great as always! Have had a few "moments" while I'm simultaneously reading I Am That, Tao te Ching, and There is a River where I happen to get the exact same message art the same time. I LOVE that. Here we have an Indian Guru, an ancient awakened Chinese man, AND this devout Christian (via channel) saying the same thing. I Definitely sit up and pay attention. The lesson was Discover who you are, by first discovering who/ what you are not.
I like how you said "nuggets of PTSD come flying at me" but today you know how to handle it. I'm working through a big chunk that is taking awhile to work it's way out, but I have faith it will. It is similar to the story you shared about the guru who had to thank the man who slapped him for showing him where he still held anger. In my more enlightened moments, I can be thankful for seeing the pain with gratitude for showing me what still isn't healed. But on most days I am applying gentleness when the pain feels unbearable.
Thanks again for this work that you do, or rather this gift that you give.

What a good talk on joy. Little glimpses into peace and joy are such a blessing! Thank you!

I saw the title of your podcast and I listened thorough it William. I really appreciate your explanation around joy, pleasure and addictions. I’m still threading in muddy water around joy and sadness but sitting still will eventually guide me through taking the right actions.

Amazing, as always. I am missing your lives, William. :) 🙏🏻