157 Flowing Light, Happy, Prayer, Drama, Anxieties - Q & A

In this Q & A we enjoyed a great discussion about the direct experience of Light streaming from our body, the Happiness & Power flowing through us, the creative and destructive power of stories, how to not be attached to stories, how to withdraw our senses, how to navigate negative energy coming from others, do we lose ourselves when we dissolve into Light?, giving burdens to our higher power, is it good to listen to the news in these dark times?, anxiety attachment, the direct experience of the world strobing in and out of existence, awakening, etc.

This is a recording of a Live Q & A which has been edited for clarity, length, and helpfulness. They are what I found most helpful over the last 50 years and are most powerful when listened to in sequence from one on. Though each also stands on its own.

Though I am a psychotherapist, and these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful, they are not psychotherapy. If psychotherapy is ever needed, please reach out to a psychotherapist

Transcript

Hello, Everybody. This is William Cooper. Welcome to Awakening Together, Relaxing into Happiness. How is everybody? I trust you're doing well this week. This is our time for you to ask any questions that you'd like about your path. And while you're thinking of questions, Or perhaps you just want to listen in, I'll talk about a few things. Hey, Jules. Hi from Scotland. Hi, Alexandria. Hi to everybody out there. What lately I've felt like starting with almost every podcast. And that is just to say, You are such a bright light. I can feel you so strongly. That is your nature. You are the most powerful force in the universe. That most powerful force is what's coming through you. Whether you feel it or not, It is. And I'm not talking in metaphors. Let me give you an example. When I go walking in the morning, I get up and start walking about 6 o'clock in the morning. And I walk for an hour and a half. And it's a walking meditation, I suppose. I live out where there are a lot of trees and sort of a rural area. There aren't sidewalks, So I just walk down the road. And it's pitch black. Sometimes there's the moon, Sometimes always stars. It's beautiful and trees everywhere. It's just gorgeous. Well, For the last month, Month and a half, As I'm walking down the middle of the road, I see a light hit my back. And it throws light all in front of me on the road. And I turn around quickly because I'm walking in the road and I want to get out of the way in case there's, I think there's a car coming or a truck. And people can drive quite fast down these country roads. Well, I turn around and nobody's there. They're not streetlights out here. They're not lights. There's nothing. It's just light coming out of my back and my feet. This happens, You would think I would get used to this, But I'm not, Because I keep thinking, Well, Maybe this time it's a car. Maybe this time it's a truck. So I turn around and I'm really thinking it is. And every time I'm surprised. It's just light coming out of my feet and my back. I say that because that is not my goal. I am not trying to have that happen. I'm like you simply baby stepping every day, Just doing my practice. And every day, A little bit more is released. A little bit more is released. A little bit more is released. And as a side effect, As we continue to do this, The light that we are begins to show through. And we begin to experience ourselves as light. So when I say the most powerful force in the universe is shining through you, I really, It's not a metaphor. It's not a nice teaching. It's a fact. And I can say that I understand if you don't feel that way, Because I haven't felt this way. You know, My lifetime has been one of a lot of suffering, Like many of you. And all I aspire to is not to suffer, Just to be happy. That's it. I'm not aspiring to talk to angels or have light coming out or doing or Jesus appearing to me or all the stuff that has happened. But as we release through our baby steps, The things that are clouding us and we become clearer and clearer and clearer, You know, There's not so much inside anymore. There's not so much clutter. And when there's not so much clutter, All that's left is a lot of light and peace and happiness and wellbeing. And it's very real. I'll tell you another weird thing about walking down the road and this light is coming out. You know how in the road, Sometimes when they make asphalt, There's little, I guess, Pebbles or something in there. I'm not sure. But that light will catch those sometimes and they'll start to sparkle as I walk by. And another weird thing is sometimes there are rocks and pebbles, Because I'm out in the country and sometimes I'm walking down dirt roads and things like this. When that light hits it, It lights up the front side of the rock, But the backside is dark, Just like if you had a flashlight and you were shining it. That's how it looks. And trust me, I'm like you. This happens and you just can't believe it. So I look at it from this way and that way. I blink my eyes. But it is happening and we're all the same. We're this bright light. So the most powerful force in the universe is coming through you. And you might ask yourself, Well, Why can't I feel it? That's what I used to ask myself. You know, I didn't always feel it. And I'm gonna get to some of your questions that you have previously sent in to our group or on the reviews. And that's what's kind of setting the stage for why I'm talking the way I am right now too, Because it will answer some questions. Well, You may remember in Podcast 81, If you've listened to many of these podcasts, Somebody asked me about my experience when the first time Jesus really fully appeared to me in a vision. And I talk about it at length in Podcast 81. But I'm gonna fast forward and just talk about one snippet of that, Because it has to do with what somebody else sent in. One of the things that happened when he appeared, This will sound strange, But you remember in the old days when they had overhead projectors, Like you would put a transparency on this lighted platform and it would project up through the projector and onto the wall or something? That's so old school that I don't know, Some of you may not have even seen one of those things. But anyway, So when Jesus appeared in this vision, One of these overhead projectors also appeared. And he said, You know, You and I are the same. And you know, That's, I didn't know what to make of that. So to prove it, He put on the overhead projector a transparency of his nervous system and it was completely clear and clean and that bright light was shining through, It was radiant. And then he put on top a transparency of my nervous system and it was exactly the same, Except there were like five little black dots, Like a pencil lead, Like if you took the tip of a pencil and just made a little black dot. And there were five of those in a row in a straight line, Four or five little black dots. And he said, That's the only difference, Just let go of those black dots and we're the same. There's no difference. And that's all, He didn't say how to get rid of the dots or how to let them go or anything, But he just showed me that's the only difference. Okay, Fast forward. So a couple days ago, Somebody sent in this to our group and for various reasons, They want to remain unnamed and they had years ago, You might call a near-death experience or something like that. They were transported, They were out cold, Going through a lot of duress and difficulties in their life and they were transported to a different realm, You might say, And that's where they were. And different beings would come talk to her, Maybe 50 or 60 different beings, But the main thing about this experience, I'll pick up at the main part, Where she says, The man on my left did all the communicating and I felt I must not look at his face for if I did, I would not be able to leave him. So I glanced down at his feet and saw a long white gown and feet in brown open sandals. I had a strong feeling that I had to make a decision. Then the man on the left side showed me the planet Earth. The space around us was vast and black and there down to the left was planet Earth. It was beautiful, Shining blue and seemed to glow in the darkness. The man communicated to me, That is you, That is your whole life. Then he showed me a minute black dot on the globe and communicated that that was the size of my present perceived troubles in comparison to my whole life. And then his words were clear and he said, And now you must go back. I felt wonderful, Completely restored. The interesting thing to me is the fact that I really seem to be in space and the image of the Earth had never been seen the way that I saw it until man got to the moon a couple or so years later. When these images appeared on TV, The Earth looked precisely as I had seen it. Well, I carried on in life with a completely different outlook. I drew away from people who were emotionally blackmailing me and gave up trying to please them. So, These black dots, We all have them, Just a few. And I started this live session by saying that you are a bright, Radiant light, But what happens, Let's say you have three black dots, Little tiny black dots, They're so tiny, Like smaller than a period on an email. The rest of you is explosive light, But you have this little tiny black dot. What happens is when we come into this world, Into this creation, Everything slows down and the few little specks of discord, Of attachment, Or whatever, The things that we want to let go of, Those become our world, They become magnified. So, That's all we can see. We think all we are are these black dots because they look like icebergs, They're so big when we're down in this world. It's like we're living through a magnified situation and all the dots seem like that's all there is is dots. But I'm saying that really all there is is bright light and just two or three little black dots, Just like this other person was saying. And that's your state of affairs. So, I want to sort of pick up from that right now. You are this bright light and it's palpable. It's a real thing. What's flowing through you is the most powerful force in the universe. You know what the second most powerful force is? The power of creation, The power of a story because that's how we create through manifestation. All that exists to start with is consciousness, Is you. That's what's flowing through you, This consciousness. That's all that exists. But when you put your willpower on it and your intention and you put a strong attitude into it, You freeze that into a shape, Just like you can freeze water into a shape. You could freeze water into the shape of a knife or anything. Well, You can create in this universe. You can have goals and create your goals. You can have a vision for your life and you can create that vision. You can manifest things, Especially when you're very clear. When you're not clear, It's a little bit more difficult to manifest clearly because the part of you that is clear comes with a clear intention and shapes consciousness in the direction that you want it to go. And every part of you that's unclear is shaping consciousness in the opposite direction so you get a blend and maybe that's why people get discouraged a little bit when they try to manifest things. But you can see very plainly, You can take consciousness and you can create a thought that wasn't there and then boom, You create a thought. You create an object, It's a thought, That's an easy one. Or you create an image. So the most powerful force is consciousness. That's all there is. That's like water. And the second most powerful is the power of creation where we freeze the consciousness into the world that we want. And that would be like freezing water into a shape. So how powerful is the power of our creating power? Well, This world is here. Creation is here. Existence is here only as a result of a story because beyond creation, Our deepest self which is quite silent but it has the potential of all things, That comes down into creation but that comes from a vision. So embedded in the deepest silent part of our being is this creative power. And how strong is it? It's as strong as gravity or electromagnetic forces because that's what holds the world together. The created world, The result of a vision is held together by gravity and these forces. That's your creative power. So you have the power of consciousness and the power of will, Willpower, Creative power. And you might remember, But in podcasts 142 and 143, I talk about when you create objects like thoughts or even problems, What you've done is you've taken love, Which is consciousness, And with great attitude and willpower, You've turned it into a problem or a good thing, Either way, An object of some kind. You've turned it into your life. So that's your power. Now, Here's something else that somebody else sent in to me. They wrote, My nervous system is highly sensitive and I have an empathetic nature. I can go to a 12-step meeting and come away very depressed. And I realized someone in the room was feeling hopeless. Besides sitting with the feeling, Are there other ways to release other people's energy or ways to protect myself from other people's energy? Well, Like most things in awakening, There are many levels to an answer because we exist on many, Many levels of various realities. In the past podcasts, We've talked about how to dissolve objects that we've created, Like old thoughts or old problems or old emotions that are troubling us. First, We let them, As a generalization, I'll say, First, We let them come to our awareness, Into our consciousness, Release their energy, Unwind. And as they release their energy and unwind, We let them look around and see that everything is okay now because often when we created the problem, For instance, We might've been a small child being hurt or being afraid or having problems and we haven't updated our files. That's why this troubling situation is still going on inside of us because we think it's still very real. We haven't been able to release it. So when we bring our old fears into the present, We let them unravel, Let them release their pent up feelings, Fear, Anxiety, Hurt, Whatever it is. Then they look around, They see that it's okay. They breathe that in, Begin to relax. And as they relax, They begin to dissolve. Tensions dissolve when relaxation comes in. They begin to dissolve, Let go and dissipate. What's very important in this process is when you feel a tension in your body, Like if it's, Let's say I feel a tension in my stomach. Sometimes I might, A long time ago, Have said I have a block in my stomach. I have tension in my stomach. But really it's not that I have a block. It is that I am actively blocking. I am the block. So to release these things, And I know you all already know this, But to release them effectively, You have to just tell yourself the truth. I am the block, I am blocking. I'm blocking now, Even though most of me feels pretty well. And it's only that my stomach really hurts, But I have to own it. So I have to say, I am hurting my stomach. I am causing my stomach to hurt. I am causing my stomach to hurt. You own it. Because you own it, Now you have power because you're connected to what you're really doing. When you're dissociated and saying, Oh, I have a block that I have to let go of, You're disassociated. Because that's like, Well, I'm doing fine, But I got this block over here. If I could just do the right thing, It'll release and it'll go. But generally it won't go because I'm disassociated. So this time around, I own it. I am causing the block. Because I'm owning it and I am causing the tension, I can uncause the tension. I can just stop. I can take a breath. I can look around and go, Oh, I'm okay. I don't have to tight my stomach, I'm okay. So these are various ways that we've talked about in the past of releasing things. Getting back to this question about the person in the 12 step and somebody there is feeling hopeless and they're absorbing it because they're very empathic and sensitive. Well, The other thing I could say, Well, Let me say this. When I was in India, This happened about 15 years ago, There's a monk named Radhakrishna, Very awake. And you could feel such light coming out of him. You could see it, You could feel it, He was radiant. And I asked him, He's my friend, And I asked, I said, Radhakrishna, Do you have stuff coming up? Do you ever feel like old things coming up and old troubles and stuff like that? Or are they all gone? I don't know. How does it work? And he said, Oh yeah, Stuff still comes up to release. But he said that because he's resting as himself as pure light, When it comes up, It just sort of hits the light and it goes up in a flash like vwoop, And it's gone, Vwoop, It's gone. Because it breathes in the light and that light is so strong, It melts the ice cubes very fast. So what he's doing, Have you ever heard of the phrase take refuge in the Buddha? Take refuge in your inner light, In your inner nature? Because if you are resting in your center, Everything vaporizes, Nothing can touch you. That's because you're that powerful as we started this live session saying. You're that powerful. The power of the universe is coming through you, This immense light. Think of it as a lightning that doesn't stop. Just lightning that just keeps on being that intense the whole time, That's you. So that's taking refuge in the Buddha. So our friend that's at the 12-step meeting, If they're taking refuge in the Buddha, There's nothing that can get in. This hopeless feeling just vaporizes. It doesn't get in, It vaporizes. So why don't I just tell her that, Take refuge in the Buddha? Well, That's not so easy, Is it? I could, You hear that? Okay, Take refuge in the Buddha. Okay, Great, How? How do I do that? I don't seem to be able to take refuge in the Buddha, My inner nature, I don't seem to be able to stay there. Why? Well, Because of the second force in the universe, That very powerful force, The power of story, The power of creation. Stories are the most powerful thing and they can pull you out of your Buddha nature. Think of it this way. Have you ever binged TV shows, Like you're watching a drama and it's so good, You wanna watch the next one and the next one and the next one and the next one? Or a movie, Woo, This is so good, I don't wanna leave the movie in the middle. No, No, No, I don't wanna leave it. Sometimes people go on vacation and they're in a beautiful place, But they get caught up in the movies that are provided in the beautiful place and they never go see the waterfalls, Or very little, Because they can't put the movie down, It's that good. That's the power of a story. Well, Every person has a story. And when you see a face, Just by seeing a person's face, Don't you know their story, In a way? Do you like to people watch? That's seeing a story, When you see their face. Do you like to watch, What are people wearing? Their clothes are telling a story. Everything is a story and stories are very powerful, They're captivating, Which is good, It's fine. It's fine to be captivated. However, If your goal is to awaken and you wanna rest in the Buddha, You don't wanna be addicted to a story, Because addictions will pull you out of yourself. You get pulled into your addiction and the most powerful addictive substance in the world is a story. So how do you rest in the Buddha? How do you do it? Well, Like everything, You have to take baby steps. For instance, What I found to be helpful, Let's say I'm walking on the beach, Or I could be at the supermarket, Or I could be anywhere. I don't get weird about it, Like if I go to the supermarket and I walk in and there's a greeter, I say hi, But then after that, I just keep my gaze focused on the floor or the things that I'm buying. I don't look at other people, Because every time I look at other people, Why am I looking at them? Because I want their story. I'm addicted to stories. I wanna jump into their story. Oh, That's an interesting person. Oh, That's a new, I wonder what they're getting. I wonder what they're doing. Oh, Why are they in a hurry? I don't know, What are they doing? Without even thinking about it, I just get caught up in the whole experience. So I have now gotten into my addiction, My story addiction, And it pulls me out of my Buddha nature, Because now I'm in an addiction. I am captured in that black hole. So like anything, You have to practice to stay in your Buddha nature. It doesn't happen automatically. It happens in two ways. One way is by doing all the things that we've talked about in the prior podcast you've let go of, So much that's separating you and blocking you, That you're feeling your inner light more and more and more, And therefore, It becomes easier to stay with yourself, Like Radha Krishna, And like Radha Krishna, As you are more and more centered in your light, Difficult feelings vaporize quicker and quicker. But the second way is to recognize the power of stories and to take baby steps, Just like you did in your other practices, To let go of things that were capturing your thoughts or emotions or whatever. So when I go to the grocery store, I just look down and I don't get involved in people's stories. I'm temporarily withdrawing my senses from the world and therefore able to rest in the Buddha without so many cross currents. I just look at the floor for that reason. If I'm walking on a beach and there are a lot of people there also walking, I look at the sand, I look at my feet, I look at the sea. Or if I'm in nature, I look at the trees. If I'm on a nature path and there are other people. Isn't it true that normally you'll look at the other person? Isn't that your habit? Because we love stories. And your habit isn't to look at yourself. You know, Sometimes we do. People say, Oh, I don't like to meditate, It's so hard. Maybe I can put aside like three minutes a day or five minutes a day and I can meditate. Well, That's how much time I spend on me. The rest of the time I'm so addicted to stories that that's what I'm putting my time into. So to break that habit, I just look at the ground or I look at my feet or I look at the sand or I look at the ocean or I look at the forest or I look at the trees or I look at the sky. Everything but the people. Now, That's a hard thing. And like everything, You wanna do this gently. So yeah, Maybe do that for five minutes. And then the next time you go to the supermarket, See if you can do it for seven minutes and then eight. But you're gonna notice something very quickly when you do this. When you break your addiction to stories, You're gonna notice that now you are resting inside and because you're resting inside, You're gonna notice two things. First, You're gonna notice the light that you are and secondly, You're gonna notice remaining little black dots that you're not, That will be releasing. You're gonna notice those two things. So that is the state of affairs inside of you. This light, This love, This peace, This well-being, You're gonna notice some of that and then you're gonna notice all the other stuff that can release. So you'll see very clearly what your situation in life is and you can refocus and continue to let go of the stuff that you don't need and rest in who you are. Oh, I think around three podcasts ago, I talk about whenever you feel light inside or happy or love, Even a flicker, Rest there and let the rest go and that's awakening. So this is part of that process. You have to be able to stay with who you are and let the rest go. Initially though, That may just be a little too difficult because the addiction to stories is just too strong. Later, When you're centered in your Buddha nature, You can approach stories, You can interact in stories and when something comes up that's pulling you, The addiction, You can feel it, You can let it express its energy and do all the other things that we've talked about in previous podcasts to let that pull go, Let it dissolve. By the way, The best way to listen to these podcasts if you're new to all this is to start at number one and work your way forward because each podcast builds on the last and as you clear out and you recycle back through these podcasts, You become more vast and deeper and clearer and things make different sense because you're different every time you circle around and so far there's, I think, 156 podcasts. You can supplement other people's podcasts with this podcast, You can do your own thing, It doesn't matter. These are just designed to be helpful, To support you wherever you are and if anything in these podcasts doesn't resonate, Just disregard it and move on. So, You might remember in one of the past podcasts, I alluded to something they do in mindfulness which is if a thought comes up rather than getting captured in the story of the thought because all thoughts are stories, We create these thoughts and they are stories. If you watch your thoughts, They're stories. What am I gonna do today or why don't people love me or I need love or how do I get love? That's a story, It's a drama. So, I get sucked into them and so in mindfulness, The way you don't get sucked into them is they come up, They have their own energy and you just label them thought and then let all of it go. If it's an emotion, You just label it emotion. You don't get into it, You don't think about it, Yes, You see it, It comes up and you just say emotion or thought or whatever and you let it go. In the two or three podcasts I did on mantra meditations, We go into that fairly deeply in many different ways and you can listen to those. The reason I bring this up is because this next comment talks about stories and does a similar thing. I'm gonna edit this one as well. This is from Patricia and she says, Hi, William, I also experience these feelings as this person did in the 12-step program. I can be in a supermarket standing in a queue for the bus or train or just sitting at a park while people pass by. If I'm near someone who is suffering with negative energy, I often pick it up. Sometimes I see an event in their lives where the negative energy entered their psyche. Given that I cannot do anything practically for them and as you advise, William, I do not get involved with their story and as a consequence, Neither their negative energy or their suffering affects me. That's just what we have talked about. But she goes on to say, But what I do is when I recognize it, I feel it and out of compassion, I give it to Jesus. I simply say a little prayer, Lord Jesus, Please see this person and take him, Her to you and their suffering. And then I thank him for the power of his love. Come unto me, All you who carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest, Matthew 11, 28. Anybody can call upon this energy. I call upon the master Jesus, But as you have often mentioned, William, It could be Buddha, It could be your favorite saint or guru or simply Mother Earth whose pure healing energy is all around us for all of us to feel and see. And then she goes on to say, Something came up on the TV news about a particularly brutal murder. The murderer's mugshot flashed up on the screen together with some brutal accusations against him. All I saw in that sad face was a very young boy being brutally beaten by his father. And so at that time, I used the same prayer that Jesus would take that child into his arms and heal him with his love. This is available to all of us. So what Patricia is doing is both not getting involved in the story, But also doing something related to what you do in mindfulness. In mindfulness, You might label a thought or an emotion rather than diving into it, You simply say thought or emotion. Here, Patricia's doing something else not to dive into it. She's seeing it and she's giving it to Jesus. And that is a very productive way that both prevents diving into it and getting into the story and hands it off to the higher power so that the higher power can deal with it. And you're not leaving something unfinished that might then pull you into it, Which also might be beyond your capacities at the time to heal the situation where the infinite can heal that situation. So it's far more settling and then I'm less prone to dive into the situation because it's being handled. And one last thing, When my guru was projecting energy through me and I would put my hands on people like so many of us did that he worked with, And they would feel healing energy coming through them or awakening energy, What he told us is give it to God. If somebody says, Oh, You did such a great job or oh, I feel different, You changed my life. He says, Give it to God otherwise you inherit the karma of it all. You take on the karma of that interaction and you don't want to get stuck with all that karma that's coming through, All of the negativity that's healing but now it's going in into you or whatnot. You don't want that. So just give it to God. And isn't that what Jesus did? Somebody say, Hey, Good teacher. And he'd say, There's nobody good but God. Or they said, Oh, You healed somebody. And he said, No, No, Nobody heals anybody by God. Give it to your higher self, Which ultimately is you, But your personal self doesn't take on all of that twisted stuff. Okay, Great Patricia and everybody who sent stuff in and I have more stuff that I'll get to later at another live stream, But I want to get everybody who's said something lately here. Laurie says, If we are light, How does that relate to our consciousness? Will we lose ourselves as we come closer to the light? Wow, That is such a good question, Laurie. Back when I would see Bhagavan, He has millions of followers and because I was doing a lot in the United States and I was talking to him every day through his picture and all sorts of stuff that I've talked about in the past, I would see him on most years when I would visit India. We were friends. And one of the things that they tell you is when you go see Bhagavan, You might want to write down anything that you are going to talk to him about or would like to talk to him about because what happens is when you get in his presence, The light is so bright, Your story disappears. You can't hold on to your story. It disappears and with it, All of your questions. So they say, Just write them down if they're important to you because they're going to disappear. You're just going to be bright light. That will happen around any powerful person, Guru. Once they reach a certain amount of power, That just happens. It happens with Ammaji, Happens with Karunamaya. It happens with Ganapati Satchinanda Swamiji. It happens with Sathya Sai Baba. It happens with Shiva Rudra Balayogi. It happens with Ramesh Balsakar. Anybody I've been with that's that powerful, Shiva Shakti, It disappears. Oh, Mama, Your personality disappears for a moment or two and with it, All your questions. So that gives you a preview. I think it was on the last podcast when I started out, I said, You all are so strong, I can feel your light. I know I said it this time too, But I went on to say, I find it hard to even think. I might be spacing out some because you lose your personality. So what do you keep? You're right, You do lose your personality. But the part of your personality you lose are your doubts, Your fears, Your anger, Your hurt, And what you're left with is your beauty, Your love, Your peace, Your well-being. It's like you on your very best day is amplified and you on your very worst day is eliminated. You just let it go. It's like all of that stuff is tension. We call that separation or delusion. You let your delusions go. You can't hold on to your delusions. When I would ask Bhagavan questions, Why would I ask him questions? It would only be because I was separated from myself and I therefore didn't know the answers. But when I was pure light, I'm not separated from myself and all is good. I don't need to ask questions. In the last podcast, I think it was, Or in the last two or three, It's come up about communicating with angels and Jesus and so on. And I said, Yeah, I see Jesus every day at the end of my walk, But we don't talk and I don't have any inclination to talk to him because at that moment, It's all oneness and I don't have questions and neither does he. He's not following me and I'm not following him. We're just friends. We're just hanging out. So people get concerned that as they become light, They lose stuff, But you don't. You just lose your fears. You lose all the stuff you go to therapy for to get rid of. That's what you lose. I hope that makes some sense. If not, Just type in something or if you want to talk about it further, Just type a little bit more in, Laurie. Let's see, Alexandria was next. Let me find her question. Okay, Here's Alexandria. So curious about your description of pulsing in and out of being and the nothing. Okay, So what Alexandria is talking about in a prior podcast or two, I talk about that what I see is existence coming in and out of creation a million billion times a second. It's like a strobe light. When I look at anything, It just is flashing in and out, Flashing in. It's total black and then it comes into creation. Like a tree, It's strobing in and out or even this computer or this microphone or anything. It's all strobing in and out of creation. It doesn't exist and then it fully exists. It doesn't, It does. It doesn't, It does. It doesn't, It doesn't. But it's all one thing. It's two sides of the same coin. See, It's not like there is creation and then there's nothingness. It's all one thing. Creation is nothingness. Nothingness is creation. It's all the same thing. It's like the two sides of the same thing. That's why it strobes back and forth. Everything that is created is also made of nothing. Everything that's nothing also is created things and there is no such thing as time. So it's very odd but it's like that always. It doesn't really strobe in and out. It's just that I am a creature of time. I'm in this world of time. So I see it like that. But it's just constant, Everything at the same time. Everything is nothing and nothing is everything. All at the same time. I'm just seeing the phenomena of time, I guess you'd say. So there's nothing to dive into here. It's just sit still and look. I don't have the goal to see this stuff and when I was younger, It's fun. It's mystical. It captures your imagination. But for a very long time, I just do my work. I just wake up in the morning, I do my meditation. I go for my meditative walk. I let stuff go because I just don't want to suffer. That's my only goal. I want to be happy. Because I've been doing this for a long time, Now I see stuff. Now beings appear. I'm not looking for them, They're looking for me in a way. I didn't ask when Michael showed up. I wasn't asking for him to show up, Archangel Michael. He just showed up and he brought Jesus. I wasn't asking for that. It surprised me. And of course I'm grateful. So I would just say, Do your work. When there's not so many thoughts on the inside jamming me up, Then I'm available. I can become very psychic because I don't have anything jamming me up. It's clear. Now to be clear, Just like most of you, I had a bumpy upbringing and I have a lot of PTSD in my life and I've released a lot of that stuff. But my limbic system, Fight, Flight, Or freeze, It doesn't ask questions, It reacts fast because it's there to protect you. And so mine has loosened up so much, But if somebody says something odd to me or something happens, I very quickly go into fight, Flight, Or freeze. So I'm in this body, I'm in this nervous system. It's not easy for any of us in here. So when you do your work every day, Every day, Every day, It's a constant clearing and opening up and healing and healing and healing. It's not a quick thing. It's not like driving through the drive-through or reading one book on visualization and now Bob's my uncle and everything's great. It's not that way. But it's inch by inch suffering leaves. It evaporates, It goes, And that's what you can see and that's permanent. And then you feel your light all the time, All the time, All the time. And it gets stronger and stronger because there's less stuff blocking you. I hope that answers some Alexandria, I don't know. Jen, Hello, I've got pneumonia, But I'm trying not to resist what is and be with the pain. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Jen. I trust you're taking good care of yourself. Jen goes on to say, This get-together is the happy point of my day. Oh, Wonderful, Jen, Thank you. For the last five to 10 years, I've lost or couldn't find spiritual teachers, But you, William, Have radiated consistent love. Thank you, Thank you. I think my take-home has been that I have the answers and to trust that stop looking to others, But it's so nice to have a community. All that to say I'm so appreciative for what you've created here, Especially now with the world as dark as it is, Yeah. Love how much light we're spreading. A logistical question, How often do you check the news? Some people say unplug, Don't believe the news, Et cetera, But it doesn't resonate with me. The news is divisive, Though, And brings up a lot of appropriate emotions like fear, Sadness, Grief, Yes. Do you check once a day, Once a week, Or is it all a story and you stay in your Buddha nature? I'm doing all that I can be to be peace, To radiate love. Beautiful question and observations. I listen as much as I want. It's multiple times during the day, But I've noticed I don't like to so much anymore and it's decreasing and decreasing and decreasing. You just have to listen to your heart. If there's no rule to any of this, Just do your spiritual practice. Do your meditation, Do your walking meditation, Whatever you're doing, Whatever you do, Do it, And then you're free for the rest of the day. And be aware, Notice how does this affect me? Is this pulling me out of my Buddha nature? Okay, Maybe it is, But I want to do it. That is an addiction. I've got it, But I'm getting less addicted and less addicted. And at the same time, It's good to know what's going on. You know, So there's not an answer. Just keep doing your practice and the clearer you get, The less you'll be getting involved in this news. Because I remember what Bhagavan said a long time ago. He said, You know, He predicted all this was going to happen. And he said, It's going to get very, Very dark. This was, I think he was talking around 2011. And he set up, It's going to get very dark and black. And what's going to happen is we're in a cycle and more light is going to be coming into the world after 2012. And it won't be much light, But some light. And anybody who hasn't heard it might want to listen to podcast 51, Astrological Cycles and Awakening. But I don't want to get into it right now. It does make sense if you listen to it. But anyway, More light is coming in. And so he says, You're going to see how bad it has been for a long time. It's just been so black. We're emerging from the dark ages now. And it's been so black and horrible, But you haven't been able to see it. So he said, Just chaos is good, Believe it or not, Because the old structures that were already diseased and hurtful can break apart and it can release a lot of pent up energy that was trapped in structures that weren't good almost anywhere. And they can reform into good structures. So he would look at this stuff as cyclical, Not really as a result of negativity, In a sense, In people. He would say the reason why we're negative is we're far away from the light. And when you're far away from the light, You become negative. So society becomes negative as a phenomena. At the same time, We can sit still and we can reclaim our light. We don't have to go with the cycle. We can be the light for the world, Light for ourselves first. But I listened a number of times, But I'm getting real sick of it. So I also listened to my body and I noticed I'm getting sick of this. And I'm focusing more and more of just sitting still and not jumping into stories like we just talked about. Stories are powerful. So for me not to do it, And I'm getting better and better at that. I'm feeling my Buddha nature. I want to feel it all the time, 100% of the time. It's there. I can check in and it's always there 100% of the time. I'm never cut off from my Buddha nature, But I can be distracted from it by a story. And with all the stories flying around in the news these days it's easy to get captured. And then I sit still and return, But now I got all this junk churning around. And I don't know, It's not that fulfilling anymore. I hope that helps. That's what I do. Gary says, William, Is there any way to get over anxious attachment? Yes, Gary. I don't know if you've gone through all the podcasts because they can be quite helpful. If you have, I'll say this for everybody else. Most powerful starting in number one and working your way forward. They really little bit by little bit by little bit help you let go of what's causing anxiety and attachments. So they're working on you. Each podcast is working on you. But then I really focus on say podcasts 26 through 30, Which are on PTSD. We have PTSD, Many of us without knowing it. And we lock in a physiological reaction that holds in a physiological way anxiety and attachment within our body. And there's a special way to release it, Which I touch the surface on in podcast 26 through 30. And if you need more work with that, Then you can delve into somebody that does it more deeply. And yes, Even though I am a psychotherapist, None of this is psychotherapy. It's just me trying to be helpful. You're probably already doing this, But working with a psychotherapist who is well-versed in anxiety attachment can be extremely helpful, Really working with a person. And these podcasts can really support your journey as well. Podcast number 156 is a very personal story about what I found helpful with some of my anxiety attachment. Also podcast 123 on non-attachment, Although not directly related, Can be helpful along the way. A lot of my other podcasts, I deal with anxiety because anxiety happens when we separate from ourselves. So just the process of staying consistently with your practice, Doing daily baby steps every single day consistently, Will slowly start to wear away and let go of that anxiety. And I found it helpful and I feel so much better. And there are days or times in the days where all I feel is joy and happiness and radiant light. This light that I see in the morning, I feel it all through my body. It's like being with my guru, But only I'm there. So I use myself as an example so people can say, Well, If he can do it, I certainly can. That's what I'm going for here. That's why I bring up examples, Because if I can do it, I can tell you, You certainly can. I hope that helps Gary, But the short answer is yes. To your question, Yes. Alexandria, So you talk about leaning into the pain or the story or whatever. What I'm saying is if you stay in the light, Everything else disappears. There's only two things, Rest in the light that you are and let everything else go. I don't mean by willpower, I mean by letting them unwind, Release and go. You don't jump into the story, You just let it go. I hope that makes sense. If I fight off stuff that I created, Like I was creating a problem and then I was fighting with that problem that I was continuing to create. You have to just stop creating the problem and then there's nothing to fight with. Let's see, I hope that makes sense. Laurie says, Are we trying to feel connected to others when we focus on stories? Shouldn't we want to connect to others Yes, Connecting to others is good. Be connected to everybody, Just don't be attached to anything. We get sucked in when we are not connected to ourselves. If we are fully connected to ourselves, If we are fully resting on our Buddha nature, When we connect to somebody, We can go deeply, We can talk to them, We can empathize, We can be helpful. But the whole time we're grounded in ourselves, So we're not getting lost in their issues. It's their issues. My sister is a Buddhist and her teacher or guru was the brother teacher with the Dalai Lama, Parallel Paths, And she would talk to her guru. And somebody was upset about having their car broke down. And he said, Why are you upset? You're fine. It's your car that has a problem. You don't have a problem. So it's the same when you connect to somebody else. If you're feeling triggered or if you're absorbing their problems, Why are you feeling depressed? You're fine. You're helping them. They're depressed. Does that make sense? When you're clear on your inside, Their problems aren't your problems. They're their problems. You're helping them with their problems. You don't have a problem. The person with the broken car, The car had the problem. They didn't. They could still remain happy. They were just as fine as they were before the car broke. That makes any sense. So yes, We connect. And it's like that Podcast 123, Enjoying everything, But don't be attached to anything. And our level of attachment is proportional to our level of disconnection to ourselves. If we're very disconnected to ourselves, We'll get very sucked into another, To another story. If we're very connected to ourselves, We'll be grounded and we can offer help, But we're not sucked into their problems. It's their problems. Does that make sense? Okay, Thank you. Patricia says, After listening to all 150 podcasts and sitting with William's advice, My anxiety levels have dramatically reduced. Thank you, William. And Patricia, Thanks for saying that since Gary brought that up. I know that's why you brought it up. Alexandria says, I love that so much. I love that so much, Hanging out with Jesus. Yes, And he's my friend ever since a child, But I want to be very clear. There's not a Jesus thing or a Buddha thing or any kind of thing. You are your own guru. Jesus isn't following me. I'm not following Jesus. There's no thing with Buddha or anybody else. But I sure do listen. Jesus is far more awake than I am. So is Buddha. So I listen if they got any suggestions, Sure, Yeah. But it's not like the old school stuff, Which is a bit funny to me. Laurie says, Yes, Your words are so helpful. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. Oh, It's my honor, Really. I want to emphasize I am you, You are me. And what I mean by that is we're the same. When light is coming out of my feet, I'm like you one day that's walking down the street, You see light coming out your feet, You can't believe it. This has been happening for over a month and every time I can't believe it. Everything I'm telling you about my anxiety going down, I'm like you, Gary. I just want that so badly and then it happens and I'm so happy. This works and thank you, Patricia, For saying that and thank you, Jen and thank you, Alexandria and everybody, Laurie, Everybody. We're the same, That's the point. And if you're going through a dark time, Just keep doing your daily practice, Your baby steps, It'll be fine. And if you don't feel like we're the same, Oh, He saw Jesus or light's coming, I'm not the same, That would never happen to me. That's how I felt. People say stuff like that. Oh, And then another thing, Somebody would say something and I'd go, Oh, Well, I'm not experiencing it just that way. I have to change my practice and do it just like they're saying or I have to see what they're seeing or feel what they're feeling or I have to have light coming out of my feet or I have to be able to see reality come in and out of existence. That would block me so bad for years and years, So I gave it up and that's the key. Just follow your heart. Do what you have to do. Your heart will tell you, Do the next obvious thing for you, Not what I say. You might listen to some of the stuff I say because I think it's pretty helpful. I've gathered some thoughts over the last 50 years and I've left off the unhelpful stuff and kept the helpful stuff, So my goal is to be helpful for other people, But don't make it a thing that you have to do. It might not apply to you, But if something is helpful, Then good. Use it. That's good. Okay, Everybody, It's so good to see you. Always so good. You're doing so great and you're asking great questions, So thank you for asking. Thank you, Everybody, For asking your questions and I hope you do every time. Okay, Have a good day. Thank you. You're doing so well. I love you. Thank you. Bye, Good to see you all. Take care.

Reviews

11.13.25 I listened again today. I echo what I said before on my first listen (below). Thank you for your response, I agree with you, my goal has always been to have less suffering (and thereby gain more serenity)
I chuckle when you share about how you were early on, like, I have to do it EXACTLY like the teacher/guru said or else I'm doing it "wrong" That's why I like your message. It "gives me permission" to try things on, see what fits and what works best for my journey. I thank you for that. I'm going to relisten to #56 again on anxiety. I could use a refresher!
Namaste

Thank you William! Especially for your sweet humble way of describing your experiences to us in detail.I am so happy that you are having this beautiful light experience. When you share about how you had struggled and were in the place that many of us are currently in our journeys, it gives hope that the future can be just as bright for us! Love and [even more] light!!

Thank you William I have relistened to this a number of times as I have found it so helpful. Each time I listen something has shifted for me, as you say inch by inch.
I smile at the incredible stories I tell myself, I am so good at telling stories and that is all they are.
When I listen I think oh I'm not there yet and you right away reassure me to follow my heart.
With the help of all you have shared I feel a far greater sense of peace.
Thank you for all the knowledge you so willingly share, I am blessed to have found you and be part of this community. Deep appreciation and love William. Thank you.

Thank you William & I agree with Jen about how grateful I am for your support and the community you’ve built 🙏. Get well soon Jen x

Hello William, This is such a super podcast, so many good questions and your, in depth, answers. I love the way you deal with the many questions asked of you. This time I am especially intrigued by the light emanating from you, on your morning walks. Is this, what some people describe as, your aura? To have such auratic energy coming from you and surrounding you, must be truly wonderful. You have mentioned that your morning walks are something of a walking meditation. I would guess that you use this quiet time to connect with yourself, on a higher level. Is this what you describe as 'resting in the Bhuddha nature', where all is peace and light. Thank you for sharing this experience. Regarding the 'black dots', I like your explanation that they represent challenges that we must overcome to become clear. Could these dots represent Karmic challenges that we must experience, here on earth and deal with, in a way that will dissolve them. And this is how you are showing us in all your Awakening podcasts. In my experience, we have to suffer and experience our karmic debts, in order to fully understand them and so enable us, with the help of others, who have suffered similar experiences, to dissolve them with love and forgiveness. It's utterly fascinating how our lives 'turn out'. 🥰 It's comforting to realise that all our painful experiences in life are given to us, so that we may open our eyes, (Awake) for the purpose of learning and/or teaching. Thank you William🙏❤️

Thank you so much for going into great depth of answering my question Around, taking on other people’s energy at 12 step meetings. This stock also helps me with the people I sponsor in 12 step programs. Why do they like to get caught up in the story. and I have to watch that I don’t get caught up in their story. after listening to this talk, I have a lot more awareness around protecting my own energy thanks William 🧡🩷💚🧡🩷💚🧡🩷💚🧡