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1009 EG
3b This second teaching on generosity goes to the central point of the value of developing selflessness through the practice of letting go. We must ask ourselves, after all, who or what it is that motivates our generosity, and what does it mean to own property or to be in control of our own time? These fundamental questions are significant in the appreciation of the spiritual value in the process of generosity.
1010 EG
4a The fourth step is the establishment of one of the fundamental building blocks of spiritual development: the act of loving kindness. It has been said by the sages that if one’s path does not lead to loving kindness, then one must seek another path that does. This segment discusses the power of these types of acts.
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4b Cultivating ongoing loving kindness as a spiritual practice is the second part of the fourth step. It discusses the practice of loving kindness with examples of welcoming guests, visiting the sick and so forth
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4c Connecting through the vehicle of loving kindness to those who have died. Loving kindness can be distinguished from charity on a number of levels. One of the distinctions is that loving kindness can be effectively expressed for those who have passed over from life to other realms, whereas charity is not relevant in this situation. This sections discusses such special acts for those who have died.
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5a--Simplifying one's life through the practice of moderation and restraint We now move into the well known arena of learning how to simplify one’s life, which traditionally has been a basic tenet for spiritual explorers through the ages. Some became monks or nuns, but there are many other opportunities to bring simplicity into one’s life.
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5b Through the practice of moderation and restraint, we begin to liberate ourselves from many of the complications of everyday life. Life becomes easier, more free seems to make itself available, the quality of living goes up while the cost goes down.
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6a The importance of purifying our actions, thoughts and speech. Clean living is yet another tenet for spiritual development and it is a practice that requires conscious attention.
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6b Regardingthe pureness of the our souls, there is a basic teaching that the neshama, an aspect of the soul that is always connected with Source of Life, remains pure from birth until death as it cannot be corrupted. This comes a Good News to some of us who have been taught that we can ruin the soul and in so doing will be punished. The meditation practice to recognize the souls purity affects how we relate to ourselves and others.
1017 EG
7a We now move to the higher levels of the twelve steps to attaining God Consciousness. Interestingly, joyfulness is both a practice in itself and the result of spiritual practice. As a practice, joy is built upon learning how to recognize and let go of negative or agitated mind states. Thus, this is not the joy of being elated, but rather is the result of resting in a quiet mind state, as discussed in this section.
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7b Releaseing into the experience of Divine Presence. As noted in the previous section, joy is the product of a quiet mind. When the mind is at rest like this, we become aware of what is happening around us from moment to moment. As we allow ourselves to sink deeply into this Awareness, the sense of I/me-self identity begins to disappear and this results in an aliveness, wholeness, and awesome sense of Presence, which only can be experienced, but never clearly described. This section addresses the opening of these gateways.
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7c: Discovering joy in the simple and ordinary things of life. The final section of this seventh level of joy goes to the question of how we nurture ourselves, relax, make quality time, enjoying each moment with open hearts.
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8a: Liberating oneself by gaining distance from pride and ego attachment. The plateau that must be attained before transcending to higher levels of consciousness is described in many paths as the release from any attachment to praise, or fear of blame, each of which is directly connected to the ego. On the eighth level, we now begin to address these expanded levels of consciousness.
1021 EG
8b: How calmness and peacefulness arise out of humility an selflessness. We are now taken into new levels of humbleness, humility and the dropping away of ego-centeredness. These levels open more gateways to higher consciousness.
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9a: Deeply and consistently discovering new awe in this moment. The ninth step in this program is connected with "awe," which is the natural result of deeply seeing and experiencing the depth of each moment, how it unfolds, all that has gone into to, the variables that bring things together, the perfection of all that exists. The mind cannot handle this awesome interconnectivity, and yet, on some level, we can appreciate how everything fits together.
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9b: Living in the moment is more than a catch phrase; it is an amazing experience that expands consciousness. Things look different, feel different, taste different as if one has entered a brand new universe of sight and sound. This experience is always available, 24/7, but rarely tapped. One must learn how to recognize this reality of here and now, and then practice letting go of all the extraneous thoughts that cloud our normative experience. Yet, as we move more closely to God Consciousness, knowing how to live in the here and now, even momentarily, is a mandatory prerequisite.
1024 EG
10a: Resting in equanimity in a busy world. Each step at the higher levels on the twelve steps to God Consciousness is critical and can take considerable to master. Equanimity is yet another essential quality that leads to mastery over the monkey mind of scattered thinking. We pick up in this lesson the material first discussed in step 8, which deals with eradicating pride. At this point, we are moving directly into what it takes to become essentially selfless.
mp3 (11:56)
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10b: Cultivating true equanimity. In this section we have a number of exercises to help listeners develop a deeper connection with equanimity. One of the best ways to discover equanimity in this moment is to reflect on memories of the past with the realization that we have forgotten most of the details of previous experiences. Thus, now when we have a powerful emotional experience, we can be informed by the reality of a personal history that no longer has us in its grip.
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11a:How mindfulness can lead to higher consciousness. The final two steps are the most challenging of the twelve. Bringing mindfulness into our regular spiritual practice requires a command, on some level, of all of the first ten steps. They cannot be bypassed. As they develop, we gain greater skills in working with mindfulness. At some point the mindfulness becomes automatic. That there the time when both higher consciousness and mindfulness become connected--and one does not appear without the other.
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The Talmud describes three ways to change one’s fate. These are described in this section. The highest levels of contemplative practice in Judaism applied to the Prophets who, as vehicles of Divine Will, used prophesy to announce, predict and possibly avoid certain fate. When one has achieved a strong degree of God Consciousness, this kind of prophetic capability is possible—but on a different level than we imagine when caught in a dense level of consciousness.
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12a: Understanding life and death on a new level opens a different Awareness of what God Consciousness means. The idea of Life Eternal has little meaning when considered by dense, mundane consciousness, but is a very different concept when considered by someone who has achieved mastery in the first ten levels described above.
Copyright © 2015, Rabbi David Cooper. All rights reserved.