You most likely know that feeling when waking up where you’re not quite awake but not quite asleep. That’s often the time when strange dreamlike thoughts begin swirling in the mind mixing physical reality with events only possible in dreams. And what happens for me are times of dropping into a void, a place where, for just a few moments, there seems to be a nothingness. That’s what happened this morning that brought another insight into a concept I had never really thought about before. That’s how I know it’s inspired from somewhere that I don’t understand, a place seemingly unknowable in my current existence.

For that moment I was in a place I can only describe as a void, since there isn’t any other way to describe it and I realized how empty it was. An awareness of this feeling became apparent and I was able to compare it to a time when I would drop into a deep meditation.

And in that short moment, which seemed longer that it most likely was in this physical reality, I was able to bring through a concept I’d like to share with you that might allow those who never tried to meditate or those who do but would like an alternate understanding.

It was revealed to me that while in meditation the mind begins disconnecting with the current reality. That’s not to say you are physically leaving this reality only your awareness, perhaps your consciousness, leaves this physicality. Perhaps better stated your awareness becomes more in tune with an alternate reality, a reality of what truly is.

The mind has been programmed to be corralled into a box, a sort of prison for your mind. This most likely was done in an original sense to keep people corralled for reasons that have long passed out of history, although most likely to enslave many to do the bidding of a few. Mediation was discouraged because it opens the mind to greater possibilities, greater possibilities than those who wished to remain in control.

So here we are dropping into a meditative state. At first it may seem a little frightening because we are going somewhere we were told was not a place we should go. But we persist and we continually quiet our mind as we seem to drop further into a void. The fear begins to release since there is no place for fear where we are going so it leaves quietly without incident. After a few moments we are somewhere else, a place that seems of nothingness but at the same time a place of everything. That’s the paradox we can’t truly understand. But there it is, all and nothing. You have reached the void.

Now here’s something that might bake your noodle. The reason it seems like all and nothing at the same time is because it is. By using theories of quantum physics we can see these theories in action when we meditate. As we go further into the void we are actually connecting with the Now, that moment when there is no past and no future only now. But using quantum theory the past and the future are also present in the now moment. That’s why it’s feeling like all and nothing at the same time because it is. It’s all and it’s nothing at all because in that now moment nothing is happening but everything is happening. It’s a deep thought exercise for sure.

Rest assured as you begin to reemerge into this physical reality all will return to whatever normal is at the moment. But you may be different. Then realize, you have traveled into the all of everything and absolutely no passport was required…

We know the feeling. Something happens that immediately causes us to react in some way. The reaction varies with each of us experiencing the occurrence. That happened to me recently, however this time I stopped to wonder why I was reacting the way I was.

I discovered I was Conditioned to Mirror.

To explain… Since childhood when we could begin to understand our personal World we have been conditioned in one way or another. This conditioning was imposed on us by others who were conditioned and those who were conditioned and so on and so on into the past.

Was the conditioning imposed with intention to cripple us? Most likely not but there was crippling intention mixed in there somewhere along the way injected by someone in past conditionings that have become a normalcy in life today.

But are the conditionings appropriate for the World today? That is the question we must ask ourselves and not attempt to get the answer from others. Our belief systems, after all, have been instilled since birth by covering our feelings which is the true way to measure a situation. It’s like this…

Someone you know makes some remark that causes you some discomfort. Conditioning dictates a response to counter that remark and also match or better the discomfort when the remark was made. This is the conditioning we accepted before we were able to actually discern the intent of other’s actions. We have been conditioned to mirror.

True freedom emerges when we realize the remarks of others really have no effect on us, on who we truly are. Someone calling you a piece of shit does not truly mean you are. Instead they are using conditioned behavior to trigger a response they wish to mirror to you that could actually mean they themselves feel like a worthless piece of crap. By attempting to put you down, they feel they are now ‘higher’ than you now allowing them to feel better about themselves even if it’s only for a short moment. This is why many people will continually talk others down in attempt to hang on to that feeling of being better than they actually allow themselves to be.

So the next time you are assailed by seemingly hurtful actions stop for just a moment, take a breath – really, take a nice long breath – and ask yourself if engaging in a ‘battle’ where no one wins is truly worth the energy. When your response is no response be aware how quickly the hurtful jabs will begin to subside until finally they will stop altogether.

You have lowered your mirror and stepped closer to true freedom.

When we were born we came in with zero beliefs. We had no way to believe anything because we couldn't cognize language. What we came in with are Feelings. Feelings need no language to interpret, no concepts to cognize. It's like this...

It's a warm Summer evening. It could be at a shoreline or near the top of a mountain. The Sun is setting and the Sunset is too beautiful for words. The colors are striking and strong Feelings begin welling up inside. To top it off you are with someone you care about. The glow of the Sunset casts a warm light and as you look at the other person, Feelings of love and caring are stirred.

Now attempt to describe verbally how you Feel.

It's impossible. Even the word Love isn't strong enough to describe the Feelings swirling inside.

But Beliefs. We have no problem expressing our Beliefs because Beliefs are limiting. They box us into a system, a regimen to follow. Most often the Beliefs we fight for are the Beliefs of others instilled from the days we were able to begin understanding language. Often our Beliefs aren't even our own, placed there to fulfill an agenda of another for various reasons which we need not go into now.

The current times have us pushed to make a choice in our lives. We could stay totally within the Belief system we have been carrying around since we were toddlers or begin opening to the Feelings bubbling to the surface, repressed since adopting the Beliefs of others so long ago. It isn't easy to abandon Beliefs but when Feelings are prompting us to begin to reexamine our Beliefs, it may be time to retreat to a safe space to open to what you truly know to be a new way of BEing, using Feelings for guidance as opposed to Beliefs for action.

This idea just Feels correct.

Ever since I can remember I would experience either myself or others arguing about some subject or another. No one wants to be wrong so we argue or debate sometimes about the littlest things. Far too often tempers flare and arguments escalate out of control. We experience it in families, business and just about any place Humans gather.

Personally I have been sucked into that vortex of drama and would dig in my heels and participate. My 'opponent’ would do the same and the majority of the time it would result in a stalemate or angry feelings. Not a good place to be but being right is often paramount – or so it appears.

I so believed I had found a better way or a faster way or a cheaper way and wanted so much for others to adopt the same mindset that brought me an 'easier life’. In my eagerness to help I would do the exact opposite and create more issues than before the debate began. But after years of these stalemate outcomes it finally hit me. If I were able to allow others their own space without throwing fuel on the fire, the debate would wind down with no hard feelings. It’s like this…

If I throw a ball at a wall it will strike the wall, bounce and return back to me. I could again throw the ball to have it return again and again until I decide to stop. Until I decide to stop. That was the answer to defusing the vortex of drama I had been searching for. It would be like playing tennis on a cliff. I would serve the ball only to have it shoot off into the air with nothing for it to bounce off of. Game over, drama defused.

So I began using this new found concept in my daily life. At first I would begin engaging in the drama vortex but it wasn’t long before I caught myself and stopped serving the ball. Then I would remain quiet when being pelted with what I felt was nonsense, not returning their serve. I must admit, there were times they would have something that made sense mixed in their statements and I would learn something I hadn’t known before. I found that allowing others to be heard was all they wanted from me. I had always felt as if I had to help people but then found it better to remain silent until they asked for assistance. That was a difficult lesson to swallow as I observed them in struggles I believed I had an answer for. And I don’t know, maybe they felt the same about what they had to offer too. But since there are over seven billion truths on this Planet currently, everyone has their own way of BEing.

I am being prompted daily to remember to play tennis on a cliff. I admit I still don’t have that concept down 100% but the time it takes for me to realize to disengage from the vortex of drama is coming quicker every day. It won’t be long before another part of inner peace arrives and I’ll be free of the need to interfere outside myself, allowing others to ask for help instead of me arriving like the knight in shining armor ready to do battle with some etheric foe.

The armor has grown heavy. I’m nearly ready to store it away as a reminder of once was not to be used again. With a little more effort that day will arrive soon.