[creewespock]

This is Part 2....Please read part 1 first

How do we develop a high level of authenticity or honesty to ourselves and others? That depends on our type of personality. If we are more introverted, we can develop authenticity by meditating and inwardly acknowledging all our thoughts and emotions, without trying to control them. By stopping the inner grasping, control and judgement, we end up fully becoming ourselves — we become authentic. And if we are more extroverted, we seek out those who show a high level of authenticity and situations that demand authenticity. (Introvert and extrovert are just psychological labels… we must do whatever feels right for us.)

Generally speaking, the most authentic people in society are children, those who have had a serious illness or accident, those few who have looked very deeply into themselves, and those who are near the very end of their lives. For adults, it often means that something ultra "real" has happened to them… something that has shocked them back into reality from the conceptual fantasy haze that most live in. And of course, animals show us profound authenticity too.

If we consciously seek out authenticity out in the world, we will automatically find it in ourselves. And if we find authenticity in ourselves, we will catalyse it in those that we meet. There is no single way to develop authenticity, but it does take a certain level of commitment and courage: commitment because so much of our society is geared to pushing us into a more comfortable fantasy land; and courage because we will have to own thoughts and emotions that we have disowned and that we feel society would judge us negatively for.

Our greatest ally in this process of authentication is actually our physical bodies. Rather than having spirit and the physical at opposite ends of some sort of vibrational spectrum, they more appropriately belong together. In fact, from a deeper perspective, they are one and the same. The physical is our ally because it has relative consistency and stability, something that our thoughts and emotions do not. And it is only with consistency and stability that we can initially find the grounding to accept the relative turmoil of the thoughts and emotional states that arise, and then let them go without identifying with them. If we have no such grounding, then we can flounder in the illusion or idea of authenticity.

The body therefore is the initial key to developing authenticity, which in turn drops us into a stable spiritual foundation. Once we are comfortable with that foundation, we can let go of this physical anchor (preferably before the end of our lives!). This is why we need to physically incarnate — it gives us the opportunity to stabilize the reality of the spiritual experience.

To connect with the stability of this physical anchor, we need to avoid placing our body awareness in our heads, because heads are associated with thinking, and by focusing on that region we will tend to become engrossed in our thinking. Most people, if they are in touch with their bodies, are focused on their heads… in fact to such a degree that almost everyone, is asked where their soul is located in the body, would place it in the brow region. This is just a bad habit, and one that is conditioned by a society that is concept-obsessed. If, however, we practice focusing our awareness in the heart, t'an tien and/or stomach — somewhere more visceral — then it is much easier for us to drop the conceptualization that occludes a genuine spiritual experience. This affords us the relative consistency and grounding that allows us to stop identification with our thoughts and emotions, clearing any distractions from our basic spiritual foundation or ground state. (Doing this we are still fully aware of our thoughts and emotions, but we are less likely to get caught up in them.)

However, it is important to note that placing our focus in our hearts is NOT the same as trying to be loving the whole time. The heart is not just an organ of love — we can feel many different emotions and feelings with our hearts. It is more accurate to see different areas of the body as different organs of perceptions — different filters through which we can perceive reality. And by using the organs of perception lower down, away from the head, we become more real because these are not organs of conceptualization, as the brain is. (There is nothing wrong with conceptualization in its right place, but if you are trying to drop into the spiritual ground state of your very being, any form of conceptualization will block that process.)

There are several methods that have been used successfully to drop conceptualization. Here are some of them (including a couple already mentioned above):

• Meditation / introspection: this allows us to get more familiar with our internal environment so that we eventually drop our identification with our thoughts and emotions. It is the identification that is the problem, not the thoughts and emotions per se. Many people are focused on reality creation so that when they go inside they are visualizing or focusing on something. This is fine, but if you want to connect with your true spiritual foundation then you need to have periods where you let go into silent and passive awareness. It is detached consciousness that is the best antidote to conceptualization.

• Spending time with those least focused on conceptualization — the authentic ones. When we interact with an authentic person, it is very difficult not to find ourselves being more authentic in the process. So by hanging out with authentic people, we learn authenticity. (Be warned though: some people who appear to be authentic are just play-acting authenticity to manipulate us into doing what they want. Unless we are in touch with our deeper feelings, this can be a difficult call to make.)

• Focusing on physical activities with non-conceptual concentration such as painting, sculpture, cooking, martial arts, sport, cleaning or sex. It is important to lose ourselves in this physical process and not invent fantasies to pass the time or try to make these activities more exciting (if we do that, these activities can be entirely counterproductive, pushing us further into conceptualization).
• Ingestion of mind altering substances that show us the limits of our conceptualization by temporarily taking us out of it altogether. These might include ayahusaca, ibogaine or other non-recreational hallucinogens that explode our reality (these can be taken legally in certain countries). However, it is important to integrate our experience afterwards and not to rely on these substances as our means to drop conceptualization. What they offer is a glimpse of an unconceptualized state of being, one we MUST learn to drop into without the use of something external to our being.
• Minimizing activities that encourage conceptualization. These include academic masturbation, too much philosophizing and a dislike for living with unanswered questions.
• Focusing entirely on being authentic in each moment, NOT on being loving, kind, positive or spiritual.

This is in no way a definitive list, but many people have been successful in undertaking just one of these methods. Some people naturally do not conceptualize very much, so it is easier for them to drop into the pure state of spirituality. Some will be horrified to see "drugs" up there as a means of uncovering our spiritual heritage, but whether we like it or not, these sorts of substances have, for countless thousands of years, been instrumental in the the development of spiritual realization for humankind, so it is included here as a method, although few in Western societies may want to follow this method because of its illegality in those societies. (Please note, just about all recreational drugs and the context in which they are taken are completely counterproductive to the process of awakening.)

It is important, however, not to get hung up about methods, for if we do, those methods will become counterproductive. The whole point is to get out of our heads — to stop our incessant conceptualization which blocks us from spiritual realization. When we understand this, we see the futility of most of the spiritual movements and religions which attempt, often in good faith, to give us a concept of spirituality that will lead us to behave in a spiritual way. Such behaviour is by definition inauthentic — we are better off being authentically a thoroughly nasty person than inauthentically behaving like an angel! At least if we authentically go through our nastiness (again, it is more a case of acknowledging that side of ourselves than being destructively expressive to others and ourselves about what we feel) we have a chance to realize our true spirituality. But as long as we cling to concepts of "goodness", we have little hope of this as we are lost in seductive illusions.

For all intents and purposes, it can be difficult to discern whether someone is coming from a spiritual concept or from the genuine spiritual being arising spontaneously in the moment. You have to be able to drop into your heart or your guts to feel such inauthenticity. And being authentic ourselves is the best defense against those who are psychologically, emotionally or energetically imbalanced — if we are in touch with our feelings we will naturally walk away from anyone who is not healthy for us.

So if you want to realize your true spiritual heritage, walk away from any teacher or guru that tries to conceptualize spirituality for you — who tries to take you away from having your own spiritual experience by defining and contextualizing that experience, or by offering you proprietary methods and techniques that will uncover that spirituality. In the words of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, "The greatest guru is your inner self. Truly he is the supreme teacher. He alone can take you to your goal and he alone meets you at the end of the road. Confide in him and you need no outer guru." Realizing your spiritual nature is something you have to do yourself — nobody can bestow that upon you — and you can only do it if you stop conceptualizing spirituality and start being authentic. When you are authentic, life will teach you what you need to know naturally, sometimes painfully… but without effort.

When we have the courage to face the big questions in life, the deep questions — Who am I? What is spirituality? What is God? Why was I born? What happens when I die? Why do we suffer? How do I lead a spiritual life? — it is the mark of spiritual maturity that we don't jump to answer them or have someone or some organization answer them for us. If we make that mistake and go for glib conceptual answers, we miss (or deliberately avoid) the opportunity for these questions to evoke a deeper visceral response, and it is this response that teaches us not the answer, but to live with the mystery. For this is ultimately what it means to live a spiritual life — to live comfortably with the mystery and allow the questions to take us further and further into the heart of divine unity, without getting sidetracked by answers.

[onlineslotetes]

In the words of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, "The greatest guru is your inner self. Truly he is the supreme teacher. He alone can take you to your goal and he alone meets you at the end of the road. Confide in him and you need no outer guru." Realizing your spiritual nature is something you have to do yourself — nobody can bestow that upon you — and you can only do it if you stop conceptualizing spirituality and start being authentic. When you are authentic, life will teach you what you need to know naturally, sometimes painfully… but without effort.
When we have the courage to face the big questions in life, the deep questions — Who am I? What is spirituality? What is God? Why was I born? What happens when I die? Why do we suffer? How do I lead a spiritual life? — it is the mark of spiritual maturity that we don't jump to answer them or have someone or some organization answer them for us. If we make that mistake and go for glib conceptual answers, we miss (or deliberately avoid) the opportunity for these questions to evoke a deeper visceral response, and it is this response that teaches us not the answer, but to live with the mystery. For this is ultimately what it means to live a spiritual life — to live comfortably with the mystery and allow the questions to take us further and further into the heart of divine unity, without getting sidetracked by answers. Oh coffee...thank you so much for making both of these posts. I learned so much...and saw so much of what I need.

[enurneAcourdy]

[Madjostok]

Hi Coffee,

Very nice article.

I don't agree with the basic premise but that doesn't matter. What matters is that whoever might read it might gain something positive from it.

I do agree that spirituality is a very important part of our 'total' life experience. That part of our life should be nurtured just as earnestly as we drive ourself for material gain or any other aspect of our life.

Thanks for sharing.

Peace & Love!