True Freedom

We all know that the answers lie within us. We also know that the ultimate source of happiness and peace lies within too. The Kingdom of Heaven does lie within, and when you find your Self you live in a state of grace. If you don't live in bliss you have not fully realized your Self. The good news is, that there absolutely is a way to find it and you have no farther to look than within your Self. It is not hard, but appears difficult for most people because they are trapped in their own mind. People are looking outside of themselves to find what never left. How far from your house do you have go to find your way home?

I have traveled the world and sat in many ashrams and monasteries looking to see whom, or if anyone, had found the Truth…found inner peace…found God. I spent twenty years reading every major spiritual text, sitting before dozens of gurus and masters searching for enlightenment, and have written two popular books on the subject (see Looking for God, A Seeker's Guide to Religious and Spiritual Groups of the World, Penguin 2002). What I observed was that very few people had actually found what they were looking for. Despite years of searching and certitudes that they "knew", they were as lost as anyone else. Those that had found it had one thing in common: they were not attached to any ideologies, understanding or beliefs; they had all surrendered their mental attachments and surrendered to the love within.

The path to Self Realization is the path to freedom, freedom from the trammels of the mind and senses. The apparent lack of bliss is due to our attachments to what we think, feel and believe; it is due to the projections of the mind. The attachment to what we people think we know becomes the bondage that keeps us from realizing the Truth; Truth transcends the mind. Those freed from their mind and senses live in a state of grace, a state of total love, peace and joy…even bliss. I am sharing both from my own experience, and from that of helping thousands to find greater happiness and peace. The path is clear; it's already here. You have only to be open to receive what already is.

If you knew that there was something that would bring greater happiness and peace, what would keep you from it? What resistances keep you from Self Realization? Why would you deny yourself the experience of living in bliss? Every time I write an article like this I get responses from people who want to argue and debate. I use to do that too, but I never found bliss from that. When I surrendered my knowledge and opened my heart, love replaced all the "me" that I was stuck on. Ask yourself what keeps you from bliss? If you are not living in that state now, why are you settling for anything else? If you have read this far, your spirit is guiding you to the light. I invite you into the Kingdom; I invite you into the love that you already are. I invite you to surrender all that you think, feel and believe and experience utter freedom. Let us celebrate existence together. Thank God for our freedom to pursue happiness and peace. May the whole world live in happiness and peace. May it begin with you right now.