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  • We may at first have thought consciousness was in the mind, or even thought it was the mind itself. That it was somehow part of our domain; our personal interface with life or our go-to source of thinking and reason.

    Exploring the mind however, we discover it is not consciousness that is personal, but the mind. We discover the mind is limited and finite and that we can go beyond it — to consciousness itself. Even as a new explorer, we are aware of something here vast and whole, an infinite peace, potent and complete. And we know — as if remembering — that this is also the intrinsic, intimate truth of ourselves.

​Welcome!

This is a blog for those who travel an inner path, seeking truth, beauty and the source of being.

Here are ideas and practices to help and encourage the traveler, and to address the obstacles that we, as students of consciousness, inevitably encounter. Everything you find here you can do at anytime and take as far as you want.
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​I invite you to use Paradigm Practice as a foundation for your practice, which you may find here, free and available for your use. Paradigm Practice is a powerful guide for bridging the gap between limitation and new awareness.

Awakening into the happiness and peace of your true nature benefits all the world.
May you be blessed on your journey!
Ann
Consciousness is the ultimate teacher:  it is always sh​owing us what we are.​​​

Every step on the inner path, however seemingly small,
is a benefit to all of life and advances the whole of consciousness.



The Road To Happiness (Part Two)

12/29/2018

11 Comments

 
Ann K Gryczan
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​
​Hi again! When we left off in Part One I made a suggestion about how to get started on the road to happiness – a sort of preparatory, loosening up action to make happiness an option. It was: let other drivers in! How did it go? Did you notice anything in particular?


Now let’s take the next leg of this journey…


Let Us Be in the Traffic Together

Here we are, all jammed up with everyone else in the traffic. All of us trying to get away and at the same time not touch each other. The other drivers are either focused and maneuvering, fighting for every inch or they’re not paying any attention at all: drifting along, not using their turn signals, looking at their phones.

​Now
What?


How do we find the happiness here? The first thing to do is to separate Out There from In Here. Out There is the traffic – jammed up, stinky, loud, impatient. In Here is what we think and feel about Out There – frustrated, fearful about being late, angry or even furious at the other drivers, having conversations inside our heads as we experience each emotional state.

It seems obvious to the mind that Out There happens first and then we have a reaction to it In Here. But actually, Out and In are simultaneous. In Here sets the pattern – made of all our thoughts, decisions and memories since forever – out of which we experience Out There, in this case, the traffic. So if we want to get out of this traffic jam, we have to start In Here.

So let’s bring our attention to In Here. Let’s try out some of our options. Don’t worry if any or all of what I am about to suggest seems impossible – or highly undesirable. You might be in no mood! That’s alright. At first, we are just tinkering with In Here to see what happens.


Tinkering with In Here

1. Generosity

Generosity is an antidote to struggle and limitation, a familiar theme in traffic experiences, so let’s add some generosity into the mix and see what happens. In the last post I suggested letting someone go ahead of you. Try taking this a step further and let a car going ahead of you really matter. Imagine that you are actually making someone’s life better. Tune into your desire to be generous, if you can.

2. Awareness

Try widening your attention to include more of the whole jam. Extend your awareness to the cars further away from you; the ones stuck all the way down the line. Now try to move them. Be in charge of the whole jam! Like this: make an opening to let someone turn in front of you so the opposite line of cars can move. See if from your (very stuck) position you can have an affect on someone’s life two blocks down, or even on the whole jam; imagine that everyone gets home, not just you.

3. Allowance

Forgive the other drivers their foibles, like being idiots (or fill in your word) or not using their turn signals (and you were waiting!). Allow them to be okay with you, even love them! Just see what happens.


What Happens?

It never seems this way to the ego/mind, but life works better for us when we extend – through generosity, gratitude and forgiveness – rather than when we contract in self-preservation, self-gratification and protection. Even so, this might not feel possible, especially in traffic.

So what happened for you? Did you feel some movement? Did it feel good to ease someone’s way?


%##%!!!

Maybe not. Maybe you don’t feel generous or loving or anything even close to it. Maybe your feelings are on the whole other side of the spectrum: pure rage. Okay!

Let that be okay and ask the rage: What are you mad about? The rage will think it is about the traffic and the other drivers. It will say something like, %##%!!! traffic!! Or, %##%!!! idiots!

Now say to the rage: Yes, and why be mad about it?

If we really look at it, it will come down to not getting what we want. It is very basic. The problem with traffic is that we are not getting what we want, right now, when we want it.

And what is the problem with that exactly? Is there some reason we should get what we want when we want it? To this idea the rage might say, %##%!!!.


The Ego’s Secret

Now we have gotten down to what is really going on. We have found the ego’s secret.

We have entered the ego’s secret world where everything comes down to Me (with a capital M) versus Life itself; Me versus everything and everyone; Me versus the Infinite; Me versus the source of All That Is, beyond all time, words or description.

To simplify things we will call this dynamic ‘Me versus God.’ This is going on all the time. Traffic makes it visible and that is why traffic is the road to happiness. Because once this dynamic is visible, we can address it at the core instead of thinking we have a problem with something Out There. It is never about something Out There; it is always Me versus God.

The ego’s competition with God is the source of all our struggles and pain, and all the problems we have and will ever have.

At the very bottom of it, the problem with traffic is that the ego is experiencing a challenge to its belief that it is God.


Two year-old children believe this also and you can sometimes meet them in grocery stores experiencing this same challenge.

Now We Can Change the World

Once we know the ego’s secret, we can change the world. In the next post and final installment I will show you how.

For now, in this next week or two, see what happens when you practice extending instead of contracting. Try being allowing, forgiving and generous every time you are out driving, in a good mood or bad, and especially if you are in a hurry or if the traffic is all jammed up. Try the things we talked about and/or make up new strategies.

Let rage come up, if it does. Instead of aligning with it, or thinking it has anything to do with Out There, try standing back and observing it, as you might observe a child kicking and screaming in the grocery store.

Let me know how it goes! Until next time, I wish you every success in the traffic. In the next post, I will show you how to use traffic – by way of the ego’s secret – to find the road to happiness any time you want.

Until then, see you in the traffic!
<>

P.S. How is it going for you out there in the traffic? Tell us your traffic stories... Have a question? Leave it too.  


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11 Comments
Laura
12/29/2018 02:26:49 pm

Dear Ann,

Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

The first post in "Road To Happiness" offered me an immediate opportunity to let someone in. I was happy to be aware of the opportunity. I practiced and found my responses satisfying or missed opportunities. However, I noticed one incident when I allowed someone to go in front of me at the grocery store and found myself angry that she didn’t notice or appreciate the jester. So the next time I let someone in front of me in traffic, I noticed how out of touch the person was and felt myself wanting to “get my share”. Having seen myself in action, I’m nervous about the next leg on the “Road to Happiness,” or as my ego sees it the “road to not getting my share.” … ready or not, here I come.

Reply
Ann link
12/30/2018 10:50:40 am

Hi Laura,

It is great how you just dived into the practice! And, of course, up comes the ego/mind. That is perfect. You are noticing things that run all of us, but that we don't usually realize are there. So awareness is the first step to freedom!

I hope you have a very illuminating time in the practice this next couple weeks – you’re doing great so far. In the next post, we will talk about how to actually be free when this stuff comes up.

Until then,
Ann

Reply
Timothy
12/29/2018 06:25:01 pm

This is %##%!!! Brilliant! So simple, yet so practical for everyday life. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Reply
Ann link
12/30/2018 10:51:39 am

Thank you, Timothy!

Reply
Kim
1/2/2019 04:30:53 pm

Need a like button ;-)

Reply
Kathleen Osta
12/30/2018 09:14:16 am

Dear Ann ~ This is delightful!! and helpful, of course. The sense of lightness and playfulness you have suggested we apply to this experience, which is often fraught with judgment, is just the right antidote. Thank you.

Reply
Ann link
12/30/2018 10:55:28 am

Thank you, Kathleen ~

You are right that no judgment is required when it comes to the ego/mind – it is just being what it is and doing what it does...

Reply
Debra
1/1/2019 02:48:01 pm

Love this road to happiness series, Ann! I love the simplicity of Generosity, Awareness and Allowance. Thank you so much for offering and Happy New Year to you and Robert! Debra O

Reply
Ann link
1/2/2019 10:44:11 am

Hi Debra! So glad you are finding this series helpful. It is lovely to hear from you. Happy New Year to you and yours ! Ann

Reply
Kim
1/2/2019 04:34:38 pm

Great series Ann! I'm pretty good about being generous but... I sadly expect graciousness and am like Laura above in that I get kinda peeved when the person doesn't acknowledge the kindness. I didn't do it to be thanked but my ego feels much better when the good deed goes appreciated. Looking forward to the next installment.

Reply
Ann link
1/3/2019 12:59:05 pm

This is great, Kim! Yes, we expect graciousness and to be appreciated! And then what happens? We don’t get it – or Out There lets us down somehow. This is one of the ego’s favorite strategies – we’ll talk more about this! Stay tuned...


Reply



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    ANN K GRYCZAN
    Ann K Gryczan



    Ann is a long-time student of consciousness and has been offering guidance for remembering the true Self since 1987.


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    Definitions

    The ego/mind is based in the ideas of identity and duality, and committed to its survival over all else. To ensure this, the ego/mind uses any means necessary to get what it desires and avoid what it fears. Over eons, the ego/mind and the survival instinct evolved in the manner it fulfilled this purpose, developing increasingly sophisticated and complex capabilities: it learned to conceptualize, manipulate, imagine, deceive, convince, invent and so on. All of this bundled together with emotion (another evolutionary development), created what most of us now experience as our identity — as myself.”



    A paradigm is the framework of belief, perception and emotion through which we experience and understand ourselves and all of life. It is the filter through which we perceive, the lens through which we see. Like water to a fish, it is our unquestioned sense of reality. The paradigm both creates the appearance of reality and confirms to us that what we call reality is as we believe it to be. Normally, we are oblivious to what makes up this paradigm — the framework of what we call reality.”



    Consciousness is often thought of as being located in or created by the brain; its origin purely chemical or physical, and its function that of creator, recorder and experiencer of our interface with life. Consciousness seems like our individual and distinct sense of reality, but what we are actually experiencing that seems so unique to ourselves, is the ego/mind.

    Consciousness is an infinite and omnipotent field, a unified and congruent wholeness of unlimited creative power whose source, and ours, is Absolute Reality.



    God, Divinity, Ultimate Reality, Self and one's true essence all seek to describe the indescribable: the Absolute, which is omnipotent, omnipresent and eternal; the infinite unity out of which arises all existence, consciousness and life.



    The world exists,
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