Now is Eternity, Here is Infinite

Following are excerpts from Spritual Awakening’s “The Feeling That Nothing is Fun Anymore” (on YouTube), interspersed with a few paraphrased lines by yours truly, prefaced and rounded off with excerpts from Wikipedia.

“The store consciousness, while being originally immaculate in itself, contains a ‘mysterious mixture of purity & defilement, good & evil’. Because of this mixture the transformation of consciousness from defilement to purity can take place and awakening is possible.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Consciousnesses

Peel back the layers of doubt and distraction, uncover the radiance within. Every moment is an opportunity to choose presence over distraction, gratitude over scarcity, connection over isolation. Don’t think “my mind” but “a mind” that was born into a body, influenced by experiences. It isn’t even “a mind” but a succession of mind-moments—a trillion per second—each conditioned by the previous mind-moment, each influencing the succeeding mind-moment.

“Joy is not something you chase, but something you allow. In the stillness of the present moment lies the doorway to a deeper, lasting sense of fulfilment.” By being present, you create space for the highs and the lows, allowing them to coexist without judgment. Over time, this practice rewires your mind, helping you to find beauty in the ordinary, meaning in the mundane.

Presence is just the beginning. Joy isn’t a destination; it’s a journey. It can become a foundation for how you live. The joyful mindset is a practice, a shifting of focus to one’s inner state. “What you think about, you bring about.” Gratitude becomes an anchor. Even in the darkest times, there’s always something to cherish. As CG Jung writes, “Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.”

For guidance in this endeavor to overcome ego—yea, to overcome death through realization of the consciousness in which this spacetime universe is born and dies—try a free 10-day course in Vipassana meditation at any of hundreds of centers worldwide https://www.dhamma.org/en/index.

Many temples in Thailand also offer free Vipassana courses specifically for non-Thais. Both “Goenka centers” and Thai temples trace their roots to the historical Buddha, via Burma. “The Burmese Vipassana movement has its roots in the 19th century…Based on the commentaries, Ledi Sayadaw popularized Vipassana meditation for lay people, teaching samatha and stressing the practice of satipatthana to acquire Vipassana (insight) into the three marks of existence as the main means to attain the beginning of awakening and become a stream-enterer. It was greatly popularized in the 20th century in traditional Theravada countries by Mahasi Sayadaw, who introduced the ‘New Burmese Satipatthana Method’. It also gained a large following in the West, due to westerners who learned Vipassana from Mahasi Sayadaw, S. N. Goenka, and other Burmese teachers...” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassana_movement