Hi Clare,

This is a follow up to the podcast where a listener asked you to speak about what it's like for you. 

Can you share more about when this exploration becomes fun and light?

thank you,

Is there free will? Listener question

Please could you talk about a subject that you have probably addressed, directly or indirectly, a thousand times already – control!  

I am tying myself in knots trying to formulate the question…

I get that trying to be in control IS the problem and keeps the illusion alive that we can be safe.

Because of this understanding I seem to have dropped the trying to be in control.  This appears in many areas of my life, but one in particular is my behaviour around overeating/comforting, where I now feel totally out of control. 

Am I using my understanding as an excuse to do whatever I want?  

Where and how do I get to the place where my system does what is in its own best interests.  And yet doesn’t it anyway?

You talked in a recent podcast about treating the body like a pet, giving it good food and exercise etc.  But when I am out of control I don’t care about any of that, I am in full-on self destruct.

I hope you are able to extract from this what I don’t know how to ask!

That was a fantastic webinar just now. It's one of those concepts that I feel I really understand as a whole and I think I followed along with you pretty well but now that I've had time to ruminate on it all I have so many questions!!!

The main bit that is sticking with me and making me feel confused is around strong emotions and feelings. I understand how this concept could seriously help people suffering from depression, anxiety etc but what about the good stuff!? What about the amazing love I have for my kids and partner or my wonder at the nature I live in or my daughter's fierce love for her pony!! I felt terribly sad that that would become sort of devoid of meaning and irrelevant....if I was to constantly be in the 'absolute'. 

I feel really interested in it all and I think I'd like to join this Wednesday's webinar - about helping others as I'm training to be a therapist.

To hear the webinar, click here 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l892tmik8q92q3a/AACh_zFvhcv9drqC6gfWnsrXa?dl=0

Our greatest contribution to humanity  is our awakening. 

It is to literally leave the state of consciousness that the mass of humanity is in and discover the truth of our being, which is the truth of all beings. 

Adyashanti

If thoughts create our reality what do we do because we do not choose our thoughts and we cannot change our thinking. What do we do to have a better experience. When in depression our thoughts are constantly awful, negative and dark.

When I was growing up my father was absent and my mother had mental health issues and problems with alcohol. We never had anyone over to the house and at school I was bullied and found it very hard to even talk to others let alone make friends. Now that I am an adult I am on good terms with people I work with but I don’t have a partner or any friends. I am lonely but I don’t know how to go about creating good relationships. 

Thank you so much for all your wonderful courses. I know I'm not active in your groups but I listen to you every day and I'm loving the content.  Life is better but without really being able to pinpoint why or what's changed. I feel lighter, relationships are more content, and generally life seems to flow better. So thank you. 

I'm wondering if you can speak more about 'no separation'.  At first I totally didn't get this concept because to the eye everything looks separate- and I assume we can all agree that there is an apparent reality of separate bodies and objects.  Moving deeper in however, I'm beginning to understand the concept as in: nothing can exist outside of my perception- so moment to moment, life, and everything that happens, is being created from within me, and the life that this body-mind system is living is a playing out of its internal conditioning. Does that encapsulate it? 

Thank you 

PS. I know there's no 'I'.  It's just so cumbersome writing 'body-mind system' all the time- and is it necessary?!! x

If you can speak to why experience shifts so radically from day to day in this exploration as ....it's perplexing. Yesterday was nearly a full day of in and out of suicide ideation, intense heat/pain/anguish and a deep desire to die. Then today somehow all of that was gone. I read an email a student sent that yesterday felt super attacking and led to a spiral of shame... to today it seeming more like information about what I could have done differently as an instructor to provide clarity. What's happening? Why is this so inconsistent? What happened from yesterday to today that the same content is not having the same level of intense reactivity? 

Can you talk about how when it is reputation that is at stake this isn't physical harm?

For example if someone posts complaints about you on multiple sites in an attempt to attack your character, is this only identity when it is also has effects in the apparent form?