I am sure you know someone that cringe when they hear terms such as “higher consciousness”. They might find most spiritual subjects too wishy-washy or vague – or even annoying. You might even feel that way yourself.

This great animated video explains and demystifies higher consciousness in rational and secular terms. The video talks about different areas of the brain that has to do with different states of consciousness.

In short, the term “higher consciousness” just captures how we see things when we go beyond our own egos.

 
About the author:

Vegard Paulsen is co-founder of Global Harmony Crew.

Global Harmony Crew points you towards deep realization, and guides you towards powerful manifestation. For more timeless truths and life-enhancing material, join the crew by subscribing. You will get their video course on Inner Peace for free.

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Tao the Ching translates to The Classic Book of The Supreme Reality and its Perfect Manifestation, or The Book of the Way of Virtue. It contains deep wisdom in condensed form.

This short book – written by Chinese Sage Lao Tzu in the 6th century B. C. – is an ancient attempt to point us towards Truth.

Read my explanations of the 1st and 2nd verse here (1st), and here (2nd).

VERSE 3

Putting a value on status
will cause people to compete
Hoarding treasure
will turn them into thieves
Showing off possessions
will disturb their daily lives

Thus the Sage rules
by stilling minds and opening hearts
by filling bellies and strengthening bones
He shows people how to be simple Continue reading →

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Whatever the future holds, these 11 tips have the potential to enhance the quality of your life.

Eat Curcumin

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For an instant health boost blend them into your smoothie; sprinkle them on pasta, wok, or stew; bake them into bread, or cookies; add them to oatmeal, or yoghurt. Continue reading →

Tao the Ching translates to The Classic Book of The Supreme Reality and its Perfect Manifestation, or The Book of the Way of Virtue. It contains deep wisdom in condensed form.

This short book – written by Chinese Sage Lao Tzu in the 6th century B. C. – is an ancient attempt to point us towards Truth.

Read my explanation of the 1st verse here.

VERSE 2

Everyone recognizes beauty
only because of ugliness
Everyone recognizes virtue
only because of sin

Life and death are born together
Difficult and easy
Long and short
High and low—
all these exist together
arrive together
Sound and silence blend together
Before and after

* * *

The Sage acts without action
and teaches without talking
All things flourish around him
and he does not refuse any one of them
He gives but not to receive
He works but not for reward
He completes but not for results
He does nothing for himself in this passing world
so nothing he does ever passes

Breakdown of Verse 2

Everyone recognizes beauty
only because of ugliness
Everyone recognizes virtue
only because of sin

Life and death are born together
Difficult and easy
Long and short
High and low—
all these exist together
arrive together
Sound and silence blend together
Before and after

This part explains the polarity within this world of forms. Opposites cannot exist divided. No good without bad. No life without death. No long without short.

Everything is relative, everything is paradoxical. Everything is inherently neutral.

Opposites attract, and they are born together as one. Polarities are often pulled to the extreme – forcing us to take closer look at them – before they again merge as one, returning home to the unity they never really left. This can be seen as the cyclic nature of Life. To see that every polarity is inseparable brings peace.

We live in a world of duality – we use reference points to distinguish between good and bad. But on a deeper level, everything is One.

The Sage acts without action
and teaches without talking
All things flourish around him
and he does not refuse any one of them
He gives but not to receive
He works but not for reward
He completes but not for results
He does nothing for himself in this passing world
so nothing he does ever passes

The Sage is frequently mentioned in Tao Te Ching. The Sage is someone like you and me – not a person elevated above the rest of mankind – but he or she has achieved true wisdom.

The Sage does nothing for himself in this passing world, yet he does not refuse any of the things that flourish around him.

To feel guilty about your own happiness and well-being is like saying that you are the only being not part of the rest of existence. It is the ultimate egoic statement.

Cherish anything that fills up your experience of life. If you do not refuse any of that, your sense of fulfilment starts to merge with your environment; you are expanding your personal bubble to include more than you-as-a-separate-being – you move from separation to unity.

If you have a non-separate view you can be ecstatic to give. You see that when you give, another portion of the same creation – the one you are a part of – receives. You see that what helps others is helping you, is helping everything, is helping life, is helping the Whole.

Doing things for yourself, is not doing things for yourself – it is doing things for everyone and everything.

Such an expanded point of view brings great passion that will leave a trail for others to be inspired from. It will never pass.
____________________________________

Next time we’ll look at verse 3!

About the author:

Vegard Paulsen is co-founder of Global Harmony Crew; a movement to transform the world through pointing people towards realizations of Truth, and helping them manifest their lives from love and joy.

Let’s move from separation to Unity together, and wake up this world in ecstatic joy!

Subscribe to their emails and get their course “Master Your Inner Peace” for free.
Follow Global Harmony Crew on Facebook.
____________________________________

Resources:
Translation of Tao Te Ching by Jonathan Star, found here.

Tao the Ching translates to The Classic Book of the Supreme Reality and Its Perfect Manifestation, or The Book of the Way of Virtue. It contains deep wisdom in condensed form.

This short book – written by Chinese Sage Lao Tzu in the 6th century B. C. – is an ancient attempt to point us towards Truth.

Here is the first verse, followed by an explanation.

VERSE 1

A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name

Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things

A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
beholds the essence of Tao

A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere forms of this world

Tao and this world seem different
but in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them

How deep and mysterious this unity is
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth,
the hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
the gate to the essence of everything!

Breakdown of Verse 1

A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name

This is the paradox of all holy and prophetic texts; something is lost in communication through the word. Teachers only open the door, you must enter by yourself.

Tao Te Ching tells us to let go, and to see through mental constructs.

Our need to label everything distorts our vision. Words describing truth are not The Truth. A name that can be named is a form of The Name yet not The Name.

Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things

To be both Named and Nameless implies a distinction between All That Is, the energy that everything consists of; and the Absolute, the void that All That Is originates from.

The Nameless points to the ungraspable origin of all things. The Nameless is the pure, undistorted, no-thing-ness that is beyond experiencing.

The Named points to the presence energy that permeates everything, the fundamental is-ness of everything. It is the presence you notice when you let go of your thoughts.

A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
beholds the essence of Tao

In meditation, when you stop identifying with your mind, all you see is the essence of Tao. All you experience is the present moment – the fundamental mother of all things.

A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere forms of this world

The mind’s job is to label, categorize, and make sense of appearances. If you identify with the mind and its perceptions, you behold the forms of this world. You reinforce the sense of being a separate person inside of this world filled with other things, as opposed to seeing the presence – the essence of Tao – that permeates everything. We are all One.

This does not mean that you should always be in a meditative state of no-mind. But it can be really helpful to be able see past the mind’s filter.

Tao and this world seem different
but in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them

The fundamental presence is present in your body, just as it is present in the chair you are sitting on. Your are experiencing your body inside of your awareness, just as you are experiencing the chair inside of your awareness. There is no chair without the awareness of it. There is no body without the awareness of it. Nothing exists without, or apart from, Awareness.

Your stories, your worries, your perceptions, your friends, all of your circumstances – all of these are inseparable from your awareness. All of these are inseparable from the unity of presence.

How deep and mysterious this unity is
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth,
the hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
the gate to the essence of everything!

When you realize that everything is inseparable from the essence, you start to see this unity in everything. You are no longer distracted by the mind’s perceptions. Every experience you have confirms that presence is the essence of everything.

You start to see that since everything is connected you can access everything. This interconnectedness is the gate to the essence of everything – this entire universe is vibrational Presence Awareness.

There is no limits to what you can tune into. Imagination is, in a sense, the remote viewing of other parallel realities within your awareness. You can tap into them, and manifest them.

If you can dream it, you can be it.
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Each verse of Tao Te Ching is packed with wisdom. Stay tuned for clarifications of more verses!

My explanation of Verse 2 can be found here.

About the author:

Vegard Paulsen is co-founder of Global Harmony Crew; a movement to transform the world through pointing people towards realizations of Truth, and helping them manifest their lives from love and joy.

Let’s move from separation to Unity together, and wake up this world in ecstatic joy!

Subscribe to their emails and get their course “Master Your Inner Peace” for free.
Follow Global Harmony Crew on Facebook.
____________________________________

Resources:
Translation of Tao Te Ching by Jonathan Star, found here.

What is the ultimate purpose of living a spiritual life? While everyone has their own perceptions, desires and ways of being; a fundamental point of spirituality is unity. It is to bring everyone together in a deep understanding that we are all connected. It is to move from separation to inclusion and understand what love truly is.

Watch this video for a deeper understanding of the core purpose of spirituality:

Transcription:

In non-dual spiritual traditions the ultimate goal of the path of awakening is to become completely free of the mind and to see the present-moment reality without the lens of memories, mental constructs, and stories.

The goal is to move from separation to Unity – to share the whole world with the whole world.

Not just with similar-minded people, but with everyone.

The goal is to wake up from the dream; to go beyond duality, beyond good and bad – to be free from the conditioned mind.

Everything exists within Awareness – the One shared conscious Awareness – which is why we are all One.

When freed from the mind we meet both ourselves and others, instead of mental constructs.

We are all Awareness. We are all One.

Always. Already.

Recognize your freedom.

About the author:

Vegard Paulsen is co-founder of Global Harmony Crew; a movement to transform the world through pointing people towards realizations of Truth, and helping them manifest their lives from love and joy.

Let’s move from separation to Unity together, and wake up this world in ecstatic joy!

Subscribe to their emails and get their course “Master Your Inner Peace” for free.
Follow Global Harmony Crew on Facebook.