A distinction I find helpful in my work is the difference between creating our reality and awakening to our true nature. The Law of Attraction works at the relative level of our experience in which thoughts create our physical experience.

Sometimes when people have been practising the Law of Attraction for some time, there can be a sense of wanting to go deeper on their journey and to realise their true nature. Awakening goes beyond the relative level of our experience to the universal, pre-thought level, to that which is sometimes described as a state of ‘centrelessness’. In the state of centrelessness the experience of being a separate ‘me, I, self’ dissolves and there is simply the direct experience of whatever is arising.

In the Buddhist tradition, this direct experience is explained in the statement ‘in what is seen, there is only what is seen, in what is heard, there is only what is heard, in what is sensed, there is only what is sensed, in what is cognised, there is only what is cognised’. This describes that in the awakened state that there is the direct sensory experience without mental proliferation and interpretation about the experience.

It is taught in the Buddhist tradition that awakening happens through observing the three aspects of conditioned reality which are: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. To enhance the effectiveness of meditation, we can bring in the observation of these characteristics. For example if we are doing a body awareness meditation in which we are observing sensations in different parts of the body, we can be aware that the sensations are constantly changing and we are thereby noticing impermanence. Even if there is a seemingly solidified sensation, it is made up of constantly fluctuating subtle sensations. In meditation as we observe that things in our conditioned experience are constantly changing, are not ultimately satisfying or who we really are, the mind can start to see through the illusion of being a separate self and awaken to its true nature.

In the coaching and events that I offer, I bring together these two aspects of the spiritual path, sharing the Law of Attraction practices to help increase well-being and to create a happy life which feels meaningful, in addition to sharing practices to assist with awakening to a more unified experience of who we really are.

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When the outside world seems to have a certain amount of uncertainty, on the spiritual path we can work on cultivating the ability to tune in to inner peace and fulfilment. Indeed, whilst there can be challenging emotions on the surface layer of the mind, below the surface there is calmness and well-being. Like at the depth of the ocean, there is stillness even if there are waves on the surface.

The Importance of Acceptance
There is a teaching from the Buddha about two arrows, where the first arrow is whatever is actually occurring and the second arrow is our reaction to what is occurring. It is said that a lot of difficult emotions are due to the second arrow as well as the first arrow. Even if an unwanted event or extremely challenging situation has occurred we can still work on transforming our reaction to it.

Practising Acceptance
In meditation and daily life developing the ability to not push against any difficult feelings rather developing the ability to sit with them and allow them to be is extremely valuable. It can sometimes be helpful in meditation to silently repeat to yourself words such as ‘allow’ or ‘I allow this’. This practice allows the unconditioned mind to hold the conditioned mind in unconditional awareness and to therefore be with what is being experienced in a non-reactive way. Interestingly, there can also be a practice of accepting non-acceptance. This holding of the conditioned mind in the unconditioned mind starts to purify the mind of any beliefs that aren’t our true nature.

Looking for the Good in the Current Situation
Focusing on the good in a situation is not pretending that there aren’t difficulties but instead it involves selectively focusing on what is genuinely good. Furthermore, this doesn’t mean that we don’t take any action that needs to be taken but rather from a place of greater connection to our True Self our action will be more guided from broader perspective if there is any action that is for the highest good.

One practice that you might like to do is asking yourself ‘how can I grow and develop from this situation’, ‘is there anything that is genuinely good about this situation or that has come from this situation’ and to make a list of the different things that come to mind.

For example in the current situation for some people there may be a greater opportunity to go within and to reflect more with less of the busyness of day to day life.

Focusing on Well-being of Others Increases your own Well-being
A few months ago I did yoga teacher training in India. In the evening there was chanting of mantras and one of the teachers there who had a strong faith in a loving, universal energy was talking about the importance of sending good wishes to others. In addition to this practice helping to positively influence others it also brings greater peace of mind to the person doing the practice.

The Benefits of Finding the Calm Within
Finding the calm within is beneficial in and of itself and in addition it allows us to progress deeper on our spiritual journey. In a recent meditation retreat that I took part in one of the teachers said “when the surface of the lake is still, you can see deep”. Indeed, in this calm state any deeper mental impurities in which there are thoughts that are in opposition to our true nature can be witnessed and through this witnessing with a calm mind they can start to be purified and released.

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One of the greatest skills that we can master in life is developing the ability to bear with and to be open and present with our feelings even if they’re uncomfortable.

A significant cause of challenging emotional patterns that occur repeatedly is having not allowed the emotional energy to be fully felt and to move through us and as a result it can be held in what could be called an emotional block.

Our reactions to situations are usually much more about or certainly amplified by any unprocessed thought and emotional material than triggers from the current situation.

When we don’t allow ourselves to fully feel our feelings we can also then be overly identified with the emotion and believe that the emotion is who we are such as ‘I have sadness’ or ‘I am irritated easily’. This is simply because the emotion hasn’t been allowed to run its course so we don’t know that if we allowed ourselves to feel it fully that it would transform and evolve and on the other side of that emotion there would be better feeling emotions such as a greater sense of peace and love.

There can be a strong tendency to push any difficult emotions or thoughts out of awareness and there might be times on our spiritual journey where this is the best approach if we need to do this in order to keep feeling centred. However, from a place of feeling happier and more centred overall it can be useful to start allowing these emotions to surface and to develop the ability to calmly observe them with a balanced mind. When we develop the ability to stay present with emotions rather than trying to push them away there can sometimes be a fear that the feelings will carry on indefinitely. Though, if the energy of the emotion is allowed to run its course it will get diffused and transform as the often expressed quote ‘This too shall pass’ states.

We could practice observing the emotion and or any physical sensations that feel like they are linked to emotions. It can sometimes be helpful to have a secondary point of focus to help us stay open to our emotions without getting so overwhelmed. For example we could at the same time as staying present with our emotions, calmly focus on our breathing or gently repeat a word or phrase such as ‘I allow myself to feel this’.

Whilst staying more open to our experience and our emotions, it is good to not try to figure out what is causing the emotions as when we try to figure out the cause using our analytical mind this takes us away from being able to be present with the emotion and it is only with the power of presence that the emotion can begin to be transformed. When we stay present with the emotion there will come a time where any necessary insight and understanding into it will naturally arise.

This simple process of being present with our emotions is a very effective way to clear more and more blocks to the experience of knowing ourselves as our true essence of love.

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There can be what could be called ‘dry patches’ on the spiritual path when we’re following our intuition, doing regular spiritual practice, feeling fairly content and yet it can seem that things aren’t moving forward in terms of the manifestations in our life.

Abraham Hicks have shared that 99.99% of all creation is finished before we see any physical evidence. When there are these times when things don’t seem to be changing in our outer lives and maybe things feel slightly stuck, if inspired it can be a good time to deepen our faith and resolve to practice in order to go deeper on our spiritual journey.

The most important way to know that we’re on track even when things don’t seem to be changing in our lives is by how we feel. If we’re feeling positive emotion that is an indicator that we’re going in the right direction and that in time we will see things evolve and transform in a positive way. During these sorts of times as well as maintaining our spiritual practice, we could also ask the Universe to bring us any teachings that will be for our highest good. In addition, appreciating what is good about our current life can help to keep us in a mode of flowing and more at peace with our current life.

As we maintain our spiritual practice and focus on good feeling thoughts, every thought that is in alignment with our true nature becomes increasingly denser and solidifies and then it reaches a point when it manifests into physical form. Therefore all of the spiritual practice that we’re doing will be bearing fruit even if there are not yet any manifestations indicating this.

As the quote at the beginning of the article states, we can have strength by having faith in small things, which could be interpreted as saying that even small manifestations, signs or synchronicities can help us to have faith. However, it is important to emphasise that this is not a blind faith, rather developing this sort of faith is based on our actual personal experience and seeing for ourselves how our beliefs and spiritual practice positively influence our life.

Later on we’re often able to see in hindsight how different pieces of the puzzle were fitting together and how things were evolving for our highest good.

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Different spiritual practices could be categorised into those that develop circumstances that lead to happiness based on harmonious conditions or life experiences and those that develop happiness due to coming into greater alignment with our true nature in which there can be increased contentment and balance of the mind irrespective of conditions. I feel that both are very worthwhile pursuits in order to create happiness, a life that feels meaningful and to have a balanced mind that is able to navigate and deal with life’s changing circumstances.

Often more immediate benefit can be experienced from practicing methods that create good life circumstances. Working on coming into greater alignment with our true nature is a practice that takes place more incrementally over time and it is also good to do these sort of practices at quite a gentle pace, following your intuition as to how much of this type of practice to do, to allow time for things to integrate and unfold in a natural way.

Law of Attraction methods such as making lists of things that we appreciate and working on changing our beliefs on specific subjects can start to transform the conditions of our life experience for the better and keep us in a more positive frame of mind day to day. Meditation with practices such as observing sensations in the body that arise during meditation can start to bring us into greater alignment with our true nature. With a balanced, calm and non-reactive mind, witnessing sensations that arise in meditation begins to purify the mind overtime by releasing any unhelpful patterns that aren’t our true nature. It could be said the unconditional part of the mind embraces any challenging mental patterns which can start to dissolve and integrate them.

In my work I am passionate about helping people with the relative nature of their lives and also the more universal work of embodying, integrating and allowing more of their true nature. Both types of practices benefit the other type as when we’re feeling more at ease, resilient and happier in our lives it can provide a platform in which to delve deeper into experiencing who we are at the deepest level. Likewise, developing the mind to be more in alignment irrespective of conditions helps us to be more in a positive mind-state which allows more of what is wanted to manifest in our lives.

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Presence may be defined as ‘being present with the source part of the mind’.

It is widely discussed about how mindfulness meditation develops presence by developing the ability to mindfully observe whatever is being experienced through one or all of the senses.

Not only does meditation in a very effective way enhance presence but the other Law of Attraction techniques including different methods of focusing on the best in our current experience and positively focusing forward also increase presence by aligning us with the Source part of ourselves.

In meditation by opening up to witnessing what is being experienced, this awareness begins to disintegrate and dissolve any thoughts and emotions that aren’t our true nature. It may be said that this happens by this witnessing mind, source part of ourselves embracing any conditioned parts of the mind that aren’t who we are at our core and when those parts of the mind are fully embraced by the source part of ourselves they dissolve and release back into their true nature.

When we have a depth of presence it could be likened to the calm water in the depth of the ocean that is undisturbed by any currents or waves closer to the surface. It’s not about trying to get rid of any waves on the surface of the water but rather presence allows us to fully experience life whilst remaining in alignment with who we really are which gives us a sense of perspective.

On the surface of our mind if we experience any thoughts or feelings that don’t feel good, with presence we start to realise that this isn’t our true nature and as we develop the ability to calmly observe our experience, we begin to increasingly know the transient nature of experience and that any challenging emotions will therefore pass.

This presence is universal, unconditional and always available. No matter what beliefs the conditioned part of our mind might have picked up, presence remains in a state of unconditional love. As presence is universal as we increasingly experience it through meditation and the different Law of Attraction techniques, we feel greater interconnectedness with ourselves, other people and the world around us.

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