Unconditional Love

One of the things that I have have found to be so deeply true is that whether we are speaking of romantic love or unconditional spiritual love, what we are really talking about is the willingness and courage to be unconditionally open, fiercely vulnerable, and radically tender with ourselves and others.  The great master Chogyam Trungpa spoke extensively of the 'shaky tenderness' that underlies our whole life situation, and the way to direct our lives toward that tenderness with fearlessness and confidence.  In holding ourselves with utmost vulnerability and openness, we discover that we have the capacity to be Love itself.  We discover our capacity to be 100% available to ourselves, others, and life. 
Love often sounds so sweet, so mushy...but, if we look into the depths of unconditional love we call on our warrior-ship as a way to live our lives totally uninhibited, open, and free.  Our willingness to love includes our willingness to hurt, and if we allow ourselves to find the great courage to not turn away from fear or hurt, we manifest within ourselves the capacity to be buddhas and to approach life from a standpoint of radical, fierce love. 

Awareness Behind Thought

As far as what we need to know in playing the spiritual game, there's only one piece of information needed....behind every thought is Awareness. When we have thoughts it is Awareness that observes the thought~ That is what we truly are, and every thought we think is ultimately like a movie on a screen--- even though the movie seems real, when it's over the blank screen is all that remains.

Relating to Teachers

The relationship between a student and teacher can take a vast array of forms and modes.  Everybody uses a teacher in their own unique way.  Some practice deep devotion, while others use a teacher much like asking for directions.  However a teacher is used, what is of deep importance is that the student unites with the mind of the teacher.  In this way, there is no need to be a sheep, nor is there a need to act like or live as the teacher does.  What is essential is our ability to bring our mind into connection with the vastness of the teacher's mind.  To see as the teacher sees.  It is unnecessary to have the same opinions or preferences as the teacher, but if we cannot unite with his or her essence, we cannot manifest our true nature.  So a teacher is an indispensable tool for seeing our delusion, and seeing the sanity that underlies the teachers apparent life situation.  In some traditions 'guru yoga' is a central practice for surrendering your illusions and awakening wisdom.  Guru yoga doesn't necessarily mean you dress like the teacher, or walk like the teacher, or believe what the teacher tells you to believe...all these things have been tried to no avail.  But in 'guru yoga' you become the teacher, and he or she becomes you.  You realize that underneath the chasm of differences in body, action, and superficial appearances you are exactly the same Mind.  You must be willing to give up your self in order to see what the teacher is pointing you to....and by so doing, you realize that your self was an illusion and that you and the teacher are ultimately the very same Self.

Who Are You Without a Past or Future?

We all have many answers to the question who are you?  Everything that we can think of such as our age, our job, our sex, our name, our values, our experiences, our history, our dreams, etc.  But really none of these answers is truly sufficient to describe who one truly is.  Each of these descriptions is a snapshot.  My question is, who are you wholly?  Who are you without using some description from your past or some idea of your future.  Who, What are you right in this moment?  Who are you when you don't refer to the thoughts in your head to tell you who you are? 
If you suddenly found yourself with amnesia and you had no way of recollecting your past and no way to build a future, what would you be? 
So much of our attention goes into recreating the past and generating a future so that we can maintain the thread of our sense of self.  If we were to simply direct that same energy to what is here, now and always, we would be living our lives truly as an alive radiant Presence. 
Are we willing to give up both our history and legacy as well as our fantasy of the future, and finally see what is eternally true right here?
It is a great challenge to die to the past and die to the future and live as what you always have been underneath the cloak of your history and fantasy.
It is only then that we are really seeing ourselves as we really are, and then that we can be free of the burdens of the past and the burdens of the future.
Without a past or future life could seem confusing, disorienting....but it can also be extraordinarily free and deeply rich.