102 Clarity, PTSD, Manifest, Politics, India - Q & A

58:09

58:09

102 Clarity, PTSD, Manifest, Politics, India - Q & A

by William Cooper, M.Th., Licensed Professional Counselor

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Topics discussed in this live cast included, what to do when you feel overwhelmed and confused, PTSD, and letting go, manifesting a doing or an automatic flow. What to do about such delusion and deceit we experience now in politics? What was India like on our recent trip? This recording of a live Q & A has been edited for clarity, length, and helpfulness. These podcasts are a compilation of what I have found to be the most helpful over the last 50 years. They are offered to support your path of awakening. I feel these podcasts are most powerful when listened to in sequence from podcast one forward because each is built on the last. Though they, also, all stand on their own. Since we are each a bit different, if anything does not resonate, please disregard it and follow your heart. Though I am a psychotherapist, and these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful, they are not psychotherapy. If psychotherapy is ever needed, please reach out to a psychotherapist.

Meet your Teacher

William Cooper, M.Th., Licensed Professional Counselor

Tallahassee, FL, USA

Meet your Teacher

William Cooper, M.Th., Licensed Professional Counselor

Tallahassee, FL, USA

Transcript

Welcome everybody. My name is William Cooper. Welcome to Awakening Together, Relaxing into Happiness. Good to see you all. Can everybody hear me okay? Okay, Good. Thank you. Perfect. This podcast, This live session is a good time for you to ask any questions that you have about your practice. While you're thinking about that, You know, So often we have things going on in our lives and they're overwhelming. We're just not clear and we don't know what to do. And that often throws us into a lot of thinking and a lot of trying to figure out what to do. And it's stressful because really we don't know what to do. We ask a lot of people questions, We ask their opinion, And all of that's very helpful. And I think it's good. There's something deeper though that's going on with all of that. When you are a bit overwhelmed and things are going on in your life that you don't know the answers to, You just don't. And maybe people are pressing you for the answers. One thing for sure that's going on is that you can feel a lot of stress generally. That stress is coming to the forefront. The second thing that's, And more important thing that's for sure, Is the big you, The universal you, Knows the answer, Knows what to do, And is right now working to provide that answer either in direct revelation to you or orchestrating the universe basically to provide an answer to you. Questions may conspire, Come together to suddenly solve what you previously saw as a problem. So what to do if you're overwhelmed and you're feeling like you need to get an answer? The first thing is hopefully you've been sitting still quite some time or enough to be in tune with your deepest self and you've begun to trust that the universe is you and you know all the answers. All is okay. All is well in the universe and the universe is you. So you're fine. Even if it doesn't appear that you're fine. I remember that acronym fear, False evidence appearing real. You know, It doesn't appear to be fine. Things don't appear to be fine, But they are. I'll tell you that doesn't always feel helpful when you're in the middle of something because they really don't feel fine. So back to what to do. Maybe first sit still and feel. You don't have to figure anything out. Just let things flow. And the reason we don't like to do that is it doesn't feel good. We wouldn't be confused generally if we felt good. In other words, We're overwhelmed with fear and anxiety and confusion and things like that. We're in frustration, Perhaps our feelings are hurt and we're also feeling hurt. Perhaps it's a mixture of all these things. Now sitting still does something. You can feel what you're feeling because you're not distracting yourself and hopefully you're open and you're accepting. By accepting I mean allowing the feelings that you truly are having, Allowing them to rise to the surface and feel them. So once you feel them, Now what? Now you're really feeling overwhelmed. Good to know, Especially if you've listened to some of our past podcasts. I think we've got over a hundred now and they're available to all of you for free on almost every platform. But when you feel, I'll give you a summary so you don't have to go back through them all, But they are helpful. But when you feel things, When you sit still and you feel things, Unclarity comes to the surface and you start to burn that unclarity off. That's the, The unclarity is the distress that you're feeling. That's what the feeling of unclarity is. It feels like anxiety. It feels like confusion. It feels like frustration. Remember when you are clear on the inside, You can see more clearly on the outside and also the outside begins to reorder in a more clear way because you're emanating clear energy. So it sure is helpful for clarity to start to come from the inside out. So when you sit still, You feel things very deeply. They feel overwhelming and they begin to burn off. In this process, It's important to go back to some basic principles of PTSD, Some things that often get locked into our system, Which often unclarity is a bit like PTSD. It's more locked into our system when it gets down to a level of real distress. That's why it's stuck there and it doesn't move very quickly. So these principles, The first thing you want to do is be gentle with yourself. Go very slowly. Take what you can take today and then stop. Just feel what you feel. Just be open and feel all of your feelings as much as you can and you might own them. I feel distressed. I am anxious. Rather than saying, I'm a person who has some distress over at the side. I'm a person who has a tight stomach. Maybe better to say, I am the tight stomach. I mean, Really own it. Get to the center of it. The reason why you want to get to the center of it, Do this slowly, But the reason you want to get to the center of it, Let your center of gravity be where the distress is, Is because when the distress is now on the surface, It can breathe in relief and clarity. It can let go. But if it's not allowed to be on the surface, It can't let go. It can't be interacted with really. It sort of becomes an object rather than an experience. So you truly want to own your distress. I am anxious. And slowly, If it's too much, You go, Okay, That's enough for today. If you've been doing it, Maybe lying on the couch, Just feeling anxious, Letting it come up, Letting some of it burn off. Maybe you do it for a half hour and, Oh, Okay, That's enough for today. Because as some has burned off, There's that much less in your system to burn off the next time you approach it. And when you push too hard, Things lock up. Nobody likes to be pushed hard. And when something sensitive, Like an internal bruise, If you shake it and push it too hard, It locks up, It freezes up and it doesn't move. It just locks. So that's why you want to be gentle and nice, Nice to yourself. You experience it. So you go slowly. The second thing in PTSD is you, What they call pendulate. You are in the center. I am anxiety. And then you let the anxiety look to something, Connect to something that feels good. Something that you trust, That feels good. Maybe you have an animal that you love and that loves you and that feels good. So you, Maybe you pat your cat or you hug your dog or you go for a walk with your dog. Maybe it feels good to touch the ground and you take off your shoes and you walk in the grass slowly so that you can connect. And let me phrase, Rephrase that or make it more specific. Walk slowly so the anxiety can connect. Because remember, You're now coming from, I am anxiety. So that's what's connecting. And why is it important that that connects? Because that's the place where the problem is. It's the part that's all locked up and feeling bad. The rest of you that feels good doesn't need to connect to grass and trees, Although that's always good and that should be our natural way or wouldn't it be nice if it was? And I hope it is. But right now we're touching the parts of us that are cloudy and hurt. So that part, You pendulate, You start from the middle, I am anxiety, And now you connect to the ground. This anxiety connects to the ground and goes, Okay, I'm connecting. And then you might ask it, Does that feel good or bad to connect to the ground? You make it very simple so it's not complicated. It's a yes or a no, A good or a bad. It says, Well, Does that feel better than it did before? Or does it feel worse to connect to the ground? Well, It feels better, Perhaps you as anxiety notice. And then you might invite, Okay, If it feels good, Enjoy that, Soak it up. Well, What happens when anxiety soaks up something that is naturally good? What happens? It begins to relax, Right? And what happens when total relaxation happens? Anxiety disappears in total relaxation. Any tension always disappears in total connection and relaxation, Always, 100% of the time. So if this is causing distress, This anxiety, You slowly pendulate and connect. You swing that center of gravity to something that you can trust, Your cat or the grass or hug a tree or walk on the beach and breathe it in. Take it in and feel it, The reason why it's important to feel it, Take it in, Soak it up. Sometimes I'll say, Well, Then just take in one drop. If it's sometimes it's almost overwhelming to when you're in the middle of your anxiety to even take in very much. So because it hurts, It just hurts. So does it feel better or worse? Better. Okay. Then could you soak up one drop like a dry sponge getting one drop of water? Could you just soak that up for today because you're going slow again, If you go too fast, It's too overwhelming. And what often happens is we jump over the healing, The part that's anxious, Can't take it in anymore. So then we jump into our head and say, Okay, I understand it. I understand the process. Yes, This feels better. I'm good. Or this will work and it'll help me in the future. And I'm good. But no, You're only as good as what you soaked up because that's where the healing is. If you don't soak up much today, It's fine. Soak up some more tomorrow or the next time that you feel, Because you're going slowly. So what happens when, Okay, In this example, You're feeling overwhelmed and you're not clear and that feeling of overwhelming, Being overwhelmed feels like anxiety and stress and frustration and maybe depression. I don't know, Maybe anger. But as that begins to melt and it runs out of the system, All that's left is relaxation. And from a relaxed place, You're open because that's what relaxation is. It is openness. And when you're very open, Your intuition flows. And when your intuition flows, Perhaps you see things clearly. Maybe not through your mind, But maybe through your heart. Ah, This is the answer. This feels good to me. I could be satisfied with this as an answer. Maybe other people will like it a lot or maybe they won't. But because I'm connected to myself, It feels good to me. And it feels like I'm moving forward in my life. If I've been a, For instance, A people pleaser, Maybe they would be shocked if I suddenly did one small thing for me rather than for them. And so maybe they wouldn't like it, But I'm clear that this is good for me. So I can do this one little thing. Why do I say one little thing? Because even on the outside, When you change your behaviors, Go slowly, Baby steps. They found that when you try to make big steps, Often the whole thing collapses because we get ahead of ourselves and we can't integrate. And we stress ourselves out and we close down. So about these small steps, Going slowly and going from your center, I am anxiety. Let's say you're doing yoga or breath work or something and you're centered in your anxiety, I'm anxious. I'm anxious. And you do breath work, For instance, And somebody says, Take a deep breath. Well, If you're centered in your anxiety, This anxiety part of you, Maybe it can't take a deep breath. Even if the class says, Take a deep breath for it, A deep breath is just a shell, Just like that's all it can take shallow. Otherwise you jump over it and past it and you get into your head. And again, That's not where the problem is. The problem is the part of you that's locked up and tight. So you have to really trust yourself here and you get the principle. Your instructor is saying, Take a deep breath, But really, You know that where you are, A deep breath for you is a little tiny breath. So the point is, Listen to yourself. There are so many good practices out there, But modify them so that they actually work for you, Because what does yoga mean? It means union with the infinite, Union with God. So if you're jumping out of yourself, You're not uniting with anything. You're just going through the process. You're being a good yoga student, But you're not uniting with anything. Same with meditation or any kind of thing, Breath work. And how do you know that you're uniting? Because when you open, That openness is a little bit of union. Relaxation is union. It's the same thing. Total awakening is total relaxation. Because in total awakening, All the tension that's embedded in our personality melts out and there's only oneness. All the boundaries are melted out. There's only oneness. So as one of my teachers, Prajnananda, Used to say at the end of a Kriya practice, He would ask us, Notice what's changed in you today. What changes have happened today after this practice? And if I've done it properly and I've listened to myself and I've opened for myself, Then I feel a little more open in that part that was locked up, That was tight. So I could say to myself, Notice what's changed today. It's like, Wow, I feel 10% better. I feel 10% something has dissolved out of me that was locking me up. At least 5% has dissolved out. Even 1% has dissolved out. That's great. In a hundred days, If it kept at that rate, And again, No rush, You take it step at a time, But just for discussion, You'd be great in a hundred days. Just taking a lot of little baby steps. The next thing I'd like to say about this is when I said connect to something you trust, I picked things in this world, Your cat, Your tree, Your grass, Because those are tangible. You can touch the wall and just feel the quiet solidity of the wall. Maybe that's relaxing to you in this moment, Or touching the arm of the chair and just sitting still and feeling the stillness in the arm of the chair. Ultimately though, The greatest and deepest, The infinite relaxation, The infinite trust is your being, Which is infinite. That's your ultimate place to connect to. But often, Until our center is really connected to our being, We've done enough sitting still, Enough awakening meditation or whatever kind of practice works for you, And you feel your being different from your personality, Different from your emotions, Different from your thoughts. I mean, You're explosive, Yet very calm, Peaceful being. Part of that, Or at least a little of that, We have to feel being intangible items, Because everything's made of being. The ocean is made of being, Your cat is made of being, Your dog is made of being. The things that cats and dogs don't think a whole lot, So they don't muck up the flow of being that's coming through their physical body. So you can feel being and love coming through more directly often than you can in other ways. Trees, They don't think at all, Probably. Or nature. So being flows through nature so powerfully. And that reminds you, That connection when you connect to nature puts you in touch with your infinite being. And you can imagine if I let all my thoughts and emotions go right now, All that would be left would be being. That's awakening. So the deepest thing that you can connect to, And again, Often it's baby steps to make that connection, But the deepest thing is infinite being, Which is you. You don't have to look for it, It is you. It's what's looking out of your eyes right now. It's there. There's no looking, It's there. The only reason sometimes we look for it is because we've gotten distracted and lost so deeply in our thoughts and our emotions that we are so distracted. It would be like watching a TV show while you're at the beach. You don't even realize you're at the beach because you're lost in your TV show, But you are at the beach. Well, We're lost in our mental show. Thoughts are hallucinations that we make up, We create them, They're creations, They're useful, Sometimes not useful, But they can be distracting when we get lost in them. Anyway, More on that in all of the past podcasts. Any other questions that come up? And you can type them in if you'd like. Again, While you're thinking about that, I will say another thing. Somebody wrote me a letter while I was in India. Jennifer and I just got back, I think March 3rd. And it was a very articulate letter. I'm sorry, I can't remember who wrote it. And anyway, It'd probably be better if I didn't mention their name anyway, Because I haven't asked permission. But in their letter, They asked a question that perhaps you've had before. They say, Well, If I am the universe, The universe is me, And that's total trust, And it knows what it's doing, And the perfect things are flowing through my life to help me grow and clarify, Even if they're unpleasant. And also, Things flow through my life to enjoy life, Things that are more enjoyable and more pleasant. And if all that's true, Why would I spend any time visualizing the perfect life for me? Having a guided meditation to manifest things in my life or working at manifesting things in my life? Why would I do that? Is that a sign of distrust? I mean, I'm working on things because I don't trust the universe to provide for me. Like if I do nothing and I just sit on the couch, Is the universe going to provide or not? And she said a lot of times she just trusts that the universe is going to work it out and that's the way she goes. But she said, Am I missing something? Should I be visualizing things or not? I don't know. That's a good question. It is true that the universe provides you with the perfect life, Whether it's pleasant or not is a different question, But it's the perfect life for you to grow and clarify and become one. You already are one, But I mean, Melt out any delusions that make it seem like you're not one. The universe does that perfectly. But part of that process is I want to ask why not see your life clearly from your heart, The life that you'd like, And it can adjust as you go through the years. This vision, But why not do that? Because in total clarity, Can't you see the direction of your life? Which brings the next question. The reason why it's helpful to visualize what you want in life is because as you go through that process, Any resistance to doing that, Any fear like, Well, If I visualize it, It won't work out and then I'll be distressed and despondent or, Or maybe I would be, Uh, Maybe I feel frustrated cause I can't do it, Or maybe I can't hold any clear vision. So it just doesn't feel good. Anything like that. These are unpleasant sensations. By going through the process, They rise up and now they give you something to burn off because they're in you or they wouldn't have risen up. You would just see your life clearly automatically. In awakening, Visualization isn't a hard thing. It's not, Um, It's just when you're clear on the inside, You become more clear in your vision. But when I still have some things lurking or I can be pretty awake, But I might have some things lurking around the corner, Lurking in the shadows that I don't see that clearly. I think they're not there, But maybe they are somewhere. But when I picture my life clearly, If I can't get that picture or even if I get that picture, But it brings up distressful feelings, Those feelings are something that I can just feel and let them burn off. I can let them breathe just like we did with PTSD. We just let it soak up something that you could trust, Love or a connection to a tree. Same thing, You know, I feel I'm visualizing, I feel anxious about it. What if it doesn't happen? And how does that feel? Well, I feel a little anxious. Okay. What does the anxiety need to have in order to relax? I am anxious. What do I, What would help me relax? Often what can then go through the mind is, Well, How does that help me visualize more clearly? Now I'm just working on anxiety and I've quit visualizing things. I'm just working on anxiety. Yes. But as that anxiety melts out, The process, I trust the process takes care of itself. Now you've, You're holding less anxiety. So the next time, Even walking through your regular life, You start to see things a little bit more clearly about your life. Why? Because you have less anxiety that you're holding inside. Why? Because you went through that exercise of trying to visualize things and it produced anxiety and you went through the steps to begin to let it melt out. So this person was absolutely correct. The universe already knows exactly what you need and there's nothing you have to do. That is correct. But the process, Part of what it's guiding you, Part of the universe as a whole is you going through the process of visualizing things at least a little bit as another practice to help reveal anything that you've got lurking around that's muddying your clarity. You perhaps you remember the Zen teacher, Somebody asked the Zen teacher a question, Do you need to meditate in order to awaken? And the Zen teacher said, You know, You don't. But I've never met anybody who awakened that didn't meditate. So it's kind of that kind of spirit of things. Like do you need to visualize in order to manifest? No. But I don't know people that have manifested very clearly who haven't visualized. You don't need to do it, But there's something in the mix like the, Why not? Am I blocking myself? Why not? Perhaps you remember the saying, I don't know anybody who's become an astronaut by sitting on the couch, Just praying about it. So there's that too. In creation, We're kind of a mix of sitting still, Clarifying, And then from a clear place flowing through our life and doing the work that's required. The funny thing is when we're clear doing work that's required, Doesn't always feel like work. It feels more like joy. I'm excited. I like to garden. Somebody else doesn't. That's work. I love it. It helps me relax. The day passes nicely. So in clarity, When you follow your heart, There's not really work. The reason why it feels like work is because I'm not clear. Okay. That's me talking a lot with all that stuff, But that's what's come to talk about today for me. Any thoughts on any of that? Or I mean, We can talk about that or anything. I mean, Simple things. Why is it? Well, They're not simple if you're in the middle of it, But why is meditation so hard? I get distracted in meditation. I mean, These are things that are good to know about. What in your life would be helpful? Okay. I'll start with the DeSantis one. But then Christine and Lisa asked about how was India. And so all those are great questions and DeSantis, You know, Anything in the world is complicated. I heard something Sadhguru once said, As soon as you, He says, Contact everything, Touch everything, Connect to everything. But once you connect to it, Don't feel like you have to figure it out because in this world there's so much delusion and complexity and duality that you go down that rabbit hole and you will completely get twisted up often, Not always, But often. And because you're lost in that and twisted up, You eventually become cut off from yourself again. Even if you're awake, You can get cut off from yourself going so deep down a rabbit hole. So he gave a tip, He said, It's good to be in the world, But not of it. I'm putting other words on his, Uh, On his words, But connect to your deepest heart, Your deepest self, Emanate clarity. That clarity is what changes the world all by itself. Connect to anything you want, Connect to everything as a matter of fact, Because we are one, But don't feel like you've got to solve it in the physical world completely yourself. Otherwise you're going to get lost. And life is often a series of events where we recoil from connecting to something because it seems too painful or complicated or difficult or a variety of things. It feels like we just don't have the solution. It's over our head. So we don't connect. Sadhguru was saying, Yes, Do connect. Well this DeSantis thing, When you have a lot of disconnected people, This is my opinion, Disconnected from their hearts, They look at, And we all are that way. Like Jesus said, He who is without sin cast the first stone. So we're all that way to some degree, But different parts of the United States and I imagine different parts of the world, People gather like birds of a feather fly together. People that are alike like to be around other people who are alike. And so you get pockets of people that are experiencing life in a certain way. And in Florida, We have a lot of that and we vote for things and only the people in Florida get to vote. So if you have more people that are in fear and in hurt, Their expression in life and their fears and concerns, They're good people, But they're just maybe just like me. I'm deluded at times, Many times. Well, So are other people. And I think we're in the middle of a, My main guru back in the day and my friend now, Bhagavan, Used to say he would predict, He said, We're going to, When more light comes into the world, You're going to see how bad it always has been. And for world awakening to happen, It has to get so bad that things fall apart. There's complete chaos and disarray because if you keep the old structures in the old way, There's no release of energy and you're just sort of cobbling together an improvement on something that fundamentally is rotten at the core. So he predicted that we would one, See things more clearly and be horrified. Oh my goodness, This is horrible, Which I think is happening. And secondly, Things would start to fall apart. And I think we're starting to see, At least in the United States, A lot of things around the edges are starting to crumble and fall apart. And there's the death throes and they're screaming and the lying and the delusion, Trying to delude everybody to protect the old structures. And that's going on. Well, That's going on a lot in Florida. So yes, Heidi says her granddaughter is in Melbourne. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah, It's tough over here in Florida. I'm in Florida. It's tough. We'll say Bhagavan Ramana. Somebody asked him, He died in the 1950s and that's where we were in India. And then that'll segue way at me straight into the India questions. But Heidi says, Thank you for touching on it. Yes. And we're just touching on it. That's all. But anytime, Bring it up again. And it's a very fruitful question. But this might help your granddaughter, Heidi, Or at least help us. So Ramana was in the 1950s. That's where we went when we went to India to his ashram in Tiruvannamalai. Read In Search of a Secret India. Great book. I have it in my reading lists on the podcast on Books That Awaken, Which is probably around podcast 90. It's by Paul Brunt and it's about Ramana. Gives you the good flavor of India and the experience of being in the presence of somebody like Ramana. Anyway, Somebody came to Ramana. He's in World War II or during that time. And they said, Ramana, There's so many horrible things in the world. There's a World War II and all these torturing people and atrocious things. And it's terrible. Why don't you speak out on it? Why don't you do social action? Why don't you get into politics? You're a powerful figure. Why don't you do something, Ramana? And Ramana said he got that kind of question a lot. You can imagine. And Ramana said, Yes, Those are fine things to do. If you feel called to do them, You should do them. He said, That's not my calling, Though. My calling is to sit still and be clear. And the immense energy that I radiate out in clarity is going to do more to change the world than me getting on a soapbox, Which is also a good thing. I'm not saying it in a bad way, But this is what he's saying. To get up and to take social action and do all these things in the world, That would do a lot. And me being clear and sending out that energy will do so much more to change the world in a good way than me taking social action. But he didn't make it a universal thing. He said, If you feel called, If your heart feels called to take action, Because people could say, Well, What do you mean? Just sit there and do nothing? Well, OK, You got a point. Go do something then. But he said, No, His part was to be clear. So you have to ask yourself, What is your part? Maybe you do a little of both. Ram Dass and others noted that if I go, If I address something and I have any anger left in me or any frustration over a topic and I'm trying to protest, I'm bringing more anger to the world and I'm the problem. Wars are created by all the anger coming through all of us. Maybe I just have a little bit and you just have a little bit and somebody else has a little bit. Well, Where does it go? It's got to flow somewhere in the in the world and the universal energy and it erupts. Everybody's little drops of anger all erupt into a giant war. So if I'm protesting against war and I'm bringing anger, I am the war. So there's that. So yes, Heidi says clear people teach others. Absolutely, Heidi. That's well said. So now having talked, Just touched, It's such a rich topic. We could go on for hours on this topic, But I'm going to slide over to India for a moment because Lisa and Christine asked about it. I'll tell you, India, When you get there, It's such a clear place. Here's the paradox of India. India's everything. Somebody said that an Indian man, When somebody asked him, What's India like? I was standing next to him and he said, India's everything. It is everything. And India's large like the United States. So somebody I remember meeting Europeans from India that were in India and they say, Yeah, I know what the United States is like because I went to New York City for one weekend. Well, You know, Mississippi is a lot different than New York City and California is a lot different than Mississippi. India is like that. It's big. So you can't generalize India is everything. I wouldn't want to go to India because there's so much poverty. Yes, There is some poverty. It's so crowded. Yes, At times it is crowded, But other times it's not. It's polluted. Yeah, A lot. It is polluted. But what's not polluted is the energy. It's so clear. And when you go there, Even if you don't even know what to do, And I did a few podcasts on traveling to India, I think they're also around in the late 80s, Like episode 85. I'm just going to make up 86, 87, Somewhere in there. I made those podcasts just so you could listen to them and know exactly about India, What to do, How to do it. Because when I first went to India, It's such a big thing. It's daunting. How do I do it? What do I do? Where do I go? So it's scary. But why would you want to go to India? Well, The energy is so clear and pristine, Just by going, You will leave a different person just by soaking in it. I've met people that have just gone for like two days. It's a long flight and I don't know how you could just go for two days, But I like to go for three months so I can just sit still and kind of sink in and soak up the energy. But you know what, Two days will change your life. And I would say from my perspective, My opinion would be go to India any length of time you could. One week, Because once you go once, You have a sense and then you know whether you want to come back or not ever. I will say everybody I've met has always come back again, Many times. They didn't know that on the front end, But it's very compelling. It's good to know where to go because again, India is a big place and listen to my podcast as a start and then find any other information you'd like. But what's in my podcast is enough to get you there nicely, To get you there nicely. It's pretty thorough. So okay, Once you're there, It's clear energy, It's clear consciousness. I've been various places in India and almost anywhere you go in India has a place that's incredible and they have incredible teachers. You've got to look for them because India is everything and you know, Sometimes there's so much earthly activity and just commerce and people running around that you might get on a more superficial track and go to some lovely temples and sightsee and stuff like that. But that's, That's excellent. But you can go a lot deeper going and seeing specific teachers or ashrams where I go, Tara Vanamalai, There's probably a thousand different powerful people walking around. It's an infinitely holy site and it's often where holy men go to just sit in caves or at the side of the holy mountain Arunachala. There are Western teachers that bring groups there or simply live there. There's such a mix there. Teachers from South America, Awakened people are from Europe or from the United States or tons from India. So you can get a smorgasbord and after a while you start to let stuff go. You'll gain some wisdom from each person you interact with and even the people traveling there. Think about it. People that go to the effort to travel there, They have so much to offer. Just the person sitting in the restaurant next to you will change your life. Really? The people living there will change your life with their smile or their compassion. It's the people there are the kindest. Well, I don't want to say the kindest in the world, But they might be. I don't want to rule anybody else out. I went to Bhutan once. That was amazing. But you go to India just to touch your deepest self. Jacqueline says, When Amma comes, I soak in some of the energy during her visits that I felt in India. Yes, Jacqueline, I love Ammaji. I've had about 200 darshan from her in the United States. I did see her once in India. This is a saint. You can go to AMMA. Org. And because of COVID, She stopped visiting the United States. Hopefully she'll start it up again. But she's the quickest way to get, Understand some of this energy that Jacqueline is talking about in India. See her. It's free. She goes all over the United States, Europe, A lot of places in the world. And so she'll come pretty close to where you live. And you can go get a hotel room and just see her for free. She'll stay there usually for a couple, Two, Three days, Maybe longer. Just sitting in her presence will change you. It's like going to India. But Ammaji or just Amma, Amazing. She performed miracles in my life that I wrote. If you look at my podcast called Miracles, She's in there as well as others. And I only speak about things that I have experienced that have been life changing. That I experienced. I didn't read about them. I experienced them. Amma is one of those. She appeared to me before I ever met her. It's amazing. These saints are that powerful. And if you want to get a touch of that, See Amma. Go to her website and it'll say North American tour. Right now there's probably nothing there because she's not touring in North America. But if she does, It will then post it. So you could check occasionally. They do live cast streaming. And so you can get a taste that way. But I don't know. That's not really the same at all. It's okay. But it's something. But in presence, Seeing her in person is what we're talking about. Jacqueline is talking about. Yeah. So Amma is amazing. So India also, You can go to these various temples. And when you have people meditating in these temples over and over for thousands of years, Every part of the temple is humming with clear energy and it changes you. It's like being with Amma in a way, Just sitting in a temple in India. And a lot of them don't look like all clean and nice. They are clean and nice, But they're rough. There's rough hewn rocks and things. And I don't know, But they're just amazing. Marsha says, I've never been and so want to travel there. Should I go with a group for the first time? First of all, Listen to my podcast because I do address it. It's a very good question. Podcasts number 68 through 72. Really I address almost everything that will come to your mind. That one will come to a lot of people's mind. Should I travel alone or in a group? If you're a female, India is pretty safe for everyone. Like I tell people, It's much safer to be in India than it is to be in the United States and especially in the part of Florida where I live. It's much. . . Go to India if you want to get safe. So don't. . . It's not a safety issue generally. But there is a thing in India, Occasionally if there's going to be a problem, Somebody might grab a woman or do something. They might be disrespectful. There's a kind of a weird thing because people are people and you have unawake people everywhere and most people in India are not awake. However, They're not as unawake as we are because they are living in this high vibration. Even the unawake ones are more awake. Nonetheless, They have a lot of repression and sometimes they grab women and do stuff like that. Also rare, But can happen. So you want to. . . Like in New York City, You don't want to go down a dark alley in the middle of the night. You just have to know what you're doing in India and you're safer with a friend. Traveling with a friend. Males don't seem to have much problem. Females also not much problem, But it could happen. So I would travel with one other person. However, The problem is if that prevents me because I can't find any other person, Prevents me from going, I just get there anyway and just be very careful. I think you'll be fine. Meet somebody there. Go to Theravadamalai, Stay at the Ramana Ashram. I tell you all about that. You'll be surrounded by excellent people. You'll meet friends and then just stay with those friends. So you can do it without going in a group. But if you have somebody that wants to go, That would be excellent. Jacqueline says, I felt much more safe in a group that knew where they were going with intention. Yes. Uh, Those podcasts I did 68 through 72, It's got intention, Tells you where to go, Tells you what city to fly into, What to do. So that's for those people that don't have a group or want to go a little less expensively. Listen to my podcasts. But a group is so excellent. The first time I went there, I went on my own, But I joined a group and it made all the difference in the world. So because it was with deep intention, It was the most amazing experience I've ever had. Um, So yeah, I would, If you can go in a group that would be wonderful. Not necessary yet. Wonderful and much safer and relaxing. Because you've got an agenda. The problem with a group is you have an agenda. So that's a good thing, But sometimes you don't want to be in a different city every day. Maybe they only go to one place. That's fine. But maybe the first time a group would be excellent just because it gets you there and you get a flavor. So you hear me talking out of both sides of my mouth, But there's advantages each way. He says, Alma has disciples on our website that are touring in North America. Yes. I've met many of them and they're wonderful. Nobody's like Alma though. So yeah, They're a good, They're a good option, But don't think that's Alma. I'm not talking about the disciples. They are powerful. I remember riding in an elevator with some of the Swamis. I guess that was in Dallas. Well, I don't remember where it was. And the energy was so powerful coming from these disciples of hers, These Swamis. And they've just been with her for so long, Some of them decades. They themselves are very powerful. So that's a good start. Not Alma though. And sometimes the disciples, Well, The difference, Heidi, Heidi asks, What's the difference? And I'll just say my experience. Alma's where the inner, Well, Oh, This is a deep question, A deep, Okay. I don't know that I can answer this quickly. Let me ask you, Heidi, You've seen Alma and you've seen some of the disciples. Do you see a difference? If you had a choice of a disciple coming over to your house or Alma, Who would you choose and why? Okay. Heidi says, That's okay. Haven't studied enough. It's an excellent question, Heidi. No, No, No. That's an excellent question. It's so deep and it's so profound, Your question, And I've only got like a minute left. I hate to hop on that ship and not do it justice. If you remember that question, And if you join us our next time, Bring it up again, If you feel like it, And I'll answer it more deeply. But I'll say something very, A short answer, And it's totally a non-complete answer, But Alma emanates so much presence, I would, It's wrong for me to say this, But she's so clear and open, Maybe a hundred times more energy comes through her than any disciple I've met, And they're very powerful, But that's not the completeness of my answer. It's just a start of a discussion, So I'll just leave it there, But if I only had a choice of no Alma, Yet I can see a disciple, I would jump to see a disciple. Okay, Everybody. Thanks so much. Heidi says, Love my energy. You know, Heidi, Thank you. And I will say this, There's only one energy, And this is what you're referring to, Heidi. There's only one energy, And it's you. It's all of us. There's only one, And it streams through all these physical things called bodies, And depending on how clear my body is, You feel the energy. But we all have the same energy there. There's no energy to find. It's there, Or to develop, Let's put it that way. As we let our delusions go, Or in India they call it ignorance, Just where we're distracted, As we let those go, That energy flows very clearly, And it's felt powerfully by others. But it's the same energy in you. Heidi says, Whoa, Chills. Thanks Heidi. So, I have the benefit of just being around such generous beings, And being in this one energy that slowly things have dissolved inside of me. Do I have more things to dissolve? Absolutely. Do awakened people do? Absolutely. Do you? Absolutely. We're all in the same boat. We really are. There's no difference between Amma and the disciple and you. It's just all of us have different levels of things that have melted out. Surya says, Thank you for the knowledge and energy given here. Thank you, Thank you, Christine. Thank you, Jacqueline. Thank you. So, Thank you to you all. I will post this, Thank you for being a part of this and joining. It's your questions, It's your presence that we're all sharing. So, I look forward to doing this again. And thank you all. Take care. Bye.