ISmile314 – Poetry, Laughter, Love and Levels of Consciousness

Actively meeting inspiration through poetry can make a huge difference as we move through the world. The same applies to uncovering the things that crack us up. Laughter matters since it is a celebration of the unexpected and defines an unattached space that we can enjoy if we’re available to it. Similarly, being available to love changes us in that it allows for a felt sense of the Absolute. This felt sense of the Absolute leads us onto the path of an expanding consciousness that can be mapped. Michael starts the discussion by pointing out gross level awareness, then moves on to the subtle level, the causal level and then into what can be referred to as nondual Suchness. As a side, he also notes that the causal Witness is also referred to turiya while nondual Suchness is termed turiyatita in Hinduism. From here Michael suggests that our practice can become unbalanced when we become more interested in “becoming” than simply “being.” When we stabilize ourselves in simply Being, he suggests, the Becoming takes care of itself, with a little help. But the opposite is not necessarily true. This aspect of Michael’s teaching flies in the face of some other contemporary teachers’ work.