Awake Living. Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy. Copyright 2008 by Katie Davis

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1 Awake Living Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy Copyright 2008 by Katie Davis 1

2 Table of Contents 1. Peace Beyond Reason 4 2. Wisdom at Work 6 3. Crimson Morning and Mystical Rainbow 8 4. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Resistance and Time Only the Self Is Big Love The Key to Liberation Is the Present Moment The First Step toward Enlightenment Compassion, Service and Suffering 18 2

3 10. About Katie Davis, Private Consultations, Scheduling Events, Book Reviews and Ordering Books 20 3

4 Peace Beyond Reason by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy Waking up to the daytime dream is similar to waking up from our nighttime dreams. We simply wake up radically more to realize the strange, yet self-evident fact, that we have spent a lifetime dreaming! We awaken to the dream of mind and its delusion of time, separation, and suffering. In this spiritual awakening, we consciously realize perfect peace. This is not a relative peace that we move toward in the hope of some promising tomorrow. It is here right now. Before we awaken, we believe that we are limited to our thoughts, emotions and body. We think that we are the time-based ego and we identify with the mental images that we see. We experience ourselves as another temporary object within our field of awareness. We are not aware that we are dreaming and that our world is the mental image that is being projected. In this, we are suffering, whether conscious of it or not. There is a pain gap between who we think that we are and the Spirit that we actually are. As the mind-made self, my attention is on you and I am not conscious that this focus is to primarily enhance or protect myself. I think that my identity lies in my separate individuality and that I am limited to my finite body which is temporary. When the body dies, I think that I die too, which creates fear. As the ego-body, I believe that this physical realm is the only dimension and I am not aware of what is beyond me. My "self" image is of ultimate importance and yet I do not know who this Self is. Through misidentification, I am unconscious of simply being; the still fountain of unconditional love that is joy. The time-based mind s idea of me and others is the battlefield of war and conceptualized freedom. Since I believe that I exist within this duality, that is, within time and its ever changing conditions, I am in constant vacillation between harmony and conflict. I live within a continuum of artificial movement and therefore physically experience all of the degrees between them. In fact, we define our placement on the continuum, through the absence or presence of either one or the other. One could say that it is through war that we appreciate our mental image of harmony. The two depend upon one another for their definition and only time separates them. For example, the harmony of the dual mind can only last for a given time, before cycling into conflict, which will once again recycle after certain duration into harmony. The theories of war and peace are in constant opposition to one another. These opposing forces are in resistance. An overview of any history book clearly demonstrates the needless cycling between the acts of war and proclamations of peace. For the unawake, dual mind, every experience is threatened by the opposite such as good-bad, happy-sad, pleasure-pain, or hate-relative love. Your invitation is to realize time freedom. In this attentive openness, we are free of the time required for the vacillating cycles. The opposites cannot take flight and are transcended. We realize what lies beneath. We enjoy the refuge of our timelessness that lies deeper within us and free of all change. Since the concept of me requires time, we 4

5 are also free of its painful delusion of separation from Spirit, the ego-body's limitation and misidentification with thought. The opposites are part and parcel of the idea of me, its never-ending desires and fears, and its need based insecurities. When the concept of I profoundly surrenders both relative love and hatred are extinguished by Unconditional Love. We move beyond the relative peace that inevitably cycles to war and realize the absolute Peace that is foundational to all experience. This magnificently transforms human experience into an appearance within an all-pervading field of innocence and equanimity. One could say that we regain virginal sight. In non-duality, true experience is not in opposition to any other experience. Therefore, competition, aggression, envy, greed and sexual obsession are effortlessly banished. The illumined mind surpasses the idea of me and its concept of separation. The opposites disappear into oneness and the darkness cannot survive the love of the merger. We are stunned in a radiant stillness that is sublime and unrivaled. The radical opportunity of our times is to realize the Peace that is permanent and therefore never changing. It lies deeper and is preeminent at the core of our being. When we move beyond the thinking mind and its concepts of war and peace, we realize the Peace that is beyond all understanding and indeed, beyond reason. We rest as purely being and serve as an open window for the deeper dimension that lies within us. This fulfillment then shines through into the world of form and reflects the perfect peace, simplicity and harmony of the Still Heart. My point is that we are needlessly fighting and that the transformative power of the world lies within you. The misery of the world lies within your own sorrow of separation from the love that you truly are. The only true answer is already complete within you right here and now. We merely sweep off the dust of mind for the clarity and wonderment of its revelation. This genuine freedom is the only opportunity for enduring peace. 5

6 Wisdom at Work by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy In the beginning of spiritual awakening, energetically we may feel totally stunned by this extraordinary "new" frequency of being. It is appropriate that attention turns naturally inward. This is quite a long "journey" for most and waking up to the present moment is only the beginning. In present moment living, our senses become so alive and we feel genuinely vibrant and grateful. If we shift into time, we suddenly find ourselves once again misidentified with the ego "I" thought and all of its attachments. As soon as we become aware of the fact that we are compulsively thinking, we are back and conscious! Take just a moment for a conscious breath or two and you will be resting once again timelessly present. It is also appropriate in the beginning to set aside a certain amount of time each day to just silently sit. We could call this meditation. There are many different types of meditation and some suggest that you use an object such as a candle to focus your attention or to focus attention on the formlessness within. In both examples, we perceive objectively. This is not the type of meditation that I suggest. Instead, simply rest as "I am." If a thought comes up and you identify with "I," just ask the Self-inquiry question, "Who am I?" Then once again, simply rest consciously as "I am. Soon, meditation will leave your silent meditation place in your home and you will be able to consciously BE all day long; a day long meditation, while the body moves about: Silent being... driving... Silent being... washing the dishes... The distractions in the world of form are many, so for awhile you will find yourself getting lost in the mind and its time, since the mind's habit is to turn outward. When this happens, you can no longer be conscious of simply being. Just as you did in your meditation place at home, once you notice it, ask this essential question, "Who am I?" and you will once again realize conscious being. The initial awakening will continue to deepen and deepen however there are no "levels" in Pure Awareness. The sense of deepening is because all that is false is surrendered. There are so many layers that will be surrendered and there is this sense that, "you mean this can go too?!" You do not need to "do" surrender. Through silent watching, the false will be noticed and the deeper surrender happens by itself. Self-inquiry will be the right tool throughout this deepening process. 6

7 The moment of enlightenment is beyond experience. I realize that the ego would like to add it to its long list of achievements... this time, the nirvana experience. However, enlightenment is not an attainment of the ego "I" that has its idea of becoming. This false "I" is the only apparent obstruction. Instead, through Self-inquiry the divided mind dissolves into the pure bliss and consciousness that is Pure Awareness. Upon enlightenment, we are not really functional in the world or for that matter even aware of it. Once the world appears again, the illumined mind is a perfect reflection of pure consciousness. The path still may not be over. So, I suggest that you never have any sense of arrival. That one is the ego "I" calling you back to form and its suffering consequence with its sense, I have arrived. So, we still have our companion of Self-inquiry. Slowly, this altered consciousness will permanently settle in the Heart as Pure I alone. No "doer" remains. I am frequently asked, "well, how does anything get done?!" My answer is, "just as it does now." The ego likes to think that it is the doer of action. Remember, it possesses things and calls everything "mine," unless it does not like what is happening... and then it calls it "yours." No "doer" of action simply means that everything is happening by itself and does not need "your" control, manipulation or guidance. There are many misconceptions about Self-realization. In fact, some may still have an image of a monk sitting in a cave or at the top of a mountain. However, this just is not so. One could say, I am neither in this world, nor not of it. Here is an example using a well known and often used expression: In the old world of ego: "I (ego) chop wood and carry water." In the new world: "Pure 'I' chop wood and carry water." Pure I is the Pure Awareness being-consciousness-bliss. We have realized our mistake in identity. Wisdom is not in conflict with either work or play. There is simply this vast well of creativity flowing through, since pure perceiving is no longer clouded by the psychological sense of self. Spontaneity comes to the forefront and we realize pure efficiency. The psychological self is not there debating about what it should "do" next. We simply allow wisdom's work. 7

8 Crimson Morning and Mystical Rainbow by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy The stillness of dawn is upon us... The profound sacredness resonating... OM as it mysteriously powers the appearance of THIS... Just now, the rays of the morning sun are starting to peek over the island's beloved mountain, Haleakala... The subtle light brilliantly dresses the entire sky in mystical crimson... No direct morning sun... simply the secret proclamation that the New Dawn is imminent OM... Tears of joy and gratitude brim the wonderment of these human eyes... Hmm... the sky too now weeps, while the splendor of a rainbow appears over the 8

9 expanse of the Pacific... free of purpose and ambition. More splendidly vivid where the sky meets the sea, the rainbow arches over the clouds... disappears half way... already perfect completion... just the way that it is OM... Effortlessly, a morning egret gleefully glides by, while its snow white wings timelessly ride the Kona winds... and the sound of silence... on its way to nowhere... Words are here now to share with you, Heart Friends... still... just pure perceiving... While these words may be a close relative... nothing comes close to expressing it... and yet it begs its expression... Quite so!... A tremendous clap of thunder... the sky opens and the clouds are outpouring... Even from a former Seattleite's drizzling viewpoint, I must say that once it finally begins, it really knows how to rain here!! As the tears quench the island's year long thirst, they blanket this island paradise in forever green... A symphony of birdsong expressing pure delight OM... Sacred Being... Being OM... Being Sky... Being Living Earth... Being you... 9

10 Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy Nature and human experience... This morning, a spiritual friend on the East Coast wrote to joyfully express that a new blanket of snow covered her area and that the full moon was glistening across the fields. Before dawn, this encouraged a walk to the beach... and there was the lovely one... suspended in quietude... Lucy in the Sky surrounded by all her twinkling diamonds. "Moonbeams" danced across the ocean, while the radiant, golden globe began to descend just off the island of Lana'i. Deep peace... Then, the mind reflected for a moment how beautiful it is that as Heart Friends who are apparently sprinkled all over the world and yet we gaze at the same full moon. Just as extraordinary is the fact that from all over the world, we come to the Discussion Board at the Friends of the Heart Katie Davis Facebook Group to share, express and point to the radiant Heart within us that is beating its rhythm of Love as the same pure consciousness. We seem far away... and yet we are so intimately near... I am fascinated this morning about your "ordinary" experience. Do you have a moment to look out your window or better yet, step outside into nature? 10

11 Do you have just a few minutes to go to the Friends of the Heart Group and post what you are experiencing? Can you see the full moon? Is it slightly drawing out the wild child within you? Is it pulling the tides making the waves more powerful? How does that power speak? Is there snow on the trees in the forest? What does it sound like? Is it raining on the streets of Paris? How does the body feel if you take a chance and stand there in it? Has the cloud cover lifted so that Mount Rainier is out in all her glory? How is she speaking to you? Are there morning birds singing in Spain and how do you feel when you truly listen? Is the wind blowing through your hair in Costa Rica? What does the creek or river sing to you this morning as it babbles through the day? What is reflecting in the pond or the lake? Does that reflection quietly tell you a story? How does the chill from the freeze make a difference to your breathing? What are you noticing? Where are you? How is nature? How are you experiencing it? I am truly fascinated to know... human experience 11

12 Resistance and Time by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy Whenever we resist something, we suffer. Resistance is the ego judging the present moment. It always has its idea of what it would like life to be. When it is otherwise, it resists the form that the present moment is taking. Some may not realize that it is actually our own thinking that causes resistance and therefore causes our negative emotions. The ego believes that it is other people and circumstances that cause its emotions to change and it is not so. But don't take my word for it. Observe directly to see how the ego operates and generates or perpetuates negative emotion. When thinking is unobserved and we misidentify with its judgments, it is self-inflicted suffering. When you are feeling unhappy, turn your attention to your thoughts and notice how they are using you. The intensity of your unhappiness will always depend upon the degree of resistance that you are having against what is. This just is not that wise, since the present moment already is. Can you accept it just as it is? Is it possible to actually love the mystery of the appearance and truly be free to welcome all that is appearing, free of judgment? Since the ego needs time in order to function, it will always resist the now. The now is the space within which the present moment is appearing. The more you are able to be the Now, rather than the personal reference point of the ego, the less you will suffer. You will suffer less, since you have not misidentified the dreaming "I" and its wants and needs. Free of the misidentification, you are also free of the ego's thinking that causes you to suffer. Since the ego is always under some sense of threat, it will attempt to control and manipulate whatever is. Of course, that is impossible since it is. That control and manipulation only causes you and others to suffer. We create more pain that will soon become more pain of the past that will be stored in the body for release. If you observe the ego, you will notice how it is constantly fixated on the past or future, which obscures the Now that is the source of all true happiness and peace. Whatever past pain that you perceive that you have, it will appear as present conditioning, which is why we do not need to fixate on the past for healing. It will appear in the present moment as your reaction to what is. Likewise, the ego is always attempting to use the present moment to get something in the future. This creates anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. Those desires are also based on past conditioning. If you are interested in creating no more pain for yourself and others, stand free of time and you will see that you do not accumulate more time and therefore more suffering. The present moment is virtually all that you have. It is the only true representation of Life as it truly is and the only doorway to presence. 12

13 Only the Self Is Big Love by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy The unconditional love that you are is beyond relative love. The dreaming "I" that we used to believe was limited to the body and is just incapable of genuine love. This will always be so. Dreaming "I" (ego) is a mental idea; only a word that is expressed in time. When you misidentify with the word as your identity, you are making an object out of yourself; the true Self and dreaming "I." There simply are not two. Write the word "I" down on a piece of paper. Then look at it. Are you that word? Or is there something deeper here? For a moment, just say the word "I." Yes, right now. Are you aware of the thought? How deep can a mere thought be? You are not the "I" that you are presently equating to your body. You are the Awareness of the word "I." You are the Awareness of the body and that Awareness is not personal. By Awareness, we are not referring to eyesight. It is beyond eyesight. Are you aware of the eye? Are you aware of seeing? For enlightenment, the only essential question is WHO is aware? If it is not "me" then who is aware? Close you eyes for a moment. Are you still aware? The dreaming "I" that is the body exists only within the mental realm and its time. Since it is in time, it is then subject to duality; the law of the opposites. This means that when you experience relative love, it can only remain "in love" for a certain duration. Time is always in movement. Relative love is unstable and will inevitably cycle to hate. Hate is equally unstable. Because it is traveling in time, it will inevitably cycle back to relative love. There is a continuum between relative love/hate. The less we hate, the more we feel loving. The less loving we feel, the more likely feelings of hate will arise. Love and hate are polar opposites that require one another. The cycling requires time. As the ego, we then thank people, because we feel loving and then blame them whenever we feel hate. It is "your" responsibility. Where are you looking from? The Heart (Pure I ) or "I?" We have all been in relationships and everything is going along just fine and suddenly the pain body arises within either one person or the other. Generally, the other ego will take that bait to defend itself. Instead of a loving relationship, we now have a fighting, hateful and cruel relationship all in the twinkling of an eye. 13

14 If you watch it in action, the ego actually becomes hatred. Observe the face of your partner. Isn't it true that they look like hate? Sometime, while you are fighting, look at your own face in a mirror. You will surely notice that hate has taken over the body. The ego is incapable of being free of the love/hate cycling. So we do not need to try to perfect the dreaming "I," so that it is unconditionally loving. We do not need to make a false self a better false self. We do not need to feel guilty about the cycling. It is a given as long as you are misidentified with the mental word "I" and its time. The only resolution is timelessness. Free of time, we are free of cycling. Timelessness is being AWARE of the present moment and also realizing that you are the Pure Awareness. That Pure Awareness is timeless and eternal. It is the formless NOW within which your body and world of form are appearing. You are the formless NOW and not the body appearance. The nature of the true Self is unconditional love. You ARE that unconditional love. It is not something that the ego can attain. The dreaming "I" is a word. Is a word capable of unconditional love? You already are this unconditional love. It is ever present just beneath (or we could say beyond) the dreaming "I," its time, its concepts and all of its problematic, compulsive and psychological thinking. Unconditional love is formless and "arises" within the body from the divine dimension within you. Rather, it IS you. When we realize Pure Awareness (Self-realization), we also realize that we are the unconditional love that never, ever wavers. That realization is then also the transformation of the world. How different would "your" life be and how different would the world be, if humanity was living as unconditional love? Only the Self is LOVE. It is everywhere "you" are. Are you noticing this? In attention to being, you stand free of time. In conscious attendance, being (or we could say presence) will seem to grow stronger. However, this is not ultimately true. Beingness is already all powerful and omnipotent. It is just that while we are consciously being, the mind is still and thinking no longer obscures the Pure Beingness. Just try it for one day and see. Can you consciously BE during all that is being done? This is a beautiful movement meditation. You will notice how vibrantly alive you feel. Eventually, conscious being is just normal and effortlessly so. 14

15 In relationship with your mate, it takes "two" to fight. Do not try to change them. Just remain true to who you are. We then can offer true love and compassion instead of taking things so seriously. It is simple to see that they have only been taken over by time. Does it make sense to fight time when time is a delusion? Fighting or trying to reason with a pain body only augments its strength and pain. Instead, we are asked to remain open and free, while the pain body slowly loses its pseudo power and regains consciousness. 15

16 The Key to Liberation Is the Present Moment By Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy The present moment is the key to liberation, but you cannot find the now as long as you are identified with the mind. The mind is meant to be only a tool that we use to complete a certain task. When we are done, the tool is no longer needed. No doubt about it, the mind is an extraordinary power. However, whenever it is using you, rather than you using it, it is dysfunctional and causes separation and suffering. For most people still, they are compulsively thinking all day long. Most of what is going on in the head is repetitive, tedious and basically useless. It is constantly causing stress, anxiety and worry, when it is not necessary. Most are still identified with thinking. In fact, they believe that they ARE their thinking. This thinking and conditioning creates the delusion of a separate sense of self; a false sense of self that is based on our ideas about who we are or conditioned by what others have said about who we are. This false sense is totally dependent upon our continued, habitual thinking. When thinking stops, that false sense of self disappears and we discover the aliveness of now. People are unconsciously misidentifying with the mind. To the ego, the one whose identity is derived through thinking, the present moment is fleeting and yet it is virtually all that exists. To the thinking mind, the past and future are all important. The ego needs to keep the past alive. It needs the past, since it is the past that is defining who it is. For its continued survival, it then projects who it is going to be into the future. For the ego, happiness and true fulfillment are always just out of reach after some future goal. Even when the ego thinks that it is seeing the present moment, it is not so. The ego is looking at the present moment with the eyes of the past and blind to what actually is. Or it is busy using the present moment as a means to reach some point in the future, when it believes it will gain its freedom or fulfillment. If you will observe the mind, you will discover how it works and how it is constantly using you. True happiness, peace and aliveness are always here. You just can not realize it until you break the addiction to thinking. 16

17 The First Step toward Enlightenment by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy The most important first step toward enlightenment is to dis-identify with the mind. Every time that you recognize a gap in the thought stream, your consciousness grows stronger. You become more curious about the space between your thoughts than the content of thought. Another way to dis-identify with thought is to direct your attention to the present moment. You will notice a deeper sense of being alive and a subtle joy comes to the forefront. In this, you withdraw attention from your mind activity and create a space of no-mind where you are alert and aware, but not thinking. 17

18 Compassion, Service and Suffering by Author, Awake Joy Questioner: ~ We are all ONE... The world is as it should be... Suffering is just due to the dualistic mind. Yes? Then... Is the grief of the mother who has lost her child due to her dualistic thinking? Is the pain the dying child feels just due to the child's dualistic thinking? Is the starvation in the world as it should be? Are the suffering from the victims of war just coming from their dualistic thinking? Is the pain a victim of violence (physical from a broken body and mentally from the experience) just due to the dualistic thinking of the mind...? And is the hope for a "better" world and my goal to do the best I can to ease the suffering just due to my dualistic mind? Katie: This is the very essence of the spiritual quest and life's purpose. Self-realization is the end of all suffering; for us, our relationships, the world, the living earth. Can you imagine this? And yet, there are so many who cannot hear this call. This is not a trivial matter. The impact is as huge as the universe. Our first responsibility is to wake up from the daytime dream of the dual mind, its suffering and its time. When we discover that virtually NOTHING is as it seems, the focus shifts inward. If I am not "me"... then who is really here? Between the Heart that you actually are and the misidentification with the false, separate sense of self (the mind-made self) is the pain gap. Within that gap is not only what appears to be our personal suffering, but also the COLLECTIVE suffering that you are noticing in the world. Through this misidentification, suffering appears not only in our lives... but within the world of form. We blame the world and yet we are projecting it. The only enduring resolution is to dive in and realize the unconditional love, perfect peace and overflowing abundance that we are. In Self-realization, the dual mind is destroyed and realized as the illumined mind that is at home as the Heart. When we 18

19 then turn to look at the world without the pre-existing pain gap... it is the "new earth." It is here now for everyone. The key is within you. Someone shared a story of walking on the street in the city and she came upon a man who was lying on the sidewalk left to die. Everyone on the crowded street was just walking by. They may not have even been conscious of the situation. The person called an aid car and perhaps saved the man from dying. She had an apparent choice there. She could have been scared and upset about the situation, judgmental of the others that were walking by and then generalized it as an uncaring world. This negativity actually strengthens the negativity in the collective consciousness and the negative only gains more power. So we are asked to stay still as the genuine love and compassion that we are. We remain free of judgment and in acceptance of what is. Stay true to the Heart. We are then spontaneously animated in right action. Instead of interpretation (bad, awful, shouldn't be)... yes, this man may be dying... compassion moves us into action. True compassion never reduces to suffering. In the old world, when we saw people suffering, we would begin suffering as well. In the new world, True Compassion remains steadfast as authentic Love in action. It is a mystery why so few hear this call. If we will investigate to discover the falsehood of the separate self, then we dive into the collective ego and realize the delusion of suffering... you are free... and collectively the world is free. Meanwhile, the love that we are is in constant selfless service. We can help Love's child that has fallen on the playground or open a door for the elderly. Every day there are simply ways to give this love away; to be the instrument of true love. We either strengthen the illusion... or we realize the Truth. 19

20 About Katie Davis Formerly from Seattle, Washington, Katie Davis offers talks in spiritual gathers, Advaita satsang for those seeking enlightenment and Self-realization wherever invited and private consultations. In 1986, she had a radical and spontaneous awakening without teachers or spiritual practices. The spiritual realization took twelve year to re-integrate the body and she began sharing her message in Katie Davis is author of Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment and her husband is Sundance Burke, author of Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being, who awakened in 1982 before their meeting with his first teachers, Satoshi (Osho) and Shunyata, named the Rare Born Mystic by his friend, Ramana Maharshi. Sundance s website is at Sundance and Katie travel worldwide offering their message of conscious freedom and causeless joy. In 2004, Sundance and Katie moved to Hawaii to write. Encouraged directly by Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, their books were intimately written with their desks side by side and the expanse of the Pacific Ocean before them. Awake Joy by Katie Davis and Free Spirit by Sundance Burke published in February Private Consultations Katie meets privately with people worldwide either in person or by phone. Instructions for scheduling an appointment are at Scheduling Events or Satsang with Katie Davis Katie offers meetings in spiritual gatherings with churches, organizations and universities or satsang with groups interested in enlightenment and Self-realization. Event testimonials are at If you are interested in hosting an event, please contact awake@katiedavis.org. Book Reviews and Ordering Books To enjoy reader book reviews or to purchase books, please visit Katie s store at or click Store on Katie s website at 20