Why are things the way they are in the world?

If life is basically spiritual, why is the world in such a mess?

It's a broad question and it requires a broad reply. When Gautama became finally enlightened after many years of struggle and sacrifice and seeing the futility of seeking, he awoke and became known as the Buddha. The first things he said were, "I am awake. There is no creator nor creation. There is in Truth only Nirvana." This is, of course, unintelligible to someone who is not aware. What he meant was that there is only Nirvana (spiritual joy). The world of matter is created by mind and had nothing to do with pure spirit.
A Course in Miracles explains it best when it emphasizes that Spirit is beyond time and space and therefore enjoyed endless Beingness. Then a 'mad idea' took place when thought started with the idea that it could manifest and enjoy material expression. The world of form started by creating opposites known as duality. Duality meant that everything had to have an opposite in order to exist as form. "up" had to have a "down" and black had to have white in order to see. Male had to have female to procreate. The form had to have two brains -- Right and Left Hemispheres in order to function in the world. The Right brain was the egoless state and experiences joy and innocence as its natural state. However, it needed a Left brain to survive in the world of form. The left brain was built for linear time, space, survival instinct, ego, business sense, money management, intellect and love of power. When a form (human being) was balanced by right and left hemispheres then it was able to cope with daily life and still have a modicum of understanding. The left brain has no love of truth and in fact it is conditioned through survival by doubt and fear. So, while the Right brain is egoless, the left brain is all ego. And, since most people live from ego then the need for power is great. The greater the ignorance of one's true nature, the greater the need for external power. We see this in dictators in middle-east countries. War is inevitable when the leaders want personal power. The need for power completely blocks the right brain so that it is deprived from compassion and, cruelty becomes its way.
The way the world is, is the creation of the left-brain mind and until there is awakening in spirit, there is little hope for world peace and intelligence. Women, as a rule, use more of their Right-brain than men and it is because they are more based on feeling than just intellect.
Is the world real? How could such horrific things we experience in the world be truth? Truth is the joy, peace and love that are in spirit. It was the split from spirit that created the world of duality. However, since the world is not the Truth then it can be a catalyst for Truth. For example, if you suffer and surrender this suffering for greater courage and trust in the true essence that you are, then you zoom to Self-realization. If someone hurts you and you forgive, then you take a giant leap towards pure spirit. So, we can use our experiences on earth to gain our inner heaven. We were cast out from the garden of Eden (you know the analogy) when we chose duality (the tree of good and evil) but it also became our journey back home. Everything is alright as it is as long as we understand the law of oneness.
With love,
Burt

I want versus I AM

"I want to be spiritually awake. This want is driving me crazy since it is all I want."

This sounds commendable and might even be sincere, but the fact is that it is the ego seeking in order to appease itself. The truth is this -- if the love of truth was a great fire then there is no wanting but Being. This flame for truth is enough for awakening. It will make you see what is truly obvious here and now. The Truth is the simplest thing in the world...it is simply awareness. Awareness is everything and nothing happens without awareness. There is no life without awareness. However, here's the crunch -- we identify with what we are aware-of. What you are aware-of is thought. To know the difference between thought and awareness is the understanding that is necessary since both thought and awareness need each other to live a life on earth.
Wanting is egoic and here's the truth about wanting...it blocks you from realization. Wanting creates a future time whereas BEING is here and now.

There are four wants in life. Each want creates in itself an equal and opposite action.
For example, if you wanted to be healthy then you'd be afraid of being unhealthy and your preoccupation would be to NOT BEING UNHEALTHY. Another instance is wanting to find love and spend most of your energy seeking it. When you find it you'll be afraid of losing it and at every turn find your greatest fear -- rejection of love.
If your wanting was to remain young and good-looking then you'd be afraid of growing old.

There are FOUR WANTS in Humanity:
1. Want control. Wanting control is the fear of not having control and acts like anger. Real control is direct experience of the anger and releasing it.
2. Want Love. Wanting love creates the feeling you don't have it and you keep giving your power away.
3. Want security/survival. This creates the nagging feeling of insecurity and the belief that life is dog-eat-dog.
4. Want Separation. This is the need to be special, self-important, better than... This creates its own egoic image and spent energy protecting an illusion.

You are a human being. This means that although there are over 6 billion humans on this earth, there is only One Being. This One Being is who you are. It is your essence. It is your truth. It is universal love. It is the 'I' of the collective universe. Just as the human is filled with 'wants' so is BEING being them. In other words, it is all about 'NOW.' If you want something than know that what you truly want is already the case in essence. Stop wanting and BE IT! If you don't know how to be -- then spend time sitting in stillness and asking your deepest essence who you are in this moment! "Who am I?" "What am I?" and if you are sincere and truly devoted to what is real and lasting (truth) then it will dawn on you -- inevitably!

Note: Email me and ask for the booklet "Awakening to Love and Freedom."

How to release emotional pain!!

I suffer panic attacks, depression and I am often feeling sad for no apparent reason. Can you help me?

There is a conditioned memory in your unconscious that often reminds you of your past judgments of yourself. These beliefs of 'not-being-good-enough' or that 'you-are-missing-something' are subtle feelings that make you believe there is something wrong with you without knowing what it is. This is referred to as unconscious guilt and it could have been from a former lifetime or in your childhood. Please know that you are NOT alone in this and most people suffer this inner dread. This is released when we get to know who we really are. Below is a simple technique you can start doing until you can actually free yourself from this emotional pain. It requires courage and willingness to do it. Unfortunately, many people do not like releasing their conditioned thinking even if it is miserable. It is your responsibility. Above all know this -- you are NOT a victim of these thoughts and feelings. Your true nature is awareness and not what your mind is producing.
Watch the video-clip below and then follows its suggestions...

What is the difference between Awareness & Consciousness?

I keep hearing about Awareness and then the word Consciousness in the same context, can you explain the difference?

They are similar but not the same. While Consciousness is everything we perceive, and in fact, is perception itself, awareness is the watcher or witnesser of what we think and perceive. Consciousness has to do with thought and its creation. Consciousness is all mind and the world or worlds we experience as if they are real. Consciousness is always changing, shifting, creating and destroying, whereas Awareness is stable, constant, eternal and never-changing. When you think, you can be aware that you are thinking. In other words, awareness can be aware of consciousness but it can't be the other way around. Although most people confuse the two, they are like thought and awareness. They need each other but are definitely not the same.
In the deeper truth we can say that Awareness is the One Being or Christ Self and it, when recognized, will bring transformation. Awareness was never created because it has no beginning or end. Awareness is timeless and when awakened (known or recognized) it is experienced as love, joy, glory and a multitude of other equally inexplicable heavenly feelings. It is our Home. On the other hand, consciousness is the power of mind and creates through thought and emotion. How we live and feel in the world is an exact replica of our consciousness.

What happens when the body dies?

What happens when the body dies? Is the dream of an individual reconfigured into alternate universes? Or does honestly no one know...even awakend "ones"?

When the body dies we are still just as alive as before but with an astral form rather than a physical one.

I was always afraid of death and the subject fascinated me. I started researching the possibility of life after death. I studied psychology, philosophy, metaphysics and an experience led me to hypnotherapy.
In my thirty years of hypnotherapy I discovered that most people's problems started at their birth through transgressions done in a past life. These regressions in past lives through hypnosis opened up a whole new world for me. Cases even of cancer were getting healed. People with panic problems started feeling wonderful.

Let me give you an example, I had a Jew come to see me and he wanted to know why he is being treated so badly by people. All his life he played a victim of people's insults and abuses. Then during a hypnotherapy session he relived a life where he was a gentile abusing Jews. He was so cruel to them that he was born a Jew to re-experience his own abuses on himself. I also had a young gay guy who was ashamed of being gay being ostracized by his own family. During a regression into a past life he discovered he was a woman in his last life and died being raped. His sudden reincarnation into this life brought him into a male body with female characteristics. After our third session he was completed healed from his shame and now he is a successful designer. These are not isolated cases.

So, to answer your question on death -- there is absolutely no death except our fear of losing our body believing that the body is who we are. This is why most people need to wake up spiritually. There is no death my friend but eternal life. The truth is the Eternal NOW that only changes in form but not in essence. NOW is always NOW beyond time.

You wrote and misquoted me...

"It has been seen or understood that there really is no defecative person within my body, but, rather it is just thoughts that come and go. I have heard you say in your Videos your true essence is what you are aware of. "

Yes, it is true that there are thoughts that come and go but you are pure awareness. Your true essence is NOT what you are aware-of. Your true essence is pure awareness. Please review my video and really listen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4N5thGHU0

So, to repeat, your true nature is Pure Awareness, which is timeless and always NOW beyond life and death. It is what you are aware-of that lives and dies, comes and goes and creates the world we experience. When the body drops as in 'death' then we are still fully aware just as much as before BUT what we are aware-of changes. What never changes is Pure Awareness. If you watch the clip a few times with great attention you can get quite an insight. Please know the difference between AWARENESS and THOUGHT. Awareness is undying and eternal essence. Thought is what you are aware-of and always changes, shifts and alters.

You asked...

If the universe is in me. I have no locality in time and space. That's fine, then how come this non-local awareness is only aware of the thoughts in this body called Mike at this present moment? Are we just "holes" for awareness to peak through?

There is only one 'I' often referred to as 'me.' However, initially when there is no spiritual awakening, we take this 'I' to be personal and local and also as the body. When we start seeing that our awareness has no boundary except through thought, then we start realizing that 'others' have the same essence as you. In fact, you are a human being. there are 6 billion humans on this earth but only One Being. Each human says, "I am John or Mary" but in Reality there is only one 'I' known as God or LOVE (true pure awareness known as love). Spiritual awakening happens when we realize that this 'I' which we had taken to be 'me' is the true 'I' in its expanded state beyond the body. What I am giving you are words and cannot explain the inexplicable, however, as your heart opens you will begin to see what is obvious here and now.

With love always,
Burt