by Leonard Jacobson: Awakening is simple. In just one evening teaching session, or a private or telephone session, I can reveal to you the keys to liberating yourself from the world of the mind, so that you open up into the fully awakened state of Presence. There is nothing complicated about being present. It is our natural state.

But remaining present in our day to day life is not so easy. We are constantly pulled back into the world of the mind where the ego prevails. Once again we are limited by our past emotional wounds and limiting beliefs. Once again, we become entangled in our remembered past or imagined future. Once again, we become entangled within relationships.

If you want to become permanently established in freedom and Presence, you will have to do the work.

What is the work?

1. Learn how to be present. Remember to be present whenever you can each day. Deepen into Presence. Become more and more grounded in Presence, so that the present moment becomes the very foundation of your existence.

2. Bring consciousness to how and when you are pulled out of Presence.

3. Get to know your own ego. How does it function? What is its role in your life? What are its patterns of control and manipulation? What are its strategies of survival? How does it trick or seduce you out of the present moment and keep you imprisoned within the past and future world of the mind? How can you remain awake and present if the ego is still in control, and allowed to function unconsciously!

4. Who have you become at the level of mind and ego? You must be willing to own, acknowledge and confess every aspect of your ego, with an attitude of love and acceptance. If there is any judgment of any aspect of yourself, or others, you cannot awaken.

5. Bring consciousness to the energy of judgment, blame and guilt within you.

6. You must come into right relationship with your feelings. Learn how to express your feelings responsibly and in a way that leads to true healing. Allow all those feelings repressed within you to surface into conscious expression, for healing and release. If you have feelings from the past repressed within you, they will constantly be triggered. You will be pulled out of the truth and reality of the present moment, over and over again. A painful and unhealed past, and all the limiting beliefs you learned in childhood about yourself, others and life, will continually project onto the present moment, distorting it.

7. Bring consciousness to the hooks that get you entangled in others. To be awakened means that you have disentangled yourself from your own past and future and you have disentangled yourself from others.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a passage which appears on page 149 of Embracing the Present,

A difficult journey

“It has been almost impossible for me to escape from my mind’s world. It has been a difficult journey to escape from the entanglements of my own past. What hope do I have if I am caught in your mind’s world?

How can I untangle myself from your past? How can I untangle myself from your expectations, your fear, your anger, your hurt, your blame, your guilt, your childhood wounds and unfulfilled needs. These things belong to your past. Not mine. You have no right to take me there. Untangle yourself. Come out of your mind. Be present with me. Remind me to be present with you. Free of the past, let us share the present moment together.