Day 4: Abiding as I AM

Day Four of 30 Day Wake-Up challenge

with Adya (Solana’s insights)


Day four begins with a reminder that these teachings are meant to be experienced, to experience the truth of your Being, not just thought about.(This again is emphasized because it can be a turning point to realize that for us to really get it, we need to get if from within ourselves as an insight, as our own realizations. Otherwise it does not go very deep and we are missing the pointer. Also when we realize this, it can help us to realize that this is also true for others, in case you are spending a lot of energy trying to get someone else to realize something.)


Today’s practice we are deciding to Abide in the I Am, before all its personal identities. We generally define ourselves through our thoughts. Remember thoughts are just thoughts, they are not who we are, even though they may create feelings that make us believe that we are those feelings.
(I have heard this many times, but it is only recently that I actually looked to see what it means. When we have feelings, especially intense feelings, we feel them and we naturally associate them as our feelings, that they belong to us, or they are my feelings. That sense of mine, is what makes us believe there is an individual ( I )connected to the feelings, rather than realizing the feelings are just present in a space of awareness. If we realize this it can give us a sense of distance, which can give us some space to see the reality of the truth. People also talk about people can use this as a spiritual bypass of feelings. That is not what we are discussing here, you can realize, yes these feelings are present, and be fully present with them. If you are feeling angry about something it is good to acknowledge that the anger is present. Then it can be released, rather than allowing it to be suppressed in the subconscious, which will rear its head in other ways if it is not acknowledged. The way I deal with these emotions is to acknowledge their presence, and see them as small hurt children that are abandoned, so I welcome them into my heart. That welcoming, that sense of acceptance, is what dissolves them. When we do this, it does benefit the Whole.)

How could a mere thought or collection of thoughts be who you are?

So say to yourself, I Am and feel the stillness afterwards, and again I AM, notice how quiet and silent the experience of I AM. Stay with that for a while.
(There is also a proverb in the Old Testament that says BE Still and know I AM God, that has the same purpose if one contemplates it, and one can drop the word God and say Be still and Know I AM if the word God does not agree with your mind).

The rest of the practice is to notice that thoughts are just thoughts, abstract ephemeral creations of your mind. When the mind has moments of silence you still are, but not as a thought, not as a someone or something to be evaluated or judged. Then to rest in that pure still Sense of I AM, the key word is Sense. Remember we are feeling this to have the sense of experience. Again just I AM, prior to thoughts.

Just rest in the direct awareness of I Am


The I am is awareness’s recognition of itself as awareness. So just rest in this recognition of your true being, of your formless being
And Enjoy!

All of these practices are so powerful, and any one of them can be life transforming. Even just the reminder to Enjoy the practices. It is extremely enjoyable for the Presence to recognize itself. Sometimes I move into great feelings of ecstasy when this happens. So Enjoy.

Many Blessings to you All,

Solana Tara

Day Two 30-Day Wake-up Challenge

Day Two – 30-Day Wake-up Challenge with Adya

Day 2: The spacious and empty nature of awareness

Today Adya asks us to look at the nature of awareness as being spacious and empty.

The practice begins by releasing hold of what is in the mind, just letting what it there be, not trying to figure things out.

I have noticed in the past the mind wanting to figure things out, this has been a powerful pointer for me, because it helps to bring consciousness to what was unconscious before. 

Rest in the knowing that everything is happening in expansive awareness. Notice awareness is effortless.

YOU do NOT need to do anything to make awareness more aware. This seems like common sense, but when I hear this pointer, I realize on some level I have felt like I needed to make awareness more aware, I guess that is like trying to make water wetter.

·       Rest in awareness and notice it is open,

·        Notice felt sense (this is a pointer that has been very helpful, to notice there is a feeling sense)

·       You are not trying to do anything to change content

(what is happening in the mind, this is also helpful to notice because usually if I notice there is an upset feeling, I want to change that)

·       Notice awareness has open feeling, let yourself rest in this spacious, sense and feel the it, that is what we call Presence.

·        Take a moment to rest into this observation it’s knowing that all of your thoughts and feelings  is happening within expansive awareness

You are resting in the fundamental sense of your own being.

So this one pointer has made a huge shift, the noticing that this is really who I am. I notice that it is very helpful to remind myself of this often.

Adya says, That it is important to understand otherwise you will relate to this as sort of a spiritual practice and you will forget that, “wait a minute I am actually EXPLORING my Being, I am exploring who and what I Am.  I am not just doing a technique, I am actually exploring and experiencing my own true nature.”

Again to emphasize, that this pointer has been extremely helpful and I hope to continue to use it, because I can feel the power of the potential for the continuing deepening of realizing, I AM.

So many things that Adya points out in these pointers are so potentially powerfully, that I could continue on but in the name of blogging, I offer this to you today in the hopes it touches something within you.

Many Blessings to you All,

Solana Tara

Awakening is Breaking Free

Spiritual Awakening, I got it, I lost it.

   Many people, including myself, have had Moments of Awakening, Clear Seeing. This is where the realization that we are more than a small, unworthy person. We see that what we are is THAT which sees, sometimes called The Presence.

     I have also had moments of seeing all is right with the world, and that the same Spirit that is in a Holy person is the same Spirit that is in all other beings. This seeing may last a few moments, a day, week, month, or even years, and then is lost again. 

   Here I review chapter three in, The End of Your World, by Adyashanti. He calls the Seer, the Abiding or non- abiding Self. If it stays, it is called Abiding. But even if it is non-abiding, there is a part of us that does not forget. We can never return to the same level of unconsciousness as before.

   I have seen a few people suffer from the idea that they had it and lost it. It is a feeling that we did something wrong and want so much to get it back. Adya comforts us by assuring us that it is just part of the natural awakening process. 

     Here Adya uses a great rocket ship metaphor for awakening. “A rocket ship takes a tremendous amount of thrust and energy to get off the ground and then to break the gravitational field as it travels through the sky and ultimately into space. If there is enough fuel in the rocket and it gets far enough from the Earth, it can eventually get beyond the gravitational field of the planet. Once the rocket is beyond Earth’s gravitational field, Earth no longer has the power to pull it back down.  

   He is calling the ego structure, aka the dream state, as the Earth. Its gravitational force tends to pull consciousness down to itself. This force is what one is dealing with throughout the entire spiritual journey. 

Awakening is Breaking Free from this Gravitational Force.  

       At first, awakening may be a realization that there is not a separate ‘me’. Here is a key point:

Because we have awakened does not mean that consciousness has gotten past the gravitational pull of the dream state” (aka the ego structure). 

       ‘Thus the I got it, I lost it phenomenon. The rocket ship has gotten off the ground, gone a few miles up into the atmosphere, and ran out of fuel and is being pulled back to Earth,’ (the ego structure, that which suffers, that which believes it is separate, that which believes things should be different than they are, that which resists what is.)  

       Awakening happens in just a moment, but the dissolution of the ego takes time, the process that takes one beyond the gravitational force of the Earth.  

       The above point has been pivotal for my understanding of my awakening process. This is why I am sharing this now. I feel like I am in a major recycling project. There is a noticing of situations that still create a sense of contraction. Now I see, anytime there is a resistance within me, that is the ego gravitational force. Some thoughts are easier to release into the recycle bin than others. And there are still a few that show up that are quite a bit heavier. Although it may be uncomfortable when they arrive as a roommate in my consciousness, I am grateful to work on letting go of whatever takes me away from the Truth of my Being. I am working with being Present with that which is feeling uncomfortable, and bringing in a sense of compassion. 

    This process is happening to the Consciousness of Human Beings as a whole, and we are all asked to participate if we are aware enough to do so. So know it is part of natural awakening, to get it and then to lose it and that we are being asked to look at that which resists what is, and release that into the Grand Recycle Center of the Universe.  

  May we all Awaken to the truth of our Being.

Blessings, Solana

P.S. This is a re-write of an earlier post and I still find it relevant now.

What is most important?

What is the most important thing for you to realize in your life?

To realize your inner Beingness.

How do you do that?

Step out of thinking.

Really! Is that possible without years of meditation?

Yes, you can do it in a moment, in this moment. Want to try it?

I don’t think I can.

How would you know unless you tried? Here is a simple glimpse behind the thinking mind. It is very simple, so don’t miss it. Bring your attention to the breath, consciously breathe in, as you would normally but count how many seconds it takes you to breathe in, and then do the same for exhaling. After the third round of breaths, pause at the end of the inhalation, pause for just a moment, but explore the pause with your feelings. For me, it feels vast, open, expansive, and wondrous.

How does it feel for you? You might also use words such as peaceful, or still. That is a glimpse of your true Being, that lies behind the thinking mind. If you like what you experienced, as much as I do, then you allow your love for it to inspire you to want to realize that space more and more to accomplish in a sense what may be called the highest purpose of your life.