this changed my understanding of meditation forever...

[@vandakocsis9163]

You unintentionally saying leaves are "born" in spring was actually my favourite part of the video, because nature is the easiest way to connect to our higher selves. Being "born" is not a decision, it's a beautiful thing that simply happens through nature, just like we simply are enlightened it's not a choice we have to make. As long as we go with the flow of being re-born like a leaf in spring, enlightenment just is. 💫

[@williamshaw2638]

What a beautiful perspective and way of expressing it! Thank you for sharing Vanda 🙏🏼✨️

[@TheAuraAddict]

This is a great video and makes so much sense! Thankyou for this content ✨

[@williamshaw2638]

You're very welcome. I'm glad it resonated. Thank you for commenting! 🙏🏼

[@cedtaovisuals]

Wow I feel myself stuck in this automatic loop like you describe often until I realize this Wisdom. I guss it comes down to not identifying instantly with any thought activity that is appearing, but rather towards realizing that we are more than this fragmented part of consciousness. From seperation to unity, where one is longer identified with the false self. Incredible. I believe at the begining of spirituality this is Wisdom is not available because becoming free has not reached a high enough importance so there is not enough intention.

[@williamshaw2638]

That realisation you just described, I believe is one of the most powerful and important realisations we can have as people. The realisation that we are not the incessant talking voice in our heads, we are something beyond it. Beautiful. And yes absolutely, there would be no growth without some form of catalyst. The reason I am where I am with this Spiritual journey, I believe, is because I NEEDED to grow and evolve in these understandings because my levels of mental suffering were becoming too painful to continue overlooking. Therefore, the level of importance for me to awaken was VERY high. To the point where, for me, there was no other choice. Thank you for sharing your perspective! It was very resonant! ✊🏼

[@cedtaovisuals]

@@williamshaw2638 Amazing bro that's incredible that you transcended and got over these catalysts! I can totally relate because the past few months have been very intense for me regarding spiritual growth. How old are you? You look pretty young. I am asking because I am 18 and I have not met any other people around my age where self-realization is ones highest passion. I also find it funny how I used to consume spiritual content for years prior and my Mind would always "yea that makes sense" but it truly is something completely different to fully embody spirituality and live it. When I turned 18 a few months ago I had my first "real" awakening and it actually feels like waking up from a bad dream while realizing that you falsely identified yourself with the dream character and not the whole dream, event though the totality of the dream is being projected by ones own consciousness The "I am" state. It is however very challenging for me to fully step into this being because it means the death of my old desires and my old sense of self. I have not managed to fully let go of it, which is why I drift into unconsciousness often. I believe even the desire itself to become free and "search" for awakening is a mind activity of its own which has to be transcended. How did you integrate this Wisdom and eternal knowledge that I one is pure consciousness? I believe I know the answer: Fully move into the eternal present and not be resistant to any experience and perception. My highest desire is to be fully authentic also because my passion is Filmmaking. I need to fully surrender but it is not easy even though it is at the same time... This spiritual path is so subtle and it feels like unlocking a whole different layer of existence it is so crazy hahhaha... I know that at one point living becomes effortless because the state of non doership arrives when both polarities are met with giving and receiving. BEcause only what one does not give can be lacking

[@williamshaw2638]

Wow! You have this level of insight at 18?! That's amazing man! I'm 24 and started my Spiritual Awakening Journey in the last few months of being 19. But it sounds like you've been on this journey a while! That's so cool! Yeah I used to obsessively consume so much Spiritual content too 😂 My mind loved it because I was gaining all these juicy concepts and ideas that it could chew on and mull over. However, like you said, it's a whole different thing to actually start living and experiencing the actual reality that all those concepts are pointing to. That's when it truly starts to click, when we go beyond the mental world of concepts and therefore, we go beyond the ego as well. Because the mind/ego can only ever understand and the IDEA of something, it can never experience the reality of it beyond thought. Yeah the fear of stepping into more and more of your true nature can be so terrifying because it can literally feel like your dying. Everything that you thought you were, everything you have been used to, every idea, assumption, belief about yourself and reality that gave you a sense of stability and security and familiarity. All of that comes under threat. So when I first started integrating this understanding, I ended up fully living from pure consciousness for a while. No William Shaw was present, just pure silence. It was nice. However, in early 2021, I then had a very traumatic experience that triggered a BOATLOAD of existential fears and dread and for the next 2 years I was dealing with the aftermath of that. I was healing and letting go of lots of different traumas, belief systems, etc. It was a long journey. And I still have echos of those existential fears arise every now and then even today. However, every time they arise and are addressed by me, they get less and less potent so they are very manageable now and well on their way out. Because I've had experiences both with residing in the pure peace of consciousness beyond all ideas of self, and also healing aspects of my character that don't align with my authentic self and the person I want to be, Ive kinda found a balance point between the two. I am connected to and can reside in the state of pure consciousness and from that state, when old anxieties, sadness, anger, arise and make themselves known, I can then heal them and intergrate them back into the pure awareness and the authentic self that I am. I'm not sure if this answered your questions 😂 but that's where I'm at, at this point in my journey 🙌🏼

[@cedtaovisuals]

@@williamshaw2638 Yeah bro that helped me a lot, very inspiring story! What I’ve noticed myself and what your story shows, is that an awakening does not mean peace and fluffy love forever and after. The Journey just begins there 😭 It’s amazing you managed to get over this trauma and fear and stepped into the light and now also helping others with youtube that’s truly inspiring! I feel myself in the same process. I believe I was ignoring and scared of my shadow for my whole life but now everything is just coming to the surface and every time I meditate I feel this suffering deeply and my chest pounding. That’s part of the purification process I believe and being conscious doesn’t mean being peaceful but rather accepting everything that is without resistance. And that lesson can only be drilled into oneself by the need to transcend this suffering . It’s so paradoxical how the sufferer really does not exist but at the same time it feels so real and the scent of the ego is immediate identification with every thought and emotion. But the ego can only create suffering because it believes I am my body, my mind and my past life experiences which is not true exclusively. It’s so easy in theory but when one has lived their whole life not in truth like our whole world basically it can be very challenging. Amazing man I wish you the best and I’m excited for your upcoming videos.

[@williamshaw2638]

Thank you man! Yeah it's been one hell of a journey so far. 😂 But I'm grateful for all of it. If anything hadn't happened exactly the way it did. I wouldn't have the understanding and awareness I have today. It's all been such a blessing! Also, it sounds like you have a really in depth understanding of the ego there man! That's incredible! That's how I would describe the ego too. Not as a separate entity in and of itself, but instead it's the mental act of identifying with thoughts and feelings, that are actually just old subconcious programming automatically playing out, and the physical body. "I think. MY thoughts. I'M old. I'M young. I'M tired. I'M angry." Whereas, it's actually more like. "Thoughts are arising. Anger is arising. Tiredness is being felt." And I'm not perfect ya know. Ive been through many cycles in the past 4 years where I've been pulled back into ego identity. And I'm sure there will be times in my future too. However, Ive found that once the awakening journey has been activated within oneself, it can never be fully undone. You can never fully go back to how you were before it. And that's a wonderful thing I've found. Thanks for your support man! I really appreciate it. 🙏🏼 I'm excited to hear more about your journey in the future! So make sure you comment again sometime! 🙌🏼

[@water_wind_]

Staying aware of your highest state of being is not an automatic process by any means, even if it happens naturally, it's not something you should rely on happening by itself without staying present, so that's not very good advice in my opinion.. "its okay to stay lost in useless thoughts, you'll come out of it eventually" is kind of the vibe that gives off. I find it challenging to stay in the state of higher awareness. The easiest way to stay in this state is to "chase" the present moment. Otherwise, great video.

[@williamshaw2638]

When we want to remember something we've forgotten, we can set the strong intention that we want the memory to arise (try to think back, retrace our steps if we can remember the steps, etc) However, I'm sure you'll be able to agree, sometimes the memory arises right there when we want it to, but sometimes it may hit us days later, or sometimes we never remember what we wanted to at all. And that's because, even though we set the intention to remember something, we are not in control of whether or not that memory comes back or when. We cannot force a memory to arise. This, Ive found, is the same with meditation. We can set the strong intention to stay in the present moment, however, we cannot 'force' our mind's to stop having thoughts and 'force' ourselves to remain present. Any time I have tried to take full control of that process in the past, it has only caused me to become less present. Because instead of fully experiencing the present moment, there's a strong mental insistence from the ego creating stress and pressure to meet some sort of standard of what it believes successful meditation looks like. It keeps us in a rat race of striving for a certain perfectionistic ideal. I'm not suggesting that we just fully indulge in all of our egoic thoughts and mental habits and use the excuse of "Oh well awakening will happen no matter what." The intention to become present and having the practise of meditation (dedicating a daily slot of time where you intend to remain concious) is still vital to cultivating the experience of prescence by becoming more and more familiar with that state. All I'm saying is be careful not to get caught up in the mind's tendency to have you believe that you are in charge of micromanaging every step of the awakening process. It is your job to dedicate yourself to and to keep choosing this path, keep intending to be present. But ultimately, you are not in control of when you get caught up in the thoughts. You don't "choose" to become unaware in that moment. The same way you don't "choose" to then become aware and return to prescence. That bit is happening without your concious input. Does this help make it a bit clearer?