Presence and Mastery

The Enlightenment Teachings of Leonard Jacobson

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Leonard Jacobson - "When The True Master Arises From Within: (Video)

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Awakening

Awakening involves crossing a threshold

from one level of consciousness to another.

There are three levels of consciousness.

The first is the level of mind.

At the level of mind, your experience of life

is always filtered through the mind,

and governed by the mind.

The mind, which is meant to serve you,

has become the master,

and the real Master is fast asleep.

At the level of mind the focus is on the past

and the future, which are constantly projected

onto the present moment.

The reality of the present moment is never truly

experienced and the illusions projected

by the mind are mistaken for reality.

You spend your whole life trying to solve

problems, overcome limitations or heal wounds

which are a part of your past and do not exist

in the reality of the present moment.

Life at the level of mind is the world of Maya.

It is a world of illusion.

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Question 15

I have been on a spiritual path now for 30 years and now I find myself in a crisis. I am in a relationship. She is a good, loving & generous person but mentally and verbally there is a great deal of chaos between us. It is exhausting and energy-draining. I am more interested in the Center-less Space of Being, while she tends to dwell on emotional and sentimental things, which I experience as a burden. I feel psychically drained for two or three days after we have had sex. What shall I do? Am I destroying myself in this relationship? Could this be the point in my life, where I have to 'die' to that too and let go of the need to be in a relationship? Answer Your question is a long one, and not one I can reply to with any kind of brevity. You are clearly caught in a dysfunctional relationship. This will keep you caught in the mind and the past and future, preventing you from deepening into life lived in the present moment. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We learn and deepen from these experiences. The key is to not linger in the situation longer than it takes to learn your lessons. From your question, it seems like you see her as the problem. It seems like you are blaming her for your situation at some subtle level. This indicates that you are not taking full responsibility for yourself. You need to look very carefully at the events unfolding in your life right now. What is it within you that enables you to be hooked in this way. Take responsibility for those hooks. No one can do anything to you and no one can keep you in a situation that you do not want to be in. Only you have that kind of power over yourself. How do you give yourself away? What do you need from her? What are you getting out of remaining with her? What are your fears? Relationship gives us the opportunity to witness certain aspects of our personality/ego, which we would prefer to ignore. Be observant of your control patterns and your judgements. Be observant as to how present you are with her. How do you express love with her? How much compassion is in your heart? I do not mean that you should judge yourself or her in any way, but rather bring consciousness to these things. If you have done all this, and the relationship is still not right for you, then move on immediately. But do so with love and compassion. You are not responsible for any one other than your self. If she chooses to be a victim, that is her responsibility. To be a victim is a powerful manipulation, although much of her problems would stem from her childhood or her past lives and do not have a lot to do with you. Even feeling hurt is a kind of manipulation. If she is hurting, you are supposed to alter your behavior towards her. It is a strategy learned in childhood, which was not effective then, and is still ineffective. She needs to awaken into her own power. All you can do, is allow her to be herself and express herself. Do not react. Be present with her. Be loving. Do not judge her in any way, But also do not become involved with her manipulations. Just be present with her to the best of your ability. At the deepest level that is all we want from each other anyway. We are all suffering from the same wound. It is the feeling that no one is really present with us. We feel alone and separate. This wound originates not only in our childhood. It stems from the birth experience itself and from other realms and dimensions of our existence. It is a wound which carries over from our childhood into all the days of our lives until we awaken into that dimension of life and ourselves which exists within the present moment. We have to heal and release the past, so that we can be more fully present. Conscious relationships are based upon the present moment. In a conscious relationship, we relate to each other in the moment and do not seek comfort from the idea that someone will be there to make us feel safe in one year or five years or for a lifetime. In truth there is only NOW!. We must come to terms with that simple fact. It will open us into a life of freedom, truth and love. I hope that my answer is helpful to you. You can always book a private telephone session with me or attend a seminar if you want further guidance. My three books also offer comprehensive guidance in these matters. I wish you and your friend all the very best. May love prevail in your thoughts, words and actions.

http://www.leonardjacobson.com/teachings/Q-and-A.php

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Watch a replay of "An Evening in Presence" with Leonard Jacobson, a free video webcast from Tuesday, July 22. The replay will be available through Thursday, July 24.  TO VIEW A LIVE WEBCAST OR A WEBCAST REPLAY:

Visit the following link to watch a live webcast or a recorded webcast replay. http://www.leonardjacobson.com/events/video-webcasts.php

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The next  Evening Teaching Session and Free Webcast Tuesday, July 22nd at 7:00pm Pacific time. TO ATTEND IN PERSON: Evening Teaching Sessions are held in the Santa Cruz area.  Seating is limited and preregistration is necessary. To attend in person, please email [email protected]. Directions will be emailed to you.  TO ATTEND VIA FREE LIVE VIDEO WEBCAST: You can attend via live video webcast from anywhere in the world. A replay will be available shortly after the event ends and will remain available for 72 hours.  SUBMIT A QUESTION: Please be aware that Leonard is more likely to answer those questions that are expressed clearly and succinctly. You can submit your question at any time up to 90 minutes before the event begins.    To submit a question, click here: http://www.leonardjacobson.com/questions.php

To register for the webcast, or to log in, click here: http://www.leonardjacobson.com/events/video-webcasts.php

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Evening Teaching Session and Live Video Webcast

July 22, 2014 - 7;00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. PDT

Santa Cruz, CA

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"As you transition from the past and future world of the mind to the awakened world of now, you will begin to experience yourself in an entirely new way. A way that is free of the pain and limitations of the past, and free of anxiety about the future. And you will begin to experience the abundance that is ever present in each moment." ~ Leonard Jacobson

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Revealing Who You Have Become:

In this video, Leonard Jacobson speaks about the process of revealing who you’ve become in your story, which is an essential part of awakening. He explains how revealing who you’ve become opens the doorway to the the truth of who you really are.

This video was taken from a live video webcast with Leonard Jacobson. January 7th, 2014. When Leonard is not traveling, he offers live video webcasts on a regular basis. They are free. For more information, visit: http://www.leonardjacobson.com

We have many video and audio downloads on our website. For a complete list, visit: http://www.leonardjacobson.com

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The true Master arises from within. It is that eternal Silent Presence at the very center of your Being. It is the “I am” of you. It is pure consciousness itself.

Leonard Jacobson

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Free on-line video collection available on Leonard's new web site http://www.leonardjacobson.com/teachings/videos.php

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"To be fully awake and enlightened simply means to be fully present in the moment of now. To be present is the simplest thing. It is your natural state."

Leonard Jacobson

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Check out our new website!

We are delighted to announce that we have a redesigned website. Take a look. We think you  will love it. There is so much free content on the website that it will inform, inspire and guide you on your journey of awakening. www.leonardjacobson.com

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Leonard's latest posting: Nurturing the Seed of Presence

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Everything and Nothing:

This video clip contains Leonard's parting words from the end of a 5-day retreat in Presence. Leonard explains how the more time we spend being present, the more Presence grows within us and flows from us as we express in the world. He speaks about the process of becoming grounded in the present moment, so eventually Presence becomes the foundation of our being.  This short video was filmed at a retreat with Leonard Jacobson at the Mt Madonna Retreat Center, near Santa Cruz, CA in November 2011. You can download individual videos from this retreat or the entire set of retreat videos on Leonard's website at the following link... http://store.leonardjacobson.com/collections/video-downloads/  The focus of the retreat was on healing and releasing blocks and obstacles to awakening and opening fully into Presence, Love and Oneness. These videos feature selected talks by Leonard at the retreat. They do not include the many amazing healings that occurred during the retreat as participants shared so openly of themselves, nor do they include Leonard's interaction with participants as he refines the path of awakening for those in attendance. For information about the next retreat or other upcoming events with Leonard: 

http://www.leonardjacobson.com/index.php

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Neither For Nor Against

"You can think but do not become identified with what you are thinking about.  

Do not take a position for or against whatever it is that you are thinking about. 

The moment you become identified with your thoughts, you are caught into the mind.

The moment you believe in your thoughts as the truth, you are lost in the mind."

~ Leonard Jacobson, Embracing The Present

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Presence and Intimacy - Mt Madonna Retreat, 2011 ~ Leonard Jacobson In this video clip from a 5-day retreat in Presence with Leonard Jacobson, Leonard shares what it feels like to be present. He identifies the first step on the path of awakening and describes the intimacy we feel when we are present in this moment.

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Question 14 Does God speak to us individually? I want desperately to believe in God.

Answer

From my perspective, belief in God is the obstacle to knowing God. Belief is a function of the mind and we can only know God through direct experience. Belief is what we resort to when we do not know God through our own direct experience.

So how does one have a direct experience of God?

God is here now, but we are not! Mostly we are lost in the world of the human thinking mind. It is a world of the remembered past and the imagined future. It is a world of thought, memory, imagination, concept, opinion, idea and belief. When we are in the world of the thing mind, the one place we are not is in the world of the present moment.

God is present. God exists as the silent presence at the very heart of all things present. The present moment and all that is in the present moment is God revealed.

If we are to know God, we must bring ourselves to where God is. In other words if we are to know God, we must bring ourselves fully present. At first, the experience of being present may seem ordinary. But as you remain present, and deepen into presence, the hidden treasure is revealed. Slowly and gradually, you will encounter the living Presence of God in all things present.

The more you choose to be present, the more you will become grounded in that dimension of you which exists in this moment and no other. I am not saying that you cannot continue to function with the mind and the world of time. Of course you can. You do not have to be fully present all the time. What is most important is that you honor the present moment as the truth of life, and recognize everything else as an illusion. Sometimes it is a happy illusion. At other times, it is an unhappy and painful illusion. The unhappy times bring us the opportunity and incentive to awaken, for who will choose to awaken out of a happy dream? Very few!

The direct experience of God is essentially an experience in Silence and oneness with all things present. Everything that you can see, hear, taste and touch is the body of God and so why would you not choose to be fully present with it?

To awaken means to free your self from the limited world of the mind and become fully present.

How to accomplish this is beyond the scope of this answer. I suggest that you read my three books and if you have further questions, I would be happy to answer them. A telephone session is also very helpful in bringing it all together and entering into the fully awakened state.

Does God speaks to us individually? The answer is that if we are fully present we enter into direct relationship with God and so we can speak to God and God can speak to us.

God exists at the very heart of silence within us. If you are fully present and silent, you open the door to God. In conversing with God, speak from silence into silence. And make sure that any response arises from silence and not from some part of your thinking mind. God's responses can come in the form of words, or a visual image or a feeling of peace and love. God's response can also be one of total silence. You will have to surrender all expectations when speaking to God, for those expectations will hold you in the mind and keep you separate from God.

Finally, how God responds to you will depend largely on what you bring to God. My experience is that the more you bring love and gratitude and silent Presence to God, the more God will respond to you.

It is important to know that God is not separate from you and that the deepest level of Oneness is realized in perfect loving silence. Not one word need be spoken.