“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” - Lao Tzu

Once again, I woke up about 22 minutes ago with the voice in my head saying, “You must become the best version of yourself so that you can help someone else become the best version of themselves.”

What does the best version of myself look like?

I believe the best version of all of humanity is when each person operates from a state of Freedom.

What is Freedom?

I used to think freedom was being able to buy whatever I wanted, doing whatever I wanted, and being with whoever I ever wanted.

What I realized is that I can still be in a place of suffering during each of those.

During a deeper reflection, I realized freedom is freedom from the mind.

Free from all its identities, stories, attachments, desires, beliefs, thoughts, and conditioning from our environment, friends, family, etc.

When we act out of conditioning, all of our choices are rooted in a ground of ignorance. Unless you know who you are, all of your choices remain the choices of a slave of the world.

True freedom means waking up to the realization of who we already are.

This is not who you will be, not what you still have to work on, not something that you have to fix or transform, and not something that you have to create.

The direct realization of who you are already and have always been is freedom from the bondage of misidentification.

Humanity has suffered way too much and for a long period of time due to our minds. We must put our minds in its rightful place so that it is no longer in control and the dictator of our lives.

When we no longer live form and through the mind, we begin to live life from our true self, Awareness, and our life will truly become heaven on earth, free from negativity and suffering.

A life of freedom is possible for you. You can awaken this instant and live as love itself.

These newsletters over a period of time will dive much more deeply into “What Is Freedom?’

I honestly feel like I could write a book about it one day, maybe.

How To Become Free From The Mind

A few ways.

1. Awakening to the Truth of who and what we are

2. Silence

3. Burritos and Frozen Margaritas (jk, but not really)

1. One must Know Thyself.

When I ask the question, “Who Are You?” How do you answer?

Do you answer with:

• Your name?

• Your job title?

• A feeling or emotion?

• The voice in your head?

• The 5 senses?

• A body?

Are any of those the Real You?

They can’t be.

If it’s something you “have” it can’t be who you are.

This is called the subject-object relationship. Michael Singer explains this concept really well.

Who are You?

Once you experience and awaken to the truth of who you are, and embody that experience in all of this life, you’ll be free.

Deeply reflect on this:

• Awakening is realizing your true nature as an immortal self.

• Self-realization is the fulfillment of the process of individuation and the ultimate outcome of the stages of ego, as well as the return home to the source of all.

2. Freedom is discovered in the silence.

Silence is the key that unlocks all of the chains of mental slavery.

As the mind becomes more and more quiet, it gives up its attachments. As you discover peace in the depth of quiet, the fear that has been limiting the mind’s exploration naturally loses its hold.

The mind lets go of its hold on the past and future.

When there is no past and future, there is silence. Exploring the depth of this silence leads to a deeper realization beyond the borders of the known.

When your mind is quiet, your intelligent and true nature of love shines.

How does one get quiet? How has everyone who is “enlightened” achieved this?

Meditation.

More in meditation in future newsletters.

How will I know I’m free?

You’ll know when you completely surrender to life and love life unconditionally, no matter what.

What to do with Freedom?

Use this place of Freedom to live a life filled with purpose.

What is purpose? And how to find it & use it?

This is a deep question and to be honest the answer changes for me often.

As I raise my consciousness over time, I tend to agree with the idea that Purpose comes from Pain.

If you look at people who have done great things in the world, most of them stem from experiencing suffering and transmuting that into purpose.

This goes along with the quote I shared in yesterday’s newsletter from Rory Vaden:

”The most powerful position you can be in is to serve the person you once were.”

Example: For me, it’s serving that person who was telling themselves the stories of being “introverted, heartbroken, anxious, and depressed.”

Those labels served as the most suffering time in my life. I was deeply living with them from the ages of 13-19. And since then, I’ve overcome them.

Since I overcame them, I am the perfect person to serve those who are stuck along that path.

Look into the stories of:

• Oprah

• The Rock

• Most non-fiction authors

• Steve Jobs

• Athletes

Most of their purpose in life has stemmed from some type of pain, suffering, and trauma. And digging further into this, most of it comes from childhood, but not all.

There is something in your life that made you think “The world is going to end. I want to die. I will never get through this.”

If you’re reading this right now and you got through that specific problem, that could be your purpose.

If you can’t figure out your purpose in life, that’s okay.

But you must know this… All the answers that you seek in life come from within, and you can only hear the voice in silence.

Here are some quotes for inspiration to get you reflecting more deeply on purpose and life in general:

• The purpose of life is a life of purpose. - Robin Sharma

• The wound is the place where the Light enters you. - Rumi

• Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. - Rumi

• The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. - Joseph Campbell

• Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself. - Rumi

• The Kingdom of God is within you.” - Luke 17:21

• Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ― Rumi

• Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. - Carl Jung

• Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights up the world. — Rumi

What’s stopping you?

Fear.

Fear of:

• Death

• Rejection

• Success

• Failure

All these fears come from the egoic mind.

What I think is the deepest fear is the Fear of Death. I get it. Most people identify as a human body and having a human experience.

If you really want to be free, you’re going to have to face death, and even welcome it. I am not talking here about a suicidal urge, the wish to die as a way of going back to sleep.

It’s not the body that has to die. Let the body live; instead, bear the unbearableness of being alive. When you do, it leads you to the inner abyss, and once you get to the abyss, there is nothing more to bear. You can leave your entire burden behind and fall into that abyss.

It takes great courage to be willing to live and at the same time be willing to die, and that’s what it takes to directly realize and serve the truth.

• Confucius — 'We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.'

This is what people refer to when they say, “You must die before you die to awaken to the truth.”

What do you really want?

Most people’s lives are dedicated to getting what they think they want. The problem is that most people don’t know what they really want.

Most people live in the conditioned wants of family and in the wants of society, with their subconscious fantasies projected onto the world.

In this way, they spend their lives invested in false wants and desires.

Most people only know how to define what they want by what they already have and what they don’t have, by what they want to fix or get rid of, by what they want to keep or increase.

What you really want will come from within.

How do you want to live?

“We thought of life by analogy with a journey, a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, and the thing was to get to that end, success or whatever it is, maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played.” - Alan Watts

The Universe is just one grand song.

Uni - One

Verse - Song

I don’t know about you but I understand the best way to experience a song is through dance.

You don’t ask what a dance means. You enjoy it.

Moonwalk through each chapter in life.

Shake some ass if you have to from time to time.

You either crank that Soulja Boy or it cranks you. You choose.

On a serious note, how do you truly want to experience this life?

Do you want to live in fear?

Do you want to be the light in the world?

Do you want to allow the egoic mind to control your life and make you suffer?

Do you want to allow yourself to be the best version of yourself?

Like me, you have faced life-altering choices: whether to stay or to go, whether to follow what is in your heart or to cling to the safety of the known.

Remember, there is no right or wrong, good or bad answer.

The choice is yours.

Nobody else can choose freedom or purpose on your behalf.

Now is the time.

Y.O.L.O.