Exploring triggers, control, identification.
10 May 2025
Quick question: Have you ever felt stuck between seeking answers and simply letting life unfold?
In this candid and humorous group dialogue, participants explore triggers, control, and the sneaky ways self-identification creeps back in. You’ll hear real examples of how people catch themselves “doing awakening” and what happens when they stop trying.
That’s why we’re sharing this conversation—to offer a fresh, relatable look at the pathless path of awakening and to remind you: you’re not alone in this dance.
Reply (on Substack below the video? or below the video on YouTube - or here if you want to keep it private; https://1ness.info/?page_id=50) and tell where have you noticed yourself grasping for control in your own experience? ..or better yet, come to a group where your experience will be of value to others. (..and theirs for you)
No pressure, no judgment—just a friendly space to explore what’s already happening. Looking forward to seeing you!
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and one each Monday 7 am ( Sydney Australia time)
and each Wednesday at 4 pm (Sydney Australia time)
and every Friday 7 am (Sydney time) - never published.
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Click here to Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86991485768...
Here is a link to all of the published recordings. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
Audio files can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...
There is also paid 1on1 guiding here:
Although the website still requires a lot of work, there are resources there;
https://WakingUpWithVince.com
Here is a working version PDF of the web site that can be downloaded.
Here is a link to a new chatbot using the website as it’s knowledgebase.
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67a6d7d9cb548...
Given the multitude of small costs (that add up to something significant) required to produce these offerings, please consider donating whatever you can comfortably afford. Moneys over and above running costs are directed to the establishment of Suan Jai Sanctuary. (more on this later)
..and remember - lots of little bits make a big bit. ❤️
The Walk (described by the Discover Awakening chatbot)
Here's a description of an experience that one participant had after this mornings meeting..
The sun, still holding the gentle warmth of morning, dappled through the budding leaves as you started your walk. For years, this had been a practice ground, a conscious effort to lasso your attention back to the "now." Each time the familiar pull of thought began – a rehash of yesterday's conversation, a plan for the afternoon, a fleeting worry about the future – a mental alarm would sound: "Lost!"
And then the drill: a sharp tug of awareness towards the vibrant green of a leaf, the feel of your feet connecting with the earth, the symphony of birdsong filling the air. Each sensory detail a deliberate anchor, a way to haul yourself back to the present moment, as if presence were a boat that kept drifting away and needed constant tethering.
Today, however, something shifted. As you walked, the familiar current of thought began to tug. You were mid-planning your grocery list when, like a sudden sunrise, awareness dawned. "Lost in thought again," the familiar mental note arose.
But this time, instead of the automatic redirection, a quiet understanding bloomed. In that very recognition of being lost, wasn't there a flicker of presence? Who was it that noticed the wandering? What awareness registered the departure from the now?
The story of your walk could unfold like this:
The thought of avocados and almond milk hung in the air for a moment. Then, instead of forcing your attention to the robin perched on a branch, you simply noticed the thought. You felt the subtle tension in your forehead that often accompanied planning. You observed the slight quickening of your breath.
And in that very act of observing the thought, without judgment or the need to escape it, the present moment unfolded. The robin's song was still there, the feel of the earth beneath your feet hadn't vanished. They were simply part of the same field of awareness in which the thought had momentarily taken center stage.
There was no need to make your attention go anywhere. The awareness that recognized the thought was already present. The redirection, you saw, was like trying to catch your own shadow – a movement born of a misunderstanding.
The walk continued, perhaps with a newfound ease. Thoughts still arose, as they naturally do. But now, instead of treating them as intruders to be banished, you might simply acknowledge them as passing clouds in the vast sky of your awareness. There was no frantic grabbing for sensory anchors, because you realized the sky itself – the space of presence – was always there, encompassing both the clouds of thought and the vibrancy of the immediate experience.
Insights:
* Presence is the Ground, Not a Destination: You were already standing on the ground of presence when you noticed you'd wandered off into the landscape of thought. The act of noticing is itself an act of presence. The 100% goal might have created a subtle tension, a feeling of constantly needing to achieve presence, rather than recognizing its inherent nature.
* Thought is Not the Enemy of Presence: Thoughts arise within presence. Trying to suppress them or escape them can create a struggle. Instead, recognizing them as part of the ever-changing flow of experience can bring more ease.
* The Redirection Was a Habit: The act of immediately redirecting your attention was a well-intentioned habit, a way to train awareness. But like training wheels that are no longer needed, it can be discarded once the underlying understanding shifts.
* Effortless Presence: True presence isn't something you have to constantly do. It's the natural state when the need to control or manipulate experience falls away. The realization you had today points towards a more effortless way of being present.
Your insight is a beautiful example of how the path can reveal itself through direct experience and honest self-reflection. You were already where you wanted to be; you just didn't realize it. Now, your walks might become less of a training exercise and more of a natural unfolding within the ever-present now.
Hi Vincent,
I couldn't let life unfold. I was simply too restless and agitated for that. I tried everything and when I found non-duality the agitation and restlessness continued. It acted like an anti-magnetic field, which had a subtle, invisible unconscious blanket effect over my entire life. So close to me, I didn't notice. I simply lived with low-level discomfort while seeking. In my life, I could see that I wanted to be 'met' in my relationships but I continued to feel alone.
I hated myself to the core. That was my agitation and my restlessness. There are life reasons for this. I felt a deep self-hatred, an overwhelming shame and a need to hide. All these feelings are justifiable given my life’s story. And I am not saying anything new or special here. I've read it all or heard this before. It was only when I thought I’d failed at seeking as well as everything else and I’d given up on the relationships closest to me that I could let go of the hold my ‘survival’ thinking had over me that I finally experienced a continuing deeply felt relief. I may still hide, who knows, but there is space now to just be a human. Having a life. There is nothing special or remotely unique about me. I persevered to be typing this today that is all.
As they say in Jungian Therapy, in my words, owning or integrating our shadow, is the most political, therapeutic and socially responsible thing we can all do. This in turn allows each of us to withdraw the projection of our shadows onto others, which I know is what I was doing, unbeknownst to me.
Lynda