Kalani Das

The EVOLVE Podcast

an exploration of mindfulness, spirituality, and conscious living.

Everlasting Contentment

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Seeking happiness or contentment based on temporary states or conditions can lead to an experience of changing moods that are fleeting and fragile. When we focus on the sensation of being, we tune into our true essence, our shared life that is radiant, pervasive, and unwavering.

We have been taught and conditioned to believe that rearranging and managing our life circumstances is the key to happiness. We work to increase income, status, and raise our social capital, in the hopes that it will bring us greater joy and a sense of peace. Advertisements provide us with a constant source of insecurities, needs and goals to be met that send us scurrying to work, then to the mall.

Beyond seeing to it that we have food, clothing, shelter and a social network, very little beyond those basic needs has anything at all to do with reaching a deep state of contentment. How do we know this?

It’s quite easy to look back throughout the history of humanity and see that amassing great power or accumulating wealth can be directly correlated with happiness or contentment. There are many examples of individuals, who accumulated massive wealth and fame who were, by their own accounts, apparently quite miserable and unfulfilled. Fame and fortune do not lead to happiness.

At the same time, when happiness is studied and measured, what we find is evidence that it has more to do with personal choices, creativity, and the very simple act of pausing our thinking long enough to allow the deep underlying current of the life force that permeates the universe to fill our awareness. We can call this Beingness.

Spiritual teachers throughout millennia have all talked about universal love and the feelings that come with simple Beingness, noticing the beauty of nature and acknowledging that you are also part of that beauty, because you are also nature. The act is so simple, yet we forget it’s available. Perhaps we think there must be more to it.

Why is it, when so many have studies happiness and contentment, that we still spend so much time and energy striving to achieve material wealth and social Capital? We have the tools, but how are we using them?

Imagine someone rushing through traffic in their very expensive car, discussing a business deal on their cell phone, late for their yoga class and now worried they won’t get a good spot near the teacher

It’s just as easy to treat spiritual practices as we treat our work, as things to accomplish. It would be hypocritical not to acknowledge that the relentless pursuit of spiritual or religious deeds is in any way different, when it comes to creating space for peace and contentment, than the relentless pursuit of fortune or fame. When we link our self-worth to any form of achievement, whether it be financial, social, or spiritual, we risk missing the entire point of a spiritual practice, which is to bring it us a greater sense of contentment and feeling of connectedness to all that is.

Any system that seeks to measure and label spiritual “levels,” creating a hierarchy based on performance or achievement, is a result of a false premise, which is: People must demonstrate the depth of their spiritual status by performing tasks that are observable and measurable.

When we realize and acknowledge that spirituality and contentment are not performance-based, we will be closer to our goal because we will have it cleared away so much of the clutter that is burying that which is readily available. Everyone has access to the same spiritual tools, regardless of location, of language, of economic or social status, of age or ability, or of any man made construct or system.

Just as the accumulation of things can lead to clutter, so can the accumulation of religious and spiritual practices lead to a burying of the awareness you may have of your true essence and birthright of joy and contentment. Spiritual and religious practices exist to help remind us of what we already possess. They are a map, not the destination.

The fact is, you have always been where you need to be. You have always have the tools you need to build the life you want and deserve. Like so many of us, you may have become distracted in the pursuit of things and achievement. However; it’s possible to achieve while also being aware that achievement is not related to your ability to deeply connect with the life force that drives everything in the universe.

What we all need to remember, is that contentment is not the result of achievement. You don’t achieve your way to contentment. Contentment is a by-product of Beingness.

Something you can try: Pause several times a day to notice beauty in the smallest of things. Wherever you are, notice the space and textures around you. See everything as a work of art. Feel the air around and inside your body. Notice how everything is connected to everything else. Feel the sensation of gravity hugging you towards the earth. Notice the light reflecting off of the various objects and illuminating the space. Tune into the sensation of Being and feel the energy of life emanating from within. Acknowledge this miracle. This moment is eternal and never ending. Right here, right now, you have everything you need to achieve a state of deep contentment. This is the universe. This is your temple. This is you.

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The Enlightening Path

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mindfulness, spirituality, kalani das
Artwork by Cameron Grey

How can I achieve greater contentment by becoming better at using my mind?
This is a question we rarely ask ourselves, yet possibly the most important one we could ever ask.

Your mind, as your helper, is constantly presenting you with options, scenarios, possibilities, most of which arise from your very creative imagination. This process is very easy to observe in one’s own mind.

One key to an enlightening life, is to take time to observe your thoughts and note their characteristics. This way, you are able to make better choices about how you use the thoughts you have.

One common school of thought advises us to attempt to clear our minds of a unwanted thoughts, thereby helping us to focus, feel more at ease, and attend to the present. While the goal sounds simple enough, the process of using one’s mind to clear one’s mind, may not be the most effective or realistic approach.

Our minds are much like the Weather, a vast and dynamic system of interconnected forces. The modern human mind is largely characterized by split second pattern recognition, multiple associations, and cross references between not only thoughts, but feelings and emotions, as well as our imagination. Trying to control it may be one of the most difficult paths to take.

The adept sailor understands that he will never be able to control the wind and the waves. Instead, he learns to move with them, using what is presented to his best advantage. We can use our minds in the same way. It begins with understanding that not all thoughts are equally useful. It begins with recognizing the different thought types and making choices about which thoughts we use and which ones we don’t.

Pay attention to your thoughts for even a few minutes and you will quickly come to recognize that many of them revolve around specific memories. If your past were represented by a series of dots, these events would be exclamation marks. They are the events to which you also have a strong emotional association. These memories become hubs of mental activity. Like giant magnets, they are quickly surrounded with similar thoughts, memories, and emotions-both from your past–and potentially from your imagined future.

This is why some people have very strong reactions to specific types of events. It’s not the event itself causes suffering, events are neutral when it comes to emotional charge. Thoughts and emotions, on the other hand, are always personal. How someone reacts to a situation depends not only on the situation itself, but more so on how he copes with the flood of associated thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

When confronted with an undesirable “Exclamation mark” situation, our minds leap into action in an attempt to help us answer the questions: “Why is this happening?” “How can I fix this?” and often, “Who is to blame?” At the same time, similar events from our past, and the feelings associated with them, are pulled into orbit around the event, multiplying its effect. As our minds scramble to assist us, the storm of mental and emotional activity created often feels overwhelming, which is why some people have more extreme reactions then others to essentially the same situation.

How do we learn to walk the enlightening path?

Accept the current situation.

There are broken pieces of glass and water on the floor. It’s true that a moment ago there was a glass of water on the countertop. Now, there is something else. What is here now? This is the only relevant question. This is the question that will help you live in the present. What is the situation right now and what can I do to improve it, for myself or for someone else?

Accept your active mind.

Not every thought you have it is helpful. Many of the thoughts you experience are pulled into your awareness as your mind tries to solve the various puzzles of life. Many thoughts are there simply because they’re similar. There are likely far more thoughts on a given topic then you actually need. Rather than trying to clear them away, which could be as futile as trying to smooth out the waves in the ocean, accept their presence, be grateful for your active mind, and acknowledge that being human means having myriad thoughts. Yes, you will be reminded of similar events and feelings from your past. Yes, you may lie in bed at night with thoughts racing through your imagination. Rather than trying to push them away, which only creates tension, accept them as part of nature, like leaves falling from the tree. The sky is not falling­–just a few leaves.

Accept your own reaction.

However you react to a situation or event is a reflection of your condition. It’s not uncommon that people will become more upset because they have become upset. Feelings of embarrassment, frustration, and anger can be layered on top of an undesirable situation, compounding the negative effects. In an effort to protect our egos, we often look outside of ourselves to identify the cause of our suffering. We point the finger towards others, blaming them for the way we currently feel. We leave the enlightening path, often causing unnecessary damage to our relationships and unconsciously placing ourselves at the mercy of others. It’s okay to feel disappointment. It’s okay to be upset. If this is your condition, then so be it. Take responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings. You are both student and teacher. How will you use your thoughts next time? What has this experience shown you about your own condition? This is how we walk the enlightening path.

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Music by Greg Ellis, Layne Redmond, and Azam Ali, used with permission.
Episode artwork by Cameron Grey

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Ohana – The Key to Kindness

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Mindfulness, Spirituality, Kalani Das, OHANA
Artwork by Cameron Grey

Kindness is the Light that dissolves all walls between Souls, families and nations.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

We are born into family. No human bonds are stronger, more important to our survival, and longer lasting. Throughout history, people all over the world value the importance of family. Some have even called it the nucleus of civilization.

If family is at the core of civilization, and kindness is the light that dissolves all walls between Souls, Families, and Nations, then logically, it is in our best interest to exercises kindness at every opportunity.

Many of us are most kind and tolerant with our immediate family members, even if we might choose otherwise should they be strangers, then to our extended family, then to our religious or spiritual family, our social or ethic group family and so on. As relationships move farther away from the nucleus; however, so do our levels of tolerance and kindness.

Generally speaking, we are not as kind or tolerant with strangers as we are with our friends. In some instances, there might exist a predisposition for a lack of kindness towards certain groups of people, perhaps due to perceptions based on history or associations between a group of people and the actions of specific members of that group. For whatever reasons, people sometimes withhold kindness in situations where it is obviously needed.

How can we step into the light of kindness and dissolve walls? It’s very simple: Treat everyone as if they are a member of your family. In the Hawaiian culture, this concept is called Ohana, meaning ‘Family.’ Many cultures around the world share this idea. It is up to us, as individuals, to create the reality of Ohana.

One way to expand the kindness of Ohana, is to reframe the way you think about other people. For example, you may think of anyone who is in your peer group as your brother, sister, or cousin, rather than as a stranger. You may think of anyone who is in your parents’ peer group as Uncle or Auntie, and people in your Grandparents peer group as Grandfather and Grandmother, “Tutu” in Hawaiian. You may think of any child as your son, daughter, niece, or nephew.

It’s not necessary to use these labels out loud. They can remain private and still be very effective in dissolving walls, reducing tension, and improving relationships. When you meet a stranger, think “hello, Brother.” It will change the way you feel and the way you treat people. If everyone practiced this, just imagine how quickly the world could change.

The key is to practice Ohana, even when others are not. Waiting to offer kindness until you first receive kindness is not practicing kindness at all. You may offer endless amounts of kindness and never run out. Give it freely and your heart will open and be filled. It is that which we withhold that we often feel denied by others.

When you meet a stranger on the street, be the first to offer kindness, to look at and greet them, to show the unconditional support of family. It’s not important that they respond in a way that meets your expectations. The scent of the rose remains on the hand of the one who gives it.

Be the person who offers flowers wherever you go. Be the one who shines the light of kindness on everyone you meet and everyone you could meet. We are all one family. Let our actions provide evidence of this belief.

Your practice: Treat every person you meet with the same kindness as you would your most beloved family member. Then share this idea with as many people as possible. This is how we get to live in the world we want.

mindfulness, spirituality, meditation, conscious living, kalani das, evolve.

This offering is blessed with music by Layne Redmond, Greg Ellis, and Azam Ali, used with permission.

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Judge Not

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Artwork by Cameron Gray.
Artwork by Cameron Gray.

All this talk of purity and impurity –
These are just opinions. Beyond them are the astonishing energies of creation.
Rays of light from a trillion suns you illumine the alter of your sky.
Rolling blue-green oceans sanctify the air you breathe.
In this moment, you are inhaling their blessing.
Who are you to call any of this pure or impure?
Find the center around which everything revolves– stand here and be flooded with joy.
- The Radiance Sutras

Are we separate, or are we part of the great oneness of the universe?

We stand at the alter of the night sky, Often feeling small, insignificant, and separate from all that is. But isn’t the opposite the truth? Are we not also part of, and connected it to that which the Greeks called the Universe? - the One Song.

Is the flowering plant separate from the ground in which it grows? Uproot any plant and you will have the answer. The seed provides the idea and the earth takes on a new form. What we see, label, and categorize as separate, are in reality, part of the same. The seed asks the earth to express itself as the flower. Everything that grows up from the earth IS the earth in a unique expression of celebration.

“I am not a tree!” You say. “I don’t have roots stuck into the earth. I’m an individual. I’m not dependent on the earth like a flower.” When we believe that we are something separate from the source of our being, we turn towards a path of suffering, of feelings of separateness, of insignificance, and powerlessness.

When we admit to ourselves that we are, in fact, part of the Universe, part of the Earth, and nurtured by the same creative Spirit that sways the oceans and illuminates the night sky, then we turn ourselves towards the path of limitless love, feelings of strength, and connectedness.

Rumi once wrote:

“These forms we seem to be are cups floating in an ocean of living consciousness. They fill in sink without leaving an ark of bubbles or a goodbye spray. What we are, is the ocean, too near to see, though we swim in it and drink it in. Don’t be a cup with the dry rim, or someone who rides all night and never knows the horse beneath his thighs, the surging that carries him along.”

 Have you ever paused to observe the divine power of creation that flows with in your own body?

What a miracle it is, the Gift of Life–to be animated, expressive, a self-aware expression of the Earth!

Take time to sit and be still enough to experience the sensation of being. Feel the hum of universal energy inside your body. This energy came from a star, traveling millions of miles, nourishing plants and all the creatures of the oceans and the land. You are blessed with life!

Spend time each day in appreciation and gratitude for this life experience. This is your time. Know that you are a unique expression of the earth, nurtured by the same force that drives a tree to grow and flowers to bloom.

Let go–and allow the One Song to be witnessed through the earthly expression you call your life. Your heart is the heart of the universe.

Jesus said, “Judge not, least ye be judged.” The ego judges while the heart loves. The mind tries to solve puzzles, while the soul dances freely. The body experiences sensations. It is up to you, the Observer, to create your life from the inside out. You are everything you need.

Your practice for today and beyond: See yourself and others as unique expressions of the earth, different notes in the same melody of the One Song.

 

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Life Is Now

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Splash12

Immerse yourself in the rapture of music, you know what you love. Go there. Tend to each note, each cord, rising up from silence and dissolving again.

Vibrating strings draw us into this spacious resonance of the heart.

The body becomes light as the sky and you, one with the great musician, who is even now singing us into existence. – Radiance Sutras

This reading, from the radiance sutras, asks us to live in the present moment more deeply by using our senses and allowing ourselves to be enraptured by the continuous stream of input we receive from moment to moment.

As humans, we are conditioned to identify with thoughts. We are predisposed to believing that we can think our world into existence. But with thousands of years of history behind us, many struggle with simple questions, such as, “What is the meaning of life?”

Wisdom suggests that we bring meaning into our lives as a conscious practice, driven by our in-the-moment experiences. Our thoughts and beliefs about the world, however fascinating or perplexing, exist solely within the confines of our own minds. What is real, is waiting to be experienced–and can only be experienced through the senses. Life doesn’t happen in the past. It doesn’t happen later. It happens now.

Life is Now.

We are conditioned from childhood to identify with our minds. Soon after we acquire enough skills for basic communication, we are given problems to solve, riddles to answer, and we receive praise for our performance. We learn to identify our self-worth, in part, by the grades we receive in school and through praise from our and parents and peers. Our ability to solve problems, to identify, remember, and figure things out, becomes not simply a means to achieving quality of life, but a way for each of us to quantify our own value, and the value of others.

When the ego becomes associated with problem-solving, the status and importance of thinking can easily move from that of helper to that of ruler. Instead of using our minds to bring us more satisfaction, we allow ourselves to become slaves to the very questions that were created by our minds–or the minds of others. Does the fact that a question exists mean that there is an answer, or is the question itself flawed?

Consider for a moment, that humans are the only animals that create puzzles to be solved. So highly regarded is the human ability for thinking, that we create books of problems, and even television programs, to prove our mental abilities, to ourselves and each other. We not only seek out problems to solve, we take pride in having solved them. What does this tell us about the need for the mind and ego to consume problems? Does solving problems lead to greater life satisfaction – or is there a simpler way–a more direct path to joy.

Is it rational to presume that we can think our way through problems of the mind? Is it reasonable to assume that we can use the same tool to fix a problem that we used to create it? Could asking a question such as, “What is the meaning of life?” be just another way to feed the mind a puzzle, one that has no absolute answer. Is there any evidence to demonstrate that thinking is a reliable way to enhance your life experience? Does spending great amounts of time thinking about life’s problems often result in joy? Consider those times when you feel most satisfied, joyful, or at peace. Are you thinking or are you experiencing? Are you planning or are you doing?

Spiritual teachers throughout the ages point us not in the direction of contemplation as much as towards our own life experience. Be here now. I am that I am. Attend to this moment. How should we find meaning in our lives? The answer is simple. Pay attention. Pay attention, not to the internal process of thinking, but to your surroundings. Listen to the sounds, Take in the sites, enjoy the smells, tastes, and textures of the universe at play.

People talk about mind and ego. Let’s just drop this whole conversation. Consider instead: There is no mind. There is no ego. There is only incandescent reality at play, beckoning. – Radiance Sutras

 

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Calm in the Storm

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Splash11Kalani discuss the idea of the Holographic Mind - the idea that all thoughts, feelings, and emotions are linked together through the mind's network of neuro-connections. Having a human mind os having a busy mind, but thoughts don't need to become runaway trains of thinking. Kalani provides some simple practices to help  you create a functional and productive relationship with your mind and actually enjoy the process.

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Send your questions and comments to Kalani by using the contact form.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

 

 

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Experience Being

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Splash17When we suspend labeling, categorizing, associating, and judging, we open up the possibility for greater awareness of being. Being or "experiencing the now" is one of the goals of a medication or mindfulness practice. Wherever you are, you always have the potential for experiencing the world as it is and fastening feelings of wonderment and connectedness to all that is. In this episode, Kalani discusses ways to deepen your life experience by using your senses and managing thoughts that can distract you from reaching this simple and profound goal. Share this show with anyone you think could benefit.

Music for this episode by Layne Redmond, Greg Ellis, and Azam Ali. Used with permission.

 

 

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Liberating the Soul

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Splash13Kalani discusses what causes us to add to our own suffering and provides ways to free us from the bonds of aversion. Based on "The Guest House," a work by spiritual poet, Rumi, this talk is about creating positive relationships with every thoughts and feeling, inviting them into "your home" so that they may fulfill their role in helping us navigate our lives. We each gain knowledge and guidance from these "uninvited guests,' but there's no need to suffer. The KEY is paying attention and compassion.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

 

 

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The Nature of Thought

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Splash14Kalani talks about the nature of thought as it relates to developing mindfulness and a healthy relationship with one's mind. The design and nature of the brain gives rise to an internal 'storm' of thoughts that are interconnected, dynamic, and have the ability to consume our awareness. Kalani describes ways to remain centered in the present moment, while allowing the mind to fulfill its nature. A healthy relationship with your mind is a KEY to developing a strong Thoughtfulness Practice and an Enlightened life.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

 

 

 

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Peace of Mind

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Splash9Kalani discusses the nature of the mind and outlines specific practices for creating a peaceful and powerful relationship with it. Learn more about how to use your mind to navigate the world without getting lost in a sea of thought. Learn to foster quality thoughts and actions that are in alignment with your interests, values, and goals.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

 

 

 

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