Everything you think you want is just a stand-in for a quality of being that's what you really want: happiness, contentment, satisfaction, fullness. The things you think you want can't give you any of those; qualities of being come only from being, from inside.
Your life shines with those qualities if you're developing yourself, if you're moving in the direction of being. To move in the direction of being you simply have to listen to being; being is always reaching out to you, trying to get your attention and get you moving in the right direction: toward being. Being always knows what to do next; all you have to do is follow being's advice.
The trick is learning to hear being. Your life is full of noisy influences, and the voice of being is quiet and subtle. But learning to hear it doesn't take special training or advanced techniques; it's a very simple process, something you can start right now. There's no need to surrender to some guru, you are your own guru. Being is who you really are, and that's who you want to have in charge: who you really are.
Moving in the direction of being is purely a matter of living well: listening to being and following being's guidance about how to live your life moment to moment, day to day. Elaborate techniques, fancy meditations, retreats, seminars, self-help books - none of that's needed; none of it does any good. It's all bullshit, a scam, just a distraction. You already know what to do, you just have to listen to yourself very closely to hear what it is.
Living well is all day every day work. If you're looking for a short cut, a lazy way to get enlightened, this ain't it. But neither is anything else. All those "easy ways" are just bad information.
Any time you do the right thing, you move in the direction of being just a bit, and you experience a subtle pleasure; that's what being pleasure is. Being pleasure is being saying "Yes! That's it!" If you pay attention to when you experience that pleasure and when you don't, and let that guide you so you experience being pleasure more, you'll develop and your life will become immeasurably richer, deeper and more satisfying. This website is about paying attention to being pleasure and letting it guide your life.
Being is God in you. Moving in the direction of being is becoming more like God. Whether you know it or not, you're on a quest to develop all your talents and potentials as fully as possible and to become as much like God as you possibly can.
This practice puts being first. Instead of "do this meditation/yoga/exercise/retreat and eventually you'll get in touch with being," I say "turn to being and let being tell you what to do next." Let being be your teacher; look for being pleasure. When you find it, figure out what you did right. This whole practice consists of learning to recognize being pleasure, finding out what you did right, and letting that guide you.
This website contains information about learning to recognize being pleasure and letting it guide you. It includes a detailed outline for a concrete practice that'll point you in the right direction. These are the pages:
Everything you do should move you in the direction of being. But you do things just to be doing things, with no thought for being. For life to be satisfying, being has to rule doing. The practice of being pleasure is about putting being in charge. When doing supports being, doing shines with being's qualities: satisfaction, tranquility, appreciation, enjoyment, generosity, tolerance, creativity, etcetera. When doing doesn't support being, there's no satisfaction, no matter how "good" the doing is. So you think you didn't do quite the right thing, or you didn't do it hard enough or long enough, and you start doing things compulsively. Or maybe try to fill the emptiness with consumption. Instead, do the right things, the things that'll make your life rich and full. Do what being says to do.
Everything you do should make your life better: deeper, richer, more satisfying and pleasurable. If you're ready for this practice, you already know that once a basic level of comfort, health and safety is reached, you can't get anything out of more money, sex, power or experiences. You crave being; it's inside, and doesn't rely on possessions, relationships, reputation or anything else external.
The practice of being pleasure is about turning your attention to being and making it the center of your life. Being pleasure will lead to a rebalancing of your life. Doing that doesn't move you in the directions of being will become less interesting, and naturally wither and die; doing that does move you in the directions of being will take root and blossom in you. If you keep with the practice long term, you'll transform your life, ultimately finding in every moment a rich experience of being. Your life will become your own in a way you never suspected it could.
The practice of being pleasure is about moving in the direction of being on your own terms, following your own internal guidance. It starts with being and is guided by being at every step. You pay attention to being and learn to follow the guidance of being to create your own path forward, rather than following a set program. The exercises, practices, and experiments I describe are intended as examples for you to consider in creating your own. I want you to make your own way from the get-go, seeking and following the guidance of being at every step. The principles and guidelines on these pages may be of use to you as you find your own way, but everything needs to be tested and then recreated so that it fits you, or discarded if it doesn't.
This approach is not for everyone. If you want a set program or hands-on help from a teacher, the practice of being pleasure is not for you. But if you're ready to find and follow your own internal guidance, and to create the practices and structure you need for that, this website may be a useful resource.
Below are some factors that may help you succeed in finding your own way.
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