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3.15.16

EGO DEATH

When you think about self-realization or awakening the phrase ego death may pop into your mind. The ego by and large is considered a bad thing in spiritual terms. One may regard the ego as something that only fosters greed and desire. The ego could be something used for selfish reasons or for humanitarian reasons.

Understanding the ego is to understand how you as a person or as a human being fit into the the world with all the rest of us. You have to understand that even though each person is the center of their own universe, the source of their reality, not everyone has the time or is experiencing thinking about you. Not everyone thinks about you all the time. This may seem like an obvious fact of life, but oftentimes we're caught up inside our own heads thinking about this, thinking about that, thinking about what others think of us. The ego is good at convincing us to think about things that really don't matter.

The ego is almost like the culmination of all of the thought patterns we've become used to. This identity we feel for ourselves is formed through the repetition of thought and word. Just like we think things into existence, we speak things into existence as well, and words manifest things into reality even faster than thoughts do. Whoever we consider ourselves to be is how we carry ourselves in day to day life. Our mind paradigm can shape who we are in our physical paradigm. We think in terms of I and Me and Those and They, He and She. But seldom do we remember that ego is an illusion. Separation is an illusion. The ego cannot exist if everything in the world has risen from one source.

We have been programmed to think of ourselves in a certain way. We respond to a name, we have an ethnicity, we have a physical appearance that we identify ourselves with. But all these different ways we use to categorize ourselves as different from another has also limited our ways of thinking and being. All these different ways of placing ourselves behind different identities and labels limits us from stepping outside of those identities. But the catch here is that we believe very deeply in all of this. The paradigms we have grown up with stick with us. Our minds only work within these boundaries, or rather we've only learned to work within these boundaries. So how do we learn to release ourselvesfrom this sort of programming. We have to learn that every day could be your last. You could expire at any moment. But this shouldn't give you permission to live in fear of dying. Everyone is going to die one day. And whether or not you may believe me, you have already died many times before. This life is just the most recent manifestation of your soul. So what does this mean when applied to you?

It is almost cliché at this point, but to really release the programming, you must live like every day is your last. Live for your SELF. Do what YOU have always wanted to do, and not according to what anyone else had planned for you. Live according to the rules that you apply to your life, and not someone else's. But let these rules require you to express love and enthusiasm for the wonders of life. And let others feel your reprogramming by creating something to share with them.

Anthony

3.15.16

Understanding the Law of Attraction: You BECOME What You THINK

Understanding the law of attraction and exactly how it works was one of the biggest discoveries/realizations I made in my 20 years of existence. It seems so simple — our thoughts create our reality — but when you truly become conscious of your thoughts for the first time, you realize that there’s so much negativity, self-doubt and pointless garbage that is floating around in your mind.

For most of my life, I was told by outside sources (school teachers, television, peers) that life is supposed to be hard and “being anything you want” was foolish. Of course I believed it. Ever since I was young, people always told me I was “big-boned” and would always be a chubby kid.

When I first began meditating almost two years ago, I was overwhelmed by the amount of thoughts — mostly negative — that was popping up in my head. Daily meditation helped me clear all the self-doubt I had about myself and filled it with self-love and belief. I soon realized that if I wanted to lose weight and become the person I always wanted to be, I could do it. What do you think happened? Well, in less than two years, my weight went from 280 pounds to 170. No surgery was performed on me and I never took a diet pills. Instead, I filled my mind with belief and confidence. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, I went from being morbidly obese to having a six-pack. Little did I know at the time that the law of attraction was in full-affect.

About a year later, Tony introduced me to The Secret. After giving it a watch, my jaw nearly dropped to the ground. I was hit with the realization that everything that’s happened in my life — whether good or bad — was brought on by my thoughts. Before this, I always considered myself a victim. I told myself that everything was a coincidence and I had no control over my life. I came to realize that this is one of the world’s biggest myths.

I continued meditating every day and really began to research and learn about the power of the human mind and the impact our thoughts had in our daily life. It occurred to me that every single successful person in the history of the world — whether it was Thomas Edison, Henry Ford or Steve Jobs — told themselves they’d make a difference, trusted and believed in themselves, and never let outside sources steer them away from what they were trying to accomplish. Do you these three, or any other notable person throughout history, thought they wouldn’t accomplish their dream? Of course not!

Please, from this day forward, NEVER question your ability and never doubt your dreams. If you want to lose 110 pounds, you CAN do it. If you want a million dollars, you CAN have it. If you want to find your soul-mate, you WILL find it.

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

The Alchemist

Paul

It's Not Over Until You win

3.3.16

Most potentially great ideas die with the people who weren't brave enough to manifest them into physical reality. Most people are too afraid or too anxious. People are taught that earning money should be hard. Naturally people start to think this way after it was programmed into them through traditional educational programs. People start to believe that earning money should be hard. You're told that money doesn't grow on trees. You have to work HARD for your money. This is simply wrong.

Life shouldn't be hard. Life doesn't have to be hard. You can create your own physical reality. Life can consist of peace, love, and harmony rather than worry, anxiety, and fear. There are two emotions in this universe. Love and fear. You can choose to experience one or the other. How you feel is ENTIRELY up to you! No one else is responsible for how you feel. Your emotions are a direct result of your PERCEPTION of the things happening around you. Your reality is a perfect reflection of your inner condition. If you're getting salty at someone else for something they said or did, remember that YOU are entirely responsible for bringing that into your reality. 

This may seem daunting. As if you didn't have enough things to worry about already. Now you have to worry about your emotions too? That's entirely correct. Your feelings are the best indicator of how you are faring on your spiritual journey. But remember that you ARE going to feel depressed at times. You ARE going to be sad. You WILL feel tired along your Evolutional Path. But it's okay. Anyone who has ever accomplished anything has struggled. But just know that the times that you are struggling, those are the times that you will evolve the most. 

You can most certainly settle for a life that is safe. You can certainly decide to be someone that doesn't do much more than work for someone else. You are free to choose whatever you want for yourself. This is safe. You won't have to struggle for a life such as this. But if you really want to inspire others. If you want to be a hometown hero, or someone that achieves more than they ever thought possible, you're going to have to work hard. You're going to have to defy expectations. You're going to have to reach far higher and far above what anyone else have ever thought was possible for you.

But you should know what I know. That it IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE FOR YOU. God Consciousness has gifted us with the freedom to do, be, and create anything we want. That is the beauty of being a human being in this era. This era is the Enlightened New Age, and people are beginning to remember their true nature as godly beings. There is no way that we are NOT godly. We people share consciousness with each other. We are all connected. We are here so that the universe (God) may know himself better through us. 

The better we know our SELF, the better we can identify with the simple truths of the universe. Enlightenment, divinity, ability, these are all traits that were instilled within us when we came into this world. Every important answer that we will ever need to find is not within someone else, a book, or an online forum. That answer is within us.

Seek and you shall find. Ask and it will be given unto you.

Where My Spiritual Journey Began

2.6.16

My spiritual journey, even though I didn't know it at the time, started when I was a senior in high school. Growing up, I was always a big kid, but by the time I was a senior in high school, I had ballooned to 280 pounds. I played football all four years of high school, and yet despite running and lifting weights every day, I was in the worst shape of my life. My calorie intake would easily surpass 4,000 calories a day. My diet during my junior and senior year would make any doctor cringe — any fast food place in Santa Clarita would frequently see me walk through their doors, sometimes even multiple times I day.

After football season ended in December 2012, I looked at myself in the mirror and knew I had to make a change. That change didn't begin happening until in April 2013 when I decided enough was enough. From May until my freshman year of college in August, I went on a strict fast. I ate one or two small meals a day consisting of fruit, vegetables, and other low-calorie products. Most days I'd eat 500 calories or less. Not a day went by during this four month stretch that I wasn't craving food. Before I knew it, by the time freshman year at CSUN started, I had lost 70 pounds. I was now at 210 pounds, but was still aiming to get below 200 pounds.

I began running on the treadmill at my campuses rec center every day until my entire shirt was dripping with sweat and continued my low-calorie diet. By March, I was down to 170 pounds — my lowest weight since 8th grade. In a span of 11 months, I lost 110 pounds. Not by surgery, not by taking a magic pill, but by fasting and intense exercise. I was a new person— in fact, I'd even go as far to say that the person I was in high school died. Death, to me, does not mean an end of existence, rather a transformation. Buddhism and Hinduism teach that death simply means leaving one body and entering a new one — also known as reincarnation. Couldn't we all say we've “died” many times throughout our life? The person you were five years ago likely isn't anything like the person you are today. We all have bands we listened to when we were younger that we can't stand now. Same goes for television shows, our friends and our hobbies.

Shortly after my dramatic weight loss, I began listening to artists such as the Flatbush Zombies, the Underachievers, Capital Steez and Joey Badass. They talked about a subject that was foreign to me at the time — spirituality. What particularly intrigued me in their lyrics was their talk about meditation. I heard from various peers about meditation, but thought it was just “phony, hippy stuff.” However, out of boredom and curiosity, I gave it a shot. The moment I decided to cross my legs, close my eyes and sit in silence with my thoughts, was the moment my spiritual journey was truly underway...

Your Future Begins NOW

2.2.16

Initially the West Coast indigo project began as a book Paul and I wanted to write. My spiritual awakening was really supplanted by Paul's prior experience practicing spiritual discipline. I was really encouraged by Paul's own interest in spiritual growth. At first I had no real sense of what was going on and what enlightenment actually meant. I was curious. I've always been naturally curious so long as I can remember. And i found that the deeper you dive into the rabbit hole, the more splendid the paradigm becomes. There is no end to the rabbit hole; the tunnel goes on for as long as you want it to. 

I've learned from nature that growth is what brings us closer and closer to divinity. Everywhere in nature things grow towards the sky, each day becoming that much closer to the universe. Humanity could really take an example from plant life. Plants do not judge nor do they discriminate or treat each other as different. Plants just are. The plants know that their job is being done by soaking in the light and being still. We could learn a thing or two from these organisms. We could learn a lot from silence. There is so much going on in this world, so many distractions. Our phones alone is able to have dozens of apps to occupy our free time. We rely on our phones for everything now. We use twitter to get a feel for what's happening in the world. Facebook to get a feel for what's happening with our friends. Instagram to see how your friends look and maybe even you could get a feel for how your friends perceive themselves. This is only if you are actually aware of such a thing. We have our phone remind us about our appointments because clearly we aren't capable of remembering them on our own or writing them down in a book that serves a specific purpose. We are so used to keeping ourselves distracted from the emotions we are hoping to avoid that it's reduced our capacity for focus. 

Buddhists believe that when you do something you do it with 100% attention and awareness. And that you do things one. at. a. time. This means when you are eating. YOU JUST EAT. When you are walking to your car in the morning, do it with 100% awareness and focus. Be aware of the sounds, the sights, and even the smells. Enjoy everything just as it is. Nothing about nature needs to be changed. And that means nothing about you has to be changed either. Like a flower, you are naturally whole. You develop as a whole. You don't need anything to complete your life because anything and everything you could ever want... You already have.

Anthony

THE WAY OF A SLAVE SOCIETY

1.14.16

Attachment. The future. The past. This is where all suffering comes from. Our tendency to become attached to who we were in the past, and who we hope to become in the future. We become attached to certain parts of our identity. We spend our whole lives making ourselves this mask that we force ourselves to wear. We have to expend a lot of energy just for the upkeep. 

We have to conform to how other people expect us to behave. Our social identities that we’ve built after years and years of being taught in schools and at jobs are nothing like who we actually are internally. We spend most of our time listening to other people and their expectations. We think our future is going to consist of something average. We’ll graduate college, find a 9 to 5, and settle down with a partner if that’s in the cards as well. This is what makes sense to most people. It's a safe option for them. 

People are being subdued. Society has managed to convince people to be servants. Rather than doing what they would really love to do. Somehow, corporate America has created a structure that have so thoroughly brainwashed people that they actually WANT to perform menial labor for a wage that can barely support them. The rich and greedy have become so good at grooming people for slavery that they almost don't even have to try anymore. As we see now, most people just subject themselves to slave labor. This is because getting a 9-5 is a 'logical' answer to what happens after college.

Our society has taught us to function as left-brained zombies. We've accepted this way of thinking as well so we are feeding into this mentality as well. Because of how accustomed we are to thinking a certain way, being left-brained has robbed us of our ability to think freely. We've lost touch with how it is to be open-minded free thinkers. We are opposed to change because our current beliefs shape our lifestyles. People lack the ability to readily accept change and this attachment to identity is rather restricting. The aversion to change, being different, and stepping outside of the box is keeping people subdued. This is exactly what keeps people working like slaves. This is what the corporate overlords of the nation want. They don't want you to ask questions or think about things outside of the realm of their beliefs they force upon you. You invest so much time going to educational institutions that it easily becomes your paradigm. You go to school for 7 hours a day for a good portion of your early life to learn things that really aren't relevant to being a successful individual.

In school we learn arithmetic that we are never going to use. We are taught history lessons that have been manipulated beyond belief. And we have to accept these non-truths because if we speak out or act out, we are punished with detention and suspension. We aren't allowed to act like ourselves. We are allowed to act like nice little children that follow rules. Those who are successful within an educational institution are those who can conform to this set of rules without asking any questions about why they are being taught these things.

But the paradigm is changing. Our generation is awakening. We are becoming more aware of evolving consciousness and people are learning to think for themselves. We are recognizing that the illusion of separation is a ploy to pit people against each other. We are coming together now and we are remembering that we are all connected to each other inherently. 2016 marks the beginning of a new age. The generation of youths who are becoming young adults now are the 'indigo children,' who are responsible for the future of the world. Indigo Children are the ones who are apt to thinking freely. This generation of youths who have a higher sensitivity to emotions and energy will be the ones thinking and creating. They'll be devising new, cleaner, and more efficient to harvest this planet's energy. Others will be coming up with new ways to think about technology and science, bringing a free-thinking mentality to previously defined institutional structures, bringing in even more technological advancements.

And it's all because the Indigos have made a habit of opening their minds. Learn to OPEN YOUR MIND. 

Anthony 

REMEMBERING YOUR PAST YEAR

1.1.16

It’s the new year and that means another part of the cycle has ended. And the beginning of the new cycle is upon us. It’s good to see everyone out there trying to improve upon themselves. This is the time of the year when people take a minute to reflect upon themselves and how they progressed over the past year. It’s when people take the time to appreciate all that they have manifested for themselves and the energy that they attract.

It’s always good to see people realizing that appreciating what they have built for themselves is something good to do. When the end of this cycle ends, it always makes people sober for a minute. They stop. They think. And they reflect.

It’s almost like a meditation.

But why must we be tricked into thinking that reflecting and resolving to improve should be something that is saved until the end of the year. These holidays trick us into thinking that certain thoughts are for certain occasions. They figure that if there is an American Tradition where people resolve to improve themselves only ONCE on the VERY LAST DAY of the year, then we can effectively reduce the chances of people awakening to their potential rather than if they resolved to improve themselves every day. Every day is a cycle just as a year is. Every sunset is the end of one cycle just as December 31st is the end of a one year cycle.

We must encourage ourselves to stop every day. We must encourage ourselves to sit and breathe. We must encourage ourselves to clear our minds and listen to our breath. We must stop and wait and listen for the secrets within. We are always trying to search for ourselves and to search for answers. But if we really quiet ourselves and search within, we will find all the truths that we’d been looking for. A lot of people are concerned with trying to find a partner, or trying to find a better job, and worrying about never being able to do either. People my age are so concerned with having enough fun in proportion to working. When someone is at work, they’re complaining that they’d be rather having fun. When someone is having fun, they’re complaining about how they’d rather not be spending so much, so they’re already dreading having to go and work again after the weekend.

Does this sound familiar? On a day to day basis you feel incomplete without a partner. But in your mind if you don’t want to be alone, you are in direct resistance to finding a partner. You’re thinking about being alone! If you feel like you need someone or something to make yourself more complete, then you need not feel disappointed. You already are complete. You are already whole. You are already everything that you have ever needed to be. The fact that you are alive in itself makes you AMAZING and POWERFUL. To demonstrate, let’s draw a comparison between me, a college student, and a palm tree. 

Some days I worry about my future or where I’m going to be in two years.  I wonder if I’ll be making enough money to travel where I want in the world. I wonder if I’m going to be able to be the artist and the voice that I want to be. I wonder if the relationships that I brought into my life will be healthy relationships. I worry about my past and think about things I’ve done. Memories always bring themselves up in my head trying to sidetrack my progress. These thoughts, these worries, these anxieties can really disrupt your flow of energy. But it’s inevitable. It’s a part of life. Along with the positives come the negatives. One cannot exist without the other. Yin and Yang. 

Then there’s the palm tree. It’s palms gently swaying in the wind. The vibrant green backlit by the electric blue sky that is decorated with wispy white clouds and the palm tree is utterly beautiful. It is something you can immediately appreciate because of its beauty. The grace with which it sways back and forth with the wind, yet holds fast in the ground. It is strong and beautiful all at once. It is you and me all at once. Everything is interconnected and humans are part of nature since we come from mother nature and are a product of the universe. That palm tree is just as much energy as us. Yet the palm tree is always centered. It is there and he knows he is beautiful. He knows he is graceful because that is what he is. He was made to be that way and he knows it. It’s in his DNA. 

Yet because humans have so many thoughts going through our heads, and because there is so much ether clouding our vision, we forget that just like the palm tree, we were created to be strong and graceful. If we quiet our minds we will see and we will remember that we are strength. We will listen and remember that we are energy. We ARE the treasure. Look no further. Don’t look elsewhere. Look within. You don’t need anything to complete you. You are beautiful in spirit and you are infinitely creative. Anything that you imagine will be manifested by the energy of the universe. And if you can look within yourself, and learn this truth by quieting your mind, then you will just know, like the palm tree, that you are strong and full of grace. You are the partner you are looking for. You are the success that you worry about. You are the future you want. You have to cultivate yourself and your potential. 

You are whole just the way you are. Let go and let live. Have fun. Breathe, and follow your heart. For the universe brought you here and the earth will provide you with everything you need. Wealth is our birthright. This is what we have inherited. 

Anthony

WE ARE THE FUTURE

28.12.2015

I’ve figured to hone by skills as an artist I must practice and learn about the craft of visual art and what constitutes creativity. I read How to Steal Like an Artist and this was really an eye-opening experience. Not only because that as an aspiring artist I had learned a lot from the content describing a creative process, but because I had learned that the greatest artists and been influenced by their predecessors. There is a great part in the book that said if you steal from one, then you will be the next whoever. But if you steal from many, they will say that you are so original!

This resonated with me as I soon began to realize that artists are echoing what has been done over and over in the past. Nothing is new under the sun. Time progresses in cycles. And different movements in society show their faces through the art that coincides with such a movement. The Renaissance, The Impressionist movement, the Abstract art movement, the Pop Art, French Noir, these are all movements that we are familiar with. But we ask when is the movement that will define our generation? What sort of art will be the art that sets our age group apart from the rest of the artists that preceded us?

I believe what will set our generation apart is the fact that we have become responsible for the planets escalating consciousness. We are now responsible for the physical planet as well. It is known that our planet isn’t in the greatest of shapes. We have to make people aware that if we keep taking and taking the way we have been for so many centuries, that our planet will eventually die. And it would have been our fault. But our generation needs to rise up and use our talents to bring people together. How incredible would it be if everyone went after their life purpose?

Say that one friend wanted to make a source of renewable energy that was free for all. Or that one friend wanted to make a robot that traveled along the bottom of the seas collecting harmful trash. The possibilities are endless. The needs of the world are many. And we are rising up to make people aware of what is happening in this world.

Anthony

THE BLUE MOON

25.12.2015

I’m writing this preemptively. There is going to a future where I have an audience and people to help and care for. There is going to be a future where I have all the resources required to reach masses upon masses of people. But until then, I write to myself in my mind.

The last year has been an exceptional Journey. I emphasize the word Journey because it is a path that we all may not be aware of, but it exists. The Journey is a path we embark on when we are born. We may stray, but I find that we return to the Journey eventually. It may be as late as when we die, but we return to it nonetheless. What is the Journey? I describe the Journey as the path to Enlightenment. The most noble endeavour of going within, deep within, searching inside yourself, to uncover the darkest, most troubled parts of your being. Enlightenment means not only becoming more open to the world and other people, but it means most importantly becoming open to yourself and your own needs. 

Many people are so concerned with work, saving money, paying off loans, dealing with relationships, paying off the car, the phone, the internet, the rent, that it is easy for us to forget about our Self. It is important that we hone in enough to be able to listen to our bodies. Post-modern society with all its educational institutions has succeeded in forcing people to conform to a left-brained way of thinking. The left-brain is the masculine side of the brain. It deals with the physical, the material, and the external. We people, in this luxurious society, have learned to find gratification through clothes, cars, and calories. We find so much happiness in buying things and going out on the town. Yet when we wake up the next day we still have to endure the punishment of the same old nine to five that we dread. We find that enjoyment we felt when we were drinking in the town or when we bought that new designer suit was only temporary. 

I experienced this during my earlier years as a college student. The yo-yo effect I like to call it. After a week of lessons, you go out on the town or to a house party to get ignorant and usually wake up in the morning with a wretched hangover. Zoom out to the bigger picture, and the path I was on was more or less the same. High points, low points, confusion, and depression. At the time I didn’t think I was depressed, but no one who is depressed really does do they? Unless some man is licensed to give out prescriptions tells them explicitly that they’re depressed. Little did I know that I was only repeating cycles over and over and it was taking its toll on me. 

The emotions and past events that I struggled to let go of manifested themselves physically as well. I was gaining weight again and I was caught up in many bad habits that I have since let go of. Eventually this whirlwind landed me in a situation where I had no choice but to become more aware of my physical and mental being. After being not aware of my needs at all, I became hyper-aware after a knee injury and operation. So in the blink of an eye, in relation to the length of my life, I became completely unawares to being very aware and maybe even a little too aware of my body. It got to the point that sometimes the only thing I could think of was my knee and the pain that came from the injury. It was only a matter of time through self-education and research that I learned a lot about the body. I’ve always had a strong mind, and I believe this is also why I overthink things frequently and inadvertently dream up many worst-case scenarios. But I’ve struggled to have a strong body for a lot of my life. Now that I was becoming more aware of making myself stronger, I was losing weight, fixing my diet, and being physically active as often as I could. 

This is when I became aware of the Third Eye and all of the abilities attached to it. Pre-cognition, awareness of vibrations, sensitivity to emotions, and an overall increased sense of connection to the world all seemed to grow within me. Also an acceptance for death. It doesn’t make sense to fear death since it is inevitable either way. I could die tonight, tomorrow, or years from now, but it doesn’t matter when I die, because I appreciate everything that has happened in my life up to this point.

 I began to realize that where my life was going wasn’t where it was supposed to go. I had discovered my purpose and mission as a human here on this beautiful Earth. I realized that I had to help bring the humans to a higher level of consciousness through art and media. 

The mission is difficult, but anything worth achieving is never easy. 

Anthony