~EFFORTLESS BEING~

excerpted from Freedom Is with the publisher's permission

Effortless being is the sublime presence that suffuses all fragrances
of grace. It is whole, free, and completely at ease - and it requires
nothing.

Just let yourself relax...trust...open...and gracefully fall into
effortless being.

Let's begin our journey together with "effortless being," as it is the
one quality of grace that is intrinsic to and inherent in all aspects
of the infinite. Any time you open into the infinite presence of your
own self, an effortless presence will have easily and gracefully
guided you there. In fact, the only route I know of into enlightened
awareness is through effortless being.

So why not plunge in right now? Rather than talk about it, let's
experience it directly.

Take a deep breath in, and let it out.

And another deep breath in, and let it out.

Let your whole being relax as you fully put yourself into the scene I
am about to describe. As you read, experience it as if it is actually
happening right now. Take time in between the sentences to open and
feel what it would really be like to be in these circumstances. Just
imagine that you are the person described in this story:

You are in the ocean, out of your depth, struggling to stay afloat.
The more you struggle, the less buoyant you feel. Each effort becomes
more and more exhausting. Fighting what is, you believe the answer
lies in trying harder...reaching, grasping with your whole being,
striving with your body, harnessing your mind, trying to focus all of
your energy to stay above water - you fight for your life. Your
activity becomes frenetic. A sinking futility starts to creep in, but
you realize you can't give in, no matter what. You force your mind
into high gear. You struggle with all your might. Your striving
becomes frenetic.

A kind person throws you a life preserver, but it lands just out of
reach. Safety is but a few feet away, if only you could grasp it in
time. Certain that effort is the only answer, you harness every fiber
of your being, desperately trying to grasp the answer to all your
prayers, knowing that peace, rest, life itself is just an arm's length
away...just out of reach. If only you try harder, the prize of safety,
relaxation, freedom will be yours.

But with each fiercely desperate stroke you end up pushing the life
preserver farther away. The fight intensifies. You feel your mind
starting to spin out of control. You force it into line - everything
depends on this final struggle, but your very striving is driving it
farther...and farther...and farther away...

Finally, the kind stranger jumps into the water, and when he bobs to
the surface, all movement ceases. He appears motionless...as if he is
just resting, trusting. Gently, under the surface, his legs flow in
the quietest of movements...effortlessly treading water, trusting
completely in the ease of grace. As the water becomes still around
him, the life preserver freely drifts his way...lap...by lap...by lap.
The life preserver finds its way into his relaxed and trusting hands,
and with almost no movement - more a softly whispered prayer than an
actual motion - he glides it your way.

Still frantic, you grasp for it desperately, but your motion only
causes it to drift out of reach again. The desperation becomes
unbearable...

You hear a reassuring voice say, "Relax. Just relax. Trust...You're
safe...All safety here...Everything you need is already here." Then,
once again, the kind man who trusts the ocean, trusts grace, softly
floats the life preserver in your direction.

As the preserver gets closer, the desire to reach for it becomes
fiercely strong. But before you can thrust out your hand, you hear the
stranger say again, "Just relax."

And something penetrates: it happens in a heartbeat. Against all
instincts and conditioning, against everything you believe to be true,
you choose to cease striving. You relax. You relax your mind. You give
up all struggle and relax your whole being. You feel your body
softening and, miraculously, the life preserver begins to effortlessly
drift your way.

Then, just before it's ready to softly touch your chest, something
happens. Time stops. Everything becomes still. Your breathing slows
and becomes easy. Your mind softens, every ounce of activity ceases,
and your body releases all tension. You become aware that you are
being gently supported, embraced in an ocean of trust. In the still
center of the silence, you realize all grace is here, surrounding you,
supporting you. All peace is here...and you relax deeply in the
restful embrace of grace.

You become aware that the life preserver has just tapped you on the
chest, and in that instant you realize you don't actually need it. You
never needed it. You're already safe, already whole, already free.
You're floating in an ocean of trust.

Gently, one arm floats to the side of the preserver, and you look
around to see if anyone else is struggling needlessly in the
water...and you become the kind stranger.

A soft smile of irony creeps across your face as you realize the
ludicrous insanity of struggling against life. It's like some big
cosmic joke. You recognize that everything you seek is already here
the moment you choose to stop the struggle, relax, and trust. This
that had seemed so far out of reach is realized to be everywhere, in
everything. And that "something out there, if only I could get hold of
it" is realized to be right here as a vast embrace, constantly
supporting you in an ocean of presence.

So it is with grace. If you force yourself to meditate, setting your
mind into a certain groove, focusing on an object, efforting will keep
away the peace you are seeking. Yet when you just relax, become aware
of all sounds, have no purpose other than to close your eyes and "just
be" - not caring whether thoughts come or go through consciousness,
and letting yourself naturally glide into a spacious awareness - you
will find yourself soaking deeply in a restful ocean of healing
presence. Then, when thoughts come through, you will find that the
stillness remains untouched.

The moment you grasp or grab onto a thought to try to interpret it or
understand its significance, all awareness of the ocean drops into the
background and your whole being goes to the thought. It's only when
you choose to stop reaching to analyze the constructs of the mind that
you find yourself falling again...back into the ocean - the ocean of
effortless being. All struggle, striving, efforting only takes you
away. All letting go, opening, accepting, trusting allows you to fall
deeper and deeper into the embrace.

Cease all activity and just rest.

Any effort made in meditation just pushes grace away. Indeed, this is
true of all life.

From the book Freedom Is, copyright 2006 by Manifest Abundance
Limited. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA.,
1-800-972-6657 ext. 52.
Brandon Bays is the international bestselling author of The Journey.
The above is an excerpt from her new book, Freedom Is: Liberating Your
Boundless Potential. She travels all over the world conducting
seminars and speaking engagements on The Journey, sharing her
teachings of healing and awakening with thousands of people each year.
She pioneered her transformative work through her own experience of
healing naturally from a large tumor. She currently resides in the
United Kingdom. To visit her web site, go to www.thejourney.com

Shared with Love and Light, Rosalie xo