Chapter 4 The Desire for Liberation

  1. Awakening the extremely intense desire for Liberation is the most important first step that can be taken towards being liberated here and now in this lifetime.
  2. The extremely intense desire for liberation is (3 - 7):
  3. The extremely intense desire for the realization of the absolute Truth.
  4. The extremely intense longing for the ending of sorrow and the experience of Eternal-Love-Joy.
  5. The extremely intense desire to experience who or what you really are at your core and to live eternally as your true Self.
  6. The extremely intense desire for freedom from all illusion and delusion and freedom from the ego that is the source of all illusion and delusion.
  7. The extremely intense desire to awaken from the human nightmare.
  8. The extremely intense desire for liberation is the foundation of all true spirituality.
  9. Of all of the factors that determine whether you will or will not be free, the intensity or lack of intensity of your desire for liberation is the most essential factor.
  1. Therefore, whatever you can do to most effectively increase your desire for liberation should be done.
  2. Spiritual teachings are not all equal.
  3. Some teachings are essential powerful keys.
  4. The knowledge that increasing your desire for liberation is the most effective first step you can take, is an essential powerful key.
  5. All obstacles that appear in your journey to freedom are caused by too little desire for freedom.
  6. Even a little increase in your desire for freedom is helpful.
  7. As your desire for freedom grows in intensity the ego creates fewer obstacles.
  8. When your desire for freedom becomes very intense, your desire for freedom demands that you take no detours.
  9. When your desire for freedom becomes very intense, for the first time you can see what is essential for freedom and what is not essential.
  10. When the desire for freedom is weak, the ego will not allow you to see the ego's preservation strategies.
  11. When the desire for freedom is stronger, you can begin to see the ego's preservation strategies.
  12. When the desire for freedom becomes even stronger, the desire for freedom itself will bring you everything you need to succeed in your quest for liberation including the answer to all your questions, finding the Direct Path teachings, the solution to all obstacles, etc.
  13. You will also be able to see how, before the awakening of the extremely intense desire for liberation, the ego was selecting spiritual teachings that would help to preserve it.
  14. When the desire for freedom becomes even more intense, you can see all of the ego's preservation strategies.
  15. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will marvel at how it was possible that you did not see the ego's preservation strategies before.
  16. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will be able to see how the ego distorted even the Direct Path teachings.
  17. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will be able to see that every spiritual teaching from the past has been distorted by the ego and that some of the spiritual teachings from the past were created by the ego for the purpose of preserving the ego.
  18. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will be able to see that almost all of the spiritual and religious teachings of the past are distractions and detours that serve the ego.
  19. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will marvel at how the ego did not let you see before.
  20. When the extremely intense desire for liberation is awakened, you will see the endless maze of concepts the ego has created to trap your attention.
  21. When the desire for freedom becomes even more intense, the ego will no longer create preservation strategies.
  22. The extremely intense desire for the Direct Experience of the absolute Truth will guide you to your inner Teacher.
  23. The extremely intense desire for Truth will guide you to the practice that gives the Direct Experience of eternal life.
  24. The intensity of the desire for the realization of the Truth is the key.
  25. Increasing your desire for the absolute Truth is the most important step.
  26. Increasing the desire for freedom must be the first step.
  27. Without an increase in your desire for freedom, all of your attempts at awakening will fail to produce eternal experience.
  28. Without an increase in your desire for freedom, the ego will distort all your spiritual studies, including what you read in the book you are now reading.
  29. Without an increase in your desire for freedom, the ego will never allow you to see the Truth.
  30. Another great key is self-honesty.
  31. Self-honesty will help in all aspects of the quest for liberation.
  32. Self-honesty will help you to increase your desire for liberation.
  33. Self-honesty means to be as honest as you can be.
  34. Self-honesty means to be 100% honest with your self, all of the time.
  35. Catch your ego using preservation strategies.
  36. See your ego creating arguments that lead you away from the Direct Path.
  37. What if your desire for liberation were to double from its present level?
  38. If your desire for liberation were to double from its present level, that would be a huge help.
  39. If your desire for liberation were to double from its present level, immediately you would begin to see what you have never been able to see before.
  40. What if your desire for liberation were a million times greater and more intense than it is now?
  41. Really, even if your desire for liberation doubles or triples, great changes will occur in what the ego allows you to see.
  42. When your desire for liberation increases greatly, every moment of your life will be dedicated to your liberation.
  43. That great intense desire for liberation itself will demand that you do not waste even one moment of time, and it will demand that you stop the ego lies, and that you drop that which is not essential.
  44. The wonderful thing is, it is that same extreme desire for liberation that brings you the knowledge of what is essential and what is not essential and allows you to see for the first time in your life.
  45. Before the extremely intense desire for freedom arises, you think you can see, but you are really blind.
  46. After the extremely intense desire for freedom arises, all is made clear and you have no doubts!
  47. After the extremely intense desire for freedom arises, for the first time you can see!
  48. If the extremely intense desire for liberation does not arise in you (58 - 62):
  49. None of the words in this book will be of any benefit to you.
  50. The ego will interpret what is written here in the book you are now reading.
  51. The ego will create arguments against what is written here.
  52. Instead of seeing what you read literally, without any interpretation, the ego will begin to interpret.
  53. The ego will change the teachings into something that preserves the ego instead of something that brings the ego to its final end.
  54. Therefore, the key to everything is to awaken the extremely intense desire for liberation and to make that desire for freedom grow every day.
  55. One of the most powerful tools or keys you can have is to change the way you read.
  56. Read extremely slowly, reflecting on a single phrase or a single sentence.
  57. Make sure you see the meaning of the sentence before proceeding to the next sentence.
  58. In other words: when reading pause, stop and look.
  59. Read the same quote three times before proceeding to the next quote.
  60. If the desire for freedom is not great enough in you, the ego will always find a way to occupy your time with something other than spiritual practice.
  61. Thus the key to bringing the ego to an end is the intensity of the desire for freedom.
  62. Eagerness for liberation must be equal to the eagerness someone who is being held underwater has for trying to rise to the surface.
  63. Reflect on #71 above.
  64. Eagerness is another word for the desire for freedom.
  65. How great, how intense is the desire of someone being held underwater trying to rise to the surface.
  66. He would like to rise to the surface, but he is being held underwater.
  67. See how intense his desire is to rise to the surface.
  68. Every second his desire to rise to the surface is becoming more and more intense.
  69. After one minute, how the intensity of his desire has increased.
  70. After two minutes underwater, the desire for oxygen and therefore his desire to rise to the surface, is ten times greater.
  71. After three minutes underwater, his desire to rise to the surface is one hundred times greater.
  72. After four minutes underwater, his desire to rise to the surface is one thousand times greater.
  73. How great, how intense is his desire?
  74. That is how intense your desire for liberation must become.
  75. If the extremely intense desire for freedom is not there, you can always find a way to avoid spiritual practice.
  76. There is almost no limit to the ego's capacity to distort.
  77. If there was a book written by an awakened sage that was one thousand pages long and on every page the only words that were written were the following exact same words repeated on every page (87 - 93):
  78. The only effective means to end the ego illusion is to (88 - 93):
  79. Turn your attention away from thought, the body, the world, people, places, things, experiences, etc. and towards awareness watching awareness.
  80. If through other means you attempt to bring the ego to an end, the ego will appear to have ended, but will re-appear again later.
  81. There are therefore, no other effective means to end the ego, to end all suffering and all sorrow and to live eternally as infinite-awareness-love-bliss.
  82. Start by setting aside at least two hours per day with no other activities for your practice of awareness watching awareness.
  83. If you can create more than two hours for practice by dropping unnecessary activities, do so.
  84. Set aside as many hours per day as you can spare to practice awareness watching awareness, with no other activities happening during your practice time.
  85. If the above brief passages (87 - 93) were written on every page, almost no aspirant would ever follow the advice given.
  86. Why? Because their desire for liberation from the ego is not great enough.
  87. The desire to preserve the ego is much greater than the desire to end the ego, and this is true for almost all humans and this is true for almost all spiritual aspirants.
  88. Thus the ego has trillions of tricks to preserve its imaginary self.
  89. To the above quoted passages (87 - 93), the aspirant would say (99 - 103):
  90. "He does not really mean the only effective means".
  1. "He does not really mean we need to set aside time with no other activities".
  2. "He does not really mean we need to practice".
  3. "The book is actually written in code".
  4. "There are deeper meanings that are more important".
  5. If this (99 - 103) seems insane to you, you are correct, it is insane.
  6. The word "insane" describes well almost all humans.
  7. They may not use those exact words (99 - 103) to distort and complicate.
  8. They will find their own words and thoughts to distort and complicate.
  9. The only cure for all this is the awakening of the extremely intense desire for freedom.
  10. What if your present desire for freedom were to become a million times more intense than it is now? (110 - 114):
  11. Then there would not be time for all these games, detours and distractions.
  12. Then you would stop listening to teachers who are supposedly liberated but who are not liberated.
  13. Then you would not pretend thinking about spirituality is Spirituality.
  14. Then you would not pretend an intellectual journey is a spiritual journey.
  15. Then the only means you would accept would be the most direct means.
  16. Then you would be just like the man who is being kept underwater trying to rise up for air (116 - 127):
  17. He does not have time for discussion.
  18. He does not have time for games.
  19. He does not have time for false teachers.
  20. He does not have time for methods that are not the most rapid and direct means.
  21. He does not have time for endless reading.
  22. He does not have time for television.
  23. He does not have time for projecting an imagined meaning unto the teachings.
  24. He does not have time for entertainment.
  25. He does not have time for pretending to want to be free.
  26. He does not have time for any dishonesty with himself.
  27. He does not have time for pretending he has risen to the surface.
  28. He does not have time for any debate or argument.
  29. He does not have time for any debate or argument.
  30. What he has time for is only to focus all of his attention on rising to the surface.
  31. That is why the entire key lies in the intensity of the desire for freedom.
  32. The only problem an aspirant ever has is too weak a desire for liberation.
  33. An extremely intense desire for liberation will solve all the other problems.

Read Chapter Four very slowly three times before reading Chapter Five.

To read Chapter Five click this link: chapter-05.htm

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Michael Langford