Reflections on Reality and the
Experience of Realization

Topic Index
The following index includes sample reflections from Metta's mailing lists,
along with excerpts from her replies to questions, Experiments with Reality,
chat mentoring transcripts, and AIA's Timeless Wisdom pages. A
comprehensive collection of Metta's writings is available in AIA's Archives.

  Important Archive Update  

Acceptance - Surrender - Grace
	Acceptance, Freedom and Possibility
	Arising in This Moment
	Be Who You Are
	Desiring -- and Accepting -- Reality
	Embracing Reality
	Everything is Grace
	Full Acceptance
	Grace
	Grace and the Gifts of God
	Grace and Wonder
	Healing and Self-Acceptance
	Infinite Grace
	Opening Up
	Nothing and Everything
	Nothing to Lose
	Ready for Reality
	Recognizing, Not Rejecting
	Sacred Space
	Sufficiency of Reality
	Surrendering to Truth
	Unconditioned Acceptance
	See also:  Trust - Benevolence

Assumptions - Beliefs - Expectations	
	Assumptions and Expectations
	Discovering Reality As It Is
	Expectation and Possibility
	Explore Your Assumptions
	How Should Reality Appear?
	Interpreting Reality
	Interpreting What is Seen
	Light of the Infinite
	Test Your Assumptions
	That Is This
	This is the Answer
	Thought Filters Perception
	Thought, Desire and Expectation

Attention - Witness - Observer
	Arrow of Attention
	Attention and Intention
	Behind the Mind
	Compassionate Witness
	Focused Attention
	Focus on the Source
	Mindless, Mindful
	Pay Attention
	Pay Attention, Trust Reality
	Shift the Focus of Attention and Energy
	Thought Filters Perception
	Tracing Bread Crumbs Home
	Watch the Mind
	Watch Your Reactions
	Witnessing
	See also:	Seeing and The Unseen
		Chat #2: Just Watch the Mind Move
		Question #19: Witnessing This Body-Mind
		Letter #56: Detachment vs. Nonattachment

Awareness - Consciousness
	Awareness is the Constant
	Constant Container
	Natural Awareness
	Spacious Awareness
	Unchanging Awareness
	See also:	Attention - Witness
		Essence - Presence
		Perceptual Center
		Seeing and The Unseen
		Experiment #2: Awareness
		Deep Sleep, Awareness and the Great Mystery

Being Human - Our Ordinary Experience
	All Experience Points Toward Reality
	Becoming
	Being and Doing
	Being Human
	Beyond Extremes
	Demands of Daily Life
	Do Not Reject Your Experience
	Each and Every Problem
	Ephemeral Pleasures
	Human Condition
	Incarnation
	Liberation
	Open Window
	Ordinary and Magnificent
	Portal into the Infinite
	Present Circumstance
	Realizing the Nature of "Ordinary" Reality
	Reject Nothing
	Self-Evident Reality
	See also:	Desire
		Finite and Infinite
		Identity
		Life - Energy
		Suffering
		Trust - Benevolence
		Question #13: Sense Experience & Our Response
		Wisdom: How Extraordinary is the Ordinary!
		Wisdom: On Being Human

Bliss - Contentment - Satisfaction - Peace 
	Awareness is the Constant
	Bliss
	Arising of Bliss
	Complete Satisfaction
	Contentment (1)
	Happiness and Satisfaction
	Happiness, Satisfaction and Wisdom
	Joy
	Let It Be
	Nourishing the Soul
	No Disturbance
	No Sweeter Pleasure
	Peace
	Peace is Revealed
	Peace of Mind
	Overwhelming Delight
	Quiet Joy
	Quiet Reverie
	Reality and Satisfaction
	Satisfaction Beyond Circumstance
	Spaciousness of Spirit
	Stillness, Peace and Satisfaction
	THIS is Sufficient
	True Contentment
	See also:	Mentoring Letters 14, 15 and 17
		Trust - Benevolence

Center of Perception
	Absolute Center, Essence and Presence
	Internal and External Experience
	Journey into the Center
	Meditation on Center Space
	Perceptual Capacity, Dynamic Vitality
	Power of Perception
	There is No Other
	Perceptual Center
     	See also:	Awareness and Consciousness
		Wisdom: Clear As Glass
		Identity
		Space

Choice
	Choice and Free Will
	Choosing Peace
	Heaven and Hell
	Power of Choice
	See also:	Potentiality
		Experiment #7: Life and Death
		Letter #50: Choice and Interdependent Potentiality
		Question #21: Free Will or Predetermination?
		Wisdom: Choice - The Fundamental Freedom

Compassion
	Quiet Compassion
	Nothing But Love
	See also:	Wisdom: Loving Kindness ("Metta")
		Wisdom: Please Call Me by My True Names

Completeness - Wholeness - Perfection
	Background of Completeness
	Clear Seeing: The Indisputable Whole
	Discovering Completeness (1)
	Discovering Completeness (2)
	Into What am I Inviting You?
	Natural Great Completeness
	Nonduality
	One and Many
	One Taste
	Perfection Unfolding
	Spacious Wholeness
	Sufficiency of Reality
	True Wealth
	See also:	Bliss - Contentment - Satisfaction
		Fullness
		Present Moment
		Realization and Insight
		Source - Appearance
		Suffering
		Chat #5: Not Enough of What?
		Letter #39: Nothing is Missing
		Letter #40: Total Solipsism and Absolute Solitude?
		Letter #43: Advaita: A Brief Introduction
		Question #11: Natural Great Perfection
		Wisdom: 6 Vajra Verses of Dzogchen
		Wisdom: Complete Fulfillment
		Wisdom: Natural Great Perfection

Confusion and Understanding
	Fire of Uncertainty
	Living Wisdom
	Unraveling Our Confusions
	See also:	Suffering
		Realization and Insight
		Question #5: On Negativity
		Question #15: On Confusion and Understanding
		Question #16: On Understanding Nothing
		Wisdom: Confusion and Understanding

Death
	Death and Dreaming
	Death is Approaching
	Facing Death
	Impermanence
	Nothing Left Undone
	Vibrant Field
	See also:	Finite and Infinite
		James Van Pragh
		John Edward
		Letter #31: Reflections on Death | A Bolt Out of the Blue
		Letter #35: John Wren-Lewis -- The Dark Light
		Letter #42: The Movement of Life
		Letter #53: Cruelty, Suffering and Death
		Wisdom: Death

Desire
	Attachment
	Desire and the Realization of Truth
	Desiring -- and Accepting -- Reality
	Life's Voice
	Longing and Satisfaction
	Passionate Enthusiasm
	Responding to Life's Call
	Reflections on Desire
	Thought, Desire and Expectation
	See also:	Being Human - Our Ordinary Experience
		Seeking and Discovery

Emptiness and Fullness
	Embrace This Fullness
	Fear of Oblivion
	Finding Fullness
	Full Immersion
	In the Empty Space
	Nothing Lost
	Nourishing the Soul
	Recognition and Release
	Selflessness
	See also:	Completeness - Wholeness - Perfection
		Wisdom: Emptiness

Essence - Presence
	Absence and Presence
	Absolute Center, Essence and Presence
	Authentic Presence
	Clarity of Presence
	The Energy of Life
	Essence Behind Appearance
	Essential Identity
	I Am Aware Now
	The Illusion of a "Higher" Self
	Immovable Presence
	Personality and Essence
	Radiant Presence
	Unchanging Awareness
	See also:  Identity

Evolution and Progress
	See also:	Completeness and Perfection
		Wisdom: Natural Great Perfection

Fear
	Containing Fear
	Freedom from Fear
	See also:	Identity
		Trust - Benevolence

Finite and Infinite
	Accepting the Finite and Infinite
	Appreciate the Infinite
	Bumping into Limitation
	Compassionate Revelation
	Do Not Wait for Joy
	Expectations of the Finite, Intimacy with the Infinite
	Finite and Infinite Beauty
	Hunger for the Infinite
	Impermanence
	Invitation into the Infinite
	Learning to Love Life
	Pervading Reality
	Reality Emerges as This
	Understanding the Finite and Infinite
	See also:	Manifestation and Revelation
		Potentiality
		Present Moment - Time
		Seeking
		Letter #26
		Wisdom: Explaining the Infinite
		Wisdom: Finite and Infinite

Freedom and Liberation
	Absolute Freedom
	Arising In This Moment
	True Freedom
	True Liberation
	See also:	Being Human
		Fear  
		Realization and Insight
		Trust - Benevolence 

Identity
	Awareness and "I Am"
	Being What You Are
	Beyond Identification
	Center and Anchor
	Essential Identity
	Given Conditions
	Higher Self
	I Am
	I Am Aware Now
	Identity
	Identity and Effort
	Infinite Potential
	Magnificent Miracle
	Memory and Identity
	Question of Identity
	Relaxing the Ego Coil
	Restlessness Subsides
	Self-absorption
	Silent Center, Moving Energy
	We are That
	With What Do You Identify?
	You Are More
	Your Essential Self
	See also:	Attention
		Awareness and Consciousness
		Center of Perception
		Essence - Presence
		Realization and Insight
		Seeing and The Unseen
		Experiment #4: Limitless Essence
		Letter #51: The Presence of "I", Identity and Realization
		Question #23: Aloneness into Wholeness
		Wisdom: Identity
		Wisdom: So Who Are You?

Impermanence
	See Finite and Infinite

Intuition
	Intuitive Impulse
	See also:  Trust - Benevolence

Life - Energy - Creativity
	Awakening into Awareness
	Creating Your World
	Creative Impulse
	Contentment (2)
	Energy of Life
	Infinite Universe
	Life's Invitation
	Rhythm of Life
	River of Creativity
	See also:	Being Human - Our Ordinary Experience
		Desire
		Trust - Benevolence
		Reality
		Manifestation - Revelation - Dynamic Change
		Seeing and The Unseen

Manifestation - Revelation - Dynamic Change -Transformation
	Change, Changeless
	Changing Forms
	Dynamic and the Changeless
	Life's Constancy
	Life Springs Forth
	Making the Unseen Seen
	Reality Emerges as This
	Reflections on Dynamic Change
	Revelation of Reality
	Transformation
	See also:	Finite and Infinite
		Reality
		Seeing and The Unseen

Meaning - Purpose
	Pondering the Nature of the Universe
	Purpose of Existence
	See also:	Desire
		Path - Effort - Meditation - Practice - Work
		Question #3: Why are we here?

Miracles - Mystery - Great Unknown - Wonder
	Living Miracle
	Full Immersion
	Miracle of Manifest Existence
	Miraculous Truth
	Mystery
	One Taste
	Ordinary and Magnificent
	Our Capacity for Wonder
	Recognize the Miraculous
	Tender Miracle, Magnificent Mystery
	Wonder of Life
	See also:  Acceptance -- Surrender -- Grace
		Life - Energy
		Manifestation and Revelation
		Space
		Words
		Wisdom: Three-fold Miracle

Path - Effort - Meditation - Practice - Work
	Action, Inaction and Effort
	Allure of Attainment
	At Home Everywhere!
	Contemplating the Infinite
	Background of Awareness
	Drinking Deeply
	Each and Every Step
	Everything We Do
	Infinite Path
	Limits of Meditation
	No Aspiration
	No Effort
	Our Sacred Calling
	Perfect Practice
	Relaxing into Reality
	Spiritual Practice
	Yoga
	Your Journey Home
	See also:  Being Human
		Center of Perception
		Realization and Insight
		Seeking
		Teacher
		Trust - Benevolence
		Chat #1: No Method, No Rejection, No Edges
		Letter #23: The Value and Limitations of Spiritual Practice (1)
		Letter #24: The Value and Limitations of Spiritual Practice (2)
		Letter #25: The Value and Limitations of Spiritual Practice (3)
		Letter #26: The Value and Limitations of Spiritual Practice (4)
		Letter #27: The Value and Limitations of Spiritual Practice (5)
		Wisdom: Nothing to Achieve, Nowhere to Go

Potentiality
	Doorway into Infinite Possibility
	Infinite Possibilities
	Limitless Nature of Reality
	Sea of Possiblity
	Seeds of Possibility
	See also: Choice and Interdependent Potentiality

Present Moment - Time
	All Apparent Movement
	All Movement, All Time
	Gift of God
	Here and Now
	In Every Moment
	Infinite and Inescapable
	Infinite Present
	Luminescent Present
	New In This Moment
	Nexus Point
	Not Here Now?
	Only Now is Real
	Past and Future
	Reflections on Time
	Silken Thread
	Timeless Revelation
	See also:  Assumptions
		Finite and Infinite
		Experiment #3: Infinity and the Present Moment
		Experiment #6: Time

Reality
	Greatest Gift
	Reality As It Is
	Reality is Not Fragile
	Reflections on Reality
	See also:  Experiment #5: All That Is
		Manifestation - Revelation - Dynamic Change
		Realization and Insight

Realization and Insight
	Awakening Here and How
	Being Awake, Being Alive
	Enlightenment and Reality
	Enlightenment is Not Separate
	Great Equalizer
	Imagining Enlightenment, Recognizing Reality
	Individuality and the Experience of Realization
	Integrated Recognition
	It's Not What You Expected
	Modern Heresy, Radical Possibility
	Radiant Moment
	Recognition of Reality
	Revision of Identity
	This Awakening
	This is It!
	*This* Reality
	Ultimate Realization
	Understanding Realization
	See also:  Awakening
		Completeness - Wholeness - Perfection
		Bliss - Contentment - Satisfaction
		Confusion and Understanding
		Identity
		Manifestation - Revelation - Dynamic Change
		Seeing and The Unseen
		Seeking
		Transmission
		Experiment #1: Reality and Enlightenment
		Letter #55: Recognition
		Question #1: Awakening into Awareness
		Question #17: Awakening - Dark Night & Grace
		Wisdom: Monumentally...Divinely Big Egos
		Wisdom: This Is It!
		Wisdom: Ultimate Understanding

Relationships
	3 Commitments
	Openess and Authenticity
	Sharing In This Moment
	See also:  Authenticity and Sincerity
		Letter #52: Trust is a Choice

Reminders
	Remember This
	Unraveling Our Confusions

Seeing and the Unseen
	Clear Seeing
	Everything You See
	Illuminated Darkness
	Life Springs Forth
	Living Miracle
	Making the Unseen Seen
	Reality is Staring at You
	Recognizing the Unseen
	Seeing Without a Face
	Seeing Wholeness
	Soft Eyes
	The Unseen
	See also:  Attention
		Bliss - Contentment - Satisfaction
		Manifestation and Revelation 
		Realization and Insight
		Chat#3: Sometimes I Just Sits
		Experiment #8: Identity and Clear Seeing
		Letter #21: Muddiness in Seeing?

Seeking and Discovery
	Awaken Now
	Beyond All Seeking
	Discovering That Which We Are Seeking
	End of Seeking
	Ending the Search
	Figuring Out Enlightenment
	Giving Way to Discovery
	Haunted by Reality
	Hunger for Reality
	Hunger for the Infinite
	In Spite of All Your Searching
	Life's Sweetness
	Our Longing to Know
	Recognizing Reality
	Seeking and Discovery
	Seeking Subsides
	Seeking the Whole
	Seeking Gives Way...
	See also:  Attention - Witness - Observer
		Being Human
		Completeness and Perfection
		Desire
		Grace
		Realization and Insight
		Experiment #9: Seeking
		Letter #37: Restless Seeking
		Question #20: Life's Existential Questions

Sleep and Dreams
	See also:  Attention - Witness - Observer
		Letter #48: Sleep, Awareness and the Great Mystery

Source - Appearance
	Apparent Separateness
	Beyond Appearance
	Focus on the Source
	The Great Container
	Illusion of Apparent Separateness
	Inseparability
	Source and Appearance
	Source Point, Choice Point
	Tracing Bread Crumbs Home
	You Are THIS
	See also:  Attention
		Completeness -- Wholeness -- Perfection
		Manifestation - Revelation - Dynamic Change and Transformation
		Trust - Benevolence

Space
	Containing Space
	Discover the Spacious Space
	Infinite Light
	Open Window
	Silent Center Space
	Spaciousness and Clarity
	Spacious Vitality
	See also:  Center of Perception
		Wisdom: Open Space

Suffering
	After the Storm
	Do Not Despair
	Finding Comfort
	From the Darkness
	Frustration and Trust
	Good and Evil
	Keep an Open Heart
	Misery is Optional
	Our Attachment to Struggle
	Pleasure and Pain
	Reality and Truth are Larger
	Reflections on Suffering
	Root Cause of Suffering
	Satisfaction and Suffering
	Suffering Arises Within the Mind
	See also:  Choice 
		Compassion
		Identity
		Source - Appearance
		Trust
		Letter #45: Depression and Mental Illness
		Letter #53: Cruelty, Suffering and Death
		Question #6: Pain
		Wisdom: Self-identification with the Limited
		Wisdom: Suffering
		Wisdom: Suffering and Wonder

Synchronicity
	See also:
		Wisdom: Sign from God

Teacher - Student - Transmission
	Ah-ha!
	Absence and Presence
	Life's Lessons
	Investigate Your Own Experience
	Reflections on Transmission
	Transmission or Initiation?
	Transmission or Resonance
	When the Student is Ready
	Your Teacher
	See also:  Attention - Witness - Observer
		Being Human - Our Ordinary Experience
		Life - Energy - Creativity
		Path - Effort - Practice
		Trust - Benevolence
		Chat #4: Multiplicity of Teachings
		Acceptance of What Is (Transmission)

Truth
	Indestructible and Invincible
	The Simple Truth
	Truth
	Truth is Not Hidden
	See also:  Finite and Infinite
		Reality
		Realization and Insight

Trust - Benevolence
	Contentment
	Doubting Reality?
	In Spite of All Appearances
	Letting Go
	Living in Open Space
	No Rules
	Pay Attention, Trust Reality
	Simply Trusting
	Trusting Reality
	Trust the Movement of Reality
	Trust the Sages
	Trust Your Own Experience (1)
	Trust Your Own Experience (2)
	Trust Your Own Knowing
	Worry, Fear, Regret and Trust
	See also:  Acceptance - Surrender - Grace
		Completeness - Wholeness - Perfection
		Intuition
		Wisdom: Not Blocking
		Letter #44: Benevolence

Words
	Beyond Words
	Reality Defies Expression
	Recognizing the Inexpressible
	See also:  Miracles and Mystery



Reader Reflections
	Beloved Face
	Breathlessness
	Felt Sense
	Headless Way
	Look into the Looking
	Magic Eye Analogy
	Original Sin and Forgiveness
	Remembering
	Return to Original Nature
	Simple Awareness
	Sun-lit Wisps of Mystery
	Word Sculptures