Welcome


If you're interested in conscious living, then likely you're just as equally interested in Zen but simply not knowingly interested.

Usually Zen is associated with Japanese culture and religious or Buddhism practice, but true Zen (or at least the way this site uses the term) is emphasizing the value of conscious living.

Zen and conscious living come together and go hand-in-hand. Hence, conscious living without Zen is a huge oversight and vice-versa because these are not two.

"Conscious Flex: Zen & Conscious Living" is designed to offer a partnership of how these seemingly two are actually one movement.

Zen is the foundational spaciousness or presence from which conscious living derives. In the same manner that an artist, inventor or intuitive actions come from the stillness in the silence of non-movement.

In other words, Zen is a resting in the powerful space of not thinking about thought, not doing anything about doing, not trying to be the solver or understander, the knower collector but simply allowing the intelligence of life to flow through you and as you.

What is described can be thought of as meditation or accessing our intuition, but it's actually just natural living.

Often you will see kids in a natural resting space or presence and we tell them "snap out of it" because we think they are in "lala land" or "fantasy land" and not paying attention but actually they are simply being completely present with what is. It's natural to just rest and be, that's the flow from which insight and wisdom arises from.

Hence, conscious living is also the natural flow of how life organically expands upon itself. Consequently, conscious living is Zen living, when it's pure and without conceptual overlays.

Enjoy!
  • Pursue Your Authentic Path

    What is your authentic path?

    It's the path of you. The path of who you really are. The path of the person you are when nobody else is around. That person you are when you know nobody is watching, when nobody is looking, and when you are centered/comfortable because you can do whatever you please without the opinion of others. This is your authentic path, since it's your authentic self.

    Why this is important and where it will lead you?


    This is important because when you can stay within this path even while others are around, then you will be able to attract and succeed with anything you desire. Later in this article, I will explain why & how to be your authentic self around others, but this is a step by step process.

    Step One
    The first step is to spend time alone with yourself (if you find that you're alone most of the time and you are feeling lonely, keep reading this article it's for you too). You must spend time in isolation enough that you can see the difference between authentic thoughts and artificial thoughts.

    Artificial thoughts, are thoughts that are ingrained into your consciousness set forth by your fellow (well-intended) human beings (parents, teachers, friends, society). In order to smooth-out this process and help you to reach the place of authentic thoughts, I will lay-down a foundation of what artificial thoughts sound like:

    ►You must achieve success (You must accumulate many rewards, metals, high grades, stable job, degrees, certificates, get married, have children, etc...)
    ►You must attain material possessions (spacey house, fancy car, high-tech gadgets, etc...)
    ►You must be presentable (fashionable style, clean house, good behavior, manageable children, etc...)
    ►You must be number one (biggest achiever, first winner, best toys, hardest worker, bundle of money, etc...)
    ►You must follow guidelines (don't get a divorce, goto church, don't drop out of school, have a job, keep up with the media/news/sports, eat this amount of food, sleep this amount of time, be this label, take this based on your label, fit in, etc...)
    ►You must be ordinary (don't do that it's not possible, don't think like that it's crazy, don't say that it doesn't make any logic sense, don't be that way it's not normal, don't ask questions like that it's too disturbing, don't do that it's too risky, etc...)
    ►You must have mainstream beliefs (survival of the fittest, you must defend yourself, there are victims, you are separate from everyone, nothing is perfect, accidents and coincidences happen, common knowledge is truth and anything outside this understanding is impossible, your past is fact, everyone has alternative motives, there are others to blame, love is limited to only certain people: romantic relationships & family, being alone is a bad thing, you must change your environment/others to feel happy, life is about rewards and punishments, your thoughts have nothing to do with reality, you only have two choices: science or religion, etc...)

    Those are artificial thoughts because once you attain them, you will feel empty. Once you attain those things labeled success, you will be pushed to attain more success by your fellow human beings. Yet, there is nothing wrong with success. If you desire more money, more material things, more abundance in all areas of your life then it's yours for the taking and there is nothing wrong with doing that (in fact this article explains how you can achieve those things... and so much more).

    However, in order to attain the success of happiness on all levels, there is much more to the game of life then the artificial successes.

    Consequentially, the first step is to isolate yourself from people. The more you can do this, the quicker you will be able to possess the ability to decipher the difference between your authentic thoughts and artificial thoughts.

    Ways to Achieve the First Step
    Do you live in a busy home? Here are some ways to achieve alone time:
    ►Take a bath
    ►Wake up earlier when everyone is sleeping
    ►Call-in to work or leave early
    ►Sit inside your car while parked in the garage
    ►Take a long drive through an isolated area
    ►Go for a walk late at night when everyone is sleeping
    ►Spend time in a cemetery (they are usually isolated)

    No matter how you spend time alone, make sure you turn off all devices: cell phones, radios, pagers, alarms, etc... While alone, your goal is to observe your thoughts as they pass by and put them in one of two categories (artificial or authentic). The best way to do this (in order to keep focus), is to write the thoughts down as they pass. Alternatively, you could record yourself and write the thoughts down afterward.

    Don't try to control your thoughts, just have the thoughts you normally do and be the observer of those thoughts. Doing this will give you a target idea of how close you are to your authentic path. You can determine how much alone time you need, by how much artificial thoughts you notice. Your authentic self tells you how much time to spend by yourself, by how many artificial thoughts you notice compared to authentic thoughts. Your goal is to have no artificial thoughts.

    Mastering Your Authentic Path
    Remember there is no score, there is no reason to judge yourself based on this, if you are having judgmental thoughts of yourself, just realize that is an artificial thought and has nothing to do with your authentic self. Your authentic self has no reason to judge you because you are not in competition with anybody else. This process is about taking everyone else out of the picture. Once everyone else's thoughts are no longer within your authentic self picture, then you have mastered your authentic path.

    It's easy to master your authentic path when you're alone enough and if you find that's not easy, then you are not allowing enough alone time for yourself. You will have no doubts when you have completely mastered your authentic self because you will notice that there is no difference in the comfort level you feel when you are alone verse when you are around anybody else. The same you, that comes out when you are alone, will be the same you that comes out rather people are around you or not.

    A Deeper Understanding of Your Authentic Path
    The reason you want to find your authentic path, is because once on this path, you can start having a relationship with yourself. This relationship is the most important relationship you can ever have in your lifetime. All other relationships you have (or had) in your life, will stem from the relationship you have with yourself.

    For example, most people feel they must attain a certain amount of success in order to be happy. "Once I accomplish this goal then I can be happy!" Yet, this is only a temporary happiness. You will notice that the instance you complete that goal, another one appears. Now once you achieve this new goal, then you can be happy. This cycle is continuous and never-ending.

    True happiness is a state of being. Happy people feel good from within and do happy things because of that state they are being in. Happiness is within and is reflected outwardly. Once you find your authentic self, that path will lead you to feeling happy right now, in this moment.

    Your authentic self chooses to be happy. It's a choice, because if you don't choose it for yourself, it never appears. Once you choose your authentic self, it becomes natural to feel happy. Have you ever noticed that you are most comfortable and happy when you can relax and let lose? It's not that you a relaxing and letting lose that allows the happiest feelings to appear, it's that you are alone at the times you are feeling comfortable enough to relax and let lose.

    Are You Scared To Be Alone?
    People who don't like to be alone or are even afraid to be alone (yes this includes feeling alone because you don't have a partner), are people who have not understood this priceless gift because the artificial thoughts are too overwhelming. How can you ever find peace in being alone, when you have been taught your whole life that being alone is lonely? The answer to the 'how' in that question, is just by knowing this information. Just by knowing that when you have those thoughts, they are artificial thoughts. You can now see those thoughts for what they really are.

    Step Two
    However, you will notice that after mastering the authentic self, it will not stay mastered the longer you are around other people. Yet, people are everywhere in your life. As a result, how do you stay aligned with that priceless path in which your inner being of essence thrives?

    The wonderful news is that you can be in this world of people and still not let the people of this world effect your authentic self. In fact, after you mastered the first step, people can actually help you be more aligned with your authentic self, rather than backfire your progress.

    All you have to do is be around them, but listen closely to what they have to say and every-time they say a thought that is an artificial thought, just think to yourself: "That's an artificial thought." Don't judge them or the thought they have, just realize it for yourself and use what they have to say as a guide of thoughts that are artificial. That thought is not their authentic self and it's okay that they have those artificial thoughts because you realize that artificial thoughts are just a mask that they wear. As your authentic self, you choose to see beyond the mask and see them for who they really are. Therefore, there is never any judgment.

    In other words, by listening to them, you can help yourself to know what thoughts are not real. Without even knowing it, they will be helping you to keep aligned with your authentic path. Don't feel that you must save them from their artificial thoughts because even that is an artificial thought. Happiness comes within first (a state of being, being happy), then later comes action (motivated by your happiness).

    Don't even tell others your desires, dreams, passions, or anything that you desire to attract into your life. Why? They will tell you of all the artificial thoughts about life and how what you are attempting is not possible, it's easy to fall into that trap because you have been in that trap your whole life. First: be alone, second: be alone in your thoughts.

    Step One is about finding your authentic self, by taking everyone else's thoughts out of the picture (recognizing the difference between an artificial thought and an authentic thought). Step two is about being around everyone else but still keeping them out of the picture (using the outside influence of artificial thoughts as a guide for staying within authentic thoughts).

    Step Three
    This part is fun because you can literally start to feel a change in your life and you are ready for more. It's a very exciting stage to be in. This is where you get to start attracting the manifestations of your desires. If you have difficulty believing things actually work this way, read this article: "Your Brain Does NOT Know the Difference!" it's a five minute example that you can try for yourself. It shows how your thoughts have an effect on your reality because your brain doesn't know the difference between an imagined thought and actual reality.

    By mastering the first two steps. Step three is an automatic process.

    Know your desire and use the above link to determine how to manifest that desire. It's really that simple. It may not seem simple because as of now, since you have not began step one. ;)

    Note: I did not go into great detail about the authentic self, because I wrote this article before a transformation (if you can call it that) of my authentic self. This authentic self is the same self for everybody. However, I determined this article has the potential to still be helpful.