People everywhere all the time, you can’t escape it. I guess you can leave if you want. You can go into the wilderness and build yourself a cabin somewhere unknown, hide in the woods, create your own home away from society, isolate yourself and become completely self sufficient. Maybe that would be good. Maybe it would be good to go out on your own and stay for an extended period of time in a remote location. Go somewhere away from the pace of city life. Come to think of it, at this day and age what an experience that would be for all the city dwellers who have never left the fast pace life of the metropolis to enter that unknown realm.

It’s funny because if the people I was surrounded with were people that all lived on a farm I would probably be telling them to move to the city to experience city life. It’s all relative. There was a religious man who once said that hell wouldn’t be extreme heat, it would be extreme heat until you started to get used to it, then it would switch to extreme cold, then back to extreme heat until infinity. Now, I’m not one to believe in hell, other than the ones that people some times create for themselves, but that quote certainly helps explain the point of how things can unconsciously become “comfortable”.

Now there is nothing wrong with being comfortable and yet as human beings we sometimes get stuck in being “comfortable”. It tends to hold us back from accomplishing what we truly want to experience in life. It’s even sad some times because people end up being comfortable in really unhealthy circumstances. Being abused and not leaving the relationship, working a numbing job that serves no higher purpose, or even living a life of blind faith because that’s how you were raised.

“I hate my job, but it’s comfortable” I’ve heard these words uttered on more than a dozen occasions. What is the true reason we don’t change what were doing? Is it because we enjoy the suffering? Is it because we’re lying about hating our job and we actually love it? I think not. What it comes down to is the fear of the unknown, the fear of not knowing what will happen if we leave. The fear of not finding happiness in one way, shape or form. It’s been dumbed down to, “Well I couldn’t accomplish my dreams so I’ll settle for this”.

We end up living our life’s “Plan B”. Well I say SCREW Plan B. There should be no Plan B to your dreams and goals. Your dreams should be what you create, your goals should be manifesting themselves everyday, there is no need to settle for anything less. Don’t get trapped in the rat race where every one says to you “Well that’s a nice Idea… but don’t quit your day job”. To hell with them, what do they know? Just because they are unable to open their eyes and go after what they truly want in life doesn’t mean that you have to join the collective unconscious.

We all have the power to create whatever we want to experience in this life. There is only one thing that separates those who do and do not. This is the thing that separates the wealthy from the poor and the lions from the sheep. It is simply this. The will to ACT. The desire to show up. Being great, and accomplishing amazing things is simple, you just have to do it. That’s what it takes, the will show up. And you’ll find that once you start, it makes it very easy for you to create what you want, simply because VERY FEW DO. All it takes is will, and a dream.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Elemental: this word is a sign post. It points towards what the mystics have searched for. It’s the formless form. It’s the first moment beyond the moment. It’s pure Truth; it’s that one total aware experience; when you not only live in the stream, you become the stream. It’s the place where all things exist. It is the True nature of the universe.

Living in alignment with this nature; we are all tied to this. When we live from this place we truly see, and all things are let go. Yet, this is not something that can be sought after; the seeking only leads to further separation. Even these words are empty, they are only pointing; they are a boat to be left behind once you reach the other side.

These words can seem very paradoxical. It is very difficult to talk about Truth, not truth as in relative facts “the sky is blue, etc” but Truth. It’s like telling some one to truly see, we always see with our eyes all the time so people become confused. True seeing goes beyond. It is to be entirely in the moment, so when you do see, you become seeing; there is no past, there is no future, there is no subject, there is no object, and there is no mind.

To practice Zen is to experience every moment in this way; completely and fully aware yet with no roots. It is to live from a place that goes beyond and transcends preconceived notions; where every moment is peaceful and you are a snowflake within the fire. This doesn’t mean that you become cold to emotions; it simply means that you are completely immersed in the moment with out being attached.

I use the word Elemental as a signpost to remind me to live in my element; from that place the universe becomes whole. It is no longer “my” element; it becomes the elemental nature of the universe that all of us share. When we live with that level of awareness at all times everything is complete. Not only does our life align with our True passion but we also live from a place that is compassionate and wholehearted.

You can work really hard to learn about this, you can read all the books on God, the Universe, Buddhism, Christ Consciousness, Taoism, Mindfulness, and Quantum Physics, but ultimately you would be served much better to simply listen to the nature within yourself. As the authority on your own life all the spiritual books in the world will only lead you back to what you already know.

There is nothing that you have to do. Chasing, seeking, searching, are all useless. There is nothing wrong with mental stimulation to help show you signs, but ultimately it would serve you more to simply calm the mind and listen to your true nature. The nature beyond the ego, beyond right and wrong, and beyond likes and dislikes.

All suffering in life is made manifest by lack of living from this place. When you have problems don’t try to stick a band aid on it, go back, go way back to the real cause. If you live in your Element every moment of every day and experience your True Self, it will end suffering on all levels.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

A life begins; an aware being has been born. Limited physically only by his genetic code the infants mind is a completely open vessel. As months pass the child becomes more aware of itself; its conscious mind begins to learn via observation. By the time the child learns to talk its mind has already become molded. Molded by the words he has heard, the actions of the people around him and his family’s ideas of right and wrong. School has yet to begin and the child is already full of preconceived notions.

School starts and the “formal” learning begins. In the first day of school the child must learn to exist in a dynamic different from his home life. People are different; there are things to be learned. Albeit elementary school isn’t very heavy on the three R’s but it sets up the future for the child and how he is going to learn. Just like education systems, religions and corporations know that if you want your message or idea to stick, you have to get them when they’re young.

So life looked at in this way begins to look more like a process, a process of learning; a process of being educated. Sadly, this wonderful tool, the ability to remember what you have been taught, is the reason why our global society has yet to find peace as a whole. It is because of education, or lack there of, that wars are fought. People die because of the way they are educated. Their education creates their beliefs, their beliefs create their actions.

Education is a wonderful tool, yet what is being taught does not always support the further evolution of humanity as a whole. Our governments aren’t going to help; the lack of education is what helps the government keep control of the people. The corporations aren’t going to help, they need drones to run their machines. This is left entirely in the hands of the individuals; the individuals with the power to educate themselves and educate others in a way that supports us all, not just some but all.

So how do we take action, how do we help foster beliefs of compassion, acceptance and peace in humanity? Communication is the key, we must learn to communicate and learn from one another. We as the masses, the people, for the first time have the means to do so. The internet is the most valuable tool to bring awareness of these things into the forefront of the mind. For the first time in history almost any one can instantly connect and develop communication with others from across the globe. Never before have we been this interconnected.

From trading partners to allies, the entire globe is interdependent on one another. We must learn to work together. We must be teachers. We must bring awareness to new ideas and help manifest a greater world. Look at the world today, is this the best that we can do? We have all this technology, all these wonderful toys, yet we still fight, we still argue, we have wars. We can do better. So let’s do it. Learn something new, have an open mind, and be change. Change yourself, change the world.

Happy & Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Why do we always feel the need to be productive? Always having to be on the move or keep our mind occupied. It feels like any time there is silence we have to fill it with some thing, god forbid there be a moment of uncomfortable silence to reflect in. It almost appears as though we are scared to spend a moment in silence. As though we’re afraid of what we might come to realize during our silent contemplation.

To reflect on your own personal reality is one of the most effective ways to get in alignment with your goals, desires and passion. Most people are not even aware of what they want to experience in life; they’ve become caught up in being “comfortable” keeping busy in order to continue being “comfortable” that they forget that there is an entire universe of possibilities awaiting them.

Silence is the key. From the silence can we begin to see cleary what we want to create in our reality. We must have the idea before we can start to build. The art of contemplation breeds change. We humans are not meant to be like gerbils, running on the treadmill of life. We must be still and listen to ourselves for a change in order to surpass the lifestyle and experience of previous generations.

Can you sit still in complete silence with your eyes closed and your hands in your lap? Could you do that for 15 minutes a day for the rest of your life? Try! Do it and see what happens. I guarantee you will see change in your life if you do this. You will begin to build a relationship with yourself that you once had when you were a child, before your mind became poisened by preconcieved notions. But don’t beleive me, do it yourself!

This simple yet underestimated way of experiencing reality is one of the missing pieces to bringing a grander experience of life to every one. Being in complete silence alone or with other people allows you to just be. They should teach a course in school called “Silience: The Art of Being”. We must go back to our infant nature and stop trying to fool ourselves in to thinking that we have it all together and understand all aspects of reality.

If we allow the idea that “we have to always be productive” to be prominate in every moment of life it will only hinder our growth as human beings. We’ll never take a moment to look and say, hey wait a minute if we keep walking the path we’re walking its only going to create more and more suffering, maybe we should change course. With out moments of silence, with out breaks in unconscious mind patterns, we won’t be able to co-create a new reality for all human beings to live in. We need to take that time and experience the simplicity of silence.

Maybe we’ll all finally realize that we’re just children convinced that we’re adults.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

The universe began with a bang…Or did it? Do we know how the universe began? The Big Bang is a theory, a good one yes, but was that the beginning?

The Big Bang theory states that at the first moment in time, every thing in the universe was condensed into a tiny particle. All the energy and potential of the universe was inside a speck of matter that had infinite possibilities. The amount of energy in this speck of matter was so overwhelming that it exploded, to become what we now experience around us today. But how do we know that this was the start? What about before that moment. Did the universe just, not, exist?

Studies illustrate that the universe has only existed for the last 13 Billion earth years, but how is that possible if the universe is infinite? Sounds like a paradox to me. Wouldn’t it make more sense if it was “timeless” and not constrained to concepts like time? Can how old the universe truly is ever be proven? When Science says it began 13 Billion years ago, doesn’t it simply mean that that is the first point in time where we can observe and postulate about the universe? To our perception it is the beginning, but how do we really know that was the start?

What if, “our” big bang was just the beginning of another cycle; a cycle of expansion and contraction, a cycle of life, death, and rebirth for the universe? Imagine for a moment that the universe breathes, just like we inhale and exhale the universe too, expands and contracts, and in each “breathe” (expansion and contraction) of the universe, reality is created and destroyed continuously, through a never ending cycle of realization.

If the universe is infinite, it must have no beginning or end, it just simply is, always and forever more. It must be like Ouroboros, the serpent with its tail in its mouth, symbolizing completion, flawlessness and entirety, the continuous circle of existence. It’s a spiral within a spiral within a spiral. Excellence. Perfection. Unity. Oneness. The “I” that is the universe.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Why have people unconsciously mutated into robots, living life as if there already dead? Why has the general public become slaves to their mind, blaming others for their suffering and not taking responsibility for their actions? They have become consumed by fear, and instead of realizing it, and changing their perception, they’re manifesting it back into reality. Are people going to wake up from their lifeless sleep and realize that all of these fear based concepts that hold our society together, that people are fighting and dying for, are simply illusions?

The more status you gain, the more you are afraid to lose it
The more you lose, the more afraid you are to show your face
And this fear is like any other sickness, it limits you
It debilitates you and risks being spread to others

- Lao Tzu – The Tao Te Ching – Written 2500 years ago.

To say that our western society has not had a hand in creating this generation of fear based people would be an obvious understatement. Between the media & the propaganda on TV it’s almost impossible to receive any unbiased information about what’s really going on in the world, but that’s not the problem. The problem is the fact that people’s beliefs are being created by the corporations who control the media and propaganda. People aren’t having the opportunity to find their own beliefs through life experience because of what’s being told to them over and over again.

Although it may be big business that’s trying to control our beliefs, it’s time that we stop and realize that we’re the ones choosing to believe in the things they tell us.

The only way that these institutions can run is through our support. So if you buy clothes from Wal-Mart then you are indirectly supporting child labor, if you buy shoes from Nike then you support sweat shops where people lose fingers on machinery, if you buy products from Monsanto then you support the rape and pillage of the environment. If we seriously want change we can no longer sit back and hope that our government is going to do something about it, because they won’t.

Politicians depend on businesses to fund their campaigns during future elections. Why do you think that the only people whom receive big tax cuts from the government are large corporations? It’s because politicians have a vested interest in companies making money. More money that the company makes, the more money they have to spend on Advertising during the next election. The only way for there to be any change is through the enlightenment of people, for people to wake up and see these illusions for what they are. Social constructs to keep us in fear so the poor stay poor and the rich stay rich.

So my question is why doesn’t every one just start making evolved choices and break the cycle? Could it be because people don’t know what an evolved choice is, or could it be because they too have a vested interest in keeping the illusions alive? I think it’s a little bit of both. For us to see any change in the future we have to start by becoming consciously aware of our choices. We have to become informed of the things that the government and corporations are doing, and we have to make choices that are inline with who we are.

If we want to see any change, it’s going to have to start with ourselves.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Every problem you can think of can be solved by the human mind, because ultimately the mind creates the problem.

Have you ever woken up and wondered, “Who am I? What am I doing here? Does any of this really matter?” I find I do this more often than not. Who am I… am I Shane? Well what is Shane? Isn’t Shane simply a word used to define this piece of matter? Do I even have any meaning? I assume this would be a question that’s up for debate. That is, the question of whether any thing has any meaning… Does it?

Honestly, what is meaning, and why do we give meaning to things? Can we change the meaning or belief that we give something on command? Can we make a scenario or a situation mean some thing entirely different than what we initially perceive? Who’s deciding what something means any way?

Meaning is the message that is intended, expressed or signified. So based on that definition the purpose of giving things meanings would seem to be a way to express and signify experience and objects within experience. This means this, that means that and so on… but what if the meanings (intended messages) about life that we have been taught in school and society are wrong? What if we’re making up all of the meanings about life as we go? What if there is no one meaning for anything?

Honestly, what is the defining authority on life? What defines the meanings of life? Who decides that this means this and that means that? YOU DO! Not teachers, not your parents, not the bible, not the Buddha, you do. You are the only person who can choose what means what. You have the power to change your perception of any experience. You can change the meaning of anything that you want to. The only meaning to life is the meaning that you give it. Except for the meaning you give life, it has none.

Life ultimately has no meaning. How can any of this have meaning? Think about it. The only reason we think things have meaning is because we have been taught that they do. This doesn’t mean that they have any meaning, it just means that some people from the past gave a bunch of experiences and objects meanings and are now telling us that that’s the way things are.

All of this was caused by our curse/blessing; o ur ability to think and create. If we removed the ability to think, all of life’s problems go away… how you ask? Because the things in life that come up are no longer perceived as problems and when you change what the meaning of an experience is, the new meaning becomes real for you. That’s the only answer to get out of the experiences of life that are considered suffering. Through cleansing your doors of perception.

The moment you think that you are in a scenario that you think you have been wronged or that something isn’t right; realize in that moment, that nothing has any meaning except the meaning that you give it. Whether some one stole your car, or slept with your girlfriend ultimately that experience has NO MEANING. The only time an experience has any meaning is when you choose to give it meaning.

So be here now, seeing the world as the playground of perceptions as it is, and create your own perceptions, beliefs and meanings of reality.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Children are the awakened. No conditioning, no thoughts consuming there mind, no ego trying to fragment reality. I find it funny because people “seeking enlightenment” are just trying to become what they once were as a child, a completely open and aware stream of consciousness with no thoughts or preconceived notions dictating or judging their experience.

There have been studies that have shown that a child’s brain is almost always in a state of creativity, where as an adults brain is in a state of stress. I can’t remember when I started analyzing and judging my experiences but I do remember a time when I thought less in the moment than I do now. The 21 years of experience and conditioning I have gone through now seems to be more of a burden than a blessing, although with out it, I doubt I would be seeking awareness.

When I was a child growing up I always wanted to know what the adults knew, do what the adults did, and be like the adults were. Now as I reach the Global legal age I realize that I want to go beyond what the adults above my generation understood. I want to re-member.

It seems as though we are taught to always want to get somewhere. We as human beings seem to have this desire to be needed or of having to do something. We want purpose. Yet this is what creates our suffering. Ultimately, there is nothing we “have” to do, there are no “guidelines or rules” to life. What we believe to be “guidelines or rules” are simply just ideas created by us that we mistake to be real. We’re using our imagination to make things up and then claiming it to be real… Does any one else find this peculiar?

As a child we had no responsibilities, and this allowed us to thrive in the moment and to be anything that we wanted to be. We didn’t have to worry about the past or the future all we had was the joy of the moment. As we got older we started to think that “We know better now than we did as a child” we think that there are things that “we have to do”, responsibilities that “we have to fulfill”. Yet even these are just simple creations of the mind, nothing more than the fragmentation and separation of the whole experience of reality.

So many times have I heard people say, “I wish I was a child again, nothing to worry about, no responsibilities”. Yet this statement is an oxy moron, because we are still children, there are no responsibilities, only in the illusion of the mind do we create these things. If there is one thing that I have learned in my 21 years of existence it is that “Thoughts Create Reality”. What you believe you will perceive.

So the goal is not to become a child again, but it is to think like a child. See every experience as a new one and enjoy every moment. Let go of the attachment to our ego and surrender to the beauty of the present moment. Be here now and become aware of your unity with the entirety of the universe. We create our own reality; simply choose what you want to create and be awakened.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

There are angels among us. They’re all around us, every day. Just open your eyes and take a look. Lift your head and peer out from the veil of darkness that shadows your experience. Angels can be seen at every corner, on every street, and in every store. The mother who raises the child with special needs, the cabbie who stops to help some one change their flat tire, the homeless man who helps the old lady cross the street, or the innocent child who states the obvious and pushes people to do something with there lives. It does not take much to become aware of these people, these angels, with a heart of gold. You have only but to look and become aware of them. These angels are the bringers of light, of unity and oneness. They are armed with love and are challenging fear at every turn. They live in the moment, on every continent, country, state, province, city and town. They bring love with them every where they go.

These are the real freedom fighters. They are the ones who stay true to themselves; the ones who help show you who you really are and the ones that know that changing the world starts with changing yourself. If you want to be inspired, look to these angels that walk among us… these miracle makers that bring the light to whomever they touch…helping the rest of us remember who we really are. You too can be a bringer of light, a miracle maker, an angel. Love is all you need. You only have to be aware of this, be present and your allow your loving actions to be conducive to being the angel that you are. Let go, forgive the unforgivable. Let go of the chains that bind you to yourself. Let love flow through you and be the light unto others. Wake the fellow man, and you will be awakened. Be the angel. Be love, for that is what you are.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte.

You want to feel alive, then do some thing to feel that way; energy begets energy. Sitting in front of the TV every night watching bad re-runs of reality TV shows, it’s no wonder we feel as though there is nothing to live for. In this society of instant gratification and lack of appreciation I’m surprised that there’s even people wondering why the western world is in the state it’s in. It’s quite obvious in my opinion.

Wake up, turn off alarm, shower, go to work, come home, sit in front of TV, eat, repeat process. Honestly I’m sick and tired. We’re all gerbils living our lives grinding the gears of the machine… and it’s not like we want to, we’ve just been constantly pounding with the illusion that there is no other choice. What a sad machine we have built.

A machine where the rich get richer, and every one else gets poorer. The American dream, of “making it”, 2 cars, nice house, 2 kids, good jobs, happy marriage, boy is that becoming more and more difficult for the average citizen. Buying power each year for the average person just keeps decreasing and decreasing.

Has no one connected the dots? This slow century long process to get the majority of the population closer and closer to slavery, and put more and more power into the hands of a few. It’s sad that we have yet to take the 1.2 trillion dollars a year that the globe spends on nuclear weapons and various other military expenses, and put that into say, feeding the people that are starving to death and educating people to read and write.

One point two trillion dollars every year spent on fear; people fearing one another; people choosing to live in fear instead of love. What a life to live. A life of being scared. Who wants to live like that? Why can’t every one just get along? What a concept, don’t kill each other! Wow, I could be a scholar. We need to make a change. We need to make a stand. The people of planet earth have to let go of the archaic beliefs that no longer support an evolved society.

I think it’s time for a revolution.

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte