Making Your Wisdom Come Alive: A Guide to the Source of Your Wisdom and Joy

By Michael Gluckman

Reading Michael's book is like listening to a wonderful symphony that leaves you feeling uplifted and refreshed.
It is highly recommended for all those who sense that there's an alternative to suffering, and who want that alternative now George Fine

In the fully revised second edition of "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive," Michael Gluckman reveals the secret teachings passed down from antiquity. He shows how these teachings are genuine, because they are reasonable and because you can experience them. Although they help with stress, depression and anxiety, Michael shows how life is more than just getting rid of problems. In fact you will be astonished by how much wisdom and joy you can experience.

In the same way that the sages of old discovered this indescribable freedom, you can discover it too. Indeed, you will find that the source of wisdom and happiness is actually the center of your experience.

"Making Your Wisdom Come Alive" promises to help you:

* Experience happiness and joy at the source
* Banish emotional pain, stress and depression
* Find peace when all seems lost, when you are sick, broke, afraid and alone
* Deepen your meditation practice and find the center of your mind

The first section of the book is a step by step guide that starts with your everyday experience and from there, takes you to a place where you can discover the freedom and happiness that springs from your identity.

Michael describes the process of returning happiness to its rightful place. He opens your eyes to your natural freedom, and shows you how to cut the strings that seem to pull you back into limitation. This allows you to remain in an effortless state of peace.

In the second section, Michael presents the teachings of many sages from different cultures and religions. This is to show the validity of this knowledge, to fuel your meditation practice, and to confirm your experience.

Kevin Loucks said, "Finally, I needed to experience what I was reading about first hand, but I wasn't really sure how to do that. Michael and "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive" helped to start me on my way.
.... His book does make your wisdom come alive, and much, much more."

Michael writes, "My hope in writing this book is not so you can learn a new or improved philosophy, but so you can be liberated from the limitations that the world seems to present, and live in freedom and joy that you never would have dreamed possible."

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456600990

Book preview

Publishing

A Note of Thanks

Although I enjoyed writing this book, I needed help from many sources.

I would like to thank all of my teachers for their knowledge and wisdom, which they so generously imparted to me.

There are many people who gave me comments and feedback. I would like to thank all of them.

I would especially like to thank Cathy Weiss-Boucher and my wife Brigit Ananya for their inspiration as well as their patient and thorough proofreading of this book.

I would also like to thank George Fine and Christopher Bowman for their careful proofreading, and for their help in pointing out thoughts that I just left hanging in mid air, so that I could clarify them.

As for the second edition, I would like to thank Robert Flanagan for his expert eye and help designing the book, and Brigit Ananya, who edited it and took charge of proofreading and organizing the styles. She also helped to clarify my presentation as I polished this book.

I hope that this work will inspire many people to deepen their meditation practice and obtain the highest state of freedom.

Foreword by Kevin Loucks

The Title of This Book Says it All

I’ve wanted to write a review of this book since I first read it more than a month ago, but I had so many thoughts in my head that I really didn’t know where to start. Finally, I realized that what I had to say was really very simple, and the title to this book says it all.

Michael Gluckman has a wonderful writing style that allows him to explain complicated ideas in a very accessible, conversational fashion. For me, however, the best part is that his premises are demonstrable through personal experience. Yes, that’s right, you can prove the truth of his assertions with the benefit of your own experience.

I personally came upon Making Your Wisdom Come Alive after many years of reading, studying and rereading other books, from the Bhagavad Gita to the Tao Te Ching, and many others. I understood and enjoyed on an intellectual level the things that were being said, but I always had trouble bridging the gap between my intellect and my experience. Finally, there came a point in time when I needed to experience what I was reading about first hand, but I wasn’t really sure how to do that. Michael Gluckman, and Making Your Wisdom Come Alive helped to start me on my way.

In the past month, since I first read Michael’s book, I have begun to see progress in applying the reality that I had been studying from a dry, scholarly perspective for so many years. This is a journey that requires patience, and attention to detail, but with Michael’s help, I am on my way.

In the meantime, the texts that I have been reading for all these years have come alive in new and wonderful ways, and I am seeing things all around me that I never noticed or appreciated. Also, my behavior is better generally, and the little silly things that I used to waste too much time worrying about are not so important any more.

Needless to say, all of this is not bad for the price of one small book....

I highly recommend Making Your Wisdom Come Alive because, as I said in the title to this review, the title of this book says it all. Michael Gluckman’s book does make your wisdom come alive, and much, much more.

Introduction

Sitting here in my chair in my little study off the main room of my house, I am thinking about what I would like to pass on to you from my meditation practice.

For the past 40 years I have been on the path of meditation. But this is a unique meditation. It unveils the deepest secret of the universe, a secret so simple that people just overlook it. A secret that not only takes you to the core of your own being, but to the very core of the universe itself, and once you discover it, you experience it directly; where you get the feeling that you knew this all the time.

In this book I am going to pass on the secret of standing as Wisdom and Happiness. The depth of this wisdom constantly amazes me. It’s no exaggeration to say that when you know this, it is like knowing what everything is.

If you wanted to take a guess as to where this secret lies, here is a hint. If you were God and wanted to put Wisdom and Happiness in the world, where would you put it? Now I know that like God you are a compassionate being, and since you are compassionate, you would put it where the maximum number of people could experience it — where it wouldn’t matter if they were rich or poor, young or old, sick or well, or Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or Jew. That no matter what difference seems to distinguish people, they could still be happy and at peace. Maybe the same place that you would put this Wisdom and Happiness is the place where God put it.

However, if I were to tell you that you could stand as the source of Wisdom and Bliss, could you believe me? How would you know that this book is not written from a figment of my imagination? How would you know that it comes from real experience accessible to anyone?

I would like to propose three tests to show the validity of the knowledge contained within this book:

First, is what I am saying reasonable? Does it make sense or is it some mystical mumbo jumbo that is incomprehensible? After reading this book, I think you will see that the sages of old actually wanted you to understand what they were saying. You’ll see that spirituality and reason are not opposites.

Second, can you experience this? If you can’t experience what I say, what good is it?

Third, am I the only one to experience and write about this, or has this knowledge been passed down throughout the ages?

If while reading this book you find that it passes these three tests, I would encourage you to open your mind. Perhaps here, in this little book, you can discover the secret teachings, passed down from antiquity, that when discovered have made many people exceedingly joyful.

Preface to the Second Edition

This book is written in two parts. Step by step, the first part starts with what you experience right now, and from there points you to the source of wisdom and bliss in the last place you would expect. To help understand the process of waking up, please read this part in the order that it’s written.

After you open your eyes to this blissful freedom, in the second part, we allow many different masters from different cultures and religions to tell you what they see, so that you can experience their teachings in a new light. The book is divided into small chapters so that each day, before you meditate, you can read one of them.

In Making Your Wisdom Come Alive I often talk about this meditation. Unlike many meditation practices where physical posture, breath, and mental posture are important, here meditation simply means getting to the core of your own self-nature.

You will see that it is so close to you that it is easy to overlook. In fact, if you think that you already know who you are, you will be in for a pleasant surprise. That’s because you are much greater than you think.

To get a sense of this meditation, if you ask the gas station attendant how to get to San Francisco, and he replies that you already are in San Francisco, then what can you do to get to San Francisco? It is only by recognizing what you already experience that you can arrive in San Francisco. This book points to the place where you stand even now. It also shows you how to step beyond the limitations that you see, so that you can discover what you really are.

If you want more information on starting a regular meditation practice, at the end of the first section, I included a chapter on how we meditate. This is not so you will imitate our form. It is to give you ideas so that you can find or create a form that is inspiring to you.

I then included a chapter on moving meditation. That’s because here you can meditate no matter what posture you find yourself in: sitting, standing, walking, or lying down; eyes open or closed.

The best way to read this book is to question and explore the meaning of these words, and then to leave them behind, so that you can abide in the place that the words point. See the chapter, "Thinking from Within" for more information on this.

Based on the questions that people have asked over the years, in this edition I included more information. This includes escaping the cycle of repression and indulgence, in the chapter, "The Forces that Enliven the Body." I also included more information on how to experience what you know, and on how to meditate.

In the section, "Quotes From the Masters" I included more poetry and more dialogs.

If you have questions that are not answered in this book, feel free to write me at [e-mail]. Then we can explore and find answers together.

Occasionally reread this book. If you are like me, you will find that as your meditation deepens, the same words will have a completely different meaning. As I practiced, I often had the feeling, "How did I overlook that!"

Whoever finds the

explanation of these words

will not taste death.

Jesus

The Gospel According to Thomas

Translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-Ch. Puech, G. Quispel,

W. Till, and Yassah ‘Abd Al Masih.

© E. J. Brill

If you are curious about the following questions, read on.

Can I really find lasting happiness and peace?

Can meditation help me with my problems?

How far can I possibly go in my meditation?

What will be the results of my practice?

Invocations

OM, That is full;

this is full.

The full comes out of the full.

Taking the full from the full

the full itself remains.

OM, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (peace).

Invocation to Isa Upanishad

The Principal Upanishads

Translated by S. Radhakrishnan

© S. Radhakrishnan

The fullness in the universe is the same fullness that resides right in your heart.

May the light that lights the universe be our light.

May the love that is at its very core be our love.

May we see clearly, the very core of our existence.

May all beings live together in peace.

OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (peace).

This is an invocation that I wrote in the traditional style of the Indian Vedas. The last verse essentially asks that the conditions in the world and in your home support your practice. By the end of this book you will know that you find peace by becoming the light that you really are.

Part One:

Finding what you are

Where is happiness?

The first section of this book starts with a dialogue on the nature of happiness, and the surprising place where you actually find it. Then it moves on, and step by step uncovers the nature of the Being in human being.

By the end of this section you will have a new appreciation for what the philosophers and sages meant, when they said, "Know thyself." Yes, that Self is you!

Question

I remember one thing that I used to do, a very long time ago. At night I tried to analyze my day, and extract all the things I went through that pleased me more, and I kept a note, and I tried to repeat those things in the next days, in order to have more pleasant days.

The idea is if we accomplish some hard tasks in a more pleasant way, we will have a better day. So we must understand what is the best way to get a task done... and do that in the future...

Thanks for your attention

Victor

Victor, thank you for your questions and comments. The purpose of this book is to show you how you can shift the place where you stand. Now if you feel that you are the one who does actions and enjoys their results, you should know that in reality you are the one who abides as the source of happiness itself.

The only way you can know the depth of this happiness is by standing here. Happiness, as described here, is not an object that you see or feel in the usual way. You know this happiness in a more direct way. You know it because you are it.

This is confusing to many people. How can you experience something if you don’t see it, hear it, and if it’s not the usual type of feeling? The best answer that I can give is that happiness has its own intelligence, which you can only know by standing in your true nature.

An analogy might be that the sun does not need a candle to see itself. The sun knows light because the sun is light. In this very same way you are happiness. When you find a job that needs doing you are happiness. While you do the job you remain in your natural state. And when the job is completed you are the same bliss.

Now I know that many people have the concept that they can only be happy after the job is done. That’s why here in America we have the expression, "Thank God it’s Friday," the last day of work before you get to enjoy the weekend. But if you think about it, out of a seven day week, you would only have two days to be happy. If this was the formula for happiness, you would spend nearly three-quarters of your life in misery. I hope there’s a better way.

Now here’s where a little experimenting can go a long way. In the midst of the most difficult and challenging task that you do — you know the task that causes the most suffering — see if you can find happiness. Here’s a little secret that might help you with this experiment: happiness comes from the place where you actually experience it, not from the things that you do, or the objects that you see.

So without breaking your concentration on the job at hand, see if you can find happiness in the last place you would ever expect. If you can find happiness even in the midst of this difficult job, you will find the unexpressed meaning of these words.

Remember, never assume that suffering is natural. The only thing that is natural is your own Consciousness and Bliss. If your experience is anything less than this, ask questions and find your innate freedom.

Victor’s Reply,

Hello Michael,

Thank you for your view on this subject.

Yes, in the middle of a difficult job I can find happiness, for instance, if I recall the great view of Arrábida’s landscape falling to the sea. This is one of the most wonderful places that I know, and when I am there I feel a great happiness.

Is this what you mean?

Victor

Here was our response. Victor, you know that when you are at Arrábida, or when you even think of the Arrábida landscape falling into the sea, you feel happy. This is a great place to start, because when you meditate on happiness you want to start with what you experience.

But now you can take your experience of happiness even deeper. So here’s the question that you want to ask yourself: when you remember the Arrábida landscape and feel happy, where do you actually experience this happiness? Is it in Arrábida or is it in your own heart? You do not have to answer this question in words; you can answer it by your deepest feelings.

So dive deeper into the happiness that you feel, and determine where you actually experience it. I’m sure that you will notice that you actually feel the happiness here, and not over there at the cliffs going down to the sea.

You may be surprised to notice that Arrábida was not actually the cause of your happiness. Rather it reminded you of the happiness that you already have on the inside. This happiness is not dependent on Arrábida. Rather it wells up from a place inside of you that was there before your first thought about Arrábida.

Now what’s even more magical, you will begin to notice that just as Arrábida was not actually the cause of your happiness, your thoughts are not the cause of your happiness either. If you don’t believe me, try this out for yourself. The next time you feel this joy, start thinking about rubber bands, and ghosts, and goats, and dogs, and cats, and mice, and buildings, and work.

Let your thoughts go wild and see if they affect your happiness one little bit. Here you will find the most remarkable result of this meditation on the source of happiness. Your sense of happiness is much deeper than the thoughts going through your mind. So in order to experience this happiness, you do not have to take thought of anything special. The happiness that you experience comes right from your center.

Now let’s go back to this difficult job. If it was so difficult that you didn’t even have time to take thought of Arrábida, could you still be happy? Of course you could; since your happiness is not dependent on your thoughts, even in the most difficult circumstances you can still be happy and at peace.

In fact you will discover that happiness is so deep that it is just