Dr. Martha Beck

It's also very strong in India, Tibet, and the other Buddhist countries. It's a shift where you leave the aspects of your thinking that cause you internal suffering. You cease to suffer after you awaken. I think that's actually an epigenetic shift that is inherent in the brain of every individual and that many individuals throughout history have gone through it.

The great teachers, I think Nelson Mandela went through it in prison at Robben Island. So all over the world, in different cultures, in different parts of the world, throughout history, individuals have described this experience with very, very consistent terminology. You awaken, you realize that the life you've been living is real, but only in the way a dream is real.

The great teachers, I think Nelson Mandela went through it in prison at Robben Island. So all over the world, in different cultures, in different parts of the world, throughout history, individuals have described this experience with very, very consistent terminology. You awaken, you realize that the life you've been living is real, but only in the way a dream is real.

And that the reality of the awakened state is much more real. And in that state, there's no fear. There's no suffering. There is infinite compassion. There is the desire to serve. There is love for all beings, not just every human, but every being there is. And there is a kind of fundamental peace and bliss, the bliss of being, they call it in Sanskrit, satchitananda.

And that the reality of the awakened state is much more real. And in that state, there's no fear. There's no suffering. There is infinite compassion. There is the desire to serve. There is love for all beings, not just every human, but every being there is. And there is a kind of fundamental peace and bliss, the bliss of being, they call it in Sanskrit, satchitananda.

The bliss of being becomes your everyday state. I think if a critical number of people experience that at the same time, we could just fix the problems humans have been causing for the last few thousand years.

The bliss of being becomes your everyday state. I think if a critical number of people experience that at the same time, we could just fix the problems humans have been causing for the last few thousand years.

Well, I have a few tricks. There's no persuading. I can show you a few things if you want that I tend to do when I'm coaching people.

Well, I have a few tricks. There's no persuading. I can show you a few things if you want that I tend to do when I'm coaching people.

I am a person who has... experienced intense psychological and physical suffering for decades. Absolute wreck of a human being. Physically, by the time I was 30, I had been bedridden for 10 years with autoimmune diseases. I had depression and anxiety in massive amounts from the time I was very small.

I am a person who has... experienced intense psychological and physical suffering for decades. Absolute wreck of a human being. Physically, by the time I was 30, I had been bedridden for 10 years with autoimmune diseases. I had depression and anxiety in massive amounts from the time I was very small.

And then I actually had an experience during a surgery, which was like a near-death experience, where I felt like I saw this light and I felt connected to it, more than connected to it. I felt radically shifted. And I came out of that surgery and changed completely. I stopped telling a single lie with any aspect of my speech, behavior. I would not lie after that.

And then I actually had an experience during a surgery, which was like a near-death experience, where I felt like I saw this light and I felt connected to it, more than connected to it. I felt radically shifted. And I came out of that surgery and changed completely. I stopped telling a single lie with any aspect of my speech, behavior. I would not lie after that.

So in the next year, it was a very exciting year, I walked away from my family religion, which was very, very important in my home community. So that meant I lost my family of origin, my community of origin, every friend I'd had before the age of 17 when I left for college. I realized I was gay, so that was the end of my marriage. I had to leave my home. I left academia.

So in the next year, it was a very exciting year, I walked away from my family religion, which was very, very important in my home community. So that meant I lost my family of origin, my community of origin, every friend I'd had before the age of 17 when I left for college. I realized I was gay, so that was the end of my marriage. I had to leave my home. I left academia.

basically threw everything into the bonfire. And I would not recommend this to anyone listening out there. Don't do it. I did this so you would not have to. I can tell you there are easier ways. But through it all, through everything I've studied with my mind and through everything I've experienced with my body and my heart, I'm not saying I awakened. But I feel I know what awakening is.

basically threw everything into the bonfire. And I would not recommend this to anyone listening out there. Don't do it. I did this so you would not have to. I can tell you there are easier ways. But through it all, through everything I've studied with my mind and through everything I've experienced with my body and my heart, I'm not saying I awakened. But I feel I know what awakening is.

And for that reason, I feel very safe in the world and very joyful. All I can say is this is in you. I may be able to help you find it, but I don't need to create it.

And for that reason, I feel very safe in the world and very joyful. All I can say is this is in you. I may be able to help you find it, but I don't need to create it.

I mean, I've worked with homeless heroin addicts on the streets of Phoenix because I truly believe that the experience I had in surgery with this light, this absolute homecoming and peace, I actually gravitated to addicts, even though I've never been addicted to substance, because when they say they can't live without that first heroin hit, that's how I felt after coming out of that experience, that light.