This essay is a near-verbatim adaptation of the live spoken teaching, edited only for continuity and readability.
Today, I want to speak about values—the things we find valuable and important in life. In previous weeks, we have discussed principles and enlightened beings. Principles are the way in which we do things; they are about knowing ourselves, about being true to ourselves, and about discovering how we really want to be. When we know our principles, we know how to engage in a situation, and we can be aware of when we are not in integrity, when we are being pulled off our center. This awareness helps us stay closer to our center.
It is the same with values. When we know what we care about, we become empowered. I suggested before that you consider five principles, perhaps in order of importance, that you live by. Today, I invite you to consider the values that you live by.
A value is something you find valuable in life. It might be love, money, fitness, social connection, or any number of things. It is important to find out what your top value is. What are you really seeking? What is the impetus for your actions, or the focus and the way in which you see and evaluate life and situations?
Everyone is different. You can look at someone and sense that their values are like this or like that. In a business, many employees may have a shared set of values. Families tend to have shared values. Friendships often form around shared values. The order of values matters as well. If one person prioritizes love and then fitness, versus fitness and then love, that creates a different profile of evaluation in life.
When we meditate, we can become clearer on what our values are, because we can feel the subtlety of what matters to us. One way to find your values is to compare two at a time: if presented with a choice, which would you choose first? Of course, it is more complex than this, but we are trying to describe something infinitely complex with a list of five words.
For me, a top value is love. I would rather not make money at the cost of love. Everything centers around love. My principles are connected with my values. And what does love mean? Each value is semantically defined. One person might say love means many romantic relationships, but a Buddha might say love means a deep kind of compassion. Another value of mine is truth. There is something very mathematical about truth. In mathematics, we study truth—an equation is an incontrovertible truth, clean and clear, devoid of opinions. Opinions obscure truth. When you watch people argue their opinions, you see they are not interested in truth; they are interested in being right. In mathematics, we are interested in uncovering something beyond ourselves, something that is true. That is something I love about mathematics. Someone else might love mathematics for a different reason.
I also love meditation because it is about truth. To me, math and meditation are both centered on that value. They are ways for me to engage with truth. I offer these examples so you can ultimately find out what your values are. When we know our values, it empowers us.
This is all about progressing along the path to enlightenment—becoming clear in mind, becoming powerful. Perhaps I am naming some values here. Is clarity one of your values?
The reason we are here together is, perhaps, that we share a common set of values. Some people join us and then leave because they are not fulfilling the value inside them, the one that aligns with them. They come here and realize, “Oh, Adam is very centered on truth.” Maybe they are not interested in truth; maybe they are more interested in being right, and that directly conflicts with what they want. Or perhaps truth is simply further down their list of values, or not on their list at all.
Often, principles and values are used interchangeably in English. Here, I am using these terms with a clear definition. A value is something you find valuable; a principle is a way that you do something—a way you approach everything. It applies to all actions, regardless of the specific action. You may not always apply all your principles, but if you were in complete integrity, you probably would. Perhaps your principles apply in certain situations and not in others. Maybe you move between a more diverse or manifold set of principles. It is not always as simple as having just one at all times.
My principle is gentleness. Part of me really disliked giving you a hard time for not being on time today. I do not enjoy that, because then I feel as though I have to set gentleness aside, and I do not want to do that, since that is the principle I value most. But if I do not say something, then perhaps we continue to have an unrefined sensibility regarding our punctuality and our observance of this meeting, which we have once a week for one hour.
There is a kind of love and devotion that comes from showing up on time, even early. If my teacher were giving a talk, I would arrive 30 minutes early to ensure that nothing in my day interferes by the time he begins. I would be there, having meditated in light for at least 15 minutes before he even arrives. There is a certain reverence that says, “This matters.” I am trying to convey and share that.
You can see, I recognize that perhaps gentleness is still the way, because I did not like being otherwise. But I also value truth, and I was speaking the truth. There are many subtleties—how do you want to be?
In enlightenment, we are learning to express ourselves honestly, properly, and correctly—a full expression of who we are. Each one of us is different. The soul has a complex and unique profile of predilection and expression. Perhaps each incarnation also has a subtly shifted profile within the deeper context of the soul. If we are perceiving incarnation directly, that is meaningful. Otherwise, it is simply an abstraction we are considering as a possibility.
Take a moment and see if you can come up with five things you find valuable in life. These are things that have always drawn you—things you want more of, things you live for. Let me give some examples. They are not always as idealistic as you might think. For example, your value might be athletic ability. Some people have athletic ability as a top value, and they play all the sports. Your value might also be something more idealistic. Love is probably one of those.
Peace of mind can be a value—I think that is one of your values, Dad. Efficiency can be a value as well; it can also be a principle. Sometimes you need to be able to differentiate between value and principle.
It is interesting to explore what being heard means as a value. Is it that you want to be validated, or do you want to share with another what is meaningful to you? Perhaps the value is to be free, to be more of who you are—the freedom to be yourself, or to be loved in return. Maybe it is just a deeper expression of that first value: to love and to be loved, love all around. It would be more loving if you were heard. I am trying to distill the particular frequency here.
Being heard means being understood, and being understood, perhaps, means love. In order for there to be love in both directions—not just to love another, but to be loved—one needs to be known. When you love somebody, you know them, you accept them, you hold them in freedom, and you do not exploit them. You love them for who they are, and you know them as they are. You cannot love if you do not know the other. And you cannot be responsible for, or attend to, the needs of another if you do not know them, either.
So perhaps the value is a deeper level of connection with the people you love and who love you. If they could see and understand you, what would you gain from being seen and understood? Deeper connection. If you are really into business, and you want to be heard about business, but if nobody cares about business, you cannot talk about it. So there is less business, less of your value. But some people may want to just be heard. Like an orator—a professional orator. But usually, when you are loving, you do not need to be heard as much. When there is a lot of love, you feel full. Maybe that would mean in your closest relationships, there is a lack of connection, a lack of shared experience, and a lack of other values, like spirituality.
Why am I talking about this in such depth? Because I am trying to help you see the subtlety. Part of the practice here is to say, what is a principle? What is the difference between a virtue and a principle? What makes a principle a principle? And the same with values. I am simply challenging you to refine it more completely, so that it is more powerful for you. That is where the clarity comes from.
Some people have values such as technology, good design, health and healing, truth, or freedom. For example, someone might value health and healing most, and then truth. The opposite of truth, such as dishonesty, especially from people who seem to have authority, can be deeply disturbing. Sometimes, this is a primal, deep thing. There can be anger if someone is clearly running a con, especially in areas where people are vulnerable, such as spirituality. There are people who claim to have some spiritual power and are just after your money. That is a violation of the value of truth.
Freedom is another value—freedom from desire, from fear. But sometimes, another value, like romantic love, can seem to oppose freedom. Yet perhaps it does not, because there is the freedom of a flower to be itself. A flower wants water. That is not a desire, per se, in an unhealthy way. It is living according to its nature. The soul incarnates with a dream of existence. That dream is not desire as much as it is destiny, as much as it is the fulfillment of integrity, of these values.
When you talk about the negative side of things, you may be talking about obscurations and impediments to your value of freedom, your value of truth. Exploiting another is to take away their freedom of choice. To delude another is to take away the freedom or the clarity of truth. So, you may value these things, and you value when other people do not interfere with them. Others may say, "I want to be heard, because if I am not heard, I do not receive the value." It is interesting to see how we are elucidating this. There is a power in enlightenment where we are clear and we understand ourselves. This is one of those places, just like studying geometry. You can gain lucidity around it. You can elucidate yourself.
Values are meant to be expressed. When we have an expectation of them, we can dissipate energy and get into conflict, and then it becomes a desire. But to know that your destiny is to have a romantic experience with a particular kind of person, that is not so much a desire, that is simply true to who you are. And that would actually be something of value. There is nothing in enlightenment that goes against that. Tantra—Tibetan Tantra, White Tantra—is actually all about the flow of life, and recognizing that anything can bring us into higher states of consciousness. You can still be very Buddhist about it. The freedom from desire—we want to be true to ourselves, but we also want to fulfill the subtle intimations of our heart and the dreams. Because there is a form of love there, a form of truth there, a form of freedom there.
Some people may not be living by their values right now, but would like to incorporate them into daily life. But the language of "living by a value" is more about caring about something, always—whether it is present in abundance or not. For example, you may love gold, but there might be an empty chest of gold. Still, you love gold.
It is a challenge to make the differentiation between values and principles. When my teacher asked, "What are your values and principles?" I was unsure of the difference. For a long time, I could not tell them apart. It is completely natural to mix them up. Just come to it on your own and try to find the richness and subtlety in differentiating between the two.
Some things can be values for one person and principles for another. One person may say, "In my life, I just love efficiency." Another person could say, "I do not really care as much." They care about efficiency, but they see it as a means to something else. The more you think about a word, you can see it connects with a whole lot of other words. Humility can definitely be a value, but it can also be a principle. You could say, "All I care about is humility. I want to be nothing. I want to be what I am without self-reflection. I love that. It means so much to me. I just want more of that. I want more of that around me." Another person might say, "Humility is the way I do things, but really, love is what I care about. Humility is just a way to love." There is a difference there. The same with honesty, the same with flexibility.
I like the imagery of a treasure chest with jewels in it. Would you have a lot of humility jewels in there and think, "Oh yes, nice," or would you have a lot of love jewels in there and think, "Okay," and the humility gets you more love jewels?
I have a document called The Treasure of the Nine Jewels. These are what I would say are the shared values of our community. Or perhaps they are my shared values, and as I am leading the community, maybe they align with you a lot, or maybe they do not. Love. Light. Truth. Freedom. Peace. Energy. Understanding. Health. Wealth. There are nine in total. I describe them very clearly.
Love is a ruby, light is a diamond, truth is a sapphire, freedom is an emerald, peace is a pearl, energy is citrine, understanding is topaz, health is jade, and wealth is gold. I have listed the dimensions of intelligence associated with each, a description of them, and the chakra or chakras connected to them.
To live in truth, one must value stillness. To be absorbed in light, one must long for dissolution. To live in freedom, one must treasure spiritual independence. To reverberate in peace, one must abide in the constants of existence. To awaken understanding, one must revere direct perception. To be charged with energy, one must enjoy the purification and the transmutation of density into light. To embody wealth, one must value deeply a life of integrated service. To abide in love, one must treasure spiritual wholeness. To be gifted health, one must value first the pleasures of joy and vitality—the pleasure and joy of vitality.
The jewel and its origin are one; cause and effect are one. When you value these things—when you value stillness, you value truth. They are connected. If there is no stillness, you cannot see through the cloud of self, which is a lack of stillness.
Now, let us bring our attention to the heart center. The heart center, in the center of the chest, is an energetic vortex that can be purified, cleared, and activated. It is our center, so it is very important. All you need to do is consciously direct your life force—your kundalini—to that center. It is a worthwhile endeavor. Prioritize a clear and purified heart spot.
In Chinese medicine, they place a needle here, which helps. In yoga, it is called Anahata—the heart center, the fourth of the seven chakras. As a vortex of bioelectromagnetic energy, it is not only confined to the physical body, but it has an aura, an influence—an aura of awake power and vitality—outside your body as well. You can reach out with it, expand it, or it can remain right at the point on the chest. Simply feel that spot. When we do this, it produces a transformation of consciousness that awakens love—not as an idea, but as an actuality of energetic flow.
We generate love by meditating on the heart center. A substance accumulates, and we regain that spiritual sufficiency, detachment, and wholeness. Let us really connect with that love right now. You can place your finger there, your palms there, or simply sit up straight. Reach out with the heart center. It can generate, through intention alone, warmth in the heart. If you have access to the light, use the light to awaken the center—the heart center. Use the awakening of the center to bask in the light, in visual luminosity, of the Spirit within. Focus into the light and feel the heart.
Namaste.
Sometimes just 10 minutes of meditation can really shift things. That is why I say, do your meditation practice every day—even if it is just 10 minutes. When you start to meditate, you process intellectually, the thoughts and the occurrences. This is one of the things that maintains the clarity I speak about. Initially, when you are meditating, if you have some thoughts, it is alright. They will settle down and work themselves out if you are practicing correctly. Perhaps you gain some clarity on your values, all of a sudden, because you reflected from a place of silence and stillness.
The meditation is really about an actual experience, a direct encounter with mystical states of awareness and energetic flow—kundalini and chakras. You can feel them. When we awaken them, it is beneficial for the values, and it is also part of the math practice. If you can feel your third eye, it really helps with the math.
My teacher, Shannon, is an enlightened individual. I have been studying with him for 15 years. He has attained incredible things and has taught them to me over that time. This mystical ability to experience energy and awaken healing profoundly through energy—perhaps that is the most powerful way to heal, through the purifications of the energy body. It also has a manifestation in the physical, of course. You should exercise and eat healthy, but neglecting the energy body or not having access to it definitely prevents a very deep quality of healing.
Our lineage—his teacher's teacher—comes from Tibet. We have a Tibetan background, but really, it is also non-denominational. Both he, myself, and our Param Guru, we see all of them as one. Buddhism is yoga. Ultimately, the heart of them all is meditation and mindfulness. The three pillars are meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation. That is the heart of all of them—even Christianity and Judaism. They are all really speaking about the same awakening and the same enlightenment. There are different descriptions, of course, and different techniques, books, and histories, but ultimately, there is one ontological reality of awakening.
Often, when I contemplate, it is like meditation. But it is not dissolution—it is stillness, and the revelation that occurs within that stillness. So you can see the truth, which I describe on that sheet quite a bit, in terms of the value.
Thank you, everyone.