The outer form is a temporary reflection of what you are within, your essence. That is why love and beauty can never leave you although all outer form will.
Eckhart Tolle
I want to look at phenomena a little more and our reaction to it.
Temporary
Phenomena or things that occur in form are temporary and fleeting. We get that right? Most of what the conscious self experiences is what is on the superficial layer. When we think we want abundance, we tend to think in terms of "things" and "more". We want more things. We want "certain" things on the outside of us to show up or go away.
Accept What is first!
We may get what we think we want, we may not. We get things we don't want in our lives too. But the trick is to accept the form in whatever way it shows up in the now of our existence, no matter how limiting it is, how our mind judges it as unwanted. (This includes accepting that the wanted is not yet in your life.) Accept first and know that because it is phenomena, this situation you are experiencing will not last. "This too shall pass." We accept what is, surrender to the now of our lives...first!
Depth
Eckhart Tolle, among many, many masters, teaches that there is a depth to what is in this moment , whether the mind sees it or not, that is much, much deeper than form. This depth connects you to the depth within you, the depth that is you. It connects you to your essence. When we open up to the moment regardless of what it is presenting in terms of phenomena we sink into this depth.
Yet why are we not open?
Our Natural State
Michael Singer echoes the truth that many yogic masters speak to. Our natural state, this depth, is one of peace, wellness, love and joy. It is not one of "disturbance" . Our essence is naturally peaceful. It is where love and beauty are found and never go away. So no matter what phenomena is going on in the upper layer of existence at the deepest level we remain peaceful.
The Ripples
What stops us from experiencing this peace all the time is the fact that we are letting mind run the show. We are allowing mind to tell us that our present moments are unpleasant, uncomfortable and therefore unacceptable.
We may initially feel disturbed by the tings that are going on around us. When mind feels "disturbance" it tries to neutralize the so called problem with thinking...so the thoughts start spilling in ...randomly and out of control...that take us farther and farther away from this peaceful, natural state of Self.
When we resist what is, we close up to it and we close up to It...our essence. As long as mind is keeping us lost in thinking, we cannot feel the peaceful still presence of Self...we are focusing on the ripples on the surface, not the stillness below. We are lost in the mind and all its reactive and unhealthy ways of coping with "disturbance." We identify with it. We cannot seem to make that distinction between the surface phenomena and who we really are. We are indeed lost.
So what do we do next...besides learning to accept what is?
We learn to control the mind. We work on the mind, do the inner work of working on our triggers and reactions. We do not go out into the external world and try to change everything , fix everything, control everything out there so it doesn't "disturb" us. that is an impossible mission but that is what so many of us do. We need to prevent or at least limit the ripples instead.
If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience Yoga. -Patanjali
Yoga, of course, is that union with Self...is that falling into depth of essence where peace and love and joy and beauty are. It is a connection to what is really important, to what we really want whether we know it consciously or not. It is where abundant Life, which is not a life of more things and perfect phenomena, is...it is where a Life of deeper abundance can be found. (Tolle).
I have come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly.
James 10:10 NKJV
Requires work and practice
To retrain these minds so they are not constantly running off like misbehaving monkeys, requires some work on our part. If we do not constantly want to react to phenomena in a less than healthy way, if we want to learn to accept, relax and surrender to what is and be able to stay in Self...we have to commit to working on the mind.
We have to be willing to sit in witness consciousness again and again as we observe what our minds are doing and learn from the gross mistakes they make in their attempts to return to mental homeostasis. What triggers us and why... so we can bring ourselves back to the moment and the depth of Self.
We have to know that the mind is only trying to help us...it is only running the show because we have jumped out of the driver seat while the car is still running. Without a driver, mind is all over the place. We need to get back behind the wheel and practice using the accelerator and brakes in the way they were meant to be used. We need to practice using our conscious awareness to slow the vehicles we are in down. We need to learn what makes us want to slam on the brakes too early, what makes us want to lay on the accelerator too much etc. etc. It won't be easy, according to Singer, but working on us is worth it in the long run.
We can learn to live in peace no matter what phenomena is going on up there. We can settle into the arms of Self and live from there...the way we were meant to. We just need to take care of our minds.
All is well!
Sri Swami Satchidananda (2012) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yogaville: Integral Yoga Publications
Michael Singer (August, 2018) Taking charge of Your Inner Greatness-Volume 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSzhP04g5ys
Michael A. Singer( August, 2018 ) Your Direct Path to Inner Freedom-Volume 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y0onz7aPr8
Eckhart Tolle (Oct, 2018) Don't Get Disturbed by Events.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSD8vkcRGCE
No comments:
Post a Comment