River of Joy Beneath Phenomena

There is a beautiful river of joy that flows within you all the time-nothing can take you from that but you.
-Michael Singer

I am not going to let phenomena close me!

That is the mantra we need to be constantly repeating.  That is the commitment we need to make so we stop reacting in a less than healthy way to phenomena...all that unfolds in front of us and within our superficial layers.

Manipulating Phenomena

So many of us are on the kick of attempting to manipulate the outside world so it becomes something that will prevent us from being disturbed. We seek to do more, gain more, be more in the eyes of the world. We defend and attack.  We control and try to fix everything we assume is broken and we want. 

Wanting

We want! We use "The Law of Attraction" in hope to manifest all the things we think we want into our lives. We may even sit in "japa" meditation every morning and evening visualizing what we want.  We act as if we have it.  We affirm and put it out there.  "This is what I want!!!"...we scream out to the universe.

This is neither right or wrong but the question to ask is , "Am I getting what I truly, truly want by doing this? What is it that I am hoping to gain from the phenomena I am hoping, praying, visualizing  will show up, or in some cases be removed from my life experience?"

What you truly want

 It isn't the car or the house, the six  figure salary  you want, is it?  It is a sense of being enough, having enough that you are  truly seeking from this material abundance , isn't it?  It is not the soul mate but the sense of being loved and having the opportunity to love.  It is not the fame and recognition but the sense of belonging to something bigger than yourself.  It is not the perfect body but the sense of wellness a healthy body can provide.  It is not the exciting life full of one extreme adventure after another that will make your Facebook buddies sigh with jealousy that you honestly seek, but joy. What you are actually seeking through your striving and your wanting,  is to be enough, love, belonging, wellness, and joy.

You are also not seeking to end a bad relationship, shrink a tumour,  get out of debt, or get rid of your demanding boss.  You are simply trying to get rid of "disturbance"  that you figure this phenomena is causing in your body, heart or mind.

But...

What if you were to know...I mean really know...that you didn't have to be disturbed...that peace is your natural state. What if you knew that you are already enough, that you are a source of unlimited love, that you do belong to the greatest thing there is, that you are well and that you are joy?  Would you still feel the need to react to or manipulate the occurrence of phenomena in your life then? I don't think so.

Yoga is one name for the spiritual path many take to know this truth.  It teaches that spirituality is about "not wanting", about knowing the truth of who we already are and not needing to manipulate the outside world so we do not get disturbed. It is about being able to stay open to all the phenomena that shows up in each moment of our lives.

How the heck do I stay open then?

Practice not closing

Singer teaches that the practice doesn't involve repeated attempts to stay open but to "not close." It is much easier to stop doing something we have a tendency to do than it is to do something we really don't know how to do.

We practice not closing when phenomena shows up.  We practice not resisting or struggling against what is  and that will prevent us from closing.  And heck if we don't close...we are open.  We have accepted and surrendered to what is.

And what is? 

This river of never ending joy, peace, love, belonging and wellness is what is!

We just have to stop closing ourselves to it so we can sink back down into it.

All is well!

Michael A. Singer (November, 2018) What do you really want? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-9j3AjdO3E