All in the Learning!

 There are no problems; just learning experiences. No matter what happens, you are becoming greater. 

Michael Singer, living untethered, page 56

In line with what we were talking about, I had another experience yesterday that reinforces the need to respond with neutrality to our circumstances. Instead of being ego and little me enhancing, my day was very humbling and little me  deflating. Things did not go the way I would have liked them to...the way my puffed up ego expected them to.  I was met with challenge after challenge. . My mind and body were not skilled enough to handle these circumstances in an effective way.  It was obvious to those around me. As I reflect now, it was like a scene out of a funny movie about teaching.  As a result, I had to listen to ego whining and cringing in embarrassment and shame all day. "I should be able to manage this situation.  What is wrong with "me"? I must prove to others that I can do this! I must save face! " It became too much  about "me" and what "me" wanted and didn't want...liked or didn't like; how this "me" appeared to others . That is was the only thing that was problematic.  At the end of the day I was so exhausted from listening to little me...I forgot "why" I was doing what I was doing, forgot about my commitment to do what I could to get rid of the "me". Me was too busy resisting the "isness" of my situation, judging it as bad, wrong and shouldn't be simply because t felt uncomfortable.

I later found myself awake at 330 in the morning wondering, "What can I learn from this both on a practical level and on a deeper level?" On a practical level I can speak to those more skilled in this area, ask for direction and advice, reflect on what worked and didn't work etc.  Now I do this every day I work.  I am such a committed  experiential learner. I truly do reflect on and  learn from my mistakes. On the deeper level, I am taken to what we were talking about: I must not invest in "me" and its likes and dislikes into my experiences. I must approach things with neutrality..  This level is much more important than the practical level.  If I master the learning here, the learning elsewhere will come naturally or will lack significance. 

We must remember that personal mind is strengthened , not diminished, when we pay attention to more objects than others based on the comfort level they trigger within us. There really is no "bad" experiences just experiences that feel or vibrate differently within us. If we want them all to just pass through us without getting snagged in samskaras we just need to openly accept them, not from the perspective of a demented little me but from the higher Self. We look at every experience as a valuable learning experience that will help us to grow.

Sigh! So much learning for a mind that loves to learn. It is all good!