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Two Possibilities: Suffering or Happiness

By: Nirmala

In every moment, there are two possibilities. One possibility is to have all of our curiosity, attention, and passion focused on what is happening. The other, is to have that same curiosity, attention, and passion focused on what is not happening, what is not present, or what we think should or shouldn't be happening. In every moment, the question is: What are you giving your attention to? Are you allowing what is, or going to battle with it-trying to change it in some way?

When our focus is on what is, our experience of what is opens up and becomes bigger, richer, and more complete. But when it is on what is not (the past, the future, or any thought about what is), our experience of the moment contracts and becomes narrower and full of suffering and struggle, because inherent in a focus on what is not is a struggle with what is.

We discover that much of the time we are oriented toward what is not and in opposition to what is. Life can be mostly about how to make our experience better and have more pleasure, and how to avoid the things that are painful. We evaluate our experience to see what's wrong with this moment and how it could be improved. We ask ourselves what could be added to it to make it better. As a result, our attention becomes very narrow and our awareness very limited as we focus on our own thoughts about the moment instead of the moment itself.

If we see how much we struggle with what is, the next tendency is to then go to battle with that. We try to fix this tendency to try to change everything. But that is only more of the same: All that has changed is that now we are struggling against our tendency to try to change things. We end up suffering over the fact that we are suffering.

Another possibility is to notice how you suffer, without trying to change anything about it. Just allow that you don't allow much. Recognize that that is the way it is. This struggling is what we were conditioned to do; and this it turns out that this conditioning is also a part of what is.

At any point where we simply accept what is,we can see how all of the struggling comes from the idea of a "me". Without this assumption that something is happening to "me", there isn't much point in struggling to change the moment. Our effortful struggle to change things only makes sense if there really is a me. We struggle in service to maintaining the idea of a "me". In fact, the struggle is the building block of the "me". Whenever there is no struggle, the sense of a "me" is not there. Our suffering is how we have always maintained a sense of identity.

The tendency is to try to fix even this can arise again. We now try to change our belief about the "me". We may focus on getting rid of our identification, which is another way of focusing on something that is not happening. And so we still end up suffering because now we are at war with our idneitifications. Instead of orienting towards what is (our struggle with our identith), we are focusing on how we think it ought to be: I should know better by no than to be so caught in identification; I really should know who I am.

It is also possible to be really present to whatever is happening including our identifications, without making any effort to change things. If it is happening, then that's what happens. You can just let it be. You may even be amazed by it all, including the strange sense of a me. You can see how unreal this "me" ultimately is, but there is no need to struggle to get rid of it. There's no no need to assume that something's wrong that needs to be fixed. Just letting things be the way they are is the simplest way to end your suffering and be fully present in the here and now.

Whenever it is just fine for everything to be just the way it is including any identity and struggle, then much more of what is can be recognized in our awareness. If we are present to and allowing our struggle, then it is also possible to notice something beyond struggle and any effort to maintain our identity. What that something is, is our true nature or Being.

So along with the struggle and suffering inherent in identification, is a much larger ground of Being in which everything is allowed. Our identity is just a thought or idea, but there is no need to judge or turn away from that idea. In addition to the struggling inherent in our identification, there is also present a profoundly rich ocean of Being, which is allows everything, including the "me". The struggle is only a tiny bit of our entire experience and even this struggle is allowed in the limitless presence of Being.

When we are allowing, we include in our awareness what it is that is allowing, and that is Being-which is who we really are. This realization can be a very jolting experience or a very quiet one because Being is actually very familiar. Every moment of allowing has actually been a moment of experiencing Being.

What can paradoxically take us beyond the struggle is admitting how much we enjoy identifying. When we allow things to be just the way they are, it becomes OK to admit this has all been a lot of fun. It is an incredible creation to experience the illusion of a separate "me". It allows the whole drama of our human life, and has been the inspiration for many of the great works of art and literature. Even though we love to identify,that doesn't mean we don't also suffer from it. This projection and creation of the false me is not a mistake. It's spontaneous, natural, and inherent in our human nature. It's one of the richer aspects of our life-and yet there is also the even richer possibility of recognizing the much greater truth of our Being. This Being is always here and is a place of no suffering.

Article Source: http://www.topicinfo.com

Internationally regarded spiritual teacher, Nirmala has been offering Satsang and individual Spiritual Mentoring since 1998. He provides free spiritual books and many more ways to explore his teaching on endless-satsang.com.
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