- I do what you suggest, but it’s not working;
- The memories keep coming, and I’m still sad;
- But I’m still attached;
- I keep getting caught in patterns;
- I’m still suffering. How can I be free?
Sound familiar?
All of these concerns contain the element of time, confused by the mind’s ideas about what awakening is. Your mind thinks that if you were doing it right, you would stop suffering by now. If only you applied just the right tools, your problems would be fixed forever.
Take away time, and what’s revealed? The beautiful insight that every moment is fresh!
The past and future are irrelevant. It’s only in this moment when you’re suffering, and only in this moment when you can discover the peace and ease of your true nature.
It’s a normal part of human life to develop conditioned ways of being. When these patterns are left unexamined, we:
- Trust our thoughts;
- Think and talk about what’s wrong;
- Give importance to our feelings;
- Act out our conditioned patterns.
No matter how deeply we know that our essence is love and that we are one with everything, these conditioned reactions arise. We can’t make them disappear…but we can meet them with conscious awareness and curiosity.
In any moment, we can:
- Accept the fact that stories are present in our minds—but not feed them with attention;
- Welcome emotions and feel how they’re expressed in the body—rather than getting caught in their drama;
- Feel the urges that pull us into compulsive behaviors—but not act on them—meeting what fuels them with compassion and understanding.
This is what’s so amazing. Our experience of the moment shifts completely when we stand as the open field of spacious awareness that lovingly receives whatever is present.
Our conditioned patterns thrive when we're unaware of them. But illuminate them with unconditional acceptance, and their power diminishes.
An opportunity is defined as a “lucky chance” or a “favorable circumstance.” Instead of being frustrated when you find yourself caught—again—in the grip of conditioned reactions, you’ve been blessed with good luck and a favorable circumstance. Hold that moment as an opportunity.
You’ve been given a lucky chance to find your way to peace, a favorable circumstance that invites you to recognize false and limiting ideas that you think define you and come back to yourself…the quiet openness of this now moment.
It doesn’t matter how many times you feel stuck. Each moment is fresh, an opportunity to realize the true nature of things…over and over.
Next time and every time you find yourself entangled in problems, say, “Thank you” for the gift you’ve been offered.
Bring heartfelt kindness to all that you experience, and know that it doesn’t begin to define your magnificence. That's how you find yourself: innocent, open, and so incredibly alive.
