Bridge fragmented aspects of self

Notice the first step is to wake up enough to see what is actually going on within yourself. Nature is a soundboard and guides us to see our true colours. To dive deep into infinite waters allows us to expose illusions and rejected aspects of our being. The deeper we go, the less fazed we are by waves, currents, unexpected storms and obstacles appearing on the Path. Developing a compassionate relationship with self and others allows spontaneous joy to arise along the journey. It does not matter so much where you are so as who you are with. Loving and accepting yourself more fully allows you to find courage to create rainbow bridges, integrating all sides or fragemented aspects of Self.

Shatter myths about peace

Once there was a famous wrestler we'll call “Great Waves.” He was muscular and strong and knew the art of wrestling. In private bouts he defeated even his teacher, yet in public was so bashful that even his students threw him down. He was at a loss for words as well as inner peace. 

Troubled, the wrestler decided to visit a Zen temple for help. There, a wise teacher advised him.

“Great Waves is your name,” said the teacher. “So spend tonight in the temple. Imagine that you are water. You are no longer a wrestler who is afraid. You are those powerful waves sweeping over everything in sight. Do this and you will never again be defeated.”

The teacher left. The wrestler sat still, trying to imagine himself as water. His mind wandered but soon he began to feel more and more like moving waves. As night advanced the waves grew taller and taller. They swept away the flowers and rushed over the statues. Before dawn the temple was nothing but the tide of a vast ocean.

In the morning the teacher found the wrestler in meditation with a slight smile on his face. He patted the man’s shoulder. “Now nothing can disturb you,” he said. “You are the waves. You will sweep everything before you.”

That day, the wrestler entered and won a big tournament, and was never again defeated by his thoughts.

Contrary to popular belief, no peaceful mind exists. Mind itself cannot be peaceful. Its very nature is to be tense and confusing. Mind cannot have clarity. Peace and silence exist without mind. Never attempt to silence the mind. Only as you understand the nature of mind does your life shift. 

Watch and you observe thoughts but never encounter the mind. Thoughts are not one with your nature. Thoughts come and go like visitors. They are like waves in the ocean. You persist as the host. All thoughts are borrowed. As this enters your visceral experience, everything transforms. Awareness is noticing what arises in gaps between thoughts and being that.

Recall martial artist Bruce Lee said, "be like water."  The most challenging adversary is the thinking mind. True confidence and inner peace do not reside in temples or remote places. As we turn inward, go inside our own hearts, here we find all we seek.

Three views of Life

Our view on a given situation depends on our magnification, that is, our relative physical, mental emotional closeness to or distance from it. What may be viewed as a conflict or issue close-up may seem like part of a larger harmonious system from a wider vantage point.  Where one person sees a source of tension, another sees as a passing wave in the vast ocean of order. All views are equally correct as they are simply different points of view. How we experience life varies based on our level of consciousness.  Let's reflect on three views on life;

1. As Completely Random

We can look at life from an extremely passive perspective: assuming our existence is a bit precarious, that we have little or no control over things, not over how we came to be born, or who our parents and social conditions are or how we make our way through existence.  Some people view themselves as a pure accident, that everything is a random occurrence, from how the Earth and life came to be to more complex interactions.  What if things that happen inside or external to our bodies, felt like they do not belong or do not even feel connected to other happenings? Does life sometimes feel like it is a thing that happens to you?

2. As Controlled by External Authority

Another view on life is everything that occurs unfolds under the authority of a higher force beyond our control that we somehow feel obliged to obey.  From this view, we are at the mercy of the world around us, still, to a degree helpless, yet having a slight influence on the direction of our lives, provided we follow the rules which have been laid out for us. Sometimes we may push the envelope or bend the rules. As confidence grows, we may also rediscover a journey to reclaim personal power. Our sense of identity, success and self-worth may all seem to be wrapped up in the results of our actions.

3. As Energy

To see that everything is a play of energy pulsing on and off in space, changes how we perceive and interact with what occurs. If energy is us, flows within, through and beyond us, and we decide how to respond to everything, then personal responsibility takes on new signficance. We move through perceptions of order and disorder, love and fear, pleasure and pain like waves, with opportunity toa gain insight. As we realize this, we no longer panic about whatever is arising. From this view, at every moment, everyone has access to the same patterns of energy.  We each have unique filters, conditionings and ways of experiencing.  The moment we see space is connective, we begin to understand that we are not exclusively a body or what creates our adopted identity.  The stream of a candle is a stream of hot gas just like each human is a complex flow of energy that is whirling and dancing through space. What happens as fear ceases to control our life choices? We may fear on the surface of getting burnt by fire, getting sick, losing a relationship, your job, a contract or something else we currently hold dear.  Yet, we can come to see a continuity of energy flow, the rhythm of comings and goings. 

Ultimately, the perspective we take on life and a given situation, is based on our self- and wider insight into consciousness. Being in control and being ourselves cannot be understood without recognizing something out of control and what it is to not be ourselves.  Yet, our attention is captured by what is moving in the foreground rather than what is in the background and relatively still. We actually notice far more detail. Our views on ourselves, and life and our conditions, are limited to what we are taught is important. We pay attention only to what our values define as our priorities.  As our perception expands, what we notice changes. How we spend time also changes.