Experiencing wholeness

Separation and duality

We are alive in a world in which separation seems natural. The reality that we encounter on a daily basis consists of opposites : good and bad, light and darkness, pain and pleasure, success and failure and so on. Our social conditioning keeps us from experiencing wholeness. It teaches us to solve this problem of duality by choosing the better side of each opposite. Hence we strive to be good and moral people who accept and live by humane values. Unfortunately this attitude of choosing one over the other keeps us in a state of suffering and perpetuates it

Wholeness

What mindfulness does to us is that it helps us to realize that all activity of the mind – thoughts, emotions, desires – takes place against the background  that is silent, whole and free of suffering. We could use the example of a blank sheet of paper to represent this background. Anything could be written on the page, a story, poem, or a picture can be drawn on it. It could be a tragedy or a comedy or a heroic description. But none of this affects the page. Or we can take the example of a movie screen on which any movie can be projected. No matter what happens in the movie, the screen isn’t affected. This background is your true self and when you arrive here wholeness is just as natural as separation.

End of suffering

This wholeness is the ground of our existence. Because of this no matter how much harm living in duality and separation has caused in us we can always return to wholeness. When awareness becomes aware of itself, it is whole. This wholeness embraces the full reality of life. The perfect and the imperfect, the consistent and the inconsistent, success and failure are all accepted for what they are and the contraries are integrated.  Experiencing this wholeness eliminates the conflict of duality and separation bringing to an end the suffering caused by it.

Ranji Varughis

 

The Light in your Darkness

I believe that this is a poem that brings out truly and beautifully the meaning and impact of awareness in our lives.

“In the darkness of your thoughts
Created by circumstances
Both complex and overwhelming,
When no amount of spirits
Or conversation within yourself
Can erase the images imprinted
On your mind……………………….

Let me lift you out of suffering
On angel wings to lofty heights
Where nothing can hurt you
Where nothing is relevant
But the blessings of the moment
And the air that we breathe…………

Let me wrap you in my warm embrace
And hold you close to my heart
With love and understanding
Beyond the need for mortal words
Your darkness will be lifted
And your spirit shall fly free……..

The light in your darkness……let me be”

 

Pain and suffering are a blessing!

Suffering is to the mind what pain is to the body.

When you put your hand in the fire, you experience pain.
The pain is not a mistake, it’s not something that’s wrong.
The pain is the intelligence of the body, telling you:
take your hand out of the fire.
So pain is working on behalf of your wellbeing.

Suffering is exactly the same at the level of the mind.
It is cooperating with your desire for happiness.
It’s telling you, you’ve got your hand in the fire.
In this case suffering is telling you:
You have mistaken yourself for a separate limited awareness.
Take a look.

That’s what suffering is. It’s a wakeup call.
It’s saying:
You have mistaken yourself for an object, a limited self.
Have another look!

”

—  Rupert Spira

 

The Game we call life

“There have been years of searching for
the blissful emotion,
the perfect life,
the right things to do,
the desirable identity,
the comforting words,
the high profile job,
the picture perfect this,
and a sense of closure
within every event.

I wanted to be wanted.
I needed to be needed.
The yearning to be envied,
the way I envied the unattainable.
The sweet tasks of manipulation
in order to produce the golden moments.

The daily efforts to soothe and sedate
my worried mind.
The undercurrents of suffering
looked so pretty when they
were the seemingly petty sacrifice
to attain future goal.

So much self concern.
Self importance
Absorption
Myopic world.

*Deep breath*

And that’s ok.

That is the experience.
It doesn’t mean anything more.
It is the seeing of that state.
The observation of what that
kind of thinking looks like
and feels like.

It was lived through me.
It expressed itself through this
pretend body
and in this pretend life.
I don’t judge it harshly.
I don’t judge it at all.
Because there is nothing to judge.

There is no absolute ideal.
Just the natural intelligence
that observes what is happening.
The concepts
the ideas
the rules

the boundaries
the imperatives
the goals
the should’s
the passing of time
is all part of this game.

This beautiful
incredible
intricate
and
infinite
game
that we call life.

We take it seriously.
and believe in its impact.
We believe there is something
to be done.
That there is somewhere to get to.
That there is someone or something
That needs to be changed
or saved
or ended.

Like we ever really had control.
Like we ever really made any choices.
Like we were ever separate.
Like we were ever going to die.

You are Eternal.
Nothing can hurt you.
Suffering comes
and it goes.
Joy comes
and it goes.
the bottomless, boundless
ocean of Life
Of which you are.
Of which we are.
We are That”

-Unknown

 

LET IT GO

Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold,
the holding of plans or dreams or expectations – Let it all go.
Save your strength to swim with the tide.

The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in struggle, fear,
and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for.

Let go. Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days
whether you received it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.

Take this on faith; the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks,
but you will move forward nonetheless.

Let go, and the wave’s crest will carry you to unknown shores,
beyond your wildest dreams or destinations.

Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace,
and certain transformation

– Danna Faulds

 

One suffering you could avoid

“You can hold back from
suffering of the world,
you have permission to do so,
and it is in accordance
with your nature,

but perhaps this very holding back
is the one suffering
you could have avoided”

Franz Kafka

 

Solitude

“We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves to be one with all being.” ― Hermann Hesse

 

Imprisoned in the mind

“The truth is that waking up can be a disturbing process. Who really wants to find out that everything they thought was real was nothing but a pocket full of dreams? Who wants to find out that everything they hold onto and cling to is the very reason they suffer? Who really wants to find out that we’re all addicted to qualities like approval, recognition, control, and power, and that none of these things actually bring an end to suffering? In fact, they’re the cause of suffering! So the truth is that most of us don’t really want to wake up. We don’t really want to end suffering. What we really want to do is manage our suffering to have a little less of it, so that we can just go on with our lives as they are, unchanged, the way we want to live them, maybe feeling a little better about them.” ~ Adyashanti

 

Turn your wounds into source of power.

Everyone has certainly been emotionally hurt in some way. As a consequence self-worth and emotional well-being is altered and even diminished by the harm resulting in an emotionally abused victim. It is important to cease being a victim and become the author of your own valiant tale of strength and compassion. The character of the victim was created to explain what happened. Suffering occurs when these stories are believed to be true. It is important to recognize that these stories are just stories and not the reality. As long as we cling to the belief that these stories are real we stay stuck in it and work overtime to meet the needs of the story. These stories are so powerful and convincing that they get internalized and get lodged within and manifest itself in physical appearance and movement. It is only by letting go of these stories that freedom can be found to explore the mystery of the true self. The best reason to shed the story is because healing can never be found within that story rather it’s only possible to resign to the script and accept the suffering and remain stuck in the past. Even though it could seem justifiable in insisting on being seen as victimized, abused, abandoned, betrayed and so on the trajectory of your life can be changed by letting go of these stories of pain and misery. Craft a new story that will be a valiant tale of strength, healing and beauty. Script a story of being a valiant traveller rather than a betrayed victim. It is good to remember that none of the stories are true – they are scripts you have created. Then why not create scripts that are grand and ennobling. When this happens you will die to who you have convinced yourself to be and become a mystery unto yourself. You will no longer ask the question, “Who am I?” but instead will wonder, “What am I?” You are much larger than your stories.

 

Why suffer?

From the most ancient days, man has asked again and again why is there suffering in life. If God is the father, then why is there so much suffering? If God is love and God is compassion, then why does existence suffer? Only by understanding Jesus can we get a satisfactory answer to this question. Human beings suffer because there is no other way to mature, to grow. Humans suffer because only through suffering can one become more aware.

Nothing is meaningless in this world. It is a cosmos, it is not a chaos. We cannot understand it because we know only fragments not the whole. We experience life just as if we have only one tattered page of a novel: it makes no sense on reading because it is just a small fragment and the whole story is not known. Once the whole story is known, then that page becomes comprehensible, coherent, meaningful.

Jesus on the cross was the symbol of the final suffering, the absolute suffering, the peak of suffering. On the cross Jesus wavered a little. The suffering was too much. It was no ordinary suffering, not ordinary body pain, it was anguish: not only physical, but deep psychological anguish – the anguish of feeling abandoned by God. And He asked God, “Why?” It was a moment of very deep anguish, when all the foundations and even faith is shaken. Then suddenly he realized why, because he became very much aware; the moment of crucifixion he came to perfect awareness.

Before that moment he was Jesus, after that moment he became Christ. Jesus disappeared and there was Christ. Immediately after the anguish he said, “No! Thy will should be done.” He accepted it. Thy will should be done because my will is going to be wrong.

The same energy that was creating intense suffering in Jesus is now transformed. It’s quality changes. There is only one energy in the human body. You can use it for sex, you can transform it and make it into love, you can transform it still higher and make it into prayerfulness, you can transform it still higher and make it awareness. Whenever there is suffering – mental, physical or existential, close your eyes and look at the suffering, make it a meditation. Look at it as an object separate from you, with which you are not identified. The bridge is broken, and the energy that was going to move into suffering will not move, because the bridge is no longer there. Whenever there is suffering become aware; then the bridge is broken, there is no transfer of energy to suffering and by and by it starves to death.