By Dr. Sandy Islands for Conch Color
I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have my life slow down to a pace that I’ve only known in the past through illness or post-surgery. I’ve realized how busy my life was with work, obligations to my son’s school, service; trying to sell property, so much that at times I wasn’t sure if I’d remembered to breathe. Jesus taught that we need to lose ourselves to find ourselves, to be in the world but not of the world. We need to become less to be more. I’ve slowed down enough that I’ve been more able to observe my thoughts and reactions. Stillness practices teach us that becoming aware of our breath takes our attention away from thinking and creates a peaceful space not of this world. Awareness is the first step to change. It’s being conscious of being conscious. As we become aware of unhealthy patterns it still takes practice to let them go.
Eckhart Tolle in “A New Earth,” describes our unobserved minds as the voice in our heads pretending to be us. Our unobserved emotions follow as our bodies react to that voice in our heads. We become human doings, moving through our days wanting to be recognized for what we’re doing and we get mad and upset when we don’t get it. We seek attention through the stories of our problems, our pain and our illnesses. We make impressions through our looks, possessions, knowledge, fame, status, physical strength, etc. We use people to enhance our egos. It’s been said, “Don’t seek truth, just cease to cherish opinions.” Two Zen monks were walking down a muddy road. One picked up a woman and carried her across the road so she wouldn’t get her Kimono dirty. They walked on in silence. Five hours later, the other monk asked why he’d done that because they weren’t supposed to. His friend replied, “I put her down hours ago. Are you still carrying her?”
Tolle describes our “pain body” that thrives on drama, emotional pain and is addicted to unhappiness. It feeds on negative thinking. Our emotions alone don’t cause unhappiness. We need an unhappy story to go with them. When we can’t stand our endless cycles of suffering, we wake up. We’re all meant to evolve consciously and those who stay asleep continue to suffer the consequences of their unconsciousness. Putting space around our thoughts and emotions creates an inner acceptance for whatever we’re experiencing in the present moment. We become observers and witnesses of our experiences instead of being victims of them. Krishnamurti, a great Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher, asked his audience, “Do you want to know my secret?” Many followers had been waiting years for the answer. He simply said, “I don’t mind what happens.”
If we have the presence to do nothing when someone criticizes, blames us or calls us names instead of retaliating or defending, we’ll pause, observe our thoughts and be alert to the triggered feelings. In that moment, we may sense the inner space behind the feelings which is our true state of being. We’ll usually feel alive and good about not dropping into the lower consciousness of our button-pusher. Our goal is to realize, “This too shall pass,” no matter what happens. We acknowledge the abundance all around us which awakens our abundance within. We sense the alert inner space in the background while life happens in the foreground and connect to the formless, timeless dimension in ourselves. Whatever we think someone is withholding from us, we give it to them, and we become one with life through the simple things like the sound of the rain, the beauty of a flower or the wispy clouds dancing across the sky.
Please write to me at sandyislands@hawaii.rr.com and feel free to browse previous articles under publications at www.sandyislands.com