The human being is in constant search for stable happiness, whether one is conscious of the fact or not.
This search is often objective in that most still believe that their happiness depends on other people, life circumstances, professions, possessions or some other.
When the ego gets what it wants, it is relatively happier. For just one moment, it senses the illusion of completion and it finally rests free of desire. Yet, true fulfillment is not a possibility for a fraction. For the ego, completion is a delusion, since partiality can never be whole.
For the mind-made self, happiness soon wanes. Sooner or later, discontentment in the form of desire once again arises, since it still senses lack and the life situation within time is in constant change.
Further, the ego senses that it is separate from “those” people and its life circumstances. It is therefore under constant threat of loss or hoping for future gain. Most every moment is used as a means to some ego end.
When the ego does not get what it wants, it judges the situation and then blames someone else. The result is usually disappointment from false expectations or personal intention. My will vs. your will consistently ends in pain and suffering for all involved. Once again, we have the delusion of separation and its inherent opposition.
Of course, stable unhappiness is just as impossible as enduring relative happiness, since within time the life situation changes. When our happiness depends on other situations, our emotions fluctuate and follow our judgment.
Virtually everything within the world of form comes and goes. Everything is impermanent. When we seek permanence within impermanence, we suffer; whether we are seeking pleasure or trying to avoid pain.
Again, the life situation is in constant flux. Happiness will surely cycle to unhappiness and after certain duration, we will cycle to happiness. Furthermore, both polarities are dependent upon something or someone externally. In this manner, we are subject to the unending push and pull of ever changing emotions.
With certain maturity, we at last begin taking responsibility for our emotions. Our attention shifts to what is genuinely going on within us. When we watch carefully, we note that it is actually our judgment of people and situations that is causing our emotional changes.
That judgment is based on past experience and our conditioned likes and dislikes. In other words, the negativity is based on time and the suffering is actually self-inflicted. For the ego, everything would be alright, if only everyone else would just change.
This is an opportunity to be gentle and allow compassion, love and deeper understanding through watching our thoughts and how they are directly related to our emotions.
Unfortunately, the ego is more likely to cast its judgment and guilt upon itself. In resistance, it tries to change its thoughts into better ones in the hope that happiness will improve somewhat. For the ego “I,” love and joy are always in the future, however never possible right now.
Even with positive thinking, within time everything changes. Nonetheless, this self-improvement project is actually quite important, since it is finally exhausted! Patience and tolerance emerge and we begin realizing that the emotional highs and lows are actually one continuum and only time separates them. In this, we begin waking up out of time.
Resistance transforms into surrender and acceptance as we begin allowing what is. The joy of being consciously emerges and spiritual awakening may be drawing near.
Every positive and negative emotion is based on the mind’s idea of time and separation. By merely noticing, you will realize that all emotion is the result of memory, imagination and anticipation. All are factors of the time-based mind, that still believes that its identity is separate and exists within the mind’s time.
It is not that we are attempting to avoid emotion or escape. That would be the mind’s resistance and fear. In fact, by welcoming them, feeling them fully, observing how they operate in relationship to the mind that we are able to transcend psychological pain. You might in fact perceive that most of the suffering is within the resistance and in your imagination of how deep that emptiness might be. When we inquire into the depth of these emotions, it is the birthing of true compassion. It is also the realization of what lies beneath.
Of course, you are always welcome to continue surfing the waves of emotion, while the mind assists the spin or … rest as the abode of wise love.
The resolution is to realize the perfection that you are genuinely right now. You are completely beyond the mind and its emotional aspect; human emotion.
Unconditional love and pure joy are here right now and they are absolutely indestructible. They are dependent on nothing and caused by nothing. It is essentially who you timelessly are. The extraordinary opportunity is to realize what is already deep within, without trying to change a single thing.
You are the silence of the Heart that makes all things possible. This realization is complete fulfillment and effortlessly transforms the life situation. Rather, we are able to directly realize what truly is right now. You are inseparable from the Heart this very moment.
There is nothing wrong with you.
~ The question is who are who really right now? ~
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Awake by Katie Blog: Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy 