We all have felt love at one time or another, even if it was only briefly. That inner joy, belonging, contentment, and unity with all things is something we experience within, a profound sense of peace and acceptance, where we know all is as it should be. When we feel love, we tend to associate it, like all inner processes, to an outside object - creating that object as the source of love in our minds, irrevocably linked to it. When we take that love that is within, which is a result of our being, timeless, and indomitable, and attach it to something that is without, a person, a standard of behavior, then we take something immortal and make it mortal. We take the timeless and unchanging love and bring it into the realm of the temporary, physical reality. Love is so great and unwavering, constantly building as we learn how to welcome it into our lives in ever increasing degrees, but by taking this unlimited thing and bringing it out into the world of the limited we diminish its nature. We do this because we believe more in the world of the five senses than we believe in the knowledge of our own souls. The knowledge of ourselves is barely minimal, hardly existent, as most of us have not cultivated it once we learned how to distract ourselves with sensual, worldly pleasures. The information given us by the senses, on the other hand, can be overwhelming, and we use this quality to distract ourselves from our neglected spiritual selves. We apply this same concept to love, and happiness, believing it to be more a product of the world, than a deep inner realization. This belief leads us to the idea that love is something that is sought for outside of us, like happiness is sought outside of us, in the form of people, or things. By pursuing these incredible virtues in this fashion we find that they are not to be found in the world, and we are perpetually dissapointed, disillusioned, and we begin to despair. If they cannot be found in the world, then they must not exist - we tell ourselves. The desire for love is natural, and good! Seeking out love in all areas of our lives will only bring us the utmost satisfaction and contentment. The desire is not where we are mistaken, it is in the pursuit. We are looking for these things in places that they cannot be found. When we feel love, when we experience that profound and unifying acceptance, the feelings can only experienced within us if they reside in us. Sure a catalyst has helped us to achieve that feeling through the abundant definitions and judgements we have placed on it, but ultimately the feeling comes from within. When we learn to look within for these feelings, we begin to discover that we can generate them independently of an external catalyst. This ability is improved with practice and realization, but once begun, with every new understanding and proficiency we achieve, we expand the love and happiness in our lives until our lives literally overflow with abundance.
By learning how to find the joy of giving within the giving itself, and not looking for a justification for it, we can become beings of sharing. We often look for a justification for love, He loves me so much, She's so great, We have a unique connection. Why not just love? Our lives would be so full of love if we didn't believe that we had to limit it to these situations. By placing expectations on love, or our ability to love, we limit the unlimited, and take something so infinitely powerful as love, and turn it into a fleeting human fancy - here one moment, gone the next. Love is the greatest joy in our lives, so great that it could be said to be its equivalent. Yet we are afraid to love and try to categorize it and define it according to a predictable set of circumstances, trying to avoid all unknowns. By holding on to our expectations and beliefs, we may have the knowledge of certainty, but we will also be completely ignorant of the unknown joy of unrequieted love. These expectations will do nothing but limit us, but if we allow love to reign free in our hearts, and know it as a way of being, rather than a concept in our minds, then we can allow its glorious and unknown nature to flow through us - the very substance of life.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Awareness of Love
There are those of us who demonstrate such a capacity for love, acceptance, and an almost divine compassion that it baffles our understanding of what is humanly possible. The mindset that it takes to love all so unconditionally can initially be hard to wrap our heads around. Some of it has to do with an awareness of all the universe contains, and its value in relation to the perceiver.
There are those among us who value all things. They try not to judge, try not to resist, all that come across their path. They walk through life with an air of ultimate acceptance, unruffled, even unaffected by the world surrounding them. It is this attitude that allows us to see, unbiased, the value of all things, because we no longer imput any opinion of our own into the equation. Or it could be that the love they have for themselves is so great, that they project that love onto all that they encounter, and by enhancing the purity and goodness of their own perspective, they similarly enhance their reality. Those who allow their perspective to be tainted by anger, or fear, allow those similar projections in the world that they live in, and so they fashion for themselves a world that is less than perfect, and full of all those things they despise - Because - they despise them.
The lowest level of awareness is the awareness of the value of the self. At this level of awareness are criminals, rapists, molesters, and anyone who believes in number 1. I'm going to get mine, no matter what the cost, is their motto. This perspective naturally leads to great loneliness and self loathing. They have completely bought in to a concept of individuality, where they believe that they are completely separate from the universe. This belief ironically, they percieve as a source of relief, while it is also the source of great suffering.
Next up we have the level of the segregated, those who believe in the tenets of whatever limitations they place on the rest of humanity. This is the class of most people. They believe in the goodness of those people they have designated good, according to whatever value system they have in place. Whether its black vs white, good vs bad, American vs French, this awareness separates people according to different characteristics of that person. They believe that some people are better than others, and rather than working towards the benefit of the whole, they sacrifice some for the benefit of others, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. To them judgement is just an action, opinion, or skin color away, and this leads them to lead very shaky lives. Their self opinion is always in question, and they fear that which lies beyond their judgement. This leads many of these so called normal people, to commit the same attrocities as the criminal as soon as someone steps outside of their sphere of acceptance. With this boogie man in their closet, they can never have peace.
We all have limits to our acceptance, but this is where the final level of awareness rests - those who are aware of all things. They hold not only humanity, but all of existence in their idea of what has value. They judge nothing, and accept everything. This attitude seeks to expand acceptance to where it includes even the poor, the criminals, the despised of this earth and gives them the assurance of love that they had so desperately needed for so long. We all need and want love, its just that we expect it to be something from without, something beyond us, and so we never find it in ourselves, on the path of ultimate acceptance. This person of unconditional love has found a way to allow love in every situation where others allow fear or anger. They have placed no limits on their love, and so it encompasses all of existence and seeks not only the betterment of a specific group, or an individual, but all that is. Through discipline and awareness they have become a unified being, no longer possessing all the variance of normal people. Most of us have variations, from fear to love, acceptance to rejection, anger to peace, but a person who is unified has only that which they choose, and that is love. A person can never be only hate, or fear, or anger, because love is the nature of our soul, and that can never be wholly denied. A being of unconditional love has become a vessel for love, giving to all who pass, allowing that which is divine to flow freely into this mortal universe, and all who encounter him are enriched. If we all want more love, then a being who is a conduit for that love will be ever sought after. He will find the good in every person, and bring out the soul to triumph over the fear and the anger that viciously possesses most of us. Because he is good, then any reality he touches will incur the fallout of that good, and become better for it. Whereas those who show fear, or anger, their world will recieve the fallout of those projections, and in so doing become more fearful and angry.
By modulating our own frequency, using the power of our will to decide what we will do, an not reacting, we can create our worlds according to our choosing. In choosing to love, with each passing challenge to that love, every event which flares up my preprogrammed standards of fear, anger, or judgement, I can release that old standard and adopt a new standard of love. In this way I expand myself to become a being of ultimate caring, whose love overcomes all things, amor vincit omnia. At some point, I will no longer have to consider any circumstance outside of me, because I will be so focused on the path of love, that factoring the external will be of no consequence. I know how I will react, with the love and acceptance we all seek.
From my perspective it is a challenge to see how anyone would choose to hate, to be angry, to be afraid, but I suppose that is just the opposite of the perspective I held in my youth. I found it hard to believe how people could love even those who had malicious intentions, especially in all the martyrs. Now I have come full circle, and fear and anger now seem the baffling responses. But accepting that is just one more measure of love that I can attain, the acceptance of those who choose to harm, and the acceptance of their decision. Because we are never trully harmed, but that our belief makes it so. In coming close to them, being in their position, and loving them even in the presence of all their turmoil, I can bring love to even the most violent. Everything is a teacher, and we can learn so much if we open ourselves to learning. When loving feels so great, in compared to being frightened which feels so unsettling, its just a matter of awareness before someone realizes the obviousness of the choice. Once you feel a tinge of that unconditional love, you never want to go back to being afraid, or being angry, and the promise they give seems empty. Love elevates the soul, and brings heaven to earth, and once you know how to choose to have love coursing through you, why would you ever choose anything else?
There are those among us who value all things. They try not to judge, try not to resist, all that come across their path. They walk through life with an air of ultimate acceptance, unruffled, even unaffected by the world surrounding them. It is this attitude that allows us to see, unbiased, the value of all things, because we no longer imput any opinion of our own into the equation. Or it could be that the love they have for themselves is so great, that they project that love onto all that they encounter, and by enhancing the purity and goodness of their own perspective, they similarly enhance their reality. Those who allow their perspective to be tainted by anger, or fear, allow those similar projections in the world that they live in, and so they fashion for themselves a world that is less than perfect, and full of all those things they despise - Because - they despise them.
The lowest level of awareness is the awareness of the value of the self. At this level of awareness are criminals, rapists, molesters, and anyone who believes in number 1. I'm going to get mine, no matter what the cost, is their motto. This perspective naturally leads to great loneliness and self loathing. They have completely bought in to a concept of individuality, where they believe that they are completely separate from the universe. This belief ironically, they percieve as a source of relief, while it is also the source of great suffering.
Next up we have the level of the segregated, those who believe in the tenets of whatever limitations they place on the rest of humanity. This is the class of most people. They believe in the goodness of those people they have designated good, according to whatever value system they have in place. Whether its black vs white, good vs bad, American vs French, this awareness separates people according to different characteristics of that person. They believe that some people are better than others, and rather than working towards the benefit of the whole, they sacrifice some for the benefit of others, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. To them judgement is just an action, opinion, or skin color away, and this leads them to lead very shaky lives. Their self opinion is always in question, and they fear that which lies beyond their judgement. This leads many of these so called normal people, to commit the same attrocities as the criminal as soon as someone steps outside of their sphere of acceptance. With this boogie man in their closet, they can never have peace.
We all have limits to our acceptance, but this is where the final level of awareness rests - those who are aware of all things. They hold not only humanity, but all of existence in their idea of what has value. They judge nothing, and accept everything. This attitude seeks to expand acceptance to where it includes even the poor, the criminals, the despised of this earth and gives them the assurance of love that they had so desperately needed for so long. We all need and want love, its just that we expect it to be something from without, something beyond us, and so we never find it in ourselves, on the path of ultimate acceptance. This person of unconditional love has found a way to allow love in every situation where others allow fear or anger. They have placed no limits on their love, and so it encompasses all of existence and seeks not only the betterment of a specific group, or an individual, but all that is. Through discipline and awareness they have become a unified being, no longer possessing all the variance of normal people. Most of us have variations, from fear to love, acceptance to rejection, anger to peace, but a person who is unified has only that which they choose, and that is love. A person can never be only hate, or fear, or anger, because love is the nature of our soul, and that can never be wholly denied. A being of unconditional love has become a vessel for love, giving to all who pass, allowing that which is divine to flow freely into this mortal universe, and all who encounter him are enriched. If we all want more love, then a being who is a conduit for that love will be ever sought after. He will find the good in every person, and bring out the soul to triumph over the fear and the anger that viciously possesses most of us. Because he is good, then any reality he touches will incur the fallout of that good, and become better for it. Whereas those who show fear, or anger, their world will recieve the fallout of those projections, and in so doing become more fearful and angry.
By modulating our own frequency, using the power of our will to decide what we will do, an not reacting, we can create our worlds according to our choosing. In choosing to love, with each passing challenge to that love, every event which flares up my preprogrammed standards of fear, anger, or judgement, I can release that old standard and adopt a new standard of love. In this way I expand myself to become a being of ultimate caring, whose love overcomes all things, amor vincit omnia. At some point, I will no longer have to consider any circumstance outside of me, because I will be so focused on the path of love, that factoring the external will be of no consequence. I know how I will react, with the love and acceptance we all seek.
From my perspective it is a challenge to see how anyone would choose to hate, to be angry, to be afraid, but I suppose that is just the opposite of the perspective I held in my youth. I found it hard to believe how people could love even those who had malicious intentions, especially in all the martyrs. Now I have come full circle, and fear and anger now seem the baffling responses. But accepting that is just one more measure of love that I can attain, the acceptance of those who choose to harm, and the acceptance of their decision. Because we are never trully harmed, but that our belief makes it so. In coming close to them, being in their position, and loving them even in the presence of all their turmoil, I can bring love to even the most violent. Everything is a teacher, and we can learn so much if we open ourselves to learning. When loving feels so great, in compared to being frightened which feels so unsettling, its just a matter of awareness before someone realizes the obviousness of the choice. Once you feel a tinge of that unconditional love, you never want to go back to being afraid, or being angry, and the promise they give seems empty. Love elevates the soul, and brings heaven to earth, and once you know how to choose to have love coursing through you, why would you ever choose anything else?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Measure of Happiness
Love is the singular measure of happiness in life. When we have love we walk with the gods among the clouds, and when we don't have it, life appears a bleak wasteland of which we are the only inhabitant. I can't say what it is in words, but we know the elation when we feel it. There are many things that we confuse with love, but it exists in a moment. In that one sublime moment when you find in another the perfection within yourself and all of existence. It seems like nothing can get you down. What is love? What makes it so wondrous that we will spend the entirety of our lives looking for it? That people will die for it. Love is the divine, a realization of the perfection of humanity, of the world. When we contact the essence of the universe, when we touch back to that substance of what we are, the lifegiving force, then we know what love is. Its when we abandon all fear, when we allow no separation, when we become one with what we are, free of conflict, then we know what love is, if only for a moment, and in that moment we are perfectly whole. Laying with someone, looking into their eyes, feeling their breath and their life so close to you, with ultimate trust. Trust is one way we abandon our fear, by believing that there is no threat. In these moments of inexpressible intimacy, we find ourselves in someone else. In those moments we finally touch the us in them.What is love? Love is not the passion we feel, it isn't the pleasure of the body. It takes us away from inferior and superior. It takes us away from equality. Love is the realization, not that we are equal, but that we are the same. One and all, each of us can find ourselves in each other because we are one and the same being. Its a spiritual realization, and one that can release us from all the pain of life on this earth. The glorious nature of the experience of touching another person on a level we don't understand can tell us something about what is good in this life. It is that intimacy we crave, we need, but life gives it to us and takes it away in all too fleeting moments. We don't know what it is, or how to say it, but we know we need it. We need that joy, that satisfaction, that knowledge that we aren't alone, that we are one and together, whole and complete. We don't know exactly how to get it, but we have an idea. You get together with someone you love, and when you connect physically, there's an exchange of something, a nearness of two beings, bringing the souls together to the state of existence that feels natural, a place of belonging, and when we feel that, we never want to let it go. We aren't supposed to let it go, not for a while, not for a moment, not ever. The state of oneness, being in love, is the way we are supposed to exist on this earth, living every day with a song in your heart and exhiliration in your lungs. We know that in that place of intimacy, we finally have the home we sought for so long. Despite the necessity, the glory of this state that we call love, we are all too quick to give it up. Love is the measure of happiness, and we leave it behind for most of our lives. We take the few moments of it that we are given and we guard them jealously, and then we never feel them again. Clutching the corpses of the dead. Love can be not just a few moments, but every moment of our lives, if we would only let it. If we just dropped our walls, let go of our fears, and loved without restraint, then we could have all of those sublime moments every second we're alive. Yes, love is a choice.We allow so many things to limit our capacity to feel love. We let expectations, assumptions, tradition, and so many of the things that society uses to limit the love it feels, we allow society to indoctrinate us with, and so we repeat its misery. We stop loving because someone stops loving us, furthering a vicious circle of despair and loneliness. When they are angry, we make the choice to be angry in return, and deprive not only them, but ourselves of the love that we crave. We walk through life thinking that the way we treat someone is isolated, but when we aren't separate, when we are all the same, then what happens when you do something to someone? You do it to yourself, and that is all we do with every one of our actions. What we do to another we must first do to ourselves, because we all come from the same spiritual energy that exists in all things. That is the realization that love brings, and through living this realization, that we are all one, we can bring love into our lives in greater amounts, more and more day by day. Love exists on a level of being that is impermeable to all of the variation of this physical reality. Love is the spirit, it is god, it is all that we are beyond what we know. Anything that is in the world cannot affect love, but we can affect it with our decision. We can decide to use the events of the world to make us stop loving each other, and we do. Over and over we do, and we reap the suffering of it. When we deny ourselves love, it is we who feel the pain, as well as all of the world, because what we have really done is limit our own being. In those times we stop being who we are, divine beings of unity and light. By not loving we restrict the very nature of our being, becoming less than what we are, and we feel this diminishing as a painful deadening. Someone yells at us, and we stop the love, someone cheats on us, we become afraid, we get angry, any number of the things we do that stop us from loving one another and all of them we do on a daily basis. With this regular destruction of our being, is it any wonder we are unsatisfied with life? I wish I could take all of those who suffer, and touch them with the light of love, and show them how they can have it, all the time. It is simpler than we realize, simple and easy, but because we believe that is complicated and hard, then it becomes so.All you have to do to love someone is to let go. Give up everything that you know, release everything that you are, everything that you thought was essential to your being, and love. Make love the priority, the number one priority, above all else, and you can feel it above all else. We let things get in the way of love, and that is why we don't feel it. We let differences of opinion get in the way, but those differences will not bring us love's belonging. We let definitions of love get in the way of our love for each other, but it won't grant us love's joy. We let other people's cruelty get in the way of our love, our judgements, our fears, so many things in life conspire to rob us of love's joys, but if you asked anyone which they'd rather choose, they would choose love. We just don't actively ask ourselves these important questions. Or it could be that we don't know the joy of love. When you haven't felt something, when you don't know how good it is, how can you know to choose it? I have felt a love so much more glorious than most people find in a lifetime, and so I am aware of even the most minute realization of its potential glory. How much more ecstasy does it hold for me? We all have the potential for such great love within us, all we have to do is let go of everything that causes us pain, and how glorious our lives can be with each small realization of that love. We start with the assumption that what causes pain lies without us, then we become powerless, bitter, victims. When we are the source of our pain then we have power over it. When you start with the assumption that you are the source of your perception and therefore your world, then you can alter everything that causes you pain, but this requires mastery of the self. Through dilligence of your mind, knowing how you think and how to control it, you can form your reality, change your life. Its the belief that the world actually matters that traps people in it. What you think is important is important, and its just that simple. We can literally shape our lives with our minds. Knowing this we can choose love over all else, and stop being afraid. We all can work on loving more, and the more we love the happier we are. Try it sometime. Every person you push away, shun, show hostility towards, or fear contributes a small measure to your unhappiness. With every person that we learn to accept who lies beyond what we find acceptable, and everyone we trust who we fear, and everyone we love who we hate, we begin to love a little more and make our lives that much more joyous. Every person that we learn to love beyond how much we allow ourselves to love now, is that much more that we improve our connection with the energy that brings us life. It is the greatness of love that brings life to life. Joy and meaning, purpose and worth, it can all be found in the measure of our love. I have loved greatly and not recieved that love in equal measure, but I do have that great love, because it resides within me. That is how we spread love. We are taught that love is something you give as well as recieve, but we can only give it. We may be inspired by another's love to give, but it is only the giving that we have control over. When we give love greatly then we may not recieve love greatly, but we do have it. The love resides within us. By loving I cannot gaurantee that others will give me love, but I don't need it. I have enough of my own, and I can give as much love as I allow myself to give. When you become a fountain of love, then you know you will never be without it. I know that great love exists, because it exists within me, and I find new inspirations to grow my love every day. I only hope that I can inspire others, and in so doing they will find the love they have always searched for.
A High Priority
In my world, love is the highest priority. This grants me love in great amounts, which in turn gives me lots of acceptance, self-esteem, a healthy social life, and rewarding relationships. All of us hold up our mindset to the world and expect it to conform. We could call this the lens of understanding. Through the application of our own personal methodologies to the world at large, we create a dissention between an inner reality and an outer reality. We cannot make the world fit into us, no matter how hard we try, because it is so much greater than our understanding can grasp. I have expected people before to hold love to the standard that I do, and this is simply unreasonable. Everyone determines the importance of various aspects of their lives, although most of us do it without really thinking. I would die for love, and life seems like a very small price to pay for such a glorious thing. Others cannot even scrifice their position for love, or endure even minor discomforts. These people appear to be the most miserable. And why shouldn't they be? They deny themselves the one thing we all crave. Those who deny themselves love, because they hold it as a low priority, are the very same ones who will complain about the lack of love they feel. Queer how conventional, worldly thinking can knock you down, and then make you feel like you can't get back up. When they complain about not having love, they are trying to ignore what it is that really put them there - their own decision to avoid love in favor of other things.Love gives me reason to breathe, shows me the beauty of life which exists in all things. Without love, life would seem bleak, lonely, not worth living. Yet many of us live in a sort of love starvation, going through the motions of life and not giving love to anyone, including ourselves, especially ourselves. We decide our reality, and life is little more than the consequence of your decisions. Anyone who believes otherwise may have their justification, but they abandon the power that could change their lives. There's no right or wrong, factual or fictional, its all a matter of choice. If you want to believe that someone is responsible for your lack of love, then that is the reality you live in, and it places you as the victim, helpless, weak, and ultimately incapable of changing your suffering. If you want to believe that you only have as much love in your life as you choose to have, then you can have that much love, and you are liberated from the self defeat that comes from using circumstance as an excuse for a substandard existence.I suppose there's no reason for sympathy here, or feeling sorry for someone. We all have the same power of decision, and we use it to form our lives. No other factor decides our lives as strongly as our will. Will plays such a strong role in our existence that it literally defines it. Where you have choice, there you know you are, and that is the limit of your conciousness. What you do not have the power of choice over is not you, and those things are beyond your consideration. This power has been granted to all of us equally. No one has less free will than another. Some have stronger will through its regular exercise than others, and this can be attained by anyone. Strength of will is learned, not given. When you use your power of choice to deny love, to be afraid, to choose the lesser over the greater, than that is simply the life you live. It isn't worse, or wrong, it simply is. Even though you may suffer as a result of this decision, you have chosen it, and that is your right. If someone wants a life that is full of misery, weakness, pain, and deficiency, then that is the life they have chosen. Every moment of life is an opportunity, is a choice, and in this very moment you decide the quality of your life. Why someone would want a life of such lack is not something I understand. I have chosen a life of abundance. I build on that abundance daily, contributing to my own happiness and satisfaction, but I have made the choices that support that reality. Regular diet and exercise, meditation, mindfulness, and kindness have filled my life with more delight than I know what to do with. So I like to throw it around to those who feel like they don't have it. When you have a system that works, its amazing how simple things become.All it takes to have the life that you want is to exercise the will it takes to choose it. Will is a learned attribute, like anything else in life, and if you don't strengthen and exercise it regularly, it will atrophy and become weak, and you won't be able to use it to create the life that you want. Exercise your will every day in little ways. Ask yourself what you want when a situation comes up, don't think about the situation, think about what you want, and then make the decisions necessary to get it. I don't worry about what could happen if I do this, I ask what I can do to get what I want, and if it doesn't work, I try something else, but the results don't matter. Its the desire that matters, and this desire is a reflection of my state of mind. For example, recently I've been trying to improve some lackluster relationships in my life, but it isn't the improvement of them that I'm concerned about. All relationships are comprised of two halves, and I can only be responsible for my half. What I'm really interested in doing is showing love. Once I feel like I've shown love, everything that happens after that is irrellevant. The happenings themselves, the events that arise from my actions, and even my actions themselves are insignificant. What matters, where the true importance lies, is that I love. If I am loving, if I choose love at every juncture, choosing it over fear, distance, cruelty, or anger, then what I have is what I've chosen, and I've chosen love. What a glorious gift to myself, to others, to the universe! Every moment of my life that I hold love in my heart, especially for those who I would find it difficult to love, I expand my capacity for love, and I exercise that ability that gives my love, and my will, strength. What others do with the love that I give them is their business, and really irrellevant to what I do. No matter what the reaction, I will continue to love them, and by loving them myself, by showing that you don't have to settle for anything less than the greatest measure of love possible in your life, I act out my role in the great play of the universe in the interest of building a world that has just that much more love in it. The world as we know it is nothing more than the effluence of all beings. What do we exude? Each moment be watchful of your thoughts and doings, aware of the state of your being, and decide if it is reflective of the world you want to live in. Not the world that is, but the world you want. We must be the change we want to see in the world, and the only reason we want, is to satisfy that want. Satisfy your needs, from within yourself, and then you can take that which you have found to others who also need, and collectively we can give to each other and begin to fashion a world of abundance rather than lack. It feels good to love in spite of all circumstances. There is no trauma, no suffering in the world, only in ourselves. It is from the self that these things are experienced and therefore it is in the self that they can be remedied. When we look towards ourselves for the answers to our problems, we will always find them. When we cast the blame at others for how we feel, then they will always be responsible for our lives, because we have made them that way. What is missing in your life? What is it that you need, that you feel like you don't have? Define what you feel you lack, and begin to create it within yourself. Stop looking elsewhere for the happiness you seek and begin to find it within. Everything you need, all you desire, can be found right here, right now. If you will only make those things that you desire a priority, the highest priority, then you can have them in exactly the measure that you have placed importance on them. If you need love, if you don't feel loved, if you feel alone, then find that love, inside. Love yourself, and love others who you find it hard to love, because the judgements that you place on others are the very same judgements you place on yourself. When you learn not to judge, not to need, not to demand, then you begin to free not only the world and others, but also yourself from these harsh expectations. Learn to live a little and enjoy this very moment, regardless of the circumstances. Life has been full of confusion for me, many, many variables floating around in the world beyond me, but when I focus inward, and look towards what I want then all the confusion ends, and things become clear and simple. I want love and happiness. That's all, and choosing these things from moment to moment is a very simple task, all I have to ask is, How am I feeling right now about this? If its good, I do it. If it isn't, then I set about finding something that feels good. Simple. Easy. Liberating. Love is my highest priority, and because I have chosen it, it abounds in my life. You can be afraid of many things, you can worry about many things, but what do they contribute to your life? Chances are they take away more than they give. Stop the destruction. Begin to choose, not in the interest of circumstance, but in the interest of your being. What choices do you have to make to have the state which you desire, right now? Find those choices and make them. I recommend a decision that increases the love in your life. Love brings me happiness, comfort, self-worth, and inexhaustible belief that I am not alone. When you have love, there just doesn't seem to be much of anything that you need. Love is always more than enough.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Gift of Love
Is a gift of itself. When we hold on to it, it dies, when we share it with the world, and give and give, the more we find we have to give. The energy it alots us is endless. Hatred, anger, fear on the other hand drain the energy from us, making us feel more dead than alive, and bringing us immense suffering. When we choose to project love in the midst of situations that would make others falter, we hold true to a greater truth about ourself and all things while breaking down the walls that have been placed around us to separate ourselves from the all of things. When you see with love there is no reason to fear, because the focus immediately passes from the external to the internal, which provides a consistency that the world cannot provide. No matter what happens we can be confident in our own love and that we will respond with love to all environments. When you live in fear you are always questing for an external solution because the problem is understood as being external, but when you see from love, the challenge lies not without, but within. When we see that we are in possession of the problem and therefore the solution, then all of our answers are only a decision away. This can give us the confidence we need to overlook our fears and operate wholly from our locus of control, ourselves. The knowing that comes from choosing love above all else, to BE that love, utterly without deviation, provides the greatest security that I have ever felt. It is a great comfort to know that no matter what happens, things may not be all right, but I will be all right, and that makes things all right. Not because the world has itself changed, but because I have changed. I do not need to accept the world as it is, because once I accept myself as I am, and am in a state of peace and comfort - then my perception of the world changes it. Nothing is certain that our perspective cannot alter.
Connecting to people, not to them, but to myself. THe reason I interact with people the way that I do is because its the way I interact with myself. If I want to be more comfortable with others, I will be more comfortable with myself, to be an unending source of encouragement, not actively improving situations, but empowering others to change them. A leader does not change anything, but empowers others to change things. They are ultimately responsible and capable of changing their lives, and I hold no responsibility for any external suffering. This is a great leap in my understanding of the role of a leader. The master acts without anyone knowing he is there, and when the work is complete they say, Look we did it all by ourselves. The leader does nothing but influence. He is removed and ultimately completely involved from every situation he enters. It is this air of detachment that enables him to fully engage every situation because for either good or bad, he is unaffected - allowing him to pursue the goals of others. The leader is a chameleon, without presence or identity, adopting the identity of the situation he is thrown into. The leader is nothing, and it is nothing that makes all the difference. I am. I am something so undefinable and yet so immaculately powerful. Without form the spirit moves throughout all form, touching it with the traces of divine essence. With this essence we choose what to project, either anger or fear, doubt or belief, or love. By understanding, choosing, and subtly defining the substance of our spiritual essence, we can affect all we come into contact with. The question is, in what way will we affect them?
Connecting to people, not to them, but to myself. THe reason I interact with people the way that I do is because its the way I interact with myself. If I want to be more comfortable with others, I will be more comfortable with myself, to be an unending source of encouragement, not actively improving situations, but empowering others to change them. A leader does not change anything, but empowers others to change things. They are ultimately responsible and capable of changing their lives, and I hold no responsibility for any external suffering. This is a great leap in my understanding of the role of a leader. The master acts without anyone knowing he is there, and when the work is complete they say, Look we did it all by ourselves. The leader does nothing but influence. He is removed and ultimately completely involved from every situation he enters. It is this air of detachment that enables him to fully engage every situation because for either good or bad, he is unaffected - allowing him to pursue the goals of others. The leader is a chameleon, without presence or identity, adopting the identity of the situation he is thrown into. The leader is nothing, and it is nothing that makes all the difference. I am. I am something so undefinable and yet so immaculately powerful. Without form the spirit moves throughout all form, touching it with the traces of divine essence. With this essence we choose what to project, either anger or fear, doubt or belief, or love. By understanding, choosing, and subtly defining the substance of our spiritual essence, we can affect all we come into contact with. The question is, in what way will we affect them?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Romantic Love
Love was confusing to me as a child. I had no concept of it, and subsequently no idea how to define it. I now define it as a genuine desire for another's happiness. But in American culture the idea of love is bombarded with many extraeneous assumptions. We hold 'romantic love' above all others, and as a result have lost sight of the concept of a genuine interpersonal love based on mutual respect for each other's existence and all the rights that come with it. Many relationships compose themselves within set parameters that often have very little to do with whether or not the two people actually love each other. There is a standard of monogamy, marriage, financial support. These kinds of relationships are based on the concept of a beneficiary. As long as they are getting something out of the relationship, they are satisfied, but once that relationship requires more effort than the pleasure it doles out, becomes one-sided or challenging, as all long term relationships do from time to time, then the relationship is over. From this perspective, love is not a grand notion of self-sacrifice or compassion overcoming adversity, it is simple self-serving - no different from any other behaviour an animal exhibits. We pursue that which benefits us, and eschew that which harms us. It is a lifestyle dependent upon the outside world, and to that extent it will always be unremarkable - another wave on the tide of life. It is those lives that strive against circumstances, that see the way things are and determine that they can be better that are truly magnificent.
When Rachel left me I was confused as to why. I had very little familiarity with this concept of love as being something executed only for self benefit. For me love has always been about giving of your own abundance. Its about what you can give not what you can receive. Love holds high connotations of superhuman compassion, an ability to love others to an extent that it overcomes great obstacles, love that cannot be conquered. In her mind there were many reasons to leave, but in my mind there was no reason so great that it would cause me to stop loving her. It seems obvious, and maybe I was seeing things purely from my own perspective, but my idea of love and my faith in its power is not a very common idea. From my research and talks with others, I've found that its actually quite a rare concept, and many people find it almost ridiculously noble. All this time it had been an integral part of my living reality, who knew? Knowing this I feel that I have another purpose in life, to tell others about the power of love, how it can overcome all difficulties, how it can forgive all wrongs, and the healing it can bring to the most troubled soul.
Since I was young I have had more compassion than anger or hate, and I'm not one to think that we are born either good or bad, but as far as I can remember I have always cared more than I had feared. Fear is another thing I haven't had much of in my life, and maybe that leads to my abundance of compassion. The belief in separation which fear springs from is responsible in some way for most of the pain we feel throughout our existence. Conversely, the belief in unity from which all love flows can bring us back into touch with the underlying energy of all things and brings us into harmony with our divine state. Separation is a wide spread belief, which causes us all deep existential conflicts regarding our role in the all of things.
It was easy for me to assume that Rachel didn't love me, and she didn't - not in the way that I loved her. She just has a more limited definition of love, with many barriers that she imposes upon it which limit her experience of that unifying love that brings ultimate happiness. We all suffer from limiting beliefs, if we didn't, we'd all be making huge changes in our world. The greatest limit to human potential comes from within ourselves. I would like to show her that she can believe in love, and give herself over to it completely without fear of harm. But we all know what its like to be tentative, to be afraid to be hurt, to avoid pain even though it may be good for us.
There is an idea in American culture that suffering or hurt is something to be avoided. This is another popular concept that I have not quite accepted, and am suprised to learn of its prevalency. It may explain how much failure and misery is present in American society. We do seem to be a culture of pessimists. When you see suffering as something to be avoided, then you in essence are in denial of the very nature of human existence. You despise life. Its a fairly powerful revelation when you think about it. Even our dreams of retirement, the great escape, drugs, video games, relationships, its all about bringing in enough pleasure in your life to make it worthwhile. What if we began to cultivate an appreciation for suffering? We all know people we admire. We see their accomplishments, and when we see them overcome great adversity in triumph we are moved deeply, but what would that triumph be without the adversity? When we see someone who plays an instrument beautifully, we only see the end result. We don't see how it was when they first picked it up. How horrible it sounded, or the countless hours of practicing. All great people have persevered through innumerable difficulties in order to achieve their great deeds. Given this fact of achievement and progress, it would seem more reasonable to cultivate an appreciation for the suffering that comes with all good things. If we were to gain an appreciation for the process that led to the fancy car and the nice house, then we might actually acquire those things. But because we only appreciate the outcome, and shun the process, the outcome will never be ours. In the same way a great relationship requires steadfast commitement, day to day, and perseverence through the harsh times, the times when hope seems dim, and having faith in the knowledge that on the other side of this adversity the two will come out stronger, closer, and more confident in their commitment to each other. So many people do not achieve their dreams because they are outcome oriented. They expect the rewards without doing what is required to receive them.
Now that I am aware of this concept of love 'as long as it benefits me', I see it time and time again in popular romance, on television, in novels, our culture is inundated with this perception of romance as something that persists only as long as it meets expectations, not something that persists beyond expectation. As soon as one party doesn't get what they want, the relationship is over. This runs contrary to an idea of love that exists solely for its own merit, not on the benefit received. According to a genuine love between two beings, you don't give love, you don't receive it, you embody it. Love becomes a part of your being and nothing else can affect that. This is how the martyrs can forgive their tormentors, how Ghandi could forgive the British, or the Dalai Lama forgive the Chinese. Their idea of love is more about who they are than a reaction to external stimuli. This is the idea of love that I hold. I love Rachel regardless of the way she treats me, or what comes between us, because that is the person that I choose to be. I choose to be one possessed of compassion, forgiveness, benevolence, and love because those are our natural states of being. It is the mindsets of distance, judgement, bitterness, anger, and fear that are essentially corrosive to our being, and those who adopt them will feel their pain. That is what I want to give to her, a faith in herself and a knowledge that she doesn't have to suffer under the belief that she must protect herself from hurt, or avoid difficulty. But as long as she subscribes to those harmful mindsets, she will always wear the mask of pain. It is that measure of happiness that I can give her.
I did assume much about her thinking, but then again probably so did she. Many of us trust our minds and regard the voice in our heads as absolute. Our minds are like our bodies, only as productive as their fitness. Through observation and discipline we can understand the subtle processes of our mind that operate beyond our knowledge and control. By understanding and gaining power over our mind, body, and other aspects of our existence, we can begin to gain mastery over our life as well.
The great tragedy is when we loose faith in ourselves. When we stop striving for something more and just give up. It happens to all of those who reach for something greater. I've been there, and I want to be there for those who are in that position. It is sad when I see the look of despair on her face, a complete and utter lack of confidence in her ability to take control of her relationships for the better. I don't know how to give her that faith in herself. I suppose I could look to the things that give me the confidence I have to struggle through difficulties and use them to my advantage. But I have been through greater difficulties than most, and through those difficulties I have learned the value of overcoming obstacles as being critical to the process of becoming a better person. Suffering, difficulty, harsh times are only as good as you make them. These trials can either embitter us, or increase our capacity for love and acceptance. They really are what you make of them, and some people come out for the better, some come out for the worse. Unfortunately, I don't think Rachel has learned much from the numerous difficulties of her life, including our relationship, and that is because with each suffering, she withdraws more and more, avoiding the pain that could lead her to such great personal transformation if only she would embrace it with confidence in her own ability to overcome. In order for her to take something on though, she needs to believe that she can. Naturally the most immediate thing that I can help her with is our relationship. I could be there as a support for her to hold her through the times where she doubts herself, where she is unsure, when she is afraid, but in order for me to be something she can depend on, she has to depend on me. I cannot provide her with a sense of self, but maybe I can support her in the tentative first steps that are so frightening when we embark on the quest of self-realization. I can help provide her with the initial security she needs to reflect and question herself, for inquiry is essential to the process of discovery, but with the goal of enhancing her own self image so that she is stronger in the future. Without a solid sense of self-esteem, almost anything in life can seem impossible. If she were to add high self esteem to my existing support of her, she would be all the stronger for it, and able to face the turbulence of life with confidence and faith.
These are lessons we can all stand to learn. Who we are and where we are is more a product of our own beliefs in ourselves than of the factors in our environment, although we are very fond of blaming outside sources for our problems. You made me feel this way, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them, Its all his fault, etc etc. But great people persist and strive in the face of all of the odds that keep most people in lives that they settle for. It is those few who do not blame, who look to themselves for the answers to their problems, who really achieve great things. When they see the poor on the streets, they do not lament their position, or say the poor are responsible for their own selves, they do what they can to change that reality in a way that suits them. They see the way things are, and not only survive in adverse circumstances, but thrive in the midst of great difficulty due to the abundance of their character.
Occassionally when I see the absence of compassion in others, the manifestations of their fear, I feel the automatic rise of anger. When others project a certain emotional mindset, we are more or less inclined to go with it, according to the power of our will. The greater frame overcomes the lesser one. If someone of a stronger will maintains a compassionate mindset it will overcome someone of a lesser will with a hateful mindset, and vice versa. Since our minds are in our own keeping it is for us to improve the discipline and strength of our will through concious, consistent training. I find this anger is not only a result of my response to others, but also my expectations of them. One time Rachel said that I was acting the way I was for attention. I was taken aback, this was a response that I had considered beneath her, but then again I had projected my ideals of compassion and love to her, which she simply did not share, and are not common in our society. I have to learn to observe my external reality for what it is, and not project lofty illusions of love onto someone who really has very limited understanding of what compassion is. In realizing how things are, I can see where I can act, and the changes that can be made. However if I illusion myself and see things as better than they actually are, then I overlook critical deficits that need to be addressed. A problem ignored quickly grows out of control. If I'm going to be real about her, I'm going to have to stop projecting my expectations onto her, and make concrete observations so that I can more accurately assess the obstacles before us. Without a genuine sense of love and compassion, all relationships are due to an inevitable failure as the situations of life change. The strength of our relationships directly correlates to our capacity for love. Someone who is unwilling to forgive will find their relationships limited to that extent. As far as they are willing to forgive, to love in the face of fear, or discomfort, is as far as their relationships will go. In this way, we limit our own capacity to love and be loved in return. We limit the joy of our existence through our beleifs in self-preservation. These beliefs in self preservation are false because they are founded on the premise that the self can be assailed. How can the spirit be attacked? It is not conceivable for us, and yet we consistently attempt to preserve those things that are not our self, the body, possessions, relationships. It is this attitude of cutting other people off to protect ourselves that hampers our capacity to experience the true elation and security that comes from choosing to let love abound in your heart.
When Rachel left me I was confused as to why. I had very little familiarity with this concept of love as being something executed only for self benefit. For me love has always been about giving of your own abundance. Its about what you can give not what you can receive. Love holds high connotations of superhuman compassion, an ability to love others to an extent that it overcomes great obstacles, love that cannot be conquered. In her mind there were many reasons to leave, but in my mind there was no reason so great that it would cause me to stop loving her. It seems obvious, and maybe I was seeing things purely from my own perspective, but my idea of love and my faith in its power is not a very common idea. From my research and talks with others, I've found that its actually quite a rare concept, and many people find it almost ridiculously noble. All this time it had been an integral part of my living reality, who knew? Knowing this I feel that I have another purpose in life, to tell others about the power of love, how it can overcome all difficulties, how it can forgive all wrongs, and the healing it can bring to the most troubled soul.
Since I was young I have had more compassion than anger or hate, and I'm not one to think that we are born either good or bad, but as far as I can remember I have always cared more than I had feared. Fear is another thing I haven't had much of in my life, and maybe that leads to my abundance of compassion. The belief in separation which fear springs from is responsible in some way for most of the pain we feel throughout our existence. Conversely, the belief in unity from which all love flows can bring us back into touch with the underlying energy of all things and brings us into harmony with our divine state. Separation is a wide spread belief, which causes us all deep existential conflicts regarding our role in the all of things.
It was easy for me to assume that Rachel didn't love me, and she didn't - not in the way that I loved her. She just has a more limited definition of love, with many barriers that she imposes upon it which limit her experience of that unifying love that brings ultimate happiness. We all suffer from limiting beliefs, if we didn't, we'd all be making huge changes in our world. The greatest limit to human potential comes from within ourselves. I would like to show her that she can believe in love, and give herself over to it completely without fear of harm. But we all know what its like to be tentative, to be afraid to be hurt, to avoid pain even though it may be good for us.
There is an idea in American culture that suffering or hurt is something to be avoided. This is another popular concept that I have not quite accepted, and am suprised to learn of its prevalency. It may explain how much failure and misery is present in American society. We do seem to be a culture of pessimists. When you see suffering as something to be avoided, then you in essence are in denial of the very nature of human existence. You despise life. Its a fairly powerful revelation when you think about it. Even our dreams of retirement, the great escape, drugs, video games, relationships, its all about bringing in enough pleasure in your life to make it worthwhile. What if we began to cultivate an appreciation for suffering? We all know people we admire. We see their accomplishments, and when we see them overcome great adversity in triumph we are moved deeply, but what would that triumph be without the adversity? When we see someone who plays an instrument beautifully, we only see the end result. We don't see how it was when they first picked it up. How horrible it sounded, or the countless hours of practicing. All great people have persevered through innumerable difficulties in order to achieve their great deeds. Given this fact of achievement and progress, it would seem more reasonable to cultivate an appreciation for the suffering that comes with all good things. If we were to gain an appreciation for the process that led to the fancy car and the nice house, then we might actually acquire those things. But because we only appreciate the outcome, and shun the process, the outcome will never be ours. In the same way a great relationship requires steadfast commitement, day to day, and perseverence through the harsh times, the times when hope seems dim, and having faith in the knowledge that on the other side of this adversity the two will come out stronger, closer, and more confident in their commitment to each other. So many people do not achieve their dreams because they are outcome oriented. They expect the rewards without doing what is required to receive them.
Now that I am aware of this concept of love 'as long as it benefits me', I see it time and time again in popular romance, on television, in novels, our culture is inundated with this perception of romance as something that persists only as long as it meets expectations, not something that persists beyond expectation. As soon as one party doesn't get what they want, the relationship is over. This runs contrary to an idea of love that exists solely for its own merit, not on the benefit received. According to a genuine love between two beings, you don't give love, you don't receive it, you embody it. Love becomes a part of your being and nothing else can affect that. This is how the martyrs can forgive their tormentors, how Ghandi could forgive the British, or the Dalai Lama forgive the Chinese. Their idea of love is more about who they are than a reaction to external stimuli. This is the idea of love that I hold. I love Rachel regardless of the way she treats me, or what comes between us, because that is the person that I choose to be. I choose to be one possessed of compassion, forgiveness, benevolence, and love because those are our natural states of being. It is the mindsets of distance, judgement, bitterness, anger, and fear that are essentially corrosive to our being, and those who adopt them will feel their pain. That is what I want to give to her, a faith in herself and a knowledge that she doesn't have to suffer under the belief that she must protect herself from hurt, or avoid difficulty. But as long as she subscribes to those harmful mindsets, she will always wear the mask of pain. It is that measure of happiness that I can give her.
I did assume much about her thinking, but then again probably so did she. Many of us trust our minds and regard the voice in our heads as absolute. Our minds are like our bodies, only as productive as their fitness. Through observation and discipline we can understand the subtle processes of our mind that operate beyond our knowledge and control. By understanding and gaining power over our mind, body, and other aspects of our existence, we can begin to gain mastery over our life as well.
The great tragedy is when we loose faith in ourselves. When we stop striving for something more and just give up. It happens to all of those who reach for something greater. I've been there, and I want to be there for those who are in that position. It is sad when I see the look of despair on her face, a complete and utter lack of confidence in her ability to take control of her relationships for the better. I don't know how to give her that faith in herself. I suppose I could look to the things that give me the confidence I have to struggle through difficulties and use them to my advantage. But I have been through greater difficulties than most, and through those difficulties I have learned the value of overcoming obstacles as being critical to the process of becoming a better person. Suffering, difficulty, harsh times are only as good as you make them. These trials can either embitter us, or increase our capacity for love and acceptance. They really are what you make of them, and some people come out for the better, some come out for the worse. Unfortunately, I don't think Rachel has learned much from the numerous difficulties of her life, including our relationship, and that is because with each suffering, she withdraws more and more, avoiding the pain that could lead her to such great personal transformation if only she would embrace it with confidence in her own ability to overcome. In order for her to take something on though, she needs to believe that she can. Naturally the most immediate thing that I can help her with is our relationship. I could be there as a support for her to hold her through the times where she doubts herself, where she is unsure, when she is afraid, but in order for me to be something she can depend on, she has to depend on me. I cannot provide her with a sense of self, but maybe I can support her in the tentative first steps that are so frightening when we embark on the quest of self-realization. I can help provide her with the initial security she needs to reflect and question herself, for inquiry is essential to the process of discovery, but with the goal of enhancing her own self image so that she is stronger in the future. Without a solid sense of self-esteem, almost anything in life can seem impossible. If she were to add high self esteem to my existing support of her, she would be all the stronger for it, and able to face the turbulence of life with confidence and faith.
These are lessons we can all stand to learn. Who we are and where we are is more a product of our own beliefs in ourselves than of the factors in our environment, although we are very fond of blaming outside sources for our problems. You made me feel this way, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them, Its all his fault, etc etc. But great people persist and strive in the face of all of the odds that keep most people in lives that they settle for. It is those few who do not blame, who look to themselves for the answers to their problems, who really achieve great things. When they see the poor on the streets, they do not lament their position, or say the poor are responsible for their own selves, they do what they can to change that reality in a way that suits them. They see the way things are, and not only survive in adverse circumstances, but thrive in the midst of great difficulty due to the abundance of their character.
Occassionally when I see the absence of compassion in others, the manifestations of their fear, I feel the automatic rise of anger. When others project a certain emotional mindset, we are more or less inclined to go with it, according to the power of our will. The greater frame overcomes the lesser one. If someone of a stronger will maintains a compassionate mindset it will overcome someone of a lesser will with a hateful mindset, and vice versa. Since our minds are in our own keeping it is for us to improve the discipline and strength of our will through concious, consistent training. I find this anger is not only a result of my response to others, but also my expectations of them. One time Rachel said that I was acting the way I was for attention. I was taken aback, this was a response that I had considered beneath her, but then again I had projected my ideals of compassion and love to her, which she simply did not share, and are not common in our society. I have to learn to observe my external reality for what it is, and not project lofty illusions of love onto someone who really has very limited understanding of what compassion is. In realizing how things are, I can see where I can act, and the changes that can be made. However if I illusion myself and see things as better than they actually are, then I overlook critical deficits that need to be addressed. A problem ignored quickly grows out of control. If I'm going to be real about her, I'm going to have to stop projecting my expectations onto her, and make concrete observations so that I can more accurately assess the obstacles before us. Without a genuine sense of love and compassion, all relationships are due to an inevitable failure as the situations of life change. The strength of our relationships directly correlates to our capacity for love. Someone who is unwilling to forgive will find their relationships limited to that extent. As far as they are willing to forgive, to love in the face of fear, or discomfort, is as far as their relationships will go. In this way, we limit our own capacity to love and be loved in return. We limit the joy of our existence through our beleifs in self-preservation. These beliefs in self preservation are false because they are founded on the premise that the self can be assailed. How can the spirit be attacked? It is not conceivable for us, and yet we consistently attempt to preserve those things that are not our self, the body, possessions, relationships. It is this attitude of cutting other people off to protect ourselves that hampers our capacity to experience the true elation and security that comes from choosing to let love abound in your heart.
Self-Defense
I wish we could all see the damage defending our ego causes. You want to show that you're right, because somehow it makes you better when somebody else is wrong. Defending the ego is a small thing, compared to the large thing it gives up. When you make your opinion more important than connecting with someone else, listening to them, loving them, than you pick something you already possess, over receiving that human gift. How petty. Small minds create small results. It takes the bigger person to see things beyond the ego to address something from the perspective of the other person, and to help them achieve a solution, not yourself. With a knowledge of self, a person can live beyond the ego. When you realize and have confidence in you worth as a living thing, then you can operate in a realm that gives no heed to ego and frees you from all the petty struggle that afflicts those who turn the outside world into a personal battleground. That's all the ego is, an attempt to compensate for a lack of genuine self knowledge. Its when we extend ourselves out into various aspects of the world and align our very sense of being and self worth with those aspects. We can turn beliefs, opinions, authority, beauty, skill, knowledge, anything, into a representative of the very fabric of our being, which is unalterable. But when we attach to these things, we take something that is invincible and make it vulnerable. We place ourselves in a precarious position and bring about our own pain when those variable aspects change as all external things do. When our opinion is questioned, we flame up in defence, but of what? We aren't being threatened, but because we align ourselves with those things that are ever changing, we feel threatened. And so by our own associations, we create suffering in our lives.
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