HAPPY 2008!
Well, I don't have any pics of family and children to share, nor have I kept track of all that happened last year. But, I wanted to send you my version of a New Years Newsletter about what I'm really up to in life right now (at the most meaningful level)...with the hope that something in what I share may be a key that opens a doorway into a happier and more expansive 2008 for you. That's the wish behind my taking the time to write and send this to you...ie, my gift to you for the new year. If you try it on and it doesn't fit, feel free to toss the garment but receive the intention.... ;)
..== A perspective to try out for 2008 ==..
Most of us keep searching for the way to be happy. The bad news is that there isn't anything that we can do to be happy [for more than a little while]. The good news is that there isn't anything we need to do to be happy.
We just have to see that happiness is a natural state, like sunshine. When the clouds go away, the sunshine is revealed. Nothing had to be done to create the sunshine; it is always there.
"True freedom is actually effortless." ~ Adyashanti
So, it's a matter of "not doing" and just realizing fully what is so. Narrowing my attention down to *just* this moment. Activating all my senses to take in *just* what is before me in this very moment, and *just* what is inside me in this very moment...and accepting/allowing, accepting/allowing, accepting/allowing it all to be *just* as it is.... Surrendering joyfully to what _actually_ is...without paying heed to any "cloudy" thoughts or beliefs about how it should be (or, even, how I should be experiencing it).
"Your suffering comes from your refusal to accept what is." ~ Buddha
We run around and think that going for a walk or eating sweets or not eating sweets or creating the perfect relationship or _doing_ makes us feel good. But, perhaps what makes us feel good is the idea that these things work. (Ever notice that sometimes they seem to work and sometimes they don't?)
This includes meditation. True meditation is just letting the mind quiet and experiencing the truth. Being the awareness that observes the thoughts (and the gaps between them), rather than mistaking the mental commentary for "me" or "reality." Tuning the radio station of my presence to the silence, rather than to the sounds...to the space around me, rather than to the things...to the present, rather than to past and future.
You don't do it to try to change your state, nor to make anything happen, nor for any future outcome.... You do it for the "now". Just to drop more deeply into _this_ eternal moment. To say "yes" to what is, and thereby experience fully the richness of "now" now ...directly... without the cloudy interference of the thinking mind.
As one of my teachers says, "Fall in love with now."
This practice doesn't create joy, it reveals it: The natural state of joy that's already there...now. And, you don't need any special training, nor to be sitting on a cushion in a meditation hall. You can experience this joy, this truth, right here, right now....
[You can start as above. Or, by clicking on the PowerPoint attachment and playing along. Or, by looking inside and inquiring things like, "Is it true that there's joy already...? Silence...? Lightness...? Stillness...? What happens, right now, when I just allow what is to be...? When I allow whatever arises to arise...? Including whatever I can't allow to be.... What happens when I let go of "trying to let go"...? When I surrender all attempts to control my experience...? Is there a point at which even the idea of "allowing everything to be" drops away...? What is the deepest possible level to which I can relinquish control today...?"]
When I touch into that bottomless, peaceful stillness in between my thoughts, a deeper wisdom arises...of which the following words are but an incomplete translation: Perhaps I can relax and enjoy life just as it is. No place to get to, nothing to prove about myself.
** We have already arrived, and we just don't know it! **
While I can't create happiness, there are some things that I can do to become more aware, such as gratitude and offering prayers of thanksgiving. I can practice pursuing the _feeling_ of happiness and gratefulness...for all that IS available to me in this moment...and for the opportunity to experience human joy...along with the opportunity to experience the hundreds of other sensations occurring within me in this moment.... (After you're dead, you may wish you could feel that itch you've been trying to get rid of all day. ;)
"Everything lasts for just a moment. Be grateful, this moment is your life." ~ John Astin
Ahhhh...free at last...no more struggle...no more effort......until I forget....again. :-)
Check this out:
Happiness Is A Voyage
(No, I didn't create this PowerPoint, but thought you'd enjoy it. :)
May 2008 be a voyage of ever deepening joy and happiness for you...and for all beings.
Rich
----
Thought for Today: Life is like going to a restaurant where you rarely know what's on the menu before you arrive, and seldom get exactly what you ordered. Those who have developed the broadest palates are the most fully and enjoyably nourished in the restaurant of life.
..== A perspective to try out for 2008 ==..
Most of us keep searching for the way to be happy. The bad news is that there isn't anything that we can do to be happy [for more than a little while]. The good news is that there isn't anything we need to do to be happy.
We just have to see that happiness is a natural state, like sunshine. When the clouds go away, the sunshine is revealed. Nothing had to be done to create the sunshine; it is always there.
"True freedom is actually effortless." ~ Adyashanti
So, it's a matter of "not doing" and just realizing fully what is so. Narrowing my attention down to *just* this moment. Activating all my senses to take in *just* what is before me in this very moment, and *just* what is inside me in this very moment...and accepting/allowing, accepting/allowing, accepting/allowing it all to be *just* as it is.... Surrendering joyfully to what _actually_ is...without paying heed to any "cloudy" thoughts or beliefs about how it should be (or, even, how I should be experiencing it).
"Your suffering comes from your refusal to accept what is." ~ Buddha
We run around and think that going for a walk or eating sweets or not eating sweets or creating the perfect relationship or _doing_
This includes meditation. True meditation is just letting the mind quiet and experiencing the truth. Being the awareness that observes the thoughts (and the gaps between them), rather than mistaking the mental commentary for "me" or "reality." Tuning the radio station of my presence to the silence, rather than to the sounds...to the space around me, rather than to the things...to the present, rather than to past and future.
You don't do it to try to change your state, nor to make anything happen, nor for any future outcome.... You do it for the "now". Just to drop more deeply into _this_ eternal moment. To say "yes" to what is, and thereby experience fully the richness of "now" now ...directly... without the cloudy interference of the thinking mind.
As one of my teachers says, "Fall in love with now."
This practice doesn't create joy, it reveals it: The natural state of joy that's already there...now. And, you don't need any special training, nor to be sitting on a cushion in a meditation hall. You can experience this joy, this truth, right here, right now....
[You can start as above. Or, by clicking on the PowerPoint attachment and playing along. Or, by looking inside and inquiring things like, "Is it true that there's joy already...? Silence...? Lightness...? Stillness...? What happens, right now, when I just allow what is to be...? When I allow whatever arises to arise...? Including whatever I can't allow to be.... What happens when I let go of "trying to let go"...? When I surrender all attempts to control my experience...? Is there a point at which even the idea of "allowing everything to be" drops away...? What is the deepest possible level to which I can relinquish control today...?"]
When I touch into that bottomless, peaceful stillness in between my thoughts, a deeper wisdom arises...of which the following words are but an incomplete translation: Perhaps I can relax and enjoy life just as it is. No place to get to, nothing to prove about myself.
** We have already arrived, and we just don't know it! **
While I can't create happiness, there are some things that I can do to become more aware, such as gratitude and offering prayers of thanksgiving. I can practice pursuing the _feeling_ of happiness and gratefulness...for all that IS available to me in this moment...and for the opportunity to experience human joy...along with the opportunity to experience the hundreds of other sensations occurring within me in this moment.... (After you're dead, you may wish you could feel that itch you've been trying to get rid of all day. ;)
"Everything lasts for just a moment. Be grateful, this moment is your life." ~ John Astin
Ahhhh...free at last...no more struggle...no more effort......until I forget....again. :-)
Check this out:
Happiness Is A Voyage
(No, I didn't create this PowerPoint, but thought you'd enjoy it. :)
May 2008 be a voyage of ever deepening joy and happiness for you...and for all beings.
Rich
----
Thought for Today: Life is like going to a restaurant where you rarely know what's on the menu before you arrive, and seldom get exactly what you ordered. Those who have developed the broadest palates are the most fully and enjoyably nourished in the restaurant of life.
posted by Rich at 2:01 PM
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