"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." -Carl Jung

Ajahn Chah, an influential teacher of Theravada Buddhism in the west has said: "...we get lost in our thoughts and feelings as if that's who we really are. Those are just the contents of mind. Step back. Relax. Rest in the pure awareness that knows experience and you will be free."

So what is pure awareness? And how can I rest in it? These concepts seemed almost otherworldly to me when I was first introduced to them. Just as I blame the education system for failing to instruct children on the importance of credit management. I also point to the lack of emotional control instruction. Like most, I think this may primarily be the role of parents, but I also believe it takes a community to raise a child. 

When being introduced to another person, the first question westerners often ask is "so, what do you do?" In other parts of the world, like India, the question is more frequently, "so, in which form of God do you believe?" It's hard to argue the shallow depth of materialists vs the formless realm of the more spiritually minded. One point of view generally earns a paycheck, while the other may create eternal happiness. It's up to the individual to decide which is most important. But as I told a dear friend recently when he said, "I can't help it, I just lovvvvve money." "Well" I responded, "if the grocery stores run out of food for a week, let me know how good that $100 bill tastes."

Yes, I'm still a bit of a sarcastic S.O.B., but I continue to check my intentions when talking with others. I want to remove ego completely if I am truly coming from a place of love. Otherwise, I'm just preaching and it seems no one really likes that approach very much. Also, my daily choice is to be at peace rather than to be right. When the feeling wells up inside that I need to get in the last word, then it probably has already been spoken.

So what do I do? If I examine my bank account, my business card (which I don't have) or my possessions, I would most aptly be qualified as "loser" in this society. Then why do I feel happier today than I've ever felt in my entire life?

"If you suffer, it is not because things are impermanent. It is because you believe things are permanent."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

So often in the past I got lost in the roles I played. But these are merely stories surrounding what I'm doing, and not the true nature of who I am. How do I prove this? I need to only look back at how often these roles have changed. Then I check my level of attachment I have to the current role. In reality I've gone from child to adolescent, student to teacher, employee to employer, dedicated meat eater to a more vegetarian status, and the list goes on... and on... and on.

How silly to think I am ever any one of these things! When I've lost a job in the past, I thought my world was coming to an end and I would soon be living under a bridge. But instead what happened? I found an even better job- one in which I wouldn't have discovered because I was too comfortable with my current one to look outside and see it!

"People will suffer almost anything as long as it means they don't have to change."-Deepak Chopra

For today, may we recognize the things in life that cause us to suffer. If it's not necessary for our survival, maybe we don't really need it in our life and it might be time to change it.

Love,
Carl