Has Anyone Faced Their Demons?

[awake]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

 

I'm not sure if your practice is a good thing to do or not, I also had the same dilemma as you, as in does experiencing them simply feed them and make them stronger. I still think being aware of the dark as well as the light is a good thing, but I will say this, there is a stage where those negative feelings come out of their own accord, and when they do it's no picnic, at that point wave after wave of almost uncontrollable negative emotions envelope you. It's hell on earth.

 

I often wonder though if being aware of them beforehand would have reduced the intensity when they did come out, I have no exact answer I can give to that.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

One of the things most spiritual practitioners ignore at their peril is the Shadow...Jung had much to say about this. Those who do not explore, acknowledge and own their own Shadow are destined to have it come back in some form to remind us of it's existence as part of us. Those 'demons' you mention? they are part of you. But theTaoBums is not the place to really explore this. Start looking, searching and reading... good for you that you are opening up to this!

 

Shadow

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Sundragon]

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

 

I have done some intense "shadow work" over the years and encountered many of my demons. I have found it to be effective to realize that every darkness seen the the world from the most petty to the most terrible is something that is within human nature...my nature. To accept this truth brings freedom and balance.

 

I am as capable as anyone of terrible cruelty, meanness, thoughtlessness, violence, etc. but I get to choose to either feed or starve these demons through my choice of focus. I choose to focus on love, compassion, forgiveness and peace while at the same time ackowledging and accepting "negative" emotional states when they arise. In accepting them these states will pass. It is only in repressing them under a veneer of sweet "spiritual" platitudes that they grow stronger and more perverse in their expression.

 

I, you, all of us contain within us both all the glory of angels and all the wickedness of demons. The microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm. As above so below.

 

I highly recommend the book Radical Acceptance in regards to accepting your whole self. Any denied aspect of the self will re-arise eventually. There is no escape save in acceptance, acceptance will eventually bring transformation.

 

 

Love and Peace

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

 

I am as capable as anyone of terrible cruelty, meanness, thoughtlessness, violence, etc. but I get to choose to either feed or starve these demons through my choice of focus. I choose to focus on love, compassion, forgiveness and peace while at the same time ackowledging and accepting "negative" emotional states when they arise. In accepting them these states will pass. It is only in repressing them under a veneer of sweet "spiritual" platitudes that they grow stronger and more perverse in their expression.

 

Any denied aspect of the self will re-arise eventually. There is no escape save in acceptance, acceptance will eventually bring transformation.

 

Love and Peace

 

 

Well said. Exactly.

[3bob]

On meeting the master the demons have no place to sneek around, and must be faced.

 

but don't open a door you can not close, for such is not to be dallied about with - unprepared!

 

Om

[Guest paul walter]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

 

 

 

Hi Awake, yes I have done this exact thing (it comes naturally as we get honest with ourselves from not being able to put up with our condition anymore) many years ago. Its a natural arising and dissolving as we start to look at and accept what we are even though we don't like who we are. It's true the negative stuff seems more dominant but I think that's only because that's what we spend our time covering up most of our waking life. Keep going, don't let anyone or anything put you off, you're onto the real deal. You can't learn this 'technique' in a book and since it has come to you from your own need I suggest you be wary of advice. The more you do it the easier it gets til you probably will actually enjoy finding all your faults! It clears away layers pretty quickly as you uncover more of the dross and life literally becomes lighter. But yes, of course it gets more painful before it gets better. But YOU have to do it. The key is to stare yourself in the face and be ready to say goodbye to the old you, of which this is like a first step. The so-called 'good' feelings I wouldn't worry about holding onto unless you need to give yourself a rest from discovering what a monster you are . If you free yourself of your past/your self, well lets just say there will be 'good feelings' to burn, believe me.

 

You may want to stay away from media, people etc for a time and get to know yourself, that way the process doesn't get derailed and half-baked everyday.You need time to process and fathom the depth of these feelings you are accessing, which is difficult to do in the 'normal' world. The more you commit the faster it goes. If you are ready to do it you are a lucky man- Wish you well. Paul.

[Lucky7Strikes]

I think seeing something as positive or negative is itself a wrong approach. Don't emphasize, and do not oppress. Get used to letting those attachments go by realizing that most of these emotions, memories, and feelings are delusions. They are not "you."

 

When you explore the "bad" as you put it, you can fall into an endless process of cleansing the dirt you have drempt up. Learn to find an unconditioned view of things that can cut down anything within reach.

 

And be that.

 

Note: I am not discouraging looking into your darker side, seeking its source can be an incredibly powerful meditation, but the mind can always create newer illusions.

 

Just 2 cents... .

Edited December 28, 2009 by Lucky7Strikes

[Marblehead]

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

Okay. I'll speak to this.

 

The final generalized fear I had to deal with in my life was a fear of spiders. (No need to share the story.)

 

I forced myself to overcome this fear by gaining knowledge about spiders, then, whenever I saw one I would stop and look at it a while, and even talk with many of them. I faced my fear, I talked with my fear, I stopped killing spiders if at all possible and started considering them friends because they were eating a lot of bugs that I didn't want around.

 

I think that most of our fears can be eliminated through knowledge; learning about the root causes of our fears.

 

Peace & Love!

[Sunya]

awake,

 

yes you are on the right track. this is very good! it's best to focus on the sensation itself and feel it in its barest form, not treat it as an intellectual exercise. it's great to feel a sensation and subsequently experience its dependent causes (such as the rising up of memories of previous events) but for your purposes its all about the bare sensation. what meditation practice do you do? I would absolutely highly recommend the book "Essentials of Mahamudra", I actually just read the page discussing this very topic today! interesting coincidence. the book describes meditation (shamata and vipashyana) in very clear detail and also talks about problems that come up and how to get through them for successful progress. It's a translation of an old Tibetan text that the 16th Karmapa had translated, saying that its very useful for Westerners due to its clarity.

 

so focus on the sensation but don't over concentrate which could just increase the feeling, what you want to do is sort of lightly become aware of the sensation, notice the mind's pattern of succumbing or jumping into the feeling, or maybe the opposite of escaping the feeling, and feel the sensation for what it is. you're practicing vipashyana, very clearly discussed in Essentials of Mahamudra

Edited December 28, 2009 by mikaelz

[z00se]

Okay. I'll speak to this.

 

The final generalized fear I had to deal with in my life was a fear of spiders. (No need to share the story.)

 

 

I have a huge fear of dogs... any ones that look dangerous or are bigger than knee high that i couldn't step on and squash if they came near me.

 

This is not a small fear this is a downright massive PANIC. If i see a dog not on a leash and there is a possibility it could come to me i will instantly feel a MASSIVE adrenaline rush. My stomach will wrench and i will feel like i want to spu immediately, my hands are sweaty, my whole body shakes and i rush to the fastest way out of there. I'm 6'1 and pretty built and i've had a whole party of people looking at me and thinking WTF when i suddenly run and jump onto a table or car when somebodys dog comes out. I can't face it. I can try my best to control it, use all my qigong practices which can admittedly slow down the process... enough for me to get out of there, but it still builds up and soon becomes unbarable.

 

It sucks because i can't go to anybody's house freely, i have to always ask if they have a dog, and if they could lock it out the back or something for me. Then anytime anyone walks through the back door i feel panic until it's closed again.

 

I know it's stupid, dogs don't bite people but it is uncontrollable for me. Plus when the dog sees i am scared it doesn't like it and starts to bark at me then all hell breaks loose for me. I'll just start running away or punching/kicking in what i think is a fight for my life and the poor dog owner obviously isn't too happy.

 

Only thing i can do is let all the air out of my lungs, don't breath and deprive myself of air while i quickly try to get out of there. Then i'm worrying about having no air and not about the dog, my fear is tiny and managable and the dog doesn't smell the fear and hopefully everything works out ok

[z00se]

Okay. I'll speak to this.

 

The final generalized fear I had to deal with in my life was a fear of spiders. (No need to share the story.)

 

 

I have a huge fear of dogs... any ones that look dangerous or are bigger than knee high that i couldn't step on and squash if they came near me.

 

This is not a small fear this is a downright massive PANIC. If i see a dog not on a leash and there is a possibility it could come to me i will instantly feel a MASSIVE adrenaline rush. My stomach will wrench and i will feel like i want to spu immediately, my hands are sweaty, my whole body shakes and i rush to the fastest way out of there. I'm 6'1 and pretty built and i've had a whole party of people looking at me and thinking WTF when i suddenly run and jump onto a table or car when somebodys dog comes out. I can't face it. I can try my best to control it, use all my qigong practices which can admittedly slow down the process... enough for me to get out of there, but it still builds up and soon becomes unbarable.

 

It sucks because i can't go to anybody's house freely, i have to always ask if they have a dog, and if they could lock it out the back or something for me. Then anytime anyone walks through the back door i feel panic until it's closed again.

 

I know it's stupid, dogs don't bite people but it is uncontrollable for me. Plus when the dog sees i am scared it doesn't like it and starts to bark at me then all hell breaks loose for me. I'll just start running away or punching/kicking in what i think is a fight for my life and the poor dog owner obviously isn't too happy.

 

Only thing i can do is let all the air out of my lungs, don't breath and deprive myself of air while i quickly try to get out of there. Then i'm worrying about having no air and not about the dog, my fear is tiny and managable and the dog doesn't smell the fear and hopefully everything works out ok

[Marblehead]

I have a huge fear of dogs... any ones that look dangerous or are bigger than knee high that i couldn't step on and squash if they came near me.

 

Yeah, I know what you are talking about.

 

All I can say is that there is a root cause in your past somewhere for this fear. Find the cause and rationalize it.

 

But I would caution that some dogs do bite. (Like we didn't already know that.) And a dog (like most animals) will be more aggressive if it senses fear in what it is being aggressive toward.

 

Best wishes on dealing with that.

 

Peace & Love!

[glooper23]

When I focus on my negative feelings to the point where I begin to zoom in and really examine the feeling, there comes a point where I break through. I zoom in so far that I notice the holes, and thus the lack of strength, in the feeling.

 

Often, negative feelings that stay with me are due to me not wanting them to go away. When I let go, they pass. When I let go, however, a new negative feeling may arise. It's like unfolding layers of negativity. Peel away one layer, and 500 more sit below. The good thing is that if you continue to cognitively and emotionally deal with this, you can resolve yourself of a life-long pain.

 

For example, if I sit and think about my ex, I feel guilty. I allow myself to feel this, to accept the feeling. Eventually, its strength weakens, and it fades. But now, I feel insecure... why? Because I have removed the guilt which was stemming from and masking insecurity. So now I allow myself to feel the insecurity, and it fades. Now, I feel fear, for I'm afraid of what I'm going to spend my time doing now that I no longer have insecurity and guilt to expend my energy on. I allow myself to feel the fear, and it fades. Suddenly, my energy starts to rise to higher levels, simply because I've peeled away negative layers.

 

To answer the original question, yes. I have faced my demons.

Edited December 28, 2009 by glooper23

[Creation]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

You might try this:

 

Feel everything that is inside of you, don't label good and bad. Develop relaxed and non-judgmental awareness of what you are sensing, feeling, thinking, etc in the here and now. There is no need to indulge by amplifying. Don't indulge thoughts, images, judgments, or ideas. Just be present and feel.

 

That has been the main thrust of my practice recently, mostly in order to face my demons.

 

This is the mother load of instruction on how to become present what is inside of you to and dissolve the blockages/knots that you find there:

http://www.amazon.com/TAO-Letting-Go-Medit...n/dp/1556437897

http://www.amazon.com/TAO-Letting-Go-Medit...n/dp/1556438087

Edited December 28, 2009 by Creation

[doc benway]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

I think this is a very important part of any self inquiry that will lead to awakening.

I think your approach is very skillful and will yield great benefits for you.

 

How can you really know the world around you? Only through your own experience.

And everything that you experience is filtered through your images and assumptions created by your previous experience (memory) and conditioning.

The only way to have clarity, is to see through all of this. Otherwise you are looking at the world through colored lenses.

 

There are different ways to look at this stuff. Here is my bias. Anything you feel is there in you somewhere and whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad, profound or superficial, it's a part of your make-up.

Good and bad are simply value judgements that are also an artifact of conditioning. The more you are aware of what you are feeling and how emotions come up in reaction to things, the better. Any attempt to supress or disregard feelings simply ignores that part of your reality. The more you supress or ignore the bad stuff (or the good stuff, for that matter), the stronger it will get. More extreme fluctuation results. Acknowledgeing and accepting what you are feeling takes it's power away.

 

Any time you feel something bad, go into it directly and completely. It will disappear like smoke eventually. It's not important how long it takes. Same with the good. If you disregard or supress it, it does not go away. It's still in there and it strengthens. It is a simple reflection of Tai Ji - you feel good for a while, you feel bad for a while. Ultimately those feelings balance.

 

If you are worried about attention adding strength to the bad feelings, don't. It is not the feelings that are bad, it is what you choose to do in relation to those feelings. Simply accept the feelings (I assure you that you can't change them or make them disappear) and then choose to act based on what is important to you - your values. To me, this is living in accordance with Wu Wei. I think people who try to control their thoughts misunderstand the guidance given by the mystics (Buddha included). Watering the good seeds refers to deeds, not thoughts. The thoughts will come and go until the nature of thought is seen through, then even the thoughts loose their power.

 

It's going to take much longer than a week but you have struck a goldmine here, IMO.

 

Good luck!

 

 

This is the mother load of instruction on how to become present what is inside of you to and dissolve the blockages/knots that you find there:

http://www.amazon.com/TAO-Letting-Go-Medit...n/dp/1556437897

http://www.amazon.com/TAO-Letting-Go-Medit...n/dp/1556438087

My good friend who has extensive exprience in meditation and related practices has also just recommended these books to me... I'll have to check them out.

[dwai]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

 

It's best not to talk about these in public. I learned the hard way...they will disappear if you stop fixating on them

 

The conflict arises when one tries to reject/deny the existence of specific thoughts/patterns. The more you try to vanquish them, the stronger they get. The hardest thing I found was to have an accepting attitude towards them...in the sense...those bad thoughts/patterns are also rising in my mindstream. They don't define me unless I let them define me. The less I fixated on them, the less power they gained (in themselves and over me). Now I can acknowledge that they arise and then they disappear, whereas earlier they would overshadow and overpower the witness

Edited December 28, 2009 by dwai

[thelerner]

Franz Bardon's method outlined in the Initiation Into Hermetics has a magic mirror exercise as one of its preliminary steps. You spend a few days writing down all your good qualities. Then a few days writing down completely all your bad qualities. These lists become 'mirrors' that you look into, quantify and divide elementally and meditate on.

 

Its a valuable exercise. Rawn Clark and William (its late I forget the last name Mistelle?? something like that) have notes on it if you don't have the book handy.

 

 

 

Michael

[innerspace_cadet]

I have posted something similar to this 2 other times now.. And honestly I am surprised that on a forum such as this, there has been so little response.

 

I am wondering if anyone has spent any time feeling their negative feelings. That is, having a feeling come up, then focusing attention on keeping the feeling there and feeling it, possibly amplifying its power.

 

I want to know if anyone has had any experience with this and where it has lead them.

 

I can do the same for both good and bad feelings, however it is easier to do the bad ones, and so I figure there is something to feeling the negative feelings I have. As I feel them, more come up, but are mostly bad. When a good one comes up, I do the same, feel it, but I cannot feel it for as long as I can feel the bad ones.

 

Having done this for only a week, I can access much stronger bad feelings (that i recognize are resulting from past events), though I wonder if I am diluting myself, and by feeling them I am only making them stronger.

 

That is my inner quarrel, if I would be better off focussing on good feelings, building them, and disregarding the bad ones.

 

 

Once during meditation, all these feelings of anger arose towards the people who had bullied me in the past. So I forced myself to forgive them, and it was very painful to do. I say painful because once the anger faded away, I was confronted with the pain they had inflicted on me. I actually ended up in tears confronting those feelings, but after that meditation session I did not have as much anger towards them.

[zhoupeng]

Once during meditation, all these feelings of anger arose towards the people who had bullied me in the past. So I forced myself to forgive them, and it was very painful to do. I say painful because once the anger faded away, I was confronted with the pain they had inflicted on me. I actually ended up in tears confronting those feelings, but after that meditation session I did not have as much anger towards them.

 

Sorry I know this is not my business, but from personal experience I would seriously caution against forcing yourself to forgive anything (including yourself). Forgiveness comes from patience and gradual understanding of the often more subtle causes and effects that led to the event which left you feeling wronged. Only then can you come to terms with the issues in question.

 

Forcing yourself to forgive not only leads to a corresponding forced collision with the pain you have experienced but is also the the spiritual equivalent of grinding your teeth behind a smile. Unfortunately this usually creates even more deeply rooted blockages.

[Mokona]

I can't seem to deal with fears, and the shadow intellectually. It has no lasting effect. I'v started trying to recreate the feeling and tracing it to it's source. It works better for me but I can't always locate the issue or remeber where a fear comes from or even what the fear was. Maybe that's just me though Also, often I run into upsets in the form of unmovable feeling of 'hurt' from my past. I suppose everyone has their 'walls'

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

Sorry I know this is not my business, but from personal experience I would seriously caution against forcing yourself to forgive anything (including yourself). Forgiveness comes from patience and gradual understanding of the often more subtle causes and effects that led to the event which left you feeling wronged. Only then can you come to terms with the issues in question.

 

Forcing yourself to forgive not only leads to a corresponding forced collision with the pain you have experienced but is also the the spiritual equivalent of grinding your teeth behind a smile. Unfortunately this usually creates even more deeply rooted blockages.

 

That's a very interesting point right there. Understanding, where possible, why others did certain things and why you, yourself reacted in a certain way. Certainly with forgiveness, maybe that's where true forgiveness lies. i found it was accepting the characteristics in others that led to the wrong, in myself.

 

Complex subject.

[Peterminator]

"Know your enemy" - to fight them better and "i'm my own worst enemy" - biggest fights happen in one's spirit/mind/heart. Being honest with oneself is recognizing weaknesses/demons and knowing them better which drives to success in winning over them. I faced my anger/agressivness and i kinda like it. I can now direct my anger into great motivation to anything i do and get closer to finding my true limits. It's easier for me to get more of myself in things i do everyday when i put anger in it, of course not specially made anger but anger that comes naturally.

[3bob]

Looking into a perfectly clean mirror that truly reflects back that which is before it is not so easy, although a mirror with compassion lifts one up to see its reflection with the same eyes of compassion, instead of with eyes of shame and thus cleans and removes attachment to that image(s).

 

Such is power.

[C T]

 

.... I suppose everyone has their 'walls'

When i read this, it reminded of something Alan Watts said in his book, "The Meaning of Happiness".

He says, "The way of acceptance and spiritual freedom is found not by going somewhere, but in the

going itself, and the stage where its happiness can be known is now, this very moment, at the very

place where you happen to stand. It is in accepting fully your state of soul as it is now, not in trying

to force yourself into some other state of soul, which, out of pride, you imagine to be a superior and

more advanced state. It is not a question of whether your present state is good or bad, neurotic or

normal, elementary or advanced - it is a question of what it is. The point is not to accept it in order

that you may pass on to a 'higher' state, but to accept, because acceptance is itself that 'higher' state."

 

Every time i remember this, its like a little meditation bell going off in my head, reminding me to "bring

the mind home", and be fully present in the moment, instead of the usual scatterbrain-self that i

sometimes allow myself to be.

Edited December 29, 2009 by CowTao