The Ride

The conversation yesterday at the first Integrating Spirituality Gathering was mostly introductory and we talked about the human condition, how we got to be here and what it means to dismantle the illusion. One comment was how defining the illusion as the thoughts we have about ourselves, life, the world was helpful in itself. We talk about illusion all the time but I forget at times that the meaning we give things isn't always the same as how someone else is defining it.

It's easy for me to forget that understanding what the illusion is tends to be illusive. When you work with things every day there tend to be short cuts in the language so I love working with new people who require definition of what I'm talking about, it always helps me get clearer.

I am aware that there are others who see the world itself as an illusion and the only thing that is real is 'me'. Of course the concept of me would need to be clarified as it may have any number of meanings as well but too often when we use a word like me there is a tendency for the self-identity (ego) to appropriate the concept thus short circuiting the reality once again.

One perspective, which I resonate with, is that there is no 'me' in terms of a separate entity; that is part of the illusory world because it is made up of beliefs, concepts and assumptions that are really thoughts about a self rather than Self which is what I would call Life, the Allness of Beingness which is beyond definition. What I think about anything is what forms the illusionary world; being with what is, beyond thought or evaluation, is what I would consider real.

May seem to be a subtle difference but it is not; the difference is like night and day. The world and everything in it is fine without commentary or evaluation; unhappiness, resistance and pain tend to be connected to what we think about what is.

Now, does that mean we should never think about stuff or evaluate or choose? No, it simply means that what we think, evaluate and choose can be either arbitrary, as when we are unconscious about it, or they can be recognized as subjective and limited and not about anything other than a personal perspective. When we know this we can see beyond the meaning we give so that we can release it when it is not serving or we can enjoy the meaning we've given knowing that it's just one way to play in this amazing and wonder-filled universe we are experiencing. No need to worry or fight or resist when we know there an infinite variety of experiences available and being experienced at any given moment. If we don't care for what we are experiencing anymore then perhaps it means there is something new ready to be brought forth into our life expression. When we accept what is exactly as it is rather than complaining or 'shoulding' or resisting there's a lot more energy available to allow what is now possible to manifest in our world.

Life is a roller coaster, why not through up our hands and get the most out of the ride?

Namaste

PS I just got a flash of Bill Hicks' piece on Life is a Ride so I thought I'd include the YouTube link here as well.