Hubert Benoit, The Light of Zen in the West, 1955, p. 28.
There is liberation in realizing and accepting one's relative insignificance on the level of form. The story of our lives is ultimately unimportant, no matter how grand or wretched; what does matter is this breath in this moment, the unfathomable fact of life itself.
The story-line, the content, of our lives can be honored, and we naturally will do the best we can on this level, as Eckhart Tolle says. But to feel that the story of my life is all-important is to be lost in delusion. I then overlook the infinite abundance of being that is actually the substance of everything that is.
Losing interest in the story isn't depressing but exhilarating. Consciousness is no longer so entranced by the spell of my-story, and it is freed to be conscious of life now and here.
An infinite sense of aliveness awakens.
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10 comments:
Right on. We get so tightly wound up and tangled in our own story that we have to fight our way out. But the more we fight, the more tangled we get! The Freedom is in the letting go of wanting to get untangled.
Aloha
Hi Colleen, nice to see you! These words ring true. I like the idea of honoring "our" stories while seeing them for what they are, and being able to look beyond them.
"Losing interest in the story isn't depressing but exhilarating." Yes!
We don't lose the stories, just our attachment to them, and we are free to enjoy the wholeness of life which includes the stories and so much more.
Hi Aliman,
"The more we fight, the more tangled we get! The Freedom is in letting go of wanting to get untangled." Freedom is in accepting the appearance of non-freedom...The sense of confinement to the realm of appearances, the sense of confinement to the realm of the story dissolves....
It's always a joy to connect with you Aliman. Thanks for your luminous comments.
Hi Diane,
Yes, freedom is not in rejecting or denying or denigrating the story, but in enjoying the story in the larger context of wholeness. Rather than living within the story, the story lives within the vaster field of consciousness. I love your comments Diane and I am very happy to see you here. Namaste.
Great post Mom :) Love, Mary
Coleen-nice to see you posting again. Yes, to be nothing, and know one is nothing, is not depressing, but liberating. An empty vessel filled with the liquid fire of life.
Hi Mary,
Always a delight to see you here in cyberspace.
Love,
Mom
Hi n.p.,
Since I am now working full time I have missed reading your aphorisms, but hope to catch up when I have the time.
"The liquid fire of life"- yes! That captures the essence of what is...
Thanks for visiting.
Colleen, I just popped in with some festive greetings!
I wanted to wish you and your loved ones. . .
Peace, love and much joy!
Susannah x
Thanks Susannah! I send all blessings and love to you as the new year arrives...
Colleen
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