Monday, January 3, 2011

Why Struggle?


As a new year begins, I find myself in this place that is both familiar and unfamiliar. There is great vastness, openness. There is fear and a deep letting go into the unknown. The Buddhists say the source of suffering is not accepting the impermanence of all things. Yet all things are possible because of change.

I like to just be, to notice things, to just observe. But there is still a part of me that wants to make things happen, momentarily loses sight of the realization that "I" have no control. It is then the stillness envelops me... I remember not to struggle. There is nothing to achieve, nowhere to go.

In his new book, Falling Into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering, Adyashanti says:
      "Even though your ego is struggling, even if you're trying to figure this out & 'do it right,' if you really look, you might just see that struggle is happening within a greater context of peace, within an inner stillness."

I can actually feel it in my body. There isn't any way to think my way out of struggling. I just notice the peace, the stillness, is already present.

Just imagine for a moment that everything is perfect just as it is. That there is no need to struggle; no need to make an effort to find peace and joy. Just take a moment to be quiet and see if that stillness, that unchanging awareness, is right here each moment.




1 comment:

  1. The "struggle" episodes usually lead to a deepening of the peace as well. The flow is good. :) Happy New Year!

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