“There is another way besides using will power to break our habitual response patterns. The ideal response is to be totally aware in the moment when the challenge arises, so we see the event as fresh and unique and do not map it to a painful emotion. Most of the time the mapping is not a correct mapping, we usually map apples to oranges! The present situation is always unique given the circumstances and events. Every expression of life is always unique, the same as no two snowflakes are identical in nature. If we are not observing an event that way, we are not being aware. If you approach it with total awareness without connecting the painful memories; your response is based on reality and you produce a different result to the previous situation stored in your memory. This way you will have broken the pattern not by using willpower to overcome the fear, but by pure awareness.” From Life is Binary, chapter two –Vivbala
I just wrote two articles today, the others are Benefits of Coming Together and Doubt Sabotages Success. After writing them, I realize I have more thoughts that I need to express. It is based on the above quote. When I read it last night, the part that stood out for me was: “The present situation is always unique.”
This is a well-known fact to spiritual people, but does it really sink in deeply how important a fact it is? This means that EVERY event we encounter is always new, every person we meet is always new, no event or experience we have is ever the same. Every experience is a unique one for us, presenting a fresh opportunity, but rarely do we take advantage of it! We miss these opportunities every day because we rely on our deep-seated habitual living patterns, going for the same walk on the same path, doing the same tasks, talking with the same people every day. Because we are so used to interacting habitually with our environment and the people we meet, we rarely see then ‘fresh’ or ‘real-time’ or how they actually are ‘right now’. Instead, we rely excessively on our memories and emotions that are triggered coming from our past experiences with them and totally respond and relate in an auto-pilot mode, just regurgitating our habitual response from our last encounter.
The part I wanted to add here is related to the Benefits of Coming Together article, see it like an addendum. Every person, place, thing and happening is unique and new in the moment you encounter it, but we cannot realize that fact if we do not bother to take the time to really LOOK at them. Every thing is unique in every moment because nothing stays the same from day to day, you can see this with a flower that is growing how it is in fact different every day. The same is true for us and all events. The second aspect is to realize that when you encounter someone, it is not so important whether they are aware of their true self or not, the reality is at core we are all made of the same stuff and have the same root, so they are in truth our brothers and sisters. Because of that undeniable truth, each person has something valuable about their unique journey they can share with us, even if from the outside we do not feel we resonate or have something in common with them. Not resonating with someone, by itself can even be a lesson for us. It really has the most to do with our choice: if we look in a fresh aware way, everyone and everything will become our teachers.
Betsy
June 5, 2014
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