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Written by Gina Lake
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Monday, 03 August 2009 05:39 |
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We live in a state of uncertainty. You may be certain about some things, but the overall experience in any moment is one of uncertainty: What will happen? Why did that happen? Why is this happening? When will it be over? What will be the result? These questions are our constant companions in life. We are doomed to uncertainty, or so the ego feels. That's not the experience of Essence, however, which enjoys the uncertainty of life. Essence isn't what asks those questions. The ego poses them and tries to answer them to try to gain some sense of control over life, which is essentially uncontrollable, unpredictable, and unknown.
Let's take a look at some of these questions, because people tend to think they are valid and valuable, but really, they belong to the ego and its way of thinking and are related to its desires and fears. The desire for life to be a certain way and the fear that it won't be drive those questions and every other activity of the ego. The problem with these questions is they presume an overly simplistic answer: What will happen? This will happen. End of story. Why is this happening? Because of this. End of story. When will it be over? Time and date. End of story. What will be the result? This will. End of story.
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Written by Gina Lake
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Wednesday, 29 July 2009 16:16 |
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A positive mind is preferable to a negative mind because it is easier to live with, more functional, more close to the Truth, and much easier to detach from. So any emotional or psychological healing work that allows the mind to be more positive is a step toward freedom from the mind altogether, which is the goal of spiritual practices and the result of spiritual awakening. Most people live in a very negative mental world that produces much suffering for themselves and others, and this isn’t necessary. When this negativity can be ignored, we are freed from this suffering. The problem is that a negative mind is difficult to ignore and detach from because negative thoughts produce fear and other unpleasant emotions, and we get involved with trying to get rid of these feelings or avoid what we fear. When fear, in particular, is stirred up, we believe we need to do something about it. We believe our fears are meaningful and must be listened to, which isn’t true, but we are programmed to believe this.
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Written by Gina Lake
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Thursday, 11 June 2009 13:22 |
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When it's time to awaken, a longing for awakening arises from deep within us. This longing comes from Essence and spurs on our spiritual growth. However, it is often co-opted by the ego, which sees awakening as an opportunity to be special, feel good, get what it wants, or escape life. When the desire to awaken is co-opted by the ego, the result is suffering, as with every other desire tthehe ego has. To the ego, how we are and how life is right now never seems good enough but flawed and lacking the ingredients for happiness. This is the ego's constant state, a state of discontentment.
Many suffer greatly over wanting to awaken, as over every other desire. That's because desire by its nature takes us out of the moment, where contentment is possible, and into a dream of something better in the future, which creates an experience in this moment of lack and, therefore, dissatisfaction.
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Written by Gina Lake
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 18:58 |
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We bring a story into nearly every moment, and doing that affects how we experience that moment and how we respond to life. If the story is “I hate washing the dishes” and we are washing the dishes, our experience of washing the dishes is affected by that story. We also might say or do something in response to hating to wash the dishes, such as get mad at someone who isn't helping us with the dishes. We might even throw a dish if the feeling is strong enough.
We also tell stories about our loved ones, such as: “You don't care about me.” “You're not attractive enough for me.” “I can't live without you.” “I need someone more exciting.” “I'm not rich enough for you.” “I can't see myself with you.” We all know what these stories are because they are the kind of “insights” we might share with a friend or someone else we are close to. These stories, the more they are repeated and reinforced, interfere with being present to the people we love, and they are never the complete truth. Rather than responding to our loved ones purely, we let our view of them or our view of the relationship, our story, affect how we react to them. Telling stories and reacting to our stories is going on most of the time unconsciously. We aren't naturally aware of our stories or examine them until perhaps they cause so much trouble that we are forced to.
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Written by Gina Lake
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Saturday, 25 April 2009 12:24 |
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There's only room for one thought to arise at a time. People often feel overwhelmed by their negative thoughts and feel victimized and controlled by them. They have difficulty detaching from them. They feel that their thoughts, at least some of them, are too compelling to ignore, and some are very compelling.
Nevertheless, many of our thoughts are quite easy to ignore, and ignoring the easier ones strengthens our ability to ignore the harder ones. Learning to detach from the mind is a skill. Like every skill, starting with something easier and moving to something harder is the way to build confidence and competence. The most important thing is to not get discouraged and give up trying to detach from the egoic mind, because the ego will try to discourage you when you attempt to become free from it.
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