#626 Satisfaction??

     We're always "hungry" aren't we? And we anxiously race around getting, becoming, doing, consuming - desperately trying to get rid of this "hunger", this "fire in the belly".
     We experiment constantly, testing the very limits of self-indulgence (intoxication, overeating, hoarding, workaholism, compulsive traveling) and self-denial (abstinence, fasting, homelessness, agoraphobia) trying to "get some satisfaction". But all of these are transient, fundamentally unsatisfying, and not what we're about.

     Can you recall ever feeling truly, wonderfully satisfied, for any length of time? If you can, it's very useful to recall the direct experience of this event in as much detail as possible. Though powerful, it was probably an otherwise simple event: being on the sea shore; stepping outdoors into a cool, crisp starlit night; as a child, sitting under a rose-apple tree, quietly watching your father working in the fields.
     The sublime quality of consciousness at such times is a natural part of ourselves that we barely know. Yet this aspect of consciousness is peaceful - hungers for nothing. This is the quality of consciousness & life that we stabilize during mindfulness practices. This, and only this quality of consciousness, while doing anything or nothing at all, brings peace, satisfaction, joy.
    

#599 Alive with Potential

     The boundary between wallowing / self-indulgence / complacency / self-acceptance / idealism / spiritual practice / enlightenment tends to be dynamic, moving, evolving. When open to it, we get a felt sense of outgrowing younger needs & ways of being, which loose their appeal as our requirements evolve to become progressively more sophisticated, mature human beings.

     The motivation to keep growing, evolving varies between individuals & within the same person at different phases of life, from nonexistent to urgent priority.

     One can’t successfully evolve too fast (eg "spiritual bypassing") since such “striving” binds us to “ordinary mind”. Rushing to acquire a goal ties us down to the same primitive (brain stem) level of consciousness that cause problems in the first place.
     Nor can we successfully stagnate in complacency – besides the dullness factor, our biological clock is ticking away. 

     Awareness of our mind-heart-body tells us what we need to physically process right now. Awareness of actual awareness tells us that, right now, we are clarity, peace, silence, stillness, joy.

     We have the mysteriously incredible gift of life … can we share our blessings with so many who suffer?

 

Angela Classen   www.angelaclassen.com