7 May 2021

Clarify Mind: 3 of 12: Accept, Allow, Let It Be

by | posted in: Deven's Journey, Mindfulness | 0

Can I accept the present moment as is? Accepting it can give me an accurate map to see and navigate the terrain of reality.

When I am avoiding or ignoring it, that’s indifference. When I try to deny or resist it, that’s aversion. When I want it to be a certain way, it can lead to delusion. If there is something that my ego likes, I try to attract, chase, or consume it – that’s poison of greed or attachment or craving. Those can create in my mind a virtual or false reality, leading to tremendous friction, pressure, stress, and complications – they also allow the pain to dominate and control me.

Whispering “yes” to whatever I am experiencing – allowing it as it is – is not a passive resignation – it is an honest and courageous acknowledgment or an active recognition. It opens me into presence and will enable me to respond to this moment with full intelligence and compassion. An athlete, for example, isn’t trying to fight, avoid, or deny the pain – if he does, he won’t be able to find ways to deal with it. He accepts the pain as is, and it can open up options and ideas for how to move and play with it. Another example I saw in Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s video – a pregnant woman is working through contractions to give birth without avoiding or denying them.

Accept Allow Present Moment as It Is

The acceptance can unlock wisdom with insights and direction from my subconscious and intuition. When I think I am complete now without seeking, holding on to, or rejecting anything, stillness, understanding, and wisdom arise. I learn to be present with my experience without getting caught up in reactivity. It can open up space for me to explore and free myself from the habitual patterns that lead to chronic stress, unhealthy emotional patterns, and other forms of suffering.

 

Eckhart Tolle:

Stress is caused by being 'here' but wanting to be 'there.'

Give up waiting as a state of mind. When you catch yourself slipping into waiting, snap out of it. Come into the present moment. Just be and enjoy being.

 

Tara Brach in Trusting the Gold on whispering "yes" to whatever she might be feeling:

I started noticing more space in my mind around whatever was arising. And then, slowly, that space began to fill with tenderness. I could see those inner weather systems of aversion and reactivity rising and passing away on their own. They weren't targeting me or happening because of me; they were just part of the nature of life, playing out in this body and mind. Saying yes, letting them be revealed skylike awareness this changing weather was passing through - the wakeful and compassionate awareness that held it all.

Each time you say yes to what's arising inside you, you deepen trust in the gold of your intrinsically openhearted awareness. This is inner freedom: rather than tensing against whatever may be next, you can open the gates and let the ten thousand joys and sorrows move through you.

 

Quote from Eckhart Tolle:

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone, there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.

 

What are your thoughts?