ATTENTION TO THE OUTER


Horses running on a prairie

 

You are to stop paying attention to the outer, always waiting for something to happen, something that would make you able to relax if it happened. You are familiar with this. I will only be happy again when….fill in the blank. When I graduate. When I’m married. When I’m out of this house. When I don’t have to see her again. These conditions you make are endless.

 

 

Wise, rueful orangutan

 

Did any particular outcome in the outer world ever satisfy you lastingly?

Did any one thing ever end your craving?

What outcome are you craving now?

 

 

Desires, cravings, wishes, these are impermanent, prairie winds constantly rippling the grass. Decide right now to eschew cravings.

Think again about cause and effect. Humans believe in cause and effect because they cannot but experience time linearly. So you believe that as soon as something is established in the outer world, you will be happy.

 

 

This is a particular view, but there are many others. What if you inverted the cause and effect sequence? I am already happy, therefore a particular event must have already taken place.  The fact that I am thinking about it now proves it has existence.

 

 

What if you could collapse time and see the All-That-Is all at once?

You would see your happiness, and your unhappiness, and every other emotional state available, all existing at once, like trinkets laid out on a table.  You would be free to pick up whichever trinket you desired.  You would be free to take up any emotional state you desired.

 

Surrender to joy

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