There's only one thing that EVER stops us from forward momentum the false belief that there is a power or powers outside you greater than the power within you.Once we realize that we can create our circumstances, then, and only then, are we truly the master of our life and our destiny.
There is a need for emotional intelligence to live our lives to the fullest. When we view things from the ego only, the duality of good and bad are born keeping us deluded to the reality of the world. There is no good or bad without circumstance. There is no circumstance without conscious involvement, there is no conscious involvement that does not stem from thought There is no thought without observation- which at its essence is rarely pondered or actualized by the human mind.
Being happy when we get what we want and unhappy when we don't is not living. Not being present moment by moment is just like being dead. And this is a death of the senses as we live in the mind, through attachments and fear, planning our path across thin ice yet never knowing or caring what lies beneath the surface. There is a great need to question not only the path we walk, but the force behind the movement. Why do we move? Why does the stream flow, the wind blow and the trees grow? Why do we move? Why do we attempt the same relationships, the same jobs, the same activities expecting different results? Our relationships, our emotional responses to people who question us, our feelings about life and ourselves are based on association of what we think we know about the world and our place in it. We tend to think this is absolute but rarely go outside our comfort zones, which is the only place we will find growth.
We tend to suffer only from distorted understanding, when things we experience aren't right with what we hold in our mind we move our emotions and become unstable.If people suggest or say things which can make us unhappy, why are we not then ultimately happy if we discard what others say and do as we wish anyway? To try and force the path to bend to my will is to contend with an external world which is not found without my sense of perception. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel.
The journey is the purpose of any movement, not the destination. Because we ultimately do not move, we experience different data and information within our own consciousness that we filter through our sense organs to serve our current model of reality. What feels like movement is the relationship to life, to others and most importantly to our self shifting. The observer, the cosmic energy of which these eyes are the window for never moves, it only experiences changes in light.
And the feeling will be different because we can break the bonds and vices which make us myopic and restricted. Consciousness being immeasurable, it is obvious that we are not creatures meant to be confined. We seek latitude and exploration. But our habits cage us and we become slaves to our sense organs, to repetition and the illusion that life is exactly as we see it. And when the time is right through enough exploration and movement we move to a bigger cage. Just like moving from a 5 by 5 ft enclosure to a 20 by 20ft room we feel the sensation of movement and bask in freedom. Until we hit the limits of the new confine and realize we are still journeying toward limitless union.
There is a very subtle but true difference between wants and expectations. Many people want to better themselves, but they don't expect to have to change habits, routines or thinking. Many people want more out of this life, but they don't expect they have to give themselves to the task. You cannot expect more than you give, in any circumstance. Whether you are withdrawing money from a bank or wanting respect, the only things to validate external to us are the identifiable, the discovered and subjective feelings and realizations that dwell within us. There is a truth in saying that if we are unhappy with our present place in life we must like being there. Because when the time comes, and we no longer want to be unhappy we will do everything in our power to be happy. All feelings are inside of us, events that take place around us that might seem to influence us or move us are only complementary to the emotional tendencies we possess. It could be anyone that upsets us, it could be any situation that catches us off guard, details ultimately don't matter- the feelings are internal and we have a biological craving for an emotional release. Thus we create the circumstance. You could not possibly find yourself in a situation you did not want to be in, that is impossible.
A person who feels a lack of financial abundance is not tapping into their inherent ability to adapt and provide for their self. Pride and ego can stop us from doing what must be done in order to live responsibly. Thinking about enlightenment won't help you attain it Zen masters say, the same goes for life in all aspects. We must apply ourselves and stop being the victim waiting for life to work without our direct action to make it work. We can give ourselves to any job, no matter what it is and find contentment, fulfillment and love in what we do. No one job is any better than the other, that is just a distortion. When you discover beauty in a painting, you are only speaking of the beauty which is the best that resides deep within you. When you reach a mountain top and become awe struck, those feelings you took up the mountain with you. When you are displeased with someones behavior, you are only mirroring the internal obstructions in your own conscious perception. Don't blame or praise people for what you feel, self accountability is the paradox where discipline creates freedom.
If we are to perform a duty, provide a service only for paper thin prosperity, we will never be content. We will be co-dependent so to speak, reliant on people and circumstance to know whether we are having a good day or not. This is not being a self made person, or even a professional. This is an old, outmoded form of business and economics that renders people powerless and used up, aging faster as they stress over temporary satisfaction.
Imagine for a second trying to operate a business without knowing what that business is about, but hoping to make a profit from it. That is dishonest and deceiving not only to customers, but if we were to operate that way, it would be hurting ourselves. We could never fully exploit the potential and benefits of our business or product because we don't believe in it or know it. And if we don't know it how could we possibly respect it? Sadly many people live this way, playing the short game, relying on myopic perception and hopes for an outcome in life more than they are will to give to any circumstance. The most you will get out of this life is the least you put into it. And life will give you daily reports to let you know how you are making progress. The quality of your thinking, sleeping, home life, balance in moods etc will coincide with your internal progress showing you where you are along your path. And if a person can experience something they dislike more than once it is only a mirror they need to find the problem, lessons and history will repeat until we learn from them. For all likes and dislikes in this world are a matter of perspective, as all conflict arises in consciousness, so too must it be resolved in consciousness.
“Thinking about sense-objects will attach you to sense-objects; grow attached, and you become addicted; thwart your addiction, it turns to anger; be angry, and you confuse your mind; confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience; forget experience, you lose discrimination; lose discrimination, and you miss life’s only purpose.
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–Bhagavad Gita 2:62, 63
