A YOGI CHA BLOG

When things go a bit Pete Tong

When life is giving you something that isn’t even definable as lemons or a curved ball.

All you can really ever do is to look at what you have in front of you and say “how is this not a problem?”

The details don’t matter because my details would be different to yours and at the end of the day, the way out is to not get stuck in the details.

So let’s look at it from a broader view, from a less temporal perspective.

Who you are, what you have built up as an idea or even just what makes you happy about yourself can all just be taken away when the context changes.

The things you have collected to make your life feel good and everything you have selected in order to proudly say to yourself “I made this” can all change in the blink of an eye.

So what do we do with that?

Well of course, as the teachings would tell us: we need to detach from the worldly. We need to see the higher reality behind it all.

Yes, and how do we do that in the moment?

Because, as I’ve said before, it’s easy to be Buddha on a mountain. But when we decide to walk into the village and meet the villagers, that is when the understanding is really put to practice.

So how much do you believe for the teachings to be true?

Does it sound good but really, when things get real, there’s a sneaky feeling that maybe we’re just not going to be saved by this.

Even if we want to.

So this is what I have come to practice in order to come back to that detached belief.

Everyone is living the same fear of not being worthy: this means that people create personalities around it and they will act with you in a way that they feel protected from being exposed in their unworthiness. Think about that for a little before you read on.

Who you are when you are in the context that you like doesn’t go away just because the external things change. So when you get that sneaky feeling that you are worthless, that life isn’t good that you are not clever enough….. come back to that image. Remember that if you were right now back in some favourable situation, you would still be that person. Growth only happens outside of the comfort zone. It is when the meditator leaves the mountain that the work begins.

Everything changes constantly. What you find frightening is the idea that it will ALWAYS be this way. That you will NEVER feel comfortable or good again. But deep down you know that things always change – you know it very well when things seem to go your way. Then there is often the worrying thought that it might just turn around and go south.

So this is now and your power in the moment is how you decide to approach it. Don’t be so concerned whether the thoughts are “you’re just fooling yourself” (ie: me trying to see the broader perspective and it makes me feel better but then the sneaky idea comes along saying “you’re just fooling yourself. This is all you have. You are for now and ever defined by this context that you are living”).

You actually have the power to change. Every event in your life is caused by some move you make. So you can begin the change right now. The move might even just be a change of thought.

The move might even just be an intention.

“Today I am going to remember that how people act really comes from their ways of protecting themselves. Today I am going to remember who I am when I’m thriving. When I’m loving my life and that I am still that person right now. Today I am going to remember just how temporary everything is and that any move I make sets the ball rolling.”