Kiki's Wisdom - Accept things as they are

If you just stop and think about it you'll realize that you've experienced presence throughout your life, although there may not have been a recognition of what it was. Perhaps it was when you simply sat and watched the sunset, a child play, looked at a piece of art, or listened to some music and every care in the world, every worry about the future or regret of the past disappeared and there was just the sun setting, just the child playing, just the piece of art, or just the music playing - "you" were nowhere to be found and there was a simple silence and peace within. Why? Because all internal barriers to what was being observed dropped away because nothing was being sought, there was no looking for something to happen, no wishing for things to stay the same or be different. Labeling, comparing, judging, analyzing, and thinking dissolves when nothing specific is demanded of a present situation.

That labeling, comparing, judging, analyzing, and thinking is what creates internal barriers to "what is"; it creates a "me" which has a certain viewpoint and it sets that me apart from everything else, and everything else is then put into a relationship with that me. When those barriers have been created and you get lost in them "problems" arise because your relationship to what is then can be seen as threatening. Then there is the tendency to live life in the mind rather than letting the flow of life's events move through you unimpeded.

The real you is the wide open space that allows for everything to arise, exist, and dissolve again. Manifestation is always doing that anyway, but when the "me" is out of the way it does so in a state of peace, stillness, and inner silence. So don't look for something to happen, don't wish things to be different, don't get caught up in the past or the future. Instead, just be with whatever is in front of you, and if it happens to be drinking a cup of coffee then just drink the coffee. Be fully aware of everything connected with drinking it - the warmth of the cup in your hands, the aroma, the taste of it on the tongue, the swallowing of it, the feeling of it entering the stomach. There is nothing that you can't do in this way, and starting with the "mundane" things like drinking coffee or washing the dishes will allow you to reconnect yourself on a conscious level with the inherent peacefulness and stillness of being found in the present moment. Starting "small" like this will prepare you for when events become more challenging by building a base of familiarity of presence that appears more readily available in other situations.

KiKi