When Reality Parts the Veil

     "When the bullet hits the bone," even the young wake up. Serious illness, severe pain & other major trauma instantly evaporate our cherished illusions of control, and perhaps allow a glimpse of ultimate reality, usually hidden behind 'a veil.'
      When joyful, "boring," and equally so when blood-curdling - reality asks us to love ALL of IT unconditionally!
     But we hate discomfort, are horrified by pain & suffering, & label death "unacceptable"! So we do a lot of screaming, pleading & arguing with reality. From our self-centered, narrow-minded, short-term perspective, accepting & lovingly embracing all of reality appears as extreme, impractical altruism, absolute craziness! HOWEVER, we do finally realize that it's the only approach that works.
     Therefore, it may take us many lifetimes to evolve the open mind-heart & spaciousness necessary to "part the veil" between physical reality & ultimate reality, when we finally remember & stabilize in our true nature - the loving source AND manifestation of all. 

     “We are one, but we will only feel that when we love everything.” Ram Dass 

     “To go from form (this physical reality) to formlessness (the spiritual realm or ultimate reality), is done by accepting whatever form arises in the present moment, whatever form this moment takes.
     With the acceptance of form, the formless opens up in you. And the ultimate truth of that is in the image of the crucifixion, which I see as going beyond religion. Some people dislike it. They say it’s all to do with suffering, and it’s unhealthy, and so on. But there is a deep meaning there, that for a long time, perhaps could not be expressed in an abstract way. That meaning is that here you have the image of complete suffering of a human. He is nailed to the cross, which is a torture instrument, and this human is able to surrender & accept, ‘Not my will but thy will be done,’ and then suddenly the torture instrument becomes a symbol of the divine. Isn’t that strange? The torture instrument has become a symbol of the divine.
     So through acceptance, whatever looks like an obstacle, or even a dreadful thing, becomes transformed. Every situation that’s accepted deeply – and if it’s a very big thing like a crucifixion, there needs to be very deep acceptance – and immediately, there’s a transformation.
     So grace is hiding also in that which looks dreadful. The dreadful sufferings we see all around us - they are there, but grace is hiding there. And you can only see the truth of this in yourself. I’m not saying anybody should believe in that. You have to find out for yourself that grace is hiding in what the seemingly dreadful things – even in little things that go wrong – but even more so in big things that go wrong.
     And ultimately you see it’s not wrong, it didn’t go wrong – what it looked like in the moment when you judged it. So that’s inviting grace into your life, through bringing this deep yes to the present moment. Then your evolution accelerates.
     And the more you do that, the less you need the disasters, because you can operate with the flowering of consciousness. Consciousness wants to flower into this dimension, in this dimension. So it’s really welcoming what is.
     With acceptance of form, the formless can open up in you.”
     Eckhart Tolle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPmgTJGPzlg

      “I am a lover of what is ... because it hurts when I argue with reality.” Byron Katie 

     "... both are true: there is suffering, and it is our job to try to end it; and the perfection of things as they are is already here around us. We cannot escape from perfection, we cannot escape from suffering, most of the time. And they are not separate. How we feel them is the weather of this moment and the spiritual tenor of who we are at this moment in our lives.
     But I hope there is no human being who has not had one moment, at least, when they stood in the world, undone by awe and radiance, and the small self vanishes, and you understand the world as immense and yours, and not yours."
     Jane Hirshfield https://onbeing.org/programs/jane-hirshfield-the-fullness-of-things/

     "The beginning of spiritual awakening is the realization that you are not the voice in your head but the one who is aware of the voice. You are the awareness behind your thoughts. As this realization grows, you begin to derive your sense of identity increasingly from the space of awareness rather than from the narratives in your mind. You are letting go of the identification with thought. Thought is no longer imbued with self!" Eckhart Tolle

 
Gregory Lemarchal (1983-2007) - SOS D'Un Terrien En Detresse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%A9gory_Lemarchal

Leaning Into Reality - All of It

     Fear of change is universal. At some level we all realize that everything is constantly changing, quickly, unpredictably and essentially uncontrollably. That is truly terrifying!
     Constant change (anicca), including aging, sickness & death, is so frightening that most of us simply can't face it, and thus suppress the whole idea, distracting ourselves with anything & everything: shopping, multitasking, compulsive texting, overeating, substance abuse, gambling, sex, workaholism, cults, ... 
     There are innumerable dysfunctional support groups for the many who cannot face existential realities. Why dysfunctional? Because trying to avoid reality doesn't work & only makes it harder when life hits you between the eyes to wake you up.

     “I’ve had to learn to lean into all I don’t understand, accepting that I am changed by what I hear. In all, it’s been an exciting journey, one that’s made me more alive.”
      Mark Nepo. “Seven Thousand Ways to Listen. Staying Close to What is Sacred.” Free Press, NY, 2012.

      Life "asks us to ('lean into') look at, listen to, develop curiosity towards, take responsibility for our own suffering. When we don’t, we blame others or external factors (project, externalize), and suffering becomes endless. Meditation is a way of really settling into the moment, and sustaining long, long stretches of awareness so we can know and understand ourselves, and see where delusions arise.”      Ajahn Viradhammo

Keeping Doors Open, without Serving Tea, to Energies Passing Through

     “Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.”                   Mark Twain

     Can searing fear & terror be welcomed, & allowed to pass through, an open heart? Can I become that seamlessly porous? Can I surf the funky waves of dukkha itself? Yes, yes, yes!!

     See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/03/65-embracing-full-catastrophe.html

 

Softening the Anguish of the Hungry Life

      “Each hunger has an associated fear. The desire for pleasure has as its handmaiden the fear of pain, the hunger for being seen is shadowed by the fear of invisibility, and the hunger for escape brings with it the fear of engagement and intimacy. 
     At the root of all these fears is a terror of emptiness, the concern that this self – personal or social – will die in a cold nothingness. This terror is usually kept beneath the surface of consciousness, recognized only by its surface manifestations: an avoidance of being alone, the fear of being criticized, a pulling back from close relationship. 
     In all three cases, the fading of a hunger means the fading of its associated fear, and the fading of a fear brings the fading of its associated hunger. This is because the hunger and the fear are two facets of the same thing. 
     And when the meditative mind sees the root fear and meets it with acceptance, it begins to diminish – and all the hungers dissolve with it. With such fading, relationships cease to be powered by longing and desperation. The anguish of the hungry life softens.”

     Kramer G. “Insight dialogue. The interpersonal path to freedom.” Shambhala, Boston, 2007. http://metta.org/

 

Fear of Abandonment, of Being Alone

     “The human fear of being alone is the human infant’s fear that all warmth, nurturance, sustenance, safety, and love will suddenly leave it forever and it will, literally, die. The sudden sinking, hollow dread that grips {your} stomach … is the fear of that abandoned infant who, left loveless, will die.”

        Alter RM, Alter J. “How Long Till My Soul Gets It Right?: 100 Doorways on the Journey to Happiness.” Regan Books, 2001.