What Wisdom Knows

O seeker,
        These thoughts have such power over you.
        From nothing you become sad.
        From nothing you become happy.

        You are burning in the flames
        but I will not let you out
        until you are fully baked,
        fully wise and fully yourself.
                                               - Rumi

One of the most upsetting moments in our spiritual development is the moment we identify the suspect who is responsible for our life experiences. What a distressing moment when we realize the singular and constant source of all our experiences. That source of course is you, it's me. In every iteration and manifestation of the myriad life experiences that I have loved or hated over the years, I am the only one who was there, every time, to have the experience. Whoever else may have been present, whatever else may have been happening, the experience that I logged, was perceived, interpreted, and translated by moi. The same goes for you, and you, and yes, even you. The Truth will set us free, but first it may tick us off - big time!

The reason this realization rocks our world with such ferocity is that we've been living from a whole different paradigm for so long.  We get agreement from every corner of the world of appearances to tell us that our experiences are effects of external events.  The translation goes something like this:  If I get what I want, I'll be happy, and if I don't I'll be unhappy. It all seems very reasonable and rational to the surface mind that places causation outside of our self, and believes that our experience of life is shaped primarily by outer events. And each of us continues with this mode of search for happiness in all the usual outlets, seeking fame, fortune, power, and pleasure until we encounter disappointment after disappointment and we finally question the whole premise. That's a sad day for the ego, but a good day for the soul!

The fly in the ointment of this "outside-in" approach to happiness is that everything that changes (transient life circumstances) cannot possibly provide us with the constant, unwavering fulfillment that we are seeking. Thus our pursuit of happiness in the world yields only frustration. This is tantamount to quantum physicists trying to pin down the elusive location and movement of sub atomic particles. One moment you have it, and the next moment it's gone or has morphed into something else. It's an endless, maddening game of "seeking but not finding!"

The enduring spiritual truths of every great wisdom tradition all point to the futility of seeking our good outside of ourselves and extol  a deeper understanding of self and the unchangeable Truths,  as the enlightened approach to life.  This is the entry point of all Wisdom - the path that leads from suffering to liberation, inner peace and abiding joy - independent of circumstances.