Another Drama or A Reality Show?

If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.

-Lao Tzu

 We live in tumultuous times, and with all the drama unfolding on the world stage it is all we can do to drag our attention away from the play of circumstances for even a moment.   It is our penchant for action that impels us to keep the camera rolling, rather than taking time out to review the footage and apply judicial edits to the stories we are telling about our lives. It is especially difficult for us to realize that we are filmmakers, and not the film that we see.  And, it is so easy for our surface minds to get hooked by the appearances of life, and confuse what is happening with who we are. When we confuse having and doing with being, we are mercilessly driven to do more or get more in order to fill an illusory hole in us.

Our errant way begins with thoughts. Of course, some of our thoughts are accurate maps or representations and point to things that are instructive and useful. However, many of our thoughts are on another channel that should come with the rating, "for (spiritually) mature audiences only."  Such streams of thought arise from our conditioned mind, and create a sense of separation from others, or tell us that we shouldn't be feeling the way we are, or that there is something wrong with us.  If we could observe these thoughts with detachment like one might watch a motion picture, then there would be no problem. However, we believe the thoughts, and become ensconced in a cocoon of thoughts we think is reality.  Thoughts stir up similar images and sound bites from our conditioned past and we believe the concluding story.  It's shabby tabloid reporting at best, but we frequently buy into it! As long as we are running these little stories of ourselves, we keep reinforcing a limited sense of who we are and we cannot open to the beauty and the sacredness of this being that we are.

So then, what is the answer? Where lies the way out of this maelstrom of thinking that deludes us? It is not, as some might believe, another thought, not even a positive one.  There is no thought that can lead you into experiencing your wholeness, your vastness, your sacred essence. The answer is awareness. Awareness is the larger context of our mind that allows us to observe our thoughts and feelings without getting lost in them.  It is pure consciousness that can witness all that arises in our world, or in our mind, and remain undisturbed.  It is the part of you that is eternal, infinite, unchanging, imperturbable consciousness. It's the essential you, beyond self image or any other limited thought forms.

When our goal is to become keenly aware, we are less interested in what is happening outside of us, and able to turn our attention inward as the observer of our internal process.  This is the process of being in the world, but not of it. We have the enlightened perspective, when we have, as Jesus said, eyes to see and ears to hear. We can be present and responsible to life events, yet keep enough distance to maintain objectivity in our perception; to not lose ourselves in the scenarios. For example, you have a body, but you are not your body.  Your body could be in pain, or diseased or wearing out, but the I am of you (your true self) has none of these limitations. When you maintain awareness of your I am self, you can be at peace no matter what crisis is appearing in your world.