"We don't see things as they are,
we see them as we are."
- Anais Nin
March 3rd, 2017
Awareness is the Key
In this sea of change, you can certainly rely on life to deliver exactly what you need to evolve. At times we can feel tested to the core, yet if we can change our perception, everything can change in an instant. Our perception colours our experiences and our experiences come and go. If we can be aware of the one who is experiencing, then we have a foothold in something beyond the changing. Abiding in awareness gives us a thread of continuity.
Nearly 10 years ago now I was on a 2 month meditation retreat in Burma. Every day we followed the same routine. Mid morning was an hour of walking meditation and I chose to walk along a road outside the gates of the meditation centre. It was the same road and same scenery, yet every morning was an entirely new experience. Some days the road was a paradise; birds, bees and butterflies. Other days it seemed just a dusty, desolate, dead-end road. The changing factor was in me.
There was a large statue of the Buddha in the dining hall and each day I noticed a different expression on it's face. It could be approving, disapproving, inquiring, compassionate, fierce, or even comical. The idea that we don't see things as they are and see things as we are became as clear as day.
We will always want to label situations as good or bad, but they are all experiences arising from and passing into the same source. As we learn to stay connected to this source within ourselves, we find greater stability, balance and ease in our lives. Whether in ecstatic joy or deep depression, the light of our awareness is always there. We just have to remember.
Awareness is the key.