|
Holistic Health Newsletter!
Subscribe
 Natural Weight Loss
Program recommended by The Share Guide
learn more
About
Share Guide
Holistic Health Articles
Health Directory
Reviews
Advertise
Links
Contact us
Do
you have a
Holistic
Business?
Get listed in Share
Guide's Holistic Health
Directory for only $9.95 per
month. For more info Click Here
|
According
to the wisdom of Asian spirituality, our suffering and
confusion is caused by becoming fixated on our experience. When we
are fixated, we invest mental, emotional and physical energy in
changing or maintaining our experience.
All
forms of fixation can be traced to a core assessment that
something is missing in our lives. What is missing can be anything
from a nice cup of tea, all the way through to enlightenment. We feel
that "This isn't it," where IT represents our particular version of
how things should be. We are sure that something is happening that
shouldn't be happening, or that something that should be happening
isn't. Either view is a fixation, which throws us into emotional
confusion as we struggle to gain whatever IT is. We fear not getting
IT, and having got it, we fear losing it. And by all accounts IT will
probably be derived from our concept of a state of
enlightenment--that is, a state of limitless possibilities and
unending happiness.
From
time to time the experience that "something is missing" is
displaced by the feeling that "This is it." For a time it seems that
things are turning out as we wish. We figure that we are getting it,
or have got it--this is how things should be. We might even convince
ourselves that we have arrived at the long sought after goal of our
spiritual endeavors. However, the belief that have got it sets up the
possibility of losing it, as we reconstruct that we don't have enough
of it, and that we could use more of it. We also question if this
really is IT, and even if it is, whether we now want it. In one way
or another, the core beliefs "this is it" and "this isn't it"
underpin all our experiences of pain and pleasure. They throw us
between the extremes of elation and depression, excitement and
resignation.
These
fixations emerge as we attempt to produce a fixed and solid
view about ourselves and the world. As the Chinese yin-yang symbol
shows, two opposite beliefs emerge in dependence on each
other--coexisting, separating and finally dis-connecting. When they
have dis-connected, the two beliefs appear to be independent of each
other. Our attachment to one as valid and the other as invalid
produces a fixation.
When
the energy that fuels the separation and dis-connection of our
conflicting beliefs is deactivated, we experience the natural clarity
and ease of being present to life in a relaxed and non-judgmental
way. By letting go of the energy that fractures our thinking, balance
and harmony can be introduced into all areas of our lives. In place
of struggle and tension, we experience freedom and openness. We learn
to appreciate our thoughts, feelings and perceptions without needing
to indulge or reject them.
So
how can we release and blend the energy of conflicting beliefs and
thought patterns? The first step is to open ourselves to the
dualistic nature of beliefs. We can begin to appreciate how all sorts
of beliefs and attitudes are represented in our personalities. When
we reject other people's beliefs and values, we can appreciate how
those beliefs and values must be present in our own psyche. Otherwise
we wouldn't reject them. For example, if we dislike ungracious
people, it shows we haven't fully acknowledge and accommodated our
own propensity to be withholding. Similarly, we only try to convince
others of the truth of our beliefs if at some level we doubt them
ourselves. In this way the world becomes a mirror reflecting our own
imbalances and biases.
We
can also observe how we are inclined to react to our thoughts,
feelings and perceptions in an extreme way. For example, we can begin
to observe our tendencies to: make tasks easy or difficult;
exaggerate or trivialize our own and other's experiences; dominate or
acquiesce; resist or give in to our desires. If we honestly observe
our tendencies to think and behave in an extreme manner, we are much
less likely to manifest those behaviors. By filtering out excessive
and intense responses, our lives become smoother and less
complicated. As our lives become simpler and more peaceful, we can
begin to feel the seed of harmony that lies at the heart of every
conflict. We arrive at a "still point" in which stress, conflict and
tension are automatically released the very instant they might
otherwise have formed.
At
this point we are not using a method. We are naturally releasing
the beliefs that limit, distort and invalidate the open, unimpeded
and self-refreshing nature of the present moment. In doing so we gain
the ultimate freedom to be who we are, without any need for
posturing, embarrassment or contrivance. Our lives become naturally
joyful, spontaneously creative, powerfully discerning and
complete.
Dr.
Peter Fenner is the Founder of the Center for Timeless Wisdom, which
offers the Intrinsic Freedom
program and other courses. His practical courses translate the
essential wisdom of Asian spirituality into modern, accessible
frameworks. Penny Fenner is a psychologist and Director of the
Center. With Peter she delivers the Intrinsic Freedom course in
California, Australia and Europe.
 MORE HEALTH ARTICLES
 If
you liked this article,
you'll love The Share Guide's
Holistic Health
Newsletter. Subscribe
for free!
Home  Health Directory Articles Index Interviews Index
Reviews Links About Share Guide Contact us
|
