Already Here, Already Welcomed

And Upcoming Events

• Beginning May 7th, I will be co-facilitating another 8-week book group with Dena Evans. We’ll be exploring the nature of reality as presented by our friend and mentor Peter Brown in his last book, This That Is. The meetings will take place Tuesdays, 10 am to 11:30 am PDT from May 7th to June 25th. Cost is $100 (no one turned away for lack of funds). To register, email: john@johnastin.com.

• I will be offering an in-person retreat in Austin, Texas, the weekend of June 1st/2nd. It will be held at a private home so space is limited. Cost for the two days is $150 (no one turned away for lack of funds). For details or to register, email me at: john@johnastin.com.

• There are still a few tickets left for my upcoming house concerts on Sunday, April 28th in North San Juan, CA and Saturday, May 11th in Sonoma, CA. For details, email: john@johnastin.com.

• I will be traveling to the UK this summer and have arranged to do a Friday evening talk in London on July 5th and a daylong event there on July 6th. Email me at: john@johnastin.com for info or to register.

• For information about the retreat I’ll be facilitating in Colorado, July 17-20. Click here.

ALREADY HERE, ALREADY WELCOMED

So, here we are. Here is the moment. It’s already here, isn't it? No matter how it seems to be, no matter what we might think of it, how we may be interpreting it, whether some part of consciousness likes it or doesn't like it, the moment is already here, already being unconditionally allowed. Everything about the moment is already welcomed, completely accepted, exactly as it is.

From this standpoint, the whole concept of accepting what is, is kind of moot. It doesn't even make sense for the moment is already here, already being allowed. We’re experiencing the reality of this radical acceptance of everything right now, experiencing the fact that what's here is already here, regardless of what it seems to be, what it looks like or how it feels.

Just as the watery waves are not accepted by the ocean but are its expression, every moment that springs forth, every wave of experience, each sensation, each flicker of thought and every circumstance, is completely welcomed by the ocean of existence that it is.

Whatever we imagine ourselves to be—the body, the mind, the personality, memory, imagery—all of it has been allowed. This radical acceptance of what is requires no effort on our part because it is already the case. Life is constantly allowing the moment to be. It's even too much to say allowing for it’s not like something happens and then something else accepts or allows it. No, the arising of the moment is the acceptance of it. The presence of anything is the proof of life’s radical acceptance of what is.

Just let yourself enjoy this, the complete unconditional welcoming of everything.

Feel the unstoppable, pouring forth of life that is each instant, each experience, each momentary perception. In every moment, reality assumes a different shape and form, a different flavor, a different texture, a different quality. But all of it is reality, all of it life's emanation, life's effulgence.

The idea of something occurring and then me, the individual, accepting it is so far downstream from the ever-present, effortless acceptance and unconditional openness of life itself. Our personal efforts to accept are way too late to the party for acceptance is already here, already the case. The appearance of the moment is its welcoming.

From this standpoint, there's really nothing to be done about acceptance. But we can see that acceptance is already the case, already the nature of this. And then, in the seeing of that, we get to appreciate and enjoy the effortless nature of it. Unconditional love; it's as good a word as any for this absolute embrace of what is…

We are this embrace, inseparable from the mystery of existence that welcomes everything because it is everything. We're made of this radical embrace, made of the very life that’s making room for all that appears. We’re powerless to turn off this radical allowing; it’s simply the way life is. There's no way to stop it, no way to shut it down. It's relentless, this streaming forth of life. After all, there's nothing outside of it to stop it, nothing that’s separate from it to hold it at bay. It's just pouring forth, without obstacle or end.

Feel that. Revel in the unqualified openness of life. Enjoy its vibrancy, the complete embrace that it is. Reality is not picking and choosing. It’s not saying “I’ll allow this but not that.” No, it is unconditional in its embrace, like the sun that shines without deciding where it’s going to shine. It just shines. And everything that appears is its radiance.

From this standpoint, we're not in relationship to what is. We're inseparable from it. There’s no negotiating with life, no trying to figure it out or navigate or accept or embrace or surrender to it. There’s just its radiance, its shining forth. And everything that appears is that.

This unconditioned openness and allowing is not something we have to work to get better at or somehow cultivate. It's just the very nature of life itself. The very nature of us.