Hello John. Being able to let go of what has come to pass, particularly hurtful situations, is for me the key to actually ‘enjoying’ the flow of experience. Ruminating about hurtful situations, effectively keeping them alive by reviving the stories daily, is what keeps myself suffering. That’s what arose just now reading your post. Many thanks!
Hi Christine. Thanks for your message. "Letting go" of what has come to pass. Yes, we would all like to get better at this, for sure! And of course, letting go of ruminative thoughts about what was is something we can practice doing in order to get better at it and in turn, suffer less as you're suggesting. All of that is fine, as far as it goes.
But there is another approach to letting go and being with and enjoying the flow of what is, the flow of experience and that is to come to see that letting go, accepting, flow and so on is actually the way life is, the way reality is already.
Take "letting go." We have this idea that things can arise and then we can either hold on to them or let them go. But look at what we call "the moment;" is it actually possible to hold it in place or does the moment let go of itself naturally and effortlessly owing to its dynamic, ever-changing nature? Doesn't reality let go of itself in each instant? The moment seems to take shape but no sooner than it arises as some seemingly fixed form, that form transforms and becomes something else.
This is what I mean by the natural letting go of things. The moment is only ever flowing (no matter what we seem to be doing to get into that flow or not). Each arising, each experience, dissolving naturally into the next which dissolves naturally into the next in an even, easeful flow. This is what I sometimes call, the "transpersonal" approach to things such as letting go and acceptance, seeing that I don't need to let go but instead, simply see that reality itself is the absolute master of these things because reality never holds to anything owing to its dynamic nature.
Thanks for your response John. It’s not clear to me just yet. Are you saying that past thoughts arise naturally? Do they come back around to be resolved? So letting go is not a choice? “Each arising, each experience, dissolving naturally into the next which dissolves naturally into the next in an even, easeful flow.”
Hi Christine. I'm really pointing to a completely different perspective, one in which there is nothing that ever repeats since experiential phenomena are here for no time owing to their unstable, ever-changing nature. From this perspective, everything arises spontaneously and inexplicably. There is no past moment that repeats. There is just this ever-fresh, ever-vanishing moment. There's nothing for us to resolve as experience (to borrow from the Tibetans) self-liberates upon arising. In other words, everything is resolved in each instant.
What I'm pointing to isn't the only perspective. There's obviously the more personal vantage of being an individual navigating (and not infrequently trying to resolve) the world of experience and circumstance. We all know that one quite well! I'm just inviting an exploration into another way reality can be viewed, a way that is literally 180 degrees different from how we typically see things. Interestingly, as far apart as these two perspectives (the personal and impersonal we could call them) seem to be, there's no actual conflict or dichotomy between them, just two (albeit very) distinct ways reality can appear and be experienced. Hope that's helpful.
John, you have said: ""Of course, there’s nothing wrong with trying to alter our experiences. That project is obviously part of what we humans do. But we don't have to have a different perception or experience in order to find the ever-present ground because each experience is that stable ground, each moment, pure presence. We don't need to correct our experiences because every experience is the miracle we’ve been searching for, the miracle of life itself. There are not some things that are more the miracle than other things for everything is fundamentally equal in its miraculous, inexplicable, astonishing presence."
While, theoretically, every experience is the same miracle of presence, we like some experiences and do not like some others, due to conditioning and memory. So, naturally, most of humanity is engaged in trying to retain certain good experiences, it is also trying to get rid of bad experiences. This seems to be the crux of the problem, for which there appears to be no solution. How do you expect me to accept pain and suffering, saying to myself that it is also another miracle of presence? Am I missing anything here, John?
To be clear, I'm not expecting anyone to do anything. I agree with you that there's a kind of natural conditioning for the human to seek after those experiences they enjoy and try to have fewer of the ones they don't. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. I certainly seek out people, places and things that I find more to my liking and to whatever extent that I can, minimize those I like less.
But there appear to be considerable limits on having reality conform to our preferences! So, while we continue to engage in our usual approach to well-being, we can also explore something else about our experiences (e.g., their sheer, miraculous, inconceivable existence) that opens us to another, non-narrative, non-conceptual aspect of experience that reveals something about ALL experience that is free of the oftentimes problematic implications rooted in how we typically describe things.
This discovery doesn't eliminate the pain that can arise as part of living these human lives. But does offer us a very different way to be with ALL the moments of life, revealing what I call the "well of being," a particular kind of well-being that is not dependent upon what's being experienced because it is the basis of EVERY experience, even those that are difficult.
This discovery is essentially what my work is about.
This is magnificent, John! Beautifully beautifully expressed. ❤️🙏
❤️
Thank you, John. Simple
Brautiful.
Can we ever be reminded too often...(just)THISSSSSSS!
Awesome, such a simple message. Thank you
I love the way you talk, John. I’ve spoken on Zoom with Joan twice in the last 12 months. I’ve listened to her so much that I feel I know her.
Bob
Joan Tollifson turned me on to you. Thanks for your YouTube video!
You're welcome, Bob :-). Joan is a wonderful friend of many years.
Thank you for this amazing offering John!
Glad to know it resonated, Debby :-)
Wonderfully expressed, so simple, we really cannot loose it, what a relief. Thank you John
Comes close to describing the indescribable :¬) Much love.
Hello John. Being able to let go of what has come to pass, particularly hurtful situations, is for me the key to actually ‘enjoying’ the flow of experience. Ruminating about hurtful situations, effectively keeping them alive by reviving the stories daily, is what keeps myself suffering. That’s what arose just now reading your post. Many thanks!
Hi Christine. Thanks for your message. "Letting go" of what has come to pass. Yes, we would all like to get better at this, for sure! And of course, letting go of ruminative thoughts about what was is something we can practice doing in order to get better at it and in turn, suffer less as you're suggesting. All of that is fine, as far as it goes.
But there is another approach to letting go and being with and enjoying the flow of what is, the flow of experience and that is to come to see that letting go, accepting, flow and so on is actually the way life is, the way reality is already.
Take "letting go." We have this idea that things can arise and then we can either hold on to them or let them go. But look at what we call "the moment;" is it actually possible to hold it in place or does the moment let go of itself naturally and effortlessly owing to its dynamic, ever-changing nature? Doesn't reality let go of itself in each instant? The moment seems to take shape but no sooner than it arises as some seemingly fixed form, that form transforms and becomes something else.
This is what I mean by the natural letting go of things. The moment is only ever flowing (no matter what we seem to be doing to get into that flow or not). Each arising, each experience, dissolving naturally into the next which dissolves naturally into the next in an even, easeful flow. This is what I sometimes call, the "transpersonal" approach to things such as letting go and acceptance, seeing that I don't need to let go but instead, simply see that reality itself is the absolute master of these things because reality never holds to anything owing to its dynamic nature.
I hope you find that somewhat helpful.
-John
Thanks for your response John. It’s not clear to me just yet. Are you saying that past thoughts arise naturally? Do they come back around to be resolved? So letting go is not a choice? “Each arising, each experience, dissolving naturally into the next which dissolves naturally into the next in an even, easeful flow.”
Hi Christine. I'm really pointing to a completely different perspective, one in which there is nothing that ever repeats since experiential phenomena are here for no time owing to their unstable, ever-changing nature. From this perspective, everything arises spontaneously and inexplicably. There is no past moment that repeats. There is just this ever-fresh, ever-vanishing moment. There's nothing for us to resolve as experience (to borrow from the Tibetans) self-liberates upon arising. In other words, everything is resolved in each instant.
What I'm pointing to isn't the only perspective. There's obviously the more personal vantage of being an individual navigating (and not infrequently trying to resolve) the world of experience and circumstance. We all know that one quite well! I'm just inviting an exploration into another way reality can be viewed, a way that is literally 180 degrees different from how we typically see things. Interestingly, as far apart as these two perspectives (the personal and impersonal we could call them) seem to be, there's no actual conflict or dichotomy between them, just two (albeit very) distinct ways reality can appear and be experienced. Hope that's helpful.
Very clear. Thank you John.
John, you have said: ""Of course, there’s nothing wrong with trying to alter our experiences. That project is obviously part of what we humans do. But we don't have to have a different perception or experience in order to find the ever-present ground because each experience is that stable ground, each moment, pure presence. We don't need to correct our experiences because every experience is the miracle we’ve been searching for, the miracle of life itself. There are not some things that are more the miracle than other things for everything is fundamentally equal in its miraculous, inexplicable, astonishing presence."
While, theoretically, every experience is the same miracle of presence, we like some experiences and do not like some others, due to conditioning and memory. So, naturally, most of humanity is engaged in trying to retain certain good experiences, it is also trying to get rid of bad experiences. This seems to be the crux of the problem, for which there appears to be no solution. How do you expect me to accept pain and suffering, saying to myself that it is also another miracle of presence? Am I missing anything here, John?
To be clear, I'm not expecting anyone to do anything. I agree with you that there's a kind of natural conditioning for the human to seek after those experiences they enjoy and try to have fewer of the ones they don't. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. I certainly seek out people, places and things that I find more to my liking and to whatever extent that I can, minimize those I like less.
But there appear to be considerable limits on having reality conform to our preferences! So, while we continue to engage in our usual approach to well-being, we can also explore something else about our experiences (e.g., their sheer, miraculous, inconceivable existence) that opens us to another, non-narrative, non-conceptual aspect of experience that reveals something about ALL experience that is free of the oftentimes problematic implications rooted in how we typically describe things.
This discovery doesn't eliminate the pain that can arise as part of living these human lives. But does offer us a very different way to be with ALL the moments of life, revealing what I call the "well of being," a particular kind of well-being that is not dependent upon what's being experienced because it is the basis of EVERY experience, even those that are difficult.
This discovery is essentially what my work is about.
Thank you, John for your kind response. Yes, it helps to understand your teaching more clearly.