PART
ONE
Life isn't meaningful until you bring the meaning to it.
When each of us realizes that we are our own meaning maker and that
we participate in the world from our place, we will find the meaning in making
the meaning. Life then becomes a series
of inspirational moments, bursts of insight, eruptions of creativity, and even
personal revelation.
We often perceive ourselves as being caught between two unfavorable
options. Fortunately, integral within
such moments is always a third option -- an opportunity to define the moment
with what we reach for.
When we know how to widen our perceptions to the multitude of our
possibilities and not get caught up in just solving a problem, real
possibilities emerge.
Every act, every choice, every experience expresses what we are in
agreement with and what we are not in agreement with.
To continue to awaken to our full human and spiritual potential
means to personally awaken to the interconnectedness of all life, which is only
achieved through direct experience as a result of using our free will and
taking responsibility for our experiences.
Awakening to our greatest potential (true nature) is a resounding
knowing of our connectedness to all things.
To fully express ourselves, to reach our greatest potential, means
to dismantle our pain stories, challenge our assumptions, and rewrite our
personal and global myths.
Rely on the naturalness of life. Let go of the "right and
wrong".
The undisciplined mind is the root of all suffering.
An undisciplined mind, an inability to stay focused, makes you
vulnerable to internal and external distractions.
[Mindfulness] gives you the ability to place your energy and
attention where you choose. This is what
you must pursue. Nothing else in your
spiritual or creative life compares with your ability to place your heart and
mind where you desire.
Cultivating attention is really about letting go. Instead of holding on to the past, or the
negative thought pattern, or the outside drama, we can let it go.
This is how it works: we carry a pain story shaped by past
experiences. We then build and establish
beliefs and assumptions around this pain story.
We become habituated to repeat the past.
We encounter something or someone.
We respond habitually to events with our pain stories and supporting
beliefs.
Suffering always points to a pain story and its sustaining
assumptions and beliefs.
Suffering and pain is not the same thing. Pain may be physical, emotional, or
mental. Suffering is the added story
lines, beliefs, and assumptions we add to the difficulty.
Our mind is the key player in our suffering and our freedom from
suffering.
