10 ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF AWAKENING
by Jeff Foster
"1. NO DESTINATION;
ONLY THE PRESENT MOMENT
There is only THIS; the present scene of the movie of your life. Come out of the epic story of time and space, past and future, regret and anticipation, and the seeking of different states and experiences; relax the habitual focus on ‘what’s gone’, ‘what’s not here yet’ – things you cannot possibly control from where you are. Come out of the story of ‘My Life’ and allow yourself to be fascinated by what is alive, here, right now. Be curious about this very alive dance of thoughts, sensations, feelings and impulses that is happening where you are. Remember, Now is the only place from which true answers can eventually emerge. The present moment is your true home, prior to time and space.
2. THINKING CREATES SUFFERING
Pain is not the problem; the problem is our thinking about pain, our resistance to discomfort, our attempt to escape it. The real problem begins when we start ruminating on our pain, our sadness, our fears, our anger; brooding over our discomforts, rewinding and fast-forwarding the movie! We chew on yesterday’s and tomorrow’s sorrows, rather than directly exploring and experiencing today’s sorrows as they arrive. We add an unnecessary layer of rumination and resistance to life, and this creates suffering. The invitation? Come out of past and future, seeking and striving, and meet life in the raw, right now, without judgement or the expectation that ‘peace’, ‘relaxation’, ‘enlightenment’ or any kind of shift will result. Meet the moment on its own terms; see it all as a gift. Show up, for the pleasant and unpleasant, the pleasurable and the painful, without an agenda.
3. THOUGHTS AND SENSATIONS
ARE NOT PERSONAL
See thoughts and sensations as neutral and impersonal events in awareness. Just like sounds that we hear, thoughts and physical sensations arise and disappear spontaneously, like waves in the ocean of You. They cannot be controlled, deleted, or escaped. Cultivate the same gentle attitude towards thoughts and sensations as you have towards sounds. Meet them all with an attitude of kindness and curiosity. See them as welcome guests in your presence.
4. YOU ARE THE SPACE FOR THOUGHTS
Thoughts are not you, and they are not reality; they are only suggestions, possibilities, rumours, propaganda, judgements, voices, images, rewinds and fast-forwards – clouds in the vast sky of you. Don’t try to still, silence or stop thoughts, drop, delete or control them. Be the space for them, even if they are very active right now! Remember, if you notice thoughts, if you are mindful of them, you are not trapped in them. They do not define you. You are the silent container, not the contained. Be what you are – thought’s unchanging embrace.
5. BREATHE INTO DISCOMFORT AND PAIN
Breathe into uncomfortable sensations; give them dignity. Honour them rather than closing off to them, starving them of warmth. On the in-breath, imagine or feel your breath moving into the neglected and tender area, infusing it with life and love. Fill the uncomfortable area in your body with oxygen, warmth and dignity. Don’t try to ‘heal’ the sensations. They want to be met, honoured, included in the present scene. Assume that even discomfort holds intelligence; that it’s not ‘against’ you.
6. ACCEPTANCE IS NOT A ‘DOING’;
IT IS ALREADY SO
Acceptance doesn't mean that something unpleasant will go away. It may stay awhile. Don’t try to accept it (as this is often resistance in disguise) but acknowledge that it is ALREADY accepted, already here. Treat it as if it perhaps will always be here. This removes the pressure of time (trying to make it go away, wondering why it’s “still here”). It IS here, now. Bow before THIS reality. Be curious. And allow any urges, any feelings of frustration, boredom, disappointment or even despair, to come up too and be included. They are all part of the present scene, not blocks. Even a feeling of blockage is part of the scene!
7. NO ‘ALWAYS’, NO ‘NEVER’
In reality, there is no ‘always’ and no ‘never’. Be mindful of these words; they are lies, and can create a sense of urgency and powerlessness; they feed the story of seeking and lack. There is no ‘rest of my life’, no ‘for years’, no ‘all day long’. There is only Now, your only place of power. Sometimes even thinking about tomorrow is just too much work. Be here.
8. YOU ONLY GET ‘THERE’
BY BEING ‘HERE’
Often we focus so much on the goal/destination that we forget the journey, disconnect from each precious step, and stress is created. Trust that just being present will lead you to where you should be. Take the focus off the 10,000 steps to come, the 10,000 steps you have not yet trodden, and remember the present step, the ancient living ground. Often we don’t know where we are headed, and that’s okay. Befriend uncertainty, doubt; learn to love this sacred place of no answers. It is alive, and creative, and full of potential.
9. EMBRACE THE STUMBLING
If you realize that you’re lost in a story, that you’re disconnected, celebrate. You have just woken up from a dream. A great intelligence is alive in you, a power to realize and connect. You have stepped out of millions of years of conditioning. Don’t punish yourself for forgetting, but celebrate your ability to remember. The moment doesn’t mind that you forgot it! Forgetting is a perfect part of the movie. Allow yourself to forget, sometimes! Be humbled by the journey rather than trying to be ‘perfect’. Doubt, disappointment and disillusionment will be constant friends along this pathless path. There is no destination in presence, no image of ‘success’ to live up to. You cannot go wrong, when there is no image of ‘right’.
10. NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF
You are unique; your journey is wholly original. We may all be expressions of the very same ocean of consciousness, but at the same time, we are all unique expressions of that very ocean, totally unique in our wave-ness! Don’t compare yourself with anyone else! When you start comparing, you devalue your own unique, irreplaceable gifts, talents and truths and disconnect from your unique present experience. Don’t compare this moment with any image of how it could, should, or might have been. Healing is possible when you say YES to where you are now, even if it’s not where you dreamed you would be ‘by now’. Trust, and trust sometimes that you cannot trust. Perhaps even your inability to trust can be trusted here, and even the feeling that you cannot hold the moment, is itself already being held…” (Source)
~Jeff Foster
