Thanks for being so clear in your response. Being able to accept the inevitability of what is here, now, has become more difficult as I age. Physical pain is a bear, but it is what is here, now. At 68 I’m fairly sure it isn’t going to get much better and if there is that possibility of being in less pain it will happen not through faith or hope but in seeing “what is”. Your answer reminds me that being with what is is not being a martyr, it is not a negative mindset, it’s what is true for me right now.
Although, for me, the acknowledgement of what is has become MORE of a feature as I've aged...I can without doubt say that my sixties are overall the period of my life in which I have experienced the most moments of contentment with whatever is arising - despite the physical effects of a noticeably aging body. I wish you well.
Hello Robert, I read this post following the suggestion of Don Boivin. It. Sounds like you describe living in the now however that reveals itself to your experience. That sounds like a direct experience with freedom from prior belief. That sounds like pure freedom. There are a fair number of Substack writers who have had totally unexpected encounters with something during their participation in the freedom of now. Their reports differ as to what they made of those experiences after they occurred.Most reported a sense that there is something more which was revealed which they were not seeking and were surprised to experience. What might you make of that? Would you say that experience was simply that experience and move on. I am intrigued by your own way of experiencing. I am sincere in hoping for your ideas as to what others have described. Daniel
Yes, something was revealed that I was not seeking and which came as a surprise. The feeling was "Wow! This has been here all along, how could I have missed this?" At first, that experience felt special. It took me a few years to fully embody it. Now, it's just the way things are.
In my view, "stability" not only doesn't require being anchored to an unmoveable worldview...it is intrinsic to stability (balance) that it ISN'T - everything we experience is new moment to moment, so any FIXED beliefs are, by definition, not able to adequately encompass those experiences in their wholeness.
Also, I find that balance (stability) itself is not constant, consistent or permanent - we oscillate between balance and imbalance continually...whether we like it or not. I wish you well bro.
‘Stability, if you like to call it that, does not require being anchored to an unmovable worldview.’
‘What is, is’
Two absolute zingers, right there.
yep
Thanks for being so clear in your response. Being able to accept the inevitability of what is here, now, has become more difficult as I age. Physical pain is a bear, but it is what is here, now. At 68 I’m fairly sure it isn’t going to get much better and if there is that possibility of being in less pain it will happen not through faith or hope but in seeing “what is”. Your answer reminds me that being with what is is not being a martyr, it is not a negative mindset, it’s what is true for me right now.
Thank you Karen - lovely writing.
Although, for me, the acknowledgement of what is has become MORE of a feature as I've aged...I can without doubt say that my sixties are overall the period of my life in which I have experienced the most moments of contentment with whatever is arising - despite the physical effects of a noticeably aging body. I wish you well.
Excellent.
Living without ultimate answers is more than a price for being faithless: it's the prize for it.
Succinctly put Magdalena....like it!
Thanks for your helpful response. I love hearing that “Wow” became “just the way things are”. Daniel
Hello Robert, I read this post following the suggestion of Don Boivin. It. Sounds like you describe living in the now however that reveals itself to your experience. That sounds like a direct experience with freedom from prior belief. That sounds like pure freedom. There are a fair number of Substack writers who have had totally unexpected encounters with something during their participation in the freedom of now. Their reports differ as to what they made of those experiences after they occurred.Most reported a sense that there is something more which was revealed which they were not seeking and were surprised to experience. What might you make of that? Would you say that experience was simply that experience and move on. I am intrigued by your own way of experiencing. I am sincere in hoping for your ideas as to what others have described. Daniel
Hi, Daniel.
Yes, something was revealed that I was not seeking and which came as a surprise. The feeling was "Wow! This has been here all along, how could I have missed this?" At first, that experience felt special. It took me a few years to fully embody it. Now, it's just the way things are.
Hey Robert - yes.
In my view, "stability" not only doesn't require being anchored to an unmoveable worldview...it is intrinsic to stability (balance) that it ISN'T - everything we experience is new moment to moment, so any FIXED beliefs are, by definition, not able to adequately encompass those experiences in their wholeness.
Also, I find that balance (stability) itself is not constant, consistent or permanent - we oscillate between balance and imbalance continually...whether we like it or not. I wish you well bro.