ZEN Shredding ~ Insight # 18

 

Recognize struggle in your life.

 

Most of us have been conditioned to believe that we must struggle, strive and work hard in order to achieve or be successful. When you recognize struggle you can choose to momentarily pause and pull back your attention from that struggle.  This creates space and within the space you will find the freedom to choose a different way of Being. 

 

Extended commentary:

 

Someone once said we were born to struggle.  While there is still, occasional struggle in my own life, I have learned to indentify it as primarily a subjective state of mind.  There are times when an outer occurrence could cause great angst and it does not, and there are times when something really irrelevant triggers a cascade of emotions that undermine my attempts to navigate the present moment. 

 

My exploration and training in a process known as Rebirthing has provided much awareness and understanding into the story we build around struggle.  According to the precepts of Rebirthing our conditioning around struggle is primarily or at least heavily based on the experience of the birth process itself.  If we had a “difficult” birth (and for most it was not effortless!) we will wrongly assume that all experiences thereafter will also be based on struggle and precedent of that “first experience.  As a concept and explanation of suffering, it sits well with me.  I have witnessed enough of my own process and the lives of others to recognize the familiar patterns of struggle when they show up and the debilitating effects it can have on personal well being.

 

The wisdom tradition of Vedanta takes us a little deeper and more directly into the jugular when addressing the concept of struggle, suggesting the source of all suffering is a result of forgetfulness, of not knowing our true Self or Nature.  While there may be fear and grasping to that which is transient and unreal or identification to an imagined false core self or “I”; it is a lack of awareness of the ONE Self that causes a cascade of effects and immediate ramifications into our life.  The philosophy goes on to say that by discovering our true nature and Self we have the ability to resolve or transform all levels of suffering including the fear of death by pursuing a quest for Who We Are.

 

Regardless of the story, we have created around struggle, by objectifying the subjective; we break the spell of its hold on our life.  By becoming aware of the pattern of struggle itself, by witnessing its unique details within our body mind system, we loosen the ties that bind, and for a second the finite touches the infinite. 

  

 

What areas of your life feel like they are a struggle?

 

To order a copy of ZEN Shredding please visit:

 

http://www.trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000161942

 

OR

 

Check out “Living The Dream”, the gift book version of the slideshow/movie that is available to view free on You tube or the ZEN Shredding website; an inspiring read with full color photo’s of Whistler/Blackcomb Alpine…

 

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/322380

 

 

(c) Copyright – Michael Sean Symonds. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.