The term life satisfaction is a very deep spiritual term.
But when you look at the term through the eyes of the mundane material realm,
It feels like not enough.
Because we've been so trained to want more and more and more and more and more and to consume and to consume and to consume and to consume and to continue to grab and reach.
And the irony of this is that there's this in the Prajnaparamitra mantra of the Heart Sutra,
There's this mantra that goes,
Gatte gatte paragatte parasam gatte bodhisattva.
And that mantra is my compass.
And what it means is go beyond go even further beyond even beyond enlightenment,
Keep going,
You know,
Like it's that there is it's basically there is no arrival.
There is no place where the world stops and you can just relax like that doesn't exist.
But capitalism has us believe and consumerism,
Consumerism has us believe in materialism has us believe that there is a point where you can just check out of your life.
And when you talk about spiritual life satisfaction,
What that is,
Is accepting reality exactly as reality is and finding enthusiasm and bliss and joy and satisfaction in that.
And our ability to trust ourselves has more to do with our ability to accept reality,
Exactly as it is,
Than it does anything else.
Trust has to do with our ability to accept reality and to be satisfied with what reality is showing you.
And that's an inside job.
But we have this idea that we can change our reality.
We have fantasies,
We have illusions and delusions that have it be that we deny reality and that inhibits trust.
Our ability to trust ourselves is singularly defined by our ability to see reality as reality exists.
This is just how it is.
Not that it can't be better,
Can be.
Not that it should be better or worse,
Could be,
But to be able to just see it how it is in this moment.
And to be able to stay open and receptive while seeing how it is in this moment,
Even if it's not in the most favorable circumstances.
And so much of our existence,
And particularly in the Western world,
So much of our existence is around wanting everything in our reality to be different.
When you no longer want your life to be different,
You will be satisfied.
And when you no longer want your life to be different,
Your life has the ability to change according to what is correct for you,
Because you're not imposing and projecting your attachments and your expectations onto your life,
Which creates limited view.
It's like looking at the world through a pinhole instead of looking at the world with no obstruction to the pinhole.
You see everything exactly as it is,
And as a result,
When you're not attached to outcome,
You're not expecting it to be one particular way,
You see all of the possibilities rather than just one particular way forward.
And the journey of self-realization is really seeing things exactly as they are.
You realize the truth that you have always and will always be enlightened.
You see your true nature,
Which is that you are both God and not God.
You see these two profound truths that seem to create a kind of dichotomy when in fact they're not a dichotomy at all,
Like they're just two sides of the same coin.
And you see yourself as both the creator and the created.
And it creates a tension in the mind if you're still in the binary way of thinking,
Where should be either or.
And so much of self-discovery and spiritual discovery work is about being able to hold that point of tension where you can have two seemingly polarizing ideas cancel one another out,
And you just find some peace in that,
That like it's a both and,
It's both things at the same time.
And so reality can be as reality is,
And because you are not fighting with how reality is,
You can also see how reality could change,
And what's required for that to happen.
You can see all of that,
You become more resourced through that vision.
That's like the third eye opening.
And when you have that ability,
You will unequivocally trust yourself.
You will also become aware of how protected you are.
You'll be aware of how resilient you are,
And you will be able to find awakening and evolution and growth in literally any circumstance,
Regardless of what is occurring.
And everything becomes a catalyst for your continued realization rather than instructions for it,
Because you're not obstructing your own heart anymore,
You're not obstructing your sight anymore.
And it becomes a lot more simple.
It doesn't necessarily mean that life becomes more easy,
It just becomes more simple.
Is your heart open or closed?
Are you willing to see or not?
Can you open and love no matter what anyone around you is doing?
Or are you just cracking the door to test the waters to find out whether you're safe,
Because you don't trust yourself?
And so the key is building that trust.
And so much of that trust is faith.
But you can't trust other people until you trust you.
And so there's this whole psychologization,
If that's really a word,
Of other people building trust for you.
And that is appropriate for a particular crowd of people who need that at the moment because they're healing.
And then there is a point at which you recognize,
Because you can see that you are responsible for your own sense of safety.
You create that sense of safety and security inside of yourself because you have faith in your own resilience.
And it's at that point that you.
.
.
You may still mind it,
But it's like you don't really mind if you get destroyed.
You know,
I often say,
Like,
Shanti Mai threw me in the fire all the time.
And her particular flavor of fierce love taught me that the only thing that burns when you get thrown in the fire are the things that are not you.
Let it burn.
You know,
You might be like,
Oh my God,
Blisters.
Like,
Oh,
My skin's melting off.
But,
Like,
Actually what burns if you get thrown in the fire is who you are not.
Because who you are is untouchable by that.
And that's what the realization journey is.
It's,
Like,
Actually realizing that all that you are cannot be destroyed.
Who you are cannot be destroyed.
Only who you are not can be destroyed.
And I'm of the heart set,
Mind set of,
Like,
If it can be destroyed,
Destroy it.
If it can be taken,
Take it.
I want to be a hollow bone.
Take all of it and leave me only with what is true.
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
And this is how we become satisfied.
When you know what is true about you and what is not true about you.
And you're willing to see everything,
Even if it's uncomfortable.
And you're willing to hear everything,
Even if it's uncomfortable.
And when it's uncomfortable,
Instead of closing off to it,
You open wider.
Because you know that if some part of you is burning,
Let it burn.
Thank you.
