Let's close our eyes.
When we start something new,
We need to keep the old behind us.
So as we sit down for this contemplation,
Everything that we know up to now is not necessary.
This is not a memory test.
We don't have to solve a problem.
Give a suggestion.
So no prior knowledge of anything is going to be used in this session.
Only direct observation of our current experience is what we will rely on.
This might feel a little uncomfortable and we should let that discomfort be there.
It's a part of our current experience.
Just like it has appeared,
It will automatically disappear without us trying to do anything.
Let's make sure the chair or the ground that we are sitting on completely carries our weight.
Let's not hold back.
Let's surrender our weight to the ground.
If there's any tension,
Contraction,
Or any effort to keep our body in a particular posture,
Let that melt away.
There are no brownie points for sitting in a particular way.
If any thoughts are appearing,
Don't fight them.
The thoughts may be true or untrue.
The content of the thoughts don't matter.
It's a part of our experience and let our experience be as it is.
We have a natural tendency,
I don't know if it's natural,
Maybe it's acquired,
To make things difficult.
If it's not something difficult,
It's not worth doing it.
But deep down,
We want simplicity.
So today's contemplation is an exercise in simplicity.
Keeping things simple.
We have somehow associated simple with boring.
That's why we go on looking for difficult things,
Conjure up difficult things,
Find drama,
Create drama,
Just to make it a little more entertaining.
By simple I mean ease.
A kind of ease that we experience on the inside.
That is what we are really seeking.
Ease.
Ease in our bodies.
Ease in our feelings.
Ease in our thoughts.
But somehow we are bought into this idea that easy is boring.
So we have a conflicting approach.
Where we want ease,
We find drama.
I'm not talking about external drama.
I'm talking about internal drama.
And that's why most of our suffering happens internally.
No matter what is happening outside,
This conflict,
This tension,
This back and forth,
Troubles us the most.
To give you an example,
Ever since I was a child,
I was always rushing to places.
Like I had a very disharmonious relationship with time.
Part of it still lingers today.
And if suppose I have a lot of time to get somewhere,
Consciously or subconsciously,
I will introduce a detour and squander all the extra time and still end up rushing to wherever I have to go.
Because my body and my mind was hardwired to rushing.
So that even if the situation doesn't warrant rushing,
I used to morph that situation and make it as if rushing was necessary.
And if thoughts and situations and memories are coming up that may or may not relate to what I'm saying,
Just let them unfold and release themselves.
They shouldn't become a trigger to judge ourselves or to quote unquote unquote find problems with ourselves.
When things come up,
They are on their way out.
But when we grab them,
We start reinforcing them.
We start putting them back inside,
Albeit even more forcefully.
Sometimes even difficult things can have a flavor of ease.
When we come from a place of confidence that I got this,
No matter what it is,
There is ease.
The unease is a function of resistance.
I don't want to do this.
It's hard.
I can't do this.
No,
No,
No.
That's how we resist this.
And the more we resist,
The more we suffer.
The more we are tensed,
The more we contract,
And the more we crave ease.
And the wisdom doesn't lie in my words.
The wisdom lies in our own experience.
If we relax my initial suggestion to not go back in memory,
But just peek into it,
That if we find so many times we have been confronted with truly difficult things,
Moving to a new country,
New place,
Changing jobs,
Finding our first job,
Graduating,
Going to school,
Having a kid.
In all those times we felt we can't do it.
And here we are,
Doing just fine.
You got this.
Not every situation needs to make us suffer.
And the suffering doesn't lie in the situation.
It lies in the conflict that we create inside.
If it has come our way,
We have two choices.
Either to not do it,
Which ends the topic,
Or we have to do it.
Then we do it,
And that ends the topic.
Negotiating after saying yes,
Regretting after saying no,
That's how we create suffering.
Maybe it's a good insight that if we start regretting after saying no,
Maybe no wasn't the right answer.
And if we are negotiating after saying yes,
Then maybe yes was not the right answer.
Until we learn how to stick to our yes,
And how to stick to our no,
And how to say yes,
Because we mean yes,
And to say no,
Because we mean no.
So ease becomes a function of clarity.
Clarity to say yes and mean yes.
Clarity to say no and mean no.
It's also a function of courage.
Saying yes takes a lot of courage.
Saying no takes even more courage.
This might seem too easy to be true,
Or maybe it might seem difficult,
But only because we have bought into conflicting ideas from society,
From our culture.
We need to listen to our bodies,
Our hearts,
Our minds,
And their deep desire for ease,
For clarity.
If we are bought into ideas from a society and culture,
And those ideas are not bringing ease in our lives,
Maybe it's time to reconsider them.
We can always jettison ideas.
There are no strings attached.
The only string that is attached is to our happiness,
Our peace.
That should be our true north.
And if we value ease in our lives,
We won't think twice to exert twice or thrice the effort in service of that yes.
Physical effort is cheap.
All you need is a good night's sleep and you're recovered.
What's expensive,
Extremely expensive,
Is the conflict,
Is the suffering that doesn't even let us sleep or truly rest.
We shy away from physical effort and tolerate mental suffering.
A yes means a yes.
A yes from your mouth signifies yes at a cellular level,
All the way through,
In our bodies,
In our minds.
And if it's a no,
It's a no all the way through.
And if there is any resistance,
It's worth investigating.
Is it signifying intelligent questioning?
Or is it more based on our beliefs and lack of clarity?
It's like starting working out.
If we have not used muscles in a long time,
Muscles of clarity,
Muscles of congruence,
Courage,
They might hurt a little out of soreness.
But we know they are on their way to becoming stronger.
The more we practice it,
The more we commit to it.
Thank you.
