Cultivating Optimistic Experiences

Tony Samara explains that the mind can easily trick us into believing we will be happy in the future and thus allow us to live in a false sense of optimism, as optimism is based on being part of the actual experience we are having in this present moment. This track ends with an empowering 7-minute meditation practice, with a couple of silent spaces, so that we can learn how to avoid the illusion of perspectives, traumas can be detached from, & joy is truly possible.

Thank you for choosing one of Tony Samara's tracks today.

Transcript

You you you Hello today,

I would like to just speak about optimism and it's a very complicated issue when it comes to meditation because we can be Optimistic just because the mind tricks us into believing Something will happen sometime in the future that and we'll be happy.

So we sort of are caught by the mind and it's All its imaginations and creating this sort of optimistic scenario,

Which is very much future-based so cultivating optimism isn't about just creating more sort of stories in your mind and then Anticipating or dreaming about sometime in the future Something in the future or sometime in the future where things just get better or things just turn out to be perfect in that way where you can be optimistic and you can be happy about life and your experience in life you know if you if you look at things from a more objective perspective then Optimism is not really so much about the future optimism is more about the present moment and the future About the present moment and your attitude within this present moment and that has a powerful impact on your happiness and the levels Of happiness that you can explore within this moment as an actual experience Rather than something that you're dreaming about something that you're hoping for sometime in the future Also do remember that most pessimistic people who create this pretense picture in their mind Which is very attached to the future most pessimistic people are caught in the future or In some aspect of the past that they want to change in the future to be a little bit different So,

You know if say for example,

You're feeling fear You're hoping that sometime in the future that that fear will just disappear.

And so you're caught in the past your sort of concern and connection to the fear that you may have experienced sometime in your life That then keeps creating this idea in the future that it will be better if all these things fall into place so pessimistic people are connected to the future and The past and tend pessimistic people tend to paint the future experiences in shades of black and gray Which really explains In a way,

This is symbolic in a way that there explains to the world and in their communication That is communicated to the world that the person is powerless You begin to look at the world in in a way where I have no control The world is a nasty place.

I can't change this.

I can't transform this powerless feeling or sense of just being inept or being lost in in in the unsuccessful failure type perspective that is created when you're pessimistic because pessimism of course is an absence of happiness And when you don't experience happiness in this moment Then it's so very easy for the mind to fall back into trauma of the past and to then try to justify future dreams and ideas to justify why they will sort of change everything rather than Change this moment and your experience of this moment That mind tricks you into changing the future And the future of course can't be changed because the future is just a perspective and if the future is connected to those shades of black and gray and Pessimism then the future is also not very empowering So not only is it not possible to change the future but also By trying to change the future You're disempowered Because of course,

You know,

You're trying to change something that's just a perspective and where does that happen?

Perspective and where does that perspective come from?

Where does that attitude come from?

If you look more deeply then you don't have to look at the past and the future.

You just have to look at this moment and connect to the life-affirming beautiful colors the pastels and the Lovely colors that come with the enjoyment of this moment come with the honoring of this moment from a sense of joy and fulfillment Looking back into the past Looking forward into the future tends to create a darker side And that is the worry and the concern that the mind then falls into because it's attached to something that's not real in mysticism This is called the Maya or the illusion the illusion of Perspectives is so very interesting this is what creates conflicts within oneself and also around that we all see things differently and we See things if we could objectively look at the situation we see things from From a perspective that's just imagination.

So,

You know,

It's not really as real as the experience was and this is why you know If you if you experience the trauma,

You'll either sort of deny the trauma by remembering it in a very different way or The trauma will be the essential quality of your understanding of that situation Which will then create pessimism rather than life-affirming positive steps that you can sort of Create within your experience of this moment rather than be attached or or lost in the trauma which then leads to more pessimism and then leads to This idea that in the future if things are different if you do things in a specific way then perhaps everything Just turns out to be better.

But of course everything has to be experienced now In this now this is where the positive exists and In the future,

That's where it's so very easy to go into a negative state of understanding of the present moment because you then Put all your energy into the future and hope that The joy will come your way,

But the joy is possible right now And you can imagine this moment as blissful And then the mind will follow that energy So it's not waiting for something in the future which most of us tend to sort of fall into this Idea that you know if we wait for something then things will change and we just keep waiting For joy to come our way or for a meaningful experience to come our way or for a meaningful experience to come out our way but in the end we have to create this we have to be Co-creators in what is being created already in this moment Of course in this moment if you let go of the past And I know it's difficult if you have trauma or difficulties or sadness or pain or suffering But if you let go or at least Have the intention to let go of the past Then it's easier to move into the future or the present moment.

And so if you let go of the future and focus Your attention here.

So you bring your awareness to this moment to this present moment then that Exercise in itself becomes meaningful and fulfilling because you begin to notice things That a mind that is lost in perspectives or lost in the past or lost in the future doesn't actually manage to recognize or see as as real because when you're caught as you know when your mind is drifting and thinking about something and someone speaks to you.

Sorry.

What did you say?

You're not present,

But if you're present to yourself and to your experience then that meaningful fulfilling energy that Is within this moment Is more accessible And you can cultivate this optimism this sense of meaningfulness by coming back to the present moment So cultivating optimism is about coming to the here and now to the present moment to being This means being present to everything not to your past or your future But being present to what is going on right here right now too many of us sit in meditation and then Sort of begin to look at things The past and you know look at things from a sense of fear and guilt and pessimism too many people do Do this in their meditations and rather than focus on a sense of presence It's easy to fall back into your history or to fall back into your sort of imagined perspective of the future so always so always remind yourself that cultivating optimism cultivating meaningfulness in your experience is about cultivating cultivating the the Connection that you have through awareness through consciousness to this beautiful moment to the here and now And you can begin to do this by sitting comfortably This is the first thing To do when sitting in meditation be comfortable Relax Tension or constriction that you might be aware of Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths Just let go Spend five minutes now just letting go Of being comfortable and connecting to the present moment This means that you're connecting to the aspect of yourself That is here and it's wonderful to be breathing Wonderful to be relaxing wonderful to be aware of your senses.

It's wonderful to be aware of your subtle senses It's wonderful to just connect to potential because in this moment potential is infinite So as you connect to the potential of this moment,

You're present to many possibilities That allows you a sense of freedom a sense of and everyone wants to be free everyone loves to be free This brings happiness.

I'm free I can choose I have a choice And that is great because when you begin to recognize that you have a choice you empower that choice So it's all happening within the flow of consciousness As you empower Your sense of freedom you're free to be more present as you become more present to your experience You empower freedom to expand into its infinite possibilities and as you begin to look at possibilities you become more creative more In touch with deeper a deeper sense of communication And as you communicate and you're empowered to open up to many many different possibilities Your creativity helps in the manifestation of joy bliss and happiness And you don't even have to ask yourself how am I feeling because In the present moment you are feeling the feeling totally So the optimistic positive energy that you're enjoying that you're connecting to Is in a sense complete there is no space to ask yourself Is there anything else if your mind Drifts into oh,

That's a nice feeling but if what?

Whatever if there are these sort of games that the mind begins to play then just remind yourself that being present to the to this moment Is not about being present to your past or your future You will know you know your past,

You know your future deep deep within the subconscious mind There is an awareness of your past and there is an awareness of your future that is very different from a mental conceptual one it's intuitive it's It happens through presence.

So there is no need to drift and focus your attention on the specifics All you have to remind yourself is that in this moment I can enjoy The sense of expansion I can enjoy this sense this deep feeling of bliss Being here Is such a beautiful thing And it's not really that you have to push yourself to be present.

It's just that it's just about letting go of All the things that prevent presence from being actual The distracting thoughts within the mind the distracting feelings within your emotional body the distractions around The distractions in your communication to yourself the script the Habits and the belief systems that keep repeating themselves as you let that go you come back You naturally come back to bliss And you will realize that this positive mood not just increases in your meditation but you will also notice that this positive mood becomes part of your communication with the world within yourself And so everything changes around you your positive mood changes the reality that you are experiencing And you you'll find yourself happier And even weeks later you may notice.

Oh gosh,

I feel good I feel positive.

I feel really present.

I feel very focused I feel open and receptive to the creative infinite possibilities that are in existence for me I feel open and receptive to the creative infinite possibilities that are in existence when you are here focusing your energy not in those Aspects of yourself that are pessimistic but rather focusing your energy here in the positive It's so wonderful and it sounds Impossible to the mind the mind will think oh no,

This is not possible.

I've tried this Remember the mind wants to control every aspect of your experience,

But awareness consciousness That is what allows you to be in alignment to your experience in a very real neutral way so you're not caught in the perspectives that the mind creates but you're You're you are present to the reality of the situation so it's not about Sweeping things under the carpet and forgetting your past or like Not having a goal in life.

It's more about just being real and connected As you breathe in and breathe out Just keep reminding yourself of this every time you notice that you're drifting Into the past or drifting into the future And that's all you have to do as you purify the energy around your body the energy around your within the cranium the energy within your emotional body as you purify this then Everything begins to flow and it's without effort Everything is good.

Everything is positive Everything is beautiful That is What you can affirm as you come back to this present moment You're affirming the qualities of presence within yourself in a way that Helps the mind understand that the focus is in the present in the here in the now Deep breath Letting go relaxing Relaxing and you may wish to continue in stillness for a few more moments Letting go relaxing and enjoying your sense of presence presence to consciousness presence to awareness Thank you

Reviews

Loved this! Exactly what I needed to remind myself to live in the moment.

I love all of Tony Samar's meditation, but seriously the auto levels need to be balanced. The bell is deafening his voice sounds like a faint whisper and the music is peaceful but the volume of the components is not consistent.