THE MASTERY
OF YOUR ATTENTION WILL COME
WHEN YOU WILL START SEEING the truth..
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads
*note* Interesting wisdom from Anand..quote"“How do I know that I have such a thing as an Authentic Self?”
“Because you are unhappy,” I replied.
“I don't understand,” she said, opening her eyes.
“Your unhappiness is your Authentic Self's way of telling you: I exist. Please set me free.”
-added by danny-
...................................
Set It Free
A young lady came to me for help. “I'm not happy,” she said. “I've read all the books about happiness, and bliss, and enlightenment. I meditate regularly. I attended a workshop. I even tried some antidepressants, but nothing seems to work.”
I asked her to sit down and close her eyes. “Think of the boundaries of your self.” I said.
“I don't know what you mean,” she said.
“It does not matter how you interpret it,” I replied. “Close your eyes. Think of your self. Where are you in your body? Where are you physically located?”
She pointed, as most people do, to a spot on her forehead.
“Now concentrate your entire being onto that spot. Inhale and exhale as you feel that spot grow larger and larger.”
After a few moments, I asked, “What emotion do you feel deep down?”
“Lonely, sad,” she said.
“Do you try and please people?” I asked.
She nodded. “All the time. That's all I seem to do. I try and help my family, I am always polite, and I don't know what I really want any more.”
“You feel empty sometimes, like a fragile shell of a person,” I said.
She nodded.
“It's OK to feel those feelings. You don't have to hide those emotions here. Let go, and let yourself express those feelings inside you,” I instructed.
I watched as her face grew sad. Tears rolled down her face as the long-buried sorrow of a lifetime spilled out.
“You have forgotten who you are. You feel empty, because your energies have sustained a person that you were not born to be. You have suppressed your real self for too long. Your Authentic Self has waged a long battle to be heard. It will never die, you know. You can suppress it for as long as you want, bury it deep within, but it will never die.”
“How do I know that I have such a thing as an Authentic Self?”
“Because you are unhappy,” I replied.
“I don't understand,” she said, opening her eyes.
“Your unhappiness is your Authentic Self's way of telling you: I exist. Please set me free.”
