“It’s a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately fill up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as well as fundamental spaciousness.” -Pema Chodron
I love this woman. It’s simply amazing how her words of wisdom tend to surface exactly when my questions and ponderings are most murky; when I feel edgy. Her teachings are like bright crystal light beams…that my spirit and heart recognize as truth.
In his book, The Joy of Living, Youngey Mingyur Rinpoche highlights that “feelings are not facts” nor are thoughts, perceptions or physical sensations. However, our attachment to these can vary, based on the quality of our “restlessness or calm” at any particular time. He goes on to make an analogy that made me laugh, because it is so oddly familiar and surprising to read from a Buddhist teacher.
First, a little background. Over the years, I’ve traveled some. About 10 years ago, I discovered that one of my favorite experiences is sitting in an airport observing fellow travelers. Surprisingly, most of the time people don’t seem aware of being watched. Only one time that I can recall, did I notice another voyeur. And we smiled at each other knowingly. I love imagining who people are, where they’re from, where they’re going, what their relationships are like etc… Maybe it’s the mystery of our uniqueness and the recognition that we are all One.
Anyhow, I smiled reading Rinpoche’s analogy of how the “momentary expressions of the infinite possibility of emptiness” are like people passing through an airport on ways to various destinations. He says “If you asked them their intentions, they’d tell you that they were ‘just passing through'”. Each of us, with our stories that feel so real, are merely coming and going; temporary manifestations of Awareness. To the extent we accept the impermanence of our finite thoughts, emotions, perceptions we know ourselves as only Joy!
This is from Pema’s July 2016 calendar…fitting I think.
Alena Grace 