Portal to the Joy of Being
by Susan Scharfman
“We must let go of the life we have planned so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
Imagine No Possessions
Try to imagine every single object you own sealed into an enormous box and transported to a foreign port where it might languish for months in moldy climes or fall prey to thieves. Could you live without all your possessions? The periods in my life I felt completely free were those of transition from one overseas assignment to the next. Seeing all my stuff packed and loaded into one huge household crate to be shipped off to the next destination was the most blissful liberation from the burden of possessions. I experienced the same freedom flying in a single engine Cessna over Ethiopia's Blue Nile Falls, featured above: Freedom from things and oneness with all.
Imagine No Thoughts
Excessive thinking is as great a burden to me as possessions. When you are constantly led around by your thoughts, you're a slave to your mind. The mind may be a terrible thing to waste, but only when it is your master, not the other way around. Constant mental noise distracts from knowing who we are. Our essence is the formless silent, universal awareness that is responsible for all things in the world of form. By accepting what is, rather than complaining about a situation, by being quiet, we get to experience the inner stillness energetically pulsating with the absolute joy of life. Freedom from the mind.
We Are Our Ancestors
Some people have everything they want from the material world. But money and celebrity don't always give them what they need. After a prolonged spending spree, millions of former middle-class Americans woke up one morning to no job, no health insurance and a house they couldn't afford.
But the challenges we face today are no more insurmountable than those of our ancestors. They fought horrendous wars, suffered the Great Depression, civil strife, and worked their buns off to launch the greatest economic expansion in history. Whining and complaining was not their story and the country prospered. They are in our DNA.
Everything Happens For a Reason
Today's complex issues are exactly what are needed to propel us out of a no-jobs economy, a falling behind educational system and into the fresh air of new possibilities. I'm not an expert on anything. But as an optimist I believe the ingenuity and creativity of the American people will rise to the noblest traditions of our society. Ours is a country of immigrants. It is these immigrants that built our past, and the new ones that will construct our future.
American history and our forebears tell us we've been here before. Ours is a continuance of decline and rebound, of powerful expansions after severe economic downturns. Today the possibility remains of America merging into an interdependent global economy that ultimately could be to the nation's advantage. The task lies in taking responsibility for our actions. The responsibility lies with the individual. Some people are givers and others are takers. Problems arise when the takers outnumber the givers.
The World of Opposites
We live in what some mystics call the world of duality or opposites. Right/wrong, war/peace, abundance/famine. In a stimulating discussion with another, do you truly listen to what the person is saying? Or is the mental noise in your head preparing your response because you know you're right and he's wrong? Can you imagine how enlightening the discussion would be if you were not a slave to your thoughts? When we stop thinking and listen, there is no reason for insults or anger. We’re younger than that now; and letting go to presence is the door to the joy of being beyond thoughts.
My Back Pages
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.
– Bob Dylan
“We must let go of the life we have planned so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
Imagine No Possessions
Try to imagine every single object you own sealed into an enormous box and transported to a foreign port where it might languish for months in moldy climes or fall prey to thieves. Could you live without all your possessions? The periods in my life I felt completely free were those of transition from one overseas assignment to the next. Seeing all my stuff packed and loaded into one huge household crate to be shipped off to the next destination was the most blissful liberation from the burden of possessions. I experienced the same freedom flying in a single engine Cessna over Ethiopia's Blue Nile Falls, featured above: Freedom from things and oneness with all.
Imagine No Thoughts
Excessive thinking is as great a burden to me as possessions. When you are constantly led around by your thoughts, you're a slave to your mind. The mind may be a terrible thing to waste, but only when it is your master, not the other way around. Constant mental noise distracts from knowing who we are. Our essence is the formless silent, universal awareness that is responsible for all things in the world of form. By accepting what is, rather than complaining about a situation, by being quiet, we get to experience the inner stillness energetically pulsating with the absolute joy of life. Freedom from the mind.
We Are Our Ancestors
Some people have everything they want from the material world. But money and celebrity don't always give them what they need. After a prolonged spending spree, millions of former middle-class Americans woke up one morning to no job, no health insurance and a house they couldn't afford.
But the challenges we face today are no more insurmountable than those of our ancestors. They fought horrendous wars, suffered the Great Depression, civil strife, and worked their buns off to launch the greatest economic expansion in history. Whining and complaining was not their story and the country prospered. They are in our DNA.
Everything Happens For a Reason
Today's complex issues are exactly what are needed to propel us out of a no-jobs economy, a falling behind educational system and into the fresh air of new possibilities. I'm not an expert on anything. But as an optimist I believe the ingenuity and creativity of the American people will rise to the noblest traditions of our society. Ours is a country of immigrants. It is these immigrants that built our past, and the new ones that will construct our future.
American history and our forebears tell us we've been here before. Ours is a continuance of decline and rebound, of powerful expansions after severe economic downturns. Today the possibility remains of America merging into an interdependent global economy that ultimately could be to the nation's advantage. The task lies in taking responsibility for our actions. The responsibility lies with the individual. Some people are givers and others are takers. Problems arise when the takers outnumber the givers.
The World of Opposites
We live in what some mystics call the world of duality or opposites. Right/wrong, war/peace, abundance/famine. In a stimulating discussion with another, do you truly listen to what the person is saying? Or is the mental noise in your head preparing your response because you know you're right and he's wrong? Can you imagine how enlightening the discussion would be if you were not a slave to your thoughts? When we stop thinking and listen, there is no reason for insults or anger. We’re younger than that now; and letting go to presence is the door to the joy of being beyond thoughts.
My Back Pages
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.
– Bob Dylan