The shocks of life seem to tell us something: can we understand it?
When life is based on psychology dominated by self-interest and self-importance, mediocrity in life is inevitable. People have a tendency to compensate for this by belonging to a system, religious or otherwise. It gives them the feeling of being someone, of getting somewhere. However, such dependency sustains the fear against which the defense develops. What is needed is a radical departure from the usual mindset.
One of the things that can help us free ourselves from this situation is the desire to understand the psychological shocks of life. Do you have a message? Do these shocks come to wake us up to something? This is a powerful region to explore because understanding that region can keep us awake without any jolts. It is an active involvement that can put us wisely regarding the hidden currents of life.
We note here that our habitual tendency is to develop a shield against life in order to feel safe. This defensive attitude and the associated reliance on systems or methods to ensure safety indicate an unwillingness to face life in its natural way. This is what makes shocks painful for us. Shocks tell us that our disposition towards life is not right. If we remain awake without depending on anything, then we ring with life and float. That also helps us perceive the true meaning of life. In his book Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle says: “Suffering is necessary to understand that it is unnecessary.” The same can be said for shocks in life as well.
Now, we look at an interesting element: ‘No challenge’ as a challenge!
On October 29, 2005, the Democrat & Chronicle, a newspaper in Rochester, New York, published an article titled “Breast Cancer Survivor Shares Breath.” A Rochester resident was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. She thought she would die. after eight hours of surgery and eight months of chemotherapy, she recovered and the article said, “she is now sitting happy, energetic, fit and grateful in the back of a store where she works part time.” her saying “The little things in life that are taken for granted mean a lot to me now. It’s just a gift, a tremendous gift.” The point here is that when people go through shock, they can see things in a better perspective and feel the intrinsic beauty in the ordinary things of life. In other words, we wake up if we are faced with a challenge. Every shock in our life is a challenge – minor or major. Now, the question here is: Can we wake up without there having to be a shock? Reflecting on this makes us appreciate life better. Understanding the immaturity behind wallowing in self-pity and getting caught up in the quagmire of self-centered activities inevitably increases our compassion for the people we interact with, our fellow travelers on life’s journey.
When life senses that we are already straining to appreciate its intrinsic beauty, it sees no need to wake us up with a start. The news of life becomes calm and helps us appreciate our closeness to Divinity and the beauty of our life journey. One might ask: What happens to one’s karma if we appreciate life in this way? The karmic push continues, but it adjusts to provide support rather than seeing the need for jolts to wake us up.
People who perceive the meaning of the above two paragraphs might say “Wake up without any challenge is the new challenge!”
When we stay away from all psychological dependencies, the mind enters a zone of peace that is unaffected by circumstances. That peace is associated with internal integration and passivity. It is good to note that the silence in the mind resonates with the silence in the Universe. Also, it helps us deal with relationship problems with a broad mindset. We note here the statement made by the Divine Voice in Conversations with God (Ref. 1). The Voice says that we cannot see the purpose behind relationships when we lose sight of each other like holy souls on a holy journey.
People who have a near-death experience go through a tremendous shock, of being thrown from the mind into universal consciousness, but it is positive because it exposes them to a vaster reality that the conventional mind cannot conceive of. This is how it transforms the experiencer’s life after the event.
Related matters are discussed on the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com
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Reference 1. Walsch, Neale Donald. Conversations with God – Book 1.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995.