Thanksgiving Thought - Gratitude for Awakening Light

In dealing with and working on your difficult mental and emotional stuff, always remember that the dark cannot impose upon the light in you. Mental darkness has no being to it, for it is only the mental argument of absence, not the actual presence of absence! The light is always present; it can’t go anywhere, it can’t go away, because illumination is the very essence of natural mind itself.

Even when we feel overwhelmed by mental darkness, the ever-presence of light means there is always the possibility to stop and step back and to see clearly what's going on—that’s called awakening!  Instead of being lost in self-identification with some suffering sense of self, when we remember to be present and pay attention, we immediately gain a larger perspective. We gain freeing insight into the self-feeling, self-thought of being overwhelmed by "my" pain, "my" sorrow, "my" suffering. The light breaks the "self" illusion, giving us rays of hope.

Well, who or what is able to have such a remarkable, freeing perspective, such awakening awareness, except a mind informed by light itself?  If it was all darkness within us, we wouldn’t even know suffering as suffering!  We wouldn’t even have the feeling or thought, “I’m overwhelmed by my pain, my sorrow, my suffering.”  We would just suffer dumbly, forever in ignorance of any other possibility.

The ability to see, to have perspective, to step back, to come back to our center, indicates our native ability to awaken. That’s the light!  It's always present. Nothing can take that awakening capacity from us; it’s just built in to the very nature of consciousness itself. Even the impetus to wake up comes from that native light of mind. We are never really alone; we companion with the light, always.

So, remember, when doing deep self-investigation, it is the awakening light, not mental darkness, that always has the upper hand and last word.  Light leads the way when we look within ourselves seeking to discern the causes of suffering. Light means attention and paying attention. But it’s more, for coming back to our anchor, the breath, and paying attention, we come to know light as a power and a living presence. This awakening light is not passive!  It enlivens us.  It's not a thought, but it is mind.  It's not a feeling, though we feel it.  The awakening light dispels the darkness of fear, pain, sorrow. Light is life!

Sometimes our simple waking up to the light within us removes the dark without process or mental argument or struggle. Other times, we may have to very consciously and mindfully shine the spotlight onto the whatever is dark and hidden, and we have to courageously persist. In either case, never forget that light always remains victorious in itself, is never defeated, and the darkness never overcomes it.

Nothing can take this light from you. Look deeply, letting go of self, and you realize you are the light.  Our great life work is to awaken to that great truth and power. Aligning ourselves with light, loving the light, always remembering the light, holding fast to the light, we find this inner illumination is faithful, reliable, trustworthy. Mental storm clouds may hide it, even as clouds can hide sun, and at times we may despair.  But the original radiance of mind exists beyond all conditions and is always ours to have and to know.

Steven Goodheart

For more in-depth dharma articles and instruction, visit: METTA REFUGE

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Thanksgiving Thought - You Are Your Own Man or Woman

You are your own man or woman. You were not meant to be what your parents wanted you to be. You were not meant to be what society wanted you to be. You were meant to discover and be your unique and precious own self. Parents and society weren’t meant to make you in their image but to provide a safe, transitional space for your own self-development. Where this has not happened, we can and must re-parent ourselves, for we were always meant to be our own parents—that is, to know our own authority, to be self-responsible, and to able to take care of ourselves as autonomous, self-directed human beings.

Looking deep into the individual unfolding of being, one can find perhaps the greatest truth one can know: You were meant to be. You were meant to shine. You were meant to discover the All in the individual One, and in the individual One, the All.  All the philosophies, all the religions, all the spiritual beliefs systems are, at best, mere aides and guides, all pointing to the great truth in each of us.  In no egocentric sense, not getting stuck in any "self" story, the big story of the universe is you, if you know it.  But too often we are blind to the ineffable and deathless meaning within each of us.  The great joy of life is finding out this hidden yet open secret and exploring it to the end of all limitations.

Steven Goodheart

For more in-depth dharma articles and instruction, visit: METTA REFUGE

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