Life doesn’t always have to be about doing. In fact “Life” is never about doing. It is only being.
There is no shortage of encouragement on the topic. Though the mind skirts over this ongoing message like a common cliché , running ahead, looking to do the next thing.
I encourage stop! Slow down… see.
Wait, wonder, pause. Listen, observe, allow.
In no way do I mean this as a hip new-age technique. This is Life. And it’s happening with or without our attention.
I have visited as of late, with some folks about the very last stages of life. When the body no longer can do. Or the mind no longer can think. At times, this stage of life can seem to go on for a long period.
Often, those people who surround the life that is now forced into submission, don’t know how to interact with this catastrophic change. We often don’t know how to adjust.
My mother had dementia at the end of her life. It was very interesting to watch how all of her children interpreted this life change and interacted with it.
My mother and I had a deep heart-bond. And thankfully, that is what prevailed during this time of our life. We weren’t relying on doings or on thinking things had to be a certain way. Therefore when we were together, regardless of what the mind was chattering about, there was love. And most often we experienced joy.
I will never forget the lessons I learned during this time. As I walked with my mother down that transformative path. I watched her eyes settle when she knew that I saw her beyond her conditions.
This is a powerful prescription. I feel it is essential that we practice living beyond our conditions. And then, as the conditions change, we remain in the heart of life.
Our experience, every experience, is provided us for the opportunity to understand the truth and the nature of life. It plays out like a good movie, with drama, comedy, romance, sorrow, and tragedy. We’re not meant to flatline this life. But we are meant to see beyond the peak experiences.
We are meant to see that true life does not change. Life is the observer, watching the movie. Life is not the opposite of death. Birth is the opposite of death. Life is the infinite. The changeless watching the changeful. I know not of a better practice than this recognition.
Even without the profound influence that this practice offers a lifetime— it simply feels good. It feels great even! To see with freedom and open minded observation. This practice tears down walls, it lifts burdens and perhaps most importantly it ends separation.
Simply put we begin to live, graciously accepting life on life’s terms. And this is love.
It’s not complicated. In fact it’s the easiest thing we can do. The hardest thing, is realizing that it’s the easiest thing.
Perfect Practice can only be experienced when we are free of conditions. We can only be free of conditions when we are free of the mind that labels them.
Live free.
Be free.
~M~
If these words resonate with you, please consider reading my book Perfect Practice. You can also read an excerpt from the book HERE.
