The only time I ever feel anything is when something changes.
Whatever remains constant ends up receding from my attention. Like tinnitus or the drone of traffic or the feeling of my shirt on my skin.
Which means that a feeling is just a register of change. So there’s nothing to worry about.
The more drastic the change, the more intensely I register it.
When I get into water that is colder or hotter than my skin, the experience of it is shocking at first. I recoil a little (or a lot) and then, in time, the shock subsides and a new normal settles in. Soon I get used to the water and the intense feeling is gone. After a while I find I can forget that I’m even in the water.
The change is where all discomfort lies, in the momentary recalibration of sensation.
Everything that continues unchanged recedes from my consciousness.
Everything that doesn’t continue is, by definition, over.
So everything is either in the process of receding from my consciousness or not happening.
So there is nothing to fear.
Resistance to a change revives it. When I resist what has changed and is no longer changing, each new act of resistance is a new change, further intensifying my suffering. If I refrain from going to war with what I’m feeling and just recognize that I have experienced a change, acknowledge that the change comes with a feeling (the way the striking of a bell comes with a ring), allow the feeling to ring as it will and just WAIT, the discomfort will fade all on its own.
Like the result of a stone tossed into a still pond, that will go from splash to waves, to ripples and back to perfect stillness. Every time. (As long as I refrain from throwing more stones)
Q:
But what about “bad” things? Shouldn’t I resist my feelings about “bad” things? I don’t want my bad feelings about bad things to recede from my consciousness, do I? Then the bad thing will just stay bad, won’t it? Won’t I miss the chance to fix it? If I don’t ACT to destroy the feeling, won’t I be complicit in evil taking over? Isn’t that how tyrants take power and hate takes root?
A:
Well, let’s look at it:
Who is serving evil when I judge something “bad” instead of WHOLE (which, when I’m centered, is what I know it to be)?
Am I living in my true nature when I succumb to other-ing and shaming and opposing “evil?”
Who is engaging in tyranny when I name someone a tyrant? Who is stoking hate when I label someone hateful? Who is causing the problem when I name something problematic?
Isn’t it true that I’m not really myself when I’m in the throes of these stressful judgments? Isn’t it true that I am unable to be fully present in the world in accordance with my true nature when I am suffering?
Will this state of mind result in my most constructive actions?
Wouldn’t I rather let these innocently confused stories of division and unworthiness fade away (as they are always mercifully trying to do)? So I can be whole again? So I can be present, unafraid, totally connected to anyone I come into contact with and able to freely and lovingly engage the world as an extension of myself?
When I am free of all the notions that keep me separated from the world, who could I wrong? Who would I not be able to help?
And how could I feel or express anything but my oneness with everything?