"Lots of people have talked about taking that step into the unknown.
Taking that step into the unknown is actually a lot less courageous
than taking a step from the unknown."
...
"We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient
characteristic of Life is its coerciveness: it is always urgent,
here and now without any possible postponement. Life is
fired at us point blank."
I am indebted to Dianne Morrison who contributed material for this
conversation.
There's something inherently powerful in the declaration
"This is IT"
(we could also say in the realization
"This is IT")
which actually won't equate to "This is the way it's
s'posed to be" or "This is the way it ought
to be.". The inherent power in
"This is IT"
is it removes the
woulda, coulda,
shoulda
from living.
This is IT.
Living is not any other way. It's this way. Life is never the way it's
s'posed to be. That's irrelevant. Life is not the way it ought to be.
That doesn't matter. It's always and only the way it is.
This is IT.
This, this way, exactly the way it is, is the whole packet. This,
exactly this way, is all there's ever been.
When I realize
"This is IT", I'm not
only aligning my life with the way things actually are (not with the
way I'd prefer them to be, nor the way I want them to be, or the way
I'd like them to be) but I'm also recognizing that whether I declare
"This is IT"
or not,
this is IT
anyway. The universe doesn't require my declarations, my
commitments, or my opinions, and nor does it bend to my preferences and
excuses.
"Woulda, coulda,
shoulda"'s
got nothing to do with it.
If something happens which is awesome, and I say
"This is IT,
this is the way it's s'posed to be / this is
the way it ought to be", that would be one easy mistake to
discover.
Look: it's not that this is the way it's s'posed to be: it's that
this is IT;
and it's not that this is the way it ought to be: it's that
this is IT.
Consider this:
whatever life serves up (be it awesome or not), whether I prefer it to
be that way or not, whether I want it to be that way or not, whether I
like it to be that way or not,
this is IT
anyway. The universe doesn't require my declaration or my commitments
or my opinions, and nor does it bend to my preferences and excuses. It
certainly won't care if I agree with it or not. The way it turns out is
the way it turns out.
This is IT.
Our approval is not required.
There's a certain
Zen
in looking at life this way. But you can't use
Zen
to justify or avoid anything. You can't bend, manipulate, or coerce
Zen
to make living go the way you want it to go. You can only
bend, manipulate, or coerce
Zen
to make living go the way it's already going. There's a
frustration when I want my life to be awesome when what occurs isn't
awesome at all. That's what'll likely happen when I've got my
attention
on what I want, not on that
this is IT.
The secret
(ie if we can indeed call it
a secret
when it's already in full view and open and available to everyone) is
to try on that what-ever is happening,
is IT.
You don't prefer the way it is?
This is IT.
You prefer the way it is?
This is IT.
You don't want it to be the way it is?
This is IT.
You want it to be the way it is?
This is IT.
You don't like the way it is?
This is IT.
You like the way it is?
This is IT.
I'm so
sorry,
but
this is IT,
all of it, exactly this way - and indeed (and especially)
what there is to remember about what life serves up which I don't
prefer, which I don't want, and which I don't like, is this
too ...
is IT.
Really.
When life serves up
a menu
of what you don't prefer, don't want, don't like, don't
agree with etc, what do you do ie what are you
thrown to do? You may be thrown to change things,
fix
them or make them better, none of which are easy. Changing life to make
it serve up what you prefer, what you want, what you like, is hard.
Try on that
this is IT,
so
surrender
your being, fulfillment, satisfaction, and completion, to the "IT". The
"IT" when
this is IT
really doesn't care about your being, fulfillment, satisfaction, and
completion. The "IT" when
this is IT,
only cares about what is.
In Zen
there are really just two options:
1) try on that this too (ie what you're trying to change,
fix,
and make better) is also in fact "IT"; 2)
invent some new possibilities
for what life is serving up.
