TWO WAYS TO EXIST:

[Pravin Kumar]

Two Ways to Exist:

There are two ways to exist, one way is you run away from life and that follows you everywhere, and the other way is you are willing to face life which is the way that will bring you freedom...

Suffering in this existence is pretty much inevitable because of the Conditioned Mind, but it doesn't have to be this way. There are many lessons to learn in our life, but until it's realized there are two ways to exist the one you're most likely to be stuck is the one where suffering follows you everywhere. This is the dog chasing its tail suffering and it never ends because it can't. It's controlling energy is immersed in the attachment to "I" and as long as this is in place it will follow you everywhere. "I" keeps you firmly locked in place, nothing satisfies the unquenchable thirst of "I" so this why the suffering follows you everywhere; "I" is always thirsty. Even though this is the suffering that's in place for most, there is another way to exist that is beneficial to one's well being and this is because it pushes you to a state where there is freedom.

This freedom is from the attachment to "I" not from suffering, because without "I" there's no one to suffer. This other way leads to freedom because as agitated energy arises and it will, instead of attaching to it, you allow it to push you to new insights and revelations; you are with the pain of what arises instead of pushing it away. There's no reaching to mask it, there's no running from it or using something as a distraction. What happens when you make a stand with what arises, the lies of "I" are exposed, and if there's no "I" there's nothing for the suffering to follow; liberation naturally occurs. Read this very carefully and if the full meaning of this can be grasped, freedom from the suffering that's been following you around for most of your life will begin to fall away, but understand this will only occur when there isn’t an "I" to follow.

MICHAEL CUPO

[eye_of_tiger]

There are two ways to exist, one way is you run away from life and that follows you everywhere, and the other way is you are willing to face life which is the way that will bring you freedom...

But are there only one of two extremely different ways for each of us to exist?

Most of us (I know that I am) are existing a third way.

The way in which although we may have in the past run away from the realities of our life, we are now gradually choosing to selectively face one or more parts of those realities, each day.

The way in which we often move one step forward towards our goal, closely followed by two steps back.

As long as we continue to move in the right general direction of our goal of freedom, a mistake or bad day along the path does not mean that we are a failure.

Losing one battle does not necessarily mean losing the entire war?

Surely the life of a person who is doing his or her best to selectively face and deal with the harsher realities in a mature and balanced manner is just as valid as the lives of people who exist from one of these two extreme positions.

In other words, the highly imperfect but often with the best of intentions to improve themselves, human way of progressively facing life's realities!

Open for discussion to any member.

Brian