The Awareness in Vulnerability

We are vulnerable beings. We live; we suffer; we die. Despite these truths, it is possible to create an illusion of invulnerability, both mentally and emotionally. The creation of these illusions is the source of much of our confusion and sustains the suffering throughout our life toward our eventual death. This confusion creates a barrier to the awareness that is consistently available in every moment.

Our vulnerability is a vibrant, infinite reservoir of awareness. It provides immediate feedback. To not utilize such a rich source of data about our life and how we live it is a critical lapse in awareness. We must explore the origins of our awareness lapse; otherwise, our confusion will continue to infect everything we do.

Ownership and awareness of our vulnerability is not the cliché “succumbing to our fears.” In fact, it is through acceptance of our fears that we take the first step toward working through those fears.

Fears can be real warnings of danger. Sometimes, fears can be conjured up visions to hold us back from making real change, not only in our own life but in the lives of others. It is far easier to sit and suffer than get up and do something about it, especially when uncertain of what to do. That uncertainty originates in our unwillingness to experience our vulnerability.

We may be in a terrible situation, but it’s a situation we know well, and not all of it is so terrible. There’s at least a bit of stability within the terrible, otherwise we would not be able to survive it. Our fears and our vulnerability make leaving behind that bit of stability almost intolerable.

This is why, despite all the evidence, people stay in abusive situations. For some, the abusive situation holds the only source of stability they can ever be open to living right now. To face the vulnerability this situation presents in their life is terrifying. The intensity of that terrifying truth is too much. Instead of facing it, it’s completely blocked. It’s blocked by an unwillingness to embrace vulnerability, feel our fear and then do something about both.

Using words and phrases like vulnerability and working through fear are lovely ideas. How can we translate these words and phrases into real changes right here, right now?

This is a process, much like a natural spring we find in the desert. We need to drink from the spring often. Too often, we can become choked or engorged with water. Not enough, we become parched quickly. Patience is crucial.

Someone just turned out the lights. If we have patience, our eyes will grow accustomed to less light and we will see again. The same is true with our vulnerability. At first it can be blinding or deafening. If we sit in that vulnerability for a bit, we will be able to see and hear again.

Truly, we can each go to this natural spring within us in any moment. Maybe, it’s become barely a trickle. If we open up, it will flow free again.

We’ve been living life in an entirely different way for the majority of our life. We can always go back to that state of normalcy, and we probably all will when we walk away from this moment. What’s the real risk in attempting something different for just a bit? That’s where you start.

The Fruits of Our Mind

When uncertain of what to do, let loose your mind on this very moment.
The potential in every moment is determined by our minds alone.

The mind is a powerful force. It is as a wild animal. Our mind uses our senses as tentacles, retrieving data on the environment. What data we retrieve is a combination of the intentional focusing of our senses on an object and our senses naturally collecting information autonomously. Data collection is either wild or tamed by our intention. Either way, our minds are constantly engaging the world.

The mind is not just a data retrieval vessel. It takes this data and sorts it, truncates it, attaches it to all the other data that has already been sorted, truncated and attached. It is this mental activity that we can alter.

Begin the exploration of the mind.
Close your eyes. Become open to simply watching the mind do what it does.
Don't force or control it, just watch your mind's efforts.
These efforts are the potential fruits of your life.
We can guide our mind and decide which fruits ripen to perfection and which fruits wither on the vine, nourishing the whole.

Remaining Without

The struggle, nearly over.
Letting go of the struggle, just begun.
Where do we go, what do we do?
What is it that must be done?
Letting go of our being, off in the distance.
That is where and what without remaining.

We are battling back. Thrilled with rolling into the season of our fall.