The Gap

Here is another 'motivational' posts from Curtis Sensei. Again, as I've stated several times, I post these because they assist me; they motivate me; they get me through the tough times...Like when I'm in that cold ass shower performing the Wim Hof Method. Hey, when I'm face to face with the cold, I need all the motivation I can get! 

One of these days I'll get posting more in regards to how my Wim Hof Method In Prescott Arizona practice is going, but for now, just keep reading the existing posts. Now, listed below, is Curtis Sensei's post. 

When I look in the mirror, if I stay and look long enough, I will notice that my image shifts. But actually, the image is not shifting. It is my mind that is shifting. It is very difficult for me to focus or concentrate without my mind jumping from here to there.  

I look in the mirror universe or beautiful crystal ball of the universe and I polish myself.  

I pierce the mirror that reflects nothing. 

We say mirror universe, traditionally that mirror is the mirror that only has a mirror in front of itself. There is no object in the mirror. When we look in this mirror, this mirror is our mind. It is the essence of what is. As long as there is an object in that mirror then this is something to be sought after or feared. When this mirror is pure, when we see clearly then we say there is no image in the mirror. This is a pure mirror universe, not showing anything. 

With a sharp sword of my Will, I pierce to the pure mirror universe so that I polish myself.  

We hear about awakening, freedom from suffering. Where is that? In our struggle aren't we struggling for that freedom? In our pain aren't we disappointed and resistant to the lack of this fear? And in our fear aren't we afraid because we won't get to have this illusive freedom?  

Happiness, in other words. Satisfaction. Everybody wants that. We look for consciousness or mind. Where is this consciousness? All that fear and struggling and gathering. Hanging and clinging to and pushing away is all inside this mind. The mind is this condition that we have right here. We are searching for that which is just this. How silly. 

Suddenly, to experience being here, which of course is a fearless and pain-free and struggle-free condition. Sounds great. When I realized there was nothing there, I realized there was nothing to defend. What is there to be afraid of? 

Struggle against struggle. This fearful running from fear, which I was talking about. The pain is caused by a struggle to find something that we already have. This turns out to be foolishness to require this.  

If one practice’s meditation then we know that our mind tends to jump all over the place. Every time the mind shifts, we must begin again. So that's why, when we are practicing meditation or stopping the internal dialogue, it takes some time, some practice, before we can concentrate through a period of time where there isn't some gap, or hiccup, created by this mind shifting.  

Let's just look at this business of slack, or gap, or space between when someone ask you to do something and you do it. What is that gap made of? Well, it is made of you wanting to be the right one; it's made of a person's wanting to do a good job.  

It is a matter of learning to calm your mind. If you can calm your breath, then you can calm your mind. If you can calm your mind, you can calm your environment.  

Every time I ask folks, "If you have a choice between a positive life and a negative life, what do you choose?” I have never heard anyone say that they would choose negative! Is anyone here going to say they choose negative? Of course not.  

But in our daily life we do choose negative sometimes. So, this is another example of a gap here, right? This is a contradiction. In other words, is anyone here free of suffering? No. And we suffer because, maybe without knowing it, we choose negative. We want to choose positive, but our "choices" are not actually choices at all, but conditioned responses coming out from our history, and perhaps they may lead to a negative result. And when we see the negative result, we say, "But I don't like this. I wanted positive". Then always the answer is to review our choices and next time to overcome our conditioning to make the ones that lead to positive.  

This is the value of what we call a self-realized life.  

If we want to have a clear path to what we are doing, or any aspect of our evolving of our consciousness training, let alone in daily life, then we have to do the practice that develops us in that direction. If we want to go north, then we must head north, not south.  

What practices are you developing that lead in the right direction?

Curtis Sensei via Lectures