source: venturegalleries.com
We are conditioned to look to the world to bring us happiness. And so we embark on an endless, futile effort of chasing forms hoping that once we have them, we will have happiness. We go to the shopping mall or grocery store chasing discounts. But then we find that there is a better deal elsewhere so we return our purchase and go to the cheaper, better place. Or we attend one meeting after another chasing the next deal. But it turns out that the deal falls apart or it wasn’t as lucrative as we thought. Or we move from one relationship to another chasing the perfect person. Then our partner’s flaws come out and we realize that he/she is not the perfect one for us. This craving, this need for fulfillment always leaves us with a perpetual feeling of discontent because we interchange the two things that we experience.
As we know, this world is composed of two dimensions: forms (thoughts, actions, things) and formless (space, consciousness, infinite intelligence). The forms can only satisfy forms and the formless can only satisfy the formless. We cannot interchange the two. For instance, food will satisfy hunger, but it cannot satisfy craving. Money will buy a nice house but it cannot buy a home that is filled with love, harmony and peace. We can marry a husband or wife but we cannot force him/her to truly love us. The first analogies (food, money and marriage) are subject to the polarity of forms–good/bad, worst/best, high/low–which cause suffering and despair. Whereas the latter analogies (craving, home, and true love) can only be dealt with or exist on the level of the formless, which is above the fluctuation of forms. How do we move into this uncharted territory of spaciousness?
The key is to allow the formless to flow into form. This happens when we observe things without getting entangled with them. We accept what happens without judgment. This acceptance stops the mind from its noise-making activities because it is no longer fighting what is. We don’t chase the next moment so we are able to have space within ourselves. We feel our essence and that of every being and form around us. We gain depth and perception that were missing before. Consciousness is able to move through us and connect us with the right action, person, or situation. Wonders begin to happen. We are able to drop the food or shopping addiction. The right deal comes along. We experience peace in our home. True love finds us.
The paradox is that when we stop chasing happiness, it comes forth and embraces us. It was always there, ready and waiting for us. We did not have to go after it. As Eckhart Tolle said, “Nothing real is threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”
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