When Will We Learn to Take Responsibility For Our Lives?
by Robert Meagher on 04/30/14
“Live your own life.
That is to say, where you are, with what you are, and with who you are.”
… Swami Prajnanpad
When will we learn that no one, and no thing, outside of
us controls how we see the world? When will we learn that we are 100%
responsible for our lives? When will we learn that we are 100% responsible for
the world we see and how we react to the world we see?
In our ego-based existence, we become trapped in a
thought system that informs us what is happening outside of us influences how
we feel and react. This thought system frames our existence. We are easily
persuaded that our existence, our well-being, is entirely dependent on what is
happening around us, outside of us. This thought system sees us reacting to
everyone and everything as if we have absolutely no control over our lives, how
we see the world, how we react to the world we see, and what role we play in
the world we see.
Like with most everything in the ego-based world, it is
almost completely opposite to truth and reality. Take for example how we ‘see’
the world. In the ego-based existence, we think we see with our eyes. This is a
commonly accepted truth about our world. Yet science and spiritual teachings
inform us differently. We see with our mind. First comes a, or the, thought. A
thought about a person, place, event, thing, or whatever it is we think. This
thought is projected outward and our eyes, being the receptors of our outward projections,
receive the cues from our projected, outward reality and bring it back inside
for our brains to process. But the convoluted process begins with a thought,
our thought.
Who made this thought? Who created this thought? Where
did it come from? Did you need permission to have this thought? If so, from
whom?
Every thought we have comes from us; no one else. No one,
and no thing, outside of us gives us our thoughts. We are the source, creators,
projectors, and receptors of our thoughts. There is a Zen saying… “If you do
not get it from yourself, where will you go for it?” If we are not the source,
creators, projectors, and receptors of our thoughts, then who or what is? It
certainly is not someone or something outside of us.
When we begin to take responsibility for our thoughts,
our lives, we initiate a process whereby we can cultivate peace. Swami
Sivananda shares “A desire arises in the mind. It is satisfied; immediately
another comes. In the interval which separates two desires a perfect calm
reigns in the mind. It is at this moment free from all thoughts, love or
hate…complete peace equally reigns.” For as long as we think what is outside of
us controls how we see the world, our opportunity for peace is jeopardized.
So what do we do with these seemingly external events and
experiences in our lives? We simply observe them. Nothing more; nothing less. No judgement. No
expectations. Simply observe. Hsu Yun says it best… “The best way is just to
observe the noise of the world. The answer to your questions? Ask your own
heart.”
Our mind is an amazing instrument; powerful beyond most
people’s comprehension. But our mind can get us into all sorts of trouble.
Quieting our mind not only facilitates inner peace but it makes it possible for
us to see our outer world more peacefully. When Dogo was asked about the mind’s
extraordinary powers, he responded… “If you want to see, see at once. When you
begin to think, you miss the point!”
When you begin to take responsibility for your life, you
have begun to understand you are responsible for what you see. When you begin
to understand you are responsible for what you see, you begin to understand you
can create to world you want to live in. When you begin to create the world you
want to live in, your life, and everyone’s life around you, is transformed.
Shanti, Namaste, Agapé,
