Here or There?

   
 

                                                                       



"...we cannot be in the present 
     and run our story lines at the same time."


                                                 Pema Chodron

                                                                        

Hmmmmmmmmmm.  This one really has me thinking.

Our "stories" come from our experiences, our conditioning, the beliefs we have been taught.  Together they form our reality...the reality we know and operate and live by. 

 But...is our reality what is really there? 

 Or, is it always clouded by our limited perception?

 

And, if so, is there a way to take in the bigger picture...hopefully, the whole picture or as close as we can get to it from our human perspective?

Is that what Pema Chodron is talking about when she says our story lines prevent us from being in "the present"?

 

It is true that our stories (what has happened to us, our suffering and pain) seem to travel with us.  We take them everywhere we go. 

Everything that we experience is viewed through the subconscious lens of what has occurred in the past.  If we feel that someone has hurt us, for example, we protect ourselves from the fear of further hurt by shutting down emotionally and becoming inaccessible.  It's how we make sense of things and know how to feel and react.  It's our interpretation of the world.

But Pema Chodron seems to be saying this lens we use is really like wearing blinders and prevents us from truly knowing the essence of things. 

We deal only with form...specifically, the form we engaged with in our personal experience...a very specific, limited form for which we ourselves shaped the meaning. 

What if we are missing the true nature of things by being stuck in our stories and not consciously opening up to the essence of what is?
 

Perhaps that essence is only accessible if we approach it with an OPEN heart..not one that is carrying the wounds of the past.  

Perhaps we limit ourselves by reacting to something that only truly exists in OUR reality?  

What if we are missing the purity and beauty of a moment because we only see and feel what we have previously experienced?
 

Our stories really give us a VERY limited view of what is out there.  

What if we drop the stories knowing they are only the product of a moment in time we encountered because of many circumstances? 

And, what if, instead, we open ourselves up to the majestic and compelling draw of the Present Moment which speaks to us with the power and presence of  PURE BEING untainted by the pain of our unhealed hurt...IF we are listening?

 
Perhaps, then, we can transcend the limitations of our earthbound existence and enter into the incredible, glorious pageant of  the world we really live in but very rarely see.
         


image from schoolofwisdom.com