Beautiful Monsters II

Next, we introduce the second principle of the practice, which is Being. Our habitual ways of dealing with our emotions has been indulging the ones that make us feel some sense of happiness, power, or peace and suppressing, avoiding, or distracting ourselves from the ones that are uncomfortable. And, as Dr. Phil often says, “How has that been working out for you?”

So, let’s try something different and see where that leads us. Here are Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s words about just being:

Being is not fixing. We tend to think that ‘being’ means being with something. But you can also just be, without an object. Just be with being itself. Slowly we can learn to just be with the experiencer, without a particular object. Naturally being in being itself. Just be, and as thoughts and emotions continue to arise, and move, the stillness of being remains too. Over time, the hand doesn’t need an object to hold, the hand becomes the resting, the stillness…

Take a radical approach: be fully present with your feelings and emotions, without resistance. It is almost surrendering, trusting the innate wisdom of the emotions. This is a big step. It takes some guts, some courage. Feeling something we have been avoiding is not easy…

When the time is right, though, you have to take the step. If you feel like you are holding back, if you feel like you are resisting give the beautiful monster your hand…

Allow awareness to feel the feeling fully, without resistance, without judgement. This is the practice of being.

This can sound simple or simplified when you read about it, but each of us has a different experience inside when we practice. We can only find our own way by letting the innate light of our awareness guide us as we practice.