This World Simply Is

You could just cheer up!
~Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

When we get inundated by disturbing news every day, it is a very good practice to first pay attention to the shape of our reaction before saying, imagining or doing anything.

Most likely we have an empathetic response to the news, however, let’s take a moment and get to know it. It is simple, raw, tender and immediate, but it also fleeting and subtle. It is good to keep coming back to our natural compassionate response to pain and suffering, for it is easily lost in the complexities that follow.

The plot thickens as our innocent and natural response to adverse events might get captured by the ego’s defense mechanisms. That tender and vulnerable response gets taken over by our emotional habits and fixed views. There is fear and we want the world to make sense. There is injustice and we want things set right.

While our urge to fix an issue lets us feel different feelings, we also need to acknowledge that there are situation we cannot do anything about. We need to make peace with those and let them go.

The world simply is. It is not a this-versus-that, good-versus-bad world. This world is the unfoldment of a divine dance that is happening right now and which gives rise to the dynamism of life. By recognizing that every sorrow invites a life-affirming compassionate response, we get a much broader perspective on our being in this world.

It is also good to remind ourselves that when we are stuck in fearful and despairing thoughts, we do have a choice. We do not need to let our thoughts and reactions run wild. We can interrupt that pattern and slow down enough to investigate the cascade of our thoughts, speculations, opinions, and emotions.

At any moment we can simply cheer up!

Affirmation:
Today I surf the waves of thoughts and emotions with ease and grace. The love that I am is my superpower and it sets all things free!