Friday, January 10, 2014

Neurotic.

Oh, how we love distraction.

It makes us feel normal again.  The constant busyness, the doing.  It makes us feel secure, in control, like we run this show.

The compulsion to move- itch that finger or ear, check our email, our phones.  Check Facebook, check the news, watch a show.  Call, text, move, shift, sort.

All this because we are uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable.  We are irritated, this baseline subtle irritation that never really goes away.

But we feel good when we keep moving.

We might complain about always being busy.  All the things we have to do or should do.  But really this is what we want, to keep doing.  Because the opposite is scary.

When we are not doing, all the irritation rises up.  It shows its ugly face. 

When we are not doing, we realize how uncomfortable we are.  We become aware of how painful our life is.  Likely we don't know how to deal with this situation, so we enter flight or fright mode.  And we run.  Or at least we move. 

Our society wonders why we suffer from so much anxiety, depression, loneliness and sadness.  Why are our lives unfulfilling, why do we feel like we are being constantly bombarded from all directions?

Because we are.  And we are running. 

Stop running.  Train your mind.  That is what it means to have a spiritual practice.
Clarify your practice.  Let your practice clarify you.

Commit not a single unwholesome action, 
Cultivate a wealth of virtue,
To tame this mind of ours, 
This is the doctrine of the Buddha.
Buddha Shakyamuni

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