The Promise and the Sword
La Promesa y la Espada
A meditation on letting go of how we think resolution should look and learning to savor exactly what is here right now.
The Promise and the Sword
All this path,
meditation,
practice,
there is a promise.
That promise: there is something that is real,
and that there is a resolution.
But also in that promise there is something that is inevitably misunderstood,
because the mind makes it into something known.
"This resolution will be how I imagine, how I want it to be,"
and this cannot be avoided,
because the mind will interpret within the confines of thought.
The implicit promise
So here as we sit
in the phase of meditation,
inquiry,
contemplation,
there is an implicit promise.
There's a purpose for it.
But the reality of the resolution, of awakening, of realization,
is in constant tension
with the mental interpretation,
the inevitable misunderstanding:
that it will be in time and as I imagine it to be.
And so let's sit with that, all that tension.
Notice the sense of longing,
expectation, the sense of promise,
longing,
listening to a call,
combined with the needs,
the wants,
the attachments of thought
and the emotion.
The sword of presence
There is a sword
that discerns and cuts through,
distinguishes the promise from the misinterpretation.
That is the use of the word "presence," or "this moment."
And so the promise is right here.
It is not in time.
It is not tomorrow.
It does not require healing.
It does not require shifts,
expansions.
It's as literal as it can be: this, exactly as this is,
with everything.
All the sensations,
the pleasant ones,
contractions, the emotions,
frustrations, discomforts, and the aliveness,
the tingling,
the lights,
the colors,
the sounds,
the thoughts,
the images,
the madness,
the beauty,
the lovingness, the warm, the cold.
Never not this
is where this sword is pointing,
cutting deep into illusions,
frustrations, expectations.
Resting in uncertainty
Notice this.
There's no resting if not in certainty,
and then uncertainty.
Rest in this emptiness.
Rest in the confusion.
Rest in the vastness.
Rest in anything that is appearing.
Sink into it.
Embrace totally.
Nothing is rejected.
All frustration, embrace.
Savoring this moment
Do this for a moment
and you will say yes to God,
and the response will be yes.
All we need is to learn to savor
every sensation,
every emotion,
every discomfort.
It's the richness,
the complexity,
the aliveness in everything.
Then people lose interest in thoughts,
the interest in future and past.
The moment will be too tasty, always.
No need to fight with the mind.
Just learn to savor this moment,
conditions to the level it is.