CosmicWise

...lighting the candle of personal awareness & becoming ...

THE LAW OF DRAMA

This Awareness indicates there is that Law Of Awareness wherein this Awareness may observe which is the illusion of separateness, yet not to be confused by this illusion; whereby this Awareness may be aware of the illusion of tragedy, yet not to be caught in that illusion; whereby this Awareness may be aware of that which is the illusion of death, yet not to be caught in that illusion, whereby this Awareness may observe that which is the illusion of free will, yet not to be caught in that illusion.

There are certain limitations placed upon this Awareness which It cannot break. One of these being It cannot break Its own principles and Laws; It cannot deny or reject those who would appear to separate themselves from this Awareness nor the movement and illusion of free will whereby they would do so.

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up.
They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be."
~ Charles "Tremendous" Jones ~

*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~* *~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*

The Buddhists say there are eight winds. They are gain and loss, praise and ridicule, credit and blame, and suffering and joy. If you aren't aware of them, they will blow you away like dry leaves in an autumn breeze. For example, when someone praises you, and that tastes sweet, like candy in your mouth, you are being blown away by the wind of praise.

One day in ancient China a young man thought he had become enlightened. He wrote a poem to his master about how he was not blown by the eight winds. Then he sent it to his master who lived three hundred miles up the Yangtze River.

When his master read the poem, he wrote, "Fart, Fart" on the bottom and sent it back.

The more the young man read those words, the more upset he got. At last he decided to visit his master. In those days, a three-hundred-mile trip up the Yangtze River was a very difficult journey.

As soon as he arrived, he went straight to his master's temple. "Why did you write this?" he asked, bowing. "Doesn't this poem show that I am no longer blown about by the eight winds?"

"You say that you are no longer blown by the eight winds," replied the master, "but two little farts blew you all the way up here."

It seems that in hindsight most of us see the futility in getting all tangled up in the theatrics of our lives. Our experiences prove over and over again that not only do we deplete our energies but that whatever is going on, “this too shall pass”. So why do we always find ourselves riding that runaway train and putting ourselves through that mill? Is this just human nature? Or is this just a habitual and predictable way of functioning that can be changed?

There is only one way to avoid riding the emotional roller coaster ride and that is by not getting on it in the first place. The fact is that once we’re on it, it can be very hard indeed to get off until the ride comes to its natural conclusion, but by then the “damage” has been done. Until we develop a new set of skills for dealing with our emotional knee-jerk reactions that set the theatrics into motion, these emotional cycles will continue to yank our chains and sap our energies.

Perhaps it would help to imagine our life experience as a circle with extreme emotional reactions as the roller coaster ride that orbits the outer edge of the periphery. Our point of perfect balance lies right in the center of the circle. Meditation is the practice that leads us to that center; it is also where we are perfectly alert. This is the Eternal Now-Moment where “What Is” is easily seen and accepted. Anything outside the center point constitutes the UNREAL parading around in our minds as past memories and future aspirations. All of us, until we learn differently, are constantly entertaining past/future dream images and unconsciously superimposing them on reality, so that we are in a constant struggle with reality as we attempt to force it to conform to our will by imagining “What May Be” instead of “What Is”. It is no wonder that we are constantly struggling and fighting with each other and for supremacy over Nature and other life forms as well.

When we get caught up in dramas--whether they be good or bad--we are somewhere out in the periphery of our circle. The less we are carried away by situational extremes, the closer we are to the center point. Learning to sit in the center and to stay there is what we are after. So how do we stay centered and out of that emotive rut? Aside from engaging in a daily meditative practice, it can be as simple as seeing EVERY person you encounter (no exceptions) as some important aspect of your self that has something of value to share with you ABOUT you. What that may be is for you to determine as each person and each situation is different.

If I, for example, were to encounter (or interpret) meanness in another, I would direct my energy towards first discovering in what way I am mean to myself. Afterwards, I would connect with these inner feelings and validate them. In validating myself, I am now in a better position to actually change this attitude or behavior if I decide it does not serve me any longer. Since I am no longer holding onto “mean” energy inside myself, I am no longer attract excess doses of meanness in others and, in turn, having to deal with my reactiveness regarding it. If anything, I can see past the meanness to the reality of that person’s inner struggle and begin to feel compassion for them. Though many who are struggling with their inner demons often accept compassion from others, they may still be unable to see through the illusion of their own dramas. Therefore, even when we understand the other person and what drives them, we must still, in some cases, walk away from them and let them find their own way.

P.S. fart, fart..

*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~* *~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*~»«~*~»§«~*

Reader's comment #1:
I almost forget that my spirit isn't invisible to everyone. There are some, you included Skye, that can peer into people's souls and know what they are going through. I have this gift, when I pay attention to it, as well. Drama can seem so outward and manifest in people's lives in a way that is so obvious. I rarely stop to see what it does to people on the inside.

My gratitude for my struggles has been of much help to me. My life may get turned upside down and be in a complete mess, but inside I remain intact and unbroken. That's when I know that the lessons I am learning are valuable to my growth. Then when I look back on what happened and why, I know, without a doubt, that it was divinely inspired.

I try not to get too carried away by asking for everything to be taken away but I know what does not belong, will not stay. And I will be ok no matter what. Life is eternal and no problem can take that from me if I don't let it. Wow...another awakening to absorb. Thanks again for your continued efforts and love.

Reader's comment #2:
The words of Ch. Jones define very well the catalystic power of Pluto, and I think it is so that bit by bit we awake from the drama’s we create and live, by thinking they are real. As a result of thoughts and convictions we are like producers, making a lot of movies in which we play a principal or other role, or by putting judgements on things that are going on in those movies. But unlike actors, we do not step out of our different roles to return to REAL life, we keep carrying those roles as an identity. I think that as long as we give a value to any action, external or even inner, we are caught in duality and so we keep on dealing with karma. Right action is only possible when living in the PRESENT MOMENT, looking through thoughts which are only changing patterns of energy such as clouds, so we do not have to identify with, what stops the creation of drama’s.
Namaste^

Reader's comment #3:
Not just everyone or anything motivates me to walk downstairs in search of a book, but i found it, a dusty I Ching and clearly I didn't like it, having only three earmarks. Or is it that I didn't have the time to *really* study it, as with so many other things? The I Ching is demanding with its hexagrams, the Book of Changes. My point is...anyone having taken the time to tackle this script deserves applause "But, it ain't me babe." However, I share here an earmarked verse, one that I like, since it connects human beings with nature and heaven if you will...

"Words issue from one's person, and proceed to affect the people. Actions proceed from what is near, and their effects are seen at a distance. Words and actions are the hinge and spring of the superior man. The movement of that hinge and spring determines glory or disgrace. His words and actions move heaven and earth; may he be careless in regard to them?"..."There wisdom was high, and their rules of conduct were solid. That loftiness was after the pattern of heaven; that solidity, after the pattern of earth. Heaven and earth having their positions as assigned to them, the changes of nature take place between them. The nature of man having been completed, and being continually preserved, it is the gate of all good courses and righteousness."

Reader's comment #4:
Your commentary is tremendously helpful for without it I would not have seen the full implication. As one who has previously led here life as a drama queen (trained well from an early age) I thank you for the tools to assist putting the ego in a very strong box. With every attempt the goal seems to slip away - because I have not been paying as much attention as I thought I was. I suspect I too would have made that journey.

Reader's comment #5:
I am still very skeptical of isolating the ego. I am not sure why I think there is danger in this. But then again, I don't base my opinion of myself on what others think. I love the roller coaster ride that comes with love. I am willing to accept the pitfalls of indulging in this. I am a hedonist in many ways. I love enjoying all that my senses can enjoy and giving to others for the sake of giving. If others do not treat me well, I might get my feelings hurt, but usually I think they are troubled in some way. I try to determine if any criticism of me is accurate, and change if I think it is necessary, otherwise I discount it. Sometimes, later in life I am able to see the truth of the criticism. But that is usually when I had changed anyway. So if that is what you mean by avoiding the emotional roller coaster, Skye, I I agree. I am not easily moved by what others think of me. I never have been. And even if it hurts my feelings at times, I still do what I think is correct. This is all I think I can do for I would be tossed like a boat in the winds of a sea if I bowed to what others think of me. But, I love delving in emotion, feeling textures, tasting, smelling, feeling. And the peaks of these experiences I thought were appreciated by the ego. I love being alive to enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer. And I most especially love this page!

Response :
I used the roller-coaster ride as a metaphor because, unlike other metaphors, this one has that unique way of expressing the specific tied-up nauseaous stomach-in-knots sensations in the same way that overly dramatic situations tend to create in us. The real problem with dramatics is not in feeling sensations but that as a result of the extreme feelings they churn out in us, they cause us to numb-out emotionally as we unconsciously prepare for the possiblity of another round of these overwhelming sensations.

Learning to side-step the dramas in our life is not about foreiting all of life's wonders. Not at all. In fact, what I'm suggesting is that the more we learn to side-step the UNNECESSARY over-dramatizations, the more open and available we become to savouring (with abandon) all the awes that life has to offer us. True awe is magical precisely because it is so delicately subtle, as compared to the human-generated drama that is meant to cause "shock" to the system, not produce "admiration".

You see, too many dramatic close-encounters inhibit us--they cause us to shut-down and de-sensitize ourselves so that: we don't really taste the different flavours in our food when we eat.. so that we miss catching all the subtle fragrances that surround us.. so that we miss hearing the deeper messages from our inability to really listen.. so that we become blind to the nuances and significances of body language.. and so forth. Somethings to think about.