The other day I had occasion to visit with a man who appeared to be under a lot of stress. Made me think about zen and letting it all go. Made me think about how being under stress is an externalization of an internal process. Made me think about how all the spiritual study in the world falls flat if one let’s the little stuff dominate.
Stress. Pain. Emotion. All created by us as a reaction.
But what is this reaction really? An action that reflects our core. Here we go again. I am getting tired of using this word but I have to say it again, it comes down to what you value. Values aren’t only positives, they are also negative. So those of us who stress, value stress or we wouldn’t do it. Before Hazel goes off on being at the whim of reality I do want to acknowledge that these philosophies are dealing with concepts, not absolutes in the practical sense, but absolutes in the literal sense. Only I control me. How I do that and to what affect comes down to how well I know myself, physically and mentally.
So letting it all go reflects our values really. Values are the core of everything human beyond physical hard wired reactions. Those too are values but mastering the physical body is probably a greater challenge than mastering the mental body. Someday maybe. And yes it has been done.
The strange conclusion reached here is that stress like all perception is a self imposed pain that we are either addicted to, or we don’t have the vision to see that we are making our own pain. John Lennon once said “no one can harm you, feel you own pain” in his absolutely fantastic song I Found Out off of Plastic Ono Band, his first solo album. That nails this topic perfectly.
We really are our own worst enemies, would but that we would just focus on ourselves we could become Off Every Day.
Letting it all go will lead you to a way of being that can be frightening in its detachment but very cool in its calm.