Finding Resilience In The Midst Of Uncertainty

Hi everybody and welcome to this Inside Timer live event on finding resilience in the midst of uncertainty.

The first step is always to ask ourselves,

Well,

Where can resilience actually be found?

You know,

What is resilience and how to get there?

The way to do this is to observe our actual experience.

In this moment,

There are thoughts coming and going.

So resilience is not in our thoughts because the thoughts,

They keep changing.

We cannot rely on something that keeps changing like our thoughts.

Then we go to the next stage.

Can it be a feeling?

You know,

A lot of us want a feeling of peace and happiness that is constant.

But of course,

This keeps changing as well.

Sometimes we feel the peace and happiness that we like to feel so much.

Other times it's more tension,

More stressful.

So again,

Feelings also come and go.

We cannot really find resilience in them.

What about relationships and circumstances?

Well,

The same applies there,

You know.

They keep changing sometimes beyond our control.

Like in the current situation with COVID,

You know,

So many of our plans were suddenly changed.

So many of our dreams have to wait.

We have to adapt.

So again,

Circumstances are not,

And relationships are not something that we can place our trust in.

Where we can find real resilience.

Of course,

We can find great partners and great friends that support us and are always there for us.

But we cannot rely a hundred percent on them because something can change in their lives.

And they have to go somewhere where we're not in touch.

So what is left?

Well,

What's left is our very own being,

Our self.

The one that is aware of all that is happening in life and in this moment.

So all of our thoughts,

All of our feelings,

All of our circumstances.

There is an awareness there that knows these things.

And the more we explore this awareness,

The more we find that it is always there.

Nothing can appear in our experience without us being aware of it.

And so by placing our trust in this awareness,

In what is constant,

We are not getting so lost in our thinking,

In our feeling,

In our circumstances,

In trying to change things so much.

And that is where we can actually place our trust in our very own I am-ness,

In our very own presence and knowing that we are here now,

Always.

That is true strength,

True inspired action.

Everything just unfolds once we know who we really are and we stay with this.

We simply are here now.

So in terms of COVID,

What are the lessons?

The first and most important thing is that everything in our experience is there to point us back to who we are.

So if there is a negative thought,

If there is a tense feeling or even happy thoughts and free feelings,

All of these things point back to the source of all things,

The I am-ness.

Before everything that we say or we do,

We start with I am.

I am tired or I am going to have a shower or I am happy.

Everything is preceded by this I am-ness.

So even in language,

We can find clues as to where this resilience can actually be found.

Everything else is pointing us back to who we really are.

The second lesson is that circumstances cannot make us happy because as I said before,

They can suddenly change.

Our plans have to be delayed by sometimes many years.

So again,

We can plan,

We can want things,

But we have to do it from a place of surrender as well,

To treat it as a nice idea to go towards,

But not as something that creates our happiness and that we must achieve at all costs.

Because if we do that,

Then we are making ourselves potentially unhappy.

If this goes to fail,

Then our happiness,

Being dependent on it,

Means that we are unhappy.

Whereas if we remain present and if we act from a sense of peace,

Then it is much easier to remain grounded.

And the fourth thing that this situation is here to teach us is that we are all connected.

So everyone's actions impact everyone else.

Knowing that,

We must therefore consider not just our self and what is good for us,

But also what is good for others around us,

For as many people as we can try to consider with our actions.

So the message of this talk is that you cannot rely or you should not rely on what is unreliable.

And what is unreliable is circumstances,

Thoughts and feelings.

What we can trust and should trust is what is true and real and constant beyond that,

Which is our true self,

The awareness with which we know our experience.

Until we do that,

We are prone to suffering because we invest our sense of strength,

Resilience,

Happiness,

Freedom in something that cannot give it to us.

Eventually it will change,

Eventually it will go.

So we have to trust that which is always present,

Which is behind all of these other experiences.

What's interesting is that when we rest as our self,

When we know our self as the awareness within which everything arises,

Then awareness itself simply allows things to be as they are.

There is no need to change thoughts or feelings or circumstances.

And then through these characters that we are,

The body-minds,

We express our innate love and happiness into the world,

Independent of the situation that we find ourselves in.

And there is a strong knowing of what is right,

What is the most aligned action,

What is the most aligned behavior in this situation.

So I hope all of this makes sense.

Thank you all for being here and for your comments.

Yeah,

Definitely Buddhism is such a great way of becoming more mindful,

Of discovering our self,

Of finding what is constant.

It's very interesting because at first meditation,

For example,

It's something that we do for 10 minutes a day,

In the morning or in the evening.

And then we go back to our day-to-day lives with our old patterns.

Sometimes we get angry or engage in behaviors we don't like so much.

And then we meditate again.

We see that everything is actually fine.

And slowly it becomes this thing that we make more and more of a focus in our lives because in meditation we feel what is true,

Something that is way more real than the thoughts,

The feelings and the rest of the day.

And slowly we understand that meditation is the constant or in other words the awareness that knows our experience,

That knows our thoughts,

Our feelings and everything is who we are.

I think Buddhism essentially teaches that as well as many other things like this principle of interconnection that you talk about.

And I think also a lot of people are criticizing the media,

For example,

In these times because it's a source of so much fear and anxiety and it's creating tensions and divisions and so many unnecessary things.

But at the same time it's amazing to live in an age where our interconnectedness is so clear and so tangible in every way.

I think I read somewhere that one person today in one day reads and gets as much information as a person used to get for a whole lifetime,

Like a hundred years ago or so.

So we are very lucky to be so connected to our interconnectedness.

Victoria says it's true that we are lucky to be connected with people around the world in life.

Sometimes I'm nostalgic about past decades but I think it's an illusion because that was full of problematics too and not all these possibilities.

Yeah,

And also the current situation is part of the evolution.

It's interesting because we tend to try and study the past to predict,

Control and decide our futures.

But actually they're almost unrelated unless we connect them from the previous moment to this future moment,

They're not really connected and it is when we are present,

When we are here,

When we are free to see things as they are,

That we can take the best decisions and that we have this intuitive knowing of what's good,

Not just for us but also for everyone else.

Yeah,

As you say we have only the present moment,

Absolutely.

And that's an interesting one because I used to have a quote that said take refuge in the present moment.

And it's like you go away from the thoughts about the past or the thoughts about the future and you come back to the present moment but I love that you say we have only the present moment because even when we think about the past and the future,

It happens now,

It happens in this moment.

By knowing that there is nothing else but the present moment,

It's like these thoughts are not so problematic anymore.

We can allow them to just be while remaining present.

Jennifer says I think we are becoming more conscious that everything we do comes from either a place of fear or a place of love.

Yes,

Definitely as individuals that should be our aim to see where our actions are coming from.

Is it from a place of love or is it from a place of fear?

And if it's from a place of fear,

Instead of continuing with the actions,

We should sit with what is arising,

The tense feelings,

The fears underlying those feelings,

The thoughts and just let them unfold and unfold until it's processed and it's released and it's gone and we return to our natural peace.

And acting from a place of love is just knowing that you are not affected by circumstances.

Your essential self is always the same,

Independent of where you find yourself,

Who you are with,

What thoughts you have.

All of these things are,

They appear in you and they do not affect you.

And knowing this,

You naturally act from a place of love.

So real solutions do not come from analyzing the past and trying to predict the future.

They come from resting in the present moment,

Knowing that everything is fine and then acting or not acting.

That's the only real solution.

And just like meditation and Buddhism,

For example,

The way we start our days with 10 minutes and then it becomes more and more ingrained in our day to day lives,

In the same way this understanding whether we come from a place of love or a place of fear is something that we become more and more attuned to.

And more and more clear on as we progress on the spiritual path.

Attending a talk like this one is a great start but there's also so much more that we can learn and explore.

And it's also interesting because it's a balance between meditating and just being and also learning about the mind,

The body,

Who we are,

Projection and all of these different tools.

Or ideas.

And then keep growing,

Keep learning,

Keep evolving.

Then this acting from a place of love becomes deeper and deeper.

And the acting from a place of fear becomes more and more quickly seen.

So then we can just sit and be with it.

Jennifer says,

So true,

Thank you.

Remembering our natural essence.

Life is a fascinating journey full of wonder.

Yes,

Absolutely.

And this wonder is so unexpected.

We can never understand the ways of life and the patterns in which it unfolds with our separate minds.

We can try our best to expand our view,

To be more and more each day.

But ultimately we are a part of life so life will always be beyond our understanding.

I think I will end the talk here if there are no more questions.

But feel free to suggest topics for future events either by message or by joining my group.

Thank you all.

Much love.

Have a beautiful day or evening.

And see you again soon.

Thank you.