In the spiritual practice there's so much conversation about the importance of acceptance.
But what happens when we catch ourselves continually getting stuck trying to accept,
Knowing that acceptance is the quote-unquote right answer?
Begin this meditation by visualizing that the breath is above the crown of the head and,
As you inhale,
Draw the breath in through the crown of the head.
And,
As you exhale,
Release it into the earth.
And just repeat that for a few breaths.
When we're trying to accept something,
We're often identified with some aspect of the personality that's trying to do practice.
Again,
Who knows that the quote-unquote right answer is to be more compassionate,
Or more accepting,
Or more loving,
And is trying to accomplish that.
Take a moment to feel into what it's like to try to be more accepting,
To hold in your mind a vision of who you're supposed to be,
And then to try to achieve that.
Can you relate to thoughts like,
Well,
That wasn't very accepting of you,
Or you should be more loving?
Can you feel how this keeps in place an observer,
I like to call this the pseudo-Zen master,
That's assessing how you're doing in your practice?
In this approach,
Acceptance is a should,
Something you're trying to experience rather than a byproduct of your very being.
Your being is naturally accepting.
Your being is naturally allowing.
Your being is like the open expanse of the sky,
Undisturbed by anything and everything that passes through it,
Clouds,
Storms,
Planes,
Birds.
All of it passing,
The sky,
Untarnished.
The sky doesn't practice accepting what moves through it.
It is the nature of the sky to allow.
If we're efforting to accept,
We're identifying with a sense of separateness that's standing outside life,
Trying to experience the very thing that it most longs for,
The ease of our own being.
Our own being naturally accepting,
Naturally allowing,
Naturally forgiving,
Naturally open,
Naturally undisturbed by anything,
By everything,
Naturally unborn and naturally undying.
The reason that self-improvement doesn't work is because there is no separate self to improve.
Your very being isn't in need of improvement.
It's not adhering to conditioned standards.
Your very being is free.
Acceptance is simply one facet of your being.
One way that we can talk about a quality of being,
Even though in truth,
We're just overlaying words for something that has none.
Allow yourself to appreciate what's already here and what you already are.
Give yourself permission to enjoy your own being,
A being that's not separate,
A being that's shared by everyone and everything.
Release that temptation to identify with a small,
Separate self that efforts,
That strives after the very thing that you inherently are.
I invite you to remain here now for as long as you'd like,
Just enjoying your own being.
Allowing what is,
Accepting what is,
Without efforting.
Simply enjoying being.
