Okay,
So back to the mask and the mirror.
So I was talking about the swirl of a Dillerian chocolate in the Carvel cone.
It mixes together and we have thoughts and sensations that mix together that create feelings and emotions.
And then we have the ego watching that,
Pushing things in the direction of what it likes and what it doesn't like.
And then we have the intellect or the true self that's watching the ego,
Which is watching the thoughts and sensations.
And the intellect sometimes is okay with it,
Okay not with it,
Thinking it can do something,
Thinking it can't,
Having some will and direction,
Having lethargy,
Having doubt.
And it just keeps going around in a big circle until you decide that you want to make a change.
You decide that you might want to be a little bit happier.
You'd like to raise your happiness quotient.
And you start to realize that you've been choosing less happiness in order to accomplish something that you wanted.
Now you might not enjoy cleaning your closet.
You might be thinking that you'd be happier watching football on TV or going to the beach.
So you decide you're going to give up some happiness right now in this moment and clean your closet in order to be able to watch football later or go to the beach later.
It's very simple,
We do it all the time.
So we're very willing to give up a certain amount of being happy in order to do something that we think needs to be done or should be done.
Or even we want to do it,
Even though we'd rather do something else.
So a question becomes,
Are you as happy as you'd like to be right now?
Are you willing to trade off being happy to be right?
And how much of your happiness are you willing to let go of in order to accomplish something that you're going to do?
All interesting questions.
And there's no right answer.
But we do have choice.
And sometimes we make that choice.
We're so deep in the hole of unhappiness or reduced happiness,
It's hard to climb out.
One of the ways of climbing out is meditation,
Where we're focusing attention on what our true self,
What our mind is thinking and doing and feeling.
And how that filters up through our awareness into our conscious mind.
Picture it as the bubbles coming up when you pour warm soda into a glass.
These bubbles come up when they get to the top.
They burst open.
Some are little bubbles,
Some are big bubbles.
They start coming up.
As the soda starts to settle,
The bubbles come to the top.
The same thing with the mind.
When you sit down to meditate,
The bubbles,
The thoughts,
The sensations that are subdued under compression,
Like the gas in the soda before it's opened up.
Those thoughts and sensations start to bubble up and they come into awareness when they get to the surface of the mind.
If we don't get wet,
The way those bubbles of soda pop up,
Sometimes they splash at you.
Let them splash.
If we don't get wet and we don't get attached to the bubbles as they're coming up,
We just let them come up.
Gradually you can drink the soda.
It stops tickling your nose.
You can put more soda in the glass.
If we get attached,
It stops the process.
The rest of the bubbles can come up.
And then we're stuck for a while on that bubble,
That thought,
That sensation,
That memory,
That wish,
That desire,
That commentary in the mind that's telling us,
I don't like this,
I want it to stop.
Or,
I like this,
I want really more of it.
We get so attached to it,
We stop the flow of bubbles.
When you can let it go by,
You let the bubbles slide by,
Let the wave pass over,
The next bubble will come up.
And then the next,
And then the next.
And when enough bubbles come up,
You start to feel and sense your true self on the inside.
And that's where your happiness begins.
