With each step you go, you have less and less tendency to look down. You have less tendency to act in ways you know aren´t true or to speak in ways you know aren´t true or do things you know aren´t coming from truth. You start to realize that the consequences have become greater; the more awake we get, the greater the consequences are. Finally, the consequences of acting outside of truth become inmense; the slightest action or behavior that´s not in accordance with the truth can be unbearable to us.
This type of responsability is not something we count on when we imagine awakening. We thinkthat awakening will be a get-out-of-jail-free card. Initially we have a relationship with the spiritual freedom of awakening that is infantile.
We thin that freedom is a personal thing, that it is about feeling extraordinarily good and free. But freedom is much more nuanced than that. It is not a personal thing; it is not an acquisition for us.
As we become more conscious, we begin to see that there are consequences. There are consequences to every thing, and they get bigger and bigger the more we behave in ways that are not in harmony with what we know is true. This is actually a wonderful thing. It is what i call fierce grace. It is not a soft grace; it is not the kind of grace that is beautiful and uplifting. But it is a grace nonetheless. We know that when we act from what is not true, we will only be causing ourselves pain. That knowing is a grace.
Reality is always true to itself. When you´re in harmony with it, you experience bliss. As soon as you are not in harmony with it, you experience pain. This is the law of the universe; it is the way things are. Nobody gets out of this law. To me, this knowledge is a grace. Reality is consistent. Argue with it, go against it, and it will hurt -every single time. It will hurt you, it will hurt others, and it will contribute to the general conflict of all beings.
But this fierceness is also beautiful. It helps orient us deeper and deeper into our true nature. We realize that to behave from any place other than our true nature is destructive to ourselves and, just as important, to the world and others around us. The more we understand this, the more often we are able to right ourselves when we get off course.
This type of responsability is not something we count on when we imagine awakening. We thinkthat awakening will be a get-out-of-jail-free card. Initially we have a relationship with the spiritual freedom of awakening that is infantile.
We thin that freedom is a personal thing, that it is about feeling extraordinarily good and free. But freedom is much more nuanced than that. It is not a personal thing; it is not an acquisition for us.
As we become more conscious, we begin to see that there are consequences. There are consequences to every thing, and they get bigger and bigger the more we behave in ways that are not in harmony with what we know is true. This is actually a wonderful thing. It is what i call fierce grace. It is not a soft grace; it is not the kind of grace that is beautiful and uplifting. But it is a grace nonetheless. We know that when we act from what is not true, we will only be causing ourselves pain. That knowing is a grace.
Reality is always true to itself. When you´re in harmony with it, you experience bliss. As soon as you are not in harmony with it, you experience pain. This is the law of the universe; it is the way things are. Nobody gets out of this law. To me, this knowledge is a grace. Reality is consistent. Argue with it, go against it, and it will hurt -every single time. It will hurt you, it will hurt others, and it will contribute to the general conflict of all beings.
But this fierceness is also beautiful. It helps orient us deeper and deeper into our true nature. We realize that to behave from any place other than our true nature is destructive to ourselves and, just as important, to the world and others around us. The more we understand this, the more often we are able to right ourselves when we get off course.
The end of your world. Adyashanti.
