Had you wish your mind would stop being so anxiously fixated on the ends, especially since you know of the positive benefits of mindful presence and being in the zone? Perhaps there were times you had access to that state of being deeply present and fully in the zone, feeling calm and at one with yourself—only then later to find this state seems completely lost and inaccessible, and that it feels impossible to turn this higher state of being back on. You ask yourself, “Why am I back to being this way again? I thought I knew better. I have experienced better!”
We know that when we are in the moment and when we are calm that we have better access to our intuition and higher-level awareness. There were perhaps times in our lives we felt like we have truly accessed this state. But if we were able to access that state before, why does it feel like other times they are completely inaccessible? If we knew how it is like to be in an enlightened state, why would we ever go back into darkness?
We can feel shame for the times our minds are anxious, focused on the ends rather than the process, and not in the zone, for the times we get fixated on the negative in past or worries about the future rather than present-oriented, and for the times when we are in the state of reactivity rather than that of mindfulness.
We are taught all these negative states are contrary to our nature, that they are non-human. But if this is so, I have never met a single human being that does not go through these cycles of reactivity, fixations, and anxieties. Not only that, these cycles occur often in the average human being. If a self-proclaimed guru were to say that they never go through them, I find that to be deeply suspicious.
If a part of me is forcing myself to be calm and process-oriented at a time I am feeling down or stressed, and it is telling me I should see the broader perspective on life at a time that I find this real difficult to—this message is not coming from the enlightened, truly present- and process-oriented part of myself. This is because instead of being mindfully present to my pain it really wants to sidestep it. It does not realize that getting into a process-oriented state is itself a process, and that it is not about achieving an end—the end being an “enlightened state.”
Enlightenment, or mindful presence, is not a state of mind that sits on top of a mighty tower, separate from and higher up than the troubles of your human experiences down below, looking down upon them with righteous detachment or a greater knowing. Enlightenment is something that is far more all-encompassing and compassionate than this. It meets us wherever we are at, not because it stoops down savior-like to where we are, but because of the genuine awareness that wherever we are makes up part of the full range of the human experience. Enlightened mindful presence does not categorize our experiences as “lower experience” or “higher experience”—it sees them as the same, all part of human experience itself.
When I am in immense pain due to my sadness or my distress, the most presently mindful and process-oriented thing I can do at that moment is to not force myself into a state of deep wisdom, inner peace, and calmness. For the time being, it would be to feel the pain, and to validate that pain. A person who admits what they are indeed feeling is expressing enlightenment at a deeper level than one who immediately forces upon oneself a higher state of thinking or refined state of feeling, suppressing the real feelings of the moment, because presence to what is happening naturally implies non-judgment. It is different from forcing a “higher state of being” upon oneself, because such a state naturally implies judgment of what is being experienced as wrong. Mindful presence steps beyond the right or wrong of what is experienced in the moment.
After allowing for these painful emotions, then I will be in a naturally better state to explore a “broader viewpoint,” of seeing other perspectives, and of accessing my deeper intuition and reasoning. Forcing a “higher state of being” instead of allowing it a natural space to arise after processing difficult emotions does not come from authentic wisdom, but from a superficial understanding of wisdom. Neither is a “higher state of being” the “real work” and the phase of deep emotional processing of pain the “lesser work” that needs to get out of the way to make way for the “real work.” They are integral, working hand-in-hand, in equally creating authentic wisdom.
Authentic wisdom has an all-encompassing viewpoint, not just one limited to the viewpoint we have during times we feel inner peace, in the zone, and thinking “higher thoughts.” An all-encompassing viewpoint does include this viewpoint, yes—but also the understanding and appreciation of the viewpoint we have during times of sadness, anger, anxiety we have when we are completely down and out. Authentic wisdom is impossible without fully experiencing both, fully understanding and empathizing with both. Without one and the other, the diversity and richness, the fullness and completeness, and the depth of the human condition can only be comprehended superficially, and cannot be realized or truly known.
