It really is possible to reach the end of personal suffering. The truth of it is actually quite simple, however the reality is it is not so easy for us to accomplish. It is quite a paradox.
All it requires to end our suffering is for us to surrender to everything in the current moment and to maintain this moment, after moment, after moment. Now if we stop to consider, we can each most likely surrender to this moment. We are sitting in front of our computer reading, most of us are preparing to meditate, if we examine this moment we can see we are not immediately threatened, we are preparing for a pleasant “activity”, and we see there may well be no stimuli to which we are either attracted or averse. So…no suffering. The paradox lies in our apparent inability to maintain our focus, or our absolute presence, in the current moment.
Good evening and welcome to Monday Group Meditation. We will be sitting from 7:30 to 10:00 PM EST. It is not necessary to sit for the entire extended time, which is set up to make it convenient for people in four North American Time Zones; sit for as long as you like and when it is most convenient for you. Monday Group Meditation is open to everyone, believers and non-believers, who are interested in gathering in silence. If you are new to meditation and would like to try it for yourself, Mindful Nature gave a good description of one way to meditate in an earlier diary, copied and pasted below:
"It is a matter of focusing attention mostly. In many traditions, the idea is to sit and focus on the rising and falling of the breath. Not controlling it, but sitting in a relaxed fashion and merely observing experiences of breathing, sounds, etc. Be aware of your thoughts, but don't engage in them. When your mind wanders (it will, often), then return to focus on breath and repeat."
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There are any number of mental and emotional defense mechanisms that keep us from being present in the current moment; one of the reasons we are unable to stay in the present moment is repressed emotions from our past. Repressed emotions lie in our subconscious minds and become triggered, this causes us to either regress to the past or project on the current situation, so we are taken out of the truth of the current moment. In some cases we need help dealing with repressed emotions and I’ll address that a bit more below, but in most cases they are much less dramatic and a result of human imperfection and misunderstandings, as we bump against one another in life.
As long as we have repressed emotions we can never be free of suffering. So this evening I offer an exercise to uncover and release repressed emotions. It is simply a matter of asking to be made aware of repressed emotions that keep us from being established in Presence, or the current moment, and to be brought into right relationship with them.
We can ask for this for the duration of this meditation, or we can ask for life to present itself in such a way that these become apparent during day to day awareness.
We ask that we will be able to meet the memories and emotions with love and non-judgment.
We ask that only emotions we are ready to meet will be uncovered.
We ask that this process take place gently, joyfully, with love and laughter.
Address your requests to your higher self, to your guides or helpers, to God, to the ground of all being, to the FSM, wherever it is possible for you to feel comfort and trust in the process. When old memories and/or emotions arise you may be confused at first and wonder why you are “seeing” this, and then you’ll remember, “Oh…I did ask for this.”
When the emotions arise they usually come with a story from the past. It is not necessary to get caught up in the story, it is in the past and it is over with. It is important, however, to allow the emotions to express fully. It is a matter of inviting them to arise and reveal themselves authentically. Once they are in your conscious awareness and you’ve established right relationship with them by meeting them with love and non-judgment, they no longer lie silently in wait to be triggered and pull you out of the present moment.
Since I don’t personally know each one of you, it is very important for anyone who may want to participate in this exercise to take deep responsibility and decide for yourself whether or not to proceed with it. If the idea of doing so arouses a great deal of fear, it may be wise to proceed with caution. Paradoxically, if a great deal of fear arises at the thought of doing this exercise, there is most likely a real need to work with repressed emotions, but it may well be a good idea to do so in the presence of someone with the skills to help you work through whatever arises.
Sharing from my own experience, I’ve been doing this over the last couple weeks in my meditations, and it is always a puzzle when I’m suddenly faced with some old story, and then I recognize what is happening and allow the emotions to express fully. There has been great gentleness and humor in the observance and acceptance of what arises, and afterwards there is always a profound feeling of peace, and my mind is extraordinarily relaxed and calm.