1. THE TREMENDOUS LOVE, CLARITY AND ENERGY IN US
We have a choice about how we perceive things. If we see ourselves as
victims of our thoughts, emotions, sensations and other experiences, then
we’ll live our life feeling victimized by ourselves as well as by other people.
As we recognize short moments, many times, we see how we have made
ourselves a victim of our data. No one did it to us, and no dramatic or
traumatic event in itself can make us into victims. We were victims because
we chose to be.
We will have no real well-being as long as we take ourselves to be a victim
of what is happening to us. It’s absolutely essential to come to the point
where we can say, “Wow, to continue suffering from all of my miserable
thoughts, feelings and experiences is unnecessary, and to have done so for
so long was just a choice I was making.”
We could continue to see ourselves as victims who are disempowered and
incapable of anything better, but this is very sad. It’s especially sad because
human beings are innately powerful. The qualities and activities of life that
flow from a stable mind are exceptionally powerful. They are powers that are
earthshaking and which really can change the way people think and live on a
very large scale.
Whereas the stance of the victim is one of powerlessness and helplessness,
the stance of a person recognizing open intelligence as the basis of
everything is one of tremendous power and helpfulness. We were looking for
some relief when we sought refuge in being a victim of circumstances. But
there is an intrinsic relief of tremendous love, clarity, energy and basic
goodness that exists within us that need not be sought. It is found within us
and within ​all​our data. This is the most profound of all insights.
The only way to find that tremendous energy is by the power of allowing
everything to be just ​as it is for short moments, many times. Short
moments show us the way to the open door leading to our basic goodness,
and by recognizing the tremendous power within us, that door is flung wide
open.