Showing Up for the Unexpected

    I sometimes marvel at the ways in which the mind creates its own shackles or "hells". Old unpleasant memories are experienced "anew", under the often mistaken assumption that they will generally recur again and again. Yes, it recurs, as long as we remember it, but is it necessary for it to happen in this same way? We can never tell, and each experience is subject to causes and conditions that are unique to itself, and which simply cannot be recreated.

   When the mind is open and truly authentic, not giving into the false desires to please others and be recognized, then there is this still and quiet peace that is beyond striving itself. It can be found everywhere, even in the deepest state of boredom, depression or anxiety, if only we can inhabit those feelings rather than push them away. Yet--and here is the paradox again--that stillness does not actually reside in any form, or in any emotion. The stillness comes from the simple act of allowing whatever arises to stay in mind, knowing that the mind is not subject to the fluctuations of desire and phenomena. This is where we can be nonjudgmental, because we are no longer subject to fluctuating emotions based on the external conditions.

  An important aspect of being present for the unexpected is that we learn not to "expect" secretly: that is, the unexpected is not something surprising or magical. It's just the reality of emptiness--the fact that we are not in control of what will happen and cannot predict what will happen in the future. In this way, we can truly be available for whatever happens without an attitude of trying to fix on what will happen using our previous memories to guide us. We are simply allowing things to be exactly as they are, to unfold exactly as we expect them to unfold.