If anyone has ever sat in the rooms, meaning Alcohol Anonymous, Alanon, or any of the other spinoffs for people with an itch they can't scratch, one of the key slogans is, "Let go and let God." Wise indeed.
For an old atheist-Buddhist like myself, entrusting the welfare of all that is feared and loved to Him doesn't quite work. It's like dropping a penny into a wishing well and hoping that good luck surely will follow.
However, transposing that philosophy into my own experiential reality, there is an equivalent phrase, "May all be for the highest and greatest good." Now that one works like a charm to quell the alarm bells and deliver a piece of serenity.
Often times we find ourselves in the whirling blender of people, places, and life events that stir up hopes, fears, or the millions of other emotions us humans dream up. And these thought-feelings don't feel good, even when the situation seems perfect, because change is the only thing guaranteed.
Will that change be good or bad? Does this downturn in a life situation mean baddies big time, or could it be the thing that brings new life and insight into a reactive mind? Is the great new job the perfect dream and will I be loved and appreciated forever? And so on and so forth.
Because no one really knows the karmic chain of events -- sometimes bad things turn good, good things turn bad, bad things stay bad, good things stay good, and for sure they will always end with the inevitable demise of our earthly bodies.
So for me, the only release from this vice-grip of relativity is the prayer, "May all things be for the highest and greatest good." The vagaries of life are woven into a grand tapestry too large for us to decipher, so why waste time with endless angst and judgement?
Evolution is inevitable; letting go and relaxing are the key to enjoy the ride.
For an old atheist-Buddhist like myself, entrusting the welfare of all that is feared and loved to Him doesn't quite work. It's like dropping a penny into a wishing well and hoping that good luck surely will follow.
However, transposing that philosophy into my own experiential reality, there is an equivalent phrase, "May all be for the highest and greatest good." Now that one works like a charm to quell the alarm bells and deliver a piece of serenity.
Often times we find ourselves in the whirling blender of people, places, and life events that stir up hopes, fears, or the millions of other emotions us humans dream up. And these thought-feelings don't feel good, even when the situation seems perfect, because change is the only thing guaranteed.
Will that change be good or bad? Does this downturn in a life situation mean baddies big time, or could it be the thing that brings new life and insight into a reactive mind? Is the great new job the perfect dream and will I be loved and appreciated forever? And so on and so forth.
Because no one really knows the karmic chain of events -- sometimes bad things turn good, good things turn bad, bad things stay bad, good things stay good, and for sure they will always end with the inevitable demise of our earthly bodies.
So for me, the only release from this vice-grip of relativity is the prayer, "May all things be for the highest and greatest good." The vagaries of life are woven into a grand tapestry too large for us to decipher, so why waste time with endless angst and judgement?
Evolution is inevitable; letting go and relaxing are the key to enjoy the ride.
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