What Are We Accepting?

In each moment, there’s a question that is being answered through our thinking, feeling and actions. The question is always, “What am I accepting, in This very moment?” Based on what I’m accepting, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, can have a huge effect on what goes on in our lives physically.

The other day I was hanging out with a friend. We did what seemed like a simple activity. Standing at the end of a living room, I asked them to look themselves in the eyes and tell themselves, with sincerity, “I love you as YOU, just for today.” They stood there for a few moments. Their head went down. They told me it was stupid. They told me they didn’t want to do it. I responded, “This isn’t a want to. This is me, you were asked too. Please apply L.O.V.E. (Lots Of Voluntary Effort) to this present moment and give it a shot.

They looked at me and began to tear. They looked at themselves and head kinda went down, at a slant. They tried to say the words, but no sound came out and began crying. They said, “I don’t really feel like I love me. I don’t accept myself. That’s always been the hardest thing for me to do. I can accept and say I love other people. I can accept and say I love the God inside of me. But to say that I love myself… I’m not there... I’m not sure I ever have.” I looked them in the eye and said, “This could be one way of seeing how we can be very self-destructive at times. It’s pretty easy to destroy that which we don’t love. It’s for that reason, I’ve been practicing Zen and Twelve Steps for a very long time. To this day, I’m still healing and learning to love myself.” This is why I call my spiritual path “Reverse origami.”

We are unfolding experiences, beliefs, history and probably some wounds.  They’ve left us compressed, fearful, in shame, guilty, maybe hurt, jealous, maybe even envious or resentful of others. It’s living in a shadow. Sometimes we might get out of it for five or ten minutes. Maybe even a day, a week, a month or a year. But often we’re using some something outside of ourselves like drugs, work, relationships, shopping, food and other distractions, to hide the fact that we are feeling empty or invisible in some way. But the truth is that at some point we are going to have to meet ourselves.  There’s going to be a moment when the distractions, crap and procrastination stop working. It’s not if it will happen but when it happens.

My experience is that by living in fear, I felt kind of emotionally dead. I was a ghost or zombie. I didn’t feel entirely human. How else can I explain, the hurtful things that I was willing to do to myself and others when I was a teenager? I would wallow in my depression and anger, entertaining it like I was hosting a party, serving food and drinks to my confusion and fear. As a matter of fact, it got so bad and so dark, at one point as a teen, I tried to end my life on several occasions. Why would I be willing to do such a thing?  Simple. I was accepting fear and unlove, instead of positive acceptance and love.

In taking up a Spiritual path and learning to live through spiritual principles, we unfold our personal origami and re-mind ourselves of who we are. When my origami that is Seiho… Jaye… or whatever you want to call me is unfolded, I envision there’s a word written on the inside of that piece of emotional… psychological… spiritual paper. It’s a single word. Love. To me the word Love could very well be the same thing as saying, “Enlightenment,” or “Ceasing to be deluded.” It’s vast, open and free. It’s as my teacher Genjo Marinello Osho and so many others teach me. Blue sky mind.  Everything fits. Everything can be accepted open-heartedly and without fear, but with loving kindness and compassion.

Applying spiritual principles to our life isn’t mystical. It’s actually really simple.  Things like spending time with a Higher Power, in nature, playing with a pet like a cat or dog, healthy diet and exercise, hanging around people who are solution oriented and willing to unfold with us, reading books that are self-helping rather than mind-numbing, yoga and of course zazen (meditation), are all examples of having the opportunity to accept Love and compassion rather than unlove and fear.

If I’m accepting things in fear, I’m going to act negative. I’m going to start compressing and get smaller and smaller and smaller. If I’m accepting things in Love, I’m going to act positive. I’m going to relax, smile more and enjoy my moments and show up Big. It’s because I’m embracing the fact that I’m connected with more than just me. I’m connected to you and I find that pretty great, learning and discovering so much I never knew before. Paths such as Zen, Twelve Step Programs and other spiritual practices are not easy, by a long shot. But I can say with confidence, they are surely the Way Home. Happiness can be every day, but it depends on what I’m accepting.

Love All – Serve All – Every Single Day

Jaye Seiho Morris 淸峰, Curator
digitalZENDO

Comments

[Neal]

Thanks again Seiho. Happy holidays.