Monday, April 20, 2020

From the Awakening Joy practice letter by James Baraz

Our idea of "normal" has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent weeks. The way I see it, when things are as they are we have two choices: 1) Wish they were different and create even more frustration and suffering for ourselves or 2) Let go of the way we’d like it to be and accept this is how it is. Why add to the already challenging situation by holding on to some idea of how you’d like it to be? ...

What we are really letting go of is the illusion of control in a world of change. This attempt to control things keeps us bound in fear. The virus is showing us in a very dramatic way that things are not in our control. We can respond wisely in order to minimize the suffering. But to a large extent the virus is determining the reality. 

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