Stories are thoughts we believe to be true. When looked at closely, stories are merely the product of egoic mind chatter. When we believe (identify with) this egoic mind chatter, we are subject to the endless flow of the mind’s creative narration. The more a story touches deep egoic cords, the more likely we are to carry that story for extended periods of time, suffering the continued belief in delusion. If we stop . . . rest as Stillness . . . and simply look, most of us can see stories we have innocently/unknowingly held on to for years, sometimes decades, allowing them to continuously sow discord and suffering in our life and the lives of those we touch.
Awakening as Awareness does not mean the stories end. Awakening removes the winds from the sails of egoic stories, so they are immediately and quickly seen through. This can happen suddenly or seem to evolve over a period of time.
We frequently encourage everyone to view the recognition of being caught in a story as Grace. This recognition highlights the apparent choice to remain caught in the story or to rest as Isness. As Isness, stories arise and fall effortlessly without judgment or analysis and are merely a part of an ostensible human experience. There is an old Zen saying, “Let thoughts come and go, never serve them tea.” When we no longer feed these stories with our attention and belief, we collapse back into recognition as our natural state, Isness.
There is another Zen story of a master walking with his students when they come upon a young woman attempting to cross a muddy stream. To the shock of his students, the master lifts the woman and carries her to the other side where he sets her back down. The master and his students continue on their way. When they reach their destination, however, the students are still agitated, discussing the master’s actions. Finally, one of the students challenged the master, asking how he could carry the woman on his shoulders since monks are not permitted to touch a woman. The master replied, “I set the woman down on the other side of the stream. Why are you still carrying her?”
At times, we all get caught up in stories, giving them our attention and belief. We would suggest, again, when we notice this to be grateful and to take the apparent opportunity to fall back into recognition as our natural Isness. With vigilance, we do not need to carry our stories or pick up new stories. From Wholeness, as Wholeness, the apparent arising and falling of stories are simply experiences in the ever-changing dynamic of Life.
In Peace, Steve and Bec