I'm thinking a lot these days about the link between my thinking and feeling of things and what I experience - my so-called 'reality'. In my own experience, I see that the power of feeling/thinking trumps reality. In other words, what I think and feel creates my experiences of reality. More and more, I am choosing to use my thoughts and feelings in the service of becoming, manifesting, and learning all that I want to become, manifest, and learn. I say, why wait for a certain event or condition to feel joyous, healthy, and abundant in all ways? With continual practice, I experience being joy-filled now. I feel the great, good health that I enjoy now, and I give thanks for all the wonderful abundance that is mine here and now, and so on.
I learned from Thich Nhat Hanh that "there is no way to peace, peace is the way." That is, we must feel, practice, and pretend that the peace is inside of us (because it is), even in those times when the 'reality' outside of us claims otherwise. There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. If we want to change reality, we must become the change we want to see (to paraphrase M.K. Gandhi), and to live what we want to change even while living in and with what we are wanting to change, is none other than the Practice of the Way. In his teaching, Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche used the metaphor of the Great Eastern Sun: "hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea." And if you know me, that's the main thing, a proper cup of tea :)
About the image:
This is teapot no. 11 (311) in my 100 Teapots Series, Set 4,
"The Book of tea and light infusion: written by God" (though it looks like Goo)
Watercolor and red fountain pen ink on 180 lb. Arches cold pressed paper
© Nicole Raisin Stern
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