Detachment

Just a reminder that too often we can get lost in the philosophy of spirituality and forget the point of the philosophy. The only value thinking about spirituality has, beyond entertainment for one's ego, is when it reminds us how important it is to stop thinking so much.

There is a detached spirituality I see too often among many practitioners, a desire to stay safely hidden within the mind instead of moving out into full emotional contact with life. The concept of witness consciousness is especially distorted.

To be a witness to one's thoughts and experiences, in the spirit of Vipassana or Zen, does not mean to stand 3 feet behind your body and watch life unfold without any particular interest in what is occurring.  That is hiding from life while pretending to be spiritual.

Awareness is immersed in your present moment experience right now and when you align yourself with its point of view instead of being lost in the habitual point of view of your separate ego identity you too are immersed. You aren't lost in it. You are identified with the emotions and thoughts floating through your experience.  But you are fully present and really feeling all of it.

You don't have to have opinions about what you are experiencing in order to be fully experiencing it. And you don't have to avoid fully experiencing life in order to be free from opinions.  The point is simply to stop believing your thoughts and feelings are true and meaningful, not to stop all thought and feeling.  Be fully here right now and just let awareness enjoy this moment.  That's all that is asked of us.  If only we could rest in that, truly feeling that it is enough. This is my prayer for you right now.