The End of Distortion

There’s a truck turning around in front of my house.
It’s beep-beep-beeping as it backs up, goes forward, backs up, and goes forward – in order to turn around. It performs this beeping pirouette four times an hour . . . all day long. The construction company that building 19 homes down the street is supposedly keeping the road clean.

But, it’s not really cleaning at all.
It’s moving the dirt around. Pushing it up and down the street from one location to another. And blowing it into the air so the dust wafts around and then settles back down on the road, the cars, the trees, plants, and houses.

The dirt’s still there – just rearranged at bit.
That’s how most people deal with difficult emotions. Rather than transform the emotions, they:

• Push them into a dark corner of the mind - “Anger? What anger!?!?!?”
• Project them onto others – “Why do you have to be soooooo  annoying?”
• Dump them on others– “And here’s another reason that I’m so furious with you...”
• Rationalize them– “It’s obvious that this is simply a reaction to my toilet training.”
• Spiritualize them – “It’s my karma, man.”

All about as effective as the beeping, dirt stirring, street cleaner truck.
In other words, the difficult emotions haven’t really gone anywhere. Stirring and spewing them around, changes nothing.

The emotions are still running the show.
They’re still doing what emotions do best –this may be hard to hear – distorting your perception of reality. Emotions stir up dust in the mind. And what you see, hear, feel, think, and believe is shaped, shaded – distorted – by those emotions.

Reality resides in the present moment.
Emotions are the dust of the past. This isn’t a bad thing. Dust and dirt are good – in the garden. But, not in the driver’s seat. (How’s that for mixing metaphors?!)

Yoga, meditation, spiritual practice returns your mind to peace and clarity.
It transforms the dirt and dust so that your awareness can experience the truth of the present moment. These practices are fundamentally different from the street cleaner approach. Spiritual practices transform difficult emotions into creative energies.

This subject and other similar are addressed in our Wisdom Heart Community teachings. To learn more about the Wisdom Heart Community click here.

Love & Shanti,
E & D