The Dream of Constant Okayness

Olga Rasmussen, my mentor and instructor at the beginning of my efforts to reclaim the physical part of myself, shared this on her FaceBook page today. I thought it was worth passing along here.

THE DREAM OF CONSTANT OKAYNESS - Pema Chödrön

It’s not impermanence per se, or even knowing we’re going to die, that is the cause of our suffering, the Buddha taught. Rather, it’s our resistance to the fundamental uncertainty of our situation. Our discomfort arises from all of our efforts to put ground under our feet, to realize our dream of constant okayness. When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment, or awakening to our true nature, to our fundamental goodness. Another word for that is freedom —- freedom from struggling against the fundamental ambiguity of being human.

You can follow Olga's blog, Aligning With Grace, at aligningwithgrace.blogspot.com

UPDATE: This was too good not to share: "The Meaning of "Personal Responsibility". This is a Buddhist's response to Mitt Romney's assertion that the 47% of Americans who don't pay federal income tax see themselves as victims, entitled, etc. Ethan Nichtern, the author, points out that this number includes hard-working people who are temporarily out of a job or who earn too little to pay taxes, as well as the elderly and disabled. The main reason I'm including this link, though, is Ethan's wonderful explanation of what it means to take personal responsibility for your life while becoming fully interdependent (not dependent, not independent) with the people around you. Thanks, Susan Runner, for passing this along.