I was on a coaching call with a client. Near the end of our sessions together.
They’d given up the fight and life was looking a lot better, both at work and at home.
A happy customer!
And yet their mind still had a point to make (it’s what minds do), and it came out, almost as a final protest, raging against this process that it found hard at times.
The smile faded briefly as it spoke:
“Sometimes it’s really hard to accept…”
And I had to agree.
It is.
For a mind.
Pretty much everything I point to is hard to accept … for a mind.
For instance:
“It’s really hard to accept that 100% of my feelings are coming from thought”
Sure it is… for a mind.
It’s a pretty convincing illusion, that can’t be seen through!
OR…
“It’s really hard to accept that deep down, there is no ‘me’ - it’s just a thought.”
Ohhh yes, it is… for a mind.
It’s a very natural, and occasionally helpful concept!
OR…
“It’s really hard to accept that free will is an illusion, and I’m not in control.”
Of course it is… for a mind.
I don’t know if you’d noticed, but minds are pretty heavily invested in the idea that they’re in charge of everything… rather than just observing and commenting!
In all these cases, ‘you’ don’t have to accept one iota of this stuff.
It hurts my brain a bit to say what I’m about to say (those of a sensitive disposition, put your hands over your ears now), but the ‘you’ that would be doing said accepting is made of the same thing it’s trying to accept doesn’t exist, and making a choice to accept that it’s not possible for it to make choices.
Oof, I feel a bit queasy now, and I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your day.
🫠
Look, all we’re doing here is seeing that ALL of that commentary and figuring out malarkey is going on in the mind… and will continue to do so, until you draw your last breath.
I’m really not asking you to accept anything, so please stop trying.
No, we’re just having a deeper conversation about the TRUE nature of experience.
The witnessing of experience.
Feeling our way back into what we already know on some level.
The way things are, always have been and always will be.
I’ll finish with one of my favourite quotes, from Jack Pransky:
“All we are is peace, love and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we’re not.”
💖
Giles
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Giles P Croft
What if experience has already been accepted… just by dint of it being experienced? 🤔