The Problem Is Always On The Inside

As we go through life we encounter many problems. For some, life itself can feel like an endless problem, from the moment we're born to the day we die.

For these people, life is a constant struggle. They blame others, judge the world, make excuses, and always have a reason why things aren't working out.

It's okay if you're one of those people. I was for most of my upbringing. The truth is, however, none of what I, or any such person points to, is really the problem.

Not being with the person we love, not having enough money, not having the right job - these are all just circumstances of life - not problems.

The real problem we experience is on the inside. The real problem is that we don't have the right relationship to these circumstances. More importantly, we don't have the right relationship to the present moment.

In order to have the proper relationship to the outside world, we first need to understand who we are in relation to everything else.

Who are we?

In short, we are the consciousness, the indwelling being, the one who's aware of our existence.

This might sound far out there, but it's actually very simple.

Think about it this way. You can take just about anything away - your job, your house, your loved ones, your limbs, even your thoughts and emotions - and you'll still be here.

That's proof that none of that other stuff is you. But take away your awareness of being, and the lights go out.

Even when people go into a coma, they come back to tell stories about what they saw. Despite the body medically losing consciousness, the essence of who we are, true consciousness, remains present.

Everything else - from our thoughts and emotions, the cars driving around us, to the rings of Jupiter - are all what I would consider the outside world.

In other words, they are not you, and you are not them.

Embracing the isness of reality

Nothing is inherently bad, or good.

It just is.

Things are, well, just things. Events are just events. It's our relationship to things that screws us up.

Just like Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."