THERE IS SO MUCH SUFFERING going on in the world today and it is sad to see that people are living their lives in this way when they could be living joyful lives. It is possible to live in joy without suffering but we have been taught that who we are is what we experience.

We are taught from a young age that accumulating and gathering onto ourselves is the way to live. Whether it is knowledge, wealth, relationships or materials things, we are constantly trying to add to ourselves. We are taught that we can be happy and joyful when we accomplish certain things. If we can become educated then everything will be okay, if we can find a good job then everything will be okay, if we find a partner then I'm okay, if I have children I'm okay, if I save enough money I'm okay, if I have a house of my own I'm okay. But all of this accumulation never brings joy or happiness. Yes, for a little while after having the baby, or buying the house or graduating from College we find a little bit of happiness but it doesn't last. If only everyday could be like the day a baby is born, or when you buy the new house or new car or receive that Diploma. These moments come and go and the vast majority of the time becomes a struggle for people.

We experience ourselves through our body, mind and emotions and because we experience ourselves this way we believe we are the body, mind and emotions. We cannot see that these are the vehicles through which we can experience and that these vehicles are not who we are. Everything we have experienced has come to us through our five senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. This is how we experience everything. If for one moment we could experience life beyond these limited sense perceptions we could see that we are much more than this.

We have invested ourselves in everything out there which leaves us fully invested in something outside of our control. We invest in our partner, our house, our car, our job, our friends, our health, our future and leave nothing for ourselves. If any of these investments comes up short we feel that we have lost a part of ourselves and this is why we suffer. We always want these external investments to be the way we want them to be. If any of these things changes or looses its value we suffer.

A person told me that she loves her son but doesn't like her son. How can we love some one but not like them? Is it that we don't like them or that we don't like what they do, or say or how they act? If the same person turned around and said only nice things to you or acted in a very nice way and did everything the way you would expect, wouldn't you then like them also? Of course, so, it isn't the person we don't like, it is the personality, isn't that right?

This saying "I love you" has very little meaning if it is contingent on your expectations of the other. We like to say I love you and have some one tell us they love us because we all want that love and want to give it, but this idea of love that we have is very conditional isn't it. I love you if you stay they way you are, I love you if you don't cheat on me, and I love you if you support me. This isn't love, this is emotion looking for comfort.

We are never happy with ourselves because we are always looking to the next thing. Whatever we have it isn't enough. We want to have more money, more knowledge, more love, more fun, more peace, more of this and that. We could have 10 million dollars but we want more, we could have a nice house but we want a better one.

How much investing do we do in ourselves? When I say "ourselves" here, what I am speaking of is the you that is the observer within you, the essence and source of life that is constantly functioning in you. When you are living, there is something there that functions within you that has all of these experiences, and that essence of you can be shared with others through the body, mind and emotions but when this body stops functioning and the mind is no longer active no one wants to be around you. No one wants anything to do with the dead body and mind because "LIFE" has left it hasn't it. It is only when there is "LIFE" that others want to be with us, isn't that right.

So what is this "LIFE" we want to be with. Is it our personality, our job, our friends, our experiences, our body, our mind, or, is it the essence of life that operates within us that creates all of this. If we are constantly trying to become something else to please someone else or fit into the mold that someone else has prepared for us, then we will never know our true identity. Just as water takes the shape of the container it is in, you also have taken the shape of this container called body and mind, but where the water retains its identity, we believe that we are the container and it traps us there. We become so attached to the container that we think that this is all that exists. We talk about a Soul as something someone has as if it was another part or extremity of us. We talk about life this way also. We say, I have a life, I have a Soul. Who is this "I" that has the Soul and the life? Who is this "I" that has the body and the mind?

We are not the body, we are not the mind, and we are not even what we call the soul. What we are is beyond any limited possibility, beyond any idea or concept, we are limitless and boundless and this is why we are always trying to accumulate more and more. There is a knowing within us that we are so much more than what we experience with our limited sense perceptions and this knowing compels us to become more than our current experiences, but we are looking to expand ourselves through limited means which will always cause us suffering because nothing outside of ourselves can ever fulfill our true nature.

So, how can we be free of suffering, how can we live a joyful life when so much struggle is there in everyday life? As long as you identify yourself with all that is happening outside of you then suffering will be there, but if you can turn inward and experience yourself beyond this limited idea you have created of yourself, then you can become a joyous person, you can experience joy in all things. If you want to know joy then you must invest in your interiority not your exteriority. Examine this very carefully, when you are living life with the expectation that something outside of yourself can somehow bring you joy, then you are living in expectation, but when you are living from an inward perspective, then your joy is not contingent on external expectations.

Turn inward to know the limitless, boundless source of self that is there within you. It is there when the body and mind are there and it is there when the body and mind are gone.

May you come to know the joy of your true nature.

© 2009 Edward Williamson, All Rights Reserved

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edward Williamson is a Teacher of spiritual awareness and consciousness and also a teacher of Qi-Gong and Tai-Chi. With 20 years of experience in the martial arts and a life long journey towards higher levels of consciousness and awareness, Edward brings the teachings of Master Richard Kim and the Consciousness of the Christ and Gautama Buddha to those who attend his classes and seminars. Edward has had articles published in the magazine www.planetlightworker.com and is currently working on writing a book. You may contact Ed at jikakudo@msn.com.

As we reach higher vibrations and awareness
we can see beyond the borders of our confinement, to know the I AM that lies within us.
- Edward Williamson