What is going on?

By which I mean what is really going on? How much of what I believe is happening is really happening?


To answer this question  we need to  understand fully how much filtering and censoring of our world we're involved in - how we refuse to see things as they really are. That's assuming we can manage to keep the past and the future out of the way - to keep our head free of the "oughts" of what went before and the "ifs" of what's coming next. Feeling bad about the past is a guaranteed way of keeping us from seeing what's happening here and now. Worry about the future has the same effect. We are kept from seeing life as it is by our emotions and our conditioning


Even if we are here in the present, all too often we complicate our vision by the illusions we cling to - believing what we're told by our mind. Happiness comes from realising our desires, right? Actually, no ... it just brings and illusion of happiness that disappears as soon as another desire comes into our heads.


The most troublesome illusions I have found involve my self-image, particularly that my worth or value comes from being loved or appreciated. Wrong again, my desire to be liked and respected is just another illusion. Being in relationships with people on this basis means I have given power over me to another person - with this attitude my happiness depends on what they do. If I look for my happiness in other people , then I'm equally likely to find unhappiness there.


People can only have power over us if we let them, only if we give them the power. We have everything we need to make us happy here and now. But we don't see that when we add something to our external reality instead of just experiencing our lives as they happen - moment by moment, breath by breath.