Living by the Side of the Road

Some of us are finding it difficult to reconcile our current emotional and financial situations with our dreams.    We never imagined it was possible for us to rise so high and fall so low.  We thought we were protected by our investments and jobs.  It's incredulous to believe our lives were so inextricably tied to the financial collapse of the banks, insurance, and housing markets.   Unfortunately, that's what happened..

Many of us watched with sheer horror and disbelief as the housing bubble burst into economic flames. And when the fire was over there was nothing left but its ashes and our shattered dreams. The security we had work so hard to persevere was gone and we were left by the side of the road wondering what to do with our burnt dreams.

The basic idea of being an American and living in this country is to believe and feel we are secure.  Everything is predicated on our feeling secure from foreign attacks and domestic meltdowns. To destroy this belief is to destroy who we believe we are. And this removes the ground beneath our feet.  We feel the earth moving and we become uncomfortable, uneasy, and restless.

The thought of the ground moving beneath us is frightening. Although we work all our lives to prevent this from happening to us, most of us inevitably reach the point where we feel the ground moving beneath us. This makes us feel powerless, unsure of what to do next.  Even though, unbeknown to us, it's been moving beneath us all the time. However, because of our willingness to perceive our lives from the prism of illusions  -- money, fame, and possessions -- we anesthetize our minds to ignore the constant changes shaping our decisions and behavior.  We are too preoccupied with trying to control and manage the illusions than with trying to understand what's actually happening to us.

During these financial woeful times, it's difficult to function properly with the economic and social vicissitudes constantly disguising themselves as insecurity and security, happiness and sadness and so on. These are the mindful illusions that have us living by the side of the road.  Perhaps, from a distorted perspective, we find it soothing to attach ourselves to these illusions. After all, when you think about it, it seems that some of us have found ways to successfully manage them.

Although there are many people suffering because of the financial meltdown, there are some who seem  totally unaffected by it.  At least, it appears to some of us, they have enough of the illusions to anesthetize them into a comatose state of security. While the unemployed, and others working day and night to keep their homes and feed their families, the masters of illusions remain oblivious to concerning themselves with paying for life's basic necessities: electricity, gas, food, water, telephone, cable, Internet, mortgage, rent, and so forth.

Whenever we find ourselves living by the side of the road, it's sometimes easy to cast aspersions at those who have managed the illusions better than us. There's a tendency for us to question the fairness of life itself. We begin to complain there's something unfair about some people having more than others.  Yet if we look closely at this seemingly social anomaly, there's nothing unfair about it all. 

The perceptions of unfairness comes from our living as victims on the side of road.  We believe we are powerless to enter onto the road of enlightenment that allows us to clearly perceive the illusions as they really exist. This awakens us to clearly discern the false sense of security found in the illusions closely guarded by those with money, fame, and possessions. We know the ground is also moving beneath them and at some point, they will feel its power. 

Meanwhile, those of us with less of the illusions -- money, fame, and possessions --  believe we must get them if we want to feel good about ourselves.  If not, we will continue to languish in pain and suffering by the side of the road. Unfortunately, we have not become aware of the intrinsic pain and suffering within the illusions we seek.

Now is the time for us to clear our minds so that we can perceive our lives the way they really are, not what we believe them to be.  The notion or belief in security is simply an illusory desire.  To go beyond the illusions we must be willing to enter onto the road of enlightenment. While the road (consciousness) is secure within itself, it's not the security we have been taught to seek. Life on the enlightenment road is provides us with the security to live purpose-fulfilled lives without being victimized by illusions.

As enlightenment seekers we clearly know we can never achieve the security promised to us by the illusions because our existence on this planet is temporary. And because we know our existence is temporary there's no need for us to create undue pain and suffering working to create permanence while we are here. It's simply not possible.

Nevertheless, for us to overcome the pain and suffering from our illusions, we must be willing to release ourselves from its shackles. We must stop projecting power into our illusions. Whenever we perceive our lives without the illusions, we become aware of the limitless possibilities available to us. So when we learn to treat our problems for what they truly are, we will ultimately understand that our problems are nothing more than figments of our illusions.

The road to enlightenment is available only to those who are willing to free ourselves from illusions of security. We must become vulnerable before we can become free.