Hi everyone, Has anyone else ever noticed a sort of thing going on in their experience where you do a lot of things, decide to live your life in a certain way and engage in things, but somewhere in there, underneath, you can't help feeling like there's something you're mising? Like right under your nose influencing all of that behavior? I feel like I've got a lot of that going on right now, and like, being wrapped up in everything that this idea tells me to do causes me suffering and leaves me separate from a deeper connection with what's true. I'm starting to have some separation from it, and am beginning to question it, and am just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences?

I'm noticing something in the domain of the qualities that arise as a result of aligning with the principle or quality of Cheng Hsin when it comes to being a body. And that is that the quality or misalignment of our bodies can be traced to the "qualities" that influence or shape our "holding" of it day to day. Simply engaging in activities that "stress" or challenge this body-mind, such as free-flowing, or intense activities, "bring it out" or to the fore, but they are not simply and only brought about by such activities in many cases. Only revealed. Yet when we pay close attention, it seems in regular, non-challenging activities such as walking or sitting, the SAME predicament arises. We are tense. In some areas more than others. Why is this? Body appears not only as a "purely physical" event. It appears as "psycho-physical," as in our MINDS are responsible for much of (if not all of) this physical tension. That's useful to look at. I want to drop a quote from The Principles of Effortless Power under the section detailing Calm "What we do with our minds is very important, so we must study this activity. Being, or Consciousness, controls the body. It also controls thoughts, emotions, and the energy of the body. However, most of us are controlled by and identified with mind, and so mind influences and appears to control everything we do." Another quote, a bit deeper in says "Every other principle and all that you do starts here. If you want to relax, this is how you do it. Do you want to move this, turn from here, sink that, feel this? You must direct these things. This is the beginning of “mind-power.” Every single thing that you do arises from Consciousness and is done via the “force of being alive” — what we might call "life force" — and so it is with mind." Anyway, just wanted to share that.

Hey guys, A couple weeks ago I came back from the spring retreat, where we did the ending suffering workshop, and i wanted to share something that has dawned on me since leaving and applying the work to "my life." That this living "drama" I have about wanting to work hard and complete this and that but not wanting to do it is all an idea! I mean yeah, no shit it's an idea, but it's literally just the effect that I'd live within as a constantly thought thought that I don't need to think and I can just be one with enjoying shit and working. Its that easy. It started with me going after what was immediate, that there is a suffering here that I can cut that out and stop making excuses FOR it. So I really started to and have been thRowing myself into it, and the funny thing is, is that that opens up. It didn't just end with what I immediately thought it would, ergo the immediate suffering. Coming from the more complete place, I started to see life from this way, and then I sort of dropped this "drama" idea and have been working AND enjoying myself, more unified in that that's ACTUALLY what I want to do. A little flavor of consciousness in there, if you will. Anyway, I just wanted to share that. I look forward to any gleaning new insights or breakthroughs available. Much love

Hey all, I just had a realization that is a bit strange to put into words, but is true nevertheless, and it's that true openness has no form. As in, there isn't any thing to do. Nothing requires being done as if. These are all things that occupy attention and mind, but real openness doesn't show up as absence. It doesn't really show up as anything at all except for what might "show up as a result of openness." Even making statements such at "un-attatchedness" refer to something "substantial," like "not doing the other stuff" or not doing the stuff that we call "closed," but what really is openess? It doesn't really seem to take any form at all. As in there isn't any "thing" or "action" that we could call openness. It's more like a blank piece of paper, or the empty space in which an object can exist.

I am reading Peters Unnecessary suffering book as well as I watched numerous of his latest Youtube talks and podcasts and I attended the recent online workshop; I keep hearing him mention the importance of controlling your thoughts. He usually explains this to mean just stop your thought. Stop doing the thought. There was one youtube video recently a month or so back where someone asked him what does he mean by that and if its like letting go of thoughts versus actually mentally stopping it and Peter said yes. Im now confused because in the book and other media he says to actually try to stop any further thoughts from popping up. To me stopping a thought and letting go of thoughts are two very different things, because the former involves me doing an activity (the stopping of a thought). and usually requires my concentration. The former results in silence for a brief second but its more mentally taxing and the thoughts can come back louder whereas the latter involves a more-so "non-doing", like in vipassana, it involves me not reacting to the thought in my head and remaining equanimous. The thought doesnt stop but sometimes i feel like im less controlled by it. Basically, I need some clarification on this topic. Thanks.