Great meditation masters have always said that in nature and existence there are no problems or imperfections, that everything is perfect as it is. There is great depth and subtlety in this message. It is not as simple as it seems. It has been misunderstood to mean that one has to deny and ignore problems, difficulties, imperfections, and conflicts, and maintain a false pretense of positivity. However, it is quite the opposite, and herein lies the essence of this method.
The mind is the lens through which we see the world, and the quality of this lens affects what is seen through it. When the mind is disturbed and anxious, the world seems disturbing and hostile, whereas when the mind is joyful and calm, the world seems benign, wholesome, and beautiful. What is seen and experienced by the mind indicates the quality and condition of the mind more often than what is really there. Even though the mind perpetually sees problems and imperfections, this is the mind’s own flaw, not a reflection of any underlying reality or truth.
When encountering any kind of negative situation or feeling, the mind’s reflexive reaction is to reject it, get rid of it, solve it, escape from it. The next time when you have some time for yourself, try the following experiment. Sit silently in a comfortable position with eyes closed. Contemplate the problem and then, instead of resisting or rejecting it, allow it to remain there, exactly as it is, exactly where it is. Don’t solve the problem. Don’t change it, don’t even touch it, be completely hands off. This allowance will create a gap between you and the problem, with you as just an observer, separate from the problem.
Keep in mind that not solving doesn’t mean ignoring the problem, escaping from it. It doesn’t mean you distract yourself, move on to doing something else and forget about the problem. Even ignoring is a reaction to the problem, even escaping is a solution, so don’t ignore or escape. Make dedicated time in a quiet, relaxed position, without distractions, and perceive the problem head on. Acknowledge it and feel it and allow it, but don’t solve it. This is the true meaning of letting go.
If you do this right, the problem will initially intensify, feel more painful; but really this is just because you are just confronting it for the first time, rather than escaping from it. After a certain peak intensity, continue to allow and you will be surprised to find that your entire quality of perception suddenly transforms alchemically, becomes glowing with a kind of inner light and energy. All sense of stress and anxiety melts with a deep sigh of relief, and you are able to see things clearly again. If the problem needs solving, you will gain clarity to be able to solve it; otherwise, the problem itself dissipates, leaving in its place a blissful, meditative awareness.
Allow things to not be as they are supposed to be; allow things to not be as they should be; allow things to not be as they are not.
Often, it feels as if you yourself are the problem, or something about you is the problem. The method here is the same: allow yourself to not be as you should, or as you want, rather allow yourself to just be what you already are. Allow yourself to not be doing what you should be doing. Allow yourself to not be good enough to deserve success, wealth, respect, or fame. And so on.
This effort is a way of abandoning shoulds and should nots, which are like thorns constantly piercing you. Once they are plucked, there is such a tremendous sense of relief and freedom, a great unburdening. Finally you can be at ease, rest, relax in just being. Then healing happens on its own.
When solving a problem, you don’t really look at the problem, you don’t really observe it, your focus is rather on searching for the solution; in a subtle and counterintuitive way, you are avoiding the problem. You are in a hurry to solve, to hide the problem under a solution. Then it may appear that the problem is gone, but really it has just been covered up, masked, changed in form. Don’t cover up the problem, let it be out in the open, unsolved.
The external problem is only a symptom of the real problem, which is inner – your own inner lens, your own perception, which is distorted with judgment, criticism. Solving the external problem will do nothing to the real inner problem. Counterintuitively, the external problem has to be allowed to remain as it is, and this act itself creates a space for the inner problem to be resolved on its own. Subsequently, you may proceed to address the outer problem, but then it is out of blissfulness and love and compassion.
Each solution creates many new problems, and solutions to those problems create additional problems of their own, ad infinitum; each answer creates many new questions. In a way, the solution is more problematic than the original problem because now you cannot recognize the original problem anymore. At least when the problem was unsolved, you could see clearly that there was a problem. The original problem is beautiful, as it is, and nothing needs to be added to it or removed from it. Allow the first question be there, unanswered, as it is.
In times of joy, calm, and bliss, when there is no problem or discontentment, the mind reacts with distrust and disbelief. The positive is seen as too good to be true, unreal, something to be feared and denied, or else taken for granted and ignored. A sense of guilt arises in enjoyment, as if you don’t deserve it; or else there is embarrassment, a fear of how others will judge you in joy. Try to recognize that this is the mind’s interpretation of what is seen, different from what is actually there. Even here, the same method is applicable: allow and accept the positive, the happy, and the good exactly as it is, without invalidating or dismissing it, without clinging to it or being possessive of it. Be a separate, detached observer and observe it as it is in this moment.
Whatever exists here and now, whether positive or negative, or neither, allow and accept it. Through this method, one goes beyond both the positive and negative, and experiences the meditative state of seeing things as they are.