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Guiding Thought

Life is beautiful. There is nothing other than Life. Life is within us; Life pours out from us. Everything everywhere is Life. Life is Being. We are Life. We offer all we are in praise and thanks to all of Life.

Reflection

Life-lessons are not always easy. In fact, some may argue the harder the lesson, the greater the value, the richer the reward.

The pain-pleasure principle states that humans seek to avoid pain and seek pleasure.

• When avoiding “pain” people avoid the lessons that may have the greatest value, the richest rewards.
• What is pleasurable in the moment, the “immediate gratification”, usually is not an enduring fulfillment.

The pain-pleasure principle is backward. No, I am not saying to seek pain. But pain (suffering) is a part of life (until it’s not). Seek enduring peace. Experience the suffering as a signpost to those things hindering that peace. Go INTO the suffering in order to release it. On the other side of suffering is Peace.

I’ve been learning this over and over and over again, very pointedly, for several years. It’s been an almost constant suffering-release-suffering-release-suffering-release. When I have thought, “Oh that was a BIG release, it must be over…” the next bout of suffering came. It has not ended, but I am very–very–clear now about what is going on.

I am in a cycle. Call it a karmic cycle, call it a birth-death cycle, call it a cycle of suffering and release…it’s all the same.

When I was speaking with a friend about this situation recently, I said, “I just want….” and then stopped, and my wise friend said, “be careful…” (for he knows the power of words…). I did not speak, but the thought that I did not speak was, “I just want this to go away”.

But that was not true, thus why I did not speak it…

I thought more about it the rest of the day and I got to what the true statement was: “I just want to relieve suffering. I just want to end this cycle of creating suffering that I have in this situation. I want all suffering to end. I want to release and transform all karmic obstacles, into the light of love.”

That is true.

But in order to release, I must go into the suffering. Go into the so-called pain. But the reward? Freedom from this cycle of suffering: Enduring Peace.