Navigating Through a Challenging World

No matter who we are or where we are in life, issues arise that need dealing with. Some people appear to sail through life, while others find challenge and conflict that needs resolution around every corner.

Is there a part on this journey through life that we are ever in control? Or do we remain victims to circumstance no matter what we do or where we go? Do we play a part in creating the world ‘we’ live in?

I suspect that, for many lost in one drama or another there is rarely a moment when they are able to step, even momentarily, outside of the drama and question it or view it more objectively. Such is the nature of the ‘drama’ it is so totally absorbing that its reality is never questioned.

We may have been born free, meaning free from a past, although I believe this to be highly unlikely. However it doesn’t take long before we are lost once again in the drama, conditioned by those who became lost before us, parents and society in general. The conditioning is simply how to be in the physical world and survive, for as long as you can, the process.

This early childhood conditioning then can be seen as the training through which we can navigate our way through life. Yet the conditioning comes with a twist! First we are convinced, through no fault of our own, in the absolute reality of the world in which we find ourselves. Next, that in order to achieve anything of value we must put in effort, meaning we have to ‘do’ something to achieve those goals.

So, our conditioning has us believing in ‘our’ reality being the way, and all other realities, or perceptions thereof, to be lacking. This may lead to our trying to convince others of the rightness of our path. This leads to even more conflict as those on another path try to convince you of the rightness of their reality, or simply defend their own beliefs. We should be able to see, and understand, that any attachments we have to ‘our’ way of being leads inevitably to conflict. Religion is just one example of conflict arising out of a conditioned belief.

Society, no matter in which one you live, is constantly divided, the for and against – the haves and the have nots –the my way is right, meaning yours isn’t! So, on some level, likely driven by a sub-conscious energy, we are in a constant struggle to maintain a lifestyle that we believe is the right one. This translates out always having to ‘do’ something to maintain order in our lives. So early childhood training given us the tools and awareness to navigate through life but in themselves can be seen as the fundamental problem to a world without conflict.

If you are a Taoist, then you may see the world as simply Yin and Yang, constantly balancing each other out. One force arises, another arises in opposition. Keep multiplying this and pretty soon you are lost down so many rabbit holes you no longer know which way is up (or down!) And you create more complications for yourself as you try to deal with situations, personal – family, societal etc. Sub-consciously giving more energy to the situations that arise that in turn create more problems to be resolved.

Navigating through a conflicted world / reality becomes even more of a challenge and we seek new skills to employ to help us find our way. Those new skills can only exist within the framework around which your original assumptions / beliefs was built. So nothing really new, just looking at the problem from a different angle.

And so it goes for the many who continue to believe that in order to get more (wealth, happiness, etc) they need to do more convincing the rest of the world of the rightness of their conditioning.

And here we are, collectively dealing with so many energies that have been created, essentially out of nothing, maintaining the old status quo creating further conflict which then requires even more aggressive behaviour to maintain order!

So, how can we navigate in a way that is not going to keep conflict alive? Is there any need / desire to do this. If this planet and the third dimensional world that we seem to inhabit is a playground, then play on.

If this is you then there will have arisen no need to change the rules. You are, if not happy, then totally lost within your dream world, accepting it completely. Yet for some a moment has arisen that leads to questioning the world you live in, not the usual questions that arise from within a conflicted state but questions about the very nature of the reality you find yourself in.

While we remain attached to the past, the past will continue to unfold into the present and on into out future, no questions asked, no answers given. When we begin, along whatever path unfolds before us that has a hint of a possibility of a different way, we are drawn into a different world. Our values slowly change, our perceptions shift, our understanding expands, in doing so our attachment to the past gradually lessens. One of the understandings that may arise is explained by the Zen saying:

“Do a lot – achieve a little
Do little – achieve a lot
Do nothing – achieve everything”

As this becomes your reality the need to navigate falls away, opposition reduces, conflict lessens. Yet this will not happen without the past continuing to show up, demanding you ‘do’ something about something. For nothing arises from nothing, there has to be some stimulus giving rise to the situations that arise today. Like a great wave, a tsunami of energy, energy provided by the believers in their unique reality, that needs to be ridden, like a champion surfer. As the surfer becomes more proficient and goes with the energy instead of fighting it so challenges that appeared ‘real’ before no longer exist.

The need to navigate then arises from a misunderstanding. Correct that misunderstanding and the need no longer exists.

Just beware, if you walk this path, that the energy you have given to all aspects of your life in the past will continue to show up until the energy of the tsunami has been released fully.