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Take the First Step Out of and Away from Runaway Reactions
Posted: Thursday, October 5, 2023
Meeting: Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Duration: 57min 23sec
Key Lesson
Part 1
The consistency of any painful, negative reaction to some person or event doesn't prove -- as we imagine it does -- that the “guilty” party remains unchanged as “charged.” Rather, what it does show -- at the very least -- is that it is we who are unchanged: an unwitting captive of being unconsciously identified with our own negative reaction.
Part 2
No reaction can resolve the moment it sees -- let alone blames -- for what amounts to it not wanting the experience of itself.
Part 3
It's impossible to free myself from any negative reaction by identifying with another reaction... of any kind.
Part 4
No reaction is a choice, and neither is any choice made from a reaction capable of changing the unconscious nature that gives rise to it. Again: a reaction is not a choice.
Exercise
Every negative reaction is a Trojan horse. Hidden within every negative reaction is another desire. Our lives are dominated by daily reactions we are unaware of. Resistance breeds the negativity that appears in any unwanted moment. Resistance is the life-blood of the false self that keeps the illusion of it alive. Resistance is itself summary judgement and a form of negative identification. No reaction can resolve the unwanted experience, and the source of suffering can never bring an end to itself. The struggle is with our own reactions, not the condition we're in. No reaction can save you from a reaction. Open the doors of perception and see there can't be a negative reaction without a thwarted demand. Understand that a reaction is not a choice, and that no promise of a better tomorrow can free you from the fear of today. Don't identify with the reaction, but feel the whole of it all. Become the observer and see what wants to recreate the pain. That's where hope lies... not in resistance, or reaction, or the solution the reaction gives. Freedom is found in clarification of the lesson hidden in negative reactions.
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