Instant Peace: Non-resistance, Part 2

In Part 1, which can be found at the Urban Monk website, we examined our inner resistance to events and sensations that actually don’t mean anything. One sensation is no better or worse then the other, but our mind creates a story around it, and makes us judge or resist them as good or bad.

Good or bad – an artificial distinction

During the evening class, I realised the heat was making me sweaty and sticky, and that made me irritated too. Why does being sweaty irritating? It was just a sensation, no different to the sensation of rolling around in the softest silk sheets. Only our mind makes the artificial distinction.

If I was sweaty after running around the beach with a supermodel in a bikini, would I be irritated by it? Probably not. Why? It’s the same sweat, the same stickiness.

The mind makes a story around the sensation. “I shouldn’t be feeling this.” “I’m trying to be elegant, and sweat makes me stink.” You can go deeper into this if you want. Why do you want to be elegant? Who are you trying to impress? Why are you trying to impress them? What do you want to gain?

(I believe this goes into a lack of unconditional love for yourself, but that's for a different article.)

Turn the mind off. When it's off, it can no longer make a story around the heat, and then what you are feeling just becomes a sensation. Without any resistance to it, it means nothing any more. In my meditation class, after a while, the heat actually became quite pleasant.

Applications to life

Can you see how this might apply to many events that are happening in your life? Are you living in a house that you are unhappy with? Are you being stood up by your date? By letting go of inner resistance, you go with the flow, you roll with the punch, and you take away most of the pain.

Sleeping in a small house doesn’t feel that much different from sleeping in a huge mansion. Sitting alone at a café waiting for a date that never shows up feels no different from sitting at a café alone because you want to be alone.

This principle has been taught in major philosophies worldwide, and many great thinkers have suggested the same – most of them just don't explain it. I don't know why, perhaps it works better if you figure it out for yourself.

"The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character." - Albert Schweitzer

Important warning!

This is vital. This philosophy is not encouraging you to let yourself be abused, or anything of the sort. I’m talking about inner resistance, which is different from outer resistance.

For example, if someone is slapping you around, I’m not recommending you stand there and let them do it! Do something! Calling the police is not inner resistance, it’s not wrong. Get out of the bad situation!

But once it is over, it is over. He or she is no longer physically abusing you; learn from your mistakes and never let it happen again. However, if you get angry, and upset, and think about it over and again, then that is inner resistance, and that is the cause of unhappiness.

If you are in a poor financial situation and you don’t like it, I’m not saying that you just be poor forever. If you like it, then more power to you. But if you don’t want to be poor, work on getting out of poverty. That is not inner resistance; that is growing. Inner resistance is being angry about it, thinking about it, getting upset over it.

If the heat is making you dizzy, go get a glass of water. Open the window.

But when hot be thoroughly hot, when cold be thoroughly cold.

Can you be peaceful no matter what is happening around you, no matter where you are? If you can't, often times you are resisting inwardly what is happening around you. Read this series of articles to help you find some inner peace.

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Copyright © Albert Foong 2007

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