Revisiting The Elephants

Everything we perceive is a reflection of ourselves. Our opinions are shaped by our inner world and by observing our experiences of life we can come to know ourselves. By facing what makes us uncomfortable, angry, afraid... We meet our deep inner fears and feelings. When we avoid what makes us uncomfortable, we avoid seeing ourselves.

What happens when we stop running away? When we stop hiding?

Have you ever looked someone in the eyes... And felt like looking away? Probably all of us, all the time. Why does it make us so uncomfortable to look someone in the eyes? What is it that happens inside of us?... We begin to see ourselves. Our deepest fears. What happens if we dont look away?... At first it will be very uncomfortable, but just observe this. Inevitably feelings, thoughts will surface. Just observe. When we stay with the discomfort, those feelings arise, and then leave us and we are left just a little bit more liberated from fear.

What happens if we meet the whole world this way? If we surrender into what is happening, without turning away...without judging it or wanting it to be different?.... What would it feel like to be content in every moment, regardless of the situation? Would we then be Free???

I went back to visit the elephants. A strong metaphor of my fears. A place I never wanted to go again. I went to the elephant and I looked in her eyes. It was not the elephants sadness I saw; not her enslavement. My own. I was sad for them because it was not how I wanted their life to be. And it was a reflection of my own enslavement to the mind, to emotion. I saw my thoughts and feelings projected onto the elephant and I recognized them as my own. As I looked into the infinity of those eyes, I stopped just to feel what came up inside of me. I felt into the uncomfortability, the fears and sadness and just let them be... Until it disappeared and I felt as tranquil as a still pond. The elephant then reflected this stillness back to me.

When we look into another's eyes, we merge with them. It requires letting go of the idea that we are separate from them. We must become vulnerable and expose our eternal selves... And then we will be able to see ourselves in everyone, and everything...