Why Can’t I Figure This Stuff Out? - a podcast by Frank Anderson MD MPH and Lisa Barry

Why can’t I figure this stuff out?

There is a difference between figuring something out and letting it be. Meditation and awareness practices are about letting things, people, situations be – as they are. Our powerful, amazing and analytical brain- a great tool- will try to figure this stuff out. When we talk about exploring awareness, there is another layer to access to how we are in the world, something beyond figuring it out. Instead of trying to figure something out exploring awareness invites us watch the brain try to figure it out and see whatever happens from an awareness perspective. It doesn’t mean a passive acceptance of injustice or wrong, but it does mean seeing what is – to which you can respond from a deeper sense instead of reacting unconsciously.

Why would you want to do this? Perhaps there is a yearning to experience something different or to connect to something deeper. Doing these practices, there can be a return to a deeper core and sense of self- a process is this questioning of all those ideas that you had about yourself. When you get to a point where you feel really whole and complete, there comes a sense of spaciousness and a sense of oneness which is a feeling of returning home.

We spend a bit of time in this episode talking about judgments, as judging people is a very common, unconscious reaction that leads to a very limited and uninteresting way of being. From an awareness perspective, the figuring and judging from the brain becomes an action just like breathing- something we can be aware of, and in that awareness is spacious solid ground that allows an authentic response guided by love, peace, joy and generosity- no matter what the situation and no matter what conditions, habits and beliefs say. Are you going to be able to figure that one out? That’s where the paradox comes in. To be in an open, receptive, spacious place that may take some effort or discipline of sitting and meditating and entering your day in a different way. Effortless effort begins to unfold as you get more experienced with meditation. Instead of having to sit and meditate, the whole day becomes a meditation.

Finding your own “home” in spaciousness anywhere you are, is a very personal experience, not something you figure out. 

 

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