August 28, 2013

By Damon Fakhri

The world is chaos, full of disappointments, unfairness, expectation and stress. How can we possibly smile all the time?

Stop right there! Let’s back up. Imagine, if just for a second, all those feelings are mere illusion, constructs we have created ourselves.

It’s time to wrestle back the initiative, to take control. We spend most of our lives looking externally, for someone or something to blame when times are bad, and for someone or something to cling to when times are good. We seek solace in a new toy or a partner. We look skyward when something good happens.

Forever looking outward changes nothing. Why? The reality is that every single thing that happens to us, every feeling we have, positive or negative, is of our own doing. Never look outward for answers. Look inward. Always. Go back to the source. That’s where the ultimate truth lies and that alone will lead to contentment.

But how can we do this? Perhaps we need to renounce all of our possessions and meditate in the Himalayas for a decade or so?

Nope. It’s much simpler than that. Just stop for a minute, anywhere, anytime, and imagine yourself free of all boundaries. Forget your nationality. Forget your race. Forget your occupation. Forget your religion. Forget your gender. Even forget your name. Strip it all back. Become nothing. Become empty.

Take away all the labels and categories. You’re not a doctor, or a teacher, or a cleaner, or a shop clerk. You’re not from Japan or Ghana or Argentina. You’re not a son, daughter, wife, husband, lover or friend. You’re not even a man or a woman. Just let go of each of these labels. If only for a brief second, be free.

Forget who you are. And feel the weight of all those illusory expectations that come hand-in-hand with the labels disappear. Notice the lightness.

Realize that in essence we are nothingness, we are emptiness. But that this emptiness is magnificent. It’s only when we strip back all preconceived notions and concepts that we see something beautiful – that nothingness is actually everythingness.

Because when we strip it all back, we see at a deep level that we are all the same. We were always all the same. We simply let our mind trick us into believing the ego, that we need to be the best, not to disappoint, and always live up to expectation.

It’s an illusion.

Nobody is watching. Nobody is measuring. They never were. And if it seems like they are, it’s only because they too are fighting the same illusory demons.

We have nothing to prove to anyone. Ever.

Emptiness is serenity, free of ideals and expectations. No one can touch us there. When we become nothing, we connect – to everything, to everyone, to nature, to the world, and to the universe.

It’s a wonderful feeling. Grab it and don’t let go. The world will seem so much brighter, the colors more vivid, the sounds sharper.

If we grasp this concept life gets just that little bit easier.

Also by Damon:

LABELS:   Answer   Beauty   Connection   Damon Fakhri   Emptiness   Essence   Freedom   Illusion   Inward   Label   Life   Mind   Source   Truth  

About the author: Damon Fakhri spent 8 years wandering the globe discovering and learning about different cultures, people and ways of life. His passion lies in social contribution. He currently resides in Tokyo and is working on a photo project covering people and issues in the city and country (https://www.facebook.com/iamtokyo.proj). He is also a Japanese-English translator and reiki master.