Wanting to be calm all the time is an understandable desire. It’s a natural reaction to a world that offers and encourages very little of it. That being said ‘calm’ in the way we are often taught mindfulness, is not the solution, nor the intention of those who originally pioneered mindfulness meditation.

Although the labels we use to categorise experience can be useful at times,  experientially speaking all there really is, is simpy energy. Emotions for example are simply energy in the body paired with a particular conceptual framework.

We are constantly told throughout our lives that the acquisition of knowledge is the highest priority. But what we’re not told is that the obsession with ‘knowing’ everything can be the very obstacle to wisdom and happiness.

Our mind is constantly trying to latch onto aspects of experience to define itself in some way. Part of it yearns to ‘know’ to organise, to grasp the chaos around it and within it. But there is another part of our minds that is able to simply accept the chaos as it is, as the true nature of reality.

Inspired by Rumi’s poem ‘The Guest House’, we look at how we can treat each of our experiences with respect and as a different individual guest, whether we find them pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

When we rebel against the inner critic, we get into a never-ending struggle with it. On one side we may think this is better than internalising with it, because we are not outright accepting it, but in truth we are merely defining ourselves in opposition to it.

We often find ourselves caught in a delusion. The delusion that we can directly fight fire with fire. That judgement can cure judgement. But judgement only ever leads to more judgment. 

If we cultivate an aggressive spirit towards our experience here today we will always find a new enemy no matter where we go. True peace will never come from war and judgement.