Working With Resistance

Finding a group of people where you can be real is not only very healing but it also makes it safer to be real with yourself. We have certainly not been trained in this. We are trained to ignore or deny or fix or change or get rid of what we are resistant to inside of ourselves. Instead we are learning that giving these resistant patterns inside of us the light of our attention allows them to let go. And that is the key. We don’t let them go, they let go – after they have given us all the gifts they have come to give us.

Here is one of my favorite quotes for working with what I resist:

If there were no confusion, there would be no wisdom.
Chaos is workable, not regressive.
Respect whatever happens!
Chaos should be regarded as extremely good news.

Respect the upsurge of energy that is emotions – no matter what form.
Nothing is rejected as bad nor grasped as good.
We grapple only because we feel they will overwhelm
the basic posture we have deemed ourselves to be.

Go toward the emotion – then there is no resistance.
Let yourself be in the emotion, go through it, give into it, experience it.
Then there is no resistance.
Then there is rhythm.

Transmutation involves going through such fear.

Trungpa Rimpoche

Note:  This is taken from my Thursday evening Telegroup notes.