The Joke is On Us

Author Andrew Harvey was once told by a Tibetan Lama, “When you finally see what is really going on, you will nearly die laughing!” What does he mean when he says, “When you finally see what’s really going on?” The meadow metaphor from my book, What’s in the Way IS the Way, points directly to what he is saying. We live in a meadow, the meadow of life and yet we are not present for it because we are surrounded by the clouds in our mind. So we pay attention to and struggle with the clouds rather than being present for the meadow! 

In our addiction to struggle, we deeply scare ourselves over ideas about what may happen, what should happen or what shouldn’t have happened. It is like we are endlessly trying to unravel an imaginary ball of yarn, while we are standing in paradise, which we are calling the meadow of life!  

But what if all the struggles we have are just clouds in our minds that cut us off from life? What if we could see through the clouds of our conditioning so we could again know an immediate and intimate connection with life? As someone whose cloud bank was so thick that I tried to kill myself three times when I was younger, I am here to tell you that it is possible to come back into the meadow, even if your clouds are full of thunder and lightning!   

Freedom is this living moment without any conversation attached to it. It is simply direct contact with life, which we are all deeply hungry for. Imagine getting up in the morning, trusting that life is truly for you – knowing everything that happens as the day unfolds is either an invitation to be fully here with the great meadow of life or an experience that reveals the particular brand of struggle you are paying attention to that keeps you caught in the clouds of your mind. 

Can you feel what a relief it would be?  You wouldn’t need to argue with life anymore. You wouldn’t try to control it, second guess it or even feel a victim to it. You would be fully engaged with it, letting go of the steering wheel of control. When we struggle with life, we tighten, cutting ourselves off from the joy of being alive. When we stay open to whatever comes our way, we feel exhilarated by the ride. That is the place we can live from as we see beyond our addiction to struggle and instead, open to the great adventure called life.  

As you read this, your mind may be coming up with thoughts of resistance. It may even be saying that it must stay in control or nothing will happen or bad things will happen. I know those are very seductive ideas, but they come from our disconnection from life, which stops us from noticing life is smarter than us and it knows what it is doing. Struggle will never bring us the peace we long for. Softening and opening into life will. 

So, know that your willingness to slowly let go of arguing with life and instead stay open to it – for a few moments here and a few moments there – reconnects you with the meadow, bringing more joy, trust and ease into your life.