9 - Freedom
“To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities — I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not — that one endures.”
-excerpt from “The Will to Power” by Frederich Nietzsche, 1887
If living a life of blazing honesty, no doubt there will be deep, dark nights of the soul. Accepting that it will not always “feel good” is simply to be in a body on earth. And what an experience it is!
In Reverse – there is a Buddhist story about the futility of trying to overpower the fears that bedevil us. We “invite our demon to tea.” That is to say, we welcome with hospitality and curiosity the things we are triggered by. We offer them a seat, settling in to listen to their story and better understand how it is both of, and not of, us. That they are not obstacles on our path, but rather the path itself.
Consider:
EXPERIENCE VS. SUBSISTENCE
Element:
AIR
