Acceptance – Page 2

Life can be challenging at times and change and loss are integral parts of the experience.

But when hardship and difficulties come knocking at our door, we often don’t want to answer.

When you hear that foreboding knock on the door do you pretend that no one is home, secretly wishing the unwelcome visitor to leave?

Maybe you hide in your closet and then retreat into your own dark world. The blinds are drawn so that you can not be seen, but this also blocks out the light. Afraid to go outside and experience the world you create a false safety inside your home, which is really more like a prison. You are trapped inside, isolated and begin to numb.

Or perhaps because you fear a dark guest entering your home, you never really are home.

Instead you leave your home searching for safety and something to satisfy your cravings.

You spend all your resources being distracted and chasing after something to keep you occupied.

I have tried both of these methods – either hiding from pain, pretending it does not exist or running from pain and staying too busy to allow myself to feel. However none of these work in the long run, because ultimately life will catch up with us. We can try to run but we can not hide.

“Pain is inevitable, Suffering is Optional” – Buddhist Proverb

On the path to enlightenment the Buddha faced many trials and tribulations. One of his chief nemesis was Mara, the Demon God. Mara had tried in vain over the years to tempt the Buddha.

The night before he was to be enlightened, Mara visited the Buddha. Rather than running away or hiding saying he was too busy, the Buddha offered Mara a seat by him and then offered Mara tea.

In essence the Buddha welcomed his temptations and the challenges of life and was able to sit compassionately with them. Ultimately Mara surrendered at this realizing that the Buddha could not be tempted. Mara had no power over the Buddha.

The challenge is to open yourself up to the Devil, to Mara, the addictions, the feelings of loneliness, despair, whatever they may. Invite these feelings to sit with you for a while. Be compassionate with them as you notice them and yourself. By learning to be at peace with these feelings, allowing and accepting what is, “Mara’s” energy is diminished.

So the next time you are visited by Mara invite him in. Rather than resist, stay present and practice acceptance.

Be a good host and soon you will find your visitor will leave you free to go on your merry way.

This is law of God by which He makes His way known to man and is paramount to all human control.

– Rufus King

While on a business trip to New York City I looked out my Times Square hotel window and saw the beautiful Paramount Building, pictured above. I have been to NYC many times and until now never was afforded the view of this marvelous building with its iconic clocks. I don’t recall ever really noticing the building before. Yet on this day there she stood, a towering example of art-deco style, now surrounded by taller, sleeker buildings.

The beautiful Paramount building serves as a vivid reminder on the evolving nature of time and how we may derive our perceived value in the universe.

Paramount, the word, can be defined as “above others in rank or authority; superior in power or jurisdiction. And at one time the Paramount building lived up to its name. The building was completed in the 1920’s and was one of the tallest buildings in Times Square and it was said that the Paramount’s clock could be seen from New Jersey. When the building’s construction was completed, the Paramount stood high above other structures and enjoyed un-paralleled vistas and likely received much admiration from those who could enjoy its splendor.

Fast-forward nearly 100-years and you see how things have changed in the Manhattan sky-scape. Today the building is ranked the 370^th in terms of building height in New York[i] [ii] Much of the Paramount building is now obscured from view due to the surrounding taller buildings of the Big Apple.

My how the mighty can fall.

This rise and fall is a familiar cycle that we must come to terms with in order to find lasting peace. For the very nature of life is a series of ebbing and flowing, growth and decay, birth and then death. In the Paramount building’s case the 4-sided clocks signaled to the world the continuous, unfolding moments of time. The building stood while the world around it eventually overtook it in terms of superior height and prominence.

People are like buildings in that we may rise above others and enjoy a brief period of paramount prominence. Other times we may remain in the shadows of those taller, newer, or more expensive than we are. And sometimes we may crumble to the ground to give rise to a new construction. Perhaps we provide lessons and inspirations to others. No matter where we are, what materials we are made – we all have the same maker, the supreme Architect and master builder- God.

The Bible says that “ All people are like the grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.” The truth of life is we all will wither and fall. And if we place our attention and derive our value from external things, like judging and comparing our prominence in the world, we join a race that has no end and one in which all eventually loose.

Our true essence is greater than what is manifest in the material world for we are timeless and infinite. While all things come and go – the power and presence of God endures, bringing the paramount promise of everlasting peace.

Enjoy the view!

Julian Kaufmann’s mission is to empower people to live and love more fully. Julian teaches how to more effectively accomplish your life’s work through energy efficiency. Please visit www.juliankaufmann.com for more information and sign up for his Prime Mover network and receive his free e-book Why Less is More – The Simple Science of Getting More Energy Out of Your Life.

[i] http://skyscrapercenter.com/building/paramount-building/9879

[ii] http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/08/1926-art-deco-paramount-building-times.html

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