The experience of swimming is much more vibrant than reading about swimming. The taste of a mango is distinct from looking at the picture of a mango. Similarly, the personal experience of observing and recognizing the states and qualities of mind empowers one in a way that no theory or explanation of these qualities can. Through noticing contracting tendencies of mind, expanding capacity of mind, and the natural empty quality of mind, one experiences one’s own tendencies: ones that limit and curtain oneself or others as well as the experiences when one is opening, freeing, releasing, expanding, or simply at ease and being.
Exacting and contracting are necessary ways to use one’s mind and emotions, as well as one’s thought processes and interactions. However, if only this tendency of contraction is lived, and if our relations or reactions are based upon this tendency, unhappiness follows. This necessary daily functioning must be balanced with the other qualities and capacities of a human mind, emotions, and relatedness. Living from the range of mind-awareness-sentient relatedness, one realizes how easily creative happiness can be lived and shared with others.
Downloadable podcast: Entry: Experience is what matters.