In my teaching I use sentences that resemble mantras.
A mantra builds structure and rhythm in one’s mind. It cleanses your consciousness and whets awareness. It builds perspective and helps to maintain perspective in times of trouble or in times of intoxicating joy. It builds an automatic reaction – a spiritual one, that is.
I accept what comes – I let go of what is
The point of this is to say yes more often, and no less often.
To let life pour through you, and to lay out as few obstacles as possible.
To avoid controlling life, but on the contrary to approach it with faith.
Not to be tempted by what is beautiful and put off by what is ugly.
It is also about being present here and now - where else?
Much too often people identify with their thoughts and emotions, which to a great extent are conditions created by themselves, and that not necessarily have anything to do with reality. And if you are not present in the stream of life, you will easier be taken prison by the anxiety, cravings and imaginations of your ego.
The mantra takes in consideration that human beings identify with their egos. We must do something ourselves! We can no longer lay everything in the hands of God.
It also emphasizes that all things must pass (a fact few people wish to be reminded of – seeing one’s face in the mirror every morning is challenging enough). And it guides you into the present (which on the other hand is one of the positive notions of our times – but many people are probably not realizing that the cost of the present is both the past and the future).
The statement gives perspective and alertness and using it practices devotion. And devotion is a quality connected to the heart, which is mandatory in any spiritual process. But devotion is provocative to every ego – since there is a risk that you might lose yourself.
The mantra is also about process, going with the flow, and mobility. It is meditation, freedom and pure awareness. It provides respect for life and leads you into the stream of life.
This mantra offers its user a “crack”, meaning an opportunity for a leap into a higher dimension of consciousness.
The mantra is about the perspective of the crown chakra. In the crown chakra there is no past and no future. The time is always now. But since the ego lives stretched out between the past (the good, old days or bitter regrets) and the future (swinging between worries and hopes), you will have to work on the ego from time to time.
How is this mantra-like statement used? It should be part of one’s consciousness, where it will create a rhythm or a vibratory background. It is good to use it with breathing, so that you accept when you inhale and let go when you exhale.
Meditation on this sentence is indeed a friend in need. Instead of being captured by futile thoughts and emotions, which tear your heart and gut, you can hold yourself vertical, even in a crisis. This goes in meditation as well as in a vibration behind the doings of daily life. And if something utterly wonderful and joyful happens, it will also be wise to look at it and let it pour through you instead of identifying with it and getting attached to it. Any attachment will have the effect of reducing your alertness, and the intensity of consciousness will be diminished.
I accept what comes – I let go of what is. This is a mantra for human beings of our time. Avoid opinions, fears and hopes, since this consumes energy and thus gives less presence in the actual situation.
The mantra is a bardo mantra. It is well suited for all transitions of life. When the wind changes, when you move on from one phase in your life to the next. It is also useful for dying – or for that matter, sitting at the death-bed of a loved one.
Do not get attached to anything, not even your own life. For there is no such thing as your own life. There is only the life that runs through you – right now.
Consciousness glides from one phase to the next,
from incarnation to incarnation
– if we let it:
Like a snake sheds its skin,
like a bee that flies to the next flower,
like the sun that is covered by a cloud,
soon again to be seen clearly.
Life is a stream of light, a pulse, an awareness.
We are but the leaves of grass that are touched
as the snake of life moves through the grass.
When touched, we flare up with self-assurance.
We believe that what we sense is ours,
and we cling to it,
but the snake has already slithered on.
Look at life itself,
not at its external manifestations.
Young people are buoyant with life,
intensely filled with life.
Old people no longer have life’s glow from within, they are lacklustre.
But awareness shines through, regardless of age.
Anne Sophie, july 2007