at ease

What does it take to be at ease in the world? Why do we spend so much of our life tense, not relaxed?

Being at ease is a huge part of the spiritual way. So let us look into some of the obstacles to being at ease; some of the reasons why we live with stress and tension. Perhaps we can see how to let go of that stress.

Firstly, we feel tension, stress, when we are anxious, when we are worried. These states come when we do not trust the flow of life; when we do not trust existence to take care of us. Without such trust, of course, it falls upon ourselves to look after everything and control everything. Yet we cannot control everything and so a tension starts inside our mind between the desire to control and to know and the deeper understanding that we cannot control, we are not in control, and indeed we cannot know, not in the way the mind wants to know.

So you see the tension is really an inner tension, a tension between conflicting ideas in the mind, conflicting understandings. Whilst we are living with the thoughts of the mind as our truth, then we will forever be in tension: a tension inside which is reflected in our relationship to the outer world.

To go beyond this, to let go of this way of being, we need to find a space within ourself which is not based on these thoughts and ideas. From that deeper space, perhaps we can also find a trust in existence. It is only with that trust, that confidence that life is unfolding just the way it should, even though we do not know what is going to happen next, it is all beautiful, and we are just a part of that great flow of existence... From that understanding of trust in the whole process of the universe, from that, we can relax: letting go of the need to control; no longer pinning our hopes on our own rational thinking. Then our inner tensions can melt away. We can relax, relax into life, allowing it to take us where it will. Then, being at ease with whatever is happening, wherever we find ourselves, we can enjoy life. We can enjoy all that existence offers us.

Being at ease, being at ease within ourself, we are naturally at ease in the outer world. So first look deep within yourself. Look at your inner conflicts, become aware of them. You will see, with a little patience and the light of awareness, they will melt away. You will laugh at them, their emptiness, their meaninglessness. And without inner conflict, outer conflict is impossible and the easiness of life will be yours.

Ah... It’s like relaxing in a warm bath after a hard day’s toil. Just soak in life, completely relaxed, at ease.