Fear of Allowing Resistance to Drop **
If resistance initiates a sense of I and Other, struggle, drama, suffering - why not drop it? What are the mechanisms which prevents it from dropping?
The most obvious answer is probably habit. We are used to operating from resistance, and anything we are used to tends to perpetuate itself.
The other answer may be fear. Fear of what may happen if resistance drops. Fear of being overwhelmed. Fear of being passive and nonfunctional. And these are natural fears, if all or most of what we know is operating from resistance. We don't know what is on the other side, and project monsters into it.
The irony is that when there is resistance to experiences, there is often a sense of overwhelm. And when there is resistance, there is also often passitivity and nonfunctionality.
Resistance is born from and perpetuates a sense of I and Other, and sometimes of Other as a disturbance, something to hold back, to protect against. So when we hold back experiences, no wonder we feel overwhelmed. We are creating a dam, and feeling the pressure from the other side.
Resistance also takes up a lot of energy. We struggle with the Other, hold it back, fight with it, try to avoid it, engage with it again. And from this comes fatigue, tiredness, leading into passitivity and nonfunctionality. Resistance comes from beliefs, and beliefs drain our energy. Even as they may give rise to manic activity, it drains our energy.
Not surprisingly, what we are familiar with from resistance is exactly what we project into absence of resistance.
What comes alive when there is an absence of resistance could not be farther from this picture. There is ease, utter simplicity, clarity, access to wisdom, full engagement in the world.
An absence of resistance to experiences allows the experiences to come and go, to live their own life, to pass through as if through space. An absence of resistance allows for vitality, fullness of experience, richness in engagement, virtuality unlimited supply of energy.
Labels: resistance