When What You Believe Doesn't Work Any More
By Sue Roberts

Clearing the Way

Think about how many "trumped up" beliefs and fears have been stuffed into you from American culture: the competitive rat race; self-worth equals bank balance; in-crowds and outcasts; mass-marketed "individuality." If you don't play the game you become a "dreaded loser." Well, no!

Europeans puzzle over our material obsessiveness. Most would rather have a good time, hang out with interesting people, and enjoy longer vacations than pursue wealth and success on these terms. The Puritan ethic may have been a European export, but did we have to take it so seriously? Let's join them in scratching our heads and questioning the madness.

Consider slowing down your pace! We are herd animals, and humans have lived in slower-paced tribal societies most of human history. Our bodies and minds are both flexible and imprinted with instinct. Slowing down some of the time—or even being completely still—allows you to experience new perspectives and knowledge.

There is a wealth of beauty and wisdom right within your reach. You don't need to run around fearing scarcity and judgment, yelling in desperation, "Noah, Noah, take me, take me!!!" At least, not yet. So, slow down the body, the breath, the receptors—let DOWN. Hang out for a time, and see how you really feel!

I'm not talking here about the paralysis of depression or falling into the abyss of hopelessness. I'm talking about knowing that there is more there than we think, so we have to touch the ground, or maybe just sit, to know more. Zen teacher Suzuki Rochi spoke a lot about just being with what is there, but for Americans that's difficult. We need not busy ourselves with guessing what awful things might happen. Even if we have a tendency to do second-guess, it only gums up the works and distracts us from the project at hand—paying attention and picking up more and more what is really happening.

Then comes a hard part: suspending judgment. You've got to let go of "truth" as you've come to know it. It's hardest at first and gets easier as you loosen up and realize that you are so much more than you thought, and that you have so many more connections in life to network and value than you thought. It's like being a good researcher/scientist dedicated to Truth, even when it upsets your favorite theories.

Zen teachers talk about just paying attention and receiving information from the world. The information can be about what you're observing and include all your feelings, interpretations, and prejudgments you hold and then release. And of course, it can be about all the little revelations and enlightenments along the path of experience.

What to Do

The hardest part is to take action based on imperfect knowledge. And our knowledge is always imperfect because we never know everything about everything! "Not knowing" is always there, whether you give it credence or not.

We have to shut down options and give up the mistaken certainty we hold to for guidance. Gaaaak!!!! Every time there is a fork in the road we choose one path and abandon another. We have to choose, but choice traps us, too! We make such choices all the time: the choice of friends, career paths, creative outlets. If we stop paying attention to our options then the choices are made for us and we pay a steeper price, the loss of freedom. It's not the punishment of Puritanism or an avenging god, but it seems to be a law of human nature that we all have to pay attention and we all have to make difficult choices!

It all comes down to taking responsibility for what you did and didn't do, reviewing it honestly and dispassionately, and then dedicating yourself with renewed passion. Take action, savor victories, admit mistakes, and then get ready to choose again! Living in the moment takes practice! Whenever possible, hang out with folks that see, feel and do the same....