Ponder This Paradox

Here's a paradox for you to ponder:

How can you love and desire something with all your heart and soul, and also be able to let it go completely and not worry about it?

...

Why would this be important? Because it is the secret to manifesting all of your dreams.

Allow me to explain.

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There is an old story about a young man who is searching for wisdom. This young man goes off and one day finds a great and wise master. He asks the master to be taught the ways of wisdom. The master, watching, motions to the young man to follow. They walk down to the waters' edge and kneel. The master turns and asks, "do you really want wisdom?", to which the young man replies, "yes". Suddenly, the master grabs the youth's head and pushes it under water. At first he is alarmed and tries to escape the master's hold, but then realises that this might be a lesson. So the young man, with breath held, waits underwater, trying to grasp the lesson.

But the master was not letting go and the youth's breath was running out. In desperation, the young man starts pushing back a little bit, and then more an more violently in an effort to avoid drowning. Still the master holds his head under the water.

When the youth was spent from struggling and just about to black-out, the wise master released the hold and allowed air to once again fill his lungs.

As the wet youth finally got enough breath back to speak, the master asked him, "when you were struggling, towards the end, what was it that you wanted most, more than anything else in the world?", to which the young man answered, "to breathe!". The master then stared intensly in the exhausted youth's eyes, and replied, "only when your desire for wisdom matches your desire for a breath of air a moment ago... only then you will find it".
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What is the lesson here?

Only when you truly desire something, as much as a drowning person desires a breath of air, will you be ready to do all that is required to reach your goal. If you don't want it that bad, you won't go far enough to succeed, past the point where you cease to struggle...finally letting go and "just do it" as Nike says. It's the "massive action" that Anthony Robbins refers to, or the proverbial "swift kick in the pants" we all seem to need at times to get ourselves to move.

In other words, how bad do you want it?

And there is another famous story:

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A seeker of wisdom goes to see a Zen Master one day. The seeker asks for wisdom, for true eyes on the world, for enlightenment/nirvana. So, the master invites this person to sit with him and have a cup of tea.

The master prepares the tea with full awareness on every movement, gesture and proper placement of the table. He then begins to serve the tea, pouring it into the other's cup as the seeker once again asks many questions about wisdom and finding nirvana. As the seeker speaks, the cup slowly fills and suddenly overflows. Alarmed, the seeker tells the master to stop pouring because the cup has overflowed.

Calmly, the Zen Master explains, "your mind is like this cup. It is filled with thoughts. To add more thoughts is to overfill your cup. If you seek true wisdom, you must first empty your cup so that it may then be filled with wisdom. "
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What this story points to, is the essence of meditation. To empty or quiet the mind of thoughts, so that true wisdom, from the depths of your being, may rise to the surface and fill your mind. It's where inspiration comes from. It's where true knowing comes from.

What does this have to do with achieving your desire?

It has to do with the second part of the paradox stated above: how do you let go of that which you most desire?

This is how: release all attachment to your thoughts.

What!

I know it may sound strange, but the truth is that we are so attached to our thoughts and ideas that we believe that we are nothing without them. We believe that thinking brings us our ideas. Actually, not thinking is where ideas come from.

Huh?

Haven't you noticed that you get your best ideas when you are not trying to think about something? It happens when you "sleep on it", when you are relaxed, when you are playing, when you take a shower or go for a walk or when you do something different to "clear your head" and let go of trying to find a solution. Those can all be forms of meditation, if we generally define meditation as "emptying the mind of thoughts", or "a state of inner silence or stillness".

The reason why letting go of your attachment to thoughts and ideas is so important for your life, is that when we truly desire something, bad enough to do whatever it takes, we must also remain open to the opportunities and possibilities that there may be better ways to achieve our desire than following the ideas we originally had.

In other words, let go of wanting it in a specific way so that you may be open to your true desire manifesting in the best possible way.

And the best possible way may not be one you have thought of, hence the wisdom in not attaching ourselves to thoughts.

So this is the secret.

Want it badly enough to do whatever it takes, and at the same time, be completely open to new opportunities as you move forward. Just keep moving forward.

It is both a paradox - a deep truth that seems contradictory on the surface - and an act of balance - like the eternal symbol represented by the Yin and Yang. Integrate it into your being and watch yourself begin to soar.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin