Have you seen this, or experienced it?
It’s my special phrase for when there’s a metaphorical thorn in someone’s foot. And they are suffering in that experience.
Then they remember, “It’s all awareness!” (Or ‘thought’, ‘love’, ‘an illusion’, etc). And they take that to imply there is no pain, or no thorn. Bliss.
But they don’t do anything about the thorn, or the pain.
Soon enough, they are suffering again.
Then ‘remembering’ again.
Flipping into bliss, flopping into despair. And nothing changes.
The bliss becomes addictive. The hit of relief of falling out of despair for a moment. And the chase gets progressively harder.
It’s exhausting. Like riding the same roller coaster over and over, faster and faster.
It blocks our deepening understanding.
It’s not aligned with our direct experience. And it’s illogical.
At the level where there is no thorn in experience, there is no foot, no owner of the foot, no before, no after, no thing.
At the level where ‘foot’ is in experience, then thorn and pain are its valid companions.
Yes, recall that it’s all awareness, or return to flow, ground yourself, whatever your phrase is.
Then ask: “What’s next?” In longer form, this means: Now I am centred and grounded, what is the next expression of that sense of flow, within this very human experience? But the short form works better!
If the thorn hasn’t dissolved in the light like a miniature vampire, there’s a very good case for removing it, and using appropriate medical treatments to clean and repair the wound.
This stops the nondual flip-flop in its tracks. And you can finally get off the roller coaster. Which, ironically, is the biggest possible relief.
Love, Sara
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
