Prolonging Pleasure

We want to hold on to the good moments. The delicious meal. The pleasureful encounter with another. The perfect job. The comfortable underwear. The perfect hairdo. The fabulous film. The beautiful new car. The approval of peers. The harmonious love in the family. The trust in our government. The consolation of the church. The sunny day. The snowball fight. The youthful look. 

And yet, little by little we're asked to let go. Painful as it is we have to accept the human condition of never being able to hold on to anything for very long. Even the best of friendships changes. But it's okay.

It's okay because the letting go actually gives space for something else. Our loss and emptiness can open us to something new and beautiful: a trust in that loving goodness which is to be found deep within and all around us once we dare look.

Sure, it's hidden but only until we choose to look for it. The problem is that our mind cannot contain very many visions at the one time and if we choose to keep looking at what we lost we'll miss out of what is to gain. 

There's a deep running river within which is bursting to embrace the moment as it is. Sit with it and slowly a new direction will emerge. A beautiful path will unfold as long as we keep stepping into the present.

Eckhart Tolle describes how he lost all interest in life and ended up sitting on a bench in a park in London. For several days he didn't move, he just sat there, and suddenly he started to experience the power of the moment, the loving presence that's there behind everything and everybody. That presence has many names, but it is all the one. We are all the one in that deep loving consciousness ready to be experienced.