Objective does not have emotions tied to it.
I was introduced to the teachings in 1975. As I studied, I came across the term “surrender” and it raised the question “What do I surrender to?” Through the years I’ve discovered that many times it’s impossible to understand the teaching idea presented until some time has passed and there’s a place or circumstance that clarifies. This school is very different from the public schools we attended wherein we read assignments, took tests and recited back the material studied to the teacher hoping for a good grade. So I learned to not make it important to understand every idea at once – to let it go for a while. There is always plenty that can be worked with during the interim.
One of the teaching cards which you can find previously presented on the blog says this:
Surrender:
We cease to think we know what ought to be.
Here’s another version:
Surrender to what is….
Surrender to what people are….
Surrender to what I am…..
Surrender our desire for certainty
Surrender the need for safety
Surrender what “I know”
Surrender what “I know is right”
Along with this, I’d like to say that there’s a certain story I love from the “Caravan of Dreams” by Idries Shah called “The Princess of the Water of Life”. You can find it on the internet. It’s a beautiful teaching story.
The main phrase in the story is “perhaps something may come of it.” As I’ve told the story, I’ve found some who don’t know what a djinn is. It’s an Arabian mythical creature that is able to take on a human or animal shape and is mischievous.
So I have combined that phrase with “surrender” and another idea from Dr. Bob — “I live in what I radiate” If I’m not always trying to “get something” or “make it come to me” or control people and circumstances, I can work with seeing what’s going on and what I can do.
Recently I had musicians come to my house to jam. It just seemed like fun. The jobs are few for jazz musicians; but we want to keep our “chops up” (technique), be with like-minded musicians and play the music we love following all the aloneness and separation from the pandemic.
I asked a New York jazz pianist I met recently to come play Wednesdays at my house along with an amateur drummer I had worked with for eight years. After a year of Covid, no gigs, and moving to Florida, the NY piano player decided to learn upright bass and needed someone to play piano. That was me – yay! Then he invited a jazz guitar player he knew which added depth to the sound.
The drummer abruptly decided to quit because he found other interesting things to do; so I had the opportunity to “surrender” what I considered “ought to be”. Then I remembered a really good jazz drummer from our area; and he not being busy either, acquiesced to join us. The jam just got better and better.
Later the jazz drummer brought in a well-known bass player on Thursdays so the NY musician could stretch out on my grand. For that day I sat back, listened and just had a grin on my face for two hours.
And so with all these changes going on, I can say I experienced the “Something may come from it.” The “something” could just be musicians introduced to each other or keeping the “chops up” and/or learning from each other. So if we get a gig all the better; but if not, we had the creative endeavor and enjoyment of each other and the music.
We can make a purpose to radiate out a good mood and perhaps some skill we’ve developed and use it in service to the community and others. Then we can watch, observe and see “what something can come from it” – could be something quite amazing, be to our advantage and also quite delightful in the process. Happy comes in moments — it’s a temporary state of being that we can create through our own efforts.