Speaker 1
This is how they evolve. Every lifeform only evolves by encountering obstacles. And by encountering obstacles, that calls forth new power, new energy, more consciousness in order to overcome or transcend the obstacles that arise on your path. We
Speaker 4
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Speaker 1
So iseems almost that life is maliciously putting obstacles in your path. You can sometimes overcome them. And at other times they stop you completely, and then you have to go somewhere else. But every human experience is that life is not always helpful. At times it is, but everything is impermanent. Every situation you find yourself in is impermanent, as the buddha always pointed out. So sooner or later, it changes. So even a situation that makes you happy now can make you unhappy a little later, or loses the capacity of making you happy. So if yo see a fundamental truth of life, which is, it seem that the world is not designed to make us happy. The world is designed for something else. The world is not designed to produce comfort zones for everybody. Although it's nice to occasionally have comfort zones. It's lovely when they appear, knowing that they may not last. But of course, enjoy your comfort zones when they are there. Know that your comfort zone is not where your awakening happens. It is unlikely that your comfort zone is where you will find more intense consciousness. The comfort zone is lovely as the rest. But where humans evolve. Its when the life takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges you. And that's when you lose something, you fail at something, so called failure is, from a spiritual viewpoint, much more conducive to spiritual realization than so called success. And this is why thereis an ancient saying, i believe it comes from sophism, but i'm not sure. When the spirit weeps, when the eage weeps for what it has lost, the spirit rejoices for what it has found. And that is many of you can verify in your own life. If you had not experienced those seemingly negative events in your life, you probably would not even be here. You would be in the crown temple and getting very excited about it. So and once you the delusion that life is here to make you comfort, that expectation, you can drop that, and then you can actually approach life in a different way, knowing that life is meant to be challenging. And then once you know that, then you altso realize that the challenges arise in the present moment. It's where everything arises, in the present moment. And then you can find a different relationship with the present moment that is no longer antagonistic. As most, many, many humans still live in a relationship with the present moment that is not good because most of the time they don't want to be in it. So they mentally project themselves out of it always, but this isn't what i want. I want that just get there. Whether that isn't is a minute from now, or to morrow, or in ten years time, or whenever i find what i think will make me happy, it doesn't matter. But it's away from now. So you deny the present moment. Let's say if the present moment were a human being, you would be always living with somebody you don't want to live with. Why am i struck with this person? Now you may have actually experienced that too. That's another matter, but i'm using it as an analogy. Now, if the present moment and you cannot get away from it, so there's no way you can divorce this person, there's no way you can even leave this person tat. If the present moment is a person in this analogy.