Comments on: Fear and the Pizza Man

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:44:05 +0000

Thanks Jarrod – I know that these things are not easily put into words but that was quite well put.

By: Jarrod

Jarrod — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:50:32 +0000

@Jacob: This indeed a tough topic to intellectually discuss.

I am this thing, and then there is this other thing called thoughts/emotions. Then there is also the physical world.

I manipulate the physical world with what I call hands.

I manipulate thoughts and emotions with what I call mind.

I am not these things, I interact with them.

What am I? I am nothing, I am everything.

Sometimes I see the world as everything I am, other times as separate from me. Sometimes both ways at the same time.

Confusing? The mind can’t really understand this, it can only be felt by practicing watching the internal and external life moment by moment.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:16:01 +0000

Hi Jarrod – thanks for the response, that certainly makes things a lot clearer.

I agree that it can be a trap to become lost in thoughts/emotions, yet I am also curious about what it means to “separate” yourself from something occuring within your experience. Spiritual teachers often talk of “ending division”, “allowing”, accepting your experiences rather than pushing them away. I am curious how this meets with the idea of “maintaining a separation between you and them”. I suppose it is a matter of seeing that YOU are not your experiences, yet still allowing them. Perhaps seeing that YOU are not your experiences provides the space to allow them to be as they are.

These are some thoughts that spring to mind anyway! Thanks for providing the springboard!

By: Jarrod

Jarrod — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:58:32 +0000

@Jacob: Separating ‘you’ from your thoughts/emotions.

If you have the understanding that ‘you’ are something that is separate from your thoughts/emotions then it is possible to drive a knife between them and see the gap.

When you distinguish between yourself and thoughts there is a gap, this is the act of remaining separated.

When you become lost in your thoughts or identified with thoughts and emotions then you lose the gap and ‘become’ your thoughts and emotions.

So as long as you are observing your thoughts/emotions from a kind of 3rd person that you maintaining a separation between you and them.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:56:28 +0000

Hi Jarrod, great post! Very simple but something I can certainly relate to (often it seems the simple things are the most profound). Could you possibly go a bit further into what you mean when you say you “maintain seperation” or “remain seperated”? Seperated from what? It is an interesting use of language. Thanks, Jacob

By: Tom Volkar / Delightful Work

Tom Volkar / Delightful Work — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:02:37 +0000

Jarrod, I enjoyed your story and hearing how your processed the fear and calmed yourself down. Concentrating on our breathing along greater awareness appears to be the answer to almost everything.

By: Jarrod

Jarrod — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:08:37 +0000

@Evelyn: I’m glad you go something out of it and even happier that you noticed what was happening inside of you. I might write some more of this sort of post in the future.

@Ariel: Thanks Ariel. The fears are silly for those of us who see them, a tragedy for everyone else .

By: Ariel

Ariel — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:01:52 +0000

Hey Jarrod, I really like how connected you are with your internal state and how efficiently you go in and let go of the fears and emotional turbulence. It’s funny how silly our fears can be when we look straight at them.

By: Evelyn Lim

Evelyn Lim — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:45:35 +0000

How beautifully you write! I was with you from the start and could feel myself tensing up and dreading what you might say. When I got to the part that it was nothing and that there was a change in atmosphere, I breathed a sigh of relief. I enjoyed what you’ve got to share on lessons in this post!