[Jyotir]

Originally Posted by Gem

My way is to accept that ups and downs are an inevitable on the life path. When things are great I know it won't last. When things are rough I know it'll pass.

To know what is true is key to my navigation, and I'm not saying I'm good at it, but knowing how I am without the nagging need to be better lets me keep the peace. This is a more powerful driver of positive change than any will I might have to improve myself. It is inevitable that I'll change, and self-awareness is key to positive transformation. It's nature's way to be sentient-aware, which is the truthful path - as opposed to the path which follows delusion.

When I wander off track in emotion and distraction, it never leads me anywhere good, so each time I notice I've gone awry, I return to where I am, where awareness exists with the actuality of lived experience.

Gem,

Very nice cogent description.

What you are describing, in devotional paths would be summed up as surrender.

This is when the ego content of the seeking takes a back seat, and what happens is that the TRUTH Itself begins to take up the process, because the seeker is becoming more conversant with it...which means more listening and less asserting, i.e. surrender. This is why meditation is indispensable; it is literally a training in listening to what is, and sitting is an extended listening, also surrender.

Truth leads to Itself.

Its the other stuff that like you say, 'gets in the way'. In the beginning of sadhana (practice) this is virtually inevitable,
but gets sorted out over time, by direct experience and continued dedicated practice, as these oscillations (hopefully) get narrower and narrower.

Great post!

~ J