The Adventure

There is even a modern philosophy called “antinatalism” whose premise is that it is better not to be born. Parents wrong their children by bringing them into the world, the thinking goes, by exposing them to the sufferings of life, which easily outweigh its positive aspects.

“Now that you know what life is like, would you have chosen to be born?”

One can also view awakening as a process of opening. In our normal state — what I call our sleep state — we are closed off: closed off to the reality of the world around us, closed off to the fullness of our own being, and closed off to the consciousness of others.

Where is my story right now? Where are my achievements? Where is my success or status? Where are my failures and losses? Where are my painful memories? Where are my ambitions for the future? None are here. They are not part of the present, because they are unreal abstractions. All that exists right now is your experience of the present moment, inde

You’ll also feel inner stability, now that your mood no longer shifts from moment to moment in response to the tone and content of your thoughts. The link between thought and feeling is broken. If any negative thoughts arise, they will pass away without tinging your mind with negative emotions.

We’re encouraged to be unnecessarily active by our modern materialistic culture, which teaches us that our lives have value only when they are busy and productive.

In presence, a deeper, more authentic identity reveals itself, self-sufficient and unconditioned.

habits can quickly fade too, once we become conscious of them and override them with new patterns of behavior.

The taking for granted syndrome is probably the result of adaptation, our tendency to get used to things once we have had them for a while. When we’re first introduced to new experiences and environments — for example, the first few days in an unfamiliar foreign country, the first few days in a new job, or the first exposure to a new smell or taste