Well-being

It can be something of a shock when we discover that well-being does not depend on what we are thinking. We have been carefully trained to dissect and analyse our thoughts and emotions to decide which ones are good and which ones are unwanted. We use this methodology to order our life and to gauge whether we are "doing well" or not. We then proceed to try and have as many positive or pleasant experiences as possible and to minimise any negative emotions or thoughts. No matter how successful at this game we are there is no way to hold at bay the negative thoughts or experiences and no way to hold on to the pleasant or positive ones. This approach to life is always hard work as we continually try to micromanage life to be just the way we think it should be. No one had told us that there was any other way to go about things.

When we are introduced to the practice of "short moments" and the support of the world-wide Great Freedom community then very quickly we come to see the futility of this conventional approach to living. Instead we slowly recognise, in our own direct experience, that there is something about us that is always relaxed, clear and spacious no matter what thought or emotion happens to be appearing. By repeating the short moment, whenever we naturally remember then we gradually gain confidence in relying on this clarity and not the endless stream of descriptions. We discover that our well-being does not depend on any particular perception or set of circumstances but that it is to be found in the natural presence of sky-like clarity.

The value of the community is to make the instinctive recognition of clarity easy and to prevent the adoption of any extreme position or point of view. In this way we all support each other in this most important of choices.