Have you seen a wildfire burning in a field or forest. A single spark ignites a fire that engulfs everything in its path. Furthermore, the spreading flames seem impossible to stop. And, this destructive pattern is what happens to thoughts and emotions within an unaware person. Therefore, conscious presence and living in unattachment are essential in smothering these out-of-control thoughts and feelings.
Mental and emotional wildfires usually consume your presence primarily due to unawareness and conditional behavior. Let’s use an everyday occurring example to illustrate. You experience a moment of serenity and nothing, not even your own mind, distracts or burdens you. Suddenly, a spark as a thought ignites in your mind. This thought kindles another thought and another. How is this possible? You are no longer at peace with yourself. Now, agitation and confusion consume your presence of being. Thoughts burn out-of-control within you.
You ask yourself how this can happen. And, you assume that work, a traffic jam or a crying baby cause your frustration and lack of conscious presence. But you should not base any experience on what you think in that moment. Instead, how you experience your own presence decides how you will live. This involves how you observe the moment, how you respond and how you behave. Conscious presence and unattachment to the wildfire of thoughts shift your state of being away from the mind. Continue reading