Fist Full of Dollars » Amara Strand

Buddhist art.

I don’t do spiritual practices in order to have specific experiences.

I find that the process has its own momentum and I don’t need to organize it as such.

I’ve also learned that there is nothing special about the experiences, no matter how amazing they seem at the time.

One tends to chase after experiences such as bliss and oneness — and what we will, for convenience, call God.

But these experiences come and go, they are not the prize, and are often just a big distraction. They can even be a trap, because one gets overly fascinated and focused on having these experiences, when really they are just things that happen along the way…you are supposed to keep moving forward and expanding.

It’s like walking into a room with one dollar bills strewn all over the floor. You can get distracted and spend lots of time gathering them. What you are not aware of is that this is in fact your very own palace and that your throne and the real jewels are further along, through many other rooms. You can spend a lifetime picking up dollar bills, or even finally go to the next room, which is littered with something else that seems valuable but is actually unimportant. I’m sure you get the picture.

If you need to have more of these experiences, or any other experiences, you will. The most you will need to do is make room for it. Just be aware that it’s too easy to become fascinated with the experiences. It’s one thing to acknowledge that they are mind blowing or beautiful or life altering. They are. But grasping at them or trying to acquire more of them or worse, confusing the experiences for enlightenment, is going to divert you from the real treasure.

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