About Resistance

You say that we should allow things to be as they are, and resistance create only misery and unhappiness, without changing anything around. So, why we are given the ability to resist? What for? And also, if we create our own reality, throughout our thoughts and intentions, in contradiction with the world, should we allow it to be? 

Dear friend,

You can see resistance from two points of view. One is the natural attitude of resisting being hurt if something or someone is attacking us, or the natural tendency to insist when something under my control is not happening the way I want things to happen. This resistance is an important ability that we have. But I am not going to talk about resistance from this point of view.

The other point of view is resisting to ‘what is’. And from this point of view, resistance is not an ability, but a misunderstanding. From this point of view, we are not given the ability to resist, but we are given the ability to think and to understand, which includes in it also the possibility to think wrongly and misunderstand. Resistance, from the point of view I am taking about, is nothing but the belief that what is appearing in front of me should not be there because I don’t like it. And this belief is based on the misunderstanding that the world should accommodate to my needs and hopes and desires. This misunderstanding is nothing but a thought, or group of thoughts, appearing in my mind.

To give you a very simple example. I have plan for this weekend to go to the beach with my friends because I had a very hard week at work and I really believe I deserve a good holiday. All good until here. But then, when Friday comes, the weather starts to get very cloudy and by the afternoon rain and wind and cold are announced, and I get very upset with the weather (I resist) and feel depressed and gloomy and sad and I spend a miserable weekend.

Now, is my misery because of the weather or because of my resistance?

Yes, for sure it would have been nice if the weather were beautiful and worm and sunny, but things are as they are, independent of my wishes and desires. There is nothing wrong with my wishes and desires, but also there is nothing wrong with the ‘wishes and desires’ of the world. My wishes and desires are based on my DNA and conditioning. The ‘wishes and desires’ of the world (what appears right now in front of me) are based on an infinite web of causes and effects, going all the way back to the beginning of the world. There is nothing wrong with my desire to spend a nice weekend at the beach, but also there is nothing wrong with the world to ‘want to’ rain and be cold. We need to learn to take into consideration the ‘wishes and desires’ of the world.

We could say that at any particular moment, there are two worlds going on:
1) my own personal world of wishes and desires and
2) the great world of the universe with its one ‘wishes and desires’ (what appears at every moment in front of our eyes…weather, events, people, situations, coronavirus, etc.).

When these two worlds are clear in my mind, then I can understand that the ‘wishes and desires’ of the world are set in stone (in this moment right now, not even 1 second from now, but right now) and they cannot be changed. For example, right at this moment you are reading these words, and this cannot be changed. One second from now you can decide to do something else, but exactly right now, things are exactly as they are, and any resistance to what is, will only create unhappiness and misery.
There are some things in my control and some things not in my control. The shape that this moment right now takes is not under my control, but the attitude with which I see this moment right now has the potential to be under my control, if I am aware enough.

Resistance to ‘what is’ is a mechanical response. Allowing ‘what is to be as it is’ is an aware response. In either case, I will then act. If I resist, there is a very large probability that my response will create misery and unhappiness. But if I allow and embrace ‘what is’, then, based on my intelligence, wisdom and possibilities, I can act on ‘what is’ from a place of love. And so, instead of feeling miserable because it is raining (resistance to ‘what is’), I can take with me an extra sweater and a thicker jacket and enjoy a rainy day at the beach, or decide to stay home, call my friends to my house and have a nice party.

With my attitude – the only thing that is in my power – I create my reality: to have a miserable weekend, or to enjoy it.
You can replace the ‘rainy weather’ with anything that appears in front of you, and either resist it (the easy, mechanical response), or allow it and embrace it (the more difficult, aware response). The shape that your moment, and your life takes, will depend greatly on your response.