The Ultimate Truth - 1

Well a title like that ought to bring in a few more readers, surely? I might have called it 'the secret' but I think that's been done already, so 'the ultimate truth' it is.

So what am I talking about here? Is this series of posts going to be something special or just a load of hype?

I'll leave you to judge for yourself...

And the truth is, if I'm perfectly honest, that you've heard it all before. But there's a difference between hearing it and actually getting it. The point is: I've written about this 'ultimate truth' myself on this blog, but I didn't get it either. Only now am I starting to get it - to really understand its full implications - which is why I'm going to share it with you here.

What I'm talking about is acceptance. You may remember that I wrote about this in a previous post. I pointed out that there is no point in 'arguing with reality', that the only sane approach to take is to accept that things are the way they are, because they are the way they are whether we like it or not. We may be able to change them in the future but just for now, in this moment, they are as they are and we have to accept that. End of story.

I wrote that, but I didn't fully understand it. When I wrote about acceptance, I was thinking about something bad happening to you and you being OK about it. Like for instance, going back to where you've parked your car only to find that a parachuting elephant has dropped on top of it - just to take a typical example from everyday life.

So an elephant has dropped on your car. That's OK - you're perfectly cool. You just accept it...

Yet what if you don't accept it? What if you're really furious about it? What if you're really, really p*ssed off about this elephant dropping on top of your car? What happens then?

'Ah,' you might say, 'but you shouldn't be annoyed! That means that you haven't accepted what's happened!'

And yet you are annoyed. In this moment, you are really, really annoyed. So how now, right now, are you able to practice acceptance?

The answer is simple. All you have to do is accept that you are annoyed.

That is the bit that I hadn't understood before.

To really accept, you sometimes have to accept not accepting. Because that is the way things are...

It may take a while for the full implications of this to sink in.

If we really accept that we sometimes don't accept, what it entails is being OK with all the 'negative' emotions which this might bring. It means us being OK with anger, OK with sadness, OK with fear, OK with frustration, OK with the whole ghastly gamut of *stuff*, the whole range of troublesome feelings which afflict the human race...

Which is not an easy thing to contemplate.

But what if I told you that this 'trick', this acceptance of 'negative' emotions, is the ultimate key to happiness? That if you can really be OK with whatever 'terrible' stuff you might feel, then you finally have the key to the garden of Eden.

I'm going to explain why - along with some practical advice on how to accept your emotions - in this series of posts. Part Two, 'Into The Jaws Of The Tiger', will be along very shortly...

 

These may also be of interest:

How Does it Feel to Win a Million?

Ripples on a Sea of Peace

Comments

[Sally]

This speaks volumes Simon ......well done for sharing it so eloquently as it is needs no more verification......all I can say to everyone is try it.....it is the ultimate truth and brings true contentment. I have had some opportunities to put this into practice recently as 2008 has brought some true surrender practice for me. Accept it ....or accept that you can't accept it....simple as that!
Do we expect Ultimate Truth 2 to follow this? Or should that read even more ultimate truth?
Smiling still ... Sally

[Alexys Fairfield]

Hello Simon,
I want to know where would an elephant come from in the middle of Los Angeles? ;D

Acceptance is what moves the boulder out of our way so we can walk peacefully toward illumination.

[Liara Covert]

Simon, to encourage people to explore the depths of truth is to encourage greater self-acceptance. This is very meaningful.

Not everyone is aware ego is the root cause of all perceived issues. What we sense are inferiority or superiority complexes grow out of the draining energy of frustration and pride. To raise your awareness of such things empowers you to transcend feeling victimized by self-created conditions.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

Those who know me personally call me "Sue And".

If ever anyone wants to paint me with wings and a halo, I insist on having horns and a tail, too. Because I'm an "and".

[Simon]

Many thanks Sally - it's always nice to have conformation that my writing is getting across! It's great to snap that final piece in the acceptance jigsaw into place, isn't it? I can't always find it, but it's great when I do... And yes, there's going to be Ultimate Truth 2, followed Ultimate Truth 3, and finally Ultimate Truth 4. The posts will mainly be about the *same* ultimate truth, though there'll also be a bonus ultimate truth thrown in in the final part - I like to give good value!

Alexys - Oh yes, the elephant... I just find that introducing random exotic animals into my writing helps to keep people awake!

Liara - As you say, awareness of what is going on is very empowering: the first step on the road to transformation. A lot of the time, to be honest, it's as far as I get - but hey, that's OK...

I too am learning to accept my pointy tail, Sue And - and also the fact that sometimes I trip over it...

[Chase March]

True words. I think that people worry and fret too much. I have actually been yelled at and misundertsood because I am perceived as too easy-going. I like to go with the flow and accept things. I wouldn't say that I'm enlightened but I know what you are talking about. I think.

[Simon]

Sounds like you have the right idea, Chase! The only thing I will say is that I appeared to be fairly easy-going myself when I was younger. It's only since I've got older and a lot of previously suppressed emotions have come to the surface that I've realized I *was* getting upset by things in the past after all - it's just that I hadn't been allowing myself to *feel* those emotions. I give this only as a point of information. If it ain't bust, don't fix it. It may be that you are wise enough to know that you don't have to get sucked into all the dramas we humans tend to weave around ourselves.

[Surface Earth]

Ah, accepting non-acceptance. Like Sue said over at my place, think about if God is everything. (paraphrased).

[Malcolm Campbell]

My only caveat would be that if an elephant fell on your car, it's because you caused or allowed it to fall there. That being the case, getting ticked about it after the fact rather obscures whatever lessons might be learned. And, if one doesn't believe s/he creates his/her own reality, acceptance sure does beat a couple of days of reactive behaviour.

Malcolm

[Sue Ann Edwards]

Ohhh {{simon}}}, you know the way we are...

Sometimes stumbling is the only way we're going to find something...we fall flat and find our face in it. rofl

[mergingpoint]

Hi Simon

Vital breakthrough in a seeker, so well explained.
"To really accept, you sometimes have to accept not accepting"
Have you noticed, its the dividing nature of the mind that traps one in the beginning. Lets say, good/bad, black/white etc. then when experiences happen, its divided. Good--everyone feels happy and there is no issue on that. bad--then, all logical reasonings are brought in and finally arrive at the acceptance.
Acceptance can happen only in non-acceptance.
We dont tell everyday "my skin is dark, so let me accept" It has become a part and hence there is no division in thought and there is no acceptance too.
So the moment we notice the play of dividing mind, then right away grab it with acceptance.

[Simon]

Surface Earth – Yes, they taught us in school that God is everywhere, so of course ‘He’ is also in shadows. The way I see it, we came to this place to experience light and dark. We can’t have one without the other. So why get all upset about the dark bits?

[Simon]

Malcolm – When you start mixing acceptance and the law of attraction together, it always seems to get complicated. (Note the word ‘seems’ in there!) Most of the time, I prefer to focus on acceptance. If you get that right, the law of attraction takes care of itself.

Even so, the LOA is working all the time of course – the only tricky bit is using it consciously. If you have elephants falling on your car, you clearly haven’t mastered that bit yet.

If you’re getting ticked off about what’s happened, I would say that *is* the lesson. You can only use the LOA the way you want to if you don’t get attached to stuff. Otherwise, your fear of losing it gets in the way. But if you’re getting all annoyed about an elephant falling on your car, you’re clearly attached to the car. So there’s your lesson.

My Dad was a bit of an extreme case in this respect. He was very, very proud of his car and was always worried about getting it scratched or damaged. The result of this concern was that he could hardly ever take it out of the front gate without getting it scratched or damaged. Indeed, sometimes he would speed things up a bit by colliding with the front gate itself. When we sold the family home a couple of years ago, it was still mainly full of the ancient old-fashioned furniture my parents had bought when they were married. Most of the money had gone on car bodywork bills.

[Simon]

Sue Ann – I’m starting to think that falling over is mandatory!

mergingpoint – Thanks for making this point. 'Notice the play of dividing mind': that’s very useful. It comes back to what I was saying to Surface Earth about light and dark. It’s all part of the show, but it *is* only a show. The Source is all the same.

Thanks for all your comments!

[Lynda Lehmann]

Simon, this is a wonderful post that resonates well with me, and I'd imagine that everyone can relate.

It's true that you can't let go of something i.e. a negative emotion, if you can't even let yourself own it. My approach is to face the fear, anxiety, despair or whatever, head on, feel it to its fullest degree, and then move on.

If you try to run downhill from a snowball, it will catch up and run you over! Better to turn around and face the snowball. Then you can give it a kick or two before you jump out of the way!

[Simon]

It sounds like you have the right idea, Lynda! - though I wonder if you have to let the snowball hit you first before you get merrily on with the rest of your life?

[Andy D]

Hi there Simon,

Its worth asking oneself what it is that is not accepting the emotion. Looking closely one can see that its the same thing that once wouldn't accept the behaviour of the person in the supermarket pushing in front of us. The mind has merely switched its tactics (as we have become 'more spiritual'). Both are 2 sides of the same coin - in me experience seeing this takes us closer to freedom.

Andy

[Simon]

Thanks Andy - That's an interesting insight and worth bearing in mind. And I've now started noticing other people being governed by their egos. Which of course makes me feel superior to them! The mind switching tactics yet again. But like you say, it's seeing what we're doing that is important.

[emotions are useless]

i want to get rid of all my emotions i looked through all the pages yet it seems the only one that works is the EBT but it dosent work very long i want too get rid of my emotions for good if anyone knows how to supress your emotions permenantly or wants to help me supress them for as long as i can orwants to teach me how to deal with my emotions because their really annoying still this helped im not as much of a nervous wreck now but...anyway email me at [email protected]