The Way of Medication
Of course, there is nothing wrong with managing energy and emotions. It is skillful to use the "medicines" at hand to moderate the pain and promote experiences of peace, calm, and happiness. It is what people aspire toward - to feel good. The medication may be a support for the more intense journey to a cure; to freedom.
As long as the side effects are acceptable, there is no problem.
But if the fears and secrets keep surfacing and get in the way of living well, then there is the need to cut through or take more frequent and bigger doses of the medicine whether it is sex, drugs, entertainment, work, worship, hours of meditation per day, seven yoga classes a week, continuous reading, thinking and talking about the power of the mind, spirituality, politics and/or other people.
Many people find a balance point and as long as things don't get too bad they are satisfied.
The Way of Freedom
The alternative to the Way of Medication is the Way of Freedom. In this Way there are many paths to an experience of Truth where the fear and secrets lose their power.
This is a way for fierce warriors who have a fire for freedom in their chest. The warrior confronts reality and does not try to hold on, push it away or hide from it. With the Way of Freedom there is the promise of no longer needing the medicine.
One chooses how fierce one wants to be, how much medicine to use along the way to learn from and moderate the pain. One recognizes that the Way has no end, only the journey.
Cutting through comes as one mindfully observes and sees that the pain caused by fear or any emotion is a transitory collection of thoughts and unpleasant feelings. If it passes quickly, let it go. If it lingers or returns often, then assess its cause and either dismiss it or act upon it.
This Way then opens the door to seeing the reality that everything is in motion, there is no ground, no walls or ceiling. One is in free fall. And there is nothing to be afraid of because there is no ground. Nothing to crash into. One becomes comfortable soaring and with uncertainty.
And then there is the realization, that one's old identification with a solid sense of self has been getting in the way. One rediscovers the boundless ocean of absolute awareness, emptiness, and clarity, while being simultaneously in the world, living optimally, in flow, free of unnecessary stress and able to add value.
In the delicious night,
In privacy, where no one saw me,
Nor did I see one thing,
I had no light or guide
But the fire that burned inside my chest.
The fire showed me
The way more clearly than the blaze of moon ...
--- St John of the Cross, (Translated by Robert Bly)
