Path to Buddha-hood Pt. 2
The Road Less Traveled
My path to enlightenment began when I was 13. Already facing regular depression and overwhelming anxiety, my father gave me a book; The Road Less Traveled by Dr. M. Scott Peck. He believed I was ready to dive deep into the realm of psychology, philosophy, and existentialism. This book changed my entire perspective on life, living, and reality.
Dr. Peck had an uncanny ability to bring sense to spirit as he bridged the gaps often left within scripture. I hadn’t found resonance with the bible at that point and still do not to this day — yet, he would take a verse from the bible and break it down from a lens the average human could comprehend. He removed the dogmatic confusion that often accompanies bible study to find the crux of what was attempting to be conveyed.
The way Dr. Peck looked at the world became a lens I often use still to this day; everything has meaning, everything has a reason for existence, and it’s up to us — the observer, to figure out what those reasons and meanings are for ourselves. Learning to look at life as a journey from which to grow from has afforded me the capacity to face more challenges than I’ve turned away from. This has been the foundation to my awareness.
LEARNING TO TREAD LIGHTLY
The situation I’m currently in has been quite the trial of tribulation to help me continue refining my focal point. The chaos around me has sharpened my resolve to maintain my center. It has put me face to face with my own illusions to help me shore up my demeanor. Within these experiences that I’ve consciously chosen to play in — I desire to become like water. To fill each container I find myself in with fluidity and grace while staying resilient through flow.
I’ve had many opportunities, throughout my current adventure, to observe the emotional triggers causing suffering and resistance in my life. Who I used to be was not conducive to the circumstances I’ve now found myself in. Because of this, I’ve had to recalibrate my entire self to a completely new way of being. I could have stayed the same human who pushes and pulls his way painfully through everything. Or, I could choose to tread where I walk more lightly to create a more balanced and aligned experience.
Through this more difficult and challenging path, I’ve become the human being that I’ve always wanted to become. By treading lightly through the road less traveled, I’m now where I’ve always wanted to be. How I got here was by recognizing these four tenets as essential practices on what I call “The Path to Buddha-hood” and it is based around these concepts;
— Stop reacting
— Stop commenting
— Stop judging
— Stop caring about all that doesn’t matter
EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTIONS
One of the laws of motion states that with every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This creates the kinetic force necessary for movement. When we react to someone else’s actions — we’ve now taken our experience and intertwined it with theirs. Their experience is now affecting our experience because we are allowing it too. This reaction — good or bad now leaves us with residual energy that we must focus on grounding out of us before it becomes stuck in the forms of guilt, shame, or obligation.
How the body interprets these energetic frequencies is unique to each of us. How the body responds to the stuck energy is also unique to the individual. However, the vibration now contained inside is sporadic and chaotic which causes a chain reaction of events that follows. The more quickly we can recognize our energetic downturn and acknowledge it means we’ll have less fallout. Yet, if overlooked completely, it can become the very thing that has us fall from grace.
By choosing to not react at all in the moment disallows for our energy to go up or down based on how we react. We maintain our energetic balance, neutralizing any attempt for us to become off-kilt. The entire point of certain life situations is to see how we react. The Universe often tests us with triggering circumstances to observe how far we’ve come and what else needs to be refined.
I had a threshold for bullshit for many years which once crossed by perceived external forces would thrust me into my dark wolf and all composure would be lost. For a long time, I believed this served me in protecting myself because I formed this 0–100 aggression during a time in my youth which found me being bullied incessantly.
However, 20 years later as a grown man — my reactions became less and less acceptable by the people around me. What would have originally been brushed off as “Ace being Ace” had now become something I’d be ex-communicated for. I lost out on romantic partners, friendships, and even business opportunities because I couldn’t help but react to protect some aspect of self that still felt insecure.
As I continued to feel the fallout by my lack of self-control, I took it upon myself to shore up my reactions as to improve my overall disposition towards life. This is the true purpose of emotional triggers. To observe them, acknowledge where they came from, and let them go to improve our overall life experience. This was done by thrusting myself into uncomfortable and often triggering circumstances that I believed were impossible for me to handle.
The last 6 months have been a dungeon boss battle for me. It has given me ample opportunity to prove my maturity and resolve to myself while showing me the “chinks in my armor” that are in need of spot welding. The reactions I’d previously have would make me feel guilty, weak, and shameful. Now — I feel like a Lion who doesn’t even need to roar. I just stand strong in my self-controlled knowing without the need to compromise my energy for an outside illusion.
Letting go of reacting ensures we stay centered in our own energy field. By having the discipline to allow the external noise to be what it is without needing to address it keeps us in our sovereign equilibrium. This isn’t to say that inside, all hell hasn’t broken loose. But demonstrating the self-control to not react will allow for the chaos inside to stay inside and not spill out into our external human experience causing shifts in our path forward.
LEAVE IT TO THE PEANUT GALLERY
Opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one. Yet, is having an opinion about everything conducive to reaching an enlightened zero point? When we make comments about the World around us, we remove ourselves from current moments to instead spend time in the mind. Life is teeming with signs, synchronicities, and validations which takes awareness to observe. If we’re no longer present, we miss out on potential gifts the Universe has waiting for us.
Comments are nothing more than verbalized judgements in the form of projection. Our egos make comments to be heard and acknowledged. When we find ourselves pointing the finger at outside situations, we are actually highlighting gaps within our own “security” that has us feeling “less than.” Then, in order to feel “better” about it, we make comments to bring some sense to our sorrow.
I love talking shit — always have. Growing up, that’s all we did. Then, I joined the Military and got a Ph.D in it. It’s how I vented my frustrations at the World — usually in the form of hilariously poignant and astute observations. It felt good and I believed it served me. In the end, “it’s just who I am,” I thought to myself. However, we create what we speak. All the commenting and complaining done — simply created more similar situations for me to comment and complain about.
Eventually, I got exhausted chasing the rabbit around the greyhound track. Once I was able to stop reacting, I gained enough confidence and self-control to let go of externally judging (as much) the World around me. This has freed up space for more peace and serenity to enter my existence creating the flow necessary for balance and alignment to take hold — effortless and sustainable.
IT’S ALL IN OUR HEADS
The issue with making comments or complaining about NOW moments is that it feeds the ego mind. Like coal to a locomotive, the more we chase the rabbit down the track — the more power, speed, and momentum it gains. Part of sustaining a balanced human experience requires mastering our mind. We create what we speak. We also speak what we think. When our thoughts, words, and desired actions are all in alignment we manifest brilliance in our lives.
Brilliance takes focus to attain — focus in the now. If we’re stuck in our heads thinking about everything and judging it for what it may or may not be, we aren’t focused nor present. Instead of staying centered in our own NOW experience — we immerse ourselves in a world of “shouldas, couldas, and wouldas.” This distracts us, once again, from the world of synchronicity showing us the way to our true soul purpose and mission.
Being a very cerebral person myself meant I’ve spent a majority of my life in my head. At least in there, I had some control — or so I thought. I began to drive myself crazy with incessant thinking and concurrent internal noise. Part of the reason I sought to remedy myself through self-help books was to quiet my mind which was driving me insane. Everything drove me up a wall. Any little thing would set me off. Yet, I knew it started with the thoughts that ran through my mind.
These thought forms caused me to comment which then often caused some sort of reaction which I enjoyed because I thrived in confrontation. Yet, I was becoming a new human being and was no longer able to deal with confrontation of any kind. Reclusing myself into my “cave” of healing, I was determined to master the judgements of my mind. Again, a place where ego likes to reside.
No longer able to distract or cope myself from facing my ego, I looked straight at it and finally listened to what it was trying to say all along. Coaches, gurus, and spiritual leaders alike claim we must quiet the ego or, even — kill it completely. Few speak about the ego being an integral part of us in need of mastering. Even less claim it’s a tool for us to find balance and harmony through.
The ego wants what we want. It just doesn’t usually agree with the methods we choose to get it. When we neglect ourselves, our ego will throw temper tantrums — usually in the form of self-ridicule or external pessimism. The judgement leads to comments which often leads to reaction through confrontation of some kind.
I sat with myself for hours to discover this. Sifting through the noise infestation of my own mind. I was able to acknowledge and release all that which wasn’t serving me any longer. By apologizing to my human for all the neglect, I was able to gain his respect. Because again, we aren’t these human bodies. We are the infinite fractal of Source consciousness empowering them. It is our duty and responsibility to work with them as ONE cohesive unit without operating them with complete unconscious abandon.
By observing ourselves in the moments we find ourselves judging within or from without will lead us to the root of why we feel how we feel in the first place. Every moment, once again, is teeming with endless synchronistic lessons to absorb. The more we give our bodies the proper time, attention, and affection — the more present we’ll be to experience the brilliance of all that is.
MATTER IS HAPPENING AROUND US
The only thing that truly matters is what is within us and directly experienceable outside of us. Everything else is abstraction. When we fail to pay proper attention to ourselves by giving our focus to the abstraction of external lives or events, we are missing the entire point and purpose of Being Human.
Again, the purpose of staying present is to observe the signs and synchronicities pointing us towards our goals, destiny, or purpose. We can’t do that if we’ve lost focus on ourselves in the present moments. Serving others is important — just not at the expense of ourselves. That’s the intricacy of this Earth Life game.
By staying focused on what it is happening within our own human experience, we aren’t wasting energy by spinning our wheels through pulling in opposite directions. We streamline our attention to what is actually mattering. This ensures we continue growing with ease and grace.
Our finite human energy means it must be focused into walking the life we are meant to experience. Destiny is a very real thing and when we are off our heart-felt path, it weighs on our overall experience. The body is encoded with everything you are. It knows where you’ve been and who you’re becoming.
When we spend too much energy on stuff that doesn’t matter, the body begins to ring alarm bells. Alongside the Universe sending signs that we’re “going the wrong way” — the body will, more loudly with time, attempt to get our attention. Beginning with soft nudges before turning to more profound ways of being acknowledged.
I neglected myself for years. I abused myself with everything — even working out. My body attempted to get my attention with injuries; didn’t work. Then it tried to get my attention with mental breakdowns; didn’t work. Finally, it just — stopped working properly and I was left in a self-made cast of scar tissue and trauma.
A 3 year climb back to health has afforded me ample opportunity to spend quality time with myself. After decades of ignoring my needs for my wants — I had no choice but to fulfill all the desires my body came up with. As soon as I gave myself what I needed, all my symptoms began to fade as the inflammation and mania began to subside. I slowly yet quickly got my body back — better than it ever was before.
I was able to do this by dedicating my energy completely to myself. I committed to my healing through the removal of coping mechanisms and distractions. I used to love helping people by giving them my time to “show them the way.” In-fact, I still do — very much. The difference between then and now is that I gave my energy to others when I wasn’t focused on myself which cost me the relationships with both those other people and myself.
Now, I give myself all the attention I need to stay centered and balanced, allowing others to drink respectfully from the overflow. This has allowed for peace, prosperity, and grace to enter my experience. By only focusing on what matters in and around me allows for me to maintain balance as I trek my heart-felt path towards destiny. I can now move through the noise of the external chaos without losing my center.
The key is to no longer care or pay mind to the abstraction happening outside our experience. We do this by choosing to stop reacting to events, circumstances, people, or situations. We choose to stop making comments and complaining about anything and everything. We choose to stop chasing judgmental thoughts within our own minds. Then, our human saga begins a new chapter as we walk the path of Being Human ever-closer towards Buddha-hood.
Stay tuned for Part III Next Week!
With Gratitude,
Adam T. Cummings