Creating A World Free From Suffering

 

Author and Inspirational Speaker
DR. SUSAN GREGG
Author of "The Toltec Way"

 

 

Suffering... I love talking about suffering, but I don't do suffering anymore �?phew! Back in the 70's, I had a poster. It was a rag doll being run through a washing machine press. She had a pained look on her face, and the caption said, 'Suffering is optional'. I didn't really understand what that meant, until many years later. Life certainly seems to be full of events that are 'painful', but - and life simply is. Then we tell ourselves a story.

When my mom died, I had a very different story than I do now. Back then dead was dead, and I suffered a lot with her loss. I am studying Hawaiian spirituality these days with wonderful Aunty, an elder. She is so very loving, and she has a different story about death. She calls it changing address, and for many years now, I have a much more loving relationship with my mom. We get along a lot better since she died. (grin)

What I am getting at it is, life is neutral. There are no emotions inherent in any situation.
Life happens, then we tell ourselves a story. We don't have to change the world to end suffering. What a relief! All we have to do is change the story we tell ourselves. Simple but often not easy. There are many beliefs I want to keep, but eventually I realize it is the belief, not the event, that causes the pain and limitations, so I let go. A friend of mine says she has never let go of anything before it is full of claw marks from her holding on!

After September 11, I was scheduled to go back east for some booksigning's. I went and my dad came to one. As a kid we fought a lot about war. We had a war about war. I now see the irony in that, but that night as I was talking, I looked down at him and had a profound sense of gratitude. Thank God he believed in war. It allowed me to be me. I could be a pacifist because he gave me the right to be free. My story about war changed that night.

Money and love are two areas a lot of cause suffering in our lives. The universe is totally abundant, yet we experience lack. We swim in a sea of love, yet many people come to me and say I want love - that special love. Until we open our hearts and love, love is illusive. So it is with money. If our filter system ( our beliefs etc), holds up a small cup, that is what we get. If we show up with a huge dump truck, that is what we get.

Life - or at least our experience of life, is really simply a three-dimensional color holograph of our filter system, so if you want to live in a world free of suffering, change your filter system.

I used to hate war, really hate cruelty of any form. One day I realized that my judgment didn't serve me. Ever since I was a young girl, I thought I came here to make the world a better place. Not so, not so I said!!!!!!!! You must be kidding, I thought. That day I realized the world was perfect, I just had to change my opinions.

My Hawiian aunty talks about a concept called 'pono'. The world is pono - perfect just the way it is. At times my mind has a strong reaction to that thought, and as soon as I go back to seeing the perfection, I am happier and I can see the love in everything, even in what I used to call cruelty. I have come to realize - as they say in the 'Course in Miracles'- there is only love or fear, and fear is an illusion. F.E.A.R.= false evidence appearing real.

The world is a vast energy system. That energy has consciousness, and the best words I can use to describe that energy are love... patience... gentle... kind... expansive... nurturing. When we align ourselves with that energy, life becomes an adventure full of magic and miracles. That energy never judges. If we want to create war, it says fine. If we want to experience peace, it says great.

The only time we can change anything is in the moment. If we fill that moment with judgment, or with fear, with our opinions we aren't in the moment, so we have given away our power, our 'mana', to our minds, and our minds can't 'see' life as it is, they can only see life as they think it is.

Life really is grand, and we can experience joy whenever we choose to. Trying to change out there so we are happy is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic - the boat is going to sink no matter how nicely you arrange them, and if we begin to change our thoughts �?wow! What power!!

Our thoughts seem to come out of no where - and they are life trains - you can stand on the station and watch them go by, or you can go for a ride. If you want to be happy get on the train marked happy not on the one marked misery. Our thoughts are like prayers. I am sure you have all heard the saying 'be careful what you pray for'. Think of how many times each day you pray for your limitations.... time to start thinking about what you do want, instead of what you don't want.

Do you want to stop suffering? If so start 'seeing' things differently. The person that is killed, I could 'see' it as tragic, or perhaps that person as they died, had an insight and in the moment became enlightened. Who am I too know? So if that is what happened, it is a time to celebrate! It really is all a matter of perspective.

Change our perspective and our experience changes. Simple but not easy. Our mind KNOWS war is bad, our MIND knows murder is tragic, our mind KNOWS, but when we align ourselves with our spirit, our knowing changes, and we are able to access our wisdom instead.

Aloha is a word I learned that meant hello or goodbye. When I first moved to Hawaii, one perspective as I study with my Aunty, aloha is a way of life. It is a way of living in love, and sharing that love without judgment. Another perspective... love is always the answer, no matter what the question, and judgment of any kind, isn't part of love. Love - pure love is unconditional, and our mind puts so many conditions on everything.

So as that poster said - suffering is optional. That isn't to say we never have sadness or anger or . . . it is just as we learn to act from our spirit, we don't have to react to our thoughts. I can watch the news and be compassionate without being judgmental, on my good days. (Grin) When you really connect with your spirit you change, and so do the stories you tell yourself about life. Life stays the same, life just is, then we tell ourselves a story.

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Dr. Susan began to research human behavior and creativity, and eventually was schooled in the ancient Toltec Tradition, by don Miguel Ruiz and Sister Sarita. The experience with Ruiz and Sarita totally changed Dr. Susan's inner landscape and her approach to life.

She went from a depressed, lonely, fearful, and unhappy person to a woman who lives life passionately and has a life filled with joy, love, and happiness. Thus inspiring her book, 'The Toltec Way.' After receiving her doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy, Susan moved to Hawaii and started a private practice.

For more information on Dr. Susan Gregg, her work and her books visit her web site at:  http://www.susangregg.com