Stress Relief Once we're freed from the hell caused by others, we need to be free of the hell we cause ourselves: inner afflictions, disturbing thoughts, negative emotions, some passed on from generation to generation, some we obtain through archetypal connections, some exotic new creations of our own. The pain we cause others and the pain we cause ourselves seems like an automatic process, unstoppable, irrevocable, but spiritual grace, transmission and sadhana, effective over time, slowly works its magic to burn away dissolve, diminish the self based hells and painful existence. All self based concern is stress, and all stress is suffering, even blissful and pleasurable states can be a trapping of bondage if they exist within a context of the search for release. The body must expand to take on universal proportions, the self-centric model must become trans-centric or there'll only be temporary respite of peace amidst storms, and the underlying threat of loss of the current situation and the fear and sorrow of not realizing hopes and dreams. The slow process of unhooking and unbinding may at times seem stalled or going in reverse, or may seem to have never started in the worst of moments. But consider the pace of slow moving clouds, they appear to be still, but surely they change. Can we feel the rotation of the earth or its revolution around the sun? In the same way, the spiritual process moves on, sometimes with dramatic bursts, mostly an unnoticable pace. But if the impulse for freedom is there, immmeasurable growth will occur, and what is hoped for will be found under our breath, behind our eyes, in recesses of the heart previously unknown. Though I am one far from perfect, but now with time for retrospection, I am absolutely certain of this! July 08, 2001 (1 of 1)