Question: How can I be more accepting?

Umi: Acceptance is not asking how to do it. This is what the mind wants to do when it is introduced to acceptance. It wants to find a way of doing it. That's like asking the question, "How do I digest my food? How do I breathe? How do I make my heart beat?" You simply accept. The mind is always trying to figure it out. The mind is always trying to create a situation to maintain what you believe is security. Activities are mostly concerned with security. The truth is that everything is flowing. So trying to create security out of everything that is flowing is like trying to put flowing water in a bucket. How is it possible to put flowing water in a bucket? It is now no longer flowing.

There is no thought here about tomorrow or even about the next hour. Simply be totally here, absolutely alert and relaxed. This is your natural way. Don't identify with any thoughts. Thoughts come and go, they are not who you are. Remember the mind is purely a stage of the opening that you go through. The suffering is simply caused by identifying with the mind. When you are here, in this moment there are no thoughts. This is acceptance. This is freedom, this is love.

Love
Umi