Pleasure & Pain, Love & Bliss & FreeWill
Eric Brown (Author)
Writer/Published Author Specialized Coaching & Counseling for Female Entrepreneurs **Hire Eric for One on One Coaching **Help with Your Transition **Help with Having a GrowingFREE SimpleLife
4:45AM Morning Musings; This Mind is Stirring this AM,
My typical rise time is a bit after 3:00AM,
In the early morning, doing what I do,
Writing & Reading, Posting,
Listening to the WindChimes,
Getting my Head into a Clear Space,........
Enjoying an IceTea, Pre Coffee. Caffeination is King Post 60
Pleasure & Pain
Most of us have been raised to believe that the road to a happy life is paved with pleasure, and that the pursuit of pleasure is the path to fulfillment.
But as we grow up, we begin to realize that life is not always easy or pleasurable.
In fact, much of it is difficult and painful. We all experience loss, disappointment, illness, aging, and eventually death.
We encounter stress, anxiety, and fear. We suffer from the slings and arrows of everyday life.
And yet, we continue to cling to the idea that happiness is found in pleasure and the avoidance of pain. We try to avoid our painful experiences by numbing ourselves with drugs or alcohol, distracting ourselves with TV or social media, or obsessing over our work or our relationships.
But the more we try to avoid the basic reality that all human life involves pain, the more we are likely to struggle with that pain when it arises, thereby creating even more suffering.
The truth is that happiness is not found in the avoidance of pain, but in the willingness to face and accept our pain. It is in the willingness to experience our painful thoughts and feelings, to acknowledge them without judgment, and to take action in line with our values and goals.
"It is in the willingness to be present in the moment, to connect with our senses and our environment, and to find joy and meaning in the simple things in life.” ~Russ Harris
LOVE AND LOVE-BLISS
I think by tendency everyone functions and believes, existentially, that some great force or forces simply don’t love us - that at heart we feel the universe is inherently cruel and “ you-don’t-love-me “….
When the eyes open wide to the truth-proposition that the whole universe is ACTUALLY loving - love-bliss, in every fraction, - then the existential stress-reaction falls away, most happily, and a strong relief and release occurs - you actually love me!
Everywhere! And I love you!
This is a most radical turnabout in the heart of the being!
A certainty of real love arises, healing the life…
And it is the actual Truth.
THE NOTION OF FREE WILL
The concept of free will is deeply embedded in the illusion of individuality—the belief in a separate "I" orchestrating actions and making choices. When viewed through the lens of Non-
Duality, this sense of volition is recognized as a mental construct, a shadow cast by the interplay of thoughts and perceptions. In the infinite field of Awareness, all phenomena—including the thought of choice—arise and subside spontaneously, without an independent agent directing them.
Like waves on the ocean, actions appear as natural expressions of the whole, not as outcomes of a fragmented self.
This realization invites a relaxation into the flow of life, free from the tension of imagined control. In surrendering the notion of free will, one discovers that life unfolds perfectly, effortlessly, and as it must—within the boundless, timeless Awareness that is our true nature.
**"The idea of free will arises because the mind believes in the doer, but when the doer is seen as an illusion, so too is free will." Rupert Spira
This clarifies that free will is contingent on the illusory sense of individual selfhood.
**"The sense of personal control dissolves in the realization that life flows effortlessly, independent of a separate self." Eckhart Tolle
Suggests that the notion of control is an overlay of thought, masking the natural flow of life.
**"Your decisions are appearances in consciousness, not actions of an independent agent." Sam Harris
Acknowledges that choices are emergent phenomena within the broader context of Awareness.
**"Everything happens spontaneously; the idea that you are doing it is merely a concept." Nisargadatta Maharaj
Highlights that the appearance of doing is a mental attribution, not an actuality.
**"Free will is like a shadow—it appears real but is only a play of light on form." Jean Klein
Metaphorically describes free will as a transient illusion cast by mental constructs.
**"There is no individual will; there is only the Will of the Whole, expressing itself without division." Adyashanti
Points to the unity of all actions as part of a single, undivided movement.
**"What appears as choice is the play of consciousness; nothing is outside this indivisible whole." Francis Lucille
Emphasizes the inseparability of all phenomena within the field of Awareness.
**"Free will requires a self to exercise it, but the self is not found upon inquiry." Ramana Maharshi
Suggests that the very foundation of free will collapses upon introspective investigation.
**"Actions unfold in the absence of a doer, as waves arise in the ocean without intent." Mooji
Uses the analogy of waves and the ocean to illustrate the absence of volition.
**"The thought of free will is itself part of the spontaneous arising—only transient." Deepak Chopra
Frames free will as a passing concept without absolute reality.
About Eric
Eric is a Writer / Published Author / Practicing Poet & Photographer
Reiki Master / Flower Farmer / Life Coach
Real Estate Developer / Apartment Operator
Modern Elder / Nomad / Entrepreneur
Find Eric’s Books, Courses & Coaching Offerings here; https://linktr.ee/ericurbane
Find Eric’s Photos here; https://growingfreesimplelife.picfair.com/
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Eric is an Entrepreneur, and lives a Nomadic Lifestyle and is an OffGrid Practitioner. He is also an Instructor for Melina Emerson Small Biz Lady and served as an Adjunct Instructor at Drexel University.
Eric now Coaches & Councils Female Entrepreneurs.
Eric is well seasoned in urban housing development and has built and developed over 14,000 market rate apartments on a national scale. He founded Urbane Apartments in 2000 and oversaw new business, general operations, marketing and branding at the company until retiring in 2021.
Perhaps Eric will embark on a HouseMates/Co-Living Development Post Retirement,.........You can read about that here;