Stuck in a Never Ending Loop?

You are not alone.. It appears from my experience that this is an extremely common state of affairs.

Many do not even realise they are stuck in this never ending loop. Even those who begin to recognise it are fearful that it will never end.

So, what is better, to never realise you are lost in a never ending loop or to be aware of it?

What exactly is a loop though? And how do we get stuck in it?

My understanding that a loop is routine, eg, a 9 to 5 existence. Something that is programmed into us, if not at home in the very early years, then at school, followed up by the need to work for a living, which for most, leads to a ‘job.

When we expect our world to be a certain way, that way always presents back to us what we expect.

Imagine, creating your reality on a moment by moment basis. We live in a world of infinite possibilities yet we get stuck in one, a very limited one that keeps repeating, simply because we have closed the doors to other possibilities by our expectations. Expectations that are based on the past.

With each moment of our past, each decision (?) is based upon previous decisions. Yet when did we ever truly decide on our path, was it not imposed upon us by those who came before, themselves a product of their past.

I believe that it is a very complex process, one that decides when and where we are born, into what environment, what family etc. To keep it simple, life never ends, the body has a due by date, this we know, but consciousness, or ‘soul’ whatever it is that drives our life is forever. Just the body dying.

Assume this to be the case, then addiction to life and all of its experiences blinds us to the fact that we are more than this physical form. The next step is to recognise that all actions arise out of past actions, we can call this karma. Or charge that we carry that determines the conditions around our re-birth.

This charge, according to Buddhist teachings needs to be released and it can only be released by a living person. So this is one force that creates the world that we ‘see’.

The more ‘charge’ we come in with the more lost in the story of our lives we become. Failing to recognise this we take all situations and experiences personally, Depending upon the charge, we may, or may not see through this and begin releasing charge. This would be unusual as sometimes the charge is so intense that waking up seems impossible.

Obviously there are degrees of charge that we carry, the less charge the easier it is ‘to see behind the curtain’. No matter the charge, when we are born the indoctrination process begins (anew?) This is where we are programmed to take ourselves seriously, me, mine, you , yours etc. This creates an expectation, we believe we know how the next moment is going to unfold, because it happened this way yesterday.

Then these expectations select a reality from the infinite possibilities. We then give energy to the manifesting reality thereby ensuring it will show up tomorrow. We get caught is this process, when, because of karma / conditions / expectations the noose tightens, or the loop closes. Effectively locking us into a routine. Rarely do we truly understand the cause of our experiences, happy or sad, good or bad, because we are lost in the unfolding story, there is no way we can take a moment to step outside of this manifesting reality and observe it objectively.

To try to understand our lives from within this scenario is impossible, for the simple act of energising a past that in itself is so totally limited, any answers we might arrive at must be contained within the limits of our ‘imagination’.

If conditions arise that support your awakening to your true nature then you are on a path of self discovery. Yet, the path itself is also a part of the illusion, the story. While the self seeks answers to questions, questions that have no base in your reality the self continues to support the illusory nature of the story you are lost in.

The challenge, there is no self that wakes up. So, while we continue to believe we are on a journey (to awaken or just stay in the story and enjoy (or not!) the ride we can never truly understand our true nature.

For the true nature is beyond this physical form, this limited consciousness.

At best , when we realise we are lost in a loop, we can begin a practice of acceptance.

Acceptance of all phenomena, without, to the best of our ability, continuing to judge situations of people as good or bad, without, to the best of our ability, blaming self or others for our circumstances, and of course try to not identify with all phenomena.

This may or many not open the door to your true nature, but it will collapse old karmic patterns and begin a process of reducing the programming of your past conditioning.

So, waking up or not, life will become easier (after a few speed bumps!) life will unfold. More effortlessly, conflicts will slowly fade. Guaranteeing, if nothing else, that you carry less charge in this life and on into future (?) experiences.