All Is Well Even When It Isn't: The Three Marks Of Existence. (Includes guided meditation)
“The three marks of existence, as they’re called, are touchstones. They are meant to describe the nature of being alive”.
The world has gotten strange, hasn’t it?
At times like this, I am so grateful that years ago, I began a meditation and spiritual practice. A staunch atheist at the time, Buddhism made the most sense. The Buddha talked about seeing through the filters of the mind and all its chatter — a most unreliable narrator, that mind — and realizing the pure presence, clarity, and wisdom that we truly are.
He taught that our heart and mind are not two but one and that our nature - as a creature that exists - is a compassionate one. However, there are many veils and obscurations; conditioning from our family, society, our past wounds, and unresolved traumas. So we don’t see clearly and miss this inherent peace and full hearted well-being that is our birthright, or true nature
The teachings are meant to point to our true nature. The three marks of existence, as they’re called, are touchstones. They are meant to describe the nature of being alive and what binds us…and point to what asks for investigation, so that we can be free.
The Three Marks of Existence
Anattā: We are not the “I” we think ourselves to be, nor the “I” that others expect of us, nor the “I” we put on our business card or our Instagram page. We are so much more vast and spacious and full of potential. What we truly are is actually empty of any fixed idea of who we are. It is empty because it is pure potential; every moment, every breath, we are an alive presence and we have whatever we need to meet the ever-changing moments of life with an open mind and an open heart. We can see through who we think we are, and soften our grip on always doing to uphold this idea, and can relax into simply being what we are.
Aniccā: No thing in life stays the same. Everything - including us — is fresh in each moment. The old falls away, and the new arises. If we notice, this is always what is occurring in every moment. When we stop being surprised that things and circumstances fade and change and end, we can open to the nature of existence and see that this is also true of our own human nature. This brings about a relief that we don’t actually have to grip so tightly
Duhkha: We suffer when we grasp or cling, whether it’s to ideas and beliefs about how it all “should” be, and really, to our perceived sense of certainty. These teachings invite us to keep a soft and open hand about everything in life and that’s how we can fully live and enjoy our lives. It’s also how we can access the natural clarity and intelligence that wants to emerge though us. It seems counter-intuitive to let go when our fearful habits tell us to hang on tightly. But once we start surrendering about the small things, like what other people think about us, or how we aren’t getting our own way, we have confidence in the face of the larger things in life, like a pandemic.
Although I’m not officially a “Buddhist teacher”, the work I’ve done with students and energy healing clients for over ten years reflects the Buddhist teachings, as well as many non-duality paths like Advaita Vedanta, Taoism, Sufism, Christian mysticism, and other enlightenment traditions. I’m most familiar with Buddhism, but there is a thread of sameness in all of these traditions that point in the same direction: inward, to your true, unified nature with all of life and with source.
I’ve worked as a comic and actor for a long while, but along the way, I have deepened into my own spiritual unfoldment, and into the spiritual work I do with people. So I could be making funny videos and writing jokes in the midst of a pandemic — and oh I’ll do all of that because we need it — but right now I feel called to share, as best as I can, what has helped me.
Because today I am a radically transformed person. Anxiety no longer runs me. A noisy, incessantly seeking mind is no longer this mind. Self-hatred and self-doubt are no longer at the forefront of my world as they once were, and they actually seem odd now when I remember back to how deeply this pain colored everything in my life. Today, and for some time now, a peace that goes beyond the mind’s understanding of such a peace, is what is always here. A core of well-being is present, even when I’m scared or sad or confused, or foolish. A feeling that everything is OK…even when it isn’t.
There can be a huge transformation of consciousness for more people these days, and not just for those who meditate in caves in the Himalayas.
Now that we are in the midst of a global rearrangement of EVERYTHING, I have to share that I have always felt out of place here in Los Angeles when it comes to my work with students and healing clients. In this city, and really all over, there’s a proliferation of fast food spirituality:
“Good vibes only!" “Change your thoughts, change your life!" “Love and light!”
While it’s true that your energetic frequency – your vibes, man – change in a positively experienced way if your consciousness shifts; and that once you’ve seen through the ever-shifting, impermanent nature of everything - including thoughts - you think fewer and more helpful thoughts, or even no thoughts as you move into a sensing of life, rather than thinking about life; and that when we are connected to our deeper interconnected nature, we can experience more love and inherent light in our life.
But the way and the why are often overlooked. In our hurry-up world, spiritual seekers can be impatient to get to the results, or the fruit of sincere practice, without actually meeting the invitation of a deeper inquiry into the nature of reality.
This doesn’t mean we can’t directly experience our true nature right here, right now in this moment! Enlightenment is our birthright. But lightweight spirituality isn’t going to help this to be fully realized or sustained.
My hope is that you can open to the limitless possibility of your own spirit and what you are capable of. Now, more than ever is the time.
Here’s a meditation to promote well-being in times of stress…or really any time. Enjoy!
