This, too, shall pass

"This, too, shall pass..."

That is the latest mantra that goes through my head as I encounter bumps along the path of everyday life. It helps give me that little bit of extra patience to get past things that pop up and have the potential to derail me during the course of the day.  At least it does that some of the time.

It also makes me reflect on the previous posts that I have made to this blog, with the realization that whatever I may be experiencing now, will change.

I almost feel like deleting some of those past posts, about my spiritual-related experiences, because that is what they are, the past. They have evolved and changed along with me, and while still there as a footnote to my current experience, they are not what I am now, at this moment.

Well, I almost feel like deleting them, but I won't -- and I am not sure why.

"This, too, shall pass..."  also makes me think of all the things that I have allowed to pass along the way to where I am now. Like podcasts.

When podcasting started in 2005, I was an avid listener, because I could control what I wanted to hear. I even had my own podcasts for a couple of years at that time. I was also listening to dharma talk type podcasts (some were more New Age than Buddhism), but usually only late at night before going to bed.

By the time that I started writing this blog, however, I had completely stopped listing to news and technology podcasts, and instead I was heavily into listening to dharma talks. That lasted for about a year and a half, until fairly recently.

I reached a point a couple of weeks ago when I decided that dharma talks could only take me so far. What I really need to know is who I am, to understand my true inner nature. And I think the best way to do that, at this point on my path, is to be quiet, listen to my mind, and observe my experiences. (Although I have recently started to play "chakra music" while I am working at my day job.)

So that is what I have been doing. And one of the things that I listen to is "This, too, shall pass..."