SH Thought Waves 3 - Werner Erhart

Good morning all. Up and down days. I had a brilliant 3 way WhatsApp call yesterday with other Scotland-based singing workshop leaders - we have set up a support group for each other as we have overnight lost not just our livelihood (running music groups and choirs) but also for many of us, the source of our aliveness, purpose, wellbeing - of course we are not alone. What was new and helpful for me was having an in-depth sharing with two others who are in a similar situation work-wise to myself. I realise this is really rare. One person has embraced the on-line alternative and described really admirable and inspiring sessions she has offered via Zoom, singing outdoors, recording tracks for her students to learn etc. Another person - nearer my own age - had become really clear that there was no way she was going to take on the on-line alternatives, for her, singing was about the physical connection, the vibration in the room and for her, this was a time to stop and to delve into her own creativity and also to rest and recuperate. Hearing these two opposite responses was very liberating for me - I think I am somewhere in between - and I also became aware of a part of me that grieves for the 'me that was' maybe 10 or even 5 years ago, who would have leapt into doing the on-line alternatives, arranging outdoor singing groups etc. In reality I have spent much of this week feeling exhausted just with the thought of trying to tackle new technologies, spending more time on line, So today I at least feel more freed up to do what I feel I am able and called to do, without feeling that one particular direction is the right one. Also I recognise the importance of 'kindness to oneself' in just being with the phase of feeling resentful, resistant, restless. Some days will be full of creativity and purpose, and other days will be letting it all wash over me and giving myself time and space to be with the rapid and profound change.

I wanted to share the words of Werner Erhart - the guiding light behind the Landmark Education worldwide movement for personal transformation. The term 'whats so' is used to refer to just the basic facts and reality of what is here and now. Here we go:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐨

𝘣𝘺 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥

What’s so is always just what’s so. What’s so doesn’t care what you think, feel, intend or wish; it will not bend. You can be freaked out or driven over what’s so, and it won’t change what’s so. If you’re late for an appointment, getting freaked out about it won’t have you arrive any earlier. If you’re having a bad day, being freaked out won’t change what’s so. That which you seek will not bring you satisfaction – aligning with what’s so will. When you’re upset, you’re never upset over what’s so. What’s so is just what’s so, and you’re upset.

If your house burns down and you get upset, does it bring your house back? What’s so doesn’t care if you’re upset; it’s up to you how you handle what’s so. There is no confusion in what’s so. When you don’t know you just don’t know – there is no confusion there. There’s nothing right or wrong about what’s so. What’s so is always open to different interpretations. There’s always just what’s so, and then you have an interpretation. What scares you isn’t what’s so, it’s your interpretation. The interpretation is never true; what’s so is real, the interpretation is not.

Who you’re being is just who you’re being, and what’s so doesn’t care if you’re happy with it or not, so why should you? When you’re not being with what’s so, that’s also just what’s so. Why should you concern yourself? Other people should always be the way they’re being; if you think they shouldn’t, that’s your interpretation. Bring yourself back to what’s so about them. Until you can be with what’s so, you can’t be with anything or anyone. You may have control over other people’s what’s so, but none over their interpretation – give it up.

If you take action or not, it’s still just what’s so. If it works out well or not, it’s still just what’s so. You can never make a right or wrong decision, or take a right or wrong action. Whatever you do will always bring you more of what’s so, and then you have an interpretation about it. Whatever you don’t have, so what? Whatever you’ve done or thought in the past, again so what? Whatever happens in the future is not to be feared. It’s just going to be more of what’s so. The challenge is to spend as much time in what’s so as you can. The chatter in your head is more interpretation, and it has nothing to do with what’s so. There’s nothing wrong with the chatter, it’s just you listening to a fantasy.

The thought that there is something wrong is an illusion; there is nothing wrong, there is only what’s so. Notice when you’re comparing what’s so to some fantasy of how it should be. Bring yourself back to what’s so and it will be O.K. Ask yourself what’s so and align with that. Align with what’s so and it will not matter. That is the foundation of transformation and satisfaction. Not aligning with what’s so is the only thing that will ever bring you hardship or suffering. Life in what’s so will bring you harmony, grace, and balance. Ask yourself – what’s so about your situation?