I’m a big Sci Fi fan. Always loved Star Trek. I was more of a Star Wars fan but Star Trek always held a close place in my heart.
When the Next Generation came along and the Borg were introduce I always thought that was a stroke of genius.
“Resistance is futile.” Wow, what a line.
I was recently re-reading one of my favorite spiritual books, “The Power of Now.” In it Ekhart Tolle talks about achieving total acceptance of something.
If you find something bothering you, like a car alarm early in the morning, imagine yourself being transparent and the noise going through you instead of hitting you. Offer no resistance to the noise, accept it as something that is and that will eventually change.
Change, after all, is the nature of things.
This passage had a profound effect on me.
Accept everything! Absolutely. Think about it.
That doesn’t mean that you don’t try and change your physical situation if it needs changing. What he’s talking about is psychological resistance. Don’t let that negative energy into your mind. The universe is what it is and people and things will do what they do.
Mental resistance only offers suffering and pain. Let it go.
This whole approach reminded me of another great book “Cheng Man Ching: Master of the Five Excellences.” In this book, Master Cheng talks about giving your opponent no place to hold on to, no target for his attack. In this way, the tiger can not find where to sink it’s claws.
Just like Tolle, Master Cheng is telling us not to respond to attack with attack but rather to yield and stay centered. He doesn’t say get hit. He says yield and find your advantage.
In this way suffering and resistance can never find their way into your heart. You are beyond them. You have outsmarted them. Other people can try and attack you, but you are not there as a target. You are beyond their reach, in your own peaceful and powerful center.
It’s Tai Chi for the mind.
