The rash

 Have you experienced a rash? Most of the time everything is fine, but if it itches it really itches. Sometimes you catch yourself scratching and you just keep going because it feels so good even though you know that it isn’t good for the skin and will not help anyway. But then, sometimes you stop because you know that’s the right thing to do. Sometimes you feel the urge to scratch but don’t follow through.

 

Isn’t self involvement just like a rash? Often it is subconscious that we identify with self and get involved in the story even without realizing. Sometimes we do realize but play along anyway because it seems to be the natural thing to do. Sometimes we are aware that we are unaware and at that moment snap out of self identification, and sometimes we even realize the desire to get involved but we snap out of it.

 

Being mindful of self is all we can do. It’s a big jump from the place when we know we have a rash so to speak—self involvement—whereas before this was the skin we were born with. Still, knowing what is good or bad for us isn’t enough, we have to grow the new healthy skin and this is an unconscious process. Does mindfulness and spiritual living accelerate the transformation? Who knows, but it makes for more pleasant living.