Two hunters chartered a plane to take them deep into the forest where they might find great game.  Three weeks later, the pilot returned to retrieve the hunters. Seeing the carcasses of several great beasts, the pilot informed them that the plane could only hold three of the animals along with the two men and the pilot. It would be too dangerous to carry more. They were told they would have to leave the rest behind.
     
"But our pilot last year was perfectly willing to carry all of our catch back," said one. 
     
After much convincing, the pilot finally agreed to carry all of their prey. They boarded the plane and the pilot started the engine. As the plane began to move, the engine was heard to groan painfully. The plane lifted off the runway but was unable to gain altitude. It skimmed the trees for several miles and came crashing down.
     
The men climbed out and surveyed the area. One looked at the other and asked where he thought they might be. He replied that it looked to be about two miles from where they had crashed last year.

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A famous surgeon told his students that a great surgeon needs two gifts: freedom from nausea and the power of observation.
     
He then dipped his finger into some nauseating fluid and licked it. His students were requested to do likewise. Each student managed to lick the nauseating liquid without flinching.
     
With a wide grin on his face, the surgeon said, "I congratulate you all for having passed the first step and acquiring freedom from nausea, however, you have all failed the second test failing to notice that the finger I licked was not the finger I dipped into the fluid."

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A group of men, considered the wise ones in their village, set out upon a journey to explore new land.  They were humble enough to recognize that even their horizons could be broadened by such a quest.
    
Having barely crossed a neighboring country, they suddenly eyed great skyscrapers in the distance.  They puzzled over what these enormous objects could be. The obvious course would be to approach and observe them first hand, however, all agreed this might be far too dangerous. Perhaps these things might explode as one approached, they thought.
    
It was far wiser to determine what they were before making any approach so they set about proposing a multitude of theories. On the basis of all their past experiences, all the theories were eventually rejected.
     
It was finally determined, also based on their great experience, that whatever these things were, they were obviously placed there by giants and that it was much wiser to avoid exploring this country altogether.
     
They returned home with the knowledge that they had succeeded in adding to their vast wealth of experience.

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When we set out to think about any situation in life, we lose the genuine experience of living. Because we carry such a vast array of memories, we look upon the new through comparison to the old. We assume that all life is explained by that which we already know. In viewing existence this way, our sight is not upon what is actually occurring, but on the past and on the future.

To live life, it is important to learn non-discrimination. This means we must not determine that something is either this or that. We must allow it to be exactly what it is and this is only experienced in the moments in which it is occurring. This is what many refer to as both living in the moment and going with the flow. Discrimination is actually resistance to living. 
     
There is no time to make judgments about something which is in motion. What is unfolding is exactly as it should be. This does not imply that we avoid being an actor within any given scene, however.  Often we respond to what unfolds as a natural part of the experience. For example, a car is racing toward a child on his scooter. If we stop to ponder the consequences, based on our past experience, we resist the present experience, waste precious time, and in the long run contribute to a pending disaster. On the other hand, we can experience the moment and respond, instinctively, by clutching the child from harm’s way. In reality, such action may save the child… or it may not. We might even come into harm’s way with such a response. This is all a part of the moment and it is not known until it occurs. We must learn to allow our inner energy to move and we must follow that energy wherever it leads.

Awareness is difficult to achieve.  It has not, since our very early years, been our habit. Our habit has long been to discriminate… and this we do most easily. It is easy for us to say that this is good and that is bad, this I like and that I do not like, this I accept and that I reject. Recognizing the discrimination that the mind makes in all things, the path to non-discrimination begins with accepting the existence of the discriminating thought and then realizing its opposite. The next step is to find the place that sits between both and begin to experience the absence of thought that comes from such practice. With practice, we become aware. Aware, we begin to truly live as a part of life rather than apart from life. Assumptions about living prevent us from doing so.

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