Standing in the "RAIN"

In the March 2013 edition of Shambala Sun (a great magazine for those interested in Buddhism as a way to approach life), in an interview with Tara Brach, she mentions an acronym "RAIN" (originally coined by Vipasana teacher Michele McDonald). The acronym suggests to us a way to live a life of mindful awareness. The letters  stand for: Recognize what is happening; Allow life to be just as it is; Investigate inner experience with kindness; and rest in the Natural state of awareness or non-identification. I have thought about this a lot since I read it and have come to see that within its simplicity is contained profound truth. I'd like to discuss my interpretation of it here.

The first phrase, "Recognize what is happening," is of great importance and much less practiced than it sounds. The simple truth is that most of us tend to view the occurrences in our lives through the veil of our egos, biases, illusions and attachments. This causes us to misinterpret many things we experience or things that are said to us. This, in turn, results in responses that are often incorrect or hurtful to ourselves or to others. If we can take a step back and ask ourselves the question, "What is really going on here?" before we respond to something, we are far less likely to misinterpret whatever it is. A simple example would be someone jumping in front of us in line at the grocery store. Our first thought is likely to be an annoyed, ego-driven, "Hey! I was here first!" What is really happening is that the other person is experiencing some kind of anxiety around their belief that they need to get somewhere else quickly. This has nothing whatsoever to do with us! Realizing this allows us to see that this perceived slight is utterly unimportant and to return to a place of calm and peace. This simple precept applied to more complicated interactions and experiences at work and at home works equally well and is even more helpful.

The second phrase, "Allow life to be what it is," is perhaps the most difficult of the four to accomplish. This does not mean to be satisfied with whatever is taking place, with no eye to changing it if necessary. It means recognizing that whatever is happening in our lives is the reality we must deal with at that moment. Any time spent wishing it weren't so, or lamenting and questioning "why has this happened to "me," is wasted. When we recognize what is actually happening (see above) and allow it just to be as it is, our responses cannot help but be more appropriate because we are reacting to reality, rather than how we would like that reality to be. When things happen around me or to me that I might wish were different, I find immediate comfort in saying (as I often find myself doing), "It is what it is." Saying that grounds me in reality and helps me to avoid unnecessary emotions that might cloud my judgment. This is so difficult for people who want to fix everything immediately and who need to believe the illusion that they are in control of everything around them. These are people who feel real anxiety because things are not conforming to their world-view, and things are not as they believe they "should" be. There are no shoulds; there is only what is. In an even greater sense, allowing life to be just as it is means accepting the impermanence of everything, and learning to be aware and to appreciate each moment even more because of its impermanence. 

The third phrase, "Investigate inner experience with kindness," takes some practice. Most of us were brought up in the Judeo-Christian tradition, in which we are exhorted to love one another, but to be harshly critical of ourselves, always searching for fault and sin, and to cultivate the requisite guilt. For me, one of the most beautiful aspects of Buddhist philosophy is the recognition that while each of us is flawed and will make errors, we are not asked to punish ourselves because of it. Coming to awareness or enlightenment does not mean losing our imperfections, but rather seeing them for what they are: the result of our illusions. Buddhism asks us to be gentle with ourselves; learning to be compassionate with ourselves as we are leads to our treating those around us with compassion as well, since we are all very much the same in our desire to live a happy life. A phrase that I have repeated many times (including in an earlier blog) is, "If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete." Rather than berating ourselves because we are feeling anger, or jealousy or other seemingly "negative" emotions, we need to own them and examine them without judgment for what they can teach us about ourselves. So much of the stress we feel is the result of harsh self-judgment, of looking at ourselves and finding ourselves wanting in this way or that. You are the person you are...view that person with love, and be gentle with yourself.  If you experience the need to change something in your life, do so, but do so out of compassion for yourself rather than out of a sense self-recrimination.

The last part of the "RAIN" is to "rest in the Natural state of awareness and non-identification." This is a little more philosophical and takes some contemplation to get a handle on. What it means is that our true, natural state as human beings is that of awareness, of being one with everyone and with all of the universe. At some point, very, very early in our lives, we come to an awareness of "I", and in that same moment to a focus on "mine", which left unchecked, dominates the rest of our lives and begins to entrap us in a life-long obsession with protecting our egos. Thus we allow our natural state of awareness to become clouded by our attachment to our illusions, our preferences, and our biases, believing we are separate from the rest of creation. The simple truth is that we not.

The very good news is that learning and trying to live in a way that encompasses the R, the A and the I of RAIN, we eventually come to the N, and to a more mindful way of living. Doing so leads to our living a life of awareness, a life in which we are truly present in each moment.  We are able to meet every part of our lives, good and bad, head-on and to respond accordingly and compassionately.

When all is said and done, by embracing the "RAIN", we just might make room for the sunshine.