' Sensitivity '...

Sensitivity—if it merely results in egoic reactions that remain unconscious—is a source of suffering. Reacting unconsciously to the hurtful things people say and do strengthens the mental and emotional story that believes it is separate from the “others” that are causing pain. You may find it difficult to function in social situations if you are continuously hurt by what people say and do.

In the proper perspective, however, sensitivity is truly a gift. Instead of creating suffering, sensitivity can be an alarm bell that alerts you to the presence of irritation, frustration, hurt, fear, and anger that arise in your inner body and mind in reaction to outer stimuli. It is a tool that reveals the content of the story of self that separates you from the world “out there” and causes internal suffering.

Each time you are hurt emotionally and mentally by what someone says or does, notice that you are the awareness that sees the thought and emotion. In this way, you begin to see where your psychological and emotional pain lies—what your deepest rooted story of self is. In allowing sensitivity to make the story of self conscious, the story can no longer survive. In that dissolution, you realize that suffering is never caused by the “others.” It arises from not seeing the story of separateness in the mind.



-Kiloby, Scott. Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment