Say yes to letting our experience be as it is.....

When asking the Zen koan "what is this?", we realize that it cannot be answered by the thinking mind. The only answer comes from entering directly into the immediate, physical experience of the present moment.
"Right now, ask yourself, "What is this?". Even if you don't feel any distress, this question can apply to whatever the present moment holds. Become aware of your physical posture. Feel the overall quality of sensations in the body. Feel the tension in the face, particularly around the mouth. Include awareness of the environment--the temperature, the quality of light, the surrounding sounds. Feel the body breathing in and out as you take in this felt sense of the moment. Feel the energy in the body as you focus on the "whatness" of your experience. Only by doing this will you answer the question, "what is this?""
For example, if we feel anxiety, it's natural to want to avoid feeling it. We may take one of the three detours from reality--analyzing the situation, there by taking false comfort in figuring things out; blaming someone or something for our distress, so that we can avoid feeling it; or trying fix the situation, in order to take away our discomfort. We may not want to look at what is going on, or we may take refuge in the habitual illusions that bring us comfort. We may go looking for a flaw in ourselves in relation to what is happening. As conditioned beings, we inevitably follow one of our characteristic strategies of control when distress hits. We try harder, to cover our underlying fears; we seek approval, to avoid feeling unworthy; or escape or go numb, to take us away or divert us from the distress we don't want to feel.
As we stay with the question, "what is this?', we can gradually allow what seems so unpleasant to just be---and reside in the physical experience without attaching all of our emotions, thoughts and judgments. "This is not so easy to do, because our compulsion toward comfort drives us to want to fix or get rid of our unpleasant experiences. To allow our experience to just be, often requires that we first become disappointed by the futility of trying to fix ourselves and others. We have to realize that trying to change or let go of the feelings we don't want to feel, simply doesn't work. Staying with the "what is this?" quality of our experience, and allowing it to just be, basically requires a critical practice understanding; that is more painful to try to push away our own pain that it is to feel it. This understanding is not intellectual but something that eventually takes root in the core of our being".

Referenced by Zen Heart by Ezra Bayda