The Practice of “YES!”
There is another very powerful spiritual practice that inculcates acceptance and detachment which we have not yet discussed. This is the practice of saying “Yes!” to everything that comes into your life, especially those which you don’t want to come into your life. The definition of “YES!” is “I will allow reality to be just the way it is right now.” In other words, I will accept whatever happens, I will let it be as it is, even as God and I do whatever we can to bring about a better world. This practice is done right on the spot, right when something has just happened that you don’t want to happen.
If you are alone, you should shout out “yes!” and pump your first for emphasis.
What you are doing is dropping your desire that things be different, right on the spot—right now. You need to emphasize your “YES!” because your false self is jumping up and down inside you saying “ NO, NO, NO—I hate this”, like a child having a temper tantram. A strong and firm “YES!” will overcome the false self. If you are with other people, say your “YES!” interiorly and pump your fist interiorly, and it will have the same effect. The effect will be that you will stop the arising of afflictive emotions, lite irritation, annoyance, anger, hurt, embarrassment, and the like. You will be able to remain in the peace of Christ.
The practice of “YES!” stops the mental process, represented by the weed, at the level of the stem (which represents desire or willfulness). A lie will still be present in the roots, but as the resultant desire is set off, you immediately drop the desire with your “YES!”. If you are able to completely drop your desire on the spot it will be impossible for an afflictive emotion to fully arise in you, and you will remain at peace. Once you have completely uprooted the lie involved, you won’t have to say “YES!” again, because the disordered desire cannot arise without the lie.
The two practices of “YES!” and moving from the weed to the flower should be done together. You do “YES!” right when something “bad” happens; then later that day, sit down with Jesus and go over what happened. Work down the weed with Jesus in order to discover the lie that your mind thinks is true. Then ask Jesus what the truth is in that situation and believe the truth Jesus gives you. Then you will be free from one more weed. As long as any lie remains, keep saying “YES!” when things happen that you don’t like, and those things won’t have the power to upset you. Constantly saying “YES!” tends to dry out the weed, especially the disordered desires that the weed produces. The desires tend to become less and less intense, and can dry out completely.
The “YES!” practice is the most popular spiritual practice among the participants in my workshops. I think the reason for this is that it is simple and easy to do, and has remarkably powerful effects. The spiritual practice of uprooting the weed and rooting oneself in the flower is the most powerful spiritual practice for bringing about total transformation into Christ. But it requires more time and effort with Jesus, including the examination of one’s actions, emotions, willfulness, and beliefs. This is deep spiritual work, and some resist the challenge. In truth, I find it fun and actually quite easy to do, but others I think may be afraid to look deeply into themselves. If you do it with Jesus, the fear will fall away and you will begin to enjoy the process of discovery.
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