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Life is Like Paper
It is made by human beings
It is blank to begin with
Over time people leave their marks on it
It captures our stories and beliefs, as well as our creativity and expression
It can be strong, yet pliable
It has many uses and can be moulded
It can transform
It can be recycled
It can disintegrate slowly over time or go up in flames in a moment
When its gone, the stories and memories stay with us.
free image from Dreamstime
Sit with this a while and see what comes up for you…
Bringing our awareness to the beliefs that we hold, and usually take for granted, is the first step in our personal growth and spiritual self inquiry. When we look inwards and question our thinking and assumptions, it opens up new perspectives and gives us the opportunity to learn about what has been unknown…. or what may never be discoverable in this life.
This venture into the unknown is a courageous path because the ego-mind will be alert for any conflicting views or threats to its long held position. The ego holds on to those beliefs that have become our certainties about life. It can keep us rigid, stubborn, critical and damning, or simply safe and stuck.
The choice is ours. To embrace the new or hold on to our certainties.
To those on the path of Yoga teacher training, take courage as you embrace what is beyond belief.
Namaste
This is a re-post especially for those on the spiritual path of yoga.
“Ego can take many different forms and shapes. It is like the hydra. You cut off one head and another head replaces it. You cut off that head and see a third head and a fourth head ad infinitum.
This is because in the manifest dimension, ego identity is the root of life, and if the ego identity is lost, then life as we know it no longer exists.
It exists as light; life becomes light.”
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
I enjoy reading the different metaphors explaining the complexity of our ego, and can relate to the idea of a hydra. Our ego will do everything in its power to survive – especially adapting and changing shape.
The ego is very clever. It will allow one version of our body-mind to die and create a better version that fits in with either (1) how it wants to be seen in the world or (2) what is perceives is needed to stay alive in its physical body.
In my experience with others on a spiritual path, the newer version of ego is likely to be a more evolved version of the previous one. It may show up as being kinder person, a more patient parent, a wiser leader, a humble follower, a beacon of sanity in a world judged as mad…
These are still roles that the ego plays. Less damaging perhaps, yet still ego driven.
Recognizing the hydra heads of the ego is the gateway to le
The answer however is not to keep cutting its heads off. After all this would be an ego motivated act!
Instead embrace ego for what it is. A part of our very human nature that clings to life. It is neither good nor bad. It simply is.
Then we can wake up and realize we really are the divine light beyond ego and our human form.
Namaste
I am back from a wonderful time in Italy, and getting settled into the rhythm of life here. These words from Lao Tzu resonated with me.
Remain quiet.
Discover the harmony in your own being.
Embrace it.
If you can do this, you will gain everything,
and the world will become healthy again.
~ Lao Tsu
A world in balance, begins with finding it within ourselves.
Make time to pause and listen inwards.
Embrace the rhythmic harmony of each breath.
May you find your Middle Ground today.
Release the Need to Save People by Sanaya Roman*
”You can dissolve obstacles to love by releasing the need to save people from their problems. You can love others as your soul does by allowing them to be responsible for their own lives.
Taking care of others, worrying about their lives, and solving their problems can occupy so much of your attention and emotions that you have no energy left to put into your own life and spiritual path.
When you stop saving others, you can release any resentment you might feel for all the time and energy you spent on them.
When you save others, you can become a victim when they do not use your help in the way you would like, when they continue to create similar problems, or when they expect and demand that you continue to save them.
Learn to recognize when you are helping others because you feel that they do not have the strength or ability to solve their own problems.
When you feel an urge to help people in a way that will “save” them or take away their lessons, stop!
You may find that your desire to help others really comes from your own need to feel better and to have less concern and worry about their problems.
Assume that people have the ability to solve their own problems, even if you can’t see how they will. While your soul is interested in assisting people, it does not interfere with their lives. It allows people to have their own ideas, to live in whatever way they choose, to learn from their mistakes and to achieve their own successes.”
“Sometimes pain and suffering are necessary. No one can grow for us.” ~ Author unknown
This has been a profound lesson for me on my spiritual journey. When we recognize that we have a need to rescue others, or need other people to need us, we don’t allow them to have their own experience and to grow as human beings. It also diminishes our ability to connect at an authentic soul to soul level with others.
The aim of Yoga is to bring the mind to a state where we can see clearly without distortion of the truth
In Yoga, aparigraha or non attachment is one if the most difficult observances on our path to enlightenment. As a practice, it is usually focused on letting go of material objects and not being greedy or grasping. However, it can also apply to our thinking and in relationship to others. With self inquiry we can start to explore the motivations and thinking behind our actions and interactions in the world. Some questions to ponder are:
Am I grasping for attention … recognition … appreciation… to make me feel better about myself?
Am I interfering or trying to fix other people in an effort to fix myself?
In preventing them from feeling pain or being challenged, am I keeping them from growing?
While we are compassionate towards others and support them on their journey, it’s important to honor them and their experience, and allow them to grow through their own self inquiry.
The need to save others can keep us attached and prevents us, and them, from becoming truly free.
*Soul to Soul (p. 114). Monkfish Book Publishing. Kindle Edition.
“Life is an adventure, not a package tour.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
Photo by Jas Poole
This is a great reminder for me today – especially as I will be leaving for Europe on vacation next week.
We are not going on a package tour, but I do want to be prepared and feel in control 😉
When we spend so much of our time planning and anticipating whatever obstacle might come up, its easy to miss the excitement of the unknown and the adventure of it all.
It’s like life…
Take a moment and consider “Am I approaching life with a Package Tour mindset or as an Adventure?”
Looking back on previous vacations, I recall that it was the unexpected that thrilled. Like the moment we followed an impulse instead of the GPS and found ourselves on a dirt track heading towards the clouds. Suddenly a golden eagle flew up in front of the car with a 3 foot snake in its mouth. We didn’t have time to photograph it, but the moment is imprinted in our brains forever. Now that could never be planned for!
Looking back on life, aren’t the moments that take our breath away, the ones we didn’t plan for…
The moments we feel really good about are the ones where we have met unexpected challenges and discovered inner strength and resourcefulness.
Or the moments where we let our guard down and let the love in, to be fully embraced and accepted for who we are.
Or moments of discovery and awe of something that was once unknown.
Life really is an adventure when we allow ourselves to let go of control and notice things as they unfold.
When I think about my vacation, I now ask myself “Can I let go more and allow the present to unfold?” Absolutely, now that I have my bug spray, sunscreen, contact lens solution, change of underwear, reading glasses, GPS and maps packed…
This wisdom from Adyashanti gave me pause for thought today.
Adyashanti on Enlightenment and Inner Division
“Most human beings spend their lives battling with opposing inner forces: what they think they should do versus what they are doing; how they feel about themselves versus how they are; whether they think they’re right and worthy or wrong and unworthy.
The separate self is just the conglomeration of these opposing forces. When the self drops away, inner division drops away with it.
Now, I can’t say that I never make a mistake, because in this human world being enlightened doesn’t mean we become experts at everything. What does happen, though, is that personal motivations disappear.
Only when enlightenment occurs do we realize that virtually everything we did, from getting out of bed to going to work to being in a relationship to pursuing our pleasures and interests, was motivated by personal concern.
In the absence of a separate self, there’s no personal motivation to do anything. Life just moves us.
When personal motivation no longer drives us, then what’s left is our true nature, which naturally expresses itself on the human dimension as love or compassion.
Not a compassion that we cultivate or practice because we’re supposed to, but a compassion that arises spontaneously from our undivided state. If we undertake being a good, compassionate person as a personal identity, it just gets in the way of awakening.”
As we continue on this path, the inner conflict and critical inner voice lessens, then disappears. We come to a place of inner knowing and compassion for ourselves and the world. This is the motivation that will drive us for the rest of our lives.
Namaste
