There’s an old saying that the only thing permanent is impermanence. Our life experience is one of learning better ways to interact with this changing flow.
And yet simultaneously there is this eternal unchanging presence. It seems to be part of neither existence nor nonexistence… It is a manifestation of nothing. It is unmanifest. It is. All that can really be said is that it is. We can go within and tap into this and find that when resting in this place, it’s as if we are home, and I mean really home. In this place there is no longing for anything more, no need to get anything, and truly no sense of lack. There is no separation for there is nothing else to be separate from. All else is just appearance, and yet the appearance is not other than this. In this pure being, all is divinely perfect just as it is, including the appearance of problems and pain, and yet it doesn’t invalidate the negative aspects of Allness. To simply be is itself already completely sufficient. Nothing more is needed.
In this space there is no anxious need for a particular outcome, as if one outcome would somehow lead to more fulfillment than another. It’s interesting… when we release our attachment to the outcome, we find this place of perfect peace that is what it is, independent of outcome. It is a space beyond the mind, transcendent and yet completely grounded, particularly when the lower chakras are open and balanced. It’s as if the physical body is being used as a vessel to bring the peace of heaven down to earth. This peace is expressed through a mind/body organism.
So some teachers would suggest that you should get rid of all your desires altogether for that is the ideal state, to be happy with what is and to desire nothing more than what is here and now. Then you’ve got other teachers who would suggest that it’s not really about the desires themselves, but rather the attachment to (and therefore resistance to) the desires themselves. When we get into the discussion about desire, it can be helpful to get clear about our definition of the word desire.
Isha Judd has a hilarious video where she addresses the difference between renouncing the objects of your desire in the name of enlightenment versus letting go of the attachment to desires, as well as the difference between clingy attachment which many people confuse with love and what love actually is.
There’s also a passage I’d like to share with you that’s just past the 6 minute mark in the following Abraham-Hicks video. The passage has to do with the idea of “releasing desires.”
In the moment you stop pushing against [your monsters and fears], you catch a current that takes you to where you wanna go. That’s why some say “let go let God” or “relax.” “Release desire” is what many teach and we know that’s their way of tricking you into not having any more resistance because it is not possible for you to release desires. You are here FULL of desire, but sometimes by releasing desire, or feeling like you are, you release resistance and when you release resistance, your cork floats back to the surface or you catch the current of your stream, you see.”
-Abraham-Hicks
Allowing, surrender, non-resistance, being, going with the flow, saying yes to what is… call it what you will but it’s pretty fundamental stuff.
You know what? I love video posts. These are a lot of fun and I’m feeling called to develop my speaking and presentation skills and so I’d like to do more videos now instead of writing.
So here’s a video where we talk about those times when we get taken over by negative emotions. What to do then?
Trying to understand someone is not the same as loving them, though we might think that’s a path to love. What that is is an attempt to access the heart by first going through the mind, as if the mind is a gatekeeper for the heart. (It’s not, but we can act this way.) When we live this way, when we feel a lack of love, we may seek to recreate it by seeking to create a sense of mutual understanding, but that’s actually placing a condition upon love and thinking that external things need to be a certain way for us to have a particular internal state of being.
Love can flow during both understanding and misunderstanding.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t value in seeking clarity with another person when there is misunderstanding present. Of course that can be a very helpful and beneficial thing to do. What I am saying is that we don’t have to require the prerequisite of understanding another person’s point of view mentally and making sure they see your point of view before we allow ourselves to open up to the flow of love. Mutual understanding can certainly help us open and take down our walls, yes, but it doesn’t have to be a requirement for us to love what is, for that makes love conditional. The following quote is taking on deeper meaning for me tonight:
“Spiritual practice is the capacity to offer your love even when you feel hurt, closed down, tense, angry, misunderstood, or hated.”
-David Deida
By love I don’t mean affection towards another, approving of them, having them be a part of your life, or even liking their behavior and choices. Not that.
It’s more about accepting others the way they are, accepting yourself the way you are, being a YES to life, and being open to allowing what is to be without closing down and attempting to separate yourself from the moment. Love is what we feel when we surrender our resistance to what is.
Surrender means to love without limits. It means to relax your guard so your lover can feel your core–authentic, unhidden, and undefended. Your muscles relax. Your breath becomes full. Your body and heart willingly open to your lover. If you are hurt, then you are hurt, but in any case you practice to remain open and full, like the ocean.
So when you heard about spiritual awakening or enlightenment, what was the prize that you wanted in the end? What was the story that got you hooked?
Perhaps it was something about experiencing endless bliss and joy, or maybe it was the end of suffering, or perhaps it was about experiencing constant Oneness with the Divine. Maybe it was the answer to all your life’s questions.
It may be something else entirely, but whatever the case may be, I’m sure the bait was very shiny and attractive, yes?
It turns out that they don’t give you the full story when you start playing the game. What I’m about to share isn’t meant to discourage people on the path, but simply to help them be conscious if and when these things start occurring. These things don’t necessarily mean that something has gone wrong, although it may certainly seem that way. A helpful book to those who are experiencing the following symptoms is You’re Not Going Crazy… You’re Just Waking Up!
Now, if spiritual awakening was to come with a series of warning labels, what would be printed on those labels?
So you know the whole classic “Go meditate on a mountain and give up everything and if you can find inner peace and well-being without all the worldly stuff, then you can have true happiness” idea? That’s all well and good, but I don’t think that’s necessarily everyone’s path. Plus it can be a convenient cop-out from actually living life and being the truth and love that you’ve realized yourself to be.
When we get inner inspiration in whatever form, we can think of our physical vessels as a sort of container or pipe. In order for the inspiration to continue to flow into us, we must ground that energy into this world by manifesting and creating whatever it is that we are inspired to create. This way Source has a reason to give us more ideas. Why give us more if we’re not already using what we’ve already received? We’re given natural gifts and talents for a reason here… Yes we can try and stop or ignore that flow, but that resistance is quite painful to experience. It feels to be very much out of harmony with the natural flow. In a nutshell, it sucks.
Who does it serve if we play small? Imagine if Edison didn’t bother inventing, if Beethoven ignored his impulses to compose, if MLK Jr. decided he’d be better off keeping his ideas to himself. It’s a great disservice to All That Is if we choose to hold back and not share out gifts to the world.
The opportunity here, in these times of blossoming self-awareness, is to recognize the unlimited potential in who and what you are, and to gift yourself with permission to express that knowingness as you choose to.
-Rasha
Surrender isn’t actually about not-doing, tossing in your cards, and giving up on life, but about playing the game in full alignment with one’s inner guidance, intuitive wisdom, connection with Source, or whatever phrase you wanna use.
Being silent certainly has its place, but not when it’s used as a way to resist the flow of life, as if being silent is somehow more spiritual or whatever. When we’re called to be silent, we’ll be silent. When we’re called to speak, we speak. Being silent is not necessarily something that we need to do in every moment. The same applies with speaking. Silence is the home of Source, yes, our true home, yes, but manifest physical reality is not separate from that or in any way inferior to that.
“I had an urge to express certain things and now I have and the urge is gone. That’s really the whole story.”
-Jed McKenna
This creative process is quite natural. Flow of the river.
Now the ego may try to control this process, invest itself in a particular outcome, need something in particular to happen, want to do things right, and so on, but this is far more simple than any of that. Inspiration arises, action is taken, and then the next thing comes… unless it doesn’t. Whatever happens, and I mean whatever happens, our experience of life becomes a progressively increasing degree of acceptance and surrender to what is. You basically go with the flow. This was discussed previously in the post about the second half of allowing everything to be as it is.
We all have creative inspiration. It’s normal. It’s natural. And in fact that’s the way life should be. How do we know? Because that’s what is.
When we try to box our creative endeavors into a particular form, whether it’s painting, speaking, writing, or whatever else… when we try to fit this flow of energy into a particular box, we actually prevent it from taking its natural form.
Creative energies can take any and every form, and no form is better than any other. I’m writing this simply for myself, but since myself includes you, this makes things that much easier.
Anyways, it’s totally okay to allow your path in life to meander whichever way it goes. Our actions don’t always have to take a particular form in order for us to be living in alignment with this creative flow. It’s about being who we are, regardless of what outer expression it takes.
It’s yet another let go of control, of being this as opposed to that, and of trying to do it right. Just flow with it, whatever form it takes. Just flow…
Alright, so here’s something we see that’s pretty common in spiritual circles:
People are suffering and resisting what is (basically your typical ego stuff) and then learn about surrendering and allowing everything to be as it is. They hear phrases like “turn the other cheek” and give up struggling with what is. In a sense, this takes the wind out of the sails of the ego.
Great, cool. No longer do they fight, struggle, and demand that things should be different than they are. They basically give up trying to control their reality, but often they go to the other extreme and turn into passive wimps, basically neutered their sense of inner power sense. I’ve written about this previously in the article Does Surrendering Control Mean I Don’t Do Anything?
The Second Part of “Allowing Everything To Be As It Is”
This next part is often missed… You see, once we allow everything to be as it is, we notice that there is a totally natural and healthy desire to change things that, unlike all of the compulsive fear-based stuff we’ve let go of before, doesn’t arise from the anxious, fearful ego. This energy is Source/Creation itself expressing itself through you in physical manifestation. You become a vessel through which the creative power of the entire universe flows. How’s THAT for power!?
This power that arises seeks not power over others, but power WITH others. It uplifts the one and the all and creates win/win scenarios. It doesn’t seek to raise one up over the other in a win/lose scenario as the egoic energy so often did.
This is the third chakra taking action when in alignment with Source, rather than being dominated by the ego. Instead of being closed down, it becomes an open powerhouse for the Divine.
Look, did Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, or MLK Jr. sit around meditating and surrendering all day? Heck no! While that may certainly have been a big part of their process, they truly opened up to allowing the mind/body/soul to be used in service to the Divine and entered the world with this energy… and there was some serious mojo behind their actions!
They become flow-ers of Divine Energy, living from a place of inner inspiration, living from the stillness within.
This desire is the desire to create and be or do something out of the sheer joy of doing it, out of the pure expression of what you truly are. It’s Life seeking to experience itself through a physical body. It is Creation creating.
So… allowing everything to be as it is also includes allowing our inner being’s innate movement to create to be as it is as well, and allow our bodies and minds to follow through on this energy when it feels right!
“Everything is perfect about the universe, including your desire to change it.”
It seems a big part of this whole spiritual growth thing is about the ego falling away. No surprise there, right?
One of the most noble things people can do is save the world, save the planet, benefit all mankind, or do something to change the world. You know the drill. In the movies we see superheros do it and we see regular people do it. No matter who does it, they get showered with accolades and appreciation by those who know of their wonderful deeds. It sounds like one of the greatest things one could ever do, y’know?
To use myself as an example, a part of my writing (not the whole part, but certainly a part) is based in wanting to do what I can to benefit mankind, to help others awaken, and to be of service to others.
I’m not saying this is good or bad, right or wrong, but it is something I’ve noticed about the intention of my behaviors.
What do we get out of such a thing? Perhaps a feeling of worthiness, respect, appreciation, success, fulfillment, or whatever else. As selfless as it may seem, we do still get a lot out of it. In a sense, both sides get something out of this. I benefit from it, and hopefully you do too. If not, oh well. I’m still having fun!
In any event, I’m noticing that a lot of my continuous effort in trying to save the world and share my truths as much as I possibly can is starting to fall away on its own.
It seems like my actions that were based in the ego, like wanting to act all enlightened so that people look up to me, wanting to be a good helper so that I can make people like me, wanting to promote certain products so that I make money in affiliate sales and can continue to eat and pay rent and feel safe and secure… all this stuff that boils down to actions that stem from egoic reasons, all that stuff is starting to fall away.
What I’m seeing in its place is that everything is actually just fine the way it is. Really. There’s nothing here to fix. I already am infinitely loved. I already am lovable. There is only more love that is already here for me to become aware of. I already am safe and secure. There is only a greater sense of this deep inner safety to come to consciously know. It’s very liberating and very healing.
You Are Truly Loved features content designed to guide people towards enlightenment, unconditional love, and living a life of joy through Self-realization and proper application of the Law of Attraction.
Trying to understand someone is not the same as loving them, though we might think that’s a path to love. What that is is an attempt to access the heart by first going through the mind, as if the mind is a gatekeeper for the heart. (It’s not, but we can act this way.) When we live this way, when we feel a lack of love, we may seek to recreate it by seeking to create a sense of mutual understanding, but that’s actually placing a condition upon love and thinking that external things need to be a certain way for us to have a particular internal state of being.
So you know the whole classic “Go meditate on a mountain and give up everything and if you can find inner peace and well-being without all the worldly stuff, then you can have true happiness” idea? That’s all well and good, but I don’t think that’s necessarily everyone’s path. Plus it can be a convenient cop-out from actually living life and being the truth and love that you’ve realized yourself to be.
This next part is often missed… You see, once we allow everything to be as it is, we notice that there is a totally natural and healthy desire to change things that, unlike all of the compulsive fear-based stuff we’ve let go of before, doesn’t arise from the anxious, fearful ego. This energy is Source/Creation itself expressing itself through you in physical manifestation. You become a vessel through which the creative power of the entire universe flows. How’s THAT for power!?
It seems a big part of this whole spiritual growth thing is about the ego falling away. No surprise there, right?
