Humility is a virtue that saves us when faced with the powerlessness of evolution. The Holy Design for the entire universe is evolution. Everything in nature is cooperating in accordance with Divine Order to make the world more hospitable for all it's creatures. Sometimes that is hard to see in the midst of chaos and suffering, but we must not lose faith.
It is when we are out of balance with Nature, when we are resisting the flow, and when we are acting out of fear rather than from love, that we suffer. It is impossible to manipulate Divine Order, yet we continue to struggle for control rather than accept it's design. Often it is only when we go into the depths of crisis, when something devastating occurs, that we realize the powerlessness we have over Natural Law.
There is an order and balance in the universe that coexists with an unyielding unpredictability beyond human control. Just as the tides roll, the sun sets, the moon rises and the rains come, life flows without our direction. We are intrinsically wired with the urge for wholeness and if we tune in, we realize this is our motivating force. It takes humility to recognize we are only the center of our own tiny, little, microscopic universe amongst an infinite number of other tiny, little microscopic universes in the One Universe we are merely a particle of.
Evolution is a universal project. Ego likes to believe this is a personal goal. While the spiritual journey may be a personal one, it is only personal to the individual "I." We are all simply playing our individual roles in a collective transformation of Consciousness. Wholeness is the urge of the Universe; therefore, individual plans are secondary. If we can accept our roles dutifully, if we can see the beauty and respect the Holy Design of Nature, we will find ourselves celebrating our existence. If we can can answer the call to be the most loving people we can be, we will find ourselves in a state of humility bathing in a sea of infinite love and acceptance.
What
a difference a year makes. Last fall I landed in a new town. Literally,
that was what it felt like, a landing. I arrived back to the States from a 6 month
journey in India not knowing what I wanted to do or where I wanted to live. All arrows pointed to Aiken, South Carolina. Since
arrows pointing versus a "pin the tail on the donkey" choice seemed the
wiser of the two, here I find myself 15 months later with a brand new
life beyond my imagination. And that is real life... existing beyond the limitations
of our imagination.
I had been in search of freedom, becoming less
and less attached to things, to people, to comfort zones, but I still
wasn't liberated. I have discovered something new this past year. I
think I was approaching detachment from the wrong perspective. What
keeps us bound are our thoughts and beliefs, not our things, our
relationships or our comfort zones. We experience limitations, because
we believe our thoughts.
The mind is like a computer. We must be
aware of what we are downloading into it. Discernment is a powerful
tool. Decide to accept and reject. We need to free ourselves from the
limitations we have accepted in the here and now. Freedom will never
happen in the future, as it is an awareness of the moment. A new thought
is like soft clay. It can be reshaped. An old thought fired in the kiln
of our emotions has to be broken with a sledge hammer.
I find
myself more entangled with the world at present, more commitments and
more responsibilities than in my "freedom searching" years; however, I
have found greater freedom in my newly entangled life. Interesting, when
you are not searching for something, you are more likely to happen upon
it. A few months ago a good friend reminded me something about myself
and gave me some powerful advice. She said, "You need to always remember
you have an amazing endurance for accepting things that don't work for
you." It really
made me think. Do I want to endure my life, or do I want to live it? I
choose to live it.
Don't get me wrong. Acceptance is important.
Without it we would surely go mad, as most events that occur in our life
are beyond our control. But we don't have to accept our imagined
limitations. Imagination has countless building blocks. We can use them
to build walls that close us in or doorways that open us to the
expansiveness of life.
Confusion can be a very good thing. It
takes away the security that we have all the answers in our pocket.
Freedom from concepts allows new experience. Preconceived ideas keep out
truth. The need to believe something often interferes with our
reasoning, as we have a tendency to believe what we want to believe.
Observation is the most helpful tool in freeing ourselves from
preconceived ideas and beliefs. We suffer from undirected, uncultivated
minds, such an unnecessary waste of life.
Mind as the interpreter
is a very tricky thing, as it only hears what it wants to hear. The chattering of the subconscious can be loud and overpowering. Reflection
is the key. Sit and watch your mind. Deal with what comes up. Use your
power of choice and be discriminant of the thoughts you entertain. Don't
allow mind to spin out of control with negative thoughts and fears.
Feel passionately in the moment, but release emotions attached to the
past.
We learn from making mistakes. Learn from them, but stop
repeating them. Be clear on what you know versus what you have simply
intellectualized. When you intellectualize, you pretend to yourself you
know. True knowing leads to action. Watch your actions to understand
what you truly know. It's best not to waste time on questions that can't
be answered. Self-mastery is the key to liberation.
Spend a few
moments before going to sleep to clear your mind. The thoughts you are
holding onto when you fall asleep are the thoughts that most strongly
affect your subconscious. Gratitude keeps us in divine flow. Forgiveness
is love manifest. I go to sleep this evening with my heart overflowing
gratitude for my rich, full life, for all my entanglements with the
world, for all my freedom, for all my mistakes, and all the my
successes. As my mind defragments from the day, forgiveness wells up in my
consciousness for the holy mess I am, for the holy mess I create and for
the holy mess caused by others. Perfection cannot manifest on the human
level. God does not work for us. God works through us. The right choice
always is simply seek God.
