Meeting Yourself...

A theme I am exploring more and more in my talks is that of how our stories and our general conditioning impacts how we think, act and behave.  I have recently become more aware of how my story has impacted how I speak and teach and although uncomfortable at times I have also found that paying attention to my story has been incredibly freeing.  I now know why I do what I do and further insights are constantly changing my ideas of what it means to be me.  It is a generally accepted wisdom, which many are not questioning that it is best to drop the story and let go of thoughts, feelings and emotions, to almost in a sense become this non thinking, non feeling unemotional automaton and yet in doing this we miss a massive opportunity on our journey which can be used to wake us up to our true nature. 

Consider, why do you do what you do and how has it impacted your life, relationships and even this journey of realisation.  What you will find is this incredible tapestry of thoughts, feelings and emotions offers us an invitation and a clue to our true self that can lead us to finally let our seeking go.  And this opportunity to know thyself is happening in every instant of our existence.  By choosing to ignore our story we miss a huge chance to end the search.  

Taking this further our thoughts, feelings and emotions allow us to feel and interact with the intelligence we are.  When we come from this place of wholeness, life becomes vibrant and alive.  We are empowered and able to find our own solutions to our problems, instead of looking outwards and seeking.  This seeking for something outside us causes the agitations and dramas so many are experiencing in this day and age.  Our thoughts and feelings are when we observe them and turn into them nothing more then an invitation for enquiry into our true nature.

This helps us realise that there is no outside to the experience of life that is happening and what we see as outside ourselves is in fact our perception of it.  This perception also serves as a clue to the seeker as to who they really are and again asks us to enquire as opposed to just accepting the status quo of our conditioning which while serving as an invitation inwards also serves to reinforce a separate self.  When realising our true nature we see we can either change or accept the current situation.  The power truly is in our hands. This wholeness shows us more and more of what we are and each emotion, each thought, each feeling provides us with further clues on the path to deepen our knowing of ourselves, of who we are.  This intelligence that we interact with is seen as us and yet for the purpose of existence it can just as easily seen as outside ourselves and taking the form of a deity or god. Everything is accepted.  The freedom of being able to see life from as many different lenses as possible means that each moment is alive and full of possibility.  Seeing the fullness of the void is an intelligence and maturity on the path and it is seen that life is indeed that gift that keeps on giving, that hidden treasure that wished to be known and its wondrous beauty to quote Rumi is stared at with a thousand eyes.  And all that is required to realise this is an acceptance of whatever life brings up, warts and all.  This acceptance changes everything and there is just life. Pristine, perfect, whole and clear.  This is our natural way of being. This is our true nature