The beginnings of the stories of our lives today started long ago – in the words of the Yoga Vasishta and the Bhagavad Gita around 400 BC. The ancient yogis, through their meditations, developed ways that are urgent in their applicability for these current times. While reading their words today, we can remember and embody the truth that we are energetic, spiritual beings having ordinary experiences and that, as spiritual beings, we can embrace all that is magnificent, pure, infinite, and glorious within us. And. When we embody this awareness, we also become co-creators with the Divine and the wonders of who we are as spiritual beings.
We are all a part of the infinite cosmic Oneness that is of everything and everyone. Some of us call this energy God, others of us call it Brahman, and more of us today call it the Divine Feminine – the Healer of the World. This is awesome news, especially when our world seems so fraught with wars, violence, threats of nuclear and environmental annihilation, and personal tragedies of monumental proportions. We may ask: How is it even possible to think in terms of purity, magnificence, and beauty when so much within some of us and in the outer world is such a gigantic mess?
The answers lie within our very being and within the ancient texts which inform us as to the truths of our spiritual essence. With awareness, we live two lives simultaneously – that of our ordinary ego-based days and that of the sacred essence residing in each of us. According to karmic principles, we chose to incarnate at this time for specific reasons, each of us having a unique purpose in the sacred creations of these days as we all move away from that which is violent, greedy, and destructive into a more loving and purposeful world. In this world, all of us are brothers and sisters to one another. In these sacred ways of living, we resolve our own difficult karmas to heal within and to participate in the creation of a world that embraces all of us as we all grow in consciousness and compassion for one another.
Each day, and many times throughout each day, we have a multitude of opportunities to move beyond ego-bound ways that limit, reject, judge, despair, and define us as successful or not as we attempt to control others or limit ourselves. Instead, when we remember our sacredness and our divine purpose, we will explore vast universes within that are distinctive to each one of us. We will open to the light of our precious sacred hearts and to the infinite possibilities we embody. As we honor and live more and more from our infinite inner beauty, we change our ways and our world.
I like to think of this process as one of dropping our personas – those costumes we wear that seem so necessary to maintain as we live our daily lives, much as a snake sheds its skin and becomes anew. In doing so, we can remember that we are spiritual beings and that, as such, we are fully alive and able to bring forth these enlightened ways into what previously seemed so ordinary and perhaps even boring. Then we open to brilliance, creativity, and joy because we know that we are a part of wondrous, flowing energies that are divine in nature and infinite in possibilities. In doing so, we literally see with new eyes, speak with inspired tongues, and act in ways that are strong in truth, gentle in manner, soft in wonder, and deep in love.
Let’s look at the dichotomies of who we are in broad strokes:
Are we contracted, or are we open?
Do we judge ourselves and/or others, or do we remember that each of us has karmic conditions to play out during this lifetime and that those karmas will come to fruition regardless of what we do or think? There is tremendous freedom in stepping away from our sense that we know best and how could this other person be as (fill in the blank) as they are. Once we become aware, we will do whatever it takes to resolve the karma we came into this lifetime to resolve and to have the utmost compassion for others as they navigate the vagaries of their lives.
Do we see ourselves as small, inferior, defeated, and victim to our circumstances, or do we use whatever is wounding us as a catalyst to grow, expand, and step into our sacred gentleness and greatness?
Do we see our lives in monochromatic colors, or are we constantly aware of the incredible brilliance and beauty in everyone and everything around us daily?
You may have other such contradictions residing in you. Once you name them, you can begin to become free of them and then walk in the direction of your true Self.
The old ways, fears, irritations, and questions about who we are and who others seem to be are signs of too much focus on our outer lives and the dramatic enticements we are always navigating. When we live only in such states, we doubt we can cope, we may cope in ways that hurt ourselves and/or others, and we can develop psychological and physical conditions that draw us further into malaise, feelings of hopelessness, anger, addictions, etc. Often too, the sense that we are defeated and incapable of change is exactly what leads us to begin our search for something more, something better, something that draws us to look inside ourselves for different and better answers. And this longing is what will bring you home to your sacred soul-infused Self.
We may begin to find answers in messages from wise friends and teachers or a nudge to try something new and more uplifting and transformative instead of what is familiar. When we pay attention to these surprising new possibilities, we open to our inner world. This world is vast, amazing, and filled with possibilities beyond what our ordinary minds can fathom. Your inner world is free from all suffering, distortions, inadequacies, and fear. When you enter within your sacred Self over and over, you will relax and become more peaceful, flowing, loving, and connected to your precious Soul Self. You also will realize that you are not alone and that, in fact, you are filled with this most amazing spirit that is of the sacred enlivened within you. Then you will know that you contain infinite possibilities beyond the ordinary, but which can inform your usual days in expanded, unexpected, and soul-filled ways.
We enter within with such practices as spiritual readings, contemplating, journaling, meditating, and learning from others who easily embody these states.
These are ancient ways made anew each time we invite them in we invite them in to explore and expand within our beings. We find joy, enthusiasm, creativity, possibilities, loving-kindness, and always awarenesses of how to shift from the lesser and ordinary ways into those which expand our very being.
As we practice moving from less conscious states to expanded sacred ones in all our ordinary actions, we find that we deepen in love, that our words carry the truth of our spirit, that we are strengthened in the fullness of who we are,, and that we
act with clarity, assuredness, compassion, and an abundance of love.
May you enjoy your unique journey as you increasingly live your sacredness.
Namaste
By Elaine Hoem
