Suffering is an integral part of the human experience; there is no way to be born in human form and not experience suffering. But is there an end to this misery? Can you, through becoming more conscious, eliminate suffering from your life? The answer is yes, but the process takes some bravery and is not for the weak at heart.
We suffer because we do not know our true nature; we think we are the body. The minute you identify with the body there is this innate sense of separateness, a disconnect from the spirit that makes you feel isolated and alone. Feeling separate is the work of the ego and in order for the ego to survive, the separateness must continue.
Separateness grows through comparison, competitiveness, feeling higher or lower in regard to someone else; it is never free-standing. If you feel "happier" because you are richer, more beautiful, or smarter than someone else, you are going to suffer. Remember everything that goes up must come down - there is always someone richer, more beautiful. Identifying with the outer covering rather than the inner core is what causes all suffering.
Being able to connect to the Source, i.e., the energy that is the same in us all, is a lifetime job and one that always demands awareness; a willingness to BE in the present moment. But that is not possible as long as the inner critic is in charge. As long as you are judging yourself, hiding your vulnerabilities to protect your image and feel ashamed of your 'failures," you will never be free.
The beginning of a conscious life is the willingness to integrate the dark side with the light. This is an actual step on the physical plane, that when you make, will CHANGE your consciousness immediately. The moment you ACCEPT your life - without judgement - the good, the bad, the ugly - is the moment suffering lessens.
Many people think the best way to live is to keep the ugly parts of life hidden, buried - why bring them up if they are painful? But your life is already painful and the reason is because these buried feelings are presently wrecking havoc whether or not you have consciously acknowledged them. Bringing to light what is in darkness instantaneously switches the energy; rather than running, we stay and look and are brave enough to feel what we have so long been avoiding.
The more you are willing to feel what scares you, the more whole you become. Incongruence is always the result of splitting your Self in two; embracing the light and rejecting the dark.
Wholeness means integration and integration automatically brings authenticity. The paradigm of being perfect needs to be changed with being an original holding more clout than being "perfect." Perfection then is simply to be who we are, an amalgam of high and low, good and bad, rich and poor, loved and unloved, awake and asleep, with the WHOLE being greater than the sum of its parts.
Rejoicing in your uniqueness is what allows you to accept it all. The darkest moments then become doorways to clarity, opportunities to step in and reclaim your life - all of it!
Dear Chandra,
Daughter of Muktananda......
Everytime I read your writing it is exactly what I need to read at that exact moment. You still have the grace of the Guru.
Thank you,
Barry
guru
Posted by: Barry Manin | June 24, 2010 at 08:43 AM