One of the great spiritual challenges for humanity is accepting that everything happens for a reason. Literally, this means there are no coincidences. A second equally great challenge is trusting that life (source, spirit, creation, or the god of your choosing) provides us with what we need when we need it. Granted, what we need is not truthfully defined by our egos even though it is often our egos crying out with neediness.
In order to fully internalize these two challenges (acceptance and surrender), I had to first recognize when my ego was shouting for attention and when my spirit was whispering the truth, that is, impulse versus intuition, respectively. Given its many years of usage, ego has a much louder voice. Spirit’s or life’s voice whispers up from the silence and stillness within our core. Below is a simple experiment for accessing your inner wisdom.
When you say, ‘Stop!’ do not breathe. Let everything stop… no breathing, no body movement. For a single moment remain in this stop, and you will feel you have penetrated suddenly, at rocket speed, to the center. And even a glimpse is miraculous, revolutionary. It changes you, and by and by you can have more clear glimpses of the center. That is why inactivity is not to be practised. Use it suddenly, when you are unaware. Osho
Circumventing the ego by surprising it suddenly is a wonderful way to enter our inner stillness where wisdom and truth abide. If you practise meditation, you already know the more stillness you cultivate, the more wisdom becomes available to you. However, if you need even more help, remember nothing happens without a reason. So, each event, experience or person showing up in your life has a purpose. Simply put, they are signs from life meant to awaken your awareness and grow your potential. All we have to do is pay attention and absorb the learning. As my poem below illustrates, life provides for and protects us from harm.
Signs of Life
“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign . . .”
every sign mirrors a potential pathway.
Some appear as a crossroads, a place
of choosing direction. Left, right, forward,
but not backward, never backward.
Others stop us in our tracks to ponder,
What do I need to let go of, stop doing,
stop having, stop being?
Still others signal new construction,
building what is still required
even with no visible end in sight.
Or my personal favourite — the ‘reminder’ sign
to watch for what is emerging,
for that glimpse of the soon-to-be-known.
What signs are showing up in your life? Are you paying attention or letting them slip by you?
Image courtesy of mapichai freedigitalphotos.net
