In my life, I have tried to be Good and Pure and True. In these qualities, I have failed miserably. Why is it so hard to be good? Why is it so difficult to act in harmony with our mental ideals?
From the sea of Emptiness, everything arises.
Many people on the spiritual path eventually come face to face with their "Dark Side" - that part of themselves that is very, un-enlightened, selfish and spoiled. Reactions are a great mirror. We shout at the driver who cut us off. We take advantage of our employees because they really need the job. We cheat on our diets, our spouses, and our promises. We want to be good. We want to live in harmony with our spiritual nature, but sometimes, sometimes when lust, fear, or power overwhelm us - a demon seems to take charge of our actions. He makes us do things we regret if others see, and "forget" if others don't.
The lion kills the gazelle. The ice kills the last dinosaur. Man loves Woman. Man kills Man. Man creates monuments to the Gods.
Reactions. Words are easy. It is easy to say you are good, to say you love everyone and everything, to think to yourself that you are enlightened, to imagine that you give selflessly to the unfortunate. But actions, particularly re-actions are the great indicators of our deeper nature. Your "dark" reactions - both physical and emotional - are what the spiritual seeker must boldly face if they are ever to progress past a rudimentary taste of Inner Peace.
To survive, He kills. To spread his seed, He goes to war. To teach his children, he works his life away.
There are a million self-help books out there. Countless psychologists and billions of people who will all tell you exactly what you need to do to make yourself "better." Let me posit that you don't need to be fixed. Let me further posit that the only thing any of us are guilty of is a little fantasizing.
At his base, He is an animal. At his apex, He is a god.
One of the gifts of humanity is the gift of imagination. The problem is, sometimes we don't realize that we are imagining. We believe some fantasy about who we are and all our "problems" rear up and slap us in the face when we don't live up to that fantasy. Let me say that again. Our problems arise when who we really are conflicts with who we think we are.
Self preservation. Procreation. Possession. Defending the Tribe. Attacking to Survive.
You are selfish. You do lust after your neighbor's wife. You really do want to be famous and rich and powerful. Your fantasy says these are all off limits to the spiritual seeker. That if you were a good man/woman/god you wouldn't have those feelings.
War and Peace. Good and Evil. Love and Hate. Me and Them. One cannot exist without the Other. One cannot exist without Two.
So which is more real, your fantasy persona or your true, if somewhat repressed emotions? All this might sound a little funny coming from a man who claims to see God (a female god nonetheless) in a discarded banana peel, but damn it, I know my viewpoint is an illusion. Most seekers don't realize their fantasies are really only mental images - ideals that exist only in their minds.
Below it all, the Source. Below it all, Emptiness. From the sea of Emptiness. All life arises.
Your "dark" reactions are simply little indicators of where your true self deviates from your imagined self. Deny your nature and live your fantasy. Embrace the Darkness, feel the burn - and you will quickly find the Light.
Wayne Wirs is the photographer and author of Fading Toward Enlightenment - Life between the Ego and the Ethereal. For more information about Wayne, his writings or his photography, please visit http://fadingtowardenlightenment.com
affordable house cleaning Park Ridge ..We hear this word so often and have one thing... Read More
Vanity - it's easy to mask, easy to forget, and... Read More
I often ask myself this question. Not in the times... Read More
I have been counseling people on weight loss, exercise efficiency... Read More
What is the opportunity here? What is the benefit of... Read More
Self-actualization comes down to three basic premises: this is who... Read More
Almost every spiritual and religious teaching exhorts its followers to... Read More
Liam says to Joe; "where is your God now, when... Read More
Catch the express or the super fast bullet train. If... Read More
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,... Read More
If we don't behave according to a specific church's doctrine,... Read More
Lonely Song"a box of paints - lament for my da"It... Read More
If you spend a hundred bucks and buy the right... Read More
Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?"... Read More
Today I was in rather a whimsical mood, and so... Read More
We often forget that we are human beings first, and... Read More
The Mystical Experience"The mysteries of life become lucid ? and... Read More
WHAT IS E.V.P.?EVP stands for electronic voice phenomena, some believe... Read More
I can truly say to this day of August, 2005,... Read More
Before the movie "Finding Nemo", came out Steve Jobs the... Read More
An act of selflessness is the highest expression of selfishness... Read More
On January 13th 1982 an Air Florida flight crashed off... Read More
As soon as he saw me I saw him. It... Read More
Good morning beloved,I always feel a need to let people... Read More
In my yard are quarter-circles of grass growing taller than... Read More
affordable house cleaning Mundelein ..First, there is the field of complete consciousness.This then expresses... Read More
1. Raphael means "God heals." Raphael heals physical, emotional and... Read More
As I listen with pastors and preachers in the body... Read More
Some of us might hear from time to time that... Read More
For the last 35 years, I have been working with... Read More
Catch the express or the super fast bullet train. If... Read More
The Apocalypse, or unveilling, is the name given to the... Read More
Since I awoke from my three month coma in August... Read More
"You have not handed me over to the enemy but... Read More
Religion is "absolute truth of life" of the physical manifested... Read More
I always thought Ecclesiastes was like Proverbs. That's probably because... Read More
Enlightenment can come in an instant or it may take... Read More
There are many different and interchangeable terms that are used... Read More
The fundamental aim of spiritual study is to get facts... Read More
'O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom... Read More
I recently had the pleasure to interview Richard Rudis, a... Read More
Shamanism is an ancient form of mysticism. Although... Read More
It's the most powerful weapon on Earth. It can turn... Read More
If you spend a hundred bucks and buy the right... Read More
The Birth of Jesus Christ18 Now the birth of Jesus... Read More
What does it take to live life holistically?It definitely does... Read More
Recently it has come to my attention people are noticing... Read More
Many of you come to this site because you are... Read More
I very often see rants, complaints, wishes and dreams that... Read More
Life is just a journey. Princess DianaWhether we are... Read More
Spirituality |