living authentically – REDEFINING REALITY

There is a yearning in every human heart; a seeming emptiness that cries out to be filled.

Some people feel this emptiness as a lack. They feel that there is something tangible that is missing in their lives and attempt to fill it with whatever makes the feel better; drugs, sex, alcohol, food, shopping. It doesn’t seem to matter. They feel that if they can just get enough of whatever thing or experience has made them feel good in the past, that they can fill up this emptiness even if it is a temporary fulfillment.

Some people feel that this is a spiritual emptiness; a yearning for God. I’ve heard sermons where preachers claim that it is the voice of divinity or the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart; that if an individual just give up enough of themselves, surrenders themselves; that God will take away the pain and emptiness and fill it with something even better.

But what if it isn’t an emptiness at all?

Zen Buddhism has a symbol – an almost circle called an ensō. This almost circle is painted with a single brush stroke and it is symbolic of the moment when the mind is free to simply let the body/spirit create. It is said that with practice the mind can be taught to leave that center space open on purpose in order to give the body and the spirit room to create the life that you have always wanted.

Seemingly related is the center point of the Chinese Bagua; the eight sided (nine spaced) cosmological chart that is used in order to practice Feng Shui (the art of placement). In this particular practice the center point – the center space of the Bagua is always (if possible) left open and empty so as to invite in new energy and to give you room to create the type of home that you truly desire.

Indeed, what if this openness; this space inside of each heart is anything but empty?

Think about it. What if this space that we perceive of as emptiness and equate with loneliness and lack is actually a part of the system design of our body/soul interface?

It’s not that far-fetched really. All of the most useful and practical of machines are made not only with specifically designed working parts, but with spaces in which those parts can work. Gears have to turn. Levers have to shift. Even when it comes to computers, there has to be memory space in order for calculations to be made; places for all those ones and zeroes to gather and process.

What if – instead of fighting the emptiness; instead of trying so desperately to fill it up, we instead embraced it?

What if we accepted that empty space inside of our minds, hearts and spirits as the space in which dreams come true; as the workspace of our souls where it can get to work on putting together the life that we have always wanted? What if it is here, in the emptiness that our conversations with our souls can begin?

Perhaps then the emptiness would take on an entirely different meaning. Instead of emptiness and loneliness we would find peace, comfort and understanding, and we would stop trying so desperately to fill something that is simply a necessary part of the way that we were designed.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about

~~Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Can you imagine it?

Can you imagine a world where we’ve stepped beyond the need to classify things as “right” or “wrong” and instead live so completely from the heart that we are in total synchronization with the universe’s plan for our lives, even if the life we live goes completely against social conventions?

What couldn’t we do?

What couldn’t we be?

How much of the misery and despair around us results from people trying to be something they are not? How much of it stems from living up to our societies expectations of what we are supposed to be? How much of it results from people giving in to the pressure of friends and family to be “responsible” and “practical” to put aside their dreams in order to “grow up?”

I have asked this question before and gotten answers that, taken together, amount to this:

“But people have responsibilities. We have obligations. We have jobs and families that are depending on us. Our communities, our societies expect us to behave in a certain way. To just run off in pursuit of a dream; something that may or may not pan out; to pursue our own happiness regardless of the cost; that’s not being responsible, that is taking a risk, and not just with our own happiness, but with the happiness of others.”

Well, here are some questions for those who would hold this to be true:

Do you not also have a responsibility for your own happiness?

Do you really think that you can ever be truly happy as long as you know that you are not living up to your potential?

Do you really think that those who love you would not applaud you for doing what feels right and becoming the person you were truly meant to be?

Do you really think that it’s better to put away your dreams and be responsible, but to always know down deep in your heart that there is more to you than what you have settled for?

How much has the human race lost because someone with a dream responsibly put that dream aside in order to live up to their own or someone else’s expectations?

And finally (yet most importantly), what does your heart tell you that you should be doing? What do you find your innermost soul yearning for? Are you content or do you find yourself seeking for something else; something more?

It is only in the deepest part of your heart that you will find the answers to these questions, and only there that you can find the strength to answer them honestly and then take whatever steps are necessary to bring your life into alignment with your soul purpose.

It is not an easy thing to do. And no, it does not mean that you have to leave your family or give up your job or shirk your responsibilities. This is something that goes far deeper than that. Of course if you are honest with yourself; if you truly want to bring your life into alignment with your soul purpose; if you commit yourself to living from your heart then things are going to change.

When you can finally be honest with yourself and admit that you are not living from your heart; that your life is not in alignment with your soul purpose; when you finally commit to living authentically and are open to what your heart is telling you, things will change. It can’t be helped. But you won’t have to force them.

As you listening to the promptings of your soul; as you learn to act on the instincts and impulses that it sends to guide you. You will find your life becoming richer; deeper; more authentic than anything you could possibly have imagined. But you will also find that many things that you thought were important; many things you thought you couldn’t do without will start to fall by the wayside. Desires, wishes, plans, ideas, beliefs, friendships, relationships; each and every one of them will be subjected to the same test of authenticity. Some will survive the test. Others will not.

Regardless of what does or does not change, your life will never be the same again.

And one day, one day you will be able to walk past the concepts of rightdoing and wrongdoing; smiling at them as you pass them by, and find yourself in that field where the person you have become will be able to lay itself down and bask in the wonder of what it truly means to live authentically.

And there is a field.

I’ll meet you there.