There’s no way around it.
The only way you can have experiences, the only way you can learn, the
only way you can become wise, the only way you can get enlightened is by doing it
your own self. But how?
We spend our whole lives trying to figure out the how.
It’s natural to want help with this. It’s natural to want an easier way.
We go guru hunting to get help with the daunting task of figuring
out how human life works and, sometimes, to hide under someone else’s umbrella
for awhile.
We have a built-in hunger to figure life out and to find
peace. We’re hardwired that way. Most of us look for ways to dull the
hunger. We fill our lives with
enjoyments, busy-ness and time fillers.
Sometimes that works for a while, or even a whole lifetime. But, sometimes, we get kicked off the rails
and we’re back where we started, facing the old questions, “Who am I?”, “Where
did I come from?”, “What is the good?”, ”Where
am I going?”, ”What should I do?”, “What is life about?”, “How can I be
happy?”. You know, the little nagging questions
that can get in the way of sleeping.
Any guru worth her salt will just bring you back to the
threshold of your own mind. Any guru
that doesn’t do that, one way or the other, isn’t really a guru at all but is a
salesman. You can learn from salesmen,
but it’s expensive. Then, you’re back on
the road again.
Relax. Every
experience is good. You are on a mission
that will last your whole life. Sooner
or later, you will get to where you want to be.
If you pay attention, every step of the way will be good in its own
special way. Don’t be in a hurry. You are exactly where you are supposed to
be. Savor it.
That’s the secret: pay attention. Be here now.
Notice what’s around you. Notice
your thoughts. Notice what you are
feeling. Notice what you are attracted
to. Notice what repels you. Notice your behavior. Just notice, without
having an opinion about it, as if you were watching someone else’s life. You will notice habits and patterns. You will start to realize who you are in this
one instant of your life. Then, you can
have opinions about it and make other choices if you want to and see how that
works out.
Life is designed to be self-teaching. You can’t get ahead of yourself. It’s all perfect.
You are work in progress, just like everything that lives
in the Earth school.
Your only job is to be present.
