Let go. All of our internal resistance is the result of us clinging to past experiences and outdated dreams and ideas of who we are and who we should be.
The most important thing that we can do for ourselves is to make the decision to follow the path that our heart has set for us with no regard whatsoever to anything in the past, especially who we were in the past.
For so many of us, most of our actions and energy is directed towards keeping the past alive. But that only keeps us from moving forwards and realizing our true dreams, the dreams that exist in our hearts and in this present moment.
The greatest courage then is to face the unknown of ourselves by letting go of the past and the self-image that is founded by those past experiences, which we mistakenly attempt to maintain.
We are not defined by our possessions, our achievements, or knowledge that we have gained either through learning or experience. The truth is realized only through presence, which is being silently aware of what you are in this one moment. If you haven’t experienced that, you will think that that idea is stupid. but if you have then you know exactly what I am talking about. It is so simple, but very hard to do, and even harder to maintain.
Haven’t you had the experience when you learned something transcendental, had an amazing experience (spiritual or otherwise), or had an authentic breakthrough, only to find yourself a couple of weeks later feeling utterly ordinary? All it took was time for that new, spectacular knowledge to be adequately absorbed, processed, and stored safely in the subconscious where it has been ‘normalized’.
This is what I am talking about. A few years ago I used to be frustrated to no end by my inability to recall everything I had learned from all the books I had read at will. That knowledge to me was, in many ways, a shield and a sense of identity. That knowledge was what made me who I was. Some people define themselves with what they possess: their clothes, possessions, or cars. Others by what they know, with their knowledge, with their credentials. And others still by their status or wealth or skills.
But the fact of the matter is that none of those things define us, and eventually we will all realize this truth. Even in learning, the temporary euphoria at learning something transformative is not the most important thing because it is not who we are. It may have helped us realize something more about ourselves, but the information in and of itself is not what we were searching for.
What we are truly looking for when we feel as if there is something missing from our lives is not some new fact, or possession, or title. It is simply an experience and a remembrance of our true and infinite nature as consciousness. Which is the only authentic experience of our true self.
In this sense, one of the times we are closest to this sense of completion and fulfillment – when we do not need more, more, more – is when we are centered in the moment while doing what we love, and what we are passionate about. Or at least while doing something we are genuinely enjoying.
And in that moment we are on fire. Ablaze with energy, enthusiasm, passion, and exhilaration – and contentment. We don’t want this moment to ever end, and we don’t need any more than what we already have. And in this moment we realize how beautiful the world is, how beautiful and capable we are, and how grateful we are for all that is.
True Joy…
True joy is achieved not in the acquisition of things, but in the state of being what we are, and living our bliss, our calling. So many of us are constantly using our words and our thoughts to fight; to argue, to prove ourselves, our worth, our superiority, our correctness, the validity of our existence, in one way or another (or rather, in any way that we can). We are always trying to be someone, achieve, win, earn something, and we are always moving towards more, trying to be someone better, someone different from who we are now. But is that really the way?
Aren’t you tired of always striving but never arriving? Moving at 1000 miles an hour, but never getting anywhere? I am, for it is exhausting, not to mention frustrating. Even when we learn, sometimes we are always trying to learn more, more knowledge, amassing knowledge, and degrees, and credentials – proof of our erudition. Yet what does any of that really mean? Moreover, what does it prove? Nothing.
We are beings of consciousness. We are not hard drives for amassing and storing information, or possessions, or wealth of any kind. We are not our goals, or our dreams because they do not define us. We are consciousness. The universe contains all information and all potential for us. It is all at our fingertips whenever we want it. And when I say all, I mean infinite. It is already here. It is here for us to use, to experience, but not to possess. Because we are complete and thus there is nothing for us to possess.
When we live from a place of possessing, then we are living from the awareness that we are incomplete and lacking which is the source of all our suffering. But the truth of ourselves is realized when we enter into a place when we act and do because we enjoy the process, and not only because we covet the goal. And also when we act from a place of knowing that we are complete, and that we are enough, and have nothing to add to ourselves because we are consciousness creating, experiencing, and exploring the abundance, beauty, and unlimited possibilities of creation.
And yet here we are. Still running around blindly, always searching, but never relaxing enough for even a single moment which is all that it takes to discover that what we were searching for all along is here. It is within us and it always has been.
If ever in your life you feel even for an instant that you are missing something, then you are going too fast. You are fighting what is inside of you and you are disconnecting from the infinite intelligence and unlimited abundance that is you. Just surrender to it. That feeling of missing something is an inner alarm bell telling you to turn your attention back inwards and reconnect.
Slow down everyone you’re moving too fast.
Dreams can’t hit you when your moving like that.
– Jack Johnson
Stop fighting with your words. Stop trying to be someone else. Stop chasing your goals. Stop looking, and simply find. One moment of true peace, true internal silence is all that it takes. Once you slow down your body, slow down your mind, and release all of your attachments and concerns for a single instant, then everything becomes available to you. Your consciousness breaks its boundaries, you expand, and then you remember.
You remember in an instant who and what you really are, and you are left in utter disbelief that you could have ever forgotten. But alas, that is the effect our modern world and our social programming which is now deeply embedded in our subconscious mind has on the human psyche. It distracts us, and we attach to it and are pulled along with the ever-changing world, but away from ourselves. And I believe that in some ways it was designed that way specifically to keep humanity from remembering what they really are.
But we do not have to live that way. We can choose a different path. A path of peace, of inspiration, of abundance, of connection, and of evolution for all. Not out of some altruistic sense of morality, where we must use our willpower to do the right thing because that is what our society deems is the right thing to do. No. We must be peace, inspiration, love, kindness, and abundance because it flows through us inhibited from our higher being, because those are the very qualities that are inherent within the creative intelligence of the universe.
Only when the right way, the right action, and the right behavior are completely and totally spontaneous have we truly remembered who we are. Because the more that you have to try to be something, in fact, the more you have to try in your life period, the more disconnected you are from your source and true potential.
There is a verse from the Tao Te Ching which displays this concept perfectly, and it goes:
Therefore the sage embraces the one.
Because he doesn’t display himself,
people can see his light.
Because he has nothing to prove,
people can trust his words.
Because he doesn’t know who he is,
people recognize themselves in him.
Because he has no goal in mind,
everything he does succeeds.
…
If you have truly attained wholeness,
everything will flock to you.
– Lao Tzu
All that you have to do is surrender. When you are weary of fighting, of searching, of striving to be more, or to be better, or to realize your goals, just surrender. And disengage those impulses to fight, to validate yourself, to uphold your self-image, and to strive, and simply just be, in complete and utter silence. And you will have arrived. Right where you needed to be and right on time, blossoming into the fullness of your existence.
It can be no other way.
Just say to yourself, ‘I surrender to the infinite that is within me’. And with this awareness, in time you will fall from the false pedestal you have fashioned for yourself, and into the unknown of your being. And the universe will catch you.
This article was written by Brandon West who is the creator of Project Global Awakening. A website dedicated to the research of a variety of scientific and spiritual disciplines, and applying that knowledge to help you live an inspired life and change the world.
This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.
