Tuesday, November 20, 2007

It’s all about context, transformation made easy!

Recently I went on a retreat in India. It was such a “treat”, to be immersed in classes about spirituality, to practise meditation in a place that is like a launch pad for the soul. Since I have come back I have been reflecting on my own spiritual development and how to move forward with ease, I have always liked the easy life! I’ve noticed as I pass through old habits I often see how attached or even how I am addicted to these old patterns of behaviour. As the saying goes old habits die hard! I’m questioning this; does it have to be this way?

It could be said that a path of self transformation is natural, you cannot transform into anything that you do not have the potential to be. Just as a caterpillar will be a butterfly, an acorn into a Oak Tree. I believe we all have the potential to be our best, it’s natural. Getting there - that’s where the mastery lies.

The place I went to has an incredibly pure atmosphere, it’s a bit like a mirror when you are there – you see what is happening inside you, (if you are willing to look) very clearly, as if it has been magnified – which is great if you are feeling good and very interesting if you are feeling otherwise.

The way it became easier to look at was accepting the context of my own situation, and the interesting thing is the same applies when I look at others and how I see them and relate to them. I had to accept I have been going through life, just like most people, taking from external circumstances, moving along with expectations, this should be like this, they should be….Out of touch with my own inner happiness, and that’s understandable – because I thought it was dependent on the things external to me. I didn’t realise that it was inside me; it’s only since I have been doing meditation that I have really become aware of this (around 6 years now). Now I have set the context, their’s an observation I would like to share. If I hold the awareness that my mind has become like a computer and it automatically switches into old habitual responses and behaves in a certain way and it’s been doing that for around for a very, very long time – even beyond this birth (that’s if you consider reincarnation as a possibility). Well just like any old habit – it takes time to change, you just have to keep reminding yourself to do it and not feel bad when you don’t change immediately, quite the contrary, I found if I see this in context of 100’s of years, I can start to give myself a break – no need to feel guilty, just get on with it. And transformation will then become easy. I really found this useful to work with for myself and also being light when being in relationship with everyone else. Whether we are aware of being on a path of personal growth or not, we are all in the same boat and so it’s interesting when we become aware of each others idiosyncrasies, and the context of this - life has shaped each one through time and what those circumstances have been – God knows! It’s as if each become a “Picasso” of life, from a perfectly sculptured, mini god like, fully blown life sized sculpture – you might have a sculpture in mind, Michael Angelo came to mind. It’s good to see it all in context. Pressure off – creativity and understanding switches on!

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