Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Little Things...

Do you have an appetite for more in your life?

Do you have an appetite for more direct experience and awareness of Who and What you Are?

Have you been diligently been doing various "spiritual" practices over many days, months, years, decades, lifetimes? And still knowing there's more to see (ie; realize)?

What if you and I are always and constantly being offered profound guidance and assistance for Awakening and everything in-between Awakening and this dream of being a separate individual human being? I can promise you we are. I too forget sometimes, and get mired in the dream in ways that can feel somewhat nightmarish, or at least unpleasant.

What if being able to recognize this guidance is simpler than we human beings make most things? What if it's really really simple?

It is.

An entry point to the awareness I'm pointing at is through the little things. Really. How many times have you (even this week, or today) walked past something that needed cleaning in the space you live or work without cleaning it? Even though it might only take a minute or two.

Let me be really super crystal clear here ----- this is NOT about blame, or guilt, or shame, or any of the other thieves of the Heart. It's not about cajoling or manipulating you towards some moralistic higher ground either (that just seems to breed annoying spiritual superiority).

What I'm being led into writing here (and working with more deeply for myself) is the practice of doing in the moment what that little voice is telling me to do. Not the voice that says, "You'd be so much happier with a pint of Ben & Jerry's right now, go and get it." Nothing wrong with ice cream as such, but it's pretty likely that the so-called happiness from eating a pint of it is going to be short-lived.

The voice I'm talking about generally won't shout, that's usually left for the ego to do. Shouting usually only comes from insecurity that's triggering you to attack to protect yourself from hurt (which doesn't really work, as by the time you're shouting, you're already hurting).

The voice I'm talking about points out regularly the little things that need doing. If you don't do the little things it points out, why should it expend any energy trying to reveal higher Truths to a resistant mind? If you're going into any sort of self-judgment here, drop it. That's not the droid you're looking for (bad Star Wars reference...).

Is it dirty dishes (even one) in the sink? Is it cleaning your house? Is it returning a phone call? Is it giving even when your mind tells you you can't possibly afford it (though you're being nudged from within to Trust and give anyway), is it caring for your own body, mind, or Spirit even though your ego is reaching for short-term comforts instead?

What is it for you?

Would you be willing to start listening, paying more attention, if you knew there would be a reward? The rewards are GREAT! Though they may not be instant. This is actually a practice to work with over time and develop consistency with. It's living life as though everything matters (and it does). My friend and mentor, David Elliott, is fond of saying, "How you do anything is how you do everything."

If you want more LOVE in your life...pay attention to the opportunities to be more LOVING.

If you want more abundance in your life, give of yourself and your resources abundantly. Even if you don't think you have material resources to give, you have time, thoughts, intentions, prayers, your SMILE to give abundantly.

It can be easier.

It can be more fun.

It doesn't have to wait for some-day.

Jesus said in the Gospel of Thomas that 'the Kingdom of Heaven is already spread upon the Earth, only men (and women) do not see it.'

Swami Muktananda, another great window on Reality from India, would say often, "The world is as you see it. If you don't like the world you see, change the prescription of your glasses."

If this speaks to you (and if you read all the way to here, it probably is calling to you) then look around and find little things that need doing, do them, and pause afterwards. Check in at that point and notice how you feel. Do you have a lift (even subtle) in your energy? You might even keep going...it'll become like a scavenger hunt -- with each completed area, you sense what needs your attention next...you get another "clue" from the Universe.

Let me know how it goes!

3 comments:

  1. I am going to remember this when I'm zooming around. I'm going to do better than remember. I'm going to heed your advice and check with it and see who's running the show -- running being the operative word here. It's a call to the details and I thank you for it deep from the bottom of my heart. love, jb

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  2. Good one. I like it. I can think of so many moments just today that I ignored the nudges. For me (today) it was the quiet but persistent voice that gently tried to remind me to sit up straight, and take little moments to stretch my body. My resistence to this sweet advice is so childish! It is the defiantly lazy adolescent in me that wants to ignore that voice even though that voice is just me trying to help ME!
    Ann

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  3. I like it. It reminds me that the voice (that today was gently nudging me to sit up straight and take a moment to stretch my back even when I'm tired, and the one that ignores it is the defiant lazy adolescent in me that hates being told what to do) is really just me trying to help ME!!

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