being - the new freedom

  I am enjoying simply sitting in my alcove looking out at the window and seeing the snow floating down and touching the trees, softly clinging and whitening them. As I absorb the beauty of the trees, I feel I have something to learn from them. For so long I have sought truths outside of myself in books, online lectures and courses given by people a lot smarter than myself. I have gained a great deal from all this knowledge but it seems to never stop. I keep striving for more of this elusive enlightenment from others. It seems like it is now time for me to seek this sacred knowledge within myself. The trees are my very wise teachers. They teach by their silence. When I get no answers from them to my urgent questions, I can either go within for the answers or go back to the old familiar way of looking outside myself. I will probably do a combination of both but my hope is that my inner guidance will lead the way to the outside resources that I need.

Society has taught us that our value comes from doing good things, from helping others and from actively working to combat injustice. I absolutely endorse this teaching but there is another forgotten truth that is trying to emerge - the truth of being. Today our planet is suffering from its neglect. Just as the trees, plants, animals and birds have value just from being themselves, we too can embrace our unique and authentic being. If we did this I believe the world would be a more compassionate and companionable place. Why? Because our being is part of Divine Being. We are not separate from creation and as we realize who we truly are, we can no longer do harm to the earth or any of its beings because we are one with all that is.

When I say all this, I acknowledge and honour the wise avatars like Jesus, Buddha and modern mystics like Matthew Fox, Eckhardt Tolle and Mirabai Starr. Most of what I am saying comes from them and other wise people. I don’t claim originality. I have heard it from others but I am now coming to realize this amazing truth for myself that the Divine resides in me and in all of you. It is already here ready to blossom. The seed has already been planted. All we have to do is nourish it and allow it to grow.

These ideas are subversive. If we all started to love and embrace our being, it would strike a deadly blow to consumer capitalism. Instead of seeking satisfaction in accumulating more stuff and becoming richer, we could each find our richness in being who we are. As we become aware of our divine roots and our inter-connectedness with all other beings, we could live our lives more in co-operation with others rather than in competition. This has seldom been tried in human history except by certain indigenous cultures. We can learn from indigenous people how to do this. Competition at the expense of others has clearly not worked. It has produced wars, climate change, poverty and a host of other abuses. It is time to correct this imbalance individually and collectively. It is time for each one of us to be who we were created to be and to let our doing flow from our authentic being.
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What I am saying sounds radical even to my ears. It frightens me a little because it is unknown and therefore scary. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear to me that our present world crisis is challenging us to uncover wisdom through looking more deeply within ourselves. This also means letting go of many of our old ideas that have been passed down and conditioned our lives. They no longer speak the truth.

I urge you not to accept what I am saying as true but try it out for yourselves. Try trusting your heart more than your head. You could start with spending more quiet time in nature or being creative in your own way. If you do decide to explore your being-ness, just enjoy it, letting go of concern about future outcome. You don’t have to save the planet. Let the planet save you. 🌏🌈⛅️🕸🦋

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