the Power Within
We live in a world filled with bright lights… all around us is a cacophony of sounds, of flashing images, of immediate demands… and foolishly we call this ‘life on the fast track’ – and here we find those who glamorize their ability to ‘multi-task’.
One such gentleman [and I use the word cautiously] was proud of the fact that he could shave, take a business call, and write notes all at the same time…
There is little to be proud of, for all he is doing is shifting his focus from activity to activity without honoring any of them with the attention they deserve.
It has been scientifically proven that if you’re driving and having an important business conversation at the same time, your attention to the road is diminished by as much as 60%...
Which not only makes you irresponsible, but also a danger to other drivers - so let me put it another way: let’s say that you are taking your family to the park, looking forward to spending time in playful relaxation and some inattentive driver plows into you… would you accept the fact that he was on a business call and so it really ‘wasn’t his fault that he was distracted’…?
[so why should we exonerate you because you proud yourself to be such a great ‘multi-tasker’ ?]
We have all been caught by the allure of the bright world around us...without realizing that it really is capturing us, and manipulating our perception.
Spiritually we refer to this as ‘disempowerment’, where the object - and our perception of its value in our life - makes us believe that our life will be so much better / that we would be so much happier / more attractive / successful… if only we owned the object [and if you talk with any marketing genius he will offer much proof that this is indeed the case !]
My spiritual teacher once posed a simple exercise - basically to consider an item that we believe is currently very, very important in our life… and then to think back to a time when this object did not exist.
Were we then not happy / fulfilled / successful… Has this object truly changed our life and self… and if so, what will happen when the next ‘better object’ becomes available…?
Are we truly that dependent on the external for our happiness…and what does that say about us AND our society ?
So this brings me to today’s spiritual principle - the world revolves around us, growing and changing, forcing us to address its demands… think of it as a large wheel with you at the center.
If you get caught by all the shining bright things going on at the edge of the wheel, you’ll be swept along, struggling to keep up with its fast pace, burning up more and more of your energies until you get molded and incorporated by its image…
[Oh, what a great consumer you’ve become… Here, have another twinky …they’re good for you - after all, they’ll still be edible 100 years from now !]
If, on the other hand, you choose to stay in the center of the wheel, observing all that is going on around you without getting caught by its glaring glamour, then you act from your Truth, with clarity and awareness, finally learning to choose what is truly valuable in your life.
This is a very, very important lesson, especially now with all the political propaganda, all the fake news and posturing that has become the hallmark of our society… learn how to think for yourself… do not fall prey to the emotional manipulations of the common world - remember, it’s just marketing hype… The Truth is within you - if only you’d look for it...
We stand at a historical crossroad - whatever we choose shall come back to us threefold…
[and this, we do to ourselves !]
The Path can be challenging - or glorious - and I’m happy that we are all walking it together, my precious brothers and sisters… and so I greet you all, Namaste ...
