BEYOND SUCCESS

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.  I'll meet you there. 

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
- Rumi

Millions of years of evolution have programed Homo Sapiens for success. The success of staying alive long enough to find a mate and raise a family. It is built deeply into our brains and our minds, which are tools whose purpose is to facilitate this biological success. They do this by learning what helps us survive and what doesn't. They do this by judgement, backed up by emotional charges on all our experiences.

As social beings we have developed collective experience, collective judgement; still encoded emotionally in the brain, still aimed at being successful. The definitions of success have evolved  as we have. As our social roles have specialized so have the definitions. On top of basic survival there are now many other layers and options about what success means. But there are still definitions, and we are still programed to follow these, to be successful in some way.

With awareness and hard work you may have let go of the definitions of family, of school, of the other layers of society. But it is likely that the machinery of judgment and definition has not gone to sleep. If you have ever been in a new situation, or one that is not unfolding the way you had expected you may have felt the part of your mind that is looking for a new definition of success. It really doesn't care what it is, as long as there is one, so it can feel good about itself and what you are doing or not doing. So we take up spiritual definitions. The process hasn't really changed, the mind is still following its basic program to be successful. These may be personal, or even religious or spiritual, but the mind will have its definitions.

So like the mystics we come to the question: how do we find the place where the issue is never raised at all? That deep place of the Soul that is beyond the human mind with its conditioning and programing, where the Self is always OK. There is no goal that needs to be attained, no purpose that must be fulfilled, no test that must be passed, and the Self is so present and the world so full that the mental machinery has no place.

Once you have found this place in yourself, you can come back to worldly activities, or not. You can take up tasks which have standards, and complete them well. But you are not saddled by the internal judgments and doubts. The tasks of your life are not what define your worth as a soul. That is an absolute given. The divine loves you unconditionally, and when you can find that place yourself, the world changes and success is no longer an issue that torments or drives you. You will find out how much energy has gone into this process, how much life force you can reclaim. You can be happy "just because", not having to earn it first.

Out beyond the need for success there is a field of peace and joy. Let's meet there soon.

(© 10/11)

CONNECTED TO LOVE

Take a moment to settle yourself. Give yourself a few deep slow breaths. Feel the seat under you and the sky above.

Now set your inner attention for self love. Open to the feeling in your body and being.

Notice what just happened. Are you feeling like a child of the universe, being loved by all of Spirit? or have you just flashed into a place where you are by yourself, alone, and trying to love yourself when no one else does?

If you felt the universe loving you, then good for you. You remember that we are all unconditionally connected to Spirit and loved by the Divine, unconditionally. Perhaps you've never really thought about it because its always been there. This is as it should be. Keep up the good work and have compassion for those many of us who, in the process of being human, have forgotten that we are always held and supported by Spirit.

For many of us we come to self love only after we have given up on being loved by others, at least in a deep and clear way that we know is possible. After all we know ourselves better than anyone and who else can love us as we are, appreciate us completely and unconditionally. Looking at the energy of Self Love recently I realized that there is often a hidden association: that we have only come consciously to self love when feeling a lack of external love. Calling in the vibration of self love may therefore invoke times when we have felt alone, having to love ourselves in a "vacuum" of external love. We tend to believe that if we are truly worthy of being loved that others would show this to us.

Self love is not something that you do by yourself, you do it with the whole universe supporting you. It is a receiving of the love that is always there, unconditionally. It is an opening to inner channels and resources, not really a "doing" at all. Loving yourself as a soul is not a matter of self flattery, or puffing oneself up egotistically. It is a deep feeling of presence and love inside and round about you.

Give yourself another breath, slow and deep. Feel the richness of the air and the life force that come with it. Experience the love of the universe pouring into your lungs and feel it spreading out into your whole body. Perhaps you are still, in your minds eye, by yourself, but feel into the truth that you are not alone. Release the outside, and all memories and thoughts that make Self Love hard or heavy. Hold gently and with love any aspects that feel alone, until they relax into your attention. Feel how you are held, enfolded by your Self, by Spirit.

Breathe again and melt into the infinite love of your Self loving you, unconditionally, eternally. The Divine is holding you, as the earth supports you and the sky shines light on you. Your guides and angels are with you. You are a child of the universe, one part of the whole loving itself, and all the power of the universe is supporting you in this. Easy and natural, love yourself and know that you are never alone.

(© 10/2011)