JOY AND HAPPINESS – SUFFERING
SORROW AND GRIEF #5
More Tools for Maintaining Joy and Happiness
The Down Side of Perfection.
“… don’t think this transformation is about having the perfect life or the perfect job or the perfect mate or the perfect marriage or the perfect friendship. This is not about perfection.; it is about wholeness. It is not about having things exactly as we want them, but about having things exactly as they are. When we allow things to be, a sense of harmony develops…” Adyashanti
The fallacy of perfection is in thinking there is a point of such completeness beyond which there is no place to go, improve, strive for. This differs from excellence which is achievable, always desirable and often necessary but in varying degrees for varying tasks and purposes.
Striving for perfection creates stress, not equanimity. There is always a sufficiency of excellence unto itself. We should strive for excellence rather than perfection. In terms of spiritual transformation the Ancestors support the word "Becoming," rather than Self-Realization which implies there is a fixed point where we have "arrived" spiritually. We are never arrived, we are always in the process of Becoming. It's a journey not a destination.
There is no sense in perseverating and spending 90% of our effort for a small improvement for a task already well done.
Moreover, there is no arbitrary time in which we find spiritual perfection - only excellence and a certain level of vibration achieved by our karma where we no longer have to engage in the continual cycle of death and rebirth. We do not have to come back again unless we choose to, usually for some great purpose.
Nature
Nature is a room with many doors and windows to spirit and can help us shift a negative into a positive experience very easily. We can escape into the “Magic of the Ordinary all around us without necessarily venturing into the more extraordinary which is found in pristine, wild places.
To sanctify the ordinary is to acknowledge the sacred in every being whether still, growing, wild, talking or angelic … Learn the mystery of it all. There is nothing that is empty of the divine.
We can find this mystery and magic wherever we look; in a spider’s web, walking in the rain, the pattern in a butterfly’s wings, an exquisite flower. When we connect with the different Beings in nature and with one another we can achieve more balance in our lives.
To experience the Still Beings of nature you must touch them.
To experience the Growing Beings of nature you must listen to them.
To experience the Wild Beings of nature you must dance with them.
To experience the Talking Beings, you must feel with them.
We are all connected some of all in each. All are spirit manifestations which exist in one another.
We are all one though not the same.
The “soft” fascinations in nature can turn us inwards and give us inner peace. The scenes, sunsets and rises, moonsets and rises, the sounds and the mantra of nature, the wind in the trees, the sound of falling rain or ocean waves, a babbling brook, the scents and aromas.
The Elements and the Four Beings of Nature
There is a hierarchy in the increasing vibration of the Four Elements from Earth to Water to Fire to Air (to Ether.) The Still Beings have the most dense vibration and are of the Earth Element. The Growing Beings are of the Water Element. The Talking Beings are of the Fire Element and we destroy the planet when this energy is misdirected. The Wild Beings who have the highest vibration are of the Air Element, especially the birds. The other Beings of nature are doing exactly what the Creator designed them for. Not so much for us Talking Beings. We do have the potential with our higher consciousness and free will to aspire to be of the element of the Air and even Ether but few of us get there. Animal whisperers because of their unconditional love for animals, may be in the relationship with the Air Element when connecting with animals through this vibration.
All the Beings have consciousness with differing vibratory levels - all animated by the breath of the Creator. We need to slow down our fire vibration to connect with them.
This energy hierarchy can also be seen in the Yoga Chakra system. Earth - the first Chakra of survival - flight or fight. The Still Beings of the Earth element can help us with Grounding and feeling safe. The second Chakra of water, of regeneration of the species - our sexual Chakra, but also that of elimination and digestion - the Growing Beings - can help us heal. The third Chakra of Fire - the power Chakra - the Talking Beings and how we make our way in the world - skillfully or not with our Fiery element. The fourth - Air - the Wild Beings - the heart Chakra of love. The fifth and sixth also of Air. The fifth - the throat Chakra and the center of our creative expression. The Wild (and domestic beings who were once wild) can inspire us as power animals. The sixth or Third Eye, our intuitive center. The seventh, the Crown of Ether and Enlightenment - our connection with the Creator, our Guides and the cosmos. Each Chakra in Yoga has it own distinct sound and can be aligned with the right sound. Hence we can also connect to the Chakras and those properties that balance them and help overcome grief, sorrow and suffering through prayer and spiritual practice and also with properties that can help to align their particular vibrations. This topic is for the next blog.
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