Henry David Thoreau, in the mid
1800s, wrote, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the
grave with the song still in them."
A century and a half has
passed, and Thoreau's words still strongly echo in our lives. Consider the
current levels of war, poverty, sickness, starvation, etc. present in the world
today. We understand that a recent United Nations study1 reported on
the status, or well-being, of the people of member nations regarding challenges
those people face daily. They took all the responses received and boiled them
down to one word to describe the overall condition of the people of these
nations. That word is "meaningless."
And lest we egotistically think
that such studies are only descriptive of so-called underdeveloped countries,
do we not have ample evidence much closer to home that reflects this same
condition? Consider distressingly high teen suicide rates, bulging prison
populations, rampant family disharmony and pervasive political dissension. Imagine,
for huge numbers of people alive at this time, perhaps including you, that life
is experienced as meaningless.
But Thoreau said "most
men," and "most" is not "all." Who, then, are those
who did not, or will not, die without fully singing the song they were born to
sing?
They are the ones who realize
that true and lasting happiness and fulfillment can never be won on the
battlefield of material success, no matter how powerful or wealthy one becomes,
or how adept one is at surrounding oneself with the "right" people or
circumstances.
The songsters among us are
those who have come to know that, as Danion Brinkley reminded us, "We are
not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having
a human experience." That one sentence has profound implications, for how
does one live in the conscious awareness of his or her spiritual nature?
The single message of those who
have realized such potential has always been the same, and basically, it comes
down to this: True and lasting happiness and fulfillment are an individual
affair and can only be found by going deep within, where one's true essence is
vividly and stunningly revealed as love -- and then living into the reality of
that awareness.
For those of us alive today,
this realization is actually good news and explains the rapidly increasing
interest in spiritual activity worldwide. More people today than ever before in
human history are waking up into the awareness of spiritual reality. In terms
of the UN study, more and more people are coming to the realization that what
they are truly seeking is meaning in their lives. Let's be even more precise:
it's neither gold nor land nor even being right for which we truly yearn;
rather, it is that our lives count for something a good deal deeper than the
latest electronic gadget. It is not surprising that the number of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide continues to grow and provide
enormous amounts of compassion-based service in various parts of the world.
Who would have ever thought that
resolving the seemingly endless experience of emotional suffering would be a
measure of spiritual evolution?
The Persian poet Rumi had a
clue when he stated, "Your task is not to seek for love, your task is to
seek and find all the barriers you have built against it." And to that we
would add: "And to dissolve them." We refer to Rumi's
"barriers" as "unresolved issues," which are at the core of
almost all emotional suffering.
It's our unresolved issues
(barriers) that keep us asleep and unaware of who we are: divine beings whose
essential nature is loving. And what's an unresolved issue? "Anything that
disturbs your peace." And we do mean anything. In fact, we've devised a
simple, foolproof test for identifying unresolved issues. Ready?
Do you ever find yourself in an
attitude of "I am upset because [fill in the blank]"? Consider the
possibility that anytime you are upset about anything, regardless of all your
well thought-through reasons, your school has gone into session and an
unresolved issue has been surfaced in your awareness. Further, when viewed from
within the context of spiritual psychology, such instances of moving into
"upset" are sacred opportunities for healing the underlying,
unresolved issue for the last time.
And how do you do it? One of the
principles of spiritual psychology is that "healing is the application of
loving to the parts inside that hurt."
If ever there was a way to
transform a life of quiet desperation into a life of effective peaceful living,
healing inner hurts surely ranks right up there. As you resolve issues, you
stand up in who you truly are and find purpose and meaning in sharing your
unique contribution.
The more issues you resolve,
the more you evolve spiritually, the more peaceful and caring you become, and
the more you contribute to the evolution of consciousness of the human species.
As it is said, "Every time one person resolves one issue, all of humanity
evolves."
Meaning is a natural and
automatic by-product of a life filled with acts of love. If you want to live a
life filled with meaning, start expressing from your essential loving nature.
Start singing your song.
Ready to begin? Here's a simple
process that you can try out and experience the result for yourself. For the
next week, everywhere you go and under all circumstances, consciously choose to
see the loving nature in everyone you encounter. That means resisting the urge
to succumb to the negative habit of judging them.
And oh, there is one small
guideline you'll need to follow: This way of seeing extends to everyone,
including yourself, regardless of any considerations.
References:
1.
Nicanor Perlas, "Shaping
Globalization" (Saratoga Springs: GlobeNet3, 1999).
