TAKING YOUR CLOTHES OFF

            Yesterday we talked about asking yourself deeper and deeper questions as to why you want something in your life. This could be simple, like my mother asking herself why she wanted to paint her kitchen cabinets ,or it could be something trickier like why you want a life partner, a new career, or a child.

Gurumayi, from the Siddha Yoga lineage, talks about asking questions and “extracting the essence of your thoughts”, and then “crystallizing that essence into something worthy of manifestation.”

That sounds serious, serious about how to live fully and happily in accordance with your deepest values. 

Maybe it sounds too serious for you, but there’s nothing wrong with girls—or boys—who ‘just wanna` have fun’. No one is suggesting you not have fun. Fun is good. The Dalai Lama says the purpose of life is to be happy. We’re all about fun and happy, but you might want to ask yourself a few questions to begin to find the roots of your wish to have fun. You may end up being happier if you do.

Often, we get what we think we want and we are not happy. Why? Because we have not looked for our deep intention, so we either end up getting things that we did not truly want, or we get what we want, but we don’t recognize that we’ve gotten it.

Gurumayi, puts it this way, “If there is no clarity about your intention, you may be deprived of its fruits.”

Or to paraphrase Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you just might not know when you get there.”

            Why would we not acknowledge what we really want in our lives? Because it scares us. It exposes us. It’s like taking our clothes off and standing there naked for everyone to see.

It’s not for the faint of heart. But if you do it, you may find that you are not standing there by yourself naked. Surprising forces may gather at your side. Doors may open that you did not know existed.

As William Murray says in his book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, “[T]he moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen… assistance[.]”

So, not to fear, help is on the way, but you have to commit fully, and to commit fully, you have to know what you want and why.

Once again, my thanks to Dana Drobny, lallidana@gmail.com, of SB Adult Education who teaches a great course in clarifying intention.