On the path of the heart, we will inevitably be asked to
re-imagine and breathe new life into concepts that have lost their meaning
along the way. Words like “growth” and “healing” must be seeded with new vision
and brought alive again in the fire of direct experience.
In many ways, the journey has very little to do with
“growing.” But is one of shedding and deflation, of recycling and
reorganization. What is it that is being “grown” within us?
To what degree are we willing to rest in not-knowing,
realizing that we’re never going to resolve or come to terms with the wildness
of love as it takes form here? It’s just too creative for all that. For it is
within the field of not-knowing that new meaning can emerge.
For many of us, “healing” has come to refer to a condition
in which I no longer have to be in direct contact with my vulnerability, my
sensitivity, and only in touch with a small band of the emotional spectrum. But
this is not healing. It is partiality. And this will never satisfy the longing
for wholeness that has been placed inside us from beyond.
For the alchemists, the first phase of the journey requires
a confrontation and exploration of the negredo, the embrace of the black. Here
the reference points around which we have previously organized our lives are
dismantled. Even our deepest realizations and discoveries are converted into
pure space.
While the temptation is to spin into resolution, to find
answers to questions, and to be reborn as quickly as possible, a new invitation
has appeared: to rest in the dark, rich, pregnant groundlessness. While it may
seem that something is missing here, it is overflowing with essence.
Yes, all that you were so clear about even a few days can
dissolve and lose its meaning: who you thought you were, how you would spend
your time, the relationships you were sure would always be there, what was
truly going to bring you the life you envisioned.
Something new is longing to emerge, but you cannot skip
over the process of death in order to create the conditions for its appearance.
Rebirth will come, but can only arise from a direct, embodied, and
compassionate confrontation with death.
The invitation before you is into re-imagination. Sink into
the muddy earth. And provide safe passage for the reorganization. There is guidance
all around and inside you: your fellow journeyers, the sun, the moon, the
animals, and the stars. You are being asked to re-enchant your world, and to
see with new vision.
The Way of Rest summer retreat – registration open now
