Just below the compelling storyline, beneath the colorful
emotional landscape, there exists a rich, mysterious world of sensations: a
somatically organized field of intelligence, creativity, and aliveness.
It is dizzying here, awash with particles of the unknown.
It is so unguarded, so naked, so raw … exhilarating in a sense, but also
disorienting as there is no reference point around which we can organize.
The urge to return to the known, to get hold of “my life,”
and to renew the trance that we are in control can appear as overwhelm in the
nervous system. Without dishonoring the longing to return to solid ground, the
invitation is into deep rest, to relax into the unstructured nature of pure
being, and into the truth of not-knowing.
Breathe deeply from your lower belly. Feel your feet on the
ground. Lay your hands on your heart. Allow yourself to sink into the mud of
the earth while simultaneously opening into the heavens above. Behold the rare
opportunity that has been given to know what it is like for spirit to come into
form.
While the mind will scramble in its attempt to locate a
problem, dare to consider that nothing is wrong, nothing need urgently be
resolved, and that no answers are coming … for now. Open instead to the
sacredness of the question, which is where you will meet the mystery.
You are in the nonordinary world of unconditioned
awareness: strangely familiar but dreamlike and highly creative. Here, there is
a primordial sort of trust that no matter what might be going on in your life,
nonetheless you have everything you need to fully participate here, to know a
causeless joy, and to make meaning of your life in new ways.
While the mind may continue its search for what is
wrong—based on a lifetime of innocent attempts to ensure your survival—in this
new place there are no “problems,” no complaints, no blaming, nothing to
transcend, nothing to be transformed, nothing lacking that must be manifested,
and no spell of unworthiness in which to get tangled.
There is no “spirituality” here or any movement to replace
one experience with another. No journey to make from multiplicity to oneness.
No evidence that you are healed or awakened, or not. Just pure life. A
firestorm of presence, aliveness, intimacy, and warmth.
These qualities have somehow come together and have
assembled your very own heart. There is no greater miracle than this.
Photo of the holding field of Maroon Bells, nearby in
Aspen, taken by Laura and Doug Bennett
My new book – The Path Is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You – is now available
The Way of Rest summer retreat – registration open now (we're about 85% sold out as of June 1)
My new book – The Path Is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You – is now available
The Way of Rest summer retreat – registration open now (we're about 85% sold out as of June 1)
