Inner Journeys
Obstacles on the Path 2
Today I am continuing the discussion of the various obstacles that will undoubtedly plague us as we make our personal journey of self realization.
Last time I spoke of physical diseases. As you probably know every organ in the body serves to express a specific emotion…The liver for example is constantly processing anger…in all its forms …filtering it and enabling it to move out of our body. Stored and unexpressed anger will damage our liver over time. Postures of yoga, Tai Chi and other spiritual practices serve to keep our energies moving…enabling the body to process emotions and release them from the body in a safe way. A build up of unexpressed anger can lead to a feeling of impotence and depression. Biodynamic exercises and deep tissue massage can facilitate the movement of our energy… preventing the build up and stagnation of emotions which can result in tumors and cysts…blockages of all kinds.
Beyond the physical obstacles or concurrently with them come obstacles of the mind. A dullness may arise in our practice. We lose the enthusiasm we had when we started out in our spiritual adventures. Perhaps we thought we would reach our goal more quickly…but over time we find that the goal has become illusive and the means of getting there unclear. We are walking through a kind of fog. We are not sure the sun will come out today…or even tomorrow.
We may become doubtful..maybe think that we made a wrong choice…maybe we would be happier now if we had taken a different path…been more involved in worldly matters and less focused on our inner path. Maybe we blame others..our teacher…God…the world in general.
These states of mind can lead us to make some radical choice…like prioritizing worldly success..money…or social standing more than the inner life that seems to be “a long time comin’” Impatience can take over and drive us into another direction…maybe a direction that seems good but which in the long run will not give us the same payoff we were looking for when we started our journey of self realization.
The whole matter of self realization can become quite confusing. We may become sad and even quit our spiritual practices…our time in silence…our healthy diet and exercise…and so on…We may not do this intentionally…It may just happen unconsciously…slipping away from us little by little until one day we are aware of just how deeply unhappy we are.
This may result in us hitting bottom as it were. We may stop making efforts to actively evolve. We may become somber and withdraw from the whole mess…It’s as if our energy is paused and building up in a dangerously repressed way. We may become disgusted and critical of everything related to the spiritual life….or on the contrary, we may withdraw into a kind of sleepy disinterested state.
But remember what we are talking about here. We are trying to delineate the stages of evolution that are happening to us on the spiritual path. We are trying to clarify obstacles…states of mind before they happen…give ourselves advanced warning as it were.
All of the stages that we have touched on may result in a sudden flare up of cravings or desires that we didn’t even know we had…eating binges…addictions…sexual acting out…mismanagement of money…jealousy…inappropriately expressions of anger…and so on…Wherever we have a weakness we can be sure that on the spiritual path we will be tested right there…right where our weakness is the greatest.
We may have thought that we were a calm quiet person but as we move through these stages of evolution we may be forced to see that we are not the “good” person we thought we were.
But not to worry…It’s all good….and necessary..Put your mind on a sunrise..These mornings here in the tropics there is usually some mist over the horizon…It can be quite dark…heavy and dark. One may feel a little bit afraid because there is a feeling that something powerful is about to happen…and of course it does…every single day a powerful event happens…but it has nothing to do with fear or darkness.
The sun rises in the East…and it literally burns away the clouds and the mist. To put it another way the Sun…our Higher Self… is awakened each and every day through our practice and it burns through the sludge of our minds…the obstacles that are constantly being released from our repressed self…It transforms darkness into light. It literally burns out the weeds…kills them dead.
The Sun does something else too. It gently reveals the beauty in each sentient being… It lights up our minds and our hearts if we allow it to do so and when we ask how and why this is all happening what we get back in response to our question is the all pervasive sound of a loving silence….
Even as we walk through the valley of our dark shadow thoughts..of our own death perhaps..the Sun never leaves us…it warms our hearts on the coldest morning…inviting us to open our arms wide and embrace the blessing that has always been ours and that waits for us today…and every day of our lives. Amen