Igniting Your Inner Truth: Finding Illumination

I've been mulling over the last line of my most recent blog because I think any self-statement often bears the burdens of ego. For most people saying that he or she lights up the night would be some kind of statement of holier-than-thou or spiritual ego claim to fame. That's not what I'm intending to do. It's more of a statement of what all our souls are made to do and an affirmation of sorts on my own part that I can see that I'm actually doing that.

Living Large, Shining Bright
I believe it's Marianne Williamson's quote about not playing small that everyone likes, and I think I'm starting to step into that space in a more fundamental way.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

 

And if you do the work on this spiritual path, you will start to shine your light and give people around the opportunity to grow and to change. Some times that will lead to intense moments of easy beauty, and other times that light will greatly challenge people around you in ways that won't be comfortable. There's very little that is comfortable about this path, as I've experienced it. Usually, growth comes through breaking the self-created chains that you've looped around your own neck. All these ideas about who and what you are: I'm smart, I'm ugly, I'm hopeless, I'm unlovable, I'm a success, I'm a failure. I'm sure one of them resonated with you, and possibly the ones that we consider "positive" are the worst and most enticing. They loop you in so that you always have to be successful or smart or beautiful because if you're not, then what are you?

All of these things are nonsense. The opportunity of life is to be whoever you want to be. That doesn't mean to go killing or stealing because you can; if you do the work of the spiritual path, coming to those types of conclusions or actions is just insane. You wouldn't think like that. But instead to explore life with childlike curiousity and to be at play with the connections and people that you come across is the great gift that we all yearn for. There's nothing to hold onto, nothing to be lost. Just hold on a little during this path, and you'll find nothing but insurmountable pain.

Your Inner Light, Your Inner Truth
What wakes you up? What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Where are you trying to get to? For all these things, return to the source. Return to yourself. You have all the answers. When you have an "ah-ha" moment with something or someone else, that's a piece of you returning to you. It's lots of fun to find these with other people; it builds amazing points of connection. But it's not necessary to look anywhere special to find them. The Buddha had his biggest moment just sitting under a tree after exhausting himself in all kinds of spiritual pursuits. Usually when we let go, the answers we've always sought are right there for us.

Illuminating, Illumination
We are all lights looking for a spark, looking for a reason to grow and expand our light and wipe away the darkness in our lives. Return to your heart. Return again and again as TV, screaming kids, annoying co-workers, bad traffic, poor grades, and all the usual stuff calls your attention away. Bring your attention back to yourself because when you remember yourself and focus on your own inner truth, your light grows. The problems of the world fade. And as your light grows, the world around you can shift, and you can bring about the change that you wish to see in the world (to paraphrase Gandhi).

We live in extraordinary times, and you can make all the difference. But you don't have to start a non-profit, save the world, or run for public office. All you need to do is to be true to you and you'll be bringing peace and love and light to a world greatly in need of it. And ultimately, if we all start down this path, we'll all find what we've always wanted.