The Alchemy of Life; A journey towards
wholeness
(An
inner path to live in Excellence and die in brilliance)
“Human being is not merely a drop that merges
in the Ocean, but a drop that contains the entire ocean”-Rumi
A journey towards wholeness is akin to a drop encompassing the entire
ocean. Such a person contains the potential to become whole by reaching to the
level of perfection yet remains an embodiment of perfect humility. He
actualizes his full potential yet every moment of his life is filled with awe
and childlike wonder. His imagination is powerful and curiosity has no limits.
He lives a life in perfect balance and harmony, independent of people’s praises
and unaffected by the severity of events; deeply filled with the sense of
purpose and meaning. He is immersed in a state of flow when searching for the
true-essence and meaning in life.
A person living a life of excellence has
no place for unwholesome states of mind.
Anger, pride, ignorance,
aversion and jealousy succumb to compassion, wisdom, acceptance and
gratitude. Integrity and honesty are his unwavering traits. He becomes the “man
of the moment," free from the worries of the future and pains of the past.
Freedom opens the door to perfection and removes all the obstacles to achieve
his or her full potential. At this stage, he is passionate to find life’s true
purpose and meaning. It’s a yearning to become whole; a longing that prepares the
seeker for an ultimate journey; whether it is a journey to unknown or a final
journey back home!
How to begin a journey
towards the life of brilliance and excellence:
Living in the conscious awareness
of God’s presence is the beginning as well as the end of the journey. The goal is to hush the cacophony of mind
and create an accord and harmony by living in the moment. Remember, life only
unfolds in the present, in the here and now. Trying to find stillness and
silence in mind is the key to freedom and wisdom. This path gradually opens all
the doors to brilliance and excellence. Divine gifts of compassion, surrender,
acceptance and perfection ultimately come to us one after another. The frequency of living in the “conscious present”
should continue to increase, standing, sitting or lying down. The more time we
spend away from our minds, the wiser we become.
How to
live in the present moment:
The only important moment that
can lead us to freedom is the present moment; keeping this goal in mind we can
use any of the myriad ways, depending on our personal interest and inclination.
Some of the ways are,
·
Establishing a profound relationship with God,
fully conscious and available in each moment.
·
Reading scriptures from the holy books and
prayers.
·
Practicing religious mantra, glorious names of
God as qualities.
·
Spending time in nature (Listen, feel, smell,
touch and absorb).
·
Listening to the birds chirping, heart rhythming
and wind blowing.
·
Feeling sensations, flow of energy and
vigor inside the body.
·
In the
moment of stillness be aware with the breathing pattern and or rhythm of the
heart.
·
Practicing mindfulness .
·
Learning Yoga, Transcendental meditation, Tai
Chi, Qi gong and other art forms.
·
Choosing and practicing personal mantra “peace” “surrender”
“Love” “compassion.
Work should begin during childhood:
Every child is born in pure
essence. As he grows and interacts with his surroundings, his essence begins to
veil under the layers of moral and psychological illnesses. Once the pure-essence
is buried deep inside, it becomes harder to get to the core of it. Every effort
should be made to protect the essence from getting rusted and making the
journey towards self-actualization quicker and smoother.
When we teach our children to live “in the present," practice compassion
and exercise benevolence, it helps develop their inner strength and shield the
impact of negative events. In other words, just as the “529 Plan” serves as a financial
security for a child’s future education; spiritual practices serve as an emotional
security against future’s difficult events. By starting the spiritual journey early, we allow
our children to build a positive and nourishing environment, develop inner strength and
gain wisdom. Being prepared, they are now ready to deal the difficult
situations with patience, ease and intelligence. Another advantage of commencing an early work
is the availability of adequate amount of time and energy to work towards the
excellence and realization their full-potential in life.
What if we start at a later age?
The earlier the better, nevertheless it’s
important to tread the path at any age. Walking the path at an advanced age
will progress our journey in three stages.
Stage 1: Often times it’s harder to
accept our deeper wounds and awful flaws. This beginning stage opens the door
to accept and acknowledge our big issues and grants us wisdom to reflect and
understand them completely. We recognize that moving on is not possible until
we completely resolve our issues and make peace with them.
Stage 2: After accepting and understanding our
wounds the sacred work of purification begins. This whole process prepares us
to forgive and seek forgiveness from people and settle our unfinished
businesses; Practice compassion, surrender, acceptance and become wiser for our
future accomplishments. At this stage we are able to accept things we have
never accepted before.
Stage 3: After resolving life’s big
issues completely, a journey towards freedom begins; freedom from the fears of
losses and fears of criticism and praises. The time has ripened to live a life
at full-potential and reach to the highest level of “human-beingness." This is
the time to begin the search for life’s big questions; the questions of our
true identity, our rightful place and purpose in this vast universe.
At this stage we are curious about the
mysteries of life; mysteries in the outer as well as the inner world and learn
to decipher and decode the meanings of events around us. We come across many “ah-ha” moments and
acquire the outlook of a grown up person living among children. Now we
understand the essence of things we have never understood before. This
knowledge brings deep humility and transforms us completely into the state of
surrender and acceptance. At this point
we are ready to embrace everything life unfolds. We are truly prepared to embark on any trip,
whether it is a journey to another dimension or a final journey back home!
The alchemy of life is now complete. An ordinary man has become the
“Homo universalis”. This Universal man is Rumi’s drop that contains the entire
ocean. The time has arrived for a drop to become one with the ocean and reveal
itself as the majestic manifestation of the magnificent!
