You can never discover how big your heart is until you are willing to let everything in…That’s the astounding possibility of a human lifetime. – Gangaji
It’s been a strange year. In truth, I was only a little inconvenienced in my day-to-day life. Some months more so than others. But on the whole, I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I am lucky for two reasons. The first is obvious. I live in Queensland, Australia. We acted quickly. We managed to stave off mass community infections and we followed good advice from countries who had learned the hard way. We are indeed the lucky country right now. And, things can change with just one sneeze.
The other reason that I feel lucky is that I have my self-awareness practices that I follow — almost involuntarily these days. It’s like driving a car. I don’t think about how to drive a car but I get from A to B safely. I understand that predominantly I am Love or I am not. When I am not, I look to where the pain is, where the hurt niggles and where the protection and defence are revving up. Then I gently go after them. Sometimes it takes nanoseconds and I am back to appreciating Love, emanating Love, being Love. Sometimes it takes minutes, hours or even a couple of days. Happily, nowadays it rarely takes longer than that. If the hurt or the monkey mind feels particularly stubborn or lingering, I enlist the help of a good confidant or pay a trusted therapist. In short, I am lucky because I have the direct experience that there is a way out of my perceived suffering and separation. I am lucky because I can say this, write this and practice this.
I imagine you have great luck too. To be so blessed to have an interest in being of service to the whole. Lucky to be in a dance with the Divine. To be in and out of remembrance of who you truly are. To have been so troubled and dissatisfied that you dared to ask for more. More what? Well, that’s the universal joke isn’t it? What we are really asking for is less. We all want less. Far less. We want the riches of emptiness, the stillness in silence, the spontaneous dance within the music and the ability to unfurl authentically in our place of belonging.
I would like to share with you one of my go-to mediations/satsangs with beloved Gangaji. Give yourself the gift of a quiet place. A space where you can forget about time. Let the silence wrap you up for forty minutes or so. I suggest you settle your body and quieten your mind for ten minutes and then simply press play.
Gangaji on Facing the Abyss.
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Beloveds,
What arose in you while listening to Gangagi’s words? What inspirations can you weave together for a more grounded and simultaneously exalted year ahead? How will you serve yourself, your family, your friends and your beloved planet Earth?
