09/02/2022
THE MANY WAYS WE ABANDON OUR SOUL
and the Many Roads Back to Ensoulment
1. in our tendency to escape the present moment, we are captives of avoidant busyness and numbing habit. By being willing to experience the fullness and the emptiness of each unbearable moment we come closer to fathoming the existential beauty which is always already here.
2. in our tendency to indulge in cynicism and our refusal to open our selves to the world and each other, we hold hostage the possibilities amidst the boundless diversity around us. And yet, by acknowledging and expressing both the broken and grateful heart we enrich our lives and the world around us with meaning.
3. in our addiction to intensity we try to keep fears of depression and death at bay. On the other side of this addiction is the gate to a hidden, holy well of unshakable equanimity.
4. in our addiction 'to know' without any doubt we consume information like fast-food but, in the end, only nurture our self-deceptions. By patiently allowing experience to unfold with nuanced appreciation, we learn to trust and access a deeper wisdom from within a place of effortless 'not-knowing'.
5. by our fixation on everything that is not working we diminish our vitality and are blind to what is good. By choosing to see 'the good' we may count our blessings and be touched by an ever-present splendor which transcends good and bad.
6. in our tendency to content ourselves with appearances we miss what is most significant in this moment which may never come again. Yet, a careful listening to the sound between sounds we breathe new life into the ancient, abandoned rooms in the mansion of our soul.
7. in our craving for approval and affection, we betray our sovereignty and, in the pain of unrelenting needs, we lose our self. By realizing the perfection of our being we allow the souls wide embrace to move through our heart as acceptance.
8. in our tendency for being proper and correct we forget our humanity and, through unrelenting expectations, humanity loses itself. By acknowledging the evolving nature of all existence towards a deep rest-in-peace, we embrace each other with the heart of unconditional forgiveness.
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Words: Johnny B. Singh
Artwork:
'Be still and breathe' by Eva Volf. Oil on canvas.