Hello,
And welcome to this LifeBytes coaching chat.
Today's talk was inspired by a quote by the philosopher and Sufi master,
Rumi.
He was born in September of 1207 and passed away in December of 1273.
He was an influential figure in Persian literature and Sufism.
So,
The quote is this,
People suffer not because God withholds,
But because the heart is occupied elsewhere.
So,
Let's dive into what that means,
And especially for what it means today in our modern society.
So,
I believe that Rumi is making an excellent point,
In that,
In essence,
He's saying that God wants to give to us that this is an abundant life,
But it's because of people's minds and hearts,
Which are not focused,
That prevents God from working through them.
Now,
It's true that real abject poverty is a huge problem around the world,
And most everyone goes through at least a short phase of a type of lack and poverty in their own life.
However,
It's the long-term poverty which philosophers,
Spiritual leaders,
And others like Rumi say that oftentimes,
This condition,
Which is sustained,
Is created within the individual.
And I think they mean this not so much as a moral judgment,
As it is a pattern recognition.
So,
Let's explore that.
Rumi's philosophy equates to that of confusion.
So,
Basically,
He's saying that poverty is a lack of clarity.
To me,
I thought this meaning was very simple,
But incredibly profound.
Our outer life does tend to reflect our inner order,
And when we're talking about abundance and wealth,
It's not merely income.
True wealth and abundance is a flow and ease to life.
It's blessings in a person's life of every kind.
And it's also a kind of spiritual presence that comes from God,
That comes from paying attention,
That comes from honoring the moment.
It helps the divine energy be able to work through a human being.
Now,
There is a point in the flow where it breaks,
Where we break from our life force,
Our divine force,
And it's always at the point of ego.
And this is the human challenge of the ages.
All people,
Everywhere,
Across all cultures,
Men,
Women,
Older,
Younger,
Ego does tend to get in the way of letting life just flow through us.
The ego tends to prefer familiar suffering and attachment over unfamiliar responsibility and independence.
So if we as human beings are naturally set up to have a flow of life energy through us and therefore attract abundance and all the wealth and resources that we need,
Where does it go wrong exactly?
Here are a few examples that stop this abundant flow.
Feelings of resentment,
Comparing ourselves to others,
Gossiping,
Complaining,
Seeking approval from others,
Identity built on struggle,
For example,
I suffer therefore I must be special,
A generalized fear that's almost constant,
A restless mind that's difficult to focus,
A sense of shame for no reason.
So in essence,
Whoever lacks is suffering and restless.
It seems so simple,
But it also makes sense.
It's also relevant for today.
Ultimately,
The way to break the poverty chain is to stop identifying with the suffering and restlessness as an ego identity.
Doing so drains the ego of its power and allows our life force,
Our divine force,
To flow through us more thoroughly.
Sometimes an ego identity gets in very,
Very deep,
Well below our daily thoughts and seeps into our belief system in our subconscious mind.
So although it seems easy,
The concept is simple.
It most often needs to be chipped away at over a long period of time,
Especially if your mind has grasped onto a very solid ego identity.
One of the best ways to do that is keeping your consciousness present and in the now.
Again,
A lot easier said than done.
Rumi also was known to have said,
A scattered mind produces scattered outcomes,
And without awareness,
Habits run a life.
And isn't that interesting?
Sometimes we do just get into these habits and we think,
Oh,
Well,
We have to do this and we have to do that.
But if you step back,
Not necessarily.
There are things that are a responsibility and need to be done,
And then there are things where it's optional,
But we feel we need to do them because it's part of who we are,
And we're not in the moment,
We're not aware of our options,
And we're not listening to the divine force flowing through us.
So we just do what we do because we've done it for a long time.
However,
If we start to interrupt these assumptions and bring more awareness to the moment,
That is how we can break the ego identity and start to allow our life to flow through us and therefore attract abundance.
Another point that I'd like to make is that it suggests that a regulated nervous system is more valuable than motivation.
So,
If it's our ego identity with suffering and restlessness that keep us in poverty,
How do we turn that around?
Well,
It's the nervous system that keeps firing off these feelings and thoughts,
And so if we can find a way to calm and cool the nervous system and help it to feel safe,
We interrupt that programming of the suffering ego identity.
So here are some practical techniques for calming the nervous system and create abundance for ourselves.
Before you take action on something,
Still your mind and see what your thoughts bring up.
It's a very good idea to just meditate or just sit and let yourself breathe deeply just for a minute or two before you attempt to take action on something.
You may get a very clear message on what to do next or you may just feel calmer.
Whatever it is,
It will benefit you and help your efforts become more effortless.
Additionally,
We choose one direction and not many fantasies,
Which the internet has been very good at helping people create.
It's very difficult to choose one direction online for anything,
Whether you're buying a bottle of cleaning supplies or scrolling through social media or you want to understand the meaning of a word.
There are so many different choices,
So many options,
It can lead to distraction,
Which is why we practice daily stillness like meditation for just 10 minutes a day.
Establishing boundaries with people is very,
Very important.
When you don't,
Your life force energy gets siphoned off like a dam opening up.
You've also got to be very disciplined and budgeted with your finances.
Keep boundaries and walls around your money as well.
Know when and how it's going out and how to keep it within your field.
We must trust our own instincts that we act without waiting for reassurance from anyone.
So in the end,
God does not withhold wealth and that the self does not lack.
Even the mind does not necessarily fail.
It's our inability to focus it,
Our inability to get clear and to have clarity in our thoughts and not allow ourselves to get distracted with things that just don't matter.
That's what brings abundance and that's what some people have or figure out at some point and then their efforts become nearly effortless.
Whereas so many others work and work so hard for so little.
So I hope that analyzing this roomy quote has helped you to understand how you can bring more abundance into your life and how to free up your energy and be more in the moment.
Thank you for listening and I wish you a very prosperous day.
