Day 1: Bug In The Rug

This is 'Day One' from my 30 day Insight Timer course called "Doorways To Being: A Path Of Mystery And Wonder. You can find the whole adventure in the courses library.

In this session we take the first step towards embracing the mystery and wonder of life as we set the stage for this journey together, with the help of a little story about a bug in a rug, along with my own tales of the sea about how this course came about. I also offer some guidance on how you can get the most out of this course and enjoy the adventure. I hope you enjoy this session. With love, Andy

Transcript

"'Life is not a problem.

To look at it as a problem is to take the wrong step.

It is a mystery to be lived,

Loved,

Experienced.

' — Osho.

" There exists an old Persian legend about a bug who spent his entire life in the world's most beautifully designed Persian rug.

All the bug ever saw in his lifetime were his problems.

They stood up all around him,

He couldn't see over the top of them,

And he had to fight his way through these tufts of wool in the rug to find the crumbs that people had spilled.

And the tragedy of the story of the bug in the rug was this,

That he lived and he died in the world's most beautifully designed rug,

But he never once knew that he spent his entire life inside something which had a pattern.

Even if he,

This bug,

Had even once gotten above the rug so that he could have seen all of it,

He would have discovered something.

That the very things he called his problems were all part of the pattern.

Have you ever felt like that bug in the rug?

That you are so surrounded by your problems that you can't see any pattern to the world in which you live?

Have you heard anybody say lately that the world is a total mess?

That my friends,

Is the bug's eye view.

And seeing only a little of the world,

We might be inclined to think that this is true.

All Dreams of Man by Dr.

John Furbey Hello and welcome to day one of our journey together.

These 30 days are about discovering how beautiful,

Mysterious and wonderful your rug really is.

With all its bare threads,

Rips,

Crumbs and the dirt that it has collected.

And the beauty and joy of our life comes not from trying to change or fix our rug,

But from opening our hearts to every part of it,

With all its twists and turns,

Bumps and bruises,

Shocks and surprises and moments of awe.

And when we open to life and embrace the mystery and wonder,

When we can make our peace with not knowing,

With not having all the answers,

Life becomes less personal.

We tread our path more lightly and live life like a curious traveller,

Allowing it to touch us and pass.

And there's something inside us that seeks,

Wants to know what this really is,

What or who we really are.

Sometimes we get a glimpse of that magic,

Of a sense of freedom,

Of ourselves being that mystery,

And it leads us on just a little further,

A few steps forward and then back when needed.

This course is a series of little doors of self-discovery to open and explore,

But they all lead back to the same place,

You.

They come from my own life experiences,

Meditation insights,

The great masters,

The little masters,

Books,

Bike rides,

Nature,

And the teachers I've come across along the way.

These sessions are essentially little reminders that there is something deeper to connect with in any given moment.

This course is an invitation for you to gently turn back around and gaze upon yourself with kinder eyes,

And look out at the world with less fearful ones.

I hope this journey touches your heart,

Lifts your spirits,

And gives you another way to be in this world and enjoy your life more fully.

It's a bit of a cliche to say that life is about the journey,

Not the destination,

But the more days I'm alive on this earth,

The more I realise that this is the absolute truth.

There is so much to be grateful for in our daily life,

So many moments that we can immerse ourselves in,

But in this time we're living in,

So much pulls us away from experiencing our lives in this way.

Now a little guidance on navigating this journey.

Firstly,

I encourage you to listen to each day as a meditation,

Even if there's not a formal meditation on that day.

Just sit in presence and listen as you will.

You can meditate with your eyes open or closed,

And listen to what you need and leave the rest.

This course isn't a 30-step plan to a happier life,

But more of a choose-your-own-adventure.

So I encourage you to go with your intuition on how to listen.

Switch me off on days where it doesn't feel right,

And maybe sit in silence for 10 minutes instead.

Please don't miss an opportunity to follow your heart and sit with yourself.

Be brave.

If you're feeling tired,

Let go of trying to understand everything.

Listen to the spaces in between the words,

Or just be in presence with the sound of my voice or the music,

That's enough.

You can listen to three days at once if that feels right,

Or repeat a day as many times as you like.

And see if you can have a bit of fun.

Not fake fun,

But humour mixed with a dash of lightness and a sprinkle of curiosity.

We take life way too seriously,

And that can include our spiritual practice,

Our meditation,

As well.

So let's lighten up a little.

And that doesn't mean tough times,

Feelings,

Thoughts aren't welcome.

The world's certainly having a bit of a wobble at the moment.

Before you sit each day,

Make a cuppa,

Or even have a biscuit or an apple to hand.

Make this a special time.

This time is yours.

Now just to give a little context of how this course came about,

I'd like to share a little of my journey here.

Not because I've made it,

I'm enlightened,

Whatever that is,

Have all the answers all that life doesn't affect me,

But because I'm no different to you.

I'm just a fellow human,

Bumbling around on the earth.

And I guess I'm the same person I was 20 years ago,

Before I started meditating.

But the difference now is that I choose not to take life so personally.

I feel more drawn to help others,

As just working for my own gains never really worked out.

I catch myself smiling at what happens more often,

Even when it's seemingly a bad situation.

And when I do fall,

As we all do,

I bounce back pretty quick,

And allow that bounce to take me somewhere new.

So I'll just tell you a little bit of how I got to this point.

You might want to pause this and make a cup of tea now.

It's time to share my tales of the sea.

When I was a kid,

Maybe 12 years old,

I always had a question in my head.

How do I know that I am me?

I used to ask my friends this,

And I usually got a laugh in return.

I couldn't work out why I was conscious of myself,

And why I couldn't be someone else.

And it came up now and then,

But I never really thought too much of it.

But I think this might have been the beginning of my curiosity that there's something deeper going on in life.

My spiritual search really began in my early 20s.

I actually felt that I'd already suffered enough at this point.

As a young adult,

I found myself pursuing my dream of becoming a working musician.

Okay,

I wanted to become a rock star.

As luck and perseverance would have it,

I got my dream job at the age of 23.

I signed a big record deal with a major label,

Toured the world,

Played huge venues and met my music heroes.

I was truly living the dream that I wanted,

But it soon wore off.

Just a few months into this experience,

I felt really depleted and empty,

As now I'd found my dream job,

And there was nowhere to go.

I remember thinking that this is the best that life can offer,

But it's not enough.

This pushed me again to question what life was about.

I turned to reading philosophy books and joined a local Buddhist centre,

Who would send me cassette tapes of talks and meditations to listen to on tour buses.

I really loved learning about the Buddhist way of living,

And the meditations did bring me a sense of peace at times,

But I really struggled to bring it to life.

Even so,

This new world that I was discovering really helped bring some meaning to my life amongst the chaos of the music industry.

Things really fell apart when my music dream ended,

As often happens in the music industry,

And now I really wasn't happy.

After just a week of it ending,

I'd found a new job in a call centre,

Selling baby accessories.

As you can imagine,

My ego took a bit of a hit.

A few years went by as I tried to get another big music gig,

But it didn't happen.

I went from job to job,

Doing some labouring,

Some office temping,

And everything in between.

During this time I really hit the ground.

I was already suffering from a lot of anxiety,

And then this turned into depression.

To meet this situation,

I stepped up my meditation practice a few notches,

Desperate to feel better.

I meditated every day,

Just to feel what I felt,

And to allow it to be there.

It became a rock in my life that I clung to.

As I continued to dive into my practice,

I read lots of books,

Attended retreats,

And attended some courses.

My curious 12 year old self woke up again,

And that question of how do I know that I am me became,

How can I find peace with all this?

Within these practices I found moments of peace,

And a glimmer of light,

And slowly I moved through the depression,

And my anxiety softened greatly.

There was no magic fix or moment of awakening,

But rather a gradual letting life be,

With a deeper kindness towards myself.

I'd been pretty hard on myself most of my life to say the least,

Aren't we all?

I think I best stop there,

But I hope that story grew some curiosity about your own spiritual path and where you're at right now,

And really for you to know that this stuff is for everyone and anyone.

I'm just a guy that wanted to find some peace,

And that's really true deep down for everyone on this planet.

And that's the spiritual path for me,

It has many names through history,

But really it's about using everything that happens as a way to heal and understand,

Listening to your own wisdom and connecting to the kindness of your heart.

When these two meet,

Our life shifts,

And I encourage you to meet each day of this course and your life with your own inner wisdom and heart.

Please join me as I invite you to take a few leaps into the abyss.

I can't promise a smooth ride,

But I'll get you there or here safe and sound.

That's all for day one.

Tomorrow we'll explore the idea that you're already enough right now,

And perhaps this will be the only day of the course that you'll need.

Take care and go well.

Reviews

Thanks for this invitation to open doors and take a few peeks at what may be inside!

I have followed you for awhile and I am intrigued with this new quest. Thank you for all you do!

This is really wonderful and thank you for sharing your story. It was so reassuring to hear and relatable. I always appreciate your meditations and approach and find them very helpful. Wishing you much peace and kindness.

Thank you for sharing, this was very helpful and relaxing at the same time 🙏

I’m aiming to take this course again 🙏🏼☺️🎉✨

A very thoughtful and reflective session. Thank you. 🙏

Always return to you Andy 🙏

This was a beautiful experience as I stumble upon it at the exact time I needed it. Thank you for sharing your humanness. 🙏🏼🕯️✌🏼

This is going to be a great course! Thank you 🙏

Just what I need nowadays… THANK YOU 🙏 your voice gives kinda serenity the music is perfect and OFCOURSE listening to your words.. Respect and thank you

Love this Andy, many thanks 🙏❤️💫

Bug in the rug is such a good concept. Very interesting hearing about your career and the challenges to find your real self. Looking forward to next 30 days 🙏

Andy, this was such a great Day 1 of this course. Thank you for sharing it with us again.

Found this message at just the right time in my life. Anxiety seems to be my constant state in this time of my life as I go through big changes, ie the death of my husband of 63 + years and moving to a retirement community so I won’t be so alone. I am looking forward to this part of being around people and still having my own casita. So it’s a major change and I’m beginning to step outside of the known into the unknown. 🩷💔🩷☮️

I'm excited to join ☺️ Thank you!

🐞🙏❤️

Thank you Andy for sharing your stories, inviting me to follow your gentle guidance in these insights 🧚‍♂️🙏🌸✨

Comforting…🙏🏻💕

What a beautiful story.And sich a soothing voicd.