Welcome.
This episode is,
I would call it,
Highly interactive,
Which means I'm going to be asking you questions as we go along to help you see the ways in which you can live that will nourish and fulfill you beyond what you have known.
I encourage you to have a place where you can make some notes,
You can write your answers,
Even to pause the audio where it feels important to ponder my questions.
This will be how you get so much more value and guidance from all that is here.
All right,
So here we go.
What is inner fulfillment?
Inner fulfillment,
My definition,
Is the experience of wholeness of your true self.
It is the myriad of ways in which we find and feel the source of peace and tranquility and love that is our true nature.
So here's your first question.
What fulfills you?
Consider your answers for a moment.
How do you live a fulfilling life?
And why is this important?
Why is inner fulfillment an important value and ideal that when we are deeply conscious of,
It adds a depth of meaning and purpose to everything we do?
So that nothing is irrelevant.
Nothing is ordinary.
Nothing is unimportant.
The textbook definition of fulfillment is to develop one's full potentials,
To feel full,
To be satisfied.
In the spiritual definition of inner fulfillment,
Think about the ways that you can live in the unconditional love and wisdom that reside within you.
What does it mean to live fulfilled in all that you do and all that you are?
I think that question and the answers you contemplate help to direct the course of your life,
The mindset you live from.
It helps to put into perspective all of what you do and why.
I can think of simple and yet profound practices that create fulfillment.
First,
To be happy.
To choose happiness,
To be happy.
And if it's a challenge for you in moments,
Then you work on that.
You work on the choice.
You work on the ability you have to be happy.
And if you would like my help with that,
I can absolutely help you to do that.
Second,
To be kind to yourself and others.
Again,
A work in progress for some of us.
It's easier for some of us than others.
Be kind to yourself.
It may have been taught to you in your earlier life.
It may not have been.
But practice this and it feels wonderful.
It feels purposeful.
It feels nourishing and fulfilling.
And third,
Do as much as possible what you love.
I think that's a beautiful way to live your life.
And it definitely leads you on paths that are fulfilling both in your vocation and your personal life,
In all of your waking moments.
Do as much as possible what you love.
And for the things that you need to do that are maybe less enjoyable,
Find ways to love them.
I'm serious.
Find ways to love the day-to-day tasks that you have to do,
That you choose to do,
That are important and necessary.
Cleaning the floor.
I found a way to like that.
Cleaning the kitchen.
I found a way to like that too.
And something else.
Notice if your answers,
I've given you my three answers to what does it mean to live fulfilled and how to live fulfilled.
Notice that your answers,
If they're the same,
If they're slightly different,
Notice that they are also the simple aspects of life,
All guided by you.
That is,
You define what fulfills you.
Consider that to sacrifice happiness and joy is to diminish positive feelings and living the totality of your potential.
Inner fulfillment is actually made simple.
It is for us to remember the beautiful expressions of life that give us desire,
Abundance,
And the perfection of the present to enjoy what life's precious moments have in store for us.
Yet,
Do we base our moment-by-moment choices and the greater decisions of our life on much of what lives and breathes outside of us?
What are we influenced by in the world around us?
On many occasions,
Our decisions are driven by what fulfills us.
And yet,
Can you feel fulfilled because of who you are?
Who you are is how you show up in each moment again and again and again.
This gives you infinite opportunities to feel fulfillment that is based upon what is sustainable and lasting,
Which is you.
To feel fulfilled has much less to do with your future or even your past.
It is the reminder that life awaits you in now.
And so,
The secret to self-fulfillment in the present moments unfolding lies in how you show up to receive your life,
How you show up in the knowledge that you are complete and whole as you are,
And in the certainty of your goodness,
Your love.
It's important to know how you nourish yourself and what becomes the grace that you live,
The grace of inner fulfillment.
And so,
Another question for you is this.
What are three actions and habits that you do each day that fulfill and nourish you?
What is it about who you are and how you live life that allows you to feel complete,
Whole,
Content,
Happy,
And fulfilled?
Now,
Think about the person you are,
The being of love that you choose to live as.
Think about the traits of kindness,
The choice of kindness,
The choice to be happy,
The choice to be loving,
The choice to be compassionate.
Forgiving,
Honest,
Truthful.
Those are all beautiful qualities and aspects of you that allow you to feel fulfilled.
How do your choices,
Actions,
Beliefs,
And thoughts fulfill you?
And here is a hint.
Everything that fulfills you is already a part of you.
When you live authentic and true to yourself,
You feel the joy of inner fulfillment.
This is also what makes you incredible,
And it is what fulfills you that you hold as the gifts that you may share with others and the world.
You can ask yourself,
What do I love to do most?
This is both rewarding and fulfilling for you,
And it is also a part of what you have to offer the world.
Your contribution,
Your greatness.
For example,
If you love to teach,
If you love to write,
If you love to make music,
All of these beautiful passions that you are so good at are also your worldly gifts that you are able to share with the world.
And in doing so,
It allows you to feel fulfilled.
You can be sure to live in a state of wholeness that includes the experiences that allow you to remember that you are whole.
You are complete as you are.
You are whole and always evolving and becoming more.
You are nourished through the actions you take in love and longevity,
In deliberate kindness and self-care,
And in the sustainable practices that allow your heart to feel full and of joy.
When you live in the experience of your wholeness,
You can look within.
You can trust in the true knowledge that you hold for all that is needed,
And this can be a daily practice.
The more that you draw from the light of your soul,
The true knowing in what is best and right for you,
The more you feel the flow of fulfillment and peace and oneness.
If you want to feel a depth of meaning and personal fulfillment that transcends whatever else is going on in your life at this moment,
Fill your heart with love,
Or better still,
Let the outpouring of love that you are fill your being as you connect with your heart center in the pureness of now.
You live in your wholeness whenever you exist in the true nature of what you are as love.
When you do what you love.
When you love what you do.
When you choose to be the most incredible version of yourself again and again.
And I just want to say that this is not always easy,
Especially when others around you are looking for fulfillment outside of themselves,
Or they have absolved themselves from their ability to be self-responsible for their inner fulfillment,
Blaming their current situation on others for their unhappiness.
And so it becomes important to feel the richness of your own life and to have the courage to pursue what yields joy and happiness,
Relief,
Pleasure in the simple things of life,
And importantly,
In all that you have and that exists for you.
This is what gratitude reminds us of,
The knowledge that you hold within you,
The path to inner fulfillment.
One day unto the next.
I'd also like to talk about wholeness as it relates to inner fulfillment.
So the question next I have for you is this,
How do you experience wholeness?
What makes it possible to feel whole?
And what does wholeness feel like?
Those are great questions as journal prompts,
By the way,
In your morning or evening journal practice where you're just quiet and contemplative and allowing your inner wisdom to rise up.
Can wholeness begin with the knowledge that you are complete as you are?
You have everything that you need to be and live of pure goodness,
Kindness,
And love,
Living of your highest integrity as this is what will always feel best.
And another question,
What can you be aware of that opens your eyes and your heart to the practice of self-fulfillment?
I wanted to tie in the spiritual teaching of Asteya at this point,
The third Yama of five of the Yoga Sutras.
Yamas are moral disciplines,
They're commandments,
They are moral vows and restraints that are part of the ancient scriptures of the Yoga Sutras written about 200 BCE.
Yamas and the Niyamas are the first two steps in the Eightfold Path of Yoga,
Which are a series of scriptures of wisdom through which the sage Patanjali conveyed his teachings.
And if you would like to hear more on each of the Yamas and the Niyamas,
I'm going to leave links in the description because I have podcast episodes on each of the five Yamas and each of the five Niyamas.
And they're worth a listen because even as ancient scriptures,
They are so profoundly relevant to how we can live our life in the best possible way today.
So the lesson of Asteya,
Which is what I wanted to speak about,
Is the notion that there is already enough.
The Sanskrit meaning of the word Asteya is actually non-stealing.
And so we think about what this means as it's related to wholeness and fulfillment,
In that we don't need to look to others or situations or material goods to feel better or complete or whole.
In fact,
We can rely on this too much and it then becomes a causal relationship in which we tell ourselves we need something in order to feel a certain way,
Right?
We do this a lot versus the practice of focusing on what is wanted and yes,
Working toward that,
But also getting better at feeling happy and content and peaceful and proud and whatever other feelings it is you wish to feel based on the current moment.
And something else that is a part of Asteya and its definition of non-stealing,
If we give up parts of ourself to be something that we think others want or to please others,
This is another form of stealing.
We rob ourselves of our ability to be the best of what we are and all that makes us unique by compartmentalizing parts of us or disavowing parts of us in order that others will approve of and accept us based on their requirements,
Rather than on our authenticity and self-love.
The teaching of Asteya,
And I will place some links in the description here,
Specifically on Asteya,
The teaching of Asteya is to remember to know who you are and to seek more for the betterment of yourself and your happiness and to embrace your own vulnerability and humanness as a part of your physical experience.
And let's come back to wholeness for a moment.
Wholeness is opening yourself to the wondrous love that is possible,
To feel the certainty and truth and honor that lives in your heart.
It lives there.
You don't have to go in search of it.
You need to connect with it.
That's what we need to do more.
And when we live in the experience of wholeness and grace,
We witness the inner certainty of our life.
We feel the power of connection to other living beings,
And we hold free the truth that calls us forward.
Love in the human experience of our true power is the love and grace that we know.
It is the love and grace that lives here with us and for all of the perfection we seek.
This you honor as true.
This you know is the complete wonder of life aligned and waiting for you.
And to leave you with this quote,
All of the perfect grace of eternity lives in the beauty of your life,
In the power of what you know as truth,
In the grace and comfort in all things.
All moments you seek are the moments of wholeness that live within you,
That live within each one of us.
In the wisdom of what you seek,
Know that you are whole.
Know that you are love.
So to give you some final thoughts to have you contemplate a different way of thinking about yourself,
About feeling fulfilled,
One of the practical ways that you can feel inner fulfillment is in your experience of feeling wholeness.
Inner fulfillment is something that is experienced in meditation,
In quiet contemplation,
And living out of the present moment,
Holding a state of peace and calm,
And as you feel the love and support and generosity that others have for you and that you hold for yourself.
Out of a state of peace,
You feel content,
Grateful,
Happy,
And of love because happiness is found not only as a measure of what you are,
Happiness is the wonderment that you bring to each thing that you do,
Each task,
Each idea,
Each thought,
The outcome of which are the narratives that you live in the space and time of everything,
And of life itself.
The certain calling of your heart is the grace that you live here,
And in the perfect oneness of happiness,
And as the outpouring of certainty.
It is for you a step into the space and magnificence of the world beyond worlds,
And into the wonder of everything.
If there is a wisdom teaching for life,
It is this,
Nowhere is it more enjoyable,
Possible,
Than to experience life and all of its blessings here and for you.
I hope that you will embrace these metaphors and teachings of inner fulfillment,
That you may walk in your life knowing that you create and cultivate the feeling of fulfillment as what you are.
Thank you so much for listening,
And if you are enjoying the podcast,
If you enjoyed this episode,
Please have a listen to other episodes,
And hey,
I always love to hear from you.
Send me a note,
Let me know how this episode was helpful,
Useful,
How you enjoyed it,
Hopefully,
And of course,
I would love for you to follow the podcast.
Thank you so much.
Sending you great love.
This is Dorothy Zanori Juno.
Namaste.
Thank you so much for joining me in this episode of the Wisdom Podcast.
To hear more,
Please check out the other episodes here,
As well as my guided meditations,
Including my signature prose meditations and I AM mantras,
And as well,
The meditations to guide you into a deep and restorative sleep.
Please also visit me on social media and say hello,
And a special thank you to Insight Timer for this beautiful space to share all of my love.
Allow yourself to go within,
To access your inner wisdom,
And to live this.
Awaken your authentic power,
Live your truth,
And be loved.
Namaste.
