Welcome to this brief talk on embracing suffering as a catalyst for authentic living.
The soul wants to awaken so it creates suffering as a gift.
The soul wants to awaken so it creates suffering as a gift.
Our soul,
Our higher self,
The true self,
The inner child,
Whatever you wish to call it,
Is always trying to connect with us.
It is the very essence of who we are,
Whole,
Curious,
Creative,
Expressive,
Assertive,
Worthy,
Kind,
Playful,
Loved,
Spiritual,
To name just a few.
It is us in the most authentic form but somewhere in life and very early that is,
We give away our authenticity as the price for belonging,
For the approval of others,
For feeling even for a moment that we matter.
We put our souls to sleep.
This is very common for those of us who grew up in chaotic environments where there was neglect or abuse of any kind.
Dr.
Gavar Mathe says that when faced with a choice between authenticity and attachment,
Children will always choose attachment even when it's a lousy one.
What happens then is that we suppress who we truly are and create a fake persona to fulfill the expectations of our environments,
At first the immediate one and later on broader environment.
This persona is by nature co-dependent,
Always on the lookout for what it needs to do and be in order to satisfy the external world.
Years pass and with each day we get so busy building on this persona without realizing that the very foundation of it is weak.
After a while we have completely forgotten what lies beneath this mask.
The persona that we created to protect us is what we fully identify as now.
So when the soul self resurfaces into our lives it first comes gently knocking on our door,
Carrying a message informing us that something is off.
But because we are deeply asleep we don't hear it knocking.
It calls on the phone but we are of course busy tending to the matters of this brand new fast paced life we built for ourselves.
So it sends us dreams but we don't bother to write them down so we forget that too.
An eon comes while we are driving through a song on the radio and even though we sense some resonance we don't make much of it.
Some more time passes by.
Now if we are lucky and we get an opportunity to slow down enough we begin to sense a longing,
A sort of grief arising deep within ourselves.
A quality of emptiness fills us up.
Questions such as is this all there is?
Who am I really?
What am I supposed to do with my life?
Begin to dawn on us.
In mainstream psychology this period is often referred to as the midlife crisis or the quarter-life crisis and in spiritual psychology we call it the dark night of the soul.
This friend is a good sign for now there is an opening.
We are asked to re-examine our lives and with our lives to re-examine ourselves and who we are,
Who we want to be from this point on.
Have we loved well?
Have we brought our gifts and talents into the world in a way that is helpful to others?
Have we expanded our lives beyond egocentric living?
Have we told the truth?
Have we lived the truth?
The sooner we surrender to this process the sooner we find ourselves walking the path of authenticity but the longer we deny and hold on to our old ways trying to fix our lives and refocusing externally once again by thinking the next thing will fill the void.
We are saving our survival persona.
What we want to do instead is revive the true self.
You see while the two can eventually coexist together they first need to know their true place in our lives.
So sit now with both of them and tea and other offerings into your space.
Turn to your protective one and give thanks for all the ways they have protected you and kept you safe.
Then turn to your authentic one and apologize for the time it has taken you to answer their call.
Lastly introduce them to one another.
Hold their hands and together walk through the door to a new chapter of your life.
