From my perspective.
The nature of spirituality is an invitation to see something.
To see something profound.
That ultimately invites you into a space of wellness.
Where the heart can open up.
And we recognize that even though It seems that we are afraid of so much.
We see that in the deepest way.
There's nothing to actually be afraid of.
And in the absence of that fear.
There is this beautiful permission to just love.
And that's what I want to explore today.
I want to explore my tagline.
Which is open up,
Fear less.
And love more.
And I love that there is a beautiful simplicity in this.
And yet in that simplicity is such a profound depth.
What is it to open up?
What is it to fear less?
And what is it to love more?
And how is this fundamentally?
The spiritual invitation.
And to walk our way there.
I have this.
Invitation for us.
To simply be radically honest.
About our human experience.
About our direct experience.
Not what we think is other people's experience.
Not what we want.
Others to do or not do.
But to take a moment of stillness.
And look at our own lives.
And ask ourselves in the most honest way,
What is really going on here?
It's almost an invitation to just start over for a second.
What is life?
What is it to be human?
What are these struggles that I'm having?
What is this suffering?
What is this?
Pain that feels as if it's a cage around my heart.
That in many ways makes it difficult to breathe.
Difficult to be myself.
Difficult to be honest.
And then what is this joy that I have?
What is this inspiration?
What is this longing?
What is it to be human?
And I find this question fascinating because And not saying it's the case for you,
But it is the case for so many.
Where we have all of these wild assumptions about life and being human.
What the point is,
What it means.
And so much of this is just conditioning.
It's what we've been told.
It's almost to say.
.
.
We imagine a life,
We imagine a purpose.
That isn't life and isn't the purpose at all.
And to see that that might be true.
In many ways.
Shows us the great difficulty.
We are trying to live a life that.
.
.
Isn't life at all.
And so,
This is also the invitation of spirituality,
To see something clearly.
To see the real point of it all.
To see the real opportunity,
To see the real prize.
And as we align ourselves with that,
We recognize a sort of harmony.
Where we melt into life.
Were in many ways we recognize.
Not in a belief.
Not in a hopeful idea,
But in an absolute truth.
That life as it is,
Is designed to be.
To support the sincerity of your heart.
And the difficulty we encounter is simply forgetting this.
We forget and we see ourselves as separate from life.
We see life as against us.
Is in our way.
And what a wild transformation in perspective.
To see a deeper truth.
To wake up to remember.
Oh,
I am a part of this.
This miracle that is,
I am also.
Life is on my side.
And so in the spirit of that.
And in the invitation to just be radically honest with ourselves.
I want to ask you,
As a human being,
What do you want most?
What's the deepest sincerity of your longing?
What does it seem as if.
.
.
You are genuinely here to find or discover.
What's the point?
And here's the wild thing.
There can be so many answers to this question.
And all of these answers are simply stories.
That are all pointing toward the same thing.
The deeper we get honest with ourselves as human beings,
We fundamentally find out that as human beings,
We're all searching for the same thing.
Furthermore,
As it relates to the pain and difficulty.
We find that we are all afraid of the same thing.
Which points to the great simplicity.
Of life and being human.
And so given that you can't exactly talk back to me right now as you listen.
I'm going to confidently make the assumption.
About what you crave most.
Beyond all of the different stories we could say,
Can we first find an agreement?
That says what you want most is an internal experience.
You're trying to connect with something on the inside of what you are.
And if that seems difficult,
Because we might think it's something on the outside,
We simply ask the question,
Well,
Why do you want that?
Why do you want life to look this way or that way?
Is it not because you're trying to come back to an experience within what you are?
Whether we call that to be at peace.
Whether we call it to feel loved.
Even to feel in control or to feel powerful.
How is that not a movement inward?
Were you trying to see yourself as whole and complete?
And I think that those are wise words to use,
Even though.
.
.
There are some that might not understand the words as I use them.
But I assume if you're here,
You do.
That in our search for being human,
We're not only trying to find ourselves.
But we're trying to see ourselves as whole and complete.
And this might also be made obvious.
By recognizing the fundamental difficulty we have.
As it relates to feeling like we're not enough.
Or the surface level desire that seeks for validation.
That wants to be seen.
I want to be loved.
Or trying to find ourselves.
But a self that can finally rest.
A self that can know that all is well.
A self that is finally home.
And the classic difficulty.
Which is what leads many people on a spiritual path.
Is that we spend so much time trying to find that in the world.
And we see directly for ourselves,
It's not working.
And it's a wonderful deep dive and conversation about why it doesn't work.
But I think that we can agree on that.
That no matter what we chase after in the world.
Ultimately,
It's fleeting.
As it relates to what it is we're actually looking for.
And so we start asking.
The very spiritual questions.
What the hell is going on here?
Who am I really?
What's going on?
What is this life thing?
Do you see these questions?
They're not so much geared towards getting what I want.
They're geared towards understanding what is true.
And that sincere inquiry into what is really true.
Takes you inward.
It's almost as if you have discovered an intuitive sense.
That the answer you're looking for isn't found out there in the world.
You have to consult your heart.
You have to go inward.
And you have to become radically honest with yourself.
And for me,
This is the great first step of openness.
Because of course,
If we are asking such questions.
.
.
We are also admitting that we don't really know.
And that is a beautiful space of humility.
That invites life to show you.
And I love that space of openness.
I love the okayness in not knowing.
The willingness to admit.
How lost we might feel,
How confused we are.
Because in some way it signals a trust.
But trust that there is something deeper that knows.
And of course,
In that first step of humility,
We.
.
.
Take off the mask of pretending.
We show the rawness of our heart.
Exposing what is really there.
Which is simply a movement towards what is true.
And I hope you see the power of that.
To open up.
To take off the mask of pretending.
Which is also The mask that hopes other people see you a certain way.
And you just come back to what's real,
Because what is real is the doorway.
This is what we are opening up to.
And what is it that we see as we open up?
Well,
You know,
One of the first things that we see.
.
.
In that sort of willingness to acknowledge what's true.
Is we see how scared we are.
We see how much we fear.
There could be so much fear that at previous moments we were simply Afraid to admit?
Or completely blind to.
It's like we are operating on some version of autopilot.
That does everything it can to avoid seeing how terrified we are.
We have so many strategies and mechanisms for hiding from this fear.
But yet this fear is deeply true.
As it relates to what's going on inside of us.
Case in point,
I don't know if you realize this or recognize it.
But can you see that?
To be emotionally disturbed at all.
Requires fear.
Suffering.
In any degree from minor to major.
Requires fear.
And in many cases,
This fear is associated with loss.
The loss of what we're holding on to.
The loss of how we hoped things might be.
The loss of a control or a perceived certainty.
About what was or might be.
And it's this fear that agitates the spirit.
Restricts our heart.
And in many ways says it's not safe to be alive.
But in this openness.
And a willingness to look and see what's really there.
This is one of the first things we see.
And so often as we see it.
We can be so quick to run away.
But as we move.
From being open to fearing less.
The first phase of fearing lasts.
Is seeing that you don't have to be afraid of being afraid.
And this is often.
A big difficulty for many.
Where we are afraid.
Of seeing just how afraid we are.
And this is understandable.
As human beings.
Where we are trying to present an image of ourselves to the world.
We want other people to think certain thoughts about us.
We want so many things in the future,
So we have to be a certain way to make sure we get it.
And if it seems as if we are afraid and other people think we are afraid.
Then somehow we see that as weakness.
It jeopardizes what we want.
So we do so much to hide from that.
But here's the thing.
In this moment of openness when we look.
Can we see that it's just true?
Can we see that it's just true?
That we're afraid.
That there is fear there?
And so if it's true,
Can we just let the truth be the truth?
And the beauty of this.
And it really speaks to a pattern or a fractal.
Where in this moment of seeing that you're afraid,
You might also see that it's perfectly fine that you're afraid.
That says you don't even have to fear.
Being with fear.
It's okay.
This is the first expression of fear in less.
Do you see that there is this examination?
Of the fear that we are with.
And in the honest examination of it,
Which is a willingness to actually look.
You see that you don't have to be afraid of being afraid.
There's a mechanism here,
There's a deep truth here.
That extends to all of your other fears.
Which is?
And anything that you're afraid of,
The more you really look at it and see what's true.
You see that there's nothing to be afraid of.
Even if you're afraid.
And the beauty of this.
Is as we Reduce the fear that is there.
First and foremost,
The fear of being afraid.
It makes room for love to move.
And you can see that natural expression.
Just in this exploration now.
Whereas you acknowledge that there is fear and you see that it's okay that there is fear.
Do you not also see the love that is extended to what you are?
And this isn't a love that comes from the outside.
It's not a love that is given to you.
It is a love that you have allowed to flow.
Furthermore,
It is allowed to flow because you see the truth of things.
Which,
In a beautiful and playful way,
Shows you that if you want more love,
The answer is to see the truth of things.
Because love,
If it seems absent.
.
.
It only seems that way because there is fear.
Just like in the expression of being afraid of being afraid.
Do you see how that fear says it cannot love you when you're afraid?
There's something wrong with you.
You're unworthy.
And so that fear.
.
.
Pushes away love.
It's not safe.
But as we examine the fear.
.
.
As we understand it.
We see that that is the most adorable misunderstanding.
One of the ways that we can look at this is in the illustration of a child.
And a parent.
Where the classic illustration that uses.
The child drops their ice cream cone.
And for them the world has ended.
They're afraid.
And the loving parent looks at that and says,
Oh my goodness,
You're so adorable.
I love you.
The parent knows that the child is just confused.
The parent sees the deeper reality,
The truth.
They have a bit more experience.
And understands that the child is just misunderstanding the circumstance.
And the parent sees that the child is perfectly fine.
Or just with the child who?
Imagines a monster in the closet.
And tells mom and dad,
Oh no.
I'm terrified there's a monster in the closet,
But the parents know there's not really a monster in the closet.
When they see an adorable child who's just confused.
And this is the nature of fear in our human experience.
And I understand that it could be a leap.
Depending where you are on the journey.
But to fast forward to the conclusion and to say it in a direct way.
In reality.
In what is true,
There is nothing to be afraid of.
What we fear is our misunderstanding.
We turn things into something they are not.
And then we fear the thing we imagine that is not.
This,
Of course,
Is why.
Spirituality.
Invites you to see the truth.
Because it is that truth.
That heals the misunderstanding.
Which is also what heals the fear.
And it is the fear.
That underpins all of our human difficulty.
And furthermore,
It is that which blocks the vision of what we crave most.
Which,
To summarize it in a playful way,
We could simply say is love.
And you know.
In the question of what you want most,
I understand that to say love.
Might not seem like it is accurate or encapsulates it.
But we use this word love as an illustration that encapsulates a bigger picture of wholeness.
It's almost like in the experience of being loved by another or you deeply loving someone else.
You see their wholeness.
You see their innocence.
You see a deeper truth of what they are.
Beyond all of the colorful noise of their humanity that might be confused.
You see their wholeness.
This is what love sees.
This is what we're looking for.
And so we might say that we are looking for love.
Which is understandable.
But I invite you to see.
That love is the natural by-product.
Of the truth.
And this applies to.
.
.
Any internal emotional state that we are trying to connect with.
We might say that we want that emotional state,
But if that emotional state is a natural byproduct of the truth,
Then what is it you're actually looking for?
And this is where we get confused as human beings,
Understandably,
Because we're just learning.
In our human lives,
We think we are looking for so many things.
Like we might say,
We're looking for so many things on the outside.
But then we ask why?
Well,
Because I'm looking for something on the inside.
And we might say,
I want to feel this way or I want to feel that way.
And then the more you see the design of this miracle.
You recognize that those emotional states that you desire our natural byproducts.
Of the truth of life,
Meaning,
The more you see the truth of what is.
Everything you want internally,
Emotionally,
Is given to you.
Which is to say.
.
.
The more you see the truth of what is.
There is less fear.
Which makes space for love to flow.
And love flows.
In many different flavors.
And this,
I feel,
Is what spirituality is trying to wake us up to.
That what you're actually looking for is the truth of life.
And spirituality in all of its forms and flavors.
Is a doorway that invites you into.
A present moment or a more present life.
That helps you question what it is you think is actually happening.
To see things more clearly.
And discern the difference.
Between the monsters you imagined.
And what's really here right now.
It's very simple.
And it makes so much sense to me.
Why it would be the case.
That human beings find some version of devotion.
Towards some expression of spirituality.
Where they recognize in some way it is their salvation.
And I love the beautiful diversity in which this is expressed.
There are many different traditions and pathways.
And we simply find that which resonates most.
That which helps us come home.
And the more you see these things deeply,
I mean,
My goodness,
What a transformation.
And we can look at our own direct experience without any judgment and just curiosity.
Because,
I mean,
Let me ask you.
.
.
How wild is it that we go through this life?
Imagining a life that's not actually happening,
That scares the crap out of us.
That restricts our heart.
That withholds the flow of love.
And yet in reality,
Beyond all of the noise of mind and our conditioning and assumptions,
What we've been told.
There is this landscape of openness.
That is a permission to let love flow.
Where all is well,
Where there's nothing to fear.
That's reality.
Do you see the contrast between the two?
It's the contrast between heaven and hell.
And you see,
It's easy here to judge yourself,
Right?
Because you're a human being.
And you can look at what appears to be the chaos.
Of your life or your dreams.
And think that you're doing it wrong.
Think that you've made some big mistake.
And I want you to understand that that's not the case.
This is a great adventure.
Of being human.
You're supposed to forget so you can remember.
This is the great inspiration.
That points you home.
That shows you how deep these things are.
How profound they are.
How divine they are.
And the more you see it,
The more you devote yourself to it.
In a religious way of speaking.
It's like going on a human journey.
Where you think the point of life.
Is getting the world to love you.
And of course.
Talk about a difficult life.
And then you wake up and you realize that it only matters that God loves you.
And so God becomes your devotion and you let go of the world.
And it's in that great remembering.
That in some way,
And again just as a manner of speaking,
It's between you and God.
You and the truth of life.
Which is?
A journey of you seeing life more clearly.
Have you not realized this?
In the most practical way.
The thing that contributes most to your human journey.
Is seeing a deeper truth of things.
And coming to terms with the truth of things.
Which is like surrendering to the truth of things.
Embracing the truth of things.
Living in alignment with the truth of things.
And your whole exploration of being human.
Is effectively learning the landscape.
And seeing what is really true.
And then living in alignment with that truth.
It's almost like saying in the most silly way.
You touch fire and you burn yourself.
And you have just learned that skin and fire don't go together.
And you say,
Oh,
Okay,
If I want to live with more wellness,
Don't touch the fire.
Or it improves your relationship with fire.
You dance with it in a more harmonious way.
However,
The more,
Let's say,
Egotistical you are,
Where you're like,
No,
But I want to touch fire.
I want it my way.
Then you just keep burning yourself.
Until you surrender to the truth of things.
You start to realize,
Oh,
I don't need.
To touch fire.
Maybe there's something in me that thought I did.
Because it made me important or gave me the illusion of power.
But then I see that I'm perfectly fine without that.
This is what we wake up and see.
And I understand,
Again,
It might be a leap or difficult to see depending on where you are.
There is a brilliance.
In the way that life already is.
And as much as we might think that we need it to be differently in order for us to be whole and complete,
It's just not true.
The way things are.
As they really are,
Not how we imagine them to be,
But how they really are.
Is how they need to be.
In order for life to be what it is.
This is the Great Acceptance.
Which is also like realizing that God has designed this so perfectly.
So you're going to let God do what God needs to do in order for life to be life.
And you're going to celebrate the miracle of what has been given.
How amazing is it to just be alive?
Which is difficult to see.
If you're chasing some future prize that you believe will make you whole and complete.
Rather than seeing you've already been given this.
What a beautiful journey.
What a beautiful play.
What a beautiful opportunity to.
Joyfully humble ourselves.
And be willing to see things more clearly.
So that we in effect can see that what we want most we already have.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
