The Heart’s Release

Tags

exploration, letting go, mission, release

We often talk about the idea and need of “letting go” in our weekly #SpiritChat conversations. One of my favorite analogies in this context is given by Osho:

To light a fire, we need a spark. A matchstick struck on the side of a matchbox can provide that spark. And yet, once the fire is lit, we don’t keep the used matchstick around. Its work is done. The fire’s work begins. – Osho 

Over time, our heart tends to become the repository of many such “used” matchsticks. We tend to hold on to them, refuse to release them, “just in case”. The result? Instead of sharing the light, the energy and the warmth that the fire has lit within us, we hold on to worry – what if the fire goes out and I don’t have any more matchsticks left? Maybe I’ll be able to use the burnt one after all.

What else may we hold on to in the heart, as we refuse to release?

We hold on to waiting and waffling, letting our mind convince us that we aren’t ready, aren’t good enough to share our light yet.

We while our time away watching and marveling at the fire, all the sparks emanating from it, hoping for it to change for the better, before we decide to share it. We hold on to procrastination. 

We make deep dives into the mind’s spaces, wondering about the ‘why me’, ‘what now’, ‘what if’, ‘what about’ and ‘is it really my purpose to share’ questions. We hold on to the never-ending wondering. 

We keep looking at the wishing well in wistfulness and get swamped by uncertainty about the purpose and possible impact of our sharing. We hold on to a lifetime of inactive wishes while we let the heart accumulate ever-new desires, as the fire dwindles.

All this worrying, waiting, waffling, whiling, why me-ing, what now-ing, what iff-ing, what about-ing, wishing and more. All the while, the fire has now gone out, the embers have gotten cold, and we are still holding on to the burnt matchstick in our hands. 

And yet, there is a bright path, which can be walked by us, if we allow the heart to release the matchstick of our dogmas, our vanities, our hubris, our anger, our hate, and that is burning us out from within. It is akin to letting go of the weight of the hundreds of thousands of parts, systems, and engines that have served their purpose, and brought us this far on our journey. We are grateful for all them, including the sky-crane which has finally set our wheels down ever so gently on a new planet.

And yet, the sky-crane needs to be released too, or will be forever frozen in time and space, unable to move, to explore, to search for life. It’s time to release the final matchstick. 

In releasing with gratitude, all that has brought us here, we create space for our heart’s new mission — whatever we may choose it to be. In the heart’s release, we become free to leverage our spirit, opportunity and curiosity. Freedom allows us to appreciate and acknowledge our journey, and engage our wheels to begin our work.

A new world beckons. Let’s release our light. 

Kumud

P.S. Join us for our weekly conversation with the #SpiritChat community on twitter – Sunday, February 21 at 9am ET / 730pm India. Bring your wheels, ready to explore! – @AjmaniK

In a final act of release, a skycrane lowers @NASA’s Rover, Perseverance, on to the Martian Surface on February 18 2021. 

Our Personal Spiritual Mission

Tags

goals, mission, purpose, spiritchat, spirituality

What is my personal spiritual mission?

From time to time, this question returns to me, albeit it may appear in different forms. The word “mission” may be replaced with the word “purpose” or “goal”, or the broader phrase – “why am I here”? This seemingly existential question may indicate a discontentment with the current state of our lives, or it may be part of a periodic evaluation that some of us do to take stock of where exactly we are on our life journey. If the question arises from “a divine discontentment”, it may a manifestation of the motive energy that we need to move forward on our path. If it arises during a process of “self-evaluation”, it may be a sign that we are growing in mindful awareness, and want to make optimal use of the spiritual energy available to us.

Regardless of the origin of the question, the answer may not come easily for most of us. Some of us, who believe in the power of “the calling”, may have decided to be patient and wait for the answer. Some of us, who believe in the power of “the journey is the calling”, may have decided that every step forward brings us closer to the answer. Some of us, may believe that it isn’t even necessary to have the answer, and that the definition of a “spiritual mission” is unnecessary – living “in the moment” is enough – for a “mission” indicates a sense of being bound by space and time, and true spirituality means freedom from space and time.

For the “goal oriented” among us, the actions of “goal setting”, to achieve our purpose, to fulfill our “mission”, can give us a sense of comfort. The “comfort” comes from the self-discipline in thought, speech and action that we know we have to bring into play, if we are to work towards our goals. The “rules of the game” are clear, and the personal and universal “truths” that define our mission are clearer still. These clarities lead to synergy of action between man and nature, making optimal use of our powers of intellect and creativity, to clear our path to spiritual “success”. We learn to control our energy, our mind and senses, we learn to concentrate, and perhaps even meditate, which further helps us to achieve our purpose, our mission.

But what if one is not exactly “goal oriented” or “mission driven”? What is to become of their spiritual growth, their life-purpose? What if one does not have, or has not been able to clarify their “spiritual mission”? What is the path of action for them? Are they to simply resign themselves to being under-achievers in their spiritual journey? Is a “personal spiritual mission” absolutely neceesary to be a spiritual “high achiever”? Or is there an alternate, non goal-oriented, non mission-driven, spiritual journey that is full of truth, joy and enlightment possible for them?

If you have a clear, personal spiritual mission that is guidiing your journey, and you would like to share it with us, please join us Sunday, March 22nd 2015 at 9amET on twitter in #SpiritChat. If you are in the process of clarifying your mission, or you believe that you don’t really even need one, we also want to hear your thoughts. We welcome all of you to join the community, so we can all learn and grow together.

Thank you, and Namaste!

Kumud