The Tao Te Ching challenges us to look at the paradoxes in life. We read Verse 1 and come face to face with the paradox of desire (wanting) and desireless (allowing). In
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Wayne Dyer writes, "letting go of trying to see the mystery will actually allow us to see it…wanting transforms into effortless allowing.
Desiring, one can see the manifestations; desireless, one can see the mystery itself."
We label our desires, and we judge ourselves for not having attained them. It is difficult for us to let go of naming, labeling, and judging for it has been ingrained in us since we
were born. What if there is more to life than what we see on the outside? What if there is more than we can name or label? And what if we let go of the desiring of these
manifest things to learn to "allow" creation to surround us and enfold us? Lao-Tzu calls the Tao the "life breath of all things." The highest spiritual experience is to
find this nameless, formless Source of life within ourselves. From this intimate relationship, we find inner peace, guidance, acceptance, love,
healing, abundance, and all good things. The last two lines of Verse 21 of the Tao say, "How do I know the ways of all things at the beginning? I look inside myself and see what is within me."
This week, we deepen our spiritual practice by turning within. We set aside time for meditation and reflection. "Turning within" is the pathway
to connect with the energy of life that is both immanent and transcendent. We may call this energy "God" or "Tao" or by other holy and
respected names. It is that which is creative, immortal, and eternal. It is in us, and we are in it. From this inner place of divine connection,
we then allow the experience of life to come to us instead of demanding life to give us. The way of all things, including you and me, begins with
awareness of the inner and the outer. Our spiritual practice closes the gap between the two polarities until we see no separation, and the paradox collapses into nothingness and everything.
Living with spirituality, Rev. Robin |
