CONTENT TO BE YOURSELF: THE HARDEST YOGA POSE OF ALL
AUGUST 5TH, 2009: A friend gave to me not too long ago a sweet little book that is powerful beyond measure. I have since purchased many copies to give as gifts to friends. The book is "The Way to Love" and contains the Anthony de Mello's final thoughts as he grapples with the ulimate question of love. In 31 meditations he implores his readers to break through illusion, the great obstacle to love. "love springs from awareness, " de Mello insists, saying that it is only when we see others as they are that we can begin to really love. This task, however, is not easy. "The most painful act," he continues "is the act of seeing. But is in that act of seeing that love is born."
Today I meditated on the HARDEST YOGA POSE, being ourselves.
de Mello speaks to this as he offers us these words "Compare the serene and simple splendor of a rose in bloom with the tensions and restlessness of your life. The rose has a gift that you lack: It is perfectly content to be itself. It has not been programmed from birth, as you have been, to be dissatisfied with itself, so it has not the slightest urge to be anything other than it is. That is why it posseses grace and absense of inner conflict. You are always dissatisfied with yourself, always wanting to change yourself. So you are full of violence and self-intolerance which only grows...any change you achieve is always accompanied by inner conflict. And you suffer when you see others achieve what you have not and become what you are not."
So from a yogic view we have the power to make ourselves. Our suffering comes when we try to bring about changes based on what other people want us to be or society says we should be or we compare and compete with our neighbors getting jealous or envious. The INTENTIONS our aspirations we have for ourselves can manifest without our coercing, forcing or doing battle to be someone else, to be something we are not. For if we try to find happiness being what someone else wants us to be we will only ever be second best. We can only be OUR BEST SELF.
De Mello compares says this is "an exhausting self-defeating process like driving with your brakes on." Which by the way in my jeep I actually have tried...doesn't work that well.
To me what we are speaking to here is the difference between being selfish (which is good) and self-intolerant. If we really like ourselves and have confidence in our life choices based on what is good for us then we ignite our greatest potential from within. We "run our own race" as I'm fond of saying. We no longer get upset, restless or dissatisfied with who we are.
We are all just flowers in the garden of life. The universe respects our diversity and wants us to bloom as our unique selves. I have often referred to myself as a delicate flower, and you are too, so let us selfishly love ourselves as we are while on the path to achieving our highest aspirations.
Love to you all, Silvia