Here is a powerful and relevant piece. It is taken from the book "Freedom Is" by Brandon Bays
Let the wisdom of these words sink in.
… You are in the ocean, out of your depth, struggling to stay afloat. The more you struggle the less buoyant you feel. Each effort feels more and more exhausting. Fighting what is, you believe the answer lies in trying harder … reaching, grasping with your whole being, striving with your body, harnessing your mind, trying to focus all of your energy to stay above water … you fight for your life. Your activity becomes frenetic. A sinking futility starts to creep in but you realise you can’t give in, no matter what. You force your mind into high gear. You struggle with all your might. Your striving becomes frantic.
A kind person throws you a life preserver, but it lands just of your reach. Safety is but a few feet away, if only you could grasp it in time. Certain that effort is the only answer, you harness every fibre of your being, desperately trying to grasp the answer to all your prayers … knowing that all peace, all rest, life itself is just an arm’s length away … just out of reach … if only you try harder, the prize of freedom, relaxation, safety will be yours …
But with each fiercely desperate stroke, you end up pushing the life preserver further away. The fight intensifies. You feel your mind is starting to spin out of control. You force it into line … everything depends on this final struggle to win … But your very striving is driving it further … and further … and further away …
Finally, the kind stranger jumps into the water, and when he bobs to the surface all movement ceases. He is just floating. He appears motionless … as if he is just resting, simply trusting. Gently, under the surface, his legs are flowing in the quietest of movements; effortlessly treading water, trusting completely in the ease of Grace. The water becomes still and the life preserver, which is no longer being pushed away by the thrashing around, is free to drift his way … Resting … trusting … relaxing … lap … by lap … by lap … the life preserver finds its way into his hands, and with almost no movement – more a softly whispered prayer than an actual motion, he glides it your way.
You frantically grasp for it and, once again, it drifts just out of your reach. The desperation becomes unbearable …
You hear a reassuring voice say, ‘RELAX … Just RELAX … you’re safe … Trust … All safety is here … everything you need is already here.’ Then, once again, the kind man who trusts the ocean, trusts life, trusts grace, softly floats the life preserver in your direction.
It is only one arm’s length away. The desire to reach for it is fiercely strong. The impulse to grasp arises. ‘One last struggle and I’m there,’ you hear yourself say, but before you can thrust out your hand, you hear the stranger say again, ‘JUST RELAX.’
And something penetrates … it happens in a heartbeat. Against all instincts, against all ingrained beliefs and all societal conditioning, against everything you’ve ever held to be true, you decide to do the impossible. You choose to cease striving … You relax. You relax your mind … you give up all struggle and relax your whole being. You feel your body softening and, miraculously, the life preserver begins to effortlessly drift your way …
Just before it’s ready to softly touch your chest, something happens. Time stops … everything becomes still … Your breathing slows down and becomes easy … The contraction of your mind softens and every ounce of activity ceases. Your body releases all tension and you become aware that you are being softly supported, embraced in an ocean of trust … In the still centre of the silence, you realise that all grace is here, surrounding you, supporting you. All peace is here, all rest is here … And you relax deeply in the restful embrace of grace …
You become aware that the life preserver has just tapped you on the chest … and in that instant you realise that you don’t actually need it, you never needed it. You’re already safe, already whole, already free. You’re floating in an ocean of trust. Life preserver, no life preserver … same, same.
Gently, one arm floats to the side of the preserver, and you look around to see if there is anyone else struggling needlessly in the water … And you become the kind stranger.
A soft smile of irony creeps across your face as you realise the ludicrous insanity of struggling against life. It’s like some big cosmic joke. Everything you had been seeking is recognised to be already here the moment you chose to stop the struggle, relax and trust. This that had seemed so far out of reach is realised to be everywhere, in everything. And that ‘something out there, if only I could get hold of it,’ is realised to be right here, as a vast embrace, constantly supporting you in an ocean of presence.
No comments:
Post a Comment