What you seek is seeking you. ~ Rumi
As seekers, one of the most important skills we can develop on the spiritual path is called viveka in the East, otherwise known as discernment or discrimination. This is the ability to discriminate between the actions, decisions, and thoughts that lead us forward on our path and those that lead us away from our calling.
During this time in human development, we have access to a world of information at our fingertips. There are seemingly countless spiritual practices that promise to calm, heal, and clarify. Which do we choose? The first important step is to decide our goal. If we are looking for tools that will assist with stress reduction and offer more peace in our lives, there are many excellent mindfulness and meditation practices for that purpose. We can choose an approach that fits with our lifestyle.
But if we are longing to go beyond the mind and experience the radical freedom described by the mystics, we must choose a path designed to accomplish that goal. The path to freedom involves cultivating discipline and devotion by committing more time to meditation, using tools like mantra to integrate meditative awareness throughout the day, and finding a guide for the journey. While there are many paths, they don't all lead to the same destination — which is why discrimination is so important.
The challenges of the spiritual path prompted the Buddhist saying: "Better not to begin. Once begun, better to finish." If you are reading this, you've already begun — so, best to finish! Find clarity by sitting with the infinite stillness within. Then, take action!
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Unfold Your Own Myth
Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins? Who finds us here circling, bewildered, like atoms? Who comes to a spring thirsty and sees the moon reflected in it? Who, like Jacob blind with grief and age, smells the shirt of his lost son and can see again? Who lets a bucket down and brings up a flowing prophet? Or like Moses goes for fire and finds what burns inside the sunrise? Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies, and opens a door to the other world. Solomon cuts open a fish, and there’s a gold ring. Omar storms in to kill the prophet and leaves with blessings. Chase a deer and end up everywhere! An oyster opens his mouth to swallow on drop. Now there’s a pearl. A vagrant wanders empty ruins. Suddenly he’s wealthy. But don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth, without complicated explanation, so everyone will understand the passage, We have opened you. Start walking toward Shams. Your legs will get heavy and tired. Then comes a moment of feeling the wings you’ve grown, lifting.
~ Rumi