This month I’m writing
about a trend I see in all my readings. No matter the age, quality of life, or
economic status, EVERYONE seems to have a pattern in their lives which they
have entrained themselves to and which guides, binds, directs, and informs
their future. It seems to be operating all the time and this is not a negative
thing but certainly a binding one. In Hindu this pattern is called “samsara.”
Samsara is seen as an
endless cycle of life and illusion from which devout Hindus seek liberation.
For our purposes, I like to use the metaphor that each of us lives in a unique “soul
room” surrounded by a unique wallpaper and though each wallpaper is tailored to
our personal soul growth, the design has a repetitious pattern- this, no matter
what we do. There is also a quality of illusion to the patterns we experience
here on the earth plane.
But surely we can change the pattern of our
desires and what we manifest? I know it is an age-old question and I know that
I don’t see any evidence of it from my readings or in my personal life. If we
can’t change the pattern, maybe the lesson is broader and deeper… maybe we are
supposed to learn through illusive means; the bigger house, the healthier
relationship ,the brighter job prospects, each are something we spin out wheels to produce in life, missing
all other input that may cross our path. Zen Buddhism has an answer to this dilemma
which is to live in the moment. Hinduism holds that you believe in the illusion
( Maya ) of your free will and desire because
you believe you are an autonomous being and separate from your karma and the
cycle of birth and rebirth ( death too).To Hindus, awareness of the pattern
is freedom from it.
“Changing
up” the pattern we are experiencing for something better (and by better I
mean more whole, more peaceful, more fulfilling) and
doing this all our lives may be the highest good the average person (i.e. without
becoming a monk) can do. This “changing
up” can only come from realization-AWARENESS of the pattern which keeps reappearing.
Since it began as a thought, a seed of longing, the sought- after item grows as
we nourish it with our hopes, prayers, and visions and sometimes in our dreams.
It grows large and ever present – it becomes a pattern in our lives, every
single day of our lives we encounter aspects of it until at some point we
become aware and realize the persistent pattern and turn to call its name. At
that moment - poof! We recognize it was
not real, it is Maya, spurious, false- whatever term you prefer and on that day
we are free of the pattern. We have broken through! Through our awareness, we
see the pattern for the illusion it is and the sought- after item we so
anticipated having simply dissolves. And because of our increased awareness
this is not even painful. It feels like growth!
Now we are ready to
create something new-“the change up.” The new, sought- after item will not
resemble the old one at all because you have grown so much. It will seem
foreign at first and unreachable (that’s why it’s a change- up). The attempt to find more and reach further may be what
constitutes spiritual growth in this life. And our ability to change the
patterns of our lives constitutes a cycle of increased awareness which precedes
our perfection as Soul beings. Our new change -up makes us each uniquely special,
human, and deserving of all the compassion our brothers and sisters on this
earth can allow.
