The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
She is present and can welcome all things.
This is called ‘Embodying the Light.’
(Tao te Ching chapter 15, 27
S. Mitchell translation)
There is something interesting that happens when we stop needing things to go a certain way and become receptive to whatever life presents – even when the reality we expected, has gone haywire.
Of course when the control we believe we have over our lives is suddenly dissolved, it can be quite uncomfortable – confronting, challenging, scary, infuriating.
Consider our bodies – our health, functionality or physical comfort. It’s extremely threatening when the way we believe our bodies should look, act or feel, goes amok.
Almost daily now, extreme weather phenomena, war or violence can shock our sense of security, as we see or experience devastation and loss through natural or consciously human destructive events.
On a less extreme note, even traveling can shake us out of our daily complacency, and put us at the mercy of a much wider range of unexpected variables within a foreign environment.
We will always have a preference for how we would like things to be, but here’s the problem with needing life to always fulfill our particular agenda in order to feel ok: change is certain. It’s how we interpret and/or resist the change, that will shape our future.
When something happens that doesn’t conform to our desired expectations, rather than blindly reacting/speaking/judging from that place of discomfort, take a moment and just be present to yourself. Sit consciously within the discomfort and momentarily refrain from the immediate need to wrestle the world back under control. Take a pause.
The simple act of interrupting our knee-jerk reactions to what we perceive as ‘wrong,’ opens new opportunities for ‘rights.’ When we receive whatever is happening without prejudice, we step into a more expansive field of possibilities where things can ‘work out’ in any number of new and even satisfying ways.
This is where true freedom lies. When we don’t need things to conform to rigid expectations, then we cannot find ourselves disappointed. We aren’t hostages to the possibility of things ‘not turning out’ because everything always turns out!
When we can find our sense of stability within any situation, even the so-called bad ones, we are “embodying the Light.” It’s not that darkness doesn’t come, but when it does, we can still perceive light. The present circumstances simply are; we mindfully seek the best response, and go from there.
Life is never a straightforward journey, no matter how safely we try to play it. Take some time to explore your own resilience to the unexpected. If you are on a ship that is tossing back and forth in the waves, can you regain your balance? Perhaps even support others through their fear, and help them find some stability within themselves?
Don’t get me wrong: NONE of us are comfortable when our normal gets turned upside down. But in a world whose machinations seem designed to push us beyond our comfort zone and into new possibilities, practicing some adaptability means we can flow more harmoniously with whatever life brings. We can embody the light – for ourselves, and for others.
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