I keep The Book of Awakening by my bedside, and it has become a valued companion. Written by a remarkably wise and prolific poet, philosopher and spiritual teacher, Mark Nepo, it has a daily gift to offer.
One reading contain a particularly powerful message, and I requested permission from the publisher to share it here, which has been granted. So as we celebrate today's full moon, a "blue moon" that occurs only once every 2 ½ years, I invite you to read it while feeling the power of letting go of whatever no longer works in your life. It seems to me that this burning heat of summer is as good a time as any to "burn up" that which no longer serves you.
In joy,
Zet
GIVING UP WHAT NO LONGER WORKS
Burning your way to center
is the loneliest fire of all.
You'll know you have arrived
when nothing else will burn.
At first this sounds rather somber, but from Moses to Buddha to Jesus, the deepest among us have shown that living is a process of constantly paring down until we carry only what is essential.
It is the same in the human journey as in the natural world. As the center grows stronger, what once was protective turns into a covering, like tree bark or snake skin, that is now in the way, and, sooner or later, we as spirits growing in bodies are faced with burning old skins, like rags on sticks, to light our way as we move deeper and deeper into the inner world, where the forces of God make us one.
When faced with the need to keep going inward, we are confronted with a very difficult kind of life choice: like carving up your grandmother's table for firewood to keep your loved ones warm, or leaving a job that has been safe and fulfilling in order to feel vital again, or burning an old familiar sense of self because it's gotten so thick you can't feel the rain.
In truth, always needing to stay immediate by removing what is no longer real is the working inner definition of sacrifice-giving up with reverence and compassion what no longer works in order to stay close to what is sacred.
- o Sit quietly and meditate on the edge of yourself that meets the world. Feel its thickness.
- o As you breathe, feel the inner edge of yourself that meets your spirit. Feel its softness.
- o As you breathe, pray for the edge that is you to be as thin as possible and only as thick as necessary.
From THE BOOK OF AWAKENING © 2000 Mark Nepo, used with permission from Red Wheel Weiser, LLC Newburyport, MA and San Francisco CA www.redwheelweiser.com
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