And more importantly, how does one go about it?
I’ve spent a million lifetimes – in just this single incarnation – trying to perfect some ill-conceived ideology of what self-mastery means.
Many Masters have walked this earth, sharing their loving essence and their teachings of divine love, emanating a deep understanding of this state as our true nature. And I think it is fair to say, that the embodiment of pure love IS the defining principal at the root of ALL teachings. We strive to “know thyself” as that.
On my path I’ve connected to and resonated with so many different teachings, philosophies and practices – deeply profound ones – that now, looking back with greater insight and perspective, somehow seem to perpetuate some sort of idealogical representation of how to do things the “correct” way in order to reach some high level of attainment.
This is good for you, that is not. Do less of this and more of that. These parts of you are ‘acceptable’ and those parts, not so much. Rid yourself of these behaviors, cultivate more of those. And on it goes.
But there has arrived, for me, a new state of consciousness, casting itself in a profoundly less conditional light.
I am not suggesting the proverbial throwing of the baby out with the bathwater, as guidelines and deeper understandings always emerge from those who have walked the path before us and have chosen to share their understandings solely for our benefit.
But what I am personally discovering is this:
The perceived flaws themselves are the real teachers. It is our relationship… every single aspect of it… to these less harmonious states, which actually paves the way to truly knowing thyself.
What an utterly mind-blowing relief it’s been, to fully conceptualize this one, fundamental flaw of how I have understood things. There simply is no right or wrong way to traverse this path of awakening, no matter who guides you otherwise or how the guidance is presented.
Flushing out the societal structures (both current and ancient) of a right/wrong approach from my system so I can find my very own, unique (and frankly, perfectly-imperfect) internal flow… this is a deep teaching I am beginning to fully understand.
We humans, by our very nature, are resilient, and yet somehow the programming forces us to always look at what me missed… what wasn’t good enough or could have been better… causing us to disregard and dishonor all those ‘unattractive’ or ‘undesirable’ aspects of self.
My current perspective now shines light on how highly problematic this is, since those pieces are the exact parts that provide the platform for us to find the tenacity, strength, understanding and intuition to keep navigating life.
We’ve been relentlessly cultivated to avoid seeing and owning our own inherent and profoundly sublime state of beingness, which continues to shine regardless of the many contradictory ways it may express externally.
You are not some ideological being living in a vacuum. You are an incredibly intricate, messy, glorious, mysterious amalgamation of ever-shifting states, holding a space in this universe that absolutely no one else can hold. Every aspect of you matters and no aspects are better or worse than others.
Mastery is not a destination.
It is the perpetual unfolding of a desire to move away from what you think you know toward all you don’t, compelled solely by the seeking of value and worth which resides in every facet of the unknown.
Mastery is not perfection.
It is seeing and owning the deep illusion of perfection and holding it with equal reverence to the illusion of imperfection… and realizing it’s all subjective, mercurial and fleeting anyway.
You see, I realize more and more, that “perfection” is a concept with absolutely no weight or validity. The moment-by-moment fluctuation and interplay of life itself, every breath, in fact, automatically shifts the perceived and potential outcome you thought you were striving for.
This is the flow of the universe, of which you are an integral part.
And resilience of the heart… that ever-ready, never-failing, inner guiding light of the truest most authentic self… this we can never find, because it’s never been lost. We can only remember it as our nature.
Our heart is the unshakeable, immutable and ever-present voice that is ready to remind us of our absolute ‘perfection’ right here, right now, in this very moment.
This is how I understand true mastery. Standing strong in ones heart-centric, innate resilience, knowing and understanding, that the uniqueness of YOU simply being you, is enough.
It is more than enough.
