I was speaking with someone and the topic of selfishness came up.
So I have a few things that have rambled through my head on this particular subject, and I wanted to jot them down, in case there was anyone who had an interest. Also because sometimes when you are too full, one needs to empty the glass so it can be cleaned and made useful for some other draught.
Being “selfish” is a big subject, as the self naturally tends to want to know itself. In the usual sense we have crammed the self with information and goods, till really it cannot stand alone as it naturally is, for it has so many attachments, like some massive octopus with all these suckers attached to its arms. Give me, give me, give me, has become the human beings main motto.
Listen I am human so I am not immune, but we keep forgetting we all will be leaving all this “stuff” behind, no matter how beautiful or useful it may be.
With that said here is the main point. Is it selfish to open the gift that the Creator has given You?
I mean personally each one of us have been given unlimited treasures, and to take the time to discover them is wisdom, even if it means taking some time for oneself.
Many of us strive to accomplish things, so the world may be a better place to live. Whatever giving we do on that front is not selfless for the self benefits by feeling good, for reaching out to help another.
The only selflessness I believe in when the drop has merged in the ocean, and for a brief timeless time, there is no one in here with opinions and judgments, and concerns and maybes, there is just this recognition, this occupation of something so much vaster that has just replaced the smaller limited view, with an elevated perspective, that lets you notice behind the scenes, there is an ocean of fulfillment.
Normally we think fulfillment is in acquiring: if I get this, then that will make me happy, then when I get that, … etc. We are like a bunch of squirrels, storing up so the winter will not be so cold. So we get a house, and a fireplace and all these blankets, and we are now secured against the storms. What about the storms within oneself, are there any doors or locks that can keep out that wind and rain?
So after you have acquired and acquired you wonder, hmmm I thought This Was It. The partner, the car, the diamond ring, wow beautiful yes, but no one counted on the problems that attend these things.
So the Self in the meantime has taken a vacation, for no-one is paying any attention. The ego is so distracted with placing cosmetics on the dirt, (remember dust to dust) it has forgotten that the self even exists. What Self ??
I was swimming in the ocean the other day, and thinking, is it selfish to love the water, is it selfish to love the sky, the flowers, my body as it glides elegantly through the sea?
My overwhelming feeling was it is my honor to have this vehicle so I may appreciate Gods handiwork. Gratitude and feeling fortunate is a gift, that one should receive. It is not tangible, but it is nonetheless a gift. This type of gift will see you through all of life’s roads, for you may walk content and full, knowing the abundance of the Creator has blessed one, over and over and over and over and over again and again and again.
Taking this humility and giving thanks, for the breath that has been bestowed to us this second, how much is that worth? When we know nothing will last except the love we fill the cup of our hearts with, then don’t you sense that. Also that is what you should be paying attention to, rather then thinking about who has hoarded the most “stuff”.
Once again I am attracted as well to “pretty things”, and I buy “things” and most likely always will. All one has to do is look at our closets. But … none of those things can satisfy my soul. The soul, the heart, doesn’t have hands. You can’t feed it sweets, or hug it. You can’t dress it up and put lipstick on it. There is a joke about strapping a crocodile down in a chair, and then applying lipstick, and saying smile …
I mean all that means absolutely zero to the croc, (matter of fact, it is a croc of sh…) because that is not its nature. What is our nature?
We try to keep putting all these things on our nature to appease, but our nature is simpler then that. Our soul is free and we keep wanting to enslave it, bind it, make it comfortable with the cage. The soul is a bird that needs to fly, how can it Ever stretch its wings, when the 24 inch television is crammed in there as well?
So the Self, is gorgeous, on its own.
It doesn’t need props, opinions, rules and regulations. We are always trying to control, or prove that one is better then another. How petty is that. When we have been created equal, and then no I am better, no I am better, and so many wars, because everyone thinks they are better.
Better then who? We are humans, on one planet? Can’t we just be grateful for a change, that we are here and we have this chance to get it right, instead of all the thousands of years we have continually gotten it wrong.
Our basic flaw is not knowing oneself. We try to say well now that I am a doctor, this is who I am, or a mother or father, or carpenter, but no this is what you do, not who you are. We are much more beautiful then what we see in the mirror.
Look at the one who looks out and you will feel a wonder.
Not the face, but peer deeper, and see if you can contact the one who lives inside this temporary shell of yours. There is a permanent we need to get in touch with, and one cannot just say like a parrot, oh yes the infinite, but one must be so in touch, that the breath of that power, alights into the whole of your consciousness.
In reality it is time for us to rest. As a humanity we need to rethink how we will proceed. History has been paved with a lot of sorrow, yes many accomplishments, but at what price? The environment, our home, needs our attention, and we could collectively begin to care for her, not destroy her. Individually we all need to come back home to our own simplicity. We have been trapped by programming, different cultures, different programming, but we all have been indoctrinated.
We need to throw off these shackles of concepts and stand as one humanity, free of the restraints that have perpetrated hate and fear, and doubt. There is a Self that is calling for us to Wake Up. For there is a love that embraces us all within …
If we could only turn inside ourselves
to see this radiant clarity.
2009:
The Year We Changed Into OurSelves.
