"It's never enough until it's too much." ~ Andrew Cohen
The profound transformation that all genuine spiritual paths lead us toward is always immanent and immediate. It's not something that happens in the future, it only happens right now. It's not about becoming a different person in the future or making slow and steady changes over time. That's a valid and valuable piece of the pie but it's not what I'm speaking about.
What I'm speaking about is a fundamental shift of identity, of who we are choosing to be, from identifying with our relative, personal self to identifying with a dimension of our self that is infinitely deeper and always already free.
It's a shift that we're never going to feel ready for, right now. It's always going to seem like it's 'too much' looking at if from the outside, too radical, too extreme, too challenging, too unreasonable, too irresponsible, too frightening, too demanding, too impossible. I feel these things as I write these words.
That you and I can literally become different people, right now, in spite of - and in the midst of - all of our human frailties just seems too much for us to bear. It couldn't possibly be that simple! But what if it is? When you begin to face into the possibility of such things you will likely discover, as I have, that you don't really want to change as much as you thought.
There is a part of all of us that has no interest in the radical transformation that many of the great spiritual masters have pointed to and demonstrated but there is also a deeper part of ourselves that is indeed only interested in such transformation. The subtle part is that we are not standing somewhere in the middle choosing sides. We have already chosen a side and we're looking at all of this from that part of ourselves, the part that believes this is all 'too much.'
When we bring forth the courage we need to face such things we discover that the implications are profound, perhaps more so than we may have ever imagined. Even the very idea that we can choose to identify and live from a deeper part of who we are that is already free seems utterly unbearable for the ego. No amount or type of spiritual practice or self-help techniques - by themselves - are going to transform us in this fundamental way without our willingness and intention to face into these challenging questions, possibilities, and implications.
Nothing is so simple yet so demanding. How easy or difficult this will seem to any of us is something we will find out for ourselves. What I do know is that it means letting go of everything. That's pretty serious and until we're willing to be this serious we're not going to get very far. That's up to each one of us.
What about grace? Surely this can't all be on our shoulders?
To me, grace is found in the fact that we can freely make this shift and are given all the help in the universe when we intend to do so. What more could any of us ask for?
After all is said and done, this all points back to me: my words are my life. If I'm not embodying what I'm speaking about then these are all just interesting ideas, are they not? I'm seeing more and more clearly that beyond any particular words and actions, the greatest way for me to help others make this shift is to first choose it for myself.
The profound transformation that all genuine spiritual paths lead us toward is always immanent and immediate. It's not something that happens in the future, it only happens right now. It's not about becoming a different person in the future or making slow and steady changes over time. That's a valid and valuable piece of the pie but it's not what I'm speaking about.
What I'm speaking about is a fundamental shift of identity, of who we are choosing to be, from identifying with our relative, personal self to identifying with a dimension of our self that is infinitely deeper and always already free.
It's a shift that we're never going to feel ready for, right now. It's always going to seem like it's 'too much' looking at if from the outside, too radical, too extreme, too challenging, too unreasonable, too irresponsible, too frightening, too demanding, too impossible. I feel these things as I write these words.
That you and I can literally become different people, right now, in spite of - and in the midst of - all of our human frailties just seems too much for us to bear. It couldn't possibly be that simple! But what if it is? When you begin to face into the possibility of such things you will likely discover, as I have, that you don't really want to change as much as you thought.
There is a part of all of us that has no interest in the radical transformation that many of the great spiritual masters have pointed to and demonstrated but there is also a deeper part of ourselves that is indeed only interested in such transformation. The subtle part is that we are not standing somewhere in the middle choosing sides. We have already chosen a side and we're looking at all of this from that part of ourselves, the part that believes this is all 'too much.'
When we bring forth the courage we need to face such things we discover that the implications are profound, perhaps more so than we may have ever imagined. Even the very idea that we can choose to identify and live from a deeper part of who we are that is already free seems utterly unbearable for the ego. No amount or type of spiritual practice or self-help techniques - by themselves - are going to transform us in this fundamental way without our willingness and intention to face into these challenging questions, possibilities, and implications.
Nothing is so simple yet so demanding. How easy or difficult this will seem to any of us is something we will find out for ourselves. What I do know is that it means letting go of everything. That's pretty serious and until we're willing to be this serious we're not going to get very far. That's up to each one of us.
What about grace? Surely this can't all be on our shoulders?
To me, grace is found in the fact that we can freely make this shift and are given all the help in the universe when we intend to do so. What more could any of us ask for?
After all is said and done, this all points back to me: my words are my life. If I'm not embodying what I'm speaking about then these are all just interesting ideas, are they not? I'm seeing more and more clearly that beyond any particular words and actions, the greatest way for me to help others make this shift is to first choose it for myself.
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