beyond priorities...
A quick side thought (hopefully)...
Spiritual awareness unfortunately isn't just about deciding "OK here's my top priority" and then it comes naturally. I've found that there's a very fundamental life conflict that I really have to fight in order to avoid a state of heedless hovering/ stagnation. Something that puts a damper on every aspiration and effort. Something that practically ensures that I remain dull and lifeless on the inside. Do you know what it is? The answer:
Desire for Comfort.
Gah! Does this even need an explanation? That excited voice inside that tells me I'm alive, that wants to learn new things and develop my senses and faculties and experience life, grows weaker and weaker as comfort overrides it. I don't want to think about anything difficult! I want to be near the familiar! I want everything to be easy! This is THE MOST DIFFICULT piece to overcome, I'm pretty sure.
I think it takes more than sheer grit and stoic discipline to overcome the comfort instinct - it takes a lot of love. Spiritual vibrancy, the impetus and inspiration that makes comfort seem irrelevant, stems from the love of God, which is the attraction to purity and beauty and majesty. It is very important that this natural attraction of the heart remains strong enough to override the natural inertia of the body, which is the desire for comfort.
Just putting the thought out there as usual!
"O MY CHILDREN! I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven, ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to water and clay." - Baha'u'llah
Spiritual awareness unfortunately isn't just about deciding "OK here's my top priority" and then it comes naturally. I've found that there's a very fundamental life conflict that I really have to fight in order to avoid a state of heedless hovering/ stagnation. Something that puts a damper on every aspiration and effort. Something that practically ensures that I remain dull and lifeless on the inside. Do you know what it is? The answer:
Desire for Comfort.
Gah! Does this even need an explanation? That excited voice inside that tells me I'm alive, that wants to learn new things and develop my senses and faculties and experience life, grows weaker and weaker as comfort overrides it. I don't want to think about anything difficult! I want to be near the familiar! I want everything to be easy! This is THE MOST DIFFICULT piece to overcome, I'm pretty sure.
I think it takes more than sheer grit and stoic discipline to overcome the comfort instinct - it takes a lot of love. Spiritual vibrancy, the impetus and inspiration that makes comfort seem irrelevant, stems from the love of God, which is the attraction to purity and beauty and majesty. It is very important that this natural attraction of the heart remains strong enough to override the natural inertia of the body, which is the desire for comfort.
Just putting the thought out there as usual!
"O MY CHILDREN! I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven, ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to water and clay." - Baha'u'llah