“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.”
~Rabindranath Tagore
Have you ever had an epiphany – a moment that changes everything? The clouds part, and our path becomes crystal clear.
This recently happened to my friend, Angela, in an unlikely circumstance. Much to her surprise, the outcome of grieving the loss of her beloved dog has sparked a tremendous natural uprising of kindness that is permeating every area of her life. It’s the type of kindness that comes from pure empathy, the recognition of the one heart that dissolves all separation. She virtually glowed as she shared with me her dedication to allowing this newfound realization of kindness to transform her whole way of being.
The Power of Commitment
I love those moments when we have an epiphany that changes everything. The clouds part, and our path becomes crystal clear. When we are inspired to make the commitment to live our lives according to what we truly want, to what seems undeniably obvious, we find ourselves facing the unknown with the exit door closed and locked behind us. For Angela, it was the commitment to kindness. For me, it was an unceasing quest to understand the truth about reality.
A commitment of this level stokes the inner fire like nothing else. We stop pretending that our true desire doesn’t matter, and we devote ourselves entirely to it. Inevitably, old ways of being will fall away, and we will be tested. Like the shoot of a flower emerging out of the earth, we step into the unknown full of possibility.
The commitment can be to anything – kindness, truth, health and well being, forgiveness, freedom from the inner critic, mindful communication. At this moment in your evolution, what do you commit to?
This path of deep commitment is exceedingly supportive, showering us with gifts, if we use it well. It commands us:
- To be conscious in the moments of our lives,
- To choose skillfully,
- To investigate how we turn away, and
- To resolve to stay true.
We shift from going through the motions like an automaton to intelligence, wisdom, and alignment. Try it out and see what wonders are set in motion in your precious life.
The Fire to Live Consciously
Life is a constant stream moving through us, layered with life circumstances and inner reactions. When we live an uncommitted life, we fall victim to these experiences as long as they remain unexamined. We feel confused and anchorless.
Committing to a path, value, or intention is like an alarm clock going off in the middle of the night. We are shaken awake and asked to become conscious. Rather than stumbling through life, we realize that we can be present for it and truly live. We let go of filters that color our perceptions, and see clearly what is actually arising in the moment. Oh, this feeling, this interaction. So much intimacy with everything is revealed.
We stop living on the surface and come to appreciate that unconsciousness has kept us from experiencing feelings, sensations, tenderness, and compassion. What we experience may not always be comfortable, but we awaken to our lives. Only then do we contact the possibility of realizing our heart’s desire.
The Fire to Choose
The outgrowth of becoming conscious is the capacity to choose. We begin to notice when we blindly go astray, and in that noticing realize the possibility of making choices. It dawns on us that we can actually make a decision infused with our deepest intention.
This is how habits change. At first, we don’t realize that we are actually making a choice about what we think, feel, or do. Behavior seems to occur; thinking patterns appear and proliferate. Once consciousness ignites, we recognize that our actions have been fueled by unseen fear and lack. We contemplate the possibility of considering what we actually want and allowing the choice to flow from this generous, healthy, bountiful place.
This is a revelation! We can actually unwind our conditioned patterns enough so that we are no longer victimized by them. It’s just like waking up to ourselves. We can experience the moments of our lives stable in the understanding that we are aware and alive. We can be free of unconscious motivations and pulls. We can be guided from the most intelligent place inside of us.
The Fire to Investigate
Making a commitment with both feet in opens the doorway to any feelings we may have been avoiding. We live unconsciously in the hopes of hiding from painful emotions. In the commitment to stay true to something , the automatic habits come to an end, and the energy that has been driving them has space to surface.
This is where the rubber meets the road. If we are to live the intention or value that is most important to us, we need to be fully aware of all the programming that diverts us. This might mean befriending fear, welcoming inadequacy, or leaning into long-standing sorrow, then learning how these feelings generate behavioral patterns that keep us stuck and unhappy. The more we know how these dynamics work, the greater the chance of being able to make a different choice when they arise.
The process of making a commitment to a true intention reveals its opposite. In Angela’s longing to deepen in kindness, she began to realize all the subtle ways she had been harsh. My quest for truth unveiled false identities and roles that held me back. Compassion spills over as we recognize the misguided ways we try to protect and care for ourselves. And this clarity shows us that only love and how it guides us makes any sense.
The Fire to Stay True
No doubt, we are tested when we make the choice to stand in our own truth. According to legend, in the days following the Buddha’s enlightenment, the demon, Mara, showed up to entice him with visions of beautiful women.
Mara represents the temptation to give into our conditioned habits and ignore our deepest longings. When we commit to a path, Mara will most likely arrive for a visit. These trials are nature’s way of testing our resolve, and their function is to inspire us to stay true to our commitment.
Commitments are powerful – and necessary to withstand the enticements of our familiar patterns.
Vowing to live in our own fundamental truth opens up a whole new way of being. Once the fire is lit, no matter how hard we try, we just cannot stay the same. When we put the old behind us and step out into the realm of possibility, we have set the stage for wonders to happen.
Have you made a commitment to something that is important to you? How has it affected you? I’d love to hear…
OccasionallySerene says
Gail,
I have committed to living in the moment – and yet that is so difficult sometimes. I love the story about Buddha and Mara. Mara is always here tempting me out of the moment. I try to embrace him, so that I can stay in the moment, yet that is what is most difficult, Yes? Do you have any suggestions?
.-= OccasionallySerene´s last blog ..Water =-.
Gail Brenner says
My question to you would be: What seems to take you out of the moment? In actuality, we are always in the moment – we can’t be anywhere else. The future and past exist in our minds only. In reality, it is always now. So what takes you away? Thoughts, feelings, urges, desires, bodily sensations? These seem to take us away, but they are simply experiences arising in the moment.
Attention is the key. Instead of getting involved in the story of a thought, let it float, and see what else is happening in the moment – sensations, stillness, whatever. This is the present. You may only be able to do this for a short time – maybe seconds – but each time you “wake up” to realize you have gone into your mind, you have another opportunity to be here.
This can’t be accomplished by will. There is a sense of relaxing away from everything that takes you out of the moment, to realize that the moment always has been here as it is. It’s a relaxing deeper and deeper inside.
I can continue to give you suggestions, if you find them helpful. One of the most helpful things in my journey has been to work directly with teachers. I couldn’t have gotten to where I am on my own. Just one session can make a big difference.
You are ripe, OS. May your fire burn brightly.
OccasionallySerene says
Thank you. Everything takes me away, and then I realize i am away and come back and then another distraction takes me away, and then I come back, and so on… I love that I catch myself, my ego, my mehness, wants me to catch it sooner everytime. I suppose that I will just have to let that go. Thank you for the encouragement.
.-= OccasionallySerene´s last blog ..Water =-.
Gail Brenner says
You are so welcome. Everything in it’s own time. I understand the desire to be present always. Can you meet that desire with compassion also?
I am honored to support you in any way I can, OS.
Love to you…
Marko -- Calm Growth says
Great as always Gail.
I deeply enjoy the commitment. I am not talking here about the “hard work to succeed.” This commitment does not have stress and anxiety. There are no winners and losers, only joy and growth. There is no manipulation and ego. It is pure energy of life. It is the purest form of what we call “enthusiasm.”
There is only one thing that I look in a different way than you Gail. It’s about the story of Mara and Buddha. Mara attacked the Buddha with his daughters. But Buddha is empty (there is no ego) so Mara daughters disappear. Mara has nothing to take from a man who has no ego. Buddha accepted the gap. He was not dedicated. He just accepted “nothing.” Buddha did not have a path. He just gave up the path. What do you think about this? 🙂
Continue the good work Gail, I really enjoy reading your articles 🙂
.-= Marko — Calm Growth´s last blog ..Why Some People Make Mistakes And Still Have Success =-.
Gail Brenner says
Marko,
The story as I know it is that Mara tempted the Buddha with his daughters. Besides the details, though, our understanding is the same.
“Mara has nothing to take from a man who has no ego.” I would go even further and say that in the understanding of no ego, even the concept of “man” falls away – no separation. Taking and giving are just stories – more concepts. They don’t really exist because there is nothing/no one to take from or give to. There is just the appearance of movement. I couldn’t find the exact quote, but I think it is by Jon Kabat-Zinn and goes something like, “There is no giving or receiving – only the universe moving itself around.”
And I love that you say the Buddha didn’t have a path. “Path” is a metaphor. There is no path, and in the giving up of that, where do we arrive? Right here, now, where we have never left.
I appreciate so much that you like my articles, Marko. I love the precision of your understanding and your comments. There is nothing else I would rather talk about, and I suspect you feel the same way!
Marko -- Calm Growth says
Yes, our understanding is the same. Thank you for this answer Gail. Of course that I feel the same way. The depth of your articles and replies to comments is stunning to me. I rarely encounters the opportunity to read and comment on something like that, even on the web.
I must add… your response to the “OccasionallySerene” comment, is very interesting overview of the present moment.
Gail Brenner says
Thank you. You are a true friend, Marko.
Christopher Foster says
Very happy to touch in with you again Gail and touch and feel your love for truth. What else really satisfies in the end? Not much, is my experience.
I specially resonate with what you say about facing our repressed feelings. I was brought up in England. Repressed feelings go with the territory, at least it did when I was young.
Better to have a day of reckoning sooner rather than later, so that we can enjoy the peace and wisdom that follows than keep putting it off and putting it off…
Are you open to having a new friend in the blogosphere…?
.-= Christopher Foster´s last blog ..Power of patience critical to lasting happiness =-.
Gail Brenner says
Hi Chris,
I am familiar with the British culture, and I recognize the conditioning to repress feelings. Somehow you have wended your way out of that conditioning! And what we usually find is that the feelings we were avoiding aren’t nearly as painful as we had imagined in our minds. When we look back from the other side, we see that repression isn’t worth putting off peace and wisdom that are available here right now.
And I know I’m preaching to the converted!
Always open to blogging friendships…
Take good care…
Armen Shirvanian says
Hi Gail.
Commitment sure does create a fire. Some recent commitments I have made such as to post daily(which I missed a day on but continue with) or to continue to find frugal ways to shop for healthy food are working great. Looking back, almost any of my great efforts came from some commitment I made. It was after it that I traveled the right way.
I’d almost have to say that we either commit or get nowhere.
.-= Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..No Good Deed Goes Unpunished =-.
Gail Brenner says
I read about your commitment to post every day. Good for you! And you even have time to comment on other people’s blogs – I’m impressed!
Your recent experience speaks to the power of commitment, Armen. And what is a commitment exactly? It’s an internal “yes!” to something. Thoughts, feelings, and body all line up, and the actions are naturally expressed.
You certainly aren’t stumbling blindly through life! Great to hear from you…
Chris Akins says
Gail,
This is my first visit to your site, and I am sold! You bring passion, insight and wisdom to your posts.
With regards to this post, you make too many fantastic points to comment on them all. My favorite is The Fire to Investigate.
Like you, I have a fascination with understanding “reality,” and more specifically, how each of our individual realities are constructed and integrate with others.
When I read this section, I immediately think of the role of framing life’s experiences as adventures, and approaching life with a sense of curiosity. In my view, this is fundamental to living consciously, aware, and in the moment.
I will visit often… with curiosity!
Chris
.-= Chris Akins´s last blog ..Become a brilliant public speaker =-.
Gail Brenner says
Welcome, Chris! Thank you SO much for your kind words. I am so happy to hear that you have found some useful words here.
I love curiosity! The opposite is to be closed and uninterested. When we are genuinely curious, worlds open up. And, I completely agree, curiosity is fundamental to being alive in this moment.
I look forward to getting to know you, and wish you well…
Ryan says
Hi Gail
I’m new from cape town South Africa. This article has started a fire inside of me to change my way of thinking that has a negative effect. I’m the type that looks for answers to my so many questions and this article concluded my question which is how do I DO what I plan without being distracted and giving up? Commitment! Its not easy but it defnately breeds a better way to think and to choose.
Great article.
Gail Brenner says
Welcome to you, Ryan! I love to hear that this fire is lit up in you to find freedom from negative thinking. That’s what it takes, so you’re willing to investigate everything you take for granted and give up what’s not working. You’re truly open, which will serve you well.
Wishing you a beautiful journey…