“Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?”
~Tao Te Ching
I was recently speaking with someone who was caught in a swirl of emotions. She felt so overwhelmed by the emotional energy that she didn’t know what to do with it.
I guided her to first take a couple of breaths and make space for the waves of emotion coming through her body.
I then invited her to be an open field of awareness that welcomes the intense sensations just as they are.
In a surprisingly short time, she was visibly calmer. Released from the grip of the emotions, she looked out the window. “The colors are so vibrant,” she said softly. “I never noticed that before.”
What happened to bring about this peace? She experienced a moment of grace where the veils of conditioned thinking fell away…revealing the direct experience of true nature shining through.
She was no longer distressed or worried. She wasn’t scrambling to fix or solve anything. Her inner critic was quiet, and she wasn’t thinking about others’ opinions of her. She was simply here…alive…peaceful…in total harmony with her present moment experience.
The truth of who we are is so incredibly close—and I absolutely love that we can discover it! But when we’re clouded by inner judgments, dramatic stories, and fixed ideas about ourselves, it seems like it’s a million miles away.
We’re hidden behind the veils of conditioning that seem so real.
These conditioned patterns have their root in our childhoods. We learn to be fearful and untrusting. We conclude that we’re inadequate, and think we need to please others to get approval. We pressure ourselves into perfection.
And when we live our everyday lives through the veil of these early patterns, we’re bringing the past into the present.
This is old baggage we carry around that may have served us long ago, but now limits our perspective and options in life. It keeps us from feeling liberated, open, and actually present to enjoy our lives.
Take a moment to reflect:
- What veils are you living behind?
- What do you think or feel that keeps you from being free?
- What holds you back from living your full potential?
As humans, our first urge is to get rid of these patterns that mask our light. If they would just go away, then all would be well. But as the saying goes, “What we resist persists.” And resistance is a harsh rejection of the tender parts of ourselves.
We need a different approach: one of openness, welcoming, self-compassion, and care. This is what softens the stuck places in us so there’s more space to live fully now.
And isn’t that what we want—to be inspired, peaceful, and free in our everyday lives? To live without limits?
By staying grounded in our bodies, we create a sense of safety for those parts of us that weren’t safe to feel long ago. We let ourselves be supported by others in this loving process—because we don’t have to go it alone.
And we invite ourselves to reclaim the wholeness of our true nature.
Moment by moment, we cleanse our inner vision so there’s space for the light to shine through.
And the light is here, I promise you, because it’s the essence of who you are beyond all ideas and limitations…your natural self…as the Zen saying says, your original face before you were born.
Then we meet Life—as it is—undefended and open, with nothing in the way. We see people and situations, not from habit, but so fresh like it’s the first time. And we bow down in gratitude for all that’s been given.