Spiritual Chameleons
Writing Forty Four Prayers was spiritually cathartic for me. At a time of world lockdown, I, like billions of people, we're encouraged to go within. It was an excellent opportunity to embrace the truth of who I am rather than dance in a growing maelstrom of online conjecture. Something happened, though, neither surprising nor unexpected. With each door I unlocked, I saw myself Spiritually naked before everything I loved, on a level that was both familiar and yet so broad it felt like a new experience. I also found it interesting that my January 2020 blog was about "Seeing Clearly," a wordplay on seeing 20/20. I had no idea how true it would become.
Beginning in mid-March of 2020, I found myself sitting quietly, seeking better answers in life by learning to ask better questions. If the outside world mirrored my inner world, what was the truth about who I have been? In living my Spiritual life, where was I being asked to be like a Chameleon, changed by my environment, taking on coveted names to describe me, and where was I going to embrace who I indeed was? In a torrent sea of confusions that swirled around us in the Spring of that year, I was reacquainting myself that Love is truth. In revisiting it, I saw how that truth is widely accepted by all who know how to love.
Spirituality has always been less about what others expect of me and more about what I can do for another. It has always been about my relationship with and following the guidance of an all-encompassing Unconditional Love. Writing Forty Four Prayers became a cleansing salve that helped me purge my connection with a confused human consciousness. It became more about seeing the truth of what problems were and where they no longer fit in my life. Like all absolute truths, I was not alone in this experience. Because you are reading this, I know you felt it too.
For the first time, many people of the world had become Spiritually Naked; there was nowhere left to hide. Nor could they seek refuge in their beautiful temples of redemption, for the temple doors were locked. Screams of injustice could hear over the internet, and we could feel their anguish and fear. In response, many Spiritual people took sides and fought a spiritual war against the wounded by spouting conspiracies and governmental agendas. Many homes became broken.
Many more did not.
Some people choose to hug the people in their homes. The doors may have been closed, and their hearts not. Many acted on the front lines, providing support for the wounded. They were of every Spiritual denomination, bringing food to those unable to unlock the front door. In witnessing their acts of kindness, coupled with what I was experiencing, a collection of Prayers emerged that encouraged speaking from the heart. They were more about stating who we could be rather than asking for absolution. Understanding the truth of our inner light meant there was no longer any need to protect or shield our Love. Neither was Love used a sword or lance to attack another.
As I write you, I am preparing to leave my desk, drive to a pavilion and lead a talk about Karma. Certainly not a new topic; however, today, I will explore good Karma by embracing its four sublime truths; Loving Kindness, Compassion, Empath and Equanimity. When these immeasurable are the driving narratives in life, one need not become a Spiritual Chameleon. Instead, our true self shines through. In my life, I had tried to fit with the expectations of others, all the while my Spirit, a raging fire, had done exactly what I wanted to do, most times when I was permitted to do it. Neither my desire to be of service nor my strong will to do something cancelled each other out. Balance, I have learned, comes from within and being accountable for what we have created for ourselves. It also allows others to look after their checks and balances. Balance, as it would seem, is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment approach worthy of years or decades of practice.
It is easy to understand why people seek coveted titles and names, as it helps others know who we are and what we do. Soon we let go of the need to be a certain way to be acceptable and embrace a path of being the most spiritually aligned as we can be. We balance our ego's desire to change the world into the version we want and welcome the spiritual self that embraces the truth of what will be and calls forth who we are in that truth.
Forty Four Prayers explores who we can be moment by moment and our relationship to our life's message. When we embrace the truth of who we are and how we express ourselves, we ask fewer life questions. Each non-denominational Prayer is a key that unlocks a truth about who we are. Then, as we stand in the liminal space between All Love and a confused world, it becomes easy to see where we invested in the needs of that world and contributed to the confusion. In delving deeper into Love being truth, we quickly see how truth is accepted by all who know how to love. And it is that Love I see as the recipient of prayers. This is why writing this book has been spiritually cathartic and a labour of Love. True Love. Love of self and the world around me.