It’s Time To Wake Up

We travel best when we travel light . . . and with mindful awareness.

The poem Ithaka, by the Greek poet, C. P. Cavafy ~ read at the funeral of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis ~ addresses this truth:

As you set out in search of Ithaka
Pray that your journey be long,
full of adventures, full of awakenings.

Do not fear the monsters of old . . .
You will not meet them in your travels
if your thoughts are exalted and remain high,
if authentic passions stir your mind, body and spirit.

You will not encounter fearful monsters
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up in front of you.

What are these “fearful monsters” we need to release in order to more fully enjoy the journey to Ithaca?

Thoughts.

Thoughts which are not born of mindful awareness.  Thoughts streaming through our monkey minds, lurking below the surface of our activities, separating us from our authentic selves, preventing us from enjoying the present moment.  Thoughts which keep us tethered to the past instead of allowing us to sail lightly through life.

One such monster is resentment . . . and the failure to forgive.

When we learn to accept ourselves as we are and others as they are, the less need we have for forgiveness.  Until then, this mantra may help you practice both forgiveness and acceptance:

I bless you. I release you. I set you free.
I allow you to be you and me to be me.

Of course, resentment is only one of the “fearful monsters” we carry within us.  Other mindless thoughts, arising unbidden in our internal landscape, include jealousy, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, fear, and other concerns of our power-hungry and fragile Egos.

As we learn to let these Ego concerns fade away, we enter more fully the flow of life. The more conscious and mindful we become, the more deliberate we can be in our daily actions and interactions:

* The easiest way to transform the world is to change our perspective.

* The quieter our minds become . . . the more we hear.

* Spirit can clear out the underbrush of weeds in our minds.

* When we have conquered the enemy within, there are no enemies left to conquer.

When we practice meditation, we begin by pressing the PAUSE button, allowing the cares and concerns of the day to fade away so that we can see with clarity:

There’s no reality except the one contained within us. That’s why so many people live an unreal life.  They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself.  ~ Hermann Hesse

After meditating on the reality within, we emerge awake and alive, refreshed and re-invigorated.  Once we let go of the unnecessary baggage we’ve been carting around, we feel calmer and more peaceful, ready to journey through life and allow the path to unfold before us in its own way and its own time.

We learn to go with the flow instead of exhausting ourself by struggling against the current.

When we clear out the mental clutter that has littered our internal landscape, we see who we really are . . . and who we were always intended to be.

This search for authenticity, the Journey to Ithaka, is a journey worth making.

I’m not “there” yet . . . but I’m getting closer.

At times, when I’m fully awake and aware, I see glimpses of it on the horizon.

Quote:  ”What are you ~ a god, an angel, a saint?” “No,” replied The Buddha, “I am A-W-A-K-E.”

Related posts:  The Inner Path to Peace * A Not-So-Quick Quiz: Who Are You? * The Awakening by Sonny Carroll * Is a Lack of Forgiveness Holding You Back? (Always Well Within) * Are You Bold Enough To Forgive Yourself and Others?  (The Bold Life) * Surrender  (Courage 2 Create)