I woke up, as I lay dozing listening to Autobiography of a Yogi. The book is speckled with mystical, heart-opening accounts and recollections, but for me, the universe opened up, right around hour 15 of the audio. Below, I will share what I learned.
Religions teach placing a limitation on, harnessing, and conquering desires. I philosophically and morally was aware of the value of this, but in practice, continued to fulfill every one of my desires to the utmost and at all costs. It wasn’t until I read about what desires do to us in the afterlife, that I realized I needed to do something about it now. If desire doesn’t end here, it never ever will.
Desire and freedom cannot coexist. Desire not only keeps us bound to the object of desire today, chasing it with tunnel vision, but it also keeps us bound in the cycle of life and death. Yes, this is a familiar Buddhist concept. But how does it work? This is what I learned.
After we shed the physical body, the astral body continues on. The astral body contains the imprints of any unresolved desires from the lifetime and continues to create new desires. Distinctly, however, it is able to immediately manifest the objects of desire, as there is little delay between thought and manifestation in a subtle plane. The soul, bound in an astral body by desire, spends its time thinking, manifesting, and reflecting after physical death, till it chooses to incarnate again to work out karma, continue its practical learning, and fulfill physical desires. Then again, the physical body dies, and so continues the cycle of karma, desire, and learning as the soul shuffles back between the gross and subtle forms.
We have an opportunity, now, to lay a foundation for freedom.
We need to practice a ceiling on desires here and now, not because we are religious, spiritual, or idealistic, but because what we truly want more than anything is freedom. The soul’s nature is complete freedom, and the only way out is through. I had heard the basics of this before, but the church bells started ringing when I realized that ending desire isn’t the goal just for this lifetime – in order to lead an easygoing, non-disappointing life. It’s the ultimate, universal goal of all spirits in all lifetimes, in all planes, and in all dimensions throughout eternity.
But, something about this doesn’t sit well with me. I relish in fulfilling my desires, and I’m the first one to rebel against ending desire. I really believe a healthy dose of desire is a good thing. After all, isn’t it the desire to grow and be better that motivates me to even think about this? And if I don’t make peace with my desires in this body, then I’m Earthbound to come back and fulfill them next time around.
However, there’s such a fine line between a balanced desire and an out of control desire, and it is such an art to strike that fine balance. Although, it’s not as hard as it seems.
The way out, the way to freedom, and to the end of the cycle is actually quite simple. All you have to do is move out of the way and surrender to flow. Align your energy and intention with that of Source energy and ask it flow through you. Put your desire and intention out there, and then be totally unattached to the outcome. Don’t try to manipulate and maneuver, just let life flow and be truly ok with what you get.
It may feel like you’re giving something up, but the peace and ease to life you gain is worth all your desires in gold. This is also how we stay on the living edge of life, open to spontaneity and co-creating with the Creator, whose manifestation is far greater than what we can conceive for our own life. When we stop worrying and stressing over checking off our wish-list, interestingly we also gain what we want materially, and it’s often better than what we imagined. Worry, stress, and micromanaging life actually block us from getting what we really want and what is truly best for us.
So if you will join me over the next few weeks, when so much of the world is stressing about so much, with starting your morning, first thing when your eyes open for the day, with an intention to open, surrender, and flow with what is in your highest good. Repeat this intention throughout the day every hour or every time you check Facebook or Instagram, whichever is more often 😉 Apply flow to everything. Make no decisions on your own. Stop muscling. Trust that everything that is meant for you, will flow to you.
Just try it for one day. And if you like it, try it for another. I know it will change our lives, raise our vibration, give us a taste of true freedom, and ultimately shift the world. And honestly, it’s the greatest trick in the book. You won’t be giving up a thing.
love,
Nisha