San Fernando Valley Sunset
and if you don't like where you land, leap again
We have a bounty of potential within us, the whole of nature to guide us as we navigate through the world. Past experience, from the point of view of the ego, justifies caution. If we only had time to "figure it all out," we could engineer every aspect of our surroundings so that we could be safe. We could insulate ourselves from mistakes.
But mistakes are how we learn. By being overly careful, we achieve zero growth, caught in a cycle of the "ever-repeating known." When we insist on this safety, we cheat ourselves.
We don't want to make a case for going unprepared, or "half-cocked." The ego has a useful role to play in managing the practical aspects of our lives, but there is only so much preparation one can do for most eventualities and outcomes. At some point, we have to move forward, even at the risk of not knowing what will happen. We have to trust that we can take life as it comes, making the best decision in the moment that we can.
The framework of knowledge that the Vedic world view provides to us here in the West is dependent on a rediscovery of instinct, a "finer level of feeling" than the purely ego-driven, fear-based intellect. This knowledge is available to us, but the way forward is not simply intuitive. It helps to learn to meditate.
We sit down for about twenty minutes, twice a day. We dip into unboundedness, our consciousness becoming free, without expectation, without judgement. Most diligent meditators report an experience of growing calm, of bliss, and of expanded awareness. An increased capacity for subtle levels of discernment becomes possible, and we can once again trust our intuition.
We in the Vedic community are not evangelists. We don't feel we have a monopoly on enlightenment. We encourage those who are interested to "follow their hearts."
Some balk at the idea that there is an ancient discipline that should be learned. Some are repelled by the idea that the teacher should be paid. There are always roadblocks that the ego can invent to discourage forward progress. We know that awareness evolves at its own pace, and in its own design.
Guru Deva