It is strange and beautiful – we come from a spirit world which is filled with infinite love and abundance, and are born on this planet with that memory completely erased. We adopt the human ego and body and feel alone and isolated, when in fact, we are not alone. We are all connected to each other, to everything in nature.
The Five A’s of Heart Needs
Unfortunately, we feel the human pain of loneliness, of lack of Acceptance, Appreciation, Affection, Attention and Approval (the 4 A’s that the heart needs); whether from our own parents, siblings, or others in our community or society. And we are supposed to overcome all of that – a lifetime of piled up resentment, of the feeling of lack of control – being human is not easy. It can seem to be endless suffering.
I remember, a few weeks after my break up I went to a meditation sit (my fiance was picking up his belongings from my apartment and I was too heart-broken to be there in person). There, I met this psychic/healer, who read that “You have so much love coming into my being right now, from the entire universe, that you don’t even realize it”. I simply did not believe her – it sounded so unreal. I felt so disappointed with life, so much self-pity, so much grief. I felt like there was no love (at least not the kind of love that I had valued) being directed at me.
Loving Self
From our conversations during the retreat, I want to share with you something very personal, something that I have been working on for the past few months, and it’s been pretty intense. It’s about feeling self-love and acceptance. I’m feeling complete on my own, without the need for love or acceptance from anyone else. It’ about being in love with one’s self.
It’s taken a lot of meditation, reflection, dealing with my “inner child”, and just learning to live in the present. I’m not going to lie, it also took tremendous spiritual work with a healer.
I am not sure how long the good results will last (hopefully for the foreseeable future), but I feel lighter, more happy and complete than I have ever in my life. I am holding on to everything in my current life very lightly, learning to laugh, be silly, and not take anyone or anything seriously and just having fun!! After all, human life is short, compared to how old our souls really are!
You Can Fill the Void Within
Dear one, my hope for you is to is to know how amazing and beautiful you are, no matter what you say, what you look like, etc. Rather, it’s about who you are as a person, deep inside. You are a complete package in and of yourself; your voids are filled through your own love and acceptance of yourself.
No one else, including your parents, or a significant other, can fill that void. And I believe that you are a very special person – an older, evolved soul – the questions you are asking, the spiritual path you are on, is the path to greater consciousness; and you are at the brink of a very beautiful discovery!
A Meditation for You
Just the other day, I was reading this beautiful piece: “Is there anyone who loves you as much as yourself? One day King Prasenajit of Koshala asked Queen Mallika, My dear wife, is there anyone who loves you as much as yourself? The Queen laughed and responded, My dear husband is there anyone who loves you more than you love yourself? The next day they told the Buddha of their conversation and he said You are correct. There is no one in the universe more dear to us than ourselves. The mind may travel in a thousand directions, but it will find no one else more beloved. The moment you see how important it is to love yourself, you will stop making others suffer. ”
It’s taken from this excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book (which I was telling you about during the retreat – a complete practice on self-love & metta):http://www.caringawareness.com/ross/4Practices/SELFLOVE.html. This forms the meditation I try to do a few times a week at least.
This summer, I spent all my free time in parks, absorbing the pure love frequency of nature – the cool, soft breeze enveloping my body, the sweet scent of flowers and pine trees, the fun and flirty chirping from the birds, the silly activities of dogs and puppies.
Spending so much time with myself, with all natural elements, brought me so much joy it made me realize that I have all the conditions right now to be happy. That I am complete, much like the hibiscus flower, the daffodil.
The other part of my journey that was so important was the role of Sangha {https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Sangha}and service. I found that the Sangha had given me the right positive soil to nurture my self love, loving kindness, equanimity, compassion, joy, to let me speak openly about my pain, to meditate with others and to feel their loving energy. I encourage everyone now to become part of a Sangha, to unearth our true nature and learn to lead more authentic lives.
Once you have begun the process of self love and acceptance, you will embark on the next part of your spiritual journey, to forgive everyone, including yourself, and everyone who has ever hurt you. You will grow your bruised heart from a small cup to a bottomless, flowing river of compassion and empathy. In that river you will be able to carry infinite amounts of love, forgiveness and compassion for yourself, and then for your parents, friends, society at large.
This sounds like a lot to absorb! Being aware and focusing on loving and accepting yourself is the start to everything beautiful. I am sure that you are already making headway in your journey.
With love,
Sarika
- Practice Self Love
- Clear your spiritual blocks and increase your vibration & magnetism
- Date and attract your soulmate in a healthy, joyful way
