| On Receiving |
Shiva and Shakti, the divine couple in Hinduism, are in their heavenly abode watching
over the earth. They are touched by the challenges of human life, the complexity of
human reactions, and the ever-present place of suffering in the human experience. As
they watch, Shakti spies a miserably poor man walking down the road. His clothes are
shabby and his sandals are tied together with rope. Her heart is wrung with compassion.
Touched by his goodness and his struggle, Shakti turns to her divine husband and begs
him to give the man some gold. Shiva looks at the man for a long moment. "My dearest
wife," he says, "I cannot do that." Shakti is astounded: "Why, what do you mean,
husband? You are Lord of the Universe. Why can't you do this simple thing?"
"I cannot give this to him because he is not yet ready to receive it," Shiva replies. Shakti
becomes angry. "Do you mean to say that you cannot drop a bag of gold in his path?"
"Surely I can," Shiva replies, "but that is quite another thing."
"Please, husband," says Shakti. And so Shiva drops a bag of gold in the man's path.
The man meanwhile walks along thinking to himself, "I wonder if I will find dinner tonight--
or shall I go hungry again." Turning a bend in the road, he sees something on the path in
his way. "Aha," he says, "Look there, a large rock. How fortunate that I have seen it. I
might have torn these poor sandals of mine even further." And carefully stepping over the
bag of gold, he goes on his way.
Why is receiving so hard for us? Among all the many programs we’ve accepted
as “our belief”, Thou Shalt Not Receive seems to be a most powerful one. I often
wonder why it’s so.
I can always come up with some ideas of why. Unfortunately, when I give in to
that particular question, I create a false reality: It really isn’t hard for us to receive!
The gifts are all around us; we’re swimming in a river of generous offerings. We
always receive what we’ve created, but how can we be open to consistently
seeing it, so that we can take it in and enjoy it?
That last question makes a good first step: What would it take for me to remain
open to all that the Universe is sending me? How can I take in everything and
enjoy it? There is no answer that will satisfy. But living the question will create an
openness that will be rewarded.
Here’s another step to try, an exercise: Think of this linear reality as a creation
of a holodeck, the miraculous Star Trek creator of solid universes. In a holodeck,
a computer creates all reality, and gives it weight and solidity. This is precisely
what your brain does, too! The reality it creates is based on pure programs.
Imagine yourself sitting in the holodeck. You’ve just told the computer to stop
running the programs that supported your yesterday’s reality. For today’s reality
what will you create? How will your body feel? What will your brain do? Start with
creating your physical environment. Are you on an island? In the mountains?
Ignore all you know about physics, unless it suits you. Be in five places at once.
You control when and if the sun shines. Create only things that bring you joy and
connection. Don’t create yourself DOING anything, just being. Create a world in
which you can just Perceive, Know, Be, and Receive. Add no one who will judge
you, and nothing that will judge or value you. Again, how does your body feel?
How do you want it to feel? Imagine a world in which you could live every day of
the rest of your life. Don’t limit yourself to the Earth: you are an Infinite Being. . .
When you step out of this exercise, your standard programs will start running
again. Brain: “But that’s not the real world; I have to live in this reality! It I don’t pay
my bills . . .” You still have choice in that moment. The programs that want to run
are no more real than the holodeck program you created. Until you make them
more real by accepting them. That’s a choice. I’m wondering what will ever
change in your life if you continue to accept those programs?
You know that feeling you have when you’re on vacation? Like you’re a million
miles away from all the reality of your life? I LOVE (I mean LOOOOOOVE) that
feeling!! I don’t have to DO anything: no bills, no phone calls, no oil changes. It
feels like an escape from all that, doesn’t it? How is it that some people (it’s true!)
go on vacation and never go home? I heard of a couple recently who went to a
Caribbean island, and decided to stay! The reality they had created in Dayton or
Schenectady ended abruptly. They chose a new reality. They went home only to
pack up and sell their house. Can you imagine the programs that wanted to run in
them?!? That said, “You can’t possibly do that! That’s so irresponsible. Shape
up and act like responsible, thinking adults. Are you insane?” Of course those
programs ran! But they made another choice. At some point we have to
acknowledge that nothing in our lives will change if we keep accepting the limiting
programs of our lives, the reality we created yesterday. If we were unable to
choose, no one would ever start a business or invent anything. No one would
explore. Fun couldn’t exist.
In the story of Shakti and Shiva, the poor man cannot receive the gold because
he didn’t create it. It wasn’t part of his reality, so it didn’t exist. What he had
created was a life of obstacles, and so another obstacle he got.
This is the invitation of Access: destroy and uncreate EVERYTHING you were
and created yesterday, and create today’s reality from conscious choice. We are
not victims. Our hands are not tied. Every aspect of our daily lives is a choice,
and we can stop choosing ANY of it TODAY! We can make a new choice every
10 seconds.
What would you like to destroy and re-create today? What programs will you
simply stop taking on? What would it take for you to receive everything?
over the earth. They are touched by the challenges of human life, the complexity of
human reactions, and the ever-present place of suffering in the human experience. As
they watch, Shakti spies a miserably poor man walking down the road. His clothes are
shabby and his sandals are tied together with rope. Her heart is wrung with compassion.
Touched by his goodness and his struggle, Shakti turns to her divine husband and begs
him to give the man some gold. Shiva looks at the man for a long moment. "My dearest
wife," he says, "I cannot do that." Shakti is astounded: "Why, what do you mean,
husband? You are Lord of the Universe. Why can't you do this simple thing?"
"I cannot give this to him because he is not yet ready to receive it," Shiva replies. Shakti
becomes angry. "Do you mean to say that you cannot drop a bag of gold in his path?"
"Surely I can," Shiva replies, "but that is quite another thing."
"Please, husband," says Shakti. And so Shiva drops a bag of gold in the man's path.
The man meanwhile walks along thinking to himself, "I wonder if I will find dinner tonight--
or shall I go hungry again." Turning a bend in the road, he sees something on the path in
his way. "Aha," he says, "Look there, a large rock. How fortunate that I have seen it. I
might have torn these poor sandals of mine even further." And carefully stepping over the
bag of gold, he goes on his way.
Why is receiving so hard for us? Among all the many programs we’ve accepted
as “our belief”, Thou Shalt Not Receive seems to be a most powerful one. I often
wonder why it’s so.
I can always come up with some ideas of why. Unfortunately, when I give in to
that particular question, I create a false reality: It really isn’t hard for us to receive!
The gifts are all around us; we’re swimming in a river of generous offerings. We
always receive what we’ve created, but how can we be open to consistently
seeing it, so that we can take it in and enjoy it?
That last question makes a good first step: What would it take for me to remain
open to all that the Universe is sending me? How can I take in everything and
enjoy it? There is no answer that will satisfy. But living the question will create an
openness that will be rewarded.
Here’s another step to try, an exercise: Think of this linear reality as a creation
of a holodeck, the miraculous Star Trek creator of solid universes. In a holodeck,
a computer creates all reality, and gives it weight and solidity. This is precisely
what your brain does, too! The reality it creates is based on pure programs.
Imagine yourself sitting in the holodeck. You’ve just told the computer to stop
running the programs that supported your yesterday’s reality. For today’s reality
what will you create? How will your body feel? What will your brain do? Start with
creating your physical environment. Are you on an island? In the mountains?
Ignore all you know about physics, unless it suits you. Be in five places at once.
You control when and if the sun shines. Create only things that bring you joy and
connection. Don’t create yourself DOING anything, just being. Create a world in
which you can just Perceive, Know, Be, and Receive. Add no one who will judge
you, and nothing that will judge or value you. Again, how does your body feel?
How do you want it to feel? Imagine a world in which you could live every day of
the rest of your life. Don’t limit yourself to the Earth: you are an Infinite Being. . .
When you step out of this exercise, your standard programs will start running
again. Brain: “But that’s not the real world; I have to live in this reality! It I don’t pay
my bills . . .” You still have choice in that moment. The programs that want to run
are no more real than the holodeck program you created. Until you make them
more real by accepting them. That’s a choice. I’m wondering what will ever
change in your life if you continue to accept those programs?
You know that feeling you have when you’re on vacation? Like you’re a million
miles away from all the reality of your life? I LOVE (I mean LOOOOOOVE) that
feeling!! I don’t have to DO anything: no bills, no phone calls, no oil changes. It
feels like an escape from all that, doesn’t it? How is it that some people (it’s true!)
go on vacation and never go home? I heard of a couple recently who went to a
Caribbean island, and decided to stay! The reality they had created in Dayton or
Schenectady ended abruptly. They chose a new reality. They went home only to
pack up and sell their house. Can you imagine the programs that wanted to run in
them?!? That said, “You can’t possibly do that! That’s so irresponsible. Shape
up and act like responsible, thinking adults. Are you insane?” Of course those
programs ran! But they made another choice. At some point we have to
acknowledge that nothing in our lives will change if we keep accepting the limiting
programs of our lives, the reality we created yesterday. If we were unable to
choose, no one would ever start a business or invent anything. No one would
explore. Fun couldn’t exist.
In the story of Shakti and Shiva, the poor man cannot receive the gold because
he didn’t create it. It wasn’t part of his reality, so it didn’t exist. What he had
created was a life of obstacles, and so another obstacle he got.
This is the invitation of Access: destroy and uncreate EVERYTHING you were
and created yesterday, and create today’s reality from conscious choice. We are
not victims. Our hands are not tied. Every aspect of our daily lives is a choice,
and we can stop choosing ANY of it TODAY! We can make a new choice every
10 seconds.
What would you like to destroy and re-create today? What programs will you
simply stop taking on? What would it take for you to receive everything?
© John DeVault 2005