The power and strength of the bamboo lies in 2 things:
- Its flexibility and freedom to yield to the wind
- Its firm anchor in the ground
Without being firmly anchored in the ground, it will simply be blown here and there by the wind. Without being flexible and free, in other words, if it is rigid, it will be snapped by the wind.
How can we be like the bamboo? How can we be flexible and free enough to accept all kinds of wind conditions without being uprooted, thrown into chaos and conflict? Left unsupported and abandoned? How do we LIVE flexibility and freedom?
And what do we anchor ourselves in? What steady, rich and nourishing ground can we be supported by?
The answer to both sets of questions is
By OUR TRUE NATURE.
Our true nature is flexible and free, unthreatened by anything or anyone. It is naturally peaceful, powerful and open to everything. It is naturally creative and life-giving which means that it will never self-destruct or sabotage.
As we become more and more familiar with our true nature, our conditioning, our learned ways of thinking, feeling, doing and being yield to our natural, unlearned, unconditioned, limitless, powerful, peaceful and joyous way of being – the nature of Love (or god or Infinite Intelligence or Supreme Being).
Our true nature is also the ground of our being, the ground of truth, of infinite possibility, of limitless creativity, of unsurpassable peace and joy. This is the ground in which we want to be deeply anchored.
But you cannot know or experience this ground of being if you do not allow yourself to sit in it, to become more and more aware of it. And you cannot sit in it and become more and more aware of it if you head is filled with ideas about how things ‘should’ or ‘should not’ be, if it is filled with fixed ideas about yourself or about the world.
You must be prepared to enter the ground with a willingness to discover, with a willingness to set aside all your opinions, beliefs and judgments. You must be prepared to enter the ground of your being, of your true nature as if you were a child – completely open and eager to see what there is, to discover, to experience – without any preconceptions.
This is the practice of meditation – to go within and simply be there, observe, having left all your preconceived ideas, your desired outcomes, your goals, your attitudes at the door. Some of these may have been useful to you. In fact, it is almost certain that they have brought you to the door of your true nature.
Your desire to be peaceful, to feel empowered, to experience joy and fulfillment – all these desires would have brought you to the door of your true nature. Even your frustrations, your pain, your anger, your indignation, your conflict – these too would have more than likely spurred you on to look for something better.
Acknowledge them – the feelings that you don’t want to feel as well as the feelings that you do want to feel. Thank them for bringing you closer to the door of your true nature, of love.
But once at the door, leave them behind and step into the ‘unknown’. Give yourself permission to do that. Because it is there, and only there, that you will come face to face with who and what you truly are. And the more often you do this, the more you live and express yourself from the ground of your true nature rather than from the falsehood of who and what you have learned and been conditioned to be.
Then, like the bamboo, you too will be naturally flexible and free, naturally powerful, peaceful, joyous and fulfilled.
One final thing:,
We are all always anchored in our true nature, in the ground of love, limitlessness and true power and peace BUT we are mostly unaware of it. And to the extent that we are not aware, not present to it, we are unable to express our flexibility and freedom. Instead, we become rigid, incapable of effortless movement, unable to change and adapt.
REFLECTION
Do you value being flexible? Do you see flexibliity as a weakness or a strength? Do you think you can be too flexible? When you are being ‘too flexible’, what is driving you? Is it fear? Or joy? Or…?
CALL TO ACTION
Consider an area in your life where you feel you might have been inflexible. Consider, if it would be loving to be (more) flexible and then take one action in this direction.
HEALING STATEMENT
When I am truly flexible, I am fearlessly loving
MENTORING
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