Dear friends,
My letter from last Sunday ended with, “So how can we know what the lesson is…?" All pain in our lives serves a purpose. How can we know what Spirit is trying to tell us? That is a good question. Perhaps the most important of questions. After all, if our major purpose here is to be educated, knowing how to make the most out of the schooling that has been provided to us seems pretty crucial.
There is no algorithm for this. No step-by-step answer. You cannot simply do A, then B, then C… and voila! There’s the answer. Like almost everything in life, attitude is primary. If we have the right receptive attitude the lessons tend to make themselves clear... and I should rush to add, but even then not always.
Remember what they used to say in school? “Do the work and the grades will follow.” Turns out that advice applies to our life-school as well. What children learn the most and the most easily? The ones that are inquisitive. Relaxed. Open. Non-egoic (less prideful, less certain, less concerned about looking smart, etc.).
We tend to see the world the way we want it to be and not the way it is. We devote ourselves to changing for the better, but when someone points out a way in which we need to change we dig in our heels and either defend ourselves, become offended, or close our hearts to that person or that corrective. Then we wonder why we don’t learn, and why the same challenging or painful things happen to us over and over.
One key is to genuinely want to know the truth. If I ask, “Don't you just love my new sweater? Isn't it gorgeous!”, how are you supposed to answer? But if I ask, “I just bought this sweater and am not sure about it. I kept the receipt. What do you think?” isn't that more likely to attract an honest reply? When we ask Spirit to help us see the lesson, are we really asking with an open inquisitive heart? Or is it more along the lines of, “Why are you doing this to me?” — which is not even a genuine question!
The best way to learn is to cultivate a spirit of openness and a genuine desire to learn. Fertile soil is much more likely to allow a seed to take root than hard rocky land. Focus on keeping your soil of consciousness fertile and attractive to Spirit, and you maximize the chance each lesson will be learned with less pain and perhaps even fully absorbed the first time it is presented.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the Gang at East West