"Although my view is higher than the sky, my conduct regarding cause and effect is as meticulous as finely sifted barley flour" - PADMA SAMBHAVA
Effort has many faces; perseverance, courage, self-discipline, diligence, consistency and because each of us is on a different spiritual path, we will each be called upon to exert different amounts of effort as we explore our meaningful lives and attempt to unravel the mystery of our secret life mission. What looks very easy to one person may look difficult to another. And since we have all been conditioned in different ways, our intuitions, senses, histories and propensities pull us into various spiritual arenas.It is a karmic principle that we usually 'go with what we know' as changing life-habits is very difficult and requires mindfulness and effort. But when we stop and begin to really examine our lives through meditation, reflection and solitude, we begin to slowly realize what our life-path could look like as our secret life mission gradually unfolds before us. We are not all born as a da Vinci or a Glen Gould or a Picasso. For some, identifying with their life-path requires no effort. Their outward facing talents are all too obvious and the path of exploring those talents is very apparent. But ingrained in each and every one of us, there is a karmic order, a sequence of events which lead to our ultimate spiritual awakening through our chosen actions. Although not obvious, the acorn of awareness resides in each and every one of us and to nurture it through right-thinking, mindfulness and effort will bring forth the conditions that will germinate this impulse within us to grow stronger and become more apparent as we unfold our wings and pass through this dimension.
The effort it takes to pursue this level of self-knowledge is for the majority of us, a significant challenge. And yet, what purpose does this life represent when we fail to put forth the effort of embarking day after day on a voyage of self-discovery? You may feel that your job gives you great purpose and meaning and if you remain enthusiastic and engaged in your chosen profession consistently, then you are probably right-on in terms of your karmic path. Conversely, if your job, or what it is you do on a more or less daily basis is pure drudgery and you cant wait for each workday to end, then you have some work to do that is going to present both a challenge and great reward.
In the next few posts, I will explore ways you can both live in the clouds and dream a new existence while keeping your feet firmly entrenched on solid ground. The outcome will be a path to your awakening and to the key that will open the door of your life's amazing probabilities. -A.N.
