They say honesty is the best policy… “They”, however, do not tell you how to put your truth into action. After eleven years of being in a business relationship that, in so many ways shaped and made my life, I had to walk away. I could no longer allow all the pleasures I received nor the fear that held me in it, to keep me involved with people and a vision that was in no way in line with who I am, what I want to represent and why I want to put it out there.
It was time to take the kind of action that many of us choose not to take because of fearing the unknown. Self doubt and attachment stand as impenetrable armor imprisoning us to the point, which ultimately is unhealthy. We come up with a million and one reasons to stay in something that is killing us. We shudder at the idea of parting with anyone or anything that brings us comfort, even if the pleasure comes at a great cost. Our minds are so convincing that we believe lies and do not believe the truth. It is only when we break the chains that bind us, that we can receive a clear vision of the illusion/delusion that holds us captive.
Are you strong enough to walk away from something that feeds your desires, terrifies you to leave, knowing it is not right for you? If so, stop reading this now. If not, here are three steps to making the move that will truly “move” you.
The First Step is knowing your enemy. Science tells us that external stimuli (the world) is experienced differently by all of us. No two minds think or perceive exactly alike. Therefore, when you or I say “this person bothers me” or “this political view point is senseless”, we are being foolish. The same person who bothers you may be soothing to someone else. The political view that you believe to be senseless may be sensible to others.
Therefore, we can say; no one can defeat us and no one can complete us, but us! The enemy is your own mind. It can make a heaven into a hell, or a hell into heaven. Unless you have control over it, it will control you. Its nature is to spin! Once you know that it’s You that is the problem, you are half way to the solution! The only thing you can change is you. When you embrace this, you are ready for Step Two.
The Second Step is crushing the lies. Everyone of us who are in the position of needing to change, but being stuck, has one huge common denominator and that is; we have an incredible love affair with the lies we tell ourselves. Some of mine are: I’ll be alone; I can’t start over; I won’t make enough; I can’t live without that; there isn’t enough time, money, people, interest, help; I’m to old, too young; I don’t know how to do that. My favorite excuse is: everyone will find out that I’m really worthless!
I am sure you have some special ones of your own. Write them down and then we will crush them! These lies die as soon as we hold them up to the light. The light is sharing them with others. You will see for yourself immediately that, in many cases, the only one that believes this nonsense is you! For example: I had a nasty habit of telling myself “I couldn’t finish anything”. I told others about this. A few friends pointed out dozens of different and very meaningful things I have completed and the lie was crushed. All lies can be crushed by fact-finding. The only way a lie can be held up is through secrets and emotion.
Now that you have revealed the enemy and crushed the lies, you are ready for Step Three: Dynamic Action. “DA” is simple in design to understand, yet very difficult to execute. “DA” is acting without motives! It’s living your obligatory duties in life; just as the sun rises and falls every day; like the rose emits its fragrance. The rose does not say ”you were not nice to me, so I am not sharing my fragrance with you”. Here is the 411; “DA” is 100% selfless. When you mix selfishness into it, the action becomes deluded and we begin to become fatigued, agitated, excited, disappointment, etc. More selfishness equates to increased energy drainage until ultimately we get stuck! “DA”, however, empowers us. It lightens the load, relieves the stress, and frees us. The secret lies in your intentions. If you serve yourself, you will get caught up in relationships and jobs that will not serve you! If your aim is to rise above your own desires, there will be nothing more the world can offer you. Nothing in the world that can terrorize you. You will be out of this world; the world that you keep wanting to change!
You will not need luck to accomplish this task. What is required is hard work, a good support team, lots of patience and more importantly, a desire to keep on learning!
For more information, email me eric@ericpaskel.com. Many of these thoughts and teachings are interpretations from my teacher, Swami Parthasarathy. His many books and great teachings can be found at vedantaworld.org.
Peace,
EP