Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Time is Now


"I have kids so I can't do my spiritual work now."
"I am responsible for a family so I need to have a job and I can't dedicate myself to my life's work at the moment.'
" I know I have a higher purpose in life but I can't make it happen now because I need to work to pay off my loans."

I have heard the same story so many times and in so many guises! And that is what it is: a story. It's a story we tell ourselves because we believe that our spirituality and our every day life are two separate things. But how could that be? Spirituality is the practice of Love: loving ourselves, loving the Divine, loving others as much as ourselves, recognizing the Divine in others. Being truly spiritual is all about LOVING. And how do you feel about your kids and your family? LOVING! So where exactly is the problem? Seems to me it's all about the same thing: it's all about LOVING.

No, I did not say it's all about Love. I purposefully said "Loving", which is love as a verb and the verb creates. The verb is action. So Love in action. Loving action.

I'm not teaching you grammar, I am making a very very important spiritual point here: because Love can be without action.
Love can be felt while sitting for hours in a temple. I have done it a lot and I really enjoy it.
Love can be reached through contemplation and prayer. I have done it a lot and I really enjoy it.
Love for the Divine, the universe and the beauty of creation can be felt while communing with nature on a beautiful walk, in the sunset, by the sea, in the forest. the Divine is so present to us in natural beauty. So easy to access in silence. I have gone to beauty and silence often to dissolve myself in the awesome beauty of infinite Divine Love.

In fact I spent the first 46 years of my life in near constant pain, aching for the perfect beauty and peace of the Divine. Longing to the point of tears for Heaven, for my soul mates, for ... for something 'out there'.

But what I was learning at the same time was that 'out there' is right here. That love can be Love in Action. Loving action.
Loving is the perfect beauty in my messy child covered in paint or flour or mud. When my daughter says to me with delight in her voice: "Look at the blossom on our apple tree",
in that moment not only do I commune with the Divine in natural beauty, I also commune with my child's heart. More Loving. In her awe, wonder and joy, I find even more of the Divine.

It's the same nature, the same sunset, the same forest, the same ocean on our own or with company: so why do we believe that we need to have alone, quiet time to really access the Divine?

I think it' s because for centuries (millenia?) we collectively chose to experiment with such a heavy vibration of physicality and duality that the individuals who wanted to transcend these conditions and reach a higher, finer vibration had to isolate themselves, go to a monastery, sit on top of a mountain. Preferably in Egypt or in Tibet. Only kidding! It takes a whole society to allow the chosen few to access the Divine in a meaningful way with this priesthood or monastic system.

But now we are collectively and consciously making a different choice: we are choosing that all can access the Divine. So that is going to mean you and me, right now. With the rent, the mortgage, the taxes, the job, the wife or husband and the kids.

Of course family comes first and children' s needs come first. I know: I am a Mom to 3 and a step mom to 2. I have been pregnant, breastfeeding or homeschooling for over 16 years, non-stop. I was earning an income from home AND I became a Reiki Master, a kinesiologist and a Quantum Healer at the same time. Do you know how?
By turning what I did every day with and for my family into my core spiritual practice. By applying all the spiritual precepts and energy tools I was studying in book right here, right now in my family life. And family gives you plenty of opportunities to be Loving, which is being spiritual.

Reiki? Sure: it's the best thing to relax children, stop fights in their tracks, heal grazed knees, strengthen the immune system and drop a fever in 5 minutes.
Buddhist Loving Kindness and 'patience as a virtue'? Sure: you can practice that when your 2 your old asks "why" for the 60th time that day & you answer lovingly
Compassion? Sure: you can practice that when a toddler hits your perfect child on the head for no apparent reason!
Buddhist 'no gossiping' rule: sure! You can practice that at the school gates or at the office any time! You don't need to be a monk or a nun to do that! And if you don't gossip in front of your children, they learn to be respectful as well.
I will go through all these principles and how to make your family your spiritual practice in my next post.

What I want to say here is that you can become enlightened at home with kids, a partner and a mortgage. You do not need to delay your spiritual quest for anyone. You can learn as much as you need, practice as much as you want and grow all you desire right here and right NOW!

Your time to do your spiritual work and to answer your higher calling is NOW!

What are YOU going to do about it today?

Email me at
sophielhoste@gmail.com

2 comments:

  1. DOWN TO EARTH-
    I LOVED YOUR CLARITY AND ALL THE EXAMPLES YOU GAVE US, TO SEE THAT WE ARE ALL IN OUR MOVEMENT OF SPIRITUAL AWAKENING, NOW.

    THAT THE DELAY GAME OF I'LL DO MY SPIRITUAL WORK OR CONNECTION LATER IS TRICK - WE ARE IN THAT AWARENESS OR CONNECTION ALL THE TIME, IF WE CAN RECOGNIZE IT.
    DON'T LET THE DELAY GAME AND/OR TACTIC BE A STUMBLING A BLOCK, BUT RATHER A STEPPING STONE TOWARDS YOUR CONNECTION TO YOUR LOVING.

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  2. Yes indeed you are right Rene: the delay game of I'll do my spiritual work later is trick an we are always connected, if we can recognize it. Thank you for your comment, and tank you for reading!

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