Self-Knowledge, Part 2
I was skeptical but decided to check it out. On the slim chance that he COULD show me that peace exists within me, I wouldn’t want to miss it, and if he couldn’t show me, I’d just keep looking. That is how, in 1972, I began a practice of self-knowledge whose goal is to bring my incessantly wandering awareness back inside, in touch with life.
Self-knowledge became the most basic, most practical and most life-changing part of my education. Getting to know first-hand, from my own experience, what I am, what I have, and what I’m capable of has opened my perception to a profound inner ocean of answers. That ocean exists within you also. It exists within every living human being.
Once I knew, it made complete sense. Life is the all-powerful presence and knowledge within me. It weighs nothing but runs everything. It makes and directs my entire genetic program, and my cells’ and tissues’ biochemical systems, flawlessly. I’m not even aware of most of what it does. It digests my food, draws nutrients into my body, transports them where they’re needed, and builds them into my biochemical body architecture. It repairs and replaces parts worn out. It builds a brain to coordinate everything that goes on in and outside my body. It beats my heart when I’m sleeping. And, it makes it unnecessary for me to pay attention to any of the millions of details of the physical complexity that is my body.
My most useful investment in myself became making time for a committed practice of bringing my awareness into the feeling of life. As I got better at this practice of self-knowledge, my constant heartache began to dissolve. In retrospect, I understand that this ache was my heart calling my awareness to come back home inside to life. In all of us, it’s where our wholeness, peace and sexiness reside.
It’s become clear to me that the key to harmony is internal and already exists in each human being. Eight billion people can live their life lit up from within, because the light of life that lights us up is already present within each of us. It’s simply a matter of looking inward into that light rather than only outwardly away from it.
When I connect with and experience the light I am, I feel completely cared for. Truth is, life has perfectly cared for my body through all the dramas I’ve witnessed and traumas I’ve suffered. Every moment, 24/7/365, life has loved me without any conditions.
Once I feel life’s care for me, I can live in harmony with other people. As soon as I feel cared for, the desire to acquire more stuff in order to feel better evaporates. Instead of being willing to hurt others to get more, I’m now free to help them meet their basic needs.
Feeling cared for by life, I derive joy from caring for others. No sacrifice is necessary. I don’t have to forego having all of my basic needs met. There is more than enough for all. Humanity suffers not from lack of resources, but from loss of heart. When we find our heart, we can solve all of the problems in the world with relative ease, because all of them began with heartlessness.
Always, my first step is to become more present and aware of my own being. I find the light in my personal world by mastering presence in my own life. Living life lit up from within is the noblest mastery and accomplishment for human beings.
If you enjoyed reading this, you can read more like it in my book Total Sexy Health, available on Amazon.
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