I came across an interesting quote by Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche about the spiritual path and the process of surrender. It says:
The problem is that we tend to seek a painless and easy answer. But this kind of solution does not apply to the spiritual path...Once we commit ourselves to the spiritual path, it is very painful and we are in for it. We have committed ourselves to the pain of exposing ourselves, of taking off our clothes, our skin, nerves, heart, brains, until we are exposed to the universe. Nothing will be left. It will be terrible, excruciating, but that is the way it is.
I was struck with the reality and power of this statement and have found it to be so true in my own life. To surrender requires that we let go of everything that we think we know about ourselves or the universe. It is a process of death, yet it holds within it the seeds of new life if we can but keep on with the process and not flee from it because of the discomfort it brings into our lives.
The year 2012 has been a year of surrender. We each one have been invited into deeper relationship with this process and we are each one growing as we let go of the many false layers of identity that we have been burdened with through the process of living. As the teacher above points out, it is not easy. We must literally die to who we currently are. We may feel raw from our life's experiences, but take heart, new life follows this painful process. The seed that sprouts as a result of this death, is one that will blossom into the beauty of our own soul and Spirit. It can only emerge when all of the detritus of ego has died and has been blown away by the trials of life.
For me, understanding that the process of growth requires many mini-deaths, much letting go, and many times of uncertainty, has helped me to relax into the process of surrender. I hope that the thoughts above will be a blessing to you as well and that as we grow together, we can continue to be a great source of encouragement to one another as we each one take off our clothes, become more transparent and open, and learn what it means to be a Child of God living on a fallen planet in a human body.
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