If you aren’t growing…
You are dying.
The classic business adage has something to teach us about life; let’s unpack it in this week’s musing!
One of the many joys of parenthood is seeing the world through the eyes of a toddler. My daughter, following in Raya’s footsteps, has a penchant for beauty. Not only do flowers capture her attention, but they also spark curiosity in her mind.
“Why do flowers have to die?”
As I franticly recall my high school biology, I try to impress her with a mostly true explanation of the harsh reality of plant life.
I tap dance and waffle for 30 seconds and arrive at the irreducible “well, Nature is a cycle.”
Growth is a law of the universe; energy becomes matter and matter arranges in increasingly complex ways that we dub ‘life.’ Nature and growth are synonymous.
The old religious wisdom is that we are all created in the image of the divine. I read into this that there is one intelligence, of which we are not separated, and that we can learn about ourselves by studying life.
Take a tree…
Born as a seed, it quits it’s identity and surrenders to the forces of nature, striving upward toward the light. As the plant grows, it both consumes and releases matter, fortifying itself to gain a survival advantage.
The Soul is no different.
According to the Yogic worldview, the Soul takes a body; inserting itself into a localised presence in a mind-body complex in the womb.
Why does the Soul incarnate?
I hear the infinite wisdom shared with me from my Hatha Yoga Guru, Sundernath, “Find out!”
Life is the journey where we manifest ourselves. I put it to you, in order to grow. Done unconsciously, we cling to an identity of body and mind. Done with some guidance, and equipped with the correct practices, we learn to identify ourselves with the consciousness experiencing life (thus freeing ourselves from falsity and the resulting suffering.)
This journey, our journey, whether we like it or not, is characterised by… growth.
As an infant, we are a dependant creature, unable to fend for ourselves. As a child, we explore, enquire and feel out the world around us through play.
Each mistake, each victory, each unexpected result, teaches us. Why?
Hopefully, we integrate knowledge so that we are better equipped to face the uncertainty of the future – as a hunter gatherer, we knew not where our next meal was coming from and as a modern person living in a complex intertwined global culture, we can’t know what is coming next. The growth mindset means we survive, and indeed thrive, in the face of this uncertainty.
What then is the consequence of not growing?
Well, the oft quoted popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If we don’t extract the correct lesson, we can find ourselves continuing to roll around in the mud, if we don’t grow we might not die, but we may become a little nuts. Hardly an inspiring way to live.
So, how best to cultivate our character and grow up?
The Yoga suggests that we start at the top; daily, we are encouraged to orient back towards the light through a simple practice called ‘meditation.’ When meditation is seen as a mental practice, it misses the opportunity to go beyond the mind.
The light, call it God, Universe, or simply nature, is something beyond our mind, and when we use meditation as an offering towards this ‘something greater,’ we get our inner priorities in order.
This has the effect of consolidating the connection with our Soul. Just like a tree, when we see that our journey is upwards towards the light, growth occurs as naturally as a flower blossoming. The ups and downs of life will not stop, nor the winds and animals that batter the tree around, but how we meet them, anchored in our Soul, certainly does.
With a strong connection to the Soul, we meet life with more ease, more grace and ultimately, more joy.
How far can we keep growing?
For any given individual, who truly knows but us? A hint is given in the fact than not only ours, but all cultures venerate Saints / Sages. These are mortal people, just like us, who have gone beyond the attachment to body and mind and are steady in their spiritual self.
I would suggest that this is the highest growth we are capable of. After attaining this, through applied spiritual practices like Yoga, we manifest our divinity, i.e. we shine the divine light.
I believe we are all called to illuminate first our own inner space, and onces free from the shackles of darkness, we brighten the family around us, and then the broader community at large.
What is our other choice?
If we shun growth, we must bury our heads in the sand and pretend like we aren’t called to grow into something greater than we currently are. Not only is that a denial of the reason our Soul has taken birth, it is the personification of misery, and who wants that!
I say growth is natural and it will happen no matter what, so let’s get with the program and harness and enhance our growth through whatever means we can.
We pray that you are able to call forth what is required for you to grow beyond any of your limitations, be they physical, mental or spiritual.
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If you are needing a little fertiliser to boost your journey of growth, we have found that the knowledge, practices and community shared on our retreats to be a great catalyst for transformation.
Click here to learn more about joining an upcoming retreat as they are almost full.
Jai Atmeshwar!
Victory to the Divine Soul,
David
