Returning to our Roots

There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man standing alongside the road, shouts, «Where are you going?» and the first man replies, «I don't know! Ask the horse!» This is also our story. We are riding a horse, and we don't know where we are going and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless.

(Thich Nhat Hanh)

Some people conjecture that before the 'Fall' we heard a Voice that simply instructed us what to do. After the dawn our mind took over and we started protecting, anticipating, expecting, and much too often from a spiritual perspective, we learned to scheme our way through life. By getting our personal identity, our will started deviating from the WILL of GOD.

We are still on autopilot today. We may appear smart and in charge on the surface, but the programs running our mental projections, wishes and anticipations are still subconscious in nature. A spiritual path changes that and gives us increasing degrees of freedom. Yet, we are probably fooling ourselves if we think that meditation and mindful living alone gets us there.

The WILL of GOD becomes apparent along a spiritual path, but following it is more of a process than a sudden realization. A spiritual traveler wrestles with life as anyone - perhaps even more - because we learn that we always have to face our fears. Facing life as is gives us the opportunity to let go of our baggage and allows life to override our prior reaction functions.

When GOD is done with HER power-washing exercise we are empowered to consciously do GOD's WILL than in the olden days we only could do subconsciously. Along a spiritual path we are returning to our natural roots.