Rumi's Guest House - Awakening to the holy NOW

This being is a guest house;

every day a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness;

some momentary awareness 

comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

(The Guest House by Rumi)

When you hear the expression that we live in the "Best of all Worlds", you might cringe because you remember stretches of your life when the world didn't seem perfect at all. Yet, what about the perspective that everything that ever happened to you prepares you for the moment at hand?

P. D. Ouspensky once said, when one realizes that one is asleep, at that moment one is already half awake. Life puts us in a position to awaken to the moment we are in, and everything in the past was perfectly designed to get us to the holy NOW. All we have to do is to open up to everything, good or bad, ugly as well as beautiful, both within and without ourselves. Rumi described the Guest House centuries ago, and it is as accessible to us as today it was to him then. Remove the locks to the doors that were locked way too long, and open the blinds to let the sun in. Awaken to a new world in the holy NOW.

You Are Special

CAUSE I GONNA MAKE YOU SEE 
THERE'S NOBODY ELSE HERE,
NO ONE LIKE ME.
I'M SPECIAL, SO SPECIAL,
I GOTTA HAVE SOME OF YOUR ATTENTION.
GIVE IT TO ME!

(Brass in Pocket, The Pretenders)

Some people think some cultures are superior to others, while some people believe more educated people are somehow "better" than the working class. Some feel that taller men are more attractive while some think skinny women are hot. Do I need to go on? Probably not, I think you get the picture. 

For every opinion and value-judgement there is the opposing view right next to it. Yet you have to respect how you feel and it is often not that hard to figure out where your priors are coming from. Maybe you had to work hard to get your education so you now appreciate being surrounded by intellectuals. Or maybe you had to climb out of poverty and now enjoy living a rich lifestyle. Maybe your parents weren't so tall so you somehow appreciate size in your partner. Whatever it is that is meaningful to you personally, know that the perfect counter-example will likely knock on your door for that is what a spiritual path is all about.

Spirituality is really a way of seeing. Don't beat yourself up over your biases, just accept them as they are but be open to letting life teach you what else matters. The German mathematician and philosopher Leibniz once concluded, "we live in the best of all worlds". Everyone is special in our world and there is a way to make everyone fit in God's magnificent puzzle in a perfect way. And it is your job to experience how all the unique pieces fit into a wholesome impressionistic mosaic. Spirituality is perception - you see the world just as an artist does.

When parents see their child they see a diamond in the rough. And if some parents are somehow unable to see the gem then there will always be a special someone, a coach, a teacher, a soul partner, a child or mentor who does. Spirituality is seeing and it is in our power to see what God knows: you are special and perfect just the way you are. 

Waiting Patiently

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
(Jason Mraz, I won't give up)

A Tao traveler will tell you that you are living in the best of all worlds. When you are connected, you see Her magic in action and when you are not, you are living out the game plan of the 'I' which is just perfect from a soul development perspective. We certainly have tricks for you to stay connected, like saying that God talks to you all the time, all you have to do is to listen. Yet there certainly are times when you are disconnected; just accept it, consider it as your time off. The 'I' needs some space to mature.

Sri Ramakrishna, the 19th century sage from India used to say that as long as the boy plays happily with his toys the mother will use the time to prepare the next meal. Yet, the moment when he starts screaming, she will drop everything and run to him. Use your space when it feels right, work on the mission you were born to do; play with the toys that give you pleasure and happiness and know that the Tao has just temporarily slipped out of your consciousness. She will reconnect with you whenever you are ready, waiting patiently.

The Best of all Worlds

It is not Having What you Want, it's Wanting What You've Got.
Sheryl Crowe, Soak Up the Sun

Walking the Tao is a philosophy really; the belief that you live in the best of all worlds. You might be outraged when you hear that, 'How can one believe that', you might say, 'with all the sickness, unfairness and crime around?', but we would encourage you just to give this hypothesis a shot and see for yourself. Trust to walk the Tao and let Her decide whatever comes your way. You can certainly tell the Tao what you want and what you need, but let Her decide in what way this wish will be delivered to you. We always trust that Tao knows best and trust that Her decisions are the best for us.

When you follow the Tao, you don't have any anxiety and you don't root for anything. We have experienced over and over again that we always get along the Way what we truly desire. The Tao tells us whatever we need to know; the Tao shows us whatever it is that we need to achieve. In fact, the Tao acts through us. We have no idea where we are going except for trusting that everything is perfect as is.

It is certainly fine to set up goals, just as it is necessary to have a vision of what your destiny is all about. Yet, whenever despite your best efforts your life starts deviating from your mission, understand that this is perfect as is. As Katy Perry says in her song Firework, 'Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed - So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road.' If you live by that philosophy you will never experience any stress and anxiety. Led by the Tao, you live a life moment by moment and act according to the demands of your environment. You don't feel annoyed by anything that comes your way, you just follow the Flow. Distractions do not exist, deviations from what you think you want give you instead the opportunity to aim even higher in life. You also start to understand that these people who may act evil or mean are also tools of the Tao to get you where you truly want to go. They are more like alarm clocks that help you wake you up while you fall asleep on the wheel. Along the Tao there is no good and evil, everything just is, and it is perfect as is!

Whenever you hand yourself over to the Tao, all you need to do is just be present and follow the cues. The Tao is doing everything and there are never sacrifices along the Way. So if you perceive effort instead, ask what this is for. Along the Way you also no longer possess anything, and all your achievements become natural and self-evident. Everything will be out of your control, and yet, without your trying, everything will fall magically into place just as your heart desires. Effort and resistance will show that you have temporarily deviated from the Way. But this is ok, the Tao always welcomes you back with open arms. All you have to do is to ask for Her and take a look around and the next cue to reconnect will be there.

There is ego and there is the Tao and there is nothing in-between. Decide on the world you would like to live in. Don't trust us as authorities, see for yourself whether you can discover the world we talk about. When you hand yourself over to the Tao, you cease to exist. It is Her doing everything and you are just Her instrument. Whatever you achieve, you can not claim that it was you. Everything is Her doing instead. In this realization there lies incredible peace. A Tao traveler is at peace with herself, is happy wherever she goes and encounters love no matter where she turns.


By Christian and Su Zhen

The Best of all Worlds

Try to convince someone that we live in Leipnitz's best of all worlds and chances are you will get an earful. "Ah yes, and how do you explain holocaust"? they will say. Or, "How could a God ever allow children to die?" I would have nothing to respond to any of this. The only thing I can observe is that we are all driven by our subconscious urges back to our core, our Source. If you truly embrace everything life throws at you to the best of your abilities, if you 'feel the fear and do it anyway' as Susan Jeffers recommends, if you express your dharma -as the Hindus express this force of destiny so succinctly - you cannot help becoming whole. Life washes you clean if you just let it.

Spiritual Promotion

He was an ordinary guy, but felt he had a metaphysical connection with the Source. Numbers were especially meaningful to him and thought that he sometimes received subtle messages from the universe via dates, licence plate numbers, clock times, etc. For some time now he got the message that an upcoming change was in store for him. He of course hoped it would be some kind of spiritual promotion. He doubted enlightenment - whatever that meant - would be around the corner, but perhaps he would have some special powers, would be more connected during meditation, things like that. He waited, and waited and nothing happened. But the signs kept coming and he increasingly grew frustrated. Was he waiting for Godot after all? After a brief illness when all the energy in his system just seemed to disintegrate he definitely hit rock bottom, but after a day or two, when his energy level and inspiration rebounded he suddenly had an insight. Could it be that all his problems at home and at work optimally set him up for his spiritual journey? 'We live in the best of all worlds after all, not from the perspective of what we want to have, but rather from the perspective of what we can deliver to excel along our spiritual path', he said to himself.

As he contemplated his new insight, he could have sworn he heard a voice inside himself saying, 'Congratulations, there is your spiritual promotion'. Since he never really trusted the "Conversations with God" methodology of talking to the divine Self inside himself, he responded somewhat satirically, 'Sounds like God helps those who help themselves to me'. He heard a laughter deep inside his belly. 'Didn't you always say that all spiritual insights should be so simple that even a child can understand it?'. Now the voice turned more serious, 'I have always maintained that God doesn't make deals, but I am willing to promise you this: if you always put your best foot forward in conquering your fears and challenges, I will make sure you always have enough energy to deal with all your problems at hand'. That night when our spiritual aspirant went to bed, his bed clock confirmed that he indeed had been promoted. 'Strange', he thought, 'this spiritual path is a little bit like my work; I have earned the right to work even harder.'