Overlooking the Obvious (by Swifty Flame-Anderson)
"There will be many messengers, but the message is one: be who you are." Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The other day I visited my mother. When I arrived she informed me that she had lost her spectacles. She told me she had been searching everywhere for a couple of hours and could not find them. She wondered if perhaps she had left them at the supermarket. But no, she could not have done that, otherwise how could she have put them on to drive home?
Attacking a problem from a new perspective often helps and after a few seconds of observation, I calmly told my mother that her spectacles were hanging around her neck.
She laughed and no doubt felt a little foolish about the situation. But I am sure we have all done similar things before.
Often people go through life searching for something. Often they do not know what they are searching for. They just have a nagging feeling that something is missing, that they are somehow incomplete and they go out in search of the missing piece. It might be a soul mate or perfect lover. It might be money, possessions and power. It might be some form of knowledge that finally helps them to understand the purpose of life. It might be what is described in some traditions as ‘awakening’ or spiritual ‘enlightenment’.
"I am going to India to find myself," we hear from eager seekers.
"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering." St. Augustine
This is a very similar situation as with the spectacles. Whenever anyone does eventually ‘find themselves’, the revelation is very much like that of my mother. They will often laugh out loud and feel rather foolish about all this seeking and searching they have been doing.
There is no need to find yourself. You are yourself. Just be yourself. Here. Now. That is all.
The next time you feel that something is missing, the next time you feel that urge to seek and to search, remember the tale of the missing spectacles. What you are seeking, it has been with you all along. You have never been without it. You cannot ever be without it. You have just been looking in the wrong direction.
"Just for a few days try wanting to be who you already are and see how that feels." Swifty Flame-Anderson
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