We as humans have gotten extremely conditioned to seek control, seek certainty and surety. Whenever we have to do something we ask “How do I know this is right?”, “Will it work?”, “How do I know this will work?”, “What if I am wrong?” and so on.
Recently, I was at a conference (Wisdom 2.0) where Evan Williams the founder of Twitter and Obvious corporation said that they had created space for meditation and encouraged employees to use it in their day. Immediately an attendee asked “Do you have studies to show that this is worth the investment?”. My immediate thoughts were that we as humans have become so “industralized or corporatized” that we need proof for common sense let alone trusting huge potential for any higher power.
So what are we missing here? Is there something that can take us beyond this kind of thinking and bear exponentially higher results no less than miracles in our life? After all honestly, after all these struggles and stress of managing and controlling our lives is it ok to have “just ok” life? I mean don’t we really want magic in our lives! not just standard success? We all have potential to be “Miracle workers” and are actually meant to be that way.
Control and Lack of Faith
The truth is that lack of faith and control are directly related. Would you micro-manage an employee if you had faith? Would you stress out so much about exam results if you truly learnt? Would you stress so much if someone left you if you were a loving person?
When you lack faith we send out vibrations that “push away” good things in life. When we lack faith we are less creative and less effective. We are not able to instill confidence in anyone (after all we ourselves don’t have faith). We tend to give “half-hearted” effort to what we do. Lack of faith also leads to control which eventually pushes good things and good people away from us and we end up getting frustrating results.
Tapping into Universe’s Power
“I want this and I want it now and I want it my way” or “what’s the point of trying” are the polar opposite thoughts carried by people who do not have faith in the Higher Universal power. So what’s this universal power?
The Universe is “self correcting and self organizing” force that is a benign friend of our soul. Phew, what does that mean? What it means is that when drop our resistance the universe will send us opportunities, and experiences that will best serve us. When we resist and insist on things in a particular way get disconnected from this higher power.
When we are in alignment with this force, things move easily and magically for us. Many people also call it as “being in a state of flow” and some term it as “pure luck”. Whatever you call it, it works! All I say is – “Trust the universal wisdom, after all its a bit older than we are :)”
Drop the attachment to fruits
When we want something badly we get attached to those results whether it be material things or outcomes related to relationships. We take it upon us “to do all the heavy lifting and chasing”. We become the “doer” hoping to get what we want. This is what was meant by the most popular verse from Mahabharata:
Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana – You have the right to perform your actions, but you are not entitled to the fruits of the actions.
When we read just this part of the verse it sounds quiet unfair – what do you mean “I am not entitled to the fruits?” What we really need to do is read the next part of the complete verse and understand its true meaning.
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani – Do not let the fruit be the purpose of your actions, and therefore you won’t be attached to not doing your duty.
When we are not to be attached to the fruits, its not because we don’t deserve good things or are expected to just continue to sacrifice, but it is said because “Attachment to results compromises our effectiveness dramatically”. When we are not attached we are able to do what we do the best and hence that may result in awesome results and miracles.
Now what if it does not? Well it would simply mean you need to reflect on your alignment and keep working on it as the “self organizing and self correction benign” will never have a mismatch.
Surrender to create miracles
When we talk about surrender, we feel its weakness. On the contrary, in the spiritual sense real power comes only through surrender. When I talk about surrender I am talking about surrendering “our need for control and desire for hard and fast results” to the greater wisdom of the universe which can bring us miracles we can not even imagine.
Real power and humility is in letting universal wisdom flow through you and be used by it without resistance for the purpose you were meant to serve. PremAnand
This surrender means to LET GO of:
- need to know
- need to get exact results from exact situations
- need to have things happen on our schedule
- need to judge things as they happen as “good” or “bad” instead of accepting them as they are
- tendency to control people and circumstances
- tendency to be set, rigid and demanding
This surrender means to EMBRACE:
- uncertainty as benign miracle possibility
- chaos and turmoil as precursor to better and higher order
- delays as grace for bigger better things
- our role as a channel for great things
- openness – to be surprised positively by life
- inspired action that is not watered down by expectations of results
- your unique gifts and working on being in alignment with those