The perfect rant - just as it is

I can hardly believe it, but this blog was inspired by something I came across in my Facebook newsfeed.

Usually, I only have time to check out the headlines in Facebook, but this was shared by a friend I respect, (soul sista’ kind of respect) so I figured it would be something I’d resonate with. I broke my absent minded scrolling and clicked read more. Instead of finding resonance, I recoiled from what felt like a slap in the face. This is an excerpt of what I found.

Everyone's a fucking blogger
Every Dick Jane Harry is a writer
Every jack ass with a typewriter app is a poet
Every thirteen-year-old who has an iPhone is a photographer
Every thirty-year-old white woman has quit her Job to become a yoga teacher

...we say namaste (sic) without knowing what it means

Okay, you get it, but it didn’t stop there; it went on to scoff at our relationship with everything from Reiki to gluten free, cacao to feather wearing hippies, always inferring it was shallow and self-serving at best, dishonest and manipulative at worst. It is a piece where words like asshole and esoteric appear in the same sentence and the beautiful wisdom of Rumi is reduced to pop culture. It wasn’t written by a cynical spiritual atheist, but rather it came from the pen of ‘one of us’ and that was perhaps the most confronting aspect of all. It was like witnessing a mother turn on her young.

I understand that I cannot know the motive of this write and I have no desire to make assumptions so I should point out that what I write here is also all about me, not the author. Despite knowing this, I can’t deny it made an impact. I didn’t feel attacked, I wasn’t hurt, enraged or even annoyed but I was moved and well, that makes her a good writer. My comment on the post was “Wow harsh, but then it's all in the eye of the beholder yes?”  I’ve been around spiritual circles for 30 plus years so I understood where she was coming from…and from where I sat, it looked like a whole lot of judgement - the 'dirtiest' word in spirituality! 

You see, I have been the feather wearing hippie, I drink cacao, I blog and I love yoga; if I was any good at poetry I’d probably try that too. There was so much of me in her rant on one level, but none of me on another. Yes there are plenty of people undertaking spiritual practice superficially, but there are also a great many diving in to the sanctity and depth of self in utmost integrity – and we don’t get to say who’s who; to do so, in my opinion, is the most superficial act of all.

We all know the path to self-realisation is inward. Why shouldn’t someone write poetry if it takes them to their soul, where they can cleanse pain or find beauty? Why can’t someone share their thoughts in a blog and open to the exquisite vulnerability of sharing their inner truth? Isn’t it courageous for the white woman to quit her job to teach yoga? Maybe, just maybe, she is confronting her biggest fears in the process. I can tell you, if she went to India to do so, her life has been irrevocably changed, her self-awareness deepened, so I say good on you. 

Our judgement rises to show us where our work is. I have been working on mine for ever and have cleared a great deal, but of course there is always more work to do. There was one person who deeply wronged me some 5 years ago. I had moved on in every area of my life except in my judgement of them. While I knew it had to shift, I also knew that it had to be a genuine inner response and not merely some superficial overlay. When my judgement of this person would rise to my awareness I would laugh at myself, struck by how delicious, sticky and self-serving it was – no wonder I couldn’t let it go! It took my recent trip to India, with all its struggles, challenges, desire and beauty for me to find that place of connection within and my judgement for them lifted like a puff of smoke...pouf, just gone. I have, of course, freed myself, no one else.

Here’s an idea. Why don’t we applaud the pathways that people undertake to get conscious even if they are well worn and ‘unoriginal?’ Why don’t we celebrate their leap of faith, their efforts to get clear, all while we whisper in their ear to seek the light within? When things go wrong and they get caught up in illusion and betrayal instead of truth and support, let’s drop the arrogance of trying to correct them and instead trust that the grace of their soul will manifest whatever experience is required for them to reset and re-group. If that experience is heart-break, why not share the burden and hold the space for them to keep their heart open where their inner voice of wisdom awaits. After all, haven't we all floundered in illusion, haven't we all walked with regret?

Thanks for the piece J Robinson, it has helped me identify who I want to become in my spiritual practice. It turned my awareness inward and that means your write is perfect, just as it is.

Namaste (and I know what the means)

Sally

www.yourbeautifullife.com.au