The Promise (Part Three)

Ann K Gryczan

Hi there! It has been a while since we last met on the road to Shangri-La. Remember Shangri-La, the symbol of our journey to Self?

Here in the world of form, we all received a vehicle for the journey – our unique body, family and circumstances.

How is it all going so far?

The body we got works well or not so well. How it looks means something – in our opinion and those of others.

Plus, we came with a family. They were kind and good and showed us the way of life, or they were bad and mean and ruined it.

In the last post there was a bit of a rocky start because of the differences in the vehicles we each got for the trip. Some of us got fancy convertibles and some got broken down wrecks. The mind wondered, “Why?” and had a lot of opinions. It can be easy to get stuck in form (by cultivating opinions and “why” questions), but basically, we came away with these three clues for success on our journey:

• Recognize the great fortune of being born at all.
• Accept that the form – body, family, circumstances – is somehow perfect and by accepting it fully, discover that perfection.
• Promise to fulfill what it requires of us and in this way realize who we are.

Shall we continue on?

Remember We’re Not the Vehicle

This can seem hard to do! The ego attaches to anything, makes it special and calls it “mine” or “myself” – even so-called “bad” things like hardship or handicaps. Form actually has a wonderful use if you are a student of consciousness: you can always find yourself in it. Not the ego’s “identity,” but something we need to face or remember, or a potential we didn’t know we could be.

Some forms are very straightforward and tell us exactly what to do to advance on our journey:

If we’re broke and uneducated, we educate ourselves and get a job.

Some forms are subtle, convoluted, intractable and almost forgotten. Sometimes it can seem like forever to find our way through them. Then our approach is different:

If we are broken inside, we go see what is the matter – very carefully and deliberately. What is the matter? Sometimes we have to look into the abyss and then jump in, sometimes we have to remember something we put aside for this moment.

And then, once we have gone to see, we ask ourselves, “What is looking?” It will always be I – the seer, not the seen. Are we broken? No, we realize, that is not possible.

Forms often take a whole lifetime to teach us their lessons:

Like when we are dancers but missing an arm or a leg. Eventually we find the unique beauty of movement that only we can know, and only by missing an arm or a leg.

That is the brilliance of form. Our bodies, families, circumstances, the world around us, and even emotions and thoughts are all aspects of form. They all show us who we are. They show us our innate beauty and truth and they show us the inner limitations we are now ready to face.

Nothing is Random

Eventually we realize nothing is random; nothing but the shape of our lives was possible, precisely because of what we were and what we have become as a result of encountering it.

We also realize that this is not only true for us, it is true for everyone else too.

So Where Does Helping Others Come In?

We help others along the way because it is in our nature to do so. But not in the way we thought.

Amazingly, we discover that the more we find our own way, the more we have to offer others. We can see an increasingly larger picture that has more options. We become increasingly aligned with the qualities of Life: loving, generous, kind – and we find out what kindness really is. It is never kind, for example, to take someone’s responsibility away from them because then we have taken their chance.

Here’s the Thing

In every moment we have a choice – ego or Life, form or essence. We can milk the form for all it’s worth – have a really good sad story, feel guilty about a good story, be angry or a victim – and that is fine! Life does not force us to accept its promise or its responsibility.

Or, we can accept the grace of Life and the forms it has placed strategically in our way to guide us on the journey to Shangri-La. If this is your choice, remember:

Recognize the great fortune of being born at all.
Accept the form – body, family, circumstances – as yours.
Promise to fulfill what it requires and become who you are.

And see? That is life’s promise, to become the greatest possibility and potential of who we are – beyond even the dream of our very best self.

See you on the road! ​