A Lesson from the Spirit

A small raft carries me down a turbulent river. I try to save myself but don't know how, I can't see a way out; the waves batter me from side to side—from rock to rock—it's hard to stay on the raft, let alone do anything. I focus on not falling and don't see that there's a waterfall ahead; I don't understand the danger until I drift up very close. The Spirit appears beside me.

"This is all from fussiness. Hastiness in making decisions, bustle, intolerance toward yourself, intolerance toward people and circumstances. These are your demands, the demands you place on yourself."

"I am listening to you, Spirit."

"When a child is born, parents genuinely rejoice at their arrival; they pamper the child, wish them well. They demand nothing of them. As a person grows, they accumulate negativity, become irritable, become demanding. They demand of themselves, of others, of the world at large, presenting these demands as obligations, as something like a caprice.

Do not demand. Wish for better for yourself, but do not demand. Do not approach it with irritation, with impatient expectations.

Demands breed even more dependencies."

"How do you mean?"

"The demand to be better—dependency on others' judgment. The demand for a better life—dependency on time, impatience toward time. You get angry at time, angry at people. The demand for appearance—dependency of denial. By denying yourself you cannot move—every glance in the mirror, every passerby's look you take as rejection of yourself, as lack of love for yourself. This is a dependency on that sticky feeling, one that's harder and harder to shake off."

"What should I do?"

"What do you do when a storm comes?"

"I wait for it to calm."

"Right. When you flounder in doubts, in bustle, from side to side, in torments, you must stop, calm down, trust yourself.

Go not through demand, go through desire. Through greeting, through equality, not through categorical force, compulsion, impatience.

Form your desire, build your intention to receive something, to know something, to do something…
Go by desires and intentions shaped by pure thoughts and your open heart. And you will see how you begin to gain ease in accepting yourself, other people, the world as a whole. You will see how new roads open, new occupations, more interesting than before, drawing you in, bringing you pleasure, new values and relationships, everything will shine with a different light.
For where light is poured, there is no place for darkness."

I am shown how a branch of the river appears and my raft carries me into that current. There the flow gently slows and now I have the choice to go ashore or to chart my course; the turmoil is gone, the water is calm.

"Go without fears and doubts, in full trust of yourself and of that inner light that guides you, in full trust of the truth manifested by the Creator's love. So be it."