by Ross Bishop
A story: One day two men were fishing and noticed a man thrashing in the water, desperately struggling to stay afloat. They went over to help the poor fellow, and as they approached they saw him go under. They became very concerned for his safety.
When they got near to him they saw that he was struggling to stay afloat while carrying a large rock. The rock, of course, was pulling the man under. In astonishment, they yelled to him, “Let go of the rock!” “I can’t,” he yelled back, coughing up water, “it’s the only rock I’ve got!”
This man’s attachment was causing him a great deal of difficulty. His attachment had cost him the ability to be flexible and respond to the situation. He was so attached to his precious rock that he had lost the larger perspective, and he was about to lose everything because of it.
We cannot swim holding large rocks, yet that is exactly what we try to do. We attach to things like social status and possessions to deflect attention away from our “flaws.” Your attachments are the rocks you carry and against which you struggle to keep your head above water. They come from the belief that you are a flawed being, i.e.: “You’re not good enough.” “You’re not lovable.” “There is something wrong with you.” etc. God says to us, “Let go of your rock and be free!” And we respond, “I can’t, it’s the only rock I’ve got!”
The way humans hold on to woundedness is a most intriguing dilemma. At first glance, you would expect to see intense motivation for everyone to rid themselves of their limiting and restrictive negative influences. After all, they are an enormous source of pain. They inhibit us, wreck our lives and keep us from being happy. Although some individuals do work to eliminate these influences, the vast majority of people are held hostage by the fear that has been created by their beliefs. So you resist. You avoid. You venture off into side roads that avoid what is being asked of you. When you do that you are saying that I am too frightened to change.
And when we resist change, we are refusing the Universe’s help and creating pain for ourselves. And in response, The Universe cranks up the intensity. And it will be relentless in highlighting your dysfunctional behavior and the false assumptions on which it is based. The further you go to avoid it, The Universe will respond in kind. In some cases, our resistance can lead to a good deal of pain and suffering. Avoid long enough and the stress can break down the tissues of the body to a condition we know as disease.
And when we devalue our inner worth, we can become preoccupied with external baubles that have no lasting significance. All this “stuff” burdens us and inhibits our ability to be free. Life has little meaning unless we get approval and acceptance, or at least get noticed.
We are afraid to let go for fear of what life might be like without fashionable clothes, a house in the “right” neighborhood, a status job and the right kind of “friends.” We hope that these things will hide the defects we feel in ourselves. This begins an endless quest for the newest fashions, social ideas or whatever else is “in,” or, interestingly enough, their complete opposite. As such, life has little meaning unless we get approval and acceptance or at least get noticed. We also fear surfacing the pain that these things mask.
We would never join a cult, yet being tied to someone else’s ideas inhibits our natural selves. We no longer think, dress and feel for ourselves. “Others” run the show and all this “stuff” inhibits our ability to be our natural selves, because, as I say, we believe who we are is defective.
Hard work can create wealth and notoriety, but these things do not enhance the soul. There is nothing wrong with hard work or making money, so long as they do not interfere with our spiritual development, but it can be a slippery slope. The issue is of motive.
Our diversons can work in the short term, but not only is struggling to survive under these conditions exhausting, but over the long term it simply doesn’t work! You may be able to postpone for now, but ultimately you cannot avoid a confontation with your fear. Whatever path you choose, you will eventually be brought face to face with the fears that underlie your attachments. Only that’s doing it the hard way! But until we change what we believe about ourselves, we don’t have much choice.
If our beliefs were legitimate they would pose a real problem. But they are not who we are. But we can build entire lives on those false assumptions! Being attached to things can keep a fearful mind busy, but struggling to survive this way is exhausting! We end up feeling worse than we did when we started out!Eventually, we experience so much pain from trying to live under false pretenses that out of desperation, we begin to search for the truth. It is not as exciting, but it is immensely more satisfying.
copyright 2024@Blue Lotus Press
