January 2010 Newsletter
A Very Happy and Auspicious New Year to All!
We just finished a decade with a lot of ups and downs, a lot of changes, a lot of turbulence in the world as well as in our lives, and at the same time there are many good things that came out of this difficult time. The message that is important for this year is to only really look at the good things. The difficult things that happened in the last nine years were experiences that took us to the next level; we have not been able to see that we have grown from these experiences. The growth is not measured by what we have immediately in front of us (i.e., we get a raise and go buy a car).
Instant gratification is not the pathway anymore. The new growth that the world is experiencing is reaching out to each other from our hearts, helping each other through the difficult times, and supporting each other through the happy times.
We all have heard over and over again through different teachers, different books, different conversations to open our hearts. But do we actually know what that means? Do we understand what the term "unconditional love" means? Do we understand what non-attachment means? Do we understand what compassion is? All of these are questions that we need to start asking ourselves when we realize that it is time to truly open our hearts. Opening our hearts is about not being afraid of losing the instant gratification, not being afraid that our ego is going to get hurt, having no judgment, seeing the point of view of others and really understanding it instead of rejecting it because it doesn't suit us. Opening our hearts is about speaking our truth no matter how much that hurts us, looking at the truth no matter how much it hurts us, being true to ourselves.
The way to look at our daily lives is with awareness and to continue asking these questions and seeing if we can find the answers in our hearts. The answers are not outside of ourselves. The answers are inside of us. We are our own guru. We are our own teacher. As long as we listen to the truth from the heart and not what we think the truth is from the ego, not from negative thought patterns, not from unclear emotions -- as long as we listen from the heart, the answers will be revealed.
Whatever we want to create, the most important thing is to feel it from our hearts and then it will be created.
Namaste', Zeffi