You have heard the parable of the prodigal son, the other brother and their father...but did you get it?
Truth is, I always thought that parable was about my real brother, (he is on a tangent, I think)...I am the good brother, er, sister/daughter (of course) and my mom is the father of the story eagerly waiting for my brother to come back. All about me, how typical. Harumph!
At first I thought the story was literal. I thought there would be a physical leaving, an inheritance squandered and a grieving parent who would look up through the tears and be filled with joy. So as the good brother, I knew that I was not *supposed* to be ungrateful after the return of you know who. I must keep my focus and be generous of heart in the younger brother's return. Okie dokie, got it. Heart open. Arms open. Waiting.
Hello??
Newsflash: it is not about my brother.
It is about my faith, hope, and ah yes, love. It's about yours too.
I found this a-ha moment in the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I read this book as a set up to Tolle's new book, A New Earth. I was just curious about what the author had said before his newer book and I liked the title. I read the whole book and then as is my practice, I followed it up with a pen and my journal, taking notes, adding personal stories and new understandings. Here we go.
So...The Power of Now requires you to take notice of and stay in this moment right here****
And right here****
And another new one....right here****
How's that working for ya? There is only the NOW. I was thinking...huh? Sometimes I read like a fiend and sometimes I had to go back and reread a section to understand it fully. It was not so much that the information was new to me, but it was certainly a new level of understanding. I had already spent a transformational year; there were many ebbs and flows... much of the old purged and much newly integrated. Ah, I like it!
The author counts on many philosophies to make descriptions we can understand and/or makes analogies to get his point across. So it is kinda cool that he says that he does not stand for one religion or another, and you'll find references to Buddha, Jesus, Tao, etc.....so I like learning the new (to me) as much as I like rehearing what I already knew.
The most fun is that what I thought I knew, I had a chance to look at with different eyes. I will let you see for yourself. I wonder what you thought of the Prodigal Son before you read this, and what you think afterwards.
From the book on page 100: "Consciousness takes on the disguise of forms until they reach such complexity that it completely loses itself in them." Tolle says that we are completely identified with the disguise and that this "egoic mind" therefore lives in fear of annihilation because we only know this form ....physically and psychologically. If we stop there, then considerable dysfunction sets in. It may look as if a major screw up has occured in evolution. Many are led to the awakening by a big event...mine personally was illness. Yours will be different.
"Finally the pressure of suffering created by this apparent dysfunction forces consciousness to disidentify from (that) form and awakens it from its dream of form: It regains self-consciousness, (but it is) at a far deeper level than when it is lost." This is the parable of the Prodigal Son. "The parable describes a journey from unconscious perfection, through apparent imperfection and "evil" to conscious perfection....the son leaves his father's home, squanders his wealth, becomes destitute, and is then forced by his suffering to return home.The son's state is the same as it was before, yet not the same."
How do I reconcile that and bring it home? Well consider this...my _____left me. I do not agree with what he did with his treasure. I smirk, but here he comes up the driveway. God, our Father who has watched his steps all the while, smiles.... and embraces his return. I was the loyal one, I was the good one, why am I decorating for the ____'s party? Why should I?
Try it again.
This time, I am driven to move on. I am taking my toys and taking my turn. I am changing and growing. I will see ya! Will you be there when I get back? Will you be happy to see me? Or will you be mad that I left in the first place? Will you decorate the deck for my party?
One more look for us to capture it all...my love for you is complete. You have lived in my heart and in my soul for so long now. If you must move on, I hope you will. If it gets scary, I am home. If it gets cold, I will mail you a blanket. You are not owned by me nor by our story. You are free to be and I have shared so much with you that you will always hear my voice when you are looking for peace and unconditional love.
Sometimes, I have even loved you more than you have loved yourself. But go now, and return if and when you want to. Because you are a God-send, I can let you go and say....
I love you and you are mine.
Peace.
Peace, right now.
mamie
