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*Brian Wilcox. 'lingering light'. Flickr
A continuance of encounters with a sage who did not see himself as a sage, but others did; from Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
I'm wondering if I have too much, I mean too many things, especially when I see how little so many have to live on. I know many have given up all material belongings in their spiritual path. Sometimes, I aspire to live on less, but I don't know how much I really need to live, or how much I need to sacrifice to fulfill my calling. Is living with little essential on the Way?
A woman woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed that she had only three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." She did. She had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "Well, well, interesting, " she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." She did. She had a grand day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and she had one hair on her head. "Well, okay," she said, "today, I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." She did, and she had a fun day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and there was only a single hair on her head. "Yeah!," she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"
* * *
The main point in response to your question is not what you say you have, either to keep or give up or give away, but what has you. Simplicity is integral to any spiritual path, but simplicity is primarily a matter of not grasping, not claiming you own this and that. Your dwelling may be full of things or almost empty of things, but you own not a thing. You do not own yourself, you do not own a reputation, you do not own a friendship, you do not own a lover, nothing... nothing... nothing. You do not even have a spiritual path or spiritual practice. Many persons speak proudly of "my God" or "our God," as though they have a claim on God, but no one has a god or God. All is free, sharing the freedom of the Giver. All passes along with you, as you yourself are passing through with all. This passing through together is a holy communion. Oneness and becoming are together, not separate.
When you understand this, then you will more easily sense how to relate to your so-called belongings, for you will know you have no belongings. What you keep is not yours, what you do not keep, that is not yours. Then, you celebrate that as you are moving through this world, all else is too, and you can enjoy both things and yourself more fully, more thankfully. All passes, and that is good news, for it frees you from claiming what is not and never was or can be a belonging belonging to anyone. Belonging is, belonging cannot belong to anyone.
* * *
So, this applies to spiritual practice? I'd never thought of that, I'd thought only in regard to things I own ~ I mean I've claimed to own.
A subtle temptation on the spiritual Journey is greed for more and more spiritual experiences: better, experiences that fit what one thinks is spiritual. We can grab with a gluttony for one more spiritual high. We look for the next fix. We become spiritual junkies. Accumulation means, literally, "to pile up." The way of Spirit is unpiling, not piling up, is decrease, not increase. Losing what you cannot kept is the way to receive what you can never lose.
That, still, doesn't answer my question about how to arrive at how much to give up.
You want an answer about quantity, but no one can give you that answer. Once you truly give up everything, you will be given your answer, for it will arise in the spaciousness of non-possession, the natural state of becoming.
What do you mean "the natural state of becoming"?
A telling three words from Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, when he writes, "Becoming and becoming." In this he means all phenomena is always becoming. As I have remarked, we are passing through, everything is passing through. Yet, too, we are not the same we were or will be, not as person. There is no stable person, unchanging, even as there is no mountain not being worn down by the weather, even the Sun is slowing dying, and one day it will no longer be able to sufficiently warm Earth for life to survive as we know it ~ if Earth is still here. This leads us to consider death, that, too, is change, and knowing this helps us reevaluate the place of things in our lives.
* * *
I feel sad, when I think of giving up some things that I've had a long time.
Well, no problem, feel sad, that is okay. Letting go can be like a death, it is, so one may feel some grief, a sense of loss. I recall looking in a mirror to shave my head with a razor. I had plenty of hair on my head, but wanted to be like a man whom I considered my Teacher. He had a shaven head, by choice. I began cutting the hair off with scissors, when I cut enough, I would be able to use the razor to finish it. After a time of cutting, when I reached that point of no return, I stopped and felt like crying, a deep sense of loss. Since I could remember, I had had a full head of hair. Now, I could not turn back, did not want to. I continued, and before long my head was skin, not a hair to be seen. So, it simply arose, this grief, for change is a death. There was a new becoming, and I decided to shave my head in advance, not out of necessity, but out of devotion. Just imagine, we are already shedding this body, and soon it will be no more. So, we can practice emotionally letting go of thinking it is our body: a good practice in preparation for its final moment of dying.
What do you mean "out of devotion"?
One may find it easier to give up things, both outer and inner, when one does so in a sense of love for the Divine, a Teacher, or someone he or she loves dearly. Surrender, of self and the sense of ownership, is central to the path of devotion. A sense of Love is empowering to give up as a giving to another, be it human or God. This power of Love, and the benefit of the surrender it leads to, arises in words of the early Christian Paul, who spoke of his love for Christ, his desire to be one-in-Love with Christ...
I once thought these things [that made me appear so holy] were valuable. Now, I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Master. For his sake I have surrendered up everything else, esteeming it all as garbage. I have done this, so to receive Christ and become one with him.
*Brian Wilcox. 'Flow'. Flickr
*The theme of "Lotus of the Heart" is 'Living in Love beyond Beliefs.' This work is presented by Brian K. Wilcox, of Maine, USA. You can order Brian's book An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, through major online booksellers.
*Quote from Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, In Love with the World.
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