I do a lot of Ayurvedic and life coaching. It never fails that a client will want to know from a spiritual perspective, “Why is this happening to me?” It’s a great question. Not wanting a client to dwell on the why, but the cure, I generally redirect explaining that the why is no longer relevant. The current situation and the cure are the only items of relevancy.
I guess I don’t like them to dwell on the why because it comes down to the question of fate and destiny. Fate is the result of ego choices. Your lifestyle of distraction and constant stress keeps you in your ego. Following every emotion that floats through your consciousness is also a good way to stay in ego. Pleasure seeking and pain seeking imprisons you in the ego. Your are split and stuck in duality more aware of your ego nature and less aware of your soul nature. You suffer. Sh#t happens. You get sick. That’s fate.
Destiny is the result of soul choices. You can only make soul choices if you have the capacity to savor your thoughts, recognize the pattern of the habitual mind, and follow in a heartfelt way the thoughts that align with your soul. Destiny doesn’t really have a path. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa describes destiny as a North Star or a guiding path. It’s interesting when you sit to meditate you will often be flooded with amazing insights that lead to your destiny. Too often, however, you simply go back to your dualistic life treating your meditation as nothing more than relaxing and incapable of following through on the insight.
That is why is so important to become master of your mind outside of your practice of meditation. You must be able to follow the mind and discern your course of action.
How do you do this?
- Meditate every single day for no less than 11 minutes.
- Clean up your life. Eliminate the chaos, distractions, noise, drama, and running around like a chicken with your head cut off. Eliminate the non-food items you are regularly putting in your body…alcohol, caffeine, processed food, meat, and sugars.
- Spend one hour each day caring for yourself. Be in silence. Be in solitude. Pray. Meditate. Move your body.
- Respond with compassion in all situations. Stop reacting. Reacting is a choice. You don’t have to go there. Seriously, you don’t. You are choosing to be angry, annoyed, offended, and all those other cruddy emotions. If you do all of the stuff above, you will start to realize that.
- Hang out with nice people who support you and who you can support.
- Begin a serious practice of self-study. Find your habits and bring them to your awareness so that you are empowered with the knowledge of how your unique mind works.
- Expand your consciousness. Learn. Never stop learning.
This Tuesday we move to “delight” in our 21-stages of meditation. I’m going to spend this week exploring my destiny as my spiritual practice for the 120-day cleanse.
Om, Pamela
*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.