And the Answer Is

As I sat in meditation recently, my mind wandered to my lifelong belief that I had never wanted to share much of what I heard or knew for fear of generating devotees. Another aspect of that was I never wanted to be a devotee. I did want teachers or guides. Maybe I even desired a “guru” to appear with all the answers to my many questions. In actuality, I spent much of my twenties hoping (and secretly believing) that at any moment the giant hand would come down from the sky and hand me the envelope with all the answers. I might still be waiting if I had not caught on to the fact that this would defeat the entire purpose of my being here – this lifetime.

As I paused on the idea of devotees and my intense dislike of them, I heard, “God doesn’t want devotees either.” That got my attention. The explanation that followed was more a feeling and seeing, but to summarize the message it appears that God, the universe, the invisible puppet master – or whatever name you assign to the energy emanating towards us all – is not interested in devotees. They are interested in having us all embrace their energy within us, thus allowing us to fold back into said energy.

Being a devotee is outside of you. You are worshipping or attaching to something that you might hope to attain or that you admire. It is aspirational and apart. In all great religious texts, the message is the same that it is within each of us and the “secret” is that we have to go in to find out (if I may quote the title of my second book available on this website and if you want to understand better what I am nattering on about, you can find more information there). Because if you do not go in you cannot find out.

Like most profound statements, this is a simple message which carries a big piece of the puzzle. Where it fits into yours is up to you and only you can know, but it is worth the contemplation.

The conversation in my meditation then continued, noting that messages, profound statements and insights surround us not just from religious texts, but from literature, the classics, Shakespeare and even a passing remark from a neighbor, friend or store clerk. We do not have the answers simply because the big hand did not come down. We do not have the answers because we have not remembered how to listen.

So, for fun you can tune up your hearing, improve your listening skills and be on the lookout for more of the scavenger hunt items or pearls of wisdom. They are out there and ripe for the picking.