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| Art by Alex Grey (http://www.alexgrey.com/) |
universe and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
- Lao Tzu
There is a tremendous hubris that we have when we are afraid of reality, when we hide behind the ego’s façade and when we think we need to be in control. In truth we cannot even control ourselves until we have surrendered to the deeper wisdom of the evolutionary unfolding of the universe – what Lao Tzu referred to as the Tao. “The universe is sacred.” he writes in the Tao Te Ching. “You cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold it, you will lose it.”
The physical universe is a temporary and changing expression of transcendent wisdom and love. Every being within it is nurtured by this energy. Our very existence is a gift of love. But somehow we get this crazy idea that we have to defend ourselves from it. The most powerful thing that we can do for ourselves and others is surrender to it. Surrender is not passive however; we have to be committed to that surrender in every moment of our lives.
Ordinarily we surrender to our outward view of circumstances, to the illusory projection of our minds conditioned as they are by false beliefs and phantasmagorical interpretations. Spiritual surrender means surrendering inwardly, letting go of anger, resentment and the need to be control. It is not apathy; it is awakening to the inherent joy within us independent of whatever is going on in our lives. It is from this place of peaceful inner acceptance that we can move forward guided by a deeper wisdom and intelligence.
Everything that occurs does so as the working out of an interconnected unfolding of the universe. We cannot grasp its infinite complexity with our small minds. However, we can tune in intuitively and devotionally. When we do we enter the miraculous. We rise above the ego’s narrow perspective and join the universal mind.
