Happy Easter everyone.
May this Easter Sunday bring the possibility of resurrection in all of us. Redemption, being reborn, and choosing our highest values are always options in this life, and in every life.
Every time we choose to let go of old beliefs and patterns that no longer serve us, we are reborn to our true selves – love and light. Like this, we are a reflection of the Divine.
While I am not Christian, I often connect with Jesus’s energy while I pray and meditate. His energy is supremely kind and loving. It is understanding and pure. He understands me completely.
I think of Jesus as my friend and an incredibly wise energy who I can ask for help and guidance, and who does so with everlasting love.
On this day of rebirth I remember a meditation I had with Jesus appearing strongly to me, about a year ago. The image was starkly clear and colourful.
Jesus handed me a lotus flower in each hand, one black and one white. He was wearing white robes and standing at the edge of a lake, his feet immersed in the water.
Each lotus was an offering; a reminder not to judge myself when I’m feeling bad, or off, or sad.
We have days that we label good and bad as humans. Within the good days is what we consider to be light – positivity, joy, happiness, gratitude. This is part of the traditional symbolism of the white lotus petal that leads to enlightenment.
But when we have dark days, full of worry, stress, sadness, and an overall feeling of inadequacy, or being ‘not good enough,’ we suddenly think that we cannot call ourselves enlightened or peaceful anymore.
In a day, we can fall from seeing ourselves as the bearers of wisdom and someone who can say thank you to all they receive, to someone who feels ungrateful and unworthy.
Or at least, I know I can. What is the point of having this supposed spiritual understanding and four depressions in my life, if I can’t rise above it all for good?
This is what my mind thinks. Really, it is just another way to judge myself. But when I saw Jesus pass me this knowledge in my meditation it was a reminder that divinity never judges me.
There can be no light without the dark. Creation itself is made up of matter, and all the dark spaces between. To think we can only ever be positive/active/in abundance is innocently naïve. If spiritual perfection is what we are aiming for, why on earth would we be alive?
The answer is – we wouldn’t be.
We wouldn’t choose to incarnate here, on this messy planet full of ups and downs, highs and lows, misery and elation.
If spiritual equilibrium is all we were meant for, we wouldn’t get life’s thrill of excitement and love and adventure balanced out harmoniously by the stinging wounds of grief, loss, perceived unworthiness and failures, and a sense of emptiness from time to time.
Just because you still have bad days and negative thoughts does not make you unspiritual. It makes you a real, whole human being. It is a sign you are still involved in life, not stagnant.
Achieving perfect equilibrium with your feelings may seem like a coveted idea, but unless you are a monk or a nun it would make you detached from your surroundings, your life lessons and your dharma. We were meant to get involved – to get our bodies, our minds, our souls messy.
With this message, I resolve to love and accept myself more, just as Jesus and the Divine loves and accepts me. It is unconditional love, independent of my mood. The black and white lotus are two gifts, and neither is better than the other.
