The great paradox of the quest for enlightenment is that it is a lifelong search for something you already have. I’ve been reading and listening to a lot of material on this subject, and the one consistent message I’m receiving is that enlightenment is not something to attain, but something to recognize. It’s an awakening to an inner truth you’ve always known; the spiritual journey is simply a return to your innermost self.
In 1962, Elvis Presley released “Return to Sender,” a song about the narrator’s attempts to contact a former lover. Every letter of apology he writes is returned to him, but he tries again and again to reach her, unable to let go of what once was. The King is willfully riding the wheel of samsara, the cycle of desire that carries us to suffering when we allow our peace to depend on things beyond our control. The universe (not to mention the woman) is trying to tell him to leave well enough alone–his search for salvation in the external world will lead him nowhere. No such number, no such zone!
I’d like to offer a variation on that title that might help each of us when we are feeling lost or out of sorts: Return to Center. When life starts taking you for a ride, when those people and things that usually help you through the tough times aren’t getting back to you, remember that the ultimate peace lives inside of you. Take a few deep breaths, and find that place within you that never changes and is undisturbed by the storms of life.
The journey has always been internal, one of discovery and detection, not creation. The search for home begins and ends in the heart. Recall The Wizard of Oz, when the great Oz reminds Dorothy that she has always had the power to return home. We too possess that same power, but often get distracted looking for addresses unknown.
We need to slow down frequently enough and long enough to connect to our true selves. To pause, breathe, and just be. In that spaciousness, we recognize that everything we need is already there. The only address we need to know is the one that never changes: the impervious center of ourselves.
If you’d like a guiding hand on your journey to mindful awareness, send me an email at ralph@getemergent.com. I’d be happy to help.
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