Following the Path…

I want to start off with a quote from The Upanishads:

You are what your deep, driving desire is.

As your desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

Sometimes it can feel like we are repeating the same mistakes. Or, maybe we only see it that way when we look back on past events- when we can see the pattern more clearly. We often can not see what is in front of us when we are in the midst of it all. We lose our way. We allow something to change our path. Sometimes the path seems too hard and we pause on our journey and our mind begins to chatter.

It is so easy to fall into a pattern of not doing the right thing. Our mind plays tricks and hands over the reigns to our ego. Before you know it your deeds are not taking you toward your destiny, because your will has been subverted in a new direction. That trickster, the ego, has convinced you to stop listening to your true desire, the desire of Truth. The desire of Love. The desire of Oneness. Before you are aware of it, you are walking a new path.

I find this pattern in myself often: I know in my being that my path should head toward a certain direction. I know the choice to make. I know the deed of action I need to take…… but it is hard. It brings me to uncomfortable emotions. It makes me see something about myself that I don’t want to see. Sometimes I am not strong enough to follow my path. I give my mind a little wiggle room to start the chatter and before I know it I am moving in a new direction. I let my mind tell me that the choice I was going to make was the wrong one. If I am not careful to stop and feel my breath, step back and acknowledge the thoughts that carried me away from my Truth, I sometimes find myself moving toward a different destiny. My will was overturned by my own mind, and I had convinced myself that my new deeds are leading me toward what my true desire is. But this new desire has nothing to do with Truth, Love, and Oneness. It has to do with fear.

Fortunately, it always seems that a new opportunity will present itself. It might be seen as “repeating the same mistakes”. If we can make our ego release full control of our mind, we will start to see the pattern of opportunity that is arising. Instead of berating ourselves for making the same mistake again, how about seeing it as a chance to create change? A chance to follow our true desire and take another path. No, it won’t be easy. The easy path was the path that we took- the path we let our ego dictate, that made us circle back to this same place. Now we stand again at the same crossroads. The easy path may look more inviting. It may be wider, clearer to follow, it is much less scary. This other direction may be a bit overgrown, it is full of the unknown when our ego-eyes are doing the looking. But the Truth is in you and it will lead you on the right path and toward your destiny, if you can get past the easy path and forge ahead. Take one more step toward your destiny, let yourself see that true desire within. Breathe with it, move with it, think and feel with it. Let it be present with you when you sleep, present when you speak, present when you move through your yoga practice. Before you know it, that easy path is far behind you. Your deeds are back on a path leading closer to your Truth.