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Slowing Down |
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When I became ill enough that the end of my life came into focus, as interesting thing happened – I slowed down. Sure, my physical motor skills slowed, but that’s not particularly what I’m talking about – I mean I slowed. I found that along with my slower movement came a slower way of seeing and thinking, creating in me the impression that the world had accommodated me by itself slowing to match my new “condition.” Imagine a time-lapse movie in which you are an actor. The traffic zips by at incredible speeds – the taillights forming continuous red streaks into the distance. You are caught in the movie… running among the skyscrapers – an inextricable part of the rush of humanity that is ever hurrying, ever late… ever preoccupied with achieving more, and more… and more. That had been me… and yet somehow, my illness had given me the uncanny ability to step outside that flow of traffic. And that’s when I began to realize a few things. As I stood there, watching the rush of humanity, I began to hear a voice that had mostly been obscured before. People have different names for this voice – our “inner wisdom;” the “small, still voice” or “the voice of God;” among others. Whatever you choose to call it, it is the voice of wisdom, and you can only hear it when you slow down. Think of two tuning forks. One of them is small, and it therefore vibrates at a high frequency – meaning it has a short wavelength – a high pitch. It is fast-paced, and it represents the vibration of humanity, going about its daily business – the business of social climbing and achieving and perceived success – the business of “business.” When you are tuned to this frequency, all of the practices of rushing about makes sense – the physical world is in sharp focus, as are its myriad issues of strife and war and all the struggles in which we as a species are engaged in order to obtain more and more. When we are tuned into this frequency, “bigger” looks better to us, and we feel compelled to engage in the perceived competition against others to win at the game of life. The other tuning fork, however, is much larger – it’s resonant note deeper. Should we choose to strike it, we suddenly find ourselves tuned in to an entirely different universe. This is a universe of more spiritual matters… it is the universe of wisdom. Thousands of books have been written on the subject of self-improvement. Everyone, it seems, wants you to follow their particular plan to better yourself – whether through exercise, religion, social skills, self-esteem or financial success, among other topics. I believe that we have, as our birthright, a direct connection with all the wisdom we need… if we will only listen to it… if we take the time to “tune in” to it, we have the ability to directly connect to all the wisdom in the universe.
Gradually, my health improved… the imminent end of my life receded from view…. Gradually, as simple things like breathing and sleeping became once again commonplace and therefore easier, my personal “frequency” began to return to old habits. Then, as I began to wake one morning, I realized I was missing something my illness had granted me before – I felt I had lost my “connection” with the eternal. I could no longer hear my “small, still voice.” A feeling of impending doom crept into my consciousness as my spiritual vision faded and I found myself once again facing the insurmountable challenges of the never-ending race of humanity – where bigger is better and where enough is never enough. So I began to wonder whether I might have the ability to consciously “re-connect” to that spiritual center – to re-establish by force of sheer will the connection that had previously been easily and unavoidably granted by the very fact that I had been near to death. I slowed down. This practice began at the moment I got out of bed in the morning, and ended each day as I lay my head on my pillow in the evening to sleep. The effect was instantaneous. “Chores,” as simple as brushing my teeth or washing the dishes, became enjoyable “events” as I savored each moment of each experience. Drops of dew on the morning grass came back into focus, and – now that I had slowed my perception – the universal spiritual voice became audible once again. One of the first perceptions I experienced was the letting go of my supposed responsibility to be in “control” of my environment. Rather than waking each day with the perception that my life is a game that must be won, I felt an awareness instead that life is a practice in which my goal was to do better than I had done before. |
Troy Carlyle |
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Have you ever noticed that the wisest of our spiritual leaders seem to be on a different “wavelength” than the lion’s share of humanity? At their best, leaders like Gandhi or Mother Theresa or Martin Luther King seemed, by virtual of their calm, methodical and thoughtful delivery, to be connected with an inner wisdom that transcends worldly understanding. This connection allowed them to see truths that are often obscured to those running at faster paces and therefore caught up in the traditional struggle for power. |
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"Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found." Anne Morrow Lindbergh |