Temperance

This week I have been getting ready for a class I am teaching in a couple of weeks on Reiki. Most people these days are familiar with Reiki but just as a short synopsis Reiki is healing life force energy which comes through a lineage dating back to Jesus or perhaps even further. It was rediscovered by Master Mikao Usui in 1925 while he was spending twenty one days in meditation atop a sacred mountain in Japan.

I was thinking about how so many of our really amazing profound insights and discoveries come to us while we are spending time going within ourselves. Meditation is the process by which we put aside our daily worries and concerns for a period of time and get quiet. So many of us complain that our lives are a mess, we are seeking answers, or peace, or maybe a new job, and the answers elude us. We work and work, we do this and do that, we say affirmations, we may do rituals or say prayers. All of these things are completely wonderful as long as we do not forget that all the answers we need are available to us when we get quiet and listen.

This morning in my daily tarot draw this is the card I chose:

When I get this card, I know that perhaps I have gotten a bit out of balance and it is time to get back on track. In the picture, the Angel is pouring water from one vessel into another. One foot is in the water and one on land. The sun is rising. Obviously this is an Angel, which indicates that there is help from the Higher Realms in achieving this goal.

In symbology, water represents Spirit and the earth represents our physical lives. This card is indicating that it takes both spiritual practice and human effort to achieve our goals. One without the other will not work.

It is so easy to focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else.

I was talking to a coworker today and he was talking about how when he gets a focus on something, he notices that other things in his life suffer because of the intense tendency he has to throw all of his energy into that one project. We all can say that we know what he is talking about, and I think that it is an easy habit to fall into.

We imagine a goal. We may want to manifest a new relationship, a new job, or any number of goals that are commendable. However, we throw everything we have into this one basket. We may forget that we have other obligations. We may try to manifest our dreams without taking the time to go within and seek higher guidance.

Master Usui was a healer before he went atop the mountain. He had studied chiqong  and other eastern healing modalites. However he was frustrated. He was not achieving the results he desired. He went to the mountain to seek higher guidance. It didn't come on the first day. Nor did it come the second. This speaks to me of our tendency to want a quick fix. We are so used to the McDonald's mentality. We want what we want and we want it right now. Master Usui was willing to put aside some time to go within and seek higher guidance. The answers didn't come until his time on the mountain was almost done.

Other spiritual masters have done the same thing. The Buddha obtained enlightenment by spending time under a tree. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days.

Sometimes the answers we seek to our most innermost desires and questions can only be found by spending time alone with Spirit. But, as the tarot card for today indicates, there needs to be a balance. We have to eventually come down off the mountain and do something!

Once we spend our time with Spirit,it seems like doors open without any effort on our part! The right doors. The right person just happens to come across our path. Or the right job. We have an inner knowing of what to put effort into and what to let go.

There is a mantra that I love that says: "What I focus on grows."

Sometimes it is good to focus on our goals. It is good to visualize achieving our goals. But if those goals seem to elude us, perhaps it is time to surrender. Let go of our intended outcomes and allow the Universe to unfold just as it should. If we think that our lives have to unfold in a certain way, then we still have spiritual work to do. One of the steps to enlightenment is the ability to detach ourselves from our desired goals and know that all is well, no matter what.

Just for today, why not spend a little time going within for that needed guidance? But don't stay there forever, expecting your dream job or your dream lover or your dream car to come up the mountain to you. I guess it is possible to find a large bag of money sitting at your doorstep, but more than likely you are going to have to put some effort into achieving your goal. But your time going within will give you the needed guidance to know just which path to seek, and which one to let go.