Joe's World

Spirituality and the Ideal

There is an old joke you may have heard about a man who lived in an area where there was a flood that rose to just below the roof of his house.  So he climbed on the roof and asked God to save him.  Soon after, the police came by in a row boat and told him to hop in.  He said “No, God will save me.”  Later, a helicopter hovered over him and he sent it away saying “God will save me.”  After he sent away a canoeist who came to help him, the flood got worse and he started to drown.  He cried out to God, “ Dear God, I have always believed in you, but when I asked you to save me, you never showed up, and now I am drowning.  Why did you ignore me?” And God said, “You idiot, I sent you a row boat, a helicopter, and a canoe.”

One way we can trip ourselves up in our quest for enlightenment is that we can hold some ideal of what enlightenment should look like.  I always thought that I would really have arrived when in every second things worked out exactly how I wanted it to.  I would never have a flat tire, I would never be in a traffic jam, everyone would love me immediately, etc.

So we can think that until we  reach our ideal, we are not enlightened.  Since that ideal of enlightenment is only in our head , it really isn't valid.  So we can end up trying to obtain something that we will never have and miss what we really do have.

We can call for spiritual guidance but then we don't listen because it doesn't fit the ideal.  Learning to listen and follow spirit takes practice.  In Tai-Chi , this is what we practice.  When doing the form, we go at a pace where we can watch what is happening with our body, mind, and emotions.  We learn to observe from a place of inner quiet.

When doing pushing hands, we learn that when we have a preconceived notion about what we need to do, or what our partner is doing, we will put ourselves in a weakened position.  When we can move fluidly based on what is happening now, we are in a stronger position.  We train this awareness until our fluidity becomes a natural way to be.

We also learn to stay aware under any circumstance.  One of my most memorable moments in Tai-Chi was not when I felt like I was dancing and being light on my feet, but when I got punched in the face.  I was able to experience the awe of that moment and continue to flow and keep my energy level from dropping.  Now that was a spiritual experience.

Do you define what spirituality must look like?  How does that affect your ability to communicate with your heart and soul?