This being human is a guest house ~ Rumi
We spend a good deal of our lives forgetting that we are spiritual beings having a human experience… and not the other way around. You may wonder what a difference this really makes, beyond the loveliness of that insight that we owe to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I was reminded of it recently as I was starting to wrestle with a few things in my life and the world at large. I received this message loud and clear: “Remember, this is all an experience. You are here to learn and experience what it means to be human.” It was not the first time that I was receiving this message; yet, in that moment, it felt like a huge relief allover again.
When you take some distance from things and start looking at them with a sense of curiosity and even wonder, knowing that you are learning something new about life, or even just experiencing a slightly different facet of what being human is about, you are not only reframing things, you are re-opening yourself to new possibilities.
Beyond surrendering
In a way, it is a form of surrender. If you are remembering that it is all about the experience, you can let go of (at least some) of the outcome and re-enter the flow of life without pretending that you are going to control everything. And from that release generally comes a sense of peace and relaxation. It is not always complete but it is usually enough to release some of your stress, which in itself has a tremendous impact not only on your brain but also on your whole body.
Moving from inadequacy to possibility
Thinking of what is happening with you as an experience also help shift from feeling inadequate (when we resist or fear something, it often comes from a place of inadequacy or “not being enough”), to the possibility of learning and transforming. What am I going to learn by going through this? Even when a situation seems to repeat itself, there is always something new to learn.
Activating a sense of curiosity
By re-introducing a sense of curiosity about the events of your own life, you are also activating the reward center of your brain, which generally involves a release of dopamine, a neurochemical that helps regulate a variety of functions within your brain and body. In other words, something in you is starting to enjoy that experience and to learn from it all over again.
This is where keeping asking the why, how, and what questions about life is essential to your well-being. You might not receive any immediate answer. It might be even better not to try to immediately jump to definite answers but to open up to new possibilities about what you are here for.
Each time you pause and wonder and take the time to listen, you are starting to re-engage with this human life from your soul.
Re-engaging with your own life from your soul
To a certain extent, you are re-entering your life as the guesthouse owner that Rumi often talked about – if you are here to learn from this human experience, you don’t have to take everything so personally. You can be both the actor and the observer of your own life, curious about what you are experiencing and learning in the moment.
If it is hard, start with the small stuff: try to pause when something comes up that does not seem to “fit;” take a few deep breaths, and then look at the event or situation with curiosity, almost as if it was happening to someone else: here comes another human experience! And just watch how much freedom you are starting to get from the practice.
Let me know how that feels to you. Share your experience and comments!
This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
~Rumi
Béatrice | Contemporary Shamanic Healer
Béatrice Pouligny
Allowing The Light
February 2018
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