Six words that changed my life…
You are a piece of God.
You are a divine creation that showed up at a particular location of this planet, at this time for a purpose. You are a spiritual being with human experiences, rather than a mere human with occasional spiritual experiences.
Author U.S. Anderson has a book titled Three Magic Words. He writes about our ability to become a miracle worker, instead of being a miserable creature. At the end of the book, he reveals those three magic words: You are God. Not God in the sense of above all others or better than anyone else, or being the Almighty, but in the sense of being eternally connected to the Source and the Force that never abandons you. You can rely on this Source if you remind yourself that it always includes you.
The earthly lesson about our uniqueness can be easily learned by observing nature, especially the trees. A quote from spiritual mystic and yogi, Ram Dass has been extremely inspiring to me:
“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all those different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light and so it turned out that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, you are too this, or I ‘m too this. That judging mind comes in. And so, I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
There is a story about Zusha, the great Chassidic master, who lay crying on his deathbed. His students asked him, “Rebbe, why are you so sad? After all the mitzvah and good deeds you have done, you will surely get a great reward in heaven!”
“I’m afraid!” said Zusha. “Because when I get to heaven, I know God’s not going to ask me ‘Why weren’t you more like Moses?’ or ‘Why weren’t you more like King David?’
But I’m afraid that God will ask “Zusha, why weren’t you more like Zusha?”
“And then what will I say?”
You don’t want to feel like Zusha. Take full ownership of the person that you are, celebrate the person that God created you to be and don’t compare yourself to anybody else, because among the 8 billion plus people on planet Earth, there is no one like you.
Let these words of poet Rumi inspire you to claim your unique place in the Universe with joy and gratitude:
If you could only see your beauty
for you are greater than the sun.
Why are you withered and shriveled in this prison of dust?
A basketful of bread sits on your head
but you beg for crusts from door to door.
You are more precious than both heaven and earth.
You know not your own worth.
Sell not yourself at a little price,
being so precious in the eyes of God.
Every time I feel less sure of myself, or I have the tendency to compare myself to others, I try the following exercise suggested by spiritual writer Dennis Meritt Jones:
Look in the mirror, take a deep breath and focus and realize that the unique being gazing at you is nothing less than God. “It is God looking at Itself, loving Itself, intentionally expressing Itself in you, through you, and as you just the way you are. Marvel at how perfectly unique you are and give thanks it was meant to be so. Then, smile at that being and say, Namaste!
Mystic Chelan Harkin expresses the same truth poetically:
You really don’t need a promotion
in this great, wildlife
to be deemed worthy
You came here with 5 stars
attached to your every movement
and word and breath.
The cosmos is in ceaseless applause
of your existence at all!
(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)
