Last Updated on August 5, 2015
The Gift of Longing
Within the Heart of Man is a deep longing.
So long as this longing remains unconscious and un-integrated it emerges in many ways that may appear to bring us into a more involved experience of suffering, confusion, and pain. Examples are attachment, neediness, consumerism, desire for all sorts of things, addiction, and other seemingly dysfunctional and unsustainable habits and behaviour patterns.
The pain brought about as a consequence of these symptoms of unconsciously experience our longing (such as those listed above) has one purpose. When we are present to that pain, and more exactly to the feeling of that pain, it eventually gets us back in touch with the longing within the Heart of Man. When I say “the feeling of that pain” I am referring to the pure and direct experience of that pain, as a felt-sense or subtle sensation and awareness within the body-mind, and eventually direct experience of the longing within the Heart. All too often, ordinary Man in his/her unconsciousness, gets caught up in the grosser man-i-festations (or the man-infestations) of such pain. Having been acculturated to mistakenly approach Life solely through the senses and the rational mind, we get caught up in the stories we string together regarding that pain in our attempt to map it out into our known world and find some way to “get our head around it”.
Not only has ordinary Man been indoctrinated to approach Life solely through the senses and the rational mind, but that same mind is in a state of hypnosis and confusion. This hypnosis has been induced through Man’s senses being hijacked and overloaded with “images” of that which is unreal. It is as though a spell has been cast over the Mind of Man, so in many regards ordinary Man does not even use his/her rational mind in a way that actually constitutes sound logic and rationality. The sum total (and all the many parts and facets) of how we currently go about living (actually, dying is a more accurate word to use) on this planet is the greatest testament I can give to how our so-called rational approach to life is in fact completely illogical. Our capacity to think rationally and logically is completely enmeshed in our false (mis-taken) stories about the way things are, resulting in humanity living in the experience of an unreal fantasy as opposed to direct experience of That which is real.
Coming back to the topic of the pain caused by our unconsciousness and the unconscious emergence of the longing within the Heart of Man. When we allow ourselves to fully feel/feal (without giving undue attention to story / thought) that pain draws our attention into the body and eventually into the Heart. Here within the Heart we come into contact with the source of all our experience. It is here we directly discover that “I Am the Dreamer of a Dream”. This is the Hrdaya dreaming the world into being. Once Man remembers how to bring his/her attention into the Hrdaya (into the Cosmic Heart Center) the experience of Life is forever changed–changed in a way that is rather dramatic, total, absolute, and integral, and yet at the same instant everything remains as it were. This is a paradoxical experience that must be experienced in order to be fully appreciated.
As Man awakens with awareness into the Heart the gift of longing can be felt and experienced for what it is. It is one particular expression of the Love that was placed into the Heart of Man by the Supreme Source / God / the Creator, or what have you. It is that expression and quality of love which ensures our return to source. As the “I” of God extends out into the form-side of Life through the “I” of Man, there is a certain tension that arises. This is much like stretching a rubber band. The further it stretches the more the tension increases. This tension is akin to the longing within the Heart of Man. When we are present to that tension, to that longing, we step into a state of being in-tension or intention. Specifically we become aware of the intention of the Supreme Source. Put another way we awaken to the Dreamer.
So long as this feeling of longing is denied or judged in any way it will expel our attention back out into the dream, into the world, where we experience our disconnect and our judgement and our denial through the senses. The pain of that will eventually impel us (our attention or at-tension) back within again, and if we are fortunate enough to have wizened up a little we will have a new approach to that longing within. This dance may play out through time for what seems like a long time (life-times even). Eventually Man finds it within him/herself to simply embrace that longing for what it is, and in doing so it will carry him/her on a current of bliss back home. Through embracing this longing within, the experience will emerge of embracing it in the apparent world beyond the framework of the physical body. We can then embrace and integrate this longing as it manifests through our habits, our cravings, our addictions, our desires, and most significantly through communion with the Beloved.
In every relationship Man feels drawn to step into, Man is in fact seeking out the Beloved. In another article I will explore what this Beloved I am referring to is exactly, as I see it. Simply put Man is in the dance of Love seeking out the Be-loved.
The longing in the Heart of Man is the longing for absolute communion with the Absolute. It is the longing to return home to the Supreme Source. It is the longing to taste and feel and merge with the sweetness of Life. It is the experience of the Supreme Source extending out from and back into itself. It is the longing a Christian feels for an experience of merging with The Christ. It is the longing a mystic has for merging with God or The Divine. It is the longing a child has to be at the breast of its mother. It is the longing our spirit has to connect with the Earth and with Nature. It is the longing our body has to connect with Spirit. It is the longing we have for community and connection with an-other. It is the longing we have to know and experience the true essence of That which I Am.
This is the gift of longing. May you receive that gift and approach it wisely.
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