What’s happening when it looks like nothing’s happening

[Sheila]

“Patience! It’s not an easy lesson for me because I’d prefer life to happen on my timing. But I have come to realize that divine timing usually wins. (No, make that always wins.) When you have a dream that you are truly excited about, it can be hard to have faith and trust that it will come about. But much goes on behind the scenes that we don’t know about and can’t do anything about. We have to wait. And while we are waiting, we have the opportunity to get even clearer about our desires. Don’t settle for less than what you desire. Give the universe an opportunity to sculpt your dream perfectly for you. It always will…unless you give up on it. Don’t give up.

“Consider the growth of a bamboo tree. It usually takes a full three years in the ground before any growth appears at all. During that time, its roots are growing deeply underground. Then, as if by magic, the tree may grow up to four feet in a twenty-four-hour period!

“Think about a dream you have. Have you given up on it because you haven’t seen any signs of it coming to fruition? Or did someone tell you that it’s a pipedream, that you’re crazy? Did someone else give you a hundred reasons why your dream wouldn’t work? Don’t let anyone take the wind out of your sails.

“As you become clearer about what your dream looks and feels like, trust that it will come to be. Keep your focus on your desire, rather than on the fact that it hasn’t shown up yet. Trust that it will! I believe in you.”

-- Maureen Hancock, The Medium Next Door, p. 181

[Sheila]

From The Utne Reader --


Science speaks about phase transformations, or punctuated equilibrium. A common example is the manner in which water comes to a boil. Put a pot of water on the stove, turn on the heat, and wait. Depending on the intensity of the heat and the temperature and volume of the water, it will boil slowly or quickly, but either way there is a period when nothing seems to be happening. All the energy is going into the water with no obvious result. The phase transformation from water into steam takes time.

Similarly, when we engage in spiritual practice, we have placed ourselves on the stove and turned on the heat. If our practice is halfhearted, then it takes time for that low temperature to transform us. If we practice wholeheartedly, the higher temperature brings us more rapidly to a boil. Either way there is a period when nothing seems to be happening. Lots of energy is going into our practice, but nothing is cooking.

As long-term practitioners reflect over years of practice, they discover they are starting to get warm. The changes come slowly because the water that is being heated is so cold, and the heart of our practice is usually tepid. But sooner or later we come to a boil. After years of practice we “suddenly” transform from an uptight, aloof person into an open, loving one; from a confused sentient being into an awakened one.

Lasting spiritual changes arise from simply being present, again and again. Religion means to link (ligio) back (re). Linking back on the spiritual path takes place every time we return to our breath, our body, our mantra, or the present moment. With each return we are taking a small step toward enlightenment because being fully present is a fundamental expression of enlightenment.



Andrew Holecek is a Tibetan Buddhist who serves on the adjunct faculty of Naropa University. We found this excerpt from his 2009 book The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy in the Autumn 2010 issue of Light of Consciousness. www.light-of-consciousness.org