The Continuous Rebirth of the Soul

I slept very late last night because I had to finish off some work before I go on leave today. So here I am now, in my abode of books in Cyberjaya, typing these lines to the strains of some nice Baroque music. 

Time to relax, stretch out my legs and reflect back on the week that passed. What did I learn? It was a tough week workwise with a lot of technical challenges. I've learned to trust my instincts when it comes to work. Every time I am stuck, I'll continuing plowing on, trying one thing after another until I hit a solution. The universe wants to be resolved, One must always believe that.

To believe in oneself is to surrender to whatever that arises. The ego has to get out of the way first. Or else you'll be led off course by your own selfish interest and not towards the best outcome. Selfishness is often ruled by fear--the need to cling to an existing state of affairs and not welcome another.

But change is inevitable, as is always the case. By surrendering to the flow of things, one dissolves one's ego, allowing a new outcome to arise. Clinging and grasping are are natural tendencies of the ego. How does one detect that? By listening to its signals--the palpitations of fear, the flush of shame or the hunger of greed.

We fear, because something we hold dear is threatened. Self-preservation instincts kick in. All our cunning and deceitfulness start working overtime to address the situation. The mindful man would always detect the onset of this course and correct it immediately. There's a self-monitoring mechanism at work in the mind of the wise, with a high sampling rate: sample, check, proceed, sample, check, proceed, sample, check, stop!

Shame, if not followed up by a need to hide it, is harmless. It is merely the dissolution of the ego. Something--a self-image, pride, a false belief--crumbled. And in that crumbling, the soul cries out in shame because its falsehood has been exposed. Allow shame to find its healing through acceptance. Take it as a blessing that in being ashamed, one has been given a chance to set a new course.

Sometimes change itself exposes opportunities that stir one's greed: why can't I make some money from this? Why not take the opportunity to accumulate more of what I already have? Why not claim more credit by exaggerating my achievements? What's the harm in that? None whatsoever, if the ego gets out of the way. 

'Greed', is the natural tendency to expand and grow. But unselfish growth can only be driven by creativity. Is it a creative thing to do? Is there potential pain there that one has not identified? Spur yourself on if you must, driven by your creative impulse to grow and create and procreate. It is your way to work out your karma. 

No child is born into this world without first causing a lot of pain to his or her mother who had to go through the trauma of childbirth. But delivering a child is pain that a mother willingly takes on, knowing that it is her purpose of existence to procreate. In bringing a child into the world, the universe has expressed itself creatively. The birth pangs of a mother are noble suffering one takes stoically.

Every moment the soul is reborn. The rebirth of the soul is painful. That is why life is suffering. But it is suffering one takes consciously and willingly, one moment at a time. Taken moment by moment, everything is bearable and noble.  And long may this process continue!