A CALL TO BE MYSELF

A CALL TO BE MY SELF

A call to be myself...

Can I be myself?

Sometimes I feel that shiver that I cannot.

Don’t we say: if only the world was like this… or, if only I had this…. or, if only she was like… or, if only he would be more…

I’d be okay?

Hazrat Inayat Khan says, "The whole tragedy of life is losing sight of one’s natural self. The greatest gain in life is coming in touch with one’s real self."

The truth is, the real self, most of the time, is covered.

With a veil of sorts.

Covered with ego, ever seeking wants, strong desires and delusions.

We’re always seeking, seeking, and yet forever hungry for this or that.

So, what gets in the way of our true nature?

What gets in the way for us to be strong and to be our natural self?

And I’m not talking about being pure or good.

I’m talking about our path to ease and freedom where our real self is revealed.

Most of the time we’re only conscious of our false self.

It’s a real risk to let go of the things that shield us from being a real self:

the things we grab onto. We cling to. Got used to.

Rumi says somewhere, “When have we ever been less by dying? “

And he’s not talking about end-of -life death here.

He speaks to some part of us that has become identified which false adulation.

He’s talking about what needs to fall away.

What needs to die so we can be our real self?

You might now ask next time you come across that feeling of not being your real self…

Does the next behaviour, or speech

make you bigger

or smaller?

~Karen Waddell

2024

(On listening one morning to my mentor Saki Santorelli)