Make the crooked straight,
Make the straight to flow.
Gather water, fire, and light.
Bring the world to a single point.
If we have devotion — total faith and commitment to our spiritual path — our determination will naturally build momentum. Fewer and fewer obstructions will come before us. Our path becomes like a crooked one made straight. No matter what tries to keep us from our purpose, we will not be deterred.
Proper devotion lies not simply in a headlong course. It also requires fortitude. Our bodies, our hearts, and our spirits must be totally concentrated upon what we want. Only by uniting all our inner elements can we have full devotion.
If we see our path clearly and our personalities are completely unified, then there is no distinction between the outer world and the inner one. Nothing is faraway anymore, nothing is not open to use. That is why it is said that the world is like a single point: So strong is devotion that there is nothing that is not a part of it.
Devotion is a hard topic for me in some ways. There doesn’t at first glance seem to be a lot I’m devoted to. I guess I would say I’m devoted to my kids, my husband, my pets, my garden, and such.
But in a larger way, I think I’m devoted to life itself. I enjoy life in ways I don’t think most people do – simply appreciating the day, it’s weather and mood, the people and things that cross my path, few as they sometimes are. I’m a bit of a recluse lately, lots of internet time but not much else really. I keep track of world events and how people are doing that I care about, but don’t really interact all that much lately.
Maybe I have gotten to that point where there is little difference for me between the inner and outer worlds. I am as content in myself as I ever was being out in the world. There are places I would like to go and things I want to do, of course, but the day to day affairs of the world, the work that others seem to believe is so important, really don’t matter much to me anymore.
Yet I would have to say that nothing truly seems faraway to me anymore. I can’t observe an event like the earthquake and tsunami and not feel moved to do something and contribute something. I see all world affairs as connected, and wonder at those who want to insulate themselves in their America without absolutely knowing the world will find a way into their world. To me the conservatives seem to suffer this grand illusion that they can remake the world as they wish, but it simply won’t happen the way they would like.
So perhaps there is nothing that isn’t a part of my devotion after all. I can view the world as a whole and all of us as a part of it, I can envision the universe as a whole and all of us just a part of the great cosmos. Or, I can go look at a flower or a rock and feel awed. It’s all pretty much the same thing, really.
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[…] “I would have to say that nothing truly seems faraway to me anymore. I can’t observe an event like the earthquake and tsunami and not feel moved to do something and contribute something. I see all world affairs as connected, and wonder at those who want to insulate themselves in their America without absolutely knowing the world will find a way into their world. To me the conservatives seem to suffer this grand illusion that they can remake the world as they wish, but it simply won’t happen the way they would like.” -me […]