The Path to Freedom
Taking ultimate, radical personal responsibility for your life is the price of freedom
“If you learn from everything that happens, if you use everything as an opportunity to learn and to lift yourself, you will be earning your freedom.” -John-Roger
Every morning I start out with a number of affirmations and reminders. One of them says that “Ultimate, radical personal responsibility = Freedom.”
Victimhood and philosophies based on being a victim have spread their perilous tentacles into many levels of thinking in our western society. What my teacher used to call a “tyranny of weakness” is sweeping the land, where people use their perceived victimhood to control and manipulate others.
The victim and the enemy (the oppressed and opressor) are both within ourselves and not out in the world. You may have been victimized, and there is real pain and trauma that can stem from that experience which requires true healing, but being a victim is a choice, and being a victim offers no healing.
It is only when we take radical responsibility by recognizing that we are the originator of everything in our lives, that we can have the power to heal the hurts of the past and create a life where we are joyful.
We create, allow, or promote everything in our lives. Not only that, but everything in our lives is for our upliftment, learning, and growth…but we have to choose to use it in that way by moving our awareness into a higher perspective and positive attitude.
Todays spiritual version of “going to church on Sunday makes you a good person” is the sound bath, yoga and lattes, do some chanting, shop on Goop, speak in a soft voice, vote for the “good” people, eat the right diet, wear the right clothes, so called “spiritual” culture.
I actually love yoga and lattes and eating well, and they all definitely enrich my life and bring enjoyment and health. But that alone means very little to my spiritual awareness and authentic living. There is something that is far more substantive and pervasive that must take hold in your daily life to be living a more spiritually integrated life.
In order to really move into greater spiritual inner awareness, you must be very strong because you must own everything about yourself. You must look at your own goodness and acknowledge it (which is harder than you might think), and also look at the darkness and love it. You must face those things that are painful to face, and embrace the victim and enemy within. You must take radical responsibility for all of your creations. That is not easy! I’ve been on this journey for over 25 years and am still working on it.
“To be spiritual is not to be wishy-washy. Spiritual people are kind and they have hope and charity, which has sometimes been mistaken for weakness. Spiritual people are strong, because it takes great strength to break away from the people who would pull you into the muck and the mire of where they are.” -John-Roger
I know it’s not an easy message. It’s not a soft message. But it is a loving message. Not the false love of trying to make you feel better, but the kind of loving that is for the highest good to give you sustainable growth. Sometimes it takes the sword of truth to cut away that which is no longer serving.
If you would like to begin to experience greater authentic empowerment and freedom, simply play a little “what if game” to begin to shift your perspective of life.
“What if I created, allowed, or promoted this?”
“Even if this is painful or upsetting, what if I set this up for my greatest upliftment, learning, and growth?”
That’s a good starting point for this new year, and at any time really. If you can embrace this perspective more in your life, you will be walking the path to freedom and your own salvation.
If you are interested in finding out more about working with Nat, respond to this newsletter or visit his website transcend.online