[Daily OM]: Each of us has a spiritual self that
animates our bodies and infuses our thoughts and feelings. Our language
is limited to the world we know for descriptions of something that
perhaps cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. Therefore, only
metaphors approach the expressions that give us a true sense of our
spiritual nature. The paradox lies in opposing concepts, all of which
are true at the same time. And in harmonizing the opposites, we begin to
know the wonders of the spirit.
The self is not small or big but is both at the same time. Our spirit is
like a drop in the ocean of spiritual energy. Although our spirit seems
like a small, disconnected part of a larger whole, it is still made of
the same things and can become part of the vast ocean once again. Our
individual spirit seems to inhabit our bodies like a passenger in a
vehicle but at the same time is not bound by our bodies. Spirits can
reach across the miles to touch the heart of a loved one or expand to
become one with the universe. We may feel small and perhaps
insignificantly young when we look up at the stars, but we are made of
the same basic elements. Perhaps looking at the stars is merely a
reflection of what is going on within each atom and cell of our being.
We are a universe within a universe. Our spirits are ever renewing, yet
ageless and eternal. So the self is not new or old but both at once.
So our spiritual self is not small or big, new or old. We may experience
life as good and bad, right and wrong, happy and sad, but this is the
experience of the material world of dualities, not the truth of our
spritual nature. By going within to touch the eternal and changeless
energy at our center, we can go beyond the contrasting metaphors to the
experience of oneness. And in that connection we can know big and small,
new and old, movement and stillness. By accepting the paradox of
spirit, we open ourselves to the fullness of our own being.