Need Is Natural

Weekly Message, December 9, 2006
Written and transcribed by Terry Grant

I have transcribed and edited the message below from a talk Ishvara gave on November 19, 2006. - TG.

Ishvara:

When you allow yourself to be embraced by Life, by existence, you are participating in the web of Life, the all, the Is-ness. Recognizing that in each experience is important. As you see it, as you experience it, you gain a more expansive awareness, you gain clarity, you understand, and you participate. You begin to realize what Life is not: it is not the conditions, the beliefs, the concepts, or the programs; it is not the religions, the spiritual disciplines, the systems, or the structures. Those are all outside; they provide rules to be applied, in a kind of automatic fashion.

When you start realizing what Life truly is, you see that there is a rich and deep inner life, the real life, the life that you are. To begin to recognize that in your daily living, your daily experiences, in each moment, allows you to see that it is alright for you to be where you are, that you are more than the intellect believes, that there is more to this Life than what is seen on the surface. There is more to this Life than what you have been programmed with, conditioned with, or taught about. There is more to it.

Humanity, the earth, and all of existence, are constantly unfolding and becoming. Moment by moment, through experiences, there is an evolution taking place. Each particle of Life is evolving and becoming. To embrace that, you begin to understand, you begin to gain a certain clarity. It is about getting real with yourself and with Life around you.

In this web of Life, of existence, there is an interdependency. When you look at it, you can see that is true. Where would you be without the rest of Life? Where would you be without the minerals, the plants, the oxygen you breathe? Where would you be without life on earth fulfilling your needs? Where would you be?

There is interdependency within the whole of Life, in all of existence. Yet it is easy to lose sight of that. Life can be distracting at times, with many problems, much excitement, much fear. You tend to forget the connections that are so vital to existence.

When you think about it, you can recognize the interdependency of Life. However, the next step is to truly begin to cultivate a connection. A connection is an awareness of something that appears to be outside of yourself, something that appears to be different. A connection is a joining, a coming together, a bringing into proximity of something that seems to be "the other."

Of course, with the interdependency of Life, you know deep within that everything really is connected anyway. But it is easy to neglect that. It is natural to get caught up in your day-by-day existence, taking care of family, your job, your career, your living space. All these things demand a lot of time, putting a lot of pressure on you at times: pressure to perform, to create, to become efficient. You can lose sight of the greater purpose of Life, which is the direct experience of possibilities. It is easy to overlook that, to get caught up in making a living, having a relationship.

There is a basic belief in New Age and spiritual systems that you are somehow magically to transcend need, to not need anything, to be self-sufficient, to be complete and whole within yourself. That tends to create an atmosphere or a concept that there is something wrong with need. However, to go beyond that, you can realize that because of the interdependency of all of Life, of existence itself, there naturally is need. Need is natural.

You can personalize need, making it exclusive, something of your own, but that is not the point. The real point is to recognize that we all need Life, consequently we all need connections, connections with others, not just with humans, but with animals, plants, minerals. All are part of the web of Life, of this existence. All are in a process of evolution. All are evolving through each experience. Various hypotheses indicate that the universe was so structured and created that it was designed to bring forth humankind. Yet there are equally valid hypotheses which say the universe has evolved over time, as life has evolved, hand-in-hand, connected, interdependent. When you look at it that way, you realize that you and the universe are co-creating existence, co-creating intelligence, becoming more.

The beauty of this Life is there is no end to the possibilities. When you can get away from the conditioning of consensus reality and beliefs, including spiritual processes and religions, you begin to recognize that there is something far more important to the uniqueness that you are, to the uniqueness that is all of Life. To recognize that is a realization of great consequence.

(To be continued next week).

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