Riding the Waves

Riding the Waves

Looking out behind you (the past), you see a wave that appears to be a good one - like one you once knew, or read about in a book, or heard someone describe.  Getting into position on your surfboard (rallying all your resources, talents, beliefs and concepts), you decide when to let go and sail free on the sea of life. 

But the wave (appearing to be apart from the ocean) seems to have a course of its own, taking turns and dips that you did not expect, sometimes getting larger, getting smaller, in places where you were not prepared to makes changes.

By now you have either crashed back into the ocean from where you came;  you have lost your footing and been tossed to and fro out of control like a cork on a stormy sea; or perhaps you have flowed gently to shore having ridden the wave without fear.

Whatever means it took, it is sure you became aware of the power of the sheer and ever present totality that you are a part.  There will be a looking back in awe at the immense horizon of life from which you just came, having passed through the stages of longing, expectations, trials and tribulations, failures and successes, and finally, the need to control the outcome.

From the ocean the waves always return, and in this way: from the all-inclusive oneness which is called by many names, you, the individual, returns and becomes one with all that is, thus realizing that you were actually never alone and apart.

The world can seem like this: filled with trepidation, beset with fears, a struggle for survival.  Like the wave, the world is not a thing apart from you.  The wave is to the ocean as you are to the world.  Distinctions are imaginary.

Know this and understand.  Be accepting, be kind, and be fearless.  The world is none other than a reflection of your beliefs.  See if this is not so.  Without looking back at your memories in order to steer a course through your life, step into the world minute by minute not burdened by past events or future uncertainties or desires. Ride the waves, your personal challenges, with full trust that there is a greater presence than personal will that directs the flow of events. 

Your part is to let go of any personal control - as the wave cannot control the ocean, so your beliefs and concepts have no bearing on outcome except to either reject or accept, thus giving you countless opportunities to be quiet, accepting, at peace with life.

Be at peace with whatever happens.  Know that you are at the right place at the right time, and it is NOW.  This is It.  The world will direct your course according to your ideas – be it gently or be it tumultuously.   Let concepts fall away.  Be free of them and know what real freedom is: freedom to be what you always already are.

Suddenly, you realize that at first it was you that thought you could ride the wave; in order to do this you became one with the wave; thus you understood that the wave was always the ocean.   You laugh. 

You are free at last from being the doer, the wave, or the ocean.