Pulling the Weeds that Choke Off Our Good.
We can think of personal and spiritual growth in terms of the inherent process of nature. If a seed is dropped into fertile soil it will begin to grow roots first. Those roots ensure that the plant is a grounded and secure. The roots draw in the nourishment of the soil and allow the plant to begin to grow above the surface. As long as that plant is nourished with regular rain and sun it will naturally grow and unfold according to its DNA – its inner programming.
The same process occurs in us. We are coded, or programmed, to express the highest that is within us…our uniquely magnificent selves. And that growth is a natural process as long as we root ourselves deeply in spiritual truth and nourish that growth with spiritual practices.
If you garden then you know that if you want anything to grow it’s going to be a constant process of weeding what you don’t want, and feeding what you do. You have to be vigilant about the weeds. In this post we’re exploring all the ways our growth can be stifled…in other words, the weeds that choke off the growth of our good…and how to remove them.
I want to focus on two of the biggest weeds…the Most Invasive:
- Resentments/Unforgiveness
Nothing stifles our growth more than holding onto resentments.
An unwillingness to forgive anything or anyone, creates the weeds of bitterness that choke off vital life energy. It creates a toxic energy in our body, our mind and our soul. It blocks the flow of good in our lives.
The truth is, our resentment doesn’t affect the other person. It’s never about the other person. It’s about us. As the saying goes, “Holding on to resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” But, when we learn and practice the art of forgiveness (and it is an art, not a science), it frees us from that heavy burden of resentment, and life begins to flow more abundantly.
I’m not saying forgiveness is easy…but it’s doable. We just need to shift our thinking around it. The first thing we need to remember is that forgiving someone is not condoning their behavior. As students of Truth we know that all beings are expressions of One Divine Light. So, we separate what someone has done from who they truly are. And we focus on their True Self.
Then we remember that everyone does the best they possibly can with the consciousness they have at the time. You can’t do better if your consciousness isn’t there. Also, we all have unhealed places in us – shadows — that most of the time we keep hidden from view. But like a neglected child, that shadow self can burst out at the most inappropriate times – and sabotage our good intentions. It’s helpful to remember that’s true of others as well as we begin the process of forgiveness.
Also, I think sometimes we take things personally when it was never intended that way. Very few people are out to hurt others intentionally. Mostly it’s that they just can’t do better – because they’re not there in consciousness.
All these things are helpful in our process of forgiveness.
Same goes for forgiving ourselves, which many people feel is much harder to do than forgiving others. But just as important. Yom Kippur began Sunday, Sept. 27. It’s the Holiest of days in the Jewish calendar – the day of atonement. The day is marked by fasting and reflecting where one has acted unlovingly, or didn’t keep one’s commitments, and making amends. In the more enlightened observances, that is then followed by forgiving oneself.
In New Thought, we look at the word atonement and see: “at-one-ment” – becoming more one with the Whole. You can see that as we make amends, forgive others and forgive ourselves we bring ourselves into more Oneness with the Divine within.
If we want to weed our mental and spiritual garden, so our good can grow, we might want to adopt this practice. We can acknowledge the things in the past and notice places we behaved unconsciously, or unlovingly. Not with guilt or shame, but with a witness consciousness. We acknowledge the error, commit to doing it differently next time, and then we forgive ourselves – using the same understanding as we do with others. We have always done the best we could with the understanding we had at the time. WE couldn’t have done anything else.
We want to honor our path…everything that has brought us to this moment – the enlightened and the unenlightened. When we love and forgive ourselves life opens up. Things begin to grow again.
- Judgments
Judgement is another weed that can choke off the growth of our potential. And boy, there’s a lot of judgement in the world today. Well there’s always been plenty of judgement to go around…since the beginning of time…since the metaphorical, story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before that moment Adam and Eve were in Paradise…not seeing anything as good or bad…everything was just what it was. It was perfect. But then they ate of the knowledge of good and bad, i.e., judgement, and bam. Paradise gone. And we’ve been following that lead ever since.
And that tendency to judge others as bad, wrong, stupid, (or worse) is coming to a head in our culture. There seems to be a complete unwillingness to listen to others who may have a different point of view. When someone voices a different point of view, we just dig in our heals even more.
I watched this documentary last week called The Social Dilemma. It was very enlightening about how social media companies curate what you see. They were all ex-executives from Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. and they were speaking about the manipulating tactics they employ to get you addicted to your devices, so you’ll click on more ads.
And it works like this: If you click on a post, say something about the Supreme Court, then articles, videos will come up that they think you’ll enjoy – and they know what you’ll enjoy based on what you’ve read and clicked on in the past. They keep exact records of everything you’ve clicked on. And the things they feed you get more scintillating each time.
And the more outlandish the post, the more clicks it gets. They’ve figured out humans are more interested in conspiracy theories, and things are make us outraged. You will click and watch those things much more than sensible, intelligent, basic information. They’ve tested this and it’s a proven fact.
By the way, this happens on both the right and the left. Networks do the same thing. The more rage-producing a story the more you’ll watch. And this year we’ve had our fill of rage-producing stories haven’t we?
The thing is, we don’t see the other point of view. They don’t show us the other side.
They began the documentary with the ex-Google guy saying that if you put in the search bar: “Climate change” your search results will vary depending on what you’ve watched or read before…who your friends are, etc. So, for “Climate change” some people get: Hoax, Democrats Conspiracy, Natural process, etc. And other people will get: Caused by humans, devastating effects, what you can do, etc. And this problem is widespread throughout all social media apps.
We are all in these little bubbles and our bubbles don’t allow anything contrary in. No wonder we think those who don’t think like us are idiots. They’re not seeing what we’re seeing!
Good to be aware of. And question what you’re seeing.
Here’s the thing, we cannot know where anyone is coming from. We don’t know who and what has been influencing them, or what their background is. We don’t know their pain. We need to give each other a break and begin to see them for who they truly are in Truth. We are all expressions of the Infinite Divine One. We need to sift through the weeds, everything that’s covering up the Light, and focus the Light that is shining from underneath.
So yes, our mental and spiritual garden requires constant weeding, but our efforts will be well rewarded with a beautiful and abundant garden of good.