Wholeness is our true nature, our essence, our key to displaying our life faculty. Wholeness means that nothing essential is missing. We are complete, containing all necessary components. We are whole, intact, regardless of any material condition that would appear otherwise. Our wholeness is assured by virtue of the life principle that is incorruptible, immutable, and eternal. Vitality is natural to us.
Vitality is an aspect of our life faculty. The word vitality stems from its root, “vital,” its two meanings applicable to our life faculty. Vital means “essential” or “necessary.” Vital also means “having energy” and “the ability to thrive.”
Finding Your Voice
In 1977, I had been in residence at Kripalu Yoga Center for about a year and a half. I lived there with a hundred other yoga students and practitioners under the direction of our guru. Forty or so of the residents served full-time on the premises; the rest of us went to work in the community and served part-time on campus. Most of us who worked off-site longed to be asked to stay home.
I had quietly gone to work each weekday and come home to my seva (service)—most recently on the housekeeping team, which meant I cleaned toilets. I drew no attention to myself, truly embracing a lifestyle of inner focus. I practiced silence a lot, wearing my “In Silence” badge for days at a time around the ashram.
Get The Latest By Email
One Saturday morning, all residents assembled in the meditation hall after breakfast for a community meeting. We sat in one large circle on the floor. Senior residents led the session, the focus of which was for residents to speak and be heard on any subject related to our community. Our agreement was that only one person could speak at a time; everyone else was to listen wholeheartedly.
One of my spiritual sisters who, like me, worked off campus and aspired to be on home staff, addressed us. She expressed feeling angry for not being recognized as having needed skills to be on home staff. She resented feeling less than home staff and implied that home staff thought her to be inferior.
While my sister was speaking, I started shaking. I was feeling all her feelings, because they were my feelings, too. When she stopped and took her seat, I stood and found my voice. Even to this day I can hardly describe the energy coursing through my body as I declared, essentially, I am somebody! I want to be recognized and respected! I have talents and skills needed here! I am not a meek mouse; I am a powerful being!
When I sat down, still shaking, a senior sister stood. She looked at me, encouragingly. I will always remember her message: There you are! We have been waiting for you!
This Little Light of Mine, I'm Gonna Let It Shine
I had been holding back, hiding my light, playing it safe, keeping a low profile, living small. All the while, they were waiting for me. Within weeks I was promoted to housekeeping coordinator and a few months later asked to stay home full-time as assistant to the ashram executive director.
These words of Charles Fillmore explain my emergence at the ashram:
When we are not manifesting life as we desire, it is because our thoughts and our conversation are not in accord with the life idea. Every time we think life, speak life, rejoice in life, we are setting free, and bringing into expression in ourselves more and more of the life idea (Jesus Christ Heals, 105).
Our vitality is expressed through our intentions. A key to our ability to bring intentions to life can be found in the first lines of the first book of the Bible, Genesis: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). “Let there be . . .” is not a request; it is a command. It is an assertion of our vitality. Let there be light, our light shining. Let me be the animation of life, the vitality of life, and the presence of life!
Meditation for Life
Breathing consciously, extending my arms out from my shoulders, I revel in aliveness. I move my life-filled body, swaying, dancing, and stretching, as a prayer of appreciation. I tune my awareness to the first chakra, the generative organs within my pelvis, the center of my life faculty. I shine the red light of life throughout my pelvis, blessing my vital organs with life. I extend life from this nucleus outward, blanketing my entire body with life nourishment.
Established in life, I appreciate the universal Source of life. That which gives life to me is creativity; therefore I give life to everything that I am creating. That which gives life to me is abundance; therefore I steady myself in abundance consciousness, knowing all things are possible and living richly. That which gives life to me is compassion; therefore I embody kindness in every thought, word, and action toward others and myself. That which gives life to me is joy; therefore I live in the delight of every moment.
My body does not give life to me. The Source of all life, that I AM. I give life to my body. I AM, my true divine nature, is movement and form, function and consciousness. I AM Divine Life.
I tune to life’s power of animation. My eternal life is in perpetual motion. My capacity to understand continually expands. I am forever flowing in forward, onward, and upward ways. My vision enlarges with every divine idea I set in motion. Acquiescing to the tidal flow of life, I move and rest, retreat and extend, pause and proceed, grieve and rejoice, grasp and release.
I tune to life’s power of vitality. Wholeness is my true name and nature. I am vitally alive in mind, body, and spirit. The intelligence that creates worlds is the life within me. I AM the invigorating power of divine life.
I tune to life’s power of presence. I am fully present, a radiating light, and in my presence others rise to awareness of their spiritual nature.
I AM divine life, ever renewing.
I AM divine life, ever expressing.
I give life to divine ideas.
All that I give life to lives.
Taking Time to Cultivate Life
Schedule a day for renewal. Preplan this time so that you can be alone and undistracted by responsibilities or diver sions. Ideally, go away from home to the woods, a park, the beach, or a quiet outdoor space, taking along your journal, nourishing food, and water.
Leave behind tech devices and books. Enjoy each moment. Move or be still, as you wish. Listen to your thoughts. Drink deeply of the peace around you. Renew your life.
Copyright 2015 by Linda Martella-Whitsett.
Reprinted with permission of Hampton Roads Publishing Co.
Dist by Red Wheel Weiser, www.redwheelweiser.com
Subtitles by InnerSelf
Article Source:
Divine Audacity: Dare to Be the Light of the World
by Linda Martella-Whitsett.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book.
About the Author
Linda Martella-Whitsett, winner of The 2011 Best Spiritual Author competition, is an inspiring, respected Unity minister and spiritual teacher. Linda's message about our Divine Identity inspires people across cultures and faith traditions to meet life's circumstances with spiritual maturity. Linda is the senior minister at Unity Church of San Antonio and a mentor for emerging leaders in New Thought. Visit her website at www.ur-divine.com/
Watch a video: Our Divine Nature -- with Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett
