Life would be so much easier if fulfillment could be found in exterior things. The world’s most amazing piece of chocolate cake exists somewhere, so find it and bam! you’re done. Mission accomplished. Life well lived. Carefree from here on out.
But nothing outside of our selves—space intended—will ever satisfy us, a reality that can cause a lot of joy or a lot of suffering.
So many things seem as if they describe or comprise our selves but don’t: our accomplishments, our responsible-ness, our moral conduct, others’ opinions of us. Sometimes, though, we really mess up all of these things—I mean really, or at least I do—and so they can’t be who we are.
What’s left when everything our society teaches us to value or work toward is not us? In a recent meditation, Richard Rohr writes, “Gospel holiness…is almost entirely about receiving God’s free gift of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.” Or to put it another way in another tradition, “We don’t need to look outside of the present moment to find inner peace and contentment; when experienced with awareness, everything becomes a source of joy,” according to Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
This sounds great but can be frustrating because there’s nothing we can do to make ourselves happy or become who we want to be once and for all. We are more than anything else receptors, and the best we can do is attune ourselves to the divine frequency, a station that only plays in the present moment.
“I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through,” says the Sufi poet Hafiz. When we allow that music to flow through us, our actions become notes in the divine song—natural expressions of our true selves. I suspect this receiving and giving is better than chocolate cake.
Being Finite 
Awesome post Rachel 😊. I just loved it !! What was your inspiration for this post ?
Thanks, Abhijith! I was feeling quite disappointed about something that had occurred, and it was the night I usually write. I wondered what I could possibly have to write about in that state of mind, and the line “Nothing outside of ourselves will every satisfy us” came to me. The rest of the post flowed pretty easily. So I would say that the inspiration was God, the Holy, or however you conceive of or name that larger reality.
Wow that’s really awesome Rachel 😊. I loved your post so much that I kept on reading it. Thanks a lot for posting and have an awesome day ahead my friend 😊
I’m glad it was meaningful to you. One of my teachers says that if we feel a deep “yes” within ourselves when we read the teachings of the spiritual masters, it’s because we’re on the same path they are. Not to in any way compare myself to the folks I’m quoting but to say that if you feel a resonance with this, it must be within you.
Wow, that’s really awesome Rachel 😊. I loved your teachers opinion. Your blog is really awesome and inspiring. You have a great gift within you.Please continue blogging and inspire people around you 😊. And if you can please do visit my blog and let me know about it. It would be really helpful 😊. This is the link to my blog
http:// authorabhijith.com
Give me the shivers.
Responding to the Hafiz image, (which I love,) I wonder how sour notes fit in?
Do you think the Christ’s breath can make sour notes?