Embracing Confusion

 Here is an article from someone who inspires me

by Matt Kahn

Often times, seekers pursue spirituality to overcome a sense of confusion. Yet, the deepest intention of spirituality is not to overcome confusion in pursuit of more clarity. It is the sincere and heartfelt willingness to find true clarity by relaxing into any sense of confusion, as an essential part of awakening to your true divine nature. Confusion arises during the unraveling of the overstimulated nervous system which represents the withering away of ego consciousness.

Think of confusion as the maturing of a flower. The confusion symbolizes the flower forgetting all the memories of being a seed, as it blossoms open to reveal its true identity; a reality no seed can ever anticipate or imagine. As memories of being a seed are forgotten, it recognizes itself not just as any flower in particular, but as the vastness of the garden miraculously exploring itself - throughout such a unique journey of blossoming.

During your experience of blossoming, any sense of confusion invites you to .....

let go of all beliefs, identifications, and attachments to all ideas of yourself, just as the flower metaphorically forgets being a seed as it grows into the purity of itself.

Ironically, the same spiritual path one pursues to advance their experience of awakening quickly becomes a path of never-ending distractions. Whenever you find yourself in pursuit of infinite spiritual ideas, or constantly engaging in endless practices, or even running toward the next spiritual milestone, you are overlooking the simplicity of relaxing into confusion by imagining it must be avoided in favor of some form of clarity.

As confusion is avoided by remaining in search of the clarity of conceptual understanding, one is led directly into further heartbreak, loss, and failure - to inevitably unravel what relaxing into confusion is always ready to reveal. If constant heartbreak, loss, and failure doesn't sound like the smoothest path available to you, then it's time to demonstrate your deepest level of sincerity and face the experience of confusion with the innocence and curiosity of an open heart.

Once confusion arises, all one has to do is relax into it, like a seed that has finally found a home in the ground, beginning to sprout roots on a journey of growth only leading one upward.

Just like when tending to a garden, seeds don't usually need too much coaxing once they are planted in place, nor do flowers require specific rules to follow, or endless streams of ideas in order to grow. All they need is the gentle care and loving attention from those who are inspired to support their growth, so all the elements may come together to express the uniqueness and wondrous beauty of life's eternal Source.

The spiritual journey may include the collecting of wisdom, the repetition of practices, or following a step-by-step process promising some elusive carrot at the end of a stick. While such experiences are widely available at the beginning of the journey, they are discarded along the way. As this occurs, you are invited to shed ideas of personal security, preparing you to remain open and unopposed, as the precision of confusion invites your deepest level of sincerity to bubble up to the surface.

At this point, there are two distinct options. One is choosing to embrace confusion however it appears, while the other is a diligent need to further avoid it. You may ask yourself: Are you willing to relax into confusion and discover in yourself what no organized spiritual concept is able to reveal? Or, are you more interested in rushing back to a full-time schedule of repeating quotes to others, debating ideas of truth, and engaging in the repetition of practice that never intends to guide you beyond the need for more practice?

There is no right or wrong answer to be found here. The spiritual path always contains the ongoing theme of uncompromising sincerity. No matter what you imagine the spiritual path may help you find, all you can ever do is ask yourself the most direct questions possible to reveal where your deepest interests are ready to lead you.

No matter what feels appropriate for you at any stage of the journey, no one is ever being helped whenever you're assisting them in escaping the essential opportunity of embracing confusion. Such an opportunity is what expressions of disappointment, loss, heartbreak, and failure invite into our lives. These blessings in disguise are commonly overlooked by endless judgments through any need to constantly seek conceptual forms of spiritual clarity. If avoidance is chosen, it can quickly become the next practice you'll be inspired to constantly employ. That is, until the insistence to avoid confusion breaks apart, leaving you with no other alternative, but to face what only the innocence of heartfelt honesty may ever survive.

If you wish to assist yourself or others when awakening into spiritual maturity, discard every idea, belief, or concept that only serves to feed the hungry overthinking mind, and dare to love each and every heart - just as it is. Remember, while a seed may grow impatient in the blossoming process, the sun always knows there is nothing to rush.

© Copyright 2011 True Divine Nature, LLC