An important quality for spiritual growth is BALANCE. In our Passionate pursuit of Awakening & God Realization it is all too easy to lose BALANCE. What is called for is passionate steady perseverance on the Path. There is often a fine line between genuine healthy passion for growth, balanced with a calm ACCEPTANCE of ourselves exactly as we are are in the present moment, versus a not-so-healthy ego-driven fanatical desperation to get where we want to go, to become something other than we are. Growth begins where we are, not where we want to be. All growth blossoms naturally and spontaneously from simple AWARENESS of "what is" in the present moment, without resistance, and the acceptance of ourselves exactly as we are.

Recently, I have seen many of my sisters and brothers struggling to BECOME Awakened and God Realized at the expense of simply BEING in peaceful, trusting awareness and acceptance of themselves and of reality as it is in the here and now. The struggle to "become" is suffering. Simply Being in Awareness is Bliss. Awakening is a gift of Grace, not an attainment achieved through Herculean efforts, ego-driven by desperation. Relax, breathe, let go. All is well. The Divine is in full control of this process and all is unfolding just as it should. Trust the Divine, and calmly persevere in a gentle balanced way.

Many of us have been so focused on "making it" to Full Awakening, a sort of "enlightenment-or-bust" attitude, that we may have become disappointed if it hasn't happened in an expected time-frame or we haven't had the means to attend a special process in India where we are sure enlightenment awaits us. Because of our tunnel-vision, we may be unable to see and appreciate with Gratitude and Humility the profound Growth that has already taken place in us and continues day by day. As a result, our faith for Awakening could begin to suffer and we could lose our enthusiasm for this whole endeavor.

The Divine is fully present here and now. All the Grace, everything you need for awakening and transformation, is available to you here and now.

When I come to the Divine to receive Deeksha for Awakening & God Realization, a journey without end or destination, I drop my expectations in trust and surrender springing from the awareness that I am in fact totally helpless. I say to the Divine, "You already know what I want, my passionate intent. Give me what I need, what I am actually ready for, what is best for me, what will serve your Will and Purpose and make me a more effective instrument for your Grace in the world. I trust you. I surrender." Whatever happens then, I am humbly grateful and full of awe, an awe and gratitude I would have missed if my desires were set on an imagined outcome that did not occur as I had hoped or expected.

Remember that Awakening is not anything we may have imagined it to be. It is our natural state. Our expectations and concepts get in the way. Many of us have had our sights set on a full blown cosmic fireworks display, the experience of some paranormal super-state, so much so that we have missed the simple gentle oh-so-ordinary and nothing flashy awareness of the present moment free from the resistance and interference of the mind. Too many of us, obsessed with the goal of our dreams, have not fully appreciated how much we have already grown in Awareness, how different our experience of life is now than when we first began receiving Deeksha. Awakening is a process, not an imagined destination. Enjoy the journey. Be patient. Take your time, and remember to smell the roses along the way.

Many of us have been going though overwhelming challenges and life circumstances this year, all while passionately pursuing spiritual growth. If we dwell on the melodrama, rehearsing it in our minds over and over again, telling our friends the story to gain their sympathy and support, we just perpetuate the problem, because the outer world will faithfully reflect our inner state which we are perpetuating by continuing to dwell on the story. As long as this continues, we are increasingly caught in illusion thinking "something is terribly wrong", and our consciousness contracts in fear, which is the core charge of the mind. Sri Amma Bhagavan teaches that all other emotional charges are by-products of fear, and that all so-called human suffering is the result of running away from suffering. If we find ourselves caught in this web, we need to return to the core teachings of Oneness and practice the "Art of Suffering". That is to drop the story and ask for Grace to become aware of the underlying emotional charge, the feeling of contraction rooted in fear. Embrace it in awareness without resistance and it will begin to expand and release its grip. Causeless peace, joy and love will result, and we will begin to see that this situation has been the perfect occasion for our learning and growth. Insights and answers will come, and we will again remember that the Divine is in control and all is well.