Love is not a thing that sweeps us away in an ocean, where we lose ourselves. Instead, I believe it gathers us so deeply into the body of the present moment that the ordinary comes alive; and in this body, of both skin and without it, of both body and unbody, we are offered an opportunity for a deepening. An opportunity to perhaps even touch the presence of the eternal. In a seemingly ordinary present moment, in all of its plain and most simple form, everything awakes. Every facet of the world awakes, and you within it.
I recently shared how the twelfth house had deeper spiritual connection to Christian mysticism, as well as its dharma of spiritual liberation being connected to the spiritual meaning of the cross, the present moment and the path of love. So let’s today dive in a little further.
The cross has two lines, one vertical and one horizontal, and they intersect. These are the lines of the here and now. The meeting place of here and now is the present moment. This is the point of all creation, all connection, the union.
In a spiritual sense, the cross is a reminder of the presence of the eternal within the present moment, and a dedication to devote ourselves each day to acts of love; the intersection between the physical and the divine is where we consciously choose to make our life more conscious, and consciously choose to embody love, have moral compass and virtue. It reminds us that love is like bread – meant to be made each day, created with our hands and acted on, rather than being like air, only to hope for it, wish for it or speak of it without action.
The vertical here is the devotion to our own inner and uniquely personal connection to the divine, and building our spiritual core; and the horizontal now reminds us of staying grounded here on earth, focusing on the little steps, one step at a time, step by step, moon by moon, and yes, mistake by mistake and yes, triumph by triumph.
Said differently, the vertical line symbolizes your connection to God or the divine, while the horizontal line represents our relationship to other people. The devotional path is the intersection of both, as the way we love we love the divine, and vice versa. You can’t call yourself spiritual, if you don’t carry love in your heart.
There is humbleness here, surrender here, and these are about a certain kind of posture before the divine – a posture of humbleness, softness, surrender, grace, receptivity. It is about letting go of our greed, arrogance, selfishness, and extreme ego, so that we become the clay in the divine hands, or the hands of the eternal beloved.
This is also about the present moment – the intersection of the here and now; and it is precisely in the present moment where all is, and union happens, and all creation is, and love is also. Sometimes tears brings us into the present moment, sometimes pain or ache as it feels so physical and in our body.
Love too, when true, is a path that brings us into the present moment. The temple within too is in the present moment – because in the human physical body it is found in the heart, in the heart beat, the rhythm that grounds us and reminds us to pay attention to what really matters right now, right here. In many spiritual and esoteric beliefs from cultures from around the world, saints and sages have always spoken of this higher truth, that it is all in the present moment, in the heart, because the heart to portal to higher consciousness.
And how does the present moment guide us in love and towards love?
Because love is here, as is. Love is about acceptance, deep acceptance. Love is about paying attention, and putting down your phone and looking into the eyes of the person beside you. Love is about holding and caring and kissing not in the way you always did, but in the way your beloved needs right now. Love is about giving to the other person not we think they need, but what they actually need.
Sometimes we lose sight, lose focus, get lost in things too far ahead or too far back. Sometimes we lose sight of what actually matters in our life, and the cross reminds us – here and now. Stay present. Little steps. Step by step. Do the best you can. Don’t be harsh on yourself and don’t impose impossibly high standards on yourself. Stay in compassion. Don’t punish yourself, don’t critisize yourself, just self reflect and perhaps tomorrow do better.
But mainly, it is a reminder that the little things matter, the present moment matters. It’s never too small a thing we can do in the present moment, so don’t stop yourself from doing something just because it’s not yet enough. For example, and that’s a very simple yet common example, but often people don’t donate to causes or people because they think “oh, all I have is just a few dollars I may give, that would be embarrassing.” And so they don’t give anything. But can you image if everyone gave just a dollar?
Or, “oh, it’s just a smile, or a kind word or compliment I may give, what good would that do, they probably have so many others say nice things to them.” And so … nothing is said, and no one says anything, and no one feels supported. Can you imagine how perhaps that one kind word may make someone’s day better, fulfill them or perhaps even encourage them in the moment they felt discouraged? You never know how a seemingly small thing may turn out to be a big thing. And you never know how a little gesture may turn out to be a great love story. Big things happen often through the smallest of ways or gestures or movements or choices.
Love doesn’t always sweep us away in an ocean, in losing ourselves. Instead, I believe it actually gathers us into the body of the present moment, in humbleness, gratitude and deep appreciation. In such a moment, so deep into the present, the ordinary comes alive in the most beautiful ways, and timelessness takes us. Within this timelessness, an opportunity for a deepening – to perhaps find the the presence of the eternal within the present moment. And within this seemingly ordinary moment, in all of its plain and simple form, all begins to shine, becomes luminous, alive. Everything awakes.
Every facet of our world awakes, and you within it.
And now it is no longer just a little animal, no longer just a smile, no longer just a touch.
Now it is all in all is all we are.
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