Human beings are long-term creatures. We need a long-term vision to sustain us. This is different from the inner chatter or the instant gratification monkey, that we have. We might call it a vision from the heart. Or a vision that is untainted by short term setbacks or detours.
Our deepest visions are not lofty, are not complex at all. They are usually very simple. Something we connect with deeply — say empowering other people, creating a sustainable community, creating art, and on. Regular vipassana meditation, writing and yoga (sun salutations) are beautiful insightful ways of seeing and realizing our long term visions. In the course of our life, we accumulate fears, emotional blockers, judgments, that make it not easy to see or stick to a long term vision. Our instant gratification monkey thrives on this. We all know what life is like in that state. Distracted, unfulfilled.
Through meditation or yoga or writing, we can see the layers of fears, anger, emotional turmoil that are within us. As Adyashanti says, our sense of self has an existence in the mind, in the heart and in the gut. In the mind, it is concepts. In the heart, it is feelings, or stuck feelings. In the gut, it is a contraction. A no. Through a process of seeing these layers, and allowing them to come to full awareness, we are able to slowly unlock what is stopping from living a fulfilled, and heartful life. In a way, these fears, these stuck emotions and these contractions can be our friends, if we allow them to come to our full awareness with unbiased authenticity. Hence, it is not really about getting rid of them, it is more seeing them in awareness (with full light). They transform.
There is a confidence, and clarity and flow that comes. We become less and less stuck in the instant gratification mode. And we have the clarity and flow to live a life through the long-term vision. It isn’t really about that future or a result. It is about the clarity and flow in the moment that comes from the untainted heart in this vision.
