Unstoppable

I think we can all agree that the forces of love are unstoppable. We would all like to believe in a reality where true love conquers all, and can overcome any and all obstacles. When Parvati was questioned by Mahadev just before they were married about the strength and validity of her feelings, she heatedly told him that her determined heart knew no obstacles and that there was nothing that would be able to stop the force of her love. She had already accepted Mahadev into her heart, and only he would remain there. To think of any other reality was simply foolish and untrue.

The feelings and sentiments of Parvati Devi are feelings that we have all echoed at some point in our lives, even if we lacked the incredible determination in order to keep our faith and loving promises in tact. We have wanted to be that fiercely devoted to something or someone in our lives, and I think we continue looking for that thing, that person, who is worthy of such determination, who is worthy of those incredible promises that ours hearts long to make. Why then, doesn’t this translate to our spirituality?

We have gone over and over the point that at the heart of things, our spirituality is a relationship between us and our Divine, Supreme Beloved. This is a relationship that has transgressed lifetimes of forgetfulness and neglect on our part. But our Beloved has never stopped searching for us, or loving us. Why then, can we not take those feelings that we want to devote to someone or something, and devote them toward Supreme Love?

I often let a thousand excuses get in the way of my mantra meditation and my spiritual practices. “I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough energy. My mind is somewhere else, and I don’t even have the right environment” become the mantras I chant instead of the names of my Beloved, when really, if I gave myself up to Love and actually let my heart do what came naturally, I would find that surrender would be something I didn’t even have to think about. Surrender would be something that came naturally to my wandering, and restless soul.

The truth is, if I really loved something, if I really wanted to do something, nothing in this world or beyond would be able to stop me. Nothing could stand in my way. My focus would know no end, and I would be able to commit myself to those practices and to those people with such incredible fire that the force of love would be unstoppable. All of my excuses would fade away, and all of the roadblocks would become stepping stones leading me closer and closer to Love. Just like with any new relationship we see how we have an endless supply of energy to give to our beloved, and an endless amount of patience for them, I want to have those same qualities for my spirituality.

Who says there isn’t the right environment to chant? That chanting immediately connects me to the love of my life, the soul of my soul, like a thread which links us in a way that cannot be broken. All I have to do is call out the name of Love and He is there, within a moment, holding my heart in His hands, caressing my soul with His healing effulgence of Love. I don’t need the right environment, I don’t even need a japa mala, if I find that I do not have one. All I need is to call out, sincerely and with love, and that is enough. More than enough.

So today, I want to cut out maybe just one more excuse. Progress is a slow moving thing, and nothing to be afraid of. Let us be gentle with ourselves if we need to take it slow. That is natural for the soul who is used to feeling as though we must do it “all alone”. But if, day by day, we take up the idea that no longer do we have to face life alone, and that our Beloved has been waiting for our call all along, it makes it easier to cut out maybe just one more excuse that tells us “we cannot”, and replace it with a mantra that says “I can.”

I can call out to love today.

I can rest in the safety of Love.

Love will come to my rescue.

No matter where I am or what I am doing,

I can call on Love.

My Beloved is always with me.