Being fulfilled, no matter where you are!

It is a great pleasure to make a connection with you through this column. I have been on the spiritual and psychological path for many years, really about 45 years, so I hope that I can share some of the things I’ve discovered. My own path has been quite straightforward at times, but also quite confusing at other times in my life. I’m sure that together we can share our wisdom and refine our abilities to really gain the fulfillment we all seek in life.

Everyone is on a path of some sort. We are all directed by a set of values and behaviors that are meant to lead towards contentment and fulfillment, no matter how that is conceived. For some people this is a materialist path. On this path we operate with the basic belief that fulfillment is achieved through creating the right physical circumstances in which to live. We put our efforts into building a well-paying career, creating a comfortable living space, finding ideal vacation destinations, etc. For some people nearly all of their energy goes into seeking security at a material level. I would say that up to point, nearly everyone is on a materialistic path.

You are well on your way on a psychological and spiritual path. You’ve realized how the functioning of the mind has a major role in our wellbeing. You see the connection between what you think and believe, and how you feel from day to day. You’re path includes working at the “inner level.” You have different ways of getting inside yourself and working directly with your mind and emotions using any of a variety methods that might include, changing how you think about things, using your imagination, your intention, your attention and awareness. May be you’re following a specific path of self-development as part of a training or community. Or, perhaps you’re creating your own path from the incredible range of resources that are available to us these days.

It’s quite possible that your path includes a dimension that goes beyond the thinking mind, that goes beyond the reality of your own personal self. If you meditate or practice a form like Tai Chi this is certainly the case. You’re seeking to be connected with a source of being, love or wisdom that’s more vast than who we are individually.

But, no matter what path we’re on, we need to admit that, up to this point, we’re all unsuccessful in our endeavor. I can’t see how we would keep looking in the pages of a book, a magazine, attending a workshop, or searching for a teacher on YouTube if we were truly, totally and fundamentally content now and into the future. For sure we break through from time to time into a space where things are complete and perfect as there are, but even these experiences are usually very conditioned. Just one element needs to change, someone comes into, or goes out of, the picture, and something is missing, again. And back we are, searching to be complete.

What we really all want is to arrive at the end of the path, and stay there. May be we’d like to return to the path from time to time for some adventure, but even then, our ideal is to be able to return to some ultimate state, whenever we’d like to.

Most people think that the way to arrive at the end of their path is to follow it until the end; to keep working at the practices and implementing the values and principles that define the path. But there is another way entirely to complete the path. And that is by dissolving the whole idea of “being on a path” and arriving at some destination, itself. How do we dissolve the path? Just by being here, in the moment. Nothing could be easier. In fact, for as long as we think that we are “on the path” we can’t complete it. The only way to complete the path is by “being here”—here in way that we are in time and also in timeless, immutable presence.

This moment offers us the opportunity to need nothing more than what is here for us in this instant. If we connect with this instant, we don’t need anything more. We don’t need another teaching, we don’t need to find the meaning of life, we don’t need more money, a different figure, better health, or some guarantee of our future happiness, not in this instant. In this moment we don’t actually have the time to use any of these things. You might think? Okay, that’s nice, but I can’t be here—in the moment—permanently. I do have to take care of my health, my family and my investments!

Being here doesn’t in anyway disconnect us from the realities at hand. We can check this out right now. Being here means being where WE are right now. In one way this is another reality. It’s different because we can’t say what it is. But equally, we’re fully connected with our embodied existence. I am here, in my office, writing this, and fully aware of what’s going on around me. And you are reading this, aware of this word, and the context in which this is happening for you. Being here, means that we are drinking the ineffable and fully alive to our senses, and feelings and thoughts at the same time.

It is a joy to meet you “here,” playing in the space of being fulfilled, no matter where we are.

Peter Fenner