Seeking is key to my next level of illumination, that is.
Ah – Seeking – a process inspired by a need to find validation for separation.
Seeking, in the metaphoric sense of the quest, intends to answer the question, “Who do I think I am [separate from and compared to others]?” This kind of seeking works to integrate and awareness of WHO I AM into the why, how, and what I experience.
I can only SEEK that which I think I already am NOT, I think I already do NOT, or I think I already have NOT. I SEEK that which I don’t think I already have, do, or am. Although seeking is an illusion of action – seeking never actually DOES, only ATTEMPTS to do something – it awakens within me a DESIRE to find the I AM level of my Self.
Seeking – The Quest
Many cultures challenge their youth to a sacred quest intended to help them transition from childhood to adulthood. This principle is represented in rites of passage in many aboriginal cultures. Although a goal is often explicit in these types of quests, the implicit objective is to focus the initiate’s attention on the journey rather than on the goal. Seeking, in this context, is explicitly intended to focus the mind on the HOW of the journey while implicitly calling forth the WHO to complete the actual quest.
The quest fulfills its intention by awakening the seeker to WHO s/he is – beyond that which s/he THINKS s/he is.
Seeking understanding awakens ME to WHO I AM.
Seeking connotes attention. When I seek knowledge, I attend to my studies. When I seek enlightenment, I attend to my next level of illumination. At illumination levels 1-3, seeking is at best an “almost action” – and more an excuse for not attaining a goal. Where I perceive threat, seeking appears more like desperate preparation for battle or search for an escape route. In these levels, I fruitlessly and cyclically seek to fulfill a perceived need or deficit.
At level 4, I may get a glimpse of the real me. Seeking begins to take the form of introspection with intent to have that experience of the glimpse. At level 5 I entertain the possibility of oneness of self – no longer fragmented by my ego into various personas, each contending for my attention.
At illumination level 6, I realize the integration of self and seek to solidify that expression into every aspect of my experience.
At illumination level 7, perhaps seeking transcends limitation – into the territory of infinite imagination. I look forward to that experience!
Resources:
- Snyder, C. R.; Lopez, Shane J. (2007). Positive Psychology. Sage Publications, Inc. p. 147. ISBN 0-7619-2633-X.
