Passion

Passion is the "spark" of excitement that is felt when we stand on the edge of the unknown. It arises at the boundary where two different worlds rub up against each other - male and female, self and other, inner and outer, familiar patterns and uncharted possibilities. The spark of passion lights up the night and provides sudden glimpses of mystery and depth. Passion is an intense quality of energized presence that puts us in touch with the fullness and richness of being alive.

We fall in love in many ways at any moment. Suddenly, something or someone takes our breath away and we feel an expansive fluttering sensation in our chest as we taste for an instant what it is like to be fully in the present. A thousand different things can bring on this heightened sense of perception. We have the capability to find ourselves falling in love several times a day...to find ourselves deeply "moved" not only by other people, but by nature and the sounds that are all around us. It is nothing more than a heightened, keener awareness of what has always been present...reminding us of the wonderful experiences that exist in the vital moments of the "present". Passions essential nature is "spontaneous and unconditional". Our total being opens and naturally resonates as it desires to connect with that which is greater than ourselves.

To prevent illusions, we must learn never to confuse the "focus" of our passion with "source" of that passion. It is the nature of passion to connect intensely with something or someone - problems arise only when we begin to look upon the "source" of our passion as the "cause" of our feeling so alive. Passions pure essence is our deeper, more basic need to feel the goodness and fullness of our own being and to KNOW that it is indeed worth celebrating. A belief that our wealth of feelings comes from the "object" of our passions is what will lead us to personal delusions, for passion becomes "conditional" when we choose to focus it on a specific person or thing. Release the need to "possess" and we are instantly thrown back into the pure intensity of "feeling" - to the source of unconditional passion inside ourselves which allows us to open up in new ways.

When we consciously direct our love toward an object we KNOW we can never possess - passion ripens into something much deeper - it becomes devotion. Whole hearted devotion is a powerful, transformative energy that can work magic in the human soul, for it allows us to discover that the "fullness" of our love is not an "object" but rather that which we treasure in our own heart allowing us to share more fully with others. Passion is a devotional path for tapping into the greater powers within ourselves. It is the purity of love, an experience of the fullness of our whole being.

In our first moments of attraction we can sense that we must surrender to it - we feel a desire to move toward it in ways we can not control. We find ourselves wanting to reach out and touch it and we feel it touch us in our most sensitive areas. It is at that very moment that we recognize that when we open up to our passion and let it move freely through us, that we are forced to let go, to "give in" and feel how raw and vulnerable we truly are. It is through "grasping" and "seducing" that we try to regain control of that which has so disarmed us.- yet, the more we try to control and direct passion the more it drives and controls us. Passion can not exist without surrender. We must surrender "self" in order to expand and move freely - to feel full and empty at the same time - full of life and empty of self. It is the moment of spiritual fulfillment when life and death exist as one...for it is at that moment when we experience the fullness of the unity of life in its wholeness and the death of an image of a "singular self" and passion without fixation becomes possible.

The key to overcoming the "illusions" of passion lies in realizing that this energy arises from our higher being and can never be entirely satisfied by any one person or thing. It's nature is "egoless" and pure in that it is ultimately a desire to experience the fullness of life itself. Where it leads us, depends entirely on what we choose to do with it. If we wish passion to become a path, we must learn to dance on the razor's edge of this energy - now taking hold, now letting go, now focusing our passion with single-pointed intensity, now releasing its focus and feeling its source in the life flowing deep within us. Learning to ride the energy of desire without being swept away by it, we allow it to resonate through us and flow toward others without having to cling to them or possess them. By simply appreciating the pure quality of this energy as it arises in the moment, we can let ourselves fall in love lightly, without becoming obsessed, for passion is the vital spark which propels our journey forward.

Once you recognize that the true nature of your passion is a powerful, radiant heart energy that wants to shine forth, flow freely and connect with life itself - you will not suppress it or try to maintain its feverish intensity and this will keep love fresh and allow us to keep falling in love with the world and each other over and over, again and again.