“DD” LOOKING WITHIN
(The Katha Upanishad) God allowed man to look outward, but in seeing the outer, the inner is ignored. Those who see the eternal, turn their gaze within.
Truth is always a choice away - to look out into the world for what illusion has to offer or looking within for what the eternal has to offer. Looking within is not complicated. Looking within is not hard. Looking within is not a waste of time. But looking within starts with knowing what you’re looking for.
You’re looking for truth found past the endless babble of the mind, and past all the fears and desires you hold onto as yours, with the initial goal being arrival at the quiet context out of which thoughts arise given juxtaposition. Looking within starts with a simple question of God, “where are you, Lord?”
God does not turn away from God’s creation seeking to know the eternal nature of God. God does not throw away life because it waited to seek truth. God does not care in the slightest about past sins, iniquities, dumb choices, resentments once held, or active grudges currently held onto. God is always showing the way home back to truth, back to peace, back to joy, and back to a connection with that which you truly are to begin with.
This game of life is exactly that, a game, with cosmic safety nets at every corner. So, what if you’ve killed another person, stolen from your loved ones, done too many drugs to count, taken advantage of people and destroyed lives in the process? You will be held accountable for these things in this life or the next through karmic debt, but with God, through true surrender, you’ll find only forgiveness in the heart of the creator, never judgement.
When you look outward for guidance, you ignore truth. When you look outward for peace, you ignore truth. When you look outward for prosperity, you ignore truth. When you look outward for happiness, you ignore truth. When you look outward for completion, you ignore truth. It’s not until you stop chasing your tail out in the world and instead choose to look within for your connection to God, does God begin to show you internally you are without needs being unmet, and the source of all needs being met is directly proportional to the eternal nature of what created you. When you see eternity in the presence of God’s spirit quietly ushering you towards more of the eternal spirit of God, you’ll find that the only way to more of God is by turning your gaze within.
What you do for a job is of no consequence, because why you do that job and how you do it is what marks the beginning of wisdom and prosperity. Even in the workforce, regardless of what you do for a paycheck, it’s not the job that brings about happiness, but why and how you’re doing it.
Within is where happiness is found, not gained through outward effort. Within is where joy is found, not purchased out in the world. Within is where God makes God’s presence known, not because you find yourself in a penthouse or the gutter outside.