Recently I had a lot of questions around how I could remain actively connected to the divine, continue to live my dharmic path and still stay true to my spiritual values while also living in the physical world, having to pursue other commitments and sometimes entering environments and situations that don't entirely align.
The clouds of confusion had me wondering at times if it was even possible, was I living a lie?. Was I undoing every step I'd ever taken and worked for towards the evolvement of my soul, one step forwards five back ?. I honestly wasn't sure. I even explored fleeting thoughts of running away to the mountains, renouncing my name, identity and any physical attachments I had made with the material.
Living in an Ashram or monastery, and avoiding the tamasic situations and commitments in my life wasn't an option. I simply could not just 'Wither in the ether' or live my life in 24 hour meditation. I needed answers.
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Last month I went on a Bhakti retreat in the Blue mountains nsw. On the first night I a polar bear kept stepping forward for me during the meditations. I was busy processing so many teachings from the night so kinda brushed old mate Polar bear in that moment. The next day I was sitting in the communal living area and right there, on the mantle piece I spotted him. A bear ornament. Okay I duly noted, I will be sure to look up polar bear and bear spirit medicine later tonight when I get back to my room. During one of the workshops that day, a fellow seeker asked; "How can I be on this path and stay aligned and practice non attachment when I leave here this weekend, I have a job to go to that isn't spiritual, kids to attend to, other commitments and I have to pay for a roof over my head, eat and have clothes on my back".
My teacher answered this question so gracefully and spoke a lot about how to remain spiritually aligned while still living in the physical world.
"You should have a right to work but never to the fruit of the work, you should never engage in action for the sake of the reward, nor should you long for inaction" - Bhagavad Gita -
In my teachers words "your whole life can become an offering to the divine", everything you do, focus on the journey not the result, she answered.
"It doesn't matter if you are the garbage man, you be the best damn garbage man you can be". She meant Regardless of what you are doing, do it well, for the right reasons and be present.
"Consider your actions, ask yourself in each moment; "Is it taking me closer to the divine or further away".
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That night, when I got back to my room I looked up the polar bear and found that the message was ; "This arctic bear may be here to guide you between the living world and the spirit world and show you how to easily move between them". "brown bear inspires us to continue to bring balance and integrity to the physical world"
On the way home from the retreat, we stopped for one last meal together, walking through the freezing streets of Katoomba in winter, I spotted another bear ornament in the window of a charity shop.... As we turned into my street, a van was parked outside Bunnings a van offering home maintenance services, the logo was a polar bear... And there has been many more polar bears and bears thrown in my path since that weekend. And so the journey.. the lessons .. continue ! Xx
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