Hope is to want or expect something – to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true, especially something that seems possible or likely.
Everyone is searching for hope. Always, constantly searching for an elusive ‘something’ to make their lives complete. Some think what they are missing is more wealth; others, a life partner; others still, a better career. For many, they say they are looking for happiness. I feel it’s really a search for one thing – the gift of hope.
Hope is what keeps us going. Hope is what drives us. Hope is why people are driven to different belief systems, religions and faith affiliations. When I sit in a Oneness Gathering (Satsang) I look around, absorb the positive atmosphere and feel a sense of great hope. It is the spiritually enlightened we come to listen to and learn from. It is always to seek, to share and to believe. I am beginning to realise that Faith is a by-product of hope.
We want so desperately to believe that there is a reason for our being here. Some are told what to believe and who to believe in, and they are happy doing so. Some start their own search, examining all the possible paths to knowing – they may find a Guru or belief system, and then follow that path.
Then there are others, who are constantly seeking. They go from one practice to another, one belief to another and one creed to another. They may not know what it is they are looking for, and continue until they believe that they have found it. Some remain in the search forever.
What I believe is that you have to seek within. The truth is within. Though so many layers of experience and conditioning are piled on top, we have to keep peeling them away and dig deep to find it. And then re-connect. I don’t say ‘connect’ because we’re never ever not connected. We just need to re-member who we are, and re-connect to the source within. I am not saying we do not need a guides, spiritual leaders or God. The source within is the GOD we seek to connect with. An enlightened Guru can act as a mirror, reflecting our deepest reality.
For some it is easier to see this, feel this and experience this. Others have been schooled in the theory, but have yet to practice it. It boils down to choices we make every single moment of our lives. If we live on auto-pilot, we then are not conscious co-creators of our lives. But if we start being aware of what it is we think about, how we are shaping our own lives we can begin becoming conscious co-creators of our experience of life.
The choices before us need to be made all the time – consciously and consistently. Such noticing becomes a habit, through which awareness and awakening arises. Call it self-development, if you will.
How do we go about being more aware? It’s actually not that hard – you have to just start paying attention – real attention to what you are thinking about, and what you are feeling. If the thoughts in your head do not serve you or are of a negative nature then simply stop thinking about them! Literally say “stop” in your mind and bring your focus on something that brings you joy or is of a positive nature. It may sound silly but it’s necessary till we cultivate the habit of choosing positive thoughts.
There is a saying, “What we think about, we bring about”. So take a look at your life as it is right now. What are you attracting to yourself? Are you happy with what is going on for you and around you? If not, think hard and really be honest with yourself about what it is you have been thinking about. If you cannot remember the thoughts, then that awareness needs to come into play. Really watch your thoughts and change them as and when necessary. Keep choosing to focus on things that make you feel good. If you are in a ‘feel good’ state of mind – you will naturally attract goodness. Feeling good becomes so much easier, when you are connected within. When you re-connect you will start being more aware.
Develop this awareness so you can awaken to the source within. Re-connection to the source is full of hope – then hope is not something elusive as we once thought. Hope becomes Faith. Once we have Faith we learn to let go, to flow and truly be. In this, is bliss.
NOW – Not tomorrow or next week or in the future – now is the time to wake up and stay awake.
Seek and ye shall find. Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and the doors of heaven shall open unto you……
Heaven is truly a state of mind. Not someone else’s but your OWN.
Stay blessed.
– Dina Sabnani, Hong Kong
