This is a profound statement of the intent of the Authentic. When read with a sense of wonder and mercy, this statement actually defines the sincerity of our pilgrimage, our journey back to Source…to God within.

When I look at people who think that they are “working upon themselves,” I find their only true sincerity (hunger and thirst) lies in merely what they define as “success,” which translates into controlling their worldly environment through money. They are devoted to their own survival as the evidence of notability and approval within their family as well as the society in which they live.

Their lives are lived in the sole pursuit of achieving an illusive “love” they “hunger and thirst” for that can only come from their parents. They will sacrifice Workshops and the once-in-a-lifetime Retreats for their loyalty to the all mighty ideal of “success,” which they believe is the key to getting the affection and approval of their parents, whether living or dead!

The saddest part of all of this is that this society is making many of us “lifeless” in our efforts to become so “loveable” to the family that we are too tired to meditate and too “broken” to work upon ourselves with any real effort or energy. Most people sacrifice their entire life trying to keep their “heads above water” living the same life that their parents lived with no real awareness of the God within.

It is very difficult for most of us to truly trust that the Kingdom of Heaven, Nirvana and The Tao all live within us as a Oneness we all share. If only we could see what lives within us and “hunger and thirst” for that with all our Heart and Soul. To live as a pilgrimage through which we journey back to the significance of ourselves beyond our beliefs and renew our faith.

Unfortunately for most people “working upon themselves” only means reading, thinking and occasionally meditating in order to reach for something ethereal through an intellectual search for God. They do not “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” They linger here and indulge themselves over there, getting lost in the smallness of their thinking and creating philosophies and techniques that only serve to distract them from the pilgrimage.

To “hunger and thirst” in a spiritual practice requires our entire effort, our entire self…and a willingness to sacrifice our ideals of “happiness” (which in truth is nothing more than self indulgence) and fear for the sake of a Love that our ego cannot acknowledge nor appreciate. To “hunger and thirst” means that we immerse our entire life into the energies of the practice of Love and mercy at all costs to the ego.

It lives as an energy within that we cannot comprehend, yet are all deeply susceptible to. I cannot inspire you to live authentically nor can I incite you to move more consciously into your own beauty. You must feel the “pull” to do so. If you do not feel aroused by your own journey in this life, you will be left to live in confusion at the hands of gratification with fear as the overriding emotion in all you do.

Most people have resigned themselves to just “getting through” with the least amount of hassle. This is how the mind interprets everything – it’s all about the gratifying the outer to hide the pain of their inner emotional turmoil. These people betray their journey by indulging in private preferences for “security” and “self-importance.” They are so numbed by their childhood and so willfully set in their own ways that they can no longer allow for living “outside the box” of a mind and ego that demand fulfillment of gratification at all costs to their Soul.

Not a physical beauty, but rather the intrinsic beauty that is inherent in all of us at all times, though most miss it because they are so mesmerized with their bodies in the physical realm. The reason we have such great difficulty struggling to survive our daily living is because we have no inner sense of beauty.

To “hunger and thirst after righteousness” is to place ourselves into a new life within our living – into the intrinsic state of the beauty within simple moments of our lives when the mind does not govern or restrict what we can experience. To spend just a few moments practicing what lives within allows for a profound sense of beauty and mercy to blossom.

God is simple beauty.

Deep in the heart of all of us we do “hunger and thirst after righteousness” and simply do not understand the authentic meaning of this in our lives. So we lower this noble stance to that of mere survival. Allow me to offer some suggestions for honoring this blessed holiday season:

GRATITUDE
I find that people consider gratitude a debt! They do not like feeling indebted to be grateful to anyone who has done something kind or thoughtful because it reveals their own lack of generosity. Gratitude is an honor. It is like a movement in music or in dance that, when we are willing, gives us deep sense of being connected to the “bigger picture” of Life. Gratitude is the rhythm of a human being’s life that becomes the path to God as a mystical greeting from the “other shore” of our Being. It is about an openhearted celebration of everything that touches our life and brings us to Oneness.

TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED
Never take anything or anyone for granted. See everything and everyone as fingers pointing to the authentic purpose of living and listen to everything as teachings that lead to the Soul. Most people take for granted the compassion and mercy they have been given in this life to help them mature and grow. But one day, they must all face what they “did” and “did not do” to make Love possible in their lives.

EVERYTHING IS SACRED
The sanctity of life comes in the ability to live mercifully with all the elements of our life…including the human. The word sacred means “connected with God.” God is about a certain oneness that our Soul longs for. Until we realize that this life is venerated by our devotion to the search for authentic Love, we will remain in a continual quandary of experiences that do nothing but tear our minds apart, creating one division after another and nullifying any advancement we could ever make through meditation and living prayerfully.

MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
The teachings of all great Masters MAKE NO SENSE AT ALL! The teachings are not offered to appeal to our logic and reasoning nor our senses. In the realm of the spiritual (the mystique of the mystical) all logic, reasoning and sense go out the door! We must never not allow the collective unconscious to “dummy us down” into thinking only thoughts that gratify and appeal to our sense of convenience and ease. Life is the effort to “hunger and thirst” for something far beyond the limitations of our dualistic mindset.