I'm gonna start boldly:
HEY YOU.
(yeah you, always)
YOUR WORTH IS INFINITE.
(say what?!?)
YOUR WORTH IS INFINITE.
(do you have an instinctive reaction when you read that? that's okay! read it again)
YOUR WORTH IS INFINITE.
Maybe this is a simple idea for you.
(Yay, you!)
I know for me it can be quite complex.
(maybe for you, too?)
It can be weighted.
Complicated.
Uneasy.
It helps me to say it to myself while I say it to you:
Our lives are valuable and worthy simply because we exist.
There's this idea in yoga of
atman and brahman --
These are BIG CONCEPTS, so any scholars in the house, I ask your forgiveness for their simplification today.
Atman is . . . the transcendental part of self, the part of you that is infinite.
Brahman is . . . universal consciousness.
One of my favorite ways I've learned to imagine this is:
the ocean and the wave.
Imagine a fully infinite ocean. Always existing.
Brahman.
And the waves. Rising and falling.
Atman.
The ocean is the continuity of existence, the wave is inherently temporary.
Are they fundamentally different? Yes.
Can they be separated? No.
At any moment, we may think that we are the wave.
I might think I am separate, having this whole existence and experience, distinct and unique. That's a normal part of being a person! It can be harder to see past the crest of my own wave - to see across to the other waves, to notice that we are all simply moving parts of the whole ocean.
Are we fundamentally different? Yes.
Can we be separated? No.
This doesn't mean we don't need to take care of our individual selves. In fact, when we are in pain, when we are out of alignment, out of tune - we don't feel whole. And so of course, naturally, it's that much harder to understand our interconnectedness.
This is why we practice. If we can feel our whole wave, we are more capable of feeling the ocean. We practice our practices to bring more awareness to the underlying truth of the ocean.
If we can see that we are the wave, if we can understand our moments are this inherently temporary part of the whole ocean of existence --
we can remind ourselves that we are all connected.
all the same ocean.
and no one wave, no one drop of water in the whoooole ocean of consciousness, has more worth than any other.
See what I'm getting at?
YOUR WORTH IS INFINITE. YOUR WORTH DOES NOT NEED TO BE EARNED.
YOUR WORTH DOES NOT COME FROM THE MONEY OR POSSESSIONS YOU HAVE. YOUR WORTH DOES NOT COME FROM SAVING THE WHOLE WORLD.
If (or more likely when) you get caught up in thoughts of - am I doing enough, am I making enough, am I speaking enough, please oh please try to remember:
You are one and you are all.
You are atman and you are brahman.
Your worth cannot be calculated.
You are worthy because you exist.
Your worth is infinite.
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