Permission

From the moment of our birth we are striving to find permission for our existence, or even beyond existence, for permission to be good, we want to know that it's ok for us to be here, that it's ok for us to be who we are.

We go through our lives searching for this acceptance, from parents, from siblings, from teachers and fellow students, from the neighborhood kids, from the priest, from the church congregation, from lovers, from spouses, from spiritual teachers, mentors, guides, friends... In all of it we are seeking permission, we are seeking the confirmation that being who we are is good.

I am here to say that being who we really are is the ONLY good there is in life and we do not need permission for it. The teachers and the guides and the mentors offer us golden opportunities of insight, though, and they are precious experiences. They are the rare ones who do not scold us for being who we are, but rather encourage it with every fiber, they are the ones who love what is hidden deepest in us, and through that love help us relinquish the fruitless doubts we harbor so that we can bring it forward.

Still, in the end, what they offer us - we need to cultivate ourselves. In fact, I see the role of spiritual teachers, guides and mentors as the role model that takes us to the experience and gently pushes us offshore a bit so that we learn to swim it ourselves.

We have to become the experts at giving ourselves permission to acknowledge that who we are is good. "Of course I'm good," we say, "In fact, I'm great!" But too often it wreaks of ego and false bravado, an imploring, yes, almost whimpering inner child saying, "Please, please believe me."

Believe yourself. Love yourself. Drop the doubts and know that you are goodness personified. You have permission to own it!

Blessings. - Darshan

© 2008 Darshan F Jessop