By Ed Rubenstein, Ph.D.
Many of us have been on a search to find something that would impact us in such a way that it would lead to a transformation of our life. In our quest for happiness or success, we may find ourselves traveling down different roads. Yet, even though we may achieve worldly success, learn to be more mindful, develop healthier and more positive self-esteem, many of us realize that there is a certain level of incompleteness or a thirst that has not been properly quenched. We can continue our lives with the goal of developing additional successes, but it doesn’t ensure that through this pathway we will find the deepest experience of contentment and fulfillment that is available to us.
In the core of our being is an innate longing to feel profoundly safe and unconditionally loved. In an attempt to fulfill this innate longing, our lives can take us on multiple adventures that give temporary pleasures or strokes to our egos. This search can also lead to addictive behaviors or confusion about life. Some people may develop high levels of arrogance or self-righteousness in order to convince themselves that their mental concepts are absolute truth. Our mind is not the doorway to our deepest fulfillment. Without realizing it, people are searching for spiritual completion, but they are looking for it in the wrong places. It’s like climbing an illusionary ladder, thinking that we are actually getting somewhere that will lead to our deepest completion.
Our different attempts to find happiness and completion are meant to help us realize that what we think will fulfill us is not the answer. Many people thought a particular relationship, a new job, a new house, children, financial success, etc. would fulfill their innermost thirst. And now they have come to realize that all of these accomplishments and things in life are wonderful, but it is only through the doorway of their spiritual heart that they can feel a level of fulfillment and completion that they have never experienced before. The reason is that our spiritual heart is connected to True Source, the Source of Unconditional Love and the Creator of who we truly are. This is the only key connection that can fulfill our innate longing to feel profoundly safe and unconditionally loved.
The bottom line is that we exist because we have been created. To live life and not have a relationship with the Source of who we truly are is metaphorically like an infant that has never felt the love of its parents. How would it be for an infant to not have an opportunity to rest in the arms of its mother, father, or grandparents? There would be something lacking, missing, or incomplete. There would also be a feeling of separateness or isolation. Until we find the doorway of our spiritual heart, on some level, this is the story of our lives.
The greatest impact on our life can only happen when our spiritual heart opens. We can then find an intimate connection with our Source that is characterized by a deepening experience of peace, calm, joy, and gratitude while also melting into the beauty of Unconditional Love. Then, just as a child can feel fulfilled letting go and resting in its parent’s arms, we can be fulfilled and completed in the arms of our True Source.