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The Center of the Universe
I was driving to meet Jesseca and her girls at the Apple Store, one of our favorite haunts. It was an incredibly busy day, lots of cars, but my buddy Turtle spirit has been gently and consistently reminding me to slow down and take my time. Sort of like the tortoise in that famous story of the tortoise and the hare. I kept my cool without having to try too hard and though there were many cars due to it being a Saturday afternoon in southern California, the traffic seemed to be moving quite smoothly. Either that or it was my relaxed attitude that allowed me to take the bustling traffic in stride.
As I pulled into the shopping mall, I had the strangest thought pop into my head: “I am the Center of the Universe.” Okay, okay. I didn’t really believe it but since I heard it loud and clear it gave me pause. I then realized there is a part of me that really, truly believes that! So I tried it out and said it out loud a couple of times. “I am the Center of the Universe. I am the Center of the Universe!”
I always figure if there’s a shadow, a part of me of which I’m not aware OR I’m aware of but trying to deny it, it’s better to bring it into the light of awareness. Doing so takes away its power over me and gives me even greater choice. Sometimes doing so is painful, sometimes pleasant, but no matter, keeping shadows in darkness clouds the Inner Light from shining through and creates obstacles to bringing your fullness of Being into expression.
Soon I looked around at all the people and it occurred to me that everyone, other than a few spiritual masters, has a part of them that thinks the same way. It’s just a matter of degree and whether we truly believe that we are the center of the universe! So here I was at the Mission Viejo Shopping Center mingling with all of these other centers of the universe. Same universe or different one I’m not sure, but since it’s an illusion it didn’t really matter.
This egoic narcissism seems to be an epidemic of sorts. All of us give in to a dominant sense of self-importance at times and some even stay there for a good deal of their lives. There’s certainly nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence in self-centeredness, yet it’s also helpful to recognize this trap of the ego mind and not get stuck there. The greater perspective comes from the Inner Witness, that place inside that carries the Light of Awareness and emanates from the center of our Being. This is our truest and most basic identity, the “I AM” of the “I AM the Center of the Universe!”
To pull yourself out of this delusion, do something nice for someone without concern for reward or payback. Do it with love and then let it go. Another way to say this is be in service to someone or something else, and let whatever you do be a sincere act of service. Not selfless or totally non-egoic, but with the predominant driving forces being love, kindness, and compassion. Hold those in consciousness and it gets you out of yourself pretty quickly and helps align you with your true Center, the aspect of you that is connected with All-That-Is. When you view it that way and from that vantage point, you’re reminded me in a very dramatic way, you’re never really alone.
But we can still lapse from this lofty ideal and become absorbed in our concerns to the point of being out of touch with the world around you. I was telling Jesseca about this and she recounted how a few years ago she was wandering through a store, preoccupied with her own thoughts and concerns. She accidentally bumped into someone and said, “Oh, I’m sorry!! I’m in my own little world.” Without skipping a beat he responded, “What choice do you have?” That is the question, isn’t it? What choice do you have?
As we expand the scope of our awareness, the choice you have is to accept the paradox: that we both live in our own little world of self and are quite capable of expanding our view by more consistently adopting the perspective of the Higher Self. Then you can realize that you are a unique, singular expression of God amidst the tens of thousands expressions manifest here on this Earth. And every one of us by the fact of our existence here on Earth, built on the fundamental life forms called DNA, are intimately related. Take a few moments and breathe that in.
Namasté!
