Ocean of Enough

There is an ancient yogic teaching that says we are steeped in unconditional nourishment and nurturing. That our purest state is one where we always are, have, and give ENOUGH. The sage Shakara in the the Saundalaharya states it this way.  The world is an infinite ocean of ambrosia and our bodies are just an island.  Our ability to receive and be touched by the waves of nourishment that are forever overlapping and enveloping our island is one of the most powerful things we can access to remember that we already have everything we need, and there is nothing we can’t handle.

It's a great irony that we are floating in an Ocean of Enough and desperately flailing around trying to shore up our perimeters, thinking our salvation lies in protecting ourselves from a tsunami.  It's as if we have forgotten that we are immersed in sufficiency, and we spend our hours, our sweat, and our neurons trying to craft a fortress around our island to keep the ocean out.  At the end of the day, we are exhausted, depleted, and parched.  Our archipelago scorched and raw.  

Now let's be clear.  Enough isn't Shangri-la.  Enough is enough, on all levels.  Enough abundance, enough success, enough love; yes, but also enough challenge to help you grow, enough resistance to propel you forward, enough disappointment to help you remember that what is special about you doesn't depend on what you achieve.

In her book, The Soul of Money, Lynne Twist relays a moment of awakening inspired by one of her own mentors,

...he said for centuries, perhaps thousands of years, we've lived with the belief that there's not enough to go around, and that we need to fight and compete to garner those resources for ourselves...but at this point in history, we are able to do so much more with so much less that as a human family, we clearly have reached the point where there actually is enough for everyone...(59)

Even if you have arguments about the sweeping nature of this statement, the fact remains that capacity and opportunity we have in our life today to call upon the feeling of enough is inhibited primarily by our personal judgements about what "enough" is rather than the truth of whether or not we have what we need and, whether we receive or resist what is offered.

So in those moments of doubt and lack, where do we go in our mind and heart?  Do we close, push, force, climb?  Do we open, bask, surrender, and expand the capacity of our island to take in the sweet waters of enough?  Do we allow our thirst to be quenched or do we keep reaching beyond what is offered to the promise of a sweeter drink?

To assist you in opening to receive the nurturing waters of enough, I am offering a short meditation.  May it help you feel the sweet relief of your own wealth and open you to receive exactly what you need. 

Ocean of Enough Meditation