Everything In Its Season

I have spoken a lot about how we must release our attachment to the outcome of a situation, knowing that clinging to a specific outcome, or trying to control things to attain a specific outcome, will lead to more suffering. Yesterday, while Kathy and I were traveling through the Central Valley past endless acres of farms growing everything from rice to pomegranates, and avocados to kiwis, we talked about this concept. We agreed that, like the crops whizzing past our windows, when the season is right, our own work will bear fruit. 

As I am fond of telling my yoga classes, we must treat ourselves in the same way that we would treat the flowers in our garden. If we go out try to open the flowers when they are just beginning to bud, we will kill them. In the same way, our bodies will open and bloom into our yoga practice when they, too, are ready, and not a moment before.

Our desires and goals can be treated in this same way. We have desires for what we want, and we then pay attention to what needs to be done moment-to-moment to reach these desires. However, we must also release attachment to the ultimate outcome of these actions. We can still have the goals and desires, but we are not locked into how the outcome should look, and we are able to take new courses of action if it is necessary. This releasing of attachment also allows us to be available for the limitless potential of the universe to handle the details and lead us toward a destination that will be much richer than any we could possibly imagine with our minds.

It is our task to plant the seeds of our desires into fertile soil, and then to tend that soil and the growing desire moment-to-moment. The desire will ripen, but in its own time. This can mean that it may not happen when we want it to happen. However, we can rest assured that, when the season is right, our desires will bear fruit.

Blessings,
Roger