Pre-Broadcast Reflection

Want for Nothing & Be Free

Now, let’s go slow here. Such a statement as, “Want for Nothing and be Free,” is more of a pointer than an instruction or expectation. If we’re not careful, then we will find ourselves pretending not to want things so we can appear spiritual; which is wanting to appear spiritual. Or worse, we will “want” to not have wants.

I love this pointer though, because, for me, there’s a profound truth to be discovered; an ancient truth that’s been pointed to for millennia.

Is it really possible to not want for anything, in this spiritual context?

Well, comically, and illustratively, there’s two versions of this.

1. We feel that we shouldn’t want, and so we refrain from wanting to the best of our ability and simply make do with what we have. This would be like having a bite today delicious food and then someone offers more. You recognize a hunger that wants more, but deprive yourself because of what someone else might think.
2. It’s recognized, observed, or seen that we simply have everything we need for us to feel abundantly present and grateful. In this state there’s nothing left to want because what is had is plenty. Kind of like being delightfully full after dinner; wanting more food simply isn’t an option. If dessert is offered, you experience more joy gifting it to someone else.

Of course, this spiritual pointer isn’t referring to food; even though it could be applied in a healthy way.

More so, it’s speaking to our attempts to fill the void within our human experience. The void of identity to be more precise, which plays itself out in a form of seeking to either gain acceptance or avoid rejection.

Equally so and the same thing, is the seeking for emotional feelings that either validate a self identity, or avoid emotional feelings that threaten a self identity.

This is like “wanting” a bigger house because you feel it will help you have more acceptance. Or, “wanting” someone to stay in a relationship with you because if they don’t… you’ll feel rejected.

Now, again, go slow with me here. The invitation isn’t to stop these things, judge these things, or to create any expectations of How you should behave. Quite honestly, as humans, we will all have struggles with experiences like these examples throughout our lives.

If anything, the pointer invites is to see something deeply true that helps to reduce (and at times eliminate) the burden that feels so separate from what we (think we) “want.”

In summary, and my intention is to dive more deeply into this during the live broadcast, there’s a profound shift that happens as the truth of things is seen more clearly.

The Shift…

- a transformation from “I anxiously want,” to… “I would enjoy; but I’m also fine if not.”

There’s a semantic issue here that we shouldn’t get lost in. Again, it’s not about the words, but more so about what assumptions and beliefs (energy) give breath to these words. Where do the words come from?

If I fundamentally see what I am as incomplete, unwhole, or as not enough, then by default I will carry an anxious wanting that looks to remedy that in the world. I will want things in order to be that something I long to see myself as. Beyond the story I want to tell about myself, what it comes down to is… I’m trying to see myself and whole and complete.

This suffering over identity, which is all suffering, is not evidence of something missing. Rather, it’s evidence that I don’t see what I truly am.

It’s kind of like the experience of gratitude. The lack of gratitude isn’t because you’re missing something to be grateful for. Rather, it’s because you’re not seeing what you already have.

As always, as I keep pointing back to, the suffering of anxious wanting is the result of an innocent misunderstanding. If you saw what is really true about you, the anxious want would vanish.

Let’s dive into this more during the live broadcast. My fingers are done typing on this tiny device 😂.

See you soon.