Born Again & Again & Again
by Marie T. Russell
 The
master Jesus spoke in parables throughout his life and his teachings were to be
interpreted beyond their obvious meaning. They were multi-layered. For a
"beginner soul", the meaning was one, for a more "advanced" or "old soul" the
meaning was deeper. With Easter approaching, I find myself reflecting on the
message of this symbolic time -- the resurrection.
If we look at the message of Easter, what do we find? Yes, the obvious is
that Christ has risen from death and teaches us of eternal life. Jesus had told
his disciples about his many "miracles", that these too they could do. That
anything he could do, we could do as well. Thus, the rising up from death gives
all students of Jesus a security of eternal life -- no need to fear death, since
death is only a temporary state, a door to be passed through to go beyond to a
new life.
Every night and every morning we go through a death of sorts and a rising
from the dead. The state of sleep is very much like dying -- one's soul leaves the
body for another place. Whether at night we experience teachings in other
realms, or alternate lives in other times and places, is up to the individual
soul. Yet each night, we leave the body and die to this one existence to go into
another one or ones.
And each morning, we return to this body and are "born again" into our
present daily existence.
Every night, we "die" and every morning we are "born again". The great
advantage of this whole scenario is that every day we have a fresh start -- a
chance to start over and make new choices, choose new attitudes, new ways of
behaving. We are not restricted to the old ways -- we are born anew each morning
and can decide, just as we decide which clothes to wear, which attitudes and
beliefs we will "wear" that day.
What I've noticed is that what one once felt was the only absolute way for
something to be, often does a 180 degree turn at some point in our lives and we
get to live and experience the other side of the scale. It seems that we humans
are meant to experience the whole gamut of emotions and beliefs and then learn
to let go of them and be born again in each moment and in each experience.
Imagine what your life would be life if you had no preconceived notions of
anything. No expectations of bad things happening, no expectations of "so and
so" being a jerk, no belief that things would "always" be a certain way? If
every moment we were simply born to that moment without imposing upon it our
beliefs and expectations? Life would be much lighter -- less heavy to bear and
less dark and intense.
If we carried with us the childlike expectation of things wonderful about to
happen -- that every new person that we meet or every person who comes back into
our life is bringing us a gift -- life would be so joyful. But, we have placed our
own "standards" on the gifts people and events bring. We don't see a traffic jam
as a gift -- whereas, it is bringing the gift of an opportunity to practice
patience, or perhaps it is bringing the gift of life as it is keeping you from
the "perfect timing" of an accident that could have happened at another location
had you not been in the traffic jam. Each moment is perfect in its being -- if we
but allow it its own imperfect perfection.
Everything, each new day, each new experience, each person we meet, is a
gift. The gifts are not always pretty or sweet. Sometimes they are harsh. I
remember for years feeling very cheated by my parents because I spent 4 years of
my childhood in a boarding school -- not having a "normal" family life like
other children. Yet, years later, I realized that those 4 years had been a gift
-- there I learned independence, learned to stand on my own two feet, learned
that I was safe away from home and from my mommy, learned that I did not "need"
(as in clinging desperation) anyone or thing, that things always were for the
best? Those four years are part of who I am now. So, though at the time I hated
those 4 years of boarding school, I later realized they were part of the
curriculum for my life's journey.
Most things that we have resisted or despaired over throughout our life, when
we look back with the proper perspective, we realize these events were another
"birth" into a new aspect of life -- something we needed to master, something we
needed to experience. Many a drug addict has later gone on to be a drug
counselor? How better to help people going through that experience than by
having lived it oneself. Yet, one day we wake up and choose a different
existence -- we are born again to a new choice, to a new way of being.
Easter is about being born again -- let's make Easter a daily event, in the
same way that Earth Day should be a daily event. Not just remembering the things
that count on one day of the year, but incorporating those things in our daily
lives so that we live each day with the messages that those special days bring.
Every day we can rebirth ourselves into a more conscious and loving way of
being.
Every day, we can start anew -- a new day, a new life, a new person. One that
can let go of past expectations, or past recriminations, or past traumas and
fears. Each day we are born again into a new experience --- joy or fear -- which
do you choose today?
Recommended
book:
 Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
by Sharon
Salzberg.
The author, Sharon Salzberg, shows how each one of us can cultivate love,
compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Info/Order this book.
 About The Author
Marie
T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also
produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from
1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and
well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own
inner source of joy and creativity.
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