I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house. Luke 6:47-49
Before Jesus began his work in the world, the Gospel of Luke reads that he first went out in the wilderness for forty days and nights. No food, no people, he was battling the devil. He invited the darkness into his life in order to truly know the light. We all have a devil, or darkness, within filled with excuses, don't we? To build a strong foundation within ourselves, we simply must act. In the yoga sutras this is also stressed repeatedly in abiyasa or spiritual discipline. It is in the practice of yoga that we find union with God and each other. We can only think about a deeper relationship with the wild soul for so long. We can ponder it, imagine it, dream about it, but it is in the awkward vulnerable steps toward it that we find liberation.
I say to my students, how badly do you want it? How badly do you want this intimacy with God? Thinking about it is not going to do it. My teacher says, you will not get handstand by thinking about it. So, each day I am on my mat, kicking my heels up like a donkey and feeling like I am getting nowhere and somewhere at the same time.
Today take a step towards your "one wild and precious life" as Mary Oliver, the poet, writes. Do one thing that makes you vulnerable because in that vulnerability you are alive. Paradoxically, you are building a stronger foundation for yourself in that awkwardness. It doesn't feel like it in the moment, but you are.
Like the writer of Luke's gospel says, act. You can do it. The mind makes newness much scarier than it actually is. We need a strong foundation for ourselves, but the world needs it too. Practice building a foundation that no raging river could shake. Meditation, a teacher that tells the truth, join a church, dance, get on your mat, practice silence for a day, fast. The strong foundation that you build creates a home for a massive Love to spill out onto the world. Otherwise we have a leaky foundation and we wonder why we end up feeling so empty.