Indian Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda once said, “The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires, temptations, troubles, and worries, and it is trying to free itself. If you keep tugging at that chain which is holding you to mortal consciousness, some day an invisible Divine Hand will intervene and snap it apart, and you will be free.”

So often in life we are myopically focused on a specific desired material goal or outcome. 

Getting a certain job or promotion, earning a certain amount of money, gaining recognition or thousands of Instagram followers, going on a luxury vacation, having the newest gadget or technology, buying a bigger house, and so on.

While it is all well to be working towards something and making proper use of your life and creative energy, we lose track of what the real meaning of our life is.

Is it to simply live, accumulate more in our capitalistic system, and die?

The things we chase and desire are but a continuation of the egoic narrative of our life that we have always lived.

The story of you. 

However, these things around us are but fleeting and temporal in nature. After all, that is by definition everything in this lila (divine play) that we are surrounded by. It all will come to an end at some point. That is why Buddhists teach that the negation or cessation of desire is the goal – to release the attachment of material desires in a world where material possessions do not bring the purity of lasting joy and happiness. For there is always a new shiny object for the self to desire.

It is the little “s” self that wants these worldly things. As such, we get stuck in a continual loop that when we get X, then we will be happy. However, the true lasting happiness is felt when you are deeply able to commune with the Higher (capital “S”) Self – through the countless tools available to us in our modern age – most notably meditation. 

In that state, you are able to detach from bodily identification, and realize that you are infinite soul consciousness. You are the thought that is thinking itself. You are the co-creator of your reality. Love, service, and creation is your birthright and universal language that transcends any spoken or written dialect. For in that realization, the worries of the little “s” self melt away into a vast ocean of the awareness of the Self you truly are, the power you genuinely possess, and the alignment you have the unending propensity to live in.

So in our 21st century world, where is the balance between materialism and spirituality?

For myself, I still have tangible material goals I work towards. Physical reality is the last manifestation of thought energy through all forms of ether it travels through.

Yet, where the balance comes in is my non-attachment to those goals. I am fully committed to using my vital life force energy to create wonderful things in this world that help serve others and broader humanity, alongside myself, however I am not attached to the outcome.

I surrender my will to Divine Will. 

The Universe is far more complex and intelligent than we can begin to comprehend. Everything we’ve done in our life has had a reason and purpose beyond anything we can fathom. The connections we’ve made, the places we’ve traveled, even our hobbies and interests are in some way intrinsically tied to past life experiences we’ve had, or things we may have had a propensity for in other lifetimes (all of which are happening in the Eternal Now). 

If you took a pipette and sucked one small drop out of the ocean, that is equivalent to our perception of knowledge in our limited human vehicle relative to all the waters on the face of the earth. The latter of which is synonymous to the seemingly infinite expansiveness of Truth that is boundlessly available for us to tap into through deeper states of consciousness.

While ideas and goals may be embedded in your mind, it is your job to discern which is out of egoic gain, and which is out of soul volition. That is where meditation comes in.

Do I want a private jet? Of course. Will I work to create a life to manifest one? Sure. But I know that my life is not lived for the sole purpose of acquiring a private jet. I surrender the material desire of it, and my will for only material objects into the ocean of Divine Consciousness. 

In holding the intention, I work towards a goal while simultaneously seeing other people benefitting from that manifestation. In surrendering, I know that that specific outcome, or something better, is on its way to me so long as I work towards it in good faith and for a serviceful cause.

Surrendering

Surrendering is not giving up. It is simply letting go. It is letting go of the illusion of control you have over your life. 

Life situations will continually occur time and time again that you have no control over, as a reminder that you cannot control every aspect of your life. The endless desire for that control is what leads so many into anxiety, stress, overwhelm, discontent, and depression. 

You direct the energy of your life with intention. You do your best. And you surrender the rest.

There is nothing wrong with wanting material things. All is blessed in a balance. 

However, attachment to these things is where we trip ourselves up. 

In surrendering my will into Divine Will, I intuitively receive the guidance of what it is I am meant to be doing (in meditation), put myself into action towards it with all of the energy I can give it (you’ll know when you have done your part – your conscience will tell you), and know that whatever is unfolding if unfolding for my highest good.

The same holds true for indigenous wisdom. The feminine received the wisdom and brought it to the council of tribal elders. From there, the masculine deliberated, often for days on end until all possible options and permutations were considered. Only then, would they put themselves into action and take the necessary steps to move forward. Channeling the wisdom received (feminine) into action (masculine).

So dream big. Dream bigger than the stars. The ideas you have are not for naught. You are very capable of shining as bright as you imagine – and will likely shine even brighter than you can imagine.

Be wary of The Big Four – material attachments, material desires, expectations of outcomes, and superficial judgments of others (you can learn more about this in my book, Banking on Angels) – and meditate to know the true desires of your limitless soul.

We think that by “letting go” we will lose everything. Rather, we will find who we really are, and why we’re really here.

So I pose this question to you, have you used the power of meditation to align your life in harmonious balance?

“To be able to do whatever one pleases is not the real meaning of freedom of action. You should understand to what degree you are free, and how much you are influenced by bad habits. To be good just because it has become a habit to be good is not freedom, either. To be tempted is not sinfulness, but to be able to resist and overcome temptation is greatness; this is freedom, for you are acting by free will and free choice only.” -Paramahansa Yogananda