Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Voice Inside Your Head


Many times we are pulled in different directions by the countless external influences in our lives. It seems like everyone we know has an opinion about what we should be doing and often their ideas are quite dissimilar. With so many suggestions and possibilities, how do we know who to listen to?

I think that if you clear away all of the outside pressures and turn within you will find the most important voice of all: your own. This voice has been there since the beginning of your existence and will continue to be there for the rest of it, guiding you as a trustworthy inner compass that will always point in the right direction. It is hard to hear sometimes because of all the chatter from other sources, but if you practice silencing the distractions then you will find that your greatest asset in navigating the roads of your life is right there inside of you, waiting for you to listen.

Everybody hears this inner voice, but many are afraid to listen to it because it contradicts what that rest of the world is telling them. They ignore it in fear of the consequences they’ll have to face. But I dare you to be brave. I dare you to go against the grain and do what you really know you should do, even though no one else is saying so. This is your life and you’re the only one that can hear what that voice is telling you. Follow your intuition and trust that you know the correct steps to take better than anyone else. Many of the greatest leaders in the world have chosen to take the path less traveled because they knew in their heart it was the right one to take. Be one of them.

1 comment:

  1. nice one Nik! - this reminds me of some Zen teachings...

    “The mind itself is Buddha.” -From the first sentence of Dogen's Shōbōgenzō “Sokushin-zebutsu.”

    - the theme for this year's Winter Practice Period at the Zen Center was:

    "Learn the backward step that turns
    Your light inward to illuminate your self.

    Body and mind will drop away of themselves,
    And your original face will manifest itself.

    If you wish to attain suchness,
    You should practice suchness without delay."

    - From Dogen Zenji’s Fukanzaengi

    it also reminds me strongly of this line from Shunryu Suzuki Roshi -

    "You are already Buddha yourself"

    - thanks!

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