Fire in the belly
Fire in the belly
Some thoughts about our own luminous power, and what it (apparently) takes to unleash it.
Way back in the days of my Buddhist practice, before I knew anything about anything, I repeatedly noticed this fascinating phenomenon:
I’d be in a big hall with maybe 500 other Buddhists, and way across the room I’d spot an acquaintance, an otherwise normal average person, who today, for some unknown reason, was beaming light that could probably be seen from space.
The person themselves were doing nothing unusual; but in this sea of ordinary human beings, it was as if giant neon arrows had suddenly appeared just above their head, brilliant lights spelling out the words LOOK OVER HERE! and STAR QUALITY!
I couldn’t help but notice.
I would of course seek them out after the meeting was over, to complement them on their sudden dazzling beauty, and to ask what they’d been doing differently.
The answer, invariably, was something like this:
‘My boyfriend broke up with me this morning, and I just can’t take this same old pattern repeating yet again in my life. So I’ve been crying and chanting all day in front of my altar.’
Or other times it was something like:
‘My boss fired me yesterday and I don’t know where the rent money will come from. This has happened to me so many times before, this kind of financial terror, and I just can’t do it anymore. So I’ve been on my knees ever since, puking up my deepest fears as I chant in front of my altar.’
(That form of Buddhism, incidentally, is all about manifestation—a word we didn’t even know to use, long before the days of The Secret, and the so-called law of attraction.)
As a result of their fervent prayers, I can report to you that each of these people enjoyed an eventual happily ever after. Better boyfriend turns into marriage with kids. (Which brings its own fervent chanting opportunities, but never mind.) Financial insecurity turns into better jobs and savings in the bank. And so on.
But that end result is not what I want to talk about here. I’m much more concerned with the process by which it all occurs. What turns the inner wheel so powerfully that the outer physical world has no choice but to obey its laws? What causes an (allegedly) ordinary human to shine like a thousand suns?
In Buddhism, they naturally say it’s Buddhism that does it. And that’s certainly true, as far as it goes. But it isn’t Buddhism alone that does it. Because Buddhism, in this case, is only acting as an efficient passageway for bringing that pure radiant power out of the person themselves.
Absolutely anything could act as a passageway. The radiant power is the radiant power, and it belongs to you. And me. And to every human being on the planet.
Deep change
Experience—and spiritual self-help books—tell us that nothing deep ever changes unless we have fire in the belly. We can’t just mentally decide I’m so done with that (whatever ‘that’ happens to be), and expect anything to shift. Right?
Real change comes when we’re at the end of that particular rope. It’s a gut thing. It comes when we’re swallowed up by rage or pain or grief or whatever. And we just can’t/won’t accept the torment anymore.
In that swallowing up, something ignites in the belly. Something mystical. Something potent beyond our imagining. Then, when we sit down to pray or contemplate or meditate, we know that this thing plaguing us will shift…because in truth, it already has.
Fire in the belly, whether we’re aware of it or not, has sparked our own luminously powerful divinity. And it’s this intrinsic divine power that shifts our inner and outer reality.
Okay. Fair enough. But…why?
WHY does our own radiant divine power lie dormant and essentially useless, until we feel pushed beyond endurance? Could we not light that belly fire using some other fuel besides epic suffering?
Have you ever thought to ask these questions?
Me neither.
But these are the sort of questions that are automatically bubbling up out of the depths lately—bringing all kinds of previously unexamined stuff up for review, as the veil falls to pieces and humanity’s vision starts to clear.
So I’m asking now, on behalf of us all:
Do we really need a pain-filled permission slip, before we feel able/worthy/allowed to access our own true nature?
What if joy and delight were humanity’s primary permission slips for bringing real change?
Or better yet, no permission slips needed at all: Could we not shine like a thousand suns simply because it’s Tuesday, and we want to?
I don’t have answers, only questions.
Yet in the asking itself, creaky old structures of collective agreement are starting to fall away. And that’s because my divine attention is trained upon this age-old structure of unconscious consent…which has, before this, existed in the dim shadows. My questioning attention brings light into those shadows. I can feel it happening.
My divine attention is no different from yours, by the way. We’ve all got the goods, in equal measure.
It’s all in the way we do the asking.
When a question is asked with divine neutrality, neither pro nor con—meaning there’s no judgment, no resistance, no fighting, nor any embrace or personal identification with the subject matter—then, there’s real power in the asking. Real divine light is shed through this kind of neutral, heart-based questioning, because our own baggage and opinions are not getting in the way.
In this unleashing of our own luminous sacred power, what sort of shadow can possibly withstand real divine light?
I’ll leave you to answer that one for yourself.
Where two or more are gathered
It’s all up for grabs. Old veil-inspired structures are falling away, and newer, tech-based ‘veil 2.0’ structures (coming soon to a planet near you) are not fully in place yet.
So. What kind of world would you like it to be? What sort of inner experience of life would you choose instead of this one? The field is wide open, for you to cast your radiant vote.
What I’m saying is: Now is the time to question everything about ‘the way it is.’ ‘The way it’s always been.’ And to simply shed your own pristine light upon those long-held collective agreements.
It might be fun and interesting, for example, if you know any like minded others, to gather in small groups to look into this question of fire in the belly—and what’s actually needed for real change. In person or online, your group could simply train your divinely neutral attention upon this previously unquestioned structure of unconscious consent.
Not to talk about it, just to meditate or contemplate with divine neutrality for a short while, upon the whole idea that suffering is the most efficacious fuel we have, to spark inner and outer change…and to train your questioning gaze upon the whole idea that humanity requires this suffering-based permission slip, in order to access our own luminous self.
No expectation, no intention to fix anything. Nobody teaching. Just looking into it. Just shining a light, together.
Who knows what might come of such luminous divine collaboration?
It’s precisely this sort of small, humble activity with universal implications, repeated by lots of little groups, for lots of individual reasons, all over the planet…which hastens the magnificent changes we all wish to see, in ourselves and in the world.
But whether it’s done in groups or entirely solo, the opportunity is here, now, before us all.
It’s an incredible time to be alive.
An incredible time to be your own change.
Did you write that for me?💜😉🙏
This is exactly what I've experienced, especially last year. I started saying a prayer out loud every morning last year, praying for union with the divine, liberation, awakening, whatever vocabulary you want to use. But the fire in the belly came from adding with complete sincerity "whatever it takes." I was all in and I meant it with my whole self. When the universe responded with challenges I had not expected (cancer!), I had to decide whether I still meant "whatever it takes." I did, and kept praying. And lo and behold, my prayer was answered over the months with a fundamental, transformational shift that left me at the end of the year changed. I have yet to be able to put it into words. It was a gift of grace, not one I strived for, but one I asked for and was willing to receive. So you are exactly right. Thanks for giving me the phrase "fire in the belly." That is perfect.