The Greatest Secret

How to rise to the occasion

This metal rooster at Evergreen effortlessly rises to the occasion every morning at sunrise.

I recently purchased the book The Greatest Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

Years ago, like a lot of people, I read her first book, The Secret, which taught that by focussing on what I want rather than what I don’t want, I can avoid suffering, and manifest the three classic standards of human achievement, which are happiness, health and wealth.

However, her latest book dives deep into the ancient spiritual realisation that I am an expression of Infinite Being, pure Awareness.

It's a great leap from imagining I’m in a plush black leather seat, backing a red Ferrari down the sweeping driveway of my shiny white mansion on a hill with ocean views, to settling into the deepest level of my being, which is Infinite Awareness.

The funny thing is that when I attempt to sense my share of Infinite Awareness, the red Ferrari and mansion lose their glittery appeal. I come to the same conclusion May Sarton did on page 101 in Journal of a Solitude:

. . . I asked myself the question, “What do you want of your life?” and I realized with a start of recognition and terror, “Exactly what I have – but to be commensurate, to handle it all better.”

Her words mirrored my startling and yet paradoxically calming thought: I want exactly what I already have.

What do I want of my life?

Like Sarton, all I want to do is be commensurate with the life I do have.

To always rise to the occasion.

To be of the same measure as what is happening around me; to be equal to what life is presenting me with; not to be found wanting.

To borrow an image from one of Jesus’s parables: to always have enough oil for my lamp.

The best way for me to do that is to be “attuned” with the Infinite Being, the pure Awareness that I am. To use it. To be it.

The Greatest Secret

Whatever car I drive will need to be serviced and washed. Whatever house I possess must be paid for, maintained and dusted.

But Infinite Being doesn’t need to be serviced, washed, paid for, maintained or dusted.

It’s always here. Never leaves. Can’t be taken from me.

Cars and fancy houses come and go but Infinite Being, pure Awareness, is eternal.

It is always with me and you.

It is me and you.

By living with Infinite Being, pure Awareness, we can naturally rise to the occasion. Be commensurate with the life we have. Always have enough oil for our lamp.

That’s the greatest secret and it’s worth sharing.

With love, Marlane