The Great Awakened Elephant

Sometimes the best ideas are right under our noses. The universal Western panacea for boredom is to chase a new experience, but in the East there’s a tradition of self-enquiry that encourages us to sit quietly and observe where we are, to allow insights to arise naturally. Of course we all love fresh experiences – or at the very least shopping for them – but constantly chasing the new for stimulus is a manic, and ultimately unsatisfying, approach.

It’s all too easy to throw the baby out with the bathwater – to think that a new job, relationship, outfit or home would somehow make it all better, giving us a clean slate. Occasionally, that’s exactly what we need to do, but all too often we don’t see the possibilities that could emerge from what we already have. If we take a little time to really sit with what we’re truly experiencing, rather than judging it as all bad just because we’re bored with it, a new twist on an old skill or a way of relating might just emerge. As the Lama Gendun Rinpoche said, “Don’t go into the tangled jungle looking for the great awakened elephant who is already resting quietly at home in front of your own hearth”.

That’s pretty much the theme of one of the most lauded spiritual parables of recent times, Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist. The protagonist, Santiago, is a shepherd who decides to seek hidden treasure beneath the pyramids where he saw it in a dream, but after a long and arduous journey – and a final clue given to him at the pyramids – he finds it buried where he began. For Santiago, the journey shaped him and gave him wisdom as well as riches, but for many of us charging off down another blind alley is a way of life – we value the excitement of the new over the effort of looking deeper (and differently) at what is already there.

It’s particularly easy to fall into that trap when you find that you’re not enjoying your work, but don’t take the time to work out why. Getting another job or trying a different line of work may seem like the solution, but unless you pay closer attention to what is bothering you and deal with that, no external change will make any real difference. We all go through burnout with any kind of work – and often relationships – but without addressing the core issues we could be throwing away something that could be good again, just because we didn’t look closely enough to see what the real problem was.

If your job is getting you down, start paying less attention to what aggravates you and more attention to how you’d like it to be. The aggravation is just a clue that something is missing – that’s why you’re frustrated – but if you focus too much on the problem, you’ll miss the solution. As Einstein was fond of saying, a problem cannot be resolved at the level of consciousness that created it, meaning you must take an entirely different tack to find a creative solution. Instead of bemoaning the situation, try to imagine what would inspire you to love it again, what new approach you’d find exciting or how you could adapt the way you work to suit your personality more.

Not everything is an awakened elephant hiding out in your hearth, but if you get creative you might just find the inspiration to breathe new life into a situation you thought had completely had its day.

This week, take a look at the area in your life where you feel the most unfulfilled and want to make a change – work, relationships, creativity, finances, health, whatever. Before you make any kind of leap towards an external solution, spend a few moments considering what this might really be about. Is it that you’re not feeling inspired, not getting an opportunity to be creative, don’t feel like you’re being of service the way you’d like to be or feeling misunderstood? What would it take for you to feel happy in this circumstance? Is it the environment, the people, the content, the recognition, the reward or the contribution that needs to be more fulfilling for you?

If it’s a relationship that’s not going well, try to identify what it is that you’d like to have more of, rather than focusing on what’s irritating you today. Is it a deeper connection, more intimacy, more time together, more respect or a shared vision that you’d like have? When you’re clear on what you need, it’s much easier to find ways to make that happen. If you can’t find fulfilment where you are – even after taking the time to look within – then you can be certain that it’s right to move on. Just a little self-awareness can reap rich rewards in finding what makes you truly happy. In the words of Lord Byron, “But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?” Self-knowledge is the fast-track to a fabulous and fulfilling life.

Click through to the Coach Fabulous advice column by using the link in the Favourite Sites section on the right or by going to http://coachfabulous.blogspot.com. For alert emails on new postings, email subscribe@iamfabulous.co.uk. To contact me, email coachfabulous@iamfabulous.co.uk. All material © 2007 Alison Porter. No article may be reproduced in full or in part without the express permission of the author. (Originally posted 12 Nov 07)