Chasing Fireflies
Every new year we all engage in ‘the ritual.’ As this exciting window of time opens, we re-imagine what we want the year to be and how we plan to change. It doesn’t matter that we did the same thing a year ago. Eagerly the stuff we no longer care about is wiped away and replaced by the annual dreams of new beginnings. Much like chasing fireflies, we jump to the new, next, best thing, convinced that this year things will be so much different. We all try our best to follow through, however usually by the end of January, whatever we said we were going to do is placed on the shelf and forgotten until the next new year.
With such vast amounts of information and technology literally available at our fingertips, it’s easy to become so overwhelmed that we turn to others for answers. It’s very easy to be unduly influenced because access to information, technology and sophistry is now in the hands of all individuals. This transfer of information from institutions to individuals has created false prophets along with people who are addicted to instant gratification. Today, anyone with “internet knowledge” can wrap a storyline into a nice package, use buzzwords or phrases that evoke a simpatico connection, and become compelling to seekers.
When a new, bright firefly appears on the horizon, there’s a headlong rush to seek out and get answers that can otherwise be obtained through quiet self-reflection, but that’s usually seen as too difficult. Rarely do individuals investigate the storyline, the prophet, or even what’s published on the internet. Why? Because chasing fireflies is so much easier! Instead, they let someone else lead them, confirm their beliefs and fantasies, or tell them what they want to hear. There’s no discernment or investigation used. Instead, they surrender themselves and ignore their innate guidance system, convinced someone else has the answers to what they seek. The wisdom achieved by investing time on a topic and the experiences learned while pursuing the topic are seldom valued. And sadly, as individuals chase the latest and brightest firefly they reinforce the conviction that the answers are outside of themselves instead of within.
When he was a boy, Paramahansa Yogananda ran away from home to find God in the Himalayas. He and two companions walked miles to find Guru Ram Gopal known as the “sleepless saint” because he was always in an ecstatic state of God Consciousness. When Ram Gopal heard what Yogananda wanted he told him, “What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. Go home, go within, and meditate.”
As 2014 opens in the 21st century, we might be able to reshape the landscape of our wishes if we intentionally resolve to be vigilant and discerning about what we’re wanting and more importantly, consider strongly the outside influences that are shaping us. During this New Year’s annual ritual, when wishes, desires, and resolutions are contemplated and put into action, perhaps we can stop chasing other fireflies and commit to using our own inner guidance. If that simple suggestion to Yogananda to “go home, go within and meditate” were put into practice, would we need someone else to tell us what to do? Or what we already know?
What if the resolution for 2014 was to chase the firefly within each one of us? What if that firefly was allowed to take shape? Imagine a species believing in ideals that benefit all other sentient beings! Imagine healings being done by the individual, for the individual! Imagine a system where the inner light from one reflects outward to others! Imagine the personal and uplifting stories that would come from that!
For remember, the Inner Firefly is the one, true, and ultimate guide that unfailingly gives us the best answers to everything that we seek. It alone reveres the soul and illuminates the imagination. Happy New Year, Fireflies!
