Share the Spiritual

How quickly we try to name that which is unnamable. How swiftly we define deep beauty that was never meant to be contained. There is so much magic that we fail to notice because we have categorized it as commonplace. Even the human personality is confining to the soul.

Naming anything limits it. When we name something, we box it in and call it familiar. We don’t see all that is so spectacular and what is really there.

Humankind was given the ability to name everything, but so often we use this gift to own rather than to nurture. The reverence and responsibility that were supposed to go hand in hand with naming have been forgotten along the way. Even the naturalists who championed nature became a part of conquest. Their scientific names took over, forsaking the beauty and mystery of the natural world.

Our dear friend and author James Barrett recently gave me a copy of Adyashanti’s “Falling into Grace,” and I love what it says about naming the animals around us. Adyashanti writes, “as soon as we name {a bird}, we think we know what it is. We see “bird,” and we almost discount it.” He explains that we don’t see the magic of this magnificent being taking flight across the sky. In missing this magic, we cheat ourselves out of exquisite experiences all around. We think that we already know, but we haven’t even begun to look.

Naming anything creates separation. As Shakespeare’s Juliet declared: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet was referring to the name of her family’s enemy, and so often in life, we give far too much credence to names of separation. Let us instead look at the bigger picture, and at each being who, whether they know it or not, already embodies spiritual love.

This is why it’s so incredibly difficult to name a baby. How can we define someone who has come directly from the heavens and become our very universe? You yourself are so spectacular, and so much more than how you’ve ever been defined.

Right now, think of yourself without a name. Close your eyes and sense how immense you really are, far beyond anything you’ve ever been taught. Feel how far you truly extend beyond your body. Indeed, you have no limits. You are not separate from anything or anyone, but are intrinsically connected to all. You are an essential part of us.

Open wide to the magic of you, and to the world all around us. Try to look at everyone and everything that you encounter during the day without names. Rediscover our world and ourselves, and see the divine mystery that lives in all things.

You see, humanity is moving away from the left brain that categorizes experience. We are growing towards simply being in the present moment where we remember that we are love. This love is so immense and integral to the soul, and just like you, it is far too infinite to have a name.