THE DIVINE WITHIN^©

There is a very simple exercise you can do to show you your own divinity, and it’s not a joke (though it may sound a bit silly at first). Take a hand-held mirror and find somewhere quiet to sit, where you won't be disturbed while doing this, or you won’t be able to pay attention enough to see what’s right in front of you.

Take that mirror and simply look into your own eyes. Come to a point where you can suspend any tendency to want to roll your eyes at the ridiculousness of staring into your own face. It’s very easy to feel silly at first, but give the exercise time.

Surely you’ve noticed: it’s a rare thing for people to look directly at us when they speak to us...to raise their eyes to our own and to cement communication at such a fundamental level. It’s even more unusual for us to do this with ourselves. If we do look in the mirror, we’re usually so busy looking at our hair, our makeup, our teeth, our skin—anything but our eyes. We’re looking in the mirror to find whatever we deem flawed or out of place, and it’s usually done pretty quickly (so as not to appear vain, even to ourselves).

This mirror exercise is about something entirely different—it's about recognizing our Self and who we are in relation to God. It is profound to realize that we're truly not this body we're so identified with. But it takes patience to "see" and above all, it takes courage. Courage, because what you see might shock you, might frighten you, might even elate you.

It is the recognition that none of us is alone, that we are not separate, that we are part and parcel of God—with the evidence right in front of us.

What do I expect you to notice in the mirror? Shifting around your eyes that shows your face changing, like one of those morphing music videos. The faces you see will continue to show vestiges of who you are now, but you’ll notice slight variations and each face will be different. Some of the faces may look female while others will look male; different ethnic traits may also be apparent...perhaps vestiges of past lives.

Focusing your attention on your eyes is the easiest way to notice this. Look closely, but softly. Don’t be frightened, and don’t doubt what the mirror is showing you. If you are unable to recognize any shifts the first time you do this exercise, don’t give up. Come back and try another time. There’s no hurry.

What purpose is there to seeing this shift? Not only will you recognize the divinity within yourself, but you’ll begin to search for it every time you get into a conversation with someone you deeply want to connect with. You’ll have the courage to face them directly and look into their eyes. And once you recognize someone else’s eyes shifting, the divinity in them, you’ll realize how we’re all connected—each and every one of us—to ourselves, to each other, to God.

And what comes from that recognition is elation—knowing that you are not alone, that none of us is alone, that God is truly in each of us, and we are in each other.

Everything can change in such a moment. When you see these shifts, it becomes much harder to view one person as being more (or less) than another. But first try to recognize that divine truth within yourself.

A simple mirror can help.

Maria K Benning | 10300 Jollyville Rd | Austin TX 78759 | 512-340-0082

THE DIVINE WITHIN©

THE DIVINE WITHIN^©