Inner Radiance: An Essential Element in
Transpersonal Psychotherapy
(Feb. 19-22, 2010)
To live from your inner radiance does not mean in the first place to do your best, but to allow and feel joy when you express the most wonderful aspects of yourself. There is quite a difference between the two. Many people try constantly to do their best and often end up in a state of exhaustion. They make enormous efforts to make an excellent job of what they are doing, and then, it's never good enough. This can lead to resignation or depression – and not, because they are not able, but because they cannot fulfil their outrageous expectations.
To get in contact with our inner radiance is, for most of us, more difficult than doing our best. To feel this radiance inside implies - more than anything else - not to be afraid of joy: the joy of my strength, of my wisdom of the beauty of my expression, or the joy of celebrating my own way of being. For many people, this seems to be more dangerous than showing their deficiencies and their shortfalls. It requires courage to allow the delight of your brilliance to shine. But, by allowing this process there is always a deep satisfaction at the end. And it is healing; it repairs something which has long since been broken.
We all carry this radiance inside ourselves. Unfortunately, radiance and reason are often almost irretrievably separated from each other by old beliefs. Religious education and also ancient inherited family rules which are deeply seated in ourselves, both play influential roles in prohibiting unclouded pleasure of our own being. So. In order to live from our inner radiance our first step would be to look at our learned strategies of denying pleasure; understanding how we cut ourselves off from our own joy.
As mentioned, to tackle this process we might need a little courage from time to time, but, no doubt, it's worthwhile.