Halleluiah! I’ve been born again! Oh, my… have I flipped out and become a religious fanatic? A Fundamentalist Jesus freak? Well, no. I’m not saying this phrase in that respect. Not that there’s anything wrong with that exclamation if that is your experience, I say. I’m referring to that type of experience in a more secular way. I’m thinking along the lines of a quote attributed to the Buddha (around 500 B.C.). The quote attributed to him was something like “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” Gautama Buddha’s profound insight on the importance of living in the present and making each day count.
So, yes, I’ve been born again and again. Every morning, I wake up and begin a new day. Every day is like a new birth! We start our new day, and if we think right about it, it can be like a new life. But do we see it that way? Do we live life that way? For many, probably not. I’d have to say, that for a lot of my earlier life, I never thought of it that way. Too bad, as I think I missed out on a lot of the joy of life. I just woke up and continued in the muck or whatever from the previous day. I didn’t think of treating each new day as a new starting point that could be a wonderful experience. Being “born anew” each day would have been a great experience I now see.
Perhaps it is because I am now older. I am closer to the end of my existence here in this life that I value each day and don’t want to waste any day clouded in whatever crap may be going on in my life. Not that every day has crap in it, but you know what I mean. Just the stresses of life can get to us. We have to have a way, a method to bring the good into our lives, every day, as I see it. Let yesterday’s downers be gone. Start fresh. Be happy. Be joyous. Life is short. Really short when you’re at the age I’m at.
I have learned that I need a routine, a practice at the start of each day to “ground myself.” Focus my mind and thoughts on the joy of life, no matter what may be going on in my life. Once I discovered this truth and committed to it daily, I began experiencing my day in a new way. I elevated my mood, my emotions, my whole life, in essence.
My routine is what many would call a “spiritual practice.” In a sense, I am like a monk in a monetary you could say. I say this because I find great positive results by spending this period at the start of my day doing the things people would term as “spiritual practice.” I spend a period of time in “the silence.” I read positive material. I read good devotional literature. I meditate. I pray. I write. I contemplate, I think, I ponder. I appreciate life, especially this new day, no matter what is going on. I am alive! I am still here. I have love in my life. I live love. I surrender to the mystery of this thing called life, existence. I certainly don’t understand it, but I surrender to it all. And this took many, many decades to find. This place of morning renewal, revival, “born again” ness! Wow, if only I had discovered and realized this way of beginning my day in my early life. I feel that a lot of my suffering experiences would have diminished substantially. Not that everything would have been wonderful and perfect, but a lot of suffering would have been relieved.
So, perhaps the Buddha was on to something by saying (if he actually did) that we are born anew each morning. Jesus also talked about being “born anew,” but not so much in a daily way, but in a basic life orientation of a new heart, way of being. I have no problem with either version of the born-again experience. I have experienced both versions of this. I can’t imagine not having some degree of these in life. There is more to life than just the daily drudgery of living without what Jesus would call “the kingdom” in your life. The world does not satisfy me as it is without the extra inner experience of, well, shall we call it Spirit, God, or as I call it, often, “the Other.”
So, if you want to take the agnostic or atheist path and not deal with the spiritual aspects of what I’m talking about, then be totally secular and just try starting the day each morning with the realization that this is a brand-new day, and I am born again. this day! I will create a new life today.
Wally