Yearning!

Yearning is often seen as a negative word, indicating a sense of lack or absence of something. To some, it even implies a confession of weakness or dependence.

However, yearning is an intense longing or a burning desire. It reflects the longing for life itself. So, while our sundry desires are many and keep changing, our yearnings are few and fundamental to our being.

In fact, many of our superficial desires at times might be outward manifestations of a deeper yearning.

For example, our desire for more likes on you Facebook or Instagram pages might indicate a deeper yearning for self-validation or love.

Or the desire for money may reflect an innate longing for controlling the uncertainty in life or exercising more control over one’s circumstances. Or a desire for being the best in our area of work might reflect a deeper desire for self-actualisation, while a desire for approval might indicate a deeper yearning for self-acceptance.

Identify these needs and the very ‘watching’ diminishes them.

However, people rarely address the cause and go on accumulating more friends, more money, more material possessions.

But nothing seems to fill this aching need inside. This endless cycle of activity to fulfil our desires leads us away from understanding what we really yearn for. It is no wonder then that our desires rarely get fulfilled.

Once one desire is fulfilled, it gives rise to more desires and the vicious circle expands.

And this ever-present need only becomes deeper, more sharper, despite a crowd of people and things around us.

Alternatively, some people try to ignore or repress their yearning thinking that this will help them overcome it and emerge stronger.

This only takes them farther away from their inner radiance and the music of life itself. They become numb, listless, or insensitive to both themselves and life around them.

Because ignoring a yearning only supresses it. It is only in seeking what you yearn for, can you transcend it.

The only way out of this quagmire is thorough understanding and acknowledgment of the yearning. Our yearning is deep, primal, and fundamental to our core.

It is an intense longing that can only be fulfilled once we decide to strip bare of outside packaging and are willing to witness our being.

Hence, unlike desire, yearning does not seek its fulfilment through outside circumstances. Rather its fulfilment is always directed inwards.

And as we go inward, we realise that what we yearn for or seek is already present within us. The journey is more inward, than outward, more of realisation than of fulfilment. Because the realisation itself becomes its fulfilment.

Through our yearning, we move closer to realising the inner splendour.

But how do we move inwards? Spending quiet time alone daily can help us identify or clarify what we yearn for. Once we identify what we yearn for is to ‘be that’, rather than trying to become what we seek or yearn for.

For example, if you yearn for love, be love. Treat everyone and everything you meet with love. Let love flow abundantly through your every word and act. And gradually you will see that life becomes loving towards you. Because our life is a mirror and it reflects back all that we offer it.

So welcome the yearning for it reveals what you truly are; and it is your yearning that will lead you to clarifying your essence and realising your self.

Azim Jamal ; Blog.corporatesufi.com