Obstacles, Opportunities and the Notion of One Truth
by Michael J. Formica
Dharma Journal: Meeting the elephant in the room
Within the Hindu pantheon, Ganesh (pr., ga-NESH) is the deity of obstacles. Most see this elephant-headed fellow as one who simply overcomes obstacles, but - all things occurring in balance - he can also present us with obstacles, or even be the obstacle himself, when there is a lesson to be learned. This brings us to the notion of tattva, or One Truth, which is a useful tool for breaking the bonds of those repeating patterns of behavior that plague us, and to which we often refer.
The One Truth is actually many truths. When we speak of tattva, we are referring to the unifying element - the centerpiece -- within a repeating pattern of behavior. There is a unifying truth within every situation and the key to our authenticity is peeling away the layers of obscurity, revealing that truth to ourselves - and, then, taking responsibility for it.
If we find ourselves consistently confronted by the same circumstance - money issues, or destructive relationships, or the inability to hold onto a job - instead of saying, "Oh, look, it happened again.", we might be better served by stepping back from the situation and asking, "How'd that happen again?".
Key to this is doing so with humility. None of us is immediately inclined to take responsibility for things, least of all ourselves or our circumstances. The freedom that comes with doing so, however, is astonishing, because, in this, the smoke and mirrors (read: ego) disappear, and we are left with nothing but the truth of the thing - our truth, our thing. This is tattva.
Let's talk about money. I have an acquaintance who makes a very good living and has done so for many years. She has also lost a house, had 2 cars repossessed, is constantly getting her cell phone turned off, owes and owes and owes, and is always broke. She does not, despite her financial troubles, have a money problem - she has an entitlement problem. She is so fixated on having what she "deserves", based on her self-perception and her need to be perceived in a certain way, that she overspends to accommodate herself. By not seeing the tattva -- the One Truth -- within this system of chaos, she simply perpetuates it.
The One Truth here is not that she overspends, nor is it that she has entitlement issues. It's that she is insecure and, lacking a mechanism of self-validation or valuation, seeks that validation and valuation through the reflection of others, based on her "stuff". Should she someday figure out that a $500 pair of Chanel sunglasses doesn't make her more lovable, she will then have the opportunity to approach the tattva of this particular system and overcome the obstacle that she, herself, repeatedly creates.
Getting back to Ganesh, part of the reason that we are often confronted with repeating patterns is that there is a lesson for us to learn, either about ourselves or our world. The obstacle is placed in front of us repeatedly - or, more properly, we manifest it -- for a reason.
Let's say that we have, throughout our adult lives, chosen subtly abusive relationships with emotionally unavailable partners. We don't really notice because this is our "normal", and we lack a point of reference for something different. When finally gifted with a different point of reference, we are also gifted with the opportunity to take a step back, and potentially discover that our "normal" is actually "not quite right". We can, then, either confront the obstacle, revealing the truth -our truth, our tattva - within it, or we can be trapped by these self-same and self-created obstacles only to end up meeting the elephant again and again.
We are our own best teachers. We create our own lessons via the obstacles that we manifest and, in the end, it is only we, ourselves, who can choose to do the homework.
© 2009 Michael J. Formica
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