Letter To My Younger Elf

 

If I wrote a letter to my 15 year old self, way back there in the dream of the past, as a voice from the dream of the future, I would say: 'Freddy! Don't believe 99% of the unsolicited advice people give you. Most of them want to sell you something, capitalizing on your sense of LACK. Their busyness arises from their own sense of lack. Don't let them sell you what you are not. 

 

'Be what you are. You are not doing, sensing, or thinking. Those experiences come and go like a mirage. Just watch playfully, and dance with the mirage, even when it looks like a dragon. But don't take the world too seriously. And don't believe in your thoughts. Thoughts are part of the mirage. 

 

'See the dream-like quality of the world, and wake up. When you see that the past and future are dreams, you will awaken to a totally new energy, the energy of Presence. 

 

'The most important thing of all is your spiritual practice. But there is no do-er. Softly lay the world aside for a little while, at sunrise and sunset, sinking without effort into the delicious stillness of your real Self, who is not the body or the mind. Gently let go of the pressure to act, to sense, or to know. Then you will discover the causeless ocean of joy in the core of your heart. The depth is already here before you do or think anything. And this unspeakable joy is the only real gift you have to give others, the gift of Being.

'Don't wait until you grow old. Experience this now. Die to all but eternal life. You are not a needy little "me." You lack nothing.

 

'When you meditate, even if you only return to your core for an instant, the honey will flow out and flavor your whole day. Immerse in oceanic grace for short moments, and there will come a time when every perception is bathed in gold, every action soaked with Love. Now go enjoy your life, Freddy - but do not seek joy. Rather, act from the joy that you already Are.

 

'By the way, I know your little self doesn't like its given name, "Alfred." But every name holds a gift. In Anglo-Saxon, your name means, Elf-Read: "taught by elves." It's a good name for You.

 

'Truly yours,

The Big Elf

 

'P.S. Yes, that is a real dog in the photo. But he is no longer here in this small form. He has become the golden fur of the cosmos. His name is Willy.'