Passion is not something we get very excited about very often. Let me re-phrase that. Passion is something we don’t get excited about often enough. Why? Because without passion there is no heat, no fire and no life. A person who chooses not to be passionate about life is like smouldering coal or damp firewood. The energy is there, inside – but produces little warmth. When we are like that, we are half-asleep. Something in us is slumbering and needs waking up.

Passion is light, life and fire

When we are enthusiastic about something, it is as if we have thrown a switch. The lights come on, our eyes sparkle and our skin seems to glow. We feel good, don’t we? When we feel passionate, it is as though we have become more alive. Our speech is more animated and we have the power to motivate. Passion is good! Or is it? Is it just trouble ahead?

Emotions are not bad

I have met many people over the years who want to become “more spiritual”. In their quest, they have come across teachings that describe emotions as being problematical. So following that logic, they decide that they need to train themselves into overcoming them. Or avoiding them. They aim to become the colourless sap of the tree instead of being the glorious effulgence of the tree itself. The error there is that if we do that, instead of allowing consciousness to flow, we tend to block it. In blocking the flow of consciousness, we also obstruct the natural flow of energy in and around us.

Love life and all is good

To have passion for life is not to let the emotions run riot. Rather, it is about letting our natural inner light do its job of illuminating what we do. And all we have to do is be interested and love. We don’t need to make a drama out of mindfulness or turn it into a tough discipline. Just loving what we do, being genuinely interested in others and our world will naturally generate mindfulness. Let the awareness expand and fill the senses. Be natural, be life, be alive. It’s so much better than being dead.

This theme will be explored further in our evening workshop Mind – The Way to Bliss on Monday 3rd April 2017. More information.

Read more on passion in life in the book Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation