From Metal to Gold
To know who you really are, go to a country where nobody knows you.
Often people recognize who they are by how others see them.
Some insecure people, when they first meet you, have to tell you about their great accomplishments in life, what they do, and their diplomas. They feel that they are such a worthless piece of metal, they have the need to goldplate that metal so you can see them as something great.
The SPIRITUALS will in a hurry tell you that they just spent time in an ashram, just finished a fast, or perhaps were initiated by some swami in India so you believe in their holiness, and from your eyes they will see themselves.
Then there are the ENTREPRENEURS who are anxious to tell you about the thousands of dollars they used to charge for one hour of work (yes, often it’s “used to” because they have no way to prove it now), how many businesses they initiated, and how they are leading so many people who are under them, again so they can keep their ego alive in front of you.
Then there are THE NAMES THROWERS, the friends of famous people like Madonna, Spielberg, John Gotti, Tony Robbins, Obama, Colin Powell, and so forth, so you can say, “Wow! If you know important people, you must be important too!”
Then the LOVERS, they tell you about how in love they are with each other and that sex happens everyday, and it’s fireworks. Only later you will find them fighting in a border Mexican pharmacy about the efficiency of the new brand of Viagra.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, for the ego to be nobody. Everybody has to be somebody.
I have noticed that those who are not pretending are those who humble themselves and live in service with a pure heart. Only when you are in true service, suddenly you forget about you, and there is no need to paint metal into Gold. When you are humble and truthful, then there is the realization that you are Gold, the best 24 karats of Gold. Then you will not need to convince anybody of your somebody-ness. People will feel you immediately. They will not need to hear your story. They will listen to the music that comes from your heart.
Being truthful, being real, being humble means that you know that you know that YOU ARE GOLD, and there is no need of plating, there is no longer the need to be somebody.
Also, when the Gold is pure, all the fakes will be spitted out because PURITY IS POWER!! Purity does not mean to be a puritan; it just means that when you say “Buongiorno,” you mean it. When you say, “I like your smile,” you mean it. When you say, “I am sorry,” you mean it. When you say, “I love you,” you MEAN IT!!!!!
Being real means just to be who you are, and who you are is much bigger than a story or a title. Who you are is huge, beautiful, oceanic, infinite….
I remember when my old, beloved yoga teacher was asked what he was doing for a living, he would simply say, “I breathe.” And when they asked him if he was still wearing cheap white clothing and doing the yoga thing, he would say, “Yes, I am still teaching yoga. All is the same.” (This was before the yogi superstars.) People felt sorry for him, but he knew who he was, despite what were they thinking about him. There was absolutely no pretending (not to mention that he was actually building a fortune).
He was spiritual and yet humble.
He was an entrepreneur and yet drove the same old car for years.
He was a teacher of famous people and yet did not talk about it.
He also never talked about the great sex with his wife, and yet you know those yogis and sex….
Surrender! Stop pretending! Show your true face and name, humble yourself, serve, and love like crazy!!
You are MORE than you can ever pretend to be.
The ship is moving forward…
Alfonso