Excellence Reporter: Dhyana, what is the meaning of life?

Dhyana Stanley: That question is another way to ask why in the world are we here? This is one of those questions which can’t really be answered ‘in the head’ but can with the heart. And everyone who answers this question with the heart comes up with the same answer.

When each of us asks ourself ‘What do I really long for?’ we get in touch with why we are here. Like a homing beacon in the monarch butterfly it is as if each one of us has a kind of homing instinct in every cell of our body calling us home to our natural state.

If we answer this question from the neck up, so to speak, we come up with what seems to be very different answers. Power, a partner, more money, success, children, a new car are some of the answers that may come in response to the question ‘What do I really long for?’

But when each of us goes deeper than that surface level and gets in touch with ‘our heart’ – the answer to the question ‘What do I really long for?’ is a universal one. Although we may use different words to describe what we’re longing for such as happiness, truth, love, peace, home, well-being, our natural state –  at the deepest level we’re all longing for the same thing.

Regardless of whether we were born 2000 years ago in Africa or 20 years ago in North America every one of us will answer the same – when we sense the answer rather than think the answer. This answer transcends time and space because the question ‘What do I really long for?’ is a question that points to what we all are.

As many young children do, I felt there was something strange about this world. Something was off but I didn’t know what it was. As I grew a bit older I saw that I and others around me weren’t living very well and I had a deep intuition that there had to be a better way for me to live here. I wanted to live well not only for myself but for others also. It didn’t feel good to live with inner conflict and then act that out in ways I could see were hurtful to others.

Even those who when asked ‘What do you really long for?’ say something like world peace – they have a deep intuition that there is a better way to live here. But if they go deeper into why they long for world peace they get in touch with that universal urge to ‘go home’. They long for others to be at peace so they can be at peace. They misunderstand peace and feel that their peace is dependent on others being at peace. They work for world peace so they can finally be at peace.

Although the urge for all others to be at peace is a genuine longing, it is misguided when we believe that our peace is dependent on other’s peace. Peace begins with each and every one of us. If we are conflicted inside we then will of course act that out. If we are undivided inside then that harmony is naturally expressed.

Each one of our hearts longs for peace not only for ourself but for all. We are here not to live and die with this continued longing for peace – we are here to actually discover peace and then to enjoy the exploration of living in peace together.

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~Dhyana Stanley
From a young age, Dhyana Stanley, felt there had to be a better way of living here than what she and others knew. After many years of searching within organized religion and then many more outside of religion, deep suffering led to an intense urge to find the truth of life. She was convinced that there had to be a universal truth and that this truth would impact how she lived. After a profound shift of understanding and years of integration, she holds small gatherings in Maine and meets with people individually in person and on Skype. She is the author of The Human Experience is the Dance of Heaven and Earth.
www.DhyanaStanley.com

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