You notice a tightness in your shoulder that evolves to a full on crick in your neck by the time you get the pants on. You just want to go back to bed now, but you have to get to your appointment. So off you go, rushing to make it on time.

At your destination, you are greeted and ushered into a large lecture hall with a waiting audience where you see the title of the lecture on the board, “The role of ketosis in metabolic syndrome for male recreational endurance athletes aged 40-45.” You freeze, not knowing what to do, feeling hundreds of pairs of eyes on you, expectantly waiting for your wise words to begin.

Could you feel the limitation between struggling to get into the pants and the crick in the neck? The limitation of being late? The lack of desire to fulfill your commitment by wanting to go back to bed? The limitation of lack of knowledge when standing in the lecture hall? The fear of what to do?

Congratulations! You managed to engage the core 5 limitations or kanchukas within the first two hours of your imaginary morning. Kanchukas are limitations that are experienced within the illusion or maya of your life.

Let me back up and explain the illusion. We lose our memory of our truest essence, the Divine infinite being we are, when we chose to dim or hide our light. This is often the moment as a child when we’re just being our bright, beautiful self and we run into the illusion of another person, causing us to perceive that if we don’t contract, we risk safety, acceptance, and love. For example when a child is being their innocent, pure, curious self and engages their parent to play only to be met with a terse, “Not now, can’t you see I’m busy?” There is a momentary confusion. The child internalizes this reaction and personalizes it. In order to get the love and acceptance he is used to, he makes a mental note to be careful and not interrupt.

This mental note becomes a marker on a map the mind uses to guide you. Consider it an internal GPS. Thoughts and beliefs begin to form from this marker. It will affect how that child shows up in the future.

In Shivate Tantra, Lord Shiva, choses to partake in the illusion as a form of Godly Play. How deeply can Shiva contract and can he find his way back out of the contract, back into his infinite being?

I suspect we do this play, too. We already know we are infinite, so what’s it like to be limited or finite? And further, what would it be like to contract so fully, that we allow ourself to forget our true being so much that it feels REAL?

The illusion is built upon 5 core limitations:
limited ability or capacity
limited knowledge
limited time
limited body or space
scarcity
They feel like this:
Every time you get trapped in the , “Yeah, but how?
Using an excuse for not being able to do what aligns with your true nature- from practicing unconditional love to a self-yoga practice to eating pure.
All the ways you think you don’t know enough- I need to get another certification or learn more before I start teaching or working in my field. I have a client that is convinced she has to have a degree in order to be taken seriously. But does she take herself seriously without the degree? She certainly doesn’t trust her knowledge and gifts!
The sense of scarcity. While this is actually translated desire, it’s probably more accurately around that sense of wanting/needing more to be happy, safe, accepted, and loved.
Using time as an excuse- so either not having enough time or putting stuff off till later. Also, living in the past or the future is a time limitation.
Bodily limitations- weight, pain, disease, judgement. Looking outside of yourself for safety, acceptance, and love. Comparison-itis.
As you read those, you may have recognized how you have dances in the shadows under of your illusion or maya. As we become aware of all the ways we create limitations, we may be tempted to take on shame and guilt, perhaps shirk responsibility all together and blame others for our life challenges.

Knowing this is your own creation and there are divine qualities within it, are you willing to be okay with what shows up in the maya? I think this transcends forgiveness because it allows us to simply accept where we are in each and every moment, sans judgment. It allows us to simply be with what we have chosen to think, do, believe, and look honestly at our perceptions. This space provides and opportunity to springboard beyond the illusion into a sense of profound peace.

I think that we have so many layers built into the illusion we create that they come up for clearing in waves. It would be overwhelming to heal everything at once. Honestly, where’s the Godly play in that anyway? We will always have opportunities to achelmize our limitations back into light and love. It’s a matter of if we are ready to release from that layer of the illusion or not. It’s always a choice.

For me, recognizing the limitations I have created and exploring those shadows with light and love has afforded me a great deal of freedom from the burden of suffering. This perception also allows me to not take things quite as seriously because I recognize we all delight in this Godly form of play to some degree or another. My life has been enriched with more compassion and love than I could ever have imagined even five years ago. Perhaps this is Grace.

The next time that you catch yourself engaging in your own illusions, pause and ask yourself if what you are feeling is real. If you think it is, challenge it further. If it is not, then pivot. This is your power of expanding outward from your contracted illusion. You do have the power and you are worthy of transcending your illusion.You simply have to choose.
 

By Wendy Reese

Wendy Reese is a lifestyle strategist who specializes in whole being, author, and RYT-200 (currently pursuing her advanced training) with 13 years of teaching experience. You can find more and do the free 7 day lifestyle detox at www.wholebeinginc.com/detox Visit www.wholebeinginc.com/detox