“We are all important parts of a much larger system, pieces of the universe’s puzzle that would not be complete without us.”
― Russell Eric Dobda

I would present the argument that everyone at some point in their lives has seen, worked on or at least know what a jigsaw puzzle is. At the very least, the concept and mechanical nature of a puzzle is a simple one that most people know and understand. But, little if at all does one ever see this simple concept as an archetype for building and understanding life.

Imagine your life in experiences, accomplishments, failures, thoughts, feelings, dreams, desires and everything else laid out in front of you as if someone opened a puzzle box and dumped the whole thing out on a table.

This is the beginning, the footprint of finding one’s way in a world that sometimes fits and sometimes doesn’t. It is the sphere of piecing together our lives in only a framework that we can understand. This is the sphere of the divine whole.

Human beings have the natural tendency to break down a whole and study its parts. Sometimes we do this to the point where it leads into dimensions where we cannot travel. Look at the atom, the electron and the quantum particle. Look at space itself.

In doing this, we understand the part as separate but belonging to the whole. We do not see the whole at this point. Instead, we see it as a sum of the parts, each part having its own function, relating to or fitting into another in a specific way.

Sometimes, in order to understand ourselves as a whole, we have to take a close look at the parts that bind us together. These are like the threads that bind a fabric together. Without them, the fabric would not exist.

However, the spaces between the threads are also part of the fabric, part of its whole. This is a concept found within the heart of Tantra. How we feel about the pieces, about the threads themselves, affects their design and their function.

Correspondingly, how we feel about our own pieces is also part of the puzzle.

Our lives are so complex, so beautifully designed that we often take the puzzle that we are for granted. We are all a divine enigma, a wondrous mosaic of thought, feeling and expression.

We should all take the time to look at our parts and our pieces, just to notice how truly beautiful they are.

Maybe some of our pieces are easy to put together. Some are clear while others are blurry. And some may not even belong to our puzzle. Even more, some may no longer fit into the ever changing puzzle that we are, one that is constantly shifting, evolving and experiencing life in a myriad of ways.

And maybe, some of our pieces just simply aren’t in the box.

At least, not yet.

I can recall the time just before graduating high school. Sitting in the library one day I was studying a career path book. It was a giant volume of career choices and the educational paths recommended to pursue each choice. But, just in looking at the book, I remember thinking that I had no idea what I wanted to pursue.

Since that time up until the recent couple of years, life has been a puzzle of choices and pieces that didn’t quite fit; a long systematic approach of trial and error.

But the puzzle is forever gaining clarity.

In our lives, once in a while we must really sit down and look at the parts of our lives that give it meaning, purpose and intention. We must study these parts in order to understand our whole being.

In doing so, we must also become aware of our feelings as we study each part. This is the key to fitting together and understanding the intricate map of our hearts.

Be aware of your parts. Understand why they are part of you. Piece together what fits in this moment. Then, discard what no longer fits and have love and gratitude what used to fit.

In the end, we are all just pieces of a larger puzzle anyway, fragments of a greater whole.

We all truly fit together in some divine way. And I believe that the puzzle is probably much simpler that it all seems.

May we all be fit together again one day, having true faith that the puzzle will eventually be solved.