A trilingual student, first language Polish, told me in English, ‘We are born to be real, not to be perfect.’ How wise the young ones are.
When I indulge in self-demoralizing cyclical thinking, and share this with my husband, he is quick to remind me that just the awareness of this way of thinking is a huge step. I realize I am dull and unaware. The author states ‘the worldly-minded individual falls prey to all sorts of thoughts’, and my experience of this horror that is a dream is that when I am aware of the thoughts, as a witness to the thoughts, there is a sense of ah, there you are again. Who really is thinking these thoughts?
Thinking, planning, acting, and reacting are human traits I believe. We have great capacity to embrace and uplift others and sentient beings around the world by facing the parts of our thoughts that cause us and others pain, and replacing these thoughts with ...
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A trilingual student, first language Polish, told me in English, ‘We are born to be real, not to be perfect.’ How wise the young ones are.
When I indulge in self-demoralizing cyclical thinking, and share this with my husband, he is quick to remind me that just the awareness of this way of thinking is a huge step. I realize I am dull and unaware. The author states ‘the worldly-minded individual falls prey to all sorts of thoughts’, and my experience of this horror that is a dream is that when I am aware of the thoughts, as a witness to the thoughts, there is a sense of ah, there you are again. Who really is thinking these thoughts?
Thinking, planning, acting, and reacting are human traits I believe. We have great capacity to embrace and uplift others and sentient beings around the world by facing the parts of our thoughts that cause us and others pain, and replacing these thoughts with a deeper connection to the cave of the heart. Here resides the Big Mind, the universal intelligence, and the Love we externally seek. We are asleep during this lifetime when we do not correlate a connection between fear and uncontrolled thinking. We may not even know that thinking is vibrational, just as our cell structures, and the air which we breathe. When this is in place, this understanding of our vibrational essence, a shift can begin to occur. We approach our thoughts with clarity.
I have come to realize that this is why fundamental religion has such a hold on us as a global population. We are told we need to somehow look outside ourselves for guidance and redemption from our evil ways, or we will not reap the rewards of some other perfect place. We connect to this earth suit we move around in, and are under the impression this is all there is, right now. In this way we are asked to postpone the joy of peacefulness and stillness from racing thoughts and citti-vritti until after we die. The dualistic way of looking at our actions and others actions and our misinterpretation of the inner thought process tends to guide us into thinking we are not adequate within ourselves, that we have no real purpose, that someone else has the breaks we would like, and we suffer in the ‘what ifs’, the ‘why me’s’, and a tormented inner realm of anxiousness, resulting regrets, and utter sadness.
Marianne Williamson’s famous quote reveals the true nature of ourselves.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
While this is always a practice for me, especially after an episode of unreality such as believing I have any control, I must say that the Yoga sutras description of the first two limbs of yoga, yamas and niyamas, come to mind quite regularly. The golden rule is another one. And let’s not forget the ten commandments. I have realized these are all interpretations of wise quieted students who were gifted in understanding the deepest whispers of the Big Mind-the expansive consciousness-and who were guided to share these.
Telling someone to just let go of thinking sometimes causes stress and constriction within that ego, and they can again think cyclically that they are not good enough, or start blaming others for their circumstances, and even act out. However, asking them to quiet themselves, breathe before speaking, walking away gently from a potentially toxic exchange, gathering supportive uplifting people around them, and reading and listening to inspirational words are strategies on how to perhaps ease the suffering caused by this thinking.
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