At first, it’s exciting to realize that even small instances and occurrences can offer learning lessons and surprising insights.
Having known this continuously, even I am joyfully surprised at the mind’s ability to recognize and pull positive insights within small and seemingly insignificant events.
One of the first and basic lessons of healing, is to not look at occurrences even small ones at face value.
This is the fundamental lesson so crucial in the process of healing and pursuing a meaningful endeavor.
In more simple terms, learning to enjoy the process, opening the present moment, and developing the ability to pull positive insights from perceived negative instances is what makes the game interesting.
Taking this approach, I continue to surprise myself in my own abilities; my cognitive awareness, my level of depth inquiry, a dexterous coordination. I continue to grow more fascinated at my own abilities when facing even small/negative instances.
Developing the ability to attribute and find positive aspects within negative events has stimulating functions and properties.
When an intuitive insight is gathered, it has dopamine level effect. Recognizing patterns and finding new details within ordinary aspects of one’s reality, stimulates dopamine. This type of response is the illusive and fascinating ability of awareness.
To help illustrate this concept, I’ll use a recent example. After sipping a hot beverage, it was soon after, that my tongue developed a stinging sensation. Since this was after breakfast, I like to follow that with a meditation.
In the process of that, I couldn’t help but turn to this sensation in my oral cavity, because of the level it was pronounced, I was opted to turn to this symptom for reflection.
I focused on the feeling and sensation of this symptomatic expression, the stinging, the burning as a result of saliva accumulation. The burning feeling on my tongue suggested to my mind that I am hurt, I am hurting, this hurts.
These kinds of initial thoughts are implicit of suffering. In discerning these thoughts, the question then becomes who is the “I” that is suffering? Who exactly in this circumstance is suffering?
Now that an exiled part of the mind has been triggered and invoked by this physical sensation, it gives me something to work with here, there is work to be done and processed on a mental level.
The value here, is in the gift of the opportunity that this physical pain has enabled, it has brought the ego, the exiled part of the mind into the surface of consciousness.
Underneath such initial interpretations, that being suffering and being hurt, are self manufactured beliefs. Because in truth, reality is neutral and meaningless.
The world is neither good or bad, just as the self is neither good or bad. So, understanding who is suffering and who is attending and scanning for the dead giveaway in this ordeal is the object of concern.
The dead giveaway is that I am hurting, because that is the signature and mark of the ego. The signature of the ego is in that it has the right to suffer, because it believes that it’s been hurt and can be hurt.
We know that this is a learned and manufactured belief, because it was created by the existence of that identity, meaning it attributed its own meaning and belief.
So, if the ego created that belief and is the author of the interpretation and attribution, then that means it is not actually true, and if it isn’t true then it has no reason to believe as such.
In this self inquiry process, the decision maker in this situation is the soul that which is connected to the ultimate source, or the Self.
Before the objective observer can make a decision, it first has to create the space, width and detachment, to enable free thought and free choice.
Having discerned the thoughts of the mind, it is known that the true self cannot suffer and cannot be hurt, that is the soul.
If the true self cannot be hurt or suffer then there’s nothing to fear and there is no reason to fear. In this intuitive insight, creates exponential freedom and joy.
Because that’s how you know you’re experiencing who you truly are, when the only thing being experienced is pure joy. If what is being experienced is not pure joy, that means there is something to be worked on, processed and is a misinterpretation.
It’s especially important to show gratitude to the nervous system, without the stimulation and sensory load of the nerves in my tongue, there wouldn’t have been a notification or an alert to locate and signal the ego, the exiled part of the self and the trail towards the underlying core belief.
By showing gratitude, you give the mind a reason to let go of its grip and form an agreement between the heart and mind.
The freedom of choice lies in the ability to choose the belief or interpretation. As a result of dissolving a false belief, I have substituted a positive association and interpretation to the initial response.
When a man faces his fear, in even the small and ordinary instances, his soul is tested. In the wake of his intuitive insights, his true nature will be known, the reason he was born, the purpose of his essence and what he was meant to achieve with those abilities.
Coming full circle, the purpose of self inquiry is to make the unknown conscious.
The purpose of self inquiry and intuitive insight is to make thoughts no longer one’s thoughts, make feelings no longer one’s feelings.
It’s about who you think you are is not actually who you are.
This is the reason the exercise has to be done repetitiously. The ego doesn’t stop after one or two losses. The exercise has to be repeated until who I am is no longer associated with the former self.
When a new belief is made distinct, evidence has to be accumulated to reflect that foundation.
In the process of altering former beliefs, there has to be application, reinforcement, practice and reflection of those changes.
The process of this endeavor is a means to an end. The aforementioned statement; not to look at things even small at face value, that is the main concept.
The purpose of undesirable occurrences are to expose unsuitable attributes that do not serve the overarching goal.
In order to create a new emerging self, unconscious attributes have to be disintegrated through the repeated process of self-inquiry and reinforced action.
This is the reason that I write; I reflect consciously on an unconscious behavior and initial interpretation; I gain an intuitive insight that allows me to take action on; I reinforce that insight through journaling and writing; consolidating my newfound concept in the form of writing and applied action, so that it becomes integrated into who I am.
There are three stages in acquiring new behaviors and habits.
First stage — Inhibition
Second stage — Excitement
Third stage — Normalization
I don’t write words because they are what I think, I write them to make sure they are no longer what I think.
Each insight that I become aware of, is a stepping stone on the path to my destination. That destination is to be healed.
Healing is the process of becoming who you truly are.
In order to do so, I have to become that which is worthy and has the capacity to wield authority.
It’s about expanding one’s environment, an environment with the capacity to withhold an increasingly growing consciousness.
The more skills I develop, the more my abilities are sharpened, the greater capacity I have to not only expand love and joy but to fulfill what the soul was meant to achieve and aspire.
To experience pure joy is the consequence of dissolving the ego’s existence. Expanding love and joy in the midst of healing, soon enough, one’s environment and reality will reflect that expanding joy.
There’s an inevitable sacrifice in this journey, it’s the willingness to let go of one’s former self, who you thought you were; the loosened grip of the mind; it requires to lead with the soul and heart rather than the assertive mind.
It is thought that we are our attributes, labels, branding; it is thought that laziness is who we are, whether I’m a timid person or a victim, but actually, it is that we are the culmination of our core beliefs. So by changing that, we inevitably reform identity.