Asking The Big Questions

We grow up with the concept that one is unique and told to make our own destiny through hard work and focus.  There is an acknowledgment of the need for inner work - knowing yourself - but rarely stressed.  As we age, knowing yourself is relegated to “when I have time” or “when I get older”.  With little knowledge of our biology (brain and emotions) and how it guides or sabotages our purpose, we can feel more like a pawn than a unique individual commissioned with our destiny.  Our brain is hardwired for a social connection.  What do we give up to ensure that bond and avoid social rejection? How are we playing into the containment and controllability of the masses to fulfill a social connection?  How are we playing into the distractions that create blissful ignorance and eventually soft/hard addictions taking us further away from our goals?

All of this stands in the way of knowing the person behind the curtain. We are afraid that this person is not what has been sold to us by our constructions.  We feel as though we have wasted precious time on stage, in costume, not living who we were gifted to be.  In silence and honesty, we begin to see what we’ve covered up.  In silence, we are reacquainted with the naked truths about ourselves.  We realize that we’ve never known ourselves at all - only the dressings we shifted into as our delusions weakened and new constructions were needed.  A flash, a moment during those transitions gives us an opportunity to readjust our true reality.  Did we take the time?  Are we are afraid of the opening?  Are we afraid of what we will see or not like what we see?  Are we insecure about having the necessary strength to endure that revelation?  Are we afraid that we cannot change what we do not like?  We are afraid.

Philosophers say the fear of our dying is our greatest fear.  It is not only the literal fear of ending our physical existence but also fearing the death of the constructions of who we think we are.  Paul Tillich postulated that we fear “the to courage to be”.  He was correct.  We are not trained to have that kind of courage.  We are not trained to value who we are, rather to be what others want us to be.   We are rarely connected to ourselves.  We do not know who we really are.  We only know what society and our family has constructed and assumed as our own.  We know ourselves primarily as a result of life’s action, reaction, and consequence rather than purpose and self-direction.  We are unknown or known indistinctly.

Our brains are not well suited for knowledge of who we are.  Many parts of who we are lay dormant until specific outside environments interact with the genes for expression. If we live in predictable routines there is little chance for additional expression.  The brain is drawn to ease/pleasure first, difficulty/pain second.  It slides into distraction and addiction very easily consuming the precious commodity of time.  Science has difficulty with that which it cannot define or explain in regard to “mind,” “consciousness” and “intuition”.

The good news is that at any point in your life, optimal development can be learned, but it takes time and investment in yourself. Unfortunately, it’s rarely taught in our educational systems, therefore, requiring you to take a different route.  Yes, you can learn about the brain and what it can and cannot do.  Unfortunately, classes, internet, books, podcasts are not tailored to YOU.  It is again tailored to the masses.  What is important is not the scientific knowledge you acquire, but rather the partnership of knowledge and self-knowledge.  What’s important is releasing the acceptable costume and applying self-knowledge to transformation without injuring yourself and others along the way.  What’s important is acceptance of small course corrections through failure and encouragement - someone to walk alongside as you acquire mastery.