See the world through the window and not a mirror

Today, we see everything outside the way we are and not the way they actually are. It is like seeing everything through a mirror. A mirror does not show what is on the other side. It only shows what is in front of it. A good-hearted person sees everything good and vice versa. This limits our ability to see the truth in its entirety.

OUR CREATED MIRROR

We all have two selves, and their interests do not always coincide. One is the sense of self acquired over time. As soon as we are born, we are surrounded by instructions and information, and experiences that slowly build an identity with which we navigate life. From parents, teachers, and peers, we learn ‘who’ we are in terms of our gender, our abilities, our weaknesses, and our predispositions.

This acquired self is largely a matter of memories that have become recorded in the brain, which acts like a mirror for us. The recording is vital for negotiating life. It enables us to respond moment by moment to the circumstances in which we find ourselves, as individuals. It is a constructed self. This ‘persona’ can be egotistical, demanding, negative, and it can also be healthy and positive.

When the memories of loss and hurt, often experienced early in life when individuals are tender and helpless, deeply influence how they respond to people and situations. These painful experiences cause us to lose connection with the innate self. These tendencies are often put in place as a protection against sorrow. They are defensive habits that we develop to try to avoid further pain. But because we often suppress our awareness of them, they emerge/influence inappropriately, distorting how we see the world, causing confusion, and limiting our capacity to love and prosper.

INNATE UNIVERSAL WINDOW

However, there is also a deeper or higher self, the spirit. This identity is independent of gender, and in its highest form, independent of abilities and weaknesses. This higher self has intrinsic universal energies such as love, peace, joy, lightness, generosity, etc. It is who we really are, but it becomes covered with layers of a more limited sense of identity over time.

It is time to free ourselves from acquired or false mirrors and return to the window, seeing everything as they innately are. The secret lies in accessing our true, divine self. Self-realisation, reconnecting with the Divine source, enables us to bypass the conditioning that limits us. We experience our intrinsic, beautiful qualities of spirit and learn to bring those qualities into everyday life with authenticity and dignity. Begin by seeing yourself through the window.

Courtesy: Rajyoga Meditation Centre, Kingston (meditation courses and counselling are offered free of charge). Get in touch via email: bkmeditation.jam@gmail.com or WhatsApp: 876-853-7848. Follow them on Instagram: rajyoga_meditation_jamaica.