Learning to Be Happy With Less

TMO 

The Path Towards Self-Realization: Part VII

TASK #3: Learn to be happy with less. Find the good in unpleasant situations, but most of all, appreciate all you have, and learn not to need unnecessary things. Drink water from the river of life one cup at a time.

Gain a broader perspective in order not to be overwhelmed by the vastness of life. What you are learning is making you more and more aware of how much there is to learn! It can be really frightening to look at the vastness of the universe and the minuteness of yourself. One can’t help but wonder, “What’s the use? My existences is inconsequential to the universe!” But you must have faith in what your inner voice is telling you, what the universal spirit is telling you through the voice of Psyche – that there is a reason for your existence, because you were born.

Everyone has a purpose which they learn upon giving up their false ego and hearing the true voice of the spirit. You have a place in this world, and you are inseparable from this world. Don’t let life in the world be a prison. Let it be a door to even greater things! You are beautiful because you are a part of this grand scheme of the universe. It is a wonderful thing to discover, and worth all the pain and agony.

TASK #4: This is your hardest part of the journey. The last dry stretch of land! [insert warning about loss of friends.] It defies all rational thought. Understand that, and go on. Do not attempt this last task until you have completed the first 3 tasks [See Journey Towards Self-Realization: Part VI] as best as you possibly can. You will know when you are ready for the fourth task.

First, it is a very good idea to find a pillar of strength to guide you. A religion, a book such as “Siddhartha,” Mohammad, the Bible, a prophet or guru of some sort. Someone pure, whom you can trust absolutely. Someone who has already gone through it.

As hard as it might be, concentrate all of your energy on the inner journey. You’re ALMOST there! Though others may need your help now, it is better to finish this quest first, and then go back and help them. Don’t try to pull in others with you, or try to convert them to your way of thinking. This is your journey, and it will be your treasure, which you can share with them.

Give up control over your fate. Whatever happens is destined to happen. The universe is like a big clock, and the voice which guides you will guide you correctly. Have faith in it; absolute trust, for if you let go of it, you’ve lost your lifeline.

Meditate, journey into the labyrinth of your mind, remembering, accepting, remembering, shuddering, remembering! Don’t stay too long in the underworld or you’ll stay there forever. Stay until you have what you need, and get out again. The voice will guide you.

Then – you will find it. The thing that will rip you apart, shatter your old self – no longer will you be the same! You will experience incredible suffering, because the wound is now exposed: Don’t give in! Expose every bit of it and cling to your faith and love of life and the wisdom you’ve gained through your other tasks.

You will be utterly demolished and weak, and terribly, terribly uncertain and afraid. Don’t worry. Sit, and wait. Meditate calmly. Now you are trying to heal the wound.

Let your feminine and masculine traits act together to create a new birth inside you. Create art, let compassion flow from within you. It may be hard to get started, but once it’s going it is like rain falling on the desert! Flowers bloom, the parched earth begins to heal once more.

Now, the same aspects of your personality, whose struggling imprisoned the Psyche before, can act as life-savers. They can give you strength to go on. No longer is there separation, but peace within. There is meaning and harmony in all that you see. A love for the universe which is indestructible.

Compassion, selfless giving is the healing river, which smooths out all the rocks and jagged stones. Let it flow – through you and motivate you, for in this love there is strength and beauty. There is a balance inside you as long as you are going, flowing on the river, knowing what is important and worthwhile, giving and loving a symphony of life and nature!

If you want this truth, it is yours. If your true desire is to be set free from the prison of your self, you will be liberated.

It’s never an easy path, but remember the first step is to say: “I am a seeker.”

Acknowledge that you want this something, and that you are willing to go through pain to find yourself. Your true self. The rest will follow. The Lord provides for those who seek.

The Path to Self-Realization: Part II

March 20, 2014 by TMO 

Why Can’t We Find Ourselves?

If Psyche, or our true, inner self, resides within each one of us, WHY do we still feel unsure, afraid, incomplete? All the secrets of the universe lie in our unconscious, so why don’t we know all the answers? Only by breaking through the false ego can we liberate Psyche and awaken dormant truths.

People think they want to know the Truth, but they are (with good reason) terrified of letting go of their preconceived notions and their ideas of self-worth. Because to show Psyche to our consciousness is to shed light on all our imperfections. It would force us to see how small we really are in comparison to the universe. It would destroy our sense of security based on the world as we perceive it to be. We would profoundly have to realize that all we trust to be fact, and all that we hold to be true is changeable as the weather. We would either have to seek life on a spiritual plane (and that means giving up a lot of things!), or be driven over the brink of insanity.

Most people would rather not be inconvenienced by these realizations. They prefer to live and not be bothered by divine truths and ideas incomprehensible to normal thought and understanding. Some people can live quite happily without discovering “the meaning of life.” That is fine for them. But others struggle in despair, longing and clutching at air, lost in dreams because they need so much to be fulfilled, but they are unable to find what they are in search of. These are the people for whom this essay is written. This essay is a meant as a guide for those who sincerely want to find themselves; to set Psyche free from the darkness which envelopes her.

You must be prepared to delve deep into the unconscious, and to go through a great deal of suffering, due not only to the realizations you make, but other people who do not understand what you are going through. People who you thought of as friends may reject you, but perhaps this is just as well. You will find out who your true friends are, because they will love you in spite of the changes you are going through, and they will give you strength and support.

Maybe you will find that you have no true friends at all. Now is your chance to find the strength to stand on your own; to quote Buddha: “Be ye a lamp unto thyself.” Once you have this light, you will be able to relate to others on a non-superficial basis. You’ll be able to give and receive honest love, and not feel as if you are losing something when you share yourself with others.

Where is Psyche Hiding?

The first thing you have to do is realize that no one is keeping the truth from you but yourself. Psyche is the perfection within all the imperfections. She is the motivating force which guides all our actions. Once in a while we feel her, when we let go of ourselves enough to be moved by a scriptural passage, a beautiful song, or gaze in pure bliss at the rising sun.

Psyche is always there, yet in order to protect ourselves from the terror and chaos a sudden revelation would bring, we cover her up with all sorts of natural defenses – unconscious drives and reactions, emotions which blind us to the true cause of our emotions (example: getting angry at your sister because your fiancé hung up on you), intellect which causes us to rationalize and project the blame for our unhappiness (example: thinking you’d be truly happy if only you didn’t live in a capitalistic society, or if only Amy would fall in love with you, etc.).

Rational thought is a great wall which you must find your way around. The intellect is very useful in this world, but in order to realize universal truths, you must open your heart and mind to feelings and profound knowledge which are beyond intellectual grasp, simply because they deal with that which cannot be seen with the eyes or heard with the ears.

“I Am a Seeker”

After you realize that it’s your own defenses keeping you from the perfect fulfillment you seek, it’s time to take the first step on to the path towards finding your true self. That means admitting to yourself and to God that you are a seeker. Everybody is searching for happiness, but most people aren’t admitting it, and that is why they aren’t finding it!

Instead of saying, “I am searching for my soul,” they say, “If I can live in New York, I will be happy,” or “If I am rich,” or “If I fall in love with the perfect mate, I will be fulfilled.” But it never works out that way! Maybe they will have a decent life. Maybe they’ll get to own a DVD player and have a nice husband and three kids, but there will always be something missing, until they find unity and peace within themselves.

When a person has peace within himself, he is not bothered by the fact that he isn’t rich,  or he hasn’t accomplished anything that people have taken great notice of. Such a person has accomplished more than any of his peers who have big cars and fancy houses because he has the courage to look at himself and accept his faults or change them, instead of trying to hide them by putting down others, or having lots of friends to build up the ego (which usually just makes it more obvious that the person is insecure).

A person who knows and respects his true self has nothing to prove. A person who has found the true worth inside him knows that it has nothing to do with ego. A person who is at peace with himself loves and respects himself, and such a person loves and respects others also, because he knows that they are fundamentally no different than himself.

Such a person can love others without clinging to them. He doesn’t need others’ attention in order to feel good about himself. But at the same time, he doesn’t push away those who need him and cling to him because they sense his honesty and integrity, his love of all life. Such a person tries to help others find themselves, and encourages them to stand on their own two feet.

You want to be such a person, but you hold back. Why? In order to find yourself, to “set Psyche free,” you have to really want to. It is never easy, in fact it is a terrifyingly lonely task to undertake, because the journey must be made alone. There can be people who give you support and encouragement, they can point to the road and tell you where to go, but YOU must do the walking. YOU must make the commitment.

It is a hard journey no matter how long or short it takes, but you will find that, after you overcome your fears, the joy and bliss and the multitudes of treasures you find are infinite and precious. Once you find your true self, you never have to be miserable again, no matter what the circumstances! Enlightenment is not a one-time occurrence, but a constant process of growth and evolution, which goes on within you as long as you live, and beyond.

Inside you will blossom wisdom, compassion, joy – a pure radiance and immense love for the universe and the universal spirit, which guides and protects you along every step of the journey. You will discover and develop an inner strength, which cannot be destroyed; it will help you overcome every hardship and light up the darkness. You will find that nothing is impossible, that every dream can be realized.

[to be continued...]

The Path Towards Self-Realization

March 13, 2014 by TMO 

Note: The following essay will be published in several parts. It was written in 1987 when I was 16 years old. After praying that I would find it, I recently discovered it in an old chest. I was moved to tears upon reading it, as I needed very much to be reminded of what originally inspired me to seek Truth, and eventually to embrace Islam. It explains how many people can recognize the wisdom of the Quran immediately, the first time it is read to them, like they would recognize the back of their hand. Please enjoy…

The Psyche

When asked, “Who are you?” most people respond similarly to this: “I am a man named Bob Smith, I am short and a little overweight. I am a computer technician. I am a nice guy.” These words describe Bob’s title, his physical and mental characteristics, and his occupation in society. But is that really WHO Bob Smith is?

Who are you? Are you merely the activities performed by your body, or are you something deeper than that? If you change your occupation or lose ten pounds, are you no longer the same person? Of course not! That’s ridiculous! There must be a being inside you who remains constant, no matter what mental or physical changes your body happens to go through. The identification with the body and ego instead of the soul is what leads to the fear of aging and death. It keeps us in a prison, which prevents us from knowing truths having nothing to do with our material body.

When you sleep, you are said to be your true self, for you are freed from intellectual and physical bondage. Your true self roams around in your subconscious, and you perceive this as “dreaming.” But where does this being go when you are awake? This being is you, yet is not confined to the physical realm. It perceives and experiences all that you do, yet is simultaneously a witness and judge of all your thoughts and activities. This being has the ability to wander around freely no matter what your body is doing. This being is your unconscious self. It reveals itself to your conscious mind through your conscience, your memory, your daydreams, etc.

This unconscious being is known as your soul, or “psyche.” In Greek mythology, Psyche is the daughter of sea and sky. Her form is a drop of dew upon the earth. This represents your spirit, which though residing in a physical form, is no different than the universal spirit. Each individual person has a psyche, and that is why humanity is said to be One, regardless of outer differences.

Deep inside each person is the psyche, who is a drop in the sea of what Carl Jung called the “Universal Consciousness.” This is the treasure-house of knowledge which is not confined to individual experience. Anais Nin wrote in her Diary: “The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.” This explains the similarity between religions of different cultures; the phenomena of knowing things which no one ever taught you – truths such as “I exist,” that you base your life on.

To tap into this unconscious knowledge, to bring the psyche into your consciousness is to become “enlightened.” When you bring your psyche out of the darkness of the unconscious, you awaken knowledge which has been lying dormant inside you. You become aware of ultimate realities and higher truths. Your true self is realized, and your purpose in life is revealed.
Psyche is also represented in another myth by the Holy Grail for which Parsifal searches. To find and hold onto the Holy Grail is to find perfect fulfillment of your heart’s true desires.

Balance

In order to cope with the wisdom attained by getting closer to Psyche, who resides in the center of our being, we must have strength and balance; a give and take between our conscious control and unconscious domination. The reason we are imbalanced is because we repress certain aspects of our personality. They are called “Shadow Elements” by Jung – the repressed or unlived sides of your total potentiality. A balanced personality is well-rounded; strong enough to delve deeper into the unconscious and bring out more profound realizations.

Each person has both masculine and feminine sides to their personality. The masculine side deals with the release of psychic energy by means of action, extroversion, and strength; building and leading groups. It reacts to problems with intellect and reason. Defenses are masculine traits, including the inner defenses, as well as the desire to protect others from harm.The masculine side depends on the feminine side for energy, inspiration and the meaning for all this action.

The feminine side of the personality takes in and transforms energy so that the masculine can release it or make something out of it. Feminine traits are perception, intuition, nurturing, organizing, life-giving, and endurance. It responds to problems emotionally. It is sensitive and delicate, and depends on protection from the masculine side.

In a balanced personality, action is guided by intuition. Both aspects are needed in life and for creation. For example: to draw a picture, you need to take in and transform an image in your mind, and then use action to draw what you see; combining feeling with doing.

The soul is beyond both masculine and feminine. It has no sex to speak of. However, because of its sensitive, life-giving qualities, the psyche is thought of as feminine, just as God is referred to as masculine because of His powerful, creating and ruling qualities.

Everyone is unbalanced to some extent, due to the fact that we are human and therefore imperfect. The realization of this imbalance is the first step towards balance. Although some extreme imbalances are more obvious than others, we all must work to bring our unconscious Shadow Elements into our consciousness.

One example of an extreme imbalance is the stereotypical “macho man.” Such a person concentrates totally on developing his masculine traits and ignores his gentler, feminine, emotional traits. Because he pushes his emotions into his unconscious, there they grow and transform into anger, which at times overwhelms him and leads to violent outbursts of rage. The other thing that happens when he represses his feminine, life-giving side is that he feels empty and his life devoid of meaning. He uses lots of women to try and replace his feminine side and so get a sense of well-being. Unfortunately, none of his relationships last because he isn’t accepting the woman as a human being with a personality. The inner feminine cannot be replaced by an outer feminine.

When you are balanced inside, you don’t need so much to rely on outer, unreliable means of support. You are able to break free from the life-long search for happiness, and the rebellion against one’s own true self. When you can bring your Shadow Side out of the unconscious and achieve the balance necessary for a well-rounded personality, you can then delve even deeper into the unconscious to find the psyche and the boundless wisdom she offers.

[to be continued...]