There is wisdom, teachers in all forms and shapes all around us. We just need to see it. Rather practice the awareness to see it. It helps us only in understanding and knowing our true self. The true self which is not masked, wrapped in layers of conditioned mindset.
One of the key things in shedding the layers, or wearing off the masks is the acceptance / acknowledgement that who we are is not we know. Rather who we claim to know or like to define as “I”, “Me”, “my likes / dislikes” is nothing but the various layers of the masks we project. Much beyond the physical self, there is something which is experiencing all of life. I reckon that’s why various Masters have said that “we are spiritual beings having a human experience rather than human beings having a spiritual experience.”
Law of Duality makes it understandable that acceptance and rejection are nothing but two sides of the same coin. Without the other, the other can’t exist. So its simple, that whatever we are unable to accept, we reject that. And the one thing that we reject the most is – OURSELVES. What we see as lacking in us, is the absolute opposite of being or rather feeling abundant. A Desert is abundant in sand but lacks water, a sea is abundant in water but lacks land. But the desert doesn’t feel lack of water, rather it makes the landscape beautiful. Sea doesn’t feel lack of land, rather lets life thrive within it. Yet we human beings – trying to fit into the so called society’s idea of beauty, success, wellness – are rather trained to focus on what we lack rather than focus on what we have. Its an irony that we are taught to reject ourselves first – the way we are raised, we are educated, how we develop our thinking in terms of comparisons with others, competition builds our focus on what we lack. We constantly try to fit into others idea of who we are or rather should be, than knowing and understanding who we really are. The reality is that even before someone else rejects us, we reject ourselves. In a way we learn to practice ingratitude.
The first thing we need to learn is to accept ourselves for whosoever we are at a given point in time i. e., absolute and complete acceptance of the whole package which includes our idea of what we like or don’t like about ourselves, our positives and negatives. This requires practicing gratitude day in day out. Accept whatever life situations we may have to face for what they are without judgement or the need to find an immediate solution. Acceptance of a situation also doesn’t mean that we let ourselves be treated like a doormat. Rather it means that we take full responsibility of whatever is showing up in our lives at that moment. Response + ability – having the ability to respond. That is what acceptance means – not rejecting it, not wondering why is it happening to us. As long as we continue to reject, we continue to prolong our suffering. Acceptance means acknowledging something for what it is – devoid of any judgement of it being as good or bad, ugly or beautiful, insane or meaningful. It means having the ability to open our hands and let whatever comes and let go of whatever goes away. It also involves having the ability to be detached to outcomes ( its practicing detachment not indifference).
To be continued….