“On our excursions in the mountains, he always watched the birds flying freely, that was the only thing that gave him pleasure”. Those were the words of a good friend when she had recently lost her husband, he was only 50.
In retrospect I can understand how he, like so many others, had become a victim of the delusions that we are conditioned to live with by choosing a life that didn’t allow him the freedom to be himself. He wasn’t able to pursue his genuine needs and wants because he sacrificed them in order to win the recognition and reaffirmation of others around him, his wife included.
How many other’s lives and relationships have been sacrificed to the need to satisfy delusions and egoism? How many of those mechanisms, that automatically alter our self-image, are fueled by social conditioning and erroneous beliefs that hold us captive in our own delusions.
Megalomania, xenomania, the compulsion to acquire possessions, power and recognition, counterfeit love, alleged security, freedom, and sensual pleasure become the ghosts that haunt our untrained minds, and we willingly dedicate our lives to chasing those shadows. Worst of all is the fact that we don’t even realize how trapped we are in that grotto of delusion, just as Plato described it in his “Cave Myth”.
For years and years I dwelled in that “cave” too, choosing to believe that was just how life was, that those “accomplishments” were the purpose of our existence. I was another victim… Experiences came my way in order to “awaken” me, but I hadn’t yet reached the turning point of my awakening. I was living in pain, bereft of any sense of satisfaction or fulfillment, and that state was what eventually turned my head and fueled the strength I needed to stir the freedom that was nesting inside me. I kept asking myself: “Why are all these things happening to me? Why am I suffering so?” From the depths of my soul a voice kept saying, “I want out of here!” It was that inner voice which guided me providing me more and more strength with which to break the bonds of illusion that were holding me back. I finally entered the Light of the Sun, at first just as discovery but gradually experiencing the grandeur of existence that is leading all of us, with everything in and around us, toward the path of genuine happiness – all we have to do is to want it too.
I received the greatest gift of life: the opening of my own mind to the knowledge of self, and in consciously following that path the gift keeps giving, enabling me to express that knowledge creatively for the Greater Good and the Good of All. Once that gift was opened all sorts of other wonderful things popped out as well. Each new discovery seemed to emerge from within the one before it, like Russian “Babushka” dolls, revealing the gifts of inner worth, inner strength, inner security, inner freedom, inner love, and inner happiness. The Light of the Sun was shining in me and in all aspects of my life more and more each day, revealing to me that all of those things I had been seeking for so many years around me, were actually there in me all along, just waiting to be expressed and shared.
I overturned everything in my life because, suddenly I realized I was free, I could see inside myself and around me all of those things that for years I was not able to perceive. I began to appreciate the fragrance of my existence which enchanted me with its quality and strength.
Everything I had always been taught to seek externally, through the eyes and opinions of others, I now had awakened within my very core. I achieved that with a lot of struggling and effort, but it was mine, my own creation made possible by my determination.
My sense of self-worth became deeply rooted in my every thought, word and action. The essence of life, the truth of my reality and my unconditional love saturated and illuminated my every cell. An immense source of conscious awareness was established inside me, accompanied by a new perception and understanding of life that I had never known before. So many ideas, new ideas were constantly being born in my mind, and I felt an unprecedented need to express myself, as my own gift toward my fellow humans, as my personal contribution to a better world. By appreciating just how important health and enlightenment are to every “cell” of our society, every human being in our community, the healthier and brighter the entire “body” of human kind can become.
My feminine energy has reached beyond creation on a physical level, the act of giving birth, to express itself as an intellectual womb. It has brought forth into my world the twins of unity and equality. Through my conscious realization that all of us humans are united and equal as beings on an existential level, I effectively dissolved all of the misconceptions that I had been brought up to believe. I am not blaming anyone for those misconceptions, not myself or those who raised me because we were all steeped in the same ignorance. In the course of my life however I managed to break away from that ignorance and allow myself to harmonize with the higher energy frequencies of comradeship, liberation, catharsis, truth, wisdom, beauty, innovation, creativity and sharing which I sensed other celestial beings were graciously sharing with me, and that I in turn have been so grateful for…
Now I live each day with a sense of self-worth, I appreciate my value through the observation of my inner eye. I am free from the opinions of others, liberated from the need for reaffirmation from individuals who are still living in the delusion of social conditioning. I discovered new sources of self-esteem inside myself and am now able to appreciate the talents, abilities and qualities that make me who I am: integrity, responsibility, sincerity, kindness, generosity, compassion, good taste and creativity. By becoming familiar with my unwavering will to evolve, and through my efforts to become a better person, to understand my experiences and accept all aspects of myself so that I can work to improve my faults and strengthen my weaknesses, I can finally express and share my strengths. By showing trust in myself and being an active participant in my life I thereby apply myself to a common challenge that many people are facing. By concentrating on a meaningful purpose on a global scale, I am able to make the greatest possible contribution to human society.