| OFTEN, THE ROLE OF A TEACHER, coach, or leader is to help people to unlearn. Most of us have learned so much stuff that either isn't true or that doesn't work. We each carry beliefs and assumptions about life that limit our ability to grow, to be effective at what we do, and to see life clearly. Our learning has created an illusory world that isn't as real as we might think. Therefore, our task, if we are to grow spiritually, is not to learn, but to unlearn.  In Advaita Vedanta, a branch of Hinduism, there is a concept called Maya. Maya is the world of illusion. The world of illusion prevents us from seeing God and from recognizing our true Self. Maya is the limited, purely physical and mental reality in which our everyday consciousness has become entangled. The goal in Advaita Vedanta is to pierce the veil of illusion and see the Truth.
In modern psychology and spirituality we have adopted the concept of ego. The ego is the false self. It is a group of thoughts you hold that thinks it is you. The motto of the ego, according to A Course in Miracles is: "Seek and do not find." The ego keeps us running from drama to drama. The ego keeps us from seeing our true Self, because it wants to maintain its control. If you would consider these concepts for a moment, and step back from every day life that you call reality, something interesting begins to happen. You find that "reality" begins to fall apart upon close examination. We are surrounded by messages containing beliefs and "truths" that simply are not true. An example of this is the concept of "race". Race is not real. It is a false construct that was invented about two hundred years ago in order to justify slavery. A pseudo science called "race science' was developed to give it credibility. Some "religious" leaders then interpreted certain stories from the Bible to give the concept a history. The Bible does not talk about race, only nations and tribes. Race was invented as a political tool to justify the unjustifiable, and to validate the positions of certain politicians of that time. Yet, many countries today, especially the United States, are very race conscious. Historically people have fought and died for a concept that is in reality, nonexistent. We do exhibit differences in thinking and behavior based on culture, history, and values, but race is not real. In all of our debates about politics, religion, and money we often fail to question the assumptions underlying our views of reality. We tend to believe that our reality is the reality. For example, money. Money is not a thing. It is an idea. Perhaps last year you had a nice nest egg in mutual funds. Now your funds, and everyone else's have shrunk to maybe 60% of the previous value. Where did all that money go? Does someone else have it? Value is an idea in your mind. Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime, yet today his paintings sell for millions. What changed? Our ideas about the value changed. You might say to me that you can't take your ideas to the grocery store and get a loaf of bread for them. And I would say that the amount of money in your pocket is closely related to your ideas about money, yourself, and the world. What are your assumptions about your ability to get money? Do you feel that you deserve to have money? Is there a part of you that believes it is not okay to have money? Are you constantly afraid of losing the money you have? Do you resent people who have money? These underlying ideas influence your level of wealth, generosity, and how you treat other people when money is involved. If you don't have enough money, by all means get a job and earn enough to live. But if you really want to make progress, question the reality you have constructed around money. It is that reality which determines your prosperity, not the actions and decisions of other people. But don't believe me, test it for yourself. In religious matters we assert our views with the underlying assumption that our image of God or the Universe is the right one. Yet, however you see God, you don't really see God at all. You hold an image, an idea. To explain God you have to make the infinite, finite; you have to limit the omnipresent to fit your interpretation. There is nothing wrong with having an image, because that is the best we can do. The problem arises when we try to impose our image of God on others. Such is the catalyst for judgment, conflicts, violence, inquisitions, pogroms, crusades, jihads, and all of the other things we do in the name of "God". True spiritual growth is beyond belief. Beliefs can become placeholders for what we don't really know. Having a set of beliefs does not give you an inside track to God. Often beliefs get in the way of understanding God. Prayer, contemplation, questioning one's life and purpose, rigorous self reflection, meditation, studying spiritual writings that seem to speak to you - these are the actions that help us to learn the truth. Unfortunately, most of the world is content to let "experts" tell them what to believe. "The unexamined life is not worth living," wrote Socrates. And as for all those experts out there telling you what to believe, the Taoists wrote: "He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know." Today we live amidst a clash of realities - Republican versus Democrat; Christian versus Muslim; Palestinian verses Israeli; those who have versus those who do not. If you set aside your preferences and beliefs for a moment, and really examine the assumptions upon which each reality is built, you will find inconsistencies everywhere. No one's belief system is air tight, not yours and not mine. Are you willing to face your own inconsistencies? Are you willing to face your fears and look at life straight on? Begin by asking: "Who am I?" and don't fill in the blank with a belief. What will come to you first is who you are not. You are not a manager, employee, dad, mom, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, American, European, African, Asian, good person, bad person, etc. These are roles that you play in life, and you are not your role. As you begin to shed your identity with roles you will find an unexpected gift. The gift is freedom. Freedom doesn't mean "I can do whatever I want." Freedom means I turn within for my guidance rather than letting the world (Maya) tell me what to think. Freedom means I place all of my trust in my Source (which I call "God") and live authentically. It means that I am not driven by my fears (ego), because I am free of the influence of fear. Freedom is a moment to moment decision. The New Testament of the Bible offers the following: "But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well." In a practical sense this says to me is that if I turn within and focus on the guidance that comes through my intuition (not my ego), what I need will be made available to me. If I look to the world (so-called reality, or Maya) to meet my needs I will struggle. I will seek and not find. The good that I receive in the world comes through the world and the characters I meet within it, not from it. Yet, how do we know if the still small voice is a higher wisdom, or just the continued ramblings of the ego? You practice. You keep asking questions and listening. This is contemplation. This is prayer. Prayer helps us unlearn. Prayer is not about getting things. It is about unlearning the thoughts in our minds that prevent us from being in the flow. When you step back from beliefs and shoulds and have-to's, you find there is a purpose and a flow to your life. There is a direction calling you. No one else can tell you what to do. The world is a tricky place, and Maya is seductive. It is easy to be drawn into dramas and conflicts which result in pain and suffering. It is easy to think that the perfect car, or the perfect home, the perfect partner, the right beer, the right self help book, and everything else the world tells you will be the source of your happiness. The idea that happiness or satisfaction is found "out there" needs to be unlearned. Things "out there" are useful and helpful, but they are not the source of well-being. The problems we encounter in life are not as real as we might think. Pain certainly feels real, yet there are those who learn to transcend it. Fear can hold us in its grip, yet we can learn to let it go. A person may offend us, yet we can refuse to be offended. At one moment our finances may look bleak, and the next moment a brilliant idea, if acted upon, will bring us plenty. Perhaps the biggest untruth that we believe is the one that says we are victims of this world. Being a victim is a role you may play, but it is not who you are. Step back from all the dramas and you will see that people are playing the roles you have assigned for them. Your world reflects the attitudes and beliefs that you hold. Most of what you think you know is only what you perceive. When the darkness of perception receives the light of awareness, choice is what emerges. In conclusion, there is one thing that you know for sure: "I am". As Descartes proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am." You are aware. What you choose to do with that awareness determines your life. Awareness in an ego context teaches us how to manipulate others. Awareness from a spiritual context has us asking; being silent, and listening for direction. This awareness has us depending on our spiritual intelligence rather than ego intelligence. Religious belief systems and spiritual paths are permeated with potholes into which we stumble. We think we are making great progress and all the while Maya is smiling. We think we are more spiritual than some other people, and the ego nods its approval of those thoughts. We think we are playing an important role in a great quest, but it's really just a dream. Certainly we can enjoy the dream, yet in order to do that we must become awake. We need to unlearn all that we think is true. To unlearn we must question everything we think is true. We must be willing to set it all aside and hear the still small voice within. I leave you with this unlearning quote from A Course In Miracles: Simply do this: Be still and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false or good or bad; of every thought it judges worthy and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God. |
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