As a human being, seeking the truth should be our primary mission. Comprehend the truth and act accordingly.
Generally speaking, two selves compose human kind—the internal self and the external self. The internal self only emerges in time and if given the opportunity to be and to be realized. Hence, it is up to us to become aware of our internal self’s presence and realize it. Yet, by nature, what we assume to be “ourselves” (our external reflection), tries to block this process of awareness and realization. During the period when we live in poor awareness of these two selves, our true self can never emerge and guide us. On the contrary, if we become aware of our true selves, it’s easier to attain feelings that the external self longs for, the feelings that are to be.
Self-awareness may come by minimizing the impact that the external self has on the internal self. By doing so, the person would become someone with a more improved mind. Thus, we may not embark on the process of becoming a true person unless we realize that we are a sum of the contradictory selves. To develop this process, we must be self-observant. Nowadays, there are a great many people who believe in their own development and self-observation and rigorously ensure others of their activities.
Self-observation, however, is something quite different. If we look at a person’s training or their course of study and general attitudes, we may easily find that their internal selves have not yet developed the kind of behavior it longs for. In the simplest sense, if we want to properly observe ourselves, we should first try to split ourselves into both the observer and the observed; thereafter, we observe both.
While a person fights this battle of self-improvement, faces wrong timing and misdirection in their activities, their arrogance grows and moves them on an opposite course drifting to the path of so-called evolvement versus actual evolvement. Consequently, such people pose a danger for others because they don’t truly evolve which, in turn, causes spiritual conflict—for everyone.
Unwittingly, these people live and act on a cause-effect principle. For them, sensitivity means a remorseful feeling about bad news and cheering up with good news. Essentially, they have such a mechanical approach towards life. In return, the way they go on with their lives enhances their mechanical behavior even more.
A Mechanical Way of Living
Self-awareness forces us to face that which we run from. During this process of confrontation, if we try to avoid being hurt, we may not be able to abandon this mechanical way of living. Somehow, we may never become what we are supposed to be. My own interpretation of mechanical behavior corresponds to somnolence or drowsiness (maya state) in esoteric doctrine, but through self-observation the process of waking up begins.
The more you think you are constricted by the physical world, the more somnolence or drowsiness continues. On the other hand, through careful and patient observation, we may realize how mechanical our behavior is—how mundane our attitude. If we go on identifying ourselves only with mundane events, we may never be able to transform our observations to constant awareness. The mundane bears the arrogance of a false self, “feeling of criticism,” “no one treats me like that” attitude; all-in-all, “not being open to positive criticism” and the like. If we abandon identifying ourselves with attitudes of the mundane, then and only then may we take significant steps to personal improvement.
When we identify with the ordinary, emotions come to the forefront; yet, we usually identify ourselves with certain feelings. We feel sad, go mad or get furious, which makes us become easily defensive. One moment we speak from our heart with a smile on our face, the next, somebody steps on our feet and all of a sudden we go mad. At that very moment, we identify ourselves with anger. We experience this state in each and every circumstance in our lives, and all the while, we lose our true selves in emotions. Our true self becomes adversely affected by these circumstances, so the true self cannot hear itself over the loud clatter. Unlike introspection, when we start to observe ourselves outside of our usual state, then, we begin to move away from our mundane existence enabling us to progressively improve or develop for the better.
Nowadays, we all speak of “introversion” as an intellectual expression; yet, it should not be confused with self-observation. Both are quite controversial. When we observe ourselves carefully, we begin to move away from our worldly identity by becoming more aware of our external self or mundaneness and weakness, and at the same time, it also pulls down on our spirituality. If we manage to prolong this conscious awareness, our mundane being will eventually become mindful. Indeed, self-observation is the only method for spiritual growth.
In short, my point about self-observation shows that while many mentors try to guide their so-called disciples, they have not yet improved themselves, let alone reached a higher level of being. These people entitle themselves as “masters,” yet they only narrate mundanely-perceived information to other people. Training delivered in one or two days that pledge pseudo-enlightenment, energies that work and reciprocate way too fast…Alas! All of a sudden, everywhere we look we see counterfeit apostles and fake teachers who teach the mask of “self-awareness” as an inanimate smile stuck on one’s face. These people are so busy integrating with their fake identities that they have no time to realize their true self that rests deep inside them. They pull down the people around them to lower levels of awareness and further poison them with brand new pseudo-precepts suggestive of marketing.
Is It What It Is Supposed To Be?
Yes indeed, especially when the world is moving steadily towards a dark corridor. The earth is passing through a very thick darkness, where humanity has yet to experience this darkness before being born into the truth. Since we have to go through the darkness to be born to light, it is what it is supposed to be. Still, this does not mean that we are all going to be plunged into darkness. During this period anyone who seeks the path to become a true person goes through their own awareness process. Conversely, we may not be able to escape darkness and each day plunge a little more into it due to these pseudo-enlightenments that do not bring any spiritual benefit.
We should pursue an awareness of the end results from these counterfeit enlightenment streams and where they actually take us. Hence, through the light of our consciousness, beware and stay away from them. In our daily lives, when we come across problems, let’s become aware of our side that identifies with difficulties, and then work to enhance our true self and let it shine through. If we do this, it will be easier for us to reach higher levels of existence in which we deserve to be. Moreover, we can save our internal self from the predominance of the external self and defeat our worldly identity in situations where the external self appears dominant.
At times when we happen to escape the predomination of our mundane self, our internal self will direct us to real apostles. That is, instead of giving up everything to pseudo-teachers, first we have to raise our own awareness and then suffice to choose true mentors. Otherwise, at the hands of pseudo-teachers, darkness will fall down on our spiritual journey slowly to a path of no return, which is even harder to realize for spiritually-dormant people.
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Now, I want to quote from the Bible: Matthew chapter 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Unfortunately, this is a troublesome period for our planet when there are a great many pseudo-teachers, who come to us in sheep’s clothing. The real mentor has no need to show himself different then he is. He never exaggerates, never misleads: He need not sweeten the pill. Perhaps, he may not also have sweet, loving words; he only makes his point and leaves the scene. This is the very reason why this apostle escapes the eyes of average people. On the other hand, the ones in sheep’s clothing will always seek to hide their true selves.
God (Creator) bestowed us with intelligence. We should use it! And, if anything prevents us from using it, blame the dark forces’ head which rears against our evolvement.
First of all, keep in mind that we are obliged to remember our true selves; we must figure it out and keep it strong. When we finally give up defending ourselves to ourselves and when all the pitfalls of our external self becomes blindingly obvious, then no need exists to be attracted to sheep’s clothing or to seek remedy in any of the glittering teachings!
The false self that dwells within us, of what we thought to be our true self, expects us to pretend to role play. No matter how hard we try, if we continue tempting our false self and pretending, we may never be able to get favorable results with our efforts to soak up the false self. When the time comes and we pass away, we will abandon our physical bodies, and all this accumulated information will remain with our physical body and contribute nothing to our evolving soul.
Since the false self assumes itself to be worthwhile and real, it behaves to preserve itself, and therefore, fights a battle to defeat our true self. This is why the false self makes use of all defensive and offensive mechanisms. On the other hand, the true self neither defends itself nor offends the other since it need not do so. The true self only commits to wait for awareness to come.
This is the point where we may admit our mistakes and start our own self-observation processes. When we come clean with ourselves, when we manage to observe our negative feelings and give up identifying with them, the true self (the internal self) starts to take the lead and make itself heard, make its presence felt in a completely different way.
We should abandon feelings of anger, rage and violence and give up that silent voice that directs our internal conflicts. We spend a great deal of energy for our responses to criticism, a lot more than we assume. If we can give up spending our energy pointlessly, then we may break loose from arrogance—a product of the defense mechanism of our false self—and take pleasure in being kind to others. This kindness will nourish and enrich our inner world; moreover, it will bestow us with the ability to balance give and take.
The Path that Leads to Truth
“Silence implies consent” or “He who is silent agrees.” This is why we should never give up searching for and telling the truth.
The path to the truth does not lead to fake prophets but raises our own awareness to enable us to distinguish between what is false and what is not. Those who do not raise their awareness will be dragged behind sheep’s clothing and unconsciously scatter their spiritual earnings. Innovation for the sake of innovation stems from a lack or meagerness. Real innovation begins by coming back to the source.
When we find the real precept, we will sense that this knowledge has been filtered through ancient wisdom, accumulated for ages, and finally reached us. At that time we may not feel the need neither for pseudo-enlightenment nor made up initiations. The Creator expects us not to surrender to false doctrines that lead us to a cul-de-sac, both in terms of the mundane life and the spiritual growth. As a human being, seeking the truth should be our primary mission. My humble advice: Comprehend the truth and act accordingly.
Last but not least: Do not pretend to be, just BE.
