How we relate to the world is the way our relationship is with ourselves. Our reaction with the world is exactly mirroring the way we react with ourselves. Our perception of how the world is treating us is merely our imagination. In reality we can’t change the world as the world we perceive is our own, thus making our relationship intimate – ourselves. All our emotions are found right here within ourselves – the world or the stuffs in the mind are merely a show, expressing who we are, by the way we respond to each experience. Happiness no longer needs to be sought when we finally understand that what we have been trying to seek is found in the way we relate to ourselves. In short, our way of relating to ourselves is either from the space of ignorance or wisdom.
We seek for happiness outside simply because the way we relate to ourselves does not generate the happiness we wish to have. We are rarely at peace with ourselves because the ideas that we have taken into our system are in contradiction with the natural flow of our beingness, of nature. Like a boat moving upstream against the flow of the river, we are in constant conflict and battle with ourselves to come into a balanced state of living. We seldom question why we are in an unsettling state. We ignore what we have thrown into our system which causes this upheaval.
There are calls of yearning from our inner soul but the plea is ignored because of the power we have given away to the norm of our society. We sell our soul just to conform to what society require from us. Taking a step back and question the meaning of life is not something we are trained to do. We probably may not even know there exists such possibility.
And that is how it begins – a child is being forced to conform to certain situation, irrelevant to the cry of reluctancy or to the desire to be understood – just for the sake of feeding someone’s need. Overtime, the child lived for others rather than for themselves. Aren’t we, to a great extant, a byproduct of someone else’s need? Their needs can be found in our attitude, character, personality or even career. Due to long term programming, we become lifeless to our life – we live unconsciously in an unhappy state that is not in sync with our beingness – our primordial state and inclination when we begin this very life. Everyone thinks that their need is also another’s need. And we are all enforcing each other with our ideas – a byproduct of our unquestioned life – forcing what we believe is true unto others.
Seldom do we pause and inquire whether what others do unto us previously is encouraging or impeding our naturalness to be wise. As human we are given the ability to discern but rarely do we utilize this ability and thus subject others to walk the same fate as us, imposing unconscious guilt upon them. Our unquestioned mind leads us to think we are right. Are we ignorant or innocent in this sense? Are we subjugated to what society wants from us or do we have a life that is far more than just conformity and routines?
And as we mature into self-discernment, we start inquiring from within what kind of relationship we are having with ourselves that allow others to dictate our needs. We no longer point fingers at anyone but instead come into taking responsibility of our own actions – the very relationship that we have allowed to eat into our core system which has made us feel ideally useless and ignorant – ignorant to the fact that we do have a choice of living differently, not by rebelling or reforming anything on the outside but through introspective journey of questioning old ideas and beliefs that are no longer beneficial to our well being.
It is about a journey of self-discovery where peace abiding is our naturalness, where we can never be controlled by another; except our allowing others to do so. We can never be in bondage unless we allow ourselves to be so. It is about the way we give our power away, the way we do not take a responsive act to the pattern the mind is taking.
Thus to wake up to the reality of our lives, we have to start wherever we are, the journey of awakening to what is within each and everyone of us – questioning honestly what is it that our soul is desiring and yet not allowing it to be surfaced in our space. And to come clean without pointing any finger at anyone except to see the ideas that we have trapped ourselves in is the first and an important step to freeing ourselves from the bondage of misperception.
It is a mandatory journey for all of us to come into our trueness but the time for us to initiate this journey is up to us. The earlier the journey is taken, the possibility of entering into a life where we are true to ourselves is ever possible. For we are the director of our lives.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.”
~ Steve Jobs