In terms of our mind and emotions, many times, we stuff our secrets-things with which we are not content about ourselves-deep down where no one can see them. We hold onto these things so as to avoid the disapproval from being detected by others. We hold onto this for so long, that holding becomes automatic and to let go is an irrelevant concept.
We don't have a convenient emotional purgative as we have for the colon. We do discuss cathartic both in both emotional and physical contexts. As with the colon cleanse, I would like to present a means for cleansing the mind and emotions; one that is gentle-like the colon cleanse we presented:
In your journal or in another private place, write clearly, what you would like to present about yourself to your friends and to the world; what you would most like for people to think about you; what you would like for your epitaph; or in whatever way you want to present that.
Next, write what you most do not want others to know about you; what you think would result in your final abandonment if others knew; those deep, dark, buried secrets.
The question that I strive to remember, but not to answer, is: how can I live without this dichotomy?
Do I have to get rid of or be content with the parts I disapprove of? Can I maximize those parts of me that I want to project?
Most spirituals practices present a way of accommodating this duality. Some present the 'bad' as coming from a force outside ourselves. Another talks about recognizing and 'being with' that other part of you, and possibly contextualizing it so as to make it useful rather than shameful and negative.
I prefer the Zen point of view in spiritual and mental development. By learning what is real and what is a construct of the mind, we can effortlessly drop the negative ideas that burden our life, and live more freely in the bliss that reality affords. Here we are embracing the concept of believing. Now we can more fully embrace that which we most appreciate in life-as a choice.
Just because something isn't true, doesn't mean you can't believe in it, Sometimes things that may or may not be true, are the things a man needs to believe in the most.
People are basically good.
Honor, courage and virtue mean everything, power and money mean nothing. Good always triumphs over evil and true love never dies. Those are things worth believing in, true or not.
-Second Hand Lions
What would your life be like if you were truly free? Would you loose that uncomfortable heaviness? Would friends be drawn to who you really are? Is all this possible?
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