Day 275 - A Year to Clear - Open-Ended Queries

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Lesson 275: Open-Ended Queries

Following on from last week with the theme of knowing, there is an extension into this week. Rather than leaving yourself open from asking further questions, could you possibly turn it into an open ended statement? Examples below:

• "One thing from this menu that would nourish me right now is______"

• "One task that I can do that would help me feel more productive this morning is______"

• "A one-minute clearing exercise that would help me feel lighter (clearer, calmer) right now is______"

I think for my Monday, I was a bit absolute with a particular situation I wanted over and done with. Rather than asking myself what should I do? And should I do this?, I made a bold decision to just make my peace and go with it. I don’t really want to talk about the situation in detail as people may see this post, though what I did do was tell myself, okay I’m going to send this message and this will allow this situation to pass from this stand still. I did away with questioning it and allowed myself to release. It felt good after I did it and it allowed a decision to be made. What decision did you make today?

Day 270 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - When it Gets Down to it...

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Lesson 270: When it Gets Down to it...

“When it gets down to it, all the philosophy in the world means nothing. What’s important is your own experience—what you believe. What you have learned, with your own heart.”

— Sara Wiseman

Today we are to think about what makes sense to you and what’s important. What have you learned and know to be true in your heart.

I have mentioned it before but I do live for experience now. I used to be controlled my an ex boyfriend and as I’ve been growing and learning in my spiritual path, I realised that I am also controlled by the systems society has in place. I’ve been told what my life should look like and how I should live it. I have done away with this… I live my life how I want to.

In my life I want to make sure that I have truly lived. I think it’s important to be both selfish and selfless. I think being selfish in the sense of self-care, self-preservation and self-love are important. Sometimes you just need to say no to someone in order to maintain your inner being. I also think it’s good to be selfless when someone is in need of your help. It doesn’t matter what others think as long as you think it’s right. I think we really need more compassion in order to be the best versions of ourselves. I have definitely benefited from this course because it has taught me just that.

I think as I go about my journey, I like to hear other people’s stories. I like to learn from their experience as well as my own. I like to know how people overcome their challenges as it helps me to learn. I like sharing my stories as it helps others to understand and learn. I think something that is important in the world is the exchange of knowledge. Knowledge is not only power but it is growth.

I think everyone needs to learn their own truth. I think everyone needs to ask themselves what is important in life but what’s important to them in living their best life. My truth isn’t the same as yours and it never should be. We all go about our own path in our own way and no one should tell us it’s right or wrong.

My only wish is that everyone doesn’t get so caught up in consumerism. I watched this short film the other day which really covered this happiness we chase which is force fed crap those in control hang over our heads.

I wish everyone could wake up to the world around them and want to believe and live in a better world. What would the world be like if we weren’t controlled?

Day 196 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - From the Beginning...

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Lesson 196: From the Beginning...

We are taught with certain values from our family, friends, teachers and co-workers as we move through life. There is very much a group/cult thought based on our cultural values, societal values, family values and our immediate environments. We tend to navigate towards group thoughts based on our location also. Today we are to think about a time we existed outside group thought. It can be the smallest of changes that sparked a new thought for you but had profound effect.

When I travelled to Thailand last year to do volunteer work in a remote Elephant village, it changed my life. I grew up in Western society. I was very much saturated with having this notion that by having all the latest trend outfits, gadgets, make-up etc, that this showed my success. If you weren’t on trend then you don’t matter. All those advertisements or social media topics that infiltrate our minds are consistently overcoming our minds. I always had to have anything and everything – even if I didn’t use the items.

I was going through a depression and a real life changing spiritual awakening. I needed to do something for me and that’s when I decided to go travel by myself, which I had never done before, and just immerse and learn. I had never really volunteered either or travelled overseas to volunteer. It was the most eye-opening experience. I learned what real community is – that people were out there sharing and helping each other out in this village. People were grateful for all the small things they had – they didn’t have much and lived simple lives. I learned that in comparison to Western society, people were more peaceful in their setting. There were days when we had no water until 3pm and I was told that sometimes the water could go out all day, though the people would just adjust. I didn’t know if I was going to shower that day but I accepted it. I took time out to just feel nature and the energy of the elephants. The elephant is worshipped in Thailand and it was such a humbling experience. I took for granted all the things I had in my life when I compared it to these villagers.

What really changed my perspective on life was that I didn’t want to live in the way of Western society. I want a minimal life with spiritual enrichment. I don’t need everything that is force fed to us and I in no way want to fit into that type of world. I want the peaceful, caring world that doesn’t have the stress and pressure that Western society places on us. It’s the society we built that leads to depression, anxiety and stress. In this village, I didn’t feel any of that. It was so freeing and made me want to be a better person. This is how I broke away from a group thought. I didn’t need all these things marketers told me I needed to feel good about myself. It’s why I live differently now and I’m loving the life I create, on my terms.

What was something you did that broke away from a collective thought or belief?

Day 195 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - When You Understand How Little is True...

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Lesson 195: When You Understand How Little is True...

There has been a lot of focus on truth. Everything we have been taught or what we’ve come to understand, might not actually be true. Our thoughts are real to us and we come to believe in our truth. If we approach our thoughts with detachment, it peels back that truth. Today, we are to think about what’s true and what’s not, but also if it’s important or not. We are to look at everything we have been taught or told, to see if it’s correct for you.

You can really open up a can of worms dissecting your truth. To give a bit of background about myself: I was born in Singapore, I moved to Perth Western Australia when I was young, I was raised a Catholic, I was taught by my parents that going to University would get you a good job, I should always respect my elders, I was taught that animals are dirty and okay to eat, and that as a woman success includes getting married and having children. Obviously, there were a lot of things taught in school, friends and family along the way, but on this quick assessment, that’s what came to mind straight away. Many of things I have listed, I don’t actually agree with anymore but they were my truth and reality.

I don’t believe in any Catholic idealisms. I struggled with this for some time during my teenage years as I educated myself in the world and realised it didn’t really resonate with me. I am happy for those that believe in the teachings of the religion and build a way of life on it, but it didn’t really speak to my soul, so I just kind of renounced it.

I was taught that you weren’t successful unless you go to college or university and go find yourself a good job. This is simply not true. I think sure there are professions that need qualifications but I never really knew what I wanted to do in life until now. A lot of my work experience has been on the job. I didn’t actually need an education to have built my career in telecommunications. So, getting an education doesn’t necessarily take you where you want to go. The business I want to start has me learning a skill but not by formal education.

I don’t believe you should only respect your elders. I think everyone should respect each other regardless of age. In my Asian culture, there is this whole belief that you should always respect your elders and that they are right. I just simply do not find this true anymore. I used to very much believe it but I’ve grown into a thinking that everyone should be equal.

When I was growing up, my mum wouldn’t let my brother have certain pets because animals were considered dirty. I believe there was some religious belief that animals couldn’t be brought into the home. I guess there was that notion that animals are less than us or are a food source. I used to not like animals and didn’t like touching them because I had this belief that they were dirty. I have done a complete 180 on this though as I am a vegetarian and love animals. I don’t even care if an animal is dirty, I will pat and hug it. I don’t think like I used to.

The other truth I used to believe is that women are successful by getting married and having children. Again, this is deep rooted in my Asian culture. Last year when visiting family, one of the family friends asked me when I was getting married, like that was my only purpose in life. There was no point in trying to educate this person that I can be happy in other ways of my life because they had a very much old school style of thinking. It is so deeply rooted that trying to explain just wouldn’t make sense to them. I mean, when I was younger I thought how nice if I could be married and have children. Now that I’m 34 this year, and I don’t have a partner nor do I have children, I can tell myself that it’s okay that I don’t have either of these things, and it doesn’t define me either. I tolerate these people with this type of thinking but I just don’t believe in that limited reality.

There are my truths that are no longer my truth anymore. I think the most important thing I do for myself is really look educate myself or learn about other ways of thinking to expand my truth.

Take a look at your truths and see how you’ve evolved from it, or even accepted it and continue to keep is as your truth.

Day 193 - A Year of Spiritual Awakening - The Ability to Know Your Own Mind..

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Lesson 193: The Ability to Know Your Own Mind..

“The ability to know your own mind is the true sign of consciousness. In consciousness, in awakening you see that all thoughts scatter about a circle: the more extreme on each side of the circle, the more true in the middle. In consciousness, you are able to stay in the middle.”

— Sara Wiseman

Today we are to write down five things that we believe to be absolutely true. From there, we are to detach ourselves and look at those beliefs from that different point of view and to see if they are still true. If they aren’t, why do you think they aren’t true and reflect on it.

Five things that I believe to be absolutely true:

·         The colour red is red

·         My mother is my mum

·         I am placed on this Earth for a reason

·         There are both good and bad people in the world

·         The way I perceive myself is never going to be the same as someone else who perceives me

Now if I look at these beliefs with detachment, it can take quite a philosophical approach.

The colour red is taught in childhood and we all are meant to see it in the same way through sight and in our minds through some brain perception. What if the way I see red is not how you see red. What if it had a different tinge the way I see it to the way you see it? I see it as a warm, vibrant colour but what if you saw it as a dull colour? I am confident that science can systematically have a logical answer for this, and how we view things such as colour all the same, but there is always that what if question. What if it's not the same?

My mother is my biological parent and I spawned from an egg in her body that also resided in my grandmother’s body – it is said because my mother grew as a female, she would have had her eggs inside her body whilst in my grandmother’s womb. Can’t remember the term for it but there is a whole science behind it. But if I was an egg in side my mum who was inside her mum, could it be possible that my grandmother is actually my mother? Who is not to say one of her spare eggs was me and I just developed in my mother’s body? If reincarnation is a thing, what if my mother was my sister in another life and we’re just living over a hundred lifetimes in different types of relationships? No one really knows right?

If I believe I was placed on Earth for a reason and I think I know my purpose, but what if I am completely wrong about it and I don’t actually know? Maybe I have some other mission I haven’t thought of. Maybe I’m a being from another dimension with a secret mission… who knows? Maybe I’m not placed here for a reason but I’m part of some higher power experiment and I’m being tested somehow. We could even be in the matrix. Haha!

There are good and bad people in the world. I think we all have good and bad in us, but good and bad is defined by some societal standard that classes us into an unseen system, which dictates how we act. What I perceive as good and bad might be completely different to you because you have another set of standards. Maybe when humans first came into being, there was no good or bad and everyone was the same. Maybe some people decided one day that they didn’t want to be the same as everyone else, so they broke some protocol and they weren’t so normal anymore. It’s possible it could have started some black sheep mentality because they didn’t fit in anymore, and that’s how we get different personality types and some measure of what’s normal. Maybe that’s how “bad” people came to be. Maybe we all start bad and try to cover our tracks by doing “good” things to try and achieve some goal. Gosh, this lesson can really go on forever when you take some philosophical approach.

And finally, the way I perceive myself will never be the same as how someone else perceives me. I mean that’s pretty profound in itself, but it’s true. The way I perceive is never going to fit in an exact mould to another person. It’s probably the one truth that is real. I just don’t think it’s plausible for two people to have the exact same perception as each other. It’s not like we are carbon copies of each other… or are we? I’d like to think that this is the one truth that no one could talk me out of. I think it’s possible for people to look at me and share the same like of a feature of me, but then there will be a feature they dislike which might not be the same. The way one person loves me won’t be for the same reason someone else does, just like the way I love myself. If we weren’t free thinkers, then we would all think the same and perceive the same.. but we’re not and therefore it’s a truth that can’t be beaten.

How did you test yourself with your truths? I had so much fun with this lesson by the way! I'm not sure if that was the route I was supposed to take but that's the way I went!