Sense Of Self

In this answer to a viewer's question, "letting go" author Guy Finley explains that liberation from any addiction begins with seeing the dual nature of the divided mind that claims to not want the pain of the addiction, while at the same time being attracted to the sensations that come with getting the next fix.

Have you ever noticed how the more negative you get, the more difficult everything about your life becomes, including being able to do the simplest things? It's like suddenly sinking into dark molasses, where not only can't you move, but everything you don't want seems stuck to you!...

In this answer to a viewer's question, "letting go" author Guy Finley talks about how there is a part of our consciousness that will seek to derive a false sense of self out of anything, even if it means going into pain over something that is unwanted.

In this answer to a caller's question, Guy explains that the true purpose of interior storms, trials and challenges is to shake us loose from the painful illusions and sense of self that we unknowingly cling to.

In this short video, Guy talks about being self-conscious: thinking about how you should look a certain way or be a certain kind of person. Becoming aware of the pain inherent in thinking about yourself is the first step to freeing yourself from it.

What's the first thing that any of us do when trouble comes? The first thing that happens when we get into trouble is that we start thinking. Our little think machine just gets geared up, and it starts to go. And it goes. Now, what is it thinking about? It's thinking about the trouble it's in and it's thinking about ways in which to get out of trouble...

Most people spend their entire lives exploring worldly sensation. But we eventually come to a place where we realize that we have come to the end of exploring the world through our senses, and begin the process of exploring the interior world. The exploration of the interior world is mind exploring mind, instead of body exploring body, which is the activity of our outwardly directed senses.

Living within us dwells an order of being that knows, without thinking about it, what is authentically good for us. The problem isn't that this higher level of being--with its natural, calm command--is actually missing just when we need it most. The real problem is that we forget it!

Just as our bodies grow healthy or not, according to what we take into our mouths, so too do we grow into wisdom, strength, or grace according to what we attend to with our mind. Our thoughts, like all energetic life forms, attract to themselves natures like themselves. The thoughts of a fellow not only flock together, but seek and are sought out by similar invisible creatures...

Everything under the sun wants to be loved. Trees reach up for the sunlight that brings them life. Flowers need the touch of the bees that pollinate them. Babies cry out to be nourished and protected. We can state this same celestial principle in different words: Everything in existence seeks what it needs to complete itself... and this includes negative states like anger, resentment...

There is no "self" without relationship. In reality, the observer and the observed do not exist apart from one another. However, in the absence of higher awareness, the lower level of self believes that it is separate from what it sees as being outside of itself. This is the source of suffering. The gift of being able to see that the observer is the observed is the reconciliation and the end...

Topics covered: Real existence is being rooted in an awareness that doesn't pursue anything because it is already a part of everything; There is no addiction that doesn't begin with a sense of self that feels incomplete; In order to win the approval of others, we have to sell ourselves. Our sense of self is dependent upon exterior conditions; There is no fear without the fear of disappearing, without the fear of losing myself...