There are many times when human beings are a study in stupidity. Just as we can see that distracting ourselves or otherwise concealing a pain has nothing in common with healing it, the same holds true in our relationship with self-wrecking states: more often than not our tendency is to be self-deceiving rather than be self-studying -- where instead of doing the necessary inner work of illuminating the still-darkened corners of our consciousness, we look for ways to escape the fears that breed there like ghosts in a haunted house. Why?
For one thing, through a host of social and cultural mandates, we have been conditioned to believe that not only must whatever we suspect is "wrong" with us be hidden from the world around us, but such imperfections must also be kept from ourselves as well. Such ideas serve nothing but the sickness they help to conceal. Here is a guide to the real medicine.
We are made to be self-correcting, so that each real correction effected in us elevates us above the dark and limiting influences we have been living under all our lives. Like moving from a hot desert to a cool mountain retreat, each discovery of what darkens our path in life moves us toward higher, happier ground. And though we may not yet understand how this works in us, each time we catch a glimpse of one of our character shortfalls, we do so by the grace of a Living Light -- a latent force for perfection that lives within us. And this same Higher Intelligence asks us, by its very presence within us, to see ourselves in its light. Through its illumination we discover that it is not negative to see the negative in us since it is the perfectly positive that makes this kind of seeing into ourselves possible. But we must be good patients!
When it comes to seeing the truth of our lives, the late, great author Vernon Howard taught those who would listen that "The medicine is bitter, but it heals." If we would heal the hidden hurt in us then we must learn that the initial bitterness of self-truthfulness is the front runner of our ultimate spiritual betterment. Our work is to concede to the bright prescription of higher self-honesty, regardless of how it tastes to us in those moments when we see ourselves as we are.
Authentic self-healing must begin with truthful self-seeing. Just as the rising sun dismisses our fears of imagined dangers hidden in the darkness of night, higher consciousness of any unwanted condition must precede its correction. For those who would be free, the choice must be to see.
ASK THE MASTERS
Question: Why do so many wisdom teachings stress the idea of inner work to cultivate self-watchfulness? I want to be free of my fears, but to tell you the truth, the whole idea of seeing myself as I am scares me. Is there no other way?
Answer: The shell must be cracked apart if what is in it is to come out, for if you want the kernel you must break the shell. And therefore if you want to discover nature's nakedness you must destroy its symbols, and the farther you get in the nearer you come to its essence. When you come to the One that gathers all things up into itself, there you must stay. --