RSS 
E-Mail6 comments
C.G. Jung once wrote, “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.”
We posted this week on Narcissism and the difficulty of coming to see through our self-constructed image(s) of ourselves in order to get to the reality that lay within. This is not an easy task to undertake and actually demands an admirable degree of bravery. But it’s worth it! It’s worth it personally as well as being worth it on behalf of those within our closest circles of fellowship and family.
To love, truly love, means to be open to deep interior exploration of the self. But as Jung observes, we tend to be willing to do just about anything other than launch off into such a soul-searching exercise. Why? Why is it so painful to contemplate what we might find? Why is the thought of being wrong and in need of travelling another direction so threatening?
In part, I think when we consider such a process the egoic-false-self really kicks into high gear. We need to be aware that the ego lives in the past and the future – and since soul-searching occurs always in the ‘present’ – it appears as something utterly destructive to the ego — so the ego fights it. And since the ego has us convinced that ‘it’ is our true identity (‘it’ being the equivalent of the thoughts and stories about ourselves that we and others have always proclaimed), nothing is more threatening than to suddenly discover otherwise.
And yet this is the point of soul-searching to begin with – the search to find true North, so to speak; the search to unveil the reality of who we are and were created to be. As Tolle reminds us, “The word ‘I’ embodies the greatest error and the deepest truth, depending on how it is used.”
A strong dose of contemplative interior exploration helps us see which of these polarities we’re living in. Are we deluded or grounded? And what if we discover that we are the former? Then what? ‘What will become of us?,’ cries the ego.
Hopefully what will become of us is the realization that we are not what we see in the mirror. We are not our form and though living in time, we are not imprisoned by it. What we see is impermanent and we are eternal. We are part of the “I Am-ness” of all things. We are part of a divine nature that touches, yet transcends all that we see.
Once our inner journeys begin to reveal such things our spirit is released from imprisonment in matter. We begin to grasp our identities as being formless and enraptured in the one unifying Presence of all that exists. Boundaries begin to fall, relationships begin to flourish, the error gives way to the truth as the true becomes evident and re-prioritized.
Resist the absurd avoidance techniques of the egoic-false self and begin that journey of deep interior exploration. The first step is a willingness to look. The second is to clothe yourself in humility, compassion and love – for you and for others – and then see what you see.
Hope you have a contemplative weekend!
6 comments to “Soul Searching and Interior Exploration”
-
Fantastic advice. I’ll be meditating this weekend.
-
Yes, excellent post! As usual, I had to read it twice…first it came across condescending like there was soooo much wrong with me, then, a picture of some sort of grace…a mixed bag. The process takes years, depending on the programming we have received, but little by little it gets better.
Thank you!
Alicia
-
Thanks Tim. In her book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Cynthia Bourgeault has a wonderful diagram of The False Self In Action. Perhaps you’ve seen it.
-
TIm,
Excellent Blog. It needs to be spoken and shared. I am learning that Peace is not the absence of Conflict, but the Presence of Reality. So much of the “exploring of the interior” begins on a good Journey. But often ends up with us being stuck in the contract or a analysis of the polarity. We really are learning to transcend the Ego, the learn detachment. I read one time the False Self melts in the Presence of Love. So much of what I was taught about “awareness” is being swallowed up in the Present Truth. We are often caught in the same illusion, but just put a new name on it. This Lovingly exposes the Truth of our Being. -
Tim–I passed my 85 year in april 2010– I am always learning—thank you -I will pass this truth on. keep it up.
Tim, more excellence from you. You’re on a roll. This is Truth.