Some of us find it difficult to go beyond our fixed beliefs and values. If we believe something, then there's nothing else that's greater. And it's this type of thing that make us victims of our beliefs and values.
Similarly, there are many times when we want to change or at least explore other beliefs. We feel something (intuitive consciousness) in us prodding us to search beyond the tried and true.
It's unfortunate most of us don't follow through on our desires to change. It seems that whenever we think we're ready to try something different, we are reminded by our beliefs to stop this nonsense. Yet this doesn't stop the desires for change from continuing to exist in our thoughts.
Meanwhile, at some point in our lives, we must begin to realize that we cannot change as long as our minds are holding on to our lifelong beliefs. The change we seek is beyond the limitations of our present beliefs about life.
This doesn't mean that by exploring other ideas and philosophies in the world we must immediately change our beliefs. No, it only means our awareness has expanded beyond our present limitations.
As the Sufi Poet says, "Out beyond the ideas of right doing and wrong doing, there's a field (awareness) and I will meet you there." For us to reach this level of awareness, we must be willing to clear or cleanse our minds of the beliefs causing us to remain victims of the limitless possibilities available to us.
As some of us know by now, we must engage in self-discovery to fully become aware of our beliefs. By our willingness to engage in self-discovery, we are able to understand why we act the way we do. This also allows us to envision our lives beyond the current beliefs causing us so much pain and suffering.
Many of us suffer because we don't know what else to do. We cannot believe we're living with suffering because it seems so natural. We have all the things -- status, education, money, religion, and so forth -- that make us feel somewhat secure, successful.
When achieve a lot of things, we believe we're living the "dream" life. So it's much harder for us to accept that we're actually living in a nightmare. Yet this is the level of awareness we all must arrive so that we're willing to listen.
After having traversed the difficult challenges in life, we find it difficult to believe our lives remain unfulfilled. It's difficult to believe we're responsible for the nightmare.
So we try to escape by engaging in angst living by jumping from one cause to another. This allows us to teach others about enlightenment, empowerment, religion, spirituality, materialism, and so on.
Although we practice our crafts and believe we know what we're talking about, we continue to remain resistant to going beyond our present beliefs and values. Many of us believe we have reached the highest level of awareness that's possible for us to achieve.
So if we're a teacher, we use the same books and teaching methods over and over again, too afraid or too lazy to explore new books and new methods.
If we're a minister, we preach the same sermons over and over again while clinging to the self-righteousness that validates our faith.
If we are civil rights activists, we use the same worn out ideas and strategies by disguising them as contemporary changes.
If we believe in struggling for freedom, we continue to overlook the limitless opportunities of freedom within our consciousness.
The journey to enlightenment is made with a clear mind. We must be willing to let go of all of our beliefs and follow the path to enlightenment.
This is a path without struggles.
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