Self Realization (Chapter 3)
Chapter Three
Self Realization
The quotation I remember most, other than scripture, is from Shakespeare:
"To thine own self be true and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
I have been fascinated by the work of the lapidary artist. The most common of stones become a thing of beauty when polished. When shaped by skillful hands, both gems and rocks of more abundant guantity gain symetry and beauty. Some stones are used for sculpturing. I have heard that a famous artist and sculpture, Michelangelo, saw the work within the stone and just chipped away what didn't belong. He said, "The idea is there, locked inside, All we have to do is remove the excess stone."
William James, a renoun psychologist, made the observation that the greatest discovery of his generation was theat people can change their circumstances by changing their attitude of mind. He also said, "If you want a virtue, act as if you already have it."
Napolian Hill, in his book "Think and Grow Rich", siad, "Anything the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve." Our local school board had bumper stickers made that read:
BELIEVE - ACHIEVE - SUCCEED
No one of us is a carbon copy of another. We are all unique. We have many and varied talents. Many of them go unnoticed and undiscovered until something awakens in us the desire to try. For most of us this chapter is unfinished. As we gain self-awareness and reassurance our final inventory should include a nmber of recently tried, new, or rediscovered talents.
Historical archeologists and geologists have been able to recreate history through careful research and study. Many of the tradeships that sailed to America beginning in the early 16th century made detailed accounts of the cargo within their hold. These ship's manifests along with the captains' logbooks, have given much information about the period. Each of us has a manifest of what cargo lies within ourselves. Unconciously we have selected and stored countless treasures of varying degrees of wealth.
Life's experiences are a blend of our doing and a recording of our surroundings. Certain moments of reflection, recollection, and awareness come back to us as we stimulate or are stimulated in our thought processes. Writing a personal journal, reading the scriptures and other thought provoking literature, dreams and prayertime reflections. reflective conversation, and pondering following stressful, exciting or depressing experiences help us find an increased awareness of our inner self. These are times to enrich ourselves and others by recording our reflections. They can be organized into a more refined form later. Having been recorded, they become conscious reminders of newly discovered unconscious truths. Poetry, music, great literature, paintings, sculpture, photography, etc. are often the result of special moments being recorded. Suppose prophets and playwrights had failed to record their works. Except for those whose followers were faithful scribes, their work would be lost to future generations. Your own uniqueness may give the world a gift. If no one, except yourself, is enriched by your efforts, you have at least improved your own perspective and performance.
There is a story of a man who fell from the top of a cliff and caught hold of a protruding branch part way down. He was in quite a predicament. There was no way up and no safe way down. He prayed fervently for help and heard a voice say, "Let go, my son."
Most of us come to crossroads that place us in a situation that requires acts of extreme faith. Often the choice is between holding on or letting go. Letting go of fears allows faith to enter and lift us up. Letting go without sufficient faith can pull us down to destruction. When help comes from above it provides a lifeline. we must learn to recognize it. Clinging to eternal truth will lift us up.
Sometimes it is necessary to be lowered to safety. With our feet firmly planted on the ground we can begin the climb back to the pinnacle with a careful approach, avoiding the obstacles we confronted earlier. We can use our experience to overcome similar obstaclea with the ease of the experienced climber. As life is made up of bumps and bruises, the shame is not so much in falling down. It comes with failure to get up and try again.
I remember a particular winter day when the road was snowpacked and I was a young teenager walking home. A neighbor driving a dump truck, which had a bumper at my chest height, stopped and asked if I wanted to hold on. I did and rode home with my shoes skiing along on the snowpacked ice. Letting go would have been easy at first, but, as we picked up speed, I realized I had chosen my course to the final destination.
Letting go without something else to hold on to can be like quitting your job before you have found another. it may seem like a good idea at the time due to emotions and limited thinking, but is poor judgement. We must realize that the law of cause and effect continues the motion when we let go. If we cannot control the inertias, we are due for a spill.
Our value in society is sometimes stated as our net worth. In financial value it is "what we've got". In true value it is what we've caught!
Most children are ready to try most anything and everything imaginable. If guided, they soon discover what is acceptable and what isn't.
Certain illnesses are described as the childhood diseases. Having caught one of these, the body learns from the experience and immunizes against a repeat attack. Our body learned from the experience. Even when immunized by modern medicine, our body learns from the experiences of the past. Teaching children habits of cleanliness and good manners can help prevent both viruses and vices.
Character is learned by example. If we show ourselves to be infected, we may be avoided. If we are unconcious of our vices or agressive in our wrongful acts, we can do irrepairable harm. Jesus said of those who offend children: "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were drowned...". Why? Because we can infect unto death - the death of the enthusiasm, zest, and optimism of life's greatest adventures. Jesus said that unless we become as little children we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. (see Matthew 18:3)
Ask a young child who he iis and he might reply, "I'm me!" Do we know who we are? Have we become so infected or afflicted that we fail to see the child within us? If so, then we need to seek the divine physician, take our medicine, and recover our eternal youth.
Perhaps the greatest virtue of childhood is innocence. Innocence is cleanliness, openness, and latent obedience. Becoming like a child is returning to that responsive state. It requires unloading prejudices, overcoming sin, accepting faith, and letting love in.
When we become so calloused that we guard against every intrusion, expecting hurt, and when doubt replaces faith, we have immunized ourselves against the very thing we need to catch. To catch hold of faith is to grasp the golden ring of opportunity.
We must first want to,
then we must try,
patiently striving, to identify
what we are growing
and pull out the weeds.
What's left in our garden
are godly seeds.
Watered and nurtured
loved and caressed,
their fruits are virtues.
Our growth, happiness.
Planted within each of us is that moral awareness called conscience. Whether we are aware of it or not, it has been planted inside us. As we respond to its swelling nature and allow it to grow within us, we become progressively able to make correct choices. Our truly best decisions are made when we seek the divine perspective. Then we can act in good conscience.
A popular t.v'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">t.v. show of the '60's was entitled, "The Millionaire". A wealthy philantropist would select certain people and "bless" them with a million dollars. The stories were told of how it affected their lives. Today, in many states, the Lottery is making a rare few of its victims rich in material wealth and leaving some morally bankrupt. Certainly the enabling effect of instant wealth has the power to displace faith, virtue, persistance, and hard work and can be a curse rather than a blessing. The greatest wealth we can possess is knowledge (or as spiritually defined, wisdom). To know we are growing onward and upward; that our faith is toward virtue, truth, and eternal promise is of far greater value than a million bucks.
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