To help with the ‘spring cleaning’ of old beliefs and heal into consciousness, we need to let go of all the beliefs that make up our many personalities. In a sense, we have as many personalities as we have beliefs: about ourselves, about others, and the world. Letting go of your beliefs and personalities is like peeling away the many layers of an onion. It takes time and effort.
We often try to repress and avoid looking at parts of ourselves that we believe are “wrong,” or parts that we don’t like and judge as bad. By denying one part of your personality, you create another personality and become more artificial, and by trying to avoid your shadow side you become more inauthentic and hypocritical.
Instead of trying to substitute one belief with another, an easy way to see and let go of your personalities and belief patterns is to focus your attention on your inner silence instead. If it is difficult at first to recognize your inner silence, try to focus on the outer silence. Sit in your room where you are not disturbed, or find a beautiful place in nature and focus your attention on the silence that’s around you. Once you have a sense of the outer silence, bring your attention inside and focus on your inner silence.
As you focus on your inner silence, try to look at yourself from outside and see the way you normally behave when you act with a particular personality. Watch the kind of thoughts you think when you are in that personality. When you see your belief and behavior pattern clearly, tell yourself that you are not that belief or that personality, then let it go. When you keep focusing your attention on your inner silence, disidentification with that personality and belief will happen effortlessly. Even if you find this exercise difficult at first, don’t quit right away. If you persevere, your connection to your inner silence and your understanding of yourself will increase, and you will find it to be greatly rewarding.
You can also try the above exercise of focusing your attention on your inner silence when you experience pain. Most of your physical and emotional pain is a result of your suppressed thoughts and emotions. If you try to fix your pain with medication alone, you may be only suppressing its cause and sooner or later the pain may resurface with even greater intensity.
When you feel physical or emotional pain, instead of focusing your attention on the pain, focus it on your inner silence. When focusing on the inner silence, pay attention to what kind of thoughts and emotions are surfacing and let them go while you remain a witness to them. By letting go of the thoughts and emotions you normally hold on to and focusing on your inner silence, you allow your energy to move freely; this also relieves your body of the accumulated stress caused by the suppressed thoughts and emotions.
Experience more ways of moving beyond thoughts into inner peace, presence, and consciousness in the Now by participating in one of Eliza Mada Dalian’s upcoming Intensives, Online Courses, or Workshops. http://madadalian.com/calender-of-events.php