BARRIERS TO SELF-REALISATION
"Human sickness is so severe that few can bare to look at it, but those who do will become well." - Vernon Howard
The value of knowing one’s self can not be overstated. Knowing our true selves enables us to tell truth from deception, the lack of which is the main cause of the human condition. By coming to know our true selves, we are able to let go of attachments, illusions and the inaccurate perceptions of ourselves and our reality. The solution is simple, but not easy. These are the four main barriers keeping us from self-realisation:
The Five-Sense Illusion
Ego-Identification
The Prison of the Left Brain
Institutionalised Belief Systems
The Five-Sense Illusion
Without the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, we would not be able to experience life. But with them, we tend to think that all life worth experiencing can be interpreted by these five senses. We identify with our physical reality, not realising that there are millions of other expressions and manifestations of life and energy.
For example, we can not detect infrared and ultraviolet light frequencies, yet they clearly exist. Similarly we can’t hear dog whistles , but they are proven to make sounds.
So our five-sense perception does not conclusively determine whether or not something exists. When we think it does, we limit our understanding of the world we live in and what is actually possible. We cut ourselves off from imaginative potential.
Ego-Identification
Ego is what gives us our sense of self in the physical world. We build our ego through our likes and dislikes, culture, roles, religions, education, what we do, passions, talents, interests, etc.
Ego is a very useful means of self-preservation. If a tree branch breaks while you are walking through a forest, it is ego that helps you recognise the tree branch as an "other" that should be avoided so your physical body is not damaged. Ego protects us by enabling us to experience separation. It has a valid place in our experience.
The problem comes when we Ego-identify. This is the act of attaching to the Ego and believing it is our full identity. We begin playing a role or character, and believing that character is who we are. As our ego attachments take over, we lose touch with our true selves and lose the ability to self-govern in a healthy way.
Ego should not be allowed to control our decision making processes. It should not be allowed to govern how we think, what our emotional responses are, or determine the actions we take.
When we Ego-identify, our attachments become our identity, and they give us our self-worth. They become our measure of our own value. To lose them is to lose our value and self-worth. This is why we so desperately cling to the Ego-identity. Anything threatening ego-attachments threatens our perceived value.
Once we strip away everything that we are not, we are left with a blank slate and the inevitable question; "Who am I?"...to which the answer should be; "I don't know".
This is a good place to start on the journey to self-discovery.
The Prison of the left Brain
I discussed brain imbalance in detail in a previous article.
To recap; The left brain is the part of our brain responsible for linear and logic thought processes. It is necessary for our functioning in the physical world. It becomes a barrier when people start to live only in the left brain, with no connection to the right brain hemisphere. When this happens people become obsessed with material possessions, power and control.
Our right brain enables us to experience emotions, feelings and intuition. Without a healthy connection to the right brain hemisphere, our moral guidance system will deteriorate, and we develop a cultural that overvalues "me and mine", without any regard for other human beings, animals or the planet.
We become trapped in the left brain modality largely through what we take into ourselves. This includes food (the food we eat plays a big role in the way our brain operates and the functioning of the pineal gland), but for the most part it happens through the information we allow in.
What we learn when we are young through culture, religion, education and media all contributes to shaping our opinions, views and beliefs. This is why the ability to tell truth from deception is so important. Most of what we are being fed through these channels is a manipulation of the truth, or outright false and deceptive.
In simple terms; we become conditioned to think the way the system wants us to think. This is mind control on a mass scale, and it is being done on purpose.
Institutionalised Belief Systems
Systems become institutionalised when we believe in them without question. These belief systems become ingrained in our thought patterns and actions, and are perceived as necessary.
Finance, government, religion, education & pharma are some examples of institutionalised belief systems. These institutions strive to convince us that they must exist, and that without them there would be chaos and ruin.
People who subscribe to these belief systems are unable to imagine a world without them, so they can’t see how eliminating them may improve our condition. They see these systems as a part of life and "just the way things are". It forms part of their identity and ties in with ego-identification.
The truth about these institutions, why they exist and what their real purpose is, is much more sinister and has nothing to do with the betterment of humanity. This is something we will explore in depth in future articles.
Spiritual growth is not about what we need to do, believe or add to our lives. Rather it's a process of stripping away that which we are not, and that which is not truth. It is breaking the barriers, belief systems, and boxes of illusion and misperception that limit us and keep us from realising our true purpose and potential.
Written by Aliana
Copy editing by Eric Cram
Based on work by Mark Passio