Translate

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

LEAVING BEHIND YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY

.
.
Having a personal history keeps us from now.
This is a radical idea perhaps, but I am asking
you to consider the possibility of totally
eradicating your personal history from your
consciousness and simply living completely
in the present moment.
.
.
The first thing that might pop into your mind,
as it did into mine when I began to consider this
possibility, is that it is impossible.  I do have
a memory, and it would be folly for me to pretend
that I am not the product of my past.
What I am asking you to develop is a "forgettery"
to go with your memory.
.
.
The point is that as a result of being a
product of your past, you are dancing to a tune
thrown at you by others.  In order to take the
step up toward your sacred quest, you must
toss out the idea that you are unable to take
those steps in the first place.
.
.
In Tales Of Power, Carlos Casteneda is
indoctrinated in the ways of the Nagual, the
spiritual master who lives in a world much
different than that of average people.
His teacher, don Juan, says to him,
"One day, I discovered I didn't need personal
 history, so, like drinking, I dropped it."
As Carlos contemplates this idea, he is told
that if he can learn to erase his personal history
he will be free of the encumbering thoughts
of others.
.
.
When people know our personal histories
they exert a certain amount of control over us.
They expect us to be something that we have
always been, or that we have been taught to be.
If we don't live up to their expectations they
become disillusioned about us.  Then we
take on the guilt of disappointing those who
have been such loyal sponsors of our lives.
.
However, there is a simple alternative
that can be put into practice in a moment of
satori, or instant awakening.  You can drop
your personal history right now.  Just drop it.
To put it quite simply, if you don't have a story,
you don't have to fit it.
.
.
Of all the enlightened beings I have met
and have read about, the one similar quality
they seem to possess is that they are not in any
way tied to their past.  They are free because
they don't rely on the way things used to be
to define their lives today.
.
From Your Sacred Self
by Wayne W. Dyer
.
.

No comments: