Hello,
Dear one.
Do you ever feel a pressure to be a particular way in order to be liked?
If you're on social media,
Do you ever have that sense of,
Okay,
How many likes have I gotten?
Are people commenting on my post?
What does it mean about me if they're not?
Do you ever feel like you're trying to keep up with how to fit in,
But it's always changing,
Right?
Like,
It doesn't just last.
Do you ever try to fit yourself into a certain box in an attempt to get feedback from outside you,
But you're okay?
None of this is bad or wrong.
All of it's natural,
Normal,
Understandable.
But it sure can create a lot of suffering,
Can't it?
This process of putting on different masks.
This meditation is about being freed from the masks.
It's about dropping the mask of identity.
Come into any position that's comfortable for you.
And as I stop talking,
Once I'm done with the guided part,
Hang out in quiet for as long as you'd like.
I specifically said,
In quiet,
Because there might be noise around you,
But I'm referring to the quiet of your own being.
You don't have to have a perfectly silent environment in order to meditate.
In order to drop the mask of identity.
Begin by feeling your body become heavy.
Our body can feel heavier as we release muscles that have been habitually clenched.
When we're running around putting different masks on,
Our bodies tighten in the process.
But see this body tension now as just another overlay,
Another mask that you can set aside,
Freeing the body to relax.
When I'm trying to be someone in order to be liked,
My body's tight.
I have a mask on.
I really believe,
No,
This is me.
I want people to see this is me.
The good one,
Or the right one,
Or the cool one.
But is that who you really are?
Those masks aren't who I really am and they aren't who you really are.
Who are you under these masks?
Who are you when you're not trying to be cool,
Trying to be liked,
Trying to be seen and heard?
Who are you when you're not constantly referencing the feedback you're getting from outside you?
Did they like it or not like it?
Did they approve or not approve?
Do they see me or not see me?
Am I in?
Am I out?
According to them.
There's absolutely nothing bad or wrong about these different masks of identity.
They can really come in handy.
It can be a play.
What matters is you being able to be in choice about your own costume.
So maybe for this moment I want to put on the part of me who.
.
.
Fill in the blank.
If I'm going to a party,
For example,
I might want to put on the part of me that loves people.
But feel how different that mask is than the mask of I need to focus all my attention on trying to get people to like me.
I need to put on the mask of I'm cool.
Or I'm not even affected by what people think.
Which is so rarely true,
Isn't it?
We're social creatures.
We care.
Again,
That's natural.
But what if you got to choose?
Not only what mask you wish to put on,
But whether you want to put one on at all.
We all have so many different parts of us.
It's beautiful.
It's natural.
Like a gem that is multifaceted.
Or like a magical shape that can take countless forms.
We have these different parts of us that might take shape or arise in a given moment.
If I'm attending church with my family,
Naturally,
It's likely that a certain part of me might come forward in that experience.
Notice the difference of that versus I have to put a particular mask on in order to what?
Be liked?
Be approved of?
Be seen?
Meditation gives us the opportunity to let go of the masks that bind us while honoring the beautiful and multifaceted nature of our being,
Which can take so many different shapes.
So again,
What's there under the mask?
Feel into this now.
When you're not trying.
When you're not longing,
Seeking,
Striving.
What's left?
When we're really busy trying to find the right mask for whatever moment we're in,
The mask that'll fit the circumstance.
We miss out on the peace of what's under the mask or what's beyond the mask.
We're actually missing out on the peace of our own being.
According to the conditioned mind,
The mind that's shaped by society,
Family,
Culture,
School,
We have to put on a mask in order to survive.
But what if that weren't true?
According to the conditioned mind,
If you get the right mask on,
You'll finally get fill-in-the-blank.
Accepted,
Seen,
Heard,
Loved.
But approval or love that's based on a mask is conditional.
Again,
That doesn't mean it's bad or wrong.
It just means that it'll be temporary.
When you're resting as yourself under all the masks,
The love is unconditional.
It's a love that's always here,
Always now,
And has nothing to do with your performance your costume,
Your outfit.
Give yourself permission to settle in to what's under the masks.
Know this as yourself.
And then,
If you choose to put a mask on,
If you choose to play,
Let yourself shine through whatever you choose.
The point is,
Under these masks of identity,
You are free.
And being free,
You could choose a mask,
You could not choose a mask,
But certainly there's no obligation to put a mask on.
There's no pressure.
You are free.
You don't have to shield yourself.
You don't have to hide yourself.
You don't have to contort yourself.
You can be you.
You get to have the peace of your own being.
