Day one.
The concept of the mirror.
Most of us go through life looking for external solutions to our problems,
Assuming that the issue lies somewhere out there.
We think if only our lives aligned with our expectations,
Happiness and freedom would follow.
This illusion leads us down a path of frustration and in some cases misery.
The real problem may not be your life.
It may not be about earning enough money or being single for too long or lacking the perfect home or not having a beach-ready body.
These are not the root causes of the issue.
The true problem is you.
And this is tough to accept as no one wants to hear that they are the source of their own challenge.
But there's good news too.
If you are the problem,
Then logically speaking,
You are also the solution.
To be specific,
The issue lies in how you've been conditioned to think about yourself.
Society has shaped you to create an ideal image of yourself in your mind.
Your life's efforts have been a struggle to match up to this illusory image of perfection.
But perfection is unattainable,
Life being as it is.
There's always a divide between who you are as in your self-concept and who you wish to be yourself as ideal.
The wider this gap,
The more you may suffer.
Often others may punish you for not meeting their standards or their society standards.
However,
Most of the time,
You are your own critic.
You've inflicted terrible punishment on yourself for the crime of not being perfect.
Your mind has turned against itself in some cases,
Becoming both judge and victim.
You have continuously abused and rejected yourself at times for failing to live up to an externally imposed standard of perfection.
And this results in a lifelong feeling of lack and inadequacy,
Manifesting in depression in worst cases,
Or anxiety,
Or anger,
Or addictions,
And various self-destructive behaviors.
You may have been imprisoned,
Not outwardly,
But inwardly.
Metaphorically speaking,
The bars confining you are in your mind,
The result of negative thinking,
A bad dream.
If you've suffered enough,
It's time to wake up.
And the way to do that is through knowledge.
Awakening means recognizing that you're dreaming,
Understanding that your long-held beliefs are illusions of thought,
Damaging and self-destructive.
This insight helps to pave the way for a new vision of your life,
One of freedom.
There's an old Toltec story about a shaman who came to be known as Smoky Mirror.
One day,
This man sees another man standing in front of a big mirror.
And this isn't a normal mirror.
It's cloudy and hard to see through,
Like a mirror covered in smoke.
As the first man looks into the Smoky Mirror,
He sees that it reflects everything in the world.
But because of the smoke,
Everything looks a bit distorted and not quite right.
When he looks at his reflection,
He realizes something big.
Just like the Smoky Mirror,
He and everyone else are like mirrors themselves.
They reflect everything around them,
Like our friends,
Our family,
Nature,
And everything we experience.
But sometimes,
Our mirrors,
If you will,
Can be a bit smoky too,
Making things seem distorted to us.
This means that sometimes our thoughts,
Our beliefs,
Or feelings can cloud our view of the world,
Like smoke on a mirror.
We might misunderstand things or see them in a negative way.
But the man in the story understands that beneath all this smoke,
Beneath all of these misunderstandings,
The world and everything in it is actually beautiful and,
In a way,
Perfect just the way it is.
So the main lesson of the Smoky Mirror story is about seeing past our own biases and past our own misunderstandings.
It teaches that if we clear away the smoke from our mirrors,
If we try to see things clearly without our usual judgments,
We can find a lot of beauty and joy in the world,
And a lot of beauty and joy,
More importantly,
Within ourselves.
So let's sum this up plainly.
Recognizing our distorted self-perception influenced by societal standards and internal criticism is critical.
By understanding this,
We can begin to see the world and ourselves a little more clearly,
Leading to a more fulfilling life with less anxiety.
Congratulations!
We've reached the end of this session,
And in the next session,
We will explore the concept of domestication,
The process by which individuals are shaped by the beliefs,
Values,
And norms of their society from a very young age.
Remember,
The more you think on these concepts,
The faster and easier they will provide wisdom for you.
Thanks again for allowing me to serve you,
And as always,
Remember,
It's a great day to be alive,
And I'll see you in the next session.
Thank you for listening.
Take care,
Good luck,
And bye for now.
