We frequently say the only thing that keeps us from recognizing our essence is the belief in the thought that what we will be after awakening is fundamentally different than what we are at this very moment. The only thing standing between our present experience and freedom from identification is the belief in the thought there is a someone who is not already free.
It sounds so simple, and in some ways, disappointing. We hold on to a story that we will wake up to an essence that is much greater than what we currently believe we are—a higher self waiting to be tapped into. We think we are our bodies, minds, thoughts, beliefs. We have accepted delusional chains of identity out of habit without checking to see if these chains are real. We want there to be a ‘someone’ who gets it, becomes enlightened with the story of our body, mind, thoughts, and beliefs intact—just more perfect with perfect lives to match. Someone floating through life on good karma, because we are good spiritual warriors, who say the right prayers, worship the right god, and faithfully do pujas while carrying the right malas/rosaries.
How do we stop believing the thoughts of identity with our body, our beliefs, and our roles in life? It cannot be done by force of will or effort. All it takes to stop believing these thoughts is to simply look for ourselves to see if the thoughts are true. Do our beliefs define who we are? Does what we are existentially change if we change a belief? How about our roles in life?
Simply stop and look. Without referring to a body, thoughts, beliefs, roles in life, etc., what are we? Look to what does not change. Notice what is looking. Notice what sees the thoughts, feels the sensations, experiences the emotions, relates to the manifesting environment.
If we want to stop believing our thoughts, we should start with the most fundamental thought. Look to who or what sees the thinking or the believing of thoughts. From that nonlocalized, universal awareness, notice that thoughts come and go. They are not what we essentially are. We identify with our thoughts even though we can see them come and go and have no control over them. We cannot control what thought will next appear in that awareness. It is like going to a movie theater and believing we are the next image to appear on the screen. Once our identity is unhooked from the belief in the thought, “I am an individual essentially separate from the universe and defined by a body, thoughts, etc.,” true liberation is experienced. This is not a philosophical debate. It is a direct expression of the Truth available immediately.
As Awareness, all the individual identifications that comprise the delusional chains of bondage disappear as a shadow before light.
In Truth, Bec and Steve