132 Seeing What We Are Not

There can be no ultimate joy living a life that is false and deluded.  Therefore, let's see clearly what we are not.  Knowing what we are not, we can, also, more easily experience what we are.  Let's let go of what we are not and enjoy the radiant Peace, Love and Joy of who we are.  From contemplation number 2 on my website, www.williamecooper.wordpress.com

These podcasts are here to support your personal path of awakening whatever that might be. I feel they are most powerful when listened to in sequence from podcast one forward because each is built on the last. Though they, also, all stand on their own. If anything does not resonate, please disregard it and follow your heart. All my podcasts and website are free. Enjoy!

Though I am a psychotherapist, and these podcasts are offered to be spiritually helpful, they are not psychotherapy. If psychotherapy is ever needed, please reach out to a psychotherapist.

www.williamecooper.wordpress.com for more support. You may, especially, enjoy the short contemplations and the resource page which gives you some supportive material.

Transcript

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I know of a couple who mistakenly built their dream house on someone else's property. True story. They didn't get a survey. They lost most everything. Shocking and stressful. And so sadly, they got divorced over it. I also know of people who have built an inner and outer life based on what they are not. It's hard to be happy when one is mistakenly living a fiction. I know that was my early life as well. So let's look at what we are not, because we don't want to base our life on what we are not. Later, in another podcast, we can look at who we are. You might want to listen to some of my other podcasts. They're all free, and we go into this in great depth. But for now, let's not get caught blocking our happiness by somehow living the life of someone we are not. There's little energy flow or ultimate happiness by being so disconnected and dissociated from our true selves. I know to many that seems very strange and far-fetched, but let's consider this. If we didn't have a thought or an emotion for a moment, we would still be here. For instance, if you looked at a beautiful sunrise, perhaps you'd be in awe, and you wouldn't have thoughts. You would just feel awe, yet you'd still be there, no thoughts. If all your thoughts and emotions disappeared for a time, we'd still be there. Our personality is made of thoughts and emotions, so we're not our personality either. It's a construction that we've created to get the things that we don't think that we are. So, if we aren't our thoughts and we're not our emotions, we are what remains constant after all that we are not changes or goes away. Since our self-concept is only a concept, that is, it's only made of thoughts and emotions, we are not our self-concept or our personality. If we got Alzheimer's or amnesia or went through electroshock therapy or became or were a multiple personality, we would forget part or all of our old personal story, but we would still be there. We can't be what can disappear. By process of elimination, we are what is always here. Ironically, all that can disappear, thoughts and emotions, yes, they're useful tools, but they often create constructions that are so thick and obscuring that they cut us off from our true self. Our true self is always radiant, happiness, love and joy. Our personal self, our thoughts and memories and emotions often, or at least sometimes, construct grudges, anxieties, depressions, false imaginations, delusions, but we're none of these things. So what can we do? We can be in touch with who we are, our radiant self, which is always there. But how, if we're being obscured by our tensions, our thoughts, our emotions, well, be open to letting them go. Jesus talked about forgiveness. What is that? That's letting go. In all great religions, one of the core principles is let go. Let go that which troubles you. Let it go. You can start with something simple as you're going through the day and somebody irritates you. Rather than focus on it, practice, just let it flow through you. Don't grip onto it. Let it go. When you're still and old constructions that you've had and created from years gone by, old fears and memories and concerns, when they arise, be open to just letting them go. That's the foundation of many meditations, because when you sit still, you can't repress things. They come up and you can let them go. As you let these layers and layers and layers go, you become more transparent and you can see and experience your true self, radiant light, joy, and happiness. So that's good news. You can enjoy your true happy self and let the rest go. Since all these things that come up and trouble us are not us, we can let them go. I would invite you, if some of this is new or strange, to listen to some of my previous podcasts. And we'll go through this systematically and we'll go through how you can let go, what you can do, step by step by step. I trust you'll have a good week and I look forward to talking to you soon. Take care. Bye.