Abandoned Character
(he./him)
- Mar 24, 2023
- 255
Early morning musings, please take from it what you will. I am speaking to myself here.
As progress comes, so will attachment to that progress.
You may be more ecstatic than usual. You may be more talkative. You may have a feeling of "I finally am on a path forward. huzzah!"
Be weary of these feelings--they are the mirror opposite of the negative self-loathing ruminations that we would feel otherwise.
"We must learn to honor the power of our personality without identifying and being attached to it."
Do not identify to your success. That way, you will find it easier to not identify with your failures (and you will fail).
The student must not become enfatuated with their progress. We must remain vigilant, watching for our neurosis at every step.
In more concrete terms, when we take positive steps, it is important to not lose ourselves in the sensation of growth. There exists a mental space outside the bounds of progress that is useful to nurture. We are nurturing our bodies, minds, and personalities such that they may be more conducive to a more fulfilling experience of this existence. Along this line of thinking are ideas that are not new to the recovery section: You are not your thoughts, you are not your personality, you are not your body.
Personally, this is where I find openness to the word "spirituality" to be beneficial. If your face curls at the word, perhaps your definition is too rigid. As Ram Dass says, "a spiritual framework gives you some leverage to change your personality more easily than if you were totally identified with it." For me, clarity began by first noticing the space that exists between my thoughts. To me, sprituality is the acknowledgement of the interdependence of all things. Spirituality is a means of leaving my ego behind and seeing what exists in its place.
If you feel receptive to what I say here, I encourage you to check out this brief talk Ram Dass gave on identification with personality in 1982 (LINK). 30 minutes. SKIP TO 12 MINUTES 45 SECONDS the guy talking in the beginning is not relevant here and a little annoying haha
Cheers.
As progress comes, so will attachment to that progress.
You may be more ecstatic than usual. You may be more talkative. You may have a feeling of "I finally am on a path forward. huzzah!"
Be weary of these feelings--they are the mirror opposite of the negative self-loathing ruminations that we would feel otherwise.
"We must learn to honor the power of our personality without identifying and being attached to it."
Do not identify to your success. That way, you will find it easier to not identify with your failures (and you will fail).
The student must not become enfatuated with their progress. We must remain vigilant, watching for our neurosis at every step.
In more concrete terms, when we take positive steps, it is important to not lose ourselves in the sensation of growth. There exists a mental space outside the bounds of progress that is useful to nurture. We are nurturing our bodies, minds, and personalities such that they may be more conducive to a more fulfilling experience of this existence. Along this line of thinking are ideas that are not new to the recovery section: You are not your thoughts, you are not your personality, you are not your body.
Personally, this is where I find openness to the word "spirituality" to be beneficial. If your face curls at the word, perhaps your definition is too rigid. As Ram Dass says, "a spiritual framework gives you some leverage to change your personality more easily than if you were totally identified with it." For me, clarity began by first noticing the space that exists between my thoughts. To me, sprituality is the acknowledgement of the interdependence of all things. Spirituality is a means of leaving my ego behind and seeing what exists in its place.
If you feel receptive to what I say here, I encourage you to check out this brief talk Ram Dass gave on identification with personality in 1982 (LINK). 30 minutes. SKIP TO 12 MINUTES 45 SECONDS the guy talking in the beginning is not relevant here and a little annoying haha
Cheers.
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