Inner
Work
For the week of: June 17, 2002
Non-Identifying
Our ego creates
itself through the process of identification, also known as clinging,
attachment, and selfing. You can recognize a moment of identification by the
fact that your world unintentionally collapses onto one item, to which you hold
tightly. Take a pleasant daydream, like winning the lottery or meeting your
soul-mate. As soon as the daydream starts it grabs you, co-opting you into
becoming the daydream for that moment. Similarly with fear and anxiety: the
unexpected big dog barks at you, or you wake up with an unexplained lump on your
head. You recoil in instant fear. You recoil into identification with your
reaction to the situation. You leave the present for scenarios of impending
doom.
We identify with
anger. An impolite person crosses you. You wax indignant, inwardly seething,
perhaps outwardly reacting. "I" am angry. This is my anger.
Our ability to
identify, to create a separate self or ego, knows no bounds. We identify with
the weather, with our body, with what others think of us, with a sports team,
with possessions,
with politicians, with the news, with our job, with anything that can grab us. Our ego mechanisms use such things to construct and define ourselves, a false and ultimately empty definition.
This week notice moments of identification and work at letting them go.
This is not me. This is anger. This is anxiety. This is a daydream, a thought.
This is fear. This is how anger feels. This is not my anger; it is anger
passing through me. This daydream is just a passing thought sequence. This is
not who I am. Watch these sticky items pass through your mind/heart, see that
they are not who you are, and let them go their way. Remain the seer and the
seeing, not the seen.
|