Traveler: It is said, that in order for the spiritual traveler to reach their goal, first, they must unlearn much of what they have been taught. What is meant by this?
Master: Each person’s consciousness is a mosaic; a series of shifting patterns. Some thoughts arise from our biologic nature, directed at physical survival and caring for the body. Other thoughts are tied to emotions, and expressing our self in the world. Still others arise from specific operating principles, beliefs, and rules of conduct prevalent in our society. These codes and unwritten rules are necessary to maintain social order and daily life. In many ways, these thoughts form the fabric of each day and allow for orderly social patterns.
Similarly, each religion, school and formal institution has a set of operating principles which are transferred and in some cases indoctrinated into members; these being necessary for the survival of that institution.
In helping the spiritual traveler reach what lies beyond ordinary consciousness and thought; that is, the assumptions and values we have about living in our society and what is required to effectively do this; these patterns must be examined and suspended, so they can be temporarily disarmed and pushed aside for a time. Sometimes, this pushing aside occurs within specific exercises, other times, through personal examination and introspection; this being done so that the spiritual traveler can go within and explore deeper and more lasting levels to consciousness
Also, many times, our daily thoughts are filled with notions and ideas about things that are simply not true and have been proliferated by a specific societal entity so they can prosper as the expense of another.
Traveler: Master, I am getting confused; can you provide example of thoughts or ideas that are proliferated by an institution that may not be true?
Master: The task of the spiritual traveler is to become master of their own thoughts, so they can use and operate another level of consciousness that lies beyond ordinary thought. Many times the things we think about, which are effected in the main by strong institutions and leaders within our society, serve as snares or chains that hold us back from doing what we need or wish to do.
For example, consider the notion of infallibility; that someone in power is always correct and acting in our best interest. This may or it may not be true. Similarly, each society sets-up a series of written and unwritten rules or operating procedures which become expectations and codes of conduct. Sometimes these are useful and sometimes they are not. How about the ideal of nationality; our country is better than yours . . . Or the notion our sports team is better than yours; is it better simply because it is ours?
Another example, consider the child who grows up wishing to become a musician and is not interested in math, science, or working at an ordinary job. In school, they will be told it is best that they learn what everyone else is learning, because these identified skills are necessary for everyday life. Yet, the child’s heart is not in this, wishing only to pursue the dream of making beautiful music.
Or take the example of a religious body that maintains that their way of worship is the only way; yet, as a believer looks about there are hundreds of religious forms and after questioning is told- you have to have faith that our way is best.
Because of the inherent conflict in each of these situations, due to the relative importance of specific ideals, this makes it very difficult for the spiritual traveler to go beyond these surface levels of consciousness. The traveler is in conflict, and until this clash of emotions is resolved, very little inner development can occur. As discussed earlier, everyday thoughts have to be pushed aside, or stilled for a time, so something else operating on a deeper level may come forward.
Please understand, the conflicts identified above as examples, depending upon the traveler, may take years or moments to resolve; the point of our discussion is to help the traveler learn to monitor their thoughts, examine assumptions, and identify when indoctrination is operating so they can go deeper- temporarily suspending specific ideals. Before you can learn to still potentially troubling thoughts, first you must conceive of it as a possibility. This process, we term, unlearning.
We all have to live in society; we are social beings. Our way is to teach travelers how to access what lies beyond everyday levels of consciousness. To do this effectively, travelers must understand how their thoughts operate, when they are based upon false assumptions, and when they are consciously engineered and manipulated by others. This learning is not intended to change thought patterns or replace them with others, but to allow the higher consciousness to come forward.
-SB
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