Learning is the Art of Remembering - Part 2 - How to Forget

“Reality is merely an illusion,
albeit a very persistent one.”
Albert Einstein

Isn’t it neat that with all the effort that goes into teaching us as young children how to ‘fit in’ to society we actually manage to overlay our deepest inner knowing with a whole lots of ‘must do’ things?

Consider once again the Ontological model of ‘Being’ below:-

From a ‘being’ perspective our current patterns and habits have momentum. That is, if you are in the habit of doing something what that means is you have a learned and habitual response to certain stimuli. Take one of the worst examples – cigarettes – if you have ever been a smoker or know a smoker then you will see that the completion of a meal usually stimulates the desperate need for a cigarette. Likewise the partaking of alcohol.

The absence of a cigarette after such an event causes distress because of the way our brains are structured. Put simply – neurons that fire together wire together. And the more often you fire the neurons together the more strongly they are wired together. So the more often you have cigarettes with alcohol the more strongly you will desire it.

You might say ‘Yes but there are chemicals involved here’ – to which I would say – ‘Good point, go read ‘Molecules of Emotion’ by Candace Pert and you will see that ALL emotions have a corresponding chemical signature.

So, back to habits and momentum – if you are used to doing something and/or feeling a certain way bottom line is you are hooked on the associated chemicals.

Refer to the model and you will see that your way of ‘being’ has a momentum. You cycle round and round the Past/Present loop not only because of the chemicals but also because it is safe and known – no risk.

Your Past captures you in a fixed view of the world.

To remember who you really are you need to find a way of taking the blinkers off and opening up to different perspectives.

Break out of the Past/Present loop.

Thankfully over the ages people have realised the need to do this and hence there are some really good tools you can use:-

1. Vipassana meditation – break the samsaric loops by finding peace and equanimity in the moment – stop reacting to sensations.
2. Not doing – always a good and paradoxic technique – literally don’t do what you would usually do – break the patterns by consciously doing something out of your ordinary ways.
3. Drumming – rhythmic drumming breaks down the brain wave patterns and pulls you out of a left brain rational view of the world – to hopefully a state where you ‘can’t think’.
4. Dancing – same as drumming – you’re seeking a state where you can’t ‘think’ and can’t stay in your rational mind and keep trying to ‘work it all out’.
5. Journey work – getting a bit more out there now but journey work using drumming or other sacred instruments is a great way to open the mind to other possibilities.

All of these tools need to be used and practiced with to get some really good benefit.

If you remember that what you are trying to do is to free your mind from a fixed view of the world and fixed ways of doing things then slowly but surely with perseverance you begin to open your mind up to a new reality.

Incorporating any one of these practices into your daily or weekly routines is of great benefit to connecting with who you really are. Letting go of the need to be right is the next step on the journey.