The Profound Secret Inside of You

The one thing that appears to be missing to a large degree from most of our lives is an awareness of the deeper self. How is it that the members of the one species given this apparent consciousness and self-awareness flit from one idea or task to another throughout the day like bees pollinating snapdragons, driven by useless compulsions, without one deep thought ever coming to mind?

The answer is that it is the default nature of the mind to jump from one task to another, focusing only in time of emergency, and then fixating only on the urgent issue at hand. At a certain level, it's the most efficient use of our intellectual resources. We efficiently classify knowledge, forming patterns that serve us well in most cases by providing default responses to known scenarios. The problem is that in relying so much on default thought patterns, we utilize our intellect barely more than the minimum degree necessary to avoid catastrophe, rarely stepping back to pay attention to the larger story, to the unseen forces and macro patterns operating behind the scenes, including everything that makes you who you are and causes you to do the things you do. Most people live their entire without ever even noticing, never mind addressing, this flaw of ours.

To become increasingly conscious of the authentic self, it's necessary to gradually calm this monkey mind, as it is known in Eastern philosophies. Americans have traditionally been industrious but we work harder than ever in today's economy (those with jobs, at least), and we have all the kids' activities to manage. A lot is expected of us and we're so consumed by the desire to satisfy those expectations that we dedicate almost no time to meditation and contemplation. It's a shame because consciously or not, one of our highest goals is the search for meaning, yet the way we spin so furiously in these hamster wheels we pretty much preclude the possibility of ever realizing that the answer was within ourselves all along.

Learn to meditate. You know how the solution to a complex problem escapes you no matter how diligently you pursue it, and then you go to sleep only to wake up with an answer or have it hit you in the shower? Or how you can't remember a name or a word until you leave it for a while, and then it comes on its own? On a larger scale we need to do a reset from time to time and stop the insanity. The mind is usually so busy that there's no other way to get it to break out of its patterns.

Aside from providing some calmness, a reality-based perspective on life, and a more philosophical approach to stress, quiet contemplation can reveal a layered yet miraculously developed you, deep inside, that you might hardly have been aware of during "the fog of war," when you were distracted by daily goings-on. I won't discuss meditation techniques in this post, and different approaches work for different people, but look into it on your own. Google "how to meditate" or get a book recommended by someone you respect. Progress is slow. It's something you can do for a lifetime without coming to full realization. But after a lifetime, you will certainly have come much closer to full actualization than you would have without it. Think of it as exercise for the soul, like a lifetime of jogging for the spirit. It's not easy, but reaching the end of your days without having met the most important person in your life would be simply tragic.