"It is important to reflect on the good things we have experienced in our lives. That’s how goodness gets strengthened, by remembering it." - Sharon Gannon
When you think of this life, you'd realize there are so many moments of joy, times when you've laughed over something silly, felt excited over the prospect of something new, woke up smiling because you look forward to the day ahead. It helps to remember the goodness in this life, so we are not drowned out by the bad days. Remember so deeply the joy and the goodness in your life, that it is planted into your soul, that you do not have to remember the particular incident to access the joy. Let us remember what (or who) once brought us happiness, and let us give gratitude to that situation (or person). Even if it no longer is, it once gave us joy, and the memory of it can continue to give us joy. May we cherish that moment, that experience, that good in our lives. However briefly we held this gift in our hands, there was good in it, and by remembering it, we are keeping that goodness alive.
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How do you see the world? Do you think of others as intrinsically good, or do you think people always have a hidden agenda and are out to get you? How do you see yourself? Do you feel at the deepest levels of your belief that you are good? Or are there feelings of guilt that are preventing you from seeing that you are good and kind and compassionate?
How we see others gives us an important insight about how we see ourselves. It is often that we project out into the world what we believe about ourselves. If we think of ourselves as good, we have hope in people. If we think that no matter what good deeds we do, we are still bad people, then we see others as fatally flawed. In yogic teachings, we are told that we are Holy. The Upanishads teach the same idea again and again, while using different discourses or mahavakyas to teach it. So ham. Aham brahmasmi. Tat twam asi. It is a teaching we must be able to get if we are ever to reach the state of yoga. From ancient teachings passed on to us, we are told: I Am That (That which is immortal and everlasting). I Am Brahman (I Am One with the Absolute Reality). That Thou Art (Identification with the Absolute, 'That'). In this wholeness, in this reality, in this immortality, remember and believe in your goodness. Let's think about a hypothetical situation for a moment. Suppose you lose all of your memory today, when you wake up tomorrow, do you think you will be the same person? Will you choose the same job, spend time with the same people, pursue the same interests? Would you make the same decisions, hold on to the same anger or fear or resentment, create the same situations for yourself? When I asked several groups of yoga students this question, the answers mostly ranged from believing they will at least be partly different to significantly different people. Of about 80 students across several classes, only 1 person thought they would be exactly the same.
That means most of us believe that who we are now is shaped by the memories we have. How we were raised formed our belief systems. Our past experiences determined whether we are generally trusting or mildly suspicious or intensely cynical of life. What happened to us before influenced our life choices, our state of mind, our inclinations towards certain things and situations. That is to say, if we were shown kindness, then we look at this world and see a lot of good and trust and hope. If we were hurt or betrayed, we may hold on to that experience and be continuously fearful and defensive. Are we then doomed by our memories, or is there another choice? We can choose goodness-- to remember the good, to see the good, to be guided by the good. It does not mean we deny any negative realities of the past. We cannot tell people who have been abused or betrayed or undermined in some way to pretend those things never happened. We should not be pretending no bad thing has ever happened to us. It is not about denial. Rather, it is about choosing what among these memories and experiences we want to take with us to define us and our realities and our perspectives. If we were hurt in the past, as we all have been, what good would it do to keep the identity of the victim, of the one who was hurt? Can we choose to remember goodness, that we are more than this hurt, more than this pain, more than this betrayal? All of us have that capacity to transform who we are. If we lost all of our memory, except one good memory, what will that one memory be? How would having a single good memory and none of the bad change us? Will we find more freedom? Will we be happier? Will there be a release of a heavy burden? Will there be an enthusiasm about this life we are given? We do not have to wait for extreme circumstances to make positive changes in our lives. We do not have to literally lose our memories in order to cherish the good ones. We can choose to remember goodness. And then the person that we are becomes that person with that one good memory guiding our lives. If we find liberation at the thought of this, then what is stopping us from experiencing this total freedom? |
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