Authenticity and Openness
What does it mean to be authentic? If you are talking about a Gucci handbag, you mean that it was manufactured by Gucci and is not a knockoff. In the same light, we can talk about an individual being authentic. Is that person who he or she really is? That may seem like a dumb question to ask, but it is the right question. This needs to be asked by everyone walking the planet. Who am I, really? Are you this body that seemingly moves through life seeing other bodies and having random experiences? This is how it appears to the vast majority of people. The eyes see something they think is real, something which must exist because it is seen. And that person thinks that everyone else sees the same thing, because it is real and exists, right? There is no questioning of the self like "is everyone really seeing the same thing I am?" There is no questioning like "am I really seeing this, or do I just think I see this, and I believe it really exists because the eyes have confirmed its existence?"
Authentic means being open, open to change your perspective, your beliefs, your perceptions, your mind about who you are and what you see. When you are open, you are surrendering. It is not complicated. You don't have to pull off some major spiritual feat or do a certain practice every day, eat a certain way, pray a certain way, etc. You just have to be open. The mistake most people make is that they get set in their beliefs that God is this or that or they have to do something a certain way to proceed further. This may be true even if they have made a spiritual leap (which was created by them being open!), because they think they "have arrived". There is a ladder of remembrance to God, and we are each on different step on that ladder. Now this is only a ladder of remembrance, for we have never left God. But this ladder of remembrance has an infinite number of steps to it, for there is no endpoint into deepening into Him. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you have reached the top, for you will no longer be open, and then you will stall your progress. Don't judge where you think you are on the ladder, because judgment will also shut down your openness. Don't judge where you think others are on the ladder, because comparison will shut down your openness. We think we have to do something in this process to help us along, where in reality that hinders us. Your contribution needs to be only that you are open and willing. The rest is done for you, because there is really nothing that has to be done. You are already that which you seek. We don't need to add but rather we need to take away that which is false (like our beliefs). This reveals who we really are and brings us back into a state of authenticity.
Authentic means being open, open to change your perspective, your beliefs, your perceptions, your mind about who you are and what you see. When you are open, you are surrendering. It is not complicated. You don't have to pull off some major spiritual feat or do a certain practice every day, eat a certain way, pray a certain way, etc. You just have to be open. The mistake most people make is that they get set in their beliefs that God is this or that or they have to do something a certain way to proceed further. This may be true even if they have made a spiritual leap (which was created by them being open!), because they think they "have arrived". There is a ladder of remembrance to God, and we are each on different step on that ladder. Now this is only a ladder of remembrance, for we have never left God. But this ladder of remembrance has an infinite number of steps to it, for there is no endpoint into deepening into Him. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you have reached the top, for you will no longer be open, and then you will stall your progress. Don't judge where you think you are on the ladder, because judgment will also shut down your openness. Don't judge where you think others are on the ladder, because comparison will shut down your openness. We think we have to do something in this process to help us along, where in reality that hinders us. Your contribution needs to be only that you are open and willing. The rest is done for you, because there is really nothing that has to be done. You are already that which you seek. We don't need to add but rather we need to take away that which is false (like our beliefs). This reveals who we really are and brings us back into a state of authenticity.
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