Born This Way

Today, in the Mandala, it spoke about the limitations religion and education place on our minds as children. Through our lives, starting with our parents, we learn to believe “we are not sufficient as we are” and we are not “whole”. Education and religion continue these falsehoods by generalizing the way children need to learn and grow in school and community.

We’re already born with the innate ability to create and learn and understand. Instead of nourishing this yearning for discovery, the outside world crushes it in schools and churches because that’s the way it was taught to previous generations. It crushes creativity and self-expression. Even when we have spiritual experiences, we do not recognize the potential we have within ourselves which has created the experience. We, instead, credit outside forces such as God, Buddha, or Muhammad.

To me, this is fascinating because I found myself doing a lot of the things the Mandala already suggested I do, such as following the moral compass within me instead of the religious morality we’re taught in churches or at home. If I learned morality from anywhere, it was based upon experiences I went through as a child being teased and bashed by other people for being “not good enough”. Immediately, I knew I never wanted anyone else to feel the way I did as a child, and I tried staying open and accepting towards others.

Education standards are set by the government. I understand that it’s hard for a teacher to create an entire lesson plan around each individual child. However, we’ve learned in various ways this is how it has to be done. For example, we talk about being visual or audial learners and what works best for each person. Eventually, we have to mold to the way material is presented for us to understand. Unfortunately, we’re not taught this until we grow older. This one-size-fits-all attitude towards education cripples our innate being’s growth.

As for religion, I can’t help reverting back to when Christianity first came to existence. Was religion really used as a way to keep people from realizing the true power within ourselves? If you look at the definition of Satanism, it isn’t the belief of Satan or worshipping Satan. Satanism also means “a form of worship which includes blasphemous or obscene parodies of Christian prayers, etc.” Blasphemy can be anything from “I don’t believe in God” to “I am God”. To believe we have the power to change our life and live it the way we want can be seen as blasphemous to Christian followers. After all, throughout history, we’re taught to follow the standards in the Bible in order for God to love us and allow us into Heaven. So, what happens when you decide to follow the moral compass instilled within you instead of the one planned out in the Bible?

It’s hard for me to write this without feeling like I’m bashing my friends and family, firm believers of the Bible and God. I’m not, honestly. Still, I’ve learned in my life that God hasn’t granted anything upon me. I’m the one who has given myself all the things I have, and I’m not going to knock that up to “God’s work” because it’s been a long, hard journey, as it should be for me to grow and learn. And if there is a God, I think he or she would want us to realize the potential and power we have within ourselves to control our lives and be happy.

The thing we need to do, the only way to be who it is we already are, is realizing we’re “born this way”. It isn’t something to be taught or learned. It simply has to be realized within ourselves.

Who am I?

Who am I?

This question burns in all of us constantly, practically on an everyday basis. As seniors graduating, we go off to college to go find ourselves. During emotional events, we take time out to do some soul-searching. I believe firmly on self-reflection because it allows us to look at ourselves in the present moment. However, I have to ask “What are we looking for?”

In the Mandala, you learn to live in the present moment. As a part of the learning process, people realize they are not who they believed themselves to be. For example, I am not simply a homosexual writer. I am a being, a person with life. With each moment, depending on the situation, I am something else. People might look at me and say I’m laidback. During most moments, I may be laidback. I do lose my temper, however, especially during times of duress. Can I be considered laidback then? No.

Emotions are fluid, like water, and they can be calm and gentle depending on the environment. However, place them in a hectic environment and you’ll get a typhoon of feelings. Everything feels up when it’s down, black when it’s white, so forth and so on.

We use emotions to reflect back on a moment in time, which is why it’s important to understand how they’re fluid. If we see ourselves as independent successful people but something happens to disprove this, we become threatened and broken down by the event. We lose our sense of purpose and reasoning. However, if we saw ourselves as beings full of possibilities and expectations, we wouldn’t become disgruntled by threats to our egos.

In writing this passage, I feel I may not explain it correctly. I highly suggest you look into the Mandala of Being by Dr. Richard Moss. It’s helped me become better in touch with myself this past year. I am ever-learning and growing, and I am okay with never being the same person all the time.

The Appreciation for the Mandala

I’ve started rereading the Mandala of Being today. Simply, in the introduction alone, I am bombarded with rich pieces of information needed to stay in the present moment. Thanks to understanding the principle behind the Mandala, I was able to see things in the text I hadn’t before during my first round of reading.

As children, we live constantly in the present, which is why experiences and feelings are powerful to us. At the time, we were inept at confronting pain and suffering or negative occurrences without positive influences on how to show us. Instead of staying in the moment, we allowed our minds to remove ourselves from the negative experiences, and we displaced ourselves from the present. The survival technique became engraved in our mindset, and we’ve lived this way ever since.

Do you feel unhappy with your life? Have you ever thought back to moments as a child and said to yourself “Why can’t I live like I did then?” You can, but you have to undo the processes set up by your brain to allow yourself to stay in the present moment. Unfortunately, this means the end to your self as you know it.

The Mandala threatens the very essence of people’s identities, especially those wanting to be successful. We have to ask ourselves “What is my definition of success?” Is it fortune or fame? For myself, I will be successful by simply doing what I love: writing. Thanks to the Internet, I publish my work onto a website or via Kindle for exposure. My voice can be heard by millions by popularizing it through social media and marketing. However, I’m concentrating on the feelings of wholeness I have after finishing a project, or maintaining one such as this blog. I stay in the present, and I let go of the future. I’m positive and I have dreams, but I don’t allow my mind to be consumed in these thoughts on events that may or may not come true.

This principle can be used for all avenues of life besides success: relationships, careers, education, health, and so on. It isn’t easy coming out of the fog, as I like to put it, and seeing life with new eyes. It can be scary and unnerving. It’s been so long since we’ve seen or experienced the world so vividly. However, I think it’s time to confront our fear and become a more complete person.