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Awareness and Denial
The main purpose of life is to increase our awareness.
As we do so, we discover what is most important in life – expressing
and living God’s Love. All creatures seek to evolve into greater awareness
of the Creator. This article will explore how to overcome denial so
our awareness can increase more rapidly.
There is a difference between denial and ignorance.
Ignorance means being unaware: “I don’t know that
I don’t know” is the popular Zen expression. Denial is more akin
to “I don’t know that I know.” This means either a conscious or unconscious
covering up of something. In psychology, conscious denial is known
as suppression and unconscious denial is known as repression.
If I am aware of something, but it's unpleasant
and I want to put it out of my mind, that's conscious denial. If
something exists and has power over me and I'm not aware of it, that's
unconscious denial. Unlike ignorance, in which an entity has not yet
evolved to a point where understanding is possible, unconscious denial
involves a decision, made unconsciously, to cover up something unpleasant
or disturbing. For example, most people are in unconscious denial that
their lives are being run by a power elite that has absolutely no compassion
or concern for their well-being. We may know that we need to take responsibility
for our lives, and that we create our own version of reality. But until
we get in touch with our denials, we are at the mercy of outside forces.
Once we become aware of our suppression and repression, we can take back
our power and be the creators we were destined to be.
If I become aware of something that has power
over me, I can consciously choose to withdraw my energy from it.
This may or may not be easy, particularly if I live in a system that
is run by that something. If that something controls the
money and resources of the system I live in, it may be especially difficult
not to energetically "buy in" to it. However, if I realize my sustenance
comes from Source and not from Visa or Mastercard, I am well on the
way to disengaging from that something. In the meantime, I can
choose to heal any judgments, resentments, anger, fear or vengeance
I feel toward that something.
For example, if I am angry at my government because
it is run by people with less intelligence than me, I can first become
aware of my feelings and stay with them to the point of understanding
them. Then I can choose to answer to a higher form of government (namely,
Universal Principles). I can then try to reconcile Universal Principles
with earthly government and make choices that reflect love and service
instead of anger and revolt.
The expression “by denying them we give them power”
means that I have separated myself from them (the power elite or so-called
"dark forces"), and separation always breeds more conflict and division,
thereby lowering my power level. The lower my personal power, the more
I am influenced by so-called "dark forces."
This is, as always, a question of awareness. Let’s
once again review the meaning of "unconscious denial." "Unconscious
denial" is "not being conscious of denying something." But it goes
deeper than that. If I am a multidimensional being and have some awareness
of my many dimensions, but I choose to focus primarily on one or two
levels of being, I will not be aware of any denials operating within
any of the other levels. This is not ignorance, particularly if I am aware
these other levels exist and have issues. Our first priority needs to
be self-examination. We need to see that outer conditions are a reflection
of what is happening in our consciousness. We need to be brutally honest
with ourselves. If we have an emotional reaction to something we see in
the world, then we know we have “bought into” the belief systems behind
that appearance.
Our souls are always creating situations in our lives
that force us to look at our denials. If we have a fear of being attacked,
for instance, we might create some sort of outer violence that forces
us to look at the fear. The trick is to heal our denials before they
manifest as unpleasant experiences. We can look for the subtle (and
not so subtle) signs that we have an issue to be resolved. We can ask
ourselves, “What takes me out of my center? What pushes my buttons?” Then
look for the belief system behind the upset and choose a tool or methodology
to change that belief system (such as the author's meditations).
Self-awareness is the best tool we have to rise above
our problems. Once we get in touch with an issue and see the mechanism
of thought and belief that created it, we can forgive ourselves and
replace the belief with something that serves our growth. For example,
if we have the belief, “I don’t deserve to be happy,” we can replace
it with “I am a beautiful child of God and I deserve all the best in life.”
Of course, we must do more than simply repeat affirmations. We must stay
present with our feelings, express what needs to be expressed, visualize
our good coming to us, know that it is already ours, and thank God for
our good. There are many good books on these subjects so I will not dwell
on how to change our thoughts and beliefs.
I’ll close by saying that bringing the dark corners of
our psyche into the bright floodlight of truth is the way of healing.
To sum up with Zen: If I "don't know that I don't know", that's ignorance.
If I "don't know that I know", that's unconscious denial. If I "know
that I don't know", that's humility, and if I "know that I know," that's
enlightenment.
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