“There is not anything I can give you that you have not already got.”
— Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Self-development - isn’t it a funny term? I don't use it a lot but somehow it popped out of my fingers this morning as I write.
You see, you are already developed.
A more accurate term would be self-remembering.
In this game of self-development or self-remembering you get the clarity to remember and to be who you really are more and more.
It’s a nice thing when you realise because there can be such a push to become like someone else.
To “evolve”. The pressure to be what you “should” be takes away all the fun.
If you already are developed, then it is a matter of slipping back into some familiar slippers and simply being that best version of you.
Any path worth its salt should be all about you being aware of those barriers to being the best version so in that awareness you can go beyond them. Ascend them, if you prefer.
However, in this game the one thing that will always get you is the belief that nothing has changed, that you’re still the same old person with the same old bad habits and bad reactions and badness in general.
Be careful when this thought comes up. I say “when” because it seems to come up for everyone.
This voice is not true, just because it’s there. Nothing is true in the mind, just an option.
It’s just this option is particularly tempting to believe.
The fact is that you are not the same person you once were. If you keep walking your path of remembering, you become that great version of yourself more and more.
In the remembering you lose the ability to compare. You are simply you more and more. You don’t realise how much you are you because there you are, right here, right now.
There is nothing else.
The ability to compare dies because you increasingly simply are, you have no interest in who you were or who you “should” be.
You see?
Perhaps not, but no matter - don’t listen to that voice.
When you hit a bump, it could be easy to look back and think nothing has changed. The fact is that everything has changed, you just can’t tell any more.
It’s a funny little quirk of this self-remembering lark - but the way out is to have that rare species around you known as “trusted others”.
“Trusted Others?”: People you can trust to give you feedback, advice, support. More valuable than gold, they are. But find them and use them.
Take their feedback more than your own mind’s. Because many times other people can see you clearer than you can see yourself.
Enjoy it all - don’t listen to that mad woman or mad man in your head.
Right. Gotta go!
Enjoy, enjoy each and every moment, alrighty? Do you promise?
Go well,
Arjuna
PS.
So I’m part of a collation of writings that is coming out really soon – 1 December.
If you’re interested in a more spiritual aspect to the inner journey, this book is a collection of emails from the Ishaya monks to our teacher, detailing the exploration of the present moment, extra-ordinary states of awareness, and a life lived from here.
It’s called: “Dear Teacher... Letters From Modern-Day Monks”,
And here’s the link so you can check it out and pre-order, if the mood takes you so:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dear-Teacher-Letters-Modern-Day-Monks-ebook/dp/B0CM2FPNP4