We often read and share quotes. They can condense profound truth and be great pointers. Or they simply don’t.
Usually the more well known or successful a person, the more relevant his / her quote seems. And then people think: ‘Oh wow, that’s so inspirational and profound. I should really take that to heart, because then I can achieve the same / be as them’. People then bombard social media with those quote, have them on their fridges or repeat them like mantras.
Though very often quotes are not substantial and full of (wrong) concepts. Concepts are assumptions about ‘how reality is’. They can be aligned or not with reality. Suffering is the consequence of living from within a concept, never from living in reality. By repeating or brainwashing those quotes into us without really thinking them through before, we then add to the bag of concepts already unconsciously clouding our view. The result: less instead more sanity.
Inspired by Robert Fritz, who I’m training with, I want to explore the assumptions contained in popular quotes.
To separate reality and truth from concept.
Let’s start with
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi
At first glance it seems quite innocent, beautifully spiritual and indicates pure divine devotion. Though let’s look at what it actually implies and how that relates to reality.
There are a couple of assumptions in here, such as:
- There is a ‘you’ to find.
- There is a generalised ‘best’ way for all to find themselves.
- You need others to find yourself.
You might directly agree that this statement is not quite true, as
- you could find yourself alone or without having served others.
- The ‘best’ way might be indeed very different for each individual.
- Also you could serve others, but possibly not find yourself.
The most interesting is the implied motivation.
The motivation to help others seems not to be genuine, unconditional, altruistic and independent of what it might bring you, but rather selfish: You are encouraged to do it, because you get a reward in return = to find yourself.
Possibly (or hopefully?) he is pointing at, that if you lose yourself by not making it about yourself (your ego/identity) and altruistically help others, you could find yourself (beyond the ego/identity). Which seems a more true statement to me. But if you would do that, would you not already have found you?
you could even ask, if there is a need to find yourself?
Who is the ‘one’ who wants to find ‘you’? Is it the identity/ego – another concept – itself? And what would finding yourself enable? Quite probably waking up from the identification with the concept, realising that ‘you’ are not the ‘concept of you’ and that there is no conceptual way to define who you truly are in reality. That realization leading to then simply live, be and express yourself truthfully and freely in reality.
So why not do that directly? ❤️
And then help others if you want.
Structural Consulting Session
Examining what is real and what is concept is also what my Structural Consulting sessions are about. Struggle or conflict can be related to being identified with a (wrong) concept and prevent you from creating what you love. Recognising a concept as a concept can lead to an immediate change in perspective and understanding. Enabling true liberation as you are now more aligned with reality. You can find more info here. They don’t require any precontext, other than a willingness to live in reality.
If above resonates with you and you want to explore working together, let’s connect and schedule a Structural Consulting session! To uncover what is true and what isn’t
