Tara Brach - 2015-03-18 - Freedom from Fear-Based Beliefs

Episode Date: March 21, 2015

2015-03-18 - Freedom from Fear-Based Beliefs - This talk looks at how we get imprisoned in fear based, limiting beliefs. We then explore key meditative steps that help release these veils and reveal the fullness and goodness of our essential being.

The following talk is given by Tara Brock, meditation teacher, psychologist, and author. Greetings and Namaste. I'd like to begin this class with a story written by Bruce Rogers. When he was very young, he waved his arms, gnashed the teeth of his massive jaws, and tromped around the house so that the dishes trembled in the china cabinet. Oh, for goodness sake, as mother said, you're not a dime. dinosaur, you're a human being. And since he was not a dinosaur, he thought for a time he might be a pirate. Seriously, his father said at some point, what do you want to be? A fireman then, or a policeman,

or a soldier, some kind of hero? But in high school, they gave him tests and told him he would be very good with numbers. Perhaps he'd like to be a math teacher. That was respectable, or a tax accountant. He could make a lot of money doing that. It seemed a good idea to make money, what with falling in love than thinking about raising a family. So he was a tax accountant, even though he sometimes regretted that it made him feel, well, small. And he felt even smaller

when he was no longer a tax accountant but a retired tax accountant. And still worse, a retired tax accountant who forgot things. He forgot to take the garbage to the curb. He forgot to take his pills, forgot to turn his hearing aid back on. Every day it seemed he had forgotten more things, important things, like which of his children

lived in San Francisco, in which of his children were married or divorced. Then one day, when he was out for a walk by the lake, he forgot what his mother had told him. He forgot that he was not a dinosaur. He stood blinking his dinosaur eyes in the bright sunlight, feeling the familiar warmth on his dinosaur skin, watching dragonflies flitting among the horse tails at the water's edge. So I began with that, because I find it, a beautiful and poignant story, really shining a light a bit on how we have these views of ourselves, these ideas about who we should be and what we need to do in living a life that end up very much shaping our life experience and not always in an enriching way. I often refer to a palliative caregiver, Bonnie Ware, who was with thousands of people as they were dying and wrote an essay about the major regrets, and she said there were five major regrets of the dying.

I wanted to read them to you. The first is, I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not that. the life others expected of me. The second was, I wish I didn't work so hard. The third was, I wish I had the courage to express my feelings. The next was I wish I'd prioritize loving relationships. And then the last, I wish I'd let myself be happier, which is interesting, that happiness is a choice and that we in some way are addicted to patterns. that keep us from being happy. So we stay in these beliefs about who we are

and who we're supposed to be that really day by day we go through the day living in kind of that story and like the guy who wanted to be and felt that he was a dinosaur and then got told he was something smaller and different, we keep ourselves really from what's possible. We live in something smaller.

We keep ourselves in beliefs that diminish ourselves or create separation from others, beliefs that we have to meet certain expectations, that we need to speed along and accomplish this, that, and the other thing, or we need to defend ourselves or hide parts of ourselves. The deepest suffering, and this is Kabir describes it as this daily sense of failure, is that we lose sight of the light of awareness. We lose sight of a quality of beingness, this basic essence of heart and loving presence

that's really what we are. We lose sight of that, and that translates into some way a daily sense of failure. Like we're not quite living up to something, but what we're not realizing is we're cutting ourselves, off from the something that's already here. So what I'd like to explore in this talk are the key elements on a meditative path that help us to wake up out of a prison of thoughts, of limiting beliefs. And how do we identify the beliefs that are really keeping us from being all we can be,

and how do we wake up out of that? It feels like a really key question. It seems like the starting place is to really look at how does it happen that pretty universally we end up in identified as an egoic and limited self. Like how does that happen? So we'll look together at that because it's really part of the evolutionary design that we emerge and we sense a sense of separateness and then we develop all these strategies. to protect our vulnerable self and expand and enhance our self. And we live with some sense of being threatened, that things are not okay. And then we use our thoughts and our beliefs to try to navigate all that.

So beliefs play a very central role for a human being in trying, to kind of have a roadmap to help us work with a difficult situation Okay, so let's look first at some of the universal elements of conditioning that that create the prison that we're kind of waking up out of. And the first one to mention that many of you are familiar with is that we have what's called a negativity bias, that it's part of our survival apparatus to pay way more attention to what's wrong than what we're.

than what's pleasurable or good. It's like we're, you know, Teflon for pleasure and Velcro for problems. They stick, you know. So if you have a thousand experiences with a dog, and most of them are great, and at one time the dog bites you, that's the one you're going to remember, right? So that's one thing, is this negativity bias

that in some way has our nervous system anticipating that something's wrong or something's going to, go wrong. Okay? That's a familiar one? Yeah. Okay. The second universal conditioning, these are the forces that really create the beliefs that have become very core and limit our sense of who we are. The second one is that we sort for difference. This is, you know, emerging in a tribal mentality. It's part of survival to be able to immediately detect who's not part of the tribe because that is dangerous. When they're not part of the tribe, you have to defend yourself and protect yourself.

So we sort for that and we also sort for difference within ourselves, the parts of ourselves that don't fit the criteria of being a good member of the tribe. Does that make sense? So we're sorting for difference. The third thing to mention is genetic, that we have genetic conditioning towards different degrees of anxiety about four days ago in the New York Times, there was a really interesting article about a genetic mutation about 30% of us have. And that mutation leads to having more anandamide, A-N-A-N-A-D-A-A-Mide.

And Anand is the Sanskrit word for bliss, which is really interesting that they name this chemical after the Sanskrit word for bliss, because it reduces anxiety. And about 30% of us have that. And the other 70% of us, we've got more anxiety. So it's not, we take it so personally, but we're very genetically programmed to have a negativity bias, to sort for difference and threats, to have a certain degree of anxiety wired into our body. And then we also have all the conditioning from our culture

and through the mouthpieces of our culture, our families, that tell us how to be. And as soon as we're told how to be, that means everything that doesn't fit the how to be is bad. It's not part of the tribe. So we have these standards that we're supposed to meet that will ensure more safety, more belonging.

Here's Dave Berry. He describes being puny all his life, and he describes the pain that creates for a male. He says, I totally missed the boat to people. puberty island. I was just little hairless dweeb with a voice in the Pinocchio range. One day my mom bless her heart out of talk with me. She told me that girls were not only interested in looks that the qualities that really mattered were brains and a sense of humor. That little talk

was long ago, but it taught me an invaluable life lesson I've never forgotten. Moms lie when they have to. He describes the ongoing suffering of not meeting the much-heismos standards. her males this way. He says, men, you know how when your wife can't open a pickle jar? She gives it to you and you're supposed to smile in that manly patronizing way as you effortlessly twist it open? That's not what happens in our house. What happens is after a grim struggle lasting several minutes, I wind up lying on the kitchen floor, exhausted and whimpering, while the pickle jar, unopened, laughs and flirts boldly with my wife. So it's an interesting inquiry for each of us. you know, what were the messages we got?

And, you know, the messages come in the brand of you have to have a certain kind of intelligence. And in this culture, there's a certain kind of left-brain intelligence that only a percentage have. There's all different kinds, but that's the one that's valued. And I always think about children, and it really brings a lot of sadness to me of how many of them don't fit a certain narrow standard and then grow up feeling that they're not intelligent. And there's a lot of us that know that one. So there's intelligence that you're supposed to have body shape that most people don't have.

So we grow up with that one. And then there's everything about personality and finances and other things that create status. And then we, as in all cultures, there's the dominant culture, the very core of that is white and male, but there's a dominant culture that then has an added whole range of standards

that means that if you're not of a particular race or if you don't have a certain gender orientation, or sexual orientation, a certain level of capacity according to the dominant culture, you don't belong. That's difference. That's less than.

I read you a little essay. Am I gorgeous, my child ass, drawing the word out like a pulled taffy? Yes, I say you are. The pink and teal dress is probably made of highly flammable material, some chemist's approximation of pollen satin. Pudgy fingers decorated with pink polish, trace the sequins on the bodice. I love this. A giant pair of bubble gum pink wings flap slowly, little feet dance and sparkly red slippers.

I'm just like a real princess. Yes, I say you are. thick blonde hair, blue eyes, rosy cheeks, flawless skin. This child is the American epitome of beauty. This child, my son. He's four years old and prefers to wear dresses. Maybe it's a phase, maybe not. Even as I wonder how I produce such an angelic-looking creature,

I wish he would put on some pants and go back to playing with toy tractors, not because it matters to me. It doesn't. But because I'm already hearing in my head, the name calling he will face in kindergarten. Many adults seem bit disturbed by the dresses. Strangers utter awkward apologies

when they realize he's not female. This culture wants little boys to dream only of baseball, trucks, and trains. This culture has no room for little boys who want to be gorgeous. He opens up a parasol a neighbor gave him and opens it

jointly over his shoulder. Am I beautiful, he asks? I sweep him into my arms and plant a kiss on his cheek. Always. It's very deep and very pervasive within our nervous system and psyche, the messages that were given on how to be and how not to be. I'd like to invite you to reflect for a moment. It'll help you to close your eyes for this reflection. It says you pause. Bring yourself back in time to being a young child and you might sense a place you were in your house with a caretaker, probably a parent, mother, father, or both, maybe dinner table or maybe a

TV room or it may be outside somewhere or the kitchen. But just a common place that you might have spent time with a parent as a young child. Just imagine your parents, whichever one are both there and one of them are both looking at you. And just take the look in their eyes and sense how does this person want me to be? What's the message? What are the qualities of personhood that were communicated? This is good. Be like this.

And also ask yourself, what was the message about how not to be? What did I internalize about that? I shouldn't be what? Fill in the blanks. And this is a reflection you can continue on your own because it can take some time, but you might wonder, do you meet the internalized standards? How much you sense you're the way you were wanted to be,

that the message gave you to be? This is what forms the internalized good self. And where aren't you in sync with the messages? That's the supposedly labeled the bad self. and because good cells and bad cells are very conditional, for many of us where we do at times feel like we're going along with the standard, doing well, it's very tentative. There's a sense that if we stop pushing or stop being vigilant, it'll all fall apart.

This is something you can continue to look at as you begin to sense, what are the beliefs about who I'm supposed to be and how much I'm that way? open your eyes if you'd like so there's within us internalized messages we all have them sometimes we're not caught by them and other times we're very much living inside the sense of

falling short in some way or how much we have to work to be okay there's a classic story of a new student that comes to the monastery and he's very unfired to become all that he can be and get enlightened and he says to the the abbot, you know, how long will it take me? And the abbot says, 10 years. He says,

what if I work really, really hard? And the abbot says, 20 years. And he said, wait a minute, wait a minute. You said 10 years at first. For you, 30 years. But you get the idea. So these are some of the currents that shape our beliefs. There's a negativity bias, assorting for difference. these messages that we get on how we're supposed to be. And then they shape a kind of belief that really has to do with how we are moving through the world, that narrative we have. And I'm just going to name some of the beliefs that end up being the most painful

that we can come up with when we don't feel like we're meeting the standards. I need to work hard for approval. or love. The sense that in order to have someone love me, I have to work really hard. Or I'm not worthy of being loved. They don't deserve to be happy. I need to be different. I have to be more fill in the blanks.

I'm invisible to others. I'm special, smarter, better than others. It's dangerous to appear weak or needy. I can't trust anyone not to take advantage of me. advantage of me. I'm fundamentally flawed. I'm a failure. I'm putting these out there just because it is an ongoing inquiry to start sensing, where is some stickiness? Where do we have within us some belief that's really keeping us from being who we can be? I mean, in a little bit, I'm going to have you do more of a reflection on this. But for now, just to say that the

beliefs are actually well-intended. It's almost like if I can see what's wrong, then I can try to fix it, and I won't be sideswiped or surprised when something bad happens. I'll be ready. Rumi calls us the prison of fear-thinking when these beliefs have control over us. And the reason it's a prison is because if you think about what happens, if you have a core belief of if people really knew me they wouldn't love me okay let's say that's a belief then that creates a feeling of fear and then we in different we do different things to present a certain kind of self and cover up another self or compete or prove ourselves and other take on certain behaviors to be

different and then those behaviors end up making us tighter creating a kind of personality, it's very tight. Gandhi put it this way. He said, your beliefs create your thoughts, your thoughts create your actions, your actions create your character, and your character creates your destiny. So you see we create what's in the East is called the karma of it,

that if we have these core beliefs and we don't examine them and we don't loosen our identification with them, they actually create our life, our experience of life. So stepping out of prison, first step is to be able to start shining a light on the beliefs. What's the fear thinking? What are the beliefs that are actually limiting my sense of who I am? What are they? So I thought I'd share a bit personally as part of this, my own process of working with core beliefs.

and the first time it was very, very in a conscious way, I was living in an ashram in a spiritual community in my early 20s, and I started tracking my sense of anxiety and self-consciousness and so on. And I realized that I had this basic core belief that I can't trust myself, that in some way I felt this self-centeredness that I was actually a pretendness, and pretenders a word I've come into contact with much more recently. So this was all coming up in me, as I mentioned, I was in an ashram, and we had a women's group in the ashram.

So my first way of trying to shine a light on these core beliefs of something's wrong, which is that that's what it was, was to confess it in this women's group. And that's what I did. I said something like, you know, I teach a lot of classes and I do a lot of yoga, and it looks like I'm a helpful and caring person. And that may be true in some ways, but it's also a front because what I'm covering up, this is what I don't want anyone to see,

is how selfish I am and how judgmental and how I'm competing and always trying to look great, that that matters to me. What I want to say to you is that I put that out there and something in me must have dissociated because I have no idea what anybody said, I'm sure they were pleasant and kind, But I was so exposed and raw and filled with shame that I must have dissociated because all I remember is going back to my room getting into futile position and just sobbing and sobbing, you know, just totally full of the sense of my own bad personhood.

And at some point, you know, I got in touch with that part of the cluster of the belief was, I'm bad and therefore I'll be rejected and therefore I'll be separate from everyone. And then there was this grieving that started happening and I realized, wow, what a painful way to go through life. Like how many life moments have I lost, moments I could have been enjoying a sunset or connecting with someone or just feeling just alive to the sense of something's wrong, I'm going to be found out and rejected? So then the grieving turned to a real sense of compassion. Like, oh, how sad. I got really quiet. And as I mentioned, I was in an ashram and I had a little altar. So I sat really still.

You know, after you grieved, there's a very tender quietness. And I started witnessing my life through a different kind of vantage point. And I started seeing that self-character that was so busy trying to prove her trying to make up for the deficit of being not good. And all the different ways, how hard I was trying, and how hard I was, you know, whether it was competing or just very caught up in myself, how hard I was working to be okay.

And I realized that that self-character wasn't really me. It was like ripples on the surface of a really vast sea, and yes, there was a patterning going on, but it wasn't who I really was. That recognition was the beginning of years and years of unraveling and waking up from that kind of a core belief of something's wrong. That it wasn't me in that story. And this is what I found is true for all of us. We have stories about the who we are that's not the truth of who we are.

You remember that expression real, like it feels true and it has real feelings, but it's not the essence of who we are, it's just a story, it's a character and a story. So one of my strategies has been when I find myself in a tight place and I realize, oh, there's some identification with that little character who's not doing it right or something's wrong, is I'll say to myself, is this not okay self really who I have? am, this is really who I am? Just that inquiry loosens it up. Developmentally, it's completely natural that we get caught in this kind of ego identity and with the sense of something's wrong and we need to be different. It's really part of our development, both

individually and as a species, to feel threatened, feel not okay, be defensive. And it's also developmentally our potential, each one of you, to start shining a light on the beliefs that in any way make you less than who you really are. That is part of our evolution to become a witness to those beliefs and not buy into them. I'd say that one of the most obvious signs in an evolutionary way that we're stepping out of that prison, of beliefs is when we're willing to challenge and look at and question our own beliefs. And that's really what open-mindedness means, that we're not so hooked on our opinion, including our opinion of what's wrong with us, that we actually are willing, we have the

courage to say, well, wait a minute, what's really true? And includes our will, it's like you're willing to have your mind changed. That is an evolutionary sign of development. And I think of the story of the Dalai Lama because this has always struck me how during a visit to San Francisco he was asked his position on homosexuality some years ago now.

And he said, our religion does not approve of it. And he said it very firmly. Well, as you can imagine, the San Francisco's gay community didn't like that. And so they requested that he meet with a delegation from the community. And so the next day they had a long, long meeting.

It's kind of disappeared for quite a while. And after it was over, the Dalai Lama publicly announced the he had changed his position on homosexuality. He said, I was wrong. I was speaking in accordance with traditional Buddhist teachings, but I now believe they are misguided. To me, that's a signature of an awakening heart mind.

that we can believe something and then go, wait a minute, it's just a belief. Is it really a useful, helpful reflection of this world? Or does it keep us small and create separation? Does that make sense? So we all have these veils that block us from realizing the fullness of what we are. And these veils also block us from seeing each other. And so when we start sensing that, that's suffering. When we start sensing, oh, in a way we're in a cocoon, we're not really living our fullness.

And then there starts to be this yearning to discover the freedom and truth of who we are, to really investigate and to release the veils. Elizabeth Lesser describes this. She says, my prayer to God every day, remove the veils, so I might see what is really happening here and not be intoxicated by my stories and my fear. Remove the veils so I might see what is really happening here and not be intoxicated by my stories and my fear. So I'd like to now kind of look at the actual steps that each of us can take

if we want to wake up and step out of that prison. And Rumi puts it this way. He says, why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Move outside the tangle of fear thinking. Flow down and down and always widening rings of being. Okay, so stepping out of the prison of fear. So what I'm going to do is give you an example of one person and how they worked with their beliefs

that I think really shows some of the basic steps really clearly. And some of you will recognize in this that Byron Cady has done some magnificent work with working with Belize, and you'll see this parallel, some of what she teaches. So this was a good number of years ago, a client I was working with when I was still seeing people. And he was a successful doctor. he taught in medical schools, he presented at conferences, he was published.

All the outward, I mean, talking about dominant culture, all the outward effects of being very secure in who he was and very, his personality, personable, outgoing, confident. And he found that especially when he was busier and had demands and he was about to travel and about to do presentations or whatever, that his anxiety level was really, really high, so much that he had acid reflux, digestive problems, and so on, wanted to work with the anxiety.

So we got together, you got in touch with his anxiety, and there was really a distinctive place of fear, and so I had him get in touch with it, and then I asked a question I often ask, once we get in touch with the suffering, the fear. or the shame or whatever it is. And the question is, what are you believing? What is that place in you believing?

If you look through the eyes of the fear, how is it looking at the world? And so for him, when I asked that, his belief was, the fear was, at some point I'm going to fail. It's like it's all rigged up and working well okay right now, but it can't keep going, it's going to crash. Now I'm sharing this particular story because I really can relate and I run into many, many people can relate to it,

that even when things are going, okay, there's a sense that around the corner, something's going to go wrong. So this is, for him, it had the sense if he won't be prepared, he'll fall short, he'll fail, he'll let everybody down, he'll lose everybody's respect and approval, everything he spent all these years building up, crash.

So I asked him another question, that's, again, a question that's really valuable. I said, so you feel like, so he said basically, fundamentally, there's something wrong with me and it's going to be exposed. And I said, is that true? And is it really true that you're going to fail and that it's going to crash and that the world's going to see that you're not who they thought you were? And he said something that many of us feel is a part of me knows that that's just a belief, but it feels true. The anxiety feels real. So I asked him to get in touch with the real pain around it.

I said, when you're really in it, when you're really believing that things are going to crash, that you're going to fail, that there's some core inadequacy, what's it like? And he describes a clutch in his gut and a sinking feeling, and then he got in touch with shame. He said that it's like shame. It's like something really bad is going to be exposed.

And then he said, you know, this is familiar. I actually feel it a lot. So, just again, the steps. You know, what are you believing? Is it true? Okay, get in touch with the place that really is feeling it's true. What's the suffering light when you're believing it? What's the suffering light?

And when you got in touch with that, I asked him, so what do you wish for yourself? Because when we start opening really to how much pain goes with those beliefs, then we start, there's some part of us that goes, oh, I'm so sorry I'm living with that. Here's what I wish. And for him, the wish was, he said, to trust that I'm okay. So I had him take a moment just to feel as hard and to sense that that was his wish for himself. And you can sense what your wish for yourself might be. You know, what is it when you're really caught? He said, to trust that I'm okay. And then I

asked him another question, because this is, again, this is inquiry. Who would you be? if you didn't believe you were going to fail, who would you be? Who would you be if you didn't believe something was wrong with you? You can try that on. If you really didn't believe that anymore, who would you be? This is one of the most powerful questions, but you have to first really be in touch with yourself. For him, the words that came out were buoyant, spacious.

He said, I don't know who I'd be. There's just light, aliveness, and ease. So his practice was, when anxiety or fear arose, to sense what he was believing, okay, there's that belief, something's wrong, I'm going to fail, sense of suffering, like really contact what's underneath it, hold it with compassion, and then ask him, ask himself, who would I be?

Well, we got together about a month later. He'd been practicing this a lot. And he told me how the practice had morphed, and I want to share with you his particular version, because each one of you, as you start bringing attention to core beliefs, he's going to find your own way of working with it. And when he would get in touch with the fear and the belief and feel that the pain of it and want to trust himself, he said he would just hand it over. He'd say, okay, all this feeling of I'm going to fail, I'm just handing it over.

to some larger, more compassionate presence. So that was his practice. He'd get in touch with the belief, and in some way he'd say, okay, here's the belief, here's the feelings, I'm handing it over. And in that handing it over, he would feel immediate contact with that buoyancy.

He had an image I'll share with you before I go on, and that when he was caught in the belief of him, going to fail and something's wrong, it was like there was this tornado of wind in his body, and when he handed it over, it was like he was handing it over to this vast, sky-like space that was carrying and open and then it could just disperse. Again, it's just one way you can work with beliefs.

We're going to experiment a little right now and just walk through what I just described. I'm going to go over the steps again but let you pick something you'd like to pay attention to. So again, sit back, close your eyes, and if you want to make the most of this little guided meditation, and it's a very powerful one. Begin by sensing your aspiration. I talked before about just this longing to lift the veils, not be caught inside the prison of our own fear thinking. So feel in your own language with your own heart

your aspiration for this. And then let your attention go to a situation or place where you get regularly stuck with a real strong emotional reaction, emotional suffering, be fear or shame. You might sense a situation that brings it up. It might be with another person, conflict, feeling of hurt, rejection, something's going to go wrong, might be around work as it was for this doctor. This is the first step of awakening from the prison of fear thinking,

is to notice where the suffering is. And then just to ask yourself and ask that place that's most stuck where you're most stuck, what's that place believing? What's its view of the world? What are you believing about yourself? Maybe what you're believing about how others relate to you,

about what's wrong or going to go wrong? Are you believing you're in some way flawed, unworthy, not lovable, that you're going to fail, that you're going to lose another's approval or love? What are you believing? And just ask yourself that question that I pose, the doctor, is this true? Is the belief true? And whatever you notice is fine.

Just to pose the question gives you a little bit more witnessing and a little more space, a little more recognition. It's a belief. This is a belief. This is what Rumi called the fear thinking, the prison of fear thinking. Is it true? And then just sense when you're really believing it, when you're really believing this, like in the thick of believing it,

what's it like? What is it that your body and heart and mind feel when you're really caught in believing it? And this is the time to exaggerate a little, just to get a feeling for this is a suffering that's there. Behind the lines are very overtly, a lot of the time when you're stuck. What's it like?

And can you sense what you wish for yourself? Can you in some way offer some compassion towards the suffering? And you might do it. There's so many different ways, but you might offer a whisper of kind words, or you might gently bring your hand to your heart and just let the touch itself, which is so radical and powerful,

just that gesture, of that you're caring about this suffering. Or you might, as this doctor did, sense that you're offering the belief and the suffering into something larger, just hand it over so that the small self is not holding on to it so much. Experiment right now, offering compassion, handing it over, and ask yourself, who would I be if I didn't believe this? would I be if I didn't believe this belief, this fear-based belief.

Just let go into whatever you notice. Who are you when you're not caught in that belief? Just open and really let yourself rest in whatever you sense. From this presence, it's here, I'd like to offer the words of the poet Hafeus. by little you will turn into stars. Little by little you will turn into stars. Even then, my dear, you will only be a crawling infant still skinning your knees on God. Little by little, you will turn into the whole sweet amorous universe in heat on a wild spring night and become so free in a wonderful secret and pure love that flows from a conscious, one-pointed, infinite need for you.

for light. Even then, my dear, the beloved will have fulfilled just a fraction, just a fraction of a promise he wrote on your heart. When your soul begins to ever bloom and laugh and spin in eternal ecstasy, oh little by little you will turn into God. You can keep your eyes close if you like or open them. Just say a few words in closing that that beautiful phrase, this daily sense of failure that really refers to living in a reality that's less than who we are. Like the man who felt the dinosaur-ness, but it took him through his whole life that he had to be something else. They didn't get to live from that. The possibility for each of us is to let the suffering that we feel in our lives be a

an invitation to shine a light, to investigate, to have the courage to really look and sense, what are we believing that's keeping us small? Can we hold that with compassion? And can we begin to sense into who we are when we're not living inside that belief? So we'll close together, again, just taking a moment to pause, a moment to feel the life that's right here, feel your breath, your body, to feel that simple longing, that the veils be removed so that we can realize and live from the light and love that's our essence. And our prayer for all beings, that all beings everywhere experience that same waking up from the prison of fear beliefs, that same discovery.

of this love and awareness that's really our shared essence. Namaste and blessings. The teaching you have received has been freely offered. If you'd like to make a donation, learn more about my schedule, or programs offered by the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, please visit tarabrock.com and our IMCW.org.