These thick layers of thinking—of unshakable belief that what is being perceived through our limited perceptions, thoughts, and emotions is all there is—that this is the reality of things, of what and who we are.
It’s like we’ve unconsciously signed a contract that what the mind believes to be true is undeniably true. Therefore, we must bind ourselves to it.
When was this contract made? When did we buy into it?
In the early seconds of this life experience—birth, in this dimension—we were wondering, starting with that strange thing called air as it slipped into our lungs, and how we reacted to it in horror. We stared in awe at whatever crossed over our innocent perception, before we were programmed to give names to what is, including each piece of the miraculous form we found ourselves wearing—this body.
Before we knew that we could sing like birds.
It was meant to be—this surrender to programming. It was necessary in order to function as souls in human form in this dimension. It’s by design that we come in such an innocent form so we can trust and not resist that essential programming: the domestication phase as Don Miguel Ruiz describes in “The Four Agreements.
”The domestication is the early process where we are conditioned by family, culture, and language to fit into society" - Don Miguel Ruiz
We blindly signed those contracts—including our personhood contract—and it was a must, just like the language contract: to agree that these sound notes carry meaning, so that these very words could find their way to you.
Do we still need all these contracts to carry on this mystical journey? Yes and no. That’s the paradox of this game.
That very program, along with its repository—the mind—helped us accumulate the understanding needed to read the phenomena of existence.
We know the nature of the realm of forms is in constant transformation, and the essence of things is always decaying. Our own body stands as clear evidence. Yet, we are unconsciously holding on to these decaying contracts, even though some of them are poisoning our souls.
Beyond the ashes of these contracts—these self-made beliefs about ourselves—behind this “somebodiness,” we are still there. Not just as a child, but far deeper than that. Far beyond that birth moment, perhaps even before the birth of the cosmos.
“Behind this somebodiness we hold onto… there we are—still, whole, infinite. Far beyond our first breath, even before the cosmos began.”— Abu’s POV
These identities we cling to—whether with pride or shame—are like tight shoes trapping our soul. We mistakenly believe they are who we fundamentally are. Our mind remains trapped in terms and conditions, restrained by chains of past emotions, dragged into imaginary moments of time—the future.
Is it possible to transcend this black box—the memory that stores our self-beliefs, identifications, contracts, and past traumas? Are we capable of reviving the divine truth?
There are ways in, and ways out—just like everything that emerges into this world and eventually vanishes. Even a delicate flower could show us the way back: to transcend the limits of the thinking mind, to catch a glimpse of the light—our true essence.
What beliefs are you still holding on to that no longer serve you?