Inner Gold

by Philip Sherman

How can we rediscover the unique beauty and greatness within each one of us?

In 1957, a large clay statue of the Buddha in Thailand was scheduled to be relocated to another site. As the statue was being hoisted, some of the supporting ropes began to mysteriously break. This unfortunate incident resulted in some minor cracking along the statue's base. This weathered, grey clay statue was surprisingly much heavier than originally thought. The transport would require a larger crane and stronger cables that would have to be brought in the following day.

The venerable Buddha statue was then covered in tarps that night in order to protect it from an oncoming storm. During the night as the winds began to stir, the head monk decided to check on the statue with a flashlight just to make sure that everything was o.k. As the monk looked more closely at the small cracks in the clay, something seemed to call out and faintly shine from within. The curious monk went back to get a small chisel and called upon his fellow monks for additional help. After hours of patiently chipping away at the thick layers of ancient dirt, the monks revealed something they had never seen before. Deep within the outer blanket of hardened, dried up clay, lay a magnificent golden Buddha, now brightly shining and fully awake.

The next day, people from all around were amazed at what the monks had found. Many wondered why such a magnificent golden Buddha was so heavily painted over with layers upon layers of common earth and remained hidden for so long.

After much research, it was determined that this golden Buddha (which now rests in the Temple of Wat Traimit) was most likely strategically plastered over in clay by clever, highly concerned monks sometime just before 1767. They did this in order to prevent the golden Buddha from being looted by waring invaders at the time. The monks were successful in protecting the statue, but unfortunately, they were all killed off during the invasion by the Burmese army that soon followed. The golden Buddha would not be seen again in its full brilliance for the next couple of hundred years.

We are all golden in nature, but for many reasons have fallen asleep or become unaware of who we really are on the inside. We have unintentionally become slowly plastered over through life's disappointments and darker times, along with our own self-created doubts, insecurities, and fears. This accumulation has been such a slow and gradual process that most people are typically unaware of just how much "dirt" they have actually collected over the years.

Positive and Negative Things

Why would a person ever choose or allow so much of life's heaviness to become a natural part of who they are? Perhaps we don't necessarily choose or even want most of these negative things at all. Admittedly, a part of this disempowering build-up of dirt might be through our own poor choices and personal mistakes. There is also, however, another contributing factor - the normal, challenging, day-to-day life experiences that we all typically face.

All of these unavoidable, universal sorrows and pains in life can quickly build up, especially in the hearts of an unaware, unguarded mind. While we might not be able to control the incredible range of both good and bad things that we experience in life, we can control to a certain extent the amount of disempowering things that we choose to focus upon and preoccupy our mind.

Until a person can truly become aware of what they are focusing on, accepting, and allowing to dominate their mind, the natural darker aspects of life will continue to unwittingly accumulate and grow from within.

What we may consider as "good" or "bad" can sometimes be a highly subjective thing. The winner of some contest might think that a certain game was "good," while the loser might consider the exact same game and result as "bad." From a higher perspective, this game was simply a game to be played and only "good" or "bad" according to the rules, expectations, and meaning that each player gave to the game at the time.

We live in a relative universe where darker things are necessary in order to give negative contrast, and allow the brighter things in life to powerfully shine. It would be impossible to read or understand what was being written on a whiteboard if only white chalk or a white marker was being used. It is the darkness and polar opposite nature of the standard blackboard that we all know and love that makes things written with white chalk so easy to see and understand.

To simply end this blog by saying that we are all carrying around a lot of disempowering dirt would not reveal anything astounding or new. If we intend to honestly grow, then the next logical step would be to to develop an awareness and understanding of how to start clearing away and letting go of all this negative weight. Just like that Buddha statue, we too have a shining, golden core that can occasionally become difficult to see. Let's examine some of the most common ways that we can become covered and trapped in this dirt, and then some of the best ways to wash it off, and brightly shine once again.

7 Ways of Temporarily Getting Covered Over with Mud

1. Parents

I love my parents and I mean no disrespect, but for better or worse, all parents have bred and conditioned within us a vast array of mindsets and beliefs. Hopefully most of these family teachings have been helpful and good, but there are usually also a few family "lessons" that are not.

Our parents are not perfect, as they are humans just like anybody else. This realization becomes more and more apparent as we mature and grow wiser with age. Oftentimes these imperfections are what make our parents so unique and special to us. I am pretty sure that most of us can say with great certainty that our parents are truly "unique" and "one of a kind." I will leave the nuance of what these statements exactly mean or imply up to each person to personally decide!

Most parents, as well as a majority of the people in the world, are typically younger, more modern versions of whoever their parents were. Family traits and traditions, both good and bad, can often be traced back to years long before we were even born.

These deep family mindsets and habits if left unchecked can't naturally change when necessary or improve on their own. This is why introspection and self-awareness is so important for our own personal growth and positive change. You might not always be able, nor should you forcefully attempt to even try to change certain family members or friends. Despite the good intentions behind such noble efforts, this is still a subtle form of manipulation and a violation of another person's free will. Instead of excessively concerning ourselves with the reform of other people, we should strive to primarily concentrate our efforts upon ourselves. This is also what most loving parents' secret dream and wish is for us... to in some way become bigger and better than who they are or wanted to be.

We should all consciously choose which family "traditions" to lovingly keep, and which negative tendencies and bad habits to drop or totally change. It might be wise to understand that in the end, our parents did what they did in the only way that they honestly knew how. They most likely tried their best according to who they were developmentally at the time, and what they mentally, physically, and emotionally actually had to give.

Sometimes, simply understanding your parents' mindsets, motivations, and background might give you some deeper insights into why they acted in the ways that they did.

Take it easy on your parents. They probably love you very much even though they might not always have been able to perfectly show it because of personal weaknesses, shortcomings, or bad experiences that they may have had. Parents are, after all, people too.

2. Disempowering Life Experiences

We have all been through some challenging times in our life, whether it has been through some traumatic childhood event, a serious personal injury, or perhaps the sudden loss of a beloved person or even the passing of a life-long pet. The cumulative effects of all of these various negative experiences have created thick layers of sadness and pain that can weigh us down for years.

It is admittedly challenging to live in such an unpredictable world where life is so fragile and unfairly limited by time. The pain and suffering in this life might, ironically, be even further worsened by the quiet, deeper sense of knowing that there is something far greater and eternally more. This life beyond what we can presently touch and see can be sensed by some, but unfortunately not fully known or easily accessed right now. This revelation and insight can be both deeply comforting and yet sometimes painfully frustrating at the same time.

Everything has a place in the grand scheme of life. Without darkness and the natural, unavoidable negative cycles of this life, our higher light and greater purpose cannot properly unfold or adequately shine. No matter how sad or tragic some of our life experiences might have been or feel right now, they can also help us at some point to grow.

"People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

3. Challenging Environment

Where we were born, who we have known, or what kind of environment we presently live and work in can oftentimes cast heavy shadows upon our mind that are difficult to escape or transcend.

Environmental conditioning is a very subtle and deceptively easy way to pick up many limiting beliefs, doubts, and fears. This is especially true when a person was born into a life of constant struggle with little or no hope. Such an environment oftentimes prevents a person from being able to dream of anything beyond what they might presently be able to see. Unless a person can become highly introspective, observant, and open-minded to future possibilities and personal change, these challenging conditions can potentially imprison a person for life. The way out of such a challenging situation is to believe with your heart, dream big with your mind, and work towards a future beyond what you can presently see with your eyes.

4. Negative Self-Image and Low Self-Esteem

The image that we have of ourselves can either positively support us with confidence in attempting challenging, new things, or prevent us from enjoying even the simplest pleasures of life. Low self-esteem can create an imprisoning cocoon that, once formed, can become quite difficult to escape. Our pride and self-image can be damaged and hurt in some the following ways:

Perceived "Failure" of some Type

Supposed "failures" in life are not always bad things, but simply indicators that you will have to study and practice more in some area before you can succeed. Failures usually contain a valuable lesson of some kind. We can learn much more from our failures than from our easy victories in life. The only true failure is to give up faith and belief in yourself, and not strive to continue to grow in new ways.

"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
~ Michael Jordan

Comparison to Other People

While it may be pleasing for our egos to think that we are superior to other people in some way, this is nothing but a temporary illusion that will ultimately hold us back from greater growth. Competing with others in order to have some healthy, competitive fun and enjoy the thrill of a temporary game is fine. Competition can serve as an excellent means to test our limits, learn from our results, and personally develop and grow.

In the end, however, to imagine that we are somehow better than other people is a losing, delusional game. There will always be somebody in the world who is smarter, stronger, or richer than you. Solely defining who you are based on a competitive comparison or external ranking of some type gives your personal power and sense of identity away to an external world of vulnerability, unpredictability, and constant change. Do you really want to depend on such an ungrounded, external world of uncertainty and occasional chaos to predominantly influence, define and essentially control who you really are?

We cannot always control, understand, or even predict the happenings of this world. We can, however, create, control, and base our own sense of love, peace, and respect for ourselves from within. The only opinion that should really matter should come from the judge that resides deep in your heart.

Rather than competing, comparing, or trying to become like other people in some way, focus more on becoming the best that you can be with whatever you have been given to work with right now. Everybody has something special about them that makes them totally unique. When you can discover what this special something is about you, and can positively share it with the world, competition and comparison to other people and the outside will no longer be a concern or anything to seek.

"There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man.
The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self."
~ Hindu Proverb

Negative Criticism

Legend has it that vampires cannot enter your house unless you willingly open the door and invite them to come in. In the same way, the only negative comments and criticisms that can truly affect us are those that we choose to believe and allow to enter our mind.

It is important to consider the source of these criticisms. Are they coming from a caring, well-balanced, thoughtful type or from an individual who is mentally or emotionally disturbed or unbalanced in some way? Just because a person says something with great passion and conviction doesn't necessarily mean that it is accurate or true.

Those who excessively criticize other people and the world might simply be expressing deeper anger and frustration that they secretly have with themselves. The next time somebody says something that is mean, nasty, or deliberately hurtful in some way, think to yourself "Where is this person mentally, spiritually, and emotionally really coming from?" Most likely it is not from a very healthy place.

The best way to gain the upper hand and take the high road against abusive people such as these is to picture them as frustrated children who are having a bad day. I am not suggesting to give in or submit to the bad energy of such people, but to calmly face them, defend yourself, and see them for who they really are. Sometimes, these irritable, agitated, and overly aggressive people are in a strange way simply looking for attention, understanding, and believe it or not, kindness and love. People that act in such immature and hurtful ways may be painfully suffering on deeper levels that most people can't easily see.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
~ Romans 12:25

5. Lack of Sufficient Love for Yourself or the World

“Fear is the path to the dark side.
Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.”
~ Yoda

If anger, doubt, and fear are the main ingredients of all the unwanted dirt that we have collected over the years, then LOVE is the universal soap that will be able to wash all of this away.

There are three ways in which to accept and allow this healing force of love to flow:

First and foremost - accept and love yourself! Creating this deep reservoir of love for yourself is necessary before attempting to serve others in any sort of meaningful way. Before your loving cup can overflow onto others, it must first be adequately filled from within.

Second, be kind and helpful to other people. In order to gain greater love and happiness for all, we must next be willing to unconditionally give our love, best wishes, and happiness away.

Third, accept the support and kindness of other people. Being open and accepting of other people's support and good intentions will help both yourself and others to grow. One of the greatest gifts we can give to other people is to allow and encourage them to give to others as well.

None of us are perfect. We all sometimes need the love and support of other people in order to move ahead and advance further in life. It is the quality and depth of the bond and connection that we can have with other people that truly shows how far we have progressed in life. Strive to love yourself, love others, and allow others to love you! This is the full and complete circle of life.

"If you would be loved,
love, and be loveable."
~ Benjamin Franklin

6. Lack of Wisdom or Understanding

Sometimes the deepest pain or guilt that we may acquire in life is not always through any real, direct fault of our own. We simply didn't know or could reasonably foresee or understand at the time the negative consequences of certain actions or choices that we made. These innocent, unintentional mistakes can oftentimes weigh us down the most with layers and layers of remorse and deep guilt. You can't forever hold yourself responsible for something that, at the time, you couldn't fully see or understand. Learn from whatever has happened, forgive yourself, try to do better in the future, and then move on. Remaining eternally stuck in self-guilt serves no positive purpose at all. Some lessons are easy to master, while others can be quite painful and hard. All of these mistakes and slip-ups can, however, serve as various types of life lessons nonetheless.

Life is not a perfect straight line that rockets to the stars, but a series of ups and downs that hopefully trends upward and gets better, little by little over time.

7. Selfishness and Human Weaknesses

We will all unwantedly accumulate guilt, anger, and shame through our own human greed and weaknesses that we all naturally have. A choice that might have seemed good mainly for us at the time, may, from a broader perspective, not have been good for anybody at all.

To err is human, even though our hearts are divine. We will all make poor choices and judgments from time to time. Welcome to this fun and sometimes insane thing called life. Don't drown in past shortcomings to the point of becoming unable to stand tall once again. The best boxer is not the one with the strongest punch or biggest hands, but the person who can suck it up and come back again and again. Even the best of us will sometimes trip up or fall down. This means that we just unintentionally chose to learn something the hard way. Hopefully this tiresome lesson is finally finished and doesn't have to be repeated again. Take a breath, collect yourself, get up, and move on!

7 Ways to Wash Away the Dirt

and Let Your Inner Gold Shine Once Again!

1. Develop a Higher Understanding and Forgive

It would probably be fairly easy to forgive an overexcited puppy who accidently tinkled on your kitchen floor. If, however, a long-time friend were to do such a thing, you would probably become quite angry and shocked, and wonder what the heck was wrong with them. Most likely in the absence of a very good reason, you would probably find it extremely difficult to forgive this person, let alone ever invite them back to your house!

I realize that this is a somewhat extreme example, but I created these two scenarios to clearly illustrate what I believe human forgiveness really involves:

Forgiveness for ordinary people requires seeing things from a higher perspective, with greater understanding, and if possible, a little bit of wisdom and love.

This sense of greater understanding and an ability to see things from many perspectives is even more essential in the process of forgiving for humans than the "infinite compassion" or "unconditional love" that is often spoken of and suggested by the great spiritual teachers of our time. Heavenly angels might be capable of employing such things, but for humans on earth, such unconditional love and perfect forgiveness is oftentimes simply too difficult to do. Even though we may be potential angels in disguise, we are somewhat impatient, judgmental, easily offended, vulnerable humans for right now.

Instead of trying to "love our enemies," maybe just attempting to become more patient, open-minded, civil, and tolerant of other people is good enough for creating a better life and peaceful world for all of us today.

Forgiveness, as I have said in other blogs, does not mean to blindly accept an obvious wrong doing as being acceptable and o.k. Forgiveness should be thought about as a deeper understanding of the person, their possible motivations, and the entire situation from a higher perspective; and then being able to eventually release ourselves from that disempowering event. Once we are able to wash off this dirt and lighten up our load, we can then focus our attention on more healthy and productive things.

So why would it be so easy to pardon that little puppy in the example above but understandably difficult to forgive your troubled friend? The ease or difficulty of forgiving somebody in the human sense has to do with three main considerations:

The perceived motivation and intention of the other person when committing that harmful or offensive act.
The perceived level of awareness, control, and understanding that the other person had when committing that act.
And most importantly, the level of YOUR awareness and understanding concerning all of the elements, perspectives and motivations of everybody involved.

It would be easy to forgive that little puppy with bladder control issues, as you clearly understand that this is something that puppies will sometimes just naturally do. It is your full understanding of the situation, along with your full understanding and awareness of the mind, intention, and perspective of the little puppy that allows you to forgive this young dog with such ease.

It would be far more difficult to forgive your kitchen floor-wetting friend until you could learn more about the reasons why he or she would do such an unbelievable thing. If, however, you knew in advance that they had some serious physical or mental challenges, maybe it would be much easier to forgive such an initially shocking act.

If you encounter some situation in which it seems difficult to release yourself from or forgive, try at first to better understand the entire situation from all the angles and perspectives of everyone involved.

Forgiveness and letting go is not done entirely for the sake of the other person. Forgiveness is done primarily to heal and free ourselves from some type of pain. Let go of the dirt, and let your true heart of gold shine bright once again!

When you forgive, you in no way change the past - but you sure do change the future.
~ Bernard Meltzer

2. Carefully Watch What You Focus On

The only dirt that can weigh us down in life is what we accept and allow to come in. One of the best ways to shield and protect yourself from life's inevitable hardships and sorrows is to become more aware and selective of what you choose to focus on and preoccupy your mind. Treat your mind like your own private home, where only invited, good friends are allowed to come in. Your mind should not be seen as some unguarded, run-down public park, where characters of all sorts set up house and play. Some people allow the world and their external circumstances to create who they are. Those with higher awareness, however, create their own reality and world from within. Guard your mind as if it were a treasure chest of gold.

Focusing upon the good in yourself and the world will also help to wash away all the dirt that naturally accumulates during life. Wherever you focus most of your energy and attention in life is where you and your consciousness will eventually go.

Focus your time and energy upon creating the good life and world that you want for yourself instead of devoting too much of your energy and attention to simply reacting to certain elements of this world that you don't agree with or like.

Complaining is something that anybody can do,
but positively creating yourself and your world
requires deliberate focus, higher energy,
and a greater vision and belief in yourself.

3. Be Honest and Grateful

One of the quickest ways to smear dirt all over our own golden self is through dishonesty and acting in ways that we know deep down are not right. The dirt that we create and tarnish our own magnificent beauty with is the dirt of regret, remorse, shame, and guilt. There is an easy way to wash all of this away from ourselves and expose the shining goodness that we truly are. Simply make a commitment to try to be as honest as possible, act in truth, and live in a way that you sincerely feel is right. This sounds quite simple, but might be one of the most difficult challenges for most human beings living in modern society to actually do. I know the world isn't perfect or always fair, and this advice might sound somewhat impractical, idealistic, and naive, but try your best to simply do what you feel to be just and correct. By following this simple advice we can avoid, or at least reduce building up so much of the shame and guilt that can weigh down our heart over time.

Showing gratitude for the simple things in life will also help to prevent the muddy layers of dissatisfaction and greed from excessively building up and darkening our golden light. Yes, our life might not be exactly as we like, and we may not have all the things that we want, but there are still so many things that we should be incredibly grateful for. Did you know that in the world as of 2016:

1.2 billion people, roughly 17% of the global population, do not have access to electricity.
783 million people do not have access to clean water.
795 million people, or 1 out of 9 people on this planet, can't eat well enough on a daily basis to sustain a normal, healthy existence.

Take a moment to count your blessings, and be grateful for all the things you presently have. Doing so on a daily basis can quickly wipe away the many years of accumulated life dissatisfactions that we all tend to collect.

Striving to live in truth and showing gratitude for all the simple things that we have right now are two powerful ways to purge and clear away mountains and mountains of dirt.

4. Love Yourself

There is a difference between superficially thinking that you are better than other people and deeply knowing that you are uniquely different, special, and incomparable to anyone else in the world. When I suggest to "love yourself," I am not implying that you should become vain, narcissistic, or egotistic; but to recognize yourself as being truly worthy of love and deserving of all the wonderful things in life. Loving yourself also means to take care of and protect yourself. Never allow other people to wrongly use or harm you in any way.

You are a powerful, multidimensional, spiritual being. Your birth and existence plays an exceedingly important role in this incredible experience here on earth, right now. Loving yourself means to realize all the wonderful things that you really are. Love yourself, and to the best of your ability, love and honor other people as well.

"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."
~ Buddha

5. Help and Serve Other People

If you are feeling sad or depressed, one of the best ways to peal away those heavy layers of darkness and despair is to try to forget about yourself for a while and honestly try to help someone else. Helping other people also helps us to heal and grow.

Even though we are individually unique, the life force shared by all of us is one and the same. In helping others to shine, we brighten our own light as well!

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
~ Matthew 25:40

6. Continually Challenge Yourself

I made an initially disappointing discovery in my younger, lazier days. Our life learning doesn't automatically stop after reaching a certain age. After graduation from whatever formal schooling we might have had is when true life learning and the real work of self-improvement actually begins.

If you want to simply get by in life, then studying some skill for a short time in your younger days is probably enough. If, however, you really want to experience and contribute to life in greater ways, then you will have to study and continually set new goals and push yourself throughout your entire life. Taking an occasional break is fine, but no permanent life vacations are allowed!

"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
~ John F. Kennedy

7. Work on your Inner-Self

People often tend to look to the outside for easy answers and quick fixes. If I don't feel satisfied working at this job, maybe I will feel better working at that job. If I am not happy living here, maybe I will be happier living there. If I don’t feel very cool driving this car, having this watch, or wearing these clothes, maybe I will feel cooler if I drive that car, have that watch, or wear those clothes. The problem with this line of reasoning is that many people try to quickly fix their deeper, inner dissatisfactions or feelings of emptiness with temporary, external, superficial things. This strategy might actually work, but only for a very short time, and then that uneasiness and frustration returns once again. A problem, uncomfortable feeling, or challenge that originates on the inside cannot be fully addressed or healed solely from the outside. The musical group, the Beatles, said it best - money or other external, material things can't provide lasting happiness or true love.

Here is one of the simple truths of life:

Wherever you go or whatever you do,
for better or worse,
you are going to have to bring yourself with you!

Changing some outside condition or getting some new, material thing is a temporary, superficial fix for boredom, sadness, or pain. In order to do a deep cleansing and renewal of your mind, you are going to have to start working on yourself from within. Focus less upon what you can see with your eyes, and more upon what you can feel with your heart.

Here is a short list of simple ideas and suggestions that I have touched upon in other blogs on how to clean up and work on your inner-self:

morning rituals
positive affirmations
forgiveness of self and others
goal setting with steady progress
exercise / healthy eating
commitment to continual learning and improving
peaceful meditation
mindfulness
reading inspirational things
surrounding yourself with positive people
gratitude practices
writing / journaling
loving yourself and helping others to grow ... just to name a few

Important Questions to Consider ...

Take some time to quietly reflect on your life. Consider how you would honestly answer these questions:

What do I really want to do in life?
What kind of person do I want to become?
What do I want to experience and have in life?
How can I best serve other people and the world?

Are your answers to these questions based on what YOU really want, or perhaps partially based on the dreams, wishes, and expectations of society, your family, or even your friends? The outer world is undoubtedly very important, but your own inner world is your personal golden key to greater love and lasting happiness over the course of your life.

Remaining true to who you are will keep you sparklingly clean, even when walking down the naturally dusty roads of life. When life becomes a muddy river, as it inevitably does, take refuge in your own golden fortress and light from within. Don't accept or allow the many challenging aspects of this world to prevent your golden light from shining through. You are spiritual gold in your essence and have but one mission in life - to simply allow your golden light to shine in a way that is pure, honest, and uniquely you!

SUMMARY

7 Ways of Temporarily Getting Covered Over with Mud