First things first, I want to welcome our new subscribers! Thank you for joining this conversation.
With that in mind, let's dive right in.
With this post, I am beginning from this question: what’s the most valuable thing I can share that might help my readers break free from illusion so they can more directly experience what their own consciousness has to offer them?
What I mean by Illusion
Break free from who or what? What is Illusion? Why does it matter?
Illusion is Maya, the shadows on Plato’s cave wall. When I speak of illusion, I am referring to all of the things both inside and outside of us that are fake, made up, unreal, and deceptive.
It can be difficult to discuss illusion because it is like the fish in water problem - we are surrounded by it on so many levels, and many fill their minds and inner lives with illusion as a way of coping.
What It Means to Break Out of a Thought Prison
With regards to the notion of breaking free from Illusion, I spoke about this on an episode of the Skeptical Shaman podcast — The Refugees and the Remnants, with Roger Oney
We are told many pretty lies throughout our lifetimes. Sometimes with good intentions, but quite often - as a means of corralling us and moving us in one direction or another.
For examples of this, you can look at just about anything propagated by organized religion or the government.
Beyond that, in the world of scientism, we have a tendency to tell ourselves stories about a great many things, believing that we understand them when in fact we may not understand them at all.
I am not asking you to believe one way or the other, but it’s worth understanding that there are serious debates about the entire field of virology, as just one example.
The point here is not to list the endless ways we deceive ourselves and others, but more so to point out just how much time, energy, and attention pours into these endeavors in the first place.
The term “Thought Prison” may sound like a negative way of describing this phenomena, but it is how I see it.
It is a prison because the moment you believe one way, you are placing limitations upon yourself - and perhaps also upon the reality in which you live.
Breaking free from illusion is no trivial task. And this is assuming you event want to do so.
For those who do choose the journey of discovering for themselves what is true and real - you are likely already aware of the risks. You may lose friendships. You may feel banished from the tribe at times — and oddly, pulled back in at other times.
You may feel crazy and alone until you touch upon elements of life that are nourishing and sustaining in and of themselves. For me, time in nature offers this kind of experience.
But the path of truth-seeking is about far more than whether or not you “fit in” with those around you.
Seeking the truth means learning firsthand about what is possible… it’s a journey of discovery about our true nature, our real potential, and what it means to embody the highest degree of that potential.
The Cosplay Phenomena
As I have worked my way through many ups and downs on the spiritual journey, I have also been working to understand and integrate some experiences that I had as a young child.
If interested, you can hear me describe some of these things in this interview with Rebecca Hardcastle Wright — Interview with Roger Oney, Lifelong Experiencer
I should note that this work of understanding and integrating these experiences is far from over. I have few answers, and a growing list of questions.
But one thing has become clear to me.
What escaped me until rather recently is the fact that in any area of life, there are those who enjoy pretending. There are people in every facet of our world who simply pretend to be something they are not. Pretend to have had experiences that they have not had. Pretend to believe things that deep down, they do not truly believe.
I know this is nothing new, but for some reason, it escaped me just how prevalent this can be. And what’s more - how it can be for some people the same as a hobby or pastime, seen simply a fun thing to do.
Also worth noting is how pretending can bring with it a sense of belonging and community.
This is why I have never been a fan of the “fake it ‘til you make it” mantra promoted by so many self-help gurus.
What’s the difference between faking that you’re a great coach versus putting on a big furry raccoon suit and going to a furry conference? Well, at least the furries all know that they are all in costumes (I hope).
In a sense, I get it that people want to have fun and be entertained. But the many ways reality and fantasy become blurred for so many can present a lot of difficulties for those of us who are truly seeking understanding and integration.
And it’s not just the explosion of self-help gurus where faking it is prevalent, we see it in science, medicine, in UFOlogy, and in nearly all spiritual communities, to name just a few.
Self Imprisonment
In a way, all thought prisons are forms of self imprisonment. Non one can truly force us to believe a story or narrative. We opt into beliefs consciously or unconsciously.
Likewise, it helps to understand that some actually prefer the perceived safety of a thought prison over the anxiety provoked by being free.
I am reminded of the time long ago when I worked with kids who were too troubled to be in the public school system.
We took the kids out on a field trip to a state park. It was a beautiful sunny day and so much nicer than being stuck in a classroom. And yet, I watched as one of my students picked up a large rock and put it in his coat pocket. When I sat with him to discuss, he shared his plan to throw the rock at a park ranger.
I said — why would you do that? You’ll end up back in juvie (the Juvenile Detention Center). He said — yes, exactly.
I then learned more about the violence and abuse in his home life, and the hunger due to lack of food. So to this kid, being locked back up was preferable to going home. In his mind, there were no other choices, no options.
This can be another profound way in which we limit ourselves, lock ourselves up in life. We imagine there are only a few ways through life, so we choose the least painful, or the way that seems to pose the least amount of risk. In this way too, we can willingly and sometimes consciously trade our freedom and expansion for a story, a pretty lie, or a program not of our own making.
So who am I even speaking to when I talk about escaping thought prisons? What’s the point? What does it matter and why should anyone care at all?
Being vs Believing: Awareness Comes Through Experience
I am speaking to those of you that value and long for purpose, meaning, and truth.
If you find yourself asking what this is all about, why does it matter, where did you come from, and what comes after you die… then it is likely that some part of you already knows that the real answers to those questions do not come from a packaged experience, from a program of any kind.
You can learn from others, but that learning is more like looking at a map of the terrain than it is like finding answers to your most important questions. Someone else’s map can tell you how they found their way, but understand that the obstacles and distractions on your path are different from theirs, as may also be the destination itself.
Real answers arise through the development of your awareness, which in turn is developed through experiences.
What you get from a life-changing hike in the mountains, for example, cannot be gained from reading a book, taking a course, or watching a video. You have to go for your own hike. Eventually.
I am not saying it is wrong, evil, or even harmful (usually) to pretend this or that thing… indeed, exercising the imagination can be a beautiful experience in itself!
Along these lines, I am exploring the many ways in which this reality can be quite dream-like in nature. In my experience, it seems that we may be able to dance with this reality through the use of our consciousness. That what we think of as objective reality is actually personally interactive in ways that we do not yet fully grasp.
This is all to say — the form your exploration takes is not really what matters as much as what is in your heart of hearts. And only you can know what that is.
A pretender spends time in an amusement park of the mind, seeking endless hits of dopamine, at the risk of never finding their way out of the hall of mirrors. It can be fun, or not. But it does not bring you home to your true self.
A true seeker will eventually find truth, although it may not be the truth that you think you want. The journey may not always be exciting, but you will know when you come upon truth because it is self-sustaining. It does not require the energy of your imagination to keep it alive. It just IS.
You will know because some part of you is like this too.
You see, there are all sorts of parts of you that are creations of your imagination. Those parts take a constant flow of energy for you to keep recreating them. Like the roles you play at your work or with your friends, perhaps.
And yet, deep down below all of the noise, beneath all of the costumes, behind the curtain of all of the “make believe”, there you really are.
The silent observer asks not for your belief. It just is.
If any of this resonates with you and you would like to work with me as you endeavor forward - you can learn more and book a session at HighMesaMystic.com or RogerOney.com.
Thank you!