How well do you know who you are, really?
Of course, you know your name, your physical history, where you were born, etc. You might know your Sun sign to look up a horoscope in the newspaper. You probably know your parents’ names and your grandparents’ names. But who are you, really?
Do you know your thinking style? Do you know where your attention goes when you are presented with a situation or event? Do you know your Life Purpose, your Life School and your Life Lesson or Blind Spot? Have you examined your limiting beliefs? How about those negative self-talk thoughts you carry around with you? Are you clear about your values and your priorities?
I could continue the list but it is too long. There are so many facets to a human being, so many aspects to the personality, that we often think we are simpler beings than we really are.
And what is true for you is true for everyone around you.
For example, you have a certain learning style. Most folks are visual learners. They process information by seeing it. Have you noticed that you remember something better if you see it written than if you just hear it? That’s because your preferred learning style is visual.
Some people are auditory learners. They need to hear material so that they can better learn and remember. For these folks, just seeing the written word isn’t good enough – they need to also hear it spoken or to speak it aloud themselves.
Now if you are a visual learner, you use phrases that reflect this, like ‘Do you see what I am saying?’ or, ‘How does this look to you?’ If, however, you are an auditory learner, you resonate better with language that reflects hearing, like ‘Did you hear about this?’ or ‘How does this sound to you?’
Can you see/hear how this difference can impact communication between two people?
This is only one example of how important it is to know something about yourself.
What about other tools for self-knowledge that give you more detailed information about your tendencies and inherent energies? Astrology. Numerology. Enneagram. Myers-Briggs. DISC. Scientific Hand Analysis. Chinese 5-elements. Your Chinese astrology star number. There is a long list of ways that you can understand yourself more deeply.
Have you explored tools to help you understand where you are coming from? What about where others are coming from? Do you value the differences in how people approach learning, or life, or do you expect everyone to see things as you see them? To listen and to hear exactly what you hear? To feel the way you feel?
Remember that:
All Love Flows from Self-Love.
To love another you must first love yourself. Learn more about yourself and love it all. There is nothing better about one Enneagram type over another, but the more you understand about your tendencies the more conscious you can be about choosing how to respond to stimulus as it is presented to you. One Astrological chart is as good as another but they can carry very different lessons for the person to learn.
I can often shift a person from feeling conflicted to being more peaceful simply by pointing out how differing human beings can look at the same scene and describe differing points of view. This is most beneficial if you know your own point of view first.
Explore tools for self-knowledge and get to know yourself better. It can change your life!
Mystic Messages 
Trim It Up! – Richard’s Commentary
August 13, 2014 — RichardTransparency
This is a word, a feeling, a state of being I am working with this week. It came to me as a card from the Mayan Oracle deck that I referenced in my Monday post. It is a “lens” card – a diagram and a word to help us with perspective. And it seems I am gaining a very new perspective through this lens. Here is some of the writing I’ve done so far from a perspective through this “transparent lens”:
Transparency is about trying on new roles, new personae. It is about dropping the mask of illusion and stepping into a clear and blissful vision of the egoless self.
This takes tremendous trust! It is a vulnerable opening process backed by the belief that the Universe is completely benevolent, safe. We are safe to be anyone we can choose. This is Divine Bliss.
This clarity allows the light to radiate in, from and through with no filtering by the personality. It is a pure radiance…
And,
Robin Williams died on Monday. Did he derive his talent, skill, genius from being as transparent as any human can be? When Gurudev speaks and writes about the “witness” is he not talking about becoming transparent?
Rise out of the ego state and look, observe from that higher platform of transparency. This is a “dark mirror.” This is a “black hole” as Gurudev states. And it is completely transparent. From this vantage Truth can be seen.
Gurudev is Yogi Amrit Desai, an amazing man who has written of the importance of rising out of ego and personality into the state of being as “witness.” I compare this to moving into a state of complete transparency.
The process of becoming transparent to this level seems akin to “trimming it up.” Rosemary’s image in her post used trimming the dead branches of a tree in our yard to illustrate her point. The process cleared our view, brought in more light, made the yard more transparent and lightened the tree of its dead weight. Trimming to the point of transparency lifts us to new levels of vision and greater heights of bliss. Why is this important? Rosemary’s answer:
The guidance I am receiving is that we have no time now to pussyfoot around. We are focusing on growth, on expansion, on moving into deeper territories where we live the examined life, not an unconscious one. If you have relationships, situations, ‘stuff’ that doesn’t support you, that you feel holds you back or, worse, is toxic for you, then it is time to trim that out of your life.
“Live an examined life.” Become more transparent, especially to yourself. This is the call. And from that high vista you can be anyone you choose!