The Cultivation of Radical Honesty

[rva_jeremy]

This is a key point, indeed. Such a faith cannot be overvalued. It's a very important thing to cultivate, in my estimation.

Yup. This is where I'm spending much time lately. It appears to be more a matter of releasing fears, though, than necessarily building faith. Sort of like the "removing barriers to love" Rumi / ACIM quote.

This has been a significant stumbling block for me as well, particularly the loss of identity part (implied for me in your "who I think I am" phrase).

Right. I've worked on this more than anything else, probably, over the last fifteen years. I think I've come to terms with it somewhat, though the "dissolving the ego" exercise can seem less daunting sometimes than the "finding the true self" part. And it can get into semantics and wordplay if you over-intellectualize it, as I'm likely to do.

You mention discipline of the personality. What are your thoughts on the distinction Ra makes between direction or discipline and control? Obviously, a lot of this is happening on the mental level, so we're dealing here with thoughts - stray, errant thoughts are my constant, ahem, companions. I've been working with loving and accepting thoughts, even those I find distasteful, but I struggle with how to respond to them in a way that doesn't attempt to "overcome" them, know what I mean? When I'm dead honest with myself, I think my worse enemies are my expectations - my standards for judging whether or not my progress is acceptable. If I didn't have these expectations or standards, and just stayed the course - which is my current practice - I feel I'd be much better off. I'd also not be Jeremy.

Just looking for hints here - I know I still have to do the heavy lifting! Thanks.