EXTRICATION
Extrication: the act of removing something or someone from a place; or, setting them free with difficulty:
the act of getting yourself or someone else out of a bad situation with difficulty
HISTORY
We have actually been conditioned to focus on our PAST, to the detriment of all humanity - and profoundly so - to the human psyche.
How is that so?…you may ask. If you have some knowledge of World history, and particularly of Western civilization, you understand that all Western civilizations have foundations in Organized Religion. Societies and governmental institutions are built around the principles of, and are reflections of, each pertinent Belief system.
It does not matter which Belief system was utilized - all of them have the underpinning of focus on the PAST, creating a formula of, and for, Conditioned Belief. (Conditioning can only come from PAST experience)
It is due to this foundation, of Conditioned Belief, that GUILT has been woven into the fabric of the human experience, and by default - the human psyche. We have been, and are still, taught to “repent,” to “forgive,” our SELF and Other. Both concepts require acknowledgement, and validation, of the Conditioned Belief. Both concepts require looking back into the PAST.
CONCEPT
Concept: : something conceived in the mind : THOUGHT, NOTION
The concepts of repentance and forgiveness both REQUIRE the concept of GUILT. GUILT REQUIRES JUDGEMENT. If there was no such thing as JUDGEMENT - none of these things would even exist as concepts.
The ONLY reason we would ever pass JUDGEMENT on our SELF, is because JUDGEMENT has been passed on us - by OTHER. We have been TAUGHT it. (Conditioned Belief) We have LEARNED Judgement. What is REJECTION? You have been JUDGED and deemed not good enough - not worthy - by whom?- by OTHER.
Hence, the human experience (aka the human condition) orbits around JUDGEMENT of both SELF and OTHER.
A PILLAR OF SALT
There is a Bible story about a guy named Lot. In that story, his place of habitation was deliberately destroyed. Lot was to take his family, leave, and not (NEVER) look back. Lot’s wife did look back. She turned into a Pillar of Salt.
If we all turned into Pillars of Salt for looking backwards (into the PAST), the sum total of humanity would be crystallized and inert.
It is very hard to make progress forward, when you are walking backwards. In fact, doing so leads to stumbling, falling, and more injury. If we turned into Pillars of Salt for looking backwards (into the PAST), you can bet your bottom dollar, as a Society, and across the entire planet, we would have a foundation of ONLY living in the Present and intending (setting intentions) toward the Future.
Really bad things can and do happen to us. Humans doing terrible things to other humans is part of our legacy - dating back to whenever, and where ever, it is that everything began. Whatever bad things that have happened to us, we cannot go back and change. If we stand staring back at them, we become Pillars of Salt, immobile, inert, unable to grow anything.
Extricating your SELF from the PAST means Extricating your SELF from the JUDGEMENT of SELF and OTHER. Extrication is a word that honors how deeply the roots of guilt and judgement have grown into, and wrapped around, the human psyche - how deeply these concepts have become rooted as Conditioned Beliefs.
YESTERDAY
YESTERDAY DOES NOT EXIST. Where is it? Point to it…wave your arms around to feel for it. It isn’t there. It isn’t.
The ONLY thing that DOES EXIST is this moment. Right now. This breath. The PRESENT is the only reality. The Present is the only thing that is REAL.
OUR SUFFERING
Human suffering, in some degree, cannot be avoided. It begins upon the exit from the safest and most secure place on the planet, the womb. The separation that occurs at the moment of birth is, itself, our first experience of suffering. Immediate exposure to cold, loss of pure safety and security, the beginning of pure vulnerability, and being handed off to strangers, is the initiation of the human experience. With our first breath, we are literally cut off from what is known, and thrusted fully, and against our will, into the unknown. Welcome to the unknown…and the FEAR of it.
Therefore, it is impossible to navigate the human experience and come out unscathed. What we learn, as we grow in stature and experience, is that virtually all Human Suffering is instigated by other Humans. This is the most IMPORTANT part—the people who have caused our suffering also suffered at the hands of the people who caused their suffering - and so, like an infinity mirror, repeats back through time.
NEW TEMPLATES
Were you taught (learned) to judge your SELF by people who were taught (learned) to judge their SELF? Were you taught (learned) SELF hatred and SELF loathing by people who had been taught (learned) to hate their SELF and to loathe their SELF? I was.
Hearken back to the post titled A Pause, A Reflection, and The Path to Psychological Freedom. That which is entrained, that which is learned, becomes hard wired into the 90 percent, and is passed down through the generations, until the day that YOU comprehend what is happening, and DO something differently - something that lays down NEW TEMPLATES - and ends the perpetuation of pain.
Repentance is not required, if judgement has not transpired. Forgiveness is not required if judgement has not transpired. If we CEASE JUDGEMENT of our SELF and OTHER, in this PRESENT moment, we literally WALK out of our IMPRISONMENT…right into Psychological Freedom.
The impact of our painful past experiences, our suffering, can be used to create or destroy our SELF. We can stand staring into our PAST and turn into Pillars of Salt, crystallized, frozen, immobile, inert, unable to move, unable to grow and sustain life, or we can Extricate our SELF from it. We can create, by Intention, a fresh new reality, unencumbered by the PAST, and LIVING in this PRESENT moment.
Extrication is achieved by CEASING judgement of your SELF and OTHER - by letting go, by turning around, by releasing the PAST, and by setting Intentions anchored in the presence (PRESENT) of the wisdom of understanding.
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The White Tiger is written sequentially. To gain the greatest understanding it is recommended, and helpful, to read The White Tiger beginning with the original post forward. All preceding posts can be accessed by clicking this link https://substack.com/@thewhitetiger