The Real Voyage of Discovery - New Eyes!

Many aspects of life seem stressful and profoundly unhealthy. Nothing substantive appears to have changed since Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) described life as: "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." Based on the self-concept & worldview most of us hold - Hobbes is correct. We end up with a very cynical view of ourselves, human nature, and life.

But what if our perspective itself were a key part of our problem? Anais Nin famously said: “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” I love this quote, but I'd end it with "as we THINK we are" because our default egocentric perspective distorts everything, including our self-concept.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

Mystics and saints for millenia, as well as current serious meditators like Adyashanti have suggested that "being identified with egoic consciousness is literally the root of all suffering," and that our true nature, far from being nasty and brutish, is ineffable - beyond description.

And we can wake up to our true nature by freeing ourselves from identification with egoic consciousness. See Adyashanti's 3 clear, succinct “basics” videos: http://www.adyashanti.org/cafedharma/index.php?file=video