THE DECISION TO UNEQUIVOCALLY believe (or not believe) in something is an entirely unnecessary movement of mind made primarily to harden the sense of a separate somebody (ego) who is doomed to a life of endlessly reasserting that it is, indeed, solid and real enough to stake out a point of view. In this way, our conditioned collection of me-stories shakes a defiant fist at its own haunting ephemeralness. Heartbreaking, no? Is not “Beliefism” a kind of religion in itself?
Surely, a shot of extemporaneous self-inquiry would be a more generous, presence-arousing way of relating. Yes, it would be humbling — and vulnerable. The journey from relating “knower-to-knower” to “awareness-to-awareness” can feel a bit awkward and disorienting at first. But couldn’t it also be ego-humbling fun, even contemplatively sexy? Personality continues to play, after all, but in a more spacious, tongue-in-cheek way.
Ah, but is it really necessary to disrupt the flow of ping-ponging me-stories? Can’t we just deliver a soulful wink and a nod to our dream-mates, trusting that the ready-to-see souls will take the nonverbal hint? Well, sure… if you have no truth-slinging Sagittarius mentor karma to burn. (Not likely, if you’re reading this article!) Bottom line: at different times, to varrying degrees, we’re all challenged to wake up
inside of the inspirational, Sagittarian archetype, and if we’re not asking, “As what am I speaking?” and allowing our self to engage with others from the conceptually bewildered silence that this question humbles us into, we’re simply shedding the Ebola of ego. Tomorrow, of course, the hearer of your bravado-tainted truths will be in another town smearing the virus on others. But, hey, that’s okay since you won’t be there to watch, right?
Try this: go to a public place. Listen to the buzzy bartering of opinion going on around you. Can you feel the mind nervously patching together an identity through brandishing a field-tested personality and a self-consciously contrived point of view? Can you sense the fear of the dissolving present that drives this manic clinging to somebodyness? Ask yourself: Is this orgy of positionality actually closing the gap between people or is it more like making the best of an inherently absurd and lamentable illusion of otherness — like texting someone sitting right next to you?
Okay, but isn’t what I’m saying here also riddled with philosophical premises and belief? Absolutely… but with one vital difference: these are the kinds of provisional points of view that — if well-timed and offered with compassion — induct both parties beyond belief, into direct here/now communion. Buddhists call these skillful means: the thoughts and meditations that take us beyond thought. Welcome to the higher octave expression of truth-slinging Sagittarius. In this paradigm, we recognize that the truth that satisfies people is found — not through searching for the “right” answers — but by pausing long enough to “not know” our way into our root existential question. From here, the answer often flops out rather naturally. Is not the empowering facilitator of self-inquiry the teacher of the future?
All right then. Ready to download truth-slinger 2.0? Here are some of the slightly unorthodox things you might say in order to gracefully pivot out of a conventional belief-ridden exchange into a conversation based on naked, here/now self-inquiry:
1. I have a request: can we stop and sit in not-knowing for a few minutes?
2. I feel sad because I’m noticing how lonely and disconnecting my urge to be right is.
3. I feel closer to you when we inquire, in wonder, together.
4. The worldview that makes me want to be fully here, in this body, right now, is…
5. Life looks lovable when I notice…
6. The suffering of this world feels manageable when I tune into…
7. I’m curious; When you feel the presence of a larger, benevolent intelligence shepherding you through this life, what kind of things do you find yourself thinking about and saying?
8. Tell me: What kind of conversation makes sense to you when you feel compassionately united with the souls of all people — when the edges of your ego soften and you feel a throbbing unicity of consciousness?
Now that the mood is set, perhaps the conversation is ripe for some serious Astro-Self-Inquiry. Click here for some ideas to get started.
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