Unlearning Who We Are

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'm going to talk about unlearning who we are. So the process of mindfulness isn't about collecting new definitions and stories about who we are, but rather it's about letting them go. It's not about possessing more knowledge about ourselves. It's about knowing who we are beyond or beneath or all mental concepts.

And it's not really about learning, but rather it's about unlearning. So there's a lot here in this reflection. And I think one of the challenges we sometimes have when it comes to mindfulness is that it runs really counter to so much of how we approach everyday life. Usually if we want to reach a goal, we set about collecting as much information as we can and then we kind of take the steps to get there. But in meditation, we're training in letting go of any particular goal, any particular agenda.

And we're letting go of the habit of seeing life through all the mental stories we make about it. In meditation, we let go of the past, we let go of the future, we let go of our attachment to mental commentary, and we simply open ourselves to this moment. We open to it. We appreciate it. We're curious about it and we let everything else go.

So this kind of learning is more about a familiarization with what it feels like to be in that state of being. It's getting to know who we are beyond all the stories and judgments in the mind. So it's different to normal learning. If anything, it's unlearning. It's putting down our self-judgment, our beliefs, every concept, and every thought and opinion we had about ourselves.

And in doing that, we open the way to experiencing freedom and wholeness of who you already are. So with that in mind, let's settle in for today's practice. And as always thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.